Way thats adverse to the United States is nothing new. We want to begin in arizona where Vice President mike pence is set to arrive next hour as that state becomes the latest at the center of the coronavirus pandemic in the country. Arizona one of the states just to reopen just reported a Staggering Number of 4800 new covid cases and 88 deaths. Thats just in the last 24 hours. Today, the state is also seeing the most hospitalizations yet. Joining me now from phoenix is nbcs Vaughn Hillyard, who to have you with us. After claiming all 50 states were safely reopening, the Vice President today is traveling to a covid hot spot. What should we expect to hear from him, when he arrives . Reporter ayman, im going to try to lay this out in as serious nature as i can, what the state is facing. Over the last weeks, we have brought doctor after doctor after doctor on to our air, and communicated the message that arizona was in a crisis situation. And yet, it was only up until this monday when governor ducey implemented some executive orders. That included closing gymnasiums. That included closing movie theaters. Restaurants are still open. Malls are still open. Retail is still open. And thats what leads us here, just in the last hour, the new numbers coming out of the state of arizona, 4,878 new cases, ayman. In just the last 24 hours. 88 newly reported deaths here in the states. Even more Staggering Number, 28. 3 of tests here in the state in the last 24 hours came back as positive. 1 out of every 4 tests came back as positive. That number is at about 5 , 6 in early may before the states stayathome order expired. You saw a similar situation in texas and in florida. As soon as that expired over the course of the next two or three weeks you saw that number along with the number of cases continue to rise. I think the continuing part, governor ducey and local officials, the county officials, they are dealing with a Hospital System that is about to be overwhelmed. And that is where Vice President pence is literally flying into phoenix as we speak. This is a Vice President , ill remind you, just two weeks ago, wrote an oped in which he said it was fearmongering on behalf of the media that there would be this, quote, second wave and that everything was going well. Just yesterday, the Vice President said, yquote, were ready and more prepared than ever before. There is not enough testing here. Theres hartley Contact Tracing here in the state of arizona. There are not enough machines to process the demands in the state of arizona. Youve got to wait for hours, you have to wait for days. In order to get your test results back, you have to wait at least more than a week. Right now, the state of arizona is about to experience an absolute spike in cases, in hospitalizations, in mass exposure. Because of these numbers and where theyre at, there is no stayathome order in place. I asked the governor why not put that stayathome order in place now ahead of the fourth of july weekend. He said hes looking at this day by day. And if that is the fact, theres got to be serious questions today, this wednesday, with the Vice President of the United States, as to what this states stance is going forward. Ayman. Vaughn hillyard, a very important update from phoenix. Vaughn, thank you. Over in california, cases are pushed to their limits as the coronavirus cases surge in that state. It was one of the first states to impose a stayathome order. Now, its seeing an increase of more than 50 in confirmed cases just in the past two weeks. Today, governor gavin newsom is expected to announce additional restrictions going into the Holiday Weekend. Joining me now from riverside, california, is nbcs jo ling kent. Jo, the Riverside Community hitting 95 capacity for icu beds. What are you hearing from folks there about the growing demand . Reporter the demand for icu beds is going up. And i just interviewed the chief nursing officer, annette greenwood, here at Riverside Community hospital. And what she is telling me, they have not seen these levels of covid cases since the peak back in early may. And she says that they are concerned that the nursing staff is fatigued in her words. And when it comes to what theyre going to do next and how theyre going to handle it, listen to what she just told me. The Health Care Providers across the nation are tired. Were seeing that surge, that resurgence is really truly because were visiting with one another. Because were interacting with one another. Because were everybody was pentup and they want to get out. I would just ask them to slow it down, wear your mask, use your hand hygiene. If you dont have to go somewhere, please dont go somewhere. As Health Care Providers, were begging you for that. Reporter so much of what the chief nursing officer there told me echoes what we all heard in march and april and may. It also is in line with what Governor Newsom is expected to say today, over the past couple of days, he says there will be more enforcement of maskwearing. And that, quote, dimmer switch on the reopening plans across the state of california, he plans to lower that today, when he makes more announcements on what could be coming next. In the meantime, los angeles county, ventura county, they have closed beach access here in riverside and other counties across the state. They have shut down nightclubs and bars. And the refrain from health care workers, Pay Attention to what weve been telling you, listen to us and everyone can be healthier. All right. Jo ling kent in riverside, california, for us. Jo ling, thank you. Lets bring in pulmonologist dr. Vin gupta. Dr. Gupta, a pressure to talk to you. A troubling time. The New York Times saying new cases up 80 . 