Transcripts For MSNBCW Deadline White House 20201012

His return to the trail coming despite his refusal and the refusal of his doctor and white house staff to confirm whether trump has received a negative test result yet, asking instead that we essentially take them at their word that hes not contagious anymore. This as trumps top aides continue to resist measures like mask wearing that scientists, including dr. Fauci say, could have helped to prevent the white house outbreak in the first place. Trumps chief of staff, mark meadows, was seen with reporters today refusing to greet them, wearing a mask. The same mark meadows who was one of the few staffers with donald trump in the oval office while he was still infectious last week, although meadows says he was wearing full protective equipment at the time. Here he is trying to remove his mask in front of a visibly uncomfortable group of reporters today. Let me pull this away monopoly. Yep, yep, pull this away. That way i can take this off to talk. Oh. Well, im more than 10 feet away. Im not going to talk to you. With white house aides like these its no wonder were still seeing headlines today that say Trumps Campaign wont step up Public Health precautions when the president heads back to the rally circuit this evening despite mounting evidence that its his events that could pose a danger to Public Health. Trumps insistence on barreling back into political life reflects his precarious political position as well. And with the Washington Post today describing his dimming prospects for reelection, they report in the homestretch of the 2020 campaign, there has been little good news for the incumbent, and that is showing up as an ominous turn for him in the polls as biden consolidates support. Four years ago, voters who decided in the president ial campaigns waning days broke decisively for trump. This year, evidence suggests there are few who have yet to make up their minds, but many of those who have been on the fence appear to be coming down on bidens side, indeed, a new abc news Washington Post poll shows biden up 12 points nationally over donald trump with a gaping 23point lead for biden among women. And in critical battleground states, biden is up six points in michigan and nevada and in an outright tie in iowa. The a. P. Adds reporting on republican fears that the electionday route for trump could be so severe that it might just trickle all the way down the ballot to the house and the senate. Quote, the onetwo punch of trumps Coronavirus Diagnosis and his widely panned performance also has republicans worry they could lose krolt of the senate. With just three weeks to election day, senate races in reliably red states including South Carolina and kansas, are competitive aided by a surge in democratic fundraising putting both the Republican Party and trumps own campaign at an unexpected financial disadvantage. And that, the state of the race, is where we start today with some of our favorite reporters and friends. Michelle cinder is back. The editor at large at the bulwark charlie is here. And eugene with an amazing piece of journalism out today is here. Lucky for us, all of them msnbc analysts and contributors. The thing about losing, i have been on losing and winning campaigns. The thing about losing is at this stage losing tends to beget losing and everything that you do ends up looking like you know youre going to lose. Even rushing back onto the trail looks desperate. The tweets look beyond bonkers. Another debate raging for days is the steroids or trumps ability to read one of his own polls. What is going on at the white house . At the white house, the people who are tasked with being around the president and lowlevel staffers are scared because the virus is continuing to course through the white house. We have Something Like more than 34, 35 people who have tested positive, and as you noted, the president s own doctor cant say whether or not the president has actually tested negative. Our understanding is that the president is still positive for the coronavirus, but they think he is no long err risk to people around him. But that doesnt mean that hes not a risk to himself, that him going out on the campaign trail as hes continuing to take medication, continuing to fight this virus, it shows he is very, very anxious to get back on the campaign trail. Hes watching joe biden take the campaign trail and go to different states, watching senator harris go to different states from the white house, and in some ways is feeling like i dont want to be the person who is having to quarantine even though, of course, he has the virus. Whats going on is you have a president who is essentially pushing the boundary of medicine to go out there and to have these events where people are not socially distancing, not Wearing Masks. Saturday, the president spoke from the balcony, and there were some Wearing Masks but a lot of people, especially the africanamericans geared toward those and latino voters, Standing Shoulder to shoulder phenomenon white house lawn looking like a campaign rally. The white house insirss it was an official white house event. That shows you its a foreshadowing for who what wiel see in florida tonight when the president takes the stage and there will be people all around him. The president and the campaign is feeling we could be back in 2016. Everyone thought President Trump would lose, that the polls were against him, and of course he pulled out that surprise victory. There is a feeling in the Trump Campaign that people are counting the president out and down when he still has time to recover. And we should always say, charlie sikes, that anything is possible in this campaign. The backdrop is far different. 210,000 americans have lost their lives to the coronavirus pandemic, which trump still fails to either grasp or accept that its any part of his job to protect the country from the pandemic. But yamiche is correct to, i think, always remind us that anything can happen at this point. I do want to show you where the polls are right now. Joe biden is ahead 12 points nationally as we said, 23 points among women. That is until this point in history thought of as an insurmountable lead. It is very difficult to be losing women, all women, by 23 points, and pull out a houdini. But i guess if anyone can do it, donald trump can. Your sense, charlie,over where this race stands. It feels different from 2016 in a couple of respects including what you mentioned earlier, the undecided voters, the latebreaking voters moving for joe biden. That was the key to 2016, late deciders broke against Hillary Clinton. I dont think thats happening again. Also youre seeing a president who is lashing out and flailing, who seems to be who seems to be going to a cocoon of his own base. Hes got enthusiastic support of his own base, but hes not reaching out beyond that base. Hes going to safe spaces like fox news, the Rush Limbaugh show. Its almost like hes in palliative care, lets keep him happy to get through the last two weeks. But also hes not talking about what he wants to be talking about. He ought to be talking about the Supreme Court, about the economy. Instead, the focus is on this pandemic, which he has so badly botched. At that moment, when the country is focused on that, when we have 40,000 to 50,000 new infections a day, he is headlining these superspreader events all over the place. His son tis in wisconsin, hostig a superspreader event. In the law theres something called depraved indifference, and i think that that seems to be what the president s Closing Argument is, lashing out at new york, lashing out at california, hosting superspreader events. This is not where he wanted to be in 2020. You know, charlie, let me follow up with you. I will take responsibility for doing this myself, but weve spent so much time over the last four years talking about the trump voter that we fail to really paint a comprehensive picture of the Trump Coalition. And the Trump Coalition needed trump to have i dont think he could have a gap among women. I mean, the Trump Coalition cant have someone who as you described displays depraved indifference to a raging coronavirus pandemic. The Trump Coalition needed to be held together with a lot more of the kinds of voters that are sort of the repelled by the debate performance, repelled by the indifference to the pandemic, repelled by the disdain of sticking a mask on and staying six feet away. Do you have any operating theories on if why, why hes trying to hurt himself with the very parts of this coalition he most desperately needs . Yes, because he cant help himself and hes got no one around him who is telling him, mr. President , this is a disaster. Remember back in 2016 in the final weeks faceoff c s of the donald trump had a lower profile. He was disciplined and on message. That helped him. So right now, the more exposed he is, the worse it is for him. And theres no evidence whatsoever that he has any sensitivity to that. Just look at the twitter feed, the all in caps, the sort of irrational bonker stuff were seeing right now. Is there somebody, you know, in his campaign saying, mr. President , look, these are what the numbers are, youre losing in wisconsin and michigan, the late deciders are breaking against you, being killed with women, heres a strategy that might work. No, hes going back to hillarys emails and the safe space of these rallies even though they look hor rifsrifically reckless lot of the electorate. This is donald trump, who everybody thinks a great strategic mind but i thought he always had a lizard brain instinct and i think hes lost that. Eugene robinson, which brings us to what you write about today, that hes been described by his own allies as having a reptilian instinct for survival, and its that survival instinct, i think, that its fair to say frightens you in terms of what hell do and using the levers of power and government. Talk about what youve written. Well, just that as bad as it is, as bad as it was yesterday, its worse today, it t will be worse tomorrow. I mean, you know, hes frantic. I think there are some things he probably does realize, one, he probably does realize that it is later than you think. This is very late in the campaign cycle. But its even later this year because so many people are already voting. So many millions of people are already voting. So the election is happening now, and hes losing the election now. The poll is moving in the wrong direction. Thats bound to engender a certain