Because we are an essential business. Helping you solve your changing communication and business challenges is our commitment. Were in this together. Confident financial plans, calming financial plans, complete financial plans. Theyre all possible with a cfp® professional. Find yours at letsmakeaplan. Org. No uh uh, no way come on, no no nnnnono only discover has no annual fee on any card. Welcome back, everyone. We apologize for that technical glitch. Were going to pick up right where we left off. Its in a new interview that President Trump admits that there will be more death tied to the coronavirus pandemic as he pushes to get the country back to business and end the lockdown. Were live at the white house with that and the new development over the Coronavirus Task force. President trump seeming to contradict mike pence tweeting the matask force will remain on indefinitely. Will it look different than what weve come to know . And weve obtained a new whistleblower complaint filed by an ousted hhs official who claims the agency was slow to react to the initial threat and politics and cronyism were involved. Lets bring in our reporters. Hans nichols is at the white house and Geoff Bennett also joins us from washington, d. C. , this morning. The grim acknowledgement from the president in that abc interview, not looking good as the numbers continue to rise. And we have a change from the president this morning. He just tweeted just moments ago that he wants his Coronavirus Task force to continue indefinitely. This marks i dont know if its a clarification, a reversal. Throughout the day yesterday, the president , the Vice President and numerous Administration Officials that we spoke to had said that the task force would be winding down and in some cases officials were telling us it had already started winding down. Heres what the president is saying this morning about it. Hes saying that the task force will continue on indefinitely with his focus on safety and opening up our country, again. We may add or subtract people to it as appropriate. The task force will be focused on vaccines and therapies. Thank you. Yesterday when the president was asked about this on why wind it down now, the president said you cant keep the country closed for five years and the Vice President gave a timetable for how and when you might wind this down, suggesting that a lot of the functions would go to the agencies and states. Vice president talked about memorial day, sometimes in june. And as i mentioned, officials have been telling us all day yesterday that it had already the task force has the started winding down. Whats clear this morning, its going to look different. Its going to be phasing into something new and as the president is tweeting, apparently going to continue in some form. Now, you did mention you did mention the president s stark language yesterday and he seems to be talking more about just the challenges and the number of death tolls that we could have from this virus. Ayman . Hans nichols at the white house for us. Lets go over to Geoff Bennett who is at freedom applause is a. I want to get to the other headline which is a whistleblower complaint filed by rick bright. Hes claiming the administration was slow to react and pushed contracts based on political connections. What more can you tell us about this complaint . Yeah, good to see you. Dr. Brights lawyers say this is a case of retaliation, plain and simple. And we should make clear that dr. Rick bright from 2016 until about two weeks ago, led the Government Agency that is charged with investing in and developing vaccines for Infectious Disease outbreaks. Dr. Bright alleges that he was forced out of his job and reassigned to a Different Agency in a lesser role because he pushed for a thorough vetting of that drug hydroxychloroquine which most people remember President Trump really promoted hydroxychloroquine for a couple of weeks, at least, as a potential coronavirus miracle drug, despite scientific evidence. But the whistleblower complaint doesnt stop there, ayman. What he does in this dense and detailed 89page complaint is paint a picture of inaction and indifference on the part of key trump Administration Officials at the start of this epidemic. Dr. Bright says in late 2019, early january of this year, he sounded the alarm about the threat posed by the coronavirus outbreak at the time when it was centered in china. He also made clear that there is a lack of surgical n95 masks. He said that there was a limited supply of remdesivir, the antiviral medication, and he also said that there is a limited supply of syringes and needles. When the vaccine comes on line, there wont be enough is ribbon syringes and needles. The indifference turned to hostility and over time he was forced out. Dr. Rick bright yesterday spoke to a group of us reporters on a Conference Call so you can listen to him here in his own words. Time after time, i was pressured to ignore or dismisses recommendations and instead to award lucrative contracts based on political connections. In other words, i was pressured to let politics and cronyism drive decisions over the opinions of the best scientists we have in government. Reporter dr. Bright says, as a remedy to all of this, all he wants is his job back. He wants to be reinstated and he wants a