at philof cream cheese.w what makes the perfect schmear you need only the freshest milk and cream. that one! and the world's best, and possibly only, schmelier. philadelphia. schmear perfection. for the first time in its history, the nation's highest court heard oral arguments by phone this morning. as justices are working remotely in light of the coronavirus pandemic. the supreme court considered a federal trademark case today, marking the very first time that an argument before them was also streamed for the public on news outlets and c-span. also happening in washington, the senate returned to capitol hill today, but with significant social distancing measures put in place. senators are encouraged to wear masks and have as many staffers work from home as possible. joining us now with the latest is nbc's garrett haake, live from capitol hill. garrett, i saw that you sort of said good-bye to your home state of texas, which you covered during the first seven weeks or six weeks of the pandemic. and now you're back. first, how'd you get back? what was the flight like, and what's it like there in the nation's capital? >> reporter: the flight was interesting. i couldn't find a direct flight from dallas to dca on a saturday. i took a connecting flight. i had about ten people on the first leg, another eight to ten on the second leg. everybody's wearing a mask. the planes have never been cleaner and people did their best to keep their distance. but it was a pretty surreal experience, particularly in the airports themselves, which are normal, obviously, busy and bustli bustling, and now just feel like you're in an abandoned subway terminal. it was really a bizarre experience getting back. as for the senate, you know, people have -- mondays are weird in the senate, because usually the action takes place late in the afternoon. so i don't want to make too sweeping of pronouncements, but this place is empty, as well. and there is a lot of measures being put in place to keep it that way. you mentioned staff being told to stay home. senators are really only coming up here when they have to vote or come to a committee hearing. it's not like the usual situation where folks are hanging out all day, they're meeting with visitors in their office. there are no visitors. in fact, there are markings outside on the street, telling people who have to go through security exactly how far apart they have to stand on their way in. so we'll get a better sense of it as the week progresses, but it's definitely a brave new world situation up here on capitol hill. >> and with very, very few excepti exceptions, most of the 100 senators would have to take a flight back, a lot of them in their 70s and 80s. were there any health concerns about bringing this group of people back to washington, where the cases are, i think, still pretty high and the toll pretty hefty? >> yeah, absolutely there were. some senators raised those concerns themselves. some senators are not coming back, at least not right away, or at least one that i can think of, not coming back, at least not right away. i talked to john barrasso this morning, the republican senator from wyoming who's a medical doctor himself. he said that he had to fly back on saturday, because it was the only way he could get here from wyoming. that's just the challenge of getting back to d.c. i would point out that he and the staffer who was with him when i saw him were both wearing masks as they were getting around. this is also part of the reason that the senate is back in the house, isn't just the cheer numbers, only a hundred senators, more than four times that in the house. the logistics are a little bit easier. but likewise, the body is a little bit older and therefore a little bit more vulnerable, if they get it wrong. so i think we'll be seeing people, hopefully taking this quite seriously and acting quite carefully around each other, as the week progresses. but again, this is all -- this is all new. you know, we're figuring this out in realtime. the coverage, a lot of it will be pooled. our access to these lawmakers will be limited. i've got my mask in my pocket, if i end up within 10 feet of somebody else, i'm going to pit on. it's just pretty uncharted territory. >> and what are they doing there? is there pressing legislation or was it just this sort of symbolic act of being at work while the country is suffering so greatly? >> well, mcconnell likes to say the senate's in the personnel business. so what they're focusing on this week is confirming nominees. there's one judicial nominee that's going to go through, at least to the judiciary committee later this woke. but there are some other nominees of note. on tuesday, we'll see a hearing for the director of national intelligence nominee, john ratcliffe and a hearing for a nominee to be the inspector general over the pandemic relief fund. so while they're not dealing with legislation, there are elements here that do need to get done to keep a functioning government going. >> garrett haake, it's great to see you. stay safe there in the nation's capital. it's nice to see you back there, too. when we come back, how coronavirus has changed patient care in ways nurses and doctors on the front lines once thought unfathomable. our offices, schools and playgrounds. all those places out there, are now in here. that's why we're still offering fast, free two day shipping on thousands of items. even the big stuff. and doing everything it takes to ensure your safety. so you can make your home everything you need it to be. wayfair. way more than furniture. no uh uh, no way come on, no no n-n-n-no-no only discover has no annual fee on any card. when i get my teeth cleaned, my hsomething like this. she cleans with something like this. it's got a round head. and it's got power. go pro with oral-b. power one on for oral-b's best clean ever. inspired by dentists. oral-b's round brush head surrounds each tooth to remove more plaque 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can do for you. - [female vo] restaurants are facing a crisis. and they're counting on your takeout and delivery orders to make it through. grubhub. together we can help save the restaurants we love. i think, professionally, we all wish we knew to treat this like a marathon and not a sprint. i think we're just starting to see how mentally taxing, physically and emotionally taxing this whole experience is carrying for these patients and i've really tried to take each day by stride, to learn something new every day, and to look for some piece of optimism to keep myself moving forward. >> two months and counting the coronavirus pandemic has not only seriously tested this country's health care system, it's altered patient care and