Transcripts For MSNBCW Dateline Extra 20200518 : vimarsana.c

Tomorrow minnesota will resume Retail Shopping with social distancing. In south florida, many businesses in miami dade and broward counties will begin reopening. In West Virginia gyms will reopen. Health officials continue to warn that this is all quite risky. The cdcs director dr. Robert redfield says his agency is tracking 12 different forecast models for coronavirus deaths. As of last monday, all the models predict a rising death toll topping 100,000 by june. Meanwhile, President Trump faces more criticism for his handling of the pandemic. This time from his predecessor. Former president obama slid a notatall thinly veiled critique into a Virtual High School commencement speech that aired here last night. More than anything, this pandemic has fully finally torn back the can you remember ton on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what theyre doing. A lot of them arent even pretending to be in charge. All those adults, they used to think were in charge and knew what they were doing, turns out they dont have all the answers. A lot of them arent even asking the right questions. President trumps response today was, succinct. He was an incompetent president , that is Arnold Palmer all i can say, grossly incompetent. Later he tweeted the Obama Administration is turning out to be one of the most corrupt and incompetent in u. S. History. Remember he and sleepy joe are the reasons i am in the white house. Unquote. And last night, eric trump claimed democrats are criticizing his father over the coronavirus to hurt the reelection campaign. That includes the big acceptance speechd planned at the Republican National convention. The gop says that event is still on with an expected crowd of 15,000 people. They think theyre taking away Donald Trumps greatest tool, which is being able to go into an arena and fill it with 50,000 people every single time, right . So they will, and you watch, theyll milk it every single day between now and november 3rd and guess what, after november 3rd, coronavirus will magically all of a sudden go away and disappear and everybody will be able to reopen. Theyre trying to deprive him of his greatest asset, which is the fact that the American People love him. Lets begin with nbc political reporter monica alba. Monica, whats the latest in this . Has there been any more back and forth . Reporter yeah, this is a significant ongoing conversation between the obama and Trump Campaigns. Youve seen here the president go after his predecessor repeatedly in recent months, largely with barack obama not responding, not taking the bait, if you will. But in the last week we did see a shift with former president barack obama releasing privately in a conversation with alumni what he thought of the administrations handling of the pandemic. And then yesterday very publicly coming out with that pointed criticism, though something that barack obama has continually done we know unmistakably what hes talking about, he doesnt directly mention donald trump by name. And that is something they will do. On the flip side, the Trump Campaign as they are now nearing 5 1 2 months away from the election in november, they are going fullout with this strategy. They have been amplifying it all over on tweets. And you can see that in all of their strategy. And whats unique here is that, of course, they are going after the Obama Administration as they face joe biden in that general election. The president , former president , vicepresident , and now, of course, his opponent in that race. They are trying to frame this as really using the 2016 playbook to see if it will be effective for 2020. But eric trump, though, was echoing what so many of the president s supporters told me when i was out on the campaign trail a few months ago when those thousandpeople rallies were still being held, which is they didnt necessarily believe that this virus would come to the extent that it clearly has. Now, the question now, will the president be returning to the campaign trail, and what will he be saying. Were told by advisors he will continue to amplify anything that attacks the Obama Administration and by extension biden, joshua. Im guessing were expecting, monica, that the tone of what we hear from president obama may evolve as we get closer to november. I mean, this was kind of a sideways reference to the president , though we knew exactly who he was talking about. A sideways reference during a commencement address that came as kind of a surprise. No one knew that he was going to mention donald trump at all, even obliquely during last nights program. Is this strategy to kind of ramp up as we get closer to november . I mean, if he wanted to come out swinging, he could have just called me for an interview. By the way, my number is 212sorry, go ahead. Why do it this way . Im sure he knows how to get in touch with you for that, joshua. I think whats remarkable about the way president obama decided to deliver these remarks is it is absolutely calculated. But they also knew that an inspirational venue like a commencement special, they can have the young people who are watching maybe take away whatever message they want from that while also speaking to a larger audience and a larger public in a time when former president barack obama cant be on the campaign trail in