This is a live picture from phoenix, where a protest is underway near the Arizona State capital. These have been mostly organized groups, latest in a series of demonstrations that have taken place over the past few days, getting a lot of attention, a lot of these protesters have been selfidentified trump protesters. About one of them, the president about them, the president has said, i think theyll listen to me. They seem to like me. Though they are protesting his administration guidelines. Protesters also took to the streets today outside statehouses in pennsylvania, tennessee, and the state of maine. Well have more on that in just a moment. But first, here are the latest facts, as we know them. Over 400,000 americans have now died from the coronavirus with well over 750,000 confirmed cases across this country. Thats just with a tiny percentage of americans tested. And some states move to reopen while former fda commissioner Scott Gottlieb is warning against a widespread reopening without having widespread testing in place. Its a risk. Theres no question, its a risk. We wont have the testing we want until september without the broad coverage. Youll still see high positivity rates heading into may. Theres risks here. Theres no question about it. We wont have all of the tools and all of the screening we want in place. Were not also going to have all the Public Health workers to do the contact tracing. If i misspoke, obviously, were talking about cases just north of 40,000 deaths in this country. There is still no deal on the political side between House Democrats and the white house to replenish a program that provides money to help Small Businesses and hospitals. Nbc news has learned that democrats are still pushing to get more money for state and local governments. The u. S. , mexico, canada, have agreed to extend restrictions on nonessential travel between the three countries for another 30 days. Those restrictions do not affect commercial traffic, which is vital for the supply line. And new york city mayor bill de blasio says big events scheduled for june including the 50th anniversary of the very first pride parade in the city would be canceled or postponed until later in the year. Were coming on the air in the 3 00 hour here on the east coast, noon on the west coast, to cover the breaking news from the fight against this coronavirus that just keeps rolling out. And on these afternoons, Nicolle Wallace and i will join us at least electronically to sort through it. Nicole joins us now to continue with our coverage, prior to her afternoon broadcast each day, which has become a special elongated edition of deadline white house. Hey, nicole . Hi, there. Were all elongated these days, because the news is so extraordinary. When you played these images of the protest, i tried to think if i could even fathom what it would have been like after say, nem nem 9 11 when i worked in the white house, if people had been angry about the new way we had to travel on the airlines and had taken to the streets to protest. Im not saying it isnt understandable that some people are frustrated. I think everyone is frustrated, but i think the human calculation is that my frustration is less than the terror of someone older or someone with a heart condition and someone on my block or someone in my building or someone that i know and love who could die if they get this wicked virus. So this idea that Donald Trumps last action as this countrys commander in chief before he went to bad last night was to tweet out support for the protesters, basically saying, i see you, ive got your back, is just, in a sort of a sea and a plethora of reprehensible conduct from this president over the three years that weve been gathering like this. Usually around a desk. That stands out for me as something that is not only unpresident ial, but that threatens peoples lives. Nicole, yesterday, he referenced cabin fever. Of course, were in the middle of a pandemic and part of the pride these protesters are gaining off each other is taking off the masks and standing close by, even though he said yesterday, the protests he saw, they were 6 feet apart. Look, i hope some of them are. And for themselves, for the people that they love when they go home from those protests, you know, protesters, theres a lot of science about the courage that people feel in a mob. And thats fine. But if you live someone with any sort of compromised immune system or if you live with small kids, you know, all the science isnt really in on whether kids are transmitting it, asymptomatically, or if you have another generation that lives with you. Its still dangerous conduct. But if theyre all social distancing, good for them. Its a safe way to protest. All right, and heres what some of those demonstrators are saying about why theyre taking part in the protest at state capitals. Freedom is what we want. Freedom is what we demand. Were wrecking our economy for something that i feel isnt as dangerous thats put out there. I need my job i need to work i need money a new nbc news wall street journal poll, though, suggests that these protesters may at this point represent just a small part of a very vocal minority. This poll found that 58 of americans say they are worried about the shelter in place restrictions being lifted too soon, while 32 say its taken too long to lift them. Lets get to our reporters on the ground. Vaughn hillyard is near the Arizona State capital in phoenix. Maura barrett is at the Pennsylvania State capitol in harrisburg. Vaughn, start us off with what you see there and whats been going on these past few hours. Reporter yeah, the rally is starting here in just a few minutes