Among republicans to do so. What will that mean for november when millions of americans will cast their ballots by mail . For its part, the white house wants to reframe the entire conversation around the president s assault on the usps and mailin voting, going so far as to allege that any suggestion that President Trump is trying to undermine the election a borderline conspiracy theory. But the evidence suggests otherwise. More on that in a moment. This as democrats pepair to make history tonight. Well hear from senator Kamala Harris as she becomes the first woman of color to accept a major partys nomination for Vice President. Let us begin, though, in wilmington, and the big third night for the democrats. Expect to focus on historymaking moments this evening. Again, harris will be the final speaker, as she accepts her partys nomination. Before her, though, were going to hear from americas first black president and the first female president ial nominee of a major party. Barack obama and Hillary Clinton. So with me now from wilmington, delaware, is nbc news political reporter ali vitali. Ali, you have harris, obama, and Hillary Clinton. What should we expect from all three . Certainly, the history is going to be the backdrop, katy, but were also likely to hear more about policy than we have in the last two nights. We should expect to see videos and presentations about things like immigration, climate change, the economy. Those very issues that this democratic primary hinged on for well over a year. And then, of course, theres going to be a continued rebuke of President Donald Trump. That, of course, comes from the people who you mentioned that are speaking tonight. People like barack obama and Hillary Clinton, certainly coming ready to give pointed rebuttals to the Trump Presidency over the course of the last three years. While also making the case for joe biden. And this convention provides an opportunity for biden to be seen not just as obamas Vice President but as the president ial nominee in his own right. The same goes for Kamala Harris. No longer is she just one of the senators as well as someone who ran for president and failed to get there, but now shes someone whos assuming the role of Vice President , and this ad from the Biden Campaign gives us some clues as to how we might hear former president barack obama talk about him tonight. Listen to what he said. Somebody whose faith has been tested and who knows who to lean on to find the light. A resilience and loyal and humble servant, and through his life he has never forgotten the values and moral fibers that make him what he is. The best part is hes nowhere close to finished. We talk about history being the backdrop here, and certainly, its going to be front and center when we see someone like Kamala Harris, the first woman of color, accepting a major Party Nomination for Vice President , but theres also a second thing thats happening here. While shes talked about the historic moment that shes in, shes also sought to normalize it. When advisers tell me she hopes her speech is something that every american can see themselves in, that goes to show that, yes, shes talking about the history, but shes also looking to normalize women and women of color being in this executive places of power and being a potential Vice President ial nominee. Ali vitali in wilmington, delaware, looking forward to tonight. Thank you, ali, and theres an unspoken subtext to Hillary Clintons appearance at tonights proceedings. How can democrats avoid a loss like hers in 2016 . Nbc News NationalPolitical CorrespondentSteve Kornacki is at the big board. Steve, so whats going to happen . Well, lets take a look. We can show you what has changed at least so far. Remember, 2016, Hillary Clinton did win the popular vote by about two points. Right now, in our polling, joe biden is up by almost ten points. The average poll is in the high single digits. From the exit polls in 2016, to what the polling is showing now, what are the changes demographically. Three big groups, black voters, hispanic voters. White voters. This is what happened in 2016 with Hillary Clinton against donald trump. Hillary clinton won black voters overwhelmingly. Very strong margin with hispanic voters. There, among white voters, the bishest group size wise of these three by far, it was donald trump who won by 20 points. Whats changed . Our most recent poll, among black voters. Biden is flat, even a point off where hillary was. Biden leads by 80 right now. Hispanic voters, biden not at the level Hillary Clinton was in 2016, but heres where the most significant changes occur. The biggest vote, white voters. 20 points for trump in 2016. Right now in our poll, thats more than cut in half. Trump by just seven among white voters. Theres two basic groups there, college and noncollege, going in completely different directions. This is what happened in 2016. Trump ran up a massive margin among white voters with no college degree. The exit poll had him winning white voters with a college degree. Our polling shows an overwhelming advantage. Look at this shift. An overwhelming advantage for joe biden among the same group. White voters with a college degree. Thats a big group there. Size wise. If biden were to finish at the end of the election anything like that, that would be historic for a democrat in modern times to win by that much. Then, white noncollege voters, trump continues to lead by a big margin, but not as big as 2016. Thats the big shift among white voters. Its also this, by the way, 65 plus senior citizens, a group for trump. Trump won them by seven in 2016. Our poll right now shows the exact opposite. Biden leading by seven among senior citizens, katy. Really interesting. Steve kornacki, thank you very much. And this afternoon, were getting a first look at the House Democratic plan to help the Postal Service. The delivering for america act calls for a reversal of policies hindering the delivery of mail. It also provides 25 million in funding. The house is expected to vote on the bill on saturday. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer is also stepping up pressure on postmaster general louis dejoy ahead of his friday testimony on capitol hill. Schumer wrote dejoy a letter requesting he submit written responses to specific questions concerning the decision to halt some operational changes at the usps. Meanwhile, the president took to twitter to object to the timing of dejoys appearances on the hill. He accused democrats of purposefully planning them around the upcoming gop convention. Lets bring in nbc news digital senior White House Reporter shannon pettypiece. Republicans control the senate, so republicans calling him in on friday, thats not the democrats deciding when hes going to testify. But walk us through how the white house is approaching this and how theyre trying to convince the American Public that they didnt hear with their own ears the president saying he didnt want to fund the Postal Service because it meant that mailin ballots would be easier to deliver. If you ask folks in the white house and the campaign a week, two weeks ago, what do you want to talk about going into the president s convention, coming out of the democrats convention, they want to talk about jobs, the economy, portraying joe biden as some radical liberal. They did not have plans to be talking about an allout war with the post office, which is what we are now into because of the comments that the president has made, and as i know, katy, we have talked about before, theyre so often what his advisers and staff want to talk about, the message they think is going to help him get elected and reverse those numbers steve was talking about, and then what the president is talking about, which is mailin voting. The white house is trying to eavenueilate this message that theyre at war with the post office. They point out trump for years has been raising concerns with the post office, with its finances, and im getting an indication theres a lot more openness to signing some piece of legislation that would give additional funding to the post office. The white house says that they offered 10 billion in the last negotiations with democrats in funding for the post office. Democrats wanted 25 billion over a longer period of time. The white house sasaying, yeah, we would be willing to go up on that. At least thats what it sounds like now. This is all theoretical until a bill gets to their desk and they take action. Shannon pettypiece with a reality check. Thank you very much. Joining me now is michigan secretary of state, jocelyn benson. Madam secretary, thank you so much for joining us. Lets talk about what michigan is doing to insure that voters can have confidence in the electoral system. First off, when it comes to the Postal Service, are you being told a specific timeline for when voters need to get their ballots back in the mail to make sure that they are delivered back to you on time . Yes, first, the citizens of michigan have a state constitutional right to vote by mail, and we believe the United StatesPostal Service is duty bound to protect that right. We were one of the 46 states that received a letter from the postmaster general advising us on a number of things we could do in partnership with them, many of them we were already doing, redesigning our envelopes and the like, but also suggesting if a citizen didnt submit their ballots by october 27th, that could be a problem or they wouldnt be counted. We have been telling citizens to get their votes in early through the mail or through the close to 1,000 drop boxes that we have placed throughout the state of michigan in nearly every local community. Those drop boxes are secure and theyre monitored by security. And thats another alternative we have created for citizens to return their ballots, particularly amidst the uncertainties of the Postal Service right now. So when it comes to louis dejoy halting the changes that he was planning on making at the usps, i wonder what your reaction to that is, especially after the detroit news is reporting eight mail sorting machines in detroit, pontiac, and grand rapids facilities are causing the loss of sorting more than 270,000 pieces of mail per hour. Now, republicans are saying that this undermining, the allegation that the usps is being undermined is a conspiracy theory. The president has said out loud he doesnt want to fund the Postal Service. Louis dejoy said these changes were being made for quite some time. Its not about the election. But is it enough to halt the changes . Are there things that were already made or already changed that are going to make it harder to get ballots back in november . Yeah. First of all, the situation has created a lot of confusion and chaos where none existed prior. But in addition to that, the words that were released yesterday really are just that, words. Its one of the reasons why michigan joined a suit with several other states to put actions behind those words. A court order behind those words demanding the changes stop. Of course, it was an admission, those words were, at the policies were wrong, and thats also why we need commitment to walk back the changes that have already happened, in particular, the removal of the sorting machines you mentioned. Yet, just today in grand rapids, additional sorting machines have been dismantled and placed outside of Postal Service. The Postal Service in grand rapids. So our evidence on the ground is that these changes are already happening, and its one of the reasons why the legal action we have engaged in among other states is so critical. Were also at this perfect storm of problems when it comes to whats happening because of the pandemic and the election thats coming up. There are an estimated, according to the census bureau, 9. 