Summary
Trump aide Hope Hicks tested positive for coronavirus. Interview with Congressman Adam Schiff of California, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. In his latest column, Pulitzer Prize-winning conservative columnist George F. Will says the remaining presidential debates should be canceled. George Will notes "Presidential debates test next to nothing that is germane to the performance of presidential duties."
Transcript
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL, MSNBC HOST: Good evening, Rachel.
And thank you -- thank you very much for Representative Malcolm Kenyatta. That interview I think is the interview of the week. What you did in the last hour, taking us inside what's really happening in the Pennsylvania Republican controlled legislature, what they are trying to do with this election, I could have listened to him for the rest of the night. I could have -- if you ran that video of him in the meeting for another hour, I would be riveted to it.
This is -- there is so much at stake, and we see this one person in Pennsylvania doing everything he possibly can to fight against what Republicans are trying to do there. This is -- thank you for bringing this story to our attention. We all have to stay on it, obviously.
RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC HOST: Yes. And what the Republicans are doing there is really, really important, potentially determinatively important in terms of the presidential election. And the Republicans who are willing to do stuff like that in state legislatures in swing states are going to become some of the most important news makers and the most important people for us all to pay attention to in the next few weeks.
I will send you -- I'm going to tweet you a link for the entire footage of Kenyatta's testimony at that hearing because I played a little squib of it, but the whole thing is fantastic. You should see the whole thing.
O'DONNELL: Well, let's coordinate on this because I'm happy to have him on tomorrow night to continue this, but I don't want to get in the way of what you are doing. Let's just keep Malcolm Kenyatta on television as much as we possibly can the rest of the way here.
MADDOW: I'll call him and tell him you are going to be calling. Thank you, Lawrence.
O'DONNELL: Thank you, Rachel.
Well, tonight there is now only one degree of separation between Donald Trump and COVID-19. "Bloomberg" broke the news tonight, now confirmed by NBC news that Donald Trump's closest aid who is not a family member has tested positive for coronavirus.
"Bloomberg" reports, quote, Hope Hicks, one of President Donald Trump's closest aides, has tested positive for coronavirus infection, according to people familiar with the matter. There was no indication that the president has contracted the virus, the people said.
Hicks traveled with Trump aboard Air Force One to and from the presidential debate on Tuesday. Hicks traveled with Trump to his debate with Biden on Tuesday and to a Minnesota rally on Wednesday.
Trump's entourage entered the debate hall without face coverings or removed them as they sat down and refused an offer of masks from a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic, which was co-hosting the event. Biden's guests wore masks.
Hicks was seen on Tuesday riding maskless in a staff van with White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, campaign adviser Jason Miller and others. When they returned to Washington on Tuesday, Stephen Miller and Hicks were seen sharing an umbrella as they existed Air Force One in the rain.
"The New York Times" reports tonight officials at the White House have known since Wednesday evening that she had the virus. Tuesday night in the room with Hope Hicks watching approvingly, Donald Trump mocked wearing masks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't have -- I don't wear masks like him. Every time you see him, he's got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from you and he shows up with the biggest mask I've ever seen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'DONNELL: He has to lie about Joe Biden's mask. He has to lie about the size of Joe Biden's mask. Joe Biden, of course, wears the same kind of mask all the rest of us wear, but Donald Trump certainly needs the biggest mask we have ever seen if he's going to continue to hang around the reckless people who work for him.
Here is what Joe Biden said in response to Donald Trump's idiocy about masks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Masks make a big difference. His own head of the CDC says if we just wear a mask between now -- if everybody wore masks and social distanced between now and January, we'd probably save up to a hundred thousand lives. It matters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'DONNELL: Hope Hicks will not be accompanying Donald Trump on Air Force One to his rallies this weekend in Wisconsin, a state which is suffering its worst outbreak of coronavirus yet.
We will be joined later in this hour by a local official in Wisconsin who does not want President Trump to come to that state.
Donald Trump's recklessness -- his recklessness with his staff's continued recklessness, the combination of that, on the coronavirus is but a piece of the relentless recklessness of Donald Trump and his staff in the face of threats to the American people, be it from a pandemic or bad actors like heavily armed American white supremacists whose pride in their pride supremacists beliefs is included in the childish name they have given themselves, the Proud Boys.
