Happening. Reporter the situation, ayman, good morning, is escalating rapidly. If you look at a graph of cases in florida, it has been stable all the way through early june. Then it shoots up like a rocket ship. Y you mentioned seven day averages, cases are up 219 in the last four days. That is a lot and it has prompted local officials here to take renewed measures to try to curb the spread of the virus. That includes shutting down the gem of the economy here, the state beaches. I should say Miamidade Countys beaches, a mile from where im standing. The july fourth holiday, not just here but all over south florida as well, you have palm beach county, broward county, monroe county, all closing down their beaches. I was out there this past saturday, pretty packed. Going to be empty this upcoming weekend, and that is a significant problem for the businesses down here. Im standing on lincoln road at the moment, huge shopping district in miami beach. If you look around me right now, it is almost empty. This is a huge concern for those that are tethering their businesses to beach traffic and we know at the same time, ayman, one of the biggest issues now is community transmission. If youre a business owner, Public Health official down here and looking at the numbers in florida, and seeing that 17 of the people tested yesterday, almost, testing positive for covid19, thats a red flag. Staggering number, sam. Let me get your thoughts quickly, though, i know some areas of florida now rolling out mask requirements. The governor of that is one of those people early on who did not support or did not come out in any way, shape or form and require it, how are people responding to that . Reporter thats a completely accurate characterization. Governor desantis said he wants to leave it up to the local officials to make that decision for themselves. He doesnt want to threaten penalties in his words. In miami beach, it has been fine. Ive been seeing a lot of people, most people i would say anecdotally wearing their masks. If you go north of here to palm beach county, probably seeing some of this contentious video interest a recent commissioners meeting, they required masks as well, the residents are suing the government claiming they are infringing upon their constitutional rights. For most part, most communities here are mandating masks and people are taking it in stride. Ayman . Lets cross over to jo ling kent. Jo, youre tracking an Alarming Development there in californias Riverside County. 99 of icu beds reportedly filled. That has got to be an alarm bell for officials there. How are healthcare workers responding this morning . Reporter hey, ayman, good morning. Just a few minutes ago, i spoke with the chief nursing officer here at Riverside Community hospital. Her name is annette greenwood. And she says they are near the same level, the highs that they saw in terms of covid from back in may right now. Theyre seeing this upticktin. Right now in the icu, we know that 58 beds have been occupied of the 69 available. Theyre now bracing and preparing to make more icu bed capacity available if that is needed here. The chief nursing officer is bringing in extra nurses from outside the area to help relieve the fatigue as she describes it. What has happened in this area and throughout the state of california. In fact, shes asking people and telling us she wants people to take this seriously, mask up, dont think of it as a political statement, this is what we need to mitigate this crisis that continues to tick up here in Riverside County and throughout the state of california. There is also a concern, the chief nursing officer tells me, about ppe and having enough of that to get through another major surge in cases here. But across the state of california, 6,000 people have died now, 227,000 cases. And we expect to hear from Governor Newsom later today about new enforcement plans when it comes to keeping people at home, shutting down businesses, like here in Riverside County, which they did shut down the bars and nightclubs as they have in several other counties across the state. Ayman . Jo ling kent, thank you for that. David gura in houston for us. Cases there also reaching new records in texas, where we have seen some testing sites essentially being overwhelmed. People waiting for hours in their cars. Youre at a testing site there in houston. Give us a quick situational report on the ground. Reporter yeah, im in harris county, so houston is a part of that. This a countyrun testing facility outside a football stadium northwest of the city of houston. And youre right, they opened this up early because it gets hot here. They want people to get through before it gets really hot in the middle of the day. As of 7 00 a. M. , cars were lining up. This site can accommodate 750 tests a day. There is another site like this across the county. It can do about 750. All told, this county has the capacity to test just about 2,000 people every day. A large number, i guess, at face, when you look at the population of the county, 4. 7 Million People, it is really quite small. And people here are beginning to wrestle with the seriousness of what is happening here, the governor of the state of texas, greg abbott, an interview with our station in dallasft. Worth yesterday. He said were not talking about pockets of covid19 across the state of texas, were talking about community spread. The likes of which sam was talking about at the top. He basically said anybody with whom youre speaking could have covid19, you got to be thinking like that as you interact with people. A note on masks. The county judge continues this disaster declaration yesterday that will require people in the county to keep Wearing Masks until the end of august. There say bit of a standoff between her, the leaders of other counties, municipalities, and the governor of this state. They would like the state to do more, they would like the state wide mask mandate, so far the governor has declined to do that. And what were seeing shape out here is this push and pull between the state governments and the local governments. There are a lot of local governments who aside from the mask issue just want to have more autonomy, more ability to say to citizens in certain areas, look, things are bad where we live, we need to do