gust of 109 miles an hour at the jersey shore. higher winds in new york city than sandy produced in fact. yet this was not a category 4 hurricane, wasn't even a category 3. in fact, it wasn't a hurricane anymore when it did all this. and tonight 3 million americans are without power as the storm sweeps on up into canada. and in the middle of all of this came what we're going to show you today, devastating, almost hard-to-believe video of an explosion in the midst of a fire in beirut. at least 78 people were killed. those numbers are changing, however. thousands of people were injured, many of them wounded by debris inside their own homes. the lebanese government said ammonium nitrate was stored at the explosion site. late this afternoon, president trump weighed in with an assessment of his own that went well beyond that. >> i've met with some of our great generals, and they just seem to feel that it was -- this was not some kind of a manufacturing explosion type of event. this was a -- seems to be, according to them -- they would know better than i would. but they seem to think it was a attack. it was a bomb of some kind. >> now, it's been reported that defense officials are now saying there's no indication of an attack. we'll have much more on this just ahead. in this country, there's no end in sight to the health crisis caused by the pandemic. cases have not stopped rising, nor have the number of deaths. cases are on the rise in 32 states right now. trump made a point of showing the nation that he remains engaged in the pandemic fight, sending out these photos of himself with the coronavirus task force, including doctors fauci and birx masks over their there. he did brief our country today, as usual emphasizing how well he thinks his administration is doing. >> we're putting out embers. we're putting out flames. we've also dramatically accelerated the availability of plasma therapies, steroid treatments, antivirals and other therapies to treat the illness. since march 12th, we've increased daily testing by 32,000%. we do more testing than anybody in the world. >> but the comments that have gotten everybody's attention are the embarrassing moments that emerged from his interview with jonathan swan of axios. >> i think it's under control. i'll tell you what. >> how? 1,000 americans are dieing a day. >> they're dying, it's true. it is what it is, but that doesn't mean we're not doing everything we can. it's under control as much as you can control it. this is a horrible plague that beset us. >> you really think this is as much as we can control? 1,000 deaths a day? >> i'd like to know if somebody -- first of all, we have done a great job. we've gotten the governors everything they needed. because we are so much better at testing than any other country in the world, we show more cases. >> the figure i look at is death, and death is going up now. >> okay. >> it's 1,000 a day. >> we're lower than the world. >> lower than the world? >> we're lower than europe? >> in what? >> take a look. right here. here's case deaths. >> oh, you're doing death as a proportion of cases. i'm talking about death as a proportion of population. that's where the u.s. is really bad, much worse than south korea, germany, et cetera. >> you can't -- you can't do that. >> why can't i do that? >> you have to go by -- you have to go by where -- look. here is the united states. you have to go by the cases. >> now, a chart created from the findings from the folks at johns hopkins gives a more accurate picture. the u.s. leads the ten nations with the highest death tolls. this afternoon in an interview on fox business, trump appeared to be aware that the situation was not improving. >> we've lost 160,000 people. we're going to lose more. >> two developments reported by "the washington post" also giving us clues as to the state of things. seven governors have now banded together to pressure biotech companies into ramping up production of rapid detection covid testing. and dr. birx has privately come out against trump's push to reopen schools because of the current outbreaks across the country, again begging questions about what keeps a public health specialist from going public on a matter of public safety other than a fear of being tweeted about perhaps. amid all of this, trump is staying focused on his re-election campaign. today he revised his effort to discredit voting by mail, posting this -- and we quote. whether you call it vote by mail or absentee voting, in florida the election system is safe and secure, tried and true. so in florida, i encourage all to request a ballot and vote by mail. florida, of course, is a battleground state and happens to be where the president votes by mail. during today's briefing, he added this. >> florida's got a great republican governor, and it had a great republican governor. it's got ron desantis, rick scott. they've been able to get the absentee ballots done extremely professionally. florida has been working on this for years. florida's a very well-run state, low taxes, low everything. they've done a great job. >> the other thing that caught our ear today during