full investigation. Heres a quick statement from the department of health and Human Services. Dr. Bright was transferred to nih to work on diagnostics testing critical to combatting covid19 where he has been entrusted to spend up towards of a billion dollars to advance that effort. Were deeply disappointed that hes not shown up to work on behalf of the American People and led on this critical endeavor. We should say that a Spokesman Says that dr. Bright has hypertension that has been exacerbated by this Current Situation and thats why hes on leave. Ayman . Geoff bennett live for us in d. C. Speaking of dr. Brights legal team, im joins by lisa banks, wi one of the attorneys for dr. Rick bright. I wanted to start with that complaint because it alleges that hhs officials were unlike secretary azar, dr. Bright and other Health Officials were fully aware of the emerging threat of covid19 by early january of 2020. What specifically were they aware of and what was dr. Brights response to that at the time . Well, by late 2019, late december 2019, early january, they certainly were aware of what was happening in china. They were tracking it. They understood that this was potentially a deadly virus, very contagious and that it wasnt going to be easily contained. Certainly not in china as it quickly spread to southeast asia. But that it was certain to come to the United States as well, despite what the administration was saying and what hhs leadership seemed to think. Do you know if whether or not that information was privy to dr. Bright based on internal government information or was he relying on what was in the Public Knowledge . Theres some confusion as to when this administration learned about it. Youre aware theyre trying to blame china for concealing that. Im curious to know what information did he rely on . Well, he and other public Health Officials within the government had Critical Knowledge of what was happening. He is a scientist, a Public Health expert. Hes been preparing for a pandemic his entire career. He was very aware of what was happening around the world and what the likely effects were. He and other scientists within the government and public Health Officials, this was not a secret and it wasnt hard to determine that this was poised to be a tremendous problem and risk to the United States. Can you shed light adds to why he didnt file the complaint early on when he started recognizing there may be signs of trouble with cronyism and malpractice . His desire was to continue basing these decisions on scientific merit and to try to push forward contracts and efforts that would serve the Public Health. There wasnt a need at that point to file any sort of whistleblower complaint. He was trying to work internally and press upon leadership the urgency of what they were working on and that decisions should be made for the right reasons. And it should be made for reasons related to science and not political expediency or cronyism. You may have heard the report that health and Human Services says dr. Bright was transferred to the nih but hasnt shown up to work yet. Can you speak to that for us . Sure. First of all ill say he was told he was being transferred to nih but was given no further details about that. At one point, they told him, he was going to lead the shark tank effort to find a vaccine. But after he asserted that his removal was retaliatory, they took that back and said that that was not the case. He doesnt have any clear direction about where hes going to be at nih and right now as he deals with this, hes also dealing with some Health Issues which he hopes to be able to treat and once everything settles down a little bit, i think he will be fine. If theres a job for him to go to, he certainly will. His number one concern, as it has been his entire career, is to address the Public Health and now to help this country fight back against the virus. Your complaint alleges that dr. Bright felt pressure to invest in drugs and vaccines that lacked scientific merit or vetting. A senior Trump Administration official tells us it was dr. Bright who asked an emergency use authorization from the fda for donations of hydroxychloroquine. If he thought this was a bad idea, why did he make that request . Is it true he made that request and why did he make it . He worked with other officials to put together an emergency use authorization or an eua because the administration and leadership was planning to create this broad access to hydroxychloroquine that would essentially give americans access to the drugs on demand. What he was able to negotiate as somewhat of a compromise position is that the drug would only be given in hospitals, to patients who have been diagnosed with covid19 under the care of a physician. That was what he negotiated as a position, a compromised position to protect people from the effects of the drug. Once the eua was in place, leadership and the administration ignored it, violated it, and continued to press forward and decided, for example, as we saw in that email, that they were going to flood new york and new jersey with the drug. So the eua was a compromised position. Let me ask you finally, is this whistleblower complaint just the first step to you . Do you plan to file a lawsuit . Give us a quick status check on where things stand right