the traditional sense. We have heard from the Biden Campaign that he will, of course, be out and stumping for his former vicepresident when he can. We just dont know how close to november that will be, but he will continue to push that message and support for biden in whatever way he can, were told, joshua. He can also dm me at nbc. Thats monica alba for us with the latest. The window is closing to address this pandemic. That is a quote from dr. Rick bright. Hes a former leader in the search for vaccine. He filed a whistleblower complaint after losing that job. Dr. Bright was shifted to another job last month. He testified thursday before a Senate Committee examining our response to covid19. Dr. Bright said that we lacked a centralized coordinating plan to prevent this pandemic from getting worse. His dire predictions for the future raised some eyebrows. So did his testimony about federal officials ignoring the coronavirus threat, costing us time that might have saved lives. Did you first have concerns about the potential impact of covid19 on the United States . In early january. Bright was answering questions from massachusetts congressman joe kennedy, and the congressman joins us now. Congressman, what did you make of dr. Bright testifying that he was concerned about coronavirus way back in early january . Confirmation, joshua, of what weve heard now for weeks is that the devastation that this virus has caused across our country well, perhaps it was always going to be difficult, did not need to be nearly as deadly or devastating to the degree it has been. This administration not only took steps before it arrived on our shores to minimize our preparedness and our ability to respond, but on multiple other occasions they were warned, they were told, and there are people out there screaming. And the Trump Administration didnt do anything about it. We are now well past the cumulative death toll of vietnam that we had about 3 1 2 months because of the virus. Its absolutely devastating. To see the clip that you showed earlier eric trump trying to say this is a mirage, this isnt a real thing, come to one of our hospitals here in massachusetts. Talk to somebody who has seen a loved one on a ventilator for a month. Talk to any one of those e. R. Doctors, First Responders giving everything theyve got. And to have somebody like that minimize the contribution they are making and the sacrifice they are putting out is insulting to the worst degree. Let me play another clip from your questioning of dr. Bright. You also asked whether the administration is prepared to administer a vaccine once we have it, presuming, of course, that the vaccine comes to be ready during this administration. Here is how dr. Bright answered that. Can we possibly say that this administration has prepared our country for the moment that we are in and how we can possibly be prepared for the distribution, development, and administration of a vaccine to address 330 americans over the course of the months ahead . I think we have a lot of work to do to be prepared, sir. Congressman, what do you think that work looks like . Whether its under this administration or if there is a new administration in 2021, how do we make that happen . I think this begins with in close coordination with the authorities we have in government, working with private sector, and it means starting to scaleup a couple different options now. Understanding that maybe some of these tracks were pursuing with regards to the vaccine wont be successful. But, joshua, there is no way we are going to be able to manufacture hundreds of millions of doses and then try to distribute them in any way that is fast or equitable if we wait till the last second to see which one is successful. Think about that. Notice the encounters weve had with the distribution of p. P. E. Across our country and around the world. Manufacturing lines that existed are industries where theyre cranking out mask ands gloves out beforehand. Not so with this vaccine. Were going to need billions of doses on day one. We have to get ready for it now and the plan talking to dr. Bright, its one thing to play monday morning quarterback where the administration dropped the ball and there are a number of them. The lesson is we need to be prepared for what comes next. He didnt give us any reassurance were ready to do that. In terms of how we do get prepared, the house passed another Coronavirus Relief bill worth 3 trillion. Senate republicans and the white house say they have zero intention of passing this, partly because they say its tremendously expensive, partly because they argue it contains measures that seem unrelated to this core fight of saving lives. Was that a smart move on the part of house democrats, passing a bill that you must have known Senate Republicans would reject out of hand . I would hope our colleagues would not reject it out of hand and i would hope they would actually look at the bill. Is it expensive . Of course its expensive. The cost of not doing something at the moment is devastating. A trillion dollar in there for state and local aid. Massachusetts alone is facing a deficit coming forward for not only our fiscal year in june, but for the next one, combined in the tens of billions of dollars. To say nothing of texas or florida or california. Thats health care. Thats education. Thats local law enforcement. Thats parks. Thats adoption services. These are Critical Services that our communities need. They are indeed. You have to work with the republicans to get something done, otherwise youre not passing a stimulus, youre passing a statement. True, joshua. The process by which we have been engaged here has been and look what happened in the last round of funding, that 2. 