Transcripts For MSNBCW The 11th Hour With Brian Williams 20200425

And lets stop right there because hes right but maybe not in the way he meant it. Because by tonight, much of the world had caught up with the fact that just yesterday, he said this from the podium in the white house. Supposing we hit the body with a tremendous whether its ultraviolet or just very powerful light, and i think you said that hasnt been checked, but youre going to check it. And then i said supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way, and i think you said youre going to test that too. Sounds interesting. Then i see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do Something Like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning because you see it gets in the lungs, and it does a tremendous number. So it will be interesting to check that. So that youre going to have to use medical doctors with, but it sounds it sounds interesting to me. Those words about inserting uv light into the human body, about injecting disinfectant into the human body established a new benchmark of sorts in the history of public utterances by our president s in that house. And consider for a moment the fact that we are in the midst of a pandemic with over 50,000 dead. His words were greeted with revulsion and down right anger on the part of health care professionals. His words caused a spike in calls to poison control and, to a lesser degree, launched a thousand jokes and memes that continue tonight, and its clear this one will stay with him forever. So perhaps because the whole world is watching, when mike pence was done after delivering the days coronavirus pep rally, the president abruptly left the briefing room. Briefing over after a tidy 21 minutes or so. Back on the ground and in the real world we inhabit, this was a terrible day because the death toll passed north of 50,000 in our country. 51,523 to be exact. People who were all alive three months ago. Should things continue as this pace, in just a few days more, more americans will have died from coronavirus over a span of nine weeks than died in the vietnam war over a span of 12 years. This afternoon in the oval office after he dragged a sharpie across a nearly 500 billion relief package, the president was asked about the devastating toll this virus has taken. Do you take any responsibility for these 50,000 deaths that have happened in this country . I think weve done a great job. Minimal numbers. Were going to be 100,000 people, and were going to be hopefully far below that. If we didnt take quick action, you could have lost many millions of people. As we mentioned earlier, todays white house pandemic briefing, the 46th such briefing in this crisis, was the president s shortest to date. And axios tonight is reporting that trump is planning to cut the daily briefings. Quote, a number of trumps most trusted advisers both inside and outside the white house, have urged him to stop doing marathon televised briefings. Theyve told him hes overexposed and these appearances are part of the reason polls arent looking good for him right now against joe biden. Axios adds that conversations about this were under way at the white house before yesterdays briefing. Thats the one where trump seemed to suggest injecting household disinfectants and inserting ultraviolet light into covid patients. Today with the dont try this at home warnings from disinfectant manufacturers, state and federal Health Officials piling up, the president was trying to tell us we saw something different. He tried to say he wasnt being serious. Could you clarify your comments about injections of disinfectant . No. I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen. I was asking a sarcastic and a very sarcastic question to the reporters in the room about disinfectant on the inside. But it does kill it, and it would kill it on the hands, and that would make things much better. Pandemic Task Force Coordinator dr. Deborah birx, who you saw earlier listening to her boss offer potentially lifethreatening suggestions, was more forgiving today during an interview on fox news. When he gets new information, he likes to talk that through out loud and really have that dialogue. And so thats what dialogue he was having. I think he just saw the information at the time, immediately before the press conference, and he was still digesting that information. Nbc news among those reporting trumps comments about sunlight and disinfectants stunned his close aides, catching them off guard. Our colleague carol lee is part of the team thats been working on this story. Aides in the white house who just started texting each other, saying where did he get this from, where is this coming from, and they were trying to figure it out. What we learned is that before the briefing, there was a meeting in the oval office where some of this was discussed, where the idea of heat and humidity and disinfectants being effective on surfaces and that the virus doesnt live as long in heat or humidity and those types of things. That that had been discussed in the oval office. There was some discussion about how different ailments can be treated with radiation. And what aides said is that the president seemed to just conflate all of this and adlib at the