amount of panic. The other reason is he has to do these superspreader event, he and his family have to do them around the country because they cant afford to keep up with the Biden Campaign and the democrats in terms of paid media. They dont have the money. Theyre living off the land, basically, with all the free media they get from these rallies. And so i think on a certain level theres a logic to what hes doing because if he tried to pursue some sort of more, you know, rose garden strategy and pretend to be a normal president , going about his business of solving the pandemic and the stuff hes supposed to be doing, biden would be killing him out there on the airwaves. So he needs to compete, i think, and at least thats from his point of view the way he sees it. So i just think this is all im going to get its going to get worse in terms of crazy before it gets better. Yeah, yamiche, hes always played more whacamole than checkers let alone chess, but i wonder what the strategy is. He kind of played resolution roulette and the commission called his bluff on the debate. There is no debate. That was an opportunity trump needed. Biden did not with the current trajectory. The rallies and rallygoers, those people are in your column. You need earned media beyond your sort of rallygoing supporter. And he seems to have sort of lurched back to the fringeiest aspect of his base. What is the strategic overlay that takes him from not just hour to hour but tweet to tweet . Nicole, thats a great question. You could ask that question almost about anything about the Trump Presidency. Whats his strategy for the coronavirus . Whats his strategy for health care . Whats his strategy for the Supreme Court and for economy . Essentially what the strategy has always been with President Trump has been he trusts himself. He trusts his gut. He trusts his instincts. He doesnt feel like there are people around him who can really explain and tell him what to do that will be in his benefit. He learned that lesson mainly because of 2016. You think about the access Hollywood Tape and the fact thats burned in his memory. Who stood with him and against him and what did he do. In some ways, the strategy is to be as trumpy as he wants to be. Thats lashing out on twitter, thats feeling like if he says he doesnt want to go to a debate, tries to call a bluff, sees where that lands, maybe hell be doing a town hall, maybe he wont to compete with joe bidens town hall this week. The bottom line is that the president is in this lastditch threeweek sprint and hes thinking to himself, what can i do to get attention, what can i do to get people riled up . The president has been running on the issue of fear, essentially trying to scare people into going to the polls saying theyll be taken over by socialists. Thats the strategy well continue to see, a strategy of fear and of President Trump acting not just as President Trump but as Campaign Manager trump, Communications Director trump, all the hats he wants to wear because he doesnt feel he has anybody around him to say heres the way forward. Hes not listening to those people. And of course hes dealing with a white house and a campaign that is dealing still with the outbreak of the virus. I cant underscore enough what it means that the president is overseeing two different offices that are having to deal with coronavirus outbreaks. His Campaign Manager and other people that should be focused on how to get him reelected are focused on their own health. Thats right. I mean, Charlie Sykes, you look at the team that was prepping him for his first debate, and they may not want to be named, but most came down with covid, chris christie, kellyanne conway, hope hicks, theyve all tested positive. Let me read you how trump is described in axios today. He asked his campaign to put him on the road every single day from now to november 3rd. His team is in the process of scheduling events to make that happen. But not everyone thinks its a good idea. One adviser said, quote, hes going to kill himself. Its not hyperbolic. We dont know hes even tested negative yet for covid. So what do you think breaks the fever of the lunacy of these folks enabling him . And obviously, theyre leaking to axios, that, quote, hes going to kill himself, theres some concern that his condition may not sync up with his vision for himself as a candidate. Id also add his behavior may kill other people as well in terms of the infection, the message that hes sending here. Whats going to break the fever . A landslide defeat. I cant see anything other than that. In terms of his strategy, the one thing that actually made some sense to me, at least until yesterday, was that hes spending millions of dollars trying to reach out to senior citizens, trying to be more upbeat about his handling of the coronavirus, and yet he nds the day in a twitter fight with anthony fauci. So in the last three weeks of the campaign, to be having the superspreader events, to be lashing out, in a fight with tony fauci, what is the strategy or whats working for him at the moment . Thats the question. What does he think yamiche is right. Hes tried the fear, the prospect of cory booker coming in and taking away your suburb, a scary thing there. That doesnt seem to have worked. Right. And so right now, i think you have a campaign in serious problems. But heres one of the factors. The trump supporters, the hardcore trump base, doesnt think hes in trouble. They believe hes going to win. Theyre absolutely convinced of it. This is the downside of the alternative reality bubble hes created. They are not expecting the wave that is coming. And i think that means that eugene is absolutely right, it will get crazier and there will be millions of americans who are going to be really shocked what happens in if nethe next three. Eugene, thats a Perfect Place to sort of ask you to button this up, because i think you get at that in your piece today. In that spirit, he has conditioned his supporters to think not only is he not going to lose but, should he lose, should he lose the election, that the other side cheated. And theres reporting every day, the New York Times reported on friday that the same day trump was out talking about illegal voting, bill barr was changing the rules of the justice thing. Do you think enough attention is being paid to the trump effort to deceive his voters and to think in the only way he loses is if the other side cheats . You know, i think plenty of attention the being paid to it, but theres not much you can do about it. Charlie is absolutely right that a lot of the trump base simply doesnt entertain the possibility that the president can be legitimately defeated, much less legitimately crushed at the polls, which could well happen if you believe the numbers are anywhere near reality. And so, that is going to be a problem. Ill be frank, i will be much happier if the supporters of President Trump are surprised on election day or Election Night than if the opponents of President Trump are surprised on Election Night because, you know, lets have a result and then lets have, you know, whatever argument and tussle we have over the result. But the thing that has to worry i agree with charlie. Doesnt do strategy. He doesnt do anything. But he does have a sort of tactical sense of whats immediately good for him and whats immediately bad for him. And i just i think he must know at this point that what he has been doing is not working, because otherwise, when you think of the polls, they do give you trends and theyre moving in the wrong direction, moving in bidens direction rather than in his direction. So he hasnt hit on any formula yet. Hes just going to keep throwing stuff against the wall. It will get worse and worse until we get to the election day. Eugene, as youre talking, im flashing back in my mind, and you and i were often seated together around the morning joe set at the time. Trump used to tweet about the polls every day. He would wake up in the morning and start tweeting out all the polls that had him in the margin of error and then his campaign, i think, at a ridiculously late point, started doing some of their own polls, and you never knew, i mean, in hindsight, who the heck knows, maybe it was constantine, who knows, but trump trafficked in his own poll numbers. I havent seen a trump tweet about a poll in a long time. Eugene, yamiche, thank you so much. Thanks for joining us. Cant even tweet about rasmussen. Exactly. Hes even lost that. Thats how bad it is. As yamiche reminds us, anything can happen. Thanks for starting us off. Charlie sykes is sticking around. When we come back, its not just seeing the blue writing on the wall at the white house. Republicans are fearing and feeling the ground shift under them on capitol hill as well. Well look at the money and enthusiasm following the senate races that are also now just 22 days away. And as trump heads back on the road attempting to spin a picture of strength and wellness, the risk he poses to the public in these states is now very real. Well look at that more closely. As trump speaks, william barr acts. All the way the Justice Department tries to bring President Trumps public lies about the election to a reality. Were at the movies and we need to silence our phone. Who knows where that button is . I dont have silent. Everyone does right up here. It happens to all of us. We buy a new home, and we turn into our parents. What i do is help new homeowners overcome this. What is that, an adjustable spanner . Good choice, steve. Okay, dont forget youre not assisting him. You hired him. If you have nowhere to sit, you have too many. Who else reads books about submarines . My dad. Yeah. Oh, those are progressive cant protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. Look at that. Such as high blood pressure,ve pdiabetes, and asthma. S this administration and Senate Republicans want to overturn laws requiring Insurance Companies to cover people with preexisting conditions. Theyre rushing a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court to change the law through the courts. 