Transcripts For MSNBCW Meet The Press 20200629

Progress. We slowed the spread. We flattened the curve. While Anthony Fauci offers a warning to the young. If you get infected you will infect someone else who clearly will infect something else. Health and human secretary alex azar and andrew cuomo. John bolton speaks out about President Trump. There is no guiding principle that i was able to discern other than whats good for Donald Trumps reelection. Its a close race to see who could see through him the clearest and try to manipulate him. And the president strikes back. Everyone thought he was crazy because all he wants to do is bomb people. This morning my oneonone with john bolton. I believe america can recover from one term of donald trump. I believe that very, very strongly. Im more worried about a second term. Also mississippi lawmakers take steps to remove the confederate battle emblem from their state flag, the last of the Southern States to do so. Joining me for insight and analysis are eddie glaude jr. , princeton university. Nbc news capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt and hugh hewitt, host on the salem radio network. Welcome to sunday. Its meet the press. From nbc news in washington, the longestrunning show in television history, this is meet the press with chuck todd. Good sunday morning. Throughout his presidency there have been countless this is it moments that opponents of President Trump felt sure would puncture his standing with voters. Charlottesville, immigrant children in cages, impeachment, just to name three. But nothing seemed to move mr. Trumps Approval Ratings one way or the other. Now, hes facing a crisis hes been unable to tweak, bluster, or bluff his way out of. Covid19 and the economic dislocation that comes with it is there for all to see. Every american is aware of it. Every american is affected by it. Every american has an opinion about it. The past week felt more like april with states and then the whole country setting records for new cases. Cities shutting down and renewed fears that hospitals would soon run out of icu beds. Through it all President Trump has been in denial and the United States has become the object of avoidance, ridicule, and even pity around the world. At home, covid has given republicans a permission slip to criticize or ignore the president and provided space for former Administration Officials like john bolton who i will interview in a moment to criticize a president of their own party. Ultimately as the number of cases goes up, mr. Trumps political standing goes down, making him now the most endangered incumbent since george h. W. Bush lost in 1992. We find ourselves careening toward a catastrophic and unsustainable situation. Texas and florida praised by President Trump for being among the first to reopen are now backtracking. Abruptly setting new restrictions on bars, restaurants and beaches. There was widespread noncompliance and that led to issues. If you do need to get out, please wear a mask. On friday the u. S. Set a record for new cases, in 25 states cases have increased by 25 or more over the last two weeks. In nine states cases are up more than 100 . The time for prevention measures was a month ago. Now the wheels are coming off. But on friday at the first Coronavirus Task force briefing in two months the Vice President appeared to deny that reality. We have made truly remarkable progress in moving our nation forward. The nations top Infectious Disease expert dr. Fauci says current efforts to test sick people, isolate them, and trace their contacts are not working. We dont extinguish the outbreak, sooner or later, even ones that are doing well are going to be vulnerable to the spread. For months the president has minimized the virus. We have it totally under control. Its one person coming in from china. It looks like by april in theory when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away. This is going to be gone. Its going to go. Its going to leave. Its going to be gone. This will go away without a vaccine. Six months into the pandemic in the United States, the message largely dismissing the virus hasnt changed. Were doing well after the plague. Its going away. This is a localized situation. We slowed the spread. We flattened the curve. We saved lives. But the curve hasnt been flattened. The virus isnt going away and the issues that plagued early testing efforts remain. So i said to my people slow the testing down, please. Did you ask to slow it down . If it did slow down, frankly, i think were way ahead of ourselves if you want to know the truth. Weve done too good a job. Because every time we go out, with 25 million tests youre going to find more people. Some republicans would like to see President Trump stop politicizing mask wearing. Until we find a vaccine, these are really important. This is not as complicated as a ventilator. Joining me now is the secretary of health and Human Services alex azar. Secretary azar, welcome to meet the press. Let me start with just a simple first question. Why are we failing in the fight against covid19 when so much of the rest of the world seems to be succeeding right now . Chuck, lets talk about what we know, which is that were seeing surging in cases in counties, especially in southern parts of the United States. Weve gotten reports from our governors that the majority of the positive cases were seeing are age 35 and under. A large number of those are going to be asymptomatic. Weve got our fatality rates and our hospitalization rates are the lowest theyve been in two months. But this is a very serious situation. What are we doing . Were working with local authorities and states. This is a county by county issue so getting in there and getting to the bottom of why the cases are surging. In addition to the traditional Contact Tracing, what were doing now is