9 million americans who say they cant make their next rent payments, which means there could be millions of evictions across this country, which would then mean that if ballots are being mailed to people at home addresses that are no longer valid, or registrations being mailed to home addresses that are no longer valid, or information about where your polling site is, how do people who are being evicted make sure that they still have the opportunity to either mail in a ballot or at the very least know where their polling location is . Thats right. We have a website and many other secretaries do, that is consistently updated with this information, but importantly in michigan, as in many other states, although we encourage everyone to check your state rules, you can go in person to your Clerks Office up to 40 days prior to election day and request a ballot, complete it, and return it right there. You can also, of course, even if you have moved in the last 60 days in michigan, return to your precinct where you previously lived and vote there in person. So voters continue to have options, and its important that they be more vigilant than ever as all of these other changes occur in the next two and a half months. That the changes that may occur in their lives or with the Postal Service or anywhere else do not affect their right to vote and staying in close contact with their secretaries of state and local Election Officials is an important way to do that. They can also call the nonpartisan Voter Protection hotline that we have partnered with, 866ourvote, which is continuously staffed with advocates who can help them get the most up to date and reliable information for their state. We also have a plan your vote resource at nbcnews. Com to help you figure out how to vote in your individual state, but so important, if you do find yourself in a situation where you lose your home, you can go in michigan, at least, to the post office and get your ballot. Michigan secretary of state benson, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate your time. And despite high unemployment around the country, voters are still more likely to trust President Trump and republicans on the economy. Why is that, exactly . Stephanie ruhle is here to help us understand whether voters have it right. Plus, College Campus clusters. Its clear universities cant control how seriously students take the virus. First up, only in florida. Governor ron desantis compares efforts to open schools to the campaign to catch Osama Bin Laden. Seriously. I am totally blind. And non24 can throw my days and nights out of sync, keeping me from the things i love to do. Talk to your doctor, and call 8442142424. [ ] when you have diabetes, managing your blood sugar is crucial. Try boost glucose control. The patented blend is clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels. It provides 60 more protein than the leading diabetes nutrition shake. Try boost glucose control. Sstop struggling to clean tough messes with sprays. Try clean freak it has three times the cleaning power of the leading spray to dissolve kitchen grease on contact. And its great for bathrooms just keep pumping the power nozzle to release a continuous burst of mist and make quick work of big jobs. It even works on stainless steel. It cuts through 100 of dirt, grease and grime. Available with easytoswap refills. To get three times the cleaning power, try clean freak from mr. Clean. As always, were following the latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic. Here are the facts as we know them this hour. Florida just became the fifth state to surpass 10,000 virus deaths. It joins texas, new york, new jersey, and california. Three House Democrats are calling for a watchdog investigation into how the Trump Administration is collecting coronavirus data. They allege that the sudden shift in how the data is reported might undermine the nations covid19 response. An emergency authorization for covid19 blood plasma treatments is on hold after a group of Health Officials including dr. Anthony fauci, stepped in. The data will be reviewed further before any authorization is made by the fda. The university of notre dame temporarily suspended inperson classes for at least two weeks because of climbing cases of coronavirus on campus. So far, 146 students and 1 staff member have now tested positive for the virus. And outbreaks of covid cases on University Campuses are pushing administrators to rethink their inperson plans for the semester. Oklahoma State University has had several outbreaks on campus. Including multiple clusters linked to campus greek life in sororities and fraternities. Video surfaced last weekend showing packed parties near osu with students celebrating their return to School Without masks and without social distancing. Joining me now from stillwater, oklahoma, is nbc news correspondent morgan chesky. So morgan, are you talking to any students on campus who say, um, yeah, were going to go out and party, no, we dont really care about all of these rules that are being put