Transcripts For MSNBCW Weekends With Alex Witt 20200509

Were working with the entire northeast. Were in total lockstep. I know what theyre doing. It makes sense, to me, but its not my decision. Their decisions make sense. Well card nate and aware of it. But we are coordinating what theyre doing, what we are doing, so were not counterproductive. Ive had situations in the state in the past where we werent even coordinated like new york city versus long island versus westchester. One area would do something that would affect the area, and nobody even knew so were coordinating with the other states, but they will have slightly different strategies, and we talk through do you say, you might get a flood of new yorkers . We discuss that all the time, the mobility in the region. I said up in albany, i am a queens boy, but theres a car with two people eating from striae roe foam containers in a parked car. They say hello, we chat. I said, they were from queens, new york, drove to albany to buy thai takeout. I said, why i said it nicely, but i said, why did you drive from queens to buy thai food . They said we just wanted to take a ride. We had to get out of the house. Thats 2 1 2 hours up, 2 1 2 hours back to buy thai food, right . Think of that state of mind. Five hours in the car as a welcome relief from staying home, right . Your people, driving from out of state to get a haircut. They just wanted to get out. They wanted to see people. They wanted to move were very well aware. There will be mobility. We cant align every acts, but were aware of it. If it becomes a problem, then well adjust it. Nobody has done this before, but know you havent done it before if connecticut or jersey does something, and you get a flood of new yorkers going there, well adjust. Ill adjust, right . Its not that every move you make will be perfect, but stay on the balls of your feet. Be ready to adjust, move, and if somebody happens, shift. Fdr, right . Bold experimentation. Dont be afraid of doing something that might have a negative consequence, otherwise you just stay frozen in place. Reporter the chief of place had 43 nonfatal uptick for overdoses. Thats just one area. Do you have a plan for how were going to address this 2 1 2 months into the problem . And as part of that, do you have plans to cut oasis, those communitybased groups that can handle that . First, on the funding, my point to the congressman, everything is dependent, carol on whether or not we get federal funding. We have like a 13 billion hole in the state. There is no way the state can manage a 13 billion hole. And we had nothing to do with it. It was all covid related, it hurts everybody, hurts the state revenues. It is going to be wholly dependent on what washington does, and this week i home finally the federal government passes a piece of legislation that helps the states theyve been taking care of Small Business, hotels, restaurants. Thats great. How about the working people of this country . Funding a State Government is a way of funding the working people. You fund the state, you fund Substance Abuse programs, schools, firefighters, remote learning, that all comes from the state. We have seen an increase in Mental Health issues all through this period, ainge zeile are site, stress, economic stret, stress of personal relations alcoholrelated illnesses have gone up and more. This has been a highly stressful period all across the board. Weve done Mental Health outreach in a way we have never done it before. We have like 40,000 Mental Health volunteers doing online Mental Health services, alcoholrelated services, Substance Abuse services, but there is no doubt that one of the manifestations of the stress has been Substance Abuse, do metz ig violence, alcoholism, no doubt about that. Reporter a lot of communitybased programs were hurting before, and now theyre running out of money. Look, if it works the way it should, washington and the federal government actually does the right thing, or fen if they do close to the responsible thing, how could they possibly ignore at a time governments working families, work iing americans. As bizarre as the federal government is at times, i cannot believe they would turn their back on working americans at this time. Well, let me butt it this way. I can believe it, because i can believe anything that they do, but i dont believe they will do that. I dont believe the congress will let them do that. I dont believe the house will let them do that. Reporter i just had a question about theres reports of Homeless People coming off the subways after the shutdowns at 1 00 a. M. , coming off the subways and just going into the buses that are standing outside the stations. For example to coin island, there was one bus with 60 Homeless People in there. How you know, what is the city planning to do about the Homeless People coming off the subways after the shutdowns and getting on the buses . Yeah, look, this is an important topic. We shut down the subways for four hours a night. Why . Because we have to disinfect it. Weve never disinfected a train. Weve never disinfected a bus. Weve never even contemplated disinfecting Public Transportation system before. When i said this is all new, these are all firsts, but we want the frontline workers going to work. I feel a personal obligation to protect the frontline workers. Remember the words that came out of my mouth . I said to new yorkers, take this very seriously, the covid virus can be deadly, stay home, its not a joke. Thats why we closed businesses, schools, et cetera the second message, but frontline workers, we still need to you go to work the next day. What do you mean . You just said its dangerous, youre closing everything, but i have to go to work . Yes, you have to go to work, because we need you in the hospitals, and because we need people in hospitals, we need people to operate the transit system, and we need food so we need food delivery workers, and we need Grocery Store workers, so we need all these essential workers to work, so other people can stay home. How is that fair . Some people get to stay home, but the frontline workers have to go to work. I good et it. I said, we will do everything we need to do. The covid virus can live on a stainless steel surface for two or three days, okay . You look at a subway car, you see all those stainless steel poles, i said we owe it to them to disinfect the train. We close the train four hours, we go and disinfect. The transit workers are doing a phenomenal job. They have this new equipment, electric r electrostatic machines. Theyre cleaner than probably in decades. A related issue was to disinfect the trains, you have to get the passengers off the trains, which then brought you into there are Homeless People who ride the trains all night, have been for decades, its much worse now, and the Homeless People need to come off the trains so you can disinfect the train. Thats actually an opportunity. Ive worked on the issue of homelessness since i was in my 20s. I ran a notforprofit, i was hud secretary, i did homeless programs all across the nation. At the gives you an opportunity to engage Homeless People and get the help they need. Society does nobody a favor to say well let you sleep on a train all night. Thats not right, its not huma humane, its not decent. Well, its hard to get them off the trains. Well, now we had to. It gives you an opportunity to engage them, get them into a shelter into services, because nobody wants them spending their lives in a dangerous situation. Transit says 2,000 homeless were taken off the trains. 2,000. Just think of that number. Great. Now you have an opportunity to reach out to 2,000 people to get them into shelter and into services. That is the point, an ancillary point, not the primary point, but as long as the homeless have to get off the trains, reach out to them, connect them with services, and i think thats an ordered bonus. Sir. Governor, should workers who leave their jobs because of covid safety concerns be eligible for Unemployment Benefits . Its up to the federal law, and i can check i believe the federal law covers it. Now, the whole Unemployment Program is basically covered by federal law. When we go through this, well, why do you ask people to fill out forms . Why are you asking they questions . Why does your website ask these questions . Those are all federal requirements. You know, they passed the federal bill a couple weeks ago, said here are the benefits and here are the caveats. Its all federal regulations. I can check that specifically, but i think thats covered. Sir . Reporter in the 15 weeks between memorial day and labor day, new jersey shore businesses, i think a plan was submitted for reopening, what do you say to the Small Business that is rely on the Summer Season coming up, you know, for people to come, and if we reopen nassau, and then theyll come from new jersey and vice versa . Thats the point dave was making, the coordination among the states. Youre right. We have Small Businesses here, tourist destinations here, right . If long island doesnt open, right . If patchog and the beach communities dont open, youll see the people go to the jersey shore. So those are the kijds of things we coordinate. Look, we take this week by week. I hope were in a better positionnds of things we coordinate. Look, we take this week by week. I hope were in a better positi positi position. Youre right. Its the time to make money. Tourism is one of the big job drivers, periods, all those camps, all those lakes. Its a very big deal across the board, and then youre right. We do have to coordinate with the surrounding states, because you can go to long island or go to the jersey shore, or you can go upstate, and youll go wherever is open, frankly. Reporter the hospitals will be engaging the testing and tracing instead of the health department. Im curious if you had any thoughts on that. I do not know. Thats the mayors program. I dont know how he runs that. I do know that we are all coordinating Mike Bloomberg, former mayor of new york, is helping us with design