here, brian. You know, the last time i was at a rally outside of here was actually ten years ago, brian. It was a tea party rally. And i could tell you, a decade later, this has a lot of similar remnants of it here. You have several hundred folks here, brian. I talked to a good number of them. I was talking with a mother earlier of four who was out here with her kids. She said that she and her kids are still going to the Grocery Store with no masks on. Back over here, were trying to keep some distance away, baa ov but over there, you have at least 200 folks that are all standing right here next to each other. Over here to our left, i was just talking with the gentlemen, and whether he was actually concerned about spreading covid19. And he was telling me that he believes that it is being overblown and overhyped. The number of cases, that is. Suggesting that hospitals are using heartrelated deaths or cancerrelated deaths to add to those covid19 numbers as a way of shutting down business. I said, what about President Trump, though, calling for social distancing . Which the folks here are not doing, frankly, brian. And he told me that it is folks like dr. Fauci and dr. Birx that are getting the best of President Trump right now. But they are actually standing over there right now, next to the bill of rights monument here at the Arizona State capitol, believing it is their prerogative to gathering toget to shop together where they so please. I was talking with that mother there and i said, does it concern you that you could have an impact on other people, and she said, frankly, that she has not seen evidence here in arizona of widespread death. You know, the pictures out of new york are very much different than those in arizona, where, i should note, the republican governor here, doug ducey, implemented a stayathome order three weeks ago, now, he has maintained over the course of these three weeks that folks should be cautious, folks should be socially distant. And what has that caused them . Among the few hundred folks here, i saw a sign of one man saying, i voted for doug ducey, not bill gates, and theres lots about bill gates having started covid19 or attempting to implement chips. This is a group of people, theyre very much apart of the Conspiracy Theory crowd here, brian. Vaughn, thank you. And something vaughn mentioned, the antianthony fauci movement, this weekend weve seen signs and we have heard chants about firing dr. Fauci presumably, because he represents science and medicine. Over to maura we go. Pennsylvania statehouse, whats the situation there . Reporter brian, well, the rally in phoenix is just getting started. The one here in harrisburg is starting to dissipate. Just behind me, people are still honking their horns, driving around the state capital here. But actually, just a few hours ago, there was easily a thousand people standing on the steps of the capital, shoulder to shoulder to shoulder, not wearing masks, protesting the statehouse here to talk about how they want to reopen the economy. One car that just drove by that i saw had a sign along the window that says the covid19 emergency is over, reopen pennsylvania. But the state Health Department very strongly advocating against that, as were seeing an uptick in cases in pennsylvania. I spoke to some protesters earlier today, who told me why they decided to come out. Take a listen to what they said. This is more of a political issue. They have taken this thing that was a small issue im not saying that anybody who has died or been affected by this virus, its not legitimate, but theyve taken something and blown it so far out of proportion that its destroying our country. Let us live our lives. Were supposed to be servants of the people, and theyre not. Theyre being tyrants of the people. We vote we pay their paychecks. We vote them into office, and we can remove them from office. And we want our freedom and our rights back. Reporter now whats really interesting to note here sthal tom wolf, the governor of pennsylvania, is democrat and hes presiding over the state here that voted for donald trump in pennsylvania in 2016 and is a key battleground state for the president in 2020. And Governor Wolf has really kind of staid out of the criticism of the president , because hes trying to compromise when it comes to everything thats going on here with coronavirus. Just today, he vetoed a bill that the republicans are putting into place or were looking to reopen some businesses, but hes compromising by letting some online sales start on may 8th. Maura barrett in harrisburg. Vaughn hillyard before that in phoenix. Thank you to you both. Brian, were now lucky to be joined by former secretary of state, john kerry, who im sure has thoughts about all of this. Mr. Secretary, how would you strike this balance . I think there is a very deep fear about the state of our economy, the almost immediate collapse of our economy when these shutdowns started. But for the majority of people, they understand and respect the sort of stayathome orders to keep people in our communities and our own homes safe. How would you speak to the angry minority today . Well, first of all, i understand i think everybody understands frustrations people feel. Life has been turned topsyturvy by what is taking place. But i think whats extraordinary is that the president of the United States, whose responsibility it is to lead the nation, according to the best advice and all the best advice, the best business advice, the best medical advice, the best security advice is all saying, you cant make the economy work again if the majority of the people of our country are in fear. And theyre not going to come out. And