trump's earlier event to sign a bipartisan conservation bill, a moment that launched a thousand memes on the spot as the president apparently didn't recognize the word "yosemite." >> when young americans experienced the breathtaking grand widened in amazement as old faithful burst into the sky, when they gaze upon yosemites -- yosemite's towering sequoias, their love of country grows stronger. >> on that note, here for our leadoff discussion on a tuesday night, peter baker, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times." alexi mccammond, political reporter for axios. and errin haines, a ten-year veteran of the a.p. where she last covered race and society, these days editor at large for the 19th, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom focused on gender, politics, policy. it happened to go live this week at 19th news.org. good evening and welcome to you all. peter, because it's your day-to-day beat, i'd like to begin with you. the president devoted about half the briefing to non-virus topics. on things like beirut, since the start of the modern era, presidents have had confidential briefings in the oval office from the generals, as he called them. they have not made a custom of going to the briefing room and spewing the theories voiced in confidence in the oval office as he did today. also he is coming off the positively peshian remark "it is what it is." maybe not the best way to describe a death toll of 150,000 souls. >> yeah, it seems like every single day he's giving his critics ammunition. you know, the biden campaign turned that interview, it is what it is, into an ad in pretty quick fashion. it's already online. because it undermines the president's argument that he does have this under control. we have, as you put it, 1,000 deaths a day. think about that, we've got 90 days till election day. that could be another 90,000 deaths if it keeps at this pace. that would be a total of 250,000 deaths this year, an extraordinary number, and it's something that the president has yet to really grapple with. he has yet to, you know, hold any kind of national day of mourning, to express any meaningful way empathy for the crisis that people are undergoing. in addition to people who have passed away, there are the families who are left behind without them. there are people who have been sick and didn't die but suffered enormously from this virus. while some people may have relatively mild cases, a lot of people have pretty traumatic experiences with this disease. and i think that he has yet so sort of show that he understands that in a human way, and it didn't help himself, i think, with that interview. >> alexi, we all have our burdens. you guys, of course, at axios now have to live with jonathan swan. i grew up in new jersey where a local axiom all my life was "it is what it is," and now that axiom has gone global. to peter's point, though, the part of jonathan's interview that will live in perpetuity now has the president summing in up using that phrase. >> you know, public kudos to my colleague, jonathan swan, who just a case study in how to interview the president. but that was a really damning line from the president himself that really kind of reinforces not just the way that democrats have been trying to characterize how the president has been mishandling they say the coronavirus, but what americans around the country have been watching and sort of getting glimpses of from his daily coronavirus briefings. but now hear it from himself, the sort of complacency that, to peter's point, he's not really showing any sort of human empathy about the human death toll and cost of lives that has been caused because of that pandemic. it's not only being turned into ads, but, you know, that's something that people are going to think about when they also hear president trump saying things like, well, the virus will just disappear, or in april, he was saying he wanted the economy to open then. it's all been about speed with president trump and getting over this as quickly as possible, without really stopping to acknowledge, again, the human toll that this virus has taken and how americans are feeling, which is really scared heading into this election and into the fall when we're expected to have a second wave while we're not even done with this first wave. >> errin, you've covered the intersection of politics and society for a long time. the president seemed to be saying today, mail-in balloting is good as long as it's in florida where he mails his vote in, especially if it's absentee and not called anything else. but, errin, don't you think some down-ballot republicans who are up on that same election day as him are realizing that an effort to delegitimize an election hurts both parties at the end of the day? >> i think that's right, brian, and thank you for your kind words about our launch. you know, i think it was interesting he was holding up florida. i don't think that those of us who have covered, you know, presidential cycles in years past really think of florida when we think of smooth elections. and so holding them up as kind of the beacon for a smooth