weve got to test entire communities, find all positive cases, because this is a very different virus with this asymptomatic spreading, get every positive case, get those people isolated. Weve got Hospital Capacity in all of these areas, we have personal protective equipment and well be there to back them up. We now have treatments. Weve got steroids, remdesivir, convalescent plasma. I encourage your listeners, if youve had covid, call your blood bank, American Red Cross and donate plasma to increase our supplies. We have the tools to do this. We just did this in the last couple of weeks in north carolina, but the window is closing. We have to act, and people as individuals have to act responsibly. We need to social distance and we need to wear face coverings if were in settings where we cant social distance, particularly in these hot zones. Let me ask you this, did we blow it during the first shutdown . The first shutdown was dedesigned to do three things. Get our Testing Capacity up, provide relief for hospitals, and one of the big things was Contact Tracing. So it seems pretty obvious what happened here if you are just looking back at a layman. You guys put out guidelines in april about what it would take for a state to open up. No state followed those guidelines at all. Some states followed them okay, pretty closely or came close, but a lot of the states in the south didnt do it at all, and a bunch of them dont have contact tracers. Isnt that why were here . So, chuck, this isnt about reopening or not reopening. Weve got many communities in states that are just as reopened as these Southern States but arent experiencing this. Weve got to get to the bottom of why were seeing these cases surge in this area, but at its core, we all own as individuals, our individual behavior to make sure that we are practicing appropriate social distancing and wearing facial covering when were not able to and practicing good personal hygiene and especially protecting our most vulnerable citizens. But dr. Birx and dr. Fauci talked about this at a press briefing on friday, that one of the things about this virus is the asymptomatic spread of it, which means the traditional Contact Tracing of Public Health that our local authorities are so used to is a necessary but not sufficient protection. Weve got to do that, but it cant just be sitting in a Public Health Office Making phone calls. Weve got to get into the community. We have to get dust on the boots and find the people and test entire communities to get our positive cases. Thats the type of action weve seen in north carolina, and thats what we need in these other communities. Mr. Secretary, i still dont understand why we have enough contact tracers. The head of the cdc said we have less than 100,000 nationwide. We should have 300,000, some experts have thought. And again, weve been at this five months now. Why dont we have enough physical contract tracers in these Southern States . Well, chuck, these states have to build up their contact tracers, but theyve also got to build up getting into the states, getting out into these counties, local communities. This is a communitybased effort at this point. Weve surged people into every one of these states. Were working with them on the ground, but its about getting out, working with ngos and working with community, trusted Community Leaders and getting testing done, getting people isolated. Its important to remember, we now have many more tools than we had months ago to deal with this. We have therapeutics. We are on the road to vaccines. We have personal protective equipment. Again id say any hospital, nursing home that needs anything, be sure your Governors Office knows and well get that into fema and well make sure were there to support you. I asked the governor of arkansas, republican asa hutchinson, if his job would be made easier to get his community and get his state to wear masks if the president he didnt have to wear one, if he would just say it, just tweet it. Here was his response. A consistent, National Message talking about the importance of wearing a mask and social distancing is very important to making sure everybody understands the importance of it. Nothing beats leadership. Mr. Secretary, multiple times with me in our seven minutes so far that youve talked youve brought up masks, youve brought up social distancing. But without the president of the United States doing this, how is half the country going to listen . Have you directly asked the president to please ask the country to wear a mask . So im the president s secretary of health. Im telling you, practice social distancing where you cant appropriately social distance. We encourage you to wear a facial covering. The Vice President of the United States on friday stood on stage, walked up on stage wearing a mask even though he doesnt need to in the sense that everybody around him is tested, hes in a bubble. The president we know is a very unique circumstance as leader of the free world. Hes tested constantly and those around him are tested constantly and are kept at a distance even with that. But were all saying that. The president s guidelines for reopening, the president s guidelines have said from day one, practice social distancing. If you cant, wear face coverings. Practice appropriate personal hygiene and always please consider your individual circumstances and those of your household members. Protect the most vulnerable. Those over 80. Those over 65 with three or more of the serious comorbid conditions. These are the people we have to ring, fence, and protect right now. You just articulated, do as i say, not as i do. The president of the United States Holding Indoor rallies twice in the last ten days, once in a state that is seeing a potential of an outofcontrol spread in arizona. He doesnt talk about wearing a mask. You avoided my