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. good afternoon, i'm chuck todd. it's 11:00 a.m. out west, 2:00

p.m. in the east. here are the facts as we though them this hour. new white house press secretary kaly kaly mckayleigh mcenany will brief the press. it is first press conference in over a year. that was in march of 2019. southwest and alaska are the latest major airlines to require facial coverings for all passengers. the country's largest airlines, delta, american, and united are also mandating masks. experts expect the industry will lose more than $300 billion this year. today is the last day of operations for the temporary field hospital in manhattan's aft javits center. it was created to ease a burden on the hospital system. and the u.s. ns comfort left new

york city yesterday. and in ain't view with cnbc today, the national economic council director did not rule out the possibility that the president or others believe that covid-19 may have been intentionally leased by kline. >> does the president or the administration believe that somehow the chinese engineered the release of this virus to either derail his reelection or weasel out of phase one or both? >> carl, there are a lot of theories around, a lot of discussions around president has his views on this. those views are being developed with the help of our intelligence people and others:so i don't want to go too far down that road. it will be up to the president to make final decisions here. >> and joining me as well this hour my co-anchor katy tur. there are two campaigns in 2020. i do think we ought to separate them out.

we have the campaign between biden and trump and all that that is going to take place. there is a global campaign essentially for what i would call virus supremacy between china and the united states. and some of this is for domestic purposes, obviously. a lot of the china bashing and rumor mongering. but some is for the international appetite, if you will, which is as basically the united states wants to push back on any good will china is trying to attain around the world when it comes to whether it's ppe or things like that. they want china to have to own the virus. this was on them whether an accident or not that, this is on them. so some of this is about a global sort of diplomacy campaign that is happening. >> the two campaigns though will diverge into one and already doing so when you talk about politics leading up to the 2020 election, to november. i haven't seen the intel so i

couldn't tell one way or another. i can tell you that politically speaking, blaming china for this and accusing them or having it, like, felt that they are somehow responsible for releasing this on the world lines up politically with what the president and his team have been trying to do. saying that he is protecting the united states from china. he's shut down the flights from china. and that he was the one who acted decisively. so politically speaking, they're going to merge into one going into november. chuck, in case you didn't know, i think it's always good to have a reminder, today is friday. it is also may 1st. and it is also international worker's day known as may day. in a show of worker solidarity, employees at some of the country's largest retailers including amazon, target, walmart and whole foods are calling out sick today to protest what they call unacceptable working conditions. a group of organizers at target tell nbc news they want stronger health benefits if they are going to keep working through a pandemic. joining us now is nbc's jo kent.

she is outside where one protest is set to begin in los angeles. so may day is always a big day for protests. this year, a lot different than in years past. >> that's right. the retail pro sest is happening across the country right now. the companies have responded including amazon and target. they've all highlighted the fact that the numbers of people actually doing a sickout are walking out on the retail jobs is relatively small. the companies are taking may measures. they're certainly happening at the same time. for example, whole foods now going to be providing protective equipment and masks for its workers. near los angeles, we're waiting for a major caravan of cars to come down here. as much as the retailers are

benefitting from this big insurge ens of demand for the stuff we need, the toilet paper, you also have people who can't afford rent. you have 30 million people that have filed for jobless claims. they're expecting a caravan of cars to come down here. you're very familiar. this is los angeles city hall. they're asking for rent and mortgage payments to be canceled until the end of may. they say they can't pay because of covid-19. the governor already put a restriction on evictions. landlords cannot actually evict tenants right now for a two-month period. however, that period is going to come to a close. and if you are a landlord, you are still able to start the paperwork for an eviction. you have major pushback across the country not just here in l.a. but around the country for this rent strike. the idea is that because of the

economic fallout, this emergency that we're in, a lot of people are not able to make their rent. they want a break. some say we work very hard to pay the rent every single month. we don't have jobs. why are small businesses and big businesses getting help and we the individuals are not? that's the argument. >> if you cancel rent, you're going to have to cancel mortgages. a lot of landlords won't be able to pay the mortgage without that rent. thank you very much. chuck, over to you. >> thank you, katy. now to germany, a company praising for a potential second wave of covid-19. the infection rate ticked up after it started loosening the lockdown. that is not surprising. the question is, it too much? joining me from berlin is carl mazzman. carl? >> yeah. that's right. germany, we know has been one of the countries that's been successful in flattening the curve. already starting to lift some of the lockdown restrictions.

there is a statistic that is looked at very closely in germany. its no the really on the radar in the united states. it's something called the reproduction number. this is basically a simple measurement that tells you how many other people, one sick person can infect. now in germany, early in the week this number ticked up to one, anything above one, chuck, is considered dangerous. that means the virus is starting to spread rapidly once again. this gave the country a bit of a shock, you might say. the public health officials here, they immediately warned citizens to voluntarily at least stay inside as much as possible. and this is something that the made international news as well. we herd press conferences and cuomo mentioning this and even the uk. that number since ticked down. but we're not seeing the government or chancellor rushing in to loosening any more

restrictions. in fact, she met with state leaders yesterday and announcing a few baby steps, a few more restrictions lifted. but really keeping most everything in place. and that is despite the economy here really beginning to hurt. germany is in the midst of the worst recession since world war ii. a third of the businesses are in dafrpg or fearing they may have to go out of business if these restrictions remain in place for another three months or so. but really what you see here is the government listening to the statistics in terms of how and when they want to lift these lockdown measures. >> okay. carl, thank you. one thing is unique about germany is that their chancellor is a trained scientists. she has been giving very scientifically data driven briefings. katy, i believe we have the two-minute warning or under the

two-minute warning for the first press briefing of a new era. also starting relatively on time which will be a new thing for the press briefings. a year and a half ago, we would constantly be interrupted by white house briefings, sean spicer and sarah huckabee sanders and have to come back and correct the record for a lot of what was said from that podium. i'm curious what this is going to -- what this is going to look like with kaly -- kayleigh mcenany. she was a pro trump commentator during the 2016 election. she left and went to the rnc, then to the trump campaign and now the new white house press secretary. interestingly the last press secretary who was one of the handlerses for the press on the trump campaign held this role, this white house press secretary

