Surprised a lot of people. I dont want to go into who they are right now, but it was a disservice to the discussion we were having in good faith. When he walked away from the discussion, he walked away from our children, he walked away from how we can open up our schools virtually, actually or in hybrid form, how we can educate our children. He walked away from poor children in our country in terms of the Child Tax Credit and the dependent child credit and other initiatives that help the poorest children in our country. He walked away from what we were trying to do to put money in the pockets of the American People, food on the table, rent so theyre not evicted. All of it, coronaviruscentric. Not addressing any larger issue, coronavirus centric. He walked away from our heroes. He said to those health care workers, police and fire as i said before, teachers, teachers, teachers, transportation, sanitation, food workers and the rest, we just dont care, you just dont matter. This is really appalling. The list goes on and on of course, he walked away from safety in the workplace. He walked away from the lives, livelihood and the life of our democracy in so many ways. So here we are now planting staking out the territory so that the people will know there is a plan, and the plan isnt for the president to say that hes a perfect physical specimen did he say . And young. He said he was young. His dissociation from reality would be funny if it werent so deadly. His people, these enablers around who are enabling death, the death toll to rise, we have to shed a bright light on what has been possible for months that they chose to ignore because of their contempt for congress and their disdain for governance. So thats why, if theres one thing that has to be in this bill that he has never made us a priority, its crushing the virus instead of the denial, delay, distortion, lack of reality that the president has all along brought to this. Lets not it be anecdotal. Let it be scientific. In that regard, im very proud to be with Frank Pallone this morning. He knows these health issues, backward, forward over the years. He can place this in the context of Public Health, of science, about reaching as many people as possible. Let me just close by saying this. When the president did his tweet, he said i want the senate to spend full time, fully focused on the nomination, so im not going to have them be doing anything on stopping the spread of the viruses, is essentially what that is. Full focus on the nomination . Why . So somebody can be in there on time for the oral arguments on november 10th to overturn the Affordable Care act, to overturn the Affordable Care act. This in the time of a pandemic, the president going to court and overturning the Affordable Care act, overturning the precondition benefit that 150 million families in america depend upon, overturning the fact that tens of millions more people have access to health care, overturning the essential benefits package, overturning so many aspects of the Affordable Care act, including if you have a senior in your family who is on longterm care, much of it paid for by medicaid. And then to misrepresent the truth. He has a plan . We havent seen it in four years. We havent seen it in four years. No family in america can afford unlimited expenses that would come with not having the preexisting condition benefit and the other provision in the bill that removes the Insurance Company caps of what they would spend on a person. Lives are at stake. Health is in the balance. This is deadly serious. So lets take a serious, not a skinny, not an emaciated, but a serious, appropriate approach to crushing the virus and then talk about some of the other good things that would flow from that. With that again, im proud to present the chairman of the energy and commerce committee, a person who has spent decades on th th these issues. Were blessed hed have his leadership at this time to address this issue, mr. Pallone. We have been watching and listening to House Speaker nancy pelosi provide an update on where those covid relief talks stand, taking the president to task a number of times there. We should also note, according to our producer on the hill there, julie chiken, this is the first time the speaker has provided her weekly update while wearing her mask for the entire time oochs. Garrett haake is in the room for this news conference. Were going to check in with garrett in just a bit, once Speaker Nancy Pelosi wraps up. Were also following that big shakeup in the debate plan. We just learned that the next matchup between President Trump and Vice President biden will be virtual. It would seem as if, though, President Trump is not going to take part. Im not going to waste my time on a virtual debate. Thats not what debating is all about a. You sit behind a computer and do a debate is ridiculous. They cut you off whenever they want. At what point you just learned this this morning . We learned it the same way you learned it. Lets get right to our reporters. Nbcs carol lee is covering the white house. Nbcs mike memoli is in Salt Lake City covering the Biden Campaign. Carol, strong words from the president. Again, we should note that was the president s position roughly an hour and some change ago. Has he changed his mind yet . So far not, craig. There still is obviously some time for the president to reverse course, but hes saying hes not going to show up for this debate, that its essentially not worth his time. There you heard him suggesting that the way the format would be wouldnt allow him to do what he would want to do which is interrupt and try to dominate the conversation as we saw him do in the first debate. Youve