Donald Trump refused to condemn them on the debate stage, and the White House press secretary refused to condemn them again today, which the racist anti-Semitic members of the Proud Boys have taken as encouragement. Donald Trump now lives in the same house and pretends to work in the same office, where President Franklin Delano Roosevelt led and won a war against racist anti-Semites with guns.
Donald Trump and his permanently tainted staff now do everything they can to coddle and encourage racist anti-Semites with guns.
Here is what Donald Trump's former national security adviser, General H.R. McMaster, said about this today on MSNBC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
H.R. MCMASTER, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I mean, it should be super easy to condemn white supremacists, right? And so I think that these -- these extremists really gain traction, right, and they draw more people in because there is a perception that they're legitimate and not, you know, a fringe, you know, hate-filled movement.
That's what they ought to be characterized as, and I think we Americans who identify as Americans who respect each other regardless of race, color, creed, sexual orientation, right, who are tolerant and who are proud that we live in a democracy in which we all have a say in how we're governed, our voices have to be loud and drown out these people who sow hatred and want to divide us and polarize us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'DONNELL: H.R. McMaster told "The Atlantic" no leader should encourage any group that is based on a narrow identity that aims to supersede our identity as Americans.
We begin our discussion tonight with the breaking news that Hope Hicks, the closest aid to President Trump who is not a member of his family has tested positive for coronavirus. We are joined by Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown College of Public Health.
Dr. Jha, thank you very much for joining us tonight.
What do you make of a situation where someone who is that close to Donald Trump, who has been on Air Force One with him now four times just this week with Tuesday and Wednesday's flights, what do you make of that as a risk for the president?
DR. ASHISH JHA, BROWN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH DEAN: Yes. So, Lawrence, thank you for having me on. It is a real risk for the president. First of all, I still can't believe that the White House staff don't wear a mask around the president, that the president doesn't wear a mask.
I appreciate the fact that they're getting tested all the time. That is not enough. Masks are still essential. And at this point, the CDC guidance on this is very clear. All of the people who have been around her over the last few days should self-quarantine, or 14 days, and that includes the president.
So I don't know if any of them are going to do that, but it is clearly a risk, and it would be a very bad thing for our country if our president was to be infected. We have got to be much more careful than the White House staff is being.
O'DONNELL: So, Dr. Jha, so according to CDC guidelines, the president of the United States tonight is a danger to others because of his exposure to COVID-19.
JHA: Yes. Look, he's been around somebody who is infected. He's been around that person when they weren't wearing a mask, and it's happened multiple times over the last couple of days when Ms. Hicks might have been most infectious.
So it is critical that he quarantine himself and avoid other people so he doesn't continue the transmission chain and doesn't spread the virus to others.
O'DONNELL: And he's scheduled for two rallies in Wisconsin this weekend. Would that be even -- would that now be an even more reckless public health risk for the president to impose on Wisconsin?
JHA: Well, first of all, it clearly was a bad idea before this whole thing happened. Wisconsin is the third highest number of new cases in the country. It's a super hot red zone, lots of cases. So bringing together for a rally was very, very dangerous.
But I do think at this point that the president should not be out and about, and again I think he should be quarantining himself and obviously getting -- continue to get tested until he's no longer a risk. But I think for his own protection and for those around him, everybody who has been in touch with Ms. Hicks needs to be self-isolating until further notice.
O'DONNELL: So, Doctor, the breaking news is that the president of the United States should be quarantined. Why isn't just testing the president tomorrow enough? Why would he also have to be quarantined?
JHA: Well, so we know a couple of things. First of all, the tests may not turn positive immediately. And the tests are not perfectly sensitive. And so, there is still a chance that he could be infectious and have a negative test. And so, at least for some period of time, it may not need to be for 14 days given that he is getting tested, but at least for some period of time, it is clearly within CDC guidelines and the prudent thing for him to do for him to be quarantining and not be around others until he can get a clean bill of health.
O'DONNELL: So this is Thursday night. He has rallies Saturday in Wisconsin. A clear and total violation of CDC guidelines for him to do that now. Even if he has been tested tomorrow say and Saturday to go into that rally environment in Wisconsin, having been exposed to coronavirus through Hope Hicks.