and implement a tracing program, because nobody has done this before. By the way, theres no tracing program. We have done it on a very small scale. This is a much, much different situation. How do you trace in new york city without coordinating with westchester and long island and new jersey . Mike bloomberg and his philanthropy are doing a great service. Theyll put together that tracing program on a regional basis, because none of these lines work anymore. New york city, nassau, westchester, the virus doesnt stop at a line, and thats not how other metropolitan region works anyway, right . I live in westchester, still a resident in westchester, work in new york city, so who will trace me . Westchester or new york city . Sew Mike Bloomberg is doing a regional coordination. Localities will still run their own program. Reporter can you confirm that billions of federal funding is making its way through the pipeline to the mta. Could any of that money be used to increase outreach for the homeless . Recent reporting has shown at herald square, for instance, a lot of homeless are being engaged, but theres not any outreach workers on site. Its done by a function of the city mta has they have funded. The mta runs the trains and the buses. Theyre not a homeless provider, right . As far as funding for the mta, you know, there is i want to see the full funding package before i comment on it. Im going to have something to say about it tomorrow, because everything relies on federal funding, whether its Substance Abuse, education, i mean right now everything is dependent on federal funding. I want to make that clear for our congressional delegation. I cannot answer a question now i cant tell you how much funding, because its purely a function what was that federal government does. My message to the federal government, i understand you wanted to take care of businesses. I understand that you want to take care of airlines. Agr great. How about working people . Where are the police . Where are the firefighters . Where are the healthcare workers . We need you as essential workers. You have to put your life in danger and leave your house so we can stay home. Yay, applaud those people. Okay, where is the money . Theres no money, just applause. You want to say thank you . Provide the funding, not just the applause. Reporter is the announcement tomorrow in relation to the House Democratic stimulus proposal . In relation to the federal need. Lets go to work. Guys, thank you. There you go, everyone. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo wrapping up. Welcome. Im alex witt. So lets get things started. Its 12 20 here on the east. Im joined by cori coffin, monica alba, and dr. Natalie aseay. Lets go to you, dr. Aseay, first off. Lets look at the numbers. We have Governor Cuomo saying the numbers have been Holding Steady with the deaths, but still theres a namal number. 226 new deaths in new york. Its been about that number of last few days, but are you encouraged that at least were Holding Steady . Yeah, i guess encouraged might be an apt word, alex. Im certainly encouraged that the new number of hospitalizations and cases continues to drop. We always have to remember that the number on deaths is always a lagging metric, a few feex following the hospitalizations. I think we really need to see the death numbers starting to reduce more dramatically before i think we all feel more confident that wire not sort of hovering in this plateau region, which gets you all a bit nervous. Expanding testing, how critical is this to get past this thing . Its incredible. Theres always a lot to unpack, but the numbers speak for themselves, 20 of the zip codes are black and latino. I want to highlight the fdny and emt percentages which were just under the general populations. A shoutout to those frontline workers who are really in harms way. I think in a situation like this, this disproportionate effect i think pandemics like this, they can sometimes enhance the socioeconomic and democrat graphic disparities, and i think were seeing that in these numbers. The other places to think of when we talk about nursing home, vulnerable folks, as well as matt plants, were seeing this enhancement coming out as were seeing these vulnerable populations being affected. Lets look at south korea and hong kong, to be specific. Things are going pretty well. Theyre not seeing new cases, but there are three reasons. That is data sharing, lots of testing, and then that Contact Tracing. Where does the United States stand in regards to all three of those things and should we be reopening without all three being implemented widely . I know. Unfortunately dr. Fauci always speaks about the retrospectivescope, and whether we started talking about preparing the u. S. Experience, we said we can look at italy, to see whats happening in asia, and learn from those experiences. This i feel like is a real opportunity for all of the countries in the world to learn from other peoples experience and take what we can from those experiences. So, to your question, where are we on all of this . Lets take the data sharing. What this is referring to is basically using technology to help contact trace. We talk about how important Contact Tracing is, and its very, very labor intensive. It requires a lot of boots on the ground. What they have done is basically have text alerts for Contact Tracing. If youre walking around, youll get an alert that someone who you came into contact with tested positive, and that way that person is isolated and then contacts of those persons can be quantity teen, which is what we want. Youre bringing up something we have not really traveled down that road very extensively, but heres something to be noted and just stand by, dr. Azar. Im going to the white house. That is back two people working there have tested positive for covid19. Monica alba joins us from there. Monica, lets get to the reaction and concerns of staffers who could be at risk. What is the feeling inside the white house now . Reporter absolutely. Theres widespread person after the reports that two aides, quite close to the president and Vice President respectively tested positive for coronavirus this week. This is the first example of staffers who work side by side with the top two leaders in our nation, and within six feet of them offense for that time. This comes as the white house is unveiling in some measures, new procedures theyre putting in place. You talk about Contact Tracing, thats something they have just started to do. Theyre going to do more deep and frequent cleaning of the areas these aides frequented. Theyre also going to be making sure that some of the people who are spending the most time with the president and Vice President start to wear face coverings. Thats something knott not something that had been standardized. Now they said theyre going to encourage those people, but a lot of questions being raised about secret Service Agents after a report that about as many as a dozen have been infected, and many more quantity tee, but the secret service saying they dont release numbers, and they dont want to tell us how many might be quarantined, but those are the people that might start to be wearing those face masks. It is very rare to see any white house officials wearing those masks, despite it being guidance for weeks. Dr. Azar, how in the world is it that the white house is either not in some sort of lockdown now, when youve got, according to monica, about a dozen secret Service Agents who have tested positive, you have these two people who work right through ink side of the white house who have tested positive. How is it that the white house is not in lockdown, or at least the president of the United States and Vice President dont walk the hallowed halls wearing a mask . I know. On to me thats just reckless. The problem here is that somehow i think theyve been conflating testing with prevention. Saying, in their defense, you know, were testing people once a week, or were doing temperature checks, which we know now is probably not uses, but certainly not a great screening tool for this disease. It presents in such a head lo genous measure. The prevention is the mask wears. I have heard from Health Experts, and we all can agree that the messages from the top needs to be science based, evidence based and consistent. Clearly we also know that theres a will do. So if they see Health Care Workers and folks at the cdc, and if they see the president of the United States and the Vice President wearing a mask, i am fairly certain most folks will be inclined to do so as well. I think youre right. Dr. Azar, thank you for that. Were going to look at the big picture of where things stands. Theres a majority of governors, giving the green light to loosening the lockdown restrictions, so that means if you live in, say, north carolina, you can probably be hitting the beach today. If you live in arizona, texas, you cant potentially go to the hair salon, get a haircut or a spat treatment. There are many states, of course, anxious to get back to business because of the skyrocketing numbers, and by the way, not seen since the Great Depression, but reopening does not come without its risks. Lets go to cori coffin, joining me from times square. Welcome. What are the main concerns as they Small Business oranges are trying to figure out the new rules of the road . Reporter right, and theyre trying to make sure they do so very safely. Theres concerns of keeping themselves and their customers safe, and theres the liability, if they could accidentally have somebody infected in their business. I know that a lot of businesses, thousands upon thousands want to reopen as quickly as possible across the country, but theres a large swath of the businesses that want to dip their toe in and do so as carefully as possible. Here in new york, Governor Cuomo just got done speaking about the process that it would be reopening for here, which stayathome orders remain in effect. He talked about testing and why that will have to come before any reopening talks. Together