Transcripts For KNTV Today 20240713

11 and planning to close some stores permanently. This as some Grocery Store workers and employees at other American Giants get set to lose the hero pay theyve been receiving for the passed two months. Start your engines. Nascar back in action this weekend and racing fans cant wait, even though they have to watch from home. But how will they keep the drivers and their crew members safe . The president of nascar will join us live. All of that, plus mission to space. The u. S. Space force making history this morning, launching a secretive plane into orbit for the first time ever. The mission and what it hopes to accomplish. Today saturday, may 15, 2020. From nbc news this is today with peter alexander, Kristen Welker and dylan dreyer. Welcome to today. Thank you for joining us on this saturday morning. It is the weekend, whatever that means anymore. We are glad to have our friend dylan back of course as well. The days are all blending together these days. This is only your second weekend back but we are putting you to work. Last weekend you were tracking the cold weather. This weekend it is a tropical system off the coast of florida. What can you tell us about it . I know. The Hurricane Season doesnt start until june 1st and here we are talking about what could be the first named storm. It would become arthur, which is possible in the next possibly 24 to 48 hours, 80 chance of that happening. We will break down the details and what it means for the southeastern parts of the u. S. In a bit. We look forward to that. Good to see you again. First though lets get to all of the breaking news we have overnight on the coronavirus. By the end of this weekend 48 states will have partially reopened in some form. Mass ch massachusetts and connecticut are the only states with strict stayathome orders in place statewide right now. Overnight, the house passed a 3 trillion aid for americans. Home, voting by proxy meaning members would not have to be on the floor to cast votes. Meantime, the number of coronavirus cases keeps rising. Nearly 1. 5 Million People infected with more than 88,000 deaths. Our correspondents are covering the story from across the country. Lets begin with nbcs gabe guterres in syracuse, new york, part of an area that was just allowed to start reopening on friday. Good morning to you. Reporter kristin, good morning. This part of upstate new york construction, manufacturing and some Retail Businesses with curb side pickup are back open, but across the country what was once seen as a tugofwar between the economy and Public Health is turning increasingly political. From arizona to okay objectiola wisconsin to virginia, this morning more states are back to business. It felt like normal. It felt like something we havent done literally in six weeks. Reporter the cdc director says the agencys models predict more than 100,000 covid19 deaths by june 1st. By the end of this weekend 48 states will have started to partially reopen, including parts of new york where a Construction Company in syracuse had laid off 22 employees. To get back to where we were before this happened, i see it being two years. Reporter in some states the political divide is growing wider. The Republicancontrolled Legislature in michigan is suing the democratic governor over her emergency order. While in pennsylvania i am not seeing democracy. I am seeing tyranny. Reporter some gop lawmakers are urging residents to defy the states shutdown. Nobody has the right to take freedom away from you. Reporter Harvard University researchers say only nine states met the testing levels needed to safely reopen and the rest have fallen short. What im worried about is that those states are playing with fire, that theyre going to they might have a big outbreak and in the worst Case Scenario may have to shut down again. Reporter still, it is clear summer is on the horizon. North carolinas outer banks are welcoming visitors this weekend and several northeastern states have announced they will reopen beaches on memorial weekend at half capacity. After nascar and golf run this weekend for the first time without spectators, nfl teams can begin reopening their facilities on tuesday if state and local governments allow it. Travel is also up in the air after complaints of packed flights on social media, a Major Airline is in preliminary discussions to get rid of social distancing efforts all together. Instead, worried passengers will be allowed to cancel or change flights without fees. A summer like none other. Eric hicks manages a Clothing Store near syracuse university. He is now open for online orders and curb side pickup. To turn the lights on after the past two months or however been, it is an feeling. Reporter and here in sifr u syracuse many have decided not to reopen. The mayor there says the area probably wont reopen until at least next month. Kristin. Very different story in new york city. Gabe gutierrez starting us off on a sunday morning, thank you. President trump is doubling down when it comes to a vaccine. The president saying he wants to see one by end of the year. Also saying america is back whether or not there is a vaccine. Nbcs Kelly Odonnell is at the white house for us this morning. Good morning. Reporter good morning, peter. The president s project has been given a name showing the focus on a quick timeline. Operation warp speed is supporting research on 14 potential vaccines and gearing up manufacturing even before final approval to speed up eventual distribution of some drug. As ambitious as that is, the president claims while a vaccine would be good it is not a necessity. In the stayathome era, President Trump getting a change of scene at camp david, while in the rose garden friday it is going to be a very hot one. Reporter the president exerting a force of will. And i want to make something clear, it is very important. Vaccine or no vaccine, were back. Reporter yet making promises for a new vaccine faster than the 12 to 18 months many scientists consider ambitious. We would love to see if we could do it prior to the end of the year. Reporter the president tapped a vaccine Industry Expert and military logistics general to lead this project. The doctor echoed the president s optimism. And these dates made me feel even more confident that we will be able to deliver a few hundred million doses of vaccine by the end of 2020. Reporter President Trump also countered medical experts like a masked dr. Fauci behind him by again saying covid19 could just vanish. It will go away at some point. It will go away. It may flare up and it may not flare up. Reporter dr. Fauci testified tuesday. Will this virus just disappear . As i have said publicly many times, that is just not going to happen. Reporter the Vice President expanded the Coronavirus Task force to include more medical experts and the secretaries of agriculture and labor. Working late friday on capitol hill some of the members say, lets take a pause. Lets take a pause . Do you think this virus is taking a pause . Reporter the democraticled house voted on a new 3 trillion relief package that is expected to stall in the senate. And while that passed in the