role for nine months, never once, never once held a press briefing with reporters. >> it's interesting. this is the first sort of fingerprint of the new chief of staff, mark meadows. he wants to try to use some of the mort traditional tools of a west wing including this press briefing, including a more -- a communications office that perhaps is more involved in in day to day parts of the west wing. i think -- i'll be curious to see, katy, mark meadows is doing what a lot of the other chiefs of staff attempted to do. you know, get their arms around the communications side of things. get their arms around the political side of things. and then realizing at the end of the day everything is just goes through one entity and one person and it's the person that sits behind the dez in tsk in tl office. let's see what she says holds up

and that the president doesn't end up contradicting her. >> good afternoon. i have an announcement for you on hospital funding as appropriated in the third phase of coronavirus relief. the trump administration will distribute a total of $12 billion in provider relief fund payments to 395 hospitals across the country that have been hardest hit by the covid-19 pandemic. they have collectively cared for over 70% of the patients. 10 billion of the 12 billion will go towards hospitals treating 100 or more covid-19 admissions. hhs is distributing an additional $2 billion to the 395 hospitals in proportion to the amount of care they provide to low income and uninsured patients. this is consistent with our effort to ensure that americans who need federal government assistance the most receive it. we'll be releasing a breakdown of the states receiving this funding and the counties

receiving this fund brg your awareness, new york, new jersey, and illinois received the most funding by state. new york, new york, bronxes, new york, and cook, illinois, received the most funding by county. our health care providers as president trump has repeatedly acknowledged are our heroes as we work to defeat the invisible enemy. this relief funding will help the heroes defeat this virus. in reacting to cares relief, i love what a provider said, he said thank you and god for this relief. i have tears in my eyes out of gratitude for these funds. thank you, so, so, so much. additionally 100 flights is part prove jekt air bridge have been completed to date. these flights have expedite nearedly one billion pieces of ppe for the health care heroes. there was $320 billion in additional funding for the paycheck protection program which provide forgivable loans to small businesses to keep the employees on payroll.

this program is successful during first round of ppp loans. of the 1.6 million loans provided, one million were given to companies with ten or fewer employees. so it has gone to small businesses and businesses that need it most. the ppp, it's not just government program. this is supporting every day americans who threw no fault of their own have found themselves in this predigability. we saw this firsthand at the white house on tuesday. on tuesday, president trump welcomed small business owners and employees to the white house. these small businesses received ppp loans which helped pay the employees during the pandemic. this tl is a coffee shot not too far from it here. they had to temporarily close the doors but because of ppp loans, they were able to rehire all of its employees.

i had the real honor of getting to meet michael hoip, one of the plo employees and he offered words of encouragement to our country. they really touched my heart. i think they'll touch the heart of america if you wouldn't mind playing the remarks. >> you and president trump, thank you so much. thank you, mr. president, for having us. i love my job and i'm excited about going back to work. we like to use the phrase called not broken. that means me and all my amazing co-workers are not broken. and we have lots to offer. i know the great country of the united states isn't broken either. so on behalf of myself, megan, amy and all the employees, thank you for inviting us over.

>> i gave michael a call yesterday and asked him what he was up to. he said and his fellow employees were literally handwriting notes to put in with their coffee packages. i received one of the notes from another company. it does put a smile on your face. michael is doing that each and every day. they represent the hope and opportunity that is on the horizon for america's workers as their body, their business eshg rather, and embodies the american spirit. workers like michael show that this country is not broken. and that we will recover together. michael, thank you. you're an american hero. thank you for sharing that message of hope and with that, i'll take questions. >> if i could, welcome to the podium for first time. >> thank you. >> the markets are down substantially today after the president yesterday suggested in the east room he might use tariffs to punish china over the coronavirus. is there any serious

consideration being given to putting new tariffs on china or was the president just spitballing zbled. >> i won't get ahead of any announcements from the president. i'll echo the president's displeasure with china. noes secret that china mishandled this situation. they did not share the genetic sequence until they did on their own the next day. china shut down the lab for recollect fiction. they slee walked information on human to human transmission alongside the world health organization and didn't let the u.s. investigators and n. at a very important time. so we take displeasure with china's actions. i certainly won't get ahead of the president with those announcements. >> is the president seriously considering forcing china to pay some compensation, reparations, whatever word? >> when it comes to retaliatory measures, i won't get ahead of the president on that. >> thank you. welcome to the podium. >> thank you. >> the president said yesterday that he has a high degree of

confidence that the coronavirus originated in a lab in wuhan, china, yet his own intelligence agencies say they're still investigating. so does the president have information and has he drawn a conclusion that the intelligence community has not yet? >> the president's statement is consistent with the other intelligence assessments. while we continue to have limited and dubious data from china, president trump's statement is consistent with what some analysts believe is the epicenter wrf the virus began. i would note that intelligence statement you're referring to really made two points. one that this virus originated in china, and, two, it began through contact with infected animals or was the result of an accident at a laboratory in wuhan. so i consider that consistent with what the president said. st he has seen intelligence suggesting it could be in the wu had han laboratory. >> they seem to lean into the idea that this started in a laboratory. whereas the statement that we saw from the dni said we're still investigating those two

options that you just laid out. is the president in any way creating mixed messages by not saying investigate it. >> let me remind everyone, intelligence is just an estimate, essentially. it's up to policymakers to decide what to do with that information. the president of the united states, he'll make that decision at the right time. >> is the president getting close to deciding what to do about china? is he receiving any recommendations of the consequences? is he anywhere near a decision? >> again, i won't get ahead of the president's decision or timing of the decision. he takes this very seriously. the decisions of china that i referenced slow walking some of that information put american livers at risk. and rest assured, this president has one priority and that is the safety and well-being of american lives. >> thank you so much. welcome. it's been more than 100 days since the press secretary stood there, we want to get a better sense of what your plan is. you are planning on doing these