80 in the last two weeks. The Deputy Director at the cdc says the virus is spreading too rapidly for the u. S. To bring under control. Im curious to get your thoughts. What is the Tipping Point . When can we say we have lost control of this virus . And is there anything that can be done to turn it around at this point . Thanks for having me. Were at a Tipping Point already in arizona, in texas and in florida. Obviously, its a statebystate case right now. Some places are worse than others just like we had in march. If youre governor ducey at this point, what are you doing . You have a responsibility to the people. Vaughns incredible journalist just now, reporting on the facts. Essentially, you have the situation where people can go to restaurants. Indoor dining we know is not safe. Credit to mayor bill de blasio and the governor of new jersey taking action on this. We have that action, dining in an indoor place, only outdoor is safe. We need that to happen in arizona. We need the governor to mandate masks. His cases are going up as vaughn mentioned in riverside, from jo lings reporting, were already there. Ayman, were already there. To the point where icu beds are filling up, thats where you know you have a fivealarm fire. With the president , i have little doubt thats going to happen the message on that. But now hes an ally of what were trying to do, hopefully modeling the best behavior, although if the past is any indication of the future, we know thats not going to be the case of what he does today in arizona. Dr. Gupta, let me get your comments between what were hearing from individuals like dr. Anthony fauci who is warning of 100,000 cases per day going forward. And the need to try and address it as you just outlined as well. But at the same time, the mixed messaging coming from white house officials from people like President Trump who still refused to wear a mask in public. And to still some degree very dismissent of the needs and requirements of people to wear a mask. That is different from the Vice President who is wearing a mask but also does not want to call for a mandatory nationwide order for people to wear masks. I have to say, ayman, the Vice President presided just a few days ago in an indoor choir singing event which is the worst type of event you could possibly preside over. Whats the message hes sending . Its safe. Hes basically sanctioning other Services Like that. To your point, the mixed messaging has gotten ridiculous. And its irresponsible. Its going to result in the deaths of many americans. Because folks like myself and my colleagues are constantly working to compel people to comply with recommendations on masking. As opposed to saying, you know what, weve tried it, its not worked, now were going to mandate it and its going to be enforcement. Its not working, ayman because of this mixed messaging. Were pushing a ball up a hill that is impossible to circumnavigate because the president has the mixed messaging. We have to follow the leads of governor murphy and mayor bill de blasio, no more critical rallies, mandate masks. Thats what you do to save lives. Finally, dr. Gupta, i want to get your point on data points if you were, some of the cases perhaps in the city of el paso was affecting younger people, that the surge was among younger people between ages of 20 to 30. I spoke to the mayor of el paso, that is a call for concern that younger people did not heed the warnings to stay outdoor when they went to bars and reopened the bars in that state. Are you at all kerneled about the transmission that takes place indoors versus outdoors and are we collectively reopening some of these bars and restaurants in various parts of the country too soon . A few important points you raised there, ayman, let me take them in turn. Number one, asymptomatic symptoms among younger individuals. Younger individuals, were seeing rising case numbers in the demographics. Thats deeply concerning. Not only because they can be silent spreaders because its harder to compel, unfortunately, younger individuals to wear masks. Were seeing mask adoption rates 40 in the mountain west. Thats because of mixed messaging at the very top. Thats number one. We just need public cooperation especially among the younger demographic. We dont have it. To your point, ayman, just in terms what were seeing, in terms of the overall state of the outbreak, listen, the outdoor versus indoor transmission piece. We know indoor transmission, you have a 19 times higher rate of indoor transmission than outdoor transmission. Whether its in a restaurant or bar or political rally. Thats why Indoor Dining unfortunately needs to stop. Indoor events, large gatherings have to stop for the time being, especially in hard hit states, arizona, florida, texas and younger participants are unfortunately the participants in these gatherings. The time for leadership is over. Dr. Vin gupta, thank you for joining us and giving us the facts. Appreciate your time as always. From there on to seattle, where police in seattle began the operation to clear out the area known as c. H. O. P. , the capitol hill occupied protest zone. The operation began earlier this morning. Police say they have arrested at least 23 individuals. For more on this developing story, well cross over to nbc news correspondent Steve Patterson who will has been there on the ground since this operation got under way. Steve, when we spoke earlier in the morning, it seemed like it was a tense situation. How has it been playing out since . Reporter remains tense, as you might imagine. Protesters, though, on the outside, the outer perimeter, along the police line, trying to find a way to see whats happening inside. Thats where we are, police have granted us access to show you the dismantle. And its incredible. Take a look at this. I mean, youre talking about protesters holding a Police Precinct in a major American City for nearly a month. And this is all being dishandled, im guessing, in less than a day. This whole area was filled with tents. Was