house, that will really be a negotiating point for another effort at trying to get a relief package. In a historic move the house voted to allow remote voting for the first time in our history, breaking that tradition of lawmakers have to be physically present for votes and committee hearings. Peter. Kelly, another major headline overnight the president firing another government watchdog. What more can you tell us about that . Reporter well, he was required to give congress 30 days notice and he did so in a latenight letter. This is steven lentic who has been the inspector general, an obamaera holdover who the president lost confidence in. The president has the right to remove the individual, but democrats in congress are calling it outrageous. Some democratic aides saying he had begun looking at secretary pompeo and whether he used political appointees to do business for him and his wife. Also, he briefed lawmakers about ukraine and related documents from Rudy Giuliani back during the impeachment era. Peter, kristin. Kelly, thanks. Another sure sign america is trying to return to normal, nascar is back this weekend. Drivers, start your engines sounds good, doesnt it . It has been ten weeks since fans have heard that call to start a race. Tomorrow theyll hear it once again as nascars biggest stars compete at Darlington Raceway in south carolina. But while the drivers and their teams will be back at it, there will be no fans in the stands. Tomorrows race will be extra special with frontline workers being honored. Steve phelps is the president of nascar and joins us live this morning. Steve, thank you so much for being here. We really appreciate it. I think we cant state this enough, whether you are a sports fan or not a sports fan, a lot of people are excited to hear this news. It is a sign that things are slowly getting back to normal. We know a lot of thought went into it though. So why now and is everyone comfortable with this move . Yes. Well, first of all thank you for having me, kristin. We are thrilled to be back. We have developed a plan over the last two months that was tailored for us and then we vetted it with local state and federal health officials. So it is a rocksolid plan. We are excited to be back. The drivers are excited to get back to doing what theyre doing. And what go ahead. I was going to say, steve, walk us through some of the precautions you have put in place here. Normally these team rosters are about 16 people, would be three times what it is going to be. It would normally be much larger. What are you guys doing to make sure everybody involved in this is safe . Yes, peter. If you think about a normal nascar race, we have, you know, between 2,000 and 2,500 people who would be part of putting a race on. That number will be down to about 900. Theres a footprint that is there. Only essential personnel will be allowed to be in the footprint. Im not essential personnel, i will not be in the footprint, so weve again, we have had a plan that is tailored to us. When you think about nascar racing, you think about the crews, the drivers, theyre already wearing protective equipment. They have helmets, head socks, fire suits, gloves. Theres a picture right there. Thats a you know, the ability for us to go back because of how we conduct our races makes us unique it is a really important point to point out, that protective gr t but what happens, steve, if someone does test positive . What plans do you have in place for that and could we see a delay in the season if that does, in fact, happen. Yes, kristen, we have looked at scenario planning for, you know, hundreds of Different Things happening including obviously someone showing symptoms of having the virus. So protocol is in place that would allow for us to have that person removed. I dont foresee any further shutdown for us. We had a tenweek hiatus. I dont see that happening. There are replacement crews. There are all kind of different scenario plannings we have done for ourselves, our ono fishw own officials, the race people. It takes a village to put on a nascar race but it will be a smaller village and one were excited to do. Darius rucker will be doing the National Anthem virtually. When do the fans get to get back . Im not sure. We want to make sure everyone is safe going back to racing itself, and it is a great sign for the country that a major sport is back. It will look much different. You know, it is the first time in our 72year history where we havent had a fan in the stands. When it is safe to have fans back, we will have fans back. Again, no timetable for that. Yes, Brad Keselowski wins the pole for this thing. We will be watching darlington tomorrow. Steve phelps, we appreciate your time this morning. Good luck. Thanks, guys. Really appreciate it. Now to unwelcome news in the trying economic times. Many frontline Grocery Store and other big box employees will be losing the extra pay they had been receiving since the crisis began two months ago. Nbc Business Correspondent jo ling kent is outside one of the affected stores in los angeles with moreorr peter, good morning. Kroger which owns ralphs here will be rolling back the extra hazard pay for frontline workers starting this weekend. This has customers thinking twice about where theyre spending their money. Thousands of grocery workers are about to see their paychecks shrink and some are taking a stand. Dont take away our hero pay reporter starting sunday kroger is ending the extra 2 an hour for hero pay for essential worker. Amazon, walmart and target are following suit by end of the month. It makes me upset because were dealing with being in the pandemic still, the coronavirus is still here. Reporter bates has worked the checkout counter at kroger more than a decade. They just want us to work like normal business and it is not normal business yet. Reporter kroger issued this response saying, as the country moves towards reopening, we will continue to safeguard our Associates Health and wellbeing and recognize their work. Instead kroger will now offer a new bonus payment, up to 400. But frontline grocery workers continue to be exposed to the virus. The Largest Union representing grocery workers says at least 65 workers have died and nearly 10,000 have been ineffectfected exposed to covid19. Amanda barr was one of them. It was actually rough. I didnt have just the mild symptoms. Reporter barr has worked for king for 16 years. She tested positive during the height of the panic buying. How much of a difference does 2 make for you . Were not surgeons or doctors or anything but, you know, we are putting our lives at risks and putting our families at risk. Reporter that risk is not shop on this shopper who may take their business elsewhere. It is not fair because theyre risking their life working here. Jo, other nice we learned that jcpenney filed for ba bankruptcy. What does that mean . Reporter thats right, peter. Jcpenney is the biggest retailer so far to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy following j crew and neiman marcus. They have long been struggling ahead of coronavirus. It accelerated its fall. It has over 800 stores, 85,000 employees and some of the stores will