3 trillion bill. Mitch mcconnell came out and said, this is what were going to do. No, this is what were going to do. That back and forth is how that process has actually been weve been engaged in it over the course of the past several months now. Weve come to a place where we largely agree. Not everybody, but given how polarized washington is, the fact that you have had broadbased agreement spending 3 trillion i think is a testament to the moment that were in. So when we Start Talking about things like excuse me, aid to states and municipalities, when we talk about hazard pay for essential workers, when we Start Talking about funding for testing so we can be certain we can open up our economy, we Start Talking about things like p. P. E. For paramedics for First Responders and firefighters, this stuff that part is not controversial. If theres parts in there they dont like, then engage us in conversation. Look, the parts that i wish we did more on, but, you know, this was a bill i think is a critical first step and its an opening bid for our senate colleagues. I sure hope that they understand you heard what Mitch Mcconnell said. He doesnt see the urgency to this moment. How many more people have to die before we see the urgency of this moment . Right, right. Congressman joe kennedy of massachusetts. Congressman, we appreciate your time, sir. Thanks very much. Joshua, thank you. Stay well. Up next, the view from puerto rico. Add to the natural disasters the island is still recovering from, the mayor of san juan joins us just ahead. And later, why did senator richard burr temporarily step down as chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee . We may be a bit closer to the full answer. How about no no uh uh, no way come on, no no nnnnono only discover has no annual fee on any card. That Liberty Mutual customizes your insurance, i just love hitting the open road and telling people nnnnono so you only pay for what you need [squawks] only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Puberty means personal space. So sports clothes sit around growing odors. Thats why we graduated to tide pods sport. Finally something more powerful than the funk. Tide sport removes even weekold sweat odor. Its got to be tide. Sawithout evenon yoleaving your house. Just keep your phone and switch to xfinity mobile. You can get it by ordering a free sim card online. Once you activate, youll only have to pay for the data you need, saving you up to 400 a year. There are no term contracts, no activation fees, and no credit check on the first two lines. Get a 50 prepaid card when you switch. Its the most reliable wireless network. And it could save you hundreds. Xfinity mobile. Puerto rico keeps getting forgotten. The damage from Hurricane Maria is still not fully resolved. Its also rebuilding from two earthquakes this year, and now theres covid19. This week puerto ricos governor Wanda Vazquez specified how the island would allocate more than 2. 2 billion in federal relief. Its trying to catch up with demand for testing, and thousands of residents are still waiting for unemployment assistance two months into puerto ricos shutdown. That might explain why a controversial move is getting new life as a way of making puerto rico harder to forget. Yesterday governor vasquez announced this november the island will hold another nonbinding referendum on becoming a state. She and her Party Support state hood to give this territory more political power in washington. Puerto rico has voted on this before, repeatedly. What will be different this time . Joining us now is carmen cruz, the mayor of puerto ricos capital san juan. Mayor cruz, good evening. Thank you very much. How is san juan doing right now with everything going on . We often hear about the problems in puerto rico. Are things Getting Better at all . Well, things are not Getting Better. As you mentioned theres about 100,000 people that have not received any unemployment because of the inefficiency of the local government. It took the local government about almost a month to start handing out 1200 federal assistance. And now its almost like deja vu all over again. Theres not enough Contact Tracing for people. There is not enough testing. And municipalities had to pick up the slack. In san juan we have the only continuous drivethru testing system on Molecular Testing in all of puerto rico and we are getting closers to testing people from san juan and all of puerto rico area. The money doesnt come into peoples hands and that is really devastating the economy at this point. I wanted to ask you about that very this can regarding that federal relief funding more than 2 billion worth. Some of that will go to disaster cleanup. Some of that will go to unemployment. What do you think both of the amount and of the spending plan . Well, i think theres never enough money when you have to come up crisis after crisis. As you mentioned, weve had two hurricanes, category 4, two earthquakes this year, and then this devastation that occurred. Its like one crisis after the other. And the federal government and President Trump continue to just not do what theyre supposed to do. Surgeon general might as well sput out put out a warning, President Trump and this administration are hazardous to your health. The money has too many restrictions, but that also has to do with what the current government of puerto rico has had, its own scandals and corruption. It is very difficult to deal with what we are having to deal with, but it is important to know that municipalities need more resources. One of the bad things, Wanda Vazquez, a republican governor, puerto rico is only given 100 million out of 2. 