The president elect decided to spend the period between his election and inauguration, he held a whole bunch of campaignstyle rallies. This is something that literally no president elect had ever done before in the runup to his inauguration, because if youve just been elected president of the United States, especially for the first time, theres just too much to do. There are tons of vital briefings. You have to staff the whole federal government. You to plan how to govern. But this president elect, he held a whole bunch of selfcongratulatory rallies in which he relived the glory of Election Night over and over. He bragged about his victory, attacked all the politicians he had beaten and all the media who he said had done him wrong. It was simply unlike anything that this country had ever seen before. This show the New York Times reported on his first rally three and a half weeks after the election. Quote, kicking off what was billed as a thank you tour, mr. Trump was incendiary and prideful, hopeful and indicting, vengeful and determined. His staff said the rally was the first of several he will hold before his inauguration next month. His tour is an unusual move for a president elect. Most of whom do not return so quickly to the campaign trail, especially while cabinet positions remain unfilled. So the whole idea of this thank you tour is classic donald trump was the tour so that he could thank his voters or so that they could thank him . I dont know. In any case, the tour was clearly only for his voters. Part of how you could tell is he only travelled to states that he won. The first rally was in ohio. Then there was another in north carolina. Then he brought the tour to louisiana. And he did it all again in alabama. The president elect spent his whole transition celebrating with only the people who voted for him. There were scarcely even lip service to the idea of being president elect of the whole country, of all its people. It was actually the opposite. Now predictably, this became a theme of his presidency. When the l. A. Times mapped all of the rallies trump held in his first year and a half or so in office, the paper found that, quote, charting his stops yields a map that reflects his base, a base that he hasnt tried to expand on. And the president hasnt just rewarded his supporters with rallies. A few months into the trump presidency, the Washington Post ran this headline. Quote, trump and republicans bolster red states, punish blue. Since gaining control of washington, President Trump and republicans in congress have pushed an array of policies that tend to punish states that voted democratic in last years president ial election. End quote. The Christian Science monitor was even more blunt. Quote, President Trumps major policy move others the course of his first year in office have had a common denominator. They either overtly favor his base of support, the roughly 1 3 of voters who solidly back him, or they appear to penalize those states that vote democratic. Republicans say it stands to reason the trump era policies would favor his own party. To the winners go the spoils. All right. Sure. All the administrations that we know about push policies favored by their own party. But when a presidency operates primarily on that premise, it can only struggle when the need actually arises for a National Response to something. Last month, nbc news reported that the president s advisers were having trouble getting him to focus on any kind of response to the nationwide protests over the killing of george floyd. Quote, these arent my voter, the president has said repeatedly, dismissing protesters in discussions with aides about how to respond. In one tense meeting about how to respond to the unrest, trump lamented that none of the protesters had voted for him. And this week when the Washington Post went searching for answers as to why the president had not tried harder to tackle the coronavirus epidemic, one answer they found is that President Trump may not believe the virus is affecting people who matter to him. Quote, some aides and outside advisers have tried to stress to trump and others in his orbit that before he could move on to reopening the economy and getting the country back to work and life, he needed to grapple with the reality of the virus. But until recently, the president was largely unreceipt alternative that message. They said not fully grasping the magnitude of the pandemic, and overly preoccupied with his own sense of grievance, beginning many conversations, casting himself as the blameless victim of the crisis. In the past couple of weeks, senior advisers began presenting trump with maps and data, showing spikes in coronavirus case among, quote, our people in republican states. End quote. And now weve got a new report suggesting that that world view in the President Trump white house, that there are our people and there is everybody else, that may have played a part in our deep sixing of an actual white house attempt at a unified National Response to the coronavirus outbreak. There has been reporting over the last few monthsing a White House Task force that was run by president ial soninlaw jared kushn kushner. The task force was supposed to solve the shortage of covid19 test manage the United States, but was woefully unprepared for that task, in part because it was run by a guy whose leading conversation is being Donald Trumps soninlaw. But a new report from katherine ebben at vanity fair gives a new view. Six months into the pandemic, the United States continues