JHA: Look, this is his own CDC, and the guidelines are pretty clear. If you have been exposed to somebody else, you should be self-quarantines.
Again, I do think ongoing testing can be helpful here, but not in the next 48 hours. You need to wait longer than that. So if we are going to stick with the CDC guidelines, this is not a good time to go and be part of a rally.
O'DONNELL: Dr. Ashish Jha, thank you very much for starting us off on this important subject tonight. We really appreciate it.
JHA: Thank you, Lawrence.
O'DONNELL: We're joined now by Yamiche Alcindor, White House correspondent for "PBS NewsHour" and an MSNBC political analyst. Also with us, Christina Greer, associate professor of political science at Fordham University.
And, Yamiche, you are part of the people who take the risk of being around these White House staffers, being around the president. We have the breaking news at this hour that the president should be quarantined. That is the breaking news that America should be concentrating on right now. All public health officials, the CDC, Dr. Jha just indicated, the president should be quarantined based on what's happened to Hope Hicks.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: That's right. And the other breaking news is the president says just a few minutes ago that he has been tested for the coronavirus and is now awaiting his results. He says he might be getting it tonight or Friday. He said, quote, whether we quarantine or not I don't know.
So essentially the president, as you said, that he should be quarantining. He's openly saying he doesn't know if he's going to quarantine. The other thing to note is that the president and his staffers, while they are tested daily, as someone who is in the White House multiple times a week, I can tell you that a lot of those White House staffers don't wear masks. They are tested and they say that the reason why I don't have to wear masks is that they're tested regularly. But the president tonight is saying he doesn't actually know his status and that that is something that he and First Lady Melania Trump is waiting on.
So, this is a really scary, as the president is still trying to handle and get a grip on this virus and struggling through, critics say, struggling through his response to this virus. He himself may now be part of the more than seven million Americans who could possibly be infected.
O'DONNELL: Well, it is a good thing that they're not relying on the rapid test, which is less reliable. The fact that they're waiting for results means they're taking a test that is the more reliable version of it.
Let's listen to what Donald Trump said in an interview with a reporter at his rally in Las Vegas. And this is a point that Joe Biden was making. Joe Biden was describing this actual exchange that Donald Trump had in the debate the other night. Let's listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Well, I'm not concerned. I'm more concerned about how close you are.
REPORTER: Sorry about that.
TRUMP: Because you know why? I'm on a stage that's very far away.
REPORTER: Uh-huh.
TRUMP: So I'm not at all concerned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'DONNELL: Christina Greer, so he was the only one social distancing at his rallies, but he certainly didn't have enough social distance from Hope Hicks. And there we see in this incident what I think is kind of a perfect representation of the utter relentless recklessness of Donald Trump, the Trump administration, the Trump staff on all subjects of governance from the day Donald Trump was sworn in.
CHRISTINA GREER, FORDHAM UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE: Lawrence, I might even say from when he came down that gold escalator and called Mexicans rapists.
First things first, I want to thank Yamiche and her colleagues who risk their lives every day to bring us the news from the White House knowing that the president and his staff don't follow CDC guidelines. The president has always mocked mask-wearing, Lawrence.
If you remember, you know, all the way through march he was saying masks weren't needed. We heard him, you know, at the debate essentially chastising Joe Biden for wearing a mask, making it a joke. We have seen people all over Florida refusing to wear masks, getting arrested, getting thrown out of grocery stores and sporting events because they would not comply. So we have a real difference in opinion.
But here's the thing. You know, as Senator Patrick Moynihan said, we're all entitled to our opinions, but we're not entitled to our own facts. The fact of the matter is we must wear a mask to protect ourselves from a virus we're still trying to figure out. The fact that the president refuses to lead the nation in a responsible behavior is just as you say, Lawrence, it is completely reckless. It is irresponsible and it's the type of lack of leadership that sadly so many millions of Americans have grown accustomed to over these past few years.
O'DONNELL: And, Yamiche, we saw today, the White House press secretary following the president's lead and refusing to condemn white supremacists. Donald Trump continue to refuse to do that. It is not difficult to link this to the refusal to wear masks. It is highly irresponsible, irresponsible is the mildest word you can use for Donald Trump and his staff coddling racists anti-Semites in this country.