2 billion. Just 100 million to 78 municipalities. Ill give you an idea of what is happening in san juan. On a daily basis we are giving people about 5,000 people food, whether its hot meals or whether it is meals that is 30,000 people receiving on a weekly basis, and we expect that to go do 50,000 people. Six out of every ten children in san juan are underneath the poverty level, which is why it is so important. And we support hr 6648 from the Virgin Islands to allow territories and allow puerto rico to insert itself in the supply chain of medical manufacturing, which would be very important for the United States at this point, to be ready for the vaccine and to be ready to take on all of the risks that have to be taken on. I cant let you go without asking about the referendum on state hood. There have been other referenda on state hood. During the administration of the previous governor, there was referendum 2012, state hood was the alternative. Referendum 17 where the pro Status Quo Party boycotted the referendum, unanimous support for state hood. To me as an outsider, there seems to be more heat than light. Before i let you go, mayor cruz, is this referendum going to change anything . Its a waste of time. It is something that Wanda Vazquez is doing to try to get her party to go and vote. It is a waste of time. It is 3. 5 million that we could use in order to get food, medication and aid to the people that really need it. Carmen yulin cruz, the mayor of san juan. Thank you for your time. Very much appreciate it. Thank you very much. Still to come, an Insider Trading investigation has unseated the chair of the Senate Intelligence committee. Hes not the only lawmaker under scrutiny. Well have the latest just ahead. Stay close. We hope you find our Digital Solutions helpful to bank safely from home. Deposit a check with your phone or tablet. Check balances, pay bills, transfer money and more. Send money to people you know and trust with zelle. Stay safe. Stay home. Together, well get through this. Pnc bank and ask your doctor about biktarvy. Biktarvy is a complete, onepill, onceaday treatment used for hiv in certain adults. Its not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights hiv to help you get to and stay undetectable. 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Are you going to participate in i have since the beginning. This is a distraction to the hard work of the committee and the members and i think the security of the country is too important to have a distraction. North carolina senator richard burr has resolved that distraction by temporarily stepping down as chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee. Reason being, an fbi probe into possible Insider Trading. Agents seized senator burrs cell phone as part of the investigation. He is one of four senators under scrutiny for selling stocks after a january briefing on covid19. Burr says he has asked the Ethics Committee to open a complete review of the matter. Joining us now are the New York Times Justice Department reporter katie better and msnbc contributor Chuck Rosenberg, a former u. S. Attorney and senior fbi official. His podcast the oath begins its third seasons on june 3rd. Thank you both for making time for us. Katie, let me start with you. Senator burr released a statement emphasizing the importance of the intel committee. How will this investigation into him affect the committees work . Well, its really interesting. Taking a step back, keeping in mind the Senate Intelligence committee has put a lot of very credible reporting of its own on the Rachid Redouane investigation. It is basically verified what the Intelligence Community has been saying about russias attempt to interfere in the election and burr has been a big part of that. It will be interesting to see who is chose tone lead that committee next going into the 2020 election during which these issues about Russian Election interference and election interference by many other countries is going to be front and center. Chuck, i dont want you to have to stare into the crystal ball too much, but i wonder what your sense is of where this might be going. Will stepping down from the committee be enough . Is his senate seat on the line . Will this just blow over . What are you keeping an eye out for . I believe he announced that he would retire, joshua, in 2022. But, you know, there is a really interesting thing that happened. In order to get the contents of his cell phone, in order to get the contents of anyones cell phone, the fbi needed to get a search warrant. And in order to get a search warrant they had to go to a federal judge and they had to demonstrate two things. That