filled with porta pot eap was filled with festival items. Smoker, the grill used to be there. I used to meet a guy every day at the grill. He would tell me whats goes on at the community. To see it like this so efficiently, with the operation. You see the street sweeper trying to get everything off the ground. That is pretty much all that is left of c. H. O. P. , safer weafter and weeks and weeks of protesters. Their side on the side of the police. Fund the police, and protesters. As far as what this will accomplish, i think the peace will bear that out. As far as what happened, the declaration from the mayor came out very early in the morning. It went on the citys website, 5 02, police were telling everybody to get out. By the time we got here, the desire zone was locked down. 31 arrests so far. The chief of police has spoken to the media. He said this was done quickly. It was done quietly. It was done efficiently, and it was done with minimal contact with the protesters that remained here. That doesnt mean there wasnt conflict. Weve certainly seen it. And weve certainly seen videos, some of the arrests that happened as well. Police came in here hard and fast and they accomplished what they wanted to do. Which is secure this zone so they could clean this up. As far as when police may move back into this precinct, that may come in the next few dailies as the operation continues. But its an incredible sight to see c. H. O. P. The way it is now, or i should say the fall of c. H. O. P. Ayman. Steve patterson live for us. Steve, thank you. Coming up after the break, were going to speak to new jersey congressman andy kim. Congress is now demanding an explanation from the white house and this administration with what it knew regarding intelligence that russia may have paid the taliban money to kill american soldiers in avenue st afghanistan. St afghanistan. Afghanistan. Afghanistan. Afghanistan. Afghanistan. Afghanistan. Afghanistan. Afghanistan. Anistan. Afghanistan. Afghanistan. You can explore endless options at every price point. Get your Outdoor Oasis delivered fast so you can get the good times going. Wayfair. Youve got just what i need. Theyre going to be paying for this for a long time. They will, but with accident forgiveness allstate wont raise your rates just because of an accident, even if its your fault. Cut sonny. Was that good . Line the desert never lies. Isnt that what i said . No you were talking about allstate and insurance. I just. When i. Lets try again. Everybody back to one. Accident forgiveness from allstate. Click or call for a quote today. The white house is under increased scrutiny over those reports that russia offered bounties to the taliban for the killing of u. S. Service members in afghanistan. This afternoon John Ratcliffe will brief the Intelligence Committee. And Speaker Pelosi says the House Intelligence Committee will be briefed. The gang of eight will be briefed on the matter tomorrow, sources telling nbc news. Now, the white house maintains that the president was not briefed on the reports because the information didnt rise to that level. Joining me now from the white house is nbc news carol lee. Its safe to say there has been a little, carol, mixed messaging on this. Today secretary of state mike pompeo saying that russia engages in the way thats adversarial is nothing new. Yet, at the same time, the president is tweeting all of this is a made up hoax. Still, members of congress are actively being briefed by intelligence chiefs. Whats going on here with the mixed messaging . Reporter i think a couple of things are going on, ayman. Theyre trying to explain why the president wasnt briefed on that, and make the case this was handled properly. So, in doing that, theyre saying it wasnt important enough to rise to his level. And theyre really downplaying that this was significant and should have been brought to his attention any sooner. At the same time, they want to push back against lawmakers, particularly democrats, who are saying that this wasnt handled properly. The president should have been briefed. And they want to know why he didnt take any actions in response to this intelligence. So, in orlando to der to do thae pointing out that lawmakers were briefed about this months ago and didnt raise any concerns about it then. But in doing that it really just, you know, undermines this argument that the president didnt need to be briefed when all of these other officials were being briefed during that time. So, its just a larger way in which this white house has decided clearly today that they are going to dig in on this. Theyre making the case that this was handled properly. The president didnt do anything. Or didnt need to do anything that wasnt done. And that he acted appropriately. And so did the people around him. One thing i would point out that theyre using to make their cases. Theyre saying that the president s briefer, his career intelligence official who prepares his daily brief, decided on her own not to include that in his oral briefing. So that again, is deflecting the blame saying that the president didnt need to know. As soon as he did need to know, he found out. All right. Carol lee live at the white house with all of those details. Carol, thanks. Joining me now is democratic congressman andy kim. Hes a former director in the National Security council under president obama. And a former adviser to general allen and the gang of eight is scheduled to be briefed tomorrow on the bounties intelligence. Do you think that all of congress should get an intelligence briefing on this matter . Absolutely. Every member of congress has the right to know what has happened in afghanistan. And whether or not there were bounties placed on the lives of americans out there. I served in afghanistan as a civilian adviser. And i visited afghanistan late last year and saw and met wi