70 of americans want to keep protections for preexisting conditions in place. Tell our leaders in washingtn to stop playing games with our healthcare. We live with at t and we are well past the honeocupado tom. At t, whats this i hear about you advertising a 100 Fiber Network . Only like a fraction of my customers can get that. Thats it . . You have such a glass halfempty attitude. The glass is more than halfempty you need to relax tom. Oh tom, you need a little tom time. A little tt. Stop living with at t. Xfinity delivers gig speeds to more homes than anyone. Politico reports today on a green tsunami were seeing among Democratic Candidates for senate, an overpowering force of fundraising being driven by, quote, disgust for president donald trump, fury with Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell, and grief for the late Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg propelled by the wave of money. Democrats have suddenly expanded the senate battlefield to a dozen competitive races burying long contested states like iowa and maine in tv ads and also overwhelming republican opponents in states like alaska, kansas, and South Carolina that are suddenly tightening. Speaking of South Carolina, senator Lindsey Grahams democratic challenger, jaime harrison, Just Announced a jaw dropping fundraising total for the third quarter, 57 million. That crushes by nearly 20 million the previous record set by beto ororke when he raised 38 million in 2018 running against ted cruz. Enthusiasm isnt just apparent in fundraising totals. Today marks the first day of early voting in georgia. Voters there having to wait hours to cast their ballots. Joining us now is democratic pollster and msnbc political analyst Cornell Belcher and tim miller, political director of Republican Voters against trump, former Communications Director for jeb bushs 2016 president ial campaign, and contributor to the bulwark, making a lot of waves these days as part of the republicans against trump and for biden. Well get to that. Cornell, i wonder if we arent im asking you to criticize us, so dont hold back are we overcorrecting for 2016 . We say anything can happen. A gazillion people have roted already. The election is now. To a certain extent, we are cautious, and thats right, but there may be a little overcorrection, because, look, 2016 was an outlier. 2016 was a fluke. 2016 was more unlike what weve seen in election patterns than what its been like. What youre seeing in the election pattern right now is, quite frankly, extraordinary. Its part of a Historic Campaign in 2008 where he expanded the electorate, brought in new people, energy like weve never seen before. Approximately 11 of the electorate were people e who hadnt been participating. If you look at the numbers right now, its blowing 2008 out the door. I think republicans will look back, and if you look at the early vote, you know, that democrats are garnering here, i think republicans will look back at trumps downplaying early voting and absentee voting and mailin voting as one of the greatest technical errors of modern political history, because democrats are banking so much vote right now that its sort of hard to see how they make up for it on election day in most of these battleground states. Cornell, i want to ask you about that. I was told in the beginning of the summer that republican operatives involved in Senate Campaigns were really pissed that he had gone to war against the mailin vote, he relied on that for the senior vote, and some of the states at the beginning of the summer saw the writing on the wall in terms of the trajectory of the pandemic. If you look at the upper midwest, arizona is basically out of reach for donald trump. He really needs those he needed, you know, michigan or wisconsin or pennsylvania to be turning his way at this point. Do you think that hes sort of shot himself on the foot in the mailin vote . Absolutely. Again, i think it will be one of the greatest technical eras of our time. Democrats are holding voting festivals. Theyve completely embarrassed the idea of come out and vote early, absentee and mailin ballot. Weve embraced this strategy of banking as many votes as early as possible, and the Trump Campaign and republican apparatus has delegitimized that, and youre seeing that in the numbers across the battleground states. I think its going to be awfully hard for them to make up the difference on election day. The other part, quickly, if i can, nicole, when you look at the new sort of sporadic voters that are turning out, its not that were cannibalizing so much the traditional voters, but theres a degree of new voters that, again, the likes of which we isnt seen since twai2008. Theres a surge and energy in that voting. It is so it really is so important to go back to 08 for all of our parallels, the Obama Coalition plus is what some of these primary nights look like, tim miller, for biden. They were pulling in wins in states he hasnt set foot in. And some of that is sort of the comfort and the reassurance of President Trump oba president obamas Vice President , someone known. Thats become more appealing since adding senator harris to the ticket. Some the wholesale rejection of how donald trump has governed. Well, absolutely, nicole, in the rejection of trump. So ill give you some good news and put a little damper on what cornell is saying. The good news is its a little different than the Obama Coalition because its all these suburban former republicans and independents who have come into the coalition who have added to it, which is really important in a state like arizona like you were talking about. It is true that though bide season doing better than hillary among workingclass white voters, he isnt backing obama 08 numbers. This is what to worry about before everybody starts doing a victory dance. If you look at the states that will put the senate and potentially the Electoral College iowa is a senate seat, youve got michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania, and then the Electoral College already, others in the senate that you mentioned, South Carolina, kansas, montana, alaska. A lot of workingclass white folks in these states. And so, you know, while the democrats are doing quite well, that has got to be where the focus has got to be which is cutting into trumps margin there and running up the numb fwnumb er cornell was talking about, the sort of republican types. I want to ask you about the republican senators. It would appear that this was until very recently an emotional and a symbolic aim. It now appears possible. Do you think Mitch Mcconnell is looking at minority leader status . Look, definitely possible. If you look at the math, arizona and colorado are gone. They dont seem to be trying to win. Collins i think is probably gone. Then youre looking at picking up a fourth seat somewhere, and that goes back to the formerly red states, traditionally red state, iowa, montana, North Carolina, alaska. Can they pick up one there . If biden wins as big as we think, they might find one or maybe more and expand on the majority, but that is where this fight is, and if im a dermic operative or donor watching this, im looking at iowa and North Carolina, montana, alaska, how can we get one of these and get over the hump. Georgia, also. Nicole, can i jump in . Yeah. Go ahead, please. Yes. Look, if you told me six months by the way, full disclosure, i work for harris in South Carolina. If you told me a year ago jamie harris would raise 57 million in one quarter and be in a tossup race in South Carolina, i would say youre losing your mind. Same. Were seeing sort of that energy on the ground around a movement, and jaime harris is building a campaign that is not sort of a traditional campaign. Hes building a movement about thats not about right versus left but what he talks about is right versus wrong and just doing the right thing. And that is a refreshing and a different kind of politics. I think it is bringing people together from not just the left but people from the left and the right, and youre seeing people rally around some of these Senate Democrats that have traditionally not rallied around democrats before, making these states awfully competitive. I think that well have to put a pin in this here, but i would just add that i think this is a conversation were going to be having not just for 22 days but for 52 days, because no matter what happens, its republicans who came out of the Trump Administration who have helped drive that message home, the folks that tim is working with, Elizabeth Newman and olivia troy and miles taylor, talented candidates. I dont think any analysis would suggest anything other than jaime harris is a talented candidate. Only on election day will we know if it worked. I could talk to you both for an hour. Thanks for spending time with us today. Up next for us, despite trumps apparent show of defeating this virus, he says we shouldnt fear it at all, its still a real problem in the real world. Now all around the world. Well talk about how trumps strongman display is putting all of us at risk. That had the names of her children. She asked me, doctor, am i going to be okay . and i could not give her the answer that i wanted to give her. There is no excuse for why we dont have this under control at this point. Joe biden listens to medical experts. He actually has a plan that does the things that we should have been doing many months ago. And joe biden is not going to let his ego get in the way of fighting the disease. Ff pac is responsible for the content of this ad. Tonight, ill be eating a veggie cheeseburger on ciabatta, no tomatoes. [hard a] tonight. Ill be eating four cheese tortellini with extra tomatoes. [full emphasis on the soft a] so its come to this . [doorbell chimes] thank you. [doorbell chimes] bravo. Careful, hamill. Daddys not here to save you. Oh i am my daddy. Wait, what . What are you talking about . Bibill assumed his mayo was the best choice. Assume nothing. Just like the leading brand, kraft real mayo is made with high Quality Ingredients at a price you can feel good about. No wonder kraft is so good. Rakuten cash back on the stuff all in my home. I shop on rakuten. Rakuten dont cry for me, white house staffers the truth is i will infect you all through my tweeting my mad existence i broke my promise wont keep my distance the Trump Presidency was always going to give us an evita reference there. That was the lincoln projects take on trumps return to the white house after his Coronavirus Diagnosis less than two weeks ago. Donald trump is now borrowing from the playbook of strongmen leaders to prove hes fit to return to the campaign trail. On saturday he appeared at an outdoor rallystyle event at the white house, standing at the same balcony where five days earlier he appeared after spending three days hospitalized at walter reed. No times reports when he left the hospital