with the walkin testing sites and our sites in public housing, the coverage will be extensive. So the sites will be there. We now need new yorkers to go get the tests. And i know, you know, i do this with people all day long. I feel fine, i feel fine. You can feel fine and test positive for covid. You can. You can be asymptomatic and still have the covid virus. Well, if i feel fine, what is the difference . Because you can give it to someone else. Ed governor wants to make sure theres not a resurgence. Of course, you may remember, georgia the first state to reopen has seen a 40 increase in covid cases there. In other cases, oregon, mississippi, states like those, restaurants will partially reopen, bars, personal Care Services as well with restrictions. Thats the same in arizona where they did just see their highest death rate as well. In texas, they celebrated by opening hair salons at midnight there. In iowa, malls and campgrounds are now reopened as well as the troubled tyson pla plants, the meatpacking planned. Ill send it back to you guys. One thing i will wrap up by saying we obviously have states opening up, still a handful of states will remained closed. A few more people foot trafficwise than the last time you were in times square. Thanks for that. President trump has said we wont even need a vaccine. I feel about vaccines like i feel about tests. This is going to go away without a vaccine. Its going to go away and were not going to see it again hopefully after a period of time. Reporter what evidence have you seen that this is going to go away without a vaccine . I just rely on what doctors say. That doesnt mean this year. It doesnt mean its going to be gone frankly by the fall or after the fall, but eventually its going to go away. The question is, will we need a vaccine . At some point it will probably go away by itself. Joining me is dr. Thomas friedan. Welcome to you, sir. What do you make of that comment . Is there any chance this virus just goes away . No one can predict whats going to happen with the virus. Its brand new to the world, but we have to assume that its here for the long term. We have to assume that as other coronavirus continue to circulate around the world, a vaccine is crucially important its great to see the collaboration globally and a vaccine as soon as possible. There are some viruses or flus that came and they went for a vaccine, and they never found the vaccine and they disappeared. You have just said that this is brandnew, we dont know well, we know something now, but we havent known is lot on how to compare this one, right . Warmup thing we learned is that its very enfectionius and still explores how its changing what we do know is the best was to resume or economy is to restart without rekind link. We have to go back carefully to a new normal. Communities particularly hard hit ranging from nativeamerican communities to meat packing areas, this is a virus that can kill anyone. And the keep, as we come out is not to think of this as an on off switch. But we have to come back to a new normal. Where we use Hand Sanitizer more, we watch our hands more. And we wear face masks. We do that t and ourselves. All falling under the umbrella. Thats a good one there. With regard to the reports that a vaccine could be ready by the fought our early next year, we hole there had be a vaccine found very soon, but the average the fasters that a vaccine has ever been developed is four years. So as tony fauci said, 12 to 18 months would be a world indoor record for vaccine development. There are great efforts being made, a vaccine is the sing singlemost important thing that we could do to get back to the old normal, but getting a vaccine isnt easy. Once you get it, you have to ramp up production. Healthcare workers will be first on line. They have to protects rest of us. But getting a vaccine takes enormous effort as well. So there is no quick fix. The closest thing we have to it is a vaccine. In truth, we dont know whether we will have a vaccine, because were not certain that immunity will be effective, and we need to make sure that its both safe and effective before we start giving it widely if theres a vaccine. Dr. Thomas friedan, do come see me again soon. I do appreciate your sage advice and your interpretation of all thats going on. Lets head out west to arizona. Its among the states starting to loosen the state athome orders. Barbershops and hair salons can reopen if you following guidelines, but it comes after arizona reported three of its deadliest days since the virus began. Madam mayor, the stayathome order, its going to fully expire. Folks are scotfree at this point within about a week or so. So really to reopen the economy that way . Ive been calling for our governor to for the the guidelines from the centers for Disease Control to reopen. We do not qualify right now. We are seeing an increase in cases. As you mentioned, its been a heartbreaking week in arizona with record levels of lives lost. We do not have a good Contact Tracing program or a good level of testing right now. We understand people are hurting and they are ready to get back to work, so the governor has made the decision to reopen. So when this stayathome order is lifted, what will the guidelines be for residents to follow . So we already have businesses open. You mention that had salons, barber shops, you can get a manicure now. There are guidelines such as the professionals performing those services need to be Wearing Masks, and we recommend masks for people receiving the services. Unfortunately we are not seeing perfect compliance with that right now, our even awareness, so were trying to make sure people have a chance to get education about it. The governor has encouraged things such as touchless payment services. The city is trying to support Small Businesses to get the Safety Equipment they need to reopen. So if you were you have the belief that information is power, which i certainly am, its curious that arizona made those headlines when the governor announced it would pause the relationship with the local modeling experts, which has recently been reversed. What was your reaction to that . We are lucky here in arizona to have some of the best modelers anywhere in the country. The person leading the team had been leading the modeling for the country, their modeling showed we would be much safer if we waited until june 1st to reopen. Its important to follow the data and listen to what Public Health experts are telling us. Im deeply concerned if anyone would say the data doesnt agree with what i want to do, so were going to get rid of the data. All right the mayor of phoenix arizona in these busy and concerning times, thank you so much. In rhode island Retail Stores are open now. Ga Gary Grumbach is there for us. Give me a sense of how folks are feeling there . 1. Reporter hey there, alex. Its a chilly day in newport, but folks are feeling hopeful, day one of phase one. Heres what phase one means. The reopening of manufacturing and construction businesses. It means the elective surgeries can begin again. Importantly noncritical Retail Businesses can reopen. I spoke to one of the boutique sellers here in newport of soap water. Heres what she had to say. Its been a bit of torture. Right now at this time of year is when the store starts to get new merchandise, its open. People are coming in, and you get a jump on a long winter. Sweat havent had that, of course, so it feels like everything is at a standstill. The standstill is coming to an end. The governor wants folks to said a good example and not congregate in groups of more than five. And some store owners say they want to see how the first weekend of reopening goes, and make decisions from there. Give me a sense of how many fox look like you . Let me say anecdotally, when i go out and about, in some pockets i see lots of people Wearing Masks, appeared particularly on exercise trails, not so much. The governor made a requirement that you Must Wear Masks while out in public. A lot of these folks have signed and said stay six feet apart. People will say do you know if people have been turned away . They say you cant come in without one. Yeah, we havent seen anybody turned away, but folks here starting to get out and shop a big have been Wearing Masks for the most part. Gary, thank you. Youre about to see what happens when 25 Organizations Team up to tackle the food problem in one Virginia Town. Td problem in one Virginia Town come on, no no nnnnono only discover has no annual fee on any card. I do motivational speakingld. Nnnnono in addition to the substitute teaching. I honestly feel that thats my calling to give back to younger people. 