Transcripts For MSNBCW Kasie DC 20200726

Sputtering economy in congress and later, is karen bass the best person to give joe biden extra bounce to get elected . Ill talk to the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus october habout her status on the v. P. Short list. First, with 100 days to go and counting until the november election, the country is battling crisis on multiple fronts. Were continuing to see disturbing scenes from several cities including portland and seattle where Police Declared what is going on to be a riot. There is violence and the questions about the role federal agents are playing on the streets of the cities. This comes as the coronavirus pandemic rages on. There are now more than 4. 2 million cases here in the united states, more than 147,000 americans have now died in 18 states, set single day records for new cases this week. That is to say nothing of the millions of americans who are out of work and now looking to congress for additional aid and extra 600 in Unemployment Benefits is set to run out this week and republicans and democrats remain at odds about the path forward. Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin and white house chief of staff mark meadows were back negotiating on capitol hill today. I see us being able to provide Unemployment Insurance maybe a retention credit to keep people from being displaced or brought back into the workplace, helping with our schools, if we can do that along with Liability Protection, perhaps we put that forward, get that path and negotiate on the rest of the bill in the weeks to come. But that approach just outlined there is one House Speaker nancy pelosi earlier this week rejected. You cant get a bigger deal, are you open to temporarily extending those benefits for people . No, maam. This is a package. We cannot piecemeal this. This is, as you see, it has an integrity. It has a oneness about meeting the needs of the American People, defeating the virus as we honor our heroes and put money into the pockets of the American People. And joining me now is House Majority jim clyburn and the chair of the house select subcommittee overseeing the federal response to the coronavirus. Congressman, thank you for joining us. Let me start with that. You heard what mark meadows, the treasury secretary is saying today that look, there is this deadline, this immediate deadline liooming at the end of the week when the extra 600 of Unemployment Insurance folks have been getting expires at the end of the week. Meadows is saying hey, maybe there is a way to get a deal on that. Some kind of deal on money to schools to deal with the kids coming back, some form or another this fall and he says Liability Protection for companies. He says maybe there is a way to get a deal on those three fronts this week. I see you shaking your head. Is that a no . I hope so. Im not doing negotiations first of all, thanks for having me. I agree with speaker to l eer p. Well start piecemealing this stuff. This is about peoples lives. These things are enter locked. You cant have 600 just for people not going back to work. Thats not what this is for. We have Daycare Centers closed all over this country. Youve got people who are essential workers that got to go to the Grocery Stores to the drugstores, theyre waiting on people. There are people driving transport vehicles and they have children. They have to take care of those children. The Daycare Centers are closed and thats what the 600 is about. So they will be able to go to work and be able to take care of their children. That means they are going to have family members coming in, trying to help them take care of their children who are out of school. So well start piecemealing this stuff. Look at this wholistically and thats what nancy pelosi is talking about. Thats the integrity that shes talking about. And so i would hope that the white house would stop this foolishness and lets see what we can do to stabilize families, secure communities and make sure that our people keep this economy moving. Theyre the ones that reckon the economy. Both seem to be the issue of Unemployment Insurance boost thats been kicking in 6 600 top of the various amounts every state is giving out. The objection from meadows and mnuchin, they are saying there is a large number of americans with that boost are now receiving more money than they were making before they received, more money they were making in the jobs. There was a university of chicago study that said the average increase there was 34 . You got mnuchin basically saying he wants 70 here. He wants this to be covering 70 of peoples wages because people should not be getting more money in Unemployment Insurance than they got in their jobs. Is that a principle you agree with . Not necessarily. It depends what people have to do with the money. The fact of the matter is this foolishness about people not wanting to go to work is just not true. There is dignity in work. There is dignity in being able to take care of your family. I dont believe that for one moment and i would love to see some stuff thats indicating that to be the case. If you remember before we ever got the program kicked off, the two senators from my state, Lindsey Graham and tim scott both held a press conference trying to derail the program without ever giving the program a time to work. Thats the kind of short sidedness that goes into this other thing. Nobody is thinking about what happens to these peoples children. Nobody is thinking about the other things that go along with trying to keep a family together, trying to keep their home secured. Thats the kind of stuff that we have to start thinking about here and i would hope they would stop all of this stuff. Thats the same kind of stuff we got with welfare queens and that sort of stuff. This is about securing families and taking care of stability in communities. So then on that issue of jobs of potentially at least getting people back to work, again, what youre hering from administration, i want your take. You heard meadows say Liability Protection, the idea of congress pasting some kind of a shield for businesses because youre going to have all sorts of potential, legal issues with businesses operating in some form during a pandemic, providing some kind of legal Liability Protection there for businesses. Whats your take on that . My whole take is to take a look and tell me where those issues form a problem. This Liability Protection, mcconnell has been talking about that before we ever passed the first cares act. This really is a red hoeronhero. We ought to be protecting families. The question of protecting the liability that may flow to a corporation seems to be where their heads are. We need to protect families and look at this other stuff later on. Someone needs to show me where in a corporation has been subjected to any kind of lawsuit dealing with this pandemic. I have not seen it. Our chair, the select committee on covid19, none of that has ever come to the attention of a select committee. Im not going to say it not happening. All im going to say it is never come to our attention as being a problem that we need to deal with. I want to ask you we mentioned in the setup, this is various disturbing scenes from cities around the country, different issues depending on which city were talking about. I want to ask you about portland, oregon where youve got this issue of there are federal agents that are on the ground there in portland. Administration saying here this is because there is a federal courthouse there thats been under attack, basically, under siege. And that the agents are there to protect federal property. I want to understand your view of the actions being taken, your understanding of and view of the actions being taken by administration and in general, do you think there is a role there for federal agents to protect this courthouse and federal property in oregon and elsewhere . Who protects that federal courthouse every day of the week . Who protected it two months ago . The local Law Enforcement people know how to protect property. They dont deserve between federal or state property. The fact of the matter is, there are federal buildings all over colombia, South Carolina and our local Law Enforcement people protect those buildings and if they need help in protecting those buildings, they will ask the federal government for help. Nobody asked the federal government to come into portland. Nobody asked them to come to seattle. This is something thats made up out of cloth by this administration as an excuse for sending in storm troopers in order to incite people. Now, the local authorities are telling you that their presence does nothing but incite. If you think for one moment that this is coming from the protesters, i just ask you to think about those people walking across the independence bridge 55 years ago. Peaceful people. The only violence came from those officials that were ordered to go there. The only violence in portland, the more things change the more they stay the same. You supported democratic president ial nominee with joe biden indicating his selection of a running mate, a Vice President is going to be relatively near future. You, i imagine, would have some degree of influence with him given that there are compelling arguments out there that you saved his campaign with that endorsement in South Carolina at the time you delivered it and what happened following that endorsement. Im curious, do you look at the field of Vice President ial picks, do you have a short list youd like to see the former Vice President considering here . My short list has 12 people on it. Look, what i tried to do was to help the person i felt this country needed at this particular juncture. I felt that was joe biden. And i trust joe biden to make the kind of decision that will enable this country to fulfill its greatness. This is a great country. We dont have to be made great again. Our challenge is to make this countrys greatness accessible and affordable for all of its citizens. And i look out there and i believe today that we look at the two people vying for this job. One or two of them will be sworn in come january and of the two, the person i think is best suited to make this countrys greatness accessible and affordable for all of it citizens, all of