also mentioned that this wasnt a decision that he and his campaign were consulted on. This was something that the commission on president ial debates decided it was going to do. It informed the campaigns before its announcement saying the best way to proceed in their belief is to do this one virtual, although leaving open the possibility and likelihood that the third debate will end up being in person if everybody is healthy and conditions allow. The president s campaign is casting this as essentially, them trying to give an advantage to joe biden somehow. They called it in a statement, quote, pathetic, saying President Trump will have posted multiple negative tests prior to the debate. Its not clear how they can predict that in the future because we just dont know what President Trumps condition is going to be in the coming days and when he will, indeed, test negative. Also, craig, its worth mentioning that this is a dynamic where we have to rely on the white house and the president to tell us that the president has tested negative and that hes healthy. Weve seen over the past week a real reluctance to be very forthcoming with that sort of information, craig. Yes, yes we have, carol lee. Mr. Memoli, whats joe biden saying about this decision and the president s response to it . Reporter well, craig, i guess we shouldnt be surprised given how this campaign has gone, that were so quickly moving beyond what happened with the Vice President ial debate. It was barely 12 hours after the combatants left the debate stage in salt lake where the Debate Commission announced theyd move the next debate into this virtual format. The same with the Biden Campaign, they hadnt been consulted today. They were ready to have conversations today about the format, safety protocols that might be in place in miami if the debate were to go forward. The campaign very quickly committed he would participate in a virtual debate. We had a chance to hear from joe biden himself as he got an early start flying his way out west. Here is what he said about the potential for a debate moving forward. We dont know what the president is going to do. He changes his mind every second. For me to comment on that now would be irresponsible. I think im going to follow the commission recommendation. If he goes off and hes going have a rally, i dont know what ill do. Reporter craig, biden also told reporters there on the tarmac that he was very proud of his Vice President ial running mate Kamala Harris for her performance last night. He said she was very president ial. Hes flying out west to arizona where hes going to meet senator harris, their First Joint Campaign appearance since the Democratic Convention as they focus on that key battleground state. Biden advisers tell me would he move forward with preparing for debate . As you heard from the president , theyre going to proceed with preparing. Were using the term debate. It should be noted that the format for next week is set to be more of a town hall than the traditional debate format that we saw last time they squared off. Mr. Memoli, thank you. Carol lee, thank you. Weve got a great team of political minds with us this morning. Ian sands is a democratic strategist, former National Press secretary for Kamala Harris president ial campaign. Michael madrid is cofounder of the Lincoln Project and the former political director for the California Republican party. Christina greer is an associate professor in Political Science at fordham university. Ian, lets talk about what went down in Salt Lake City roughly nine hours ago. Well do that in a moment. Lets start with the news that President Trump says hes not going to participate because its going to be virtual, says it would be a waste of time. Again, were still seven days out. The president can change his mind a few times between now and then. Do you surmise this is bluster . Maybe. Its hard to predict whats going on in Donald Trumps brain especially when its juiced up on steroids. At the end of the day, i think were talking a lot about the process of his announcement today. Lets take a step back and look at the substance of whats going on here. The president himself has coronavirus. That is why they are moving this debate to a virtual format. They do not want the president of the United States to infect people, not just joe biden, the audience of regular voters who are going to be asking questions of the candidates. So this is not some crazy wild decision by the Debate Commission. This is a very reasonable and responsible decision based on current cdc Health Guidelines that, by the way, the president and the white house have seemingly signed off on. Theyre in charge. When we talk about what decision hes making right now, this goes to what weve seen over the last six months, flouting experts, ignoring health guideline, to put himself first, his ego first and his own political interests first. Will he change his mind . If the networks say were going to air 90 minutes of joe biden live, i have a hard time thinking donald trump is going to skip out on that. The reason hes doing this is because hes obsessed with himself and not taking his own virus seriously. It should be noted, ian, to your point, there is no requirement that a president ial candidate or the president himself participate in the debate. Jimmy carter sat out the first one in 1980. Christina, professor, the president claims this decision is to protect joe biden which muddies the waters about debates. Hes raised questions about mailin voting. Hes raised questions about democratic institutions, but the reality is, professor greer, according to every Major National poll thats been taken over the last month or so, President