he wanted to appear frail at first when people saw him, but underneath his buttondown dress shirt, get this, he would wear a superman tshirt which he would reveal as a symbol of strength revealing the top layer. Its according to people of knowledge who had conversations with President Trump at walter reed. Instead, he just chose to wear a mask. Dr. Van gupta, and Global Health egs pert at the university of Washington Medical Center and msnbc contributor Charlie Sykes is back with us. It was a little detailed in a big story in a crowded New York Times weekend of scoops, but it could not go without noting here. Lets put this out there. Donald trump wanted to leave the hospital where he was hospitalized with the coronavirus after having doctors that didnt tell the public the whole truth about what had gone on with him and a chief of staff that contradicted the doctors. And what was on his mind was that he would wear a superman tshirt underneath his dress shirt and rip it off. How are we not having a more serious conversation about just how sick he was and perhaps is . Charlie sykes. Well, amazingly, our cartoon president has a cartoonish view of reality, including fighting this disease. Look, you know, heres a man who holds the office once held by Abraham Lincoln who has the emotional maturity of a 9yearold. My apologies to 9yearolds. Im glad he didnt go through with it because everything trump touches dies, as rick wilson has written, and i didnt want to ruin superman for a whole generation of kids. But the way he plays at being president , plays at being a strong man, the way he plays, you know, at being the man on the balcony, you know, how much of this is all just bravado, is just the reality tv star, is just this juvenile con . Because, you know, hes not superman. I mean, i grew up with superman. This man is not superman. This is little lord fontleroy with the bone spurs who is not a superhero in any world except in his own imagination. Just to carry the superhero and villain parallel into whats happening right now, dr. Gupta, let me put up a live picture of Donald Trumps event tonight in florida. Not a ton of masks. Not a ton of social distancing. And donald trump, i mean, you tell me, is it a sure thing that donald trump isnt contagious and at risk to any of these people . Good afternoon, nicole. Definitely not. A few things here. One, the cdc says for close contacts to the president , at least on air force one of hope hicks, that regardless of their tests they should quarantine for 14 days. It was a highrisk exposure. So you cant cherrypick advice from the cdc, however inconsistent theyve been. The president should be isolating for 20 days because he had severe covid19 pneumonia. Regardless of what dr. Conway or others may or may not speculate with regard to his testing, it makes no difference. Its 20 days regardless of testing. The fact that hes not doing it puts a lot of people at risk in florida. To anybody watch ing who might be going to the rally, dont go if you care for your family and friends. Nicole, three quick points for the public since we dont hear anything from the secretary of health or the Surgeon General how to keep your family safe. A study just came out suggesting covid19 lasts on human skin for nine hours relative to influenza or general flu for an hour and a half, meaning hand sanitizing is absolutely vital. Thats number one. We talk about mask and distan distanci distancing. Two, better data comes out suggesting better air fimters with hepa filters can remove things in 90 minutes. In a classroom, workplace setting, no windows, cold outside, air purifiers with hepa filter conditions effective. Three, long haulers in covid, those individuals who had to get hospitalized like the president for covid19, we know that now 75 of individuals studied by researchers out in europe, 75 of individuals hospitalized for covid19 end up still having ill effects three months out shortness of breath, fatigue. That long hauler component is key to keep an eye on. Lastly, it looks like youve been infected with covid19, immunity seems to wane about four months out. Thats important as we think about a vaccine. Let me ask you another sciencey question, dr. Gupta, because youre right, it is difficult to sort of weed through all the disinformation from the president and his chief of staff to wear a mask. There was some reporting over the weekend that the cdc had wanted to order everyone to wear masks on public transportation. And that was killed by the white house. What do you make of the ongoing war with the cdc on the part of trump and his white house . I mean, nicole, i hate to say it, but that is inexplicable. There is no scientific rationale for that for sure. Two, the institute of Health Metrics and evaluation, my home institute, we just modeled out that if current policies, if we can keep them in place right now, still lose about 200,000 souls by february 1st. If we loosen restrictions and continue ridiculous policies you mentioned, that could go up to 500,000 in total souls lost by february 1st. Making this issue of masking is absolutely ridiculous. I want to, as we go to break, put up a mask of all of the states with rising covid rates, too many to read here. But the truth is we are not a country that has this under control. We are not a country whose rates are going down. We are not a country that anyone looks to for any sort of example of how not to kill each other. Dr. Gupta and Charlie Sykes, thanks for spending some time with us. To be continued. When we come back, trumps claims of voter fraud getting help from his friends. More on that when we come back. With my hepatitis c. I felt i couldnt be at my. Best for my family. In only 8 weeks with mavyret. I was cured. I faced reminders of my hep c every day. I worried about my hep c. But in only 8 weeks with mavyret. I was cured. Mavyret is the only 8week cure for all types of hep c. Before starting mavyret your doctor will test. If youve had hepatitis b which may flare up and cause serious liver problems during and after treatment. 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Barr that conveniently boost trumps public sowing of Election Fraud fears. Here was trump in august on his attempts at policing voter fraud. Were going to have everything, were going to have sheriffs and were going to have Law Enforcement and were going to have hopefully u. S. Attorneys and were going to have everybody and attorney generals. And as the New York Times pointed out in new reporting, on that very same day that he said that the doj informed prosecutors that it had weakened a election policy and would allow tem to investigate before votes are counted. Former Justice Department officials from both parties have warned that under attorney general barr they are slipping into a maras they have long sought to avoid and both independe independent Law Enforcement. And joining us matt miller and an msnbc justice and security analyst, also joining us correspondent and Msnbc National Security contributor mike schmidt whose by line was on the piece of reporting. What is the tie between all of the things that donald trump said about the vote being rigged and the legal ballots and what bill barr does . Youre asking me . Yeah, mike, sorry. Oh, okay. So basically what is happened here is it a there had been in policy in place that the Justice Department should not do voterrelated investigations in the lead up to elections and take public action on them. Because it could sow doubt about the election. It could look like the Justice Department was intervening. It could make the Law Enforcement part of the discussion around the election. And what this is done now is it enabled prosecutors to go out and take actions that could become public in these cases. And weve already seen this. Where different stories have popped up across the country because u. S. Attorneys have made arrests or put out details of ongoing investigations to sort of, they say, obviously, bring light to voter fraud cases but what happened is that the president has seized on these and used them as examples that voter fraud is indeed going on across the country. And even though experts will tell you that voter fraud is not the problem the president makes it out to be, the president is able to weaponize these disclosures coming out of the Justice Department and he uses them to sow the doubt coming into the election. Matt miller, you have little kids and there is the game one of these things is not like the other. You have chris wray and the experts on the cyber side and the National Security side vouching for the surkure and vin ginsburg the public version of what mr. Bower is doing now for the Biden Campaign. He knows more about election law and voter fraud and wrote in an oped that for two decades republicans have gone looking for voter fraud and it doesnt exist and then you have bill barr who have reported is out there weaponizing the Justice Department to support what is perhaps one of the most sinister conspiracy theories of the entire Trump Presidency. Yeah, i dont think there is a lot of mystery about what is going on with the policy change. You have to take bill barr at his word. Buzz he had to quarantine himself because he attended the superspreader event at the white house. He been on a media tour around the country and one of the points that he hit over and over again was to make the same attacks on election that the president has been making, attacks that were so false at times the department has had to come out and retract them after he made them because they were based on nothing at all. So when you see the president attacking the integrity of the election and you see that the attorney general attacking the integrity of the election and see the department withdraw a policy that existed for decades, to prevent the public from losing confidence in the election, it is, i think it is clear because the policy the athe top of the department has changed. No matter what chris wray or the Election Security officials say, the policy at the top of the department is to erode confidence just as the president wants to do. Mike Schmidt David clanger wrote he took a step even Richard Nixon avoided, openly ordered direct action against specific opponents, time to serve his Reelection Campaign and youve reported that hes had designs on investigating and prosecuting his political enemies since the beginning of his presidency. What is this like in these final days . We know that he was mad at pompeo, hes mad at attacked bill barr, mad at chris wray. What is going on inside of that trump cabinet . Well this is the sort of the ultimate test of the presidency which weve build up towards which is how far is the president able to go in using the levers of the government to his advantage in his reelection. And when confronted with, you know, flagging poll numbers an the possibility of losing, well the president will be even more emboldened to do things. It is clear that he wants the Just Department to be part of the voter fraud effort. And is willing to do that. The question is how far will barr go along the path with the president. Matt miller, mike schmidt, thank you both. I have a feeling this conversation is to be continuing. The next hour of deadline white house starts after the break. Dont go anywhere. Rts after the break. Dont go anywhere. Want to overturn laws requiring Insurance Companies to cover people with preexisting conditions. Theyre rushing a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court to change the law through the courts. 