Transcripts For KNTV Sunday Today With Willie Geist 20240712

Tested positive for covid19. But the Vice President will remain on the campaign trail, as President Trump and joe biden make their closing arguments with some 60 million early votes already cast. Well have the latest in a live report and talk to chuck todd about how these final days will play out. Then, our sunday focus on all of those polls youre seeing right now. After 2016, democrats are suspicious of joe bidens polling lead, and republicans see a reason for hope. So how much should you trust the numbers . Well look into it. Plus, in our sunday spotlight, the future of going to the movies, as theaters sit empty and films go straight to streaming, are we watching the death of a Great American tradition . And later, a new sunday sitdown with Drew Barrymore on living her life in the public eye since she was a little girl, and now hosting her own talk show. A new gig she is very excited about. I think i am ridiculously goofy and overenthusiastic, and i overtalk and i dance around and im a total spaz. And even station managers were like, wow, shes really enthusiastic when i got notes and stuff. Im like, oh, god, i know. A saent sitdown with Drew Barrymore, plus, another life well lived later in the show. Lets begin with the overnight news at least two of Vice President pence close aides including his chief of staff have tested positive for covid19. Nbcs Kelly Odonnell is at the white house with an update as the surging Coronavirus Crisis remains at the center of the president ial Campaign Just nine days out from the election. Kelly, good morning. Good morning, willie. This new hot spot of positive covid cases centers right around Vice President mike pence. The white house did not go public with this information about a top staffers condition until after media reports, and has not yet provided a full accounting of positive cases. The vps office says that despite his potential exposure here, he will continue to campaign today, traveling to north carolina. And they describe pence, whose name is on the ballot, as a, quote, essential worker. Wearing a mask as he returned from campaigning very late saturday, Vice President mike pences office announced chief of staff marc short has tested positive for covid19. I did hear about him just now. I think hes quarantined, yeah. Nbc news also learned his outside political adviser tested positive days earlier as well, and this morning, an anonymous source tells the New York Times three additional pence Staff Members had tested positive, too. Nbc news had not verified that independently. He and the second lady have traveled, and he plans to keep his schedule. The new cases come as President Trump railed again testing in wisconsin. You turn on and say cases have jumped. Cases, because we do now, we did half the testing, we would have had half the cases. In north carolina, he claimed democrats are hyping the virus to hurt him. Covid, covid, covid, covid. By the way, on november 4th, you wont hear about it anymore. While joe biden made two stops in pennsylvania saturday. Stakes are high. Warning that virus danger will not end soon. Theres going to be a dark winter ahead unless we change our way. Biden supporters stayed in their cars as a covid precaution. His voice and anger rising against the president s claims biden would hurt energyrelated jobs. Im not banning fracking in pennsylvania or anywhere else. And i can protect pennsylvania jobs, period. No matter how many times donald trump lies. Barack obama as surrogate in chief, defended biden at a drivein rally in miami. Joe biden is not a socialist. What is true is hell stand up for ordinary people. On the trail today, senator Kamala Harris is in michigan. Joe and jill biden will do a virtual event, and joe biden will travel to georgia tuesday. A sign democrats think they can make some ground in that typically red state. Today, the president heads to maine and New Hampshire before coming back here to join the first lady at the white house for a childrens halloween party, where they say masks will be required. Willie. Kelly odonnell starting us off at a rainy white house this morning. Kelly, thanks so much. Chuck todd is nbcs political director and moderator of meet the press. Good morning. Good to see you. The debates are behind us. We rounded the turn. Theres some 60 million ballots already cast in this election. Nine days to go now. What will you be looking for over the next week and change . Look, its following them on their travel schedule a little bit. You know, one of the things you can hear campaigns tell you where theyre focused or you can watch where they go, and the travel schedule tells you more about either where campaigns are feeling confident or where theyre nervous. I think this will be the week that the travel schedule will reveal where theyre nervous. Look, you have a donald trump who is looking for a new path to 270. If michigan and wisconsin dont come through, hes searching for new states. Suddenly, theyre trying to get minnesota. Ill be curious to see, do we see him go back there this week . Joe biden has decided to go to georgia this week. Thats a bit surprising to me, to be honest. I thought they would steick to the four or five core states they need. That says something to me. Yeah, and Kamala Harris was in georgia as well. Theyre putting a lot of attention into the state of georgia. You mentioned wisconsin and michigan, chuck. Just a couple cases that have surging cases of coronavirus. President trump yesterday again saying were rounding the corner, were doing great. Had numbers obviously tell us otherwise. How much does covid19 play in these last 19 days nine days, excuse me. Look, this is