Trump is trailing. Whats to be gained from a purely political standpoint by sitting out a debate . Craig, first of all, its great to see you. The president has spent four years not bothering to expand his base. Now, as ian so aptly stated, because of his ego and selfserving practices, hes now realizing theres a very slim path for him moving forward. The Electoral College map is not looking good for him. Now we have theatrics and antics. The president is ill, whether he feels 20 years younger or not. Possibly going to a debate he saw those numbers. He knows he had an abysmal performance. When i say women, hes losing white women in the suburbs, womens who have voted for republicans consistently. Theyre turning away because of his failed policies during coronavirus and whats going on with the economy and how parents dont know whats going to happen with their children and the educational practices. That goes from kindergarten all the way through the utilities. He knows hes on the defense. Hes quite alarmed. Hes trying to figure out different ways he has a path forward, whether it be voter suppression, whether it is planting poison pills in the water telling people voting by mail is fraud even though he, his family and entire cabinet have always voted by mail. As ive said before, he has this spaghetti noodle strategy, just throwing things at the wall. Now he says i wont debate because its not fair. Just to back up a little bit from what ian said, its not just about the town hall format and infecting people in the audience, craig, the president has to fly to florida. That means hed be infecting the pilots, the butlers and the Service People on air force one, anyone who is traveling with him. Every single scientist has said, if you have active coronavirus, you should be quarantining and spending as little time with people as possible. It is completely irresponsible and unconscionable to put members of the media and Staff Members in that type of harms way. I think the American Public is seeing how selfish his behavior has been and hes now starting to realize its going to affect him at the polls on november 3rd. Mike, meanwhile we are just four days away now from the start of the Supreme Court nomination hearings for judge amy coney barrett. The Vice President asked Kamala Harris last night senator harris pointblank, if she and joe biden would pack the court. She didnt answer. Neither did joe biden in the first debate. Here is that exchange. Do you know that of the 50 people who President Trump appointed to the court of appeals for lifetime appointments, not one is black. This is what theyve been doing. You want to talk about packing a court, lets have that discussion. Thank you, senator. Lets go on and talk about the issue of Racial Justice i just want the record to reflect she never answered the question. Whatever position i take on that, that will become the issue. The issue is the American People should speak. You should go out and vote. Youre in voting now. Vote and let your senators know. Are you going to pack the court . Vote now. Are you going to pack the court . Make sure you let people know he doesnt want to answer the question. Mike, how should they be navigating that question . Again, neither one of them seems to have answered it so far . Well, they havent answered it well. I think theres going to have to be some sort of an answer. Theres a couple things about this that are really important. The first thing is the average american, average voter doesnt know what theyre talking about when they talk about packing the court. People paying close attention and methodically watching what the issues are, do. Whether its a yes or no, just make your case and go forward with it. Theres a legitimate argument to be made that the balance of the court needs to be reconstituted. Im not suggesting that. Its a legitimate answer, legitimate policy answer. If thats where youre add, just say it. I think what its done, i think this answer really is probably the weakest point in kamalas night even though she had a really strong night. It exposes something that doesnt need to be exposed. Seal it up. Its clear that trump and pence are going to open this up as an issue. It excites the republican base, however its constituted at this point in time. I think, also, because of whats happened with the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the jamming of this nominee, democrats, the american left and progressives are waking up and saying this needs to be a central political issue for us as a party, for us as a movement, the way it has been for conservatives for the past 30 years and start driving that as an issue. The courts are going to be an issue that make it an issue. I think not answering doesnt get you very far. Christina, a moment that happened early in the debate and a number of times during the debate, senator harris telling the Vice President that she was speaking and to please stop cutting her off. Here is part of that. The Vice President said when asked bs why didnt yall tell anybody, he said because the president wanted people to remain calm. Susan, this is important. Susan mr. Vice president , im speaking. I have to weigh in. Im speak zblg you have 15 more seconds. Joe lockhart, former press secretary for president clinton, he tweeted, i disagree no votes were changed tonight. Women hated pence tonight. Christina, a swath of women, progressive women that didnt like mike pence before that . Isnt that baked in the cake . No. Theres certain women that will not be suede at all. Theres some women who up hold patriarchy better than any man ever could. However, there were some women who were on the fence who like the tax cuts, are fine