Deaths from the virus yesterday. Florida recorded its highest death toll for a third day in a row. Meanwhile, cases continue to surge in mississippi, missouri, ohio and hawaii, all setting single day records for new cases. And for millions of americans who were hoping lawmakers would step up and strike a deal on the next Economic Relief bill, no such luck. After a seemingly lastditch effort from Senate Republicans to pass a narrow shortterm solution, the senate left town for a week. The extra 600 in Unemployment Benefits expired today, leaving millions and millions of americans asking simply, what happens now . I want to begin on capitol hill where nbcs Garrett Haake is standing by. Garrett, what can we expect to see at todays hearing . Stephanie, good morning. This will be the first appearance these three Administration Officials have in front of the select committee. It was especially created to deal with the coronavirus crisis. I think we can expect to hear a focus on probably two areas in particular. The first is going to be on testing. Jim clyburn who chairs this committee has been pushing to see more of a National Testing strategy. Expect him to hammer that point home here today and i expect the witnesses to have a lot of questions about testing across the country and why it is so delayed in so many places. I also expect to hear a heavy focus on opening up schools. This is something members of congress have been especially focused on over the last couple of weeks as school first days of school are approaching around the country. We saw when these gentlemen testified before the senate, im sure well see it again today and thirdly if there is a third topic, i expect well hear something more about the efficacy of masking. This is obviously been a hot topic up here on capitol hill after congressman Louie Gohmert tested positive for the virus earlier this week. He was well known to not wear a mask a lot of times around capitol hill. Well see some focus on that topic today as well. Steph . Gairrrett, thank you. You want to open schools, theyll need federal funding. They get that through an economic bill through congress. They went home. The president and ceo of resolve to save lives and former cdc director dr. Tom frieden. This hearing is about to begin. Its the first time dr. Fauci is addressing this committee. What are you watching for . Well, stephanie, i think we need more accountability. We know sorry. Were getting feedback. We need to know that theres going to be Information Available to the public about where the testing is done and what the turn around times are for every state, every county. We should know how many are coming back within one day, two days, three days. Why are we playing 100 for every test for tests that are nearly useless coming back after three days. Is dr. Fauci responsible for that . He is part of this group, but he cant set policy. He cant put together a National Strategy without the president and this administration signing off. One thing we need is to get on the same page. We need the same information reported every day for every state in the same way. So we have a common understanding of how bad the virus is, where its spreading and how well were doing to stop it. The frank truth is theres still a huge amount of virus in many parts of the u. S. , particularly the south and midwest and were not going to be able to open schools and keep them open unless we control the virus and support schools that adapt to this new environment. Tom, is it too late for this conversation . The hearing is literally titled the urgent need for a National Plan to contain the coronavirus. We are more than four months into this. Every week you and i have this conversation about what the country needs to do, and none of it has happened. It is frightening that we dont have a clear, National Strategy, vision or plan. Its not too complicated to say we want to save as many lives as we can and get our lives and society back. That means a whole series of things have to happen. The federal government has to do a lot, and we have to get the data. We have to be on the same page. We should be daily briefing, not just by dr. Fauci but by the subject Matter Experts at cdc. Theyve done this kind of work for decades and can tell us day after day what is happening so we can understand where its spreading, how to stop it and what were doing. The hearing is about to begin. They are preparing to start their remarks in just a minute. I want to ask you, are guideline s enough or do we need mandates . Were seeing the uptick from house parties, people think its passed us, its moved to the midwest. Do we need more than recommendations . One thing we need to understand is no one thing is going to stop this. Not even a vaccine, if and when we have one. We need a comprehensive response and some enforcement mandates will be required. Its one thing they dont go to bars. Another thing they close bars in a place where theres dramatic spread. Thats a nobrainer. Its a question about what people are going to do. You arent going to mandate people dont get together in their home. We need a common understanding of what we do to protect each other and protect our childrens education. I want to stay on that because the information were going to learn today is crucial, but i want to talk about how much teeth is in this hearing. Some schools are beginning in just a couple of weeks, but we know that Economic Relief bill yesterday wasnt agreed upon between Senate Republicans, and they went home. Unless the federal government is putting serious dollars behind safely reopening and reconfiguring schools, isnt this just noise . Any community that opens schools, but to keep them open requires two things. Controlling covid in a community and adapting the school environme environment. That is going to take resources and that Means Congress needs to step up and provide funding. I