If dr. Fauci says wear a mask, you wear a mask. He also reacted to this new headline today that france has banned the use of hydroxychloroquine for coronavirus patients completely. That is the drug the president has not only touted but, jim, taken himself. The French HealthMinistry Said their data does not provide sufficient evidence to support the use of it. I asked dr. Fauci his view. Heres what he had to say. Im not so sure it should be banned, but clearly, the Scientific Data is really quite evident now about the lack of efficacy for it and even the possibility that there could be, not could be, but theres a likelihood that on under Certain Circumstance might be rare but you would see it, adverse events, particularly with regard to cardiovascular and arrythmias associated with it. There was suspicion of that for a while, but as data comes in, it becomes more clear. Im not so sure you would want to ban it, but certainly, the data are clear right now. Lets speak about all of these major headlines. Youll hear more in a moment from dr. Fauci with dr. Cass from clum buuniversity medical center. I should note, doctor, a covid survivor. You know this disease, you lived it, you had family members and friends die from it. Im so sorry, and grateful to you for being here. Could you just respond to what we heard from dr. Fauci, particularly on france banning hydro hydroxychloroqui hydroxychloroquine. Its been an evolving issue from the beginning. One of the issues with hydr hydroxychloroquine with patients who actively have the virus, were seeing cardiac effects that may be exacerbated by the presence of hydroxychloroquine. Which is why we need really good studies bf we introduce even an older medicine into a new scenario. Thats why france is banning it in patients who have active coronavirus because we now see there might be complications for the heart in the face of a new disease like coronavirus. The fact is, though, despite the data, and data has been coming in for some weeks now showing at a minimal, no positive benefit and some danger of actually negative consequences of this. The president has continued to go down that path. Have you had patients come to you and say i would like to be treated with this based on what they have heard from the president and others despite the data . Absolutely. I do a lot of telemedicine. I take care of patients at home who watch television all day long and call for advice on their infection or preventing them from getting it in the community, we saw an uptick in patients requesting, demanding to be put on hydroxychloroquine after the president spoke about it publicly. We had to tell them no because we follow the science. Unfortunately, sometimes thats not the president. Doctor, also a really i guess disappointing bit of news out of the cdc, and that is theyre finding up to half the time these antibody tests are wrong. I mean, they give a false negative. This is going to tell us or tell people, inform people like i feel safer now because i have antibodies. Now what . So now we realize when we rush testing and we rush things through approval, we know there are consequences to that, right . We had 70 tests come to market expedited. Knowing there would be basically a post production review of whether the good tests and bad tests exist. And now were realizing a bunch of the tests that came to market were not good at accurately predicting and reliably predicting whether or not somebody had antibodies. We knew that when the tests came to market which is why we were tempered in the results they were giving us. It also says if you get a positive or negative result, you should confirm it with a different test because then its much more likely to be relevant. A big question for parents, and im guessing you are as well based on the artwork behind you as we all have it in our offices, is about opening of schools in the fall. I asked dr. Fauci about this very question a short time ago. I want to play his answer and get your response. The answer to that i think falls under the category of we cant say that one size fits all. And when people ask questions about what you can and cannot do, you always have to talk about what the dynamics of the outbreak are in the area youre talking about, because we live in a big country, and there are certain states, cities, regions. Counties in which the level of infection is at a rate that the schools can be much more flexible in how they open, whereas in other areas it may be that it is really quite risky. I think what the regions have to do under the leadership of the local regions with some guidance from the federal government is to take alic at what the dynamics of what the outbreak are and make your recommendations be it at a college or a high school or even an Elementary School level. There needs to be flexibility, but judgment according to the situation on the ground. Doctor, is that your best recommendation as well . Listen, district by district, perhaps even school by school as to where and how much schools reopen . Absolutely. I think the word he keeps using which is critically important is flexibility. And i would even add humility in this. Were going into an environment of uncertainty. We dont know whats going to happen in the fall, and we dont know how its going to affect our children and what our testing and tracking and local environments are going to look like. We say if weve in school one week, we may be home again on zoom the week afterwards. We have to enter this with the ability to go back and forth, to respond to the disease as its in our community. I will note, that will make it impossible