Recordings released by bob woodward. There right now is a massive effort under way by the white house and the administration to recast what the president clearly said on those calls. Hindsight is 20 20. Recriminations, what the president was communicating, i believe what you hear in that february tape was the seriousness with which he took this from day one. Heres what he actually said, that he, the president , deliberately misled the American Public about what he knew about the coronavirus, the severity of it, and when he knew it. It goes through air, bob, thats always tougher than the touch. The touch, you dont have to touch things. But the air, you just breathe the air, and thats how its passed. And so thats a very tricky one. Thats a very delicate one. Its also more deadly than your, you know, even your strenuous flus. We now know that as he was admitting to bob woodward that the virus was deadly and airborne, he was also holding packed rallies with thousands of supporters inside and he mocked the use of masks. Excerpts from the book describe a president who is unwilling or unable to think critically and responsibly and not just on the coronavirus. As the country faced a racial reckoning, the likes of which we have not seen since the civil rights era, mr. Trump admitted systemic racism is a problem, but he mocked bob woodward for asking him to acknowledge his privilege as a white wealthy man. Do you have any sense that that privilege has isolated and put you in a cave to a certain extent . No. You really drank the koolaid, didnt you . Just listen to you. Wow. I dont feel bad at all. And as north Korean Leader kim jongun planned to take up nuclear arms and threatened a u. S. Ally, we now know President Trump was exchanging over 20 letters with the deckitator, one of which reportedly described in graphic detail how kim ordered the killing of his own uncle. At the same time, the president was denigrating his own u. S. Generals with insults that i frankly cant repeat on live television. So heres what we know. There is no greater test to leadership than times of crisis. The president has indeed been tested. We are in the midst of a Global Pandemic that has devastated american lives and our economy. It is a crisis. And we have also reached a pivot point on racial injustice. The question voters across america are now going to have to answer for themselves is, is this the kind of leadership they are looking for . Do they consider this leadership . Lets begin at the white house, where the administration is in damage control, only hours before what was going to be a planned Campaign Event in michigan. Carol, how is the white house trying to explain this away . Look, katy, theyre on defense. Thats what we have seen in the past 24 hours. And its really kind of twofold. Theres this effort to try to discredit the source. We have seen this from the president before. So theyre going after bob woodward, the president s called his book a hit job. And theyre saying other disparaging things about that, the process under which the president cooperated with this book. And then also, theyre kind of doing this, theres nothing to see here, excuse. Saying, you know, for instance, that when the president didnt want people to panic, thats why he was downplaying the virus. Sort of like, of course, i was downplaying the virus. I didnt want people to panic. The problem with panic is thats, a, part of the president s brand generally. He insights panic or anxiety, its part of his political strategy, whether its a caravan or other issues that he tweeted today about the suburbs and the angry mob is going to come and take over the suburbs if joe biden gets elected, things like that. But the president is hearing from allies who are telling him that he needs to get on offense. Its enough with the defense. He needs to go on offense. He needs to, you know, tell the story of his handling of coronavirus in the way he wants to tell it to push back on this. We might see some of that from him today when he comes out and holds this press conference in about an hour from now. And they also want the president to go after joe biden on this. Hold joe biden account frbl what he was saying at the same time as the president. Cherry pick his comments and those of his allies. But this is a tough one, and they were really caught flat footed on this. They didnt know it was coming. The president spent a lot of time with bob woodward. Now theyre trying to clean it up, and whether or not he shifts his strategy from defense to offense remains to be seen. Joe biden was not president of the United States at the time. He wasnt getting those intel briefings as the president was. Carol lee, thank you so much. And joining me now is michigan Lieutenant Governor garlin gilchrist, former Obama White HouseHealth Policy adviser, zeke emanuel, and barry mccaffrey. We want to have a conversation under the umbrella of leadership during a time of crisis, and starting first on the coronavirus and the president s words, zeke, that he didnt want to incite panic. Thats why he wasnt honest with the American Public, thats why he lied to the American Public about it. Whats your reaction . Horrible. You need leadership. And you need the president to exert leadership and part of that leadership is coming clean with the public about what to expect and what the country needs them to do to respond. Instead, the president has mocked people who