ALCINDOR: It was a remarkable scene at the White House today when the White House press secretary was posed the question over and over again, well, will you condemn white supremacists and she simply would not do that. And part of what she was doing there was following the lead of president Trump who at that moment had not condemned white supremacists in the way that was just declared a statement.
That being said, the president took tonight, full days after he refused to condemn that on the debate stage, then just on Fox News a few minutes ago say I condemn white supremacist, I condemn the KKK, I condemn the Proud Boys. That's two days after the president refused to do that on the debate stage, and he's doing that in front of a much smaller audience because of course there were people that were tuned into the debate stage that were waiting for the president to set an example and he didn't take the time to do that.
He is the president responding to the pressure and the pushback that he's getting and I should say the push back from Republicans. You saw Republicans in different states as well as in the U.S. Capitol saying we're not quite sure what's going on here. Maybe he misspoke. Maybe he'll clarify it.
The president is now saying he's clarifying it, but I can already tell you on Twitter and some of the exchanges I'm already having, a lot of people are saying this is too little, too late. It looks like now he was forced into this.
This reminds me of when the president finally acknowledged that Barack Obama, former President Barack Obama was born in America. It took months for him to be asked that question and to pose that question. And finally he said, yes, I believe he was born in America and ran off and didn't take any questions about it.
So this is the president reacting to really what shouldn't I don't think have been pushback to answer a very simple question about white supremacy.
O'DONNELL: And, Christina, the president's claiming to not know anything about the Proud Boys or what they represent is a flawless echo of his claiming four years ago that he did not know who David Duke was and he did not know that David Duke was a Ku Klux Klan leader when he was kind of welcoming David Duke's support for his candidacy.
GREER: Right. And I never heard of the Easter Bunny. I mean, Lawrence, that's absolutely absurd.
We know that the president welcomes and saddles up with white supremacists. He has been doing that for most of his tenure in the White House. So the fact is too little too late. What he's probably feeling the pressure of, it is not just the president at the top of the ticket on the ballot. Across the country, we've got U.S. senators, we've got governors, we've got all members of the house on the ballot, a lot of Republicans in the fight for their lives and their many Republican voters who just aren't comfortable now pulling a lever for someone who is unclear as to whether or not he supports white supremacy.
O'DONNELL: Professor Christina Greer, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Yamiche, please stay as safe as you can covering that Trump White House.
ALCINDOR: I will do that. My mom will appreciate it.
O'DONNELL: Thank you.
And when we come back, Donald Trump's former national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, said flat-out today that Donald Trump is aiding and abetting Vladimir Putin. He's not the first person that's been trying to tell us that. We'll be joined next by the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Congressman Adam Schiff.
(COMMERRCIAL BREAK)
O'DONNELL: Today, Donald Trump's former national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, said he now agrees that Donald Trump is once again trying to use Russian interference in the election to help him win.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCMASTER: I agree that he is aiding and abetting Putin's efforts by not being direct about this, right? By not just calling out Putin for what he's doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'DONNELL: Here's more of what H.R. McMaster said about what Russia is trying to do to us right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCMASTER: You know, they spend about 80 percent of their effort dividing us further on issues of race, for example, and also on gun control or immigration. And so, we have to be cognizant of this and we need our leaders to help pull the curtain back on it, not aid and abet Putin by not calling him out on it or talking about other nations that are disrupting it, which they are, but Russia is the primary problem in this area.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'DONNELL: Joining us now, Congressman Adam Schiff of California, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Chairman Schiff, what was your reaction to hear a former national security adviser of this president very plainly saying that Donald Trump is aiding and abetting Vladimir Putin?
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): First, I was glad that he (AUDIO GAP) as well. Those who work with Donald Trump and understand what a threat he poses to the country cannot in good conscious remain silent anymore.
What he had to say and bear in mind, this is the second national security adviser of the president after Bolton to say the president can't be trusted to defend the country. You know, the merits of what he's saying that the president is aiding and abetting Putin are sadly all too much on the mark.