his citizens is joe biden. I also believe that he will make the right decision and get a running mate. Im not going to tell him what to do. I made it very clear to everybody thats asked, im the father of three daughters. I would be very proud to see an African American woman on the ticket but that to me would be a press for joe biden but not a must for joe biden. I think joe biden ought to get all the information, do the polling, do the vetting, and sit down and see what his relati relationship would be with these potential candidates and the one that he feels hes compatible with, get that person and lets go and win the election. Im just curious, you mentioned your view is an African American running mate, would be a plus not a must. Is your sense that is how joe biden is looking at this because certainly, there is a lot of pressure, i think, public pressure on him to go in the direction of an African American running mate with everything going on in the country right now. Do you think his sense would be a plus but not a must . I think hes said as much. Hes said there are about four African American women on the ticket, on the list. So i think that what hes indicating that that might be a plus. That does not take anything away from the other ten or 12 that might be on the list. I have no idea how many are on the list. But i will say this today and ive said it before, i am not giving any advice to the Vice President , former Vice President as to who he should select. I trust him. I think he has been Vice President before, he knows what he went through. He knows what made him such a good Vice President and i think he will find that inner person. So he knows what the job is all about. I trust him. Not just now but ive been trusting joe biden for a long time to make good solid decisions and i really believe he will make the decision that the American People will be pleased with. All right. Congressman james clyburn, the House Majority. Thank you for taking a few minutes. Appreciate it time. Thanks for having me. All right. Coming up, President Trump changing course on everything from School Reopenings to the rnc to the importance of masks to throwing out the first pitch at a yankee game in august. Jake sherman, aaron haynes and elih join me next and speaking of baseball, even arguments with umpires look a little different with new protocols in place today. An ump was quick to put on his mask before getting a talking to from the pirates manager derek shelton. These are strange times indeed. Were back after this. Nge timesd were back after this. Hike Simon Pagenaud takes the lead at the indy 500 coming to the green flag, racing at daytona. Theyre off. In the kentucky derby. Rory mcllroy is a two time champion at east lake. Touchdown only mahomes. The big events are back and xfinity is your home for the return of live sports. Phillip rucker saying President Trump was adamant that congress cut payroll taxes until s suddenly he backed down and demanded nations schools reopened until he allowed for wiggle room and insisted upon filling every seat at the Republican National convention until suddenly he cancelled event and refused to wear a mask until he did and morphed into a mask evangelist. This is a week of retreat. Joining me now, Senior Writer for politico and msnbc jake sherman and editor at large for the 19th, erin haynes and White House Reporter for the los angeles times. Thanks to you for being with us. Jake, let me just start with you and pick up on what we were talking about in the last block with james clyburn. You got various expiring deadlines here. I think the most immediate high profile one was the end of the week, the 600 Unemployment Insurance boost is set to and spire and t expire and pelosi and clyburn a few minutes ago saying no, no comprehensive. You know capitol hill as well as anyone. What are the odds by the time this Unemployment Insurance boost is set to expire at the end of the week, there is a full comprehensive stimulus deal in place . Close to zero i would say. I think this is going to be nearly impossible with john lewis funeral coming up in the coming days and a whole host of remember ambulances including in washington. I dont see that happening. A few things to note, number one, there is the opportunity to do a patch for Unemployment Insurance at the end of this week. That option does exist. It doesnt seem likely because nancy pelosi loses a lot of leverage in that case and so do democrats, frankly, getting some large comprehensive deal. So they are likely to say no and nancy pelosi already said no. I would imagine that in the coming days republicans tomorrow, actually, are going to put out their marker, what they would like to see happen in a covid relief bill and democrats and republicans will Start Talking and if not the week after, a complicated negotiation. There is not a lot of over lap between the two sides. This will be very, very messy, mess messier than any negotiations so far. Thats the immediate economic question in terms of stimulus and relief. Lets talk about the president and the message and posture hes trying to strike here when it comes to this pandemic. We noted in the introduction, the president said were not doing the Republican Convention in Jacksonville Holding briefings again several times in the past week where his tone on this was far less combative than we have come to see in the past. Take us behind the scenes at the white house. What are the contours of this shift . Is it simply the tone hes trying to strike in public and what is the sense in the white house there has been some meaningful change that will last more than a few days . Is there any confidence on that . Many take things day to day. This is a president for the better part of four years how has really believed in his own ability to just sort of engineer an alternative reality to Say Something and make it so. And he has been slow to come to grips with the reality. Reality thats been born out of his campaigns polling, reality about an rnc he decided to move, a great expense to the party and his campaign to a second location in florida and only last week upon learning that a lot of rnc members and delegates were hesitant to go to jacksonville because of whats happening there with the spiking case load in the state, the president then decided okay, if were not going to get the crowd, lets cancel it. Let present it as im finally being judicious and cautious and following Public Health first. The problem is were five or six months into the pandemic and this is the first week where the president is starting to at least say the words of a president who is taking this seriously when it comes to masks. When it comes to recognizing that some events just may not be possible. But its taking him a long time, of usually, to get to that point and hes frustrated for several weeks until last week under the new chief of staff mark meadows, hes trying to flood about Regulatory Reform and roll backs trying to talk about anything other than this and that wasnt working because there is one subject that matters more than anything else to the country right now and thats the pandemic. What are you doing about the pandemic . They feel like maybe they can stop the bleeding if they put the president out there at the podium and he doesnt put his foot in his mouth or make the situation worse but, you know, thats really remains to be seen because this is a president who is really hard to keep within the lines so to speak. Thats my followup question. Is there any sense that the president now having done this some version of this for a week, do you have any sense he feels okay im hitting the right notes here . Is he bristoling at having to do this . Does he have some instinct to go . Do you have a sense if this is if this is agreeable to him at all . Well, i think he clearly would rather be talking about other things. The campaign would rather be talking about something other than covid. They are going to, im told, start to really bolster efforts to find joe biden and attack him. They are learning into the messaging around Public Safety and being propolice and presenting the president as proplapr propolice but have to deal with this. The president is often times inpatient and needs instant gratification and if he feels hes being criticized on television and not seeing immediate dividends in the polling, there is concerns whether hell be able to stick to the new messaging. Erin elih mentions that. The white house seems to be in terms of actions its taken in terms of the president s, its the Public Safety in cities in the first block, the first discussion, portland, oregon, there is a federal agent presence on the ground there thats causing some controversy. Administration saying hey, that is to defend that federal courthouse, federal property there in portland and also chicago where youve seen this explosion in murder and Violent Crime in the last few months. The president does have a deal of some sorts in place there with the citys mayor to have federal agents working with Law Enforcement there. I saw the mayor today was saying ill draw the line at any kind of federal troops in the city but this is an area, not just the president s publishing message and rhetoric, they are trying to back it up with action. Is there more we can expect in that front . I think there is absolutely more that you can expect on that front. Listen, steve, we know that the 100day mark comes to kick off a consequential week to what is consequential election and seeing the president make a shift in terms of the Public Health response to covid19 but the dual pandemics of coronavirus and systemic racism are still on going and the president s messaging around law and order, if anything has been a message hes doubled down on. This 100day mark comes as we prepare to mark the 10 0th anniversary of sufficient fact. Black women had to fight for access to the ballot they did not win until the Voting Rights acts of 1965. Men like congressman john lewis we honor helped in securing and defending that right but they also pushed to end the systemic racism on full display during the dual pandemic and disproportionately impacted women and people of color. For those reasons, were seeing race and gender headed into the final 100 days are not just a story of the election cycle but story of 2020 and on the ballot for millions of voters heading into november. You mentioned it there. 