good afternoon. by tomorrow, more than half of states in the country will have eased lockdown measures and there's already signs it may be too soon. the governor paused reopening measures after seeing the one day biggest spike in cases. new reporting suggests the white house may be putting more focus on getting the economy up and running than getting the virus under control. when president trump was told about the predicted death tolls he looked for data that would support his agenda instead. states are still nowhere close to meeting the guidelines on testing an tracing. guidelines health officials warn must be in place to prevent another surge in covid cases. that's where we begin this hour.

and alexis, a staff writer. i want to begin with you. the big question is about how long it will take for america to get to capacity for testing, for tracing. where do we stand at this moment? >> the first issue with testing is unfortunately, it's going to be a bit longer than we hoped. i think all of us were hoping at this time we would have enough to do what we think of as surveillance testing. basically, testing enough people to figure out what the real incidents or positive rates are. we know we're really still far away from that. there are glimmers of hope that within the next several weeks as we're getting more and more tests on board that will happen

but as you pointed out shs par s s of the country are already prematurely opening up. to the point about tracing, we know if you use new york city's estimate of 30 tracers for 100,000 people, most of the country falls short for anywhere near that number. tracing means we will contact people that are positive and look back, at least 14 day, to determine who they were in contact with and try as best as you can to contain any of the virus from spreading. >> a report from the house oversight says the fda allowed a number of aenntibody tests on t market without review with flawed tests. should we be relying so heavily on the tests if there's flaws inherent in them? >> antibody test vs to be

validated to make sure there's no false positives and false negatives. not all the take tests have accuracy. that call sbos into question th type of antibody test we can implement. antibodies only tell you about prior exposure to the virus. it doesn't necessarily predict whether a person is going to be protected from the virus or whether a person is no longer infectious with the virus. it has to be complemented with the pcr testing in order to know who is safe to return to society. >> you had new york governor discussing there's two trains of this virus. how does that complicate the approach to the virus in. >> it's not just that we have two strains as a governor pointed out as parts of the

country are opening up. the truth is we're still in largely an investigational period to understand what the actual strains mean for being able to get vaccinated, tested or even the most recent fda approved treatment and whether that could work on different strains. >> alexis, you have been tracking all of this as part of the covid tracking project. as the new pieces of information become available, as we learn there are multiple trains, how does that complicate indexing cases across the country and analyzing all of the data that you have. >> i think it should be said

that several different experts don't believe the different strains have functional differences in a way that the virus is interacting with people. i think that's an own science to the question and we need to make sure that's the case. on the data side, the real complexities all these different tests have different sensitivities and we're not really able to track that yet. say around the antibody testing, the university of washington test is great but there's these off brand ones that might be terrible. >> joshua, to find and isolate the virus, former new york mayor said america will need an army of contact tracers to help cities and states get back on their feet. he's working with state of new york to get that program under way. can you tell us how big this

program is? >> they are thinking somewhere between 6 and 17,000 people for new york state which is the size that's needed to be able to find people with the virus, find who they have been in contact with and help those people isolate and kwaquarantine themselves. the point of that is to stop the virus's abilities from jumping from person to person. that's how we curtail the spreed. we support them in staying by themselves. that was the key thing that's been done in other countries which have had a much better course of coronavirus than we have. >> joshua, once you have the proper tracing in place, how long then before cities, states can safely reopen? >> i think that's one of the key criteria. it's great to control the spread through tracing so you don't have to shut off the economy as

the spread happens. you also want to make sure there's adequate protective equipment and hospital capacity and it's a good idea, very important, the cases are declining. you don't want to open up in the setting of growing outbreak because that's like really adding a fuel to the fire. >> alexis, where is the rest of the country when it comes to tracing? >> it varies tremendously like state to state. that's worrisome. you'll have states opening up without the true infrastructure. no one has really built that system in the u.s. we don't know how it works. i think people see a lot of plans and they see the idea that it's possible and kind of

jumpingsolved problem and it's t particularly in lower resource states. >> one of the researchers is testing a possible vaccine. said on meet the press we'll learn in this vaccine is working by next month. take a listen. >> i think it will be release this week. that will be an important milestone. then we'll have to wait until there's enough incident disease in the phase two cohert which has been vaccinated now to see whether we have largely eliminated the disease in those vaccinated with this vaccine as opposed to the placebo. that's really the test. that's what will probably get a signal based on current severals of the disease. >> how far out are we from a