After all, Putin and Russia are intervening in our election right now, right now as people are voting, the Russians are interfering to try to help elect Donald Trump and sow discord. They're trying to amplify the president's false statements about whether we can trust the results of the election.
What is the president doing? He's still praising Putin and his relationship with Putin.
There is a common denominator, Lawrence, between the two stories you just covered, the one about his inability to condemn and criticize the Proud Boys and his inability to condemn and criticize Putin.
Basically, it doesn't matter how despicable, it doesn't matter how damaging to our national security and those white supremacist groups are a threat to our security. If they're for him, he's for them. And how can we have someone like that as our commander in chief?
O'DONNELL: What would you say to voters who when they listen to you, they realize Russia is trying to interfere with their right to vote, with their ability to cast their vote, with the way they're going to cast their vote.
What would you say to voters tonight about how they should approach voting this year?
SCHIFF: Well, I would say this. It is the most important election you are ever going to participate in. So, whether you decide to vote by mail, which is a safe and secure way to vote, especially during a pandemic, or whether you want to go into that voting booth is less important than the fact that you vote.
We're on the extraordinary circumstance right now where the Russians don't have to make stuff up anymore because the president is making it up. They just need to amplify the false statements. And right now, they're amplifying the president's false claims about whether we can vote safely, whether we can vote accurately, whether the country is capable of vote -- of holding an honest election.
We are. We can. You must. And we'll see our way through this.
But -- but that's what I would suggest. You know, get out and vote. Make sure your voice is heard.
The president doesn't want you to vote and neither do the Russians. Go ahead and prove them wrong.
O'DONNELL: And, Chairman Schiff, your reaction to Hope Hicks testing positive for coronavirus tonight. She's been on Air Force One, four flights just this week with the president. She's obviously very close to him in the course of the normal working day in the White House.
And we just had Dr. Jha begin this hour by saying the president should quarantine. All the CDC guidelines say he's been exposed to coronavirus through Hope Hicks. He should quarantine.
SCHIFF: Well, first of all, he should have never been put in this position. He should never put himself in this position. And if you were following the advice of experts, he would have maintained distance. He would have worn masks and so would Hope Hicks.
And this is tragic. You know, as the president's own CDC director said, the simple act of wearing a mask may be as effective as a vaccine.
But what's more? You know, beyond the irresponsibility of potentially rendering the commander in chief unable to do his duties because he's too sick, you have the fact that both the president and Hope Hicks and everyone around them is setting such a terrible example for the country, such a mixed message where the scientists and epidemiologists, his own health care people are saying wear a mask, keep your distance and yet, he and Hope Hicks and others are going to these rallies where people are not wearing masks.
When organizers ask people to wear masks at the Trump rally, they got booed. And you wonder why the virus is still raging throughout America and why we have some of the worst results in the world.
So it's irresponsible when you talk about the commander in chief, to expose the commander to that risk, but also it's a terrible message for the country and it is costing American lives.
O'DONNELL: Chairman Adam Schiff, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it.
SCHIFF: Thank you, Lawrence.
O'DONNELL: And when we come back, the Trump campaign is now fighting with the Presidential Debate Commission about any possible change of rules like muting Donald Trump's microphone.
Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George Will says the better choice is to just cancel the rest of the so-called debates.
George Will joins us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'DONNELL: In his latest column, Pulitzer Prize-winning conservative columnist George F. Will says the remaining presidential debates should be canceled. George Will notes "Presidential debates test next to nothing that is germane to the performance of presidential duties."
And so even without Donald Trump the televised presidential debate is an absurdly irrelevant form of audition for the actual work of the presidency, which goes on behind closed doors. But when Donald Trump enters the frame of a presidential debate, suddenly the absurdity of the forum becomes instantly apparent to everyone.
George will writes "The national interest, actually national security, demands that the other two scheduled mortifications, fraudulently advertised as presidential debates should be canceled."
Joining us now is George F. Will, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for "The Washington Post" and MSNBC political analyst.
George, the piece about national security, what's the national security issue in canceling the other two debates?
GEORGE F. WILL, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: When the United States makes itself appear bewildered and disorderly and pathetic, our enemies do not respond with sympathy and empathy. They respond with perhaps adventurism saying a country this distracted is vulnerable to any of our expansionist aims. And we know that Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi have such aims.