to suffer the worst outbreak of covid19 in the developed world. Considerably blame belongs toe a federal response that offloaded responsibility for the crucial task of testing to the states. The irony is that after assembling the team that came up with an aggressive and ambitious National Testing plan, Jared Kushner then appears to have decided for reasons that remain murky to scrap its proposal. The plan, though imperfect, was a starting point. But no nationally coordinated testing strategy was ever announced. The plan, according to one participant, just went poof into thin air. Among the reasons . Quote, most troubling of all was a sentiment a member of kushn kushners team expressed that because the virus hit blue states hardest a National Plan was unnecessary and would not make sense politically. Let that sink in for a second. One Public Health expert in frequent contact with the white house told vanity fair, quote, the political folks believe that because it was going to be relegated to democratic states, that they could blame foez governors and that would be an effective political strategy, end quote. For the record, the white house says the premise of the vanity fair article is completely false. But now here we are in the middle of the worst coronavirus epidemic in the world by a mile. As of tonight coronavirus has killed over 154,000 americans. The state of florida has hit a Record Number of covid deaths for the fourth day in a row. Mississippi hit a record of deaths for the second day in a row. Georgia is reopening a makeshift Medical Center for coronavirus patients at one of the Largest Convention centers in the country next week. Alabama. Not only are covid deaths already surging past the number of flu deaths they usually have in an entire year, one county has seen twice as many deaths from coronavirus as it has from the flu in the last ten years combined. According to a document obtained by yahoo news this evening, the centers for Disease Control and prevention is forecasting that the National Death toll could pass 180,000 in three weeks. The coronavirus model that the white house used to use because it used to have the lowest death toll projections, well, today it updated to project 230,000 dead by november. Now it says a national universal mask mandate could bring that number down substantially. Today the House Special Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis heard from the governments top Infectious Disease expert, dr. Anthony fauci and the head of the cdc and the admiral who is the white houses point person on coronavirus testing. Committee chairman jim clyburn brought a chart. He asked why there are so many more daily cases look at that chart in the United States than in europe. Why are we doing so much worse at this than other countries. And the committee today zeroed in on two things. A lack of a National Response and a deluge of misinformation from the president and his allies. Here is congressman clyburns colleague, jamie raskin. Is covid19 going to magically disappear, dr. Fauci . I do not believe it would disappear because its such a highly transmissible virus. It is unlikely that its going to disappear. Does wearing a mask give people covid19 . Does wearing a mask give it . No. Okay. Not to my knowledge. All right. Is covid19 a hoax . No. Should people take hydroxychloroquine as a cure for covid19 . Overwhelming cumulative evidence of properly conducted randomized control trials indicate no therapeutic efficacy for hydroxychloroquine. Can people cure themselves of covid19 by injecting themselves with disinfectant . No. Or bleach . Im sorry . No. Do we have the Financial Resources and the scientific expertise in america to do what other governments have done to bring the infection rate down to something manageable so the end is in sight of this nightmare . I believe we do have the tools. And certainly there has been a considerable degree of financial investment. So what is the difference . Why are all of the other countries defeating the disease and were not . Why do we not have a plan, a strategy for victory to win, to beat covid19 . When you look at the comparison between asia and europe, as is shown by the chairmans poster up there, that when they shut down that. Shut down to the tune of about 95 , getting their baseline down to 10s or hundreds of cases per day. Where as when we did it, we got it down, but unfortunately, our baseline was 20,000 a day. All right. So were getting somewhere. But would you agree with me that the critical difference is either the presence or the absence of social cohesion and Political Leadership to actually develop a plan, execute it, and stick to it . Thing was such a diversity of response in this country from different states that we really did not have a unified bringing everything down. No unified action. A lack of a National Response from the president , who may not see doing so as his job. Joining me now, congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina, the third ranking democrat in the United States house of representatives. He currently serves as the chairman of that committee whose proceedings we were just watching. It is the house select Cub Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis. Congressman, thank you so much for making time to be with us tonight. I dont know if you know, this because you were busy conducting a hearing, but in the midst of it, the president of the United States tweeted at you and said somebody please tell congressman clyburn, who doesnt have a clue, that the