June, its biggest drop ever on record, as a separate weekly report shows another 1. 4 million americans filed for Unemployment Benefits last week. Meanwhile in washington, lawmakers have 24 hours to reach a deal before millions of americans lose federal unemployment and other critical benefits, but thats looking less likely by the hour. Negotiations are at an impasse on capitol hill. The white house admitting they are nowhere close to a deal, and we are live on the ground in hot spots across the country. The situation in the three most populated states, california, texas and florida, getting more dire each marking recordhigh average daily deaths this week. Our team is spread out across the country covering it all. Garrett haake is on capitol hill and jo ling kent on the economic reports as well as and Shannon Pettypiece at the white house. Garrett, where do negotiations stand right now . We know theyre nowhere close but give us an outline of what are some of the sticking points. Reporter its tough to outline sticking points. The negotiations are kind of a disaster, republicans cant agree amongst themselves on their starting position. Just yesterday Mitch Mcconnell said he thinks hell lose 20 republican votes on anything they put on the floor. That means they dont even have a place to start negotiating with democrats, whether it be on Unemployment Benefits, stimulus checks, liability protection, you name it. Negotiation is almost too strong of a word for the process we find ourselves in. Now, traditionally you might think that gives democrats a stronger hand, theyre united behind the h. E. R. O. E. S. Act and the republicans who cant agree on anything or even the need to do something in a robust way might walk away from the table and say we cant get anything done and were out in a sense. So this is a complete mess as much of a stalemate as i have seen in my time covering capitol hill. Its difficult to see how they get from where they are now to any deal especially before any of these rolling deadlines. Lets talk a little bit about the numbers, joe. Break them down for us. What do they mean, as we mentioned this is 19 weeks of numbers of unemployment claims, overall total 54 million. Give us the breakdown of what this means and the devastation were seeing play out. Reporter like garrett in washington, i wish i had better news, too. Annualized rate of 33 , thats how much the u. S. Economy shrunk in the last quarter, that is the worst on record in terms of speed and depth. The next closest number to that would have been in mid 1921, around the great depression, and so as you look at these numbers, it shows that spending in really critical areas like health care, retail, footwear, clothing, all of that contracted in the last quarter. Add on top of that the reason why its happening, because jobless claims, people are still filing for unemployment at very high rates. Yes, weve seen the number come down significantly, when it comes to unemployment claims, since back in late march, but were plateauing right now. 1. 4 million jobless claims are filed last week, as more companies indicate that theyre going to be making more layoffs and this is before the major furloughs, those involuntary furloughs that were expecting from the airlines that are going to come in the tens of thousands. So the number really is hurting here, and i always want to point out what it means for your bottom line and your personal che checkbook. Remember food prices continue to go up. Grocery prices are rising, incomes are dropping. Your ability to spend on the stuff that youd like to spend on that normally pushes the economy up in a positive direction a lot of that is limited for so many people, so as those 00 a week checks and payments have already expired for most americans across the country, youre going to be looking at the first of the month very quickly rent and mortgages due, people are going to be struggling more than ever. We expect to see more evictions in the next 30 days as notices are put out and expecting to see a rise in homelessness because people were already on the brink, talking about most americans not having a lot of money in their savings account to account for that threemonth safety net that so many Financial Advisers advised people to have, so when you see this record shrinking of the u. S. Economy, thats really the human picture behind it, eamon. Absolutely grim picture when you describe it the way that you have there, jo. So shannon, let me just ask you, against this economic backdrop, on a day that you had these stunning economic headlines, the day that john lewis is being buried, the president is not tweeting about this. Hes not tweeting about the impasse on capitol hill. Hes tweeting about delays the u. S. Election in november, something he does not have the power to do but walk us through why the president this morning may have decided to tweet that out. Reporter he tweeted it out less than half an hour after the really devastating economic figures came out. Of course this is one of the president s favorite culture war talking points right now, this tweet had a lot of i feel like trolling elements to it, but again accusing this election, and mailin voting of being riddled with fraud saying they could be the most inaccurate and fraudulent election ever. Now he suggests the end of this tweet we could delay the election, but i will note on our fact check here, he does not have the ability to do that. Congress does. It clearly states that congress can delay, states can delay their