Into America

The US Postal Service reaches every corner of America – from cities to small towns. In the midst of a pandemic, postal carriers are still delivering the mail, ensuring that people can pay their bills, keep up to date on medication, and connect with loved ones – even as most of us stay home to stop the spread of coronavirus.

But for years, the post office has been in financial decline – over the last 11 years the service has lost $69 billion. Postmaster General Megan Brennan estimates that without government assistance, the office could run out of cash by the end of September. And on top of all this – the USPS will play a major role in the November election. Because of the pandemic, voting-by-mail is expected to be a popular choice come fall. But could a hamstrung postal service hurt the election process?

On this episode of Into America, Trymaine Lee sits down with NBC News Business Correspondent Stephanie Ruhle to understand the financial struggles facing the post office. Plus, a former deputy postmaster general gives an inside look at how the funding debate in Washington, DC could impact the election this fall.

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica.

Further reading:

• Could coronavirus deal a fatal blow to the U.S. Postal Service
• Top Republican donor tapped to lead struggling U.S. Postal Service
• Trump rants about fraud. But here's the secret to keeping voting by mail secure.

The US Postal Service reaches every corner of America – from cities to small towns. In the midst of a pandemic, postal carriers are still delivering the mail, ensuring that people can pay their bills, keep up to date on medication, and connect with loved ones – even as most of us stay home to stop the spread of coronavirus.

But for years, the post office has been in financial decline – over the last 11 years the service has lost $69 billion. Postmaster General Megan Brennan estimates that without government assistance, the office could run out of cash by the end of September. And on top of all this – the USPS will play a major role in the November election. Because of the pandemic, voting-by-mail is expected to be a popular choice come fall. But could a hamstrung postal service hurt the election process?

On this episode of Into America, Trymaine Lee sits down with NBC News Business Correspondent Stephanie Ruhle to understand the financial struggles facing the post office. Plus, a former deputy postmaster general gives an inside look at how the funding debate in Washington, DC could impact the election this fall.

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica.

Further reading:

• Could coronavirus deal a fatal blow to the U.S. Postal Service
• Top Republican donor tapped to lead struggling U.S. Postal Service
• Trump rants about fraud. But here's the secret to keeping voting by mail secure.

The impact of coronavirus has been devastating, but while we wait for a treatment or a vaccine, laughter may be the next best medicine.

Comedian, actress, podcast host and author Michelle Buteau is taking time during quarantine to slow down, reflect and stay creative. Host Trymaine Lee sits down with Buteau, who is at home in the Bronx with her twins, to discuss the value of comedy in a pandemic.

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica.

Further Reading and Viewing:

• Michelle Buteau on hosting Netflix competition show ‘The Circle’
• Stand-up with no laughs: Comedians find new ways to entertain quarantined audiences

The impact of coronavirus has been devastating, but while we wait for a treatment or a vaccine, laughter may be the next best medicine.

Comedian, actress, podcast host and author Michelle Buteau is taking time during quarantine to slow down, reflect and stay creative. Host Trymaine Lee sits down with Buteau, who is at home in the Bronx with her twins, to discuss the value of comedy in a pandemic.

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica.

Further Reading and Viewing:

• Michelle Buteau on hosting Netflix competition show ‘The Circle’
• Stand-up with no laughs: Comedians find new ways to entertain quarantined audiences

The 2020 election season was thrown a curve ball when the spread of coronavirus across the U.S intensified in March. By early April, former Vice President Joe Biden was the only candidate left standing.

Around the same time that Biden became the apparent nominee, a woman named Tara Reade alleged in a podcast interview that Biden sexually assaulted her when she was a staffer on his senate team in 1993.

Recent polling shows voters are split on whether or not they believe the allegation against Biden. When it comes to women voters, will this allegation hurt Biden’s bid for the presidency?

Host Trymaine Lee speaks with NBC News Political Reporter Ali Vitali about her original reporting on the allegation against Joe Biden, including her conversation with Reade herself. Lee and Vitali also talk to two different women about how they are processing the allegation and what it means for their vote come November.

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica.

Further Reading:

• Here are the facts regarding Tara Reade's allegation against Joe Biden
• Woman broadens claims against Biden to include sexual assault
• Biden accuser Tara Reade 'not sure' what complaint she claims was filed with Senate says
• 'I wouldn't vote for me if I believed Tara Reade': Biden says about sexual harassment allegations

The 2020 election season was thrown a curve ball when the spread of coronavirus across the U.S intensified in March. By early April, former Vice President Joe Biden was the only candidate left standing.

Around the same time that Biden became the apparent nominee, a woman named Tara Reade alleged in a podcast interview that Biden sexually assaulted her when she was a staffer on his senate team in 1993.