theyre not going to take risks if they dont have the testing. So the critical component here is where is the president ial leadership. The president has tweeted about liberating michigan and liberating minnesota. And he now has tweeted in support of people coming out and demonstrating and hes trying to play it, i think, in such a political way, were in a situation that is life and death and for so many let me ask you one more. I want to turn this over to my colleague, brian. I have one more question for you, because you have worked alongside joe biden in the obama administration, youve served with him in the senate and this is a political year. In november, americans will choose their next president who will have the job of getting us out of the economic and health crisis. What advice do you have for joe biden . How does he run for president , the most political act of all in the midst of a pandemic . Well, joe biden doesnt need my advice to know how to run for president. Hes doing it, i think, in the most effective way possible, which is by listening to the scientists, listening to people, and giving good advice. He was early in january, saying we have to respond to this. Two months went down before President Trump did anything. So i think joe biden has already shown that he was aware of what we needed to do, he had the leadership, and he offered that leadership and public articles and public statements. The problem is today that the decisions that are being made are purely political. And this is not a political moment. I mean, i think thats the key here. Its just not a political moment. Its a moment of grave, very serious consequences. All over the world, countries are being hit by this. The United States has more people who are sick and is now up to 40,000 plus lives. And we still dont see the curves coming down sufficiently. So until you have those curves under control, how do you say to people, oh, were going to open up, and you should come out and go through this and that. Theres a time when it will come and i hope its sooner rather than later. That time could be greatly expedited and far more effective if the president were not washing his hands of the process, throwing it to the governors, even as he criticizes them, and ive never seen such a back and forth between a president and the press. Im amazed the press just sits there and takes it. But the insults that he hurls at every member of the press, at a time where he ought to be bringing the country together and building up his own credibility, its the opposite of the kind of leadership that is needed right now. And i think thats being noticed. I saw poll numbers today that make it clear that the American People have far greater confidence in dr. Fauci, who has years of experience in doing this, and successes, such as ebola and other things. And President Trump thought it was a hoax, said it was going to disappear, lit just vanish like a miracle. I mean, hes been so wrong on this that americans should have no difficulty discerning who they ought to be listening to. Mr. Secretary, you had your own brush with a political effort that was born on the right side of the political ledger and came out of nowhere. Then during your time, we all witnessed the rise of the tea party, during the obama administration. Aside from the fact that this gets the tacit approval, if not outright encouragement from the sitting president , how do you view this differently . Do you think were overstating the noise and importance of these protests . Or do you fear this is, indeed, a prairie fire out there . Oh, i dont think its a prairie fire, because i think most people in most states are listening very carefully. And i think the polling data indicates that they have, what is it, 36 people trust donald trump on this. And about 80 or 70some percent trust the doctors and the experts. I think what this underscores is the absence of president ial leadership. The absence of the kind of leadership that the nation needs at this moment. And the covid19 challenge has now been added to, among those things where the right, the political right, is prepared to attack science, math, evidence, facts, basic truth in favor of an ideology. And theyre pushing that ideology on our nation and it wouldnt be a big deal if it werent costing lives. And if it werent linked to larger issues that are coming at us. The Disinformation Campaign that President Trump has succumbed to, with respect to the covid19, is the same Disinformation Campaign from some of the same people who have brought us doubts about what is scientifically proven, which is climate change. The climate crisis. And you see the same interests being asserted. The same sort of falsehoods on which basic, huge decisions are being made. And the bottom line is this. American citizens are already dying of both. Theyre already dying of effects of whats happening with the climate crisis, from mud slides and floods, and theyre greater floods. Ive had people criticize me for saying, oh, people have died in floods for years. But not floods that are 500year floods, that are now happening every once every few years. Not mud slides and greater fires. And not the kind of intensity of our storms and hurricanes, all of which are scientifically proven to be of greater consequence as a result of the warming thats taking place, the increased moisture, the increased intensity in storms. We are spending billions of dollars to just clean up the mess. We spent 265 billion on three storms a couple of years ago. Just to clean it up. And yet, we cant find 1 billion or 10 billion to put into the research necessary to do the Technology Creation that would make america