primaries but congress is the one that has the ultimate authority and the election will be held after the first monday in november, which this year would be november 3rd. In addition, i will add that no election even during the civil war has ever been delayed in the countrys history, so this is certainly something the president does not have the power to do. Theres know indication of congress that it is something, and instead, the president though continuing to bring up one of his favorite culture war talking points here, eamon. Shannon pettypiece live at the white house, garrett shake, haake, jo ling kent, thank you. With us congresswoman Maxine Waters from california. Thank you for joining us. I want to pick up before we get into all of the other important issues of the day, i would like to get your reaction to what we just heard from my colleague, Shannon Pettypiece from the white house about the president s tweet, raising the possibility of delaying the election. We know he doesnt have the power to do so, but just the mere fact that he is raising that in the context of perhaps a cultural war. Yes, this president is absolutely outrageous in the way that he carries out the playbook of third world countries with dictators. This business of delaying the election, congress is not going to delay any election, and he should know that by now, but when he sends out his, you know, paramilitary troops into portland, when he aligns himself with putin, when he says he loves kim jongun, this is all about the president. This wouldbe dictator in our country, who is using the tactics of dictators, particularly in third world countries, and so he is to be ignor ignored. The protesters sent a message to everybody in this country, that we are not happy. The American Public for the most part is not happy with the way things have been going under this administration. We want change. We want to stop the division. We want to stop the racism. We want to do something about police reform. We want to do something about really investing in human potential. This president is about none of that. Hes about himself, and so i wish we could just say ignore him, but the fact of the matter is, weve got to vote him out of office and get on with strengthening our democracy and undoing the harm that he has caused to all of us in this country. Lets move on to some more pressing issues for the millions of americans that are out there. Can you give us an update, congresswoman, on the negotiations about this relief bill, where they stand this morning . Whats your level of confidence that a deal can actually be reached . Well, we are not at a point where i can be assured that a deal is going to be reached. Mcconnell has been absolutely unreasonable. He does not care that renters are going to be evicted. This has been 76 days since we passed the h. E. R. O. E. S. Bill out of the house of representatives and we have up to about 23 Million People, somewhere between 19 million and 23 Million People that are threatened with eviction. Now the landlords can give them 30 days because the Eviction Moratorium was over as of the 25th of july. 30 days, they can start putting them out on the street. The homelessness in america is absolutely unconscionable. In my own county of los angeles, we have 50,000, 60,000 people who are out on the streets at night with no place to live. This Eviction Moratorium that is going to cause many more to be evicted because its ended is going to increase homelessness so im worried. Im worried about the h. E. R. O. E. S. Act, period, and more worried about all of these families thats not going to have anywhere to go. They dont have any money. Theyve been laid off from their jobs. Unemployment is running out. Theyre even resisting the 600 unemployment that we put on top of what many of the unemployed were receiving as their benefits, and so i cannot tell you that im comfortable, that we are going to reach some kind of conclusion in these negotiations any time soon. Im sorry. Let me ask you quickly, because were talking about the issue of moratorium of evictions, would you support something the president suggested passing a shortterm fix to astreddress unemployment concerns and the Eviction Moratorium . I would support a credible way by extending this, and i have, we did that in the h. E. R. O. E. S. Bill. We said in addition to the 100 billion that we were trying to get to assist our renters and homeowners, that we should extend this moratorium, so its nothing new thats talking about. Just support the h. E. R. O. E. S. Bill and well get the extension. Let me get your thoughts quickly about congressman louie gomer. Masks are required on the house floor after he tested positive for coronavirus. After walking on capitol hill without a mask, your reaction to that news and to his suggestion that he might have gotten sick while wearing a mask . Reporte well he knows he has been caught redhanded, having denied there was any need for a mask and not wearing a mask, and now hes a victim of the virus, and so you know, i dont wish anybody any bad luck to get sick or to die, but he put himself at risk, and hes putting everybody else at risk, as he walks around without a mask, and so im so pleased that nancy pelosi exercised her power and said you cant be on the floor without a mask, and if you come on the floor without a mask, shes going to get the Capitol Police to drag you right off. Im so pleased she did that. And finally, congresswoman, in the next hour, were going to see the funeral of your friend and