podium. This all comes to the fore as one of trumps other questionable potential cures is taking a big hit publicly. He has touted this antimalaria, antilupus drug hydroxychloroquine as a gamechanger for covid patients. But the fda is now warning against its widespread use without strict medical supervision in a hospital setting. Over the past several weeks, states have built up stockpiles of this drug despite cautions from medical experts that more research is needed. We have purchased and we have stockpiled 29 million pills of the hydroxychloroquine, 29 million. A lot of drugstores have them by prescription. Our National Stockpile is now equipped with nearly 30 million hydroxychloroquine pills. Were distributing them by the millions. Over the last seven days, my administration has deployed roughly 28 million doses of hydroxychloroquine from our National Stockpile. Meanwhile, after weeks in lockdown and a day after we learned we have 26 million out of work and filing for unemployment, georgia is one of a handful of states that today started allowing some businesses to reopen barbershops, nail salons, gyms, tattoo parlors opened their doors even as georgia reported now nearly 900 deaths from coronavirus. Iowa, which is also seeing increases in its virus caseload, is planning to begin reopening its economy on monday. And finally theres this. Mike pence with geraldo rivera. Do you think ill be on my boat and fishing in early june, mr. Vice president . I think honestly if you look at the trends today, that i think by memorial day weekend, we will largely have this coronavirus epidemic behind us. Lets remember that quote and tuck it away. And here for our leadoff discussion on a friday night after another consequential week in america, robert costa, National Political reporter for the washington post. Moderator of Washington Week on pbs. Annie karni, White House Reporter with the new york times. And Jonathan Lemire, White House Reporter for the associated press. Jonathan, id like to begin with you. Having written about this briefing we witnessed today that sure was abrupt. Suddenly it was eefr. The longest among them we looked it up ran 2 24 minutes at their height. That is well into tarantino territory. And while sub irishman, it would get scorseses attention. Could it turn out that Live Television might have been the disinfectant for this kind of briefing . This was a short film compared to the longest ones hes done, the ones you just cited, brian. This has been in the works for a while. As axios first reported it and we have as well and added some details to it, a number of his advisers both inside and outside the building have been asking him to sort of curtail these, suggesting to him he shouldnt be out there every day. That he should reserve his appearances for big moments when theres major news to announce or perhaps some really good announcements to make as opposed to just being out there day after day. Now, the president of course has been very reluctant to give up this stage. Its the closest thing he has right now to a rally. It is something that he enjoys, the jousting with reporters. He believes it plays well with his base when hes out there fighting with his reporters. He wants to deliver an optimistic view, a rosy take on the situation and the federal governments handling of this pandemic, and hes reluctant to give it up. But theres a real sense growing among his team in the west wing and in the campaign that this is hurting him. They have seen his numbers slip in a number of battleground states. Michigan in particular. He is well down there. Some advisers are conceding it might be out of reach soon. Theyre worried about these briefings impact on nervous Senior Citizens both in the upper midwest, places like wisconsin, but also florida, people who are the most vulnerable population to this pandemic who are concerned at the president S Performance at these briefings. And then in the last 24 hours, the president started to listen. After a days worth of frankly being pummeled after his comments yesterday about the disinfectants. There was also a bit of a kerfuffle in the briefing room. A white house staffer tried to give the reporters involved in this potential switch refused, and lets point out its the White House Correspondents Association thats in charge of that room. They set the seating plan, not the white house. After 21 minutes, the president stalked off. We should note as a final thing, the president s wont to change his mind. He has not officially signed up on a pln to give up doing these daily briefings. Theres going to be meetings over the weekend and it should be noted at least for now there is not a briefing on his schedule for tomorrow. Operative term, annie karni, at least for now. First of all, point of order, kudos to Kaitlan Collins for standing her ground and doing so well this week under withering fire to boot. Annie, your piece late this week painted a portrait of a brooding, televisionobsessed president , up till all hours of the night, for whom these briefings were a rallylike release of energy. What is it going to be like without regular appearances and or how long does this new rule stand . Yeah. Our piece that ran in todays paper kind of portrayed trump as following the same kind of schedule