into place . Katy, the students im speaking to at least want to do their part to try to keep the numbers down. Otherwise, they know life is going to change in a big way. Those who are choosing to kind of blatantly disregard the rules are doing so behind closed doors, but were already seeing the consequences of that in the fact you had more than 20 members of a sorority here in Oklahoma State test positive for covid19. Resulting in the quarantine of that entire Sorority House for the time being. We do know there have been other isolated cases here on campus, but the University President tells me that as of this point in time, they believe that theyre going to be able to have a full inperson semester as long as everybody does their part. He says that really starts with the masks and people paying attention to the special basically steps they put into place, all it be Hand Sanitizer or temperature checks outside buildings or testing every one of the 4,000 people that live here on campus. They think its going to be a cumulative effort that allows them to have as normal a semester as possible. You can hear from the students yourself here, i had a chance to speak to a few of them earlier today, just their thoughts on what is a very surreal semester. Take a listen. I carry wipes and Hand Sanitizer and always cleaning my surfaces and stuff before i go to class and stuff like that. My mom is always concerned about it. So yeah. Pretty concerned about it. I have been making sure i wash my hands a lot. I have Hand Sanitizer. Between classes, i use Hand Sanitizer. I have a mask at all times. Insuring were keeping a safe distance and stuff because obviously every student on campus wants to stay here and we dont want to go back virtually. Its our jobs to make sure were wearing our masks and staying safe. And one of the tools the university is particularly proud of is its Contact Tracing program that they developed right here on campus, katy, that would allow them, should a positive case be confirmed, they could trace that students path across campus from building to building, and then it would let them know what students they came into contact with by way of hundreds of wifi points here on the campus trying to help them hone in so that they can chen pass on that information to county Health Officials who can then at least try to contain these outbreaks should they happen down the road. Katy. Morgan, quickly, what do students say about the partying . Are they endorsing it, do they understand it . Whats happening with that . I mean, i think youll get two camps here. Its the first week of classes, some say its going to happen. You heard one of the representatives from the greek life here basically acknowledge it was only a matter of time before someone caught the virus. But as you look around the campus, and you talk to some of these students, everyone kind of feels a bit of a shared responsibility to do what they can. The president saying its not asking much to put on a mask, and i look around right now, and im not seeing just one, just walked by out of the dozens, that doesnt have a mask on. That said, we are outside. Theyre required inside. Katy. Yeah, i mean, i think theres a difference between whats happening on campus and whats happening off campus, as were seeing in all of the videos that are released and as evidenced by the spike in cases at all of these universities. A lawsuit filed by the biggest Teachers Union in florida against the states governor remains unresolved after failing to reach an agreement in court mandated mediation, both groups went back before a judge today. The Florida Education Association is attempting to delay the start of school, cited the high number of coronavirus cases among children in the state. While Governor Ron Desantis is defending his order to reopen classrooms by comparing it to the campaign to catch and kill Osama Bin Laden. Just as the s. E. A. L. S surmounted obstacles to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice, so too would the Martin CountySchool System find a way to provide parents with a meaningful choice of inperson instruction or continued distance learning. With me now from miami is nbc news correspondent sam brock. I imagine the navy s. E. A. L. S on that raid werent asking for enough personal protective equipment to keep them safe, as they were going into that compound. But that is neither here nor there. Sam, whats happening down there in florida . Katy, beyond the fact its kind of a bizarre comparison, it should be noted Martin County is one of the places thats open so far in the state of florida, about 12 or 13 School Districts. They have already struggled. They already have 300 plus people who are quarantining right now. Its that superintendent that Governor Desantis was just paraphrasing. Youre looking at new cases in florida. Down in recent days, about 3,000 to 4,000 cases a day, although theyre testing fewer. Whats going on right now involving the teachered union lawsuit. A virtual hearing today where we heard from members of the attorneys representing the state, the Florida Education Association, but beyond just the scope here of whats going on with parents being allowed to make a decision to have their kids go or go back to school or not go back to school at 8 , 9 transmission rates, we also heard from a teacher. This is not just parents and students that are being affected now. This teacher is james. He teaches in the orlando area. He was asked what he would do if things did not change by this friday. Let me read you what he told the court today. His response was this, if there is no change tomorrow, im