have responded by social distancing, Wearing Masks, its just the wrong response. Think of any great leader in our country. They acknowledge the problem, and they tell you what they need you to do and what they are going to do for you to resolve the problem. Thats what Franklin Roosevelt would have done, thats what Abraham Lincoln did. That is what Winston Churchill did. Downplaying an event and putting your head in the sand and pretending it doesnt exist, thats childish. Thats what toddlers do. That is not what True National leaders do. Senator mike braun was just on the last hour saying that we are in a best Case Scenario right now. Between 150,000 and 200,000 dead. He attributed that to anthony fauci. If we had acted sooner, if the president had been honest with the American Public, and people like leaders of states, Lieutenant Governor garlin gilchrist, for instance, could have been in a position to address it head on with what the president knew, can you quantify the number of lives that potentially could have been saved . Well, look at the absolute best countries. Singapore, taiwan, south korea, and what you can see is that, you know, those countries, taiwan, fewer than 500 cases. Seven deaths in the whole country. You scale up that to the United States, and basically, we have, you know, 99 of the deaths disappear. So were not going to do as good as taiwan. Say we do what italy did. Italy had a big wave right at the start, but since that time, since basically the end of may, they have had almost nothing. Thats about, you know, 40 fewer deaths than we have. Thats the difference. 40 fewer deaths. Thats about 70,000, 80,000 Americans Still alive who unfortunately died. Thats the difference of leadership. Lieutenant governor, if you had known earlier the information that the president had, the severity of it, that it was airborne, that it was very deadly, more serious than the flu, the stuff that he was downplaying in public but getting the truth in private, if you had that information and you and governor whitmer, what would have you done with michigan differently . We acted as soon as we could with the information that we had, a month before the virus even set foot in the state of michigan, and the truth is, we have more than 6,000 people who have died in michigan, 23 people in my own life. But if the president would have acted a week earlier, 36,000 lives could have been saved. Two weeks earlier, 52,000 lives could have been saved. And many of those would have been in the state of michigan. We would have been able to deploy ppe faster, work to get our testing supplies, but you have to remember also while he was lying, im not even going to call it downplaying, while he was lying in a dangerous and deadly way about covid19, he was also blocking states like michigan from having the resources we needed to respond. We dont have a National Testing strategy, we still dont have a National Approach to contact tracing. We still dont have infrastructure for isolation. We had to create that on the fly in michigan, and thanks to michiganders actually listening to the science and Wearing Masks as we have asked them to in the state of michigan because the president refuses to call for that, hes killing people. This is something we cannot tolerate, and in michigan, we have done everything we can to act in spite of him because he hasnt been helpful. Well, you mentioned ppe. Part of the president s defense, and he said it yesterday, well play the sound bite, is he didnt want prices to go up on ppe. Lets listen. The job we have done has been incredible. But we dont want to we dont want to instill panic. We dont want to jump up and down and start shouting that we have a problem that is a tremendous problem, scare everybody, and ill tell you the other thing, we immediately started buying all over the world. We started buying masks and gowns and everything else. And we dont want to cause pricing to go up to a level that becomes almost unaffordable. Lieutenant governor . Its ridiculous that anyone still trusts donald trump on the economy when he talks about supply and demand. The truth is, the president created a bidding war that set states against one another trying to bid for personal protective equipment for ventilators, for viral transport media and all of the things we needed for testing components. He created a bidding war, which frankly, did break that economy. Thats yet another thing he failed at in this covid19 response. No one should trust him on covid19 or the economy that he destroyed with his failed response to it. So one of the other subjects of the book is the way the president listened to and treated his generals. Other experts around him, and this dovetails, general mccaffrey, with what we were learning from that atlantic article from Jeffrey Goldberg last week. The president called his generals fing ps. I cant repeat the full name on television. They care more about their alliances than they do about trade deals. And there was one point in this book where bob woodward reports that general mattis told dni dan koe coats there may come a time where we have to take collective action because donald trump is dangerous. He is unfit. Is this the time that would have arisen for those two men had they still been in office . Well, of course, mattis is undoubtedly referring to the amendment by which in theory a cabinet can remove a predator from office. It was never a realistic