Transcripts For MSNBCW Weekends With Alex Witt 20200705

Hit hardest early on, is set to enter phase three of reopening tomorrow. So that means nail salons, tattoo and massage parlors can open at 50 capacity. Indoor dining, which was supposed to be allowed, will not be. Breaking news in florida. New coronavirus case as skyrocketing again today. Sam brock is live in miami beach. Sam, what are these new numbers . 10,000 plus today. Good afternoon. Which takes florida now to over 200,000 cases of the coronavirus. This weekend, weve seen 21,000. To put that in perspective, just a few weeks ago, we were between 2 and 4,000 cases a day. That was alarming. Nebraska, nevada, arkansas, that have seen 21,000 cases since the pandemic started. It is the reason right now that massive surge in the Sunshine State that were seeing Public Officials pulling back on some of the reopenings. This is miami beach, one of the most popular, if not the most popular, holidays in florida. Normally, this would be covered with people. All kinds of activity going on. Its empty and with good reason. Concern now not just that these aggregate numbers of new cases, but the positivity race for the state of florida, which is the number of people tested yesterday, divided by those who tested positive, 17 . In california, they get concerned when they go over 5 . More than triple that here. I spoke with a doctor at jackson health. He runs the trauma and Critical Care department there. I asked him if this surge continues at this level, whats that going to look like . If this continues the way it is, its going to mean were going the look like elmhurtt did in new york. People will have trouble getting in for the things they need. So it has to be brought under control and it hasnt been. I asked is this a make or break weekend now for america. He said every single day is make or break, but definitely over the july fourth holiday as so many people want to get out and socialize and be with their friends and be on boats, ob aft. The question is exactly how much. In this state now, the median age of people testing positive is about 36 to 37. You may say theyre generally healthier, thats true if a small percentage of expanding number of cases is going to the hospital, thats enough to overwhelm a health care system. I remember on memorial day weekend, you were trying to navigate people on crowded beaches. Such a stark contrast between then and now. What else are you noticing as the difference between these two Holiday Weekends . Clearwater was where i was then. Its actually still open this weekend. Clearwater is open. Daytona beach, about three or four hours north of us is still open. There are parts of florida that are continuing with their july fourth activities, possibly with new restraints. Masks required in some places, but theyre keeping beaches open. Elsewhere in state, that alone is rising level of concern right now this afternoon. Interesting. Thanks so much. Lets continue along to texas. Jay gray is in dallas details on the surge there. How are people reacting to these new numbers . Well, its very disturbing. Not only here in dallas, but across the state. I want to give you a quick look. Were at the cathedral guadeloupe right now and church was held. They had a service this morning. You see people starting to trickle out here. Everyone with a mask on at this point. This beautiful historic cathedral in Downtown Dallas holds about 1200 people. They have reduced that to 600 during the pandemic. But talking with them, they say theres just a scant few people inside. You can see the church just about empty at this point and weve seen maybe 50 people in all coming out. So worship changing dramatically. Not only here in dallas, but across the state, across the nation. Weve talked about in the past. Lets talk about the numbers in dallas. You just heard sam talking about florida. Were above 190,000 cases now in texas. So right behind florida in a n contest no one wants to win. Yesterday, record setting day in dallas. In texas, rather, over 8,000 new cases. In dallas, more than 1100 cases. It took 116 days from the start of the pandemic for dallas to see 1,1 o 0 cases. They saw that in a single day yesterday. Friday and saturday combine d, they saw more than 2100 cases. So a a dramatic climb here. And its really putting a squeeze on hospital beds. Not only here in dallas, but houston, across the state. The mayor of austin spoke about that earlier. Even if we had the physical icu beds, im being told theres not the staffing to go along with the surge. If this is happening in austin and dallas and houston and santonio at the same time, were in trouble. And most agree the state is in trouble right now. The governor of course is mandated mask wearing in counties where over 20 cases have been reported. Thats nearly every county in the state. They pulled back on what was an aggressive reopening here. Bars have been closed. Youve got restaurants now operating at 25 and a lot of businesses operating with reduced customers as well. Its exploding here and a big concern is the numbers were getting right now are probably about two weeks old. It takes about ten days for testing. Theyre very worried about what this crest is going to continue to do over the next several weeks. Wise words there, thank you. We continue to take you to states hard hit by coronavirus. Lets d lets go to south carolina. A live look at myrtle beach, where it has been busy all weekend. Some are are calling this city a coronavirus petri dish. Joining me now is the mayor of myrtle beach. Mayor, thank you so much for joining us today on this Holiday Weekend. I want to ask you when you see these images of people on the beaches in your location, does it make you happy that people are out there hopefully going to businesses or does it concern you because they may not be socially distant . Well, what i have seen is not really the same a as the picture youve shown and you, yourself, mentioned orange county. Its very large and myrtle beach is only 2 of the entire county. What i have personally witnessed this weekend is a lot of social distancing and thankfully, most of our visitors Wearing Masks and that was from me going out to our main entertainment areas ocean boulevard and seeing a lot of families and just people who were really practicing safety guidelines. At any time any of us leave the house, there is a certain risk. Many of the people who are going to the beaches are visitors and heres what one had to say about the risks of coming to myrtle beach during this time. I did a Little Research to figure out how many cases were here, but its the same thing in ohio, man, so im like if i get it there, ill get it at home, too, so whatever. Are you concerned there might be people traveling from other areas to myrtle beach that might be bringing the virus or vice versa, that could be picking it up there and bringing it home . Absolutely. And that has been a concern all along because people spread this virus, not places. And we want our visitors to come here. We desperately need our tourism economy back. However, we want people to come here safely and responsibly. And that means wearing a mask. We do now have a mask order because we want people to have a good time while theyre here, but we also want them to go home safely. Yeah, youre a Small Business owner. You mentioned the businesses in that area need it. They rely on tourism dollars and have been crippled by this pandemic. But some other beaches, miami beach, they made the decision to close down. Why have you kept the beaches open . Well, we have seen a drastic increase or actually, a drastic improvement since memorial weekend. Memorial weekend, we had a huge influx of tourists who were not practicing social distancing, were not Wearing Masks and that is not the same crowd were seeing now. And since memorial weekend, we have enacted the mask order. Last week, actually. So that is the difference a and the beach is wide open. We have over 60 miles of beach. Plenty of room for people to spread out and our beach patrols are patrolling our beach to make sure people are spread out. I want to ask you before you go, youre quote d the Washington Post saying i believe its unrealistic to say we have to shut down again. We all have to learn to live with it. And it sounds similar to the messaging that we are hearing that the white house is going to be shifting to. Obviously, people want to get back to work. Nobody wants to be collecting unemployment, but how do you also reckon that with the potential loss of life . Well, i think its a balance and were all doing the best that we can. For this area, for the grand strand area, our only economy is from tourism. Its our only industry. So we cannot afford to be out of business indefinitely. We just all have to take personal responsibility, protect the same. And if we all follow the guidelines, things will get better. Mayor, thank you so much for your time today. Joining me now is msnbc contributor, dr. Roy. Shes also an internal medicine physician. So despite other cities and towns canceling their fourth of july