chart he put up indicating more cases for the u. S. Than europe is because we do much more testing than any other country in the world. If we had no testing or bad testing, we would show very few cases. I dont actually have a question attached to that sir, because i dont know what the question would be. So i just put it to you, sir. Well, thank you very much. And thanks for having me. You know, i am aware of that. Im glad that the president is paying attention. And if he is, i would hope hes absorbing what three of the experts who are connected with his administration, theyre on the task force, if he were to Pay Attention to what they were saying and act upon it, i think we could start developing a National Plan. The problem here is we have a president who saw one person, then 15 people and then said it would soon go away, magically. Thats what he is still waiting on some magical intervention to take place. The fact of the matter is we are lacking leadership at a time when we need it most. And the problem here is when they said, the vanity fair article that you referenced earlier. Yeah. We are aware of that article. Were aware of whats behind that article. And the fact of the matter is we are aware that Jared Kushner came up with a plan back in march, then it went away. And what we understand is because it was new york and new jersey, both socalled blue states, they didnt think that there was anything they had to be concerned with because it wasnt their states. The farbct of the matter is to date it is florida, georgia, alabama, texas, mississippi, need i say more . Those are red states, and one thing we have to understand, this virus does not know color. It does not know partisan politics. This virus is something thats affecting American People, and i would hope the president would tune in to that and Start Playing politics with peoples lives. Congressman, the one thing this virus does seem to know is poverty versus prosperity. It does seem into those places where people live in more concentrated areas in which they dont have health care, in which they have preexisting conditions, in which they cannot take time off from work or they cannot effectively social distance. And for many millions of those people, tomorrow makes all the difference in the world. The federal boost to unemployment, the up to 600 a week is over. The moratorium on evictions is over. The prohibition on foreclosures is over as of tomorrow, and there is no deal to replace it. Well, as you know, the democrats control the house, and we passed the bill, sent to it the senate, and Mitch Mcconnell laughed at it when we did it. And he has decided that there is no rush here. Well, the fact of the matter there is a rush in the lives of those people who need that 600. There is a rush in the lives of those people who could get ejected from their rental units and people who have mortgages. They arent going to be able to pay, as well as the people who own those rental units. They too are being hurt by this. This administration seems not to be able to look globally at anything. They appeal to that 25 or 30 , and the rest be damned. Congressman, i want to ask you very quickly about the about Vice President biden, who has said he will announce his running mate next week. One of the things he said, there are a number of people in the United States who think that his running mate we know its going to be a woman, but who think should it be an African American woman. When asked about that by joy reid, he said African Americans brought me to the dance, and they will be represented in my administration. Well, if African Americans brought him to the dance, you, sir, symbolically were his date, right ahead of the South Carolina primary. So whats your take on his Selection Process . Well, i think the Vice President is doing a thorough job of vetting, poll, and i think when the next two or three days he will come to a conclusion and well find out about it by the end of next week. I like the way he is doing this. He shouldnt rush into this thing. He said its going to be a woman. Hes got to make sure that its not a woman that will get into the trap that say Geraldine Ferraro did and sarah palin. We need to make sure that its somebody that will compliment the ticket, somebody that will instill confidence in the American People, and somebody who will be able to step in and be president if needed. Do you believe that needs to be an African American woman . Well, you know, i said from the beginning it would be a plus for me. Im the father of three African American women, and im very proud of African American women. Im very proud of what theyve done for this party and for this country. But ive also said that is not necessarily a must. It is a plus. And i really believe that. What is a must for me is to win this election and put in place someone that can run this country who will provide leadership so that when we have Something Like this pandemic, we can look to the white house for a coordinated, comprehensive and compassionate leadership. That is whats lacking today. Thats whats a must for me. Congressman, good to see you. Thank you, sir, for being with us. Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina is the chair of the house select subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. He is the third ranking democrat in the house of representatives. Thank you, sir, for being with us. Coming up, the last of the Coronavirus Relief checks, as we just mentioned, have been written. So what now happens for americans who arent back on their feet . Well have some answers after this. Ter this ding voltaren have one thing in common none are proven stronger or more effective against pain than salonpas patch large theres surprising power in this patch salonpas dependable, powerful relief. Hisamitsu. Sixtytwo thousand seven hundred and ten dollars and thirtyone cents. Sofi allowed me to refinance all of my loans to one low Interest Rate and an affordable monthly payment. 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Y is to make just keep your phone and switch to xfinity mobile. You can get it by ordering a free sim card online. Once you activate, you only have to pay for the data you need, starting at just 15 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. 5g is now included with all new data options. Switch and save hundreds. Xfinity mobile. When the dust from the 2008 financial crisis started to settle, america was hurting. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes. Millions lost their jobs. It was the kind of economic pain that had not been felt in this country since the great depression. For the lower wage earners in this country, who by the way made up 93 of the american public, the average net worth of those families decreased by an average of 4 over two years. But thats not what happened to all americans. For the wealthiest americans who make up just 7 of the country, their net worth went up, way up. In the two years after the financial crash, the net worth for the richest americans increased, look at this chart, by 28 . If all the wealth in this country were a pie, the richest people in the country made it out of the other side of the last financial crisis with a bigger slice. Same number of people, more wealth, because thats what happens in an economic crisis. It exacerbates our economic fault lines. The gap between the rich and the poor gets bigger. Inequality gets worse. And now with the economic fallout of the Coronavirus Crisis bearing down on us, we may very well be in the opening days of a repeat performance. Tomorrow, as we mentioned, is the first of the month. Rent is due. It will be the first rent check that unemployed americans will have to write without the benefit of the unemployment boost from the federal government. Republicans in congress let that 600 unemployment benefit expire today. 25 million americans had been relying on those benefits to help make ends meet, to help make the rent. But that unemployment boost is now gone. So too is the federal moratorium on evictions for qualifying tenants. Congress let that rule slide too. By some estimate, in the absence of eviction protections, up to 40 million americans could be evicted due to the economic fallout of covid19. One expert actually thinks there could be as many evictions in the month of august as there were in the entire year of 2016. Now put those two pieces together, the loss of the 600 boost and the protection from eviction, and millions of americans, millions of the poorest americans are facing an economic free fall, one that the federal government appears to have no interest in saving them from. The Republicanled Senate took the day off today. They are adjourned until 3 00 p. M. On monday. While there are some meetings planned, congress will not be working through the weekend to try and stave off this first wave of economic pain. And even if they were working, even if republicans were treating this like the dire and urgent situation that it is for millions of american families, its not like an easy fix is on the horizon. Republicans remain hopelessly deadlocked on their own recovery bill. Their idea to replace the expired 600 unemployment boost could take months to pull off. So what are americans supposed to do in the meantime . Joining us now is congressman Hakeem Jeffries from new york. He is the chair of the House Democratic caucus. Congressman, youve been asking this question. Thank you for joining us, sir. You tweeted on Unemployment Insurance, emergency Unemployment Insurance expire today. Instead they want blanket Liability Protection for multinational corporations. Get serious, mitch. Congressman, youre touching on something that a lot of people dont really understand, that there is a real effort in congress to make sure whatever bill comes out of it protects companies more than it protects people. Well, that is correct. House democrats passed a heros act two and a half months ago. We extend emergency Unemployment Insurance benefits into next year. We provide another round of direct stimulus payments to the American People. We include 175 billion in assistance for tenants who are struggling to pay their rent as well as homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgage and extend the moratorium on evictions as well. We provide about a trillion dollars in assistance to state and local governments in order to make sure that public education, Public Health, public transportation, Public Housing and other Public Benefits can be continued in the situation where we see state and local budgets are cratering across the country. This is an extraordinary pandemic. Rome is burning, and Mitch Mcconnell and Senate Republicans are fiddling around doing nothing, trying to enact blanket Liability Protection for multinational corporations to n enincentivize bad actors in a way that will make the situation worse, not better. In case americans are wondering what youre talking about, the invoking of the defense production act to get the meat packing plants was exactly this. The president invoked the defense production