he has been for years now, watching tv for hours in the morning, not getting to the oval till sometimes close to noon, peppering aides like mark meadows with calls at 3 19 in the morning. He kind of likes to test out new aides and see if they can keep up with his nocturnal habits. If he cancels the briefing and follows through with this, they have described midmarch as kind of his lowest point moodwise, and the briefings energized him and brought him back to life, the jousting, everything that people criticize, he loves that part. If these briefings go away and he concedes to let them go, which by the way ive heard that he hasnt necessarily agreed to it yet. So a big caveat about end of briefings. Well see him, and well hear him. Mike pence, the Vice President , has been traveling again already. The president could start traveling again if theyre trying to portray the country as soon ready to reopen after memorial day. We there is, i think, very low chance that the president will simply recede into the background and let other Administration Officials be the face for him. If its not the briefing, hell find another way. He will be talking to us and making statements that aides have to walk back. Thats almost a guarantee. Robert costa, im quite certain annie is right, and we started the broadcast with the president s quote from early on in the briefing. The whole world is watching. This is where it refers to your beat. The whole world also includes republicans with their names on ballots in november. What are they making of all this . They are watching, and theyre seeing different clues. In conversations with Top Republicans over the last 24 hours, they dont see the president retreating at all, and they see the president more emboldened than ever. Though he did not take questions today, they do not see him as a president who is somehow walking away from hydroxychloroquine as a treatment hes advocating. He, in fact, put the fda commissioner, stephen hahn, alongside him at the white house lectern this afternoon. And then you also see the president clashing with medical experts in his ranks all week, and it was from dr. Bright to dr. Redfield at the cdc. You see this administration creating tension step after step of this pandemic with the top experts in the administration. Republicans see it all, and they are fine if he backs away from the briefing. But you look at the confusion in the republican party, particularly with the georgia governor, brian kemp. So many of these republican governors think theyre following the president s lead, but then thats always a tricky path for republicans to follow. They want to be in his good graces politically, but they also see him breaking away almost instantly on a whim if he sees that the georgia governor in this instance was not doing something that was politically popular. Jonathan lemire, a question on the very point robert just made. The white house bangs the drum for the states to start reopening one at a time and their pace, and the first one to stick his neck out, the president makes it clear hes not happy with him. Whats going on there . I thought it was me. Turns out no one in the audience can hear Jonathan Lemire. Apologies for that. Annie karni, lets talk about Something Else that has your byline on it for your newspaper, and that is west point commencement. A thousand cadets give or take. Because its happening on every campus, theyve all scattered back home presumably around the country prior to getting their commissions. The president has made it clear he would very much like to give the commencement at west point. That will mean gathering up 1,000 newly minted Second Lieutenants and having them commingle for the sake of that commencement ceremony. Yes. We can add west point to the list of people and institutions that have been surprised to hear their name spoken from the White House Briefing room by the president in the past few weeks. He announced that he was going to give the commencement speech at west point last friday. That was news to west point. He had long been the planned speaker for the may commencement that had been rescheduled, but west point didnt have an alternative plan finalized yet. And they had been in talks with the president. The white house had made clear to west point that he was still interested in doing this. This is hes spoken at all the military academies except for west point. This is sort of the crowning thing, a great optic for a reelection year. The president really didnt want to give this up. But he kind of kblublurted it on response to a question about the Vice President giving the commencement speech at the air force academy. And never one to be upstaged, the president had to say that he too was giving an important commencement speech this year, and that scrambled west point to have to didnt realize it was final, and that made it final. So like the businesses and chief executives who learned they were on the task force when they heard the president say their names, west point also was taken by surprise. Robert costa, back to the conversation we had about the governor of georgia. Is there a nonbarbershop, none tattoo parlor, actual moving Forward Strategy for returning the country during a moving and changeable pandemic . So many Small