celebrations, President Trumps events went on. Of course we saw in south dakota, in d. C. , drawing large crowds. Sometimes masks were encouraged and handed out, but not required. Are you worried these large scale events could end up being superspreader events . Yeah, lindsey, its hard to believe that we are now in early july and we are seeing not only an improvement, but really worsening of the spread of this virus. The pandemic is clearlyiiii worse in the united states. And the thing is, i want everyone to remember how this virus works. How its actually infecting and transmitting itself from person to person. Its through respiratory droplets coming out of our mouths or potentially noses and short distances. So if youre less than six feet from somebody else and if youre not covering your nose and mouth, youre at risk for infecting somebody else and getting infected by somebody else. One of the only good news about the south dakota that lindsey was that it was outdoors. But beyond that, not much good can be said because clearly, people were stacked close together and i dont know about you, from the footage i saw, i didnt see too many masks and to make matters worse, they had a governor who not only did not require the two measures that Public Health professionals have been strongly advising, the social distancing and the mask, not only did she not require it, she said, were not going to require it at all, were not even going to encourage it or maybe she encouraged it, but thats not the messaging we need to be sending now. People are actively getting sick and dying in quite alarming numbers. Thats the tough part, this mixed messaging. Because we have some members saying weigh the risk, dont go to large crowd crowds, like the surgeon general, then we see the president holding these big ooents. Only in recent days have we seen top gop leaders saying Everybody Needs to be wearing a mask. So should people be listening to those in charge of policy or people like dr. Fauci, who actually members of the administration are trying to undermine. Thats a good question. This is my message to all of the viewers watching and everyone in the country. Especially those who still perceive mixed messages. And yes, they are, in terms of certain elected officials are saying one thing, but to be very honest, almost all of the Public Health and medical professionals are saying the same thing. To people out there, if you have a question about your bachelors degree or thyroid or pain medication, do you call your mayor or senator or governor or do you call your Doctors Office . Talk to the nurse . The Clinical Care manager . You talk to the latter. Similarly, we are right now, experiencing a medical, a Public Health crisis, so the only people we need to listen to now are the recommendations of strong advisories by Public Health, medical and scientific officials. On that note, President Trump said last night that 99 of coronavirus cases are quote, totally harmless. And the fda commissioner was asked about it this morning. Lets listen. Im not going get into whos right and wrong. What im going to say is what i said before, which is that its a serious problem that we have. Weve seen the surge in cases. We must do something to stem the tide. So he wont say whether 99 of coronavirus cases are quote, completely harmless as true or false, what the president said at the white house last night. What ill say is that we have data in the White House Task force. Those day that show this is a serious problem. People need to take it seriously. Clearly not getting a straight answer there. Dr. Roy, can you u fact check this for us . Yes, ill give you a straight answer. To say 99 are harmless, this is the narrative of a key message that needs to be sent, which is that this is a virus that truly cause significant sickness and illness and death. Now, the vast majority of cases and dr. Fauci has said this, its on the cdc website, the vast majority of people who get infected are either asymptoma c asymptomatic. I mean thats not the message we need to be sending. Were in the middle of pandemic. Both cases and deaths are rise ng this country. By all measures in terms of outcomes, we are going in the wrong direction as a nation and the message we should be sending. Take care of yourself and others. I do not leave my home without a mask and thats the message we should be sending and our leaders need to lead by example. Every elected official needs to be wearing a mask and telling their constituents to wear a mask and practice physical distancing to keep people safe. I can attest, you were wearing that mask before we went on. Thanks so much. You got it. It is a state accused of losing control of the battle against coronavirus. Up next, why its becoming almost dire there and how it could have been prevented. Its pretty inspiring the way families redefined the word school this year. Its why, at xfinity, were committed to helping kids keep learning through the summer. And help College Students studying at home stay connected through our university program. Were providing affordable Internet Access to low income families through our internet essentials program. And this summer, xfinity is creating a Virtual Summer camp for kids at home all on xfinity x1. Were committed to helping all families stay connected. Learn more at xfinity. Com education. The claim that 99 of covid cases in america are quote, totally harmless. Monica is live at the white house with the latest. The fda commissioner was pressed repeatedly on this. We just played that sound. Whats he saying . You have Task Force Members time and time again, being asked to defend something the president said on coronavirus and not being able to because you have these Health Experts and Scientists Saying they cant back up what the president is saying when he says that 99 of cases are in his words, totally harmless. What you saw from the commiss n commissioner is a tap dance around that, saying he doesnt want to get into it specifically, but his big message was cases are surging and americans need to take this seriously. So in other words, dont Pay Attention to the president saying that 99 of cases are harmless because that send it is wrong message to people who say i can relax more. Maybe i can go out, go to party, resume normal life. The fda commissioner again is a member of the task force, hes backing that up with data and science that says thats not the case. He was pressed in a different interviiew this morning, which was a promise and indication that a vaccine might be available well before the end of the year. Thats what the president said and when the fda commissioner was pressed on that, he said i cant make any promises about a specific timeline. I cant guarantee you when that vaccine will be ready. And my only promise to the American People is that when it is ready, we will take all the safety precautions to make sure its ready for all americans and there wont be anything that will rush that. Of course, theyre hopeful it can be done quickly, but you had dr. Fauci and dr. Birks also saying that a vaccine is not a guarantee in the next six months. It could take much longer. Were still in the phase of those trials. So what youre seeing here is that coronavirus Task Force Members led by Vice President pence, have been the ones taking more of the questions in the last week or so and thats something we continue to see because when the president speaks on it, he often makes these claims that need to be o debunked by his own Health Experts. Yeah, dr. Birks and fauci saying they were cautiously optimistic, but offering no guarantees. Thank you. Over to arizona where officials report ed more than 3500 new cases today. Bumping the statewide total to more than 94,000. Joining me now is the mayor of phoenix. Mayor, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for having me. The governor announced new measure, closing gyms, waterparks. Is that enough . We need to follow all of the centers for Disease Control guidelines. I hope that the governor will return more control to mayors so we can take common sense measures in our communities. I think the governor reopened the state too quickly. Im also asking for the federal government to help us particularly with testing. We have people waiting in my community over eight hours to get testing. Its down from 13 hours, but thats not a success. Weve had fema could they come in and do Community Based testing as they have done in most other large cities. They said theyre moving away from that type of Community Based testing and want us to take the lead, so given that lack of support from the federal government, weve been reaching out to drugstore chains, just trying to get every resource we can in. What is the lag in testing weve seen the lines in texas. In arizona. Are the labs overrun . Why does it take so lock ng to a test then results . Were hearing people who have to wait at least a week for testing results then dont know and often are not quarantining. Often, we are seeing that they do have covid19. We have always been near the bottom for per capita testing. Part of it was that