for the economy to turn around unless theres broad child care for people. You cant go week to week like that, as you know. Okay, you wrote an oped in the New York Times getting a lot of attention, some people love it, some people hate it, about summer camp. And your argument why this cant happen. Make the case. So my argument is that its not time yet. We definitely need to get kits outside. We need to have them gather safely, but sending hundreds of kids to remote settings away from their parents isnt the right time right now. We dont have enough reliable, accurate testing and tracking, and the reality is that the regular virus as we see, the fevers, the allergieallergies, difficult to discern from coronavirus. The cdc said every kid who gets a fever at an overnight camp needs to be sent home. And that just is impractical for a camp to operate on safely and its unfair to do to doctors and nurses at work at the camps. As you know, doctor, a lot of folks around the country have taken the gradual reopening steps and orders to just sort of, you know, take care, go back to normal. You have seen very crowded parties, et cetera. I asked dr. Fauci about this. Lets listen to his comments and see what you think of it. We are going to see upticks of cases even under the best of circumstances. When you reopen. We know that. Thats something you accept and what we need to do is have the capability of responding in an effective way of doing the kind of identification, isolation, and contact tracing. I feel better and better that were capable of doing that. I often say, we often talk about the possibility of a second wave or of an outbreak when you are reopening. We dont have to accept that as an inevitably. Particularly when people start thinking about the fall, and i want people to really appreciate that. It could happen, but it is not inevitable. Dr. Kass, do you at columbia right in the middle of it, do you have the capability, does new york have the capability just as one example, to properly test and Contact Trace if there are cases of outbreaks as things reopen . Were getting there. I think the investment new york is making in moving forward is remarkable. Everything we did in new york was with Public Health measures alone. It wasnt with magic medicines or with a vaccine. It goes to show us if we respect the Public Health measures and if were smart and care enough about each other to wear a mask, we really can get ahead of this virus so much so to build the tracking and tracing capabilities to keep the virus at bay and get our economy going again. Doctor, its great to have you. Thank you for being with us. Thank you for having me. Right now, the u. S. Is nearing this very grim milestone of 100,000 coronavirus deaths. This as more cities push to reopen. Our reporters are standing by with the latest. Lets begin with Brynn Gingras in new york. Whats it looking like there the. Its a beautiful day, and theres a lot of traffic on the main street in port washington. Further down the street, there are boutiques that will be allowed to reopen today with curbside pickup. Construction starting, manufacturing. All of part of phase one in the state of new york, and this is welcome news to the area. Nassau county in particular, 1 in 20 people filed for unemployment just last month. Getting started, getting back to work, this is something people are really wanting at this point. Putting it wider on long island, close to 80,000 cases of coronavirus were reported on long island alone. The second highest number next to new york city. So this area, if you put it in that perspective, has gone through a lot. So again, more welcome news to getting to this phase one, possibly phase two in the next two weeks or so. Bigger picture looking at the economy, the governor is expected to meet with the president and talk about infrastructure among many topics he said in a News Conference yesterday since the economy needs a jump start, since people want to get back to work, lets team up and start working on major Infrastructure Projects like a new penn station is on the list, a train tlooing laguardia, an extension of the Second Avenue subway. These are all things the governor said hes going to express with the president when he meets with him later today and well find out more information about that after it happens. Poppy. All right, so shimon, youre there in new york, new york, and in the midst of it. You can see in times square, its quiet. Any change coming in the coming days . Not in the coming days, jim. As you said, it is virtually a ghost town here. There are some people out and about, but you can see, this is not normally what times square is like. There would be chairs everywhere, people would be out here. Stores would be open. You know, this is one of the busiest areas in the world, really, when you think of it, for tourists, for businesses. There are many Financial Institutions all around us here. Usually see plenty of cars and yellow taxis driving through the intersection here. Were not seeing any of that. Things are easing up a little bit across the city, jim, but still it continues to be a virtual ghost town. Were waiting for word from the mayor and of course the governor, governor cuomo, to finally say okay, its all right for us to begin phase one. They keep saying maybe the first week of june, the second week of june, but thats all still very much in the air because we really dont know when. The date. They still have not giving us a date as to when we can get to phase one. Ultimately, of course, the city wants to get to phase two and phase three, but we cant get to that before