now . Are you in touch with members of congress to bring this issue forward . Yes. So we filed the complaint and it will make its way through that process. The ultimate goal there is to get him his job back. We also hope in some respects to influence the court of Public Opinion so we can put pressure on the administration to follow the right path here and put science over politics. And yes, we have been in touch with members of congress and dr. Bright will be testifying we believe about a week from today, next week, and well offer whatever information they need so that they can make the best decisions possible. All right. Attorney for dr. Rick bright, thank you so much for joining us this morning. Thank you for having me. Supreme Court JusticeRuth Bader Ginsburg is participating in oral arguments despite waking up in the hospital. She underwent a nonsurgical treatment. The 87yearold justice is expected to spend a day or two at the Johns Hopkins hospital in maryland. This is happening the same week the court is hearing cases over a phone conference for the First Time Ever because of the coronavirus pandemic. Todays case is over President Trumps attempt to weaken obama care contraceptive mandate. Whether Health Insurance plans cover birth control. Russia is the country with the secondFastest Growing outbreak in the world. Well have a look at how the kremlin is attacking this process. Senator mike braun on what needs to happen to address this National Tragedy within a tragedy. Lessons learned from one family struggling to find answers about what happened to their loved one. Stay with us. He didnt deserve to die that way. announcer in this world where people are staying at home, many of lifes moments are being put on hold. At carvana, we understand that, for some, getting a car just cant wait. To help, were giving our customers up to 90 days to make their first payment. Shop online from the comfort of your couch, and get your car with touchless delivery to keep you safe. And for even Greater Peace of mind, all carvana cars come with a sevenday return policy. So, if you need to keep moving, were here for you. At carvana the safer way to buy a car. They have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps. Com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the Amazing Services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps. Com try and never go to the post office again turning now to the second Fastest Growing outbreak in the world behind the United States. Russia reporting more than 10,000 new cases for the third day in a row. But this morning russian president Vladimir Putin says he supports an easing lockdown measures in moscow. Lets go to keir simmons. Good to have you with us, my friend. Why is russia seeing this dramatic spike in new cases all of a sudden and talk to us a little bit about the russian governments efforts to contain it. Reporter its a great question, ayman, because of course russia is slightly behind the curve, if you like. As you mentioned, that curve is escalating so fast. Were seeing 10,000 cases new cases each day. They have about 1,500 deaths but as we know from this virus now all too well, that can ramp up very fast. Moscow has been in lockdown for some time. The government considering mandating that everybody wears face masks like these. Its having the kind of political effect that weve talked about again and again around the world. Youre seeing Approval Ratings for president putin falling. President putin had hoped to extend his term as president. There are now question marks over that. And a more salacious and frankly frightening aspect of this, reports of three doctors who have fallen from high windows in some cases losing their lives. Those doctors in one case, the doctor appeared then later to retract criticism that he had made of a lack of personal protective equipment. So theres the kind of controversy mixed in with the Health Crisis and no real sign for russia of how theyre going to escape this, again, question marks over the political implications of it all. Let me ask you quickly, whether or not theres any doubt about the numbers coming out of russia. We tend to be suspect a little bit of the numbers coming off china given what happened in that country. Does the same apply to russia or do you think you know the country better than i do. Have they been candid and forthcoming with their cases . Its a great question. I think the numbers all around the world are difficult to rely on because the kinds of test that is Different Countries are using change the numbers. Here in the uk, for example, they have been including in the numbers people suspected of having covid19, not just tested positive. So its really difficult to make comparisons. Certainly russia did have the kinds of tests that look for antibodies. Now there are question marks over these tests just as there are all around the world. What we know now is those tests find antibodies later but may not detect you have coronavirus at the point at which you have it. Keir simmons live for us in london with our check on the fight against the covid19 pandemic. Thank you. Stay safe. And states that have lifted lockdowns facing new unexpected challenges including texas where a new report says that a staggering 70 of inmates have tested positive for covid19. President