act so that the meat packers could get their workers back there because there had been a spread of coronavirus amongst meat packing workers. Well, that is correct. What we want to do is to strengthen osha standards and workplace protections so that when we are in a position to be able to reopen, we can do so safely as it relates to everyday americans, consumers, and workers. And instead, what Mitch Mcconnell is trying to do is again stand up for the wealthy, the well off and the well connected, who as you pointed out in your opening are doing extremely well. In fact, billionaires in this country have gotten more financially secure than the six months of this pandemic while everybody americans are struggling even more. This is extraordinary as Senate Republicans would leave town once again and do nothing. Yes committed to making sure that we remain in washington. Senate majority leader, steny heroics nancy pelosi have made clear we will not have an august recess period until we get this done. It is kind of remarkable people with good credit and access to capital right now are doing phenomenally well. But i want to just put a map up of the danger of this eviction crisis. The likelihood in a given state of being evicted, of facing eviction. If you look at the really dark blue squares there, it tells an interesting story. The states with the highest likelihood of renter households unable to pay rent and at risk of eviction as a share of housing total renter households are west virginia, tennessee, louisiana, mississippi, texas, and florida. This is not even good for republicans. Well, its extraordinary. Its one of the reasons why i think President Trumps poll numbers are cratering and he is headed for a stunning defeat in november, because the American People see he has not provided any leadership in the context of this pandemic. He only cares about himself. Even the people he purports to be concerned about, as in those states that you just discussed, theyre doing nothing. Can you imagine that they put forward a bill that would provide zero dollars in food assistance, zero dollars in rental assistance or protection for homeowners, and at the same time want to spend 2 billion for a new j. Edgar hoover fbi building and tens of billions of dollarses for f35s. How democrats want to feed america because america is going hungry right now. They want to buy more warplanes. Thats the distinction between democrats and republicans in washington right now. Mitch mcconnell told our reporter the other day didnt know about the almost 2 billion in there for the fbi building, but hes got 20 members who think congress has done enough. Congressman, thank you for joining us. Good to see you again. Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. When we come back, biden is about to fill the blank on a whole lot of Campaign Buttons and bumper stickers. And voters in one state have ideas what name they want to see next to his. Thats next. Since youre heading off to school, i got you this brita. Dad. I just got a zerowater. But weve always used brita. Its two stagefilter. Doesnt compare to zerowaters 5stage. This meter shows how much stuff, or dissolved solids, gets left behind. Our tap water is 220. Brita . 110. Seriously . But zerowater let me guess. Zero . 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I have to admit, try to avoid any premature fixation on this. Now weve reached that pivotal moment, that shadow contest that you all know and tolerate. Its veepstakes season. Democratic president ial candidate joe biden says he will choose his Vice President ial running mate next week. And already things are starting to get interesting. We know the former Vice President is committed to choosing a woman to join him on the ticket in november. From there, something of a short list has emerged, including all of the women that you see on your screen here. According to one report from cnn, at least three of the women have been the subject of more serious consideration, including senator Kamala Harris and former president ial candidate Kamala Harris. Karen bass, the california congresswoman, and susan rice, the former Obama AdministrationNational Security adviser. Today the paper of record in californias capitol, the Sacramento Bee decided to weigh into the competition in favor of one home state over another. The Editorial Board of the paper published this oped entitled biden will likely pick Kamala Harris for vp. Here is why karen bass is a better choice. Whatever you think of that prediction or prescription, voters in key states have already made up their minds about what kind of Vice President ial candidate they want to see. I spoke with a group of voters in the battleground state of pennsylvania this week. Here is some of what they told me. We only have two choices at this point. Thats why im going with joe biden, but i also say i feel joe biden does need an African American woman Vice President. I say that because the state of the nation, i feel like having a woman as a vp will be very important in that strive and heal in this country. He said i have four African American women on my short list, but regardless, African Americans, the expression he used is they brought me to the dance and they will be recognized in this administration, quite possibly with senior positions in the cabinet. Would that be satisfactory to you . No. My opinion, i want him to select an African American woman. Its time. What do you think about a woman as Vice President . Oh, im for a woman being president , you know. I