Businesses are pressuring elected leaders in both parties to reopen. But heres a key issue that keeps coming up in my reporting. The issue of liability. And you see the top business groups in the country are privately telling the white house tonight, we need to have some kind of liability protection. You want us to go back to work and open our barbershops and open our restaurants. We cant be sued time and again by our customers. So the white house is working on some kind of Protection Plan from lawsuits, but thats going to be difficult to get done through executive order, and its going to be difficult to get through congress. But those are some of the entanglements that businesses are encountering as they look to try to follow the president s direction to reopen. Even conservative groups are saying its not maybe safe for many businesses to come back if theyre only going to get sued. And, Jonathan Lemire, im told we can hear you now. The problem is i can give you only 30 seconds of audio brilliance to add on whatever you were able to add on to the brian kemp kerfuffle in georgia. Its a good thing i work for a wire service, brian. I can be brief and speedy. Yes, its mixed signals from the president here. You know, he and the Vice President have both spoken to the governor earlier in the week and had given their support for the plan to reopen. It was only after dr. Birx and the Health Officials met with him, discussed this, they were able to convey their misgivings to the president that he did a quick aboutface. And suddenly from the white house podium, before calling back the governor Governor Kemp expected the president to speak to him again. He didnt. He went to the podium. He said he was opposed to this plan, and its left not just Governor Kemp but a lot of republican governors across the country confused and concerned about what will happen Going Forward when its their turn for their states to try to reopen. Our great thanks on a friday night to robert costa, annie karni, and Jonathan Lemire with audio, an interesting choice of a wall hanging. Coming up as we approach our first break on a friday night, are uv light and disinfectants to fight this virus just the tip of the iceberg . Our next guest warns of deadly ignorance on full display these days. And later, is election day in november really up for grabs . Well leave the question at that as the 11th hour is just getting under way on a friday night. What does it mean to be a Good Neighbor . It means being there for each other. Thats why state farm is announcing the Good Neighbor Relief Program we know our customers are driving less, which means fewer accidents. So state farm is returning 2 billion dollars to auto policyholders for the period ending may 31st. And well continue making real time decisions to best serve you our customers. Because now, more than ever, being a Good Neighbor means everything. Like a Good Neighbor, state farm is there. Tums ver bell rings la stick being a Good Neighbor means everything. When heartburn hits fight back fast. With tums chewy bites. Beat heartburn fast tums chewy bites baby sounds and cooing notification chime keyboard clicking swithout even on yoleaving your house. Just keep your phone and switch to xfinity mobile. You can get it by ordering a free sim card online. Once you activate, youll only have to pay for the data you need starting at just 12 a month. There are no term contracts, no activation fees, and no credit check on the first two lines. Get a 50 prepaid card when you switch. Its the most reliable wireless network. And it could save you hundreds. Xfinity mobile. The fda approved the first athome covid19 test kit. Theyve been approving not only this, but theyve been approving many things that are a pace thats never happened before and theyre being very safe about it. Something the fda is not approving, medications the president and his allies on the right touted as potential gamechangers. Today the fda in fact warned, as we said, against the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat this coronavirus outside of a hospital or clinic. The agency citing reports of serious heart rhythm problems in covid19 patients. That is the medication about which the president famously said, take it. Back with us again tonight, dr. Irwin redlener, pediatrics physician, clinical professor with the school of Public Health at columbia university. Also happens to be director of columbias National Center for disaster pri pairedness with an expertise in pandemic influenza. Doctor, i have to read you this from the Financial Times tonight. Epidemiologists say that if the u. S. Shutdown had taken place two weeks earlier, 90 of the deaths would have been prevented, under the headline the u. S. Is failing the test of the century. All i know is we came out of yesterdays live coverage of the disinfectant and uv light briefing. You were our first guest and reacted in real time as if to say, now were in the realm of the dangerous. Brian, i lost your question there. Sorry. Oh, i was just asking you to expand upon your comments yesterday after the briefing that we were in the realm of the dangerous. Sure. It is extraordinary actually, brian, that we are dealing with an increasing amount of dangerous misinformation thats being put out