unfathomable ways. in hospitals, where tightened visitation rules eliminate almost all chances for good-byes or any final human connection, all kinds of patients are now dying alone. even non-covid patients. the last thing many of them see, their doctor's hidden behind masks and gloves. as boston medical center neurologist dr. pria tells "the boston globe," quote, in the time of covid-19, i feel farther away from my patients than ever before. but at the very end, there is no one else. dr. annan joins us now. she's an assistant professor of neurology at boston medical center. dr. annan, talk about whether we're having the right conversation about the mental health toll this is taking on nurses and doctors. >> thank you very much for including me, nicole. you know, i think it's this really sort of strange double-edged sword. on the one hand, we are profoundly separated from our patients by gowns and masks and gloves and on the other hand, there's this sort of really particular intimacy where our patients in a past life might have had, you know, many, many family members when they died. and now it's often the hospital staff who, at risk themselves, are in the room holding someone's hand when they die. you know, and that's something that we've never had to be the only ones to bear witness to before. and it's a really sort of profound and different experience, i think, than many of us have ever had in the past. and, you know, sort of witnessing so many deaths, especially patients who are separated from their loved ones and their families is a really profound and isolating experience. >> i wonder, you know, we're all kind of as a news-consuming public taking in this information, first broke by "the new york times," this is about to get to worse. heading up to june 1st, the number of cases will more than double and the number of cases will more than double. there's no end in sight in terms of the burden on people on the front lines, health care workers. it doesn't seem sustainable. i mean what is the sustainable plan for what you just described, being the last people with so many sick and dying patients. >> yeah, i don't have a good answer to that. and i think it's really challenging, because the hospital policies that you mentioned are trying to tow this really fine line between keeping health care workers and patients, other patients in the hospital safe and keeping, you know, keeping family members from bringing coronavirus home to their communities, while still sort of inhumane for patients at the end of their lives. and it's a tightrope walk. it's a really challenging sort of line to toe. and i don't have a great answer. i think just sort of recognizing that this is a completely new frontier, it's something none of us have ever experienced before and is taking as much of a toll on all of us in a hospital as it is, you know, on everyone else in the community. i think it's just really important. so i don't have an answer for how we sort of think about how,, you know -- i think we're going to be grappling with kind of the consequences of this experience for a long, long time to come, even after the pandemic is over. >> do you -- i worked in the white house on 9/11. and there were conversations that took place among all of us that every time we heard an airplane over our head, it harkened back to that day that women were told to take off their shoes and run. are there triggers -- do you hear -- what is the conversation that's taking place among yourself and your colleagues in the trenches, if you will? >> yeah, so, i'll say it, i'm a neurologist, so i see patients with covid when they also have neurologic conditions, so i think there are many, many folks who are much more on the front lines than i am. i had the kind of really remarkable experience of being on service in the hospital as the number of case was rising and the experiences every few minutes, the intercom would go off and the voice over the intercom was calling another code blue for someone with covid who had stopped briefing or whose heart had stopped, which is not an experience which i've ever had before and sort of, kind of what you're describing, that sort of feeling of freezing and wondering if it's going to be your patient is really sort of devastating and i think all of those who are much more in the trenches than i am, consistently in the emergency department or the icu, i think that's a form of trauma and we're going to have some post-traumatic stress from that. >> i think so. dr. annan, i can tell that your patients are lucky to have someone like you treating them. to you and to all your colleagues, thank you. thank you for what you're doing. and thank you for spending some time to talk to us about it. we're grateful. >> thank you so much, nicole. when we return, an emerging hot spot with one of the highest rates of infection in the country right now. we'll go to gallup, new mexico, just off the navajo reservation. and now on total lockdown. that's next. getting older shouldn't mean giving up all the things she loves to do. it should just mean, well, finding new ways to do them. right at home's professional team thoughtfully selects caregivers to provide help with personal care, housekeeping, and of course, meal preparation. oh, that smells so good. aw, and it tastes good, too. we can provide the right care, right at home. . . shocking new numbers out west, the latest evidence that native americans have been among the hardest hit by this pandemic. the navajo reservation across utah, arizona and new mexico is a swelling hotspot. on saturday, navajo health department reported 2,373 positive case. the governor of new mexico says the lack of physical distancing is a problem for the entire state. on friday, she ordered all 22,000 residents to stay home, blocked all roads in and out of the city to nonresidents and nonworkers and limited every vehicle to just two passengers. all businesses must close between 8:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. the order now extended to thursday was in response to an emergency request by the mayor. the mayor joins us now. i'm going to botch this one more time. tell me the right way to say it and please accept my apology. >> well, the proper to say it is lui it's pronounced like you spell it. >> mayor, please tell us how you're doing, how your community is doing. >> well, i'm doing well. i would like to mention the fact that this is my fourth day as mayor, in fact the governor called me on the first day as she said congratulations but i'm sorry we locked down your city. >> do you not agree that it's the right thing to do? >> i think it is. we have, you know as you stated earlier, the percentages are high, in fact this morning, the percentages in new