Vaccine candidate. Right now lawmakers are trying to fix the financial fallout from this pandemic. Unemployment benefits have run dry for millions of americans, and we have brand new details from the hill on what could be, could being the operative word here, what could be the contours of a compromise. Well get to that in just a moment. We start with encouraging signs for the golden state. Californias governor says the weekly average rate for positive infections has dropped more than 20 compared to the week before. Hospitalizations there also down, about 11 over the last 14 days. But, even with this progress, nurses say they still feel quite vulnerable and need relief. Nbcs Steve Patterson is at Good Samaritan hospital in los angeles. Nurses there, nurses around the country are holding what theyre calling a national day of action, steve. What are the nurses there telling you . Reporter well, the biggest thing ive heard today that really surprised me is that months into this crisis, a lot of them simply dont feel safe walking into hospitals like the one thats behind me. Specifically, i just spoke to a nurse who said shes been wearing the same n95 mask for so long that the elastic band around the mask has deteriorated and she feels unsafe about the virus. Theres been a number of cases in hospitals around this region where theres been an outbreak among the nurses themselves. They feel like theyre not properly staffed, not properly equipped and the Hospital Health systems that manage these places arent listening to the needs that they have. To talk about that, another nurse, you see the group gathered behind me. One of the nurses is Alejandra Gonzalez citron, the chief nurse of the california Hospital System locally. What is it like inside these hospitals in that were seeing a decline in the numbers. Is that translating inside the hospital . Right now our covid unit is maxed out. A lot of patients are transferring out to icu. Were lacking the staff we need. Night shift 99 of the time dont have a break nurse, any cnas to help them out, they dont have charge nurses. We need the staff and also the ppe. Like she said, we have to wear the same n95 for the whole 12hour shift. Its exhausting. Were having a lot of skin breakdown. The other thing is also adequate training. As you heard a couple months ago, we needed vents. We received those vents. But you need the staff that knows how to work the vents. Weve asked for appropriate training in an online module of how to use the vents. Thats pretty much what were receiving right now. What is your message to these Health Care Providers who may be watching this and listening to speak to the fact that you say youre not getting what you need. Do you feel like theyre listening to you . What can you do to change that . Weve had multiple meetings. There has been some change, but the change has not been enough. The nurses are getting exhausted. Some of them are leaving the hospital because we just feel like were being disrespected on a daily basis by management, but not taking our needs seriously. Alejandra, good luck to you. I hope you get what you need. That goes the same for the nurses that you see behind me gathering on this national day of action, registered nurses across the country are going to be doing much the same, putting pressure on these Health Officials to try to get the equipment and the staffing they need to properly do their jobs. Craig. Steve patterson, starting us off in los angeles, thank you. This morning were also learning more about promising new therapies that could help people sick with covid19 or those exposed to the virus. It comes as were seeing new urgency for places like florida which just recorded its third highest single day death count since the start of this pandemic. Nbcs sam brock is at Jackson Memorial hospital in miami. Sam, as we understand right now, there are about 2,000 people hospitalized with covid19 where you are in miamidade county. What are we learning about the progress being made on treatments for patients . Reporter there are some very promising signs right now, craig. Certainly a lot of people who need help. Breaking news this morning, florida just within the last few minutes crossed the 500,000 mark for covid19 cases, adding another 5,000 cases, now sitting at 502. Where i am in miamidade weve seen a decline and even larger drop across the United States. As people are getting discharged from the hospital and even those folks who didnt have to go to the hospital for treatment, many are dealing with symptoms that have been dealing with symptoms for weeks. Theres a new treatment from eli lily and the National Institutes of Health Promoting it, taking antibodies and taking them from covid19 survivors and injecting them directly into people who are struggling with the virus right now in the hopes it will neutralize the spread. We interviewed kay porter, a mom from boston, talking about the medical marathon that shes been on. I have certain imaging thats showing everything is okay, but when youre having all these symptoms continue, you wonder what that does to the body. What does a fever do on and off for 140 days. What would an effective treatment, even if you have covid19, mean for your situation . If there were an effective treatment for me, it would change my life as it is right now. It would give me hope. Reporter the research at