more than other cities do, other counties do, for that to happen, the governor has to approve that. Thats a real tension i think well see in fine focus in the weeks to come. Really quickly, the president touted consistently that everyone who wants to test can get a test. Are you seeing that on the ground there in harris couldnnt . Reporter not the case. Im sorry to say that. It is not the case. To get tested here, you have so fill out a questionnaire online, you have to have symptoms yourself or be around somebody who exhibited symptoms as well. There is increased capacity across the state of texas. Thats a good thing. But demand has really shot up as people look at these numbers, as they hear the stories about how the cases are going up and up and up, they want to be tested and just simply isnt the capacity to do that universally yet. David gura out in houston for us. Sam brock, stick around for us. Well get to you later on in this hour. Jo ling kent, thank you as well. Joining me is the mayor of el paso, texas, dean margo. Good to have you with us this hour. Your city, i understand, is out with data showing the number of active cases there clearly on the rise this morning. What is your message to locals in your city about the situation right now . We have been saying from day one that you got to wear face coverings, social distance and wash your hands frequently. Thats the only thing medical experts agree that will stop the spread of this pandemic. We had some increases, but were still doing fine. We had increased testing, significant increased testing each day. Do you think there was anything in your capacity or certainly within the citys capacity to prevent you from seeing the spike that youre seeing right now . Was there any missed opportunities by your residents or others to take serious the warnings that were coming out to hand wash, wear masks, as you said, and some of the other issues you said . Well, the last data i had was 46 of our positives were 20 to 30yearolds, they think theyre invincible, congregating at the bars, in violation of what our orders are that you sit at the table to be served alcohol. Thats one of the reasons i think the governor shut down the bars effective last friday. I would like to see our economy open up as fast as it can safely. Problem is, people are not going to abide by that. And were going to have problems and it is going to continue to spread. But the data i looked at the other day also showed that were starting to have a little creep up into the age factor, above 30, more positives. We are testing, there is no limit to our testing, people we now opened up some walk up testing sites, you dont have to make you dont have to have an appointment, and you dont have to be symptomatic. So were doing fine on testing side, and we tested all our nursing homes, now were testing all the assisted living homes, excuse me, for residents and staff. I know you have spoken about challenges with transparency from those testing positive. As you try to slow the spread, what kinds of challenges are you having and are there any lessons or implications for Contact Tracing programs in other areas . Well, thats been frustrating to some of the Contact Tracing. Were the largest u. S. City on the Mexican Border across juarez, mexico, one of the largest cities. While nonessential noncitizens cant go back and forth, our u. S. Citizens with family over there can go back and forth. One of my concerns is we dont know for sure how many are going back and forth on a daily basis or on weekends to visit family or otherwise and contracting it and then not reporting it when we have the Contact Tracing. Thats a concern. People may feel like theyre they cant theyll get other people in trouble or something. Were trying to get a better handle on our Contact Tracing so we can address where there are specific hot spots that we might need to have different plans for. Mr. Mayor, as you know, some in your state have been criticized for not necessarily calling for wearing a mask order of sorts. Im curious to get your thoughts about the Lieutenant Governor saying that the top u. S. Infectious disease official, dr. Anthony fauci, doesnt know what hes talking about had had it comes to these developments in texas and that he wont be listening to him anymore. Do you know first of all agree with the Lieutenant Governor. Will you be listening to dr. Anthony fauci and what is your reaction when you have a state official that high up making a Statement Like that against one of the leading Infectious Disease experts in our country . To be candid im not familiar with that statement from our Lieutenant Governor. As i said earlier, the only thing i read and studied and in our medical experts, Public Health, is the only thing that everybody can stop this is stop the spread is face coverings, social distancing and frequency of washing your hands. So were going to continue to adhere to that. We passed in our emergency order, businesses must require patrons and customers to wear face coverings when they come in, otherwise there is the business subject to a 500 fine. And austin and dallas and houston, it is a thousand dollars, but we set it at 500. All right, dee margo, thank you for joining us this morning, i appreciate your time as always. Sure. Now to some breaking news out of seattle this morning. At least ten arrests have been made so far at the selfdeclared capitol hill organize protest zone, an area taken over by protesters established earlier this month in the wake of George Floyds death. This comes after a fourth shooting within the last nine days near or in the chop zone as it is referred to. This is according it our nbc affiliate. On june 22nd, seattle officials ordered those occupying the area to leave. With me now is nbcs Steve Patterson on the ground in seattle, following all of these moving developments. Tell us more about the arrests made this morning, and the operation that is under way. Reporter yeah, look, you can imagine this is incredibly dynamic. Im going to stay close to you. There may be some protesters. You can see some of the protesters here, we believe that a few of these are chop residents. I know a few of their faces, theyre obviously extremely upset. The mayor did this very quickly. Signed the executive order to come in, and about 2 