O'DONNELL: The Trump campaign is now fighting with the Presidential Debate Commission over the possibility of changing some rules like possible muting the microphones. They are accusing the Presidential Debate Commission of being horribly biased against Republicans.
It is of course headed by a former chairman of the Republican Party, Jack Danforth, former Republican senator who, in my own personal experience working in the Senate, there was no more honorable Republican senator I ever worked with. He's a member of that committee, of that commission but the Trump campaign doesn't trust any of them.
WILL: Well, there is something reasonable (ph) about bickering with rules. Trying to restrain Mr. Trump with rules is like trying to lasso a locomotive with a cobweb. Short of a trap door beneath his lectern, I don't see what rules are going to do.
So not only if we have him on the stage will we have another subtraction from our international standing, and another addition to our already ample public supply of cynicism and disgust, we will proceed with, as I have said in my column as you just quoted, we'll proceed on the false assumption that we're somehow testing something that is germane.
Presidents read briefing papers. They get oral briefings. They negotiate, they advocate with other leaders, their own positions. That's nothing to do with standing on stage and being asked the meaning of life and explain it in two minutes.
When the Lincoln-Douglas people debated, it was something a little bit different. Whoever went first in that debate spoke for an hour. Whoever went second spoke for an hour and a half. And then the man who led off spoke for an additional half hour to sum up. Try to imagine members of today's political class making a coherent argument about, say, popular sovereignty and expansion of slavery into the territories for an hour. Tells you where we are.
O'DONNELL: And most of our presidential campaigns have not had presidential debates. It is not an essential component of the campaign.
WILL: That's right. And, therefore, usually when we have one, people say will someone make a mistake? Not will someone elucidate to (INAUDIBLE), but will someone make a mistake of the sort perhaps that Gerry Ford did when he got tangled up in his thinking in syntax and said Poland and Eastern Europe are not dominated by the Soviet Union and never will be. And he lost another four or five days of campaigning trying to untangle that bit of rhetorical misadventure.
So again, what are we testing here? The idea that these people have been in public life for a while, one has been president for three and a half years. But in a normal campaign, the candidates running for president have been running for several years, have by the time we reach this length (ph) of the campaign, people have been voting and we're hardly to say they're more familiar with all of them.
O'DONNELL: George Will, thank you very much for joining us again tonight. We always appreciate it.
WILL: Glad to be with you, Lawrence.
O'DONNELL: Thank you.
Up next, who will be the next person on Air Force One to catch the coronavirus? Donald Trump is scheduled to fly to Wisconsin for two campaign rallies on Saturday. Local officials in Wisconsin didn't want him to come before they knew tonight's news, that he has been exposed to the coronavirus through Hope Hicks.
That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'DONNELL: Today Wisconsin reported its highest number of new cases of coronavirus ever with 2,887. Yesterday Wisconsin broke its single-day record for coronavirus deaths with 27.
On Saturday Donald Trump was planning two back-to-back rallies in Wisconsin where he is running ten points behind Joe Biden.
The Democratic governor of Wisconsin Tony Evers said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOVERNOR TONY EVERS (D-WI): The president could do two things. One is maybe not come. That's number one. He could not come.
The second thing that could be done is for him to insist that if people are there they wear a mask. He can make that happen. He could wear one, too.
But those are the two things that he could do to make sure that it doesn't become a super spreader event.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'DONNELL: Joining us now is the Kara Purviance, chair of the Board of Supervisors for Rock County, Wisconsin where Donald Trump plans to have a rally on Saturday. What would you like to say to the president tonight about his rally in your county on Saturday?
KARA PURVIANCE, CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF SUPERVISORS - ROCK COUNTY, WISCONSIN: Well, I would echo what Governor Evers just said in the last clip you just played and ask that the president not come to Wisconsin at this time due to the rising cases that we're seeing, both in Wisconsin and in our county.
O'DONNELL: How do you think he will be received in Wisconsin now that Wisconsin is going to wake up tomorrow to the news that Hope Hicks has tested positive for coronavirus. She's been on Air Force One with the president four times this week. She goes everywhere with the president. She's in the White House with him every day.