colleague, the late congressman john lewis. How do you plan on carrying his work and legacy in the house of representatives . Well, you know, the first thing that im going to do is get reactivated on trying to insist that we have voter reform. As you know, the Supreme Court passed a decision which caused section 5 of the Voting Rights act not to be used, and thats the portion of the Voting Rights act that basically said that if in fact you came from a jurisdiction that showed that you had undermined Voting Rights, that you could not put in laws and procedures that would interfere with voting, and you were overseeing by the Voting Rights act section 5. We have to work to undo that, undo what the Supreme Court has done, and make sure that we have Voting Rights protected for all of the people of this country, and that was, you know, something john lewis gave his life practically for. He was beaten, you know, that picture at the end of the Edmund Pettis bridge has gone around the world and he was, you know, his life was endang eveered and has spoken about it. He has worked on it. He has marched. He has done Everything Possible to secure Voting Rights for everyone in this country. As a matter of fact, he is mr. Civil rights himself, and so i agree with some of the historians who said john lewis was a saint, that he wasnt perfect, but he was better than most of us, and i think it could not be described more accurately than to call him a saint, who gave everything, who dedicated his career to Voting Rights, to human rights, to civil rights, and so hes gone now, but we have a responsibility to try to carry on and try to, you know, not only carry on, but be true to the cause that he represented so well. And it will be quite a scene in the next hour when we see him being eulogized by the first black president in this country, former president Barack Hussein obama. Congresswoman Maxine Waters, thank you so much. I appreciate your time and insights as always. A quick programming note ahead on congressman john lewis, well start seeing guests arrive for his funeral at the historic enkneeser Baptist Church in atlanta as i mentioned and see president s bush, clinton and obama, all in attendance. President obama will deliver that eulogy. Well bring that to you live when it gets under way. Plus stunning new research on how the coronavirus is taking a deadly toll on hispanic residents in texas, original nbc news reporting you do not want to miss, and after testing positive for covid19, congressman Louie Gohmert congressman Louie Gohmert discover the option thats best for you. Call today and find out more. Im proud to be a part of aag, i trust em, i think you can too. These humans, those humans. Groovin, and golden. Its about getting more than Health Insurance and a partner who listens and acts. Humana calls it human care. Its talking to a doctor from your couch, or helping you find a cheaper prescription before you ask. Its helping you fix the rugs so you dont fall, and keeping you social, online or off. Its getting to know you, so you can be your healthiest. Thats our superpower. Thats human care. From humana. In texas hispanic residents are dying at a higher rate, hispanic texans make up 40 of the states population but 48 of the states confirmed covid19 deaths. Experts say there are several reasons including systemic and cultural ones that make this community more vulnerable to serious illness. Joining me from houston is reporter mike hixonbaum. Thanks for putting an important spotlight on this story. Covid having a devastating impact on the texas hispanic community. Reporter i think its very important to make clear nothing about hispanic residents that predisposes them to catching the coronavirus. Covid is hitting the communities harder because of preexisting economic and Health Inequities and coronavirus is pouring gasoline on the flames. Part of that is in texas, where a third of Adult Population under 65 lacks health care, 60 of those residents are hispanic, the highest rate in the country and the lack of access to health care is part of the reason these hispanics residents have highe rates of diabetes and high Blood Pressure which makes them more vulnerable to serious illness from the coronavirus and hispanic residents are likely to work in the Service Sector or live in multigenerational households which makes social distancing more difficult. I learned reporting this story with propublica is your perception of covid is very much shaped by the bubble that you live in. I work and report in houston, and i can name a handful of people who tested positive and youd hear similar stories from People Living in mostly white affluent neighborhoods. I talked with valerie martinez, a young hispanic woman in mostly hispanic neighborhood, last week she told me she could name 45 people who tested positive, nine of whom have been hospitalized and at that time four who had died, and sadly, by the time our story was published this morning, that last number had grown to five, and you know, similar stories are playing out, data shows similar stories playing out across text it text and the country. Mike hixenbaugh, thank you. Check out the powerful reporting from mike in partnership with propublica on nbc. Com. Dr. Jha, always a pleasure, we have a lot of ground to cover. Let me begin with texas. We have been focusing a lot on texas but yesterday dr. Fauci mentioned he was concerned about rising Positivity Rates in states like ohio, indiana, kentucky. Tell us a little bit about why are those states ones to watch