Gone against trump just this week, and issues of policing and race still very much on the front burner in this country in terms of public opinion. Tonight in a streaming interview with his eldest son, trump took a swipe at joe biden. Well, he had a long time to do a lot of things, and he didnt, and hes certainly not in condition to do it now. He is not equipped to do it. A fox news poll out just this evening has biden widening his lead on trump, 5038. That compares to 4840 a month back. Proviso, its a national poll. We have some statebystate polling to show you later on in the broadcast as well. Today in a surprise ruling with political implications as we mentioned, the u. S. Supreme court ruled against Trumps Campaign promise to immediately end the daca program, protecting people who were brought to the u. S. As children. Its the second setback this week for the white house. On monday the court ruled gay and transgender workers are indeed protected by civil rights law. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer celebrated the daca decision in the emotion of the moment live on the senate floor. The decision is amazing. I am so happy. These kids, their families, i feel for them, and i think all of america does. Trump had a very different opinion, asking on social media, quote, do you get the impression that the Supreme Court doesnt like me . Later he added, we need new justices on the Supreme Court. And he promised to soon release a new list of conservative Supreme Court justice nominees. Trumps also pursuing his escalating legal battle to try to keep former National Security adviser john boltons new book from being published even though and we have to stress this a number of people already have the book before them, have read it and reviewed it. A federal judge hears arguments on the case tomorrow. Bolton wrote about his 17month tenure in the trump inner circle, and he kept up the attacks in another excerpt from his interview with abc news. I dont think hes fit for office. I dont think he has the competence to carry out the job. There really isnt any guiding principle that i was able to discern other than whats good for Donald Trumps reelection. John bolton in his interview with martha raddatz. Trump contends boltons book is, quote, a com pill ace of lies and madeup stories all intended to make me look back. This afternoon the president retweeted this mashup of bolton praising trump. President trump accomplished what other leaders had repeatedly promised but consistently failed to deliver. He looks out after the best interest of the American People. Theyre the ones who elected him. Theyre the ones hes responsible to. And his administration will deliver, i am confident. Hes not going to make the same mistakes that president obama made. Of course praising the president is a condition of employment and, indeed, tonight in an updated interview, john bolton fired back. I think its unbecoming of the office of president. I think it degrades the political civil discourse in our country, and im just not going to respond to it. Trump is now just two days away from his Campaign Rally in tulsa, oklahoma, notably a city and state both in the midst of a dramatic spikeup wards. Nbc news reporting oklahoma far surpassed its record for newly reported coronavirus cases in a single day today. Today was the highest daily count since the start of the pandemic. Tomorrow the state Supreme Court is expected to rule on a request that the bank of oklahoma arena require social distancing and face masks for attendance at the rally. The arena has also requested the Trump Campaign provide a written health and safety plan. At the white house this afternoon, trump and the governor of oklahoma tried to signal everythings fine here. Everythings under control ahead of saturdays big event. Were sheltering individuals at the highest risk. If you look at really highrisk individuals, we are really watching them, and were taking care of them. And we know what the high risk means. But largely it means older people, especially older people, Senior Citizens. We had an uptick in the number of cases, and so something the media tries to talk about that. But we knew we were going to have an increase a little bit because were 56 days into reopening. We have to learn how to be safe and how to have to move on. Trump continued to put a spin on the pandemic during a wideranging interview with the wall street journal. Quote, asked if he would be fine with ivanka trump, his eldest daughter and a senior white house adviser, sitting in the crowded audience inside the arena. He said he would, first of all, shes young, he said, adding that elderly americans were more likely to become ill or die from the disease. Hes also quoted as saying testing for covid19 was overrated. It allowed for the possibility that some americans wore facial coverings not as a preventative measure but as a way to signal disapproval of him. White House Coronavirus Task force has been largely silent, awol, out of public view for the past 52 days as states grapple with rising infections in the midst of reopenings. Yet we did get this from dr. Anthony fauci, who was asked about all the mixed messaging