trump outlines a wish list for policies of policies rather for congress to consider in a fourth round of Coronavirus Relief including a payroll tax cut. Dina titus joins me next to talk about that. Lk about that robinhood believes now is the time to do money. Without the commission fees. So, you can start investing today wherever you are even hanging with your dog. So, what are you waiting for . Download now and get your first stock on us. Robinhood. New tide power pods one up the cleaning power of liquid. Can it one up whatever theyre doing . For sure. Seriously . One up the power of liquid, one up the toughest stains. Any further questions . Uh uh one up the power of liquid with new tide power pods. Heres the thing about managing for your business. S when youve got public clouds, and private clouds, and hybrid clouds things can get a bit cloudy for you. But now, theres the Dell Technologies cloud, powered by vmware. A single hub for a consistent operating experience across all your clouds. That should clear things up. Now to a growing concern about states that have started to lift lockdowns seeing increases in new coronavirus cases while those maintaining restrictions are reporting a decrease in new cases. Very simple. This as two States Reopen report alarming new developments. In texas, more than 70 of prisoners tested were confirmed to have the virus. And over in florida, the single day death toll hit its highest point yet as that state continues to move forward with its reopening. Nbcs Morgan Chesky is outside the texas state penitentiary in texas. Sam brock is in miami beach for us. Morgan, these numbers of prisoners testing positive, theyre hard to get a hold of. Prisoners are excluded from state case counts. Why is that . Reporter thats a great point. It deals with the fact that youre dealing with a game of telephone. The Texas Department of criminal justice, they report their numbers daily to the Texas State Health department at which point that Health Department passes those positive numbers down to the counties. Its then that the countys discretion on whether or not they want to include inmate numbers in their covid19 case counts that are released. So thats it leaves it to local leaders on whether or not they want to include that and release that information. Thats one of the issues that makes it murky and each state has different rules when it comes to who can include those numbers and who cant. In the meantime, a third of all texas inmates are under lockdown because of the persistence of this virus behind prison walls and we know that that includes upwards of about 35 to 40,000 inmates that go on lockdown at two weeks at a time. If a new case pops up in a unit, that lockdown is extended and were already seeing kind of the concern arise from a lot of the families of the inmates inside because theyre unable to reach them and thats why here hat the Texas Department of criminal justice, theyre going out of their ways to make sure that families are kept in touch by opening up phone banks and having inmates write down messages that they can pass onto family members because this is such an unprecedented situation thats happening and will continue to happen for some time. Ayman . Morgan, quickly, are there any measures being taken to protect the workers at the facility that have to go day in and day out and go back to their communities and homes and their families . Reporter im told when they walk in, theyre given temperature checks. They have ppe on hand if they have to deal with a known symptomatic inmate. Those temperature checks come daily. The spokesman here says they have a controlled environment that theyre dealing with and that keeping their staff healthy is paramount. Lets go over to sam brock in miami beach florida. Youre following developments in that state. Do you think theres any consideration by state officials to reconsider the reopenings of that state . Reporter good morning. A little bit of context on that. It was 72 deaths yesterday, according to the Florida Department of health which would not be the biggest toll. The reason it was the single largest toll for the day, when you add it in, another 40 or so out of state residents who were lumped into that number yesterday, then you got the biggest toll. Thats a little bit of context. In miami beach, three days ago, this park was open. Now youre looking at police tape and officers who are out here to make sure people dont come back and forth. And the reason why is what happened this past weekend. There were thousands of people out here who decided to come out once miami beach had given the green light for some parks to reopen. And unfortunately, it did not work out very well in the sense that 7,000plus people were warned about not wearing facial coverings. About 500 got citations for not social distancing. The experiment, if you want to call it that, didnt necessarily work out very well and the reason thats concerning, this is not just about parks but the bigger broader conversation of beaches and when those get reopened. Ayman, a vital part of the economy here in south florida. Back to you. Sam brock, Morgan Chesky, thanks for kicking it off for us. Over on capitol hill theres little to no consensus about what should be in the next Coronavirus Relief package. Even key republicans