100 days. Well have certainly plenty more in the next hour and a half where this race stands, how it might change over the next 100 days or how it might not change. More to come on that certainly but until then, i want to thank youall for joining us and when we continue, mixed messages, missed opportunities as cases of coronavirus rise in florida, texas and california but first, were just 100 days out from the election as i said so next hour, were going to the big board. We are going to break down the latest polling and were going to have special guests and later tonight, ill join chuck todd for another decision 2020 special. That is tonight 10 00 p. M. Eastern back right after this. . Eastern ckba right after this. Looks like they picked the wrong getaway driver. Theyre going to be paying for this for a long time. They will, but with accident forgiveness allstate wont raise your rates just because of an accident, even if its your fault. Cut sonny. Was that good . Line the desert never lies. Isnt that what i said . No you were talking about allstate and insurance. I just. When i. Lets try again. Everybody back to one. Accident forgiveness from allstate. Click or call for a quote today. Acciwe see you. Eness from llstate. Looking out. For all of us. And though you may have lost sight of your own wellbeing, aetna never did. Were always here to help you focus on your health. Because its always, time for care. My father my grandmother my brothers and sisters my friends for going back to school the bbq the lake the beach my place for my neighbors my community my people my country my home for him for her for them for you. Wow. Jim could you ipop the hood for us . . There she is. Turbocharged, right . Yes it is. Jim, could you uh kick the tires . Oh yes. Can you change the color inside the car . Oh sure. How about blue . Thats more cyan but. Jump in the back seat, jim. Act like my kids. How much longer . Exactly how they sound. Its got massaging seats too, right . Oh yeahhhhh. Oh yeahhhhh. Visit the mercedesbenz summer event or shop online at participating dealers. Get 0 apr financing up to 36 months on select new and certified preowned models. New fixodent ultra dual power provides you with an unbeatable hold and strong seal against food infiltrations. Fixodent. And forget it. I know you told steve why you dont want to wear a mask but im wondering if you can tell us more why. They are not mandatory guidelines. Suggest you can wear them. Dont have to. When youre not able to socially distance, wear a mask, get a mask, whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact. They will have an effected and we need everything we can get. Well is be very good with the coronavirus. I think that at some point thats going to sort of just disappear i hope. It will probably unfortunately get worse before it gets better, something i dont like saying about things but thats the way it is. This week notable for a shift in the president s public tone when it comes to the coronavirus. The shift comes as weve seen cases rising significantly over the last month in states like florida, texas and california. While the numbers of cases has been soaring, the number of deaths in these states has so far not reached the horrific heights seen in new york back in april. Will things get worse in states like florida . Have they stabilized . Has our ability to save lives among those infected improved since the early days of this outbreak. Joining me now, dennis carroll, the current chair of the project leadership and former director of usa id oos ps pandemic and eg threats unit. Thank you for joining me. I want to start with your sense of where things stand right now. I was taking a look at the rolling averages of new cases. We talk about florida, california, arizona, these states. It looks like potentially things might be plateauing, maybe have hit their peak. Is that your sense of it or do you think these will keep rising, these number of new cases . Well, first off, thank you for a chance to be on your program, steve. Look, what were seeing first and foremost dramatic rise in cases was a direct consequence of the premature of relaxing of measures in may and we saw with labor day or im sorry, memorial day dramatic sort of gatherings of populations on the beaches of Southern California and in florida and were looking at the consequences of that now. Whether or not were looking at a plateauing, it really has to do with whether people are starting to take the measures that we know work very effectively. Are people beginning wear the mask, are they practicing appropriate social distancing . If they bring those measures to play, we will see a plateauing and well see a dramatic reduction in the number of cases but ultimately, it comes down to are these measures being adopted . And is there clarity in the guidance being given both at the governors level and at the white house on that these are the measures that in fact, will not only stop the rise in cases but dramatically reduce the number of people who will be infected as we go forward. I got to ask you, you mention around memorial day large public gatherings on beaches in Southern California. Around memorial day you had large public gatherings in cities across the country, protests, did that contribute to this . Well, theres not clarity about what extent the protests activities contributed. What we do know is that where we see the rise in cases right now is really closely associated with the kind of activities that took place over memorial day and weeks subsequent to that. So whether or not the protests had anything to do with the rise, it is not clear. There are a number of studies that have looked at participants in those protests to see to the extent that there was transmission occurring, and there appears to have been very little but again, those studies are incomplete and we have more to learn. We look at the situations in florida, the other thing i mention is the death rate. I was looking, the worst day in new york when this was raging in april was about 764 people in a single day died in new york. Taking a look down at florida, which is slightly larger than new york populationwise. You have a massive rise in cases but still at, right now, i think about 100, 110 people dying on a day. So about a seventh, a little less than a seventh of what you had in new york. Is that number you think is going to rise dramatically or does that reflect that weve learned some things about this disease how to treat it where the death rate now has been improved some . Right. Well, first off, i think we are seeing the benefits of improved clinical practices. It was much learned during the first period of the epidemic in new york and how to better manage those cases, new drugs have become available and new clinical practices. Were seeing a dramatic rise in the numbers of people surviving going on respirators and those all reflect changes in the kind of clinical practices that physicians are applying now. So the first events clearly were devastating but provided critical insight in how patients can be better treated. The second is that when you look at the demographics of who is being infected, were seeing a much younger population. Again, younger populations can be severely affected. They can have they can both die and have severe cases but they arent as significant as people over the age of 60. So i think its a combination of d demographic exposures and the Lessons Learned from the first wave of the epidemic going through new york. I think thats the other question there, just you mentioning the younger demographic getting it and of course, the concern is hey, younger people have contact with older people have contact with more Vulnerable People so there is the possible means to spread it there but when you look back at new york, obviously, there is some attention paid to decisions made by the governor when it came to Nursing Homes in new york, when it came to taking covid patients, putting them into Nursing Homes and half the deaths in new york perhaps were attributable to Nursing Homes. Is that something where there is progress since the early days . Have we learned better how to protect Nursing Homes . Is that a big reason why youre not seeing the scale of death in a state like florida you saw in new york . We certainly learned how to better protect People Living in Nursing Homes and to the extent that those lessons are being applied in florida for instance, im not really aware but its clear that that population has particularly vulnerable but also clear there are steps that can be taken. Again, learn from the experiences in new york that will protect those People Living in Nursing Homes. So one would hope that lessons from the first wave are being applied in Clinical Care and protecting the most vulnerable populations. All right. Dennis carroll, thank you, appreciate the conversation. Thank you. All right. When we return, 20 questions with the attorney general as william barr goes before congress this week. Hes going to face questions on everything from Michael Flynn to the commutation of roger stones sentence to violent clashes between protesters in portland and federal agents. Andrew wiseman joins me next. Alright so. Oh. Wt ill start. Oh, do you want to go first . No, no i dont. You go. I was just going to say on slide 7, talking about bundling and saving. Umm. Jamie, youre cutting out. Sorry im late hey, whoevers doing that, can you go on mute . Oh, my bad i was just saying theres a typo on slide 7. Bundle home auto for big discosnouts. I think thats supposed to say discounts. You sure about that . Hey, can you guys see me . The first and only full prescription strength nonsteroidal antiinflammatory gel available overthecounter. New voltaren is powerful arthritis pain relief in a gel. Voltaren. The joy of movement. New voltaren is powerful arthritis pain relief in a gel. All strength we aint stoppin believe me go straight till the morning look like we wont wait were taking everything we wanted we can do it all strength, no sweat attorney general william barr is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on tuesday. The hearing is simply called quote oversight of the department of justice. That