elections process, i think again speaks to raising the specter around voter fraud or somehow a corrupt process to widespread mail-in balloting this november as false. you know, i think that what the concern is -- i mean it continues to raise uncertainty around the pandemic. there's uncertainty around when we're going to have a vaccine. there's uncertainty around, you know, when the numbers are going to go back down. and yet the president continues to, you know, not really say that the administration is not responding appropriately but is saying that, you know, if china hadn't gotten involved, then this never would have happened to our country, which really is not the message that americans are looking to hear, especially if he is encouraging people to go back to work, to go back to school. and i can say, you know, that at our new site, we are talking about the first female recession in this country, where women are grappling with impact this pandemic has had, and i think certainly republicans down-ballot are thinking about those issues as well as we head into november. >> peter baker, the backdrop for all of this is a slow-rolling pandemic. for the folks watching tonight would are hurting, who have family members who are hurting, what can we tell them, through you, is the status of the next relief bill? >> yeah, it's a great question. this has dragged on now so long that millions of americans are losing the $600 bump that they had gotten in unemployment relief since the first relief package passed, and now they're feeling the bite of it. these are people who may be out of work, who may be soon out of their homes, who may not be able to pay their bills and may not be able to -- you know, will struggle to pay other medical bills that might be coming in. and the negotiations are plodding along without any noticeable progress. there seemed to be a tiny bit of sliver of progress today, the democrats that came out saying they had seen some movement by the republicans. you heard the president at his briefing assailing the democrats for being too obstinate, and they have a deadline coming up. friday is when the congress heads off for a month-long, you know, recess. that's a month that people at home can't live without some sort of understanding of what's going to happen, some sort of relief, some sort of help. so that deadline is coming up fast and furious on them, and i think that it may be one of these things where we always see on the hill everything comes up to the very last minute. but, you know, there's not a lot of reported progress at this point. there's a pretty significant gulf between them, and it seems to be ideological and political as much as it is over, you know, basic policy and numbers. >> hey, alexi, because i have total confidence in you, no pressure, but help us answer these two questions. will there be debates, and who will joe biden pick? >> i'm so glad you asked about this, brian. i was thinking about this today and tried to get the trump campaign to give me an answer about whether or not they're going to do three debates with joe biden because a trump campaign spokeswoman said during an interview with fox news that they had confirmed with the debate commission that they will be doing debates. but then the campaign refuses to still say whether or not they will do the three that they are -- that they've decided. so, yes, we will see. i'm curious when they will actually start doing debate prep. and then your second question, i'm sorry? >> who's he going to pick? >> oh, that's unfair. you'll have to read axios am tomorrow morning. read axios am, there will be some new reporting about the vp search. >> okay. as unfair as the question really was, your answer is completely fair, and we will do just that. hey, errin, a bit of a turn in subject here, but i want to play for you what the president told alexi's colleague jonathan about john lewis. >> how do you think history will remember john lewis? >> i don't know. i really don't know. i don't know. i don't know john lewis. he chose not to come to my inauguration. he chose -- i don't -- i never met john lewis actually, i don't believe. >> do you find him impressive? >> uh, i can't say one way or the other. i find a lot of people impressive. i find many people not impressive, but no. >> do you find his story impressive? zb >> he didn't come to my inauguration. he didn't come to my state of the union speeches, and that's okay. that's his right. and, again, nobody has done more -- >> right. >> -- for black americans than i have. >> errin, i wanted to ask you this question as a daughter of the state of georgia. i want to remind our audience that john lewis boycotted the inauguration of bush 43, who eulogized him at his funeral. so, errin, about that last claim and how much this president has done for african-americans, what do you make of that? >> well, i have to chime in on this veepstakes conversation. i mean i work in a newsroom focused on women in politics. and i will tell you, brian, joe biden is going to pick a woman, just so you know. but on john lewis, what we know is that john lewis had a reputation that