are at odds with the white house, breaking with the president s latest red line. A payroll tax cut for workers. Ive had mixed feelings about it. Im not persuaded thats the best way to move forward. If theres any red line, its on litigation. Joining me now is democratic congresswoman dina titus from nevada. Thank you so much for joining us. I want to start off by getting your thoughts on the republicans who oppose a payroll tax cut. Its not just them, but House Speaker nancy pelosi called it a nonstarter. Where do you realistically see negotiations go from here if that is the president s socalled red line . Well, weve been emphasizing helping the workers all along and thats not going to change. We believe that a payroll tax doesnt help anybody who doesnt help the job. I dont see that being in the package. As far as the red line about liability, we dont want the workers not to be able to go back to work because theyre afraid that theyll get sick and they have no recourse. You shouldnt have to choose between your health and your job. Let me ask you about adp. Lawmakers obviously, theyre still at odds over the next bill. Adp released new numbers showing that more than 20 million private payroll jobs were lost in the month of april. That is the worst report in adps history. Do you think washington, d. C. , understands just how urgent the need is for more Financial Relief around the country . I believe so. Ive certainly seen it here in nevada. Over 400,000 people have applied for unemployment. They dealt with more cases in two weeks than they had in two years combined. So, once again, we have to put people back to work but weve got to be smart about it. You cant open up too fast or have unsafe working conditions and expect to get over this virus. You can bring the economy back. But you cant bring back somebodys grandparents. Let me ask you about the federal funding for states. President trump says it is not fair to the republicans because all the states that need help, theyre run by democrats in every case. Aside from factchecking that right now which is incorrect, whats your reaction to that statement by the president . Nothing this president says surprises me and this is just his typical way of politicizing something that is a national issue. Hes supposed to be the leader of the whole country, not trading off aid for partisan support. I think that having support for states and local governments will be one of the most important parts of this package even though mcconnell said let them go bankrupt. You cant do that. State and local governments provide most of the onground services, education, head start, food some of the food programs. We cant let them go under. A recent cnbc study found that one in four americans have lost their job or had their pay cut because of the coronavirus. Do you think congress should take a pay cut as well . We certainly could. People would be willing to do that, i believe, because people are concerned about whats happening to their constituents. I get about a hundred calls a day, were helping them with unemployment, helping Small Businesses get the loans, helping get the ppe for people on the front lines. So that could be part of the next package, along with osha protections for people who are first responders, along with helping the post office, theyre on the front lines helping to do mailin voting. There are a number of things that can be in that next package and were willing to negotiate. But there are some things that are critical for the whole country, not just democratic states. Before i let you go, i want to get your thoughts on the 2020 race. You have endorsed joe biden for president who has been accused of sexual assault. Are you satisfied so far with his denial and do you agree with Speaker Pelosi that this is a closed issue . Well, im a strong supporter of the me too movement, have been from the beginning and i believe women should be believed and i believe they should be heard. And their stories should be vetted. They shouldnt be afraid to come forward. But joe biden went on tv, he answered the question unequivocally. He didnt say in my memory, or i dont recall. He said, i didnt do it. Its been vetted. He called on the secretary of the senate to release any information. I think its put to rest. All right, congresswoman, thank you so much for joining us this morning. I appreciate your time. Thank you. And as we have been reporting, the ousted head of the agency involved in developing a vaccine for the coronavirus set to testify before Congress Next week after filing a whistleblower complaint. Were going to get reaction from republican senator mike braun next. But first, craig melvin joins us live from new york with a preview of whats coming up in his hour, next. Craig . Reporter good to see you, ayman. Were here at lennox hill hospital because its National Nurses day. Were here honoring the men and women on the front lines. Of course lennox hospital at one point saw about 1,100 covid19, things are better here now. Coming up, well talk about why that is, how much Better Things are and also celebrate our nurses. Governor andrew cuomo set to give the update next hour. Well have that coming up at the top of the hour right here on msnbc. Msnbc. Unpredictable crohns symptoms following you . For adults with moderately to severely active crohns disease, stelara® works differently. Studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. Stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. Some serious infections require hospitalization. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or flulike symptoms or sores, have had cancer, or develop new skin growths, or if anyone in your house needs or recently had a vaccine. Alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems. These may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. Some serious allergic reactions and lung inflammation can occur. Talk to your doctor today, and learn how janssen can help you explore cost support options. Remission can start with stelara®. This morning we are getting a clearer picture of the tragic toll of coronavirus on those in Nursing Homes. New york revising its number of deaths inside nursing home and is longterm facilities up by another 1,700. All people believed to have been killed by the virus before their diagnosis could be confirmed. That brings the total to nearly 5,000 deaths at Nursing Homes in new york state. One family who lost a loved one demanding answers and talking to ron allen about that. Happy birthday to you celebrating a recent birthday in this video. His grieving family struggling with Unanswered Questions about his death sunday, april 19th. We were trying to inquire about his health and they were giving us the runaround. Reporter they only learned of his fathers death when they called the nursing home worried just days after state records showed the center had the most reported presumed deaths due to covid19 of any nursing home in new york state. He had not been able to see his father for a month because of the ban on visits. How do you feel that you werent able to be there with him at the end . Horrible. Horrible. I dont want to feel that ever. Its a tough thing. Reporter he says a dr. First told him six days before his fathers death that he had an upper respiratory infection, was on an iv and the nursing home did not have tests for covid19. Over the next few days, gutierrez says his family could not get any more information. We were inquiring about it. If he was ill, i wanted to take him to the hospital. I didnt to leave him there. Especially after they told you they dont test over there. Reporter the Health Center would not comment and declined a request for an interview citing privacy concerns but sent us emails. Nursi they said they were in dire neat of ppe, especially gowns and face masks. Over 50 patients were there and we dont have the ability to cohort based on staffing. A day after gutierrezs death and with cobble hill in the headline, the ceo expressed his frustration to a crowd of neighbors. Right here, were doing it alone. Were doing it alone. These people are deserving of everything that there is in the world. These people right here. Reporter in a statement, new york Health Officials say we were responsive to cobble hill offering help with staffing and ppe. The nursing home posted letters to families on its website saying the facility tried to put in place a robust system, contacting each family twice a week with updates while admits, despite our best intentions to communicate, we recognize that mistakes were likely made along the way. All of that little comfort to the gutierrez family. Like many who have lost loved ones in Nursing Homes struggling. He didnt deserve to die that way. Its they could have done better over there. Ron allen is at cobble hill Health Center for us in brooklyn, new york. A hard story to watch but an important one as we continue to track the outbreaks in Nursing Homes around the country. Where does that go from here . Reporter its a very complicated situation, ayman. The gutierrez family believes that they didnt get the information they needed during what turned out to be the last week of their fathers death. The nursing home says they did everything they could. The state as well says they tried to help as well. Very multifaceted situation under very overwhelming circumstances. Now there are investigations at the state, federal level. There are calls for more inspections. The bottom line is in new york state, 25 of all the deaths caused by covid19 are in some way connect today a longterm care facility and the numbers are still going on up. Thank you. Joining me now is republican senator mike braun of indiana who sits on the Health Agriculture committees as well as the special committee of aging. Thank you for joining us. Your heard there the reporting about the worsening crisis at Nursing Homes. Its happening throughout the country. Certainly in new york but across the country. Should the federal government step in and play a bigger role in response to this . Whether its the federal government or not, all along ive said the approach should have been more targeted and selective at places most vulnerable. And you hear a story like that, and its tragic. And weve had enough time whether you marshal those efforts through the federal government or the nursing home entities themselves, or the state governments that we should have done a much better job at protecting those most vulnerable and of course nursing home residents would be part of that. Elderly with comorbidities. From the getgo, before i left here, i was talking about