these days during a podcast. One of the problems we face in the United States is that unfortunately there is a combination of an antiscience bias. They just dont believe science, and they dont believe authority. So when they see someone up in the white house, which has an air of authority to it, whos talking about science, that there are some people who just dont believe that, and thats unfortunate because, you know, science is truth. Here for our leadoff discussion on a thursday night, jonathan lemire, White House Reporter for the associated press. Errin haines, a tenyear vaurnts. A. P. , now editor at large for the 19th, a nonprofit, nonpartner newsroom focused on gender, politics, and policy. And dr. Vin gupta is back with us as well, an e. R. Doc specializing in exactly these kinds of illnesses. Also an affiliate assistant professor with the university of Washington Department of Health Metrics sciences. Good evening and welcome all of you to the broadcast. Jonathan, because of your beat, well start with you. Are the people around the president at least aware of the danger when he uses words like minuscule to talk about the number of cases . He said in the last 24 hours, its dying out. Its fading away. Even members of his base and especially folks in the sunbelt may find out all evidence to the contrary. Brian, this is meant to be, this week, the start of the president s comeback. Thats what his aides had hoped it would be, capping off with of course his rally saturday night now. It was friday. Its now saturday in tulsa, oerk. They were encouraged by some of the Economic News in recent weeks. They had really wanted to shift the page, turn the page publicly to focus on the reopening of the nation and the restarting of its economy. The pandemic is stubborn and is not really letting them. As you just said, the Coronavirus Task force, we havent seen much of them. Theres been no briefing in a month and a half. Theyre only meeting now once or twice a week. They are monitoring, were told dr. Birx is leading this, the uptick in cases. Its too early to say still whether or not were seeing any from the mass protests that we have seen across the nation. The rise we are seeing is clearly from the reopening. Its from states that have gone back to work, that have begun phasing back in, and that is indeed a lot of the sunbelt states. The president is being advised to proceed cautiously this weekend. In fact, republican senator lankford of oklahoma, whose state is hosting the rally, said on this Network Earlier this week that he would not advise any Senior Citizen or anyone with an Underlying Health condition to go to this rally. Theyre being urged even now local Health Officials are suggesting to the president to either move it to an outdoor event youre or postpone it altogether. Neither of those things have happened. We anticipate that it will go on as scheduled saturday night. It was, of course, going to be friday. It was moved because that was juneteenth. In that same interview with the wall street journal, my friend Michael Bender asked the president about juneteenth. And he said more and more people are hearing about it because of me. He took credit for that. There is concern if there was to be a spike of cases stemming from this rally, there would be an issue. Campaign aides have told me in the last couple days theyre waiting to schedule the next rally until they can see some of the impact of this one. We indeed have a segment on juneteenth before the end of this broadcast tonight. Airi erin, ive been thinking about you these past two weeks because of your work on this topic, what weve seen play out. Its great to be able to talk to you tonight. In your view, has the president decided his audience is the police part of the phrase police reform, and is that going to earn him a single vote beyond his already widely expected base vote . Well, good evening, brian. Glad i was on your mind this week. Listen, i think that what we know is that this president is not really acknowledging either the pandemic currently ravaging this country, that of coronavirus, or that of system racism particularly as it pertains to policing. As my former colleague said, you know, the president is not really responsible for americans broader awareness of juneteenth or issues of race in general. And the reason that most americans frankly know about tulsa is because they watched this season of the watchman, which if anybody is at home still sheltering in place, i enkire encourage to watch. Five years ago this week we saw the president coming down that escalator talking about the need for law and order. That is a message that he has hammered as a candidate and now as president throughout, asking black people what the hell they have to lose while also saying that he was going to bring law and order to their communities in a way that sent a very specific message to them. Black voters did not support this president in large numbers despite, you know, his claims that he has support from the black community and will have support from them again. But that certainly does not seem to be the case looking ahead to this november either. And so you have to wonder who his