70 of americans want to keep protections for preexisting conditions in place. Tell our leaders in washingtn to stop playing games with our healthcare. Try optum perks. Its a new way to save up to 80 . And everyone can do it. Its from optum, a Health Care Company thats trusted by millions of people. You dont have to sign up for anything. Just go to optumperks. Com. And get a coupon to use at your pharmacy. Thats it. I opted in. I opted in. You can, too. Opt in and save big today. It seems like im immune. So i could go way out of a basement and which i have done any way and which i did, because you have run a country and get out of the basement and it looks like im immune, for maybe a long time or maybe a short time. It could be a lifetime. Nobody really knows. But im immune. So the president is in very good shape. To fight the battle. Hi, again, everyone. It is 5 00 in the east. A maskless donald trump. The denier in chief have likely contributed to the number of infections in the midwest is taking his potentially contagious self back out on the kraim trail at a time when his only status, his case in point for his opponents closing arg against him. Ask yourself, why didnt he tell us . Why didnt he warn us . He said nothing. He told woodward that he didnt want to panic the american people. That is why he said nothing. We dont panic. America doesnt panic. But trump panicked. His reckless personal conduct since his diagnosis has been unconscionable. The longer donald trump is president , the more reckless he seems to get. Donald trump so desperate for new script on his covid failure that he distorted tony faucis words an crammed them into a political ad. President trump is recover from the coronavirus and so america. Together we rose to meet the challenge. Protecting ourinors, getting them life saving drugs in record time, sparing no expense. President trump tackled the virus head on as leaders should. I cant imagine that anybody could be doing more. Tony fauci has made it abundantly that the words were taken out of context. Within the last hour dr. Fauci said the Trump Campaign should take that ad down. I think it is really unfortunate and really disappointing that they did that. It is so clear that im not a political person. And i have never either directly or indirectly endorsed a political candidate. And to take it completely out of con tex statement and put it in, which is obviously a Political Campaign ad, i thought was really very disappointing. Faucis actual assessment of how were really doing standing in stark contrast to Donald Trumps. When you have what we have, which is a baseline of 40,000 infections per day, that is at a level that im not comfortable with. I would like to see that level way, way down, well below 10,000. There are some things that should be universally practiced and that is the universal wearing of masks, avoiding crowds, keeping a distance, doing things outdoors more than indoors and washing your hands frequently. That doesnt matter who you are. That is what you should be doing. But Donald Trumps denial about his own covid status is now a powerful metaphor for his denial about the countrys covid status which is abysmal. The United States still has one of the highest daily rates of newly confirmed cases in the world. Donald trump nonetheless is charging back out to the campaign trail without any reassurances about his own health. New york times today writes this, quote, the white house has not made public the results of President Trumps latest coronavirus test, this he claims he took on friday. Quote, we have to vote these people in oblivion, he said, with his signature bluster and without any acknowledgment he might still be contagious to those around him. President s waning appeal was on display this weekend as well. An event billed as featuring 2,000 seemed to draw just a couple of hundred. He takes his petri dish on the road tonight at another event without redeveloping his Health Status again. Polls show the president trailing joe biden by wide and widening margins and even trumps travel schedule makes it clear that hes playing defense in states he won four years ago. The ailing political fortunes of donald trump is where we start with our favorite reporters and friend. John heilemann is back, host of the circus and msnbc analyst and Brookings Institute fellow, president obamas former White House Health policy director and msnbc contributor, dr. Kavita patel is back and peter baker, also the crowe author of the book the man who ran washington, the life and times of james baker which is a new New York Times bestseller, right peter baker. Yes. Thank you. Thanks to you. All right. You start us off. What is he doing . We put up a picture. Could we put it up again. Of a maskless donald trump getting on air force one in the last hour. What is he doing . I mean, it is now everything that he does to deny his own status as covid infected, it is seen as a metaphor for denying the countrys status as covid infected and covid challenged. Why cant anyone slap a mask on him and tie his hands behind his back, peter baker . Well, look, it is duelling metaphors. The narrative where this is a story of restlessness and predictable outcomes when you hold rallies without masks and without social distancing and thousands people gathered together and then people get sick and the narrative that he wants to project with that campaign ad which is, hey, america, i could get past this, you can too, im so strong, nothing stops me. He literally, our reporting show, he breached the poached theoid with aides that he would come out of the hospital and tear open his shirt to reveal a superman shirt underneath. That is how he views this, as a way of projecting his own personal strength and perseverance in the wake of this virus. Every day were talking about that virus is not a good day for him. 22 days out show repeatedly that most americans think he has not handled this well. He could try to change the narrative but the truth is views are not shifting, at least not in his favor on that issue. And so any of our viewers that missed this reportering, it is tucked into an exceptional piece of reporting in the New York Times this weekend that one of Donald Trumps ideas for coming out of the hospital where he was hospitalized with severe coronavirus, he acknowledged it was severe himself and one of his 37 rambling fox interviews, was that he would put on a superman shirt under a dress shirt and rip it off were not making this up. This is real. This is was in the New York Times. I guess my question to you i dont even have a question. Go. Nicolle, hi. It is nice to see you. Hi. To be with you. Nice to be with you. I mean. Nice to be with you. Well the superman thing, the only person that ive had ideas that crazy. And theyve almost always been when ive been in an altered state, and so i just attribute that to the guy was high as a kite when he came up with the idea and it is obviously ridiculous. But it just tells you how high he was when he was at the peak of his intake of the corticosteroids and the other two steroids, the oath person who have taken that medication, according to any doctor, among many amazing things, the president of the United States was the biggest guinea pig in the whole history of this pandemic. Theyre giving him any way, so craziness and the superman thing. But i do think it is all peter said that trump has this other narrative and that is the narrative that hes trying to put forward. Everything now wreaks of desperation. There is no other way to explain this. And of course he knows and the people around him know that if he goes out and does these events, the narrative of trump denialism, of trump fantasy land and potentially infected people will follow him to each stop, every place he goes, that story will follow him. Every one of the events, well find out who left the event, whether trump was responsible, anybody would leaves with a Coronavirus Diagnosis it will land on his desk. He cant outrun the story hes trying to outrun. As long it is leadership about covid hes losing the election. If he goes out on the road he takes the story on road and it is a disaster. There is no way this is helping him to do what he needs to do. It is too late for him to do any way. But to try to change the subject or turn the page, not able to do it on road. So why is he doing it, because it is the only thing he knows how to do. Trumps are going to trump. This is the story that trump thinks a campaign is rallies. That is what he thinks. His campaign is broke. Theyre not on the air in most places any more. Theyre fighting now not just in the six core battleground places but places like iowa that he won in 2016 and getting outspent across t across map. The Biden Campaign has much money they could put money in texas and georgia where the race is close but states that donald trump should never been competing in. This is the dream scenario for joe biden and the nightmare scenario for a incumbent president out of money, a referendum on his leadership and that is what it is in the last three weeks and you see trump behaving in the most outwardly desperate way ive ever seen a major president ial candidate in the 30 years ive been doing this. This is a guy who knows how bad it is and doesnt know anything else to do but go out and do crazy rallies that are just going to make things worse for him. And dr. Patel, this is a window into what i was like in the final 22 days of