question about whether youve asked the president to at least ask the country to wear a mask. Just because you put guidelines under his name, when he doesnt do it, his people dont listen. Well, chuck, im not going to talk about politics, but weve seen Mass Gatherings over the last several weeks with people rightly expressing First Amendment and political views, and this is appropriate, but my message is one of Public Health which is if youre going to participate in any type of large gathering, i encourage you, consider your individual circumstance. Consider the circumstance of those you live with. And take appropriate precautions that are appropriate to yourself and your community. Secretary azar, i have to leave it there. I appreciate you coming on and sharing the administrations perspective. Thank you, chuck. During the first peak of the covid crisis andrew cuomo was one of the faces of the response giving daily televised press briefings as new york became the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States. Now cases and deaths are way down in new york and instead of new yorkers being quarantined when they travel to states like florida, its new york that is doing the quarantining of outofstate visitors from places like florida. Joining me now is the governor of new york andrew cuomo. Governor, i want to start with what we just heard from secretary azar, and that is sort of, it seems as if he believes this is on the states, that our Contact Tracing problem in the south is on the states. Was this second surge, in your opinion, preventible . Yeah, good to be with you, chuck. First, i dont think this is the second surge. Were worried about a second wave. I think were still in the first wave and this is a continuation of the first wave, and it was a failed effort to stop the first wave in the country. And as you pointed out, new york is in a totally different place. Look, if you listen to what the secretary said, if you listen to what the president says what theyre saying at the white house briefing, theyre saying what they said three months ago. Theyre basically in denial about the problem. They dont want to tell the American People the truth and they dont want to have any federal response except supporting the states, supporting the states. So i heard that, and i understood where they were. I didnt need to torture the rhetoric. I knew what they were saying. Youre on your own. You know . Right. Its not a good feeling, but its sort of liberating. So in new york, we just handled it totally differently, chuck. We handled it on our own. Communication, clear, as you mentioned, every day. Then we came up with a plan and did the testing and did the isolation, and that makes a difference. You followed the set of guidelines i pointed out. I remember this distinctly, only one time did we hear the white house ever talk about the infamous gating criteria, then i think that phrase disappeared. Sort of using that guidance, you guys sort of created your own. In all honesty, how hard is it going to be to stop another resurgence in your state if the rest of the country is struggling the way its struggli struggling . Well, thats our problem. Look, the cdc guideline, first of all are just guidelines and they were very vague and i dont even know what they meant. The trajectory has to be coming down. We put in place our own metrics where we used science. And we wouldnt open any region unless they hit certain metrics and then we have a phased reopening that were in the midst of. But you look at the number of hospital beds, you actually have the testing up. We do more testing than any state in the United States, chuck. We do more testing per capita than any country on the globe. The testing is the key. You do the isolation, and you have enough ppe and enough icu beds. Then you from the testing, you have a rate of transmission that you can monitor. And you proceed through the phases if you hit that rate of transmission. This is a virus. It doesnt respond to politics. You cant tweet at it. You have to treat it. And we never did that. Now my fear is we had today five deaths. Now we we offer thoughts and prayers to every death in our state, but five deaths is the lowest number weve had since this started, chuck. We are in the exact opposite end. We have less than 800 people in hospitals. Lowest number, basically, since we started. How does that number go up . Two ways. Lack of compliance, and im diligent about staying after new yorkers and local governments that have to police it. Right. And second, im now afraid of the spread coming from other states because we are one country and people travel, and im afraid the infection rate in the other states will come back to new york and raise that rate again. All right. If Governor Desantis calls you up this afternoon, Governor Abbott calls you up this afternoon of texas and florida and say, all right, lets set the politics aside, i know we mouthed off at you a little bit, whats your recommendation . What should we do here . What would you tell them . Ill tell you, i dont wait for them to call. This is new york. Were proactive. My team has called their teams and said, look, can we help . When we were in trouble, chuck, we had states all across the nation who came to help us. We had 30,000 volunteers from across the United States who came to help us. So i called those states and i said, any way we can help. Weve gone through it, we have the equipment, we have the staff, we have the testing protocols, we have the testing software, we have the tracing program, can we help . Anything you need, ventilators, et cetera. And thats the right thing to do from a Community Point of view and citizenry point of view. Its also, theres a parochial interest which is, if these states keep going up, were going to have a National Crisis like we never seen. They said this was the way to help