Alleviate some of that. Theres more Affordable Housing in the works and he hopes the issue will be better in the next year or two. Well see if that happens. Well, this is a blight on our nation that that many people are without homes. Completely. Very good to see you back, my friend. Weve missed you. You could have bangs too. Ive been admiring yours. It might be awhile before i have them. Well share yours. Thank you. All right. It is thursday, september 12th. The last ditch plea to trump on guns. After spending 40 minutes on a call with trump and his staff, pat toomey and chris murphy and joe manchin are waiting for any word from the white house. They were told to expect a decision on gun control measures as soon as today. Theyve been urging the president to support the manchintoomey Gun Legislation that expands background checks to cover private sellers on the internet and gun shows. More than 24 hours ago, the president said he and senators were coming up with something that is acceptable to everybody on a gun safety measure. An official told nbc news that trump was to be given summaries of several ideas endorsed by members of congress and white house aides. As of now the president has yet to indicate what bills hes likely to support or make any announcements on the issue. But senator manchin is holding out hope. Im still very encouraged, ill find out today. The president knows this is all up to him. He comes across that he wants something done. Okay . And theres people pushing back hard on him. People within his own inner circle. All right. Joining me now from the white house is nbcs kelly odonnell. Kelly, there is legislation in congress right now passed by the house of representatives stalled in the senate with Mitch Mcconnell saying hes not moving ahead with anything until he knows what the president will sign. I guess this is the other part of that transaction. Finding out what the president s interested in . Reporter our understanding is that the white house is looking to take pieces of existing legislation like youve already indicated, some that has passed, some that has been put forward before, and some ideas and concepts that people have been talking about. And put together an idea that the president can get behind. Leader mcconnell in the senate has made it very clear that the only way he sees the use of the senate is to put something on the floor that has a chance of getting the president s signature. Weve been told the president was briefed today on some of these ongoing conversations. Hes had some of them himself with leaders in the senate, members of the staff level from the white house to the senate as well. So there have been lots of conversations about what elements might be able to work. One of the things were looking for today is the president is headed to baltimore later today to speak to the House Republicans and one of the things that would certainly come up in this kind of a conversation when hes talking with fellow republicans about what needs to happen legislatively on the agenda in the fall and with campaigns in mind is where can they find some common ground. We know that they dont want to do something thats going to sort of stir the ire of the National Rifle association. The president has been certainly in touch with them as well. But also looking for a way can they do something that can get bipartisan support. Maybe make a difference in some of these horrific cases weve seen and at the same time not draw the direct opposition and aggressive counterpunching from the nra. Thats a very high bar. The president has said repeatedly he wants to do this. We hope to have a chance to put some questions to him as he departs for that baltimore event later this afternoon to see where his thinking is right now. But the white house has been saying they believe they can find something. The Big Questions have always been, is it something the president will embrace publicly . Will that be enough to get it across the finish line and will it have a Practical Impact if they can, in fact, pass legislation . Three simple words. Acceptable to everyone when it comes to guns in this country, that is a high, high bar. Good to see you, friend. Kelly odonnell at the white house. The Gun Safety Coalition that helped pressure walmart to end its sale of assault weapon ammunition gun safety groups that includes march for ourves, move on write american employers are already doing more than congress to keep us safe from gun violence. Now were calling on you to do more. In addition to lobbying lawmakers to pass gun reforms the group calls for companies to, quote, break any financial or business ties with the gun industry in organizations that stand in the way of gun reform. Ban open carry in their place of business. Stop political donations to nrabacked lawmakers and politicians. And fund locallyrun gun violence intervention programs, gun buybacks, and other incentives to help prevent and reduce gun deaths. Join me now is the author of guns down america. Hes the authors of guns down how to defeat the nra and build a safer future with fewer guns. I want to start with you on what i was just talking to kelly about. Mitch mcconnell, the leader in the senate, has said im not putting a vote to the floor unless i know what the president is going to approve. There are a lot of people who say thats not how legislation should get done in this country with a coequal branch of government, but its the reality when it comes to guns of how it gets done. Well, thats certainly not how it should get done particularly on an issue where theres overwhelming consensus that they have to raise the standard for gun ownership in this country. And frankly, ali, i think that its the responsibility of the champions of gun reform. Particularly in the senate to do everything they can to help move this issue along. That means filibuster. That means place holds on