Bombshell accusations. A key government scientist claiming he was pushed out of his job in the middle of the pandemic because he pushed back against the antima lar i cant drug touted by President Trump. What the white house is saying this morning. Pets and covid. For the first time in the u. S. Two house cats testing positive for coronavirus and seven new tigers and lions infected at the bronx zoo. What the cdc is saying about animals and the virus. The count down to the nfl draft. Commissioner Roger Goodell joins us live this morning. And legends banding ther. From bon jovi to tony be nnnett and the boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. The star tstudded jersey for jersey benefit rocking out to raise moan for their home state. Good morning, america. Robin were seeing so many frontline workers support each other every single day. We really are. New york hit so hard by the pandemic. The nypd paying tribute to the Health Care Heros who volunteered to help out at new york city from all oefrp the over the country. Appreciative of each and every one of them, george. Boy, we sure are, robin. You see heroes cheering heroes right there and right now, more than 76,000 people have recovered in the united states. Across the country there are now more than 840,000 confirmed cases. On the economic front millions more unemployment claims released today and the house expected to vote on the latest nearly 500 billion relief package. Robin . But first, we want to get to that breaking news, george. Tornado warnings right now, and a trail of destruction in the south. Take a look at this footage out of oklahoma. Thats just one of the dozens of twisters touching down across four states. Marcus moore is north of houston with more. Good morning, marcus. Reporter well, robin, good morning. You can see what one of these twisters did to this building here in texas. The winds powerful enough to tear away the roof and knock down this wall. Overnight the urgent effort to rescue people trapped in their homes. This morning, six dead and Dozens Injured in the south after an outbreak of 26 reported tornadoes left a trail of destruction across four states. We have had a large tornado. We got major damage and i do smell gas. We got ter in oklahoma, this twister ripping through buildings, sending debris flying. Officials co confirming at leas two people died. Video capturing the moment one touched the ground and immediately growing in size. Strong winds flipping this tractor trailer completely on its side. We need chainsaws, rescue trucks. We have had a tornado touch down. Reporter in polk county, texas where three people were killed, total devastation. It was like a roaring train. It happened so quick i didnt have time to hide or do anything. Reporter the storm Strong Enough to uproot this massive tree. The wind was blowing so strong it blew part of my back porch down and we ran into the m rorter kipobus tide of his home. S w down inside our sons closet downstairs you could hear the shingles coming off and things hitting our house. Reporter the storms bringinl in louisiana, a man was swept away and killed. These storms hitting as many people are under a shelter in place order because of the covid19 pandemic. The storm did cross over the state line into louisiana, even damaging a part of a university there, a place that would ordinarily be packed with students, but many are not on campus because of the pandemic. Amy . Well, thank goodness for that, and unfortunately, marcus moore, thank you for that. The Severe Weather threat is on the move this morning. Lets go to ginger who has been tracking those tornadoes through the night. Good morning, ginger. Reporter good morning, amy. Anyone in southern alabama, the Florida Panhandle and southern alert. These storms are still moving through. That is an ugly radar with a tornado watch that includes pensacola, destin, dothan all the way back to even far eastern louisiana. Now, this line of storms is just the first of the day, right . This comes along and then the atmosphere has a chance to stabilize and then destabilize again, so the threat includes that same area all the way over to charleston. I want you to watch for primarily damaging winds, but a tornado possible too. Michael . Thank you, ginger. Turning now to other top story, the fight against coronavirus. As part of the country plans to get back to business, a new poll out finds 80 of americans support strict stayathome measures agreeing theyre worth it to protect people and limit the spread. Eva pilgrim is tracking all the latest as the government weighs in on the dangers of a second wave. Good morning, eva. Reporter good morning, michael. It doesnt matter where you live. Everyone is feeling the effects of this virus. Lines at food banks like this one all across the country are long. This as the debate about what to do next heats up. This morning, President Trump insisting if coronavirus comes back in the fall, it wont be as bad as what were currently fighting. In my opinion, from everything ive seen, it can never be like anything that weve witnessed right now. Reporter but the president s comments at odds with Top White House coronavirus advisers. Wouldnt you say theres a good chance that covid wont come back . We dont know. We will have coronavirus in the fall. Reporter the president also trying to walk back the head of the cdcs warning about a second wave of the virus next fall claiming it was fake news. Totally misquoted. I spoke to him. He said it was ridiculous. He was talking about the flu and corona coming together at the same time. Reporter bringing redfield to the