close permanently. This comes as retail sales dropped by more than 16 last month, peter, and thats the most on record. Jo ling kent with the latest on that. Jcpenney a big name for a lot of people. Autopsy results are in for the Helicopter Crash that killed kobe bryant and eight others. According to the report the pilot flying the helicopter did not have drugs or alcohol in his system when it crashed. Bryant, his daughter gianna and seven others were on their way to a youth basketball tournament when the Helicopter Crashed outside los angeles in january. All nine victims died immediately from blunt force trauma. The cause of the crash is still under investigation. We want to turn now, get a check of the forecast with dylan who is following the tropical system off the coast of florida. Could soon be the first named storm. Good morning, dylan. Good morning, guys. Yes, the last thing we need to hear about is the potential for the first tropical system of the season. Right now we do still have some heavy rain. We have already seen about 3 inches of rain through fort lauderdale. Miami has seen more nan 2 inches of rain. The bahamas, about an inch and a half. You can see the rotation in the clouds there and the moisture being spun back to the east coast of florida. Theres an 80 chance of this becoming a named storm, and it is looking like it would be arthur if it does get named. That area in orange there, thats the development zone. The water is warm, conditions are favorable for development. So either way, whether or not this officially becomes a storm, a named storm, it is still going to produce dangerous rip currents up and down the coastline. So as beaches start to reopen and the temperatures continue to warm up, we are looking for that as a threat. The rough surf and the dangerous rip currents. Well also see some of the rain make its way on shore, but rain is not so much the bigger issue, again, it is just the threat at the beaches as we go into most of next week. That will continue up thr on this saturday morning, we are tracking our next chance of seeing rain. But today mostly dry conditions. Mild temperatures right now in through walnut creek, 58 degrees. We will see those cloudy skies. By the afternoon, our temperatures will remain in the 70s for most of the bay area. Partly cloudy. San jose 75. Oakland 70 degrees. Napa 75 and late rain chances moving in first to Sonoma County becoming more widespread by sunday. Back on until at least after labor day. Now at least one broadway blockbuster is being forced to close for good. Nbcs ron allen is in new yorks times square outside the where frozen had been performed. What can you tell us . Good morning. Reporter good morning, kristen. Frozen may be the first of many. It had a good run, nearly two years. But broadway has been hemorrhaging money, millions and millions every week since the shoulddown happen shutdown happened in midmarch and now broadway is struggling to figure out how to stage a comeback. Reporter with broadway dark until at least midsummer, settle in with the stars on stage from home. Im passed patiently waiting reporter the entire great way extending the longest intermission ever, the Spring Season scrapped in midmarch. It has been about two months since i was in this area. Reporter how does it feel on broadway . It feels lonely. Where are all of the people. Reporter thats tony award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell most recently seen appearing from his new york apartment window, urging the city on as he himself recovered from a bout with covid19. The unreachable Live Entertainment will be one of the last sectors to come back. Reporter and you cant social distance on a stage. No, it is very difficult. We are together, we dance together, we sweat on each other, we spit on each other, we sing to each other, we hug each other, we kiss each other on stage. Thats part of what we do. Reporter he says smaller, socially distanced audience wont buy enough tickets to cover cost. It is roughly 300,000 a week for a play and twice that for a musical. Sitting apart would destroy the magic. Even though you have your own place, you are still having a Group Experience with other people that you are sharing the armrests with and laughing together with, crying together with, experiencing the vision happening on the the stage. Reporter charlotte st. Martin of the Broadway League fears audiences wont come back until theres more widespread testing for covid19, effective treatments or a vaccine. This glorious form of art totally dependent on science. Every day it changes. We could be looking at september. We could be looking at january. We could be looking at next spring. Reporter michael was an understudy, olaf in frozen. He is hoping his Unemployment Benefits and Health Insurance hold out. One day at a time and having trust that people will want to come see theater when it is safe to do so again. Reporter on broadway and beyond is absolutely staggering, some 97,000 workers in the theaters, restaurants and souvenir shops around here rely on broadway to earn a living and broad way relies heavily on tourists to buy tickets, and of course nobody is rushing to new york these days. A lot of drama on broadway and it is unclear when the show will go back on. Kristen, peter. Heartbreaking to hear the figures, ron allen. Thank you for that. It will be an incredible day when people can start going back to broadway. One more reason you hope the pandemic passes soon. So much were missing. Still to come. On to the final front tear. A big moment in history this morning for the newlycreated u. S. Space force. We will take you to the launch pad. Cant wait for that. Plus, your questions answered about coronavirus, is a summer drug near . Should you take a vacation . Should you socialize w still to come on today, the comic strip taking on coronavirus and providing humor to get you through these times. Plus, how the class of 2020 is still celebrating all of the important High School Senior moments virtually. Dylan. And later lady gaga and ariana grande. Need we say more . Theyre working on something. Good saturday morning to you. It is 5 56. We really want to thank you for starting your saturday morning for us. A live look outside over walnut creek. Cloudy skies, but you can see the sun starting to breakthrough. Beautiful day to start your weekend. Thanks so much for joining us. Im kira klapper. Vianey arana has is look at our forecast. Looks nice out there. It does. Good morning. We are going to see the cloud cover, especially for most of the bay area because were tracking rainmaking its way in. I will get to that in a second. For today 56 degrees. By the afternoon, you can expect to see comfortable 70s throughout with a mix of some slow 60s for the coastline. Cloudy and in through the south bay. 75 degrees for san jose. 75 for livermore. Mostly cloudy for the afternoon. Some peeks of sunshine. Were tracking our next season that will be making its way in. If you live in the north bay, there is a chance you will start to notice some of those showers moving in, mainly after 11 00 p. M. By tomorrow, well get a better chance of seeing widespread rain. I will time all of