messages around race are for. Who is that meant to resonate with . And i think that they are meant to resonate with his base, which is, you know, what i expect to see when he shows up in tulsa on juneteenth. I dont think youre going to see an arena full of africanamericans in the crowd. And, dr. Gupta, speaking of tulsa, if reasonable people can agree that the worst possible Public Health threat is an indoor mass gathering in the time of a paemic, then i guess it stands to reason that the president is about to preside over the worst kind of Public Health threat in tulsa, oklahoma. You nailed it, brian. It makes you think that hes giving tacit approval for a superspreader event, and that he wants to prove Public Health experts wrong. And hes taking a risk. Hes playing russian roulette here, and its really irresponsible. Whats happening here . This morning he makes an analogy to h1n1 in 2009 and tries to distract our attention to what happened with h1n1, which was a blip in the radar when it comes to pandemics. It wasnt even a pandemic. 12,000 people died relative to 120,000 right now. Orders of magnitude different. But hes distracting from other issues that really matter like masking. Now we have data we didnt even have two weeks ago, brian, when you and i had this conversation where if we follow the tales of where 90 of the public wears masks, covid. Now one in two masks wear it, less if youre republican because youre listening to the president. Youre about to go to tulsa. Who knows if theyre going to wear masks because Kayleigh Mcenany said theyre optional. This is irresponsible on a host of levels. Because we dont hear from dr. Fauci, we dont talk about contact tracing. We dont talk about the novelties in antibody testing. Now were finding out maybe if youre asymptomatic with covid, you only have antibodies for two months potentially. Thats a huge deal. We need to talk about the implications of these issues. The president , however, is trafficking in lies, dishonesty, and hes trying to distract us, and thats the problem. Jonathan lemire, including the question of where is the public in the Public Health, cnn reported tonight they invited fauci to be part of their special broadcast on coronavirus, and the white house did not allow dr. Fauci to come on television. The disclaimer, the release form you have to sign to attend the tulsa rally, is more straightforward and forthright about the existence of covid19 and its risks than the folks were watching in the white house. Thats certainly right, and that release form is pretty jarring if you were to sign up to try to go to the event saturday night in tulsa, you have to waive liability, say the campaign cannot be held responsible if you come down with covid19. Which is sort of an extraordinary statement of where we are and how the pandemic is still raging. I mean, yes, the west wing a few weeks ago started controlling, as weve reported, started controlling the media appearances of dr. Fauci and others on the tavg force and and have dramatically scaled them back. Yes, hes still appearing on the occasional podcast but has done very few major interviews, just a few in the last couple of weeks. And in fact it should be noted also that cnn tonight is back in the president s crosshairs. He tweeted out a video that was of a cnn clip, but it was altered. It was digitally altered and it led to twitter again flag it as part of their new disinformation campaign. So i suspect well hear from the president about that if not tonight, then tomorrow morning. But this is all part and parcel of a plan to really deemphasize this pandemic, to try to turn the page to the economy, to try to turn the page to the reelection campaign, not just the rally tonight, but were seeing Vice President pence. Hes got an Event Next Week in wisconsin, an inperson event where supporters can go and get tickets and attend with him. Were seeing them try to ramp up. Were seeing them try to ramp up their attacks against joe biden, saying hes, you know, holed up in his delaware basement even though we have seen joe biden out on the campaign trail, including in pennsylvania. Earlier this week he held an event. And were seeing them also unleash more attacks on china, suggesting that bidens playing up bidens ties to china while he was Vice President , which is a particularly tricky argument to make considering the president s praise for xi jinping in the early days of the pandemic. And as a final point, these revelations in boltons book in which he says the president tried to curry favor with xi jinping and even urged him to help him get reelected earlier this year. Erin, a lot of the live cameras have gone away but for 23 Straight Days and nights, people are still outside. Theyre still marching in cities and towns across our country. What do you reckon happens next, and is rationally waiting to see what Mitch Mcconnell and Congress Come up with . Yes, i think so, because i think that what the protesters are saying is now is the time for action and accountability in this country, and they are also expecting that from their elected officials. You know, pushing President Trump frankly to talk about systemic racism, to acknowledge