for a daily basis and will you pledge never to lie. >> i will never lie to you. as for the timing of the briefings, we do plan to do them. i will announce timing of that forthcoming. but we do plan to continue these. >> welcome to the podium. >> thank you. >> question for you on project warp speed. can you give us some more details of the president said ultimately he's in charge of the project. but will there be a day to day point person on this? what is the budget for this project? and when can the american people realistically expect there will be a vaccine available? >> well, there is day to day point person. that is the president of the united states. president trump and with regard to vaccines, i would note the words of dr. fauci which are these, going into a phase one trial within three months of getting the sequence is unquestionable. the world and/or record, nothing has ever gone this fast. so what the president is doing and under the president's leadership, we're in phase one. faster than ever before

according to dr. fauci. that should encourage the american people. >> in the budget and there is really no other point person? i mean the president ultimately, i guess the buck stops with the president. but he hasn't put somebody on the staff? >> i'm not going to get into any details how that works. rest assured we're on an accelerated pace to a vaccine for the phase one portion of clinical trial. >> yes? >> thanks. the fed yesterday took an action that appeared to design allow oil companies to go to the facilities. has the president talked to chairman powell about this and if he is happy about the move and if the white house is considered any additional assistance to the oil? >> i won't get into the president's personal discussions. i would just note that the president is always looking out for the nearly 11 million american workers in the oil industry. i would also note that we're filling the strategic petroleum reserve right now. 75 million barrels. that is the only announcement i have on the oil front today.

>> thank you. the president tweeted this morning about the protests in michigan. he essentially said the governor of michigan should work with the protesters and called them very good people and said that they are very angry. some of the protests i'm sure you saw included heavily armed protesters, members of militia groups. i wonder if the president is speaking about those specific members who stormed the capitol in michigan when he talked about very good people. >> the president was referencing generally that in this country you have a first amendment right to protest. i think that is something we all treasure here. and we should. you have a right to do that constitutionally. but you must protest within the bounds of the law. he encourages everyone to protest lawfully. i also engage in our social distancing guidelines which we think all americans should engage in. >> do you have any response to people storming the capital and going into face-offs with police officers and intimidating them? >> again, the president says

that we must protest lawfully and act within the bounds of the law. yes? >> thank you. when the president says we need this spectacular job and jared kushner talks about a great success story, people see it as a lack of empathy. do you understand the reaction? >> look, you know, jarrod curb ne jared kushner has done a great job for this administration. when he talk about his success story, he is talking about the story of this administration which is a story of mobilization for the american people, the greatest mobilization of american industry since world war ii. of course, we grieve for every american life that has been lost. but we want the american people to be confident in their response of this administration. and that is what he is trofrrefg to. the health care industry uses 25 million m-95 masks and we have delivered in this support time 57 million m-95 masks, three times what the health care

sector uses in a world. it's extraordinary. some in the media are saying we need maila million ventilators. not a single american has died for lack of events late eastern the fact this this president can look the american people in the eye and say i am producing 100,000 ventilators this year alongside the private sector, 100,000 ventilators. that is three times what we produce in the average year. i'd consider that a great success on behalf of the american people. >> it's more about the tone than the policy itself. >> we want to give the american people confidence that they have a federal government doing everything in our power to provide the necessary equipment to combat this invisible enemy. we grieve for the american lives. we said that repeatededly. i will echo that today. my heart breaks for those. i pray regularly for those who are affected by the coronavirus. but we're going to give confidence to the american people that you have a federal government under donald trump that is going to step up and give the greatest mobilization of the private sector since world war ii.

yes? >> thank you so much. will thank you for being here. president trump mentioned the situation in brazil a few times this week. besides talks of cutting off flights from brazil are there talks in terms of sending assist abc to befo assista assist assistance to brazil? >> the president mentioned sent ventilators around the world. any excess supply we certainly look to help other countries. but, you know in, terms of a specific announcement regarding brazil, zroii don't have any ne information for you on that front. >> one of most important parts of your job is to have access to the president. can you give us some indication since you've been named press secretary, what kind of access do you have to the president to get what he's thinking and relate it to us? >> i can tell you i'm around the president almost the entire day. i was just with him before i came out to speak with you guys. i think my staff can attest to

the fact they have a hard time finding me because i'm normally with the president in the oval office. so i am consistently with him. absorbing the thinking and it's my mission to bring you the mindsetst president, deliver the facts so this president gets fair and accurate reporting and the american people get fair and accurate information. yes? >> thank you. just following up on the question. china's blocking the world health organization from coming in and investigating how this started. shouldn't investigators be allowed into wuha in. to see how this started and expedite to find a cure? is. >> there is no secret that china stopped u.s. investigators from coming in. it was of importance that we got into china in an expedited fashion and that didn't happen. with respect to the world health organization, they have questions of their own to answer. the united states has the president emphasized provides about 400 million to $500 million per year to the w.h.o. but, yeah, the who appears to

have a very clear china bias. you look at this time line and it's really damning for the w.h.o. and you consider you had taiwanese officials warning about human to human transmission. the w.h.o. didn't make that public. january 9th, they reported the claim the virus does not trans mi transmit readily between people. that was false. they repeated the talking points about no human to human transmission. they praised the leadership on 2 the 23rd. even on february 29th, you had the w.h.o. saying that when the coronavirus was spreading around the world, they chose to put political correctness first by opposing life saving travel restrictions. the travel restriction this is president put in place, the travel restrictions that dr.

fauci praised as saving lives. and you have the world health organization opposing a measure that saved american lives. that's unacceptable especially at a time when the u.s. was providing $400 million to $500 million. >> this time last week the president says he was not happy with georgia's governor in the time and way he was. a week later, there are peaks and valleys in new cases in georgia. overall, the trend line is down. do you know what the president's thinking about the georgia reopening as to have day? >> the president is resolute in saying the states take the lead here. it's the lead -- the decision of governors to say what is best for the state. that being said, you know, i talked to the experts. i talked to dr. birx and fauci and they say this president has always sided on the side of data which is why i encourages all states to follow the data driven guidelines to reopening.