with some of the rhetoric. Theyre slowly but surely thinking am i better off now than four years ago. That performance last night rang true for any woman who has been in a business meeting, a faculty meeting, a pta meeting, a Homeowners Association meeting, this is unfortunately for the reality of so many professional women. I think mike pence had a really hard road to go down because he knows that donald trump is watching him from the white house, and he needs to, quote, unquote, dominate Kamala Harris, but he also knows that there are millions of americans watching understanding that this behavior is retrograde. Its old. Its tired. So many women have experienced it in every single aspect of their lives starting from a very young age. It was a palpable feeling. I think senator harris was very deliberate in calling it out because weve seen this time and time again, the double standard that women have in a professional setting when men, some of them dont even realize how much theyre talking over women because they cant even hear. Theyre just waiting to listen. That i think did change some minds of some women coupled with the failed coronavirus policies and the rising unemployment and the fact that the economy is in a recession and going in a worse direction because of the fail yours of this administration and their party. All right. Were going have to leave it there. Mike madrid, stick around. I want to come back to you in a few minutes. Were following more breaking news on this thursday morning. Nbc news can exclusively report that President Trump asked walter reed doctors to sign nondisclose your agreements in 2019. How that may affect what were hearing from doctors about his condition. Plus they say everything is bigger in texas. The Lincoln Project is taking that to heart. The big steps theyre taking, the big money theyre spending to try and flip texas. Im still on the road to whats next. And im still going for my best. Even though i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib not caused by a heart valve problem. 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President trump asked walter reed doctors to sign nondisclose your agreements in 2019 before they could even be involved in his treatment. We havent seen the president at a public event since he was released from the hospital on monday. He has posted some video updates on his condition, and there was that wide ranging phone interview that was conducted a short time ago. But the president has called his diagnosis a, quote, blessing from god. I want to bring in dr. Shoshana ungerleider from the california Pacific Medical center. Lets start with this exclusive new reporting. How unusual is it to require physicians to sign a nondisclose your agreement . Well, craig, ive got to tell you, ive never been asked to sign an nda, nor have i ever heard of this. It sound like throughout his care at walter reed he called the shots. I have to say for the president to require an airlift to the hospital with covid19 and then turn around and claim that the virus is no big deal, i think is yet another political move to make him and his administration appear as though they were not complicit in the deaths of now 212,000 americans from covid19. President trump says hes feeling well, but we have no idea whether he remains on the strong steroid medication called dexamethasone that has side effects including excitability, mood swings, memory issues and confusion. Frankly, the fact remains that this country continues to go in the wrong direction with more new daily covid cases than weve seen in months. Im very concerned as we head into flu season. In that same video we just referenced, he touted one of the drugs hes taking. He called the drug regeneron, he called it a cure. The president received this drug through a compassionate use request from his doctors. What more can you tell us about this cocktail . Does the average american have access to it . The regeneron antibody therapy is a combination of multiple monochrome antibodies to stop replication. They have proven effective for a number of different diseases. In the case of covid19, we first need to look to the data. We have not yet seen any peerreviewed results from clinical trials, only limited data provided in a press release. It looks promising, but this is not sufficient to make any conclusions. We have to look at the safety and effectiveness of this treatment and rely on the science, not any political or economic pressure, to decide whether a drug is safe and whether it works to treat covid19. This drug is not available to the average american. This was given on a special basis because donald trump is the president of the United States. Dr. Ungerleider, the president says hes not going to participate in this virtual debate, he would rather do it face to face. If you were advising the commission on president ial debates, an inperson debate at this point with the president of the United States having tested positive for covid19, would an inperson debate from a medical standpoint, would that be feasible or advisable . At this point hes very likely still contagious. We dont know all the details of exactly when he first tested positive, nor do we know how symptomatic he is. But to put joe biden as well as other people at risk, this is unnecessary. We know the virus spreads in the air. Having an inperson debate at this point in time is an unnecessary risk. Honestly it would go against the advice of Public Health officials and physicians. Dr. Shoshana ungerleider, thank you for your insight. During the course of our conversation we did get word that Vice President mike pence and the second lady karen pence have once again tested