00 this morning, by about 4 58, it was posted to the citys website, by 5 00 you had police swarming all over this neighborhood. Telling people to get out and then moving in. By 5 08, this entire perimeter was established, police just about at every intersection in the capitol hill neighborhood, all along the borders of chop. We heard reports that police have made several arrests, as you mentioned, ten that we know of, but we have seen a few visible. Havent seen any tear gas, havent seen any pepper spray. We heard maybe some pepper spray was deployed, maybe there were a few flashes. What is happening inside there is the question. We can only imagine that theyre dismantling pretty much every object visible, though from where we can see, it looks like those crews are doing that work as we speak. We heard that there are vans driving around this area, police keeping a tight perimeter, keeping a watchful eye for any possible dangerous element that is on the outskirts of this trying to push in. As we mentioned, a lot of the leadership, a lot of the people that are residents, we have seen outside of the zone because of how quickly police flooded inside took over the east precinct and pushed everybody out. Thats the operation going on right now. It is very tense no matter where you are in this neighborhood. But police trying to keep a hold on the scene, and trying to take back that east precinct that is visible behind me. Back to you. Were going to keep an eye on that situation and come back to you in the hour if the situation escalates. Stay safe, steve. Thanks. Much more ahead on the pandemic including Public Health officials nationwide taking heat over coronavirus policies. How some officials are heading for the exit after receiving Death Threats and hate mail. But first, new nbc reporting on the family of a marine killed in a 2019 bomb attack in afghanistan. Now demanding answers on the news that russia was offering bounties on u. S. Troops fighting there. Ng ere. 5 at my age . 9. 95 . No way. 9. 95 . Thats impossible. Hi, im jonathan, a manager here at Colonial Penn Life Insurance company, to tell you it is possible. If youre age 50 to 85, you can get Life Insurance with options starting at just 9. 95 a month. Okay, jonathan, im listening. Tell me more. Just 9. 95 a month for Colonial Penns number one most popular whole Life Insurance plan. There are no Health Questions to answer and there are no medical exams to take. Your acceptance is guaranteed. Guaranteed acceptance . I like guarantees. Keep going. And with this plan, your rate is locked in for your lifetime, so it will never go up. Sounds good to me, but at my age, i need the security of knowing it wont get cancelled as i get older. This is Lifetime Coverage as long as you pay your premiums. It can never be cancelled, call now for free information. Youll also get this free beneficiary planner. Use this valuable guide to record your Important Information and give helpful direction about your final wishes to your loved ones. And its yours free. Its our way of saying thank you just for calling. So call now. Nbc news just learned that moments ago, that tomorrow the socalled gang of eight will get their briefing on allegations that russia offered bounties to the taliban to kill u. S. Troops. Not today as we had originally thought. That is now postponed to tomorrow. That Group Includes Senate Majority leader mitch mcconnell, House Speaker nancy pelosi and other congressional leaders from both parties. It comes, of course, as President Trump is now discrediting the allegations against russia altogether this morning, he tweeted out that it is a made up tale that is told only to damage me and the republican party. Meanwhile, the New York Times has now reporting that supports the conclusion it is not a made up tale, citing three officials familiar with the intelligence. It reports that american officials intercepted financial transfers from a bank account controlled by the Russian Military to an account linked to the taliban. Adding that analysts concluded from other intelligence that the transfers were most likely part of a Bounty Program that detainees described during interrogations. In response to that report, the director of Strategic Communications at the white house told nbc news we dont comment on matters of national intelligence. Lets get to this, with Nbcs Kristen Welker at the white house. What more can you tell us about tomorrows briefing and where this story goes from here . Reporter well, ayman, as you say, we just learned that the briefing was delayed from today to tomorrow. That is, according to two sources on capitol hill and one here at the white house. In terms of what the focus is going to be of that briefing, it is going to be on the intelligence gathering. What do top officials know about these reports that russia was paying bounties to taliban linked militants to kill americans . Is there any veracity to that, what level of veracity is there to that. There are a number of unanswered questions, though. I had a chance to talk to the National Security adviser earlier kristen, im sorry to interrupt you, were talk about this, the secretary of state mike pompeo just fielded a question about this. Lets listen to what hes saying. The cia put out a statement, the dni put out a statement. The Intelligence Community handled this incredibly w we see threats in intelligence reporting, to our soldiers stationed all over the world. Every single day. Every single day. And so i can assure you that whatever reporting it is that youre referring to that we responded in precisely the correct way with respect to making sure our forces were postured appropriately, they were aware of the level of the threat, the credibility of the threat, and that we were there. Second, the fact that the russians are engaged in afghanistan in a way that sis adverse to the United States is nothing new. Members of congress suggesting that they are shocked and appalled by this. They saw the same intelligence that we saw. So it would be interesting to ask them what they did when they saw whatever intelligences that they are referring to, they would have had access to this information as well, not just the Intelligence Committees, by the way, even more broadly than that. We took this seriously. We handled it