podium to clarify. I didnt say that this was going to be worse. I said it was going to be more difficult and potentially complicated because well have flu and coronavirus circulating at the same time. Reporter but redfield asked directly if he was misquoted. Im sorry, but that quote that i just read was accurate, right, sir . Im accurately quoted in the reporter this as authorities are investigating if the coronavirus was here in the u. S. Earlier than initially reported. Authorities determining two people in santa clara, california, died weeks before the first reported american death in late february. Family members tell the l. A. Times 57yearold Patricia Dowd became unusually sick in late january with flulike symptoms but then seemed to be doing better. She was working from home when her daughter found her dead on february 6th. At the time, they thought it was a heart attack. Weve actually directed beyond just santa clara, go bac coroners autopsies to dig deeper. Reporter as the curve looks to be flattening, in new york its still a daily struggle between life and death. Its been a nightmare. In one shift i pronounced six people dead. Reporter the Associated Press taking a look inside st. Josephs medical center, a nurse frantically pumping a mans chest until that jolt to the mans heart. Hes revived and put on a ventilator. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announcing wednesday hes building a tracing army working with former new york city mayor billionaire michael bloomberg, Johns Hopkins university and the governors of new jersey and connecticut to hire socalled contact tracers, disease detectives to track down and isolate people who have come into contact with covid19 positive people. We have to put together a significant operation because the numbers get very big very quickly here. Reporter this as the heated debate about whether plans to reopen are moving too fast is boiling. In Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is standing by his decision to open places like gyms, tattoo parlors and bowling alleys tomorrow. If people dont want to go, martha, they dont have to. Reporter a decision that President Trump disagrees with. Meanwhile, californias governor, gavi large sectors of the economy. The shutdowns hitting businesses and families hard. Record unemployment claims, lines growing for assistance. The airport in pittsburgh hosting a food drive and food Bank Officials say they gave out more than 40,000 pounds of food to more than 800 families. And we know people are struggling. More than 4. 4 million applied for unemployment. That brings the total to more than 26 million out of work. George . Yeah, that bad news comes every week. Eva, thanks very much. We move to that bombshell accusation from a Top Administration official who was overseeing the development of vaccines for coronavirus. Dr. Rick bright charges he was removed from his job for pushing back against the antimalarial drug touted by President Trump warning it was unsafe, unproven and could put lives at risk. Terry moran is tracking this developing story. Good morning, terry. Reporter good morning, george. For weeks, President Trump and some top conservative media hosts were calling this drug, hydroxychloroquine, a potential game changer and touting it in the fight against coronavirus. The evidence was inconclusive and now this key government scientist says he was removed from his post because he wouldnt climb on the president s bandwagon. This morning, dr. Rick bright who led the key federal agency thats developing drugs into vaccine to fight the coronavirus is out of his job, and hes speaking out. Bright says he was removed from his post because he claims he insisted on rigorous sciencebased vetting of hydroxychloroquine, the antimalarial drug embraced by President Trump. It could be a game changer. Very powerful. What do you have to lose . Its been out there for a long time. Reporter dr. Bright in a Statement Released after being transferred to another agency declared, i am speaking out because to combat this deadly virus, science, not politics or cronyism, has to lead the way. Late wednesday dr. Anthony fauci denied there was any pushback against brights removal within his organization, the National Institutes of health. So you dont feel like theres any concern among people at the nih right now or in the Public Health community . In the nih, absolutely not. Reporter as for President Trump, he says he didnt even know dr. Bright. He says he has been pushed out of his job because he raised questions about hydroxychloroquine and some of your directives. I never heard of him. If the guy says he was pushed out of a job, maybe he was. Maybe he wasnt. Id have to hear the other side. I dont know who he is. Reporter bright says he defied directives to push the drug saying it was being promoted by the administration as a panacea in an approach that he says clearly lacked scientific merit, but the department of health and Human Services now claims it was dr. Bright who pushed to make hydroxychloroquine available for fighting covid19 requesting an emergency use authorization from the fda for the drug. Its important to note scientists around the world have used this drug on some patients and believe in it, but the science is not in. The Veterans Administration tried it on many patients. Researchers there found that it may actuallyncase the death rate so the science continues. President trump and those conservative media hosts, theyve gone quiet on it. George . Important to follow the science. Okay, terry, thanks very much. Robin . Now to the new report finding strokes in young