preceded, you know, donald trump's presidency, you know, for decades this man built his life fighting for civil rights, fighting for voting rights. here we are on thursday celebrating the 55th anniversary of the voting rights act, you know, which he bled for on that bridge, the edmund pet ttus brie in selma. so for president trump to kind of dismiss congressman lewis because he was not at his inauguration or state of the union speeches really is to diminish his legacy, and that is certainly -- not being at either of those events is certainly not what congressman lewis is going to be remembered for. that was certainly not the first line of his obituary, and it's certainly not the first thing that comes to mind for the many american who's are very grateful for the sacrifice and continued work that john lewis gave to this country for more than six decades. >> we're grateful to our friends who made up our big three tonight, peter baker, alexi mccammond, and with continued congratulations for a great debut, errin haines. thank you, the three of you, very much for starting us off. coming up for us, president trump says there is such a thing as too much testing in the face of a pandemic. we'll ask a doctor practicing in the midwest if that's the situation where he lives and works. and later, paul begala is hear to break some furniture and talk about his new book and what he thinks it will take for democrats to fire donald trump. all of it as "the 11th hour" is just getting 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well, we've heard dr. birx and the president run through the list. indiana one of the many states experiencing an increase in new coronavirus cases over just these past several weeks. sta state's been averaging about 800 new cases a day, and that's a lot. for the week ending july 28th, the positivity rate in indiana was 7.3%, but five counties had a positivity rate of over 15%. and the county where our next guest practices medicine leads the state at just over 19%. so without further delay, back with us tonight, dr. stephen sample. he's an e.r. doc at memorial hospital and health care center in jasper, indiana. so, doctor, here is your county leading the state in positivity, not the good kind, not an opinion poll saying how did you enjoy our county? the kind you don't want. so the question to you is given all of the conversations you and i had before it got there, what's it like for you now in the fight? >> well, we're number one, right? so, hey, brian, it's good to see you again. look, yeah, the numbers are terrible here right now. in the scheme of things, this is not new york city. we have to remember that. we're a small county with about 50,000 or so residents. but our numbers are definitely steadily on the rise, and for the last couple of weeks, we've been leading the state in positivity. we've ranged from 25% positive tests to i think you said 18% today. it varies from day to day, but it's still not good. when our target's below 5%, this just means we're in the dark with this virus. we don't know where it is. >> another part of the trump interview with jonathan swan of axios i came prepared to play for you and our audience. we'll talk about it on the other side. >> you know, there are those that say, you can test too much. you do know that. >> who says that? >> oh, just -- >> who? >> read the manuals. read the books. >> manuals? what manuals? >> read the books. >> what books? >> doctor, did they give you the manuals? did they give you the manuals, and is anybody in your community complaining of the burden of too much testing? >> so i'm glad you asked. i watched that interview just a little bit ago, and i actually got an advance copy of the manual. it's called "how to rona by science." and if you open it and skip past the demon semen and past the hydroxychloroquine, you get to testing on the ts. first you see the take no responsibility. and then you say if you don't test, maybe they'll just forget about it. that's the manual as far as i can tell. no, nobody's complaining about too many tests, brian. we don't have enough tests. that's why we are where we are. >> somebody came to play tonight. hey, on the topic of schools, i know they are starting to reopen in indiana. how do you feel about it? and as an indianan, are you satisfied that protocols are being followed? >> no. i'm not satisfied with anything. you know, over the last months, other than working in the emergency department, basically my life has been e.r. doc, whack-a-mole with internet trolls, and trying to help my friends and family navigate through this illness. and i get phone calls and texts every day, what do i do? do i send my sick in my mom's sick, should i go? nobody really knows. our school system is opening next week as we are the most positive test rate in the state of indiana. and from what i can tell, there just was an email sent out today. no masks are going to be recommended in class so long as they're facing forward and three feet apart. so they'll sit there for 45 minutes and breath their teenager breath all over each other, so i don't expect this to be a terribly long school