one note i would make about the president n times of national emergency, we steam have a trend in this country where president's aggregate power at the federal level. this president devolved power. he invested in a principle i cherish and many others do which is federalism. i think that is the right decision. >> has he mentioneded how you feels about governor kemp? >> i have not spoken to him about governor kemp in the last few days. >> as the president pushes forward to reopen the country, does that mean he'll be campaigning in those states? that will be reopening? >> i refer you to the trump campaign on that question. yeah? >> thank you for being here. you mentioned dr. fauci a minute ago. are we going to have any more press briefings with dr. fauci and dr. birx or is the white house shifting the message to, you know, focus more on the economy and less on the public health aspect? >> let me back up and talk to you a little bit about how we

approach disseminating information. when i talk with my colleague and we plan out the communications with the president and white house and ben as well, what we do is we say what is the best mode for the public to receive this information at this time. we allow the news cycle and needs of the american people to guide us. at the moment what we see happening and hinted that last week is you have 35 states and probably more at this point with plans to reopen the country. americans are looking to reopening the country. we've had dr. birx and several events this week. dr. birx and fauci out on the airwaves. they're inkrecredible people. we allow the news of the day to guide us, what the american people need to hear and right now we're in a reopening phase which is why you've seen the president this week with ceos, with small business owners, with small business employees. ich done a lot of the hard work. we approach this is how can we disseminate the information? there is a need for information which is why i'm here.

i would also note he's the most accessible president in history. took questions twice yesterday, twice the day before. >> is the task force still meeting -- what is the role of the task force? we still have hundreds of people are dying. what role is the task force have versus the economic advisory? >> the task force meets regularly. i go to the meetings. i hear them. dr. birx is meticulously reviewing the data in granular detail. i watch them spend upwards of two hours in the task force briefings. those are still on going. rest assured. we want a safe reopening so we're prioritizing the help of the american people as well as looking forward to reopening this country. >> back to the statement from yesterday. there is a quote that i'd like to get your response to. the intelligence community also

conquered with the consensus that the covid-19 virus was not man made or genetically modified. this was from the dni statement. >> i can assure you that no one is pressing the intelligence community to come to a determination. the intelligence community statement stands. it's in perfect concert with what the president said. so, you know, i encourage the media to convey the facts to the american people which is that we're in line as an administration and we stand by the intelligence community and that is in complete concert with what the president said yesterday. >> who haven't i got to? i got to almost everyone. so we're in round two. that's great. yes? >> thank you.

today former vice president joe biden denied allegations of sexual misconduct against him. does president trump take him at his word given that as the president has said he denied allegations against himself? >> what i would say is that we're pleaseded that t that the vice president got on the record. it took him less than 16 hours to follow the advice of the president of the united states and publicly address the claims. you know, we're glad to see he's on the record on this. >> let me ask you about something the president said moments ago in an interview. he said that tara reid is far more compelling than anything they had with respect to bret kavanaugh. what did he mean by that? what is more compelling? >> that's the president's assessment. i point balk to his words. i think it was a grave miscarriage of justice what happened with justice bret kavanaugh. there is no need to before he up the salacious, awful and false allegations made against justice kavanaugh. that was an embarrassment for the democrat party to have dragged the name of a very

respectable man through the mud like that. so i'll leave it at that. >> there is word the decisions to release michael cohen from prison to home confinement has been reversed. did the white house directly or indirectly intervene here? >> no. so absolutely not i would say. there but i'm glad that you brought up justice and because, look, there is, again, a case of injustice that has yet to be brought up to day. but i certainly would like to bring it up. and that's the case of general michael flynn. what we've all learned from that should scare every american citizen. the fact that you had jim comey admitting and n. december of last year that he violated a protocol by directing agents to con front flynn, something he would not have got and way with under previous administrations. the fbi told flynn he didn't need a lawyer when they came to meet with him. mccabe told fbi agents he didn't

think flynn was lying and then all of that information we learned over the last few months and years culminates in the fact we have a handwritten fbi note that says "we need to get flynn to lie" and get him fired. that was -- there was an unfair target on the back of general michael flynn. it should concern every american. any time of there is a partisan pursuit of an individual and that certainly at least the questions are raised with regard to general michael flynn and honorable man who served his country. >> on that one, the president fired michael flynn. he said he was doing something because he had lied to the vice president and he had lied to the fbi. so given all that you've just said, isn't it still true, isn't the president still believe that michael flynn lied to vice president pence and lied to the fbi? >> first, let me address. that vice president pence is on the record about this. he said he's inclined to believe

that flinn did nynn did not inty mislead him. the fbi said we have to get him to lie. doesn't that trouble you as a journalist and american citizen? >> certainly something worth reporting. it's not my job to say whether or not it's troubling. the president said point blank that flynn lied to the fbi and to the vice president. and i'm asking a very direct question. does he still believe that michael flynn lied to the fbi and lied to the vice president? >> and again, i point tout vice president's statement that he's inclined to believe that flynn did not intentionally mislead him. i'm asking back that all of you in your coverage endeavor to report what is a very scary story when the fbi is saying let us get someone to lie. i've seen very scant coverage of that. it's a story worth reporting and a story that i hope the american people if you haven't heard it yet are getting to hear for the very first time. >> thank you. going back to the south china

sea. we had had an issue come up this morning where you had had the uss barry crossing international maritime waters and then chinese official are saying that this will be a dead end endeavor. does -- has the president spoken with any -- any side on the chinese as far as what the united states is going to continue doing? is the u.s. navy going to ignore the threats and keep going through these international waters? what are your responses to china's increasing aggression in the south china sea again? >> i have no news to report as to the president's conversations. and for the specific, i direct you to the nsc. >> in the same interview, the president said that democrats would quote have to give us a lot for aid to stay. i wonder if you have any idea what specifically the white house and president is asking for. and secondly, what you'd say to

somebody like governor cuomo that says, you know, the president already told me a few weeks ago he would support this type of assistance. and why are we bailing out, you know, airlines or defense contractors but not the states that pay teachers or first responders. >> you brought up governor cuomo. it's a good time to remind everyone that governor cuomo praised the president's response on this covid-19 crisis saying that what the president has achieved is a phenomenal accomplishment. we thank governor cuomo for those very kind words. but on that note with regarding funding to states, phase four is something we want to negotiating on immediately. get to work on. the president has said, look, i will certainly look to consider helping states who have coronavirus reasons for the financial situation they find themselves in. but he doesn't want this to be an excuse for decades and decades of bad democrat and governance that have run some of the states into a financial

