Many as 46 states could be disenfranchised this november because of ballot delays. It has democrats ringing alarm bells, returning to d. C. Later this week, and calling for the new postmaster general to answer questions before a house committee. If those concerns were not enough, this pandemic is changing how president ial campaigns operate. Tonight, unchartered territory for the biden harris campaign. It is the kickoff for what will be an unconventional Democratic National convention. Itll be entirely virtual. No cheering. No crowds. None of the balloon drops. And many speakers will broadcast into your home from their home. This morning, ahead of the dnc, joe biden sitting down with quite the unlikely interviewer, rapper cardi b. Its so sad that a pandemic has happened, so people can open their eyes on seeing what kind of person are they dealing with. Your generation and the Young Millenials beyond that, they can own this. They can own this outcome. They can i dont even what happens in the next election. They are the ones that can change things dramatically if they show up and vote. Cardi b there for elle magazine. Lets go from cardi b to kristen welker, on the ground in wilmington, delaware, ahead of the first night of the Democratic National convention. Kristen, how is the Biden Campaign preparing for tonights kickoff . What are the overarching messages were likely to hear . Reporter well, you got it right, craig. This is going to be an unconventional convention. Perhaps the one thing that will be recognizable to viewers, theres going to be a theme every single night. Tonights theme is we the people. It is going to kick off with some of the biggest names from the Democratic Party and beyond. Speakers tonight are going to include senator Bernie Sanders, republican john kasich, and then the keynote address is former first Lady Michelle obama. You may remember in 2016, her line, when they go low, we go high, one official telling me we might hear that line again this evening. So the stakes could not be higher. The goal here is to unify the party and also to help introduce the country to this historymaking ticket. Joe biden and senator Kamala Harris. So the technology, craig, how are they going to pull all of this off . First, on the speeches, im told some of the speeches will be prerecorded, but most of the main ones are going to be live. That includes the speeches from former president obama on wednesday, for example, senator Kamala Harris, and the keynote from joe biden. He, by the way, will be speaking at this Convention Hall right e behind me. No crowds allowed because of covid. Itll be beamed out virtually. There are going to be watch parties all across the country. Some of the people sent their own production kits, craig, so that they can get out their virtual shots, and so the party can try to achieve some realtime reaction. A virtual roll call, delegates stretched out across the country, 57 states and territories. Essentially, the Democratic National committee is trying to recreate the energy. You wont see the balloon drop, the shot we know so well, but theyre trying to preserve energy. The latest poll shows joe biden with a ninepoint lead over President Trump, 50 to 41 . If you look at the economy, that issue that most voters care about the most, President Trump is in the lead by double digits, 48 to 38 . The stage is set for a Convention Like we have never seen before, craig. Kristen welker in wilmington, delaware. Thank you for starting us off. Lets turn to former california senator Barbara Boxer, a democrat. Senator boxer, always good to have you. Lets start with this headline that we came across from politico. Heres the headline, harris pays early dividends for Biden Campaign. The article notes that since harris joined the ticket, mr. Biden has seen a surge in fundraising, promising polls, and the rare sight of a hometown crowd, despite not being able to hold a rally. How do you see her adding a new dimension to this campaign . I think this pick was a very good pick. I think just the ticket itself is a unifying message. Male female. Different backgrounds. Different ages. It pulls us together in some beautiful ways, at a time when america is really falling apart at the seams and very divided. You spoke at the convention in 2016, at the dnc. We got a taste there from kristen of how Different Things are going to be this year. How do you try to recreate the magic . I mean, so much of conventions is about, you know, trying to capture momentum, build on that momentum. Here you are in a virtual setting. You dont have that energy of thousands of people to feed off of. How do you do that . You know, i was thinking yesterday, i havent missed a Convention Since 1984. A lot of people didnt think they were worthwhile. They said, its too much trouble. I loved the conventions. I know that the Democratic Party is trying to do everything. For example, im a delegate. I got this. Can you see this . I got this in the mail. I got this when jill biden speaks. Ive got joes logo over here, like this. All of us got these reminders of what it used to be like, when we would hold up the signs. But let me Say Something positive about this. I noticed when kamala and our future president , i hope, spoke to us the first time together, it was very intimate. There was no shrieking and sign waving and all the rest. I found myself