Significant delays. That report goes on to blast the postmaster general. More on that in just a moment as well. We start this hour with nbcs kasie hunt. She is following that Senate HealthCommittee Hearing on capitol hill. Ca kasie, what have we learned so far . Reporter craig, the focus of this hearing has been, as you mentioned, on whats going on with that vaccine trial. Its been one of the most promising that weve been tracking, Oxford University and astrazeneca. We first heard from the director of the nih, dr. Francis collins, who talked about it generally. Why dont we watch a little bit about what he had to say and well talk about what senators were asking him as followups. Watch. I want to address concerns about safety. This is foremost in all our minds. We cannot compromise here. The announcement yesterday about the astrazeneca vaccine is a concrete example of how even a single case of an unexpected illness is sufficient to require a clinical hold for the trial in multiple countries. That is whats happening. There are ways, however, that we have adopted in warp speed to move quickly while retaining those most rigorous scientific standards, and i think you would want us to do that. People are dying. Reporter Committee ChairmanLamar Alexander followed up on this as he was immediately questioning the first questioner out of the gate there. What the doctor wanted to underscore there was that americans should not read into this clinical hold that things are not safe with this. Rather, the opposite, that this clinical hold was out of an abundance of caution and it should show americans that when and if there is a vaccine that is safe and effective, they will be able to trust it because these will be the kinds of measures that will have been taken in these trials. Craig, it does also potentially raise questions and this is something that im looking for from democrats about any potential emergency use authorization. So remember, the Trump Administration has signaled and there have been reports that perhaps they would allow an emergency use authorization for a vaccine in late stage phase three trials. But this, of course, does underscore the perils of that. It shows how important these late stage trials can be, that new and Different Things can come up and to ensure the trust of the public, you really need to make sure that that is all moving along as it should. Thats a major focus here today. The other question that senator alexander posed, and is something from a policy perspective were looking at, were already producing these vaccines. So if, in fact, one is shown to be safe and effective, it can be distributed widely. The officials testifying today that if, in fact, there is one proven not to be safe or effective, they will have to dispose of all those rounds of vaccine. Thats another story watch here, craig. Kasie hunti starting us off n the hill. Well talk about the hundreds of thousands of vaccines that are already in production. While that hearing is playing out, the actual work of finding a vaccine, as kasie just mentioned and the witnesses have just talked about, thats hit a set back. Pharmaceutical giant astrazeneca pressing pause on late stage trials. The company teaming up with Oxford University researchers say theyre investigating an unexplained illness in one of its participants. Nbcs keir simmons is following this part of the story from london. Keir, what do we know so far about this individual and what do we know about what happens next . Reporter we know very little about the individual. They are in the uk, craig. In terms of what happens next, there are those speculating that this may just be a pause of a few days. There has been a pause, similar pause during this process of developing this particular vaccine, what we think of as the Oxford University vaccine. That was back in phase one with another trial participant who was hospitalized. So its possible that it could be a short and brief pause. It does underscore, doesnt it, all of those experts who have warned us that it could be a rocky road to a vaccine, to not expect just kind of a smooth ride. Why they are right and all those same folks who have worried about making sure that people are confident in this vaccine, that is why i think youre seeing astrazeneca make that statement, just being clear to folks that this is routine while at the same time saying that safety is paramount. We spoke to one potential trial participant, a man in his 60s, who hasnt taken part yesterday who said im just reconsidering whether i really want to take part. Craig, imagine that. Imagine if this vaccine wasnt tested thoroughly enough as it is being and was rolled out to millions of people and then wed seem to have issues on the safety side, never mind the effectiveness side and what it would do to confidence. Thats what people are saying. Thats why the process is so important. At the same time, we dont know whether the illness that this particular trial participant has is related to the vaccine. Wet cant know whether, indeed, this is a serious problem for this vaccine or whether its just another bump in the road. We just have to wait, craig. All right. Keir simmons in london, thank you. Lets turn to dr. Ashish jha, the dean of Brown Universitys school of public health. Dr. Jha, to keirs point at the end, and you raised this issue this morning on the today show as well, a lot of folks were ringi wringing their hands on tuesday. But the reality is it would seem theres just as much of a chance that this individual who became ill, just as much of a chance that this wasnt related to the actual vaccine, correct . Absolutely. Again, thank you for having me on. We just dont know right now. This is pretty