out for and why is the indicator of increasing Positivity Rate significant . Thank you for having me on. I agree with dr. Fauci. No surprise. Look, weve focused a lot on the hot spots, the texas, arizona, florida, south carolina, louisiana. Makes sense thats where the big outbreaks are. What were seeing in large parts of the country is increase in cases and test positivity and the reason test positivity is important is the idea we are doing more testing and the more testing we do, if were starting to find higher and higher proportion of people, thats a sign that were missing a lot of people and its a sign that the outbreak is getting much bigger and even our increasing testing isnt able to keep up with it. So i look at those data and im also getting concerned about probably about a dozen states across the country, where the numbers are really starting to rise. Lets talk about vaccines, if i can, the commissioner of the fda was on the today show this morning reacting to the president s claim that we could have a vaccine by the end of the year. Let me play that for you. Its possible. Things have been moving very quickly. I know our team is looking at data in real time from these trials and that should help us expedite this. The most Important Message i think, savannah, is were not going to cut corners on this. Well look at the data and make the right decision for the american people. It certainly sounds hopeful, but talk to us a little bit about analyzing that data in real time. What should we be looking for as information comes out about phase three trials . Yes, so i hope dr. Hahn and his team do their job and really make decisions based on what the science says, and not what a political time line might be, because its going to be very important to instill confidence. How will we know . We have to make sure theres a large number of people involved in these trials and large number of volunteers. We want to show real evidence that its preventing infections or preventing severe infections and we want to have a large enough sample of people followed over enough time to be confident there arent significant side effects that we might be missing. If we can do all of that, i do think theres a chance we may be able to get all of that by the end of this calendar year. Its going to be very hard to do it before then. But ultimately the time line has got to be dictated by the skinls. I cann science. I cant dictate the time line and no one else should either. Louis gohmert talking about how wearing a mask may have given him covid19. I cant help but wonder if by keeping a mask on and keeping it in place that if i might have put some germs, some of the virus onto the mask and breathed it in. I dont know. But i got it, well see what happens from here. Can you fact check that for us for a little bit . It certainly does sound a little bit familiar to what we heard from dr. Fauci and others early on when there was confusion wearing a mask, one of the reasons cited for not wearing a mask it may force to you put your hands closer to your mouth, but give us the impact of an elected official making that kind of statement this far into a national pandemic. First of all i think its incredibly harmful, because the bottom line is masks prevent infections and save lives, and you know, i have an 8yearold. Every time we go out, he wears his mask and he knows the proper way of doing this. Can he do it, kids younger than him are able do it. I suspect the congressman can know how to manage a mask safely. So i think the focus here has to be on getting people to be confident about Wearing Masks. Obviously handling it carefully and appropriately and i just dont think that suggesting that the mask caused his infection is either likely to be true and certainly isnt helpful and we need our political leaders to talk about science as opposed to kind of theoretical things that i think are unlikely. Lets talk a little if i can about testing. You wroed a piece for Time MagazineAmerica Needs to radically rethink of our covid19 testing aapproach and emphasize the importance of rapid testing. We know there are rapid tests out there, deployed at places like the white house for people coming to visit the president. Explain to us the benefits of this, and what does the ideal testing model or future look like to you . Yes, so weve been doing with testing is looking for home runs, trying to look at the tests that are high quality and consistently available and now we have to wait seven or ten days and the tests are starting to become pretty useless. I think of the rapid tests as singles and doubles. Theyre not home runs. You can occasionally miss some spaces but if we do them on an ongoing basis and like in baseball, if you accumulate enough singles and doubles, you will win the game and similarly, if we have these rapid tests widely available, any one test might miss somebody but we do it often, we get results back in 15 or 30 minutes, it will totally change the face of this pandemic, it will bring case numbers way, way down and we it win the pandemic game. I just wish that we can now really shift our attention and put a lot of emphasis on these rapid tests that are available, the technology exists. Yes, and unfortunately dr. Jha while you were speaking unfortunate inside news here to confirm for our viewers, herman cain, a prominent republican, former president ial candidate in his own rite, has died of covid19 at the age of 74. That is according to a statement that has been put up on his website. Let me get your thoughts quickly, not just about this specific case but obviously in the context of we dont know if he had any preexisting conditions that would have made him more vulnerable to covid19, but he is 74, but as weve seen, this disease does not spare anyone and anyone with a lot of resources like herman cain. Obviously just its awful. Its terrible, and my heart goes out to his family and his loved ones. This is the disease. Its a serious disease, a deadly disease. 