vaccine? >> it really depends on how these tests turn out. for instance, the phase two trial that the person was just talking about, this will reveal whether a vaccine can protect the vaccinated people from infection but vaccines take years to decades to develop from development approval and so for some viruses despite decades of research, we still don't have an effective vaccine. the 18-month time line is optimistic. we all want that to be the time line. only data will tell. >> dr. patel, we have seen incredible racial disparities when it comes to this virus. as we talk about the future for testing for tracing, for a possible treatment for a vaccine, how do you make sure that some of the disparities we're seeing in this vie vrus d not play out in the way we try to mitigate the spread of this virus virus? >> that's a great question.

there are many people in public health who have spent their careers. there was no access to testing. anybody who wants a test can get one in trying to approach communities, particularly vulnerable ones. people of color by having on their terms in places from people they respect understand this is possible and then i will just say this, even in the city of new york we're seeing racial disparities amongst hospital based resources so to the point, resources to the health care workers in the communities that take care of people of color and lower socieconomic status.

to be candid with you, this is all being done in a piecemeal approach. we must make this a national priority. >> all right. thank you all so much for your time. up next, new reporting on the trump administratioadministrati of this crisis. what more than six dozen officials in and outside of the white house revealing what about has transpired in the 34 days since america shutdown. e 34 day since america shutdown ♪ ♪ ♪

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featuring the emmy award-winning voice remote. access to your favorite apps, including netflix, prime video, youtube and hulu. all without changing passwords and inputs. the most 4k content and movies and shows on any screen. the best entertainment experience all in one place. new reporting from the washington post recounts 34 days inside the white house during the coronavirus outbreak. it reveals an administration more focused on reopening the economy than efforts to contain the virus. with many is phillip rutger who helped the break the story. also with me is nbc political reporter monica alba and seth

harris. phil, you broke this story with some of your washington post colleagues. in terms of how the white house is handling the crisis, your team wrote, quote, the span of 34 days between march 29th when trump agreed to extend strict social distancing guidelines and this past week when he celebrated the reopening of some stake states as economic survival tells a story of desperation. walk us through what happened in those weeks. >> the desperation is the president amped up desire to focus on the economy and make the pivot we have seen him make to pay less attention to the public health crisis out there and more attention to the economic health crisis. that's because of his own political interest, his personal interest going into the election. he and his advisers have a firm belief he will only win a second term with a strong and rebounding economy. they are trying to make that happen. what we reported in this story for the first time is that one

of his economists on the staff put together his own data analysis that a lot of other aides in the white house interpreted as projecting fewer deaths. the death count not rising as high as it has or projected by other publicly available models. that helped influence the thinking on the part of the president and others in the administration to make this pivot to the economy. >> seth, if the goal is a strong and rebounding economy, is there any guarantee that happens if you lift all of these social distancing measures? >> no. there's no guarantee at all. i think it's extremely unlikely. 80% of the american people are telling pollsters that they want to economy to stay closed because they are fearful. they don't want to go into stores. they don't want to go back into their workplaces. they are seeing the horrible stories in meat packing plants, on transit systems, in amazon

warehouses and other places that people who go in with the best of intentions end upcoming out sick or dead. that's not what the american people want to see. they have been suffering largest unemployment numbers we have seen since the great depression. we are seeing a huge downturn in the american economy. the american people are still prioritizing health over economics. the president is not listening to that. his leadership has been really confused in that regard. one day he says governor kemp is doing the right thing reopening georgia. the next day he criticizes the governor. it's not surprising the american people are looking to their governors and mayors rather than president trump for leadership. >> monica, when you look at the decisions that's been made inside of the white house, what role has kevin haset played in all of it. >> he may be a name familiar to all americans given he has a