the leader in the world in solving this problems. So the complete and total absence of legitimate, thoughtful, calm, noncombative leadership that the country needs now is costing a high price for our nation. Well, let me ask you about the world real quick and ill turn it over to nicole. Where do you put our standing right about now . Consider this, the leaders of u. S. And uk, if not deniers, were certainly initially covid diminishers at first. The whole world is watching. The whole world can hear us and is paying attention. And now, as of this morning, a sixpack of beer costs slightly more than a barrel of crude oil. That will have global effects, as well. Well, yes, it will, obviously. The economy, globally, is in terrible condition. We all understand the desire to get back. I mean, there isnt anybody in america who isnt concerned about where were heading economically. But if you stop and think about, as they are in a lot of these countries i mean, look, the facts, ive listened to the president at some of his conferences, and im not going to listen to anymore, because its the same thing all the time and its mostly a Political Campaign rally and a promotion of himself. But the fact is, we stands there and says, we have the best testing in the world. No, we dont. We do not have the best testing in the world. We are not testing on a per capita basis, which is the real ratio you look at is the size of our country, measured against the tests were having. It doesnt do us any good to have more testing than a tiny nation in the world and stand up and say, we have more tests than anybody in the world. We have to measure the number of tests against the people, against the risks, against what it takes to put people back to work. And if you dont have the ability to track whos had it, the antibodies test, and you dont have the ability to track who has it now, its very difficult to say to people, hey, youre safe, go out to work. What are you doing to do . Play russian roulette with everybodys lives . Thats not the job of the president of the United States. His job is to lead the country to a place of calm understanding, about how together, together, thats what our nation is built on, you know, out of many come one, e pluribus unum, we are one. And the one is the job of the president of the United States to think about. Mr. Secretary, ping a lot of our viewers feel the same exasperation you feel and dare i say anger. I want to ask you, when is the right time and what is the appropriate vehicle for doing the sorts of investigations that took place after 9 11 to understand what the white house was aware of when it came to intel . I mean, donald trump is on tape saying things about i would not yeah. Nicole, its a very i want your thoughts on whats the right time . Well, just my quick first blush, i hadnt thought about it, but thinking right now, i would say to you, not until after the election. I think the last thing that America Needs right now is another investigation which will automatically be deemed to be political. I think we and more likely than not, were not going to be through all of the elements of this by the time of the election. You just heard the postponement by the mayor of new york of major parades and activities in june. Before you know, youll be in july, august. The president ial election two months later. I think the most important thing we should be doing outside of getting the testing and solving the problem of the disease itself is making sure that every american has an opportunity to vote. You know. We cannot we cannot have a situation where because of this its an excuse to play with our election or to limit peoples access to the polls. Nothing is more vital to the quality and legitimacy of the democracy of the United States of america than legislate people vote. And we have all seen too many instances where there are players who go overboard to suppress the vote in the United States. I always found that as secretary of state difficult. You know, you go places and you say, we want you to be a the great democracy. We want you to give people the right to vote. And yet at home, we would have thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people sometimes purged from the voting polls. And they wouldnt learn that they couldnt vote until they arrived at the poll. We can do better than that. Everybody knows we can. But there are some people who dont want us to do better than that. Mr. Secretary, thank you for spending some time with us. Were both grateful. Happy to be with you. Thank you. Well take a break. When we come back, steve kornacki, our own big data joins us from the big board with new poll numbers on what americans are thinking about this strange new world we live in and were just discussing. And the leadership of those tasked with getting us through it. Also, crowds return to some of the beaches in florida. Well take a look at that after this. Well take a look at that after this overnight they became our offices, schools and playgrounds. All those places out there, are now in here. Thats why were still offering fast, free two day shipping on thousands of items. Even the big stuff. And doing everything it takes to ensure your safety. So you can make your home everything you need it to be. Wayfair. Way more than furniture. That Liberty Mutual customizes your insurance, i just love hitting the open road and telling people so you only pay for what you need [squawks] only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Woi felt completely helpless. Hed online. My entire career and business were in jeopardy. I called reputation defender. Vo take control of your online reputation. Get your free reputation