from the white house. It started with the hydroxychloroquine myth that somehow that would be the panacea to the point where the government actually bought almost 30 million doses of this drug, which turns out to be not only not useful but potentially lethal for people that do take it when theyre really sick. YesterdayS Performance at the white house was something for the books really. You know, we saw an incoherent presentation with slides that were really unmanageable, a presentation given by a researcher at the department of Homeland Security with no medical backup, no medical background whatsoever. And then we heard the president go through a list of things that might be useful, in his words, for treating the covid19 virus. The problem is that they were talking about isopropyl alcohol, which is rubbing alcohol. They were talking about bleach, and they were talking about the use of inbody ultraviolet treatments. And it was absolutely stunning, and i know that virtually everyone ive spoken to, many people in the medical community, were jawdropping, you know, across the country. It was an extraordinary thing to hear. And then he turned and unfortunately had to ask dr. Birx what she thought about this. And, you know, watching her facial expression, im sure she was thinking, i wish i was somewhere else. But it was a very difficult night for science and medical evidence. It was an extraordinary display by someone who works in the administration and unfortunately by the president himself. I just think its worth reissuing the warning that not one single piece of advice given by the president last night about ingesting rubbing alcohol or bleach or somehow getting uv light into your body should be followed. This is not a political statement. Its a statement of deep medical concern that some people might in fact take the president seriously, and we hope that they dont, brian. Stunning that it needs to be said on a news broadcast in the year 2020, but youre absolutely right. Lets talk about dr. Birx, army veteran, career public servant, scientist, doctor. She took a pass on questioning georgias loosening of restrictions. She took a pass on stopping the president midcomment yesterday, and was downright apologetic on his behalf on fox news today. Do folks like you looking at a doctor like that figure she is still more valuable on the inside for what she stops from happening . Yes. So, you know, brian, ive gone through stages of grief here, first feeling like sorry for her because she was in that position of being questioned on something absolutely preposterous by the president. But now hearing all these other issues where shes been apologetic on behalf of the president s absolute nonsense, and im wondering what shes doing in that position at this moment. If shes not serving as a backstop, as a neutralizer to nonsensical announcements by the president , what good is she doing the American Public . Yes, shes been a public servant, and yes shes had a pretty good career. But now shes really in some ways degenerating into a different kind of relationship with the white house. I dont understand why she would even stay in government, and she knows full well, by the way, that what the president was saying was ridiculous, yet shes there. Its really hard to know what to make of that, and i dont know how long shes going to last because either shes got to keep apologizing for the president or refute him, and then her jobs going to be in jeopardy. Shes in a tough position, as is dr. Fauci by the way. Doctor, i guess the good news coming out of this week is you can fly to atlanta for a haircut, a massage, a workout, and a tattoo. The bad news, however, is this. Tell us how long you think were going to be at this. By the way, i could personally use all those services, but im not flying to georgia. And i think this is a big macro problem that were dealing with now, which is that the rush to get back to normal or back to work at least is completely understandable. And i know many people are out of jobs and terrified about how theyre going to pay their rent and so on. But it is way, way too early to allow businesses to reopen. Were missing too many elements in what would keep people safe. First of all, we dont have enough testing being done. Second of all, we dont have clear enough rules for how businesses should operate. And third of all, we dont have the ability to do the Contact Tracing that we must have in case somebody gets sick or has a positive test and we have to go find out who theyve been in contact with. Were way underready, not ready to be going back to work at all right now. Its going to be unfortunately quite a long time before we are, brian. When were back to normal and you decide to go in and get inked up, please let us know so we can send a camera crew. Dr. Irwin redlener, thank you for always answering the bell and answering our questions. Another break for us, and coming up, from science to straightup quackery in the midst of a pandemic. Two seasoned president ial observers assess another extraordinary week in this unprecedented national crisis. Can you say affirmatively that whenever the president says something, we can trust it to be real . If hes not joking, of course. He is the founder of isis. Hes the founder of isis. So i