that out for you of course coming up at 7 00 a. M. All right. Well see you at 7 00. Thanks. As most bay area counties work towards opening businesses in just days, Santa Clara County is the lone holdout at that point. They wont allow curbside pickup. Some store owners tell us theyre gettingan fear they will be overlooked as shoppers go elsewhere. Website when the pandemic hit. Online sales have helped. But you worry shoppers might move on to counties with more relaxed health orders. Were closed and were only a few miles away from people that are open. Naturally, we are at a disadvantage. The Health Department says before moving to stage two, key indicators need to be met, including increasing testing from 1,000 to 4,000 people a day. A less invasive covid19 test. Health leaders demonstrated how it works. A person is handed a swab. They put it in their nose. Doctors say it doesnt hurt. Right now the more common test involves a Health Care Worker taking a deep nasal swab. Some large gathering get the green light. A new health order giving grads something to look forward to. That plus our top stories at 7 00. This day i just replay my High School Memories in my head, and for the college ones i a life, you are about to make some money. Look at the nails on cardi b. How is that for a graduation speaker . None other than the cardi b dropping knowledge on the class of 2020. She and a lot of other celebrities took part in a virtual ceremony on Facebook Live. How many of you can remember who was your graduation speaker anyway, right . We will show you a little more in pop star. That is a memorable one. It sure is, and it is so awesome to see these big names coming forward to help seniors graduate in these unprecedented times. We want to begin with a check of the headlines this half hour. Overnight House Democrats passed a 3 trillion relief bill that would include more stimulus checks for americans. The bill heads to the senate where republicans vowed to block it. Meantime, on friday President Trump said vaccine or no vaccine america is back. His remarks coming with nearly every state in the country reopening at least partially. Only connecticut and massachusetts still have strict stayathome orders statewide. A federal judge denied singer r. Kellys request to be released from prison due to the coronavirus outbreak. It was his third attempt to be released. He claims he is prediabetic which puts him at a Greater Health risk behind bars. He is currently in jail in chicago awaiting charges of child sexual abuse. The mlb will conduct the draft remotely according to reports from espn. It will look similar to the nfl draft in april. Teams will not be allowed to have draft rooms and will handle all of the drafting with video conferencing. The event will be shorter than in years passed. Only five rounds over the course of two days. Man, do i miss baseball. Now to the mission to space that is making history this morning. The newlycreated u. S. Space force launching a secretive plane into orbit in honor of all frontline workers during this pandemic. Nbcs Courtney Kube is here with more. Good morning, courtney. Reporter good morning, peter. Many of the details of this mission are classified, including information about the space plane itself and its payload. What we do know though is the Newest Branch of the u. S. Military, the u. S. Space force, is now Just Moments Away from sending this plane into orbit. This morning space force enters a new frontier, launching this space plane from Cape Canaveral. The space plane we can launch on a rocket. It can go up. It can do experiments. It is unmanned. Then it can land again. Reporter the x37b orb at test vehicle will attach to a United Launch Alliance atlas rocket. It is first time the secretive plane will be launched. It will orbit the earth for months, even years, carrying military experiments into space, many classified. It will release a satellite built by cadets from the u. S. Air force academy. They have worked on and built the satellite that is riding with the x37b tomorrow into space. The satellite is about the size of a small dishwasher. Reporter the x37b has been used for intelligence gathering since pentagon to create a space force, but this mission will have a different feel. Dedicated to the victims of the covid19 pandemic and frontline workers. Liftoff. Reporter with russia and china battling the superintendent for dominance in space, the pentagon presented space force last december with the goal of protecting u. S. And allied interests in space. Set to receive its First Air Force Academy Graduates this year, the chief of Space Operations presented the official Space Force Flag to President Trump friday. Thats fantastic. Reporter from the white house to pop culture, americans have renewed their interest in space. From a new series on guess what, kids . Were going back. Reporter to nasas announcement of the artemus project, a mission to send astronauts to the moon on the m. The longer term objective . A mission to mars sometime in the 2030s. Todays launch is actually the first of two scheduled to take off from Cape Canaveral this weekend, both expected to take off within 20 hours of one another, potentially breaking a record for the quick turnaround. Todays launch window opens at 8 24 a. M. Eastern time. Kristen, peter. Americans will be watching the skies courtney. Thanks very much. So cool. It is going to give everyone something to get excited about this weekend. Dylan is back. I know you are tracking a lot of different weather developments, but a lot of people will be excited to see that. Oh, absolutely. The weather looks down in that part of florida. In texas though it is another story. We have had torrential downpours falling through the night through corpus christi. Now the flood threat shifts to the east across eastern texas with 8 Million People under flash flood watches right now. Look at the heavy rain, the reds, the oranges. Thats where the heaviest of the rain is falling. It is starting to lighten up in corpus kr corpus christi, but houston under the heavy rain. It will increase the chance of storms through the midwest, up into st. Louis later on today, and on sunday the threat increases for chicago, over into ohio, too. It is something we will have to keep an eye on tomorrow as the cold front moves to the east and could trigger some storms. We could see as much as 5 inches of rain, especially through eastern texas and across most of arkansas and louisiana as well. So thats why we could see good saturday morning. It is a cloudy start, and we can expect to keep that around really for the majority of our weekend. Today we are expecting mostly dry conditions. Current temperatures in the 50s. 50 degrees right now in walnut creek. Forecasted highs will be in the 60s for the coast. Mid70s through the interior valleys. Tonight we will track our chance of rain moving into the north bay first. And thats your latest forecast. Im send it back to you guys. Thanks for that, dylan. I get impressed when dylans kids dont march into the live shot. Theyre still sleeping, good for her. What sort of precautions you should be taking when you go outside. Dear freshpet, rudy got older and suddenly stopped eating. 