president ial campaigns, especially ones that we were losing. But why doesnt he do it in a mask . I mean, he could still blunt not just his political fortunes, he could blunt the ill effects on his own supporters. There is something that makes my stomach flip over when i put up the live picture. If i could see it, but the rally to which hes flying maskless on air force one with some of the kindest people i met in government working on Board Air Force one, people with no political views potentially getti getting breathed on by donald trump and his petri dish of white house staffers and now standing at a rally and breathe his own covid germs over anyone that comes close enough to him to protect him from any threats to his safety. Why not lose without killing people. It is not only is it baffling, but it is literally just, i think, the definition of insanity. Because he truly, truly believes, i think, that hes exceptional, that hes cured. I think he uses these words and he tries to project this image so often, nicolle, that he believes this. And i think anybody else would becomes sick around them, it is their fault because he was able to get sick and somehow miraculously be cured, as john puts it, with a series of drugs that phone else in the world has received in that combination or in that sequence. So it is just baffling. And then he ignored tony fauci this whole time and marginalize and not allow the advisers to speak unless he looks at the polling and seeing that dr. Fauci continues to outpoll him and then he pulls the quotes and it is insulting to anybody trying to be good and to stay at home or to avoid crowds. And here you have, again, were a mockery because in light of all of the science and Public Health, you have someone who absolutely could defy all of the odds. I do hope that all of the people around him, to your point, the staff that have no choice, the secret service who have to choice, i hope theyre doing Everything Possible to keep themselves safe. Ive seen them with the n95 masks, keep it up, ladies and gentlemen, because youll need it. There is no guarantee this man is still not infectious. Peter baker, let me put up the poll numbers. Tony fauci has a 68 Approval Rating in terms of his trustworthiness and 60 do not trust him and 40 trust him. What led, or i guess it is obvious, it is not even more of a question, but that the fact that theyve been at war with tony fauci and on and off the record. Theyve been trashing tony faucis early performance around masks to anyone that will take their phone call and listen to their complaints about tony fauci for as long as country has been grappling and now they stick him in a political ad. It is seems that they are desperate for some of those steppingstones to try to climb out of the hole theyre in on coronavirus. Do they realize, peter baker, that this is now a referendum on covid and they need to start digging out of that hole. Theyve said for months that they recognize that the coronavirus is going to be the defining issue of the fall. They in fact would rise or fall depending on his handling of it, when his handling has been so panned by the public theyve tried hard to change the subject to law and order and Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barrett but they recognize all along that the coronavirus is the dominant issue and one they cant get away from. Youre right about dr. Fauci, they want to have it both ways. On the one hand they completely try to discredit him, with the public, and certainly with their base seeing hes just a deep state actor who is basically out to get the president on the one hand. On the other hand hes praising the president in this ad. So it is john, i think has a good point. I think they know theyre in the final 22 days of a campaign in which they are behind and not a lot of data that suggests that a incumbent could come from this far behind and look for any kind of magic bullet they could find and it is not readily apparent. It doesnt mean that he will lose. In the next couple of weeks, you hear talk to his people and they point out in 2016 they were far behind the polls but he was winning. And people have made up their minds about an incumbent and dont change them in dramatic numbers. So something could happen. Biden could stumble that changes or depresses his vote. Anything could happen with the mailin vote and well have a different election with covid so all of the normal metrics have r only somewhat useful. There is so many things that could happen with 22 days at this point that could change minds. Each the approval of 45 , that is the sape it has been for years. He cant move above 50 and never has and the idea that it will happen in the next three weeks, awfully hard. Let me put up the National Poll numbers. We an unprecedented number of vote that has already happened. So were creating a mixed message on talking election day that is 22 days away, it is right now for a lot of people. There are folks online right now and i think the early vote is unprecedented. The state of the race is obvious, it is in your car, it is a 10 point lead in the nbc poll and a 10 point in the real clear politics and it makes the electorate map increasingly irrelevant. But as you look at the trump travel schedule, hes clearly on the defense in states he won four years ago. Yeah. I mean i think that is the point, nicolle. Is that as i indicated earlier, you first of all, you have the National Poll doesnt mean that much, although it has widened a bit and weve seen polls like the cnn poll that had the number much higher at 16 . I dont necessarily believe that. But the notion that biden has a doubledigit lead at the national level, there is not a core state where hes behind. Not one. There are a couple of florida, North Carolina are closer but the lead in the other four, in arizona, pennsylvania, wisconsin and michigan, it is pretty substantial and been steady for a while and crucially those two other states, iowa and ohio, states that donald trump almost won by doubledigits, by eight or nine points in 16 are both where they dont have any money to advertise in them, that is how broke they are. So they send the president there because theyre in the pickle of having to defend states in the final days of campaign whether they have no money to do it on the air. So the Biden Campaign is free to go play andn those places and the Trump Campaign the Biden Campaign is putting money on the air in texas and georgia. The Trump Campaign is defenseless against that. And it is a brutal position to be in for the president. They are just, i mean again, i agree with peter, it doesnt mean that he cant win. But boy, is it going to be hard. Dr. Patel, let me give you the last word and put up a map of all of the states in which coronavirus is on the rise. It is too many to read off. And tragedy anywhere that the coronavirus is ticking up. It also has political implications in a lot of these states that john is talking about. Where are we right now with the coronavirus in this country . Were starting to see a rise in cases. You had a little bit of an audio clip of dr. Fauci and weve talked about wanting to get to 10,000 cases a day. We are now seeing record numbers that are in line, nicolle, unfortunately with where we were in july. Creeping up to 55,000 and 60,000 cases in a day and along with that are increasing hospitalizations, 35,000 hospitalized in the country compared to 30 last week, 30,000. And along with that is an increase in deaths. So instead of where people keep asking, is it the second wave, were still rolling in kind of this continuation of this first never ending wave and it is upticking. We expected that with the colder weather, with the flu season as well. So all i could say is that this is still going to be kind of a longer covid season. People were hoping, you know, a november election, and a vaccine and then we would have some relief. I think we will. But we have to do all of the things that we talked about and it doesnt help where we have a commanderinchief flying to florida where they see numbers right near that rally. It just begs to reason that were going to have to practice measures according to science. A lot of things that weve been doing but taking care of our vulnerable population, people of color, communities that have been neglected or continuing to be neglected unless we could take serious action. So this is it is starting to worry a lot of us. But hopefully we could do all of the things that weve talked about, the mask, the hygiene and just being smart. Dr. Kavita patel, thank you for starting us off this hour. John and peter are staying with us. When we return, someone told donald trump it is not 2016 any more. Hes still obsessed with Hillary Clinton emails and his secretary of state happy to endindulge. And plus a blockbuster report in the New York Times on how he failed to drain the swamp, he bilts up a swamp his own. And lebron james and the nba lakers are champs but now the battle begins, making sure their fans get out and vote. Deadline white house continues after a quick break. Dont go anywhere. A quick break. Dont go anywhere. Got to hand it to you, jamie. Your knowledge of victorian architecture really paid off this time. Nah, just got lucky. So did the thompsons. That faulty wiring couldve cost them a lot more than the mudroom. Thankfully they bundled their motorcycle with their home and auto. 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Do you believe russia and china were spying and knowing our secrets because of hillarys unsecured server. Real quick. We have 20 seconds. Well i think she was out there with classified information. She was giving it to anybody. It was on anthony wieners laptop and the fbi did nothing about it. And the fbi, look, theyre the greatest people in the world are the fbi but the top people were scum. Absolute scum and they does a horrib horrible job for our country. 