they had probable cause that a crime had been committed, and that they had probable cause that evidence of that crime would be found on that phone. And so while a federal prosecutor and i was one for many years can send out a grand jury subpoena really just on mere suspicion, to confirm nothing, in fact, bad happened, in order to get a search warrant you do need to show probable cause. That tells you, joshua, that this investigation is a bit more advanced, and that mr. Burr, to answer your question, while hes not guilty of anything and he hasnt been charged with anything and we need to keep that in mind and be fair to him we need to keep in mind, too, that this is a serious matter at a more advanced stage now. And, richard chuck, you are correct. Richard burr said in 2016 that he will not be running for another term. So 2022 is when he will step down. Katie, when senator burr stepped down from this committee, as you mentioned, hes requested that the committee declassify that report on russias interference in the 2016 election. Whats his rationale for that request . I think that right now the rationale behind any request for more transparency is just that. We need to know more information. What were seeing is basically a battle happening right now between the Justice Department and the president on one side sorry, the leadership of the Justice Department and the president on one side and on the other side, former Justice Department officials and people who worked on the original investigation. Basically arguing about whether or not the decision to investigate the Trump Campaigns ties to russia was valid at all. Were arguing about whether or not that investigation should have happened, were arguing about whether or not russia wanted trump to succeed. A lot of things right now are in dispute in the court of Public Opinion as much as they are in dispute among the Intelligence Community, possibly more so. So the rationale of trying to put out more information is lets give the American Public what we have found, all of what we have found in order for them to make an informed decision on, again, an issue that has not gone away. It is very much a front and center issue for this election. Chuck, how do you see that in terms of the impact of declassification on the upcoming election . I mean, we know everybody may not want to admit this, but we know that russia screwed with us last time. Theyve been screwing with us ever since and theyre going to tighten the screws right up to election day. Does releasing this report really make that much of a difference . Do you get a sense that a significant number of the American People still dont believe that russia did this . Well, you know, positions have hardened and theyve been hardened for sometime now. But i do want to give mr. Burr and the democratic leader on that Committee Mark warner of virginia some credit, because they have functioned through all of this in mostly a bipartisan, thoughtful manner. And will it really add anything to the debate . I dont believe so. People who believe the russians have massively interfered in our election, and im one of them, will continue to believe that. And there is a think its a hoax, President Trump thinks its a hoax, will continue to believe that. Im glad at least one of the intelligence committees on capitol hill, in this case in the senate, is functioning well and professionally. But i dont think its going to change very many minds, joshua. We should also just note, katie, before i come back to you, that if you watched the Robert Mueller hearing, the only time he perked up in that whole process was when he was being asked about russian interference, and he said, we need to spend more time talking about this. That was the one thing in the whole hearing that made him actually lean forward and kind of engage, like he really wanted to discuss that. Katie, before i have to let you go, lets zoom out in the fbi probe beyond senator burr. Georgia senator Kelly Loeffler also sold a lot of stock after getti getting those classified briefings. Shes turned over documents. Her office said she followed the law. Is she under scrutiny or is richard burr the only person here . The burr investigation is certainly the most advanced to chucks point. They needed probable cause to get those warrants. And im told that they have not gotten such warrants on other senators. You know, certainly loeffler, senator feinstein, her husband, and senator inhoff are all people they are looking at, whose trades they are curious about. But the most advanced investigation, the focus of the investigation is senator burr. Katie benner of the the New York Times, Chuck Rosenberg host of the podcast, the oath, thank you for talking to us. There are some disturbing krep sizz in the number of coronavirus tests administered across this country. That is next. Sure. Okay. Okay safe drivers save 40 guys guys check it out. 