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Janssen can help you explore cost support options. However, there is one thing you can be certain of. The men and women of the United States postal service. Were here to deliver cards and packages from loved ones and also deliver the peace of mind of knowing that essentials like prescriptions are on their way. Every day, all across america, we deliver for you. And we always will. We are back with the new normal. With memorial day weekend just a week away, if you can believe it, you might be wondering what your summer will look like this year. How can you get outside responsibly and safely . A lot of it, of course, depends on where you live. Dr. John torres is an nbc news medical correspondent. He is here for another round of should i or shouldnt i. Dr. Ftorres. Lets start with one a lot of families are having conversations about right now, whether it is okay to go to summer camp. A lot of the camps are asking parents if they have comfort sending kids back here. Is that okay . Are organized sports okay this summer . You brought up a great point here, peter. It depends on what you are doing, where you are going and where you live. When you look at this, especially with organized sports and going out to play with your friends, you want to be careful. You want to avoid playgrounds for the most part because a lot of people are touching there. A lot of people may have put germs on the things you are trying to play with. At the same time organized sports is not recommended this summer unless it is tennis where you are not in contact with other people and you can social distance. Thats an important point. On top of that, when you try to look at summer camps, across the country some are opening and some are not. Cdc came out with guidelines and some are general and some are not. If they have measures in place, what will they do if they get a positive case when they test staff and students . How will they handle that . Thats an important thing to understand and make sure what is going on. As far as day camp versus night camp, most are saying day camp is safer because at night theyre closer together, you cant keep as close an eye on them to make sure theyre doing the right things to keep themselves safe. Hopefully they can enjoy those but enjoy safely. I know a lot of parent are thinking about that as summer approaches. What about taking a vacation . Obviously a lot of families have their summer vacations. Can you do that and can you get on a plane . Kristen, it is the ing, what and if the area you are going to is a hot spot. You want to avoid those. The main thing is to plan ahead. Make sure you understand where you are going and how youre going to get there. National parks started to open up across the country. Fantastic place to go because you are out in the open and we know it spreads less in the open environment because you can social distance and you have the air moving things around and the sunlight. Road trips, better than airplane flights if theyre short road trips and you are not making a lot of stops. If you make stops, you have to account for getting gas and food and make sure you are keeping things clean. The main thing is to avoid crowded places, make sure you get away from. If you are going to fly, one of the things is to look and make sure you are avoided crowded planes because we heard some flights that are completely packed and not everybody is wearing masks. You want to make sure you are not in one of those. Just take another flight. Every time you fly realize you you cant keep the six feet and thats important. Dr. Torres, so many people are itching to get back together with their friends and their families. I guess the question is should i socialize with friends and family now, whether it is a backyard barbecue, a Graduation Party . Is it safe to do even if you somehow socially distance . Guess what . It depends again. This is one of those things that what im calling it, a lot of people are calling it is quaranteams. If you can get a team of less than ten people that you can trust have done the right things, have not gone out, have done social distancing and keeping themselves as sanitary as possible, then you can hang out with those people but make sure it is the same team you are doing it throughout the sum earp. Trust is key here. You dont want outside people coming into your quaranteam essentially it is a family unit you are expanding a little bit so you can get more socialization but statement you are making sure they are people you trust inhere and more impor to you, yourself safe. It is byo everything, if you do one of those. 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Sit i said sit we are back on a saturday morning with a look at how laughter is helping us get by these tough times. Yes. So important. Just like theyve done throughout history, comic strips are taking on the news of the day, and this time it is the pandemic. Nbcs careys shows us how. Reporter in this serious time comic relief in the pages of newspaper. Billy in the family circus asks, mommy, is it okay if i stay in this crowd. Or cathie explaining her fashio mask. Coronavirus in his nationallyom so it is a safety guide to combat coronavirus. It has flore and jose washing hands. Panel two is in front of our coffee shot, avoid crowded places. Panel three is our mexican wrestler character that says, wear a mask. He is wearing his mexican wrestling mask, you know. Reporter he is known for taking on sensitive topics in the new, recently introduced a new character, coronavirus with a nickname. Now you have rona. Yes. We have i have an assistant artist whose name is joaquin. We introduced a little talking coronavirus in the strip because, you know, it is comic. You can doter this is notflect society, most notably during world war ii when they served an additional purpose, boosting patriotism. World war ii, vietnam, the 9 11 attack. I think once these things happen they affect what we create. Something that resonates with people at the time that can kind of channel their anxieties, make readers feel less alone. I think we shouldnt be surprised by that. Reporter comic strips, a lighthearted distraction when it is needed most. For today, kerry sanders, nbc news, fort lauderdale, florida. A lot of times the comic strips can be a differencemaker for kids as well, a way to sort of better communicate would could be tough to understand. It is tough during these times. Absolutely. Thinking of kids, cathy was around when i was a kid, used to make me laugh. Used to make me laugh. Sti going ll the new house is amazing. So much character. Original crown molding, walk in closets. We do have a ratt problem. Round and round with love well find a way, just give it time. At least geico makes bundling our home and Car Insurance easy. With love well find a way, just give it time. Round and round what comes around, goes around. For bundling made easy, go to geico. Com still to come on today, the most adorable penguin takeover. Why these guys are roaming free inside a fine art museum. They can have it to themselves. No prom, no problem. How Michelle Obama and mtv are planning a virtual prom for students everywhere. Dylan. And those stories plus the virtual graduation with Metastatic Breast Cancer is relentless, but i was relentless first. Relentless about learning the first song we ever danced to. About teaching him to put others first. About helping her raise her first child. And when i was first diagnosed, my choice was everyday verzenio. Its the only one of its kind that can be taken every day. 