the president has been trying to manufacture an october surprise. I think were staring the october surprise in the face. It is this new surge of covid cases, all coinciding with the last nine days of this campaign. You know, willie, this general election campaign, think about it. In fact, we were talking about it with our own staff. The last time i was up in new york city was supertuesday. You know what that was, basically the beginning of this pandemic. Also the beginning of this general election. Joe biden gets the nomination. This campaign started with covid and it looks like its ending with covid. Boy, super tuesday feels like a lifetime ago. Well look for much more on meet the press when chuck t talks to top Campaign Advisers for President Trump and former Vice President joe biden. On saturday, nearly 80,000 new cases of covid19 were reported in the United States. Nearly matching fridays alltime single day high. And now, Public Health experts are warning again that things will continue to get worse as we head deeper into fall and winter, with some states that made significant progress over the summer now headed in the wrong direction. Nbcs sam brock is in miami with more. Sam, good morning. Reporter willie, good morning. Florida right now is reporting infection numbers not seen since the summer. New york, new jersey, massachusetts are registering totals they have not hit since may. Even so, the midwest right now appears to be the most strained part of the country. As lines for covid testing stretch blocks in some states, the results are rocking regions big and small. We are no doubt whatsoever in the second surge. This is what it looks like. Reporter chicago now under a business curfew as illinois just cracked decision,000 daily cases for the first time saturday. And farther west in the heartland. Wear a dang mask when youre indoors. Were not asking you to sign up for the draft here. Reporter the dakotas ranking first and second for covid cases per capita in the country. South dakotas governor christy nome faces record hospitalizations in her state. He writes in an oped this week, if folks want to wear a mask, they should be free to do so. Similarly, those who dont want to wear a masktient be shamed into wearing one, and government should not mandate it. Dr. Anthony fauci said its time to demand more. If people are not wearing masks, maybe we should be mandating it. The u. S. With alltime highs. Saturday, 79,000 cases, with several states not reporting over the weekend. As states once showing progress are now flashing warning signs. Massachusetts exceeded 1,000 daily cases for the First Time Since may with new york and new jersey hovering near 2,000. Even so, some are skeptical. So much hype going around right now. For those who are dealt with loss its been devastating. Like Catherine Hernandez of arizona, watching her husband die from covid, the trends are all too real. Im not sure what i can do, but i sure wish something could have been done different. Reporter more than 224,000 americans have died from covid19 so far. That is a number, willie, that is projected by the university of washington to reach 510,000 by the end of february unless we adopt consistent mask wearing when were around other people. It could save 100,000 lives or more. Willie, back to you. Too many stories like catherines. Sam brock in miami, thanks so much. Judge Amy Coney Barrett is expected to be confirmed tomorrow as the newest justice on the United States Supreme Court on a party line vote. The senate held a rare saturday session to discuss judge barrett and her confirmation. They will gather again today. Alaskas republican senator, lisa murkowski, who initially had opposed the confirmation process, announced now she will vote in favor of barretts confirmation. And last nights game four of the world series had one of the wildest finishes you will ever see. Bottom of the ninth inning, the Tampa Bay Rays are down by a run. Man on first and second. Two outs. The rays batter at the plate is down to his last strike. Then this happened. Brett philips hits a single to right center field. Kevin kiermaier scores from second to tie the game as the dodgers outfielder chris taylor beats the ball. Motoring home all the way from first. Should have been out by a mile after he tripped rounding third, but dodgers catcher will smith drops the relay throw allowing him to stumble home heads first with a gamewinning record, tapping home plate. Final score, rays, 8. Dodgers, 7, in a wild finish. The series now improbably we are under a microclimate weather alert as two red flag warnings are expected to go into effect, the first at 11 00 a. M. This afternoon. Temperatures in the 70s but the concern will be the winds especially in through 11 00, fast forward to 8 00 p. M. And the entire bay area will be under a red flag warning. Power impacts may be likely, gusty winds upwards of 40plusmilesperhour. Week, i the beautiful moment when a High School Football team helps a teammate to stand and then to find the end zone under the friday night lights. And an heir to the british throne gazes longingly through the glass of a kfc. Well explain. Up next, our sunday focus on the polls youre hearing and reading about every day from the National Race to the battleground states. How much faith should you put in those numbers, especially after the last time around . Polls are like a gps that can get you into the right neighborhood, but not necessarily to the exact address. My body is truly powerful. I have the power to lower my a1c. Because my body can still make its own insulin. And trulicity activates my body to release it, lowering my blood sugar from the first dose. Onceweekly trulicity responds when my body