report card at reputationdefender. Com. Find out your online reputation today and let the experts help you repair it. Woman they were able to restore my good name. Vo visit reputationdefender. Com or call 18778668555. [female vo] restaurants are facing a crisis. And theyre counting on your takeout and delivery orders to make it through. Grubhub. Together we can help save the restaurants we love. As promised before the break, were taking a closer look at the broad impact of coronavirus on americans daily lives and their anxieties related to their families, their health, their jobs. We have new poll numbers that give us a better sense of how long the public expects these disruptions to last. Joining us now, Nbc News National Political correspondent, steve kornacki. Steve, sorry for the delay. Were trying to do this two ways by remote. But anyway, please, continue and show us what youve got. No, not a problem at all. Look, brandnew nbc news wall street journal poll here. This is our poll here that we conduct. Wall street journal also sponsors it and some interesting numbers here. First of all, just asking folks about what they feel, how they feel about the state of the economy. Not surprising here, only 22 right now say its excellent or good. The vast majority saying the economy is fair or poor. But one thing thats interesting is how quickly and how dramatically this has changed. Look at basically the start of the year, in our poll, a majority of americans were feeling really good about the economy. They called it excellent or good. That number now is barely 20 . And maybe that will even get lower as this develops. A huge and quick change on that question. Theres also this. Okay, were in this situation with the lockdowns right now. Whats your biggest fear were asking folks . What do you fear more . The restrictions being lifted too soon or the restrictions being in place too long . And you can see folks here erring, it seems, on the side of caution here. Nearly 60 saying they are more worried about these restrictions being lifted too soon. The other question, while were in this lockdown, what about folks economic wellbeing. You had the government doing congress, passing the president , signing that stimulus, asking folks, whats your bigger fear here. Is your fear that the government is going to end up spending too much money with all of this economic calamity going on right now . Or is your fear that the government will not spend enough money to address that. And you see a plurality here, saying their bigger fear is the government is going to spend too much in this situation. Thats an interesting finding. Theres also this, the question of trust. Asking folks, heres some public figures, some major institutions, what theyve been saying about the coronavirus, do you trust it or not . Very high marks for the cdc. Folks were asked about their state governor, very high marks. Anthony fauci, 60 trust him. Only 8 say they dont trust him. I think, very notably, the president of the United States, 36 of focus say they trust what donald trump is saying on the coronavirus. A majority, 52 saying they do not. Also, notable, joe biden, look 26 and 29 . What that means is there are a lot of folks here who say theyre just not hearing from joe biden at all right now. They dont know whether to trust or not to trust. Theyre just not hearing from him. Thats what thats telling you right there. N of course, in terms of Donald Trumps overall Job Performance as president , our poll finds 46 Approval Rating, thats what it was a month ago. A very tight range hes been in throughout his presidency. And then theres this, the headtohead, trump versus biden. And even if folks arent hearing from joe biden that much right now, doesnt seem theyre holding that against him. Biden leading trump in this poll, 49 to 42. And thats consistent with all the polling weve been seeing for a while now. Biden leading trump there by 5, 6, 7 points pretty consistently. Nicole . Steve kornacki, whats so interesting to me is that joe bidens answer when hes asked is always that hell defer to the expert. The experts on your chart have close to a 70 trustworthiness approval. I wonder when donald trump will take the hint down at 36 and say he, too, is going to listen to the experts. I mean, if donald trump wanted to listen, there is a path toward gaining more of the Publics Trust during this crisis. You know, its interesting. Weve been talking about this for a while now. Past president s, ill put trumps Approval Rating on here, when there have been sudden and major and dramatic crises, talking about like 9 11 with george w. Bush, the gulf war with george h. W. Bush, the Iran Embassy Siege and gymi iejimmy past president s in those situations have had dramatic jumps in their Approval Rating. Weve seen them get up to 60, 70, 80, 90 . And trump you see here peaking in the high 40s. Steve kornacki, its so interesting, as i said to former secretary of state, john kerry, this is not a political moment, but it is a political year, so people having to look at these things. Thank you for spending some time with us. Brian williams, i understand youre leaving us. And thank you for taking the fall for the awkward pause, which was squarely my fault, said nicole in the teleprompter, but i just missed it. Its fun to be doing this with you. I miss the tables that we sit around, but from my basement to yours, nice to see you, my friend. Thank you. I never pass up on awkward pause, as you know. But thank you, ill see you tomorrow. Well see you after the president s briefing this evening. Okay. When we come back, beaches in florida are reopening. They were hardly closed for long, but with more