most other large cities did get that early influx of federal support, where as we really relied on federal, we really relied here on businesses to do it. And our businesses have made heroic efforts. The Testing Companies and nonprofits, our universities, to try and ramp up. But it just with the exponential growth in cases, we find ourselves behind yet again. We have a lack of medical workers and a lack of testing supplies. I would love to see the federal government defense protection act and get us u the supplies that we need. If you get the autonomy that youre asking for from the governor, what would you do differently . Would you issue a stay at home order . When we reopened, the governor allowed nightclubs to be crowded and we saw increased transmission in that area. Most communities of our size have restaurants at take out only. We really need to show our communities this is incredibly serious. We have not defeated covid. The spread is dangerous. One thing that strikes me as very interesting is how the counties are handling Contact Tracing. The Washington Post had a pretty damning article, how arizona lost control of the epidemic and basically said that counties like maricopa are basely relying on the honor code. Saying hey, its going to be up to you to Contact People who youve been in touch with. Is that still the case and is that effective . We do not have robust Contact Tracing in my county. It is a county o government function. Not a city one. I would love to see further investments in Contact Tracing. Im a big supporter of the cares core, which was an initiative from mayor david holt and gar garcetti to get more of a workforce to help us do this. Weve spokesmanen with people whove received a covid diagnose nis and no follow up u. Youve seen communities and countries that have gotten ahead of covid19 through robust Contact Tracing. Its a tool i would love to have here. Mayor, pretty disturbing whats happening in my home state of arizona as well as other states where were seeing a climb. We hope to have you back soon and hopefully you can report some different results. Thank you so much. Why President Trump might be preoccupied with nine figures who wear robes and why they might be able to give him a pretty bad week. Thats ahead. Were taking everything we wanted we can do it all strength, no sweat zblncht were in the middle of a Global Pandemic and russia has put a bounty on the troops head. The president spent more time worried about honoring dead confederates than he did talking about the lives of our american, 130,000 americans who lost their lives to covid19 or by warning russia off the bounty on americas heads. His priorities are all wrong here. Senator Tammy Duckworth criticizing the president s message this Holiday Weekend. It comes as many questions remain over reports that russia overed cash obounties to the taliban the to kill u. S. Troops in afghanistan. The Trump Administration maintains the president was never briefed verbally on the intelligence because there was no corroborating evidence. Joining me now is congresswoman dean, democratic member of the house, judiciary and Financial Services committees. Do you agree with senator duckworth . Are the president s priorities all wrong and regardless of whether he was briefed, theres no question he knows the intelligence. Do you believe he should be taking action against russia . Thanks for having me on. Tammy duckworth, senator duckworth, knows a lot about service and she said it right. The president s top priority should be to protect our troops. At this fourth of july weekend, she wrote a beautiful oped. She argued that fighting injustice in this country is not only the right thing to do, its the most patriotic thing to do. For this president to have said, number one, he didnt get briefing. Two, if he did, not verbally. Number three, we are now eight days later. Hes called it a hox. Instead of saying i need to get to the bottom of this. He has been derelict in his duty, his willfully ignorant on case after case, whether its the russian bounty or what to do in a pandemic. He is willfully ignorant and an unserious president and thats why were in a countdown to new leadership. One thing were looking ahead to is the Supreme Court potentially making a decision on whether the president s taxes and Business Records can be turned over to congressional districts. So if they get this material, what do you think it will show and if it does show impropriety, what is congress potential recourse . Well, youre absolutely right. It will be a very interesting week if the Supreme Court determines whether or not our subpoenas, oversight, intel and Financial Services will be onned honored and that well see, with transparency, the president s personal and professional bank accounts. Of course, you remember when he ran for office, he was about transparency and wanted to release his tax returns as soon as the audits were complete. Three and a half years later, id assume theyre complete. Now he doesnt want to release them at all. But this is only one measure of the incompetence of this administration. Much more important, more serious at this time, is the coronavirus pandemic with numbers across this country increasing because of the willful ignorance of a president unwilling to wear a simple mask, to model leadership for this country. We also have an economic collapse. We have a civil rights moment in this history. Instead of trying to pull us together, this president attempts to divide. Day after day after day. He wallows in bigotry. It is just the most unserious, corrupt administration certainly in my lifetime, probably of the history of this country. Well, in your state of pennsylvanias join ago growing list of states now mandating that face masks be worn. Cases of course rising there where you are. Lets talk about aid to americans. Could another package be on the table and would that involve direct payments to americans like we saw earlier . I hope so. You know that we passed the heroes act and in that bill, which i hope the senate will get serious and realize we need to pass, there are important things like another payment of direct cash to individuals. I have another initiative that would not just be the once and done 1200 payment, but a continuing payment of 2,000 drs. Per person and be benchmarked against unemployment. This is desperately needed relief for individuals, family, workers. So i hope that a heroes act will come forward and we will support state and local governments. We will support more test iing. As you u pointed out, pennsylvania, our numbers are are on the increase, also. Just as my county went to green at the end of june, our numbers are on the increase. And also, when the federal government withdrew, we had a testing site in Montgomery County because we were and are an epicenter of this disease. With l 800 deaths in our county. Including my own motherinlaw, who died of covid. At the same time as these numbers are increasing and we went to green, which is not an all out go, it is supposed to be with caution and with the proper precaution, the federal government withdrew the testing site here in Montgomery County. But i guess that suits the president s desire to test less because he believes if we test less, well have less disease. Its an absurdity and thats the unseriousness of this president. Congresswoman, thank you for your time today. And today, new Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is criticize d the federal response to the pandemic amid a rise in cases across the country. Murphy says the need for a National Mask mandate is quote, not even debatable. The answer is unequivocally wear a mask. The virus outside is a lot less lethal than it is inside. But when in doubt, when youre going out, put u on a mask. New jerseys paid an enormous price. Weve lost over 13,000 confirmed fatalities from covid19. The state is slowly coming back. New jerseys amusement parks began opening last week, including six flags great adventure. Derry, whats it like there today . Hey there, so yes, the parking is thin. The rides are open and running. The food stands are open as well. But this is anything but business as usual. Were working in, we have a bunch of video. When youre walking in the door of the park, you see a sign from the cdc guidelines telling you to wear a mask, have hand sanitizer, telling you to stand six feet apart and before you u even get to that sign, theres a number of steps you have to take to even get into the park. You have u to register and buy your tickets online and reserve your time to arrive ahead of time. You also have to go through, when you arrive, a temperature scanner. A thermal temperature scanner. Folks are walking to a test, a Security Officer there checking the temperatures then you have to go through a contactless bag check. So nobody touching the bag. Theyre going through and checking the bags to make sure theres weapons or anything of that matter. Then youre on your way into the park. Masks are required. If youre not wearing one, some folks Walking Around ensuring that you are. We talked to a a