that issue as well as the other thing were dealing with is how do you do that along with restarting the economy . Let me can i jump in. I understand the point youre saying about what we could have done and well get to that point at some point in the future. Were still in this pandemic. These people are still dying today. Yeah. What do you think should be done today for these Nursing Homes . Should the federal government or state officials do more today to prevent more deaths . Definitely. Whether you do it through the federal government, you do it through the nursing home association, this has been out there. It occurred with the first evidence we had out in the state of washington. So why you might make the case that that should have been marshalled from a Federal Point of view. I would say that it could have just as easily have been done from the people in the trenches that would see this coming more clearly without the clumsiness of trying to do it through the federal government. However you look at it, its tragic that Nursing Homes have not had an iron dome built around them as well as the Health Care Providers that have been in the trenches trying to fight it. Well get through all of that the next time. But its sad that weve had to contend with it and weve had plenty of warning. Let me turn for a moment to your work in the senate and ask about your colleague, Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell insisting on Liability Protections for businesses in the next aid package. He said that was his red line. How does not equal putting economic interests before health and safety of americans . So ill i can tell you is when i was back in indiana, the business community, small, medium and large, is ready and willing to abide by the guidelines of having a healthy restart. Theyre also worried significantly about how in doing that they might have frivolous lawsuits crop up. And on the other hand we know that state governments have carried the brunt of a lot of this. Theyve lost revenues. It gets into a more difficult argument on anything going from here forward because you got to bring in the contacts. Weve spent three trillion already. As we try to iron out, get something together thats going to satisfy both points of view, i dont know that thats going to happen. It is a real concern. Businesses are taking this seriously. They dont want seriously. They dont want to be hit with frivolous lawsuits. On the other hand, state governments have been hurt. Whether well come together on that, i have no idea. Its a lot more complicated than what weve done from the beginning of this up to what we did through 3. 5. With all that tied up in negotiations and as you outlined, senators will be holding a hearing on a judicial nominati nomination. Take a listen to what democratic whip dick durbin said about that. Senator mcconnell is drawing us in. You think, well, he must be discussing the National Health emergency. Not at allment its all about senator mcconnell calling us in here for a hearing this morning on his favorite federal judge in kentucky whom he wants to promote to the next highest level. Were in the middle of a national and global pandemic. Do you think thats the appropriate time for Mitch Mcconnell to try to confirm a judicial nomination . All i can tell you is, before we left in march, all of us were mostly following the protocol of what was in place. We were off five weeks. We have no way to actually consider any errors and omissions or anything we might want to do on covid19. This no different from what ive been contending with since ive been here a little over a year. I weighed in heavily on reforming the Health Care Industry, climate. Most of that was on the back burner, and we had to do something. I think leader mcconnell is right when its so hard to get anything down the legislative pike because so often were the hadfields and mccoys. Ironically on Health Care Reform 80 senators came forward trying to fix the system. Now the Health Care Industry is reeling from the coronavirus. I think being back here is smart. Were going to be safe. Hope the house gets back soon. We owe this to the american public, and i think we can do it safely. I really do. Were also covering the whistleblower complaint that im sure youre familiar with now from ousted hhs official dr. Rick bright. He claims top Administration Officials were aware of the threat back in early january. As you probably saw or heard, i spoke to one of his lawyers, lisa banks just a few minutes ago on this program. Watch what she said. They understood that this was potentially a deadly virus, very contagious and that it wasnt going to be easily contained, certainly not in china as it quickly spread to southeast asia, but that it was certain to come to the United States as well desfipite what the administration was saying and what hhs leadership seemed to think. What do you make of this . Should there be an investigation into the early response by the administlot of what i went thro during the entire impeachment saga and now because youre talking about in retrospect to do some of that. I think that begs the question, well, did anything happen correctly from anybody that doesnt like the administration . I, for one, think the two travel bans that were put in place, probably the biggest things that were