negative for covid19. They were tested in Salt Lake City, utah, of course, the site of that debate just 12 hours ago. The Vice President and his wife once again testing negative. This is the seventh day since President Trumps diagnosis that the Vice President and his wife have both tested negative. In the next hour, dr. Anthony fauci, the good doctor, will join my colleague andrea mitche mitchell. Well have that next hour. From blue to red, deep red, we watched the debate with republicans in a key pennsylvania county to see what they thought of Vice President mike penceS Performance specifically. First, was it really pence or harris that stole the show in the debate in utah . It was a fly. The fly landed on the Vice President s head and sat there for roughly two minutes. The Biden Campaign had a little fun with it. They quickly posted this fundraising tweet saying pitch in 5. 00 to help this campaign fly. [ engines revving ] its amazing to see them in the wild like th shhh. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. Your happy place. Find your breaking point. Then break it. 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Com they do one of the most deven in normal times. S, our Frontline Health care workers. And when these heroes lack the resources they need, that risky job gets ten times harder. Prop fifteen makes corporations pay their fair share. To invest in our communities, in our clinics, in the essential workers who treat everyone rich, poor, and inbetween. Whether its this pandemic or the next health crisis, vote yes on prop fifteen. For all of us. Msnbc has reporters across the country this morning talking to voters about how they thought this debate went and whether it actually changed anyones mind. Our dasha burns is in beaver county, pennsylvania, talking to some of those voters as part of our county to county series. Beaver county has voted republican since 2008 by an increasing margin. Dasha, what did those voters tell you this morning . Reporter craig donald trump turned this county deep red in 2016 and spoke to reporters to get reaction. I heard a big sense of relief from a lot of the folks i talk to. The word calm came up in just about every one of my interviews. Its something people seemed eager for after what they saw last week. Some of his supporters were pretty disappointed with the president S Performance in that debate. Many told me they want him to take cues from mike pens before the next debate. One ctopic that struck a cord i fracking and the green new deal. A few miles up the road theres a massive plant that has brought thousands of jobs to this area. This hits home here. I want you to listen to how that part of the debate played with voters i spoke to. Im a big supporter of drilling, drilling for natural gas here. I was really disappointed with Kamala Harris saying she supported fracking after i have seen that she has said she would ban it, and so has joe biden. Hes going to be pushed hard from the far left on his side to end fracking. Reporter so, craig t Biden Campaign has some work to do if they want to convince voters in this area that a biden presidency would not negatively impact jobs here. Craig . Dasha burns there in beaver, pennsylvania, thank you. I want to turn to jane timm, nbcs jane timm. Shes our own Fact Checking expert. Shes going to try to help us make some sense of what we saw and heard last night. Jane, always good to see you. Lets start with one of the biggest topics of the election, health care. We played that moment when senator harris noted the Trump Administration has been trying to get rid of the Affordable Care act. This is what Vice President mike pence said. President trump and i have a plan to improve health care and to protect preexisting conditions for every american. Jane, fact check this for us. Does the Trump Administration have a plan to protect preexisting conditions . Not that weve seen. They might have an idea, maybe vague plans, but legislation is what matters. While they recently signed an executive order, a symbolic protection of peoples preexisting conditions and their protections under the Health Care Law, theyre in court and they use legislation and executive order to try to dismantle the thing that protects people with preexisting conditions which is obamacare. While they say they want to support these things, they havent put the plan forward. Obamacare actually, it was hammered out by the white house. They sat down at the table with stakeholders and hammered out the peculiarities of Health Care Law which is tough. It took a long time. The Trump Administration has relied on congress and congress has yet to get a plan that can get through congress and to the president s desk. Another big topic, mailin ballots and the integrity of the election. This is part of what the Vice President said about that. President trump and i are fighting every day in courthouses to prevent joe biden and Kamala Harris from changing the rules and creating this universal mailin voting that will create a massive opportunity for voter fraud. Jane, lets clear it up again if we can for the 2012th time. Massive opportunity for voter fraud . No. Voter fraud is not a problem in the u. S. Theres no evidence of widespread voter fraud. That commission that Vice President chaired looking for voter fraud, shut down without finding any widespread voter fraud. Heres the thing. Five states already vote by mail. They do it well, have very few issues when they have the occasional, very rare issue of fraud, they send it to prosecutors. Ive been tracking that legal battle he referred to, the Biden Campaign which is in court trying to make certain parts of mailin voting easier, are not trying