prominent role toward the beginning. he was an add visor before leaving and then returning last summer. he denies he participated in the death toll of the model which does seem to be a bigger part of it. his influence in the data he was able to provide in that modelling as the post reports did influence the president's thinking given he has said for weeks now, that the cure cannot be worse than the disease. that is exactly the message that the president has been pushing when he is saying the states and governors need to act quickly and safely to reopen portions of the economy. it is worst pointing out that kevin has been one of the people in recent weeks who had the most grim projections for the economy. if he's sending the president that kind of message as well, it

may make the president more anxious to do something in quicker timeline than when he have seen. >> this morning larry kudlow was on cnn refuting your reporting. >> kevin hasse tert said that w not true. he was clarifying the situation. he was shot changing the situation. we have, from day one, abided by the advice and guidance of our top medical people. this idea that somehow we were creating a new model simply is not the case. >> phil, how does that square with your reporting in. >> with represent to mr. kudlow it doesn't care scaquare with o reporting. we interviewed officials that said kevin put together this data analysis and it did influence the thinking in white house. we stand by our reporting and the way we characterize it in

the story. it's that he maintains it and with those others in the administration. that is not what his colleagues have told us. >> seth, new york city mayor responded to the assertion we may not need another stimulus package. take a listen. >> here is the painful reality i want you to take in. listen to these very dangerous comments from the white house official and translate it into reality. if there's not a fourth stimulus and that does not amply provide for the needs of cities and states this year and next year, then the very people who have been our heroes, the very people been saving our live, all the people we are depending on for a

he start and a recovery, their futures will be compromised. >> seth, what is the impact on the job market and on the economy and more broadly if there's not another stimulus relief package? >> it's going to be disasterous. we learned this from the great recession and the recovery act that president obama steered through congress. we needed to invest more in public sector or front line workers, nurses, doctors, cop, firefighters, emts, teachers will end up losing their jobs and the recession will last significantly longer than it needs to last. this is where the front line work of this pandemic is being done. in city hospital, local school, by emts and cops a and firefighters on the front lines going into people's homes. we need to be able to support their work. pay for their overtime. make sure they have sufficient staffing and not hit them with layoffs.

i agree with mayor here and i don't understand what the chairman is suggesting here. i think he is arguing open up the economy. everything will be fine and don't worry about the public sector. we know from history that's not how things work. >> there's still concern among health officials there's not enough testing being done nationwide. a federal official who met said she knows they are far behind on testing no matter what the president says. how are doctors birx and fauci addressing these concerns behind the scenes. >> not just behind the scenes but in public. they have been the first to say in order to reopen safely, testing is key. they have put those decisions now more in hands of the governors with those opening guidelines and the phasing process. what is so important and interesting to look at is you can look no further than the u.s. senate which is set to return tomorrow and those senators saying they simply don't have enough tests to test everybody who is going to be

coming back to washington, d.c. if you look at the aging population there and the fact d.c. is not believed to reach its peak, that's of real concern. you have the white house offering to give tests. we had a rare bipartisan statement from house speaker nancy pelosi and mitch mcconnell saying thanks but no thanks. we want the tests to go to the front line. leaders of both parties say that's not the case yet. >> all right,si. thank you all. up next, joe biden is getting ready to name a running mate of his own. we'll talk about who is on short list and the jockeying to secure the spot. flying may never be the same again. we'll talk about major changes airlines will make before they can get back to business. airlines will make before they can get back to business at makes the perfect schmear of cream cheese. the recipe we invented over 145 years ago and me...the world's best, and possibly only, schmelier.

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away from the 2020 presidential election. biden says his vice presidential election committee is vetting more than a dozen women as potential running mates but who will it be in among registered democratic voters say they first pick is senator elizabeth warren with 36%. followed by kamala hararis and stay s stacy abrams. alex, great reporting on this. take us inside the depate that's happening inside the biden campaign over what it is they are looking for in a vice presidential candidate. >> the biden campaign is really divided on this question. there's some that really want to emphasize trying to court the progressives that supported bernie sanders. there are some from the biden campaign that want to focus on picking a person of color.