common in clinical trials. We see things like this where somebody might have something happen. We dont know if its related to the trial, dont know if its related to the vaccine or drug. So we put a pause and investigate. And often it turns out it has nothing to do with the vaccine. Unfortunately, were going to have to be patient. This is how science works. This is how careful science works. I think its great to see were doing the careful science and well find out more in the next couple days i hope. Speaking of the next couple of days, first of all, what are the kinds of serious Adverse Reactions that would warrant stopping a massive trial like this one, and as it pertains to the next few days and weeks, what are you watching for . The biggest thing im watching for is more information. More information from the company about what it was, what was the signal that they saw, what if theres a safety board looking at the data. It may take more than a couple days. It can take a while. It want to see what happened. Of course, other companies doing vaccine trials are going to go back to look to see if theyre seeing any of that as well. Theres going to be a lot of information, i suspect, over the next few days to a week or ten days. Putting it all together, well have a better picture of whether this is a serious problem or just a bump in the road and we keep going. Lets turn back to that Senate Hearing thats happening right now as we speak in washington. If you were not busy wearing multiple hats at brown, if you were in that committee room, what would you ask the Surgeon General of the United States and the nih director today . Thats a good question. First of all, i definitely would want to have the fda head there. I would want assurances that the decisions around the vaccine are going to be made based on science and not around any kind of political timeline. I think weve seen too much political meddling in the fdas decision making. I think the nih director, dr. Collins, has been incredible. Just incredible integrity, speaking plainly about science just like dr. Fauci. Id want to make sure and ask him and the leadership of nih to be involved in making sure the scientific integrity of the Vaccine Development remains so that we dont end up politicizing this. Its really critical we get the science right. What happened yesterday is just more evidence of the importance of getting the science right. Truly unprecedented, that group of Large Pharmaceutical Companies in this country coming forward to i guess they felt the need to reassure americans that politics would not play a role in the rollout of a vaccine. Stand by, dr. Jha. We want to get to this breaking news involving the u. S. Postal service and your reaction to that on the other side. Theres a new Senate Report that finds americans who rely on the Postal Service to get their crucial Prescription Medications are now seeing significant delays in those deliveries. The report is part of an investigation by Democratic SenatorsElizabeth Warren and bob casey. Geoff, take us through this report and what folks who rely on the Postal Service for their medication might want to know. Reporter americans who have experienced delays in waiting for prescription drugs to arrive in the mail, this report will confirm what they already know to be true. This report is the result of an investigation led by those two Democratic Senators, Elizabeth Warren and bob casey. What i found, the main takeaway is this. In the summer of 2020, according to the report, all the mail order pharmacies heavily reliant on the u. S. Postal service for delivery of mail order drugs reported an increase in average delivery times, you see it on your screen, ranging from 18 to 32 . What that means in practical terms is what used to take two to three days in terms of delivery time according to this investigation are now taking somewhere between three to four days and even longer. They found these delays started in may. The inference is that as the pandemic started to rage, people werent comfortable going to pharmacies in person so they were making these orders via mail. But then they found these delays got worse and persisted into the summer after lewis dejoy became postmaster general and he put in the policy changes that led to service slowdowns and delivery delays. Beyond the obvious dangers and the risks to the American People reliant on usps, the Postal Service for their drugs, it also found this was costly for pharmaceutical companies themselves. There was one company that found an 80 spike in reshipments that cost one Pharmaceutical Company some 700,000, craig. Geoff bennett continuing to follow the Postal Service story. Thank you. Dr. Jha is still with us. Dr. Jha, your reaction to that story, particularly the danger it could pose to patients who are expecting to get their medicines at a specific time. That story is very disturbing and frustrating because we need the Postal Service to work for many reasons, not the least of which is, you know, there are a large number of americans with chronic disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, other diseases who rely on those medicines. If you run out a few days. A disease like diabetes, if you run out, it can be very dangerous and land people in the emergency room, in the hospital. We need a Postal Service thats reliable. I listened to that story and was very concerned about a lot of people with chronic disease who need these medicines. Dr. Jha, we always appreciate you. Thank you for your time, sir. Well let you get back to it. We are following more breaking news on this wednesday morning. A perfect storm is fueling those wildfires out west. Unprecedented wildfires. Officials now have a scary new warning. The worst may be yet to come. Were going to take you to california and oregon where millions of acres, more than 2. 