predicament. sow mentioned that. in terms of types of things he wants to see in the phase four. i want to emphasize that he mentioned sank wary cities. thiscy really important issue that has caused american lives. last year a brave i.c.e. officers arrested criminal aliens charged with 10,000 burglaries and 45,000 violent assaults 2shgs,000 murder and in the last year 5,000 human trafficking episodes. so american lives matter. our brave i.c.e. men and women matter and it is something he would like to see in a phase four. >> you raise that -- and the president's been vague about this. you are explicitly conditioning state aid on cities not saying they would have sanctuary? >> that is certainly something the president will bring up. >> thanks very much. the president has in the past

denied any of the allegations from the men and women who accused him of sexual misconduct. but for that podcast today, he suggested the allegations that tara reid raised are -- what, credible than the ones against bret kavanaugh. what about the allegations that are and what makes them any less credible than the allegations from tara reid? >> the president has swiftly denied all of these allegations that were raised four years ago. he has always told the truth on these issues. he's denied them immediately and bringing up issues like i said from four years ago that were asked and answered in the american people had their say in the matter when they elected president trump as president of the united states. but, you know, the media, leave it to the media to take an issue about the former vice president and turn it on the president and bring up accusations from four years ago that were asked and answered in the form of the vote of the american people. >> come back to john's question. much kellyanne conway spoke to this the other day and suggested

two things could be true at the same time. we have vice president saying it's his belief that general flynn may have unintentionally misled him. that is now three years after the fact. but the two things that could have been true at the same time were that flynn lied to the vice president and also lied to the fbi. if you remove the fbi piece of that, would the president still have fired michael flynn for his belief that he lied at that point? >> i'm not going to engage in a hypothetical a. that's what that would be. i would echo this is a grave miscarriage of justice. i'm very glad that the fbi thought to keep a paper trail. what many have said for a very long time pointing to the first few facts i shared with you culminating in that handwritten note, i'm glad they kept such good documentation of their intent to slow walk general flynn into a trap and to essentially create as i mentioned a grave miscarriage of justice. so fbi at least we can thank you for the great note taking.

>> let me follow up on that. john brings up the point that general flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi. >> i'm not going to get involved in what was a matter of -- do you not consider it a miscarriage of justice when you have the fbi writing we want to get someone to lie? is that a miscarriage of justice? >> but in the end he pleaded guilty. >> you hesitated. you know what the answer s the answer is yes. and i would encourage the media to cover it because i watched a lot of your networks. i read a lot of your papers. i've seen a whole lot of scant information about michael flynn when there was a lot of speculation about russia, russia, russia, culminating and $40 million of taxpayer money being lost in the complete and total exoneration of president trump. thank you guys so much. i'm going to cut this short now and go see my little 5 mold mole

here 5-month-old in a few hours. the president leaves for camp david. it's going to be a working weekend and talking with heads of state with i lekted officials. we have a great event coming up this afternoon. and, of course, everyone should watch the fox news town hall with the president from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. it will be can't miss television, much like the highly rated president trump coronavirus task force briefings have been. thank you. >> well there is her first press briefing. ka kayleigh mcenany doing the press briefing. felt like a traditional white house press secretary giving a briefing. very short but concise answers for the most part. she clearly had a couple of points she wanted to get out there. she brought up michael flynn on her own. nobody else wanted to do that. i think at one point that was -- that is notable. so she clearly had some politics she wanted to accomplish. some to do lists there. but for the most part, i think gave a very, katy, normal white

house press briefing, if normal is defined by what we were used to with white house press briefings that go back over the last decade if you will. but, you know, it's day one. it is notable the effort and how much they're going out of their way to try to defend michael flynn and the biggest head scratcher of it all is but he plead guilty. and that's somehow is a lot of people say, that is the part of this that is like i don't think that exonerates him, right? like that's the, you know, the notes are add to the notes from the fbi. add to the story, perhaps. but it's not as bad as the white house wants it to look. >> he pleaded guilty, that's the end of it. he plead guilt. what i want to take way from this or what my biggest take way from this is that we're not seeing the president. you know? we had seen the president every night during the coronavirus

task force briefings for over an hour a lot of the time where he took questions and confronted reporters and made suggestions like inject bleach into your lungs and then after that, after it's been reported that the president was told that was not a good idea and that briefings were doing more harm than good. what we've seen now is the president in different scenarios talking about economics. something he believes is more comfortable with. and out of the realm of health policy and what is going on in this country in terms of pandemic response, the health pandemic response, so we're not seeing the president here and said we're seeing his press secretary. i will also make one other note. i remember sarah huck aby sandes first press briefing. it was similar. she made the pledge she wouldn't lie at that podium. but it changed as time went on. and as reporters pushed with

facts and she pushed back with, you know, the spin that the white house would give. >> no doubt. and as i noted this is again, this is a new chief of staff, mark meadows. he is trying to do what a lot of chief of staff has done, trying to get his arms around the processes of the west wing. this is a process. let's see how long this lasts. i think that's the -- that's always been the lesson with sort of trumpologyists over the years. joining us now, we want to get a health check here is a global health policy expert. and it is interesting that the new white house press secretary seemed to make it clear the focus of the task force and the information we're going to get is going to be on the reopening is going to be on the recovery. we understand that for political reasons why he wants to be focused on that. but where are we? what have you seen today, dr.

gup th gupta? we're opening up tlaen are sonde are states with the all time high in deaths. the where are we headed in the next month? >> it's more of the same, chuck. you're still going to see -- i think we're past the peak. so that's a good thing. but we're still operating in a data void. so when i get asked, you know, are we in a better place? what are the metrics by which georgia or minnesota or other states, what are they foolingll to guide the phase one strategy? it's a data void zone. they're following a political call, an economic call to open things up. they're under pressure. seen i've said and i know some of my colleagues feel this way, how do we guide people? how do we guide states that say we're going to open up? how do we message to say open up safely? so that's masks which sometimes,

you know, anecdotally, i think half the country -- half of seattle adopted that message. maybe a little bit more. i know that message is muddieded. you've seen what the vice president has done at the mayo clinic just this week. social distancing, you know, we're not holding the line as strongly as we need to. what are going to done do when people want to dine? there is not a clear understanding of. that i will say i was pretty concerned by some of the comments on china that have been bandieded about with the new press secretary. just, you know, we need to be clear on this. . so let's level set on china. neither the chinese nor the u.s. army constructed or developed covid-19 in a lab. experts have looked into this. they published work in one of the most preeminent science journals, "nature medicine" a few weeks ago saying this is