said the founder of isis. Obviously im being sarcastic. Wikileaks, i love wikileaks. And i say it in a joking manner in a speech, joking. I dont know about wikileaks. Dont worry about that baby. I love babies. I love babies. I hear that baby crying, i like it. Actually, i was only kidding. You can get the baby out of here. He speaks and people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same. I am the chosen one. It was sarcasm. We were all joking. I havent touched my face in weeks, in weeks. I miss it. Well, i was kidding. Trump Administration Officials spend a good deal of their time treading lightly around the boss. Theyre often forced to react in real time when he goes off script, putting them in the position to clean up, to either refute his misinformation or attempt to defend it. Former special president ial envoy brett mcgurk described his time in the white house this way. When youre in the highlevel decisionmaking circles, theres something called the effectiveness trap when you have a leader like president trump. To be effective, you need to be in the room and in the circle. But in order to be in the room and in the circle, you somehow sometimes need to muzzle your recommendations, live to fight another day. This is a term that came out of the vietnam experience, and i just i really feel for the faucis and the dr. Birxes. We need them on the wall right now. Back with us again tonight, Eugene Robinson, pulitzer prizewinning columnist for the washington post. And were so happy to have Doug Brinkley back with us, president ial historian and author. And for your quarantine reading list, his latest book and i have them all american moonshot john f. Kennedy and the great space race has just been released in paperback. Gentlemen, good evening to you both. Doug, i have to begin with you because in the last segment, we just heard a columbia physician say to our audience, absent politics, do not follow the advice the president gave. The past 24 hours, we have heard grownups say, pay no attention to what the president said. Is there any parallel in any of your reading and writing about American History . Nothing like trumps cavernous stupidity. Hes done in a lot since the covid19 crisis has erupted. But the idea of telling people to inject or use, you know, disinfectants and take them and having Lysol Company have to come out and say, please dont do that, and doctors all over the country today are having to kind of do a cleanup for trumps foolish remark. It wasnt sarcasm. It was ignorance. He takes information from somebody, distills it, misstates it, and then goes on television, and its really almost unwatchable, hiS Performances in the White House Press briefings. But, yet, he has pursestrings and power, so people have to tune into them. Its unfortunate that we just cant listen to some of the governors talk about what theyre doing in their states and not always have to be doing donald trump cleanup work. The governors have become what they intended to be and that is governors, local leaders leading their states. Eugene, about the particular hell and the unique conundrum of people, especially the grownups around the president , you and i talked about this a lot with the likes of general mattis. Talk about what theyre up against now. Well, theyre up against the unique danger and specter of donald trump. I mean weve never had as doug said, theres never been a president like this. He is he is headstrong. He is irrational. He is impervious to new information often when he decides he knows something, even if he doesnt know it. He has decided he knows it, therefore thats the way it has to be, and thats the way everybody has to pretend it has to be. Yesterday was just just a disaster. It was horrifying to listen to him recommend injecting disinfectants and talking about some method of getting ultraviolet light inside your body. You know, if there is one sort of potential bright spot in what was otherwise a really bleak week, it is that today he did not take questions at his briefing, and maybe the experience of becoming the object of worldwide ridicule and derision because of the remark yesterday has soured him on the idea of coming out every day and taking two hours worth of questions. And if thats the case, then thats something at least to take away from this week. Doug brinkley, weve elected, what, 11 generals over the years to be our president. Weve had some characters with some pretty hard bark on them. And while empathy is something in your hardwiring or not, youre born with it or you dont have it, weve had some folks fake it pretty good. Talk about the lack of empathy at these public briefings. Well, thats been, i think, the worst part of them. Ive yet to see donald trump really open up his heart to people that are dying. I mean as you said at the top of the broadcast, brian, were approaching vietnam war numbers of american dead. You know, there were 58,000 died in vietnam. Pretty soon it could be korean war and vietnam combined, and this president doesnt seem to have an open heart. He hasnt really gone somewhere to try to talk to the doctors and nurses in any way. I mean expresident bill clinton sent pizzas to a hospital in westchester. There just hasnt been a human touch to this president. He keeps feeling