appropriately. The russians have been selling small arms that put americans at risk there for ten years. We have objected to it, to your point, when i meet with my russian counterparts, i talk with them about this each time. Stop this, we think we have a not perfect but somewhat overlapping objective in afghanistan. It is on their doorstep. We know they were routed in afghanistan. So they have an objective there too to reduce the risk of terrorism there. So, yes, maybe not every time. But with great frequency. I speak to my russian counterparts, we talk about afghanistan, we talk about the fact that we dont want them engaged in this, but it is it is just so everybody can be level set. Money flowing to afghanistan to support the taliban has been going on since we went to afghanistan. Almost two decades ago. It is not just the russians. Probably not majority of the russians. Money flowed from lots of places, from iran, even today. The iranians continue to undermine what were trying to accomplish in terms of peace and reconciliation in afghanistan. It is incredibly important that you take in context how it is this reporting is developed and how it is the United States has responded to this. We do everything we can. And this president has been vicious in securing American Freedom and protecting american soldiers. Last point, there is some suggestion somehow that there was an appropriate response taken because this was russia. If you have 20 minutes, i will read to you what this administration has done with respect to russia. Instead, ill provide it to you for the record. It starts with a 700 billion allocation of resources to the department of defense. It continues with withdrawal from the imf, something the russians remain unhappy about. What we have done in syria to push back against them, including against the wagner group, this administration has taken seriously the threat from russia. I only wish we had not had so much to clean up from the previous administrations work to allow russia to get on the ground in syria, make enormous gains, interfere in elections in the United States of america under the previous administrations watch, we had a lot to clean up, President Trump has been serious about responding to this in a way that protects america, keeps americans safe and every day working diligently to make sure we keep our soldiers safe wherever any threat whether thats from russia or otherwise present itself. The u. S. Viewed russia as a bad actor, wouldnt the bounties be an escalation . Wouldnt the bounties be an escalation . Go ahead. Yes, thank you. Thank you, mr. Secretary. My question is you just mentioned about the report, written by dr. Adrian zance youre listening there to secretary of state mike pompeo talking for first time about allegations that russia was paying bounties to taliban fighters for american lives there. Essentially defending the administrations response and more importantly characterizing russia as a threat that theyre fully aware of and that money flowing to the taliban to undermine american efforts in that country is nothing new. Well follow that press briefing and bring you any more updates as it happens. Lets cross back over to kristen welker. I apologize for interrupting you, but because we were getting that reaction for first time, we wanted to bring it to your viewers. Ill let you finish your train of thought before i ask you about the father of a marine killed in afghanistan last year. Tell us more what you the administrations response so far to this and what it has been. Reporter well, i think that what i heard from robert obrien, the National Security adviser echoes what we just heard from the secretary of state. The administration clearly trying to make the case that this was handled properly, obrien said earlier today that the cia briefer decided to exclude this information from the president s briefings. Now, of course, there is information that it was in the president s written president ial daily briefs, did he read those briefs . It is not clear. That remains one of the top questions and he, when pressed on the question of the president s tweet calling this a hoax, said he wasnt talking about the story, but rather the Media Coverage of it. Kristen, as we noted, some family members who have lost loved ones in afghanistan speaking out. I understand that you spoke to the father of a marine who was killed in afghanistan last year. What did he have to say to you about this intelligence . Reporter this was a heart breaking conversation. I spoke with eric hendricks, the father of the late Corporal Robert hendricks who was one of three marines killed in a 2019 bomb attack in afghanistan. Look, hendricks says hes not someone who follows the news every day, so he was called by reporters and alerted to this story. He said if it is true, it would be absolutely heart breaking if the government had this information and essentially didnt warn its soldiers who were on the field there. He also says he hasnt been contacted by anyone from the administration, since these reports arose. He said to me, quote, why hasnt anyone called me or my exwife to settle us . Isnt it enough the hell were going through that no one has come through with anything at all. It is really horrible. I think the bottom line here is that this is a father who is still very much grieving the loss of his son and these reports are making him want answers to what specifically happened to his son, how this could have happened. He is someone who zridescribes himself as someone political. He said the last time he voted in a president ial election was for ross perot. He says he does lean towards supporting trump, even though he didnt vote in the 2016 election. So hes not speaking out for politics, hes speaking out because he wants answers. Rightfully so. Kristen welker, thank you so much for bringing that to us. Joining me now is mika oyang, Vice President for the National Security program at third way and msnbc contributor. It is great to have you with us. Let me get your reactions to what were hearing from the secretary of state. Im not sure if you had a chance to hear what we were playing, but the response to the question about the bounties, essentially was three fold. One, he didnt want to comment on the specifics of the intelligence. Two, someone tried