150,000 americans have died. We have to as a nation start taking this seriously, and our failure to do so is really i think a disrespect to the memories of those people who lost their lives. Weve got to do better. Again, very tragic situation there, herman cain dying as a result of covid19. He had been hospitalized for several weeks. Dr. Ashish jha, thank you for joining us. Thank you. Switching gears right now, in atlanta dignitaries beginning to arrive for the final farewell to congressman john lewis. Up next, the longawaited return of the nba, as teams get ready to tip off just hours from now. Well talk to former pro basketball player eton thomas basketball player eton thomas about theng, fever, chills, or other symptoms of an infection, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. Avoid grapefruit during treatment. ask your doctor about living longer with kisqali. Among my patisensitivity as well tas gum issues. Does it worry me . Absolutely. New sensodyne sensitivity gum gives us the dual action effect that really takes care of both our teeth sensitivity as well as our gum issues. Theres no question its something that i would recommend. Welcome to camp tonsafun on xfinity its summer camp, but in your living room. Learn how to draw with a minions expert. How to build an indoor Obstacle Course plus. Whatever shes doing. And me, jade cattapreta. The host of es the soup camp tonsafun. Its like summer camp, but minus the poison ivy. Unless you own poison ivy. In which case, why . Just say summer camp into your xfinity voice remote to join. Espn worldwide of sports complex, sam brockman, baseball was dealt an immediate setback after restarting, 16 Miami Marlins players who tested positive for covid19, but the nba is moving ahead and says it can still to this safely. Reporter good morning. Big difference between baseball and basketball. Baseball is not in a bubble. The nba is here at espns wide world of sports complex. They have 344 players in this bubble right now. They have all been tested repeatedly for covid19, zero positive tests so far, since theyve come to the bubble, gives this sport encouragement it can come back and come back safely. In just hours basketball bouncing back with a double header in the bubble. I think everybody is excited about it, ready to get the season started. Reporter lebron james and the lakers lead things off, taking on a fellow juggernaut, the l. A. Clippers. I was the bubble, i said its 2020. Everything is different and you have to be able to adjust to it. Reporter for more than three weeks, players from 22 teams have been training and living at disney world sequestered at private hotels and scrimmaging in isolated courts. Nonstop sensory overload of basketball. Reporter the sport announces 344 players repeatedly been tested for coronavirus in the bubble, and not a single test has come back positive but commissioner adam silver isnt letting his guard down. Its not a hermedically sealed bubble. Everyone is wearing a mask. Reporter you can see behind me the floor. Reporter joe is one of a dozen reporters inside the bubble. How seriously do the players seem to be taking the safety protocols . I think for the most part very seriously. The players do the interviews in masks, they put their masks on to walk out of practice and into practice. Reporter some have broken from the bubble to deal with personal issues, including new orleans rookie phenom zion williamson. His availability for the second game of the doubleheader unclear, but simple as that. Reporter the players and staff are all under this bubble but the disney employees are coming in and out but i can tell you, having watched this firsthand, everyone is being extremely diligent about Wearing Masks and social distancing, that is the only way that this can work and of course, as far as the basketball side of things, 6 30 tonight the lakers taking on the clippers, and another doubleheader after that. The jazz playing as well against the new orleans pelicans, a lot of excited sports fans out there today because finally we have basketball back. Hopefully well see if that model of the bubble does give a different result than major league baseball. Sam brock live in florida, thank you. Im joined by former nba player etawn thomas. Youve been saying for weeks it is a bad idea for sports to return at any level. As you saw the nba is Going Forward with two games this evening. Tell us a little bit about why you are concerned. Im definitely concerned because of the state that we are in, in this country. Commission ear dam silver has done a fantastic job of leading. He has said he is not going to push forward regardless, going to watch the data and be able to say if there is an outbreak hell adjust. I wrote an open letter to adam silver a month or two ago saying i did not think it was a good idea for the nba to start. My position is i dont think its a good idea for any sports to start right now at any level. The nba is having success, hockey is having success but then you have baseball, and College Football and you have all these outbreaks and