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Say hello to your fairy godmother alice. And longlasting gain scent beads. Part of the irresistible scent collection from gain new today president obama launching a farranging attack including the dojs decision to drop charges against Michael Flynn. The fact that there is no precedent that anybody can find for someone who has been charged with perjury just getting off scotfree. Thats the kind of stuff where you begin to get work that but our tts just basic understanding of rule of law is is at risk. All right joining me the reporter who broke this story, mike isikoff, chief corresponde correspondent at yahoo news. First off, it was audio, allegedly this is the former president speaking to the it alumnae organization. How certain are you, where is the proof this is a legit phone call and it is instead barack obama whom we just heard speaking . That is indeed barack obama who you just heard speaking. Obviously we confirmed the legitimacy of this tape before we published it it reflects what obama believes. Theres a lot of things going on. His reaction to the Justice Departments decision to but taking a step back, obama has had problems with Michael Flynn for some time. His administration fired him as director of the intelligence agency. When obama met with trump during the transition, the one personnel recommendations he made is dont hire Michael Flynn, and of course trump ignored him. Clearly it was something that upset him. Joining us right now is mike memoli, whos got some reporting of your own on this. What do you have to add to this conversation, mike . Alex, a was just being indicated there, you know, this is a call with obama alumnae, a tight Nit Community of staffers. He took a number of questions in those on this call. It was primarily an effort on the part of the obama alumnae effort to keep this community engaged. One of the concerns that the former president raised in response to a question on this call was about the disinformation, and he talked that hes spending a lot of time at home with his young daughters, also being affected by it is coronavirus, not being able to attend university. He said, for instance, theyre showing him tiktoks and other associate media targeting africanamerican voters trying to discourage them from vote fog joe biden. He used the call to also encourage this network to do everything they can to support the former Vice President in this election, talked about how important it was for the community to be engaged and repeatedly praised his former Vice President. He also praised senator bernie sanders, said he was confidence that sander would also be involved and helpful for biden in the fall election, and he downplayed the rift in the party thats being so often talked about. He said theres just a difference in terms of tactics, nod in ideology primarily about keeping them engaged in this election and making a strong plug for his former Vice President , asking his network to do everything he can. He said he would be doing that. And it was charming at the end. He said, you know, the girls, theyve got to be home for dinner every night and he missed watching sports on tv. Theres a lot of family time in many homes and a lot of people miss watching sports on tv. Elaborate further on the issue of Michael Flynn and what barack obama said that he was most concerned about with regard to someone who admitted to perjury, and then just having these charges dropped . Im so sorry. That was to michael is i dove. Youve got two michaels. He misstated the charge. Its not perjury, but false statements to the fbi. Its similar, but its not the same, and the penalties are not quite as severe as perjury. But that said, you know, look, what flynn was doing, the reason his case arose is, remember, obama imposes sanctions against the russians over their interference in the 2016 election. Flynn them reaches on the to can i his yak tells them please dont respond. Were going to revisit this. So from obamas perspective, flip and the Incoming Administration is undercutting what he has just done, what obama has just done in imposing those sanctions and also kicking out Russian Diplomats from the country. So this is why why some suggested maybe flynn was in violation of something called the logan act which forbids private individuals from conducting Foreign Policy on their own. Thats never been prosecuted, but you can understand how, from the obama perspective, what flynn was doing was completely undermining what he was trying to do to respond to the russian attack on the election. Mike isikoff, thank you for that. Mike memoli, who was on the called . Was there a specific directive that the former president said, you guys have to go out and campaign . He said hess was going to do it, but the emphasis, the extent to which hes pushing people saying this is perhaps the most critical election in his lifetime, including his own in 2008 . Thats right. He joked about the fact that we often say that any election youre running in right now is the most important, but he insisted that this one is very much the most important election of our lifetime. According to the sources ive spoken to who were part of this call, this is one of a regular series of calls that the obama a i Alumni Association has held, but because he was participating in this one, they actually had a waiting list of people who wanted to join the conversation, but werent able to, because the demand to participate was so high. It took place last night after 5 00, the former president actually joked you all should be having a drink right now, but they appreciated the fact they were using his time to have the conversation with him. As he put it himself, one of the proudest legacies he has is how many of his former staff have now been running for office themselves and have continued to stay involved and engaged in the political process. Thats something he talked about very often in hi last year in office, and he continues to talk about over time. Thats another thing, just to wrap this up that i think is so interesting. I covered the Obama White House on and off for all of eight years for los angeles times. It was in those final years one of the questions obama got often, especially after trump was elected, how often would he speak out . And how often . Of course theres a code of former president s you dont necessarily criticize your successors. What obama would say often is if there were issues that he thought rised to a certain level that our national character, or Core Principles were at stake, he wouldnt hesitate to speak out. I think the former president took part in this daal knowing just how many people were going to be on it, how likely it was for his comments to eventually find their way to reporters like michael and to myself. So while this wasnt something he did intentionally to be leaked, i think he knew very well some of the things were very likely to be released. I thought there was something about current president s not criticizing former president s, backup nope, not anymore. Michael is i dove and mike memoli, good to see you both. Developing right now scoots are ordered closed in more than 40 states as well as washington, d. C. , but this week schools began returning to class at some schools in montana, one of two states that are giving School Districts the option to reopen. Joining mess is Washington Democratic congresswoman schreyer. Her district including king county. Shes also a pediatrician and the only female medical doctor in congress. So well done you. Do you think its too early for kids to be returning to school . And when it comes to your district, are there certainly boxes that still need to be checked . First of all, its great to see you again, alex. Second, i do think its too early. Heres the reason. Were getting new information now that confirm what is we felt for a long time was the case. Kids may not be showing signs of this illness, but they are getting it and potentially spreading it. Were still at a place in our country in most states, where we dont have the ability to test and trace and rayly get a sense for how many people have this, and if were using a proxy who ends up in a hospital, wee finding out 10, 15 days too late. So to try this in a small town with adequate testing and the infrastructure to trace any contacts, and detect numbers going up, that doesnt sound unreasonable. I dont know that thats the case in montana. We need to see what effect that has in real time. Let me ask you big picture here relatives to an article in New York Times about whats scaring pediatricians. The phenomenon immunization rates and the mental impacts of social distancing. Im curious about your greatest concerns and if you have anything to add to that list . Well, you have those very same concerns. We can start with immunizations. A lot of parents are afraid to take their kids to the doctors. What happens, then, is we end up with lots of kids not immunized against things like measles. We just saw an outbreak of measles and kroy the country about a year ago. Its important to get their children immunized and getting that preventative care. Im also worried about whats happening with our kids education. Some kids will be fine. You can put a book in front of them. They get enough stimulation at home. Theyll do fine regardless, but i worry about kids who dont have support at home and the gap growing widers against those already doing fine and those already struggling. I worry about the social situation, and frankly i worried about increasing rates of child abuse and neglect right now. Awful. And we dont have reporters checki inin inin ining on kids. Governor jay inslee has extended stayathome orders, yet lifted the ability to some businesses to reopen. Do you have folks in your particular district that are protesting the stayathome orders, because they want to get out and work and gets their businesses up and running again . Well, first of all, i dont think much of these protests. I think they are a fringe element. Theyre getting a lot of attention from the media, but i really dont think that represents the majority of people. Most people are still very concerned that they could get this or that their loved ones could get this, and theyre taking a lot of precautions. That said, it is, you know, some some areas the rates are low, and we have some counties that really havent seen any cases, havent had any new cases in the last two weeks, so theyre getting some kind of early permission to start tiptoeing into opening some businesses. I think that given where we are with testing in our state, we will be able to detect if rates start going up in those areas and then respond. All right. Congresswoman and dr. Kim shyer, kudos to you wearing both hats. As youve heard growing concern about reopening states. More that, ahead. T reopening sts more that, ahead refunding our customers a portion of their personal auto premiums. Were also offering flexible Payment Options for those whove been financially affected by the crisis. We look forward to returning to something that feels a little closer to life as we knew it, but until then you can see how were here to help at libertymutual. Com covid19. [ piano playing ] thats why working together ist more important than ever. At t is committed to keeping you connected. So you can keep your patients cared for. Your customers served. Your students inspired. And your employees closer than ever. Our network is resilient. Our people are strong. Our job is to keep your business connected. Its what weve always done. Its what well always do. Fact. 1. 