mexico, 3850 cases and mckinley county has over 1100 of them. basically we're 30% of the cases throughout the whole state. >> mayor, do you feel like the mi message seeing the test resuls,s where is are constituents, where your citizens right now in terms of their mindset? >> well, most of the people i have talked to me, they're in fay very of it because we've got to break that cycle and we're a very unique community, small town, 22,000 people, but we're in the middle of five indian reservations. it's the regional shopping area for these reservations. . the first of the month is when the checks, you know, majority of people get paid so they come and some estimates upwards 40,000 people come in on the first of the month and that's basically what -- why we contact the governor, we got the first of the month coming up, our numbers are terrible as it is, is there anything you can do? so she turned around with her staff and came back, the best thing we can do is to block off your city and we agreed with her and said yes, let's try it. >> do you have adequate testing? do you feel like you have the clear picture of all the infections are? do you have enough support and coordination with the state and the federal government to have all of the diagnostic tools that you need? >> well, you know, we're like the rest of the country. the tests take too long before they get the answers back and there are not enough tests as we can test everybody in our community, that would be nice if we could do that. but the way it stands right now, they're testing on a regular basis on the weekends anyway, but it's still not covering a majority of our people in our community. >> well, it's an urgent situation. i apologize for mispronouncing your name. we're grateful that you spent some time with you anyway. stay safe. >> thank you. coming up -- as the death toll climbs, donald trump wants states to open even faster and tells them so. "deadline: white house" begins after this. inside, it turns liquid to gel. for incredible protection, that feels like nothing but my underwear. new always discreet boutique. "show me what you're made of." so we showed it our people, sourcing and distributing more fresh food than anyone... we showed it our drivers helping grocers restock their shelves. we showed it how we're donating millions of meals to those in need. we showed it how we helped thousands of restaurants convert to takeout and pop up markets. and how we're encouraging all americans to take out to give back. adversity came to town. so we looked it right in the eye. and it won't be us... ...that blinks first. 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, we'll get through this. pnc bank swithout even on yoleaving your house. just keep your phone and switch to xfinity mobile. you can get it by ordering a free sim card online. once you activate, you'll only have to pay for the data you need- saving you up to $400 a year. there are no term contracts, no activation fees, and no credit check on the first two lines. get a $50 prepaid card when you switch. it's the most reliable wireless network. and it could save you hundreds. xfinity mobile. hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in the east. an alarming new report in "the new york times" reveals that behind the scenes trump's own administration is predicting that coronavirus will imminently take a disastrous turn for the worst. the deadly death rate will soon nearly double, approaching nearly 3,000 deaths a day by june 1st, less than a month away. "the new york times" writes this, quote, the projections based on government modeling pulled together in chart form by the fema, forecast about 200,000 new cases each day by the end of the month. that's up from 25,000 cases now. the numbers underscore a sobering reality. while the u.s. has been hunkered down for the past seb weeks, not much has changed. reopening to the economy will make matters worse, "the new york times" adds this, quote, projection confirm the primary fear of the public health experts that a reopening of the economy will put the country right back where it was in mid-march. the new reporting cast in a starker light these comments from trump last night admonishing states for not moving fast enough to reopen. >> certain states will have to take a little bit more time in getting open and they're doing that. some states frankly aren't going fast enough. some states, like virginia, they want to close down until the middle of june, and a lot of things that they're doing i really believe you can go to parks, you can go to beaches, you keep the spread, you stay away a certain amount and i really think the public has been incredible with what -- that's one of the reasons we're successful. that's one of the reasons -- if you call losing 80,000, 90,000 people successful, but it's one of the reasons we're not at that high end of the plane -- >> that number -- >> here's the problem -- the new projections we just learned about today, not to mention the current data on where the crisis stands right now, says it's not successful at all. the u.s. has already stuck alt top of our peak of new infections. tens of thousands of new cases reported every day. not to mention nearly 70,000 people -- 70,000 lives lost to coronavirus. that's where we are right now, today, trump's own administration beliefs it's about to get much worse. now it's going to come down to every american's devils of success and their choice of what kind of country we want to live in. what we're doing now has resulted in an upward revision of numbers. that's why many states are now scrambling to drive home with urgency the warnings about social distancing and wearing masks and it's coming against serious headwinds from quarantine-weary public and a president who wants to get on a campaign trail. two governors from both sides of the aisle urging caution. >> you see this happening around the country, as states try to open, in a safe way, unfortunately the pressure is to do it in a not safe way and that's something we're very concerned about and one of the reasons why we're being cautious and try to do things in a slow, safe and effective measure. >> this is for real now, right, government politics, it's not about optics, it's not celebrities, it's not press releases, it's not about why i put on instagram yesterday. what we've done in this state has literally saved lives. we've done great work. we just have to remain vigilant and smart and competent going forward. >> caution versus speed is where we start today with some of our favorite reporters and friends. from the washington post, white house bureau chief phil rucker. also joining us dr. vin gupta. let me start with dr. gupta, what are the facts as we know them