systemic racism as reality in this country, i think, is happening as a result of the current climate that we now find ourselves in. Listen, i think what happened you saw in atlanta today, the two officers that, you know, have been charged and arrested for killing rayshard brooks, turned themselves in. That happened in six days. You know, i mean the swiftness with which that happened speaks to a responsiveness that is being required of black people in this country for equal justice under the law, which is the central question of why these protesters are in the street now. And so, you know, i think that, you know, congress is now being called not for, you know, kind of incremental change but structurally to really address the issues that we have known about for so long but that we have not nearly taken far enough action on because they remain with us generation after generation. Will this be the generation that finally and fully confronts the issue of policing in black communities in america . Doctor, errin appropriately points out not one but two epidemics ongoing in this country. To the other one and your area of expertise. It strikes me that new york has gone from highest to lowest in terms of caseload, in terms of being the yepicenter for this illness in the space of 129 days. This he they are midway through their cycles of reopening, expecting another 300,000 new yorkers in midtown manhattan by this time monday. What is the danger at their low ebb now in terms of cases, what is the danger, and what would you advise them to look for . Brian, the danger is that were going to see in new york what weve seen in texas, what were seeing in tucson, what were seeing in florida, that there will be a resurgence. Lets be clear. We are very much still in phase one, and its been an extended phase one with a dip and now were back. So we are seeing an extended phase one and new york is very much at risk for the same thing here. The infection growth rate of coronavirus never fully came down to the chances for a resurgence remain quite high. Which is why we need to listen to our leaders. Governor cuomo thankfully has been out in front. Listen to governor cuomo. Dont listen to President Trump. Dont model the behavior of Vice President pence. Listen to the governor on social distancing. Listen to him on masking. Thats your best chance here, masking. Its as simple as that. Same message two weeks ago. Its the same message now. Brian, to your point, the metric to follow more than anything else is hospitalization rates. Hospitalization rates are going up in ten states. Thats what we want to keep an eye out in new york city. Are beds filling up . Because were seeing theyre filling up in concerning rates in florida and tucson. Thats what we want to keep ourite out on. That all down if that ends up again being a pressure point. Still an amazing sight while youve been talking, doctor, to see a live picture from times square still desolate. To your point about the Vice President , he said days ago with a straight face that the state of oklahoma had flattened the curve. That is wrong. That is false. Whatevers happening in oklahoma, it statistically is the opposite of flattening the curve. Theyre in the middle of such a dramatic upward spike. Our thanks to Three Friends of our broadcast tonight. To jonathan lemire, to errin haines, to dr. Vin gupta for starting us off. Coming up for us, critics are calling the mayor of phoenix an authoritarian dictator. But as she tells the story, she would just like people to wear masks. Well talk to her just ahead. And later, trump once called john bolton a patriot. Now he calls him a sick puppy. Will the president s change of heart over another one of his former hires make any difference to voters now that the damage from the bolton book is out there and done as the 11th hour is just getting under way on this thursday night. You ever wish you werent a motaur . Sure. Sometimes i wish i had legs like you. Yeah, like a regular person. No. Still half bike half man, just the opposite. Oh, so the legs on the bottom and motorcycle on the top . Yeah. Yeah, i could see that. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. Yeah, i could see that. And my side super soft . Yes, with the sleep number 360 smart bed, on sale now, you can both adjust your comfort with your sleep number setting. Come on pup, time to go. Can it help me fall asleep faster . Yes, by gently warming your feet. But can it help keep me asleep . Absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. So you can really promise better sleep . Not promise. Prove. Dont miss our weekend special, save 50 on sleep number 360 limited Edition Smart bed. Ends monday. To learn more, go to sleepnumber. Com how close are you to imposing Something Like a 14day quarantine for folk as ris arri from florida . I have expert whos have advised me to do that. Im considering it now. There is a reason for the new york governors concern as you may have noted in his voice. Florida set another daily record today with 3,000 new coronavirus cases. Experts now say the state has, quote, all the makings of a large epicenter. And theres a little bit of payback at work here because at