this point is a little less clear on how much the antibody treatment would help someone like kay. Shes had 30 or more symptoms that have changed over the course of the month. As the long as the virus replicates, she could be a candidate to stop the additional symptoms and the pain and hardship shes had to endure. Four months is really hard to get your head around that. Sam brock for us there in miami. Sam, thank you. Promising news in florida. On capitol hill this morning, talks resuming to reach any sort of deal on the next round of a covid relief package. A major focus today will be on money for the u. S. Postal service. Sources are saying negotiators are expected to join a meeting in just a few hours. That will include the postmaster general of the United States. At this point its still not clear if a deal can be reached by the end of the week. The clock is ticking, especially for the millions of americans whose pandemic Unemployment Benefits have expired. Nbcs Garrett Haake following the latest on this part of the story from the hill. Lets start with this meeting thats going to be happening today, garrett. How is the u. S. Postal service factoring into relief talks . Reporter democrats have wanted money. Theres money set aside in the heroes act to address vote by mail. This has been a key issue for them. One of the things were learning is democrats may be learning to lower the dollar amount theyre asking for, from 25 billion down to 10 billion, if they can get policy changes locked in with the postal service. Hence the postmaster genuine concluded in todays negotiating round. Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin says if there were to be a deal, it would have to be reached by friday. First of all, why is that . And what are the sticking Points Holding up the talks . Reporter Congress Loves setting largely arbitrary deadlines. Unfortunately for the rest of us, they also tend to love blowing through them. I think theres a desire to get minds focused here and say lets get a deal this week, vote next week. Thats all well and good. The two sides are still pretty far apart. We know there seems to be some Movement Towards things like solving the question of the unemployment insurance. Hearing that compromise might be reached at 400 a week as opposed to 600 a week, possible extendi extending evictions until the end of this year. On things like funding for schools and whether that should be tied to their reopening or funding for state and local governments in particular, the two sides are literally hundreds of billions of dollars apart, craig. What we are seeing, the kind of one foot in front of the other, sort of plodding progress here towards a deal, there remains a lot of work to be done here. All right. Garrett haake on the hill. Keep us posted, sir. Thank you. We also continue to follow that breaking news that we first told you about here yesterday during this hour, the news out of beirut, lebanon. Right now, emergency workers combing through the rubble, searching for possible survivors after that massive blast that rocked the city. It was about 24 hours ago now. The citys governor says up to 250,000 people may have lost their homes, more than 100 people dead so far, more than 4,000 hurt. Nbcs chief Foreign CorrespondentRichard Engel has more on the devastation. Richard, what do we know about the causes of the explosion and the update on the rescue and relief efforts in beirut . Reporter lets start with the rescue and relief efforts. Were learning more about the cause. Its a long and complicated story, and that is the center of the investigation in lebanon right now. How did this explosive material end up in the port and why was it left there so long . But tabling that for a second, the search and rescue operations are on going. Hundreds of people are still missing. They are combing through the rubble of many of the flattened buildings. There are now beforeandafter pictures that show the area around the port. Beirut is a port city. It radiates. Between the mountains and the sea, that is beirut. This explosion happened right in the port and then echoed throughout the city. There are very few people who didnt have their homes damaged. Most windows, most doors were blown out, and they are looking through debris. This morning there was somewhat miraculous discovery. They pulled someone out who was still alive, and they are hoping to find more people in this aftermath. Now, the cause. We know certain things and theres a lot we dont know. According to lebanese officials, the cause of the main explosion and if you remember, there was first a fire in the port, a fire that people were watching, a fire that was emitting sparks. Some people thought it was fireworks. Thats still one of the working theories. There was this initial fire, that as it was gaining strength, it set off a secondary explosion, the much more powerful explosion, the one that sent a Mushroom Cloud over beirut, the one that sent that super sonic shockwave ripping through the city causing up to 4,000 people to be injured, and i believe the latest death toll now is just over 110 killed. According to senior leap knees officials that second explosion was caused by ammonium nitrate. It had been stored there for years in unsatisfied factory conditions, not proper safety conditions. The key part, and i think perhaps the more interesting