possibility. But look, katy, at the end of the day, poor mr. Trump is actually unfit for office. Its not just his contempt for his military leadership. Saying that essentially these guys are feeding dollars to Defense Industry and really love war. A generation of officers that grew up in combat, we have had 60,000 killed and wounded in the war on terror, so people like the Service Chiefs have had multiple deployments. Their sons and daughters are in uniform. My son was 26 years in uniform. So his contempt for the armed forces suckers and losers is simply unbelievable. I just listened to an interview with chuck todd last hour from general tony zinni, and we ought to Pay Attention to this guy. Hes one of the most respected military leaders in the last 50 years, marine four star, tremendous courage and competence. Talking in a very emotional way. None of us in the retired Community Want the active duty leadership to do anything but follow legal orders. And stay out of the political process. But i personally am ashamed of the republican senators and congressmen who have not spoken up about this dreadful insult to the armed forces and his contempt for our allies. It is outrageous. You know, that was something that came up in politico playbook today. Asking the question of what was surprising about this book, since we have all experienced the same donald trump for the past five years. And wondering out loud if the question should be rather complicity and those people who are around him who have bent over backwards to explain away instances like this or who have remained silent. Look, i think a lot of white house people are thirdtier characters. I dont pay them much attention. Im concerned about some of these major republican congressmen who have been in office for decades, who know whats going on. Senator rob portman, a personal friend, its unbelievable theyre not speaking up about this situation. By the way, one of the aspects of that book, one anecdote meaningful to me was mr. Trumps delight in learning more about how kim jongun murdered his uncle. His uncle was brutally beaten almost to death, humiliated in front of a large crowd. Then there was a mass gathering in a public execution. Mr. Trump sounds like some wanna be mafioso. Its just, what kind of person do we have as commander in chief . One that shouldnt be in office, in my judgment. Theres also this excerpt that just came out from the book about mbs and saudi arabia. I saved his a trump said in 2018, amid the outcry over khashoggis murder. I was able to get congress to leave him alone. I was able to get them to stop. Its a widely held belief that jamal khashoggi, the order to kill him was made by mbs, as from business insider, excuse me. Lieutenant governor gilchrist, i have one more question for you. I played the sound earlier so i wont repeat it, but in the weeks after george floyd was killed when bob woodward was talking to him about systemic racism and white privilege, the president responding to woodward when he wondered aloud himself whether he had benefitted from it and what he needed to do to rectify the situation. The president said to him, well, you drank the koolaid, havent you . Whats your response to that . Donald trumps disconnection from reality and from the experiences of americans, particularly black americans, has been deadly on every front. Whether its deadly in terms of not caring about the calls for justice and inequity from the police and Law Enforcement professionals or the Racial Disparities in covid19. The fact he did not take responsibility here, its par for the course. You know, for someone who golfs so much, i guess he understands that. He has not taken responsibility for any of his failures, but americans, but all of us, we bear the responsibility. We bear the pain. It is americans who are dying. Its black people who are suffering and calling for justice in the streets, and donald trump does not hear them because he does not care about us. His solution to any problem is more of himself and less of the american people. And that is not the kind of leadership we need, and that is why we are seeing such a stark difference. Joe biden was here in michigan yesterday, talking to real people. When donald trump is here today, hell talk about himself and tell more lies to the american people. Michigan Lieutenant Governor garlin gilchrist, zeke emanuel, and barry mccaffrey, thank you so much for sorting through what is a wide range of issues that have come out from this book. We appreciate all of your time. And still to come, an update on the raging wildfires that are creating near apocalyptic scenes across california and the pacific northwest. This is not an instagram filter. This is the sky in the middle of the day in california. Plus, delaware is taking its fight against Climate Change to court. More on that states lawsuit against big oil. First up, a dhs whistleblower has come forward with claims that our countrys intelligence assessments on everything from russian interference to domestic terrorism have been modified to please the president. Former Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff joins me next. We have a lot going today. Stay with us. Us were all finds to keep moving. But how do we make sure the direction were headed is forward . At fidelity, youll get the planning and advice to prepare you for the future, without sacrificing the things that are important to you today. Well help you plan for healthcare costs, taxes and any other uncertainties along the way. Because with fidelity, you can feel confident that the only direction youre moving is forward. If you experiencedelity, youbladder leaks,ident you shouldnt have to sacrifice discretion for protection. Try always discreet. 