Weve converted the auditorium, as you can see, into patient spaces. While the numbers continue to climb exponentially, we are making every effort to never, ever be able to turn a patient away. Our numbers of patients are continuing to increase. They come in faster than were able to discharge. They can go from using no oxygen to a high demand of oxygen within a matter of an hour. So its very unpredictable. The patients are sick. And this isnt a way that i want to die. I dont want to die like i cant breathe, even though im on a ventilator. Its frustrating to go out in public and see so many people not taking it seriously. This is not going to go away. This is not going to go away next month. Its not going to go away this fall. It wont go away until we have a vaccine. We begin the show once again with the sound from medical workers on the front lines of this pandemic. Welcome to thursday. Its meet the press daily. Im chuck todd. As we surpass 3. 5 million confirmed cases, the stark reality facing this country might be setting in with republican leaders. And it makes you wonder how much longer the president can continue to downplay and dismiss the dire situation facing this country. Cases, hospitalizations, and deaths continue to rise and now rise rapidly in the south. Hospitalizations are now approaching levels that the northeast experienced back in april and may. And we know what that did to the death toll. Cases are steadily going up in the midwest. And options are starting to rise. Which is the same story in basically every region of the country that isnt the northeast right now. More cities and states are requiring or pleading with their residents to wear masks. The governors of ohio and texas, for instance, are warning of statewide shutdowns if these trends continue. Another Financial Rescue package of at least 1 trillion is taking shape on capitol hill. And Senate Republicans are warming to the idea of another round of cash payments. A recognition that they fear sustained economic fallout as the u. S. Fails to contain this disease. It wasnt that long ago that Senate Republicans were going, hey, recovery we might be on the mend. Not so now. Even the president s most ardent allies at the rnc have notified delegates they are going to limit attendance at this summers convention in florida where cases are surging. Essentially, theyre doing everything that the mayor of charlotte said they would have to do, but now theyre doing it in jacksonville. And for the first time in weeks, dr. Anthony fauci met with the president after faucis dire warnings spurred white house officials and the president to spend the week questioning his expertise and attempting to undermine his credibility. As the country reels from a second surge and a patchwork of responses, it is worth noting that the results from our new nbc news wall street journal poll shows that the country at large is mostly on the same page when it comes to the threat of this pandemic. But the problem is, the president and his base are not on that page. In fact, it has divided the Republican Party, which could be what is hindering our entire response. The divide in this country is not red and blue, it is red versus dark red. Heres one example. Voters overall do not approve of the president s handling of the virus. Youve seen that number. 37 . But look at this divide inside the Republican Party. Republicans, who consider themselves more of a trump republican than a Party Republican in our survey, give the president glowing reviews. 92 approves. But that Approval Rating drops by nearly 40 points among republicans who call themselves Party Republicans before they would call themselves a trump supporter. And by the way, this is all over our poll. The only place where you see agreement among these two groups of republicans essentially is control of congress and on the economy. But on race relations, on the virus, on a number of parts of this virus, whopping, big gaps. 30 to 40point gaps in these two major republican groups. Joining me now, nbc News White House correspondent, jeff bennett, and nbc capitol hill correspondent, kasie hunt. I want to start with you, jeff. Because a lot of the issue that some, i think, republicans on kasie hunt has with the president , is his lack of focus on the virus. In fact, theres an event happening now that has nothing to do with the virus. And in fact, i want to read this description that the White House Press office put out about this event on regulation. Heres what they write. Prior to the impact of the covid19 global pandemic, these reforms contributed to more than 2 million americans rising out of poverty, 7 million americans liberated from food stamps. The highest Median Income in our nations histories, highest poverty rates, rising unemployment rates. President trumps historic deregulation is lifting up forgotten american families, improving our nations infrastructure, and lowering the cost of essential everyday goods and services. That last sentence is written in the present tense, but no part of it is true anymore. About the only way they acknowledge the virus is by saying, hey, remember when we didnt have the virus . Yeah. And thats really the bottom line here, chuck. And im told by sources and frankly this is evident from the president s own public statements, is that his entire Decision Matrix focused on this pandemic is really focused on what is good for the economy. That is why the president , from april until this past weekend, chose not to wear a Face Covering in public. Because his idea was how can he project a return to normalcy if hes seen wearing a face mask, if everyone is socially distanced. On april 3rd, when the president rolled out, unveiled the administrations guidance for face masks, he said that, you know, he wouldnt choose to do it. Its also why the administration has spent the last several days, some white house officials, attacking dr. Fauci. Dr. Fauci with his stark assessment, says dire warnings about the