right now? this report that broke around lunchtime today that things are about to get dramatically worse seems opposed to what we start to process what a new normal will like, trump's urgent call on states to reopen and do so quickly. >> nicolle, it doesn't make a lot of sense, when you look at the report, "the new york times" published from the cdc it's pretty astonishing. these are facts here. when you look at georgia and florida in particular, two states at the forefront of saying we know better than scientists and public health experts, we're going to go ahead and reopen the economy, what you're seeing is they have many counties have increased rates of covid-19. it's happening there in many counties. many so covid is going on the rise more so than other parts of the country. states leaning on reopening are having some of the most recent events of covid. what's more, you're seeing testing rates on the decline. what georgia and florida, what their governors are doing is nothing short of medical malpractice. that malpractice has had a cheerleader in oval office who called on some states to move faster, what's the impact of public health policy making when you have the president calling to liberate virginia, calling on the michigan governor, to meet with armed protesters? >> you know, nicolle, myself, my colleagues who have been speaking on this issue, who are actually caring for patients with covid-19, we try to speak in measured tones so that everybody can listen to us but this is ridiculous what's happening here in terms of a president, em boldening protesters to be violent. we weakening the message on masks. the vice president going to mayo clinic, the only person in that photo not wearing a mask. not wearing a mask is like blowing cigarette smoke in the face of bystander. basic things need to be happening here that are not happening. that's why you're seeing our modelling from our government saying cases are going to skyrocket at the end of the month because we're loosening things that we know work. >> you know, phil rucker, does anyone have the standing or the moral authority or care enough at this point to tell donald trump that the worst way to run for office is having done things that endanger more people, got more people sick, or are they sort of all down with the spin it, hope it goes away, be on the side of the protesters, you know, he's like -- he's like a walking bumper sticker, liberate these states, but you've also got a white house seeming to hint at the fact that these models hadn't been vetted by the white house, all that happens when they get to the white house is they get spun and they get disputed and confused by the president. >> yeah, nicolle, this is a president who throughout this crisis has been dictated on wishful, magical thinking as opposed to really studying the facts. we even reported the washington post over the weekend about an internal model being created inside the white house, really extraordinary number put together over at cdc, inside the white house they're actually having an economist putting together a model that predicts fewer deaths publicly and that's the kind of data that's the president has been looking for the last few weeks. he's been wanting justification to reopen the economy as quickly as possible because we say it all time, he sees that as the barometer for his election hope and many of the decisions that he and the team around him are making are political decisions, they're thinking about the november election, now six months away, and trying to position the president to win a second term and they know they need the economy reopened and rebounding in order for that to happen. >> trying to position him as someone who ran for president against his own fellow task force members, a piece of reporting. i want you to ask expand upon this. you guys report, although former economic adviser kevin hasett denied that he ever projected the number dead, other senior administration officials said his presentations characterized the county as lower than commonly forecast. embraced inside the west wing by wait for it, the president's son-in-law jared kushner. affirmed their own skepticism about the viruvirus. the economy is how the they think they're going to win, have they made this calculation, has it happened behind closed doors that the death toll no longer matters to them? >> well, i don't think anyone in white house would say the death toll doesn't matter to them but they're not only being driven by the public health concerns. you know you hear from a lot of medical officials from dr. birx, dr. fauci, talking about public safety. trying to save as many lives as they can. trying to give guidance to americans. so not one life is lost that can't be managed. what you're hearing from advisers around him, they're trying to focus on the economic health more so than the public health these days. one of the reasons frankly why dr. birx and dr. fauci don't have a prominent public facing role right now, we don't have those daily briefings where we hear from them offering medical expertise, instead last night the president with the treasury secretary and with the vice president inside the lincoln memorial talking about the economy. >> we sure did. let me show you, rick, stengel, what dr. birx has to say about the protesters who have been cheered on via tweets by donald trump. here's birx's concerns with the protests. >> it's devastatingly worrisome to me personally because if they go home and they infect their grandmother or grandfather, they have a serious or unfortunate outcome, they'll feel guilty for the their rest of their lives. we need to protect each other at the same time we're voicing our discontent. >> so, i understand, rick, why she said that on fox news and not at the task force meeting but where are we if the person sending the public the messages to liberate their states from stay-at-home orders, being prescribed by his own health advisers, when we see that the death toll, the projection has been almost quadrupled, donald trump is talking 50,000, 60,000 about eight days ago, the projection now in the cdc modeling is 200,000 americans could die. what role does the president play in that? >> well, he's being incredibly irresponsible by encouraging these protesters who also feel the need to have weapons and racist slogans as well to protest the fact those states. i mean, to cite tony fauci who said early on the there's nothing magical mod about a model. phil rucker's terrific story about the mr. hasett, anybody can create a model that has a more optimistic slope in it. with the trump administration, seeing is believing. he wants to believe it's over, they want the da to show that, they're putting bad data into these