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Tell your doctor if you have pain or swelling in your arms or legs, shortness of breath, chest pain, rapid breathing or heart rate, or if you are pregnant or nursing. My relentless reason its them. My choice with my doctor its verzenio. Ask your doctor if everyday verzenio is right for your first treatment. You spend less when yand get way more. Air, so you can bring your vision to life and save in more ways than one. For small prices, you can build big dreams, spend less, get way more. Shop everything home at wayfair. Com to deliver your mail and packages and the peace of mind of knowing that essentials like prescriptions are on their way. Every day, all across america, we deliver for you. And we always will. How do you gaveeno® happy 24 7 . With prebiotic oat. It hydrates and softens skin. So it looks like this. And you feel like this. Aveeno® daily moisturizer get skin healthy™ for years, i thought i was lactose intolerant. Turns out i was just sensitive to a protein commonly found in milk. Now, with a2 milk® i can finally enjoy cereal again. Its totally natural. And having only the a2 protein makes all the difference. My first latte in 12 years. I know just one thing is true life is better with you good saturday morning. Cloudy skies, a little bit of fog as we start our weekend. Vianey arana is working from home and has a look at our forecast. Good morning. We are going to see a lot of cloud cover today. But this is in anticipation of some rain on the way. Enjoy today mostly dry conditions. Temperatures will remain comfortable. Right now were in the 50s. By the afternoon, another warm day overall. 70s. Check out san francisco, 62. Were talking 75 degrees. But out ahead, looking in through tonight and into sunday, this is the system that were tracking. If you live in the north bay, there is a chance you will start to notice the activity in terms of showers and rain mainly after 11 00 p. M. More widespread by tomorrow. Now the mountain areas are expected to see the majority of that rain. We look forward to that. Thanks so much. As most bay area counties move toward reopening businesses in just a matter of days, Santa Clara County is the only one not planning to. Some store owners tell us theyre getting frustrated. They hear they will be overlooked. This owner says she launched a website when the pandemic hit. Online sales have helped, but she more relaxed health orders. Were closed and were only a few miles away from people that are open. It is natural were at a disadvantage. The Health Department says before moving to stage two opening, key indicators need to be met, including increasing testing from 1,000 to 4,000 people a day. And there is a possible test that you could give yourself. Health leaders yesterday demonstrated how it works. A person can use a swab, gently place it in their nose for a sample. Doctors say it doesnt hurt. They hope it helps more people to gettested. Right now tests involve a Health Care Worker taking a deep nasal swab. Coming up this morning, some large gatherings are getting the green light. A new health order that gives grads something to look forward to in one bay area community. We will have that plus all your top stories coming up at 7 00. We hope to see you then. Right now back to the today show. Good morning. Reopening from coast to coast. Two months after the Coronavirus Crisis began here in the u. S. , 48 states are now back to business in some form this weekend. Residents anxious to return to normal, rushing out to beaches, stores and restaurants. Even though Health Experts say most states are not ready yet to reopen safely. We are live. Operation warp speed. President trump fasttracking plans for a coronavirus vaccine, saying his administration is doing Everything Possible to have one ready by the end of this year, but saying either way america is open. I just want to make something clear. It is very important. Vaccine or no vaccine, were back. And celebrating the class of 2020. With the pandemic abrupt ling ending the school year, students are getting creative, finding new ways to mark major milestones from virtual yearbooks to messages of hope from complete strangers, even a graduation filled with celebrities. To be the class that commenced a new way forward, the class of 2020. Bravo brava, brava, brava. Well honor seniors in ec today saturday, may 16, 2020. With my family seeing the today show here in germany. We want to say hello to nona. And celebrating my birthday the way i did last year. We want to wish my greatgrandma a happy birthday. We love you bye welcome back to today on a saturday morning. I feel, dylan, like america has picked up its sign game over the last several weeks. We got some impressive signs out there during our today shoutouts. Weve been loving them. A lot of free time to do it too. No doubt. There sure is. Keep the shoutouts coming. You can post your videos on instagram and twitter with our mytodayplaza. I dont know about you, dylan, but it feels like normalcy to see the shoutouts. It does, so keep them coming. We want to see more. We want to s to at home. No doubt. We want to begin with todays news and the latest on the coronavirus, with nearly every state in the country reopening, at least partially. A new harvard study shows only nine meet the federal government guidelines to reopen safely. Meantime, some unwelcome news for thousands of frontline workers at Grocery Stores and big box retailers, Companies Like krogers, amazon, walmart and others will be ending the hero pay instituted at the start of the pandemic. The number of coronavirus cases is now nearly 1. 5 Million People infected with more than 88,000 deaths. Our correspondents with covering all of it again this morning. We want to begin with nbcs Gabe Gutierrez in syracuse, new york, part of an area that was just allowed to start reopening on friday. Gabe, good morning. Reporter hey, peter. Good morning. Here in upstate new york, construction, manufacturing and some Retail Businesses with curb side pickup are back open, but across the country what was once seen as a tugofwar between the economy and Public Health is now turning increasingly political. From arizona to oklahoma, wisconsin to virginia, this morning parts of more states are back in business. It felt normal. Yes. You know, it felt like something you havent done literally in six weeks. Reporter the cdc director now says the agencys models predigt mopr predict more than 100,000 coronavirus 19 deaths by june 1st. By the end of this weekend 48 states will have started to partially reopen including parts of new york where a Construction Company in syracuse had laid off 22 employees. To get back to where we were before this happened, i see it