the economy by reopening and its been the exact opposite. Every time the virus goes up, the stock market goes down. And if those if those states continue to increase youll see it go all across the nation. Youll see new york on the rise again and youll see the other states starting to go up even more. Has this you have not released a School Opening plan. I know you have some recommendations out, but im curious now because this is my fear is that this new surge or spike that were seeing in the south is now going to delay every School Districts plans for creating maybe a dual hybrid system of some in person, some remote, universities. Are you now thinking that maybe we might not see everything goes remote now in the fall given were living with this virus until theres a vaccine . Well, first on the first point, yes, i agree with that. You know, everybody talked about the economic consequence, and the president said we should reopen and thats going to help the economy. It turned out to be exactly wrong. But theres also a social consequence. Children have missed schools. Children have missed interaction with other children and thats part of the socialization process. We are preparing to open schools and we have plans to open schools, but look, chuck, ill be honest with you. Its two months away. Anything can happen in two months. You look back two months and you see how many things have changed. I want to see what the infection rate is and what the disease is doing before we pull the trigger and make the decision. Were looking at this kawasakilike syndrome that is now is an inflammatory syndrome that affects children who were previously infected with covid. I mean, this is complicated. So lets get the facts and well make the decision when we have to, but were prepared and if this continues across the country, youre right, chuck. Kids are going to be home for a long time. And final question, we talked about this, about Nursing Homes before, and youve taken some heat on the directive and you said you were following a national directive, but let me ask it again similarly at this point. Do you think these Senior Centers are safe, period . Yeah. Look, theres ive taken political heat, okay . There are facts and theres politics. Theres no doubt in Nursing Homes all across this nation, thats where we saw most of the deaths. Not most, but almost 50 of the deaths, Senior Citizens in congregant settings. And it is becoming more and more clear that the infection and the Nursing Homes came from the staff that got infected and brought it in. But in new york were number 46 in the nation in terms of percentage of deaths at Nursing Homes compared to the total percentage. By the New York Times were number 46. So its been unfortunate. In every state we have to do more, we have to figure it out. But if they want to point fingers, not at new york. Were number 46. You have 45 other states to point fingers at first. I understand that. Are these safe . Are these facilities safe, in your mind, right now . They are as safe they are as safe well, in this state were testing every week. Every nursing home employee, right . Right. So you could argue that they are safer than a Senior Citizen at home who is receiving care at home. The safest environment, my mother, stay home, dont see anyone. If you are at home and you have an aide coming in, that aide is not tested. In a nursing home, that staff is tested once a week, and seniors do have to be careful wherever they are. Governor cuomo, id love to keep going but i am out of time. I appreciate you coming on, sharing your perspective with us. Stay safe out there. Thanks, you too. When we come back, my interview with President Trumps former National Security adviser john bolton. 24 7 protection. As it [ cellphone chimes ] [ clears throat ] mara, hello. [ cellphone clicking ] yeah . We can see you on your phone. Oh, my bad. You can continue. [ clicking continues ] [ cellphone chimes ] i think shes still on the phone. [ cellphone chimes ] there are so many toothpastes out there, which one should i use . Try crest pro active defense. It neutralizes bacteria for a healthier mouth than even the leading multibenefit toothpaste. Crest. Then you might have a dcondition called dry mouth. . Biotene is clinically proven to soothe and moisturize a dry mouth. Plus, it freshens breath. Biotene. Immediate and long lasting dry mouth symptom relief. Welcome back. Its been only five days since john boltons book the room where it happened hit bookstores. In that time President Trump has called his former National Security adviser, a fool, crazy, and someone who wanted to drop bombs on everyone. Bolton has dropped verbal bombs of his own saying mr. Trump is easily duped by adversaries, is unfit for office, and has used his power as president for personal gain. Joining me is the author of said book. Master bolton, welcome back to met the press, sir. Thanks for having me. Well, before we get to the substance of your book, i want to get to what we just learned over the last 48 hours. There was reporting this weekend that an arm reported by the New York Times that an arm of Russian Military intelligence has secretly been paying bounties to talibanlinked militias to kill american and other Coalition Forces in afghanistan. Theres a lot we dont know. The u. S. Government has not confirmed or denied the intelligence report. They have only simply denied that the president was informed in march of this. Im just curious of your initial reaction to this report, ambassador. Well, as you say, theres a lot we dont know so we should be cautious. But what we do know from the president s own tweets this morning, to me it looks like just another day at the office at the trump white house. Ive never recalled a circumstance where the president himself goes out of his way to say he wasnt briefed on something. We may be in