to create opportunities for fraud. The Trump Administration has actually struggled to prove that theyre creating opportunities for fraud in these court filings. If you go back to them, the courts say youre not proving fouad, so how can we take you on your claims. Jane timm, Fact Checking for us this morning, thank you. Thank you. I wish we had more time for that. Could this finally be the year that texas goes blue . The Lincoln Project is banking on it. Theyre launch ag big Million Dollar push to flip the lone star state. Ill break down who theyre targeting with the groups cofounder next. This country was not built on whitecollar, it was built on bluecollar, hard work. Hard work means every day. Getting it right. Its so iconic, you can just sit it on a shelf if its missing, you know it. Your family, my family, when they drink that coffee, and go man, thats a good cup, im proud because i helped make that cup. Stand up to moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. And take. It. On. With rinvoq. Rinvoq a oncedaily pill. 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Weve got some more breaking news on this thursday morning with regards to that president ial town hall that was supposed to happen next week. Of course, President Trump announcing just a few hours ago that he is not going to be participating in a virtual town hall. And now this from the Biden Campaign just a few moments ago via press release. Joe biden was prepared to accept the cpds proposal, the commission on president ial debates, proposal for a virtual town hall. The president has refused as donald trump clearly does not want to face questions from voters about his failures on voters and the economy. As a result, joe biden will find an appropriate place to take questions from voters directly on october 15th as he has done in recent weeks. The release from the Biden Campaign goes on to say given the president s refusal to participate on october 15th, we hope the Debate Commission will move the biden trump town hall to october 22nd so that the president is able to evade accountability. The voters should have a chance to ask questions of both candidates directly. Again, that coming from the joe Biden Campaign just a few moments ago, apparently in response to President Trumps announcement that he will not be participating in a virtual town hall. What all this means for october 15th still remains a bit unclear. Our guy, mike memoli, is working to gather a little more information. When we get that for you, we will, of course, pass it along to you. Meanwhile, going big in texas, thats the latest push from the Lincoln Project. The republican antitrump pac Just Launched a 1 million blitz against the president in the lone star state. Latest polling shows the race is getting tighter there. A recent poll finds President Trump up just three points in a state that is typically among the deepest of deep red states. The Lincoln Project hoping to boost joe biden by increasing hispanic voter outreach and reaching those republicans still on the fence. Back with me, cofounder of the Lincoln Project, mike madrid. Mike, texas hasnt voted for a democrat for president since jimmy carter in 1976. It seems as if every four years, if not every two years, were talking about how this could be the year that texas turns blue. What makes you think that this is a possibility this time around . Well, the main difference is theres a collapse am months is it Republican Voters which is why the Lincoln Project is in there. Not since 1976 have you seen that dynamic. Youve actually seen a consolidation of the republican vote making texas even more red. Democrats have always chased the idea that latino turnout, increased latino turnout could help change it. The data has been consistent since about april, may time frame. Its impossible for us to ignore it anymore. Weve been watching for months. Its time to jump in there. As you probably know, the Lincoln Project was founded not just to eradicate the Republican Party from trump by trumpism. We think if we can move texas into the democratic column, that breaks the back of trumpism. That Million Dollars, by the way, is for the first week. Well recalibrate and take another look. Weve identified 642,000 republicans that are soft trump supporters. I think we could have a good night on november 3rd. Mike, i want to go back to a term you just used, trumpism. How does the Lincoln Project, how does it characterize trumpism . What is that . Well, basically its populist nationalism with a very strong strain of white grievance politics. One of the great ironies you always have the american right castigating the left for identity politics. The truth is the Republican Party is the biggest practitioner of identity politics, it just happens to be politics, white identity politics, and it thinks thats okay. We believe that needs to be driven from the Republican Party and from the american republic. We think that a balance in american politics is necessary but nationalism is not an answer nor should it ever be, nor should populism. We think its a sign of a weakness in our democratic system and the fact that this president has brought so many people along we think is a travesty, again, not just for the Republican Party, were beyond that. We think its danger fours the republic. Thats why weve spent the past year working as diligently as we have with a number of Coalition Allies to make sure we remove donald trump from office and spend the resources, time, effort, and energy to remove the enablers who made it possible from office as well. Mike madrid, well have to leave it there. Mikes, thanks so much, hope to talk to you soon. Were getting a new look this morning