the height of the coronavirus in new york, you may recall florida forced all arriving air passengers from new york to florida to quarantine upon arrival. In california, another state dealing with a recordhigh number of cases, the governor has now ordered face masks to be worn in most public settings. The mayor of phoenix, arizona, kate gallego, is hoping to do the very same thing. As weve said, her opponents have painted her as an authoritarian dictator. We will let the viewers make the choice for themselves. The mayor has been kind enough to join us tonight. Mayor, do you think you will be successful first off . I do. We have seen broad agreement from arizonans that we need to change the path we are on. Public Health Officials are saying if we dont do something differently by the july 4th holiday, our Hospital System will be in crisis. Wearing a mask is a simple step that we can take to slow the spread. Public Health Officials tell us it will work. Dr. Gupta just told us it will work. The National Academies of science recommends it. The city of phoenix has gone as far as we could with requiring masks, so we operate our airport and we had the ability to require masks there, which we did. We required them on our bus and transit system. Yesterday the governor gave us the ability to do it for our entire city, and tomorrow morning well vote. I know the president has now said that he suspects that maskwearing is a way of showing publicly a knock on him. When your poenopponents in publ hearings and in public settings make the case for no masks, what do they say . Whats the argument . There are many people who dont want any type of government involvement, but it really has not been as partisan here in arizona. Yesterday the governor allowed cities finally we have been asking to require masks, and multiple republican, conservative mayors including in a city thats known as americas most conservative city, have said it makes sense. Our Health Officials have broad agreement. There are certainly some in our community who say everyone has to get sick. We have to get to herd immunity. But the majority are deeply concerned about the trends we are seeing in our hospitals. Most americans want to save american lives. Mayor, thank you very much for coming on tonight. Good luck in tomorrows vote. We will be tracking it along with you. Kate gallego, mayor of phoenix, arizona, who has been kind enough to join us on the eve of the vote live. Coming up for us, the pandemic has crippled the u. S. Economy. It has also boosted a certain unwanted type of trade. We have an unusual report from overseas to show you tonight. But first, Susan Glasser of the new yorker calls it washingtons score settling on an epic scale. The political fallout from john boltons book with two of our political veterans here tonight when we come back. Place. Place. But when you have the chase mobile app, your bank can be virtually any place. So, when you get a check. You can deposit it from here. And you can see your transactions and check your balance from here. You can save for an emergency from here. Or pay bills from here. So when someone asks you, wheres your bank . You can tell them heres my bank. Or heres my bank. Or, heres my bank. Because if you download and use the chase mobile app, your bank is virtually any place. Visit chase. 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So abbott is getting new tests into their hands, delivering the critical results they need. And until this fight is over, we. Will. Never. Quit. Because they never quit. Were going to get the best people. Were going to make the best deals. I joke sometimes. I go, were going to win and were going to win again and again and again. And youre going to be begging me, please, mr. Trump, no more victories. I have the most dedicated people. I have the best people. I have the best people. I have the best people. And they get it. I have the smartest people, the best people in that world. We have the best generals, the best admirals. I have the best people in the world. I think were doing an extraordinary job. About those best people that he hired in every case, the president has since derided wacko john bolton as a, quote, disgruntled, boring fool thats harsh secretary of state Rex Tillerson was dumb as a rock. Harsh. Defense secretary james mattis was a most underrated general and teribility. Harsh. And chief of staff john kelly, who again trump chose, was apparently in way over his head. Back with us tonight, Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National committee, former Lieutenant Governor of the great state of maryland, now the host of the Michael Steele podcast. And steve schmidt, veteran political strategist who led the mccain 08 effort, has since left the republican party. He was among the founders of the lincoln project, dedicated to the defeat of donald trump and trumpism. Gentlemen, welcome to you both. Michael steele, heres my question. Does the book change any minds in your party . Do we all watch together as Mitch Mcconnell, for one, just one member of that red wall, finds a way to say hes not bothered by asking china to help in the reelection . At this point i dont think the