models. bad stuff in you'll get bad stuff out. president trump wants to shift the focus to the economy, the way he'll win, but you know, from political pros who look at these numbers, we look at right track, wrong track numbers, traditionally about the economy, but people could be saying the country is on the wrong track as more and more people die, as their parents or grandparents die. that's the number he should be looking at. >> let me come back to you, rick, and push even harder on this idea of a model. the model with positive and optimistic outcomes, the data was our behavior, it was dependent on having a president to use his time at the podium to inject bleach or take unproven drugs come days later with a warning from the fda that it could kill you. the other variable is that the public is confused. and i guess i'm just trying to get at what all of the contradictory messages, sometimes from the same task force members who say totally different things, what impact that has on the public? >> well, i think trump's magical thinking has an impact on the public and they constantly think there's some miracle around the bend. march 10th, it's going to miraculously go away, that does have an influence of people. yes, i want to be out there. the problem, the responsible leaders -- you showed governor cuomo. being responsible you can be optimistic and be realistic. you know, president eisenhower used to say, plan, plan, plan then change your plan. what trump said this is the direction we're going and he doesn't adapt, when the data starts getting worse and more people dying he's got the adapt and he doesn't adapt it will be tragic. >> you know, dr. gupta, i wonder if you can sort of speak to this need to push out from what people feel like is locked down, where is this sort of sustainable new normal, is it the masks? even on the masks i i think it was four, five weeks ago, we didn't have to wear masks. where is the science right now today? what should people do to stay safe? >> you know, i think a great example of how we start to normalize is ohio. governor dewine, a republican, his director of health, they have published in the last week a staged approach that's rooted in public health, on how we can reopen essential businesses, how people should go about their day. nicolle, a lot of it is based on masks. i was skeptical eight weeks ago, that even normal speak can transmit droplets if you don't have fabric mask covering over your mouth and nose. we need to adopt that. social distance will become the norm, inside restaurants and inside office work places. the hallmarks of the way we live life for the foreseeable future. do we hire a new army of contact tracers? but those three big buckets is what ohio is thinking about and what we should be thinking about as a country. >> phil, a related headline that the president made he gets treated worse than lincoln. what do we think he meant? >> nicolle, it came in a discussion about his press coverage. it came at that town hall meeting last night that he had with fox news channel. he was sitting beneath the statue of lincoln in the lincoln memorial. a president who united the country in the darkest days, assassinated while in office. the president was there in that moment, in that place, complaining that he's been treated worse than lincoln was ever treated by the news media. and complaining that he doesn't get a fair shake in the media. the same kind of grievance we have heard from him over and over again, extraordinary venue for him to be making that complaint. >> it didn't save everyone's life. thank you all for starting us off. when we come back -- donald trump getting an assist from his secretary of state in casting blame and spreading conspiracies about china, little conclusive evidence that we know about so far. we'll bring you the latest. plus, what the trump administration did on friday night and the president responds to president george w. bush's call for bipartisan unity with, you guessed it, an attack. all those stories coming up. uh mine, why? 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[squawks] only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ atthe perfect schmearnow of cream cheese. the recipe we invented over 145 years ago and me...the world's best, and possibly only, schmelier. philadelphia. schmear perfection. - [female vo] restaurants are facing a crisis. and they're counting on your takeout and delivery orders to make it through. grubhub. together we can help save the restaurants we love. swithout even on yoleaving your house. just keep your phone and switch to xfinity mobile. you can get it by ordering a free sim card online. once you activate, you'll only have to pay for the data you need- saving you up to $400 a year. there are no term contracts, no activation fees, and no credit check on the first two lines. get a $50 prepaid card when you switch. it's the most reliable wireless network. and it could save you hundreds. xfinity mobile. you told john roberts the other day -- >> it came from china. >> high confidence that the virus came from the wuhan lab, it came from there. >> at the right time. >> illuminate any more about that. >> we're going to be given a strong report to exactly what we think happen and i think it will be very conclusive. >> any suggestion that it was anything nefarious or a mistake? >> i think they made it personally, i think they made it a horrible mistake. we wanted to go in. they didn't want us there. >> so, while the intelligence community continues to do it work, they should verify so we're certain, i can tell you that there's a significant amount of ed that it came from that laboratory in wuhan. >> the trump administration yesterday stepping up its attacks on china and that lab, but they're assessment that the virus began at the lab in wuhan not one shared by u.s. intelligence who spoke to nbc news saying, there's no, quote, smoking gun evidence pointing them in that direction. these comments following the u.s. intel community's comments last week they don't believe the virus was manmade. while intelligence analysts and many scientists see lab as origin theory as technically possible no direct evidence has emerged suggesting that the coronavirus emerged from the wuhan lab. donald trump and his administration have yet to reveal any evidence at all backing up their repeated claims that they are so strongly sticking to and touting publicly. joining us former assistant director of counterintelligence at the fbi is frank figliuzzi. frank, what do you see, what do you think is going on? >> i think a up cough things are going on and none of them are good. first, i think we're looking at what i'm calling the china trap, politically, the republicans are going