with what we have right now that were dealing with is too big of a risk. Im hoping the nba goes on and is successful. Im an nba fan. My son cant wait to watch giannis do his thing and try to win a championship, were fans but when you weigh everybodys health and everybodys safety and security and everything like that, and also we dont know the longterm effects of catching the coronavirus on these players respiratory systems, their heart, their kidneys, all these different things, theyre all unknowns. Its a huge risk to take. So far two rounds of tests, no positive cases in the nba so kudos to adam silver. Let me get your thoughts and you certainly are in touch with a lot more of the players, you have a better sense of the feel and concerns of players, their families that they have to distance themselves from. Do you get a sense that players are voluntarily doing this or do you feel that there is a commercial pressure to get a Sports League like the nba back up and running and they have to go along with it . Certainly the lesser profiled player, not the lebron james and the others but some of the other lesserknown players . Im sure you have a little bit of both. The nba is a billiondollar business the same way that the ncaa say billiondollar business, or the nfl or the nhl. We see trump touting the economy so for economic motivation, economic reasons, every business entity has an economic reason to want to be able to reopen. We understand that. I think the issue is, is it safe, is it the safest way . We saw the outbreak in the mlb and for that many players on one team, im surprised they didnt shut down everything and thats why i have to keep repeating that, adam silver, hes not doing what say Governor Desantis did. Governor desantis said okay, florida has just set the record for most coronavirus cases in a single day, and now the next day he announced we should open disney world. Thats irresponsible leadership. Adam silver says well keep looking at the data and if we see the outbreak well roll back. We have no problem shutting down. Etan thomas, former nba player, thank you for joining us with your perspective. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Always. I want to go back to breaking news about herman cain, a trump surrogate and prominent republican, a former president ial candidate has now died of the coronavirus at the age of 74. That is according to a statement posted on his website, which says that cain was in a highrisk group because of his history with cancer. We te he tested positive more than a week after attending President Trumps tulsa rally in june. He posted a photo of himself with others at the event, which showed him also without a mask. For more on the death of herman cain im joined on the phone by Kelly Odonnell who covered that rally that day. Let me get your initial thoughts about this tragic news. Reporter i have no audio, guys. Of the tragic news of herman cain. Kelly, are you able to hear me . Reporter hi, eamon, sorry. Good to hear you. Let me pick up on what i was asking you there. We were laying the context of the passing of herman cain. You covered that rally in tulsa. We dont know for a fact where he may have contracted that virus but put in context for us his tragic death. Reporter herman cain is someone who has been so prominent in the business and political world, over many years, and it is certainly a terrible loss for his family and his staff, and of course it stands out that he has been, was in attendance and photographed at the tulsa rally, which was the last rally the president held and one that was happening in what was at that time a covid hot spot. Herman cain was photographed not wearing a mask, sitting in close proximity to others. Of course, we dont have an ability to draw a line from that event to his diagnosis. Thats just some of the background of what has happened here. He had been hospitalized since early july, and there were periodic updates from his team and there were some signs of hopefulness, but as they reported his passing at age 74 today, they described the fact that they just were not able to get him past that point, even though only days ago, they write that he had some indications of being able to recover. That i guess is the nature of how grievous this sort of illness can be, and he was largely in good condition, they say, other than that, not experiencing a lot of other health problems, but the impact he made as a ceo of godfathers pizza at the 2012 president ial candidate, a former chairman of the kansas city Federal Reserve board, he had a big impact in his Business Life and his political life, and was a friend of the president , and of course had a more traditional political republican experience before the era of trump, running in 2012. He might not have been a precursor to the trump era and became famous for something known as 999, his idea for a new tax level that would set the rate at 9 if you were an individual or a business, and so forth, and that became one of the calling cards of his 2012 president ial campaign, and there was a period, eamon, when he was the frontrunner of that race, when it was a crowded field early on. So his passing today comes as a bit of a shock, because while we know this disease can be so absolutely serious, we had gotten some indications from his staff as he was making progress, we had not hear about the latest turn and didnt feel there was a necessity to update everyone as things grew more serious. The loss of herman cain is a shock. One question it will raise is will