want to talk about schools and university. Theres talk of pool testing. In order to test more individuals, can you help us understand what is pool testing . How does it work . Pool testing, youve got a low rate of disease. Say youve got workers coming back or students coming back. You can put maybe four or five peoples tests in one test tube and test them all at once. If its negative, all five are negative. If its positive, you have to go back and test each of the five individuals. If you have a low rate of positivity, thats a way of the grouping the number of tests you can do and bringing the costs down. But what really bothers me is that were paying hundreds of millions of dollars for tests that are useless. And we shouldnt be paying for tests that take more than 72 hours to come back. End of discussion. And then they wouldnt be this charade that were doing 800,000 tests a day when 500,000 of them are useless. That is something we really have to focus on. 100 . The amount of money and effort being put forth for contact tracing. If people are not getting their test results for five to 12 days, theres no such thing as contact tracing. Its a complete waste of time. I want to stay on schools for just a moment. Were talking about the importance of reopening schools. If we open them and they close down again, well be caught flatfooted. It will hurt us from an education and economic standpoint. In new york city they came out with new guidelines. If a single classroom has one or more excuse me. One or two confirmed cases, those classes will close for two weeks. If theres a small outbreak in more than one classroom, the entire school will close for two weeks. Is that a good strategy . Well, i want to see what the governor has to say here. The governor has really taken a very fair approach to basing decisions on data and taking a statewide prooapproach. Theres a lot we dont know about schools. Well have to learn what works. New york is fortunate in that we have a much, much lower rate of virus than most of the country. But its still out there. Were not out of the woods yet. Weve got to be careful. Now what we do in response to a cluster of cases is going to depend on the school environment, the policies. Its important to have that plan well in advance. One of the eight key things we outlined that schools need to do that theyll be able to reopen safely. That plan for cases because there will be cases. Whether you have to shut for a day or two days or a week, that has to be thought through carefully, and there are adaptations. Like moving in pods or cohorts of students so that if one class gets it, it doesnt spread to the whole school. That kind of adaptation is really quite important. I want to talk vaccines for a moment. Thats what were all hoping for the most. We learned that the Trump Administration will invest another 2 billion towards another possible vaccine. The money is going to Fund Clinical trials and secure 100 million doses of that vaccine if its successful. Do you think the administration is on the right track when it comes to longterm solutions . Well, its absolutely the case we should be doing Everything Possible to get safe and effective vaccines. And its encouraging the studies suggest that among the vaccines out there, they are getting an immune response. But theres three things we still dont know. Does it work in people . Is it safe . Can we get it to people . For each of those three things, theres a series of things we have to get. Know how well it protects, how many people for how long . We have to look carefully at safety. A lot of the bad disease from covid is from our reaction. I dont want to be alarmists, but we have to be completely honest with the American People. Thats a risk we need to look at it. And, third, will we be able to get it into people. That means not just can we make it and transport it and deliver it, but will people trust . And that trust has to be maintained using the federal advisory committee, fda and cdc that look at every vaccine we use. I know, dr. Frieden, you are going to be focused on this hearing. It looks like its beginning right now so i want to take you and our audience there. Congressman jim clyburn is gaveling into the coronavirus hearing right now. And will not be recognized to speak. Let me also make a few reminders about how the hearings. For those appearing in person, youll be able to see members appearing remotely on the two monitors in front of you. On one monitor youll see all the members appearing remotely at once in what is known as webex as grid view mode. On the other monitor, you will see each person speaking during the hearing when they are speaking, including members who are appearing remotely. For those members appearing remotely, you can also see each person speaking during the hearing whether they are in person or remote as long as you have your webex set to active speaker mode. If you have any questions about this, please Contact Committee staff immediately. Let me also remind everyone of the house procedures that apply to hybrid hearings. For members appearing in person, a time limit is visible in the room directly in front of you. For those who may be remote, we have a timer that should be visible on your screen when you are in the active speaker with thumbnail mode, and you have a timer pinned. For members who may be appearing remotely, a few other reminders. The house rules require that we see you, so please have your cameras turned on at all times, not just when you are speaking. Members who are not recognized shall remain muted to minimize background noise and feedback. I will recognize members verbally and members retain the right to seek recognition verbally. In regular order, members will be recognized in seniority order for questions. If you are remote and want to be recognized outside of regular order, you may identify that in several ways. You may use