natural origin. the conspiracy theorys both ways, the administrative and foreign affairs in china has very directly tried to cast blame on us and vice versa. they're trying to say the same thing. we need to stop that. the we're relying on the chinese for ppe. other medical supply chains. we're desperately relying on them. this sort of -- this game needs to stop. >> the one thing the intel community is saying and i'm just curious what you think the likelihood of this is that it's possible somebody was doing research on a real coronavirus, naturally occurring one, and that they maybe a lab technician caught it. that has been the other running theory apparently they're trying to track down. is that a reasonable theory or is that, like a .001% chance of likelihood? >> chuck, i think it's the

latter. and i'm -- don't take my word for it. take the word of scientists that have looked at this. there are virus hunters that look at what is the most likely cause. . there is no debate here, no debate. this was most likely went from animal to human. likely in a market in wuhan. it is not uncommon. and so what is uncommon is a pathogen like that then becoming a global pandemic. some do, some don't. a few have in the last decade. ebola, sars, mers and now this. those were epidemics, not pandemics. but no, it is very unlikely and that is why we need to focus on what is real and not what is not real. >> and dr. gupta, thank you very much for joining us. and chuck really briefly, there is a lot of frustration and justified about china's transparency. but in this briefing, you saw

kayleigh mcenany trying to go shift the blame for this virus and that is part of the administration efforts for this political season to blame china and to deflect from the missteps that this administration had when it came to pandemic response. there was a reuters story from just the other day, i believe it was thursday, titled u.s./cdc staff inside china before the covid outbreak. and it says the trump administration cut staff by more than two-thirds at a key u.s. public health agency operating inside china as part of a larger rollback of science experts on the ground there leading up to the coronavirus outbreak. that is reporting by reuters. dr. gupta, again, thank you very much. let's go now to our senior business correspondent stephanie ruhle. the other part of that briefing was an announcement that there is more money going to providers and also sba loans.

give us some context. >> listen, it was great to see the white house showcasing from the other day a small business that did get the ppp loan. and think about it, this is $600 billion dedicated to small businesses. and while there were a lot of glitches in the beginning, the treasury department has spent a lot of time in the last week cleaning it up. treasury secretary mnuchin said today that those prep schools that took the money should give it back. anybody who is over $2 million, they would be looking in to. and we know publicly traded companies got drop kicked. what she doesn't say was all the information that we don't have. that was one company that was showcased, the loan information is still not public. when t.a.r.p. happened, all the money that went to businesses, that was all public information. and the treasury department and the s xwchltba continued to say we'll get that to you. but at this point, it is in-consuin-ku

incumbent to those who received the loans to go public. and trump said we're not leaving it to the banks and secretary mnuchin said the banks were the middle guy, it is in-country xwen -- it is i think consu it is incumbent on the borrower be to are forth right. and she talked about the importance of reopening. one thing that she didn't mention, business leaders, they are campaigning to get what is known as a liability shield. they don't want to get sued. and i understand that they don't want to get sued, but this is turning into a unions versus big business. and because for workers and customers, are they really going to go into a store if they know that it is not a top priority for that business? they are making the argument that small businesses can't afford to open up if they are at risk of being sued. this will be a top topic the next few days that the president will definitely be talking

about. mitch mcconnell has already said that he wants to provide that liability shield. >> stephanie, one other question about the small business loans. do we have any idea of how many small businesses were not able to get money, ones still out on the line? i know small businesses make up about half of the entire american workforce. >> we don't know in total, but earlier today, jpmorgan announced that they got another 211,000 loans lithrough in ppe,o that is over $29 billion is what they have put through. so i can tell you that between the additional $310 billion and a lot of companies dropping out after the government tightened up the rules, there has been a lot more money available and it can reach a lot more companies. but i promise you, there is still a lot left out in the cold. >> and stephanie, one other thing that you and i were talking about earlier, and that is this issue of bankruptcies.

and we had a report this morning that lot of these small margin businesses may actually view their best shot at restarting their business is to file for bankruptcy now and to try again in six months. because 25% occupancy or 25% capacity for restaurant or retail just isn't going to pay the bills. but to get out of contract, they may have to file for bankruptcy. is that something that we're prepared for as an economy? >> well, we better because it will happen in a really big way. don't forget ppe gives you just two months of payroll plus a little bit more. and for you do not have to pay it back, you have to have all of those employees back on staff and you have to keep them there for quite some time after. so for a lot of these businesses, there is no way that restaurant, a bar, a movie theater, a stadium is going to be able to stay in business at

25% or 50% capacity. many can't even hire their employees back. katy tur, you and i are working moms. if you and i were receiving unemployment, which is six months of getting paid, no child care, if you go back to a business and at 25% capacity they will shut back down, you are likely not going to have a job in four months. that is another reason many of the businesses are saying i better shut it down and try again in a year. >> stephanie makes a good point. chuck, you are a working dad so you make that point as well. >> i appreciate you pointing that out. we're all working parents. >> sorry, chuck. >> that is okay. stephanie ruhle -- you won't see me jumping in front of that stephanie, thank you. nicolle wallace and brian wallace pick things up after a break. wallace pick things up after a break. confident financial plans, calming financial plans, complete financial plans. they're all possible with a cfp® professional.