listening very carefully to what they were saying. I think you can turn this lemon into lemonade. I think were going to have some wonderful speeches, thoughtful speeches. Rather than worrying about when you wave what sign, and how you yell and scream, i think their messages will be taken in. At a time when we need hope desperately. Donald trumps america is a nightmare on every level. Senator boxer, stand by for me, if you can. Do stick around. Sure. I want to turn to another part of this story. Democrats ramping up the alarms over changes at the u. S. Postal service. Critics fear that the changes could kneecap vote by mail efforts and slow down the delivery of retirement checks, prescriptions. Now, House Speaker nancy pelosi calling on the Lower Chamber to come back for an emergency session to vote on a bill to try to stop more changes before they happen. Nbcs Geoff Bennett is following that part of the story. Geoff, democrats also want the postmaster general to testify on the hill next week. Any chance thats going to happen . Whats the administration saying right now . Reporter to your first question, craig, i reached out to the Postal Service and asked if mr. Dejoy plans to show up voluntarily next monday. No word back. House democrats have also said theyve not heard from the Postal Service about whether the postmaster general will show up as requested. But democrats are weighing their options for what they might do if he declines their request. Theyre also asking the simple question of, if he doesnt show, what does he have to hide . Because according to the internal memo i obtained last week, that was sent within the Postal Service, postmaster general dejoy admits that the changes hes made have had the unintended consequences, as he put it, of causing these delays. Of course, his critics say it wasnt unintended at all, that it was intentional. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has accused the president of using the Postal Service to try to sabotage the election. There are a number of postal workers, postal Union President s ive talked to who may not go that far, but what they do say is what dejoy is doing, this is the first step in a longlandistg republican effort to privatize the Postal Service. What youre seeing are two to three delays, threeday delays to regular mail. Theres been delays to express mail. It is causing problems not just with ballots but also, as you mentioned, with checks and Prescription Drug delivery. Ive been collecting testimonials from veterans who rely on the v. A. For mailordered Prescription Drugs. All across the country, people who usually get their medicine in the mail in two to four days, it is taking weeks. I heard from one father and son duo in texas. The son is 40 disabled and had to wait two weeks for sleeping medications. His father, 90 years old, also a veteran, also relies on the mail, had to wait two weeks for Blood Pressure medication. So these are the questions that House Democrats want to get to the bottom of next week with that emergency scheduled hearing, craig. All right. Geoff bennett continues to follow the story for us. Thank you. I want to bring back former senator Barbara Boxer for a moment. Senator boxer, we just heard from geoff there about what democrats in congress are trying to do, what they are planning to do to try to protect the Postal Service. Is it enough . Listen, the first thing is to haul this postmaster general in front of the american people. What he is doing is dangerous. Its actually a matter of life and death, as you pointed out. If you have high Blood Pressure, and youre not on your medicine, the chances are you could get a heart attack, a stroke. If you cant sleep and you have ptsd as a veteran, you could just get so desperate that you hurt yourself or others. This is serious. Yes, i think the first step is for them to come back. Im very glad theyre coming back. Its essential. Look, this president said why he is doing this. This is no mystery. He said he wants to wreck the election. You have it on tape. You can hear it any day of the week. He said he doesnt like mailin voting, but he loves absentee voting. Excuse me, its the same thing. Its vote by mail. So hes just scared to death to lose this election. And let me tell you, his chances of losing it grow every day. Hes going after an Iconic Institution in the post office. 91 approval of the people. Theyre destroying it because they want to turn it over to the private sector, and they want to steal this election. One more point, if thats not enough, hes also destroying Social Security by doing this payroll tax deal, which is a source of funding for Social Security. So if you asked americans what they like about their government, the chances are theyd say the post office and Social Security and medicare. And this president has taken the ax to everything that has made america what america is. Senator boxer, we have to leave it there. Ill let you get your signs together and get ready for the debate tonight. Thank you. Thanks for your time. Yes. Team joe. While this debate is unfolding, caught in the middle are the actual Postal Service workers that we all rely on. Theyre out there working hard every day. Heres one example. This is one mail carrier walking through that drenching storm. Winds and debris in des moines, iowa. This was the scene last week. Stepping through all of that to deliver the mail. Our latest poll asked why joe biden supporters picked him as their candidate. That was the question. 