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My entire career and business were in jeopardy. I called reputation defender. Vo take control of your online reputation. Get your free reputation report card at reputationdefender. Com. Find out your online reputation today and let the experts help you repair it. Woman they were able to restore my good name. Vo visit reputationdefender. Com or call 18778668555. A whistleblower from the department of Homeland Security says top Agency Officials wanted him to downplay intelligence assessments on russian interference because it, quote, made the president look bad, according to his complaint, former top dhs Intelligence Analyst bryan murphy also accused the department of trying to focus on the existing targets of the president sire, like antifa and, quote, anarchist groups instead of white supremacist violence. Murphy also says former dhs secretary Kirstjen Nielsen lied up the number of terrorists coming across the southern border in her testimony before congress. Again, to bolster a political narrative for President Trump. In a statement to nbc news, a spokesperson for dhs says, quote, we flatly deny there is any truth to the merits of mr. Murphys claim. And a lawyer for Kirstjen Nielsen says in part, quote, mr. Murphys allegations about secretary nielsens testimony are demonstrably false. Joining me now is Michael Chertoff, he served as secretary of Homeland Security under the george w. Bush administration. Thank you for joining us. Your thoughts on this whistleblower allegation that the information, this intelligence assessment was tailored to suit the needs of the president and also withheld from the public initially. We need to begin by saying this is, of course, just an allegation. Hasnt been proven yet, and this, by the way, is the individual who was also accused of having corrected intelligence on journalists, and in the complabt co complaint he filed, he attacks the press and says the press misrepresented what he did. In terms of the specifics, we have to wait until we get some clarity and evidence. That being said, it would obviously be grossly improper to attempt to alter or tailor intelligence reporting in order to further the president s personal political agenda. And we know the president has displayed his disrespect for the integrity of the Intelligence Community in the past and continues to do so. Theres no question the russians are currently interfering our attempting to interfere with our election. Its been reported both from Tech Companies and from the Intelligence Community itself. The dnis office. Likewise, trying to minimize the role of White Supremacists in committing acts of violence is directly contrar to the facts. This is part of what i think your guest in the last segment were also averting to, the president views the organs of government as political tools whose principle objective has to be to serve his personal interests. Now, often, we see pushback and we see that in the military. But this is a constant battle, and sometimes the truth loses. Lets talk a little bit more about the white supremacist issue. Im going to read more from the whistleblower report. Mr. Cuccinelli stated mr. Murphy needed to specifically modify the section on White Supremacy in a manner that made the threat appear less severe as well as include information on the prominence of violent leftwing groups. Elizabeth neumann who was also at dhs and has since quit said part of the reason she did quit is because the department was not taking seriously the threat of White Supremacists. We heard the president repeatedly refuse to engage directly on white supremacist violence, instead immediately deflecting to antifa or to extremists or anarchists, as he calls them, as he says, on the left side. Not engaging directly with White Supremacists. As somebody who used to work in dhs, talk to me about that threat. Well, i mean, its Crystal Clear that White Supremacists in the last few years have committed acts of domestic terrorism and killed more americans than even the jihadis from al qaeda or isis, and theyre quite open about the fact that theyre out there to commit mayhem and violence, and theres been plenty of reporting about this. Ironically, dhs recently indicated that they did have a strategy. They wanted to release relating to white supremacist violence, but we havent seen the strategy yet. So my suspicion is its kind of a tugofwar as to how much leeway the dhs personnel will have to actually educate other Law Enforcement and the public about White Supremacists. I want to say this. Most of the people that are in th the agency are career people dedicated to the job. I know from speaking to them even now, they really want to tell the truth. And they want to be accurate, and they want to protect the country. And the problem is the white house is trying to stifle that when it doesnt fit with the president s political narrative. That requires constant vigilance in not allowing, again, political expediency to overrule truth. Let me ask you quickly while youre here, are you concerned about violence surrounding the