couple of parkgoers about all these precautions. This is our Family Tradition for years now. And this is the first day we had a chance to come back out here and enjoy ourselves. Its also great to get out of the house. Walls every day was kind of boring. Im glad that i could go out today. Those season ticketholders there, that father and son were season ticketholders, so theyre regulars around these parks and this is certainly not a regular time to be coming to an a amusement park, some of these businesses are thrilled to be open now as the governor has allowed amusement parks to be open. The governor has allowed for mu u siems, arcades, aquuariums to be open. So a lot to do here as cases stay low here. Well be glued to your twitter to see if you try out any of the rides. The president s plan to create a garden of american heroes. The names that didnt make his short list. Next. And its a day at the beach in rhode island. They reopened june 1st with social distancing guidelines and everybody there has to wear a face covering. [narrator] did you just reward yourself for spending a perfectly reasonable amount of time on the couch with tacos from grubhub . Grubhubs gonna reward you for that with a 5 off perk. doorbell rings [crowd] grubhub fireworks exploding from grills to play setsutdoor and more one of a kind finds. It all ships free. And with new deals every day you can explore endless options at every price point. Get your Outdoor Oasis delivered fast so you can get the good times going. Wayfair. Youve got just what i need. Tonight on msnbc, joy reid hosts a special exploring poverty in the age of covid19. Shell speak with farmers, meat packers, minimum wage workers and more vulnerable groups on how theyre being impacted. Thats at 9 00 p. M. Eastern on msnbc. Its been a fierce night of black lives matter on the fourth of july. Police in portland, oregon, released this video showing fireworks they say were set off by protestors overnight. Crowds remained out until about 4 30 in the morning. Cant breathe police in sayrah soto slamme a woman to the ground. In new york city, a flag burning protest was staged outside trump tower on 5th avenue where a black lives matter mural is expected to be painted this week. And in d. C. , protestors carried an upside down flag, a symbol of disstress. Protestors in pittsburgh showed up to a Trump Supporters event. Extra Police Officers were called in and later escorts supporters off the pier. More arrest as in atlantic city, new jersey, after a small group of protestors marched through a town. Protestors marched and dumped a statue of Christopher Columbus in the harbor. Take a look at this protest in georgia. A group of armed demonstrators showed up at Stone Mountain park to demand a removal of a confederate monument. The park features a large carting of jefferson davis, robert e. Lee and stone wall jackson. Joining me now, Georgetown University associate professor of history and africanamerican studies. Taking a look at some of the demonstrations overnight, do you think its a renewed ferver because its Independence Day weekend . Well, i think that the july fourth holiday has always resonated politically because its a moment in which people can expose the great hypocrisies of this country. July the fourhas always a been key. The president issued an executive order to build his own monument park. This is what he said on the south lawn. We will never allow an angry mob to tear down our statues, erase our mystery, indoctrinate our children or trample on our freedoms. How do you square this message with what some are saying about the removal of monuments . Its classic. The president is immature, lacking any historical nuance and its being done to galvanize a base thats motivated by racism and fantasies of the past. This idea of creating more monuments in order to contrast claims of people saying that, these monuments are acts of violence, heroism, racism, so his park is another desperate attempt to try to refocus the terms of the conversation. Do you think this attempt will backfire though. Do you think in the end, well see that the president and his remarks about this will unify the left . I think that his remarks and his behavior has been a Unifying Force since the day he went down that relick louse elevator at trump tower. At the end of the day, people are coming together to really challenge the nation to live up to its loftiest promises. So he can continue on this, but people are tired. They are energized and theyve seen that with covid and all of the recent protests, this is what happens when we allow business as usual to continue. So he can say whatever he wants and i think that in the end, well see that people who fight for justice are terred. Whats interesting is so many people are motivated by the removal of statues like Christopher Columbus and hes included in the short list of those who would be in this new garden of monuments of President Trump. What does that say to you in the potential disconnect that first of all, hes the president of all people, and also possibly trying to drum up more votes, rather than just his unique base. Well, its pretty consistent behavior and i think that he clearly wants to be president for only some people for the interests of a very small few. And so, what happens in these moments is that he creates these ideas that are supposed to appease his base, but are always supposed to be kind of without politics or just a justicetuges theyre never motivated by that. And this idea of a Memorial Garden is the appropriate response as we see hundreds of thousands of people suffering as a result of covid and we see the quest to defund and dismantle policing in order to reduce harm is just so embarrassing, but again, its so consistent and has nothing to do with the figures of Memorial Gardens and everything to do with a floundering presidency. We appreciate your time on this Holiday Weekend. Thank you. New storm clouds over the Trump Campaign. Swing states that could doom his reelection hopes. When your vneck looks more like a uneck. Thats when you know, its halfwashed. Try downy fabric conditioner. Unlike detergent alone, downy helps prevent stretching by conditioning and smoothing fibers, so clothes look newer, longer. Downy and its done. [ engine rumbling ] [ beeping ] [ engine revs ] uh, you know theres a 30minute limit, right . Tell that to the rain. [ beeping ] for those who were born to ride, theres progressive. [ beeping ] did you know diarrhea is often causedtry pepto diarrhea. Food . Pepto® diarrhea is proven effective to treat symptoms, and it also targets the cause of diarrhea. The 3 times concentrated liquid formula coats and kills bacteria to relieve diarrhea. While the leading competitor does nothing to kill the bacteria, pepto® diarrhea gets to the source, killing the bad bacteria. So, try pepto® diarrhea, and remember to have it on hand every time you travel. Also try pepto®bismol liquicaps for onthego relief. As we turn to the 2020 race. New nbc reporting offers a warning sign to the Trump Campaign. On a critical Battle Ground state that the president won in 2016, wisconsin. The article said the interviews with lawmakers and strategist and pollsters and more paint a picture of wisconsin flipping from the president s grasp. Joining me now, lena maxwell from sir us xm and msnbc analyst and author. Thank you for joining us. I want to share with you something that a man name dennis hoyer said, hes an independent who didnt vote for trump or clinton in 2016 and said that coronavirus has exposed problems that connect to voters of all stripes here have a reason to oppose donald trump. Do you think that that is resonating with other voters particularly older voters in the vulnerable category . Absolutely, lindsay. I think that older voters and particularly those voters who have felt very vulnerable and under the threat of covid19 and seeing friends and family members pass away, they are really understanding finally in this moment that we have an incompetent and reckless president. The president has failed in his response to this virus. He has failed to have a national and coordinated strategy which all of the Scientists Say is the bhe best way to go into terms of keeping the virus from so many outbreaks and that is exactly what were seeing right now. So it is no surprise that voters are looking at the choices in november and theyre saying, i would like a competent, serious president to lead us out of disaster. Because you cannot be let out of the disaster that you were led into with the same person in charge. Well, i have to ask you about the two speeches that President Trump gave this weekend for the fourth of july. The New York Times reporting that the tone of the speeches are part of his american carnage message for 2020. They write in Part Campaign officials have expected a backlash against the progressive Cancel Culture Movement to help the president s standing with white suburban female voters who are frightened by the chaos in the city streets. And then joe biden released a new video message today. Here is part of what he said. Today