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brian williams with you. nicolle wallace will be with us momentarily. here are the facts as we know them at this hour. the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in our country approaching 1.1 million, nearly 64,000 americans have died. actual number of cases is far higher as only about 2% of our population has been tested thus far. new york governor andrew cuomo

followed more than 40 other states today in announcing that schools and colleges will be closed for the rest of the school year. however, remote learning will continue. the president said michigan governor whitmer should give a little and make a deal with the protestors who stormed the state capitol? armed with long guns, calling for the state to reopen. instead the governor moved to extend the declaration for a month after the legislature decli declineed to so. the president will be spending the weekend at camp david. and new white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany held her first ever briefing today. mcenany got the job just over three weeks ago, the first briefing by a white house press secretary of any name in over a year. what a good time to bring in the former white house communications director during

the bush xliii administration who happens to be the anchor of deadline white house, nicolle walla wallace. >> look, i missed most of kayleigh's first performance. no one 14should have any doubt that that is what it was. but i think that it is important to remember that she takes that podium at a crucial time in our country's story. and a conversation she had with trish regan, anchor are on fox , got that anchor fired, it got caylee mcannkacaylekayleigh mce white house press secretary. so proceed with caution. >> that is why we ask. >> nearly two-thirds have plans to partially reopen.

and testing concerns the top infectious disease expert. >> you really got to have 14 days of continualecontinuingdy . you have to have the core principles of the guidelines. you can't just leap over things and get into a situation where you really are tempting a rebound. and that is the thing that i get concerned about. i hope that they don't do that. >> for more on today's reopenings, we're joined by garrett haake at a restaurant in dallas. you have on a mask. behind you, i understand people are now allowed to eat face-to-face. talk about just that divergent set of guidelines for the public to process and try to adhere to if we want to stay safe. >> yeah, it is an interesting day in texas.

here in dallas county, the county just reported 187 positive cases in the last 24 hours. that is the most of any 24 hour period yet in dallas. and yet today is reopening today for restaurants and retail establishments across the state. i've been driving around in uptown dallas and if up at patio at your establishment, you are probably open for business today and those establishments seem to be drawing in plenty of customers. there are steps to keep people safe. the restaurant behind me has all their servers wearing plasks ma gloves, they are trying to space the tables out. and they are using qr codes at the table so you can take a picture and order way. 9d owner said this is not a money making adventure, but that essentially somebody has to go first and figure out how to make restaurants work in the coronavirus era. here is a little bit of my conversation with him earlier today. take a listen. >> at 25% occupancy, that math doesn't work.

this is really for our staff and for our community, somebody needs to get out and follow these guidelines and show that this can safely be done. >> reporter: so brian, there is an experimental element to this, we'll know in two weeks whether or not this limited capacity at rhee restauran restaurants is enough to keep the caseload down, the death wrat do rate down. or whether texas is risking a rebound. but they felt the time was right to take a step toward something that feels like normal. >> happens to be garrett haake's home state. thank you for that reporting. with us now is dr. william shaffner from vanderbilt medical center. he is also an adviser to the cdc.

so, doctor, hard to know how to put this, i guess we're doing this now. and it totally depends on where you live. i keep saying that it is as if we have a red virus and a blue virus. of course we only have one virus that doesn't respect state or local lines. how much of a mistake in your view are some of these areas making? >> well, brian, a decision in many places in this country is not whether we will open up, but when and how. and when has been decided in several places already. so the question is really how. i was impressed with xwgarrett piece. that restaurantuer is trying to set an example to see whether this will work. we all have to try otherwise we will have medical consequences. that is really very clear. this is a highly transmissible,

contagious virus. and it is waiting for new people to infect. if we all come closer together and provide that opportunity, this virus will spread and make more people sick. it is a delicate balancing job we're trying to do here. we don't know how to do it. there are no right decisions. there are just very difficult decisions. >> and let's talk about the situation we've been showing as you have been talking, video of our most densely packed urban areas. take the new york city subway. to great fan wear now, between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., they are stopping the system, cleanings turn styles and train surfaces. however we continue to point out that that remains clean until the first customer touches the first surface. you would have to clean between subway riders to guarantee that

surfaces aren't potential carriers of this virus. so in the most densely packed areas of this country, it is a far different challenge, correct? >> oh, absolutely. cleaning is good. i love it. but those riders, i want them to be all be masked and stay apart as far as possible. and as we all know, and i've been on those subways many time, it gets denser and denser. we need staggered work times to try to sprid thiead things out. perhaps you don't have to take the subway. you can walk part of the way to work. whatever we can do to keep ourselves separated because the closeness results in transmission. >> can you help me understand, doctor, the limits and the protections of a mask? because i think that there is

confusion. we're all wearing our masks yet some of the biggest outbreaks are in places where you'd assume workers at a meat processing plant always wear masks. how safe do they keep you? >> well, do they always wear masks. do they wear them appropriately. i've been in a store just recently where people were wearing the mask like this with their noses exposed. obviously that officiafis stop we're trying to do. in brief, masks do very well from keeping things going out. but they work less well from things going in. but remember, we can be without symptoms and still have the virus in us and able to transmit. that is why we all have to wear the mask. i feel great, but i could have the virus within me therefore i wear the mask to prevent

everyone around me from becoming infected and i'd like them to wear masks so they don't in-effeinfect me. >> and what do you think it says that so many of the states that are reopening failed to hit donald trump's coronavirus task force benchmark of demonstrating 14 days of the cases going down? >> i can't get into the minds of all those folks, but there is an eagerness to start over again, to get into this new normal. we've all known that there are many, many people who really need the income. they live check to check. and the economic engine has got to get going again. so it is a tricky balancing system. right? try to balance the medical side with the economic cultural and social side. if we get out of balance, one of them or the other one will go out of whack even more. there are no easy answers here.

but let's try to do what we're all doing in the safest possible way. >> doctor, having just announced that there are no easy answers here, let me try would be more difficult question. where are we in this? if the field is 100 yards lon, are we at the 50, are we at the 30, where are we? >> we're at our 20. to faparaphrase churchill, we a at the end of the beginning. we can't go back to the old normal. that is out. this is ts is the new al. we have to adjust over the long haul. >> and doctor, thank you always being so candid. we appreciate it. and when we come back, president

trump contradicts the u.s. intelligence community, says he's seen the coronavirus evidence that it originated in a lab in china. but the intel community says it has yet to see evidence that that is the case. and then later, joe biden denies an allegation that he sexually assaulted a senate aid 27 years ago now. we'll get the reaction to his interview today on "morning joe" on this very network. stay with us. on this very network stay with us ♪we ain't stoppin' believe me♪ ♪go straight till the morning look like we♪ ♪won't wait♪ ♪we're taking everything we wanted♪ ♪we can do it ♪all strength, no sweat