book changes anything in terms of what republicans are going to do. Theyve already exposed what theyre going to do. We saw the play from the mueller hearings and from the impeachment trial. So the book at this point is more like a coda, you know. Its just like the final note on a song that we are all too woefully familiar with. I dont know how this incentivizes the gop or Mitch Mcconnell as the leader to take a different tone or tack with china at this point. You know, there will be the typical, you know, platitudes about, you know, the potential threat that china has or any of our adversaries may have in our upcoming election. And, you know, the bromides that go with that. But other than that, i dont see what changes at this point. Steve schmidt, is boltons courage dependent on a Simon Schuster imprint . Where was his testimony . Where were these stories in real time that could have changed the course of our history . Good evening, brian. Boltons conduct here is disgraceful. Theres no other word for it. John bolton was the National Security adviser to the president of the United States. He swore an oath as hes had many times in his career to the constitution of the United States to preserve and to protect it, to defend it. He did no such thing. He acknowledges that the president is completely unfit, that hes incompetent at a degree thats hard to describe, that he is inappropriate, abusive of his office, that hes solicitous of foreign hostile powers to help him in his reelection. And he didnt say a word about it. Didnt go to the congress. Didnt go to the oversight committees. Did nothing about it except get rich on a book deal with Simon Schuster, which is his prerogative to do. But lets compare john bolton to general marshall, chief of staff of the army during the second world war, secretary of state, secretary of defense. General marshall, in his retirement, one of the most esteemed men in the country, would not serve on a Corporate Board because he did not want to be seen as monetizing his public service. He thought it was inappropriate. And how far have we come from the probity and rectitude of men like general marshall and the people of that generation that had some understanding of their commitment and duty to the country to the john boltons of the world, who has been an architect of disastrous foreign policy, and in his last public act and it will be his last public act because he should obviously never serve in government again. Its to do this to the American People. What he did to the American People here is failed them rather profoundly. Both of these gentlemen have agreed to stay with us through the break. Coming up, a president driven to distraction. We will show you when we come back. This is the tempurpedic breeze and its mission is to make sleep. Feel cool. So, no more night sweats. No more nocturnal baking. No highblast ceiling fans. Or polar ice cap airconditioner mode. Because the tempurpedic breeze delivers superior cooling. From cover to core. Helping you sleep cool, all night long. During the tempurpedic summer of sleep, its the perfect time to experience the mattress ranked number one in Customer Satisfaction by jd power. Learn more at tempurpedic. Com welcome back. I want to show you something. Today the president held a roundtable with governors and Small Business owners about reopening the economy during a pandemic. But as our friends over at the recount pointed out in vivid detail, while his invited guests spoke and shared their stories about the struggle to stay in business, trump was on his phone. So increased labor would be probably the biggest effect on our bottom line. Additional employees have been added to answer the phones and runners are needed to take orders out to the guests waiting in their car. By midmay, sales were picking um, and we did have our bet mothers day ever seeing doubledigit growth after last years weekly sales. Still with us are our friends Michael Steele and steve schmidt. Steve, id like to begin with you. I would kill to have the curb your enthusiasm music to lay over that, but wed get in all kinds of rights troubles by doing it. But heres the thing. As these people are pouring out their stories of staying in business and staying afloat, this isnt happening in just any venue. He isnt even sitting in front of just any fireplace. I know you know about where he is seated and what is written on the wall just above him. Written on the wall above him and was inscribed there in 1945 is john as amazdams prayer that good only wise men would rule in the white house. If you think about our founders, they spebts incredible amounts of time debating, fearing the possibility that one day, the country would elect a president like trump. In fact, the entire american system of government is set up anticipating that moment, and weve reached it. There is no president who has ever served in the white house and weve had a couple of scoundrels for sure. But there is no president ever who is so utterly lacking in the capacity for moral leadership, for the human quality of empathy, who has any interest in doing right by the country, serving the American People. What you saw there today is someone who