going to have to explain class by class to my students that i cant return and no, im not going to choose. I mean, i have chosen my kids, my students, over so many difficult things, but i cant put my family at risk. I would resign. Now, these are the kinds of arguments that are being laid out by the florida educationicize, that the state doesnt have the right to tell individual School Districts or Staff Members what they have to do when around 10,000 people in the state of florida have already died from covid19. The state in its arguments responded theres social isolation going on, a lack of Educational Development for some communities, particularly minority communities in the state theyre worried about, but its notable the naacp has joined the florida Teachers Union in suing the state right now to stop them from requiring inperson learning. So concerned they are right now about Community Transmission and the sorts of positions this is putting educators and parents and students into if instate continues in the words of of the fda as using money as a kucudge a bludgeon to force them to open their doors. Wild times. Sam, thank you very much. 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Another lifechanging technology from abbott. So you dont wait for life. You live it. Joe biden hasnt actually been to wisconsin in 659 days. In fact, the last time you saw a democrat nominee for president in this badger state was back in 2012. Well, im here to tell you, get used to seeing us because President Donald Trump and i are going to be back to wisconsin again and again to earn four more years in the white house. Vice president mike pence is in wisconsin today, campaigning before a very friendly audience. Hes in walworth county, which donald trump won by 20 in 2016. In fact, the county has supported every republican nominee for the last century. So why just over two months out from a president ial election which time is of the essence is the incumbent Vice President focusing on voters who are all but assured to vote for him and donald trump . Joining me now from wisconsin is nbc news correspondent garrett haake. Garrett, why is Vice President pence spending time here . Reporter well, katy, here you see two different elements in ways that the president s strategy is different from the Biden Campaigns. First, the physically appearing in the state. The Trump Campaign has been here quite a bit, about half a dozen times between the president and the Vice President. So far in this campaign season. Joe biden has not physically campaigned here yet. A lot of that has to do with the pandemic. The Biden Campaign just isnt going to travel as much, is not going to campaign in the pandemic. The fact that the Vice President is here is instructive too. Its not a big county, only about 100,000 people. Republicans have a 100year winning streak, but pence wants to keep the most dedicated Trump Supporters coming to the polls. I have been speaking to Trump Supporters and theyre among the most dedicated i have ever met. There is absolutely nothing that will convince them to vote for joe biden. But pence wants to make sure that they still come out and vote for their guy. Listen to two of the voters i interviewed in the last hour. I want to break down the difference between them after this. Listen. I dont like the way he appears to ignore his wife. I dont like the way he talks about women, whether its now or in the past. I dont like the way he does not easily show empathy for people when he should be showing his heart, and it makes me embarrassed that hes my choice. But hes your choice. My choice anyway. Is there anything he could do that would lose your support . He would have to become a stupid idiot, and he couldnt become that. Hes not that kind of a person. That second gentleman said it more succinctly, but debbie makes the point just the same. There is nothing this president can do, you heard from debbie, all the things she doesnt like about donald trump, but nevertheless, she cannot vote for joe biden, so she says shes with the president. But when she and i discussed it further, she said maybe just maybe ill just sit this one out. Pences job here is make sure voters like debbie, despite any reservations they have, still show up to volt for this president , when so many in this county represented by the other gentleman, make the point that theres quite literally nothing that will shake their faith in this president. Garrett, its a good thing youre wearing a mask because thats the kind of sound bite or the answer to a question that makes you laugh when someone says Something Like that. Also, so confusing when someone is so abhorrent to you in the way they conduct themselves that you would even consider voting for them again, it tells you a lot about, i guess, the state of our politics, and you say its Vice President pence trying to make sure that she votes republican. Thats the kind of voter that i think democrats are trying to talk to by having john kasich or other republicans, bigname republicans at the Democratic Convention to try to give them quote unquote permission to vote for joe biden. Garrett haake, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Exactly right. And for a second night in a row, the dnc has sought to widen its political tent. More prominent republicans made an appearance to announce their support for joe biden. Among them was former secretary of defense, chuck hagel, who told the democratic audience that trump had degraded and debased the presidency, perhaps the most poignant endorsement, though, came from the widow of senator john mccain, who took viewers on a