we get to phase one. That may not be for another two weeks, jim and poppy. Understood. We know youll be on top of it. Shimon prokupecz and Brynn Gingras, thank you. Still ahead, a historic day for the space program. Nasa and spacex are set to carry two astronauts to the International Space station. Will the weather cooperate . Plus, protests erupt in minneapolis after the death of a black man in police custody, a disturbing video shows a Police Officer with his knee on George Floyds neck as he says repeatedly he cant breathe. Well be live there. Also, coronavirus cases spiking again in brazil. More deaths there in the past few days than in the United States. Nick paton walsh is there live. On copacabana beach, theres still quite a lot of activity despite a lockdown being put in place and mandatory face masks. After my dvt blood clot, i wondered. Could another come around the corner. Or could it play out differently . I wanted to help protect myself. My doctor recommended eliquis. Eliquis is proven to treat and help prevent another dvt or pe blood clot. Almost 98 of patients on eliquis didnt experience another. And eliquis has significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. Eliquis is fdaapproved and has both. Dont stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. If you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling numbness or muscle weakness. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily. And it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planed medical or dental procedures. Whats around the corner could be your moment. Ask your doctor about eliquis. Who has the highest percentage of its vehiclesto longevity, still on the road today . Subaru. When it comes to best overall value, who does intellichoice rank number one . Subaru. And when it comes to safety, who has more 2020 iihs top safety pick winning vehicles . More than toyota, honda, and hyundaicombined . Subaru. Its easy to love a car you can trust. Its easy to love a subaru. Get 0 apr financing for 63 months on select subaru models now through june 1st. Growing rapidly around the world, especially in south america. Brazil is now reporting more daily coronavirus deaths than the u. S. That has happened twice over the past few days. Yesterday, the Health Ministry there said the country counted 16,000 new cases in just 24 hours. Nick paton walsh had been following the track of the pandemic in brazil. He joins us now from rio de janeiro. As you know, the president there has expressed doubts about this throughout. Defied health recommendations. I wonder, is that changing as the data becomes so devastating . Theres been a tweak in the rhetoric, certainly, where hes now referring to the fight against the virus as, quote, a war, but still focusing really on the economy being more important, and even in a leaked recording of a Cabinet Meeting put out by the Supreme Court as part of a separate investigation, he was heard being exceptionally rude about the mayor of one of the worsthit towns in brazil deep in the amazon rain forest. It should be remote, but it didnt protect it. Its been hit exceptionally hard. We traveled there to see how heavily its been devastated. This is a landing of last resort. Seeking salvation in a coronavirus hotbed. Tiny planes bring the sickest patients tromhundreds of miles away deep in the amazon to manaus, brazils worst hit city, and to a hospital bed. A journey most make alone. From which some wont go home. This is what doing well looks like on these flights. Moving. The woman onboard struggling. Motionless. Once they had to intubate a patient in midair. Its very hard. You carry a weight that you dont see. Every time i carry this weight, i feel like i carry this weight. They arrive in a city mired not only in death but also fury. Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has made light of the virus and called the mayor here a piece of excrement for digging these mass graves. They had little choice here with the bodies start piling up. This month, they buried 103 in one day. Digging at night. Even in two hours, five come. One by one, laid in the trench. Many mourners say those arent coronavirus deaths but its hard to know here. The official numbers in brazil dont tell the whole picture, partly because there isnt enough testing. You can see that here, these are those who have died and have tested positive for coronavirus, but these graves staggeringly, well, theyre the ones they suspect may have died of the disease. The mass burial itself distressing. We are waiting for more bodies. I just want to put my mom there and finish this. We dont need this. My family doesnt need this. We asked the grave diggers who thinks fewer would have died here if the president had kept quiet. No one listens to bolsonaro, one says. Hes not there for the people, adds another. He should have asked us what was going on. But still, the hospitals here receive a daily stream of new patients. These from outlying villages where local tribes live, badly hit, too. The icu, whiis frenetic, and ev the patients have heard what the president said. The mayor is just trying to save lives, says rumondo, and the president is against that. Inside, a local indigenous leader visits, newly adopting the role from his father killed by the virus two weeks ago. I took my father into hospital where he was intubated if five days, he says. Now, we have 300 people with symptoms. Politically, the president forgot us, and its killing the indigenous people. Bolsonaro insists hes for Economic Growth and safety, but the virus is still tearing through the poor here. Their remote