36 said theyre for him. 58 said they are against trump. The point is clearly unified against the point, so how will they use this chance, this convention, to tell the country what they are for . First though, back to school in florida. Ill talk to a teacher about the reaction shes getting after she resigned out of fear for her own health. 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Your wireless. Your rules. Only with Xfinity Mobile. Now thats simple, easy, awesome. Switch and save up to 400 a year on your wireless bill. Plus, get 400 off when you preorder the new Samsung Galaxy note20 ultra 5g. The nations second Largest School district, los angeles, just rolled out a plan to test more than 700,000 students for the coronavirus. Its one of the new facts that were tracking this morning. Here are the others. Right now, more than 5. 4 million known cases in our country. So far, roughly 171,000 americans have died from the virus. Federal officials have just given emergency approval to whats being called a ground bre groundbreaking, new saliva test, developed by researchers at yale university. It uses, well, spit. The test expected to cost just 10 bucks. Youre also expected to get results in a matter of hours, not days. In fact, its already been used on nba players and staff. We should note, the nba has not had a positive test in a month. Also, the cdc has started working with multiple states to grin developi begin developing a plan to distribute a vaccine if and when one becomes available. Across the country, whether inperson, online, or hybrid of both, this week marks the start of a different kind of school year. Kerry sanders is outside an Elementary School in parish, florida, where kids are starting their first day of school in person. Kerry, what are you hearing from parents there about sending their kids back into the classroom . Reporter well, parents told us, of course, their kids are awfully excited to come back to school. Im at barber harvey elementary in manatee county, where school has resumed. Lets take a look at the drone shot from above. As you see the campus, this is one of the 47 traditional schools in this country. 50,200 students. Many of them making their way back to the classroom today after this long break because of the end of the early and last year because of coronavirus. Which, of course, is on everybodys mind as the kids come back, including the parents. The parents worried about the safety of their children and having, frankly, a little tr trepidation as their children are dropped off to resume their studies. We shouldnt be opening up schools. Were not ready. Children arent ready. Children arent going to be able to stay 6 feet apart. Its not a safe thing to do. I know Everyone Wants to get their kids back to school, but i dont feel this is the smart decision right now. Reporter so you ask yourself, well, why did she let her child go to school here . This is a critical problem across the country. She and her husband do not have a choice. They have jobs that they cannot do at home. Theres a lot of people who have jobs and can work from home. So many other people have to physically go to their jobs. With both of them at work, they have no option other than to drop their children off here to go to school, even though theyre fearful of coronavirus. 48 of the students in this county will be going back to school. 29 are going to do elearning. The remainder 23 are doing a hybrid, where sometimes theyre in the classroom, sometimes theyre not. Underscoring the sense of overwhelming worry about coronavirus with, craig, we know, the most precious resource, our kids. Yes, we do. And you just highlighted such an impossible dilemma that so many moms and dads are dealing with right now. Kerry sanders for us in florida, thank you. One florida Elementary Schoolteacher just decided a week before classes were set to start that it was time to go. It was time to resign. Her name is jennifer bibi. She taught for more than 20 years in neptune beach, florida. Jennifer, thanks for your time this morning. You taught, as i understand it, for more than 20 years. Thats thousands of kids lives that youve helped shape. How hard was it for you to quit . It was the hardest decision of my life. I went in on wednesday, the first day teachers were to come back, and i told my principal that i was going to go ahead and resign after all. And that i could barely write the note. I mean, my hand was shaking, tears were streaming down my face. I was sick to my stomach. I just knew that i had to do it though, but it was the hardest thing ive ever done. What prompted the decision . What made you decide that now was the time to step away . Well, to me, it didnt make sense that we went virtual in march, and i think it was kind of, like, the dominos fell, one district did it, then the next district and the next state and the next state. As the numbers rose over the summer in florida, in particular, july was a big spike, i just thought that we would come back virtual. I thought it would make sense. I kept hoping for that to happen. When the governor and the commissioner of education made a mandate that schools had to go back brick and mortar, i was hoping that that wouldnt happen. I know that a couple