3 million to be specific have already been lost. Its one group that both candidates desperately need to win over this election, suburban voters. The new poll that shows them giving joe biden a big boost in a key state the president won back in 2016. And longlasting gain scent beads. Part of the irresistible scent collection from gain and when you save up to 60 , lets play youre always a winner. You got. Up to 60 off your hotel but isnt that the only one . Youre a winner priceline. Every trip is a big deal. So to breathe better, i started oncedaily anoro. Copd tries to say, go this way. I say, ill go my own way, with anoro. Oncedaily anoro contains two medicines called bronchodilators that Work Together to significantly improve lung function all day and all night. Do not use anoro if you have asthma. Anoro wont replace rescue inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than once a day. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, glaucoma. Prostate, bladder or urinary problems. These may worsen with anoro. Call your doctor if you have worsened breathing, chest pain. Mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes or eye pain, while taking anoro. The most common side effects are sore throat, diarrhea, and pain in the arms and legs. Ask your doctor about oncedaily anoro to start treating your copd. Were here for you during this challenging timeand always. Find support at anoro. Com. Were keeping an eye on that breaking news out west as those raging wildfires have spread. Firefighters in california are battling what are now listen to this the second, third and fourth largest wildfires in the states history, and theyre doing it all at the same time. More than 360 people have been rescued so far from californias creek fire. One survivor breathing quite the sigh of relief this morning after spending hours trapped by the flames. It was pretty scary, yeah. Something that you probably never want to go through. It was a sense of relief when the helicopter came down and took us away. Its not just california. Fires are ripping through parts of oregon, Washington State and utah. Much of the northwest on fire right now. Jacob ward is in phoenix, oregon, where the governor there is calling the fires there a onceinageneration event. Steve patterson is in irwindale, california near the bobcat fire threatening the Angeles National forest. Jacob, where you are, it looks like the flames have completely scorched that particular area. What are the conditions like on the ground now and how are the firefighters doing . Reporter craig, weve seen a little relief this morning from the incredible wind that hit us as soon as we got out of our cars in the middle of the night. That wind is what was driving this incredible, unprecedented fire. These are wildfire conditions hitting an urban environment. Rather than having a single fire that spreads from a single source, you get these spot fires all over the place. That means that places just got unlucky. Not only is this entire Shopping Complex behind me destroyed, on the other side of this fence is a mobile home park, 131 sites all destroyed, all gone. To see this kind of devastation and go a block away and everything is fine for a block, then another block is destroyed. Its the kind of pattern we saw in the paradise fire, paradise, california that i know steve covered. That kind of effect we havent seen in oregon before now. Now officials here saying theyve seen three times as much fire so far this year as normal. This kind of unprecedented event is moving further and further north. The whole west coast, so much of the west coast being affected by wildfire right now, craig. Steve, youve covered a number of these fires. Are crews where you are right now, are they close to getting the flames under control . Reporter craig, i can give you the more simplistic answer and the more complicated answer. The simplistic answer is no. At this time the fire is more than 10,000 acres. Thats an explosion over the last few days. The conditions are prime for it to keep spreading. The more complex answer is, yeah, but its burning up in a ridge that right now is very inaccessible for firefighting crews which makes the firefight overall more complicated, but it doesnt seem to be in the direct threat of tens of thousands of homes. In other words, its not burning in one of those urban areas. The thing that fire officials are more worried about even than the firefight itself is this region, Southern California, is under a santa ana wind event. These are the winds that a lot of people point to that say, this is the beginning of the firefighting season. This area, the foothills of Southern California and this fire where it is is prime that if these winds do come in, this thing is like a time bomb and it will set off over these communities. You have multiple communities with evacuation warnings. Others in order. Theyve clustered these warnings because theyre so scared about the winds coming. Its cool. The winds have died down, but Everybody Knows that covers these fires is with santa ana winds, they start progressing as the day progresses. When you get into the overnight situation, it can blow up. By the way, apply this to several of the other fires that are burning in Southern California. Remember there are 25 major fires across the entire state. Still more than 14,000 firefighters on the front lines. These have scorched more than 2. 