Donald Trump has now been exposed to the coronavirus through Hope Hicks. And Dr. Ashish Jha began this hour by saying the president should now be quarantining.
PURVIANCE: Right. So I would hope that the president would actually lead by example. We have been asking citizens to self-quarantine when they have come in contact with those who have been -- who have tested positive for the virus.
And I believe as a leader it behooves the president to lead by example and self-quarantine and TO not travel at this time.
O'DONNELL: We also have reports that the Trump group does not wear masks and they do not wear masks when they go to these rallies and when they have these rallies. The only person who is actually in any way socially distanced at the rally is Donald Trump himself, which he explained to a reporter in Nevada.
He's up there on the stage and all those people are way out there in the audience so he's the only one who practices any form of social distancing.
Do you think that in the next 48 hours the message will get through to even Trump supporters in Wisconsin, it is dangerous to be around Donald Trump events?
PURVIANCE: Yes. Well, I would say that that is definitely one of the concerns that we had prior to finding out that Ms. Hicks tested positive for the coronavirus. We do have some serious concerns about our citizens not practicing social distancing when wearing masks at the rally and then going back into the community and spreading it to others through contact.
So I can't tell you what it's going to look like over the next 24 to 48 hours as far as people waking up and being more concerned, but I can tell you that we're definitely concerned and that was part of our reasoning for asking the president to cancel this event.
O'DONNELL: Just politically, what can you tell us about a state where the candidate who is not having any rallies at all, Joe Biden, is ten points ahead of the candidate who wants to have public rallies in Wisconsin?
PURVIANCE: I think that speaks to the citizens of Wisconsin in that we are taking this -- we're trying to take it seriously. We're trying to be safe and protect one another. And I think that Joe Biden by not holding these large public rallies is doing what we're asking President Trump to be here by canceling this rally and leading by example.
O'DONNELL: Kara Purviance, thank you very much for joining us tonight. And I hope everyone in Wisconsin stays safe this weekend.
PURVIANCE: Thank you so much.
O'DONNELL: Thank you.
Up next, Mike Espy is on the verge of making history once again, and that history might include winning back the United States Senate for the Democrats. Democratic Senate candidate Mike Espy who is running tied now in his race joins us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'DONNELL: We have breaking news about COVID-19 in the Trump White House. Donald Trump has just tweeted, "Hope Hicks has just tested positive for COVID-19. The first lady and I are awaiting -- waiting for our test results. In the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process."
No word yet on what the quarantine process means for Donald Trump, but this could mean that Donald Trump will not be endangering the lives of his Wisconsin supporters by having two rallies just two days from now on Saturday in Wisconsin, rallies that already local officials are objecting to, including the governor of Wisconsin.
Donald Trump saying that he and the first lady will begin our quarantine process. You heard at the beginning of this hour, Dr. Ashish Jha said that the president of the United States should now be quarantined because he has been exposed to the coronavirus through Hope Hicks, who has been on Air Force One, four flights with the president this week, and is with the president every day in the White House. We'll have more on this as it develops.
Brian Williams will have more on this in the next hour.
Donald Trump saying that he and the first lady will begin our quarantine process.
I want to turn now to control of the United States Senate and Mike Espy's attempt for a Senate seat. Mike Espy is very good at making history. In 1986, he became the first black congressman from Mississippi since 1883. He went on to become the first black Secretary of Agriculture in the Clinton administration, and he remains the only black secretary of agriculture we have ever had.
Mike Espy is now on the verge of making history once again by becoming the first black senator from Mississippi since 1881. The last time Mississippi elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate was in 1982.
In March, Mike Espy's standing in the polls looked typical for a Democrat running for Senate in Mississippi. The incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith was at 54, and Mike Espy was at 28. But since then, the Republican senator's polling has collapsed, and Mike Espy's polling has gone straight up, and the race is now a tie, 41-40.
And as close followers of Senate campaigns know, whenever an incumbent falls below 50 percent in the polls, the incumbent is in grave danger because the remaining undecided voters tend to vote for the challenger.
In Mississippi, the incumbent challenger is polling at -- the incumbent is polling at 41. The challenger is polling at 40. There's Mike Espy against Cindy Hyde-Smith.