election if donald trump were to lose . After all, he said repeatedly the only way he can lose is if the election is rigged . Im very concerned. Im concerned about violence that would attempt to interfere with people voting in person. In certain areas which are likely to be probiden. Im concerned that if theres delay in the count, which im sure is almost certain given the fact were going to have a lot of mailins, that he may encourage his acolytes on the right to muster with guns and violence and threats in order to intimidate Election Officials and local officials. And i think weve got to be prepared now to push back against any effort to do what they do in places like russia where they use force to try to maintain power. Michael chertoff, thank you so much for joining us. I know this is a conversation were going to have continuously as we get closer to election day. We have been doing some reporting on the threat as well and what were seeing online surrounding it. Thank you very much. Thank you. And coming up next, were going to turn to the devastating wildfires raging out west. They are getting worse, and they are deadly. Well get an update from the ground, and with the evidence of Climate Change right in front of us, youll hear from delawares attorney general who is taking fossil fuel companies to court for what she calls their campaign of deception. At least 15 people are now dead in the fastmoving mega fires along the west coast. Hundreds of thousands are under mandatory evacuation orders. A record shattering heat wave, strong offshore winds and Climate Change have created the perfect storm for the extreme fire behavior we have seen over the last few days. From plumes of smoke 40,000 feel high to vortexes of vire, the devastation is astonishing. This is what ive got. What youre wearing now. This is what ive got. In washington, entire neighborhoods are blanketed in ash, as the state tops record high temperatures for a second day. In northern california, the sky turned a burnt orange as smoke from the 3. 1 million charred acres blocked out the sun. And in oregon, where firefighters are battling 37 active fires, hundreds of homes are now gone. Governor kate brown warned residents to brace for the worst as this fire season continues. I want to be up front in saying that we expect to see a great deal of loss. Both in structures and in human lives. This could be the greatest loss of human lives and property due to wildfire in our states history. With me now from phoenix, oregon, is nbc news correspondent jacob ward. Jacob, im going to start off with what the governor just said, that this could be the greatest loss of life because of a fire season in that states history. Reporter thats right, katy. Were seeing here people that are utterly shocked by the devastation thats all around them, and in neighborhood after neighborhood, were seeing the same sort of scene. I mean, i just want to sort of illustrate for you the power, the danger that this fire represented. Melting in this case glass. If you can imagine the kind of heat that it requires to make it drip and bubble in this way. Car tires gone. The entire interior, and then as your mind sort of expands out, you begin to see, right, this was someone who abandoned their vehicle. Maybe took off in another vehicle or had to leave on foot because the fire was so close and so intense. At this point, were looking at 37 active fires, 4 of which have been considered mega fires, something that oregon state fire Officials Say they have really never dealt with before. Theres a lot of talk also about the fire moving up from california, which begs this question of whether oregon and california are somehow creating a new kind of corridor that everyone is going to have to grapple with in a way that the state lines have never really had to deal with before. And i think in general, your brain just sort of, we go to these numbers. Right . The hundreds of thousands under mandatory evacuation orders, the numbers of dead, but to look across a landscape like this and see how many families have been displaced, see the emotional impact on the people we have been talking to all day, you know, the folks who really just say we have never seen this before. We did not see it coming. We just had enough time to grab papers and get out. It just shows you what oregon is in for in the future, katy. Jacob ward with some devastating images out in oregon. Jake, thank you so much. Lets turn to the firefight in california. Joining me now is colonel jesse miller of the California National guard. Colonel, thank you very much for joining us. There are a ton of fires in california right now. I believe there is an 800mile span between the extremes of the fires, covering the entire state. Do you have a handle on it . Can you get a handle on this many fires burning this intensely all at once . Well, hello, katy. Thank you for having us. Its a total team effort here in california. Were all working hard, the California National guard, federal government, cal fire, all our interagency partners. Were certainly getting after it, and we believe we can help to control and mitigate the Property Damage and help our citizens. Whats your biggest concern right now . Well, you hit on it. Its the number of fires burning concurrently, a large complex of fire in butte county, creek fire, sonoma, and sent santa co the mitigation efforts require a great deal of coord nasination