nominees and on key legislation. Because i think americans all across the country and now were also hearing from businesses, they want to see a fight on this issue. They want to see their leaders, their champions fight for them and fight to help build safer communities. So when did that change . Because there was a time not many years ago where saying i dont want open carry in my stores, starbucks experienced this, got a response that was frightening to american businesses. And then you saw a movement with p walmart, with dicks sporting goods. Now youve got one cig tour to the letter. What has changed and why . Well, this has been going on for awhile. Partly because the gun violence problem has gotten worse. The weapons have become more deadly. But after parkland, we saw such an outpouring particularly of young people and they think both american corporations and frankly lawmakers saw where their future customers were on this issue and where their future voters were on that issue. And both of those things combined i think have brought us to a point where the center has shifted on guns. And now were even talking about gun licensing, gun buybac communities. When you look at the numbers, you mentioned an overwhelming amount of people support background checks and red flag laws. The bar is so remarkably low, the number of americans who support it is so remarkably high, there is nothing in american politics it seems to have this degree of dissidence to it. And that speaks to the success of the nra. Well, but thats also why were calling on large american employers who we know prioritize the safety of their customers and their employees to today in 2019 do everything they can to help keep us safe. Right . And were calling on them to put their money where their mouth is. We know they support the kunds of reforms that weve discussed. But we need them to stop making political contributions to lawmakers and candidates who also take money from the nra. We need them to instruct their lobbyists to use their relationships on capitol hill to really advance these measures. Thats the trickier part, right . It can be done by any company that wishes to do it. Going a little further in breaking your relationships with financial institutions, banks, Insurance Companies that do business with the gun industry is a little more complicated. And not supporting candidates who are highly ranked by the nra is yet higher of a bar. I understand that the reason why people like cory gardner and senator thune, for instance, top nra recipients, the reason why they get dollar amounts from corporations is because they feel like they represent their economic interests. Right . Not because of the nra connection. But the argument were making as a coalition that represents millions of americans is that there is no higher priority for you as a business than to keep your employees and your customers safe. Particularly for public facing stores who interact with a lot of consumers. So this is their moment to act. Its no longer okay to just sit on the sidelines. They have to become active participants in the fight for their lives. Good to talk to you. The kpiktive director of guns down america. Top Business Leaders are putting pressure on Congress Today to do its part and take action on gun control. 145 ceos from some of the Largest Companies in the world including uber, gap, twitter signed a letter urging the u. S. To enact red flag laws and expand background checks. Red flag laws enable Law Enforcement to remove guns from individuals that a judge deems a threat to themselves and others. In the letter, the executives write in part doing nothing about a gun violence is unacceptable. Thaez are bipartisan, widely support bid the american public. It is tame for the senate to take action. Quote, ceos are wired to take action on things that are going to impact their business. And gun violence is impacting everybodys business right now. Onto another issue thats killed hundreds of thousands of americans. The opioid epidemic. Shortly after news dropped in this very hour yesterday that Purdue Pharma and its owners the Sackler Family have reached a tentative deal to settle thousands of lawsuits brought by municipal and state governments, at least 20 states say theyre rejecting that deal arguing it doesnt go far enough. Among the 20 states that have not signed onto this framework, obviously pennsylvania and other big states like new york. Other hardhit states are saying no because they realize this is absolutely inadequate. It is a slap in the face to the people who are suffering here in pennsylvania and akrss the country. This is really a story about a bunch of greedy billionaires and that is the Sackler Family, the people that own purdue, being unwilling to reach into their personal fortunes and pay for the damage that theyve created here in pennsylvania and across the country. Thousand, the deals still being worked out. Heres what we know about it so far. Under current terms, the Sackler Family would give up control of Purdue Pharma. It would be turned into a forprofit trust. Those profits would be used to pay the plaintiffs. The deal does not include any admission of wrong doing. And the Sackler Family would play 3 billion in cash over seven years. The deal is valued between 10 billion and 12 billion. The Sackler Family said, quote, this is the most effective way to address the urgency of the Current Public Health crisis and to find real solutions. Not endless litigation. My next guest is now preparing filings to sue the Sackler Family directly. Attorney general, good to see you. Talk to me about what is unsatisfactory about the proposed deal. Sure. Pleasure to be with you. I understand the context here. We are in the deadliest drug epidemic in our nations history. And the Sackler Family and Purdue Pharma is as responsible or more responsible than any other family or company in creating