agree. But what i really am for is the best person for the job. Regardless of race, color, gender, sexual orientation. Joining us now, renee graham, columnist and associate editor at the boston globe whose own take on the veepstakes this year is clear from her most recent posting, biden must choose a black woman for Vice President. Ms. Graham, thank you for joining us tonight. Its a pleasure to have you here. Tell me about why you wrote this . You know, it was getting to the point where it was heating up. More and more people were talking about this. More names were appearing as contenders. And i thought, you know, lets just call it what it is. We know biden is going to choose a woman. He said he would do that in march. So then we had to come down to who. I think in this moment when the country is experiencing so much pain, when the country is looking at race and white supremacy, there is no one better to address that on this ticket than a black woman. All of the candidates that we just puppet on the screen, the potential contenders, might be somebody else on that list, but of those women that. All bring something different. Of the African American women on the list, they also bring different strengths. What do you think about that . In other words, is it the idea that he needs an African American woman or within that pool of African American women who he is closely considering, is there somebody you think is best qualified . You know, i think theyre all qualified, really. There is not he cant good wrong with any of the women he chooses. He cant go wrong with any of if he chooses a black woman. I do think that there are women who seem to have higher profiles, and that could be good. I think there are women who have more progressive bona fides, and people do want that because they want something to balance out biden who they dont feel is progressive enough. I think that will have a big impact in the way he chooses. He wants someone he can have the relationship with that he had as Vice President with president obama. Thats what he is looking for. And i think he cant go wrong if he chooses karen bass or Kamala Harris or susan rice, since those three women seem to be the top contenders right now. You wrote that bidens vp decision is an even more heated topic because he is 77 years old, and should he win might not run for a second term. There is a decent chance that bidens pick will become americas first woman president. Thats a remarkable i mean, its something we know, but youre putting it into words really makes me see it differently. The woman he picks as his Vice President ial candidate could be the next president of the United States. Does that affect how you think about it . I think it does. Were talking about the fact that weve never had a woman president before, and that if he chooses a black woman as his running mate, that the first woman president could be a black woman in this nation is extraordinary, and it has been getting a lot of attention because of bidens age, because people have been asking well, if he wins, he will be the oldest man to serve as president. That makes a difference in who he chooses as Vice President. Especially if he decides not to run for a second term if he wins in november. That sets that person up. That sets that woman up to be the democratic standard bearer. And to have that be a black woman, again, in this moment, you know, i constantly think about what congresswoman Ayanna Pressley from massachusetts often says. Those closest to the pain should be closest to the power. And in this country, no one is closer to the power closer to the pain, rather, than black women. It is time. It is overdue, and this is that moment to meet the movement. Renee graham, it is a pleasure talking to you tonight. Thank you for taking the time to join us. Renee graham is a boston globe columnist and associate editor at the boston globe. Well, the first woman to be a Vice President ial candidate on a major ticket was Geraldine Ferraro in 1984. 36 years later, america still hasnt had a woman Vice President. But this could be the election that changes that. As joe biden closes in on the woman hell pick to give it a sh shot, ill be here all weekend serving up everything about whos on the list and why. Plus, ill talk to some of the key players who might be charged with actually making it happen, charged with getting joe biden and the first Vice President woman in u. S. History elected. Dont miss it tomorrow and sunday from 8 00 to 10 00 a. M. On velshi. Well be right back. I like Liberty Mutual. They get that no two people are alike and customize your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. What do you think . I dont see it. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Heres another cleaning tip from mr. Clean. Cleaning tough bathroom and kitchen messes with sprays and wipes can be a struggle. Theres an easier way. Try mr. Clean magic eraser. Just wet, squeeze and erase tough messes like bathtub soap scum. And cakedon grease from oven doors. Now mr. Clean magic eraser comes in disposable sheets. Theyre perfect for icky messes on stovetops. In microwaves. And all over the house. For an amazing clean, try mr. Clean magic eraser, and mr. Clean magic eraser sheets. Alice loves the scent of gain so much, she wished there was a way to make it last longer. Say hello to your fairy godmother alice. And longlasting gain scent beads. Part of the irresistible scent collection from gain if the polls are any indication, you probably know which candidate you intend to vote for