way of life was no protection from this modern plague. It just put help further away. You saw Indigenous Community there, one of them took us to their village and showed how one street was all isolated, the all street all in hospital. Its hit exceptionally hard there, but the message of those images are still not getting through to the larger cities in sao paulo, yes, perhaps, we saw everyone wearing a mask there, but its not the case here in rio. This beachfront lifestyle here at copacabana, limited. Shops closed, people not supposed to be on the beach, but still bustling to some degree and part of that may be the reflection of the advice of the president playing this down. I have to say, some of the modeling coming out of the United States suggests there could be 125,000 deaths here in brazil by early august. So there are some potentially very difficult three months ahead. Jim, poppy. Wow, what important reporting. Thank you very much for being there. Public outrage following the death of a black man who died in police custody. Four Police Officers have been fired and the fbi is now investigating. Well take you live to minneapolis next. [narrator] did you just reward yourself for spending a perfectly reasonable amount of time on the couch with tacos from grubhub . Grubhubs gonna reward you for that with a 5 off perk. doorbell rings [crowd] grubhub fireworks exploding moms love that land o frost premium sliced meats have no byproducts. [conference phone] baloney [conference phone] has joined the call. Hey baloney here. I thought this was a no byproducts call . Land o frost premium. A slice above. Minneapolis, and really across the u. S. , after 46yearold george floyd died in police custody. And the release of really just this incredibly disturbing video that showed the moments leading up to his death. Thats right. Last night, protesters crowded the streets and clashed with police. Floyd was arrested on monday after officers responded to a call about an alleged forgery. A bystanders video shows floyd handcuffed and pinned to the ground with one Police Officers knee on his knek for more than seven minutes. Cnn has obtained that video and a warning, it is disturbing. Why you got him down, man . Let him breathe at least, man. I been trying to help out. Let him breathe. I cant breathe. My face. Its killing me. I cant breathe, he said. Floyd died a short time later at a local hospital. The four officers involved have since been fired from the department, but no charges have been filed against them. Cnn correspondent omar jimenez has the latest from minneapolis. Intensifying overnight in minneapolis. Four Police Officers fired after their involvement in the death of george floyd. Police lined the streets, throwing tear gas and nonlethal projectiles to disperse crowds after thousands flooded the streets tuesday. Anger boiling over in the community when a cell phone video was shot monday night showing a Police Officer with his knee to floyds knek while hes on the ground handcuffed. For several long minutes, george floyd told the officer he couldnt breathe, as bystanders pleaded with officers that floyd was struggling. I cant breathe. My face. And protesters echoed floyds words in the pouring rain last night. Everybody in the world needs to be watching this. World, please watch this. The officers say they were responding to an alleged forgery in progress and were nishy told the suspect was sitting on a car seemingly under the influence. Police say floyd physically resists and they placed him under arrest. My stomach hurts, my neck hurts. Everything hurts. Minneapolis mayor jacob frye supporting the decision to fire the officers. For five minutes, when you hear someone calling for help, you are supposed to help. This officer failed in the most basic human sense. Cnn has obtained new Surveillance Video from a nearby restaurant that shows two Police Officers crossing the street and approaching the car at 8 33 p. M. Monday night. The officers are talking to the passengers in the car for a few minutes before two passengers emerge from the car. George is then taken from the car by one of the officers and is handcuffed. Floyd is sitting against the exterior of a building on a sidewalk while another police car arrives. Eventually, two cops pull him up from the ground and walk across the street. Floyds family saying they want the officers charged with murder. He screamed mama, mama, i cant breathe. I cant breathe. And they didnt care. They treated him worse than they treat animals. They took a life. Now they deserve life. I dont feel sorry for them. They hurt me, they hurt my family. Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar calling on an outside investigation to be conducted to explore possible criminal charges against the officers. This was not a sudden mistake or a procedure gone bad. This was over a period of time. You have to look at all the evidence, but to me, this evidence is just crying out for some kind of a charge. And were still waiting to see how these investigations play out to determine if any criminal charges are filed. And in regards to the protests, while they did get violent at times, i think it just highlights the anger, the real anger, that is in this community, not just here, but playing out as were seeing across the country as well, jim. Yeah, the precedent is its difficult to charge Police Officers in instances like this, but well watch it closely. Thanks very much. Could you get paid to come back to work . The white house could be open to that proposal. Well have more. We hope you find these Digital Solutions helpful to bank from almost