to say it was handled and dealt with appropriately in the government and the force protection levels in that country. And, third, said it was not particularly new, that russia and perhaps other countries were trying to flow money to the taliban to undermine u. S. Efforts there. Thats somewhat different than what were hearing come out of the white house, specifically the president , who is saying it has been a hoax, so to speak. What is your reaction . Yeah, my reaction is secretary pompeos statement is really at odds with the statement of the president of the United States, who is trying to downplay this. And it comes five days after this initial response from the president casting doubt on these reports. If that if secretary pompeos response were the actual response of the u. S. Government, we would have heard that from the beginning. It is obvious the president was not taking the concern for the lives of our troops seriously, that he was not ordering the Intelligence Community to track down this lead and get to the bottom of this, that he was not trying to trace things back on the ground, given all the time he had with this information, and that really puts in doubt his care for the u. S. Troops. Receiving those casualty reports of soldiers in afghanistan and iraq or wherever, it is one of the most somber, serious things as a policymaker you can receive. You have to take those things seriously. These are peoples family. And for the president to try to dismiss it is as a hoax is just a dereliction of duty. It is a point also made yesterday by former Vice President joe biden about this very subject. Let me get your thoughts quickly, somebody who was a staffer in the Intelligence Committee on the house as we reported, the gang of eight is expected to get that briefing tomorrow. What do you expect them to ask . How would you be, you know, prepped if you were a member of this gang of eight to get the information that you want from the Intelligence Community tomorrow . Yeah, what you want to know from the Intelligence Community is when they have the information, how certain they are about it, what conflicts, what corroborates this information, and then what do you know about how consistent it is with what russias aims are. And i think it is important for people to remember, even though russia backs the president , they dont do it because they have his best interests at heart. Theyre doing it because theyre trying to undermine american National Security around the world. So you need to understand in the threats beyond afghanistan, what is going on inside russia that they thought that this was a good idea. You compare this to the reaction of the government when we had allegations that iran was targeting u. S. Troops in the middle east. We followed those threads all the way to the top. We saw that action there against the iranian general. Thank you so much for joining us this morning, i appreciate it. Now back to the coronavirus crisis, and heres what we know at this hour. Around 6,000 new cases have been reported in florida on tuesday, which is a few thousand down from the states recordbreaking numbers that occurred over the weekend. Now, state wide the number of cases now stands at more than 150,000. Floridians concerned about getting kicked out of their homes, though, can sigh a sign of relief. Ron desantis expanded the moratorium on evictions and foreclosures. The previous order set to expire today. It will now expire august 1st. Governors in the northeast, though, theyre tightening restrictions on travelers ahead of the fourth of july weekend asking anyone coming in from 16 states to quarantine for 14 days. These are all states with spikes in covid cases. New york city mayor bill de blasio announcing this morning that Indoor Dining will not be included as part of phase three, starting monday, in an effort to keep covid cases in the city down. Lets cross back over to som brock in miami beach, florida. Businesses there, sam, they reopened a while back to a lot of criticism from people around the country that it was a bit too premature. Now Miamidade County closing beaches for the holiday weekend, huge moneymaker for local businesses there. What has been the reaction from Business Owners to this news . Reporter look, theyre trying to fly with the new policies, ayman. Bars, restaurants and beaches all impacted by reversals just in the last several days. We know theyre trying to keep a containment now on a surging number of cases in Miamidade County. Also in florida. Im on lincoln road now, a very popular shopping area, here in miami beach, and im joined by timothy sman. We both know what lincoln road normally looks like. Right. Reporter how has it been, the back and forth, how has it impacted businesses here . As with life and in business you need to be able to plan for the future. And with the changes in the curfews and the opening and closing of the beaches, it has been a struggle for the businesses. We have to face that fact. But there is a way we can get a handle on our issues with the businesses and the beaches on lincoln road. It is to recognize the importance of wearing a mask, and doing your appropriate social distancing throughout this time. Reporter im glad you pointed that out. Youre wearing your mask now, handing masks out to people who need them. So prior to the reopening, we had made a plan for the regeneration of lincoln road post covid. In our new normal. What we worked on was having a mask that would be attractive for people to wear, you could wear with any outfit, and we also worked on sanitizing lincoln road and making it clean and directing our ambassadors, two of them on the road all day long from 7 00 in the morning to 11 00 at night, cleaning all the touch points and keeping the roads sanitized. Reporter we have a little bit of time left. What percentage of your business out here comes from tourism versus local shoppers . So prior to covid, we were doing 11 Million People a year. And 40 of those people were locals. Now, without the tourist base, 40 is what we can attract. Reporter to reverse that, 60 of business comes from tourism. When they shut down the beaches for july 4th thats a significant setback. The significant setback is a result of the covid19. The airlift into south florida has been decreased dramatically