what the definition of is is here. When you say briefed, does that mean hes never been told anything about it . We dont know the quality of the intelligence or the extent of it. If it does go back to march that raises other questions. The key point is if theres any accuracy to it, if the russians have actually been paying to see americans killed, that is a very, very serious matter. Im just curious. If there was an intelligence assessment like this, can you imagine a scenario where it is withheld from the president . That part of it just seems extraordinarily hard to believe, is it not for you . It depends on what the level of confidence in the intelligence is. I tried during my tenure at my white house to read as much intelligence as i could. That doesnt mean i passed all of it on to trump and others. I think its important to understand there needs to be a filter for any president , maybe particularly for this president. Theres obviously more to this story, but it is remarkable to say that the president is going out of his way to say he hadnt heard anything about it. One asks, why would he do Something Like that . I think the answer may be precisely because active russian aggression like that against American Service members is a very, very serious matter. And nothings been done about it, if its true, for the past four or five months. It may look like hes negligent but of course he can disown everything if nobody ever told him bill. About it. Let me ask you this, do you think that the president is afraid to make putin mad because maybe putin did help him win the election and he doesnt want to make him mad for 2020 . Honestly, i dont think theres evidence for that, and i think its a mistake on the one hand to say the russia collusion theory was true, which some opponents of trump still cant let go of im not saying collusion. Versus trump himself hang on im not saying collusion on this. Hang on. Hang on. Versus the donald trump approach which is the russians didnt do anything at all in the election. I think its clear from all of the data, and its been discussed publicly, of course the russians tried to interfere in the 2016 election. And theyre going to try and do it again this year. As will the chinese and maybe the iranians and the north koreans. Thats why during the trump administration, whether the president was fully cognizant of it or not, the agencies and departments charged with trying to prevent that worked very hard to increase our defenses. So why is the president so defensive about putin . I dont as i say, i dont read anything into it necessarily. If i had evidence, i would reveal it. I just dont know what to say other than he likes dealing with strong, authoritarian figures. Youve made it clear that you think the president is unfit for office. Do you think a second term of donald trump is an existential threat to the country . Im very worried about it. I think damage has been done in the first term. I lay it out in the book as i see it. But i believe america can recover from one term of donald trump. I believe that very, very strongly. Im more worried about a second term. And its not just decisions in the National Security space. Im worried about the corruption of the civil discourse in this country by a president who says the sorts of things that you quoted at the outset of our discussion. I think it i think it degrades the body politic. There are plenty of other people doing the same thing, dont get me wrong. I just think its unpresident ial to behave that way, and that will have serious consequences. Let me ask you about the impeachment and your decision not to testify. This week the new yorker profiled fiona hill, who was the russia National Security director during your tenure, who did testify during the house impeachment investigation, and there was this anecdote in there, ambassador. After hills testimony bolton asked sarah tinsley, a longtime aide to relay a personal message. You did the right thing. If it was the right thing for fiona hill, sir, why wasnt it the right thing for you . Because i was in a different circumstance. My Deputy Charlie kupperman was subpoenaed by the house, he was directed by the white house not to testify. He went to court. You have the one branch, the legislative branch, saying one saying one thing, the Judicial Branch saying another, the house of representatives wrote the subpoena. Ive written in the book and the house advocates of impeachment committed impeachment malpractice. I think they played right into Donald Trumps strategy, and last a real opportunity by creating a partisan issue when they might have gotten some republicans who could have helped out. And by the end of the process i think everybody, including on the republican side believe that there was a quid pro quo in ukraine, but the house effort didnt take into account the possibility that the white house would argue successfully that even if it were true it didnt rise to the level of an impeachable offense. I think there was another way to do this. We saw it in watergate when there was bipartisan cooperation. If i were one of those that had advocated impeachment in the house, id be looking for other people to blame at the moment, too. Final question. Youve made the case that a second term of donald trump would be really damaging. You have said, though, that you cannot support a joe biden candidacy. What is worse, in your mind . A second trump term or a first term of joe biden . Its a comparison of apples and oranges. Im very unhappy and i dont think im untypical of a lot of conservative republicans who really wish there was a conservative republican on the ballot. Some will vote for joe biden. I respect that. Im not going to do that. Im going to write in the name of a conservative republican. I think others will probably just not vote at the president ial level at all. Its not an