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The two data sets varied by more than 10 in more than half the country. In 13 states they varied by more than 25 . Now, these figures are inherently complex. Some variance is probably inevitable, but why are the data sets so different . And how does that affect our fight to save lives . Joining us now is alexis, a staff writer for the atlantic. Alexis, why is there so much discrepancy in these data sets . I think there are a few known sources of discrepancy. States tend to report the number of people tested. The cndc reported the number of specimens tested. Beyond that were not sure. Weve been collecting and compiling this data for weeks now. We expect when the cdc put out numbers, theyd actually be quite close to what the states had. And, in fact, they are not, and the discrepancies actually run in both directions. In some cases the federal government reports many more tests and in some case the states do. There is no simple way of explaining these discrepancies. Is there any evidence that somebody is either messing up their job, messing around with the numbers intentionally, playing fast and loose with the numbers . Theres no evidence of some kind of intentional human neglect, is there . There isnt like an obvious political bias, for example, but we dont see that. Maybe a tiny bit of a touch you see of republican governor numbers looking a little bit more like the federal government. But by and large, it doesnt look like a political thing. It looks more like a product of two different systems. We know that the federal government built quasiindependent system that takes data from the state, but also takes data from test providers. That was sort of initiated on march 29 by vicepresident pence and the Coronavirus Task force. And what we see are a quasilooking independent data set. It doesnt look like these numbers are fully confident. There is one type of problem that we really would like to call attention to when you take a look at a state like florida where the federal government is reporting 200,000 more specimens tested than the state of florida itself. This is a real question because the state of florida issued an emergency order that required that all tests be reported to the state. So if for some reason the federal government and h. H. S. Have 200,000 more tests, that really poses some problems. Either some companies and hospitals are not reporting what they should be to the state of florida, or theres a problem with the federal data set. This morning we heard two conflicting accounts from Administration Officials about how well or poorly the cdc is doing. Listen. Early on in this crisis, the cdc which really had the most trusted brand around the world in this space, really let the country down with the testing. I dont believe the cdc let this country down. I believe the cdc serves an important Public Health role. So, alexis, based on your reporting, who do you think is right . You know, both things can be right actually. I think the cdc does serve a very important Public Health role and we think it would be best for the country if the numbers that the cdc has became the standard data set for all of america. At the same time, the cdc clearly has had major problems. They have been defunded over the years and theres a lot of questions about the leadership of the cdc. It makes for a very difficult situation because the truth is we need the cdc. We need the experts there. We need the people who have been dealing with outbreak after outbreak. We need their expertise. And they do need to be unleashed to do the very best job they can. The problem right now is were not sure why thats not happening. You know, is it because of interference from the administration . Is it because of problems in the leadership at the cdc . Is it because theyve been gutted by successive rounds of budget cuts over the decades . Its hard to know, you know, why exactly this particular part of the cdc which deals with pandemics, deals with Infectious Disease does not appear to have shown up in the way that i think people around the world were expecting them to. Today the Washington Post reported that at least a dozen states have more Testing Capacity than patients. New yorks Governor Andrew Cuomo got the nasal test that goes up your nose. Didnt flinch, tough guy. I asked my doctor about getting the Antibody Test, not the nasal swab, the blood draw. I could hold off if the Antibody Test may not be accurate. Do you think thei issue is we dont have enough tests or not enough people want to get tested . I think its a combination here. Thats a great question. The truth is the nations Testing Capacity has come up enormously. Just today states reported over 400,000 tests completed. Thats an enormous increase over a month ago. We know many states have more Testing Capacity than demand. The question is why is that . Is the reason that we really dont need to test more people . Or is it that weve told people that tests are painful, that theyre difficult to get . Right now we have somebody who wants to be tested in my own household and its not as easy to get a test as it seems like it should be, given the sort of macro importance of testing as many people as we can. I think there are going to be a couple things that help with that. Employers are going to come in and ask people to be tested. The nasal swabs will largely go away and youll have people using saliva. There will be more group testing. Theres a whole bunch of different things. The point is we need to make testing easier and cheaper and more people will do it. Thats the basic of it. Just about everybody ive talked to believes we need to increase the amount of testing even from the much higher numbers we have now, a lot. And some of that is going to be making sure the tests are