vague broad title cast a potentially wide net over the large number of controversies the doj has been involved in recently included but not limited to the presence of federal Law Enforcement in cities across the country, the ousting of the former u. S. Attorney in manhattan, Jeffrey Berman, barrs decision to drop all criminal charges against Michael Flynn, the president s former National Security advisor that pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi and of course, the president s commuting of the sentence of his friend and confident roger stone on seven felony crimes. Joining me is andrew wiseman, former Senior Member of the Investigation Team and msnbc analyst. Thank you for joining us. Appreciate it. Let me start with broad range of possibilities. You know how these congressional hearings work here. What do you expect to be covered this tuesday . Well, think you gave it a very good overview. I think all of the topics that you mentioned are going to be on the table here and i think the trick for the Congress Leaders doing the questioning especially with a lawyer like barr is going to be the followups. Its going to be really staying with him and pressing for concrete answers. But i would say one of the key topics the umbrella is going to be unequal justice and it going to be an issue of favors for people like flynn, stone, manafort and are those same favors being given to everyone else . I think thats a topic that i think most viewers can relate to, you dont want to see the american system of justice have disproportionate advantages to people just because they know the president and they are supposed to be treated the same way regardless of whether they are friends of the president or disadvantaged youths from the inner city. I think attorney general barr is going to have a hard time answering those questions. Jerry nadler, we can play this. This is about a month ago. This is nadler talking in his committee about the attorney general. This is what he had to say. Mr. Barrs work at the department of justice has nothing to do with correcting injustice. Hes the president s fixer. He has shown us that there is one set of rules for the president s friends, and another set of rules for the rest of us. I think setting the stage there certainly for the tone that will be coming at least from the democratic side in these hearings. My question here is sort of on the specifics. We know these congressional hearings they can have fireworks, there can be dramatic moments and intense verbal combat. Do you think there is specific information that democrats can get out of these hearings . Yeah, one of the things they could ask the attorney general is tell me specifically when you have intervened for anyone else other than manafort, flynn and stone . Who else have you sought to reduce the sentence . Other than those three. And what other cases have career prosecutors resigned . I think the other area is why did you so pseek the resignatio of the southern attorneys in the district of new york and d. C. And in fact, the attorney general was caught, id say, the fancy word for it is lying when heish sho issued a press releasg the attorney had resigned and new york minute later, Jeffrey Berman said no, i havent. So that, i think, is something where you can have a specific response from the attorney general about what on gods green earth happened there and why were you seeking to have the removal so quickly . Weve seen the attorney general in some out obviously a in the first bush administration. How do you expect him to handle this hearing . So, you know, i once had a witness who was the under boss of the gambino crime family and he said when you go in the grand jury, you can sometimes tell the truth but you have to bob and weave and every now and then flat out lie. You know, i think in the past what weve seen from the attorney general, obviously, im not saying hes the under boss of a crime family but youve seen him bob and weave and avoid answering questions and i do think that the challenge for the democrats is going to be very specific followup questions trying to force the attorney general to answer. All right. Andr andrew wiseman, thank youprecia have a good night. When we return, the school attended by President Trumps son will not fully reopen in september as the president calls for classrooms nationwide to open with little guidance in many cases. Teachers preparing for an uncertain fall. Thats next. Preparing for an unceairtn fall thats next. Verizon knows how to build unlimited right. You start with the network j. D. Power has named the most awarded for Network Quality 25 times in a row. This network is one less thing i have to worry about. Then, give people more plans to mix and match, so you only pay for what you need. 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But teachers across the country have questions that are unanswered including how they will get access to the necessary ppe and supplies that they will need. By one estimate an average sized School District would need close to 1. 8 million in order to reopen safely. Joining me now is nbc news political reporter ali vitali with her latest on the series she session. Its a tongue twister a little bit, steve. But in this conversation about getting back to school were talking about students and the decisions their parents have to make, but also putting teachers back in classrooms. Thats a question that will impact educators across the country but most of those educators are women. There is no good choice. As schools figure what back to school looks like, no good choices and no playbook. Teachers across the country trying to solve an ever changing equation. Im waiting to hear back on what they have planned for us. Feeling left out of the process do you have any say in this. If i do im not aware of it. Emotionally torn. I want to be with my students but i dont want to affect my family. Are you scared for yourself . Yeah. I dont want to get covid. I feel like its not if you get covid, its when, when am i going to get it. A fear rippling through one of the nations largest work forces, one comprised mostly of women. It affects women in all sorts of different ways. Randi weingarten head of the American Federation of teachers. They are always dismissed and disrespected in terms of their opinion. We know what goes on in a classroom and nobody wants to hear that. Its like they position were making it up. The federal government has been clear. They want schools open and kids back at their desk. Even as cdc guidelines focus on inperson learning theres an emphasis on health risks that come with learning. Automatically if the virus is high in that community and spreading, you have to temper your open and strategies. Thats clear. One size does not fit all. Reporter still lingering questions from the people doing the teaching. How do we address attendance, get children online, what kind of curriculum. Im not sure if they are planning on staggered class or lunch times or staggered openings. All of the legitimate questions, you basically have a blank. It is presumed that we will figure it out. It is presumed that were just super people. They are also people with Health Considerations for their sech selves and loved ones. For their parents. My mom has a compromised immune system. Im the only one that can go take care of her. To kids, nearly half have school age children. Your Childs School could be making one decision whereas your school where you work is making one decision. Who on school policy. Where women are majority of teachers, men are the majority of school superintendents. Its kind of funny most of those conversations are having over zoom because they dont feel that its safe enough to motor in person. There are new smis on the back to school list, including ppe, but no answers on who will pay for it. A lot of schools in our district, there was no soap, no paper towels. Its kind of hard when we know theres a shortage on these items, when its hard to find these things for your home that they are going to find these items in bulk. Part of my job is also keeping my students safe. Im not going to be able to do that this year. Its just i cant follow any of the guidelines. I dont have enough space, i dont have enough equipment. Its just not possible. But then nothing else about this moment seemed possible either. Nobody ever thought they were going to go into teaching and be on the frontline. And steve, there was something really shocking that i took away from my conversations with these teachers. Some of them were questioning whether or not they should be drafting their wills before School Starts in the fall. It really hammered home to me the stakes are literally life or death and this is an issue thats unfortunately become politicized here. Steve. Yes, that is a sobering anecdote there. Ali vitali. Thank you. We appreciate that. Were dedicating the next hour into a deep dive into 2020. Amy walter, James Carville, dave watson will join me to break down the latest polls an survey the landscape. We are 100 days and counting from election day and were back right after this. Ng from election day anwed re back right after this my bladder leak pad . I thought it had to be thick to protect. But new always discreet is made differently. With ultrathin layers that turn liquid to gel and lock it inside. For protection i barely feel. New always discreet. New fixodent ultra dual power provides you with an unbeatable hold and strong seal against food infiltrations. Fixodent. And forget it. And get way more. Ith wso you can bring yours vision to life and save in more ways than one. For small prices, you can build big dreams. Spend less, get way more. Shop everything home at wayfair today. No uh uh, no way come on, no no nnnnono only discover has no annual fee on any card. Hold on one second. Sure. Okay. Okay safe drivers save 40 guys guys check it out. Safe drivers save 40 safe drivers save 40 safe drivers save 40 thats safe drivers save 40 . It is, thats safe drivers save 40 . Hes right there. Its him hes here. Hes right here. Hi hi. Hey thats totally him. Its him thats totally the guy. Safe drivers do save 40 . Click or call for a quote today. Welcome back to a special hour on where we stand, 100 days now until election day. Here is what we can say tonight. For the moment, President