our resources to make sure were taking care of multiple communities across the state. And as you know, california is a very large, populous state, so thats the challenge for us. Are you concerned about your guardsmen and women who are currently in the line of the line of fire, quite literally, right now, trying to save lives . Are you concerned for their safety given how intensely and how quickly these fires are burning . Well, of course, were always concerned about protection of our service members, but these are trained professionals. They receive training in fire mitigation, working closely with local agencies, the counties and cal fire to make sure theyre safe. And you know, were helping our communities, so were motivated, and we will accept the necessary risk to protect the people of california. Do you think our lawmakers are doing enough to address Climate Change given what youre seeing . Well, i think thats a good question. Governor newsom spoke on the effects of Climate Change to our state and our nation. Its certainly something were going to have to look at down the road in terms of how do we mitigate this in the future. Right now, were just fully engaged in the current fight and our operations to protect our citizens and our communities throughout the state on the line and on the tactical sense, our pilots, our service members. Just putting the fires out, containing them. Hopefully not too far down the road because these fires, they come quick, and they burn strong. Colonel jesse miller of the California National guard. Thank you so much for joining us, we appreciate it, and good luck. Thank you, katy. We appreciate it. And as the devastating effects of Climate Change increase in severity, one state is turning to the courts to fight it. With me now is delaware attorney general cathy jennings. Shes suing fossil fuel companies for what shes calling a campaign of deception around global Climate Change, making delaware the fourth state to do so after massachusetts, minnesota, and rhode island. We should also note that number of counties and cities have also filed suit, including a number of counties and cities in california, where those fires are raging. Thanks so much for being here. What are you alleging that these oil companies, these fossil fuel companies did that made Climate Change worse . Hello, katy. Thank you for having me on your show. Today, we filed a lawsuit that is all about deception, accountability, and greed. Its about who will pay for the mounting catastrophic financial costs, environmental damage, and Public Health costs of the climate crisis. This is about damages and it has been filed against the 32 defendants we believe are the most responsible in our country and specifically importantly today in delaware for causing such catastrophic damage. Its not about stopping Climate Change. Its about surviving it. And delaware has seen delaware is the lowest lying state on average in our country. And we have already seen substantial effects of Climate Change. Right now, the taxpayers are paying for those damages. And we believe that big oil should do it. We just had on the screen a portion from the lawsuit saying alleging that these fossil fuel companies have known for 50 years the damaging effects of Climate Change. What do you hope to accomplish by holding them accountable . What changes . So were seeking straight damages. And its a lawsuit that in its very traditional way is saying you knew about this. You have known about it for over half a century. You deliberately concealed it and deceived the public. And then you caused Climate Change to occur in our state. That has caused sea level rise. Its caused extremes in temperatures. Its caused extreme weather events, and what were saying to these 32 companies is its time for you to pay up. Youre the big dogs. You knew what you were doing. What you were doing was catastrophic. And it poses an existential risk to our environment, to our economics, and to the people in delaware. And we believe that they ought to pay to remediate for those damages, not the taxpayers who are paying right now. Now, with all of these suits from these four states and these cities and counties, nearly 1 in 10 u. S. Residents, thats 30. 7 million residents, are being represented against the fossil fuel companies in these lawsuits. Kathy jennings of delaware, thank you so much. Madam attorney general, i should say, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it. The nfl returns tonight. How the league is preparing for the possibility of covid outbreaks among teams. Plus new details on the unexplained illness that stopped a major vaccine trial in its tracks and what it means for the timeline to getting a safe vaccine. That is next. Cleaning power of liquid. Can it one up spaghetti night . It sure can. Really . Can it one up breakfast in bed . Yeah, for sure. Thanks, boys. What about that . Uhh, yep it can . Yeah, even that i would very much like to see that. Me too. Introducing tide power pods. One up the toughest stains with 50 more cleaning power than liquid detergent. Any further questions . Uh uh nope one up the power of liquid with tide power pods. During the fall, everyone who has medicare may be eligible to choose a new Medicare Health plan. But you may be able to choose a new plan right now. If you answer yes to any of these questions are you turning 65 . Do you have both medicare and medicaid . Do you have