as a result of covid19. So the while the beaches are a contributing factor, the whole pandemic is the bubble in which we live now. And like we discussed earlier, were all now dr. Faucis. When we go outside, were responsible for our friends, our families, our neighbors, for the people we dont know. You need to wear a mask. You need to social distance. You need to stay home if youre sick. Reporter it is on the individuals and on the businesses as well to address that. Thank you so much, timothy. I appreciate your time, and ayman, we have seen just in last week here, 109 increase, this week, in covid19 cases in florida. Ayman . Sam brock, thank you for the spotlight on florida. Now to new reporting on the nations Public Health officials and just why and how many of them are taking heat over coronavirus policies. The New York Times highlights that Health Officials have found themselves at the center of regular news briefings amid the coronavirus outbreak, making them targets for harassment and threats. At least 30 Public Officials have retired, resigned or have been fired since april. Jake ward, who has been covering this story for us, joins us live from oakland, california, with the very latest. Jake, tell us whats going on with this. Reporter we are used to thinking of the front line workers of this healthcare crisis as being the nurses, the doctors, the people in the hospital. Well, health Public Health officials are really the front line of the front line, trying to keep you and i out of the emergency room. But those front line warriors are now under attack. Open california. Reporter theyre on the front line of the fight against the coronavirus, but under fire. They have unnecessarily put people into a state of fear. Reporter across the country, Public Health officials are being harassed by the very people theyre trying to protect. L. A. Countys Health Director says shes been threatened. I, like hundreds of other Public Health officials across the country, have in fact received threats and have in fact received a lot of hate mail. They dont get paid a lot of money. They put in a lot of hours. They do it for the compassion that they feel. Reporter it was a tough job before the pandemic. Now a growing public backlash against Health Safety restrictions and lockdowns makes the job even harder. Theyre taking verbal abuse, sometimes there are physical threats to their lives or their families. Reporter dozens of Health Directors and senior officials resigned, retired or been fired since april. Ohioans, you have saved lives. Reporter ohios Health Director resigned june 11 th after intense criticism and even armed protesters at her home. Even though she had the support of the states governor. It is true not all heroes wear capes. Some of them do in fact wear a white coat. Reporter for those who stay on, the harassment continues. It is extraordinarily hard to work under conditions where people are so angry with you and take it so personally. Reporter in all of this, after a decade of this riveroning fund riveron i shrinking funds and staff, and some seem to doubt the experts on covid. When we have a contamination of water, for example, in a Public Health says we need to boil our water, you cant drink contaminated water, everybody boils their water. And so the fact that people are not paying attention to this as Public Health advice is alarming. And it is not really something that i have ever seen to this extent. Reporter ayman, Health Officials have been telling us that they are used to this being thankless work, but doing this under harassment is truly unsustainable. It is not thankless work as a country, were thankful for everything they are doing. Jacob ward, thank you for bringing that story to us. Joe biden says the president is waving the white flag on the coronavirus. But how would the former Vice President handle the pandemic differently . A Senior Campaign adviser is here next. But, first, history overnight, in mississippi, governor tate reeves signing a bill that removes the state flag, the last in the nation to contain the confederate emblem, the first term republican saying he hopes that change brings unity to the state. This is not a political moment to me. But a solemn occasion to lead our mississippi family to come together, to be reconciled and to move on. And late last night, the flaing wfla i g was removed from the state capitol. A state commission will propose new flag designs and voters in that state will choose their pick in november. Will choose tr pick in november vo at audi, we design cars that exhilarate with versatility, whether on the track, or the everyday drive. Today, that philosophy extends to how we connect with you. We call it, audi at your door. Whether a remote test drive, shopping, tradein, or even service pickup, audi at your door can do this and more at participating dealers. The premium audi dealership experience, on your terms. Audi at your door. man hm. 5 . 9. 95 . 9. 95. Whats with all the 9. 95 notes . I thought youd never ask. Its about a Life Insurance plan with options starting at 9. 95 a month. Been seeing it on tv. We talked about getting more Life Insurance. Remember how much your brothers funeral cost . Yeah, his funeral expenses were a real eyeopener. North of 8,500. Exactly. man what do you like about this insurance . The 9. 95 price, and best of all, itll never go up. man but we could get it at our age with my medical history . I feel 25 here and here, but the mirror says otherwise. Dont worry. We cant be turned down for any health reason. I think we should call to see for ourselves, dont you . Makes sense to me, lets call. If youre age 50 to 85, call now about Colonial Penns number one most popular whole Life Insurance plan. It has an affordable rate starting at 9. 