just doesnt care. Hes not interested in doing the job. He doesnt look at those people with any love, any concern. And leadership in the end is always an act of love. The president of the United States has to love the country, and hes got to love the American People who fill it, and that includes all of the American People. It includes republicans and democrats and independents and the people that didnt support and didnt vote for you. So we just see there again, on a day where 40 Million People are unemployed, where were closing up on 120,000 dead americans and many, many more to come, we see americas decline in the world, and we see a president staring at his phone disinterested. And understand this. Thats exactly what he does in his intelligence briefings. Thats exactly what he was doing when they came and told him in february and march that a pandemic was coming and we needed to get ready. He doesnt get it. He lacks the intellectual, the mental, and the moral qualities to be able to lead, and thats why when we get ready for this election, the fundamental choice is between a good man, joe biden, who cares, and a bad man, donald trump, who does not. Michael steele, to that end, about mr. Biden, im going to put some state polls on the screen. In all of them and they are really valuable states politically trump is underwater to biden. Admittedly in a lot of them, this is margin of error stuff. But as we say every night, 138 days to go now as of tonight until this election. Maybe the chinese can goose some of these numbers. Where do you put this thing . Well, i put it in a number of spots right now. The first thing, though, that Everyone Needs to keep in mind and stay focused on is this is y june. There are 138 days to the election. Theres a lot thats going to transpire between now and august let alone september and october. Biden is going to pick his choice for v. P. Trump is going to stay or do whatever trump is going to do. So theres a lot of politics to come. But what these numbers are telling the campaigns right now, if youre joe biden, this is the moment where you step it up another notch, where you go out and you make a louder noise because now you dont have the problem he had in february and march where people were looking rightly to the president and governors of their states to give them inside information, direction, examples, et cetera on covid19. Everythings now exploded open in a new way with the crashing of the economy and the struggle to recover and where we are now on civil issues. So biden has an opportunity to make those numbers grow over the next few weeks, which puts pressure when you get into the full throat of the campaign in the fall. Our friends Michael Steele and steve schmidt. Gentlemen, its always a pleasure. Thank you so much for having us in tonight. And coming up for us, we have seen what this pandemic has done to our economy. Ditto around the globe. But tonight a new report from overseas about one unlikely trade seeing a serious boom. The answer when we come back. Weve always put safety first. And we always will. For people. For the future. And there has never been a summer when its mattered more. Wherever you go, summer safely. Get zero percent apr financing for up to five years on select models and exclusive lease offers. I have moderate to severe pnow, theres skyrizi. Things are getting clearer, yeah i feel free to bare my skin yeah thats all me. Nothing and me go hand in hand nothing on my skin thats my new plan. Nothing is everything. 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They have actually seen a uptick in activity during the pandemic. Nbc news correspondent willem marx has our report from belgium tonight. Reporter earlier today belgian authorities prying open crates of mangos. Yesterday it was bags of coffee concealing more than a ton of cocaine. Coronavirus may have devastated most global businesses, but officials hunting drugs here have seen a boom. Specifically on the flow of cocaine into antwerp and other ports by way of containerized cargo, we have not seen a declienl. Reporter Scott Albrecht is the deas most senior agent in belgium. They work closely with local counterparts for a reason. For every load that makes it into the lucrative cocaine market of europe, it just strengthens those groups in south america that can send their cocaine to the United States. Reporter as head of belgiums customs force, this individual is trying to contain this cocaine cascade thats spiking alongside the pandemic. What we have this year until now even exceeds what we had last year, and last year has been a top year in relation to seizures. Reporter since january 1st, some 22 tons of coke has been seized in antwerp alone thanks to Xray Technology designed to spot concealed illicit cargo that scans dozens of trucks each day. Jeff derin sometimes helps select those trucks. He says coronavirus has refocused his efforts on seaborne containers. I think maritime was one of the few transportation sectors that was allowed to remain operating almost unabated. Reporter this transatlantic collaboration has been effective not only for the cops but for the criminals too. In south american seaports, drugs