than 25,000 cases of coronavirus in florida, not every city in that state is going along with the whole reopening thing. Well be back. Well be back. I switched to miralax for my constipation. Stimulant laxatives forcefully stimulate the nerves in your colon. Miralax works with the water in your body to unblock your system naturally. And it doesnt cause bloating, cramping, gas, or sudden urgency. Miralax. Look for the pink cap. I dont have to worry about that, do i . Are irritated. Harmful bacteria lurk just below the gum line. Crest gum detoxify, voted product of the year. It works below the gum line to neutralize harmful plaque bacteria and help reverse early gum damage. Gum detoxify, from crest. [female vo] restaurants are facing a crisis. And theyre counting on your takeout and delivery orders to make it through. Grubhub. Together we can help save the restaurants we love. This virus is testing all of us. And its testing the people on the front lines of this fight most of all. So abbott is getting new tests into their hands, delivering the critical results they need. And until this fight is over, we. Will. Never. Quit. Because they never quit. A number of beaches in northern florida have officially reopened after getting the green light from republican governor ron desantis. As a result, floridians flocked to the beaches in jacksonville over the weekend. But as florida faces more than 25,000 cases in their state of coronavirus, not all officials agree that now is the right time to ease restrictions. Miami mayor frances suarez, who battled coronavirus himself, warned against reopening the state too early. We still are not seeing that complete dissensiodissension, ws theres a lot of good in terms of what is happening from the stayathome orders and the curfews that weve implemented here locally, its still were still not out of the woods. And im concerned that if we are not careful, that we could see another flareup. Joining us now with the latest is nbcs sam brock, who joins us live from miami. A very different scene behind you than in jacksonville. What is the disconnect . It doesnt seem like the beaches were closed for a long enough period of time, where anyone couch witnessed or documented what they describe as a flatting of t of the curve. Why the decision to reopen the beaches in any of the state . Reporter thats a great questi question. The governor is very optimistic about the number of cases not reaching the projections that were initially forecast. But theres clearly split sentiment in the state. You mentioned that hearing from mayor suarez. Over my shoulder right now, its 91 degrees right here in miami. The water is just as blue as it looks on the television screen. Miamidade county so far has resisted the urge to reopen its beaches, this at the same time as mayors and governors across florida right now, a couple of them just north of us, have taken up the governor on his offer. Two weeks, nicole, after a statewide shutdown. Florida beaches that have been empty for weeks are once again are crowded with surfers and sun worshippers, jumpstarting a nationwide conversation about the right time to reopen the economy. This could be the beginning of the pathway back to normal life. But please respect and follow these limitations. Reporter in duvall county, a beach reopen order requires social distancing and comes with limited hours. Still, it prompted a nearby beach commissioner to tweet, this move is so dumb that i had to make sure that it wasnt fake news. A banner flying over miami beach pleaded for its sandy shores to follow suit and come back, but the miamidade mayor has already said, not so fast. I want to stress that no orders will be lifted as yet. Reporter in texas, state parks are opening back up today, with the governor dangling the possibility of Retail Businesses on friday, but just with pickup options. A few farmers markets in seattle are back up and running as well, with strict new measures in place. Governors from the hardhit tristate areas announcing boat yards and marinas can operate for personal use with social distancing and sanitation rules. Parts of North Carolina and california are also reopening beaches with restrictions to mixed reviews. I think people are going to start abusing the privilege. The tugofwar between business and safety intensifying. Were wrecking our economy for something that i feel isnt as dangerous thats put out there. Reporter and here in florida, nicole, Governor Desantis held a teleconference this afternoon with other officials throughout the state. The one thing that he kept being asked, where is the testing. And it strikes us as fundamental that to open an economy, and also to open beaches, testing such a key part of the equation. Nicole . Thats such a good point. Sam brock, thank for your reporting. Its wonderful. And thanks for sharing it with us today. Were lucky. While hundreds of americans protest lockdowns in the Trump Administration says that some states are ready to gradually start lifting restrictions, New York Times interviewed nearly a dozen experts and they all agreed that there will be no quick return to our previous lives. The report reads like this, quote, if americans pour back out in force, all will appear quiet for perhaps three weeks, then the Emergency Rooms will get busy again. And this, quote, the scenario that mr. Trump has been unrolling at his Daily Press Briefings that the lockdowns will end soon, that a protective pill is almost at hand, that football stadiums and restaurants will soon be full is a fantasy. Most experts said. Joining you are conversation, dr. Peter hodes, with texas Childrens Hospital in houston. I noticed that you were one