Coronavirus Response and the risks of reopening the country too quickly. That was one of the reasons why last thursday, President Trump said that he likes dr. Fauci personally, but in his view, dr. Fauci makes mistakes. That was the quote. And within days, we saw white house officials distribute to the press that document aimed at discrediting dr. Fauci. President trumps aide posted that cartoon mocking him. And then we saw that toptobottom takedown from peter navarro. So that is really what is at the bottom of this. The president does not accept this notion that being a good steward of the countrys Economic Health is really one and the same with being a good steward of the countrys Public Health. He sees them as two very disparate things, chuck. Let me ask it this way. His meeting with fauci today, is that the president s acknowledgement that they bungled this . Is this or is this an example that the white house is fighting amongst itself about how to deal with this virus, if the president doesnt want to acknowledge the current state of affairs . I mean, what is happening . Is there a divide inside that west wing or is this just all driven by the president . It seemed to be a way of turning the page. We have reported, and this is true, that until today, dr. Fauci and President Trump had not spoken in weeks. And the president , at least three or four times in the last week, has said repeatedly that he has a good personal relationship with dr. Fauci. What matters more, though, is his professional relationship with dr. Fauci. Is the president taking the advice of the nations top Infectious Disease expert in the throes of a pandemic . And he hasnt been. At least not directly. So, yes, they spoke today. Thats what a Senior Administration official tells our friend and colleague, kelly odonnell. But its also true that the administration has not invited dr. Fauci to brief President Trump personally in the oval office since the first week of june, chuck. Jeff bennett at the white house. Kasie, let me move to you on capitol hill. Because Something Else seems to have happened at least in the last 24 to 48 hours, where you get the sense and maybe it actually could have started over the weekend when you saw Mitch Mcconnell tout mask wearing, but Senate Republicans are coming around to the idea that number one, this virus isnt going away, number two, there needs to be more relief. And number three, its almost as if theyre trying to send the signal to the president , hey, it doesnt matter what you think, were going to throw money at the schools and were going to throw money at the electorate, whos suffering from this economy. That said, where are we on the senate side of things . Chuck, we are in a much different position than we were probably two weeks ago, i would say. Thats the time frame where this has started to shift. And its its aligned with the virus cases, as everyone ha. As many of these states that are represented by republicans in congress are really struggling under the weight of these new cases. What the republicans had wanted to do, what theyve been saying is, well wait and see if we need to put more into the economy. And the unfortunate reality for all of us is that we are in a position that is arguably just as bad, if not getting worse than the position we were in back in april, when congress shoveled 2. 2 trillion out the door. So, now Mitch Mcconnell is saying behind closed doors that he thinks they need about another 1 trillion, but there seem to be indications that they could go higher than that. Speaker pelosi seemed to suggest today that the mirpadministratis talking about a 1. 3 trillion plan. She says thats not enough. But if thats the plan this administration and make no mistake. This president doesnt want to focus on the virus, as you and jeff just talked about, at length. But the administration, secretary mnuchin, others know very well that if the economy collapses ahead of the election, that there is no way this president wins reelection. And the only way it seems to get the economy anywhere near where they want it to be is to put this money back into the economy. I mean, the choices that they have are just incredibly bad right now. And if the president is going to run on the economy, hes got to make a case to voters, im the one to turn us around and get us out of this. Hes president right now. He actually can do that. And so far, they havent. Theres a lot of pressure on republicans to get this done, chuck. And im curious look, Speaker Pelosi has been trying has been campaigning for the heroes act, if you will, you know, on just about any tv interview she can book, except for a handful of people that they actively avoid. And i am curious, are they do they view this as this is the democratic bill and well reconcile with the republicans . Or or are they thinking that they may have to come up with another bill . Im sure publicly they want to stay in one place, but how much are they willing to move, as far as your reporting is concerned . I think they are willing to move, chuck. I see this round of negotiations tracking similarly to the others, where each side kind of had a messaging set of positions or a set of priorities that they took to the table and they both had to move off of those. Because, as you know, the reality of this is that it has to pass the house. So Speaker Pelosi is going to have to get some of what she wants. Mitch mcconnell doesnt get to run the show. He does if you listen carefully to him, he really wants credit for it. The last time i asked him a question before he left town about the coronavirus, he said, well about the president. He said, well, my senate, i wrote in my office the c. A. R. E. S. Act. Im the one that put this money into the economy. Which i thought was pretty telling, because there was a lot of back and forth where pelosi got all the credit and that clearly irritated mcconnell. But mcconnells got everything on the line. If they dont do Something Big here, the senate