are often hidden inside commercial containers, say the dea, then shipped to antwerp and distributed to other big cities across the continent. This ports size and geography makes it near impossible to police. Over the past several years, International Authorities have witnessed a surge in cocaine shipments and seizures defendantened for this belgian city. The dea says all that cocaine captured en route to antwerp or in the port itself represents just a fraction of the total amount that makes it through. So even before covid19, that translates to billions of dollars of narcotics arriving in the city each year, making antwerp the undisputed cocaine capital of europe. The history of trade here dates back centuries, but its the future that concerns many of those involved in tracking the traffickers. They are waiting until the situation gets back to normal again and that that would be the moment to send huge amounts of cocaine again towards europe, towards north america and other continents. Reporter the covid crisis hasnt crushed the cocaine trade. Its forced the cartels to be more creative. And as coronavirus restrictions loosen, u. S. Officials say even larger drug stockpiles could soon be shipping out. Willem marx, nbc news, antwerp, belgium. Fasz natsing look at a story we otherwise would not have known about. And coming up for us, the president congratulates himself for discovering and bringing importance to a day which, by the way, millions of americans were already poised to commemorate tomorrow. At mercedesbenz, nothing less than worldclass service will do. Thats why were expanding your range of choices. Many dealers now offer optional pickup delivery and athome maintenance, as well as Online Shopping with Home Delivery and special finance arrangements. So, whether you visit your local dealer or prefer the comfort of home you can count on the very highest level of service. Get 0 apr financing up to 36 months on most models, and 90day firstpayment deferral on any model. [ engines revving ] its amazing to see them in the wild like th shhh. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. 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If youre living with hiv, keep loving who you are. And ask your doctor if biktarvy is right for you. Deposit checks, check balances, pay bills, and more. Explore all you can do with our Digital Tools from almost anywhere. Pnc bank. Last thing before we go tonight is about the event, the anniversary, the remembrance, the commemoration, the holiday in some places that begins here in just a few minutes, the 19th of june, juneteenth. Tomorrow senators kamala harris, cory booker, tina smith, and ed markey are going to introduce a bill to make juneteenth a National Holiday in our country. In an interview with the wall street journal, the president said this week, quote, i did something good. I made juneteenth very famous. Its actually an important event, an important time, but nobody had ever heard of it. The president went on to say he polled the people around him. None of them had heard of juneteenth. It apparently fell to a secret Service Agent to tell him about the significance of the day, and he was surprised to learn his own white house put out a statement every year on juneteenth, perhaps indicating the days importance prior to trumps discovery of it. Back in the real world tonight, the story of juneteenth is roughly as follows. The emancipation proclamation was signed by president lincoln and became official law of the land on january 1 of 1863. 2 1 2 years later it was announced in texas. All slaves were declared free. It resulted in shock, celebration, immediate flight to states like oklahoma where communities and economies eventually formed and thrived. June 19th therefore became and remains a big day on the calendar while it marks nothing less than a national shame, a choice to delay telling men and women in human bondage that they were in fact free citizens. It has grown in popularity as a social event that celebrates achievement and friendship and family now. And so tomorrow despite a pandemic in yards and parks and on beaches, families and friends, Fraternity Brothers and Sorority Sisters will gather. In many cases, much barbecue will be consumed and washed down by many beverages including but not limited to the traditional strawberry soda. And because it will fall on the 24th day of national protest, this juneteenth is going to feel different, especially knowing we may live to see it as a National Holiday. Thats our broadcast for these waning moments of the 18th of june. Thank you so very much for being here with us. On behalf of all of my colleagues at the networks of nbc news, good night from our temporary field headquarters. A principled resignation tonight in the upper echelons of the trump administration. Her name is Mary Elizabeth taylor and shes is one of the highest ranking africanamericans in the trump administration. She may be the highest ranking africanamerican woman in the administration altogether. Shes assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs. Prior to that she was a Deputy Director at the Trump White House with responsibility for nominations