easy choice. Its not a happy choice and i wish there were an alternative. Maybe one will come. I dont see it, but thats where we are at the moment. And you have said that you really want to focus on helping republicans keep the senate. George will, who i know youre familiar with, has argued that Senate Republicans have enabled donald trump too much and they are part of the problem. What do you say to his critique . Well, i have enormous respect for george will and have over the years. Look, this is part of, i think, the damage to the political system that donald trump has done, that everything has been torqued around donald trump personally. I think politics is about philosophy. And thats why i think ultimately it is critical for the republic that the republican keep the majority in the Senate Whether trump wins or loses. Ambassador bolton, i have to leave it there. I appreciate you coming on, sharing your perspective. Your book has made quite the splash, and i have a feeling it may linger for some time. Good luck out there. Well, thanks very much. When we come back, the polling, all the polling has gotten much worse for President Trump. Is he able to change the direction of this race . The panel is next. After my dvt blood clot. I wondered. Could another come around the corner . Or could it play out differently . I wanted to help protect myself. My doctor recommended eliquis. Eliquis is proven to treat and help prevent another dvt or pe blood clot. Almost 98 percent of patients on eliquis didnt experience another. And eliquis has significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. Eliquis is fdaapproved and has both. 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Wherever you may go, lexus will welcome you back with exceptional offers on exceptional vehicles. Get zero percent financing and make no payments for up to 90 days on all 2020 lexus models. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. Welcome back. The panel is with us from their remote locations. Eddie glaude jr. , princeton university, author of james baldwins america and the urgent lessons for our own. Nbc news capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt and hugh hewitt, host on the salem radio network. I want to begin with an answer that has made the rounds in the political world and it was an answer the president gave to a simple question sean hannity asked him, whats your agenda for a second term . Here it is, hugh hewitt. What are your top priority items for a second term . One of the things that will be really great, the word experience is still good. I always say talent is more important than experience, ive always said that. But the word experience is a very important word, it has a very important meaning. I never did this before, i never slept over in washington, i was in washington i think 17 times, all of a sudden im president of the United States, you know the story, im riding down pennsylvania avenue with our first lady and i say, this is great. But i didnt know very many people in washington, it wasnt my thing. I was from manhattan, from new york. Now i know everybody and i have great people in the administration. You make some mistakes like an idiot like bolton, all he wanted to do was drop bombs on everybody. Was that roger mudd redux . That was Clayton Kershaw windup and the president did not want to throw the pitch, which is well get back to 3. 5 unemployment in january, i have two Supreme Court justices, 53 Appeals Court judges, 143 District Court judges, were going to have the economic blue collar boom back. Youve got to deliver on the pitch, but no, i didnt think it was a roger mudd moment at all. Kasie hunt, we have started this week for the first time public, ontherecord criticism of the president s political messaging. John thune probably the most prominent. Is this the beginning of a crack, at least, in a rhetorical split, between Senate Republicans and the white house . Well, chuck, weve asked ourselves that over and over and over again, and it never has been. But on the other hand, the president previously was winning. He had republican support behind him. And the theory was that the Republican Base was going to get them across the finish line and therefore bring Senate Republicans along. And this pandemic, i think, has really shattered that theory of the case as we have seen this president s numbers sink in a substantial way. And i dont think you can disconnect that from the rhetoric were hearing from Senate Republicans. As you pointed out, this isnt a situation where the only americans who are following politics are the ones who are the most invested, the most partisan. The coronavirus has affected and touched every single american household. The numbers of americans who know someone who has died from coronavirus are terribly high, and theyre much higher among households of color who are also newly reengaged in the wake of George Floyds death. And if you are someone who is relying on the president s coattails to get you across the finish line in november, this is a very, very difficult place to be. Now, i think the sense is going to be, especially for many voters who have been tuned into this all of the way along, that it is far too little, too late for these republicans to break with the president at this stage, chuck. Right. Eddie, why do you believe its been the virus that has produced the first cracks in that floor of support . One of the things we noticed is that for the first time, instead of sitting at that 44, 45 mark subornly, no matter what happened, this is the first time youre starting to see, and its slow, but youre starting to see cracks, and he went down a couple of floors. Hes more like in the 40, 41 age. Why the virus how did the virus make this happen while none of those other stories did . In some ways, chuck, the virus isnt partisan. It doesnt