016 is calling and it wasnts its campaign back. My favorite part of the clip is talking about Hillary Clinton because, again, it is 2020. John heilemann, where are we that donald trump is now pressing the levers of the government to get hillarys emails. He attacked pompeo. Pompeo went on fox and said hes turning them over. That is trump reupping his attacks on the leadership of the fbi. Long since run out of there. Hes now at war with the current leadership of the fbi for not carrying his water on white supremacist and the integrity of the election, it would appear. Right. Well, where we are, is where we were in the last block. Were way, way down, desperation street is where we are. And these are the desperate moves of a petty aspiring despot. That is i mean, on the face of it, the notion, donald trump has been talking about jailing or indicting or prosecuting his political opponents for a long time. People remember in 2016, lock her up, the chant. We saw him in that second debate in 2016 say to Hillary Clintons face that he wanted to put her in jail. Weve seen his interest in this ebb and flow and at various times it seems like rhetorical face candy and not anything he was serious about and other times he was worryingly seriously about it and now were 22 days out from an election day and if you saw it from any other country around the world you would say that the sitting head of state calling on the head of his Justice Department to prosecute his current rival, his former rival, and his predecessor, which is what trump wants, barack obama, Hillary Clinton and joe biden, not in that order but those three, he wants them all indicted and thrown in jail and putting pressure on attorney general to do it and going to the secretary of state and saying please release the emails of my previous rival. Those are autocratic demands and now it is not just face candy, but also dead serious. I think hes perfectly interested in doing these things if those two cabinet officials will accede to his demands, he would follow through with them. And it is just another it is desperate and it is also just another very extreme version of the strategy that he is running his campaign into the ground on which is the strategy that is built entirely on just satisfying his base, making them happy, making them excited. Touching theirer roth nuss and than when he rubbed the Hillary Clinton email button again. And it is sad and desperate and not going to win him this election. Peter baker, i think that is the precise political read. But im curious of your perspective of having covered john bolton as closely as you did, when you look at the depravity of money like bill barr and mike pompeo, about all that bill barr is willing to do to help further a Conspiracy Theory that fbi said isnt happening, about voter fraud and all that pompeo is willing to do. Trey gowdy, a right wing guy looked at hillarys emails. What makes men debase themselves in a final act it would appear of trumps attempted war against political adversaries. Well this is the thing, right. Here we are almost four years in President Trumps presidency and suddenly now they have to release the emails. Why now . Because he could have done it four years ago. He could have come into office on january 21st, 2017 and say i think it is in the National Interest that the emails release and i declassify them and put them out. What is the reason that they didnt do it. And what is the reason that pompeo didnt do it for four years. Hes been resisting the president of the United States up until this point. There is a lawsuit by the Judicial Watch which is a conservative organization seeking these emails to come out and the president has been frustrated that pompeo hasnt done it and he sudden publicly that pompeo needs to do it and pompeo is agreeing to. But they havent explained is how they show the public that Hillary Clinton was too cavalier with classified information by then releasing the emails that had the classified information in it. How is that affecting the secrets that she didnt protect. Not clear about that, right. So i think youre right. And john is right. This is that magic bullet we were talking about, is there one between now and the election. There was one four years ago, right. This is one four years ago. The discovery of anthony wieners laptop and the fact that the investigation was reopened by james comey in the last days of the campaign was a magic bullet for President Trump. It may have gotten him elected. Looking for that same pattern again, however, is does seem like hes fighting a last war, as john said, i dont know whose votes are going to be affected today by Hillary Clintons emails. But it destroyed any political ambitions of pompeo because he looks like a weenie. Im not releasing him because hes not running against Hillary Clinton. Next question. And we should point out peter baker, donald trump his didnt always tell us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but truth said that donald trump has tested negative for covid. Do you have any reporting on todays Health Status of the current president . I dont have any more beyond that, no. I dont. Weve obviously been watching for real hard information not the sort of kind of clever words and so forth. So well look at that. All right. Well keep everybody updated. Thank you both. When we come back. Donald trump didnt just fail to drain the swamp, he reinvented it so he could benefit from it and swim around in it. That story is next. Dont go anywhere. S next dont go anywhere. A woman who was young had covid19. I remember her because she had a bracelet that had the names of her children. She asked me, doctor, am i going to be okay . and i could not give her the answer that i wanted to give her. There is no excuse for why we dont have this under control at this point. Joe biden listens to medical experts. He actually has a plan that does the things that we should have been doing many months ago. And joe biden is not going to let his ego get in the way of fighting the disease. Ff pac is responsible for the content of this ad. When was the last time your property tawhat . L went down . Never. Are you kidding me . For years, the residential burden has gone up. While the corporate burden has gone down. Prop 15 reverses that. It closes corporate loopholes and invests in schools, small business, and firefighters. And when the big corporations pay more, your tax bill goes down. Thats right. A savings of a hundred twentyone dollars a year for the average home. Give homeowners a break. Vote yes on 15. Proposition 16 takes some women make as little as 42 of what a man makes. Voting yes on prop 16 helps us fix that. Its supported by leaders like Kamala Harris and opposed by those who have always opposed equality. We either fall from grace or we rise. Together. Proposition 16 provides equal opportunities, levelling the Playing Field for all of us. Vote yes on prop 16. Donald Trump Campaigned in 2016 as the guy who was going to drain the swamp. Railing against what he called a corrupt system and telling his audiences that it was their last chance to restore honesty in the u. S. Government. Now new information uncovered by the New York Times reveals that trump instead created a swamp unlike anything in modern president ial politics. From the stunning new times reporting, quote, once mr. Trump was in the white house, his Family Business discovered a lucrative new revenue stream. People who wanted something from the president. An investigation by the times found over 200 companies special Interest Groups and foreign governments that patronize his properties while reaping benefits from him and his administration. More than a quarter of those have not been previously reported and just 60 customers with interest at stake before the Trump Administration brought his Family Business near 12 million during the first two years of his president ially, almost all saw their interest advanced in some fashion by mr. Trump and his government. Joining our conversation, nick con fisory, tell me more about this reporting. Im a junky for all of these tax investigations because they paint a picture that is sort of rivaling whether it was more incompetent or corrupt. These stories seem to bring all those things together. Well, it is true, nicolle, that we were able to take some of the tax data and get first off a glimpse into the revenue stream coming to the president s Family Business from special interests who wanted things from his presidency and able to find new examples of special interests that were patronizing his resorts, the maralago, doral and the Washington Hotel and we found this pattern, we found hundreds of businesses groups and people who were patronizing these properties and in turn were getting some kind of a benefit from the president. And these benefits span widely. They got policies. They got funding. They got appointments. They got access to make their case on policy to the president. They got bills signed. They got the test cut in some cases. It is an astonishing pattern of transactionalism from a president that we havent seen before in modern history. I think the other thing that is revealed through this entire body of times reporting is how defenseless we are as a country from just straight up corruption. I mean, these are conflicts of interest, these are things that are usually sussed out by norms. They did none of that. And you guys also have some great reporting about how hes constantly in touch with his sons about the businesses and that hes actively involved in all of the properties and all of the businesses still. It is a great point, nicolle. Our system of government is not self correcting as weve learned. And when the president decided to not divest his assets he created a massive loophole. And our reporting shows that contrary to the president s promises in jarn 2017, that he wouldnt talk business with his sons and be involved in the business, he was surprisingly closely involved. He looked at the membership list for maralago and his son spoke before a major transaction involving the scandal of the soho hotel and constantly checking in on how maralago was doing on the business that doral was doing, so he really had close tabs. And just think of it, nicolle. This is a person in the most powerful office on earth. Right. Hes the american president. And he is spending time checking on dollars and cents in the bottom line for the business that he pledged he would have no business with. It is an unbelievable body of reporting. And when you take this scoop and you put it against the first revelation, that hes in more debt and potentially has a giant audit that could go not his way, it is really an alarming portrait of someone who is not a very still a rich person but not a very successful businessman. Nick, were grateful to have this reporting and to have you help explain it to us. Thank you for spending time with us today. When we come back. With three weeks to go before the election and his fourth nba title, lebron james is kicking his efforts to get out of the vote into high gear. Deadline white house