to try the force the hands of democrats saying it's an either or equation, you're either with china or with the president. i'm here to remind people like biden and pelosi you don't need to fall for that trap. you can simultaneously distrust everything coming out of china and you should be critiquing and questioning everything coming out of the trump administration. this country has gone to war in our lifetime, invaded other countries because of either fabricated, faulty intelligence or ignored intelligence. i only need to remind folks about our invasion of iraq, saddam hussein was found by the intelligence community after the fact not to truly possess weapons of destruction. i'm saying we're about to see the provision of the political story for a political benefit. >> i take your point about, think you're making a point about wmd and iraq and the actions our government took. say more about not going to war per se, we may very well need their help if a vaccine is created and we want to inoculate our entire country. talk about the stakes. >> i have to wonder, without being overly dramatic whether the stakes have been higher with regards to president's adherence to intelligence. we're talking about having already more deaths than during the vietnam war, so why our scientists are trying to race toward a vaccine it helps if they know where this thing came from. what it looked like originally and how it has mutated. who patient zero really was or was not. this is a time when we need to actually cozy up to china and cajole them into letting them in and telling the truth. so now, when you hide behind extremely classified intelligence if it even exists at all, we're talking intercepts, we're talking human sources inside china, if in fact they're reporting this came from the lab, now we can see a game being played. the white house will say we can't expose these very sensitive sources, you need to trust us. guess what, this is a time where you need to lay the cards on the table. the other thing is, nicolle, i'm looking to the five "is" the other close, uk, australia and new zealand, i hear nothing coming out of those allied services. we're hearing zero from them. >> you know, kim, two questions for you, one, this feels like such treacherous territory to be on, already there have been reports in "the new york times" and l.a. times and other news organizations about this uptick in xenophobic behavior toward asian americans. the second is, another example, there are many instances of dnks dx not believing the intelligence than believing it. they have been reeled in terms of a public statement put out by the office of director of national intelligence saying that's where the community is, you know, there's a lot of smoke around their comments about china? >> absolutely. and you're right to your first point, there's a real consequence of jumping out ahead of the intelligence to blame china for things that we don't know they've actually done. as you said, there's already been an increase in incidents against chinese americans and asian americans not just here in america but across the world. you also have the world health organization warning against assigning a geographic location to the name of this. but still, this isn't new. this is a part of the pattern on both part president donald trump and secretary pompeo. at the g7, secretary pompeo was calling the virus the wuhan virus. at at the same time, president trump from the podium was calling it the chinese virus. there has always been this urge, this desire on the part of the white house to blame china for this. the president always says that he band travel from china and that saved millions of lives without providing evidence. he didn't ban travel, he limited it. part of pattern that secretary of state pompeo has been more than willing to engage in. >> yeah, i was going to talk about the well-worn tracks through the state department of a track political op, pompeo is the guy on the phone with donald trump asked the leader of ukraine for -- to dirty up joe biden and to run those politically motivated investigations before he would release congressionally approved military aid. any surprises there, kim? >> no, i mean, pompeo has been somebody who has been a staunch supporter of this president, both on policy and in rhetoric and in style. he's quite the departure of the president's first secretary of state rex tillerson with who the president openly sparred publicly. in this case, the president has somebody who's willing to speak and walk the walk exactly the way the president does even when it does not fall directly in line with u.s. intelligence and that's one reason to be concerned. now, without question, no one is saying that china is blameless, there are a lot of questions, china has done a lot of things like problematic, like ousting scientists and journalists. in this case the way that the secretary of state is in lo lockstep with the president even when it's not in lockstep with intelligence is noteworthy. >> also noteworthy that late friday night, i don't know where this white house thought we were, locked in and at home, president trump fired an ig, frank, this one was responsible for a lot of the public records, record that could become public about preparing hospitals for a coming pandemic tied to the intel f the white house was warned, if the president was warned, the government should have had more protective gear and equipment, more ventilators, more supplies, she sounded those alarms and she has now been fired. your thoughts, frank? >> yeah, apparently anyone with a title of inspector general has some of the shortest shelf life that you're going to see in career, why, because inspectors general represent the truth, the unvarnished facts, this woman had the audacity to report there were still problems in the supply chain for ppe in hospitals. for that she's blamed on not being loyal to the president and we're still facing this issue with regard to inspector general for the intelligence community. we just talked about the importance of getting to the truth, when was the president briefed, who knew what when with regard to the virus? lo and behold, he canned the inspector for the intelligence community and now hhs. what they do for a living and what the president does for a living is die metically opposed. after the break, president george w. bush's call for unity for some reason not exactly a welcome one for the current occupant of the white house. this is an athlete, twenty reps deep, sprinting past every leak in our softest, smoothest fabric. she's confident, protected, her strength respected. depend. the only thing stronger than us, is you. - (phone ringing)a phones offers - big button,ecialized phones... and