2 million confirmed cases, and most states are open across the country. Rhode island and nevada leveling their stayathome orders while implementing new restrictions. As of this weekend nearly every state has eased restrictions in some way. As cunning across the globe begin to lift lockdowns, more on how to avoid a resurgence. We issue guidance to tuning to tell them you need to do these steps. You need you need to be able to test, treat and isolate. New developments today on at case of coronavirus, this at the white house. Katie miller, press secretary for Vice President pence, tested positive for the virus on friday, making her the Second Administration staffer known to have become infected this week. California governor gavin newsom has signed an executive order allowing all voters to receive a mailin ballot. This makes california the first state to alter voting plans. The governor 5ds walkin voting will be available, but voters wont have to choose between safety concerns and voting. Weve got a team of reporters and analysts ready to break down todays headlines. First to gadi schwartz. Hes in los angeles for us. I know youre at a flower market, apparently business has resumed just in time for mother hayes day, so business should be hopping today. Is it business as usual . Its not business as usual at all. This is part of whats supposed to be the slow reopening of certain parts of californias commission. However, theres nothing slow about what were seeing today, this is the california flower mall, just one of the many assistants here. You have dozens of these smaller flower stands i inside. Its parked with people. Security is making sure that everybody is Wearing Masks, and weve seen enforcement officers. Theyre not able to enforce social distancing. Theyre just trying to make sure that everybody they see is wearing a market. As you can see, this is block after block after block of these flowers. This isnt something that you can just flip a switch and turn back on. Just to talk a bit about the economy here, theres just so much money being lost right now, despite the fact that you see a lot of these flowers being sold to break that down, you take a look at these stands here. This one is about 10,000 worth of rent. The one next to it is about 7,000, 8,000 a month for rent. So for two months theyve been shut down. This one we are looking at right here, these flowers are coming from mostly colombia. They were on the vine last week, or earlier this week. They had just a few days to say those off and get them here. Those flowers are much more expensive that is usual. A lot of these places we are taking while. They have dlos 12,000 of rent so far and they had to throw away 30,000 of inventory that they had of flowers, and basically start from scratch. They are already starting well in the hole. Theyre borrowing money to buy some of these flowers that are at double the prices. Theyre hoping, praying that they can make possibly a third of what they made last year. So despite the fact you see a lot of people here buying flowers for their mother, this is still a stress economic hit t this flower supply chain, this area here in california, in los angeles, accounts for about a billion dollars worth of economic growth. Its a supply chain that stretches all the way up to sacramento, wholesalers down to here, and unfortunately you see a lot of bare shelves where there just arent never flowers to sell. Even though there are big crowds, this is pretty devastating. Alex . I thought it was crazy that i sent my mom flowers and they had to come from ecuador. Youre telling me a lot of those flowers have come from colombia. Its extraordinary this sort of chain from gepgt things from one place to the next. Gadi schwartz, thank you so much for that. Georgia, one of the first states to beagain reopening, there is in data, which shows a spike of travel into that state. The Washington Post reports that smartphone data shows that outofstate visitors flocked from georgia. The businesses, they say there were at least 62,000 more trips daily than in the weeks before the opening. Joining me now once get mayor of atlanta, its really good to see you. We talked about what might be happening in the vajs of the reopening. How about what i just said . , and they extra daily visits into the state of georgia, does it concern you . Well, if you wanted to reopen the economy, youve got it. Now we have visitors coming into our stye and all that entails. It does concern me. You know, alex, there are obviously many people out of work and who need to put food on their tables. Thats one category of people. There are other people who are sick and tired of being in the house. I think thats what i say with our visits to the state. What i appreciated in the last segment is people had on masks. It is frustrating for me, in that we want ive asked the governor to give us permission in atlanta to at least require that people wear masks when they were out in public, and hes not in agreement with that. So we are just continuing to ask people to be responsible, to the extent that you are going out, one, we asked not to go out if you dont have to, but if you are, please wear a marv and be considerable of other peoples health. Can you tell me what Governor Kemp hayes said . How does he justify that . Well, i think hes lookeds at what happened to other places across the country. Its just not something he wants to allow us to do, which again, the irony at the beginning of the pandemic, the governor deferred much to local control and leadership in making decisions based on the needs of our communities, but his order to lift the restrictions made it equally clear that there would be no local control and leadership. So were seeing spikes in our state, obviously there are concerns in atlanta because of our dense population. Northeast georgia in gainesville, theres a very big spike. They are still struggling in southwest georgia, in albany. I know as a mayor, and i speak for other mayors that we cant put in measures that would be appropriate to respond to where our communities are. So youre saying that the governor may not be paying or adhering superclose attention to a state or local criteria, but how about federal criteria . Did georgia meet any of that criteria for the faces of reopening . We did not and have not. We have not experienced that in our state as a whole. In fact, we are seeing spikes in some areas. I was looking at the numbers that came out at noon today. To the extent weve had any drop in our numbers, i believe it was because we took very aggressive measures in and around atlanta to socially distance. It concerns me greatly that people are out and about as if its business as usual, and thats not the reality of where we are with covid19 is there a plan in place in atlanta, your city, even across the state, to address a possible resurgent of covid cases . Alex, its interesting, in talking with the Restaurant Owner who owns several restaurants in the atlanta area, what he shared with me would be most devastating for his big would be to open and then have to shut back down again in response to a surge. In its effort to help businesses, in so many ways we are hurting businesses. I think theres a more thoughtful way we could have gone about this. When you look at california and hear Governor Newsom say that one of their community spreads came from a nail salon, i dont think we should be opening our state with they closecontact areas. I think we cant have been more thoughtful in eason restrictions and opening businesses where it is possible to socially distance and where people have access to ppe. We are where we are now. I understand where people are eager to get back to work for a number of reasons, but we certainly need to be thoughtful and considerate. We wont know for another two weeks, probably, how this experiment, this Public Health experiment is impacting our state as a whole. Well, for my observation, mayor of atlanta, i hope your voice is able to rise above that of your states governor. Thanks for your time. Were going to the white house, where two aides there have tested positive. Monica alba joins us once again. The white house, there any sense of urgency to take measures . Reporter absolutely. We are now months to the krein pandemic, but for the first time the white house is taking an active approach to invaunveil people. Theyre asking them to wear face coverings. There would more frequent, deep cleaning of these areas. One was a president s valet, and the other was the press secretary for Vice President pence. Theyre going to start Contact Tracing for some of the white house officials who may have come into contact and need to monitor any symptoms. Something else thats notable is the concept of daily testing for the president , the Vice President and about a dozen aides who spend a lot of time with both of them. Thats how they were able to tell that the press secretary was positive. A report was issued that nearly a dozen secret service may be infected with more quarantined. A spokesman said they dont want to disclose how many of their employees are at the time infected with the virus, but there are some who are. Will we see them Going Forward wearing face coverings . Thats the expectation, but telling with white house officials, aides and staffers here, its very rare to see any of them wearing the masks despite that cdc guidance, which is weeks and weeks old. We have seen it from many other government officials, at least not on a consistent basis. Perhaps thats because the guidance comes from the stop occupant of the white house. Social distancing at the casino . The path forward for one of the nevadas big moneymakers. E nevadas big moneymakers. This virus is testing all of us. And its testing the people on the front lines of this fight most of all. So abbott is getting new tests into their hands, delivering the critical results they