coronavirus patients who previously were showing mild or no symptoms from the virus. Gio benitez is outside the hospital in new york where Doctors First noticed the alarming trend. Good morning, gio. Reporter hey, robin, good morning to you. The doctor here at mt. Sinai says some of these patients waited too long to come to the hospital because they were afraid of going in. Now this morning he is sounding the alarm. This morning, a disturbing observation, doctors seeing strokes in young patients infected with the novel coronavirus. Whats worse, these were people quarantining at home, most with mild symptoms. These patients were all in their 30s and 40s. Two had no underlying conditions. These are not particularly sick patients. Reporter neurologist dr. Thomas oxley is behind a case report to be published in the new england journal of medicine which called it an urgent communication. An effort to rapidly notify the medical community of these findings. He and his colleagues at mt. Sinai in new york saw five covid19 patients over the course of two weeks who were under age 50 presenting with strokes at the hospital. When did you start noticing that blood clots were an issue . I did one of these procedures weeks ago, and it was in a young patient with no past history who had been at home with covid, and so that struck me as unusual, and then we saw a run of patients in the same category. Reporter strokes are caused by blood clots. Chinese doctors have reported clotting among Covid Patients and now american doctors too. 49yearold Michael Reagan thought he was recovering from covid19, but scans of his lungs showed multiple blood clots. So you were feeling pain in your lungs . Yes, intense pain like i would imagine a heart attack would be like. I am in my 40s. I have run marathons. I was a yoga instructor, vegan and if i can get this ill from r, anybody can. Sinai making the decision to treat as many patients as they can with high dose blood thinners before they even see evidence of clotting. Now, needless to say more research is needed but the doctor says that if you have any symptoms of a stroke so thats arm weakness, facial droop, speech disturbance, call 911 right away. Amy and michael . Yes, so important, gio. Thank you. This is very scary to hear and see. And so lets check in with dr. Jennifer ashton for some Expert Opinion about this. So how concerning are these findings to you, dr. Jen . Well, amy, its painting a picture of some of these critically ill Covid Patients as being incredibly sick and challenging to take care of. They are showing features that are perplexing and atypical in viral illness, that people are still trying to make sense of and, remember, its not just stroke. When you talk about neurologic effects, data out of china suggested things like headache, seizure, dizziness, loss of smell and taste seen in as many as 36 of covid19 patients presenting to the hospital. And, doc, throughout all throughout this pandemic we hear people with underlying conditions fall more seriously ill from coronavirus. But now there is a study proving it. Exactly, just released last night, michael, in jama, the largest u. S. Clinical case series, almost 6,000 patients in new york state showing and take a look at these numbers. Those admitted to the hospital definitely more high risk. 57 of them came in with a preexisting diagnosis of high blood pressure, hypertension, 41 with obesity and 34 with type 2 diabetes making them much more high risk for complications. And, dr. Jen, important to note, you have been reporting that covid19 has the potential of impacting the entire body, correct . Thats right. Literally head to toe, amy brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, intestinal tract, skin, we are seeing head to toe manifestations and so far this virus really looking like a bad actor. All right. Dr. Jen ashton, we appreciate it. We really do. In the midst of this, today is dr. Jens birthday, everybody. Happy birthday. Happy birthday, doc. Thank you for sharing your birthday. Thank you, guys. Thank you, doc. We are following a lot of other headlines this morning including two house cats mysteriously testing positive for coronavirus and seven more big cats infected at the bronx zoo. And the nfl draft starts tonight going virtual for the first time ever. Commissioner Roger Goodell is going to join us live from draft headquarters which now is his basement. There he is. But first, lets go back to ginger at her headquarters. Is it your basement as well, ging . Reporter it sure is my basement, but im not doing an nfl draft. Im doing flash flooding. We showed you the tornado threat this morning and in louisiana, it gives us the indication we could see three to six inches of rain with this. Flash flooding a certain possibility. As that warm front lifts through, youre going to see it. Right now its happening mississippi through alabama, and through the day as it pushes east all the way to south carolina, were concerned about high levels of water with this. Your local weather in just 30 second, first the summerlike cities sponsored by audible. The firststststststststststststt stay right there. Well be right back. Technology response on teams. Ning our co9 teams has given us the possibility to continue to innovate. To continue business, and to react and to decide action. Bringing up video visits and accomplishing 14,000 visits in a matter of a few weeks. Loreal since the first day has decided to convert its facilities to produce hand sanitizer. I can bring them in, i can actually share my screen and show the xrays. 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