the check function to send a request. You may send an email to the majority staff. Or you may unmute your mike c t seek recognition. Obviously, we do not want people speaking over each other so use the chat function or email to facilitate formal verbal recognition. Committee staff will ensure that i am made aware of the request, and i will recognize you. As members of the committee are likely aware, we expect votes to be called in the middle of this hearing. Out of respect for members and witnesses time and because of the Long Duration of each vote during this Public Health emergency, i do not plan to recess the hearing at any time. Committee members, including those who are recognized for questions while their vote is ongoing, will have sufficient time to step out of the hearing, cast their vote and return to the hearing. We will begin this hearing in just a moment when they tell me they are ready to begin the live stream. As they are preparing to get this hearing started, were going to take a quick break. Were watching developments on capitol hill this morning. Dr. Fauci set to testify on the Coronavirus Response that will begin any minute now. Plus, 20 million americans are hours away from losing their extended Unemployment Benefits. Were going to find any response now. There you go. 600, that unemployment boost, what Chuck Schumer has called unemployment on steroids, well, that is probably running out. Well discuss that right after the break. How about no no uh uh, no way come on, no no nnnnono only discover has no annual fee on any card. The open road is open again. And wherever youre headed, Choice Hotels is there. Book direct at choicehotels. Com. Lookentertainmentour experience xfinity x1. Its the easiest way to watch live tv and all your favorite streaming apps. Plus, x1 also includes peacock premium at no extra cost. This baby is the total package. It streams exclusive originals, the full peacock movie library, complete collections of iconic tv shows, and more. Yup, the best really did get better. Magnificent. Xfinity x1 just got even better, with peacock premium included at no additional cost. No strings attached. As we said at the top of the show, the federal governments extended Unemployment Benefits are set to expire tonight for more than 20 million americans. But the Republicanled Senate already left capitol hill for a long weekend with zero action on unemployment. The senate left on the same day the United States recorded its worst quarterly gdp ever yesterday. President trump has been telling us instead about how great the economy is going to get. Youre going to have a fantastic Third Quarter. It will be a Third Quarter the likes of which nobody has ever seen before. Third quarter is going to be tremendous numbers. Fourth quarter, likewise. By election day youll see some incredible numbers. Well have a good Third Quarter, but next year, and i said it before, will be the single greatest year economically that weve ever had. Okay . I think next year is going to be an excellent year. Maybe one of our best years ever from an economic standpoint. Of course, jared kushner, the president s soninlaw said july is when we would be rocking and rolling economically. Rock bottom is more like it. Nbcs saheel is on capitol hill. Its not a surprise gdp was this low. We shut the economy off. How could the senate have said were going to go home, were not going to focus on this, given how many americans, through no fault of their own, are without a job or an opportunity any time soon. Thats right. They had weeks, arguably months to figure this out. This deadline has been widely known for a long time. Millions of americans are relying on the 600 a week for Unemployment Benefits like for paying rent and getting food and staying in their homes. We have a partisan division between where republicans are and democrats are. Republicans are convinced the economy cannot come back because of it. They believe its a disincentive to work because a number of people getting it are taking in more money than they would by otherwise working. Democrats point to analyses that show more people would lose their jobs and the economy would be worse off if you stop this because people spend this money. This money goes straight into the economy. People get this money. Its going to go to landlords, Grocery Stores and businesses to basically help them keep the lights on and to keep their basic needs met. The senate cannot seem to find a way to agree on this. Republicans want to dramatically cut the 600 benefit. Democrats say it has to be extended and thats the stalemate. Why are they so obsessed with this 600 benefit to unemployed americans yet they arent with the 600 billion that went to ppp, the Small Business program, where we know thousands of loans went forgivable loans went to businesses that didnt need the money . Most of the republican senators i speak to point to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office that says 5 out of 6 americans would earn more money than they could otherwise expect to by working if the 600 were extended. Of course that mindset operates in a world where the economy is roaring back, right . If businesses were rushing to hire and the pandemic was fading away, then that argument might have some merit but thats not really the world were living in and the resurgence in infections in states like california and texas and florida have caught many of them off guard. But it hasnt moved them to a place where theyre willing to extend the current benefits are go significant period of time. People need to put food on the table and support their families. I welcome any of those lawmakers to have this conversation with me any day, monday to friday, 9 00 a. M. Sahil, thank you. I want to turn our attention back to the hearing. Congressman jim clyburn speaking. Lets listen in. Public health is not a partisan issue. And i hope that