95 a month. Thats less than 35 cents a day. You cannot be turned down because of your health. No medical exam, no Health Questions. Your acceptance is guaranteed. And this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock, so your rate can never go up for any reason. Calling now. Hi, id like some free information. host so call now for free information, and youll also get this free beneficiary planner. male announcer and when you call now, youll also get this free prescription savings card that can help you save up to 80 on prescription drugs. She always wanted her smile to shine. Now, she uses a capful of therabreath healthy smile oral rinse to give her the healthy, sparkly smile she always wanted. crowd cheering therabreath, its a better mouthwash. At walmart, target and other fine stores. Turning now to the 2020 race for president , joe biden escalating his attacks against President Trump, taking aim at how hes handled the coronavirus pandemic, warning americans that the president has, quote, failed us. Seems like our war time president surrendered, waved the white flag, and left the battlefield. Today were facing a serious threat and we have to meet it. Calls himself a cheerleader, we dont need a cheerleader, mr. President. We need a president , mr. President. It comes as biden is widening his lead over donald trump in new national polling, ahead 12 Percentage Points in a new poll, out just this morning. That same poll also shows President Trump still holds a significant edge when it comes to enthusiasm. Half of trump backers say theyre very excited about their candidate. Almost double the 27 of biden backers who say that. Joining me from the Biden Campaign, Senior Adviser corrine jean pierre, good to talk to you again. Always a pleasure it see you. Why do you think trump has the edge on biden on that issue of enthusiasm for a moment and what is the Biden Campaign doing to close that gap . So heres the thing about that. You know, yes, enthusiasm is important, we are still 4 1 2 months away from the election, but heres the thing, donald trump is shrinking his base. Hes not extending it. Hes not building a coalition. We are building a coalition and reaching out to key constituencies because we know what it is going to take to win in november. Just two weeks ago, we went up with ads in six states, six states that donald trump won in 2016, why . Because were playing offense. In two of those states, florida and arizona, we went up with Spanish Language ads. And we also made sure we drilled in on africanamerican media. So we understand what it is going to take, it is going to take building a coalition, it is going to take making sure that we ask for everyones vote. They said this before, and theyll say it to you, ayman, donald trump has the power of the incumbency. And still joe biden is leading him in every poll, but we understand that polls will go up and polls will go down. The most important poll will be the poll on election day. To that point, let me ask quickly about the poll. Yesterday the former Vice President talked a little bit about the polls and most national and state polls as we just mentioned there, they show you in the lead in a commanding lead. How much stock is the campaign putting into that data . Were just focusing on the job at hand. We have to continue to reach out to every voter. We are, like, it is great, it is wonderful to see polls, where youre leading, absolutely. But ive been in this game for a really long time, joe biden has been in this game for a really long time, our campaign has, we have great folks on the campaign and we understand that you cant Pay Attention to polls right now. It is still very early. Like i said, polls will go up, they will go down, we have to make sure that we are asking everyone for their vote and building that coalition that will lead us to a win on november 3rd. That is the key, that is the important thing at hand right now. The Vice President yesterday also addressing the topic of picking a Vice President. That usa today suffolk poll we talked about said or found that 35 of democratic voters said it was very important biden choose a woman of color as a running mate. 37 said it was somewhat important. Im curious to get your thoughts, how does the former Vice President answer that question . Does he think it is very important or somewhat important that he choose a woman of color . Let me step back for a second. Vice President Joe Biden said very early on in the primary that he was going to pick a woman to be on his ticket for vp, if he had the pleasure of being the nominee. And i think that says volumes. That says he cared to make sure that his ticket looked like the country, and represented who we are. And so having a woman on the ticket is incredibly exciting. And who he picks honestly is going to be up to joe biden. He understands this process. He said himself even yesterday it is going to be someone he can govern with, someone who is going to be simpatico to him. And he has been there, he knows what it looks like to be in that position. And everything that donald trump has put us in, in this hole hes put us in is going to take everything he can to dig us out come january if we are given the presidency, joe biden will be able to do and be able to lead on the first day and have his vp there leading with him. Let me give you a chance to respond to something the Trump Administration said yesterday. And we noticed that former Vice President joe biden took questions from reporters for the first time in nearly three months. The Trump Campaign said that it shouldnt be a news event in itself that biden took questions from the press. That is notable is embarrassing for him. This is something a National Candidate should do as a matter of course. What is your reaction to that . Look, you know, this is just what theyre doing. It is a distraction. Yesterday you had the press secretary saying that donald trump reads his briefing, of course he should be reading his briefing, especially his intelligence briefing. This is what we hear all the time, this comparison that makes no sense. Lets focus that on the issues, focus on the policies at hand. Look, this is july 1st. In january, donald trump was told briefed about the coronavirus. Joe biden warning about the coronavirus outbreak and look where we are today. Six months, we have lost six months because donald trump refuses to do his job. He refuses to lead. He refuses to show what is he going to do for this country . We see tens of millions of people losing their jobs because of coronavirus. We see more than 128,000 people who have died in this country for because of coronavirus. And what does donald trump do, he sticks his head in the sand and said dont look over here, im not to blame and slows down testing. That is what we should be talking about. This is what is the