Trump is losing this race. The question is whether he can change that. The ap is out with a brandnew poll that shows 80 of americans are convinced the country is headed in the wrong direction. Thats an alltime high for this president. To be reelected, the president will have to claw his way out of the worst deficit any incumbent faced since george h. W. Bush in 1992. The president s handling of the coronavirus and Race Relations have both taken what has been a fairly close race and moved joe biden ahead by a solid margin now of around 10 points. Trump, of course, had planned to run on what in january was a red hot economy. Now, though, amidst the economic wreckage of the pandemic, hell need to convince voters that the economy is poised for a dramatic rebound and he is crucial to it. Though the president appeared to be down big in 2016, the number of opportunities for trump to make up ground may now be limited. After canceling Republican National convention plans in jacksonville, it is unlikely either candidate is going to get the kind of convention bounce weve seen in past elections. Could debates shake things up . Will there be debates . Will they be facetoface in the same room . Could big news on the coronavirus turn the tide in october . Are there other surprises that may be in store . Those are the kind of questions were pondering. To ponder it with me id like to welcome in my panel this hour, National Editor for Cook Political Report amy walter, Community Center for politics larry s lar lar larry sab addo and joel payne. Amy, let me start with you on the big picture where this race plans. We mentioned george h. W. Bush, hes the last to seek reelection and lose. The others got reelected. When you look at Donald Trumps political standing 100 days from the election, do you see something thats similar to bush 92 . Do you see strengths that werent there . Do you see weaknesses that werent there . The most obvious is weve never seen a pandemic before, so many tendrils on the pandemic, the economy, the concerns in the previous package about schools. It goes through every part of our life. On top of it, a real reckoning on race that the president has been decidedly on the wrong side of. You put those all together and you say in the next 100 days, can he gets right on those two issues. That seems not likely. The question in my mind, steve, is how many people right now are out there who are ambivalent about who to vote for. If you look at the polling weve seen in make of these swing states, joe biden over 50 means its not enough for donald trump to win those undecided voters or ambivalent voters, hes got to take them back from joe biden. So it suggests to me that he needs something to happen that makes joe biden look much less appealing, or at least like somebody that, you know, voters are now going to say, you know what, im going to take a second look at donald trump. I dont know about this biden guy. So larry, picking up on that, traditionally a candidate thats behind, they look to go after the opponent, go negative on the opponent. Weve been seeing in the polling. Number one, joe biden doesnt have quite the high negative numbers Hillary Clinton did in 2016. Two, when you take a look at the voters out there amy is talking about, they say they dont like either one of these candidates, right now they say they are breaking pretty decisively to joe biden. Are there going to be opportunities do you think there will be opportunities given how unusual this campaign will be for the trump people to turn this into as much a referendum on biden as trump . Do you think they will have those opportunities . You never want to say no when youre in late july and the election is in november. There might be something we cant think of at the moment but its going to be very difficult to do that. For one thing, its not as though people dont know joe biden. They might have detailed ensi encyclopedia knowledge about joe biden pt hes a pleasant enough guy. He doesnt have a lot of rough edges. Its not going to be easy. The other reason is because at least in my lifetime, other than, perhaps, richard nixon, we have never had a president so polarizing. Amy talked about how many people are left. Im sure there are some out there, i just havent talked to them in months who havent made up this minds. They already know who they are going to vote for. The only thing i can think of, steve, this is a parlor game we play. What could possibly interrupt this flow. Suppose theres a vaccine announced as having been developed, valid, lets say the end of october. You know how donald trump is. It will take him a week to have convinced his base, and maybe others, that he invented it. You have to allow for weird situations like that that could potentially affect the flow of the race. Joel, larry mentions coronavirus, we have a poll, a number of polls asked about the president s handling of coronavirus, our own he was 22 points unwater. Abc poll, 32, 60, nbc poll, 32, 68. These are dire numbers on the most pressing race in the country so far. Of course we mentioned a few months ago the theory for the Trump Campaign before there was a coronavirus there was a roaring economy and the president was going to ride this to reelection. Its been a pretty bankable model in the past for president s. Im curious, do you have a sense from a democrat standpoint, how did they shake up politics . Was President Trump in a strong position . Relatively strong position to have a shot at this election . I think if this was six months ago, the president had a strong chance, he was in a competitive position. I think the coronavirus is the anchor dragging the president s job approval down and also dragging all of his strengths down. When you look at who is the most trusted leader, who handles the economy best, someone a strong leader, those are things donald trump actually historically rated either even, above water, or pretty well at. Coronavirus dragged all of that down. Its joe biden who is the beneficiary of that right now. I even think about the down ballot impact. I was listening to amys podcast on friday and she had teresa greenfield on that seat in iowa isnt playing because donald trump has mishandled coronavirus and put more states down ballot in play because of it. So it is a real Mushroom Cloud effect its having on the entire republican up and down ballot chances if you look at this november. Amy, were going to go to the board here in a minute and show this but maybe you can whet folks appetite. The map. We have polls, these are battleground polls from michigan, pennsylvania, wisconsin, florida, arizona, North Carolina. Im not sure if we have the graphic ready. But the six swing states we were talking about going into this election, trump was sixforsix in these states in 2016. There it is. Some of these states hadnt gone republican in three decades. If you look at the polling in all six of these states now joe biden leads. Some of these leads are pretty big getting up near 10 points on average. When you look at the electoral map, is there a path for donald trump and what would it look like . Yeah, thats a great question, steve. Right now i dont really see that path. A whole lot of other things were just speculating about a minute ago and larry was caulking about would need to happen. The other thing about those six states, you pointed this out in terms of the margin. The margin isnt as important in my mind as the fact donald trump never hit 50 of the vote in those states which, you know, if youre thinking about this election and the things that have an impact here that we didnt have in 2016, theres no third party candidates. And the siphoning off of those third party candidates, the vote from Hillary Clinton and donald trump, it really was much more significant for Hillary Clinton and what it suggests, too, is donald trump even in 2016, even when he was at his highest peak, he still was unable to get to that threshold. So i think the challenge right now if youre trump is to say, all right, where are the places that we can at least try to, again, bring joe biden down. The theory was always were going to go back to those midwestern states. Michigan looks off the table. Pennsylvania will be hard. Wisconsin, florida, North Carolina, arizona. That is the pathway to me, if youre the Trump Campaign, especially North Carolina and arizona, those races have been the polling there has been very close for a very long time. If youre joe biden, you dont need to win all those states. If joe biden wins florida, its basically over. And that to me is the real challenge for the president. Hes got to get back to a place where he can count on florida and go from there. Larry, theres also, if you think back to 2016, there was that moment a few weeks before election day, access Hollywood Tape came out and you saw republicans come out and distancing themselves, cutting donald trump loose. They thought he was a goner at this point. Obviously he got elected. If the polling continues. The electoral map looking like amy is describing this, how do you expect Election Officials to be handling trump from here to election day . Steve, if they are actually convinced at some point in the poll trump is almost certain to lose then well see for the first time what we havent seen for years. They will try to put some distance between themselves and trump. Good luck with that. They have enabled him from day one. Most of them have allowed no daylight between themselves and trump. I dont think they understand what thats going to mean not just this november but for many years to come in their reelection races. All right. Larry, joel, amy, thank you all for joining us. Really appreciate you being a part of the discussion. As i mentioned, were going to take a look at what amy is talking about. This is our first look 100 days out at the electoral map. What youre looking at is what happened in 2016. Donald trump put together 306 electoral votes. We thought we would take a look here. First from the perspective this is what the Trump Campaign has been talking about. They have been talking about throughout this campaign potentially adding some states to what he was able to win in 2016. What have they talked about adding . Minnesota. Hillary clinton won the state by a point and a half. It has demographic similarities