available. And the other part is going to be making sure that people want to get tested and theyre supported after theyve received their results, whether those are positive or negative. Easier, cheaper, more accessible and accurate. Reliable and accurate and precise. I think of all those things that are true, i definitely would have gotten the test by now. Alexis of the atlantic, thanks for talking to us. Thank you for your time. Before we go, the president and the Postal Service. Mr. Trump is threatening to withhold funding in the next stimulus package. What will the post office do . And why is it in trouble anyway . Are most uncertain, we turn to the most certain thing there is. Science. Science can overcome diseases. Create cures. And yes, beat pandemics. It has before. It will again. Because when its faced with a new opponent, it doesnt back down it revs up. Asking questions til it finds what its looking for. Thats the power of science. So were taking our science and unleashing it. Our research, experts and resources. All in an effort to advance potential therapies and vaccines. Other companies and academic institutions are doing the same. The entire Global Scientific Community is working together to beat this thing. And were using science to help make it happen. Because when science wins, we all win. Motor . Nope. Not motor . Its pronounced motaur. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. For those who were born to ride, were finally back out in our yard, but so are they. Scotts turf builder triple action. It kills weeds, prevents crabgrass and feeds so grass can thrive, guaranteed. Our backyard is back. This is a scotts yard. 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. But when allergies and congestion strike, take allegrad. A nondrowsy antihistamine plus a powerful decongestant. So you can always say yes to putting your true colors on display. Say yes to allegrad. To putting your true colors on display. Alice loves the scent of gain so much, she wished there was a way to make it last longer. Say hello to your fairy godmother alice. And longlasting gain scent beads. Part of the irresistible scent collection from gain if i gave you 55 cents and asked you to walk a letter from new york to california, youd give me, well, a dirty look, at least. But the u. S. Postal service does it every day. Its a good deal. From a struggling business, one that is struggling even more because of coronavirus. Before the outbreak the usps already said it was in financial trouble. Congress put money aside for it in the stimulus package. But last month President Trump balked at helping the post office. He the Postal Service is a joke. Because theyre handing out packages for amazon and other internet companies, and every time they bring a package, they lose money on it. That same day, House Speaker nancy pelosi fired back at the president. For them to be toying with this notion that they have, that theyre going to privatize the post office, the postal system, is something the public should be aware of and should reject. Joining us is dark diamondstein, president of the american postal workers union. Good to have of you with us today. This afternoon the Associated Press goat quoted you saying that Union Members fear the Trump Administration wants to destabilize the agency and then sell it off, unquote. But the president s argument in terms of the way that the post office does business, do you see any merit in that . I mean, is there any room for critiquing the way the usps manages its money these days . Well, joshua, first, thanks so much for having me on. Look, theres always room for improvement in any institution. We believe the post office could provide all sorts of expanded services, and that would bring in revenue as well. But overall, we do not think theresing in to the president s argument. In fact what hes raise would go destabilize the Postal Service. Hes calling for the raising of packaging four to five times. The Postal Service, right, goes to every address six days a week, sometimes seven, no matter who we are, where we live. Thats the universal serviceman date and standard that we all believe in. If package rates were artificially raised, one, it is the customer would be hurt. The post office would be hurt, because 30 of their revenue comes from packages and artificially raising rates would drive the Postal Service out of that business. But some people would be helped. A few private companies, a few mega donors would be helped along the way. So whats happening now, look, there are some longrun challenges. Changing mail habits and so on and so forth. But the reality is, the crisis that the post office is facing now, the public post office, is really directly due to this covid pandemic. While essential workers are proud to the on the front lines, working under difficult circumstances, binding the country together, which is our mission, the pandemic economically is having huge impact on all of us, the whole country, really on the world. But the post office is in dire straits specifically because of this pandemic. Lot of listeners may not know that the post office does not receive taxpayer dollars to run. It runs off the service, postage, and Postal Services. That has to be there to enable the Postal Service to go to every address, every day. 160 million addresses a year. And right now