this crisis. It is imperative that they help pay to clean it up. And there simply is not enough accountability in this in the proposed deal where their payment is secure enough for my satisfaction. And ive got to do whatever i can to fight for the people of north carolina. Because too many individuals are dying. Too many families are struggling. And too many communities are suffering. I talked to josh shapiro of pennsylvania earlier today. I was asking him what success lacks like to you. Because there are a lot of americans who would like the Sackler Family to apologize, to take responsibility for this, to admit culpability. But really your job and the job of other attorneys general is to get the best settlement. To get the most money to solve this problem that has cost us probably trillions of dollars. What does success look like . Success to me would be there is a security that the payment that theyre promising will actually be made. And just by the way in terms of your reporting and this is something i think the sacklers put out. That this 10 billion to 12 billion figure, i have no idea where it came from. The numbers anyone is talking about is half of those numbers. So in the real cash, its not in Purdue Pharma. Its in the Sackler Family. Theyve organized the scheme for a decade where they have sucked billions and billions and billions out of this country leaving a carcass of a Pharmaceutical Company theyre content to throw into bankruptcy because they knew this day of reckoning was coming. They have to put up meaningful cash thats secured so that we know money will go to help treat people who are dying. You dont seem to be interested in that deal. So what. Thats not your problem and go where the money is. I think what the sacklers were trying to do was to use bankruptcy to shield their personal assets. They themselves are not declaring bankruptcy. They have billions and billions of dollars. Theyre putting this carcass of a company into bankruptcy thats worth anywhere from zero to 2 billion depending on how things pan out. So they want to use the nations laws to shield their wealth that they sucked out of the company having made all this profit selling drugs to people in the United States. They need to put up real dollars. And we have to have certainly that that money is real. Attorney general josh steyn of north carolina, thank you for joining me. Thank you. A new bill passed in california is trying to affect Companies Like uber and lyft. And how those companies are fighting back. Plus we are less than five hours away from the next democratic president ial debate in houston. This ones going to look different from the previous two. Well explain why. You are watching msnbc. S two. Well explain why. You are watching msn bc Classical Music playing throughout 0 thats where i feel normal. Having an annuity tells me my retirement is protected. Learn more at retire your risk dot org. To the wait did frowe just winners. Prouders everyone uses their phone differently. Thats why Xfinity Mobile lets you design your own data. Now you can share it between lines. Mix with unlimited, and switch it up at anytime so you only pay for what you need. Its a different kind of Wireless Network designed to save you money. Save up to 400 a year on your wireless bill. Plus get 250 back when you buy a new samsung note. Click, call or visit a store today. California is set to reshape how companies do business in the growing gig economy. Final approval to a bill that would require gig workers to be classified as employees instead of independent contractors. The bills author says Companies Often classify them as independent contractors. The legislation codifies a Supreme Court decision last year which created a test for determining whether someone is an independent contractor. Now, that decision says to be a true independent contractor, a worker must be free from a companys control. Not work not do work that is central to the companys business. And have an independent business in that trade. The bill now goes onto californias governor gavin newsom who has said he supports it. It is home to many of the companies at the hard heart of the gig economy including Ride Share Services like uber and lyft. They consider their drivers to be independent contractors and not employees. And both Companies Said they will fight the law. Ubers chief legal officer told reporters that several previous rulings have found the drivers work is outside the usual course of ubers business which is serving as a Technology Platform for several different types of digital marketplaces. This is key to this whole argument. A lyft spokesperson says, quote, we are fully prepared to take this issue to the voters of california to preserve the freedom and access drivers and riders want and need. This exempts workers in a number of professions including doctors, dentist, lawyers, hair stylists, accountants. Joining me is a staff writer at the new yorker who writes about the gig economy among other things. And shes also the author of black edge. Thank you for joining me. Good to be here. To some this would be obvious. Of course drivers are central to uber and lyfts business. So how could they get around that law . But uber and lyft have a different argument entirely. Well, of course. Its patently absurd on the surface that the drivers do not work for uber. When you look at it, uber does not direct those drivers. The drivers dont report to managers at uber. Uber is simply providing an app, a piece of software that makes it possible for the drivers to connect with people who want rides. And ive noted that the ceo of uber has been going around describing drivers at microentrepreneurs. Thats how theyre trying to characterize their drivers. We have talked to people in the gig economy to tell you about the freedom theyve got the fact that they kind of do in some cases run their own business. Its a