Of them just off the golf course. Many of them had a wineglass in hand. Some of them brought their kids. Many were not wearing masks. The president was played into the room to a recording of hail to the chief. Again, it was less a News Conference than it was a list of grievances, a dizzying slew of demonstrably false claims, including his latest version of how well he says the nation is doing while in the grip of a pandemic. Its going to disappear. In the United States, more than 80 of jurisdictions report declining cases. Were doing very well. You dont hear that too often from the media, but were doing very well. The reality is we are very close to 5 million coronavirus cases. Thats about the populations of the cities of houston and chicago combined. Over 161,000 people have died as of this friday night. Trump then rather stunningly said this about Health Insurance and preexisting conditions, already part of obamacare, which of course the president s trying to end. Over the next two weeks, ill be pursuing a major executive order requiring Health Insurance companies to cover all preexisting conditions for all customers. This has never been done before. Today the Labor Department reported the economy recovered nearly 2 million lost jobs. Unemployment now just over 10 . Were still in the grips of a cataclysmic downturn, the worst of the modern era. Many economists say the nation has a long way to go before its anywhere close to recovered from the shock of the pandemic and related lockdowns. Congressional democrats and the white house are at a stalemate over another round of coronavirus relief. Tonight trump blamed democrats for the talks collapsing while signaling hes ready to move ahead with executive orders, which hes promised before, using powers no one is sure he has. If democrats continue to hold this critical relief hostage, i will act under my authority as president to get americans the relief they need. And what were talking about is deferring the payroll tax for a period of months till the end of the year, and i can extend it at a certain period. Hopefully i will be here to do the job. Were going to enhance Unemployment Benefits through the end of the year. So Unemployment Benefits will be thats a big one will be brought out to the end of the year. And deferred student loan payments and forgive interest until further notice. So students who are paying Student Loans and in many cases theyre not even allowed to go back into their colleges. Extend the eviction moratorium. We will be extending that so people arent evicted. Not their fault. Are you concerned about the legality of these executive orders . No, not at all. No. Somebody well, you always get sued. Everybody h everything you do, you get sued. All of that, what you just heard, is tba. Lets fastforward, however. Here is how the event ended. Mr. President , you said that the pandemic is disappearing, but we lost 6,000 americans this week, and just in this room, you have dozens of people who are not following the guidelines in new jersey, which say [ audience booing ] youre wrong on that, because its a political activity. They have exceptions. Political activity, and its also a peaceful protest. So when you have and as you know [ cheers and applause ] you know, a number of and, to me, they look like they pretty much all have masks on. So thats about how that went. Earlier today we learned the u. S. Intelligence community believes russias trying to help trumps campaign. They in turn are trying to warn the public. A top intelligence official has released publicly what hes told lawmakers behind closed doors about other countries efforts to influence our 2020 election. The statement from the office of the director of National Intelligence says russia is, quote, using a range of measures to primarily denigrate former Vice President biden. Some kremlinlinked actors are also seeking to boost President Trumps candidacy on social media and russian television. It says china, quote, prefers that President Trump, whom beijing sees as unpredictable, does not win reelection. And about iran, they seek to undermine u. S. Democratic instituti institutions, President Trump, and to divide the country in advance of our 2020 elections. Here is how the president reacted to this report. The last person russia wants to see in office is donald trump because nobodys been tougher on russia than i have ever. Thats not what i dont care what anybody says. China would love us to have an election where donald trump lost to sleepy joe biden. They would dream they would own our country. If joe biden was president , china would own our country. Iran would love to see iran would love to see me not be president. If i didnt win the election in 2016, our country would now be maybe it would be over by now, but in war with north korea. Again, thats along the lines of how that went. Here for our leadoff discussion on a busy friday night, susan page, usa today Washington Bureau chief. Jeremy bash, former chief of staff at cia and pentagon, former chief counsel to house intel. And dr. Anne rimoin, professor of epidemiology at ucla where she runs the universitys center for global and immigrant health, specializing in emerging infectious diseases. Susan page, i need your overall reaction to this event today with country club guests making up the cheering section in the back. Again, you could hear people coughing occasionally. You could hear the occasional child in the background. The president portrayed himself to be the first president to protect preexisting conditions. And heres the New York Times take from the duo of carney and haberman. Away from gridlock in washington, trump puts on a show for his club. The president held what was billed as a News Conference, but