this year, at least at the top of the ticket. But if you thought about how youre going to cast that ballot, youre going to do it in person or youre going to send it in the mail . Perhaps you live in one of the five states that already conduct elections entirely by mail, in which case you already know what to do. Alternatively, you limaybe you n one of the eight states that fear of getting the coronavirus alone is not considered an excuse to cast a ballot by mail. While you probably ought to start thinking than in the future with the election just 94 days away, the time for state governments to start figuring this stuff out is right now. The president likes to say mailin voting is rife with fraud. He continued that now baseless line of attack today. And in case we have not said it enough times, donald trump is absolutely flatout wrong about that. The statistical evidence tells us that vote by mail fraud is virtually nonexistent. But there are actually issues that we should be worried about, namely the logistics of it. In 2016, over 23 americans, almost one in four cast their vote by mail, which i think is a lot. But ramping up from 23 to who know, 50, 60, 70, 80 this november on account of the virus, obviously a change of that magnitude requires serious planning and consideration. Concerns are already being raised by u. S. Postal workers that costcutting by trumps new head of the post office is resulting in dayslong backlogs in delivery time. They say it could put at risk their ability to deliver ballots in time for the election. Then there is the fact that most states frankly are not accustomed to handling the expected surge in mailin ballots. In 2016 in the majority of state, fewer than 10 of voters cast their ballots by mail. Its not that big a deal. Many of the states are now rushing to line up the best vendors for printing and distributing paper ballots. Theyre also amending absentee ballot rules and making plans to hire and train enough workers to count ballots by hand. When youre looking for answers on how to do this, a great place to turn is the states that already got experience at doing this at scale. As election law experts wrote recently in the Washington Post, state officials who manage the election was the highest mail voting rates know how to handle these risks. Theyve identified qualified vendors for printing ballots and envelopes partnered with the u. S. Postal service to deliver them, developed tracking systems so voters can see where their ballots are in the delivery stream, and found ways to review signatures and count ballots that reduce the number of rejected ballots. Thats exactly the kind of expertise that states like colorado can bring to the game. The states been using allmail voting statewide since 2014. Im pleased to say now that joining us now is the colorado secretary of state secretary griswald. Secretary griswald, good to see you again. Thanks for being with us. I want to really clear here. Thing are real issues that you understand that weve got to deal with with respect to mailin voting, virtually none of which have anything to do with fraud. Well, that is exactly right, ali. And thank you for having me on for this very important conversation. I do want to share with you, ali, that my mom is a nurse. Shes been working on a covid unit saving lives. And as secretary of state, i want to do the same thing. Its 2020. Unlike donald trump, i do not want to force americans to risk their health to cast their ballots to exercise their most fundamental right. Vote by mail is akin to wearing a mask. It saves lives. And this nation needs vote by mail for all immediately. Lets talk about the things that you know. And i just want to quote from the Washington Post on colorado. As colorado switched to vote by mail, it implemented the first intelligent ballot tracking program. Officials use an intelligent bar code that is specific to the voters envelope. It allows the voter to track the ballot at every step, where their ballot went after they dropped it off, similar to how you track a package. As you said, its 2020. Everybody who orders anything online knows that this exists. We can do it for ballots the same we can do for the billions of packages that get shipped around this country every day. Thats exactly right. Look, these are not complicated systems. Were really talking about systems. Were talking about having people register to vote, sending them a mail ballot and having them return it either at the mail at a ballot drop box or voting in person. What the bigger issue is that the president and his allies are trying to use the pandemic to suppress the vote. That includes lying about vote by mail, by lying about saying that hes going to change the election date or even has the authority to do so, which he absolutely does not. To the attacks on the post office. This is a president who is scared and using any type of tactic to try to suppress the vote to his benefit in november. Thank you for reminding us that the president is not allowed to delay the election. The president s term will end at noon on january 20th, 2021. The post office is recommending that voters request their ballots at least 15 days before election day and mail at least one week before the due date. So the secretary of state can get it right and in your state you can get it right, but there is some experience that people in colorado have had with this. As i mentioned, there are eight states that wouldnt allow you to vote by mail if you said that you were worried about catching the coronavirus. You