people are hurting, scared and angry. But to heal this kind of suffering doesnt take brute force. It takes empathy and understanding. A belief in dignity, resilience, and the american dream. That is what joe bidens family taught him all those years ago. And it is why hell fight as hard for your family as he does for his own. How stark is the contrast in messaging between biden and trump right now . I think that is pretty stark. I think you see President Trump trying again to spare mostly white voters by playing what i call white identity politics into voting for him and opposing the democratic agenda. But i think that joe biden is unique in that he has been through so much pain and trauma in his own life and so he is uniquely positioned to be the commanderinchief in a moment when we need empathy and need somebody to bring america out of this deep despair. Were smack dab in the middle of this crisis. We have the fall to go through and frankly people need to keep in mind that once a vaccine is discovered by hopefully a scientist somewhere in the world, they still need a leader in position to be able to properly distribute that vaccine to everyone in america. And so i dont know about you, but i think a lot of americans and particularly suburban women with children might want to think about who is the person who could competently get that done. Because that is ultimately the question were going to be asking until the vaccine is found, unfortunately. And before i let you go, i quickly have to ask you, kanye west tweeted yesterday hes running for president in 2020. I got to ask you, is this real . And what impact would it have . The tweet is real. The impact will not be real. I think that anybody who has n been paying attention to politics right now and kanye west has noticed hes been a little bit different and that is fine. But i think that joe biden or anybody else who is concerned about the election should keep on continuing to be focused on mailin voting access and ignore kanye west. All right. Thank you. Surging in the sun belt, up next, live reports on the rising number of coronavirus cases in the south. Our mommy and then theres a picture of me. But before our story it goes way, way, way back with your great, great, great grandparents. See this handsome man, his name is william. William fell in love with rose and they had a kid. His name was charles and charles met martha. Isnt she pretty . Yeah. Tvwhere weve got the best to odeals on refrigerators, microwaves, gas ranges and grills. And if youre looking for. Grilled Cheese sizzles timer chimes good day from msnbc headquarters in new york. Welcome to weekends with alex witt. Im lindsay riseir in for alex. The number of confirmed cases across the country topping 2. 8 million and states are seeing record highs. Yesterday texas reported more than 8,000 new infections. The most the state has seen in a single day since the start of the pandemic. Mean while hospitals are really struggling to keep up with the surge. Like in arizona, a Record Number of new patients were hospitalized yesterday. More than 3,000 icus are at 91 capacity. The mayor of phoenix just last hour telling me this. We need to follow all of the centers for Disease Control guidelines. I hope that the governor will return more control to mayor so that we could take common sense measures in our community. I believe the governor reopened the state too quickly. Im also asking for the federal government to help us particularly with testing. We have people waiting in my community over eight hours to get testing. It is down from 13 hours but that is not a success. And breaking news in florida, new coronavirus cases are skyrocketing again today. There are now more than 2,000 cases in the state. We have a team of reporters and analysts this hour on the pandemic. We go first to that breaking news in florida where new cases topped 10,000 again today. Nbcs sam brock is live in miami beach. Sam, the state set a record yesterday, tell me about todays numbers. Reporter yeah, it is not encouraging, lindsay. Very good to be with you. We cracked five figures again for the third time in four days so that is 10 through plus today and 21,000 for the weekend and if you want to be shocked right now, you have to go from march until june 22nd to find florida reaching 100,000 cases. 200,000 was june 22nd until today. So it took us several months the first time, about two weeks the second time. That is why red flags right now are waving around south florida. I want to show you some video you were talking about someone waiting eight hours in line. This is the Miami Beach Convention center, about a mile from where im standing by the beach and we shot that video for two minutes and that was not tough to show the lines of people waiting to get tested. They want to get tested because there was a need in this community to tut down on the transmission rate. In miamidade over the course of the last two weeks the figure stands above 20 . Shoppingly high. We spoke with some folks out for the holiday right now and asked them how serious theyre taking this surge. For us, were just trying to keep safe and doing what our mayor said and keep our masks down when were out and about and walking our neighborhood. Were trying to stay away from people. Wearing a mask and washing our hands and hand sanitizer. The people are coming out to the beach and for us to have the beaches closed, it is something i never expected before. Reporter that last interview was from ocean rescue. Theyve been out here on the sands patrolling the shoreline and making sure people are safe and not out there. The closure started at the end of last week and goes through next tuesday. But miami mayor tells me that he reserves the right and may extend the closures should the situation warrant it. And there is talk about sports that is supposed to come back and i know spring training had to close in florida and arizona because of a rising of cases. What is the latest of sports restarting again in is that state. That there is a lot going on. It is a good question for Major League Baseball and the nba. Baseball reported 31 players that tested positive including superstars like Freddy Freeman of the braves and david price for the dodgers announced hes not returning in 2020 because hes concerned about his health and his familys health when it comes to the nba the miami heat right here in miami Just Announced they have a third place would just tested positive according to the miamiherald and planning on resuming later this month as the surge continues in orlando. Well see if those plans take hold as the next few weeks unfold. Back to you, lindsay. Sam, we appreciate that report. Lets head west to california. Santa cruz is one of the few counties where beaches are open this weekend. Nbc scott cohen is there. Scott, what is it like there . Reporter this is the main beach in santa cruz. It is a popular getaway spot for people in the bay area. And this beach is totally open. No restrictions. They tried keeping the beaches closed for actually quite a while. But they just couldnt governor the people. That is what the county said and they opened the beaches and you could see what is going on here. People are here and they say they are trying to use the beach responsibly. I think they had to open the beaches back up because people were coming in anyway. Staying in relatively small groups and Wearing Masks in businesses. I see a lot of people Wearing Masks, maybe not on the beach. I think we did a great job in the beginning where beaches were open for activity and as long as people were moving and you just have to be conscious of the local people. Now that theyve opened it, what do you think . Do you worry about people coming in from out of town. For sure. That is why i come out here early in the morning. Yesterday i did a Mountain Bike ride at 7 00 and i tell my nephew we have to get out early in the morning. Reporter it is still relatively early here and so you have people that say they are going to use the beach in the morning and get out before the tourist come in and there are tourists in town. Santa cruz county has been relatively unscathed by the virus. About 455 cases in the county of about 275,000 and three deaths. California, though, is looking at the spike. Theyre seeing the spike here in santa cruz as well. If California Closed in about a quarter of a million cases and here is the concern. A number of key spots in the state have not been reporting cases as of this weekend. That includes Los Angeles County where about 45 of the cases already are. So look for the potential for a big rise in the numbers from tomorrow. Lindsay. Scott cohen in santa cruz, thanks so much. Lets head over to texas where confirmed cases and hospitalizations are rising. Just yesterday the state reported more than 8,000 new infections. Jay gray is live in dallas. Jay, what is being done to stop the surge . Reporter well, lindsay, big changes over the last week in texas. Governor greg abbott issuing several new orders closing bars across the state allowing restaurants to only have 25 capacity and restricting capacity in other businesses as well. I could tell you over the weekend at least in dallas a lot of the lake and not many people social distancing. There is a new order in place. The governor requiring people to wear face coverings in counties with 20 cases or more so pretty much everywhere in the state. Wearing a mask has been a real political issue at times. The mayor of austin said it is time to put politics aside and focus on prevention and protection. I appreciate that my governor last week went to a statewide mass ordinance. I wish it happened sooner. It is the messaging. It is not that it has to be there so we can force it by giving people fines, it is the message that the singular voice from leadership from both parties saying to our community, this is important, you have to do it. It works. Reporter well the message from many across the state is is that were in a crisis right now and people need to stay in whether they can. Lets give you the dallas numbers quickly. 