being two years. Reporter in some states the political divide is growing wider. The Republicancontrolled Legislature in michigan is suing the democratic governor over her emergency order. While in pennsylvania i am not seeing democracy. I am seeing tyranny. Reporter some gop lawmakers are urging residents to defy the states shutdown. Nobody has the right to take that freedom away from you. Reporter but Harvard University researchers say only nine states have met the testing levels needed to safely reopen and the rest have fallenbout is those states are really playing with fire, that theyre going to they might have big outbreaks, and in the worst Case Scenario may have to shut down again. Reporter still, it is clear summer is on the horizon. North carolinas outer banks are welcoming back visitors this weekend and several northeastern states have also announced they will reopen beaches on memorial weekend at half capacity. After nascar and golf return this weekend for the first time without spectators, nfl teams can begin reopening their facilities on tuesday if state and local governments allow it. Travel is also up in the air after complaints of packed flights on social media, a Major Airline is in discussions to get rid of social distancing efforts all together. Instead, worried passengers will be allowed to cancel or change flights without fees. A summer like none other. Eric hicks manages a Clothing Store near syracuse university. He is now open for online and curb side pickup. To turn the lightsthe past t long it has been, it is an exciting feeling. Reporter and here in syracuse some businesses have chosen to stay closed. After all, students are not back on campus. Meanwhile, about four hours from here in new york city, that areas shutdown order has been extended and the mayor says that the area wont partially start to reopen until at least next month. Peter and kristen. Gabe gutierrez in syracuse this morning. Gabe, thanks. Meantime, President Trump is doubling down when it comes to a coronavirus vaccine. On friday the president said he wants to see one by the end of the year, while also saying that america is back whether or not there is a vaccine. Nbcs Kelly Odonnell is tracking the developments, live at the white house with the latest. Good morning. Reporter good morning, kristen. The president is making a bold prediction, that a vaccine that might otherwise take years to develop and distribute could be ready by years end. With a ramped up Government Mission for manufacturing and development. But the president is also undercutting the need for a vaccine to get back to life, school and work. In this stayathome era, President Trump getting a change of scene at camp david. While in the rose garden friday it is going to be a very hot one. Reporter the president exerting a force of will. And i just want to make something clear. It is very important. Vaccine or no vaccine, were back. Reporter yet making promises for a new vaccine faster than the 12 to 18 months many scientists consider ambitious. We would love to see if we could do it prior to the end of the year. Reporter the president tapped a vaccine Industry Expert and military logistics general to lead the project. The doctor echoed the president s optimism. And these dates made me feel even more confident we will be able to deliver a few hundred million doses of vaccine by the end of 2020. Reporter President Trump also countered medical experts like a masked dr. Fauci behind him by again saying covid19 could just vanish. It will go away at some point. It will go away. It may flare up and it may not flare up. Reporter dr. Fauci testified tuesday. Will this virus just disappear . As i have said publicly many times that is just not going to happen. Reporter the Vice President expanded the Coronavirus Task force to include more medical experts and the secretaries of agriculture and labor. Working late friday on capitol hill some of the members say, lets take a pause. Lets take a pause . Do you think this virus is taking a pause . Reporter the democraticled house voted on a new 3 trillion relief package that is expected to stall in the senate. In a separate development, the president notified Congress Late friday night that he is firing another inspector general. This time the watchdog for the state department. Hes removing obama appointee steve lentic who has been working at the state department and democrats call the move outrageous and retaliation. They also claim he had begun looking at secretary pompeo and his use of a Government Employee for some personal tasks. Lennick was also involved in the impeachment saga by briefing some members of congress on some ukrainerelated documents. The president says he has lost confidence in him. Kristen. Kelly odonnell at the white house. Thank you. Time for a boost . Ready for that . The Kansas City Zoo is currently closed due to the coronavirus restrictions but it has not stopped the animals from getting a little enrichment. The penguins from the zoo got out and wad willed around enjoying a morning of fine art and culture at the Nelson Atkins museum in kansas city. The animals taking a field trip, look at that awesome shot, to the museum while it is closed to the public. Apparently they had very strong opinions. Theyve seemed to react much better to this than monet. These are peruvian penguins, so we were speaking spanish and they appreciated art history. I always thought they would be renoir fans. They have missed interacting with visitors so it was nice for the penguins to get out and stroll the gallery. I would like to say it was nice of them to drop up. Nicely done. Still ahead, from virtual yearbooks to special letters yearbooks to special letters from graduating students, frustrated that everyday activities cause wrinkles and theres nothing you can do about it . Now theres a solution downy wrinkleguard is a fabric conditioner that helps protect you from wrinkles all day. Just pour the dye free liquid into the rinse dispenser. After a day of wear, pants washed with downy wrinkleguard and detergent are virtually wrinklefree. It even comes unscented. If you dont love downy wrinkleguard, well give you your money back. Brushing only reaches 25 of your mouth. Listerine® cleans virtually 100 . Helping to prevent gum disease and bad breath. Never ttle for 25 . Always go for 100. Bring out the bold™ and you will feel a little stronger you gave me a little hope and i say thank you if you lose sight of the horizon ill lift you up your world is brightened you gave me a little hope and i say thank you woahhahhhh oooooooooo neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair®. 