particularly a black woman. it would be a historic choice. the first time you have a black woman on the ticket. also, they are the most loyal constituency of the democratic party. there's not a consensus inside the campaign. this will probably shape the contest. you're seeing a campaign to get on the campaign among the contenders. stacy abrams has publicly talking about how she would make a great vice president. also privately calling democratic power brokers. she's been telling them, can you put a good word in for me with the biden campaign. elizabeth warren is trying to sell herself as a governing pick. you're seeing this bit of jockeying to try to sway the process one way or another. >> these so often with the buzzes about whether or not someone was being considered for vice president, as a running mate, people would not want to talk about it. they would say that's up to the

campaigns. we're seeing people give full throated endorsements of themselves. how unusual is that? >> i definitely think this is a new normal. i think part of it is vice president biden has made clear his commitment to selecting a woman running mate. the second piece is our nation is in crisis right now. we have an abundance of woman leaders that are ready for this moment. i think what we're seeing is a will the of them say put me in, coach. we're ready. we'll do whatever it takes wanting to make sure we elect vice president biden and we beat president trump and we work to move our country forward out of this mess. >> alex, there was a biden and warren released a joint op-ed on coronavirus. they are proposing reforms to ensure that washington works for the people instead of the wealthy. calling for more transparency from the trump administration. anything to the fact the two of them put this out together.

>> i think you'll see the biden campaign place these little bred cru -- bread crumbs along the way. you saw him doing something similar he had governor whitmer and amy klobuchar on his podcast. he was like i'm coming for you kid. i think you'll see joe biden campaign recognizes there's a tense interest on the vice presidential pick. he's doing an op-ed with e hiswhis beth warren. i would have to speculate it shows she's a front-runner of any sort. >> we had, last night, vice president biden on with al sharpton speaking on this exact topic. take a listen. >> the more more than dozen women we're looking at, there's

significantly more than one black woman that will be considered by this group. what i'm looking at in the selection process is there are many people who are qualified. many women who are qualified, have the experience and background to do the job. that includes many women of color. we should have a government that reflects the nation when i choose a woman vice president. >> at the same time, you have south carolina representative saying that biden doesn't have to choose a black woman. there are those who say, yes, the vice president performed well with black voters. you can't take that as an indication of what will happen in the general election. he has room to go with latinos. how much is this complicating the choice? >> i think the biden campaign is making a decision of what role this nominee can fill. vice presidential nominees fill a lot of roles. it can be fund raisraising, kribtsing or reflecting in the

voting block. also trust or gap they might see the vice president might have or the needs to be addressed when they are elected to the white house. i think it's really important. i'm a woman of color. i think it's really important that whoever they select is somebody that voters can see themselves in and particularly the democratic base that is incredibly important that it turn out. who can people relate to? who can they see themselves in reflected in this leadership aspect and who also as vice presidential biden mentioned is al able to do the job on day one? the great news is there are more than a few women out there prepared to do that job. >> thank you both so much. up next, still not getting the support they need. we'll talk about what can be done and what the road to recovery looks like. t the road recovery looks like. apart for a bit, but you're not alone. we're automatically refunding our customers a portion of their personal auto premiums. learn more at libertymutual.com/covid-19.

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featuring the emmy award-winning voice remote. access to your favorite apps, including netflix, prime video, youtube and hulu. all without changing passwords and inputs. the most 4k content and movies and shows on any screen. the best entertainment experience all in one place. as data slowly becomes publicly available it's becoming increasingly clear that can coronavirus crisis is taking a disproportionate toll on people cloud cover in nau of color in a number of ways. minority owned businesses may not survive.

she's a political reporter for npr covering demographics and culture. so good to see you all. there was a lot of excitement about the fact that these ppp fund wrs gois were going to be and a new opportunity for people to line up and get what was due to them. we're not seeing that money go to minority owned businesses. what is happening? >> well, there they are using the same structure and operating under the same frame works of the past. we have known for quite a long time that mainstream banks have not treated black and brown and other businesses well. being denied more than twice the rate of their white counterparts. we also know that people of color receive higher interest rates on loans. big banks are not friends of people of color historically and in addition the first cares act, they did not put money in the

agency that works with black and brown people. the minority business development agency only received 10 million of a $2 trillion package. why that is significant, if you're not issuing funds to people or organizations that are proximate to the problem, you're really not trying to solve it. >> nats lalie, you have been shouting from the roof tops about this issue. i want to pull up a slide you're familiar with. this is from the center from responsible lending. it shows over 90% of black, latino and pacific islander businesses and 75% of asian owned small businesses stood close to no chance of receiving a ppp loan through mainstream bank. why is the federal government still using these banks if they know this is a problem? >> you know, it's really good question because the reality is if you are a tiny business owner in the most remote location