1100 now cases yesterday. It took them 116 days in dallas to report that many cases. They reported that many in just one day yesterday. The friday and saturday totals were over 2,100 and, lindsay, test results taking about ten days so were getting data from two weeks ago so there is a question about what well see in the coming weeks as crowds gather for the holiday. That is a good poin jay. Live in dallas. Thank you. We talked about basketball resuming in florida but will it be a safe place to hold the Republican National Convention Next month amid a surge in coronavirus cases there. Monica alba is at the white house with more. Monica, the head of the fda stephen hahn was asked about this today. What did he say. Reporter essentially that he couldnt give an assessment yet, whether yes it would be safe to be held just seven weeks from now or no. He said it would depend on what happens in florida after the recordbreaking numbers and the convention was already moved once, uprooted by the president and the rnc because charlotte, north carolina, couldnt guarantee they would have a socially distanted convention sow the president took it to florida because theyre more reopening and jacksonville could pack an arena of thousands of his supporters and now look at what youre dealing with. And it is significant because they just implemented a mandatory mask order if youre indoors, also in public. But the city of jacksonville hasnt said how long that will go on. Will that still be in the place in late august, that depends. And for their part the Republican National committee has said they will follow local guidelines. If that is what the city requires, theyll ensure people wear masks indoors. But this is a president what wants to be renominated for the fanfare he envisioned and wants it packed shoulder to shoulder much like the rallies we saw before the pandemic began. And the president is also set to go to florida this week. Hell be there on friday for a high dollar fundraiser. Hes been holding a couple of those since the pandemic started. Those are in person and of course all of the attendees are tested before they interact with the president. But what is notable that hell be going into this coronavirus hot spot that Vice President mike pence also was in last week. That trip is still on, were told by the white house. Again set to be there in less than a week, lindsay. Okay, monica alba live at white house. I want to bring in science contributor joseph fair and a virologist and first i want to get your reaction, doctor, to all of the new numbers. Weve talked about florida, texas, arizona, what do the states need to do right now to get a handle on this . I think were watching it unfold right now. You see states unfolding, laws that they never thought they would do just because of the constituents or how they perceived the political ting of this epidemic and texas and florida are now rolling out mask requirements and limited gathering and closing restaurants to 25 and closing bars. Things we know contribute to the spread of the virus and m m ma they may have pushed back on initially viewing it as a political view point rather than a Public Health view point. Now theyre starting to see it through a Public Health lens and we werent talking about keeping things closed because we wanted to because we knew they would breathe further spread the pandemic. And there is still a patch work going on. We saw in miami beach, so many brock was there and it was empty and then i want to see if we could see myrtle beach. That has been crowded all weekend long. If were looking at this video, it is hard to tell if everybody is socially distant because were out so wide but in the state you have to wear a mask. Is that enough if youre on a crowded beach . Should a place like this and a state in south carolina, theyre seeing an increase in cases, should they have closed beach this weekend . You know, i cant speak to whether they should have or not. If my opinion, if i was over that decision myself, i would have. That being said, what people dont often think about is they talk about when they get to the beach theyre going to be socially distanced but think about all of the steps in getting to the beach. Everything from stopping at a fuel station, to a parking lot that is crowded, and a lot of people dropped their guard in those place and that is where the transmission occurs and if youre a group of individuals coming from different places and you dont know who theyve had contact with and that is how the really happens when you get into the larger groups like were looking at on the screen right now. And still so much unknown with coronavirus. And more than 900,000 people have recovered from it. But some were experiencing longterm effects, trouble with walking, talking, swallowing, even memory loss. This is all part of a condition called post icu syndrome. What could you tell us about that . And this is just adding another layer i think of fear for a lot of people. Absolutely. And it is going to confuse people even further that scientists and physicians dont know what youre talking about with this virus and in a lot of cases that is true. Were learning as we go because it is a new pathogen but it is not uncommon for pathogens to leave what we call longterm sec welly and that is what we call lingering effects of the symptoms you may have had in the possible. If you have problems with your lungs, you may have longterm damage and were seeing with certain Covid Patients there is neurological damage and we dont know how long that is going to last necessarily. But in some cases it appears to be longterm. So were seeing a lot more of that as we see more cases. And as we see more and more cases and the cases expand, were going to see a lot more different outcomes. We didnt realize about the kawasaki syndrome in children before. So were seeing Different Things than we saw in the beginning because we have so many more numbers at this point in time. Dr. Fair, it is good to see you. Thank you for your expertise. Your voice is very important in this time. We appreciate it. Doubling down. The strategy behind the president s language and both of his Public Events this weekend as joe biden widens his lead in the polls. Its pretty inspiring the way families redefined the word school this year. Its why, at xfinity, were committed to helping kids keep learning through the summer. And help College Students studying at home stay connected through our university program. Were providing affordable Internet Access to low income families through our internet essentials program. And this summer, xfinity is creating a Virtual Summer camp for kids at home all on xfinity x1. Were committed to helping all families stay connected. Learn more at xfinity. Com education. Were now in the process of defeating the radical left, the marxist, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters and people who in many instances have absolutely no clue what they are doing. Were in a battle for the soul of this nation. The character of the country is on the ballot and lives and livelihoods are as well. For too long the deck has been stacked against black americans. Homes undervalued and schools underfunded, justice denied and a poverty rate twice what it is for white americans. Two very different messages this Holiday Weekend from President Trump and democratic nominee joe biden. Headlines calling the president s speeches divisive and a new version of american carnage. Biden, on the other hand, was credited with a hopeful message via twitter and taking questions at the Virtual Essence festival of culture. Joining me now is jeff mason White House Correspondent with reuters. You were at mt. Rushmore on friday and at the white house last night. What do you make of his tone in both events . Reporter well, hes certainly doubling down on his criticism of the protesters. Hes not offering a conciliatory message and that seems to be strategic. We spoke with one air force official who said they were pleased with that speech and i presume that applies for last night as well. So in terms of his tone, he is focusing