to some of the States Donald trump was able to pickoff in 2016. Republicans have talked about adding minnesota. That was not supposed to go off. They have talked about adding minnesota. They have talked about adding new mexico. They have talked about nevada. The idea of getting the trump electoral camp up there and afford defections from other states. The problem from the Trump Campaign, minnesota fox news poll the other day, it was take 13point lead for joe biden. So at this point theres no indication that a state like minnesota, a state like nevada, a state like new mexico is on the verge of flipping. So at this point in the poll were seeing, the stories not about trump being on offense and adding states, this is about trump being on defense now and trying not to give away enough states to joe biden to get him to 270. What are the democrats again . Amy was talking about this. Well show you what it looks like on the map. Scranton, pennsylvania, polling has been positive. If he picks off pennsylvania, right there 252 getting Everything Else Hillary Clinton got. Michigan, the margin there in 2016 was just 11,000 votes. Trump the first republican since bush senior 88 to get it. Just those two states, nothing else, would have biden on the cusp of 270. If he got wisconsin, a third of traditionally midwest states. If he got that and nothing else, that would get him there. Lets say he fell short in wisconsin. The Republican Party was stronger there in 2018. If trump held onto wisconsin, how about new nbc maris poll today, arizona, trump state by 3 1 2 points in 2016, our new poll has trump trailing by five points. Suburbs around phoenix, democrats bullish on prospect of midter midterms. Shurlt you saw that. If biden gets arizona, arizona, michigan, pennsylvania. Again, these are ways just to get to 270. As amy was saying, the numbers for biden have been very encouraging in florida. You see how it becomes a best win state. Those electoral votes for biden suddenly he can afford to lose states and still be over 270. If he were able to get florida it opens up a ton of possibilities. You see it there. Trump needs to defend florida, wisconsin. Not a lot of protective measures trump can take to try to hold off biden when the National Polling is where it is now. Well see if trump is able to get this back to a race. His goal to get to where he was in 2016 its an uphill fight. James carville will stop by. He knows what it takes to beat an in couple ben. Karen bass in the run to push joe biden across. Shes going to join me just ahead. Across shes going to join me just ahead. Im a performer. Always have been. And always will be. Never letting anything get in my way. Not the doubts, distractions, or voice in my head. And certainly not arthritis. New voltaren provides powerful arthritis pain relief to help me keep moving. And it can help you too. Feel the joy of movement with voltaren. Liberty mutual customizes your Car Insurance, so you only pay for owhat you need. I wish i could shake your hand. Granted. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. 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Were committed to helping all families stay connected. Learn more at xfinity. Com education. President praup paraphernal President Trump and his adviser, a surge of federal officers into the american cities. The Washington Post reports the Trump Campaign wants to amplify the law and order message to show hes the last bastion of safety for American Public and u. S. Cities ravaged by crime and unrest which happen to be heavily democratic are the right venue. Campaign pushing ads that blame biden, say biden wants to defund the police, while claiming he will destroy suburban neighborhoods. New polling shows how much suburban women abandoned the president , including a fox news poll showing him down 23 points against biden with that demographic. Joining me veteran democratic strategist and msnbc political analyst James Carville and henry olsen, senior fellow and columnist for Washington Post. Thank you both for being here. James carville, you are the only person on our show this evening who has been part of a campaign thats defeated an incumbent president. Im going to start with you. Looking back at your experience in 1992, taking out george h. W. Bush president in 92 and where trump is right now, do you see a way for trump still to win this election . Do you think hes finished . No, im not smart nuf to do that, maybe henry can. Most important number when an incumbent is running is right track number. An average of 23. Hes got every one of those. For him to win, he would either have to change the number or penetrate have people that think the country is off on the wrong track to vote for him. Both of these are highly unlikely but its the only way he can possibly come back. All of the people on the right track are voting for trump right now, all 23 of them. The challenge is hes running for reelection in a country that is not very pleased with the way it is right now. That is a very dangerous position for an incumbent to be in. Henry, let me bring you. Im interested in your perspective. Youve looked closely at the trump base, trump voters. We put the stat up there, suburban women, gap trump is facing in the polls. Im curious, demographically where do you see defections from trumps coalition that got him in the white house and do you see a way to get them back by election day . Its extremely difficult to see how hell get them back by election day but pretty clear where the slide is. People who didnt like him and Hillary Clinton four years ago. They voted for trump reluctantly and late. They broke in the last week and a half of october. In 2018 a lot of them voted democratic. In 2020 they are saying they are going to vote for joe biden. He has to get his job Approval Rating up to where hes only had it for a day or to through his entire presidency, somewhere around 47 to have a prayer of getting close to 50 in those swing states. If he can somehow manage to do that, which includes changing peoples perception about the direction of the country, then hes got a coin flips chance of reelection. As i said, hes only done it for a day or two in his entire presidency and its difficult to see how he can do it in 100 days without some news interfering that people credit him for an unusual positive result. James carville, in terms of the president s opponent here, job joe biden, given the circumstances of the pandemic, we havent seen near as much of him as you would with an nominee and building nationally. You hear folks weighing in saying he should say this, say that. Im curious, what would your advice be to joe biden. Do precisely what youre doing. Dont listen to willynilly, ma. Hes doing what he needs to do. When he needs to, hes drawing a contrast. I dont really have a complaint what the Vice President is doing. By the way, trump is getting in a fight with the cheney family and reagan family. It would be like if joe biden got in a fight with clintons and obamas, i would say thats not a smart strategy. I dont know what this guy is doing or thinking right now. I think joe biden is doing just fine. I think his campaign is really smart. Theres just a lot of its not 2016, its 2020. You cant run like you ran the last election. I think hell be fine, if there is a debate. Im sure hell be glad to do it. Play out, democratic field, Bernie Sanders, elizabeth warren, mayor pete, these are worldclass debaters and he did just fine. Hes going to do fine. Im not worried in the least bit by joe biden. Im not worried in the least bit about his campaign. Henry, theres a Bigger Picture question in terms of the trump coalition. If trump does not come back and he is a oneterm president , has the Republican Party been changed demographically, idealogically by the Trump Presidency . Will it look different in a post trump era than it has in the past . Absolutely it will look different. Trump is a reflection of the ongoing change as much as hes the cause, that the Republican Party has been becoming a bluecollar, nonCollege Educated party for some time. Trump accelerated the trend. The Winning Strategy for republicans is how to keep most of the new trump voters and win back some nowhere near all, but some of the suburban voters who dont like trump but arent yet sold on democratic policies. If the republicans can do that, it wont look the same as the Old Coalition but also wont look the same in another way. It might actually be a majority. The Old Coalition was a losing coalition and getting smaller by the day. Same question to you, James Carville. We saw in 2018 all these suburbs, white collar professionals flocking to Democratic Party, leaving trump. Has the Democratic Party changed idealogically by the trump era. Of course it has. The Democratic Party is not so much an ideological party than a party of coalitions. Right now in our coalition we have four star generals and, you know, 18yearold urban females. That coalition is probably going to not last for a long time but the coalition will keep reinventing himself and adding and subtracting as it goes along the. The most important democratic segment are these suburban i would say College Educated women that are coming to the party in droves. I think those two demographics might be more compatible than people think. The coalition is going to shift. As henry knows now we have never trumpers, some moderate republicans, people, weak republicans turned independent, lean to biden. The coalition is always going to shift. The Democratic Party more of a coalition than it is an ideology. Certainly the party is more liberal than the Republican Party. The coalition now is more liberal than it has been in the past but will adjust as you go forward. End up with a lot of democratic senators, i mean a whole lot, 55 or more the way this thing is going. So the coalition is going to shift. It always does. I like to say im part of a coalition, im not part of a cult. All right. James carville, he helped bring about the last oneterm presidency. Well see if there will be another one. Henry olson, thank you. Really appreciate that. When we return, will voters who showed up for barack obama in 2012 only to abandon Hillary Clinton in 2016 come back to support joe biden. Plus congresswoman karen bass on the short list to be a running mate. First congress has to figure out relief for millions of americans and she joins me next. E joins m. Yes it is. Jim, could you uh kick the tires . Oh yes. Can you change the color inside the car . Oh sure. How about blue . Thats more cyan but. Jump in the back seat, jim. Act like my kids. How much longer . Exactly how they sound. Its got massaging seats too, right . Oh yeahhhhh. Oh yeahhhhh. Visit the mercedesbenz summer event or shop online at participating dealers. Get 0 apr financing up to 36 months on select new and certified preowned models. burke at farmers, we know a thing or weve seen a thing or two. Like how nice it is to save on your auto policy. But its even nicer knowing that if this happens. Or this happens. Or this. Or this. Or even this. Weve seen and covered it. So, switch to farmers and you could save an average of three hundred ninetyfive dollars. Get a quote today. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum my father my grandmother my brothers and sisters my friends for going back to school the bbq the lake the beach my place for my neighbors my community my people my country my home for him for her for them for you. Well, in states like wisconsin in 2016 we saw voters who had shown up for barack obama sit out election day when Hillary Clinton was the democratic nominee. As joe biden tries to win back states like wisconsin, what will it take to get those voters engaged again . Nbc reporter reports from milwaukee. Reporter it was one of the biggest surprises of 2016. Wisconsin, donald trump has won it. Last one to do it, ronald reagan. Donald trump becoming the first republican to win wisconsin is more than 30 years as turnout among the states black voters fell nearly 20 . To the africanamerican community, i say, what the hell do you have to lose . But with 100 days until the next generation. Aint nobody got to ask that question, they saw what they have to lose. Thats why they coming out. Thats why they took back the house in 2016. What do you have to lose . Everything. Now the pressure on joe biden to reverse the trend. Reuben hopkins from black chamber of commerce says bidens engagement of black voters needs to extend beyond policy and directly to his Vice President ial pick. Its that simple. Its that simple. Why . Because black people will come out to support a candidate. If theres a black female on the ticket, the black community is coming out. Not that sim says Assembly Candidate owens. After voting for obama he supported trump in 2016. They both have things to work with and they need to square and address and its on them to do in the next 100 days. Can people buy into, can they trust. Addressing the issues being highlighted by protesters who have been marching in milwaukee daily since George Floyds death and demanding systemic and rapid clang. Do you see a situation where democratic voters dont show up . I definitely do. I definitely think if locally here in milwaukee, if we dont see an instant surge of change, then i think you will see that. A warning for byte and the Democratic Party but also a clear opportunity. Theres righteous anger thats even more important and thats exactly what you see all over the country. Steve, one of the reasons why milwaukee was selected to host the convention was activate and mobilize the voters that can help them take back with battleground state. We now know the convention will largely be virtual but people on the ground telling me thats largely understandable but still a missed opportunity for the Democratic Party. Nbcs Shaquille Brewster there. Thank you, shaq, appreciate that report. In some elections Vice President ial spot can feel like an afterthought. For joe biden his pick could help him rein in voters you heard from but could be the democratic nominee in 2024. One on the short list, congresswoman karen bass from california, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and a member of the House Judiciary Committee. Congresswoman, thank you for joining us. I think you know the question is coming. I will get to it later. I will start with business before you in congress weve been talking about on the show. The most important is the looming expiration of this 600 a week Unemployment Insurance boost. The federal government providing that. It is due to expire the end of next week. It looks Like White House and republicans are a world away from you and fellow democrats. We had jake sherman, a reporter on capitol hill on earlier in the show. He was saying one possible outcome here is that there is a shortterm extension agreed to this week for that 600 insurance boost while this is figured out. Is that something youd be open to, extend it shortterm, Unemployment Insurance, and try to work out the other issues over a longer period of time . The main thing im open to is that people should not have to suffer. So whatever it is going to take for us to get a final bill out of the senate. You know, we really have to ask the question, why has it taken the senate two months. That bill has been sitting over there passed out of the house for a very long time. The idea they would let people get to the brink of suffering where they run out of money and might face eviction is just shameful. If we need to do something temporarily so people dont have to go a week without any money, then fine. But it really is unconscionable. Theres no reason for this. They had all of this time. They werent even in session. They could have been working over there. What were hearing from many republicans from the administration, Steve Mnuchin, treasury secretary saying that 600 is too much, saying for a lot of folks receiving that 600 on top of the state unemployment aid they get, that actually accounts for more money than they were getting before the coronavirus pandemic in their jobs. Basically saying the principle needs to be no one should be paid more than they were getting in their jobs. Is that a principle you would agree with . I love the way millionaires and billionaires think 600 a week is too much money. Im sure there are examples of that and cases of that, but it doesnt take into consideration the different cost of living around the country. So i just think that that is ridiculous. But its not just the 600, its also the Unemployment Insurance. So the theory is were giving people too much money and thats why they arent going back to work. How about they arent going back to work because their jobs are not open, because their jobs are not safe. The idea that they would say we have to cut peoples money in order to get them to work is just i dont understand how some of these people sleep at night while they are millionaires an billionaires. There are people out there watching this and wondering what the future Economic Security is, what are the odds of congress agreeing to a solution this week. I think the odds of us growing to a solution this week might be small, but i do know the senate is in session next week. So its almost as though they have timed it to take it into the first week of august. Again, people suffering unnecessarily. This pandemic has been so stressful for everyone. For some reason, because the administration has not figured out a national strategy, they keep trying to say, we just need to get everybody back to work as though the pandemic is going to go away without realizing that if we dont deal with the health issue, we cant deal with the economic issue. They are completely tied together. Okay. Let me ask you about the veepstakes. I told you it was coming. Here it is. Reports are out there. I know its something you talked about a little bit. Im curious, have you had any recent communications from the Biden Campaign about your status about where this process is . If offered, would you accept it . Now, you know im not going to talk about that, that you have to deal with the campaign. Let me just tell you that i am willing to do anything and everything over these next 100 days to get President Biden elected in january. He has got to be the one that we are swearing in. I really believe this election is a matter of life and death and that is demonstrated by the fact we have over 140,000 americans that are dead and we have a president whose job as commander in chief is to keep us safe and he doesnt seem to care about how many people have died. Im willing to serve in any capacity. Im willing to walk precincts safely, im willing to do phone calls, im willing to serve in any capacity. I want to ask you about one issue thats coming up in regard to your potential candidacy for this role in polit cothis has to do with comments you made in 2016 when fidel castro died, the cuban dictator he died. You called hcomandante, someone guilty of imprisoning political opponents, medical experiments on prisoners. I think you know the litany. The article quote Florida Democratic leaders Javier Fernandez said he finds your comments troubling. The democrats in florida are saying they are worried given the sensitivity of the name fidel castro and cubanamerican voting bloc in florida. The potential impact of someone who said that. He would like to know more about it, and i would, too. What was behind that comment and what did you mean by it . First of all, i have talked to my colleagues in the house about that, and its certainly something i would not say again. I have always supported the cuban people. The relationship barack obama and biden had in their administration in terms of opening up relations. I happen to believe sometimes the best way to change a regime is through having relations versus not. For the last six years ive been a member of the National Endowment for democracy, which is the organization that actually funds the democratic efforts in cuba. So again, for a country that is 90 miles away for a policy that weve had decades that hasnt worked, i think opening up relationships is the best way to go but i certainly understand the sensitivity. To me saying that, the understanding that the translation in spanish communicated something completely different. Lesson learned. Im just curious because im remembering back in the democratic primaries toward the end Bernie Sanders made comments saying there were positive aspects to the castro regime. How would you characterize the castro regime and its legacy . Well, i think the castro regime and its legacy is very troubling. Let