angry that his stock market went down, and hes trying to figure out how this will work for him in 2020. But being empathetic is important for president s. We saw with bill clinton in the Oklahoma City moment or george w. Bush with the bullhorn after 9 11. We just dont get that from this president. Hes too selfinvolved. Indeed we just saw the headline, susan glassers latest piece of work from the new yorker. And, indeed, we have elected 12 generals in our history as a nation. Were going to take a break here. Both of our guests have agreed to stick around. Coming up on the other side, trumps latest attack against an american institution, another one, when we come back. Were returning 2 billion dollars to our auto policyholders through may 31st. Because now, more than ever, being a Good Neighbor means everything. Like a Good Neighbor, state farm is there. The Postal Service is a joke because theyre handing out packages for amazon and other internet companies, and every time they bring a package, they lose money on it. President trump threatened today to block coronavirus funding for the Postal Service. Our mail carriers, just a reminder here, are some of the hardest working essential employees out there. They are quite literally these days risking their lives every day to deliver what is, remember, essential items to millions of americans trying to stay at home. Theres also this. Over 100,000 of our Postal Service workers are u. S. Veterans. During a virtual fundraiser, Presumptive Democratic nominee joe biden offered his theory. Quote, imagine threatening not to fund the post office. Now, what in gods name is that about other than trying to let the word out that hes going to do all he can to make it very hard for people to vote. A lot to talk about here, and we will do so now with Eugene Robinson and Doug Brinkley. Gene, it used to be you could go out to vegas and bet on who was going to win the president ial election, not if there was going to be one. And, by the way, there isnt a vegas right now, but their mayor is making sure to fix that in a hurry. Whats your prognostication on what this election is going to look like . And we wont hold you to it. Well, theres going to be an election on election day. Its set by law, and its going to happen. And its you know, what it looks like will depend on what happens in 50 statehouses and the District Of Columbia basically, and how Election Officials in the 50 states and the district decide to reimagine basically election procedures to allow people to vote. That will involve inperson voting that were used to. That will involve a lot of mailin voting. And between now and then, there will be a big political fight, and it will be largely along partisan lines, and it will be messy. But were going to have an election. Doug brinkley, at our house we have left a note out on the door thanking the u. S. Postal service, leaving treats out like santas coming, thanking the fedex drivers, the ups drivers, all the people who are out because and so that we can be inside. Imagine in your lifetime a president saying the u. S. Postal service is a joke. Its impossible to imagine that he would do such a thing. You know, Benjamin Franklin was the first postmaster general. In 1775, the second continental congress, this is part of the dna in america, the Postal Service. During the Great Depression and world war ii, fdr built post offices, issued stamps to keep morale up. These are proud American Public servants, our u. S. Postmaal delivery people and also the ones that work in the stations. All this is about is donald trump does not want mailin vote. I think congress has to move on this right now because mailing right now your vote in, oregons been doing it for a while. So we can look at how they do it. But its safe. Its convenient. Why this november 3rd, if theres a second wave of covid19 why in the world would we want Senior Citizens, people in nursing homes, you know, assisted living, waiting in long lines like we saw in the Wisconsin Democratic primary and putting their health at risk when they could do a simple mailin vote, which creates a paper trail and its much less fraud than what weve been doing the last few elections . So i Hope Congress moves on pushing forward and act right now bipartisan to allow mailin ballots this november. Its a lot to take in. Its a lot to think about. Our thanks to two great writers at the end of a long week for talking us through it. Eugene robinson, Doug Brinkley, gentlemen, thank you both for being here with us. Coming up, its going to be billions more on its way to american Small Businesses, but will it be enough . More on that when we come back. Robinhood believes now is the time to do money. Without the commission fees. So, you can start investing today wherever you are even hanging with your dog. So, what are you waiting for . Download now and get your first stock on us. Robinhood. All rightyeah. s do it. laughing good morning, mr. Sun. Good morning, blair. [ chuckles ] whoo. Im gonna grow big and strong. Yes, you are. Im gonna get this place all clean. Ill give you a hand. And im gonna put lisa on crutches wait, what . Said shes gonna need crutches. She fell pretty hard. You might want to clean that up, girl. Excuse us. When owning a Small Business gets