need. And until this fight is over, we. Will. Never. Quit. Because they never quit. New today, president obama in an apparent private phone call with alous, launching a farranging attack on the Trump Administration, including the decision to drop charges against Michael Flynn. Lets take a listen. The news over the last 24 hours i think has been somewhat downplayed about the Justice Department dropping charges against Michael Flynn, and the fact that there is no precedent that anybody can find for someone whos been charged with perjury, just getting off scott treat. Thats the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that basic not just institutional norms, but our basic understanding of rule of law is is at risk. My colleague, nbcs mike memoli has more on this story. What more can you tell you about this call . Yeah, alex, i think whats so fascinating about this is youve seen it so often in the last three years, especially among democrats, about where is president obama . Why isnt he speaking out . At a time when democrats are so frustrated with what theyre seeing in the white house and they feel like his voice could be a powerful edification of what democrats are fighting for, especially those in congress right now what this audio is from, is from a Conference Call that the former president took part in with a Large Network of his alumnae. You heard him talk there about the flynn case. He also spoke at length about his concerns about how the Trump Administration is handling the coronavirus. He called it an absolute chaotic disaster. He also used this call, though, as sort of a rallying point to get his alum nice, his former staff behind joe biden, but its not enough to win back the white house. They also have to do everything they can to win back the senate and the house. Thats the best way to get the country back on track as we continue the economic fallout form of coronavirus crisis. Its interesting, all those who participated in the daal. Our understanding is there were thousands who did participate wait, what, thousands . Are you kidding . I didnt think it was thousands. Thousands were able to participate. And there was a waiting list. Not everybody could get on, but one of things he talked about as well is his concern about what were seeing in the politics. He said one of hess concerns about President Trump being reelected, that this country, thats always been about a melting pot would be permanently set back by the us versus them mentality pushed by the Trump Administration. He tacked about what his concerns are about sort of technology and the role it plays in politics today. He talked about the fact that hes spending a lot of time at home, and he daughters are showing these tiktoks, viral videos primarilily duties dirging line voters to not vote for joe biden. Part of what he wanted them to focus on is to find solutions for these problems in the future and to help joe biden. He repeatedly distressed that. Let me read a line from him. This is from the transcript you helped provide were going to be battling. Its not just a particular individual or a political party. What we are fighting against is these longterm trends in which being selfish, tribal and being divided and seeing others as an enemy. Thats become a stronger impulse and were seeing that internationally as will, which is sobering to be hearing. Mike memoli, keep up the great reporting. Come see me again. Joining mess is congressman horsford. Your reaction to what we heard, and the last quote i gave from the phone calls. First and foremost, thank you for having me back up. I also want to extend my condolences to the Ahmaud Arbury family on his birthday weekend. I think thats what president obama was speaking about there. We have a lot of inequities, we have Health Disparities and injustices, and we cannot allow this time, this moment. I second your sentiments there. Well talk about that in a bit. Let me turn your attention to tara reade. She is now responding on camera to bidens emphatic denial. Lets take a listen to that. I handed him the bag, and it happened very quickly. I remember i remember being pushed up against the wall. He had his hands, um, under neath my clothes, and it happened all at once. If he happens, what do you want to say to him . I want to say, you and i were there, joe biden, please step forward and be held accountable. You should not be running on character for the president of the United States. So you endorsed joe biden. That happened back in february before these allegations from tara reade surfaced and became widely known. Does he still have your support . I support joe biden, because i believe that he is a man of character, and he is a man who has been vetted. I understand that these allegations have come forward, and the Vice President has called for any information that is out there or that information to be investigated and to be looked into. We have allowed the person, the accuser in this case to have her vote heard, and make sure if there is information, that that information is investigated. What do you tell americans . What do you want them to watch in this back and forth as it all unfolds . What do you want them to focus on . The fact that we have that hes not fit to serve in any respect. Not fit to serve from the standpoint of character, he is not fit to serve from rising of this pandemic, this Public Health crisis. He is not fit to serve to help us come out of the this crisis in a way that will bring or nation together. One thing is clear, we do not have afford four more years of a donald Trump Presidency. As today begins phase one of nevadas plan. You have restaurants, salons, other nonessential business. They can open, though there are very strict social distancing requirements . How about your district . Is it ready to reopen . I want to commend the governor and local officials who have worked tirelessly over the last few weeks. These face one. It does not include casinos. Those were come in later phases. Were beginning the type and Retail Service companies that can start with very extreme conditions in place for that social distancing, for precautions being in place. I want to ensure that first and foremost the workers are protected. I want us to build confidence, and that for us to be able to recover, not only do we have to reopen we have to stay open. And make sure people feel confident and safe. We need testing and tracking. Thats why i have looked at the federal level to secure funding and bring those resources to our social officials. Spot on as to what we need there. Nevada democratic congressman horsford, thank you. Not if, but when. How experts are preparing for a second wave the Coronavirus Infections as states across the country loosing up restrictions. Checking out tonight, you can catch the unicef wont stop event, with music and virtual response. Watch it streamed exclusively on nbcnews. Com. Nbcnews. Com. 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. So were working 24 7 toected maintain a reliable network, to meet your growing internet needs. Were helping customers who are experiencing Financial Difficulties stay connected. Were increasing internet speeds for low income families in our internet essentials program. And delivering selfinstall kits to your door. Nos comprometemos a mantenerte conectado. Were committed to keeping you connected. For more information on how you can stay connected, visit xfinity. Com prepare. Here are some headlines we are following for you. The south korean government is reportedly asking all bars, clubs and other social venues to close for one month over fears of a second wave. It has seen a new cluster of cases. There are now more than 10,000 confirmed cases in south korea. Legendary las vegas performer roy horn of siegfried and roy has passed away. They were famous for that you are magical act. Horn even survived a tiger attack on stage. He was 75 years old. From there to singapore, where officials are using this caninelike robot named spot to remind park gooers to practice social distancing. It estimates crowd sizes, and also has a speak, telling people to stay apart. It may be used to help reduce the number of humans to patrol the park. The blue angels hills the flyover. Its coordinated several flyovers and say there are more planned. So well bring you more video, too. Its so cool. The pandemic has hit the job market pretty hard. Joining any some the maran hotel in houston, priscilla thompson, welcome. An understatement to say that the travel industry has been hit hard. Apparently travel spending has been increased a bit, but the future, it looks different right now. What are we expecting here . Reporter alex, thats certainly a sign of hope for many hotel owners. Here, im in city center, which is a very busy area in houston typically. Its beginning to come back to life with the restaurants and shops beginning to reopen. The hotel owner is hoping to capitalize on that also. There was a new study that came out that showed over the course of the next six months, those folks who are planning to travel are looking to take road trips. They want to visit family and friends, and also to take vacations and get aways. That is going to be huge in a place like texas where you have a number of major cities, all in a couple miles and thats what this hotel is looking for. It will look different as you mentioned for one, the fool is only going to be able to accommodate around eight people. They want to promote that social distancing. Youll also know that the mini bar is no longer present in a lot of rooms, and employees will wear masks. The general manager tells me that it will also feel a bit different. Take a listen to what he said. There are signs everywhere, you know, please stay six feet apart. We have a sign that allows you dont come close to me, if not very inviting, being in the hotel industry, but there are things we have to do to make sure the virus doesnt continue. Reporter and so in addition to promoting that safety, the manager here tells me hes also looking to partner with these restaurants