me tell you that over the last few years one of the things that i have done with cuba they have a medical school where they have been training africanamerican and latinoamerican students. I have been recruiting those students when they graduate to come back and work in the inner city. The reason is because they are down in medical school for free, they dont come back with Student Loans so they are prepared to work in the inner city. The Latin American Medical School that has been training physicians i have been working with for the last several years. You know what, i could talk all evening. I could tell you about a number of regions troubling in a variety of different ways. I serve on foreign affairs, chair africa subcommittee. There are lots of african nations i focus on that have very troubling governments. Again, we have relations with them but i believe this is the best way to improve the situation is through communication and relationships. All right. Congresswoman karen bass the chair. Congressional black caucus. Thank you. Appreciate the time. Very welcome. When we return, republicans fearing bigger losses in the house and that their hold on the senate could be in jeopardy. Now, theres new reporting Kevin Mccarthy is begging for money. So far the Trump Campaign, in particular, Jared Kushner not answering the call. Back after this. D kushner not answering the call back after this. They will, but with accident forgiveness allstate wont raise your rates just because of an accident, even if its your fault. Cut sonny. Was that good . Line the desert never lies. Isnt that what i said . No you were talking about allstate and insurance. I just. When i. Lets try again. Everybody back to one. Accident forgiveness from allstate. Click or call for a quote today. Here we go. Weve been talking about the president ial race but 100 days since u. S. Senate elections. We want to give you a picture. Trying to get back the majority. 47 seats. If biden wins, thats an if, if biden wins democrats need a net gain of three seats. If they can get to 50 with biden Vice President they would then have control of the senate. Lets take you through what the senate Playing Field looks like. These are the states weve always been focused on in this cycle. Republicans said alabama, where Democrat Doug Jones won the special election several years ago against roy moore. Republicans optimistic they can peel that seat back. Democrats optimistic about arizona. Told you new poll there today, 12point lead for mark kelly, democrat there. Colorado cory gardner, republican, running, couldnt carry. Maine, Susan Collins, will see a lot of independent voters in maine buttressed collins. Democrats think that magic has worn off of her. Well see. If they could get three, lose alabama, they would already be at 49. North carolina thats another one they talk about peeling off. Thom tillis 2014, state very much competitive in the president ial race. That right there to 50. The story with joe biden taking that commanding lead nationally of 10 points, a lot more senate races have come into the picture. Suddenly were talking about montana, those two seats in georgia, iowa, kansas, especially if the republican wins the primary there. Democrats certainly feeling more bullish about their Senate Chances now than they did a few months ago simply because there are more targets. Thats what happened when one partys president ial candidate leads by 10 points in polling. Well see. If the race tightens, maybe the senate picture will as well. More on the next 100 days until election day right after a short break. 100 days until election day right after a short break. [ thunder rumbles ] [ engine rumbling ] [ 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. Republican strategists are looking on in alarm at their prospects not just at retaking the house as those fade but possibly losing the senate. We were talking about that a minute ago. Joining me is dave wasserman, house editor of Cook Political Report and news contributor, democratic pollster and pollster at the terrence group. I appreciate it. Ed, let me start with you. We were talking about the last segment at the board. Youve got lopsided poll numbers in the race right now, where joe biden is leading by 10 points. Youre seeing when you start looking at senate races, down ballot, suddenly all these opportunities for democrats. Im curious, when you look at the Senate Landscape right now, what do you think the odds are republicans retain control of that. Well, i think the odds are still about where they were before. Quite frankly if a president goes down big, he could very well drag them under water. Thats a concern we all kind of look at. But weve also seen Something Else recently in senate races. As they go into the general Election Campaign and campaigning about what they did for the state, what their record is about, not where their record ties to donald trump, they are survive even a very big loss with trump. Margie, what eds describing, i hear republicans saying in particular when it comes to Susan Collins in maine. I guess the bigger question out of that is if joe biden dont lead the president ial race, if it continues to be a sizeable lead, are you worried at all if theres an instinct on part of voters, ok, id rather have the other party have control on the other side as sorts of a check. Is that something that might trip up democrats downballot . Ultimately theyre going to be for the reasons somebody may be voting against trump theyre going to look at the republican candidate for senate or house and say what is that candidate doing to hold trump accountable or is that candidate a yes man or yes woman and i think across the board youre going to see a lot of republican candidates already have a record of defending the president no matter what. I think for folks who feel disillusioned, i think it will be hard to say this person whos never stood up to the president deserves to go to the senate. We went through the senate there. You specialize in the house. Democrats got the majority in 2018. Trying to hang on. What are you seeing there . Well, if you had told democratic strategists six months ago about some of the polling were seeing today, it would have knocked their sox off. Jump taylor just moved hay and david purdue in georgia to tossup in the house. We made 20 ratings changes all in democrats favor reflecting Movement Towards democrats there. Look, democrats could be the favorites for the first time this cycle to pick up seats in the house. Not a lot but maybe up to five or ten seats in the house, adding to their majority, whereas at the beginning of the cycle, the question was would republicans pick up the 13 seats they needed to reclaim the majority. So the story for republicans now, the question is will a number of them decide to run their own campaigns, run away from the president , argue for a check on democrats going too far. Ed, we had our new nbc mayors poll out of arizona today. In the president ial race this is something ive not seep in every state. In the president al base biden is leading. The democrat is doing better than joe biden. Hes the 12 points ahead. He had run for a seat. Lost it. Got appointed to this seat in the wake of that election. Ive seen a lot of polls where mcsally seems to be struggling and performing works to President Trump. That race in particular seems like a problem spot for republicans what do you make of it . It has been a problem for the republicans. Its been a very tight race. Its a race that we think in fact could go down. Has nothing to do with the president ial race. Its been tough since the very beginning. Thats a good example of a campaign that is getting more president at the president ial race there and the surprising thing is that if you look at the Biden Campaign, when they look at the numbers of what they need to do, they hock at were going to win michigan, were going to win pennsylvania. We just win one more state and win all the other states that Hillary Clinton won, arizona seems to be their fun target. Yet the senate race is still able to take president s over that in terms of attention. Marmgy, thinking back to 2018 midterm elections, democrats very successful in the howls. In the senate side they had some trouble, states like indiana, tennessee, deeply red states, north dakota democrats not only lost senate racings, they lost them by lopsided margins. Some of the targets, kansas, montana, iowa, states that President Trump won pretty happenedily in 2016. At least two, maybe iowa, i think hell likely win again by significant margins. How did democrats in those states, how do Democratic Senate candidates vote over folks that are running for president . First of all in montana you have the candidate for senate governor, so hes been eleked statewide. Stst had a democratic governor who won in 2018. A rot of the republicans who are up this cycle want trump won those states by narh oer margins. Those states, colorado, maine, iowa, North Carolina, had narrow margins. We should mention the rest of the senate map where you have National Enthusiasm for candidates in carolina and texas. We were talking about arizona. The fact that you had really strong candidate rekruts, people excited to run for office on the democratic side is a sign of the kind of year that democrats may have. And you can see that voters are following suit. All right. Margin, ed, dave, thank you all for joining us. I appreciate that. Sure. Thats going to do it for us. Join me along with chuck todd, 10 00 p. M. Eastern right here on msnbc. Tonight were having a countdown. 100 days to election day. First, Joshua Johnson continues our coverage next. Hey there. Im Joshua Johnson. Good to be with you tonight from nbc news World Headquarters in new york. The goodness of humanity. Few humans have the goodness of the late congressman john lewis. His body crossed the pettous bridge for one last time. Today, roses fell along the path of a horse draub carriage as did the tears of the crowds that came to say goodbye. Treasury secretary and white house chief of staff were back at the capitol today. They and Senate Republicans hope to find support for a new round of coronavirus relief. Millions of memps are about to feel a gap in their coronavirus Unemployment Benefits. No one knows when those benefits ll