at how Many Americans are struggling to pay their bills right now. This morning we learned first time claims for Unemployment Benefits reached 840,000 last week. That is higher than expected. Garrett haake is on capitol hill where Speaker Pelosi just wrapped up that weekly briefing. Garrett rushed to the camera just for us. Hes not winded, which is a testament to how fit he is, despite the pandemic. But i understand youve got some news to share with us that you call potentially marketmoving. What is that . Reporter craig, the news out of this is that despite conversations to the contrary over the last couple of days, today Speaker Pelosi shut down the idea that with the president walking away from the table on a larger Coronavirus Relief bill, that there would be any standalone aid that could pass for the airline industry. That had had been the conversation over the last 24 hours or so. The speaker put the kibosh on it pretty forcefully in this press conference just a minute ago. Here is part of her answer to my question on this topic. There is no standalone bill without a bigger bill. There is no bill. Because you asked the second question, why should we do one and not the other. And so the comment that i made to the Administration Last night was, were happy to review what that standalone bill would look like as part of a bigger bill if there is a bigger bill. But there is no standalone big. Reporter craig, the speakerspeaker really raked the administration over the coals for walking away from this issue and not taking the virus seriously, this is my metaphor, not hers, but she accused the administration of wanting to have the dessert and not do the hard work. They want to send out checks with the president s anymoname them but they dont want to spend the money on testing, contract tracing, helping out schools and so forth. A pretty frustrated speaker in this press conference here. But again, not ready to move forward and do the singlebill, piecemeal approach that the president seems to work. Garrett haake for us on the hill, thanks, buddy, preeapprec that. Weve gotten some new information on the Biden Campaigns statement on the next debate. Mike memoli, what have you found out . Reporter the Biden Campaign quickly accepted the president ial Debate Commissions statement that they would move forward with a virtual debate, which the president said he would not attend. The Biden Campaign says the former Vice President will find an opportunity next thursday, when the debate was going to happen, to be able to speak with voters. Theyre also urging the Debate Commission to still move forward and try to schedule a new debate in the town hall format. This is their argument. They say that because the president in their view is tried to evade accountability for his handling of the coronavirus in the kind of format that this debate was going to be, a town hall format, rather than allowing the president to just step out of this debate and back out of it, they should be adding it, just postponing it, so it would allow both parties, the president and former Vice President , to appear on the debate stage together in a safe, responsible way with town hall format still moving forward. Thats the latest volley from the Biden Campaign, not backing out of the debate by any means but actually encouraging the Debate Commission to continue to find ways to allow this format to move forward. Okay. Mike memoli. As you point out, its all moving very quickly. Im sure well be checking in with you several times over the next few hours. Thank you for that breaking news. In just over an hour, a Court Hearing is going to get under way to decide if an anonymous grand juror can speak publicly about the Breonna Taylor case. Kentucky attorney general Cameron Mitchell filed a request to not allow the grand juror to speak. The grand juror alleges that the attorney general mischaracterized the grand jury proceedings. Thats going to do it for me on a very business thursday morning here on msnbc. Much more to come in the afternoon. Again, dr. Anthony fauci will join my colleague Andrea Mitchell in just a few minutes when Andrea Mitchell reports starts after a short break. Aftr what they need. False alarm. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. But we are hoping things will pick up by q3. Yeah. Uh. Boss doug . Sorry about that. Umm. What. Its. Um. Boss you alright . [sigh] [ding] never settle with power e trade. It has powerful, easytouse tools to help you find opportunities, 24 7 support when you need answers plus some of the lowest options and futures Contract Prices around. Dont get mad. Get e trade and start trading today. Dont get mad. Over time, you go noseblind to the odors in your home. background music but others smell this. upbeat music thats why febreze plug has two alternating scents and eliminate odors for 1200 hours. Breathe happy febreze. La la la la la. Good day, im Andrea Mitchell in washington where President Trump, who was diagnosed with covid less than a week ago, says today he will not participate in the next debate next week, now that the Debate Commission today decided it must be virtual, not in person, because the president could still be infectious. No, im not going to waste my time on a virtual debate. Thats not what debates all about, you sit behind a computer and do a debate, its ridiculous, then they cut you off whenever they want. The Biden Campaign is responding, saying the former Vice President will now take questions directly from voters on october 15, instead of participating in the debate that the president wont attend, but hes also asking the Debate Commission to move the town hall that was scheduled for the 15th to october 22,