where even the postal office has to take helicopters to find you, they have no problem collecting from those businesses. they have no problem collecting taxes from undocumented business ordinary reason and prudence. why on earth we are acting as though it's a realistic expectation this is some sort of an insur mountable challenge to reverse that and get capital to people who need it most. we know that women are starting businesses at twice the rate of men. women of color represent eight of ten of those businesses. this is a group that's under represented but happens to be the single most entrepreneurial community in this country. why we would have difficulty challenging much needed life giving stimulus to the people that are most responsible for the future of our economy makes absolutely no sense. >> andre, what would it look like for congress to do this

correctly? >> first and foremost, we need a racial equity lends on all of our policies. if you're not talking racial equity after it became fatally obvious this is impacting people of color at higher rates then you're really in the trying tosoever the problem. we first and foremost need to redirect funds to individuals and institutions that are proximate to the problem. we need better testing. let's remember that black and brown folk never left the economy. the economy left us. if we're going to move forward we need the kind of job, income and benefits that will protect us over the long term. >> there are two conferriversat happening at the same time. there's the lack of data in terms of who has been affected.

you have a number of members of congress calling for collection and lease of that information and you also have what is happening economically to brown and black communities. where do you see the interplay between these two stories? >> it's impossible to separate those two stories. it's clear this is the virus that as we know from pandemic that has laid bear some of the economic and health disparities that we see in our community of color. any kind of response that does look through the lens of race will be lacking. that's why you see members of congress, governors akrcross th country calling for more data to be collected. they're not able to get the economic relief they need now. it's very clear there has to be more data left in a robust wae way and studied so future response can be informed. >> natalie, set the stakes for us of getting this wrong.

if you have black and brown businesses that are shut out of getting these fund, these businesses are not able to survivsu survi survive, what does it mean for those communities and the larger economy? >> there's no if now. we have seen from word we're getting, within the next 24 to 48 hour, we will have given close to $640 billion for small business out and there's no if. black and brown and many other communities of color are being left out. the best thing i can tell you a story of a woman who came to me saying she was having trouble getting ppp. she had been shut out of five different banks. i found a way for a friend to make back channel her into stimulus. by the time i got to her she didn't have to apply for a sixth

time. she was in the process of burying her mother. we're in situation where people can't attend the funeral offense their own mothers. this is the same group of people that are dying at larger rate who for their communities cannot survive without that corner bodega in place like the bronx and queens and any other small city that has a food desert in their neighborhood. the life blood and the survival, the physical, medical survival of these communities is depen dent on these small businesses. to echo what the other panelists have said, you cannot disconnect the survival communities of colors businesses with the survival of communities of color. >> right. thank you all so much. up next, the airline industry wants to get you back on plane but some serious changes will need to be made. we'll talk about how air travel may be changing more than it did after anything else. 9/11. 9/11

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major airlines are beginning to require all passengers to wear face coverings. that could just be the beginning of how the coronavirus pandemic may change airline travel. in a post-covid-19 covid-19 wog could include immunity passports, thermal scanners, sparse seating, and a number of other changes according to a new report by simply flying, an airline marketing strategy firm. with me is an transportation correspondent and hospitality expert. joanne, what kind of changes can we expect in something like the check-in process at an airport? >> well, hi, alicia, thanks for having me. really, everything is going to change from the moment you get to the curb. it's possible your relatives won't be let into the airport. then you'll go to a kiosk. and instead of checking, perhaps you'll use a voice command, a gesture, or you'll have some

sort of bar code reader. then you have to check your bag. your bag is going to need to be sanitized and probably have a special mark on it to prove that it's clean. >> this is very comp indicating news for people like me who like to get to the airport with 15 left to spare. once you get on the plane, how are seating arrangements going to change? >> well, certainly right now very few people are flying, and therefore it's easy to spread out on a plane. but remember that airlines have cut way back on the number of flights. so they're consolidating, which is going to make it a little more hard to spread out. however, you know, the airlines have vowed that they're not going to sell out completely. so you'll be able to sit with your loved ones three seats across perhaps, but you won't have to sit next to a stranger. that's the idea. >> anthony, what sort of guidelines should people follow as they travel domestically and internationally?