If that's the way the polling looks going into Election Day, you should make a very large bet on Mike Espy making history once again.
Joining us now is Mississippi Democratic candidate for Senate Mike Espy. Thank you very, very much for joining us tonight, Secretary Espy.
What do you think explains your rise in the polls and your opponent's collapse in the polls?
MIKE ESPY (D-MS), SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Well, first of all, Lawrence, thank you so much for having me on. Thank you for this opportunity.
I think there are three reasons. One, Mississippians, they're is just tired of being last, tired of having less. You know, we're just so tired of it. I'm 66 years old and ever since I've been, you know, here in this state, we're last in education, last in health care, last in job opportunities. We're just tired of it.
And they want someone now who is accessible, available, who believes in a new Mississippi, a Mississippi that's welcoming, a Mississippi that will lead this state into the third decade of the 21st century.
The second reason is that people now are looking at Cindy Hyde-Smith. Lawrence, she is uniquely awful. Not only is she against Affordable Care Act, not only does she want to cut pre-existing illness conditions, coverage for that, not only is she not doing anything to stop the tide of all of our rural households (ph) closing, she loves Mississippi, but she likes Mississippi of old. You know, she does.
She has a penchant to glorify confederate symbols. In 2014, she went into the Jefferson Davis Museum here in south Mississippi. Now, that's fine to go to the museum. Our flag that we've taken down is in the museum.
But she went there, Lawrence. She tried on that little confederate hat. She tried on a waistcoat and held a rifle and then she said, this is the best of Mississippi's history.
But, no, it's not. It's not. I don't believe that. So they want somebody who is -- someone who will lead this state into the future, welcoming and uniting.
And then the third reason is frankly I ran before 18 months ago, and you know that. I ran against the same uniquely awful senator, and we got 47 percent even though we only had six months to run. Our race was the last Senate race in the United States because Thad Cochran fell ill and resigned.
So we had to in April decide to run, stand up a campaign, find a staff, raise the money. We made our message. We got 47 percent of the vote. That's why I knew we could win. We had to run then to win now.
Your viewers should know that here in Mississippi, we have more black voters per capita than any state in the nation. More -- so we have a lot to work with from the beginning. So all we have to do is build a coalition. Just get out the black voters like never before and get enough white voters in the suburbs, in the college towns or the Mississippi Gulf Coast to build that coalition to do what we need to do, and we are doing it.
O'DONNELL: Yours is not the highest profile Senate race that the national media is covering. Have you had trouble getting the attention and the support from the national Democratic Party for your race in Mississippi?
ESPY: Yes, yes. You know, it's like they're beginning to now, and I'm very grateful. If you had asked me that question two months ago, I would have been -- I would have given you a different answer.
But right now I'm very grateful. They're beginning to come now. I did a call with Tom Perez and the national Democratic donors yesterday.
But this is Mississippi, Lawrence. I'm used to this. It's like Catch-22. They ignore you until you can prove your own viability. And it's hard to prove your own viability if they ignore you.
So here in Mississippi, we got all these black voters, but 20 percent of them are below the poverty level. There are 100,000 infrequent voters. I wish I could automatically say just come and vote for me, but they're in grinding poverty. It's hard to pick yourself up and go vote for a candidate if you don't have any sense that that candidate could have an impact on your life.
So that's our charge -- to take our gloves, our mask, and our PPE, and I really need help for that with your viewers, to go and get those 100,000 voters that haven't voted for anyone since Barack Obama 2008.
They didn't vote for him in '12. They didn't vote for Hillary in '16. They didn't vote for me in '18. Nor for the Democratic nominee for governor in '19. But we know who they are.
We know where they are. We have their contact. I need to be able to get them. We need resources into this campaign. Please have your viewers go to EspyforSenate.com. We can do this.
O'DONNELL: Mike Espy, Democratic candidate for Senate in Mississippi.
I am betting on you on election night. These poll numbers are going your way. Thank you very much for joining us tonight.
ESPY: Thank you so much, Lawrence. I appreciate this.
O'DONNELL: Mike Espy gets tonight's LAST WORD.
"THE 11TH HOUR WITH BRIAN WILLIAMS" starts now.
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