care about politics to my mind. And what it has done in some ways it has created a continuity and a similarity across our differences. Were all vulnerable, and some are more vulnerable than others, and were all strong deal with the fact that some of us have lost loved ones and we cant send them home. We cant attend their funerals. We cant celebrate their lives like we wanted to, like we would ordinarily do. So i think at the end of the day, everyday, ordinary people around the country want a response from the federal government to a pandemic that has disrupted everything in our lives. And i think the administration has failed. Its failed not only democrats, its failed republicans, independents, its at alled all americans. Hugh, how would you advise the president to turn this around . It does look like at this point theyve made the decision and the federal government isnt going to own the response. Secretary azar kept bringing it back to the states, back to the states. I understand thats a federalism response, but its not working. Well, yesterday 500 americans died, chuck, and in germany 680 germans died. The United States death toll has dropped dramatically from may when it was 2,700. And in between, its been a month and three days since george floyd was murdered. In between we had millions of americans express their anger at overzealous policing and the unnecessary use of violence, often lethal, against africanamericans and that was an event in the story of this virus. Theres another event in the story of the virus. Theres a ventilator supply now of 50,000 that the president got done. There is a lot more social distancing and a lot of Older Americans are intuitively staying away. And the sharp rise in cases is among younger americans. So what i think the president has to do look, joe biden is very confident. Hes measuring the drapes in the white house basement already. He thinks hes got this in the bag. The president needs to, as i said in the first sentence go back to his numbers and say, hey, america, whos going to get us back to where we were in january . Joe biden in the basement or donald trump . I think hes got to do that in oneonone interviews with as many people, including you and people who might be very tough on him in conversation, every day, a oneonone interview like he did in 2016. To republicans want the federal government to take more responsibility for this response . Yes. Yes. Absolutely yes. This has been an unmitigated disaster from the perspective of many of them. Im sorry, but this picture that hugh is painting of americans looking at the way the world was in january and deciding in june that President Trump is the one to fix the problems that frankly cascaded on his watch seems to me to be something certainly that when i talk to Senate Republicans behind closed doors, they dont buy. Im going to pause the conversation here, but i promise everybodys got another shot at this in a moment. When we come back, just how far behind the world is the United States in combatting the coronavirus . Thats next. Heres a razor that works differently. 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The only thing stronger than us, is you. Shes confident, protected, we aint stoppin believe me go straight till the morning look like we wont wait, were taking everything we wanted we can do it all strength, no sweat welcome back. Data download time. Lets take a look at how the United States is doing compared with other countries in controlling the coronavirus. At 107 cases per 1 Million People, the United States has one of the highest infection rates in the world. Brazils is higher with a sevenday average of 163 infections per 1 million. Russia and indian are also in doubledigits per 1 million, and of course we cant be sure how accurate the reporting is in all cases. At other end of the data, germany and italy have made large strides in containing the virus. Both were above 60 new infections per 1 Million People at one point, andnor in the single digits. As we pass the sixmonth mark of the virus in the countries, the data first infection does not seem to be playing into infection rates either. The United States had its earliest recorded covid19 case on january 21st. With all of the other countries like brazil following a week or so later. And it should be noted, the United States is not only the wealthiest nation. We also have the highest Health Care Spending of any of these nations. President trump argues the numbers are only rising because the United States is testing more, but the data suggests that other factors are driving this increase. For instance, the United States positive test rate is 6 percentage positive test rate is 6 percentage points, that is higher than all of the other countries except india. Compared with germany at. 9 and italy where the percentage of positive cases is much lower, lower than 1 , actually, one thing of the struggling countries that all of them have in common is leaders like President Trump and bolsonaro in brazil who have played down the threat of the virus. Obvious, no one leader is entirely responsible for infection rates but as the pandemic continues the politics and data seem to carry a warning the voices at the top matter and may matter a lot. When we come back, the growing debate over taking down monuments. S. Lets be honest. Quitting smoking is hard. Like, quitting every monday hard. Quitting feels so big. So try making it smaller, and youll be surprised at how easily starting small can lead to something big. Start stopping with nicorette. Starting small can lead to i dont have to worry aboutg. That, do i . Are irritated. Harmful bacteria lurk just below the gum line. Crest gum detoxify, voted product of the year. 