volume-enhanced phones., get details on this state program. call or visit this virus is testing all of us. and it's 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. and accessoriesphones for your mobile phone. like this device to increase volume on your cell phone. - ( phone ringing ) - get details on this state program call or visit we were paying an arm and a leg for postage. i remember setting up shipstation. one or two clicks and everything was up and running. i was printing out labels and saving money. shipstation saves us so much time. it makes it really easy and seamless. pick an order, print everything you need, slap the label onto the box, and it's ready to go. our costs for shipping were cut in half. just like that. shipstation. the #1 choice of online sellers. go to shipstation.com/try and get 2 months free. this is a challenging and solemn time in the life of our nation and world. remorsely invisible enemy threaten the elderly and vulnerable among us. >> i see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute. one minute. and is there a way we can do something like that? by injection inside or almost a cleaning? >> the larger challenge we face is to combat a fear and loneliness. a hug and touch can bring the opposite. >> in michigan just yesterday, hundreds of protesters some of them with long guns, descended on the state capital as governor whitmer extended its emergency orders until may 28. today trump weighed in on this post, quote, the governor of michigan should give a little. and put out the fire. these are very good people. >> in the final analysis we're not partisan combatants. we're human beings. we rise or fall together. and we're determined to rise. god bless you all. >> and our death totals, our numbers per million people are really very, very strong. we're very proud of the job we've done. >> president george w. bush's call for unity and action this weekend, he doesn't say anything about donald trump but the obvious contrast between his message and the way trump has led the country is crystal clear. even to trump, he responded to that video from the former president on twitter. first by quoting an anchor on fox news, oh, bye the way, i appreciate the message from former president bush, but where was he during impeachment calling for putting partisanship aside. he added his words, he was nowhere to be found. joining us now is tim o'brien and michael steele. michael steele. >> yeah, look, the contrast, nicolle, is so stark. the words of president bush were consolin consoling, they were gathering, i mean, drew you in what he was saying with the imagery and the contrast of, you know, we have a president who it's about me. that's the best you got in response to what president bush said, yeah, because it's about me. the country at this point has had its fill of it. i think the country at this point has thoroughly digested what -- what's at stake here and the kind of leadership that's going to be required to get us through this and that's why the governors are doing so well across the country. even though those governors who stay close to donald trump, are having to recognize, okay, we're not going to be able to do this the way trump would like and with the speed because we still don't have the testing in place. states are still looking for ppe. there's still a lot more to this. that narrative by president bush really stood out in stark contrast in a time we're being told to go out and you know, stand out there and be proud and get back to work and threatening employees who, you know, want to safeguard their families and their lives and their livelihood but don't want to risk going back to work at this time, if they don't, you know, we'll cut you off, such a stark contrast from what could have been, you know. >> yeah, i know. tim o'brien, i didn't show that video to -- you know, i row mant sized the man and i still admire the man but that wasn't the point. i think the thread that's been lost is how far from normal we are in watching donald trump, i mean all he's ever done is play president, watching him try to play president of a grieving, struggling, grasping, hurting country, is for me sering and just the fact that he still week seven, week eight, doesn't see this as anything other than another forum as with which he grind his eaks and carry grudge s against former presidents. he said he gets treated worse than lincoln, what are we to do? >> you know, i'm actually you brought up lincoln up in the context, too, nicolle. obviously, the president was at the lincoln memorial this weekend. as a student of both president lincoln and donald trump i feel comfortable saying that donald trump and abraham lincoln don't belong in the same sentence together much less the same memorial. lincoln is this figure who strides across american history like a titan, drawn the attention of amateur historians, to professional historians, all of whom understand that he cast this long shadow across american history and most presidents actually are overshadowed by him. he's probably the best that every modern president has tried to think about privately or compare their legacy to abraham lincoln, including i'm sure george w. bush. unlike previous presidents, trump compares himself to lincoln out loud and when you think about who lincoln was, this intellectual, his oratory, his writing, his deep humility and compassion, all of these characteristics that donald trump is sorely lacking in, yet he has the narcissism and he's just unhinged and ridiculous enough to compare himself to abra haim lincoln, he's been doing it since the beginning of his presidency. the same weekend that george w. bush, regardless in this moment of how people feel about his record, reached beyond partisan politics and beyond ideology to say we're facing an epic crisis to come together. president trump chooses to use that moment to continue to divide, aleanate people. what he's in it for every day, what's in it for me? marshall our best instincts and the forces of federal government to solve a problem as serious as the union falling apart. trump has a moment like that in front of him now and he's not addressing it effectively. >> all right, tim and michael are staying with us. because after the break, we need their input on this. trump is still reportedly privately touting its effectiveness. that story is next. it's tough to quit smoking cold turkey. so chantix can help you quit slow turkey. along with support, chantix is proven to help you quit. with chantix you can keep smoking at first and ease into quitting so when the day arrives, you'll be more ready to kiss cigarettes goodbye. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. stop chantix and get help right away if you have changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, depressed mood, suicidal thoughts or actions, seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking, or life-threatening allergic and skin reactions. decrease alcohol use. use caution driving or operating machinery. tell your doctor if you've had mental health problems. the most common side effect is nausea. talk to your doctor about chantix. ...little things... ...can become your big moment. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you. while most of the world is being asked to stay inside, there are people out there giving it their all. so, to everyone who is helping keep us safe against covid-19 day in and day out, all of us at amgen say... thank you. we heard donald trump for weeks push hydroxychloroquine even though it was an untested drug for people with covid-19. he admitted last night on fox he still talks about it with fits with this reporting, quote, am r although trump stopped touting the drug publicly privately he maintained his support for hydroxychloroquine. the president even asked a mar-a-lago the call the governor of california gavin newsom to make a deal. tim and michael are back. tim, it's not just people weren't positive, like speaking positive is cheering up your kids, stay positive, you'll have playdates again when the great pandemic is over. he's trying to make people positive who were literally fired from government agencies because they wouldn't spin or tilt the science on these drugs. i think the fda after a doctor -- or scientist who's planning to file a whistle-blower complaint, the fda issued a warning, if you don't take these drugs in a hospital under the direction from a doctor they'll kill you. it has potentially lethal consequences. >> donald trump is a dangerous president. and this really brings that home, nicolle. i think he lives in a reality decision torsion field all the time. what front of mind is not looking after the public health of all americans, it's about ensuring that he's going to get reelected and i think the economic numbers and the polling numbers that he's seeing are petry fieing him. he's looking for miracle solutions, rather than approach this methodically and constructively and administer solutions to the nation, around this public health crisis, he's talking about miracle cures because he wants this to get out of the way and get people working way. if people work before they're healthy and a crisis erupts we'll have economic crisis. what he's seeing ahead of him is a threat to his presidency so he's touting these witch doctor's solutions because he lacks any other way to approach it. >> you know, michael steele, the story around the drug seems to drive home the most dangerous repeat cycle of donald trump's presidency, is that he latches on to something whacky that he sees on fox news or repeated favorably on fox news, he gets rid of the scientists or experts who aren't onboard and even when he gets caught, his own government has to warn people, don't do it, a report comes out he's shoving faice and talkingt mar-a-lago with a friend and trying to do a side hustle with gavin newsom. maybe it isn't unbelievable anymore but it's still shocking. >> well, it's not unbelievable. what makes it, you know, believable and just part of what we should realize is, at the core of all of this is, trump cannot be wrong. he just can't be wrong. at one point, he read something, heard something, or someone told him something. he liked it. and, because he liked it and because he had everyone in the room nodding at him, uh-huh, yeah, that works. uh-huh, sure, let's do that. to, now, backtrack and -- and admit the science and admit what the medical professionals and researchers are saying about this medicine and this medication goes counter to what he's already built up in his head. and, therefore, to say, well, gee, i thought it would work or i guess, you know, the science has now shown that this is not the best solution. it makes it about him. being wrong. and, of course, it's about him. he can't be wrong. so he's not going to sit here and go down the road where he is going to acknowledge defeat. and so we live in this vortex where he will keep cycling it out. the government officials keep having to continue to do workarounds and figure out, okay, nicolle, so how do we approach this publicly when the president is still pushing a narrative that we all know could hurt people? >> unbelievable final words could hurt people. michael steel, tim o'brien, so wonderful to see both of you. thank you for spending some time with us. after the break, once again, we remember and pay tribute to those who've lost their lives to the coronavirus. mers 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 . it's what we've always done. it's what we'll always do. i am now telling the computer that if it will tell me the correct answer, i will gladly share with it, the grand prize. he says what would a computer do with a lifetime supply of chocolate? i am now telling the computer exactly what he can do with a lifetime supply of chocolate. >> that was british actor tim brooke taylor, appearing in the classic movie "willie wonka and the chocolate factory." he was actually better known for monty python sketch comedy show called the goodies. tim brooke died of the virus at the age of 79. he leaves behind a wife and two sons, ben and edward. and an update on someone we told you about on friday. the late paul kerry got a heroes welcome home last night in his home state of colorado. he is the 66-year-old paramedic who dropped everything to volunteer in new york city. driving 1,800 miles just to help complete strangers in the city. and, finally, that procession brought him home. lastly, today, we're remembering mark hall sr., who died of the coronavirus at the age of 53. he was a new orleans police officer, not to mention a loving father of two children, mark and jasmine, and a devoted husband to his wife sonya. always dancing. always smiling. officer hall's daughter called him her nerdy partner in crime. they say even when he was in the hospital, hall's main concern was his family. so that's how we'll remember him. officer mark hall sr., a family man. thank you for letting us into your homes during these extraordinary times. we're grateful for that. our coverage continues with katy tur, in for chuck todd, right after this. from everyday life is critical to everyone's health, there is one thing we can all do together: complete the 2020 census. your responses are critical to plan for the next 10 years of health care, infrastructure, and education. let's make a difference, together, by taking a few minutes to go online to 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