it have an impact on the president . Is this something that he will speak about, because they were friends, and certainly herman cain had advocated for the president on many occasions. We are certainly waiting for reaction from the white house about his passing. No doubt as you noted there, that he was a close friend or confidant of the president to some extent. Kelly, lets talk about what he meant to the president from a political standpoint. Obviously there is not a long list of prominent africanamericans who lend their voice to the president. He does not poll well with the Africanamerican Community at large but he was an outlier, supported the president and many of his policies and they had a bit of a relationship. His loss is obviously going to be a tragic one for the president but talk to us a little bit about the relationship between President Trump and what herman cain represented for his outreach to the qualify dan americafricana. Reporter they have a coalition called black voices for trump and certainly herman cain was one of the most famous and prominent of the voices and was a way into the Africanamerican Community and especially into the africanamerican business community. Herman cain went to morehouse, one of the great institutions of the of acap american historically black colleges and universities so there was great credibility in that as well so he was a prominent voice in the Africanamerican Community and in some ways an ambassador for the Trump Campaign in that regard. Eamon . Kelly odonnell, thank you very much for that update. Joining me is nbc news senior Political Editor mark murray. Let me get your initial reaction to the passing of herman cain from a political context and what it might mean for the white house with the news he has died as a result of covid19 and the likeliness as to whether or not it puts the spotlight once again on the president. Seems like we may have lost mark murray. Well try to reestablish contact with mark murray. Mark, are you with me . Yes, hey, eamon, how are you . Game good. Sorry, we lost you for a second but such is the reality of live tv. What does herman cains passing mean for the president and there was criticism the president decided to hold his rally there in tulsa and what it might mean Going Forward for such events . First of all, this tragic news with the herman cain passing and again im reminded when that tulsa rally that occurred that there were local people from tulsa who said the event was not very safe, that there were spikes that were occurring in that area, that it was going to be dangerous, and if you remember at the very time, it was the largest indoor event that the world had seen since the coronavirus began. So people were pointing out the dangers, and i think there was an idea and still in part of the president s face that the coronavirus isnt a very big deal, and of course we end up seeing what ended up happening from that. Looking back though at herman cain and his political legacy, eamon, im reminded from the 2012 republican nomination fight, herman cain for a while was doing very well in the polls and was really tapping into that tea party energy in a lot of ways of precursor to what we saw kata put donald trump to the 2016 republican nomination and then to the white house, that herman cain was really one of the forebearers of the conservative movement that ended up later producing donald trump. Mark murray, thank you very much for joining us and reminder to all of our viewers, former president ial candidate herman cain passing at the age of 74 due to complications of covid19. Switching gears, three former president s are set to attend the final tribute to civil rights icon john lewis at the enkneeser Baptist Church. Well have a lot more on that next. Little things can become your big moment. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. With otezla, 75 clearer skin is achievable. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. It may cause severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. Tell your doctor about your medicines, and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. We are back with a live look inside atlantas historic ebenezer Baptist Church where the funeral for civil rights icon and longtime congressman john lewis is about to begin. In a few minutes well see the family processional and hear the bell toll for 80 seconds. Three former president s as well as the House Speaker are among those who will speak about his life and legacy, including former president barack obama who is giving the eulogy. This morning, a final message from john lewis himself. The New York Times publishing an essay he wrote shortly before his death. It reads in part, ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of america by getting in what i call good trouble, necessary trouble. He also urges people to vote which he calls our most powerful nonviolent change agent. He goes on to write, quote, in my life i have done all i can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring. You see there the images in atlanta, the flagdraped casket of the late john lewis. Were awaiting the see the arrival of the three former president s and, of course, the speaker of the house. Well bring it to you live. With me is courtland cox, a longtime friend of lewis who helped organize the 1963 march on washington and even worked with lewis to rewrite his pivotal speech. Mr. Cox, its great to have you with us. Thank you very much for joining us. Id like to start with that final challenge we