year. i hope i'm wrong, but not optimistic. >> final question about your day job and your night job for that matter. when someone presents at the e.r. with a broken arm from a baseball game or a softball game or head trauma from a car accident, you usually know it when the sliding doors open. but when they present with something more mysterious these days, chest tightness, abdominal pain, whatever it is, do you then -- is there a moment where you pause and get ppe-ed up and bring in a different protocol for how that patient gets surrounded with medical care? >> absolutely. so because we are still coveting our ppe and hoarding our ppe because during the last six months we don't have enough ppe, we try to be judicious. so certainly everybody is masked and gloved for every patient. but if it even smells like it could be coronavirus, absolutely. everybody stops. they go into the hot zone of the emergency department. we put on our ridiculous masks and our goggles and our gowns and our gloves, and we treat everybody like they're sick because now we have enough people in the county that the broken ankle from the softball game could actually be coronavirus. and you just don't know where it is, so you have to pretend like it's everywhere. >> well, it's enough for our viewers to want to schedule all their emergencies for your county because nice people like dr. stephen sample will treat you there if you do. doc, thank you as always for your generosity. >> anytime, brian. >> and for coming on the air with us. coming up for us, one former presidential adviser says when donald trump jokes about being president for life, we would best listen up. paul begala and his new guide for beating this incumbent when we come back. severe rheumatoid arthritis. and take. it. on... ...with rinvoq. rinvoq a once-daily pill... ...can dramatically improve symptoms... rinvoq helps tame pain, stiffness, swelling. and for some... rinvoq can even significantly reduce ra fatigue. that's rinvoq relief. with ra, your overactive immune system attacks your joints. rinvoq regulates it to help stop the attack. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious infections and blood clots, sometimes fatal, have occurred... ...as have certain cancers, including lymphoma, and tears in the stomach or intestines, and changes in lab 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know, you could have a case where this election won't be decided on the evening of november 3rd. >> absolutely. what's wrong with that? >> this election could be decided two months later. >> while the president continues to undermine the election, damage the legitimacy of mail-in voting, our next guest makes this prediction in his brand-new book out today. quote, if the voter purges, the voter suppression, if all of that still fails, i would not put it past trump to try to cancel elections themselves. i know that sounds alarmist, but you should be alarmed. trump has clearly and repeatedly stated his desire to be president for life. he's not joking, folks. he doesn't joke. we siwee way too much of our ne guest on another network, but we are so lucky to have him with us tonight by dint of this new book he has published. so we welcome to the broadcast veteran democratic strategist paul begala. the new book out today is "you're fired: the perfect guide to beating donald trump." paul, thank you very much for coming on tonight, and we're happy to help you roll this thing out. it started the first time it entered my awareness was a bill maher theory. he kept saying to his audience and his guests, folks, he's not going to leave. and i heard others like michael moore add to that theory while appearing on bill maher. then came the theory that he was actually going to monkey with the election date. then came a rare attack by the president of the united states on the u.s. postal service. happens to be a heroic group of tens of thousands of veterans by the way, during a pandemic of all things. i know part of your book is a sermon to your fellow democrats. just how seriously to take these threats. you have the air. >> well, first, brian, it's great to see you again, my old friend. thank you for having me on. you're very kind to do so. >> thank you. >> they tell me, my veteran friends who served at strategic air command, that the screen saver on the computers that goes across at strategic air command says "honor every threat" and i think that's what's americans, not just democrats have to do. when this president was asked about xi jinping, the chinese communist leader who was made president for life without getting a single vote because they don't have a free society, he didn't say what jfk or reagan or clinton or obama, any real president would have said. he didn't say we believe in freedom. he said, gee, i'd like to try that here. in trump's first year of office, voters were asked would you support trump if he called for suspending the elections, and 52% of republicans said yes. that was three years ago. now, he doesn't have the power under our constitution to do that, but he undermined the election that he won, falsely claiming that millions of