know, its just ridiculous the lengths that folks will go to suppress the vote and expand voter suppression. And i would say colorado has the key. We just set a record turnout even during the pandemic. Thats because the colorado voting model works. It includes in person voting, early voting, same day Voter Registration and the use of mail ballots. And that policy you just commented on from the postal service, thats what we do in colorado. We make sure ballots are sent out three weeks before election. And then in about a week, we start saying no longer return them by the mail because we need to get them by election day. And thats why we have hundreds of mail ballot drop boxes across the state and why in person voting is so important. You know, we need vote by mail for the entire nation. No american should have to risk their health to cast the ballot. Also, even when we arent in pandemic times, vote by mail increases participation. We increased our turnout rate by 9 . Thats what i want to see the whole country doing. So if we didnt have a president working against this, it would still be a challenge to get all 50 states up to speed in 94 days. Who sets this up . Who does this . If the president is working against this, we still have to do the preparation necessary. There are states who need to be on the phone with you understanding how do you pick vendors for this . What kind of tracking software do you use . Are we ready for this . We can be ready for it. We still have some time to make sure that all americans have their voices heard. And, ali, rest assured, all those secretaries have my phone number or can have my phone number. I have been working with secretaries of state across the nation, and our Elections Division has also been working with other states to share best practices. But the question of who is ultimately responsible is both the states, but it also should be the federal government. You know, the federal government, Congress Passed 400 million in election funding. Secretaries of state are asking them to increase it. We need to make sure that were investing in our democracy so that all americans can have their voice heard. And we cannot allow the president to weaponize vote by mail, which is the best way to vote during a pandemic. It allows us to social distance and help stop the spread of covid19, and we need the entire country to adopt colorados election model. Secretary, i appreciate you being that passion to our viewers. Thank you and thank you to your mother for the work that she and other Health Care Providers are providing to keep us healthy through this pandemic. A judge ruled that Michael Cohen is allowed to write a tellall book about his book. So when do we get to hear what he has to say . Y . Sales event. Get zero percent financing on all 2020 lexus models. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. Ive been involved in. Communications in the media on all 2020 lexus models. For 45 years. Ive been taking prevagen on a regular basis for at least eight years. For me, the greatest benefit over the years has been that prevagen seems to help me recall things and also think more clearly. And i enthusiastically recommend prevagen. It has helped me an awful lot. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. For spending a perfectly reasonable amount of time on the couch with tacos from grubhub . 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Show more of you. Michael cohen was sprung from jail for the second time one week ago today. Donald trumps former personal attorney was serving his sentence of three years in prison in otisville, new york, but was released from coronavirus. Cohen tweeted he was almost finished writing a tellall book. Then she was thrown back in prison. Last week cohen won his court fight against bill barr and the bureau of prisons. A federal judge called it retaliation and warned that the government should not try to take away his First Amendment right. But the reason you havent heard another peep out of Michael Cohen in the past week is that the judge gave Michael Cohen and the bureau of prisons and department of justice some restrictions about his behavior while released. Yesterday both sides let the judge know they had in fact come to an agreement and as far as they are concerned the whole issue of speaking to the media is now moot. Quote, the parties agree that a specific provision regarding his provision with the media is not necessary. There is no need for court resolve any further dispute about restrictions on mr. Cohens contact with the media. Now, the judge still has to sign off on it. He gave the parties a deadline of today to come to an agreement. So now we are keeping an eye out on the docket for the moment that Michael Cohen will be officially unmuzzled. Watch this space. That does it for us tonight. Ill see you again tomorrow on velshi from 8 00 to 10 00 a. M. Now its time for the last word with lawrence odonnell. If you have Michael Cohens phone number, please text it over to me right away. Well see how many shows hes booked on next week, if he becomes a free man for media. Have a good show, lawrence. Good to see you, my friend. Thank you, ali. Appreciate it. Well, nancy pelosi made public today an intelligence briefing she and other congressional leaders received today on russian interference in the 2020 president ial election. Speaker pelosi publically complained that the Trump Administration intelligence officials are withholding information about russian interference in the election from the public and that the