main urgency now. Were living in a global pandemic. And donald trump pandemic and donald trump refuses to lead and thats what it was all about yesterday that joe biden was talking about. He put forth what he would do if he was president , making sure that there is more testing, making sure that federal government increases that, making sure that ppe is available for essential workers, making sure that our most vulnerable population, seniors, black community, Brown Community and native communities are protected. Making sure we come up with a plan on how to reopen the economy and also making sure that we are laser focused on how to treat this virus on treatment and vaccine. Thats what donald trump should be talking about. Thats what he doesnt want us to talk about. And this is where we are as a country and this is why joe biden is running. Former Vice President saying yesterday he wouldnt wait until he would be sworn in. He would start as soon as the election was decided, the morning after. Thank you so much. I appreciate your time this morning. Thank you, my friend. Coming up, the new investigation were lrearning about in colorado. What authorities are acknowledging about the death of Elijah Mcclain. A live report is next. In our next hour, were taking on your questions on the coronavirus. Email us at talk msnbc. Com or tweet the question. Or tweet the question mornings were made for Better Things than Rheumatoid Arthritis. When considering another treatment, ask about xeljanz a pill for adults with moderate to severe Rheumatoid Arthritis when methotrexate has not helped enough. Xeljanz can reduce pain, swelling, and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. Xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections. Before and during treatment, your doctor should check for infections like tb and do blood tests. 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Recruiting an army of customer advocates to make your experience incredible. And putting you in control of the whole thing with powerful technology. Thats why weve become the nations Fastest Growing retailer. Because our customers love it. See for yourself, at carvana. Com. This morning two new developments in the investigation into the death of 23yearold Elijah Mcclain in colorado. Federal and state Authorities Say they are and have been looking into the case for a possible civil rights investigation. This review has been going on since last year, but the fbi and doj are just now confirming it publicly. Mcclain died in august after police in a denver suburb put him in a choke hold. His case has received new attention recently and the protests over Racial Injustice in this country. Today, federal agencies say theyre examining photos that show multiple City Police Officers near the site where mcclain died. Those officers now put on administrative leave. With me now is gabe gutierrez. This is a rare statement to come out from the federal government. What does it all mean for us . Reporter yes, as you mentioned, the doj and the fbi say theyve been looking into this case since it happened last year, but theyre now confirming that review because of all the attention that this case has gotten in the last several weeks. And now, as you mention, we just heard yesterday that the police chief here in aurora had placed multiple officers on paid administrative leave. Thats after another officer reported a potentially inappropriate photo that was taken last week by several of those officers. The Police Department wont go into details on that just yet. I did speak with colorados governor yesterday and i asked him why it took so long to appoint a special prosecutor in this case. The District Attorney declined to file charges last year and i asked the governor whether he disagreed with the District Attorney. The governor says this review first of all, he said that he lacked confidence in what the da said, and he says that the states attorney general review would take potentially several months. Certainly a lot of questions here about how this moves forward. Protestors, they say they will continue to draw attention to this case and mcclains family is frustrated i didnt get nationwide attention until the last several weeks until after the death of george floyd. Thanks for watching this hour of msnbc live. More news with my friend craig melvin. Raig melvin whats with all the 9. 95 notes . I thought youd never ask. Its about a Life Insurance plan with options starting at 9. 95 a month. Been seeing it on tv. We talked about getting more Life Insurance. Remember how much your brothers funeral cost . Yeah, his funeral expenses were a real eyeopener. North of 8,500. Exactly. man what do you like about this insurance . The 9. 95 price, and best of all, itll never go up. man but we could get it at our age with my medical history . I feel 25 here and here, but the mirror says otherwise. Dont worry. We cant be turned down for any health reason. I think we should call to see for ourselves, dont you . Makes sense to me, lets call. If youre age 50 to 85, call now about Colonial Penns number one most popular whole Life Insurance plan. It has an affordable rate starting at 9. 95 a month. Thats less than 35 cents a day. You cannot be turned down because of your health. No medical exam, no Health Questions. Your acceptance is guaranteed. And this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock, so your rate can never go up for any reason. Calling now. Hi, id like some free information. host so call now for free information, and youll also get this free beneficiary planner. male announcer and when you call now, youll also get this free prescription savings card that can help you save up to 80 on prescription drugs. To soccer practices. And new adventures. You hope the more you give the less theyll miss. But even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past. They may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. Lets help protect them together. Because missing menb vaccination could mean missing out on a whole lot more. Ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. Good morning. Craig melvin here at msnbc headquarters. Lets start the hour off with the latest facts on this pandemic. So far we have lost more than
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