illegal votes were cast in california, which is nonsense. he undermines every check and balance, the free press, the federal judiciary, the very electoral system as we talked about. so i do think that this guy is an autocrat wannabe. you're right. bill maher gets the credit. i've been on his show many times. he was the first one to say that to me in the first year of trump's presidency. i'm usually skeptical about these things, but i believe trump is an ought kraautocrat w. he's certainly not joking. he's not a jokester. >> i want to see if you'll engage in some tough love. i'm going to hit you with some devil's advocate theories, beliefs, and fears about the party you're a member of. the theory goes like this. they suck at the fight. they're not killers. they are purity testers in fact. they often allow good -- great to be the enemy of good. they are charlie brown in a charlie manson era. the best ads are being made by the disaffected republicans. and i, myself, have already had a quote directed to me on background from inside the biden campaign saying, in effect, all we gotta do is play mistake-free baseball here on out. i would posit that's not the way to get elected. are any of the preceding points true in your view? >> look, i always joked that the definition of a liberal is somebody's who's afraid to take his own side in a fight. but in the era of trump, democrats have gotten their fight back. i think if you look at nancy pelosi, who if there's any hero in this book, it's nancy pelosi. she has taken the fight to trump every single day. and the way to do it, though -- and i love these ads that the lincoln project and other disaffected republicans are doing. but what i think democrats, particularly biden needs to do is take the fight to trump not on trump, not on his character, but on what's happening to the country that he allegedly leads, right, under his watch? last year we lost 71,000 dead to drug overdoses. we lost 38,000 dead to gun violence. we've lost 156,000 dead to covid. he's in court right now trying to cancel the health care for 22 million americans under obamacare and take 129 million more americans who have a pre-existing condition and allow health insurance companies to take that away from them. so i do think very much -- i think what they've got to do is make sure the fight is not on trump's terms, that is only talking about trump. that's what every narcissist wants. instead don't make it about trump's life or trump's family. make it about yours. make it about the voters. that's frankly something i got wrong in 2016. i was distracted by trump's sewer-level character that i forgot to focus on the implications in the lives of a retiree in pennsylvania or an office worker in michigan. and i'm not going to make that mistake again. >> every journalist in this country worth his or her salt recognizes what you have, and i love being invited into people's homes -- what you have on the shelf behind you is a first edition, foil-covered "what it takes" by the late, great, richard ben kramer, maybe the best modern work since theodore white "on politics." what would an author like kramer make of the characters we are seeing today in this campaign? >> wow, in fact in that book there's a terrific mini profile of joe biden. it's just an outstanding book. i think it's the best nonfiction book i've read about politics. terrific profile of bob dole in this book. it's just a wonderful, wonderful book. and what richard, god rest his soul, was able to do was able to get into these guys -- it was all guys then -- these guys' heads. i don't know that we need that now. we have mary trump's book which is an astonishing success. i think we kind of know enough about trump and what's in his head. i guess i'm not all that interested in what motivates him. i just want to get to what he has done and what he has failed to do, and the cost of those actions and inactions. i do think that any reading of politics, i think, will tell you that the most important quality certainly i think, having worked in the white house -- i had flashbacks that last segment when you and peter baker were talking. you guys used to make lie life hell when i worked in the white house. the most important thing for a president to have is empathy. you can't lead a country you don't love. and biden has that in abundance, and trump has that not at all. it is the greatest gap on the most important quality that i think i've ever seen. and i think that that's probably where the -- when the era is written about, it will be, i think, this narcissist in the white house who neglected -- he didn't even defend his own troops when putin put a bounty on their head. i think it's the worst thing a president's done in american history. so i think it's that, and i think biden's empathy matches up perfectly well with trump's narcissism. >> ladies and gentlemen, the book can be ordered starting today. it is called -- and we'll show the cover again if it was ambiguous behind the author. "you're fired: the perfect guide to beating donald trump." our thanks to our friend paul begala. we wish you health and safety. happy trails. and