of the experts quoted in this really stunning front page piece of reporting in the New York Times yesterday. Elaborate on the points you made in the article itself, dr. Hotez, if you will. Well, thanks for having me. Sorry i understand theres a little delay. But what were seeing is that if you look at the steep decline in the number of cases thats happening across many states, the models, especially those coming out of seattle at the institute for Health Metrics are basically saying, well be in a position to go back into containment mode. That is preventing new cases, sometimes around the end of may, early june. And yet, we have these Enormous Economic pressures to open up much sooner. And then the question is going to be, how do you juggle those economic pressures versus doing what makes the most sense from a Public Health point of view and making certain that if we do open up earlier, that we have all of that very elaborate system in place of not just ramping up the testing, but also the personnel to do all the contact tracing, all of the backgrounds and drone mix surveillance, all of the Public Health measures that are going to need to be put into place now over the next few weeks, on whether we can do that in time. Dr. Hotez, the conversation taking place in medical and scientific circles revolve around three things that arent happening. So i wonder, you know, its about testing, its about contact tracing, and dr. Fauci has also talked about antibody testing. Florida opened its beaches without any of those three things. Texas is going to start opening some of its businesses for to go and Takeout Services without those three pieces being in place. Is there a scenario where you safely send people back into public spaces without each of those three pieces . Only if you have a pretty elaborate system already in place for doing all of the things that need to do need you to have, in order to monitor for new cases. And remember, up to a third, maybe even half of the cases are without symptoms. So the only way you can know that is if youre testing everybody. So lets take a very pragmatic situation a practical situation. Lets say youre going to open up a target or a walmart. How are all of the employees there going to know that their colleagues are not infected with the coronavirus. And how do we do that kind of testing for each of them on a regular basis . And if one of them are positive, to notify the right individuals, to have someone come around and do the contact tracing. To have this parallel system of systemic surveillance. Its doable, but quite complex. And to say were going to do this over the next three weeks, and without having really good guidance coming from the centers for disease control, because the documents coming down are pretty high level, theyre not yet very granular, all of that has to be put into place, even if you were going to open up around june 1, but now doing it early makes it all the more pressing. This is going to be a tough situation. And its going to cause a fair bit of unrest, i worry, especially in some of the states down in the southern part of the u. S. , where people are really itching to get back to work and how do we manage this . This is going to be a very unstable period in American History this month of may of 2020. I want to ask you about that unrest. Its happening in realtime, as we talk now, in pennsylvania and in arizona. Today, there were big protests against the shutdowns. I wonder what you think the role is of leaders, statewide leaders, and obviously the president in encouraging people to have patience and let these stayathome measures have the effect of getting us back to work safely, because you would have to be under a rock to notice that donald trump over the weekend was tweeting, in support of the protesters, for liberating the states under lockdown orders . Youre absolutely right. This is a time when we need leaders to step up and manage expectations. There needs to be a frank discussion with both at the level of the president , at the level of the governors and of course the mayors will be very important in this and say, look, this is what the models tell us. We understand the economic pressures. Be very frank with the American People, say, we are opening up early, but this is what were going to have them placed. Were not going to have it all right away. But this is our timeline we expect. In other words, what were not really hearing is to say, this is problem one, problem one, problem two, problem three. Heres how were going to manage it. And instead, were getting kind of fragmented or bits and pieces of information, or in some cases, its theres some kicking the can down the road, where the white house is asking the governors to take this on, the governors are asking the mayors. And now what youre starting to see happen, the mayors are saying theyre overwhelmed and theyre asking individual businesses to manage this. And it turns out that most of the people that run businesses dont have ph. Ds in epidemiology and Public Health. And so were going to have to come to terms with this very quickly. Dr. Peter hotez, thank you for spending some time with us. Were grateful. Coming up next, coronavirus and the new frontier for civil rights. We have talked a lot about the disproportionate impact the coronavirus has had on communities of color. Now, activists are trying to do something about it. Stay with us. Thg about it stay with us there will be parties again soon, and family gatherings. There will be parades and sporting events and concerts. To help our communities when they come back together, respond to the 2020 census now. Spend a few minutes online today to impact the