journey of the unlikely friendship between her husband and joe biden. But it was colin powell whose emphatic endorsement might be getting the most attention. He told americans joe biden would be a president they would be proud to salute. Joe biden will be a president we will all be proud to salute. With joe biden in the white house, you will never doubt that he will stand with our friends and stand up to our adversaries, never the other way around. He will trust our diplomats and our intelligence community, not the flattery of dictators and despots. He will stand up to our adversaries with strength and experience. With me now is tim alberta, politico magazines chief Political Correspondent. Tim, i have been wanting to have this conversation with you for a while. Youre out there, youre talking to a wide variety of voters. Republican voters in particular in michigan. I want to know, are these voices, the colin powells, the cindy mccains, the john kasichs, the individuals who said they voted for trump in 2016 and cant vote for him again, are they actually giving permission to enough Republican Voters to make an electoral difference for joe biden . Katy, its a really good question. Individually, no. I dont think these endorsements, i dont think these folks coming out and vouching for joe biden are going to get a whole lot of votes. I think collectively, the drip, drip, drip of prominent figures, not just prominent republican figures, but prominent apolitical figures, and as odd as it may seem to identify michelle obama, a former first lady, as apolitical, i thought her speech the other night was really relevant to the wooing of one particular group of Republican Voters, and thats suburban women. And stop me if you have heard this before, but this is the single voting demographic that we have seen the most movement with over the past four or five years. And the numbers of these voters, katy, who broke away from the Republican Party after voting for trump in 2016 are not insignificant. And if you were to see a continuation, an acceleration of that same trajectory that we have seen between 2016 and 2018, among a lot of these affluent, collegeeducated suburban white women, good theyre continuing to break from the Republican Party in significant numbers, then thats a math mat ematical obstacle that would be difficult for the Trump Campaign to surmount. There was a lot of focus on those voters in 2016 as well, and there was this feeling that after the access Hollywood Tape came out and donald trump was bragging about where he was able to grab women because he was a celebrity, that there was there were suburban women, women in general would never vote for him after all the allegations of Sexual Harassment and sexual abuse against the president , the feeling was theres no way it was going to happen. I kept running into voter after voter who said it didnt matter and it was just the way boys talked or behaved. You focus on what happened in 2018 that was a Midterm Election. Donald trump wasnt at the top of the ticket. Is it fair to say, look what happened in 2018, as a certain indicator for what might happen this november . Yeah, look, its a really valid question, and you certainly would not draw only off of what we saw in 2018, though i do think the results are significant because when you think about the propensity of voters, these White College educated women are about as high propensity as you can find, when outside groups and super pacs and campaigns are doing their demographic profiling and trying to figure out who is most likely to vote and how theyre going to vote, these are the people who come back time and time again. The difference between what we saw in 2016 and what were seeing now with some of these voters is that in 2016, when voters specifically those suburban white women, when they heard the access Hollywood Tape, they were personally bothered by it, but as the president s then Campaign ManagerKellyanne Conway theorized, she said look, people act on what affects them, not on what offends them. And the truth of the matter was for most people, the access Hollywood Tape didnt affect them. It just offended them. Three and a half, four years later, were in a different situation where many of the same voters, theyre not just offended anymore, they are affected. And that was what we began to see in 2018 in the Midterm Election with some of those voters saying trump wasnt just bothering them at some sort of spiritual or social or cultural level anymore, he was having a negative impact on their families, on their communities, on their livelihoods. So whats most affecting them right now in what is it, august of 2020 . Take your pick. Its funny, so i had conversations in the last couple months with voters ranging from sort of workingclass, blue collar democrats in detroit to wealthy Country Club Republicans in livingston county, which is a welltodo excerpt of detroit and southeast michigan, and its remarkable that on the one hand, katy, these voters tend to live in different universes in many respects. They consume different news, they spend their time in different social circles. They dont overlap a whole lot. Except that when it comes to the core issues defining this election, and the things that are affecting them most, its the same exact thing. Theyre worried about jobs in this sort of quasieconomic meltdown we experienced in recent months. Theyre worried about the governments response to covid19, both past, present, and future, and the social upheaval and unrest they see manifesting itself in many ways. Thats a powder keg for any incomdant president. This is a tremendously