just read from mr. Lewis to all of us torques reflect on how to carry on his legacy through voting. What did you take away from those moving final words . I think the oped piece from john was very important because it made three very important points. First, that he started out at the age of 14 after emmett tills murder and dr. King said how we should move forward. The second piece talked about his real dedication and deep commitment to nonviolence. But i think the most important thing about the statement this morning is that he was talking to young people. He points out in the piece that, even though i was sick and i know im dying, i had to go back out to black lives matter plaza because i wanted to see for myself and i wanted to know that the things i carried on for the past 60 years will continue. I have done all that i can do. Its up to you to carry forward. What would you say honoring his legacy actually look like in practice . I think two things. The commitment to continue struggle. He really wants to say to young people youve got to continue struggle and the vote is the most important thing that you can do politically and everything you do should be done nonviolently and you should be four people and four things afo and not against things. In a sense that he feels that, while i did everything that i considered necessary, i know it wasnt sufficient and im now depending on you young people. The article that he did today was addressed to young people. It wasnt addressed to the congress. It didnt talk about the Edmund Pettus bridge. It didnt talk about the times of being arrested, all his awards and all that. It said, i want to talk to young people. The struggle continues and im depending on you to carry it out. You helped write history with mr. Lewis. I know there are so many memories you can share together. Can you tell us your most impactful memory from your time with mr. Lewis . My most impressive memory about john is his determination and his commitment to nonviolence. John was very determined, because were now talking about somebody who has been out here for 65 years. Thats more than a lifetime for most people. So john lewis and a number of his Senate Comrades have been out here for more than 60 years. I think that john and the cohort of people he came along with, the thing thats most important to me is to continue determination to struggle. Civil rights icon mr. Courtland cox, thank you for joining us. I appreciate your time. That does it for me this hour. Id like to bring in my colleague craig melvin who will oversee our extended coverage of remembering the late john lewis. Craig. Ayman, good thursday morning to you. Good thursday morning to you watching at home, listening on sirius satellite radio. The funeral for congressman john lewis expected to start any moment now. If you are just joining us, we are watching the his stork ebenezer Baptist Church, a civil rights haven where dr. Martin luther king jr. Served as pastor. Dr. Kings father also a pastor of this church. In fact, since the church was founded back in the 1880s, there have only been five pastors at ebenezer Baptist Church. Three former president s will attend this service to honor congressman lewis, including president barack obama who will be delivering the eulogy. Even though john lewis is no longer with us, he used what little time he had left on this earth at the end of his life to write some final thoughts, thoughts just published in the New York Times overnight. His parting message to americans, together you can redeem the soul of our nation. I want to go right to nbcs Geoff Bennett who is also there at ebenezer Baptist Church in atlanta. Jeff, walk us through what we can expect from todays funeral proceedings as our country, as the world says goodbye to congressman lewis. Reporter craig, in a few minutes time, what well hear first is 80 seconds of ringing bells to mark 80 years of congressman lewis life. That will happen here and at 500 houses of worship across the country. From there what we will see is a celebration of life unfolding in the black baptist tradition. You mentioned ebenezer. Its fitting congressman lewis would be funeralized here given that ebenezer is the heart of the city and the heart of the Civil Rights Movement for generations. Its also true that he was a member of ebenezer. He and his wife were married here in 1968. When she passed, about a decade ago now, she was funeralized here. The congressman himself will be funeralized here. The congressman wrote the oped published in the New York Times today. Its also told that he had a hand in writing out the program we will see today. He handpicked the singers, the speakers. Jennifer holiday, one of his favorite singers is going to open the program. Well hear from b. B. Winans. The three former president s will be here. President obama will eulogize him. Former president carter and his wife rosalind carter, both in their 90s, are not traveling these days as it was put to me, given their age, but they do send their condolences and have sent their condolences in writing. Ill send it back to you. It looks like the service is about to get started. It is Getting Started momentarily. Geoff bennett at ebenezer Baptist Church. Geoff, thank you. We can also tell you that after the service ends, somewhere between an hour and a half and two hours after that, congressman john lewis will be buried at southview cemetery. Theres expected to be a three volley salute. A bugler will play taps. Lets listen now to the bells that geoff just mentioned