as always, hook 'em horns. coming up for us, voters in several states did go to the polls today. steve kornacki at the big board in new york if you remember the big board in new york with a primary update of all things when we come right back. we've always put safety first. ♪ ♪ and we always will. ♪ ♪ for people. ♪ ♪ for the future. ♪ ♪ and there has never been a summer when it's mattered more. wherever you go, summer safely. get 0% apr financing for up to five years on select models and exclusive lease offers. we're helping members catch up by spreading any missed usaa insurance payments over the next twelve months so they can keep more cash in your pockets for when it matters most find out more at usaa.com for when it matters most whether it's bribes ...or an overdue makeover. get all your pet essentials right when you need them, with curbside pickup at petsmart. just order online, drive up, check-in, and pick up. it's called ubrelvy. the migraine medicine for anytime, anywhere migraine strikes without worrying if it's too late or where you happen to be. one dose of ubrelvy can quickly stop a migraine in its tracks within two hours. many had pain relief in one hour. do not take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. few people had side effects, most common were nausea and tiredness. ask about ubrelvy. the anytime, anywhere migraine medicine. we've had no excuse absentee voting in arizona for decades. so we have a good track record. we know it's secure. my biggest concern is misinformation. we already knew misinformation was a big thing coming into this election, and, you know, the additional misinformation about vote by mail is kind of another layer on top of that. >> well, we knew it was coming, and now it's here. how the pandemic and politics are straining the voting process. we can see it play out every day. arizona was one of five states to hold primaries today. did you know that? who better to run us through what we need to know so far but our friend steve kornacki, who is back at the big board tonight? and, steve, we desperately need you to kind of reset what you and i would normally be talking about nonstop. where are our politics as of tonight? >> yeah, this would be a big one normally, what's happened tonight here in kansas in particular. a big republican primary for the united states senate that could have significant implications for the general election battle for control of the senate. let me take you through what happened here. this is the republican primary, and you see here the winner here, roger marshall. congressman roger marshall. why is this so significant? because look who he defeated tonight in the republican primary in kansas, kris kobach, the controversial former secretary of state. kobach had run for cover in kansas a few years ago. he lost that race and that was the key. kobach had a real chance to win this primary, become the republican nominee for senate in kansas, and democrats believe that if kobach could win this primary, that they, the democrats, could get this seat in november. democrats were so convinced of that possibility, they put money here trying to prop up kobach in this primary while national republicans put money behind roger marshall, trying to get him across the finish line. it has been 88 years, nearly a century, since democrats won a senate race in kansas. they were hoping kobach would win this thing, but marshall has come through. he's won this primary tonight. he will be the republican nominee in kansas. he will face barbara ball yea is her name. she still has plenty of money here. she'll still put a campaign forward here. we will see what happens, but the real hope for democrats tonight was that she would be facing off against kobach and that this seat in deep red kansas could be in play in november with roger marshall winning that nomination, i can tell you republicans in washington, mitch mcconnell in particular, breathing a big sigh of relief with that result from kansas tonight. also a primary in arizona tonight. not a surprise here. martha mcsally, the appointed republican incumbent in saurz winning that primary. she will face off -- she's got an uphill fight here. that's what the polls say right now. she's trying to defend that seat. democrat mark kelly is who she will face in november. the polling has consistently put kelly ahead in this race, so mcsally trying to defend that seat. if she fails, democrats flip it. democrats get a gain in arizona if they can knock off martha mcsally. also news from kansas tonight. steve watkins, a republican member of congress. it looks like he has been defeated in his primary. all sorts of scandals around watkins. looks like he has lost in a republican primary. michigan, we're keeping an eye on this one. rashida tlaib, she's got a primary challenge from the city council president in detroit. you see an early big lead here for talib. not a lot of votes. all that sort of absentee ballots yet to be counted. we will see what happens there. one other piece of news. this is not a primary that took place today, not a primary that took place this month. this is a primary