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Thats why centrum contains 24 key nutrients to support your energy. So you can take care of what matters most. And try new centrum minis today. Wherever you make go, lexus will welcome you back with exceptional offers. Get zero percent financing and make no payments for up to 90 days on all 2020 lexus models. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. Welcome back. Panel is back. Kasie hunt, im going to start by giving a hat tip to the team. We put together, were here at the halfway mark of this calendar year. These are the notable Important News events of the First Six Months of this year. It starts with the killing of soleimani. Im sure many americans, many viewers, probably forgot that was the beginning of this year. The Iowa Caucuses broke down, didnt know who the winner was. There was a point joe biden was in fifth place. We could go on and on and on. At some point the virus becomes a dominant feature of this timeline. Kasie hunt, in going through this exercise, when i hear people say, oh, geez, theres still a long time to go, i think of this list and think, boy, a lot of things have happened and nothing changed the trajectory of this for donald trump. Chuck, i do think on the one hand its easy to look at that list, think, man, what are we going to add to it between now and november . There are many possibilities a lot of us dont want to contempla contempla contemplate. On the other hand, we also know, history teaches us that heading into any election this is often the period of time that sets things not necessarily in stone but a firm trajectory thats very difficult to reorient. Worry back to when barack obama was running against mitt romney they defined him in this spring and summer period and couldnt come back in the fall and thats a big risk for President Trump, this time of year is going to cement what he is able to do or not do in the fall and the challenge is avoiding complacency under these circumstances. I think theyre remembering back to what happened back to Hillary Clinton and think complacency is not as big of a risk for him because of what happened there. Hugh hewitt, if there was a message of the week from the administration, it was that they wanted to show there was a concerted effort here that they were on the side of protecting statues. The administration. The social media platforms, had the president s letter to chicago. Do you think an oldstyle lawandorder type of messaging really is the right messaging right now . I heard a different message, chuck. I think theres a consensus the statues of the confederacy have to come down, name e ed for tre, have to be renamed. I think theres a consensus on that. Theres also a consensus that they have to be changed by lawful methods, not by mob violence. I thought tom cottons speech on the floor of the senate talking about mob violence and lincolns speech was really well received. I do believe what kasie just said, complacency on the democratic side is their biggest danger. The democrats have gone hard left. Hard left. And the phantom of joe biden on the top of that is not going to cover over the aoc and the squads effect on the party. Eddie, your school, princeton, is dropping wilsons name. Its something i know you write about in your book. It looks like mississippi is on its way to dropping the confederate emblem that was in their state flag being the final Southern State to do this. What does this mean for us in the story of america . Well, i think were in a moment of reckoning. I dont think what brother hugh just laid out in terms of the fear of the radical left is whats going to drive us. Its really about our story. Who do we take ourselves to be . Look, mississippi put the stars and bars in its flag at 1894. And now the president of the s. E. C. Told them we might not have championship events in your state if you continue to embrace the confederacy. So theres big business thats bringing pressure to bear. And theres everyday ordinary people who say what are you commending to us when you celebrate these sorts of folk who held the view that africanamericans were inferior. So in some wayways, chuck, i ar this in the book, were at an inflection point, were trying to imagine ourselves differently. Its not just going to take the form of symbols. Its going to take the form of policy. We need to put the two together i think in a very clear and concise way. Im curious, very quickly, what the Woodrow Wilsons place in history now, eddie, what should it what should it be . Well, it should be, very quick, it should just facts. We should tell the truth about who he is and who he was. Right . Tell the truth about his achievements and tell the truth about his faults and fill yeail. Thats what we need to do and give an interpretation of his presidency that actually reveals how flawed we are and how were always on the road, not necessarily to a more Perfect Union but to a more just society. Right. We need to commend the values we uphold and cherish as we tell the story of the people who made us who we are. Right. Well, before i say goodbye this morning, i want to take note this is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the negro leagues this year. A tip your hat campaign to bring recognition to those who played in the negro leagues when africanamericans were banned from baseball. President s clinton, bush, have paid tribute. In honor of this anniversary im happy to tip my homestead grays hat, team that played right in washington, d. C. , in honor of the negro leagues. Happy anniversary. Thats all for today. Thank you for watching and well be back next week because if its sunday, its meet the press. Good evening, and welcome. Im joy reid. I cant breathe. Its been a month since those last words from george floyd and his death after 8 minutes and 46 seconds in a police choke hold took the movement for Police Reform and made it global. And now these voices have reached the halls of congress. No justice