2 million acres. This is one of the worst fire seasons on record in the entire state. Now officials are bracing for what could come with these heavy wins that are expected to move in. Red flag warnings on through out the day until tonight, craig. A lot to think about. Back to you. Just to give folks some perspective who are at home watching or listening on sirius satellite radio, in california, 2. 3 million acres on fire. Not utah or oregon, just california. That is roughly the size of delaware and rhode island combined. Thats whats up in smoke out west. Steve patterson and jacob ward, thank you both. Do be safe. Meanwhile, as the scorching temperatures are fueling fires out west, parts of colorado. Reporter getting hit with a major winter storm. Take a look at this video. Some areas there saw up to six inches of snow overnight. In some places this kind of snowfall this early in the year, unprecedented. What makes it even more jarring, parts of the state just saw their highest temperature on record over the weekend. Back to politics. Two campaigns, two different strategies. Joe biden is focusing on the economy. President Trump Doubles down on crime. So which message is winning out so far. The new poll that may raise another red flag for the trump campaign. Come on in, were open. All we do is hand you the bag. Simple. Done. We adapt and we change. You know, you just figure it out. Weve just been finding a way to keep on pushing. But come ye back when su mom, dad. Whys jamie here . Its sunday. Sunday sing along. And he helped us get a home and auto bundle. Hes been our insurance guy for five years now. He makes us feel like were worth protecting. [ gasps ] why didnt you tell us about these savings, flo . Ive literally told you a thousand times. Oh, danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling im just gonna. From glen to glen im just gonna. Around here, nobody ever does it. I didnt do it. So when i heard they added ultra oxi to the cleaning power of tide, it was just what we needed. Dad . I didnt do it. 1 stain and odor fighter, 1 trusted. Its got to be tide. Robinwithout the commission fees. So, you can start investing today wherever you are even hanging with your dog. So, what are you waiting for . Download now and get your first stock on us. Robinhood. Joe biden taking his economic message to michigan this afternoon. The former Vice President is speaking at thethe united auto warren, michigan. Its his second economic speech in a week. His trip to that state comes as our latest nbc news maris poll shows biden is up by nine points in another key state, pennsylvania. Youll remember that President Trump won that state by less than 1 back in 2016. Nbcs mike memoli is in warren ahead of joe bidens speech there. Mike, what are we expecting to hear from mr. Biden today . Reporter craig, as you know, when President Trump took down the blue wall in states like pennsylvania and wisconsin and here in michigan, how did he do it . He did it in part by being strongly critical of trade deals like nafta that he said helped exacerbate the offshoring of american jobs. He said as president he would make better deals that would be better for manufacturing workers like those here in michigan. What were going to hear from the Biden Campaign here today is sort of an attempt on two fronts. One is to say the reality that President Trump is offering is not actually the truth, that what hes saying is not backed up by facts, like the fact our trade deficit with mexico has reached an alltime high. We saw our trade deficit with china spike in the months of july and allaugust. Biden wants to lay out proposals to help bring back jobs to the u. S. He would propose a 10 surtax on the profits of any goods produced overseas but sold here in the United States. He would also offer a 10 tax credit to companies that would take policies that would bring jobs back to the u. S. Shores, including with a focus on the Auto Industry. One of the ways you could qualify for this new buy america tax credit would be for the Auto Industry investing in fuel efficient cars. Thats why biden is coming here, hell talk to auto workers about that. Theres also a focus on the state of michigan. This county in particular, craig, is one of those counties where we saw a huge swing from 2012 when obama care ride it narrowly to 2016 when trump won by double digits. Our guy on joe biden, mike memoli, thank you. Well be checking in with you throughout the day. Lets turn for a moment to rick tyler, republican strategist, msnbc political analyst and one of my fatherinlaws absolute favorites on cable news. Rick, lets dig a little deeper into this new poll in pennsylvania, this nbc news marist poll. Joe biden has a net favorable rating among key voters in the keystone state. These numbers are outside the margin of error as well. 50 have a favorable view, 46 unfavorable. Only 44 view President Trump favorably. How important, rick, is that favorability factor in states like pennsylvania . Its important in pennsylvania because pennsylvania is a swing state that has typically gone democratic, but donald trump won it in 2016. So joe biden, thats one of the states hes got to target and win back and hes nine points ahead. Hes got to hold that lead. Joe biden has deep connections and roots to blue collar working class. So he can connects with people in the very states that will be very competitive. Those are michigan, pennsylvania and milwaukee. They also have important cities that have large africanamerican populations, milwaukee, detroit, pittsburgh and philadelphia. He can turn out those voters. Hes proved that in the primary. Hillary clinton did not. Those are going to be very competitive states. Craig, one of the things i keep seeing over and over that i think is really important that the Biden Campaign and your viewers understand is trump continues to lead biden in handling the economy, and he continues to lose to biden in handling the coronavirus. These two things are linked. Theres a disconnect going on here that biden needs to connect very strongly and directly, the coronavirus meaning a National Strategy which donald trump, as you know, punted that and recklessly mismanaged the coronavirus which led to one of the largest economic collapses in american history. Donald trump has created no jobs during his administration. Hes 7. 