usaa. what you re made of we re made for tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. after president trump takes aim at the head of the cdc, dr. robert redfield, and what he said about a potential vaccine and timeline, the nation s top doctors tonight come to dr. redfield s defense. and what dr. anthony fauci is saying about when millions of americans will likely get a vaccine. the president offering his own timeline, much closer to the election. and all of this as the u.s. now nears 200,000 american lives lost. tonight here, a reality check. abc news reaching out to the leaders, the scientists leading more than a half dozen vaccine trials. so, what do they say about when there could be a vaccine and when americans could get it? also, the new obstacles for schools. new york city schools and the setback.
and the pastor who told members of his own congregation they didn t have to wear masks now reportedly in the icu, battling the virus. the remnants of hurricane s
And america strong tonight. the baby and the power of a mother s voice. good evening and it s great to have you with us here on a thursday night. we have a lot to get to. that storm, the remnants of sally now turning deadly. the rescues tonight. and the tornado watch up right now. but we re going to begin tonight with the coronavirus here in the u.s., and the cdc s dire new forecast. that the death toll could be 218,000 american lives by october 10th. that s just three weeks from now. and tonight, the feud between president trump and the scientists. president trump telling americans that the head of the cddr redfielwa confuen s initi come in november or december, but that it will be well into next year before millions of americans get it. the president suggesting a different timeline. one that could mean a vaccine is ready before the election. and the president claiming it
reporter: in fact, david, the plan was so far along that the post office actually drafted this press release back in april announcing it. the press release was just obtained by the oversight group american oversight. and it details 650 million masks to be sent out working with the department of health and human services. the white house did not respond to our questions about why the plan was scrapped, but the washington post is reporting that there were concerns at the white house that the plan, sending out all those masks, would cause americans to panic. david? all right, jon karl leading us off tonight. jon, thank you. of course, jon, you know, all of this comes as the u.s. now nears that new and grim milestone, the death toll nearing 200,000. now at more than 197,000 lives lost. new york city schools suffering another setback tonight, and this evening, a reality check right here. our team reaching out to the heads of all of the major vaccine trials, amid this political battl
Would be available right away. leaders in the medical community tonight coming to the cdc chief s defense, hoping to offer the american people a more realistic timeline. but in a polarized country and with politics at play, tonight, what the american people are now saying about whether they even trust this vaccine is coming without political pressure. and so we begin with our chief white house correspondent jonathan karl. reporter: tonight, the nation s top medical experts are backing up embattled cdc director robert redfield, as president trump calls redfield confused and mistaken about when most americans will be able to get the covid vaccine. redfield told congress that even if a vaccine is approved this fall, it will take many more months before it is widely available. i think we re probably looking at third late second quarter, third quarter 2021. reporter: president trump says he called redfield directly to tell him he is wrong, an extraordinary rebuke to one of the top e
Tweeted, the job is to be president of all americans. for the love of god, start acting like it. and tonight, another former member of the trump administration has turned against the president. olivia troye, who served on the coronavirus task force as vice president pence s homeland security adviser, tells the washington post that president trump has a flat-out disregard for human life. when we were in a task force meeting, the president said, maybe this covid thing is a good thing. i don t like shaking hands with people. i don t have to shake hands with these disgusting people. reporter: tonight, vice president pence said troye sounds like a, quote, disgruntled employee. and so let s get right to jon karl, with us live from washington tonight. and jon, we know president trump is also fighting the cdc director after what dr. redfield said about masks, that masks might be more effective even than a vaccine. but there s also news coming in on masks tonight, reports that as