Recent polling shows voters are split on whether or not they believe the allegation against Biden. When it comes to women voters, will this allegation hurt Biden’s bid for the presidency?

Host Trymaine Lee speaks with NBC News Political Reporter Ali Vitali about her original reporting on the allegation against Joe Biden, including her conversation with Reade herself. Lee and Vitali also talk to two different women about how they are processing the allegation and what it means for their vote come November.

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica.

Further Reading:

• Here are the facts regarding Tara Reade's allegation against Joe Biden
• Woman broadens claims against Biden to include sexual assault
• Biden accuser Tara Reade 'not sure' what complaint she claims was filed with Senate says
• 'I wouldn't vote for me if I believed Tara Reade': Biden says about sexual harassment allegations

The bottom has dropped out for America’s airlines. More than 90 percent of passengers have disappeared. Airports feel deserted. And despite a huge government bailout, there’s growing concern that not all the major carriers will survive past September. Meanwhile, passengers are unsure whether it is safe to fly and there’s a whole new routine for getting from place A to place B that involves more than masks and hand sanitizer.

NBC Correspondent Tom Costello has been covering the airline industry for 15 years, and says he’s never seen anything like this, for the industry or the flying public.

Trymaine Lee talks to Tom about what the airlines are doing – and not doing – to win back the public’s confidence and save their businesses. No matter what, flying may never be the same.

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica.

Further Reading:

• Coronavirus pandemic could force a major U.S. airline out of business, says Boeing CEO
• Airlines and Treasury reach an agreement over multibillion-dollar relief
• Higher fares, longer waits, no booze: How coronavirus will change the way we fly

The bottom has dropped out for America’s airlines. More than 90 percent of passengers have disappeared. Airports feel deserted. And despite a huge government bailout, there’s growing concern that not all the major carriers will survive past September. Meanwhile, passengers are unsure whether it is safe to fly and there’s a whole new routine for getting from place A to place B that involves more than masks and hand sanitizer.

NBC Correspondent Tom Costello has been covering the airline industry for 15 years, and says he’s never seen anything like this, for the industry or the flying public.

Trymaine Lee talks to Tom about what the airlines are doing – and not doing – to win back the public’s confidence and save their businesses. No matter what, flying may never be the same.

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica.

Further Reading:

• Coronavirus pandemic could force a major U.S. airline out of business, says Boeing CEO
• Airlines and Treasury reach an agreement over multibillion-dollar relief
• Higher fares, longer waits, no booze: How coronavirus will change the way we fly

One of the earliest outbreaks of coronavirus in the United States happened in a nursing home in Washington state, where dozens of people died. Over 26,000 COVID-19 deaths can now be linked to long-term care facilities. Yet, we still don’t have numbers from the federal government tracking the outbreak in nursing homes.

In early April, NBC national investigative reporter Suzy Khimm and her reporting partner Laura Strickler began looking into the numbers themselves – reaching out to state health departments to understand the scope of the problem.

For Suzy, this assignment is personal: in March, her family received word that the virus had reached her father-in-law's nursing home. On this episode of Into America, Trymaine Lee talks to Suzy about how that news propelled her reporting. They dive into the numbers, where things stand with federal tracking, and why data matters during a crisis.

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica.

Further Reading:

• Nursing homes overwhelmed by coronavirus: 'It is impossible for us to stop the spread'
• New York will no longer require nursing homes to take COVID-19 patients from hospitals
• Connecticut launches bold new approach to virus crisis: COVID-19-only nursing homes

Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed on February 23rd in Brunswick, Georgia. His family says he was going on a one of his regular jogs through his suburban neighborhood when two armed white men, a father and son, Gregory and Travis McMichael, confronted him on a shady street. The men claim they thought Arbery was a burglary suspect, that he went for Travis’s gun and that they were acting in self defense.

The killing didn’t garner widespread attention until last week, when a grainy cell phone video showing the altercation and the last moments of Arbery’s life appeared on the local news. The video spread across social media and Amaud Arbery’s name became a hashtag. The recording sparked national outrage and propelled local law enforcement to arrest Gregory and Travis McMichael. The arrests came 74 days after the shooting.

Host Trymaine Lee talks with Reverend Al Sharpton, longtime civil rights leader, founder of the National Action Network and host of MSNBC’s PoliticsNation, about his fight for justice for Arbery, despite the delays and the limitations of organizing during a pandemic.

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica.

Further Reading:

• Video appears to show Georgia man shot while jogging; lawyers call for arrests
• Father and son arrested and charged with murder in death of Ahmaud Arbery