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the president once again at odds with us intelligence officials saying that he has seen evident that the coronavirus originated in wuhan labs. >> have you seen anything that gives you a high degree of confidence that the wuhan newt of virology was the origin? >> yes, i have. >> and what gives you that high degree of confidence? >> i'm not allowed to tell you that. >> and is this after the director of national intelligence put out this statement yesterday and it reads in part, the intelligence community concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the covid-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified. the ic will continue to

rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in wuhan. with us now is frank figliuzzi, he served as the bureau assistant director for counterintelligence. he is of course an nbc security contributor. you followed this and you know that the president wants desperately for the story line to read that this was a chinese original nal originated crisicrisis, could h been stopped by them at the local level. you also know that this is not the first time that winners or beliefs have collided with the rig or of the intelligence community doing its job. >> brian, we have a problem here

and it reminds me of the table of t fable who cried wolf. and we have a president that has had such disdain for his intelligence community, ignored them so many times that now when the intel really matter, we won't matter whether to him or not. so that puts the intelligence community between a rock and a hard place. they want to be honest brokers of what they have and what they don't have and the president may take what they have, a core of something, a chit-chat, some intercept somewhere and turn it into something that serves his political purpose. so that is problem number one. belief and trust in the president and what he does with intelligence. and the second issue, and this is really important because i keep hearings media report that he is at odds over this with intel community.

and i learned this during my days running part of the anthrax investigation, the crime scene in boca raton. a virus can be naturally occurring but also be leaked out of a laboratory or cared out of a laboratory. so i want to be careful if n. saying that they aare not mutually exclusive.laboratory. so i want to be careful if n. saying that they are not mutually exclusive. so this is not inconsistent with the fwakt thact that it might hn experimented with or contained in a laboratory in wuhan and leaked out. so i want to make that important distinction. if you recall the anthrax case, it was our conclusion that it came from a specific flask at ft. detrick, maryland in a highly secured laboratory. so let's make sure that we understand that it is not yet inconsistent to say that it is natural but it might have come

from a lab. >> and i want to ask you to follow up on that and i also want you to analyze the media coverage because i worked in a white house and covered the coverage of the intelligence community very closely. my job be depended on it. but it would appear that the disclosures have been very incremental and very subtle and you just took a scalpel around some of them. the president said that there is intel of how ppe would be in this country. and on tuesday, this news organization reported that donald trump had directed, had told, the continintelligence coy to find evidence that it came from a lab from wuhan. he was insinuating malfeasance. and then reporting that suggested that there is no evidence, that the intelligence community has been reporting to

donald trump and the pdb about exactly what it knew about wuhan as early as january, has never found that it was sotrategiced weaponized lab from wuhan. >> so we get to the core of so what. this is a distraksz, tsdistracta distraction that says that he did not focus on what he should have. and that is what we need to understand. look, the scientists are looking at this under a microscope, they are not seeing evidence of would i owe weapon, and even if the president has a cornell of truth, this might have had

association with a laboratory and incidentallaccidentally lea. that doesn't mhelp us now at al. and he thinks the media is pointing fingers at him and he is doing the same thing at a time that we need to get to the truth. epidemiologists would tell that you it would be helpful to know what this thing first looked like in china. let's get our hands on that. and if you are going to upset china in this crucial moment in history so that they will close down even more and not share what they have got, you are actually harming the public safety. >> and we know that donald trump has suggested the heads of intel agencies go back to schooling when he didn't like what they said about iran and north korea. i want to ask you a followup again. do you believe that it will ultimately be d dbe declassifie

the intelligence community will be giving to donald trump, will we ultimately know what the president knew and when he knew it? >> we have a template for this. this is what happened after 23450i7b8 and a 9/11. and low and even hold the briefs were declassified. we did learn of all the chatter that was presented to the president at that time and whether or not he acted and how he reacted. so, yes, the shorts answer is i believe that the truth will out. i believe that cables going back to state department officials in 2018 who said that there is sloppiness happening in this would you has be wuhan lab, i believe all of that will come out. but we have to seek the truth and call out falsehoods. >> frank figuliuzzi, thank you

for pointing out those distinctions. when we come back, joe biden's denial that he sexually assaulted an aide in the u.s. senate over 25 years ago. we're back with that right after this. go we're back with that right after this unpredictable crohn's symptoms following you? for adults with moderately to severely active crohn's disease, stelara® works differently. studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer.

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and until this fight is over, we...will...never...quit. because they never quit. for the nirfirst time this morning joe biden publicly addressed an allegation of sexual assault from 1993, in an

interview on msnbc. the now apparent 2020 democratic nominee denied claims that he sexually assaulted a former senate staffer tara reade who has thousand sharnow shared her. reade said that he pinned her against a wall and sexually assaulted her in a corridor. she filed a personnel complaint with the senate alleging harassment. and reade said that her complaint did not accuse him of assault. here is some what have the former vice president told me came. >> please go on the record. did you sexually assault tara reade? >> no, it is not trur. it never happened. it never happened. >> document her? . >> do you remember her, any types of complaints that she might have had in. >> i don't remember any type of complaint she may have made.

it was 27 years ago. and i don't remember nor does anyone else that i'm aware of. and the fact is that i don't remember. i don't remember any complaint ever having been made. >> have you or your campaign, have you reached out to her? >> no. i have not reached out to her. it was 27 years ago. this never happened. and when she first made the claim, we made it clear that it never happened. and that is as simple as that. >> why not release any complaints that may have been made against you during your senate career? >> i'm prepared to do that. the best of my knowledge, there have been no complaints made against me in my senate career. look, this is an open book. there is nothing for me to hide. nothing at all. >> to use your words, should we not start out with the presumption that the essence of what she is talking about is real?

she says that you sexually assaulted her. >> look from the very gibeginni i've said believing the women means taking the woman's claim seriously and then vet it, look into it. that is true in this case as well. women have a right to be heard a rigorously investigate their claims. but in the end in every case the truth is what matters. and this case the truth is that the claims are false. >> are woman to be believed unless it pertains to you? >> look, women are to be believed given the benefit of the doubt. if they come forward and say something that is -- that they said happened to them, they should start off with the presumption that they are telling the truth. and then you have to look at the circumstances and the facts. and the facts in this case do not exist.