8 million jobs in the hole. That is from the time he was sworn in, were down nearly 8 million jobs including 247,000 manufacturing jobs and 71 coal mining jobs. What joe biden needs to do is show that theres a National Strategy to control the coronavirus that will enable him to regrow the economy. Who regrew the economy before after the 2008 election Great Recession . That was barack obama and joe biden. Who collapsed the economy in 2020 after a mismanagement of the coronavirus . That was donald trump. Thats what joe biden needs to focus on every single day. Rick, to your point, though, and i hadnt considered it, but thats quite the point that you raise there, this disconnect that seems to exist. How can that be . How do you explain that . Why do you think there are so Many Americans that according to pollsters at least are willing to say, yes, the president bungled the response terribly to the pandemic, but we still trust him with the economy . Because people have those as separate events in their mind. You cant directly blame donald trump for the economy sorry for the coronavirus, you can directly blame him for the collapse in the economy because of the mismanagement of the coronavirus. We needed a National Strategy. As a conservative, thats what the federal government is for. When theres a National Security threat and the pandemic is, the federal government needs a response. This administration had a horrible response. We were four to five months behind in getting a response. Now Donald Trumps whole plan literally is lets pretend the virus isnt real, lets give people the impression that its already gone away and the economy is coming back. Youll notice hes saying things like hes created a record amount of jobs, citing 12 million jobs. Sure, 10 million jobs have come back, but at the height hes still down 14 million jobs. Yes, we had a 1. 4 million jobs added in the last month, but we would literally need 7 million jobs in the next two months to break even. This is a story that Donald Trump Tells well. He had a great message which was the economy. He lost that. Now hes lying about what the economy is. Joe biden needs to grab hold of the economy, point back to the obama Biden Economic years, and they were slow growth year. In the cumulative over eight years you had enormous growth, not only in the stock market and low unemployment, but gdp. Thats the story biden needs to tell every day. Thats why hes having troubling with latinos down in florida because joe biden, hes not a socialist, yet donald trump has convinced the latinos that he s. Theyre very wary of socialists. Their first and Second Generation who have escaped socialism. Joe biden has to connect with those people because theyre entrepreneurs and business owners. He needs to talk to them about those issues. Youre talking about Miamidade County specifically. Theres recent polling out showing demonstrating your point. Quickly, rick, the first president ial debate coming up september 29th. Take a look at this new headline from nbc news. Perhaps unsurprising. Theres the headline nonetheless, trump spurns traditional debate prep with first faceoff less than three weeks away. The president has not held a single mock debate session and has no plans to stage a formal practice round. What do you make of that approach, rick tyler . Normally thats a colossal mistake. Donald trump is ill prepared to do anything. He doesnt listen so his briefings, doesnt read his daily National Security report so its par for the course. There is such a thing, craig, as overpreparing. I hope joe biden is not overpreparing. I dont know what the expectations for this debate are. It will be very interesting to see how they do. I dont think donald trump did particularly well against hillary clinton. Think he was menacing and threatening. I dont know if he can pull that off with joe biden. Well see. Neither one to me has really turned in a great debate perfor performance, so its going to be interesting and as toup. Rick tyler, well leave it there. Say hello to your fatherinlaw. I will. Hes watching. Hes watching. Voters purged from the rolls, accusations of others voting twice. New concerns popping up in georgia in a rare moment. Two coveted senate seats both up for grabs this year. Ill talk to a reverend who is running for one of those seats. First, the Police Department in rochester, new york, is in turmoil after the death of daniel prude. The chief and entire command staff stepping down. So whats next . When your vneck looks more like a uneck. Thats when you know, its halfwashed. Try downy fabric conditioner. Unlike detergent alone, downy helps prevent stretching by conditioning and smoothing fibers, so clothes look newer, longer. Downy and its done. That selling carsarvana, 100 online wouldnt work. But we went to work. Building an experience that lets you shop over 17,000 cars from home. Creating a coast to Coast Network to deliver your car as soon as tomorrow. Recruiting an army of customer advocates to make your experience incredible. And putting you in control of the whole thing with powerful technology. Thats why weve become the nations Fastest Growing retailer. Because our customers love it. See for yourself, at carvana. Com. To put the darkness