anywhere. Deposit a check with your phone or tablet. Check balances, pay bills, and more. Send money to people you know and trust with zelle. Explore all you can do with our Digital Tools from almost anywhere. Pnc bank. Jim, i know you want an answer to this one. I do, too. I do, too. Will there be professional sports . College sports . People dying for answers. For sure. Were still waiting on baseball, but the nhl has unveiled its plans for an expanded stanley cup playoff tournament. Instead of restarting the regular season. Coy wire joins us now with more. Really an interesting plan here. Theyre going to go right to the playoffs but a really big playoff here. Yeah, no doubt. Good morning to you, jim and poppy. The regular season officially over, and the top 12 teams from each conference as of march 12th when the league stopped play due to the pandemic, they would compete for the stanley cup in two hub cities yet to be determined. Commissioner gary bettman said yesterday theyre not able to set a date just yet, but still as jim mentioned, the nhl taking a big step with at least a commitment to a plan to play. Heres bettman. As we seek some return to normalcy, this is an important day. Particularly for nhl fans. I know i join sports fans everywhere when we say we cannot wait for our players to hit the ice again. So 24 teams instead of the normal six teams. Seven not making the cut. This all dependent on covid testing conditions. The commissioner says that, jim and poppy, they could use 25,000 to 30,000 tests during the tournament. He also said that a positive result would not necessarily mean that the tournament would shut down. Now, in the nba, there are several ideas reportedly on the table, including a world cup style playoff being played at the disney Sports Complex in florida. According to the ringer, the top 20 teams would be put in five tiers, divided into groups, play each other twice with the top two teams in each group advancing to a round featuring best of seven game series. When asked about the proposal, the nba telling cnn there is, quote, nothing were sharing publicly at this point. Unquote. Meanwhile, the future of the baseball season remains in limbo. Over money. The Players Association telling cnn its not happy with the leagues latest economic proposal made yesterday. According to multiple reports, instead of revenue sharing, the owners are now suggesting that the highest salaried players take steeper pay cuts than the players who make less. As an example, the highest earners would get approximately 25 of their salary for the year, while the lowest earnings would get approximately 50 . Cnn reached out to mlb for comment, has not heard a response. I talked to one current player who says the players feel slighted because back in march, they agreed to a pay cut in the form of a prorated salary. Owners went back to the negotiating table with steeper cuts when it was determined games would be played without fan fans. The player says they feel like they all knew it would play out and the players would look like the bad guys if they dont accept. Thank you for the updates on all of the leagues. Appreciate it. This morning, marriott says the Financial Impact of this pandemic is worse than 9 11 and the 2008 financial crisis combined. Imagine that. The Company Warns it could see a significant number of layoffs later this year. This as were learning the white house is not ruling out a backtowork bonus to get folks back on the job. Career builder ceo says its been hard for some retailers and restaurants to hire back workers as theyre making more, some of them, on unemployment than at their job. So good to have you on. Tell us how often youre seeing this because this Unemployment Insurance necessary, so many americans. More than 35 million of them without work. How often are you seeing folks say better for me to stay on that for now than look for a job now . It depends really on the type of job they had precovid. Were seeing that be the very normal response right now for most of the frontline covid impacted jobs. A lot of hourly jobs that were in the hospitality, restaurant or food areas. Were seeing those workers deciding that their health and safety and from a financial perspective, theyre actually making more by staying on unemployment right now, and those companies, especially the small businesses, are really having a tough time finding talent to fill those jobs. However, theres a big group of College Grads that are coming into the workforce that are going to hopefully help some of that population. And there is a sunset on those benefits, so it doesnt go forever, but theres discussion now for a back to work bonus. Is that something that you think from your perspective would help bridge the gap here and make it financially smart for folks to leave Unemployment Insurance and go back to the job market . To your point, the financial benefits start running out in a month and a half or so, so well see some of that actually start to get addressed. One thing were seeing, its the second week in a row in the u. S. Where across almost all of the states except five, we started to see positive job postings which we havent seen since the start of covid in march. Were also seeing it globally. The second week globally that we have moved 5 , which is two positive steps in the right direction, as companies are starting to rethink bringing workers back. So you heard me mention how marriott is looking at this. Worst economically in terms of economic damage than 9 11 and the 2008 financial crisis combined. As you look at the job market, a big burning question has been will