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Stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of ketoacidosis, which is serious and may lead to death. Think farxiga now. Tell your doctor youre ready, today. Visit farxiga. Com for savings. If you cant afford your medication astrazeneca may be able to help. Were back with celebrations for the clatsz of 2020 looking so different this year seniors are getting used to the idea that the usual end of the year festivities wont happen like in other years. But they are finding new virtual ways to make the most of our new reality. Reporter no senior week. No cap and gown, no big Graduation Ceremony. All milestone moments robbed from the class of 2020, but High School Seniors are getting creative to get the traditions in, from digital proms to virtual after parties. To instagram yearbooks its been senior portraits, pictures with their family or from their senior night. Reporter like other graduates, arrian nas senior year isnt what she expected. No one thought the last day of school would be in march, so i thought it would help. Reporter taking her yearbook online has been a way to celebrate her class. With an account to celebrate the seniors in pennsylvania and posts with favorite memories total strangers are trying to make the end of the High School Experience special too mary story started a Facebook Group called adopt a senior. I feel blessed so many people are happy to help and want to help our seniors. Reporter p even though she doesnt have a senior in her own home, shes brought together nearly 60,000 people who want to make a senior feel celebrated whether with a gift or worlds of encourage. So many cards going out thousands and thousands of cards. Its amazing and some of these people are sending a cards to over 100 seniors, so theyre writing these cards out reporter with what would your message be for the class of 2020. Do not allow this to hold you back do not allow this to define who you are. You are more than this moment right now. Stay as positive as possible. I know there are so many special moments that were probably taken away from you and youre feeling down right now connect with the rest of your class. Theres so much to come in the future and so many special ways to celebrate, even if you cant see each other in person reporter for today, savannah sellers, nbc News New York so much for senior itis. These guys are getting it down dylan, i think your niece graduating, too . Casey, shes the class of 2020, graduating high school, going into the army. But her teacher, mrs. Fuller, actually surprised her and decorated their whole front porch which was really special teachers trying to make this as special as it can be for kids graduating this year, too. Congratulations to her. I think youre right people are coming together to help these seniors have an experience that they wont forget speaking of which, while students wont be having a big in person graduation, there are plenty of celebrations including tonight watch graduate together, america honors the High School Class of 2020, with keynote speaker former president obama, thats tonight at 8 00 eastern, 7 central here on nbc. How about another check of the forecast for us, dylan. We are keeping an eye on a tropical distar disturbance that could be the first named stormed of the season. 80 chance of it becoming a named storm. Mostly just rain across the southeast but also rough surf and dangerous rip currents theres the Hurricane Hunter getting closer to day toe na, we should have updates throughout the day. But again rough currents as and you will notice the cloud cover is going to linger around all day long, increasing in through the evening hours. We are tracking changes in our forecast. Right now in san jose 56 degrees by the afternoon. Expect comfortable temperatures around the peninsula. Morning clouds turn partly sunny halfway through. Expect 70s for inland areas. Tracking rain for tonight and into sunday as well. See you at 7 00. And thats your latest forecast coming up next, guys, the celebrity filled Graduation Ceremony for the class of 2020 we are back right after this ceremony for the class all right. We are back now. Dylan, your turn. A little pop start for us . Yes, lets get to it. My tv says pop start. It is that time. Lets start with Something Else for the class of 2020, a celebrityfilled graduation. The starstudded event on Facebook Live was hosted by the office costars and reallife bffs, cardi b, simone biles and Matthew Mcconaughey had special messages for the seniors. How is this for a Commencement Speaker . Oprah. My hope is that you will harness your education, your creativity and your valor, your voice, your vote, reflecting on all that you have witnessed and hungered for, all that you know to be true, and use it to create more equity, more justice and more joy in the world. Inspiring from a distance. The twohour event had nearly 6 million views during the livestream alone. Wow. And featured videos and names of thousands of graduating students. So certainly nice to see them stepping up for that. Next up, a little Something Else for the class of 2020, courtesy of this time Michelle Obama. The former first ladys Nonpartisan Organization when we all vote and mtv are teaming up to host a virtual prom event for the class of 2020. It is called promathon. Part will highlight students from 20 schools who cake up with creati came up with ways to register voters. Mrs. Obama surprised them. How else . Virtually. Mrs. Obama. I want you to know that you all are winners. I am proud, proud, proud of you guys. The future of your community and our country are in the hands of young people like you all. Promathon is for the entire graduating class of 2020 and will have surprise appearances and live performances. It airs this friday on mtv. Finally, lets talk lady gaga and ariana grande. It seems a little quarantine cant stop them from collaborating on new music. Last week ariana and Justin Bieber put out a new song and now she is with it with lady gaga. Both singers took to social media on friday to reveal theyre about to release a new song called rain on me. The single will drop on friday. So be sure to keep an eye out for that. Thats your pop start. Celebs are not sitting still, releing newas m if you have moderate to severe psoriasis,. Little things. Can become your big moment. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. With otezla, 75 clearer skin is achievable. 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Thats going to do it for us on a saturday morning, our second stormtracker having dylan back. Hope you enjoy the weekend in new york with good weather there and get fresh air with your boys. Guess ill walk the dog, our ilyda good morning. Im kira klapper. Coming up next on today in the bay. Most bay area counties are entering phase two this coming week. Well tell you what you will be able to do, pick up curbside and where. Plus, one local community has something for grads to look for. What they will be allowing in the east bay. As we wake up to a cloudy morning across the bay, mostly 60s and 70s expected today. But vianey arana is forecasting each of us has a purpose. We are destined to do something meaningful. What do you think a private, christian, education looks like . Gcu offers over 175 high quality online programs. Find your purpose at grand canyon university. Visit gcu. Edu. Good morning. It is saturday, may 16th. We are taking a live look outside. Cloudy skies over the golden gate bridge. That American Flag blowing in the breeze. But a little bit of a pink tint as we start our saturday morning. Thank you for starting your weekend with us. Im kira klapper. Vianey arana joins us from home with a look at