theres a precipitous drop in mail, a precipitous drop therefore in revenue, due to covid. And Congress Needs to act with some real relief. When the president talks about raising prices in order to get relief, he didnt do that for 500 billion of grants and other kinds of relief for private corporations. Let me ask you its the post office hes going after. Let me ask about the publicprivate mandate. Stacey abrams spoke to joy read about the Postal Office in rural areas. The Postal Service is a lifeline for communities. I grew up in mississippi. We have a lot of places that are urban but most of the state is rural. The same is true in georgia, between 24 and 40 of our people who do not have access to the internet. Eliminating or limiting access to the Postal Service not only will justify the diminution of these communities, it will be used to not only block their votes now but harm their lives going forward. Before i have to let you go, i hate to ask this. But wouldnt it be more efficient, more effective, to use more hightech alternatives like wiring rural areas for broadband so they can use email and Online Services more easily . Do we now in the year 2020 still actually need the post office in every corner of the country . Well, i think that we absolutely need the post office. Think about the changing habits of the ecommerce revolution. Thats not going to work either. If everybodys tied into broadba broadband, you still need a Public Infrastructure that on a uniform and lowcost, reasonablecost basis, goes to every address in the country. Medicines. 90 of va medicines to our veterans go through the post office. 1. 2 billion packages of medicine a year. Retirement checks. Stimulus checks. Census information. Voting information. Exchange of ideas. Greeting cards. All those things, however people find that are needed and important to them, go through the post office. And thats why its no joke for the customers of this country and the people of this country. So the more people tied into broadband, great. More people will use ecommerce. And if ecommerce is going to work for small business, for etailers, for people of this country, you have to have a vibrant Public Infrastructure. And no one would ever want voting to be done by internet, that could be so easily hacked. But millions and millions of people who want to vote by mail have for generations voted by mail. With this pandemic, that obviously is becoming a huge issue in this upcoming in the whole primary season and then the november election coming up. Mark diamondstein, president of the american postal workers union, thank you for making time for us. Thank you for watching us on msnbc. Lets meet back here this weekend. Until next weekend, im joshua johnson. Stay safe, stay sharp, well get through this, good night. V, keep being you. And ask your doctor about biktarvy. Biktarvy is a complete, onepill, onceaday treatment used for hiv in certain adults. Its not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights hiv to help you get to and stay undetectable. Thats when the amount of virus is so low it cannot be measured by a lab test. Research shows people who take hiv treatment every day and get to and stay undetectable can no longer transmit hiv through sex. Serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. Rare, lifethreatening side effects include a buildup of lactic acid and liver problems. Do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin. Tell your doctor about all the medicines and supplements you take, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis. If you have hepatitis b, do not stop taking biktarvy without talking to your doctor. Common side effects were diarrhea, nausea, and headache. If youre living with hiv, keep loving who you are. And ask your doctor if biktarvy is right for you. If youre living with hiv, keep loving who you are. Were finally back out in our yard, but so are they. Scotts turf builder triple action. It kills weeds, prevents crabgrass and feeds so grass can thrive, guaranteed. Our backyard is back. This is a scotts yard. Ibut youre not alone. Apart for a bit, were automatically refunding our customers a portion of their personal auto premiums. Learn more at libertymutual. Com covid19. [ piano playing ] sawithout evenon yoleaving your house. Just keep your phone and switch to xfinity mobile. You can get it by ordering a free sim card online. Once you activate, youll only have to pay for the data you need, saving you up to 400 a year. There are no term contracts, no activation fees, and no credit check on the first two lines. Get a 50 prepaid card when you switch. Its the most reliable wireless network. And it could save you hundreds. Xfinity mobile. This sunday, the president and the pushback. On a vaccine. Wed love to see if we could do it prior to the end of the year. We cant count on it. We dont know if will be one year, two years, or many years. On restarting the economy. Vaccine or no vaccine, were back. I feel if that occurs, there is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you might not be able to control. On preparedness. Without better planning, 2020 could be the darkest winter in modern history. Hes nothing more than a really disgruntled, unhappy person. And now this from former president obama. This pandemic has fully finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so m