difficult hand to be dealt in election year, and obviously, the way trump has played that hand has only made it worse for him among that specific subset of voters we were talking about earlier. When youre watching the returns coming in on Election Night and watching the exit polls, look specifically at College Educated white women who identify as moderate or as independent voters. Joe biden wins that group by, you know, 6 to 12 points, donald trump is going to hang around and have a chance. If he wins by 15, 20, 25 points, the math becomes impossible for trump. Tim alberta, thanks so much for joining us today. We hope to have you again soon. Always appreciate all of your reporting and your insight. And weve got historic unemployment in part because of the president s mishandling of the pandemic. We were just talking about it with tim, but the president is arguing job creation is the reason to reelect him. 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Upbeat music tech youll get a text when were on our way. Tech before we arrive, just leave your keys on the dash. Reacyour windshield with safe, nocontact service. Upbeat music tech and thats service you can trust when you need it the most. Upbeat music tech schedule at safelite. Com. Upbeat music singers safelite repair, safelite replace. Almost always Election Outcomes almost always hinge on the state of american economy, and the economy has been especially hard hit in Beaver County, pennsylvania. Beaver county voted overwhelmingly for donald trump in 2016, but since then, because of the pandemic and the president s trade policies, unemployment there is now nearly 15 . Joining me now from Beaver County with her latest countytocounty report is ellison barber. This county broke heavily for donald trump, but with the unemployment where it is, do they still believe this president is the job creator and can turn things around in november, or are they looking to joe biden . For the most part, right now, it seems like the people you find who were big Trump Supporters in 2016 are still in his corner, despite some of those issues you have touched on. The economy matters a lot to people here. There are some bright spots here economically, and also some dark spots, some struggles. This is a workingclass community that has been working to rebuild, still working to rebuild after years of jobs disappearing with the decline of the steel industry. We spoke to one Business Owner in beaver. She says she has done she and her business have done very well in the pandemic so far in large part because the Small Community here really rallied around her restaurant when they were forced to shift to carryout because of the pandemic. We also talked to a steel mill worker who lost his job earlier this year. The plant that was idle, the ceo of that company wrote an oped not long ago in the wall street journal saying they were forced to idle the plant because of President Trumps trade war and his tariffs on steel imports. The steel worker that we spoke to, he voted for donald trump in 2016. And tells me he plans to do it again in 2016. That Restaurant Owner we talked to, she says shes leaning towards joe biden. They didnt open the mill back up until after he was in office. So i see both sides of that. I mean, a lot of things that trump did is the reason the mill opened back up. He got this partnership with instead of us going over to china, china came over here. And got a partnership going over here. The economy goes hand in hand when it comes to the restaurant business, for sure. And you know, what were able to do and what capacity we can stay open or not stay open. So far, do you feel like the current administrations response to the pandemic has been sufficient . No, for sure. Definitely not. If you want to know how trump won in 2016, western pennsylvania is a great place to start. Unlike other states in the rust belt that went for trump, pennsylvania is a state where Hillary Clinton actually did campaign heavily and President Trump still won, and he won in large part thanks to counties like Beaver County, a workingclass community, white, bluecollar Union Workers. A lot of workers who actually were democrats in the past, when i was talking to that steel mill worker, he said most of the people he knows who worked with him at many of the mills here, they were democrats at one point, but he said over the years you started to see some of them wear trump shirts. Democrats are hoping that joe biden with his long ties to Union Workers and his roots in pennsylvania, he can convince voters like guy jones and other mill workers, Union Workers, to come back to the democratic party. Katy. Ellison barber in beaver, pennsylvania, thank you very much. And conventional wisdom holds that republican president s are better for the economy that democrats. That idea is repeatedly under scored in polling even when it doesnt seem to make sense. In a brandnew nbc news wall street journal poll, biden is up nine points nationally and leading on most issues, except one of the biggest issues, the economy. He still trails the president by ten points. Now, the economy means Different Things to different people, and president s really have very little to do with economic growth. But for years, some economists have been challenging the idea that republicans handle it better. In a widely cited princeton study from 2013, researchers concluded, quote, the u. S. Economy has performed better when the president of the United States is a democrat rather than a republican, almost regardless of how one measures performance. Lets bring in msnbc anchor and pointing to the market. You