on what he sees as rioters, what he sees as thelt he often does to gin up his base and that is clearly the strategy that he and some people around him believe is one of the keys to getting enthusiasm ahead of november 3rd. This is all happening under the umbrella of multiple crises going on. We have the coronavirus pandemic, as well as those reports that rur russia offered bounties to the taliban. Do you think this is a way to distract from those issues . Reporter well that is a question people have been asking for three and a half years. I dont know if the answer is that hes trying to distract. I think that it is part of his dna just to throw a lot of things out there. I dont need to tell you or any of your viewers, there is just a lot of news that comes out of this president. Part of it may be a effort to distract. He certainly hasnt taken any questions about russia. He hasnt actually taking any questions from reporters in some time now. So youre right to say that there are multiple crises, that being one of them as well as obviously the coronavirus. And the protests about racial inequality. And all of them, at least the latter two, have certainly been dinging him in the polls. And joe biden released a holiday message this weekend as well. His campaign releasing a new ad today about the values that they say he will bring to the white house. Lets take a listen. Today people are hurting, scared, and angry. But to heal this kind of suffering, doesnt take brute force. It takes empathy and understanding. A belief in dignity, resilience and the american dream. That is what joe bidens family taught him all of those years ago and it is why hell fight as hard for your family as does he for his own. Do you get a sense this is how the campaign will try and differentiate themselves from the incumbent over the next few months . I think the Biden Campaign sees a clear opportunity here to do just that. Provide a contrast to how President Trump has governed an to the rhetoric that President Trump has used. I will say, though, that on the Trump Campaign side, theyre attitude is bring it. Theyre not shying away from the preside president s views or rhetoric. There is a group out there, largely within his constituency and his base that is very pleased to see the law and order tact and the law and order tone that he has taken. But youre absolutely right to say that Vice President biden is taking a different tone and i think come november 3rd that is one of the big choices that the voters will be able to make, is whether they like it this way or like it the other way. Ultimately it is a question of whether that doubling down will serve the president. Right now it is not at least in the polls. Joe biden leading President Trump by 12 points and that is the latest Monmouth University poll. Stanley greenberg writes in the atlantic, believe the polls this time. These arent Hillary Clintons numbers. Biden has a wide lead because the landscape has changed. From your experience, has the landscape changed . Well, i guess i would say a couple of things to that. The Trump Campaign and advisers around him point to the fact that polls in 2016 showed Hillary Clinton far ahead or above of where candidate trump was. So i think the president himself and the campaign is dismissive of polls based on that 2016 experience. Im not in a position to say whethj the situation is changed dramatically. But i do think in terms of jeff mason, we appreciate your perspective today. Thank you so much. A florida mayor explains his decision to close down his towns beaches and what else hes trying to do to stop coronavirus from spreading. I dont see it. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Try natures bounty sleep3, a unique trilayer supplement that calms you, helps you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer great sleep comes naturally with sleep3. Only from natures bounty. New tide power pods one up the cleaning power of liquid. Can it one up whatever theyre doing . For sure. Seriously . One up the power of liquid, one up the toughest stains. Any further questions . Uh uh one up the power of liquid with new tide power pods. Welcome back. Here is the shot now from will wilmington, north carolina. Beaches are open despite the pandemic. You could see a lot of people have turned out to enjoy the sun and the sand. There is a statewide mask mandate there but some local sheriffs have said they will not enforce it. This comes as the state of florida hitting a Record Number of daily coronavirus cases yesterday. And the new cases topped 10,000 again today. Joining me now is Dale Holeness the mayor of Broward County, florida. Mayor, thank you so much for joining us. Youve closed the beaches in your area. Tell us why. Thank you for having me. Because weve seen an unprecedented increase in the number of new infections. Were in this together. All of us. And we must state the actions that are necessary. An part of what we know works to stop the spread is distance, wearing a facial covering, a mask and taking the actions that the cdc recommend. Unfortunately too many people ot doing so. Y too many people i have a meeting tomorrow with the other mayors of Broward County, there are 31 cities here to discuss what further action we should take, whether we should look at even rolling back some of what weve opened. Are you getting an earful from businesses who are maybe dotting the beaches there who are upset with the fact that it is closed, theyve also been hit hard by this pandemic . You know, we had some pushback but at the end of the day it is going to help the businesses if we get over this virus as quickly as possible. Taz we could get back to wheree could fully open. If we continue to not take the actions that is going to decrease the amount of this virus spreading, were going to end up in a place where were going to stay closed for a longer time and hurt our economy much greater. We are doing what we need to do in Broward County and we have the ability to dz so. What are some of the options on the table for you guys . You closed the beach. Are you weighing a potential stayathome order . What are things that youre considering to help get those numbers down . Some is of the things that were doing right now is weve actually set up a hotline. A 311 number to report businesses or anyone violating the orders that weve set if the orders were followed, well be okay. Restaurants were becoming clubs and bars. And we havent allowed for those to be opened and then there are some clubs and bars that are pretending that their restaurants. So we have a strict enforcement policy in place now. In fact weve closed down some of the businesses over the weekend to ensure that theyre following the guidelines that we set to reduce the spread of this virus. Were going to ljjz were going to talk tomorrow about how can we do more, should we shut some businesses down, should we reduce the occupancy rate in restaurants. Amongst many other discussions have. Well have the hospitals on the phone, well have the director of health for Broward County from the state on the line and we do that about every week, weve met online or by phone to ave andet online or by phone to what we need to do going forward. C hc1 mayor holeness, we hope to have you back very soon to see how the measures are affecting tue appreciate your time today sir. Thank you. The troubles facing small town america coping wiah coronavirus, next. Alright lets roll. Cmon pizzas here. Whoa is that shaq . This is my new pizza the shaqaroni and its bigger than pizza because for every shaqaroni sold, 1 is donated to the Papa Johns Foundation for building community. Welcome back. Now to risint coronavirus concerns in small town america. In some places a growing number of cases is putting a strain on hospitals and more areas are now facing staae orders to wear a mask. Nbcs deepa shivarn joins us. And dqq you lets start with you. How is the rising number of communities that have fewer resources . Reporter lindsay, it is a great question. But it is important to point out overall across virginia covid cases are going down. Hoatraals in the state never hit the peak. So what we have to focus on is here in southwest virginia, coronavirus cases are starting to go up. And that is different from the rest of the state as a whole. But youll keep in mind that virginia is now in phase three. The whole state is reopening. And what were seeing in the rural areas an the communities is that just now coronavirus is starting to spread and that follows a trend of what a lot of people who track had predicted. Rural parts would see it come later. The good news is that it is givens in the area time to prepare. They had enough time to track the best way to handle when there could be an uptick in cases. They have enough ppe. So that is not as much of a worry. But it is frustrating for hospital folks in the area to see people start to relax, theyre not following social distancing measures and not Wearing Masks and this is stp ting to smiek in an area that seen the virus before. I spoke to the hospital behind me and here is what they have to