i'm sure you travel a lot and is one of those people who was wiping down every surface prior to this happening. what do we all need to be doing now? >> i was one of those people, and now everyone is joining my league. and i think it's going to get even more complicated. basically, you're going to have to leave four hours, three hours before your flight, and just get used to it, just like we did with taking our shoes off and going through tsa. travel is wonderful. in our industry, i'm in the hotel industry, in the travel industry, we need to get back to work. we need to get back to conventions. we need to get back to new york city, vegas. we need to start traveling internationally. and the sooner we start to realize this isn't changing in the near term, i was one of those people that six weeks ago said this is going to be short-term. this is long-term. whether it be the airlines coming in with their electrostatic guns, whether it be the hotels, they need time to clean. they need time to get ready, and we need to understand that. we used to see housekeeping and cleaning behind the scenes.

we used to see it at night. you're going to see it in front of you. you're going to -- they're going to demonstrate to you that their airline, their hotel is clean. and we've just got to accommodate them and understand this is the part of the new normal. >> are passengers going to want to do all of this? does it change the equation when an individual decides whether or not they're going travel? and what does that mean for these businesses? >> well, that's an excellent question. i think there is a limit, really, to what people will tolerate. you have to spend four hours before you even get on the plane, maybe it's shorter to just get in the car and drive. i think this is a very serious consideration. and i think that the airlines are already very -- in very rough shape, and they don't see a recovery in two to three years. so i think it's going to be rough. you think about all the touch points in an airplane when you use the bin to put your link in

through the security. think about the rest rooms. think about boarding through that long tunnel, the jet bridge. so these are a lot of things that will need to be figured out before the public will travel again. >> anthony, there is also just sort of a different question about how this changes the nature of hospitality, right? so often folks would get on a plane, we go to a hotel in order to have a break from their normal life. it changes the very nature of hospitality to have all of these realities right there in your face, doesn't it? >> well, if you do it the right way and you make it seamless. voice command is really coming into our industry in the last couple of years, and you're going to see that accelerated. also, when you walk into a hotel room, our number one job is to make sure you feel like no one has ever been in that room before. that's still our job. we have to use different resources. we have to maybe have a long checklist. we have to have two housekeepers in the room.

so you shouldn't feel like it's changed. you should still feel safe. if you see a sanitizing bottle on the counter, if you see it near the elevator, if you see the separation of space in the lobby, those things should become something normal, and you really shouldn't feel it. so i think within six months, we will figure it out as an industry. there is one brand that just announced that they have a chief hygiene officer coming on board. so we are going to make this our number one priority. we have to, because that's what people are going to rate us on. when you used to go on the review sites, you would see standards of service. now you'll see standards of cleanliness and hygiene and safety. the new luxury is hygiene. hygiene is the new luxury. that's what we're looking for. and you make it seamless. probably more seamless in a hotel than you can make it in an airport. >> all right, joanne and anthony, thank you both so much for your time. that wraps it up for this hour.

i'm alicia menendez. the reverend al sharpton takes over at the top of the hour. he'll talk with the mayor of san francisco about how her city is responding to the pandemic and the calls to reopen california. that's coming up next on "politicsnation." . that's why we're still offering fast, free two day shipping on thousands of items. even the big stuff. and doing everything it takes to ensure your safety. so you can make your home everything you need it to be. wayfair. way more than furniture. no uh uh, no way come on, no no n-n-n-no-no only discover has no annual fee on any card. being prepared and overcoming challenges.

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tonight's lead, mayday. as americans clamor to return to normalcy in advance of summer, many of their governors despite declines in both coronavirus cases and deaths continue to wait for a sign that the coast is clear to reopen their states. a fair point as the nation now has more than 1.1 million cases of covid-19. nearly 67,000 americans dead from the disease. in another milestone, six months from today, americans will render judgment on who will lead our changed nation as president. apparent democratic nominee joe biden, who signaled on this show last night that he will yield to science as he plots our national way forward, or president trump, who