that took place at the end of june for united states house of representatives, congressional primary in new york. but carolyn maloney tonight was finally certified the winner of that race by the board of elections in new york. it took them forever to get all these ballots counted. there are still some legal questions there about what exactly will be counted but the board of elections says that carolyn maloney, long time member of congress has survived her primary. welcome to voting in the age of the pandemic. >> the president said yesterday they should just rerun the race. i guess they didn't follow his advise. steve, this is exactly what i miss. someday we'll be back together in the studio. steve kornacki, our man at the big board, thanks. coming up for us, questions tonight about what caused that devastating blast in beirut. more on that when we come back. to severe psoriasis, little things can become your big moment. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you. and if you're pregnant or planning to be. when you think of a bank, you think of people 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officials tonight say a warehouse has for years been filled with dangerous explosive chemicals. warnings about the dangers, they say, ignored. beirut, so often a battleground in war, resembling a war zone tonight. this is a national disaster for lebanon. tomorrow a day of national mourning and of many questions. if this was a warehouse for dangerous chemicals, were the explosions accidental or sabotage? >> our thanks to bill neely for that report tonight. coming up for us, part of our occasional series of reports here to remind everyone watching that elections have consequences. your mission: stand up to moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. and take. it. on... ...with rinvoq. rinvoq a once-daily pill... ...can dramatically improve symptoms... rinvoq helps tame pain, stiffness, swelling. and for some... rinvoq can even significantly reduce ra fatigue. that's rinvoq relief. with ra, your overactive immune system attacks your joints. rinvoq regulates it to help stop the attack. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious infections and blood clots, sometimes fatal, have occurred... ...as have certain cancers, including lymphoma, and tears in the stomach or intestines, and changes in lab results. your doctor should monitor your bloodwork. tell your doctor about any infections... and if you are or may become pregnant while taking rinvoq. take on ra talk to your rheumatologist about rinvoq relief. rinvoq. make it your mission. if you can't afford your medicine, abbvie may be able to help. we're helping members catch up by spreading any missed usaa insurance payments over the next twelve months so they can keep more cash in your pockets for when it matters most find out more at usaa.com for when it matters most whether it's bribes ...or an overdue makeover. get all your pet essentials right when you need them, with curbside pickup at petsmart. just order online, drive up, check-in, and pick up. what is the 2020 census? every ten years, the census records everyone living in this country. it's written in the constitution and comes in a questionnaire that counts everyone who lives at your address on april 1st. the data can be used to inform funding for services like fire stations, schools, clinics, and representation that affect your community. schaup your future. start here. visit 2020census.gov. >> so that is the topic of the last thing before we go here tonight, part of our occasional series of reminders and reports that elections have consequences. we'll let "the new york times" tell the story of what's happening to your census. the headline reads "with census count finishing early, fears of a skewed tally rise." and the story starts this way, with the trump administration's to end the 2020 census count four weeks early, the census bureau now has to accomplish what officials said it cannot do, accurately count the nation's hardest-to-reach residents. nearly four of every ten households in just six weeks. on tuesday, four former directors of the census bureau issued a statement warning that an earlier deadline, would, quote, result in seriously incomplete enumerations in many areas across our country. they urge the administration to restore the lost weeks. now, they go on at "the times" to report that 63% of us have already voluntarily taken part in the census. they go on to the report that like other things that trump does to protect the gop political base, like delegitimizing mail-in voting, this can also hurt the republicans when they stop and think about it. so we submit the story to you tonight again because elections have consequences. that is our broadcast on this tuesday evening. thank you so very much for being here with us. on behalf of all my colleagues at the networks of nbc news, good night. thanks to you at home for being with us this hour. it was great to have a few days off. i want to say thank you to my beloved colleagues ali velshi and nicolle wallace for pinch-hitting for me. i want to thank my staff for keeping