and shops to try to create staycation packages. Thank you so much, priscilla. As countries across the globe begin to lift lockdowns, is the World Health Organization is speaking. Were about a year and a half away from a vaccine. Theres also a number of trials on different therapeutics to see if any of that can work. But before we get to the solution, we have to be careful and make sure that we dont go back to very traumatic experience of a lockout that many countries experienced. Joining mess is dr. John torres. Always good to see you. Your reaction to what the w. H. O. Spokesperson said there, and how do we he deal with a possible resurgence . Hes saying once we start opening society, well have another wave of cases come up. Then when the fall comes, we expect even momp, because we think coronavirus will come back stronger than this summer. Theyre typically multiyear events. This is not something that will happen the next few months. Even with a vaccine well have to be very careful. When you hear about states opening up, communities opening up, you still need to be careful. This is not carte blanche. Social distancing will be one of the biggest keys, plus listening to the Public Health experts, because its kind of what were talking about earlier, where were saying, okay, earlier one of to shut thing down, the main goal here is to keep them under control, and want to make sure theyre not happening to a big degree. So, look, were reopening the states. Are you worried about an accelerated timeline that way . That were going to invite a resurgen resurgence . You know, its concerning, because some of the states are reopening and they havent met that criteria where a lot of experts have been talking about, the 14 days of continuing decline, plus we know that testing isnt necessarily where it should be right now. Theres four cornerstones to reopening. One of those is the testing part. If you look at the harvard study, a lot of areas are not even close to it. There are some states that are doing well, but theyre mostly rural states. If you look at new york city, for example, right now about 22,000 cases a day, theyre saying they need in excess of 100,000. Florida needs about 24,000. Compare compare that to utack where they have 3,000 testings a day, they only need about 2,000, theyre doing better. But again, most of the states arent there. If they cant test, they cant contact trace, they cant quarantine the people that are infected. Let me have you take a look out of a study out of northwestern, suggesting a correlation with a vitamin d distinguishes, and coronavirus mortality rates, finding those who are deficient are twice as likely to experience severe complications, including death, what do you make of that, dr. Torres . Is there anything that people can do to boost their immunity . Do you suggest that people start popping supplements . I certainty dont suggest that. At this point its too early to say you need that. They have a saying its correlation without causation. Were seeing a connection here, but we dont know if one is causing the other. They did find out in some countries, cunning with more darkskinned people, they had higher death rates from covid19, more optizations because of cases, and what tier saying it that it seems to be correlated with low levels of vitamin d, but they dont know much more beyond that. Instead theyre saying get night, ten minutes a day can help, supplements are probably not the big key you need. Thank you, dr. Torres. I know well see you again soon. You best. This is an article from ed killgore comparing the Trump Presidency to the hoover presidency. How similar is President Trumps position right now to that of president Herbert Hoover . Ed kilgore, what an article. You write that republican president s are similar, in that 3w09 came to the white house never serving in the military, never have been elected office, both possessing great personal health, holding themselves in high esteem, but their family backgrounds and their personal character are quite different. Explain the differences. Well, President Trump is a man of great inherited privilege and wealth, you know, who did become a National Celebrity but through a career of real estate and resort development, and then reality television. Herbert hoover was an orphan, very much a selfmade multimillionaire, considered the worlds most brilliant engineer and manager, and he rose to National Celebrity through several extraordinary acts of emergency management. He fed starving europeans early in and after world war i. He was in charge of Food Supplies during world war i. Later as secretary of commerce, he led an enormous relief effort after a huge flood. He became known as the great humanitarian. He was very much a celebrity for Different Reasons than donald trump. Look. That great humanitarian, it made him feel somewhat vulnerable because of the these incredible accomplishments, right . He was worried about an unreasonable expectation for what he could accomplished. Was it only the depression that derailed that president . Its hard to tell. We didnt have that much Public Opinion Research Back that. The Republican Party had been losing support among farmers and in urban areas where immigrants were beginning to develop political power. It wasnt just the depression. On the other hand, he anticipated that a great calamity could collide with the high expectations. Thats exactly what happened. His management of the Great Depression really in the last 3 1 2 years of his presidency, made him totally nonreelectable. I think even he understood that. In fact he coined the phrase the agreGreat Depression and write the political makeup was not the same for 30 years after fdr beat him. There was a New York Times piece, ed, which says republicans are getting neverous that trump could sink the presidency and the senate. If history is our guide, ed, with a potential joe biden win, how long might be it take for the gop to recover . Well, its really hard to tell. The president s Approval Rating has mediocre throughout his presidency. Its lower than that of people who normally get reelected, but his Approval Rating for managing the economy has actually been higher, and has sort of sustained him. Today it remains that high with unemployment rising as of yesterday, and no realty end in sight to economic calamity, its hard to imagine he will keep getting the high grades as an economic manager, even though nobody blames him for the pandemic itself. But right now hes in some serious trouble and so is his party, which is in danger of losing drocontrol of the senate along with the white house. I wouldnt predict a 30year drought for republicans if that does happen. The American People are a bit more polarized between parties right now, so party liegeance is more stable than it was then, and on top of that, you know, theres certain builtin strengths represents have in the senate and the Electoral College which make it possible for them to be more powerful than their popular support. It was a great article, ed kilgoerp. I love the history lesson. Thank you so much. Anytime. Breaking news this hour. The world of music has lost a legend. Little richard has died. His Attorney Says he passed away this morning in tennessee of bone cancer. Little Richard Broke musical barriers with hess shrieks, flamboyant costumes and genderbending heres the report. Reporter Little Richard was the wakeup call. My friends thought i was crazy. My friends thought i was a kook. Reporter the flams boyian piano player brought a wailing energy that brought a new sound for 1950s america, so new one of his biggest hits was banned for its suggestive lyrics. They didnt want the white kids to listen to black music. Reporter his popularity crossed racial lines, fueling a string of hits in 1956. Just a year later, he abruptly walked away, denouncing rock and roll as the devils tool. He became a preacher. But Little Richard changed his tune five years later, back with more hits, inspiring other artists, including upandcoming band, the beatles. He loves that. Reporter Little Richard also earned a start on the hollywood walk of fame. Im blessed. I stood the test. Reporter that included cocaine addiction, and a neardeath car accident. He continued to perform into his late 7 ons. Embellishing a legacy that made him one of the pioneers of rock and roll. Mark mark barring barger, nbc news. We hope you find our Digital Solutions helpful to bank safely from home. Deposit a check with your phone or tablet. Check balances, pay bills, transfer money and more. Send money to people you know and trust with zelle. Stay safe. Stay home. Together, well get through this. Pnc bank a. New fallout in the killing of ahmed ar bhmed ar bury. Only after video went vire of the shooting of arbury. Today the president of georgias naaccp calling on the prosecutors who declined perjure, to step down. The fact that an arrest was only made two days ago, its telling that the District Attorney there in brunswick and District Attorney who has you all shared believe this was justified, both need to resign immediately. The entire world saw what both the District Attorney in brunswick and across the judicial districts had all along. They had the video from day one. Marc morial joins me, author of the book the gumbo coalition. Big congrats on that. Thank you, alex. Im so glad youre here. I want your reaction. Its par for the course and demonstrates a level of misfeasance and corruption in the prosecutorial system, where there seemed to be a stretch to protect these two men for any accountability for a coldblooded murder. The tape tells a story, and because we have the video, we have a sense and we know clearly what the truth was. This young man should not have died. This was a coldblooded murder. I dont think we can be satisfied until these two men are held accountable. That means fully prosecuted for murder, and let the Justice System do its job, but once again, we see one of these instances where the Justice System cements to have failed us, failed in Holding Someone accountable