will be back with that story next. Whoa i feel good i knew that i would, now i feel good get a dozen double crunch shrimp for one dollar with any steak entree. Only at applebees. Its about the humans, this human, that human or these humans. Its about getting more than Health Insurance and a partner who listens and acts. Humana calls it human care. Its about offering a range of Medicare Advantage plans many that include Prescription Drug coverage. Its about talking to your doctor from your couch helping you find cheaper prescriptions before you even ask. And a plan as low as a zero dollar monthly plan premium in many areas. Call or go online to speak with a licensed humana sales agent and get your free decision guide. Its about helping you find specialists and schedule appointments. And covering you in emergencies wherever you are. Its saving big on prescriptions like humana Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plan members who saved an estimated 7,800 dollars on average on their prescription cost last year. Its about feeling your best with silver sneakers fitness programs and its knowing that your dental and vision care are included with most plans. Humana, a more human way to healthcare. Call or go online to speak with a licensed humana sales agent and get your free decision guide. We know we all want to see better days. And when we leave here, we have to continue to push that. Continue to push social injustice and continue to push for Voter Suppression and continue to push for Police Brutality and for everything that is the opposite of love. And i think if we could continue to do that, all of us, america will be a much better place, which we all love this country. Lebron james, the only player ever, ever to win an nba finals mvp with three different teams. He scored a tripledouble to secure the fourth World Championship ever his career. He might be the greatest basketball player of all times. The debate on other networks, not this one. But that is all part of his legacy. After the game six victory he was talking about what is next. For a social Justice Movement that he helped propel. That spirit of civic and social engagement persisted after last nights game in the form of this new ad. Watch. To us, this was always about more than basketball. We said we would bring the fight here. And while the season is over, the work is not. Joining our conversation, our friend wnba player and member of the Lebron James Led more than a Vote Campaign renee montgomery. What a win, what a moment in the shadow of the tragic death of kobe bryant and the victory for lebron. First as a basketball fan, what did you think last night. Thank you for having me. I love your breakdown after the debate with you and joy and rachel. I love it. But for me, i cant it is hard to put in words because when you have a tragedy happen such as what happened with kobe and gigi, you know everybody is praying for them and you want to win for them and do everything right for tem. So for the lakers to be able to do that and successfully do that, i see where they were crying. And people were crying not just for the victory, but for a long hard season. Being in the bubble. Having your season split into two seasons. So i think this win is a culmination of just everything. Its so interesting how the heart of sports cuts through all of the noise and all of the bleakness and youre right there are so many accomplishments. The nba bubble managed to get through its abbreviated second half of the season without any positive covid cases, really showing i think that that model is safer than what the Major League Baseball is doing but seconds after the win lebron had his eye on november. How important is this effort that youre working on with him to him. Well today were 22 days out, were 22 days out and the reason that that is important is because here in georgia, early voting has already started. Even with lyft, get a free ride and start early and the reason that it is so important is he handled his business in the bubble. And they talked about it in the advertisement. Bringing the fight there on the court. No one could argue that any athlete, any athlete just in this time period didnt bring the fight there. So keck. That is a box checked. And lebron james is a goal oriented guy and chiefed one goal and moved right on to the next. And we dont want it to be lip service. We want everybody to have a game plan to figure out what youre going to do and execute that game plan to vote. I am not going to play it but i just wanted to tell our viewers that Rush Limbaugh and donald trump are driven wild by what yall are doing. They were attacking lebron on friday, that was before last nights victory. I mean, and i always did doesnt matter that their bothered personally but i think in politics, when the other side is hand you know youre scaring them and getting closer. What would be the definitions of success for lebron of this voting access, Voting Rights campaign . The numbers. We know that numbers last election. 60 of available voters voted. Well we cant do that again. Weve heard everybody say it doesnt matter what is going to change, were stuck in this pandemic. But we have to start somewhere, right. We have to start somewhere to get ourselves out of this hole that weve dug ourselves in. And when i talk about holes there is a lot of them. There is the pandemic. There is a work crisis, there is a love crisis and im glad lebron addressed that because we see videos of people attacking people in a country where we are supposed to be united, im glad he brought it up because we look divided in our news cycle and hopefully we could look for better days and start with november 3rd. Do you think there is a part of lebron that was made aware of laura ingraham, a fox news host saying he should shut up and dribble that took that because you follow his career and he takes a challenge and makes a plan and it encompasses his body, his mind and spirit and moves the urn verse around those around those goals. Do you think there was something put in motion by someone suggesting he should keep his talents on the court . Yeah, a whole brand started, you know . A whole brand that i wanted to be a part of, a more than an athlete brand. She said what everyone was thinking. She said it out loud so shes the one we talk about. But theres been plenty of news articles, theres been plenty of fans, plenty of everyone telling athletes just go play. Let the politicians handle the politics and you go handle the sports. Something birthed from that, something beautiful, more than an athlete birthed from that and that tells you the psyche of lebron where he took that super negative situation and built a brand off of it. Well, we thank god that he did the opposite. So, renee, thank you so much for spending some time with us. Were going to check back in. You talked about numbers. Id love to follow that story as we get closer to election day and beyond. Ill be back. I love that threewoman chat. Come on now. Were going to have you join us one of those nights, too. We could use you. We could use your positive energy sometimes. Im sure you know what im talking about. Its a date. When we come back, as we do every day, remembering lives well lived. [ beeping ] [ engine revs ] uh, you know theres a 30minute limit, right . Tell that to the rain. [ beeping ] for those who were born to ride, theres progressive. Or psoriatic arthritis, Little Things can become your big moment. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not an injection or a cream. Its a pill that treats differently. For psoriasis, 75 clearer skin is achievable, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. For psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. And the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. It may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. Tell your doctor about your medicines and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. A mother of four allowed just a single visitor per day. Think about what it must have been like for margergie kidds daughters. They had to take turns driving hundreds of miles from their home from virginia down to South Carolina just to keep her company in the hospital. Margies condition got worse and soon her vitals indicated she only had days to live. Margie kidd passed away. She had been a teach . A good one republican respected, beloved. She had a goodness about her, a sweetness. That just stuck with people. According to the post and currier, margie was asked to come back to work for statemandated assessments. She was nervous, but she did it anyway. Her husband of 47 years was getting over colon cancer and heart surgery and margie was the only one able to work. She needed to pay the bills so she wore a mask and gloves and a face shield, but still the disease found her. A genuine, caring soul. Margie kidd passed away at the young age of 71. To her family and to teachers everywhere, we are thinking of you this afternoon. We will be right back. Knowing who we are is hard. Its hard. Eliminate who you are not first, and youre going to find yourself where you need to be. The race is never over. The journey has no port. The adventure never ends, because we are always on the way. To give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you dont. [grunting noise] ill take that. Woohoo 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar. Ensure max protein. With nutrients to support immune health. Thank you so much for letting us into your homes during these extraordinary times. We are grateful. The beat with my friend and colleague ari melber starts right now. Hi, are and. Hi, nicolle. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. I want to welcome everyone to the beat. More bad news for donald trump in the president ial polls. This clash in the senate over his Supreme Court pick. Plus joe biden speaking tonight in ohio. Youre looking at live pictures. The former Vice President is now statistically tied with trump. Were keeping an eye on any news that may come out of this highstakes appearance in cincinnati. He also just hit the president for contagious campaigning. His reckless personal conduct since his diagnosis has been unconscionable. The longer donald trump is president , the more reckless he seems to get. More reckless, well, biden is speaking about scenes like this. Trump restarting his campaign in a packed florida crowd. This is one week after leaving the hospital infected with covid while his white house staff nt