of the past four years behind us. To end the anger, the insults, the division, the violence, and start fresh in america. We can stop focusing on a president that thinks its all about him, and start focusing on whats best for us. We need to get control over the virus. Donald trump failed. Joe biden will get it done. We need to help working families. Joe bidens plan rewards work, and makes the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share. We need to take the next step in health care. Joe biden will lower premiums and reduce drug costs while still protecting those with preexisting conditions. We need to take on Climate Change and protect Social Security and medicare. Weve had four years of a president who brings out the worst in america. Isnt it time we had a president who brought out the best . Im joe biden and i approve this message. Some breaking news on this wednesday morning. Attorney general bill barr was just asked in a News Conference about the justice departments controversial decision to defend the president in a defamation lawsuit that lawsuit is a woman who accused the woman of sexual assault, an accusation he denies. This is part of the attorney generals response. How the president was acting in his official capacity when he denied knowing her and also why the damages that could be awarded to her. This has something to do with something called the westfall act. That is an act that provides that when tort cases, state tort cases are brought against Government Employees in the executive branch and in the legislative branch and the tort was allegedly committed in the course of federal employment, the case can be certified for shifting to the federal courts, and the United States can be subs sttituted as the responsib party. This has become somewhat routine to the extent that the certification process has been delegated to an attorney in the tort section of the Civil Division of the justice department. The process involves the employing agency, which in the case of a president has been the white house, sending in a memorandum requesting certification. That process was followed in this particular case. The case law is Crystal Clear that the westfall act applies to claims against the president , the Vice President okay. That was just moments ago in chicago, attorney general bill barr talking about a decision by the justice department. Were going to have more on this. In fact, the attorney general is going to be sitting down with Pete Williams exclusively. That will air tonight on nbc nightly news with lester holt. Also this morning, a major shakeup within the rochester, new york, Police Department after the sudden retirement of its top officials. The announcement brought another night of protests to the streets over the death of daniel prude. Nbcs Gabe Gutierrez continues to follow this story. Gabe, what can you tell us about this abrupt decision . Reporter well, craig, it was a very sudden announcement. The police chief had been with the department for 20 years, but he had been under growing scrutiny as this case made national headlines. Black lives matter. Reporter amid outrage over the death of daniel prude, the Police Department in rochester, new york, will now have new leadership after the police chief and the deputy chief abruptly retired. Five other members of the command staff also either retired or were demoted. I can assure this community i am committed to instituting the reforms necessary in our Police Department. Reporter the citys mayor insists she didnt pressure chief singletary for stepping down though she initially criticized him of not informing city officials of the use of force during the encounter. In a written statement he says the mischaracterizations of the actions i took after being informed of mr. Truds death is not based on facts and not what i stand for. The announcement came on the same day as prudes sister as executor of the state sued the city and some members of the Police Department claiming prude died from unlawful force and a deliberate disregard for his medical needs. Get on the ground. Reporter Police Videos released by prudes family last week, show the deadly encounter. Back in march officers found prude naked in the middle of the street and placed him in whats known as a spid hood because they say prude told them he had covid19. At one point he stopped breathing. Paramedics tried to revive him but he died at the hospital days later. Last week seven officers were suspended with pay. Days ago the chief shrugged off a question about his possible resignation. Have you offered to resign, did you resign . No. I know there was a rumor that i offered to resign. I did not. Im still chief. We would like to see everyone who was complicit in what happened with daniel prude held responsible. That means the police chief. That means the mayor. Well be out here every night until all of those things happen. Reporter the mayor says the police chief in rochester will stay on the job until the end of the month. No successor has been named. Meanwhile new yorks attorney general says shes empaneling a grand jury as part of the investigation into prudes death. Craig. Gabe gutierrez for us there, thank you. More breaking news this morning. This out of the middle east. The United States is withdrawing over 2,000 troops from iraq by the end of this month. This cuts the number of troops in that country by nearly half. In a statement the commander of u. S. Central command, centcom, says, quote, this reduced footprint allows us to continue advising and assisting our iraqi partners in rooting out the final remnants of isis in iraq and ensuring its enduring defeat. Meanwhile, back here a really interesting senate race unfolding in georgia. Listen to who is running in the same primary. A republican senator and a wnba team owner, the son of a former democratic Vice President ial nominee and the reverend of dr. Martin luther king jr. s former church. That reverend, Raphael Warnock will join me next to talk about how hes trying to tackle both democrats and republicans at the same time. Were all finding ways to keep moving. But how do we make sure the direction were headed is forward . At fidelity, youll get the planning and advice to prepare you for the future, without sacrificing the things that are important to you today. Well help you plan for healthcare costs, taxes and any other uncertainties along the way. Because with fidelity, you can feel confident that the only direction youre moving is forward. Because with fidelity, we kand however we connect,ng. 