say about what is going on in the area. Take a listen. The governor is hopefully based on statewide data opened up phase three. People need to be understanding that local methods and how fast we could open up locally is really based on local epidemiology and that is true throughout the country. Reporter so you heard dr. Fullneck said this is not part of what is going on in virginia, but going on all over the but tates on all over the opening back up. It is important for communities to not just Pay Attention to what the state ooks like overall but Pay Attention to what is going on in individual communities because rural cases stay with us. I want to bring in jordan jacks into the conversation. Shes in mt. Ary, north carolina. And some are refusing to wear masks in public despite the statewide mandate there. And despiae maybe a lack of evidence from the top from the commanderinchief, we have seen members of the administration saying wearing a mask now will grant freedom later so why are people refusing to wear the mask. That is right. In areas where it is not a statewide mandate, businesses are taking matters in their own hands and saying, hey, in order to come into our establishment, you have to wear a mask. And if we could cue up that b roll. People going in and out of the walmart that werent Wearing Masks and they are not stopping people from going inside. Are you noticing any businesses in the area that are saying, no, you cant come in if youre not wearing a mask. Reporter there are some businesses trying to comply. But ive spoken to so many local Business Managers that say when it comes down to enforcement it is hard to force some of the customers to wear a face mask. And the public Law Enforcement cannot Issue Citations to individuals here in the state. They can Issue Citations to businesses but everything that ive heard from store managers is just that enforcement piece is very difficult. Lindsay. Because there is a sign that said face coverings are mandates but we gist saw two guys not weari wearing face masks going in. Thanks to both of you. Universp basic income, Martin Luther king wanted it for all americans and now a determined group of mayors is working to make that happen. This is my body of proof. Proof i can fight moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. Proof i can fight psoriatic arthritis. With humira. Proof of less joint pain. And clearer skin in psa. Humira targets and blocks a source of inflammation that contributes to joint pain and irreversible damage. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Humira is proven to help stop further joint damage. Want more proof . Ask your rheumatologist about humira citratefree. If you cant afford your medicine, abbvie may be able to help. Times are hard for many communities of color and there is a big issue when they seek help for Mental Health. The lack of diversity among doctors and therapists. Kate snow has more. Reporter about a year ago cherylain were expecting a baby and they moved and cheryl switched jobs. You could describe how you were feeling . Just a lot of pressure. Very heavy. And fearful, anxious. She found a therapist in the suburb of philadelphia who was white. I could tell she wasnt getting it because of the cultural differences but i felt like i couldnt be myself in the session. I could imagine particularly white people hearing that story and thinking, well, but it doesnt matter what color your skin is. Yes. It does. And it is not the color of the skin, it is the cultural background. Raheem saw a similar disconnect from his nine year recovery from alcohol and drugs. Could be in a meeting and couldnt tell my story because i didnt want to offend the white people in the room. Both tried to find black therapists. I wondered where are all of the black therapist. I wanted a black male therapist. I could not find one. 4 of psychologists are black and only 2 of psychiatrists including dr. Brandy jackson in chicago. She went to medical school after traveling to uganda and seeing black doctors uganda. I believe strongly its impossible for us to really become something in which we cannot first envision in our mind. When we think of a doctor, we dont think about a black person. Reporter she says many in the black community are raised to distrust psychological health. Black americans are about half as likely as white americans to use Mental Health services. I think we still have a lot of reckoning to do in the black community with regards to the stigma around mental illness. When its time for us to pick a specialty, i think theres that extra layer there. Are there enough people like you to go around . I wish there were. Unfortunately, the answer is no right now. But im an optimist. Reporter her new website is designed to draw more black people into the field. Its been a day and night difference. She understands my version of the struggle, working with her is beneficial for me. Finding a connection that is still rare in this country. Kate snow, nbc news, chicago. Thank you for that reporting. 11 u. S. Mayors are pushing to make dr. Martin luther king juniors dream come to life. Its a dream of a guaranteed income. At a time when protestors are still marching the streets and economic equality. Joining me now, one of the mayors of st. Paul, minnesota. Its good to see you. Thanks for joining us. Tell us about the guaranteed income program. Is it similar to what we heard from andrew yang . Well, thank you for having me on and andrew yang brought a lot of publicity to this concept. As you mentioned, this is an idea thats been alive for a very long time. Something that Martin Luther king talked about. Why wouldnt we establish a basic economic floor so families can have the ability to this is something that other mayors and i have said to both advocate were having a little tough time with your audio. Were going to keep trying. Where will the funding come from and also would people have to be in any specific income brackets to qualify . Would they spending be limited in any way . Were working right now to do the fundraising to work with local partners, work with national partners, philanthropic partners. The point of the guaranteed income is that its a basic universal, and Unconditional Cash transfer. There would be no demands placed upon it. The people who get they do all of those we know that theres a Pilot Program right now in california. We examined it here at nbc news in january and that mayor is among those whos calling for this. How has that worked so far and is that kind of providing a model for what this would look like, for example, in st. Paul . It absolutely is. I think that that has been an overwhelming success. Theyve done the evaluation on that model to see and thats where the data that i just described to you is coming from. In st. Paul, were doing similar things in response to covid19, in fact, this spring, we launched a bridge fund to help Small Businesses and families. We provided a 1,000 cash grant. And also fiveyear pilot, 300 a month to and so theres cities across mayor, we hear the first part of what we say and the second part you go out. One more quick question i want to ask you before we let you go. The microscope has been on your community. People are out protesting the death of george floyd. What is the mood on the ground right now and do you feel like people will be protesting six months from now . I hope people arent protesting six months from now. But i hope thats because weve actually brought some Real Solutions to this cycle that weve seen play out over and over and over again. Thankfully we are still feeling a very impatient energy on the ground. Unfortunately, part of the divide in washington, d. C. , and right here in minnesota, weve seen how the republicans in the senate want so much violence and riots happen after the murder mayor, weve got to let you go. We cant hear you anymore. But thank you so much for joining us and for offering that. That will do it for me on this Weekend Edition of weekends with alex witt. Ill see you next saturday at 6 00 in the morning. We talk to a family searching for answers after the disappearance of a fort hood soldier and the changes they want from congress. Thats next on msnbc. 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By empowering employees to manage their own tasks, paycom frees you to focus on the business of business. To learn more, visit paycom. Com hello, everyone. Live pictures from myrtle beach, south carolina, it has been a busy Holiday Weekend at americas beaches. And that has Health Experts concerned about a new coronavirus spike. We wont know for several days if thats the case, but theyre already seeing near record high numbers in texas and florida. There are new signs the president s response to the pandemic is pulling down his poll numbers and if this weekend is any indication, the president is banking on a culture war to boost his base. And well talk about the maxwell case. Why it might be difficult for the accomplice to strike a plea deal with prosecutors. Florida emerging as a possibly bubbling coronavirus hot spot. Today, florida i