done to keep this from even being worse. Whenever it comes to a whistleblower, im going to be out of principle for that individual to have full latitude. Whether youre then going to take that into investigations, im sure that committee will do what it wants to do anyway. I think it distracts from what all of us came back here for in the senate and when the house gets back here, is to look forward, see what errors and omissions we need to correct with what we did at first. See how we do a smart restart to open up the economy. Im not going to be the one pushing for that. If it happens, it seems to have its own momentum anyway senator mike braun, weve run out of time. Thank you for joining us this hour. Appreciate your time. Youre welcome. Before we go this morning, theres tremendous optimism about a new vaccine trial happening in new york. Nbc news got exclusive access into the trial which researchers say could lead to a vaccine in just months. Here is how it works. Rather than building a vaccine from the virus itself, researchers from pfizer and a german partner are in stead trying to alter the virus genetic code. Joining us is dr. Ving gupta. Great to have you back on the show. How optimistic are you about this trial, and do you think a vaccine could be ready by the end of the summer . Ayman, yeah. I think a vaccine potentially could be ready by fall. But here is the kicker. This new technology, its developing essentially what its saying is lets input genetic material into the human body, have cells in the human body produce antibodies to what we think is the major protein on the surface of covid19 thats allowing entry into lung cells. So perhaps we can do it that way instead of putting weakened virus into the body like we do with flu or other type of vaccines. The kicker is, is it safe . Thats what phase one and phase two studies are trying to determine. Number two, are the people that get it, are they going to get infected intentionally with covid19 so we can speed up the process and say, okay, these individuals actually got infected, we know that because we do it, and, by the way, we were able to prevent infection or any consequences because they got this vaccine. Or are we going to natural see whether or not they get the infection . Those are big questions. They take time, quality and safety. Theres a reason why this usually takes five to ten years. These questions are going to have to be hammered through if were going to have clarity. Let me ask you, dr. Gupta, i apologize for running out of time. Your organization, the university of Washington Medical Center put out a new model this week projecting more than 134,000 people in the u. S. Could die by august, almost doubling the last estimate. Why did the projection change so drastically . Ayman, ill try to give you an answer in 30 seconds. This is an hour conversation. Long story short, we arent doing what we need to be doing as a country in terms of a homogenous approach to social distancing or basic things like masks. You have senator rand paul going to the capitol not wearing a mask, the only senator whos not been infected. If were going to be weakening social distancing measures by may 11th, thats whats building into the model. Theres no expectation well hold the line on these policies. Thats why estimated deaths are likely to double by the beginning of august. Theres a wide uncertainty range. Dr. Gupta, you took more than 30 seconds but you definitely explained it. We certainly appreciate your time and thanks for joining us this hour. Im ayman mohyeldin. After a quick break more news with my colleague craig melvin who is live from Lenox Hill Hospital in new york city. But we can grill together. Oscar mayer invites you to take your backyard cookouts to the front. Join us for the oscar mayer front yard cookout. Enjoy sharing a meal together but safely apart, while we share a million meals with feeding america. And everytime you use the frontyardcookout, oscar mayer will donate an additional meal up to a million more, through the month of may. Lets head out front and give back. Thousands of women with metastatic Breast Cancer, which is Breast Cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, are living in the moment and taking ibrance. Ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr her2 metastatic Breast Cancer, as the first hormonal based therapy. Ibrance plus letrozole significantly delayed disease progression versus letrozole, and shrank tumors in over half of patients. Patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. Ibrance may cause severe inflammation of the lungs that can lead to death. Tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including trouble breathing, shortness of breath, cough, or chest pain. Before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. Common side effects include low red blood cell and low platelet counts, infections, tiredness, nausea, sore mouth, abnormalities in liver blood tests, diarrhea, hair thinning or loss, vomiting, rash, and loss of appetite. Be in your moment. Ask your doctor about ibrance. Be in your moment. 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. A good wednesday morning to you. Craig melvin here at Lenox Hill Hospital in new york city on the upper east side. Were here to do that, were here to say thank you