there was almost no news. He again said the virus would disappear, and his audience seemed at times less the nation than his golf club members. Susan, over to you. So i think its distressing. I think the attitude toward a reporter asking a legitimate question was distressing. But i guess i think the bigger question is does this serve the president s purpose, which is to get reelected in november . And i would say this does not serve his purposes, his reelection purposes, because it does not portray him as focused on the issue that Americans Care about, which is this pandemic and its cost and its repercussions, and not identifying himself with what millions of americans are feeling, which is under stress, under fire, under siege, looking for leadership to help them get to the next place, a better place. So i think this may this is the kind of event that we think President Trump likes, gets him energized. Im not sure its one that is actually in his selfinterest. Meantime, jeremy bash, the house, we are told, is on fire. Absent a president in the fight, its a uniquely helpless feeling, isnt it, for the remaining few of us troubled by the idea that russia is actively engaged in a president ial election less than 90 days away. Who do we is there someone in Customer Service that, again, the small subset of us who still care about such things, who do we see about this . Yeah, where do we go to get our apology or our outrage, or our determination to protect Americas National security because, brian, russia got a fantastic return on their investment in 2016. Just think, i mean President Trump nearly pulled america out of nato, which would have certainly unraveled the Transatlantic Alliance that has kept europe and the United States free and kept russian aggression in check. Russian officials and their Intelligence Services paid bounties to the taliban to attack american forces. And of course the u. S. Didnt do anything about it. Trump didnt do anything about it, and russia has paid no price. And so russia has gotten a phenomenal return on their investment, and so it does not surprise me at all that they are engaged once again to denigrate President Trumps opponent in the election, joe biden, who of course is leading President Trump in the polls. And trumps response is, this is all a hoax. Theres nothing to see here. And, in fact, i would argue hes tacitly welcoming it because hes been on the phone with putin several times over the last several months, and not once has he confronted him over these intelligence reports, which were no doubt briefed to him before they were made public today, brian. Dr. Anne rimoin, the president said again today out loud and on camera, its disappearing. Its going to disappear. What does a Public Health official like yourself how do you process that . How do you continue to process that . And how should we treat such things spoken out loud by the president . Brian, you know, were coming again to this issue of disinformation, wishful thinking, and a lot of just rhetoric thats getting in the way of real science and Public Health. How does a Public Health person deal with this kind of information . You handle it by looking straight ahead at the facts and remembering the only way through this pandemic is exactly that, through it. And so what that means is that we all have to double down now. We have to do all the things that weve been talking about, and we have to remember with all of these events ongoing, we have sturgis, we have schools opening, we have so many things to think about. We have to be able to forgo present pleasure for future greater gain. That is going to be the theme of everything i say today. We all want to get back to life. We cant until we get the amount of virus that we have circulating right now down. Jeremy bash, dr. Rimoin dawes remind us that the backdrop for this and all discussions is an ongoing pandemic. Our friend clint watts, formerly of the fbi, has said for years on the subject of antivaxing and the social media you see on that subject, its a very cheap and easy investment for russia. Its based on an old theory that a sick enemy is easier to fight. Well, here we are, and i know neither you nor i is a pandemic specialist. But doctors who are argue that were in for a hell of a fight when there is a vaccine getting to that threshold, that percentage of americans willing to take it, and the russians will be in that fight stride for stride. No question, and intelligence has shown according to reports that the russians are trying to actually steal our vaccination research. But i think at a broader level, brian, i mean look at whats going on. Weve got foreign interference clearly outlined by this statement from the director of National Intelligence today, and youve got the president trying to discount the lawfully cast ballots of americans who are voting by mail. And he even says he wants to postpone election day, and we may not know the outcome of the election, he says, for days, weeks or years. If thats not an echo of fascism, no need for an election here because were in a crisis, i dont know what is. So i think these two things, foreign interference and the president s frankly fascist instincts to discount americans ability to vote and to discount the or to undermine the ability of our democracy to operate, these are very dangerous times, and i think were going to have to see a major turnout on election day in order to dispel any sense that the election is in doubt. So, susan page, you are a thoughtful person for a living. Give us the through line between Election Security, the russians, attacking Election Security in our own country. We hear it from the president. And the treatment of this virus thus far. So its all disruption. You know, and President Trump as a candidate in 2016 promised disruption. That was part of his appeal, and thats what we have. We have this most disruptive time. We had an election during the civil war. None of us were around for that. I think that was probably a pretty disruptive time. But i agree that i think this feels like a very a very perilous time for america. 