needs it, 24 7. Trulicity is for type 2 diabetes. Its not insulin. It isnt for people with type 1 diabetes. Dont take trulicity if youre allergic to it, you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, changes in vision, or diabetic retinopathy. Serious side effects may include pancreatitis. Taking trulicity with sulfonylurea or insulin raises low blood sugar risk. Side effects include indigestion, fatigue, belly pain, decreased appetite, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting which can lead to dehydration and may worsen kidney problems. I have it within me to lower my a1c. Ask your doctor about trulicity. Thats very common to have a gum Health Concern as well. You know, i talk to dentists every day, and theyre able to recommend sensodyne sensitivity gum. Its really good dentistry to be able to recommend one product that can address two conditions. No uh uh, no way come on, no no nnnnono only discover has no annual fee on any card. Who trust in our performance and comfortable, longlasting protection. Because your strength is supported by ours. Depend. The only thing stronger than us, is you. You make my heart sing wild thing i. Think i. You know what i think . I think you owe us 48. 50. Wild thing. If you ride, you get it. Geico motorcycle. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. Less oral steroids. Taking my treatment at home. Nucala is a oncemonthly addon injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. Not for sudden breathing problems. Allergic reactions can occur. Get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. Infections that can cause shingles have occurred. Dont stop steroids unless told by your doctor. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. May cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. Ask your doctor about nucala at home. Find your nunormal with nucala. While campaigning this week in philadelphia for joe biden, former president barack obama warned biden supporters not to become complacent with public polls that show the former Vice President leading President Trump. Democrats carry with them the scars of 2016, when many of them thought right up through Election Night Hillary Clinton was a sure thing against the celebrity businessman and reality tv host. So how much faith should voters put in the polls and other key indicators this time around . Nbcs Geoff Bennett has our sunday focus. This time four years ago, Hillary Clinton held a fivepoint National Lead over donald trump. We know how that turned out. Doomsday for democrats. This time around, its joe biden who is ahead in the polls. A creeping sense of deja vu for democrats. This time, theres a difference. For starters, bidens lead is bigger than clintons was, edging out President Trump nationally and in nearly every battleground state. I never take anything for granted, so the polls show this a close race, but with having a steady lead. Add to that mr. Trump is an incumbent, no longer an outsider, now facing the worst polling position for a president seeking reelection since george h. W. Bushen 1992. Well, i watch polls, but the polls are fake just like the reporting. I think were winning. I think were winning big. Polling expert Dave Wassermann says polls arent meant to provide perfect predictions. Polls are like a gps that can get you into the right neighborhood but not necessarily to the exact address. Polls did a good job of telling us that democrats were going to win the house back in 2018. And they also did a reasonable job of illuminating the weaknesses for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Beyond polling data, there are other signs that can be read as indications of who will win. Democrats are pointing to enthusiasm in the final stretch of the race. With biden crushing the competition in fundraising. Bidens campaign and affiliated committees raising a record 383 million in september. Compared to nearly 248 million for team trump. On the flipside, republicans are pointing to what they see as a sign of potential promise the gop narrowing the gap with democrats in voter registrations in three critical states, pennsylvania, north carolina, and florida. Great to be back in my home state, florida. Republicans hoping that heavy turnout on election day will help propel the president to a second term no matter what the polls show. Beyond the numbers, the best indication of whos winning in politics is often who is standing by their candidate. And recently, some republican senators started to distance themselves from President Trump. Like senator ben sasse of nebraska, heard on a Conference Call with constituents. The United States now regularly sells out our allies und his leadership. He mocks evangelicals behind close doors. His family has treated the presidency like a business opportunity. Hes flirted with white supremacists. The president hitting back. Now we have this guy sasse who wants to make a stam. Little ben. Little ben sasse. The republicans have to stick together better. But for now, both candidates, their parties, and their supporters are left reading the tea leaves. And geoff joins me now live. Geoff, good morning. Good to see you. As you know, the paranoia among democrats about polls is palpable right now. What did pollsters learn from the experience of 2016 . As you point out in the piece, the National Polls in 2016 were about right. Youre right about that. In 2016, many pollsters especially at the state level didnt adjust their samples to account for a voters education level. That was especially the case, willie, in states like michigan and wisconsin, which clinton lost. As we later learned, donald trump won an overwhelming number of white voters without a college aeduca