medicare . And are you losing Employer Health coverage . If you answered yes just once, you may be able to choose a Medicare Health plan right now. Call humana now at the number on your screen to see if you qualify. And well send you this helpful medicare decision guide. The call is free, and theres no obligation. Humana has nearly 60 years of Healthcare Experience and offers a wide range of allinone Medicare Advantage health plans that include medical and Prescription DrugCoverage Even dental and vision coverage on most plans plus valuable extras like the silver sneakers fitness program. And mail order prescription coverage. All for an affordable monthly plan premium. As low as 0 monthly plan premium in many areas. With humana, youll get more than original medicare alone and have the peace of mind of knowing youre covered for doctor visits and hospital stays. Plus, routine physicals and preventive screenings. And when it comes to prescriptions, in 2018, humanas Medicare AdvantagePrescription Drug plan members saved an estimated 7400 on average on their prescription costs. So call humana now at the number on your screen to see if you are eligible to enroll today and say yes to getting the right healthcare coverage without having to wait for it. Developments in the coronavirus pandemic. Here are the facts as we know them at this hour. A procedural vote on a, quote, skinny relief bill from Senate Republicans failed this afternoon. The bill offers 300 in extended weekly Unemployment Benefits but does not call for further stimulus checks for americans and does not include funding for states and cities. House democrats who passed a bill months ago called the package inadequate. 884,000 americans have now filed for firsttime claims of unemployment for last week. Total jobless claims are over 13 million. Economists warn that a resurgence of the virus this fall could further slow or even worse, reverse the economic recovery. The nfl returns tonight, kicking off its 2020 season with the super bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs hosting the houston texans. Mike tirico sat down with nfl commissioner Roger Goodell to ask about the leagues plans in the event of a covid outbreak. Weve got backups to backups to backups. And to be able to have experts in there that have watching closely, we have been fortunate. But we do expect there are going to be positives. We have, you know, we have 2,000 people playing this game. Another 1,000 coaches and personnel around in that area. And so we have to be prepared for that. And again, we are ready, but listen, this is a lot of uncertainty. The university of wisconsin madison is moving all Classes Online until at least september 25th. More than 1,000 students and employees have tested positive for the virus. Two Residence Halls with over 2,000 students have been ordered to quarantine. And were learning more about the illness that halted astrazenecas vaccine trial. A trial participant in the uk came down with a neurological disorder known as transverse milites. The condition is often triggers by viral infections. The trial has been put on pause as researchers investigate if the vaccine was responsible for the illness. Putting strain on the expedited timeline for a safe and effective vaccine. Joining me now is nbc news senior medical correspondent dr. John torres. So dr. Torres, thank you so much for joining us. I know you had a conversation with a u. S. Official about this today. What did you learn . Katy, youre right. On my doc to doc series i had dr. Francis collins from the nih, and what hes saying is we have heard all sorts of predictions, midoctober, maybe mid2021 to get this vaccine, and hes saying were doing the vaccine as fast as we can. It doesnt take much to slow it down, but something can happen. Heres exactly what he said about that. Im cautiously optimistic that we will have at least one of these six vaccines proving to be safe and effective by the end of 2020. So december. And theres no reason that i couldnt be a little bit wrong about that, because things can go wrong. The idea that we might have something a lot sooner than that seems improbable given all of the steps that have to be conducted. And what hes saying is it doesnt take much to slow these trials down. Science can only go at a certain pace, so when you hear some of these optimisms saying we might have it midoctober, the end of the year, hes saying possibly, but dont get your hopes up too much on that because it could take a lot longer. Hes saying the important thing is the safety. This should show people theyre taking things very seriously and give them the confidence when we do get the vaccine, its going to be a safe and effective vaccine, which is the primary importance overall, katy. Dr. Torres, how long will it take them to figure out if the was related to the vaccine, this transverse myelitis. They give the information to independent researchers and they take a week or so to get the data down, understand where its coming from, and decide whether they can restart the trial or not. If they find out it did not come from the vaccine, then its much easier to restart quickly. If it did come from the vaccine, they have to look and see, okay, what other possibilities are there . Is there a certain way she got it, a certain dosing, is there something in there that caused this to happen . What do we need to do to make sure it doesnt happen going forward. Over