88 days to the election. That is both not very much time and an extraordinary amount of time for things to happen, to go wrong, to go right, for people to get engaged. The electorate seems extremely interested in this election. It looks like we might have what we would always like to have, which is heavy turnout. But imagine if we had an election like we did in 2000 where its really close. We turn to the Supreme Court, a divided Supreme Court decides it. The reaction of America Today would not be the reaction of america in 2000, which was to accept the results. We would have a different situation if we had Something Like that happen in 88 days. Terrific point. Scary point but absolutely spoton. Anne rimoin, here in the new york metropolitan area, we had Governor Cuomo of new york today say he will allow schools to open in the fall. And were going to talk more about this later in the hour. But to be fair, thats the minimum. He is the governor of the state. He is letting it happen, but he knows these, in some cases, life or death decisions have to happen at the local level. Brian, youre absolutely right. You know, heres the thing. Theres no zerorisk situation here. But what new york is able to do is to consider opening schools because they have reached such a low threshold of disease, theyre able to really bring this to the table and bring this to communities to decide what to do. You know, most schools in the United States would not reach that benchmark of less than 5 community transmission. So were really not here, but it is a very complicated decision for everyone, because it really isnt just about the kids who are really suffering right now from not being in school, but we also have to have everything in place for the teachers, the bus drivers, the people in the cafeteria, the custodial staff, the people the children come home to. Nobody lives in a vacuum. So this is a very big decision, and the communities are really going to have to weigh the risk benefit and what matters and what they can do, and what they can put into place to protect everybody as best they can. We are much obliged to our big three after the week weve had to stick around with us late on a friday night. Susan page, jeremy bash, dr. Anne rimoin, our thanks for helping us along the way. And coming up, what does dr. Birx Tell Community leaders in covid hot spots . Up next, well talk to a georgia mayor who is actually on one of those calls. And later, the strange and bizarre and ultimately sad story of kanye west. His candidacy for president seems more serious only when you consider a lawyer for trump is also trying to get kanye on a ballot to siphon votes away from joe biden. Well talk about it with our guest tonight. The 11th hour just getting under way on a friday evening. Alright, everyone, we made it. My job is to help new homeowners who have turned into their parents. Im having a big lunch and then just a snack for dinner. So were using a speakerphone in the store. Is that a good idea . One of the ways i do that is to get them out of the home. Youre looking for a grout brush, this is garth, did he ask for your help . No, no. No. We all see it. We all see it. He has blue hair. Okay. Blue. Progressive cant protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. Keep it coming. You dont know him. When you bundle with us. Weve always put safety first. And we always will. For people. For the future. And there has never been a summer when its mattered more. Wherever you go, summer safely. Get 0 apr financing for up to five years on select models and exclusive lease offers. Now theres skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90 clearer skin at 4 months after just 2 doses. Skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches, or coughs. Or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. Nothing is everything. Ask your dermatologist about skyrizi. And, look, let me say it this way. You look at our infection rate, we are probably in the left situation in the country right now, as incredible as that is. So if anybody can open schools, we can open schools. So that much is true. New york, a former epicenter, continues to have one of the lowest infection rates in the country though as we said at the top of the broadcast lets say it again and plainly its one thing for the governor to say he will allow schools to open. Its quite another for all the local districts who now have a huge call to make. This gets very complicated in current hotspot states like georgia, which, quote, reported its largest singleday increase in confirmed covid19 deaths since the start of the pandemic just today. Some School Districts in georgia have delayed their reopening due to the spike in cases. We are happy to have with us tonight lynn deutsche, mayor of dunwoody georgia just outside atlanta. Madam mayor, thank you very much for being with us. Whats it like to be on one of these calls with dr. Birx for starters . We dont get to hear them. Wish we could. It is a matter of Public Health. Is she candid with you guys . Shes been very candid, and what ive noticed in the most recent calls is that shes been much more firm about what she would like to see local and state governments do if their cases are continuing to grow. And so weve seen some of the oh, okay. Go ahead. Closing bars is just an example of something she said on this past weeks calls. On schools,