part as lebanese officials dig into it, what was the material doing there . How did it get there . It came from a ship that was seized several years ago, and there are people asking why was it seized and why was it kept. We have more on that as it is emerging. Chief Foreign CorrespondentRichard Engel who is quite familiar with that part of the world, beirut, lebanon. Richard, thank you. In the middle of the pandemic, we are seeing tension between our medical experts and our politicians across the board. New york citys Health Commissioner just resigned after clashing with mayor bill de blasio. Shes not the only one to step down. Why Public Health experts all across the country are leaving their jobs in this crucial time. Also, a history making investment from the Biden Campaign. It all but guarantees that you are about to hear these words a lot more often, quote, im joe biden and i approve this message. Type 2 diabetes like emily lower their blood sugar. A majority of adults who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. Heres your a1c. Oh my a1c is under 7 announcer and you may lose weight. Adults who took ozempic® lost on average up to 12 pounds. I lost almost 12 pounds oh announcer for those also with known Heart Disease, ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, or death. It lowers the risk. 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Oh, oh, oh, ozempic® you may pay as little as 25 for a 1month or 3month prescription. Ask your Health Care Provider today about onceweekly ozempic®. Puts its customers a wiin charge . Rier well, the good news gets shared. And it gets rated 1 for customer satisfaction. But dont just take our word for it. Take theirs. Its your wireless. Your rules. Only with xfinity mobile. Call, click or visit a store today. This morning new york citys Health Commissioner is the latest in what has become a wave of public Health Officials across the country leaving their posts. Some have resigned and retired while others have been fired. Keep in mind these are essentially the Anthony Faucis of our states and counties. Many have been attacked, secondguessed, had their lives threatened. Nbcs kate snow has more on this concerning trend. I dont want you to be afraid. I a not afraid. Im determined. Reporter back in march, Ohio Health Director dr. Amy acton was hailed as a model of leadership. Im not afraid. Keep up the great work. Reporter little girls dressed up like her. Any questions . Reporter but then came the backlash. Personal attacks on the unelected officials. Protesters showing up at her home, some with guns. This summer she resigned. When she stepped down from that position, i really saw it as a tragedy for Public Health. Reporter dr. Charity dean used to be second in command at the California Department of Public Health. Shes more than 30 in 18 states who have designed, retired or been fired since the pandemic began amid unprecedented political and unprecedented pressure. Imagine if people showed up at the home of a fire chief to protest the way theyre managing a fire. That sounds ridiculous. Thats whats happening to local Public Health officers as they struggle to do their job based on science. Im lori from North Central washington. Im emily in south central, caca. Im donna in san antonio. Im Barbara Ferrer, l. A. County. Reporter we brought together a group of current and former public Health Officials. Show of hands. How many of you got into this job for the money . Thats a joke. Reporter lori jones has been a community Health Director in rural washington for 17 years. Reporter is the way youre being treated right now different than anything youve experienced in your career . Absolutely. Completely different. I started to hear about how other colleagues that were working in Public Health had their cars broken into, been followed home, had rocks thrown through the building. Reporter how many of you have had personal threats against you . Three of the four of you. Okay. That fear, you know, ive never felt that before. A person posted something to the effect f her, f them, lets start shooting. Reporter when jones checked in on a family she asked to quarantine, a Facebook Post accused her of surveilling them and threats poured in. I felt like i needed to get surveillance equipment at my home. It makes everybody fearful at a time when we really need to show up at our best. Reporter Barbara Ferrer oversees 4500 employees in los angeles. Shes been getting threats and mate mail sense left. One woman said, using very foul language, somebody needed to shoot me and another person volunteered to take that task on. Reporter wait a second. They threatened your life . Yes. We have to understand how angry people are. People have lost so much. Reporter across the country, some of that a public anger has gotten so personal you did not listen to we the people. She needs to be fired. Were going to go to her front yard in front of her sidewalk. Reporter including the protests at peoples homes that public Health Officials have been assigned security details. Its been heartbreaking to see just how much our profession is being criticized and discredited when we need Public Health more than ever right now. Reporter done emrick resigned from her Public Health position in san antonio in late june. Do you see a difference in terms of the way women are being treated . Absolute