the next week or so, youll see them restarting this trial, katy. Dr. John torres, thank you so much. We appreciate it. And minnesota begins early voting next week. Is that state ready . Minnesotas secretary of state joins me after a quick break. Dont go anywhere. You should be mad at tech thats unnecessarily complicated. Make ice. Making ice. But youre not because you have e trade which isnt complicated. Their tools make trading quicker and simpler so you can take on the markets with confidence. Dont get mad get e trade. Gimme two minutes. Ke on the eligible for medicare. Ce. And ill tell you some important things to know about medicare. First, it doesnt pay for everything. Say this pizza. [mmm pizza. ] is your part b medical expenses. This much about 80 percent. Medicare will pay for. Whats left. This slice here. Well. Thats on you. And thats where an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by Unitedhealthcare Insurance Company comes in. This type of plan helps pay some of what medicare doesnt. And these are the only plans to carry the aarp endorsement. 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A Medicare Supplement plan helps pay some of what medicare doesnt. You know, the pizza slice. It allows you to choose any doctor, who accepts medicare patients. And these are the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. Whew call unitedhealthcare today and ask for this free decision guide. From the 2020 election, if you live on minnesota and plan on voting early in person. The 2020 Battle Ground state begins voting next week as it takes steps to make sure its residents have the opportunity to vote safely by mail. Lets bring in minnesota secretary of state steve simon. Thanks for joining us. I understand youre working from home and you have a small child so any interruptions we understand. Are you doing anything with the u. S. Postal service to make sure the ballots get to you in a timely fashion and get to you period and dont get lost in the mail . We are cautiously optimistic. Its my job to worry about all the details. This is a big one. With the u. S. Postal service whoever might be trying to slow things down is not going to stop us. Might there be delays . Sure. We have things in place in minnesota that will mitigate delays. We have by court order that will give everyone a 7day period to get the ballot from point a to point b. Thats going to go a long way. Others are using drop boxes around the state in case they dont trust the mail. Were trying to get the word out about that. All in all, despite what were reading and hearing about the Postal Service its full steam ahead to vote by mail. Can you also drop your ballot off at a poling place on election day . Not at a polling place, but at an Elections Office you can drop it off as well. In terms of how long it will take to count the vote, minnesota is potentially a swing state. What is your expectation for when youll have a result in your state . By definition because everyone gets until november 10th to get their ballot in we wont have 100 of the results in for a week. Thats very much by design, by the legislature and the courts in minnesota. What it doesnt mean is that we wont know winners for a week. We wont know the final results for a week. I counsel patience among everyone. This election is a going to be a little different. I suspect whether its the president ial result or most results, well know sooner rather than later who the winners are. I think on Election Night well know winners in most of the contests. Are you worried about fraud . You know, as i said, i get paid to worry about everything. Thats one item on the list. In minnesota we have a very clean record. We have multiple layers of security for mailin ballots or absentee ballots. Its not been a problem in the past. I feel good about where we are. Steve simon, the secretary of state of minnesota, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate all your time. Good luck with the vote count. That is going to do it for me today. We are waiting on a News Conference from President Trump that is expected to begin in just a couple minutes. Hell be answering questions on this bob woodward book and why he would mislead the public, lie to the public about how bad the coronavirus was, how contagious it was and how deadly it was. Why would you hold rallies with people inside packed together when you knew there was a deadly pandemic that was spreadable by air . Also make fun of masks, why would you do that . Ayman mohyeldin picks up our coverage after a quick break. Did you know the source of odor in your home. Could be all your soft surfaces . Odors get trapped in your homes fabrics and resurface over time. Febreze fabric refresher eliminates odors. Its waterbased formula safely penetrates fabrics where odors hide. Spray it on your rugs, your curtains, your furniture, all over your home to make it part of your tidying up routine. Febreze fabric refresher, for an allover freshness youll love. Good afternoon, everyone. Im Ayman Mohyeldin in new york. Any minute now President Trump will give a News Conference before heading to a Campaign Event in michigan. Hell likely be on the defense after admitting he minimized the effects of the coronavirus in tape recordings with bob woodward. The white house has been spinning the information. Theres that old saying in world war ii, keep calm and carry on. That was the president ial er