all these jobs necessarily come back . You have seen some retailers, for instance, go bankrupt as a ruct of this. They were in dire straits, now some of them going bankrupt. Do most of these jobs come back . One of the things we talked about precovid is theres really this hollowing out that was happening of the middle class. Where the highend jobs were going to continue to grow. The lower end jobs were also going to grow, and that middle was going to really be in trouble. And one of the things that are only going to be exacerbated with covid is the rescaling and initiative is going to have an impact. It wont be the same 40 or so million jobs that come back. It will be different variations of it, which is why its so important on the candidate side to be highlighting your skill set and not necessarily the experience you had because to your point, that exact job might not be available in the future. So a lot of folks watching, sadly, are in this boat. They may be temporarily furloughed or may they have been laid off entirely. What advice would you give them . What areas are you seeing surprising demand for workers now that folks might not think of . So its really the same industries that we have been seeing that have stayed pretty constant during covid. Its in Certain Health care areas, Software Developers in the i. T. Space are really hiring. Were seeing continued stability in some aspects of Financial Services such as loan and mortgages offices and really a focus around Customer Service representatives as more and more companies are moving to a workfromhome model or really trying to support a lot of the client outbound, but i would say Career Builder has been advising a lot of candidates on what to do. Theres three things the unemployed should look at in how to get back to the workforce. A highanxiety filled time. One is be where recruiters are looking. Most recruiters are really going to be going and starting with the job boards. Make sure youre utilizing a job board and getting your resume out there so its searchable. Two, really attend as many virtual hiring events as you can. Were seeing a lot of clients use virtual hiring as a way to build their pipeline. Not even hiring today, but really for the future and making sure they have a way to interact and share their culture. Thats something thats going to stay post covid. Its good advice and so good to have you on. People are eager for advice now because they want to get back into the workforce, many do. Thanks very much. Thank you. Well, tomorrow night, a new coronavirus town hall with Anderson Cooper and dr. Sanjay gupta. Coronavirus, facts and fears live. Thats thursday night, 8 00 eastern time, only here on cnn. Hours from now for the first time in nine years, a manned spacecraft will launch from the United States when a private rocket lifts off. A big moment ahead. A healthy ro. The app makes everything so easy it really works i am proof i lost 85 pounds we can do this ww join now, pay later. Get your first three months free from anyone else. So why accept it from your allergy pills . Flonase relieves your worst symptoms which most pills dont. Get allinone allergy relief for 24 hours, with flonase. A beautiful thing a wonderful thing that makes this life better for you and for me you can be a part of a beautiful thing right now with your gift of just 19 a month. Only 63 cents a day. Your monthly gift means that more children, just like luke, will get the help that they need to live a full and better life. When you call this special number and give just 19 a month, youll be a part of making wonderful things for other kids. Because of you, i can ride my bike. I can ski. I can play in the band. We can do anything. uplifting music when you visit loveshriners. Org and give just 19 a month, youre sending your love to the rescue. When you call now or go online with your monthly gift, well send you this adorable love to the rescue blanket as a symbol of the wonderful things youre helping make possible for kids who need them most. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you thank you. [both] thank you for giving together well build a beautiful thing [alec] you can help change everything with your gift today and be a part of making something beautiful. Please call right now to give. If operators are busy with other caring donors, please hold patiently or go to loveshriners. Org to give right away. It means being there for each other. Thats why state farm is announcing the Good NeighborRelief Program we know our customers are driving less, which means fewer accidents. So state farm is returning 2 billion dollars to auto policyholders for the period ending may 31st. And well continue making real time decisions to best serve you our customers. Because now, more than ever, being a Good Neighbor means everything. Like a Good Neighbor, state farm is there. Well, this is nice to hear. For the first time in nearly nine years, nasa astronauts will launch into space again from here in the u. S. Douglas hurley and Robert Banken are set to pilot a Spacex Mission to the International Space station this afternoon. It is the first manned test flight of the companys dragon capsule, which nasa administrators say is the safest spacecraft ever built. In theory, this is the safest spacecraft nasa has ever said. It has to be proven. We havent proven it yet. Thats why were doing this test flight. Well, weather could play a major role today. Right now, theres a 60 chance of takeoff. Here with us now, former astronaut commander of International Space station leroy chow, four space missions. Leroy, great to have you on this