is farther gone than it already is. So i think that reality puts him kind of not as far ahead as where pelosi is. She really has a lot of leverage here. Jeff bennett and kasie hunt, thank you both for getting us started on that front. Lets move to the states and the cities. The governors of colorado and arkansas today joined a growing number of governors, both democrat and republican, requiring their States Residents to wear masks. But there is an exception. Its georgia, where the governor there, brian kemp, signed an executive order that prohibits cities and counties from making mask requirements. Well, today, the mayor of atlanta, keisha lance bottoms, who tested positive for the virus herself, by the way, said her citys mask requirement still stands, despite the governors order. Its my belief that the city of atlanta still has the appropriate standing to mandate masks. Whatever the motivation is, i think that at the end of the day, we all have to do the right thing, because its the right thing to do. Its a simple thing to do. Its an easy thing to do. We will just continue to push and ask people to do it, despite the agreements that we may have. Well, joining me now is another mayor in georgia, van johnson, the mayor of savannah, georgia, and thats more than a dozen places in georgia where a mandatory mask order was put into place before the mayors executive order. So the mayor joins me now. Mr. Mayor, do you concur with the mayor of atlanta that you believe your order still stands, is still in effect, despite what the governor despite what the governor did . Well, thank you, first of all, for the opportunity. And yes, savannahs mask ordinance, our local declaration still stands. Can you how will you enforce this . Or do you feel as if the governor has tied your hands and your ability to enforce it . Well, i think thats the most interesting thing. Here at a time when really we should all be really united against one common enemy, which is covid19, unfortunately, were fighting against our own state, just to keep our citizens safe. Were going to continue to do what we have done here. We know that the science is very clear, as it relates to what will help us to get past covid19. And we know thats social distancing. We know thats the wearing of masks, and we know thats washing and cleaning of hands. And so as far as were concerned, we still have a mandatory mask order. Its been weird, the governor went out of his way to say his captured doesnt allow you guys to do this. And at the same time, hes advocating for people to wear a mask. Do you feel as if this mixed messaging has led to more people in savannah not Wearing Masks . Its confused everybody. I mean, here we are. By your own records, you know, georgia had almost 11,000 cases in the last 72 hours. Right to the west of us, alabama has a mandatory mask ordinance. Florida, which is about 120 miles to our south, theyre now in a situation where theyre considered the hot spot of the country. And in south carolina, to the north of us, they have mask, if the municipalities want to do it. Yet, our governor specifically said that we cannot make any ords or make any Emergency Declarations to mandate masks. Of course, everybody is confused. Were getting mixed messages from everywhere, and this is a time that we should be talking with one very clear, very consistent voice. Im curious, have you been able to make your case directly to the governor, personally . Well, interesting you say that. On the end of june 30th, i enacted the first Emergency Declaration for masks in the state of georgia. On july the 2nd, the governor said himself during a flyaround during the state that he was not going to challenge our order. And then, here we are, two weeks later, and he tries to overturn it. We believe that our Emergency Declaration still stands. We believe that the governor has overreached. And were going to do what we can to protect savannahians. Thats what this is all about. We just want to get past this. We just want our states help and we want our states backing to make sure that we all get through this. And we have to do it together. Where are you on your ability, do you feel, as if, to know where this virus is in savannah . Do you have enough contact tracers . Do you feel like testing do you get your tests back in time, in a reasonable period . I mean, thats always the biggest thing. Testing is one thing, but if you dont get trult the results in you cant contact trace. Where are you on those metrics . And i think we have been experiencing some of the same challenges that people have been all over the country. It has been taking in many cases tests too long to come back. There are limited resources. Yet our numbers continue to climb. In the first two weeks of july, we have had more positive cases than we have had in march, april, may, and june combined. And thats some of that time under a stayathome. So were actually worse off now than we were then. And that is why this is so concerning to us. I mean, we want our state to help us, to help our citizens. Help us to help our visitors. Help us to try to keep people safe. That is all we want. It should not be a political issue. It should not be an issue of emotion or perception or belief or opinion. Were just going to follow the science. If we follow the science, if were consistent, i think we can give our residents something to hold on to, give our businesses to something to hold on to and get to the other side of covid19. Van johnson, mayor of savannah, i appreciate you spending a few minutes with us and sharing the perspective from the ground there in your beautiful coastal city. Its always a treat. Thank you. Come see us soon. I look forward to it, again. All right, thanks very much. Up ahead, we are heading to the hot spot of florida, where the virus surge now has the gop planning to scale back its con skren vengeance, exactly what north carolinas governor told them they would have to do. And later, a shake up at the top of the