next 10 years of healthcare, infrastructure and education. Go to 2020census. Gov and respond today to make americas tomorrow brighter. Its time to shape our future. Weve been talking a lot on this program and across the network about the disproportionate impact that coronavirus is having racially speaking. Communities of color continue to be hardest hit by the virus. The New York Times writes this, quote, the covid19 Racial Disparity in infections and deaths is viewed as the latest chapter of historical injustices and a flawed healthcare system. Im joined by al sharpton and president of the National Action network, rev, we were on together friday and Pharrell Williams raised this topic in a really broad and emotional way and we talked about offair about how powerful it is to have people putting voice to this, these are not statistics, these are undeniable, hard and ugly truths about how a Global Pandemic hits this country. It does not hit us all evenly. Talk about that and talk about what we do. I think the what were looking at is the coronavirus did not start the Racial Disparity in health care but it has put lights on it where everyone can see it. How do you explain that in some cities black are dying four and five to one to others and they are only 15 , 20 of the population. So were seeing everyone from entertainers, puffy combs had a state of the race kind of National Viral conference that everyone from myself to him to others participated in. Were seeing people on the ground, feeding people, were in six cities to date. Giving out prepackaged food to citizens. At the same time, National Urban league, national naacp, weve been consistently putting pressure on the congress and the senate, weve had at least four Conference Calls with senator schumer saying why arent black businesses and black women businesses getting their share of the stimulus money. Which is part of whats being put in this new 350 billion so even though we are inside we are working webcast, were working zoom, were working things to put pressure on elected officials. You have 20 seats in the senate up this year, they cant win with the black vote. We need to be vocal. What pharrell is saying and other entertainers, john legend, all the way to your civil rights groups, were pressuring people to say not only this is outrageous, let us use this opportunity to rebuild as we go to a new normal that we dont return to the old normal of Racial Disparity and healthselveses. We have had a lot of conversations about how joe biden became the Presumptive Democratic nominee, in large part due to the support he received from africanamerican men, women, voters young and old, started in South Carolina and it swept really from the east coast to the middle of the country to the west coast, whats the conversation happening if its not i dont hear it come up at the official government briefings, but is there a conversation happening between activists and healthcare experts and the democratic nominee . There has been some conversation, i talked with former Vice President over the weekend, theres been several conversations and i think that clearly what people are saying is that we want to make sure that this ticket and the platforms deal with racial disparities, not only in health care but criminal justice and other situations and now you must remember with the civil rights groups, joe biden worked with us for eight years under president obama. Hes not unfamiliar but we intend not to continue to be the ones that are treatedless fair, less equal, were not asking for charity, were asking for parity, were asking for whats fair for all americans. Health care is tantamount to everyone. Rev al sharpton, thank you for continuing to have this conversation with me. Thank you for having it with me. When we come back the nations governors versus the president and the protesters, what a thing to say out loud. Deadline white house starts after this. Dline white house s after this im susan and im 52 and i live in san francisco, california. I have been a sales and Sales Management professional my whole career. Typical day during a work week is im working but first always going for a run or going to the gym. I love reading. I love cooking healthy. Its super important to me. I was noticing that i was just having some memory loss. It was really bothering me. So i tried prevagen and it started to work for me. I wish i had taken prevagen five or ten years ago. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. There are times when our need to connect really matters. To keep customers and employees in the know. To keep business moving. Comcast business is prepared for times like these. Powered by the nations largest gigspeed network. To help give you the speed, reliability, and security you need. Tools to manage your business from any device, anywhere. And a team of experts here for you 24 7. Weve always believed in the power of working together. Thats why, when every connection counts. You can count on us. Hi, everyone. Its 4 00 in the east. The governors versus the president and the protesters, remarkable state of affairs for our country ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. More than 761,000 cases on record. More than 41,000 deaths and this headline today many in the New York Times. Trump head of government, leans into antigovernment message. A feud between the white house and governors over testing. Quote, not even the president s Reelection Campaign can harness him. His team is also reactive to his moods and whims trying but not always succeeding in steering him in a particular direction. Now, with mr. Trumps poll numbers falling after a rally around the leader bump, hes