morning. Great to be with you. Thank you. So one thing thats unique about this is the involvement of a private company here, spacex, having built the vehicle. Is that a model for nasa going forward. Yes, its definitely something very new. We have, of course, two big things about todays launch. Of course, the first time in nine years we have launched astronauts into orbit from u. S. Soil. Number two, on a commercial vehicle. This is the first time we will launch astronauts into orbit on a commercial vehicle. This is a huge deal. Nasa was involved very much for most of the development of the dragon spacecraft, so were very comfortable with the design and the way things were implements and the problems solved and taken care of. I would have a chance to speak with both doug and bob just a couple months ago. They were very confident, very happy with the transparency that spacex has given them and nasa, and so i think were ready to go. Can you talk about what a big moment this is for the country . You flew on four space missions. You were on the iss of course. My mom just texted me. Shes 74 years on, on the commercial break, so excited about this afternoon. Its such a moment for this country, especially right now. It really is. And for all the reasons we have been discussing, its a huge deal. Its a huge deal for spacex. This is the biggest milestone for spacex, launching astronauts into orbit. Elon musk made it very clear that he intends to go and send humans to mars and even put colonies on mars. This is a big step towards that goal actually getting humans into space. And so its a big deal for the country, of course, for national prestige, but back to your original question, yes, this is a new model for how things can be done, and perhaps nasa and spacex can Work Together to explore mars together. You know, leroy, an odd fact of this nineyear pause has been that the u. S. Astronauts have been depending on russia to launch them into space. And given the tensions between the two countries, which are very real, ooalthough that cooperation has continued, is it launching from the u. S. Again important here from a National Security perspective . I dont know if its important from a National Security perspective but important from a redundancy perspective in that its bad to only have one way to do something, and we for many years have only had one way to get to the space station, and thats aboard a russian soyuz. We had a failure of a cargo ship, and that nearly grounded the fleet, and so the russians were able to get the problem taken care of. We put fixes in in time to continue that rotation of crew. As far as tensions between the two countries, of course, there is tension today, but i would argue that without this cooperation on this very visible civil project called the International Space station, things would be worse. At the working level, the russians and americans cooperate very well, very good friends. Certainly the cosmonauts and astronauts and specialists know each other very well. Even when i was training there, there were still some people who were there during the apollo days, and even the russians said, you know what, when you americans land on the moon, we were so happy for human kind. We were so happy. So the cooperation is very real. Its good theres still that brotherhood. Leroy, we wish you the best of luck. Great to have you on the program this morning. Thank you for having me. A plea from one of the nations top experts on coronavirus. Dr. Anthony fauci says that wearing a mask in public is what you should do. Even as the president repeatedly refuses to. A lung cancer diagnosis can leave you holding your breath. But Bristol Myers squibb is working to change things. By researching new kinds of medicines that could help you live longer. Including options that are chemofree. Because were committed to bringing new hope into lung cancer care. Becauyour graduation may look different. Hope but it does not change how far youve come. Or how far youll go. Congratulations, class of 2020 ior anything i want to buy isk going to be on rakuten. Rakuten is easy to use, free to sign up and its in over 3,000 stores. I buy a lot of makeup. Shampoo, conditioner. Books, food. Travel. Shoes. Stuff for my backyard. Anything from clothes to electronics. Workout gear. I even recently got cash back on domain hosting. You can buy tires. To me, rakuten is a great way to get cash back on anything you buy. Rack it up with rakuten, sign up today to get cash back on everything you buy. When visible set out to create the future of phone service. We tossed the stuff that wasnt working. Stuff like footlong bills and fees from nowhere. Timewasting stores, misleading ads, unhelpful help centers. And saved the stuff that was working. Like verizons 4g lte network. Plus unlimited data, messages, and minutes. Its a simple system. Trim the bad. Make the good better. And way cheaper. Meet visible. Unlimited data on verizons 4g lte network. Just 25 for your first month. Join us at visible. Com. Im john king in washington. Thank you for sharing your day with us. The global coronavirus death toll now climbing past 350,000 today. The United States will soon reach the gut punch marker of 100,000 american lives lost. 100,000 deaths is pretty hard to grasp. Imagine wiping tuscaloosa, alabama, or davenport, iowa, off the map. That global death toll you see right there on the screen, thats the population of anaheim, california. Uncertainty is now the previling dynamic in american life. Vaccine trials are under way. Theres a good hope by the end of 2020, but theres no guarantee of success. The virus is