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Its called a jungle primary. And it puts members of both parties in one race to see if anyone can reach 50 . If not, the top two will go to runoff. Reverend Rafael Warnock is the Senior Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist church in atlanta, georgia. Reverend, thank you for your time this morning, i do appreciate you. Thank you, its great to be here with you. This race, strange for two big reasons. One, youre running against both democrats and republicans. Two, there are big questions, as you know, about Voting Rights there, specifically in georgia, because of a voter roll purge, questions about double voting raised by the secretary of state. Whats your strategy . Its good to be here with you. We have two senate races, as you point out, here in the state of georgia. Were the only state where thats true. Im running in the special election to finish the last two years of the term started by republican senator johnny isakson. Im running really not in a way of launching a new campaign, in my view. Im continuing a campaign that ive been on for years, fighting for health care, fighting for economic justice, particularly for the people were calling essential workers right now, and were not paying them an essential wage. Ive been engaged in this fight for Voting Rights right here in georgia, which is ground zero for voter suppression. I grew up in this state. I was raised in public housing, one of 12 children, i was number 11. The First College graduate in my family. Somehow i made it through college, earned a ph. D. Degree, became the pastor of dr. Kings church. Im running for the u. S. Senate to continue the work ive been doing from that pulpit for about 15 years now. Theres not, as you know, a lot of new reliable polling in this race. Whats your internal polling telling you . Oh, our internal polling shows that when people hear my story, that im already a few points ahead of the incumbent in a head to head match. As you point out, were not yet in a head to head match. There are 21 people in my race. But i think that my long career of service will stand out, and that we are getting great momentum in this race. So were telling my story on air and well continue to tell that story in this moment, in which we are dealing with vast inequities in this country. Covid19, then what i call covid 1619, our ongoing struggle with race in this country. I know that pain personally, as i pointed out in an ad we released this morning that talks about my own experience with racial profiling as a preteen here in georgia. Were facing those issues yet again. And i hope to bring the voices of ordinary peoples who the difference between them and the wealthy and wellconnected, not only in the area of criminal justice but in health care, housing, and a whole range of issues. And im looking forward to it. Were seeing a lot of time moment momentum in the race, which is why the other side is engaged in voter suppression. They will not prevail. We had record turnout in this state during the primary on june 9. You saw the long lines. You saw the corruption and the incompetence right here in our state. The good news is that in spite of it all, georgia voters lined up with the deep commitment to exercise their basic constitutional right. We outperformed them in turnout. And were going to prevail over the next few days and weeks. Reverend warnock, were almost out of time here, ten seconds. If you do win, will you stay on as pastor at ebenezer . You know, ive been watching politicians for a long time. I think the longer you talk to politicians, you might accidentally become one. My life is about service. I intend to stay connected to the people that ive served all of these years. I think that stuff will work itself out. Right now im focused on getting elected. Okay. Reverend Rafael Warnock, did you for your time, sir. We reached out to the three other candidates in the race who are polling in the double digits to invite them on the show. Hopefully they accept our invitations too. That will do it for me today. Andrea mitchell reports after a short break. Come on in, were open. All we do is hand you the bag. Simple. Done. We adapt and we change. You know, you just figure it out. Weve just been finding a way to keep on pushing. Weve just been finding a way and mines unlisted. Try boost® high protein. With 20 grams of protein for Muscle Health versus only 16 grams in ensure® high protein. And now enjoy boost® high protein in new cafe mocha flavor. What if your clothes could stay fresh for weeks . Smell clean . Now they can downy unstoppables in wash scent boosters keep your laundry smelling fresh way longer than detergent alone. Pour a cap of downy unstoppables into your washing machine before each load and enjoy fresher smelling laundry. 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