got millions of americans who Pay Attention to their retirement accounts, this President Donald Trump is going to tell america you like these returns in the stock market, theyll all be gone if biden is the president. Now thats not necessarily the case. You see Investment Bank after investment saying actually what investors like is regularity. Something they dont get from President Trump. But remember this, people vote in private. And when people feel really good about their 401 k s are doing, you can see more people willing to admit theyre willing to vote for donald trump and they could vote for him again. Still millions of americans who are not in the stock market and who cant pay for basics right now, they dont have health care, they cant go to dentist, still a lot of trump voters who arent participating in the stock market but cite the economy as a vote for him. Well have to talk about it again soon. Weve run out of time. Stephanie, thanks for joining me. 30 million americans have no jobs. Exactly. Exactly. And they cant pay for things like rent, food or health care the Trump Administration in the meantime has finalized its plan to open an alaska refuge, overturning six decades of protections for the last remaining stretch of wilderness in the United States. Anne thompson has more. Zmru new developments this week involving controversial projects in last frontier, alaska, a goldgold golden and copper mind. It could be sitting on as much as 12 billion barrels of oil. Vast wild and spectacularly picturesque. A nursery for polar bears. The Trump Administration intends to open to oil and gas drilling for the very first time. This is a carefully tailored piece of legislation developed to mandate Energy Production of Significant National importance. Reporter give me a sense of how big is 1. 5 million acres. Well, its about the size of the state of delaware. Reporter environmentalists fear drilling could harm the refuge first established by president dwight eisenhower, destroying wild life including polar bears. Th what would be the basis of your legal challenge . This was a reckless rush to drill, as a to circumvent. The prodrilling supporters, to promise in the thousands. But some wondering if theyll ever come. Oil demand is sinking and bankers have cold feet. Theyre all refusing to finance such projects. Theres the issue of climate change. Meanwhile in southwest alaska, the controversial pebble mine project revived under the Trump Administration getting unexpected criticism as it approaches final approval. Youre seeing a number of republicans, including some prominent ones, saying hold on a moment, maybe pebble mine is not a good idea. Joining in forces on twitter against the proposed gold and copper mine, it would sit at the high waters of bristol bay, home to the Worlds Largest salmon run. Trump junior saying the waters are too unique and fragile to take any chances. Do you think your project is in trouble because of their opposition is this. No. I dont this this project is in trouble, but just weeks away from getting its final approval. The army corps of engineers found that the mine would not hurt the salmon fisheries. So they expect to get final approval that could come as early as next week, will the president get involved . He said earlier this month that he would look at both sides, but hes counting on the president to stick to his promise to not get involved in the permitting promise. Katy . Anne thompson, thank you very much for that report. And thats going to do it for me today. If you do go jououtside please r a mask. Ououtside please wea a mask with metastatic Breast Cancer, which is Breast Cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, are living in the moment and taking ibrance. Ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr her2 metastatic Breast Cancer, as the first hormonal based therapy. Ibrance plus letrozole significantly delayed disease progression versus letrozole, and shrank tumors in over half of patients. Patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. Ibrance may cause severe inflammation of the lungs that can lead to death. Tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including trouble breathing, shortness of breath, cough, or chest pain. Before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. Common side effects include low red blood cell and low platelet counts, infections, tiredness, nausea, sore mouth, abnormalities in liver blood tests, diarrhea, hair thinning or loss, vomiting, rash, and loss of appetite. Be in your moment. Ask your doctor about ibrance. Itcan it help with snoring . Le of the year on the sleep number 360 smart bed. Ive never heard snoring. Exactly. No problem. And done and now, all beds are on sale. Save 50 on the sleep number 360 limited Edition Smart bed. Only for a limited time. Good afternoon, everyone. Im ayman mohyeldin. Breaking news on capitol hill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi issuing a blistering statement after speaking with the head of the post Office Louis Dejoy about stopping the preelection changes hes trying to make, pelosi saying in part, quote, the postmaster generals quote pause is wholly insufficient. Politico is reporting that in just 45 minutes from now, House Republicans will hold a call to discuss the democratic bill to shoreup the post office, that going up for a vote this weekend, meantime were learning more about what exactly the democrats legislation will do to help the postal crisis, not only calls for 25 billion in funding, it ensures postmaster general louis dejoy doesnt implement any changes until after the pandemic is