for killing an innocent, unarmed black man. How is this still happening in 2020 . It should not be happening in 2020. Until people like those two men are held accountable and fully prosecuted, and the jury does its job and they mete their sentence as propose under georgia law, it would continue to happen. Its the issue of accountability that raises us to protest, raises us to speak out. Theres a problem with the system. These District Attorneys, who had this case and literally sought to cover it up they need to be fully investigated. Its clear and my sense is if you look farther, you may find more cases like this. So transparency, continued attention, continued outrage i think is what is necessary. Covid19, the impact on the black community, my friend, overall with regard to those who become sick with it, those who have become unimplode as a result of this pandemic. Interestingly we mardy Governor Cuomo in particular talking it using the crisis to shrink these disparities. Is it realistic . Do you have steps to achieve that . Hopefully there will be some will coming out of covid where we see the Health Disparities and economic disparities to not just say hohum or acknowledge them or say, lets have a conversation. No, with you need more than a conversation. We need action. As the Public Health system is bills, i the quote unquote want to make sure and we should make sure that the system is not put together as it was before, that at this time put together with an eye toward equities. Theres many neighborhoods and counties where theres no access to a figures, no access to a hospital, no access to Health Care Even after the Affordable Care act. We have huge gaps in the system. Those gaps need to be fixed and repaired once and for all. Look, this new book of yours, you talk about the strategy of diversity and inclusion based on your time as mayor, the lessons you learned, as mayor of new orlean orleans. Tell me what the books shares that is relevant. I share leadership lessons. We talk about the necessity of having a plan. We talked about when you should modify that plan. We talk about what to do when youre faced with a surprise, when persistence is important. And i talk about my battle to bring the National Basketball association to new orleans, fights against violence, fights against the gun industry. I talk about the relationship between africanamerican leaders and president obama in the early days of his administration. So i think its an interesting book for people who are interested in leadership. And i tell some stories from my life and i hope people will enjoy it, but theyll be educated by it. Its meant to inspire and educate and it was a labor of love to put this book together. Always great to be with you. You always inspire and educate. Thank you so much for your time and i hope you have huge success with that book. Thank you so much. A whistleblower speaks out about the Trump Administrations Pandemic Response and asks what if. I came across sofi and it was the best decision of my life. I feel cared about as a member. Were getting a super competitive Interest Rate on our money. Were able to invest through the same exact platform. I really liked that they didnt have any hidden or extra fees. Sofi has brought me peace of mind. Truly thank you for helping me prepare for whatever the future has in store. Did you know prilosec otc can stobefore it begins . Urn heartburn happens when stomach acid refluxes into the esophagus. Prilosec otc uses a unique delayedrelease formula that helps it pass through the tough stomach acid. It then works to turn down acid production, blocking heartburn at the source. With just one pill a day, you get 24hour heartburn protection. Prilosec otc. One pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. We see too many doctors and nurses now dying and i was thinking that we could have done more to get masks and supplies to them sooner, and if we had, would they still be alive. Dr. Rick bright getting a bit choked up while criticizing the Trump Administrations slow response to the pandemic. Dr. Bright recently led barda, an agency created to defend this country against outbreaks. Earlier this week he filed a whistleblower complaint alleging he was removed from his post for pushing back against the administrations embrace of hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment. And then on friday a federal agency found reasonable grounds to believe the Trump Administration was retaliating against bright. With me now, adrian elrod, former Senior Adviser to Hillary Clintons complain. We are hoping to be joined by jonathan lamere, msnbc political analyst. I had to bring the two of you on together, because i read the most recent article and you quote adrian at the end of it. Jonathan, as long as we have you here, what message does this send to Health Experts surrounding the president , even if the science does not back up the administrations claims . We had a little synergy in that piece today. What we have seen here is the president and the people around him have relentlessly in the last few weeks really tried to turn the focus away from the Public Health crisis and move it far more towards the economy. They believe that restarting this economy is the best and perhaps only way for the president to win a second term this november. Hes been urging states to move forward and certainly the Economic Data we saw yesterday, the historically high unemployment rates and extraordinary number of jobs lost, will not be easy for him to overcome. So anything along the lines, you know, the guidelines that my clogs at the ap obtained and were then shelved, its in part because of the deemphasis. They dont want the conversation to be about the health crisis, even though we see the rate of infections still going up across the country. Certainly people will not necessarily feel comfortable without widespread testing of going back into society, the workforce and schools and so on. But thats not what the president and his team want to focus on right now. As we think about what dr. Bright said, he had such emotion in his voice. You heard it. How he believes that in this instance here that all these experts that are surrounding this president , that they are not using that the administration is not relying on the science to deal with this Public Health pandemic. Yeah, its so disturbing and weve seen a number of Public Servants since the beginning of the Trump Administration who have left either because theyve been fired, compromised. Theres been a major brain drain is what we call it when you have such lack of experienced Public Servants and weve seen a number of whistleblowers who have come forward and been punished as a result. So that is one of the reasons why, alex, this pandemic spread so fast, because we dont have a lot of the experts that we had under the Obama Administration, under the bush administration, the two previous administrations dealing with this crisis. Thank goodness for dr. Fauci, but we have seen a drain in people with true experience in terms of how to deal with this, the American People see that and i think thats one of the reasons why trumps numbers have sunk so low. And to that point, jonathan, your latest piece, upends trumps reelection bid. Talk about the concerns that way for the white house. Sure. Just a few months ago this president thought he was going to be reentering his Reelection Campaign on the back of a robust economy. They thought they would have an the field, potentially joe biden, and they felt that they were going to be able to point to, you know, the strong economy, not in all sectors of american life, but in many, and be able to center his whole Campaign Around that. And instead its been the exact opposite. We have seen a cratering of the economy much faster than in the Great Depression. And it has certainly impacted we know his approval rate among seniors and africanamericans has slipped. He was trying to make a play for that support. But in particular the unemployment rates, the job crisis has hit hardest in a number of those battleground states he needs to win, pennsylvania, michigan, florida. Does this mean that joe biden has an opening on the economy if it stays as is . Yeah, hes had an opening on this for a while. But i find of kind of ironic that trump wants to focus more on the economy and less on the pandemic, given the fact that one in seven are unemployed and we see the number growing. But joe biden has got a lot of opportunities and i think youre going to see him capitalize on those in the months ahead. Thanks, guys. Thats a wrap for me as well this hour. Im alex witt. Thank you for watching. At the top of the hour, Alicia Menendez will talk about transportation workers who feel more expendable than essential. Thats ahead at 2 00 eastern on msnbc. Snacking should be sweet and simple. The delicious taste of glucerna gives you the sweetness you crave while helping you manage your blood sugar. With nutrients to help support immune health. With nutrients to help around here, nobody ever does it. I didnt do it. So when i heard they added ultra oxi to the cleaning power of tide, it was just what we needed. Dad . I didnt do it. 1 stain and odor fighter, 1 trusted. Its got to be tide. And i live in san francisco, california. I have been a sales and Sales Management professional my whole career. Typical day during a work week is im working but first always going for a run or going to the gym. I love reading. I love cooking healthy. Its super important to me. I was noticing that i was just having some memory loss. It was really bothering me. So i tried prevagen and it started to work for me. I wish i had taken prevagen five or ten years ago. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Hello. Im Alicia Menendez. Were following breaking news this hour. Theres new leaked audio of president obama criticizing the Trump Administration over their handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The criticism came on a Conference Call held with former Obama Administration staffers. Joining me now is