real, progressive helps protect what you built with customizable coverage. And im gonna eh, eh, eh. Donny, no. Oh. And im gonna eh, eh, eh. Swithout even on yoleaving your house. Just keep your phone and switch to xfinity mobile. You can get it by ordering a free sim card online. Once you activate, youll only have to pay for the data you need starting at just 12 a month. There are no term contracts, no activation fees, and no credit check on the first two lines. Get a 50 prepaid card when you switch. Its the most reliable wireless network. And it could save you hundreds. Xfinity mobile. The great former senator Everett Dirkson famously said, and i believe he said it to johnny carson, a billion dollars here, a billion dollars there, sooner or later youre talking about real money. Well, the president officially signed the 484 billion relief package into law today, which means on monday, Small Businesses will have another opportunity to apply for loans in this paycheck protection program. But theres already concern, real concern, that this new money will run out again. This is important stuff, and tonight our nbc news Senior Business correspondent Stephanie Ruhle has our report. Reporter takeout and delivery have a police what is usually the busiest time of year at this skrimp shack in virginia. Its keeping us afloat. But as we go through this a little bit further, if we continue on the same path, i dont see us being able to sustain. Reporter ricky and Rhonda Atkins loan application didnt make it through last time. Now theyre banking on the second round of the paycheck protection program. It would make a huge difference in terms of the survival of our restaurant. Reporter today an additional 310 billion was pumped into the fund. But theres concern that new money may be quickly tapped out because of the volume of applications left over from the first round. Some banks have no plans to accept new applications. Every minute a Small Business is closing, and this is not enough. Its going to help, but, no, its not enough. Reporter after growing backlash, many businesses that received multimillion dollar loans are returning them, putting hundreds of millions back in the pot. They may have done the wrong thing, but they didnt did anything legal. Its governments job to make sure businesses cant get access to money they shouldnt have access to. Reporter the sba is encouraging publicly Trading Companies to return the money theyve received from the program and this time around, businesses have to prove they cant get other funding. Hedge firms and private equity firms are no longer eligible. And the government is allocating 60 billion to smaller lenders, hoping they reach the smallest businesses like lynnis dontly boutique, a Florida Community Bank Approved her loan. It is my hope that all the businesses big and small will be able to get the funding that they truly need in order to survive. As we said, important stuff and our thanks to Stephanie Ruhle. Coming up, the acts of kindness that just feel so much bigger these days. Life isnt a straight line. And sometimes, you can find yourself heading in a new direction. But when youre with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, theres nothing to stop you from moving forward. It means being there for each other. Thats why state farm is announcing the Good Neighbor Relief Program we know our customers are driving less, which means fewer accidents. So state farm is returning 2 billion dollars to auto policyholders for the period ending may 31st. And well continue making real time decisions to best serve you our customers. Because now, more than ever, being a Good Neighbor means everything. Like a Good Neighbor, state farm is there. Being a Good Neighbor means everything. [female vo] restaurants are facing a crisis. And theyre counting on your takeout and delivery orders to make it through. Grubhub. Together we can help save the restaurants we love. Lets try to end the week with some uplift. There was the letter a kansas farmer sent to new york Governor Cuomo this week. It starts out saying, i sincerely doubt you will ever read this letter, noting how busy the governor is. But he goes on to say he and his wife are in their 70s. Theyre hunkered down in kansas. His wife has one lung, but he sent the governor an n95 mask to give to a doctor or nurse in new york. The farmer says he had five of them, needs four for his immediate family, but wanted to give away what he didnt need. And then theres this, and this matters right now. A band called granny the boys playing a little stevie on the front porch of a house in the mt. Pleasant neighborhood of washington. So at this point well wish you a good safe weekend. Get out of the way as we thank you for watching this week. And now granny the boys will play us off the air. Good night. Thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. I am really happy to have you with us here on this friday night. Weve got a great show for you. I would like to introduce you at the start to manny kadotti. Hes an e. R. Nurse who works in southern california. Another shift over. Fourth one of the week. Not too bad. I saw a Family Member today. One of the patients asked me, so, do you stay at a hotel . Do you go home . I told him, no, i dont go home. I stay