hey there, i'm joshua johnson at nbc news world headquarters in new york. it's going -- good to be with you tonight at the end of this mother's day. lots to talk about including the growing toll of coronavirus. that includes its toll on the economy and on our nation's efforts to bounce back. we'll get to that in just a minute. but we begin in washington where

a number of elected officials have come in close contact with coronavirus. less than an hour ago, senator lamar alexander revealed in a statement that one of his staff members tested positive for covid-19 today. the senator's office says he has had no symptoms and tested negative as recently as thursday. but out of an abundance of caution, he will not return to washington and instead will self-quarantine in tennessee for two weeks. senator alexander notes that he will work remotely on tuesday to chair a senate committee meeting by video conference. dr. fauci and other members of the white house coronavirus task force will are self-quarantining and will appear virtually as well. mike pence plans to report for duty at the white house tomorrow after multiple white house staffers tested positive. they include the vice-president's spokeswoman. let's talk to nbc's monica alba who covers the white house. monica, we were told that the

vice-president will continue to follow the advice of the white house medical unit. but if he's not quarantining, then what does following the advice actually mean? >> and there were really questions about this all weekend long, joshua, given that the vice-president decided to take a trip to iowa on friday after learning that his press secretary had tested positive. several staff who were on that plane were removed out of an abundance of caution, but the vice-president continued on and all of these events where he interacted with several dozen people at multiple stops, all attempting to socially distance himself from them, but also not wearing a mask. what was critical this weekend were questions about what he would do in the days to come given the news some of top doctors were going to be taking that extra step of self-quarantine. vice-president mike pence is not going to be doing that. we're told he will be at the white house tomorrow for some meetings. but this weekend was an indication of how seriously they were evaluating what to do and

what next steps would be essential. they made sure the vice-president didn't have any events on his public schedule this weekend. and what was also striking was that the president held an event last night at the white house and senior military leadership, something the vice-president would normally attend, and while the vice-president could have been there, he was not. his absence was noted given his close proximity to his press secretary testing positive. but we're told the vice-president will be following that medical guidance from his top doctors. he'll be closely monitored. and remember, he and both the president are tested daily and we're told as recently as today, they both tested negative for coronavirus. but it's the latest example of just how close and how much scrutiny the white house is under now that the virus has really reached deep into the west wing. and tomorrow it will be interesting to see just how many staffers and officials come to work. we've reached out to so many of the coronavirus task members, many who have taken the step to self-quarantine. many will say they are doing

what doctors recommend, but they will be working. the tuesday panel will be done remotely and it will be worth seeing whether the vice-president travels anywhere outside of washington in the days to come, joshua. >> you know, worth seeing to see if he travels. and also this committee meeting on tuesday, especially now that the chair of that committee is going to be quarantining and he said to chuck todd today on "meet the press," that he thinks the testing is absolutely critical to reopening the economy. bit different from what we've been hearing from the white house. thank you, monica. that's nbc's moan ca alba with the latest. let's look more broadly. now there are more than 1.3 million cases of covid-19 in the united states. more than 80,000 people have died. the latest unemployment numbers are very bad and could get far worse. last month the u.s. lost roughly 20 million jobs. the unemployment rate had been steadily dropping over the past several years. now it's up to 14.7%. that is a big reason why most

governors are easing restrictions in the coming days. they hope to reinvigorate their economies and restore some sense of normalcy, but different states are easing different restrictions in different ways. a prime example of that, the beautiful beaches of ocean city, maryland, are wide open, ready for business. meanwhile the mayor of boston says his city will not hold any large gatherings at least through early september. also this week, big changes are coming to mass transportation. starting tomorrow, amtrak will reduce passenger capacity to 50%. the real service wants riders to wear face masks on board. america's largest airlines, american, jetblue, united and others, are also requiring face coverings. meanwhile, the trump administration is reportedly planning to wind down its coronavirus task force in the coming weeks. but as it tried to turn the page, members of congress are still working to ensure that we get the help we so desperately need during this pandemic.

joining us now to discuss it is democratic congressman jaime raskin of maryland. he is a member of the newly formed house select committee on the coronavirus crisis. congressman, good evening. >> joshua, i'm delighted to be with you. happy mother's day to everybody out there. >> how are your constituents doing now? your district runs north of the d.c. porter, kind of the top of d.c. to the pennsylvania state line. how is it going will? >> montgomery county, frederick county, carroll county. people have been hanging tough. we have thousands of people who have the disease. we lost a lot of people. we had an outbreak at a nursing home in my district, so it's fairly reflective of what's going on around the country. the numbers are not declining yet, so the idea of reopening i think is anathema to everybody around here. you know, when the white house found that they had two top staffers who had coronavirus, what they said was, well, everything is going to be okay because we're doing daily tests

for all of the staff and we get a result within 15 or 20 minutes. we're doing social distancing. all of those things which nobody else has in their workplace. so i'm glad they figured out what is a proper public health protocol for a workplace. but you can't say we're just going to use it for the white house and send the meatpackers back to work or send the federal workers back to the department of defense or the department of state when you don't have any of those things in place. so miy constituents are staying home and staying safe. they understand we don't have a treatment for this thing, we don't have a vaccine. the only thing we have, the only thing that's working is social distancing and it's absolutely deranged for the white house to be trying to send everybody back into their workplace without taking the proper public health precautions. another thing, joshua, they haven't done is release what the centers for disease control found. it turned out cdc said we have a whole set of guidance and principles that should be used

for reopening, and trump squashed it. he said, i'm not going to let anybody see t. we are demanding -- i am demanding that the white house allow the cdc to release to every governor in america, every mayor in america, every person in america exactly what their scientific criteria are for reopening. >> as we mentioned you're a member of the select committee, there is a great deal of bipartisan ship at the beginning of this pandemic, in terms of trying to get financial aid to millions of americans. what do you think congress's next move should be on coronavirus, specifically what do you think that congress and the administration can accomplish together right now? >> well, i think the states and the counties and the cities are up against the wall because their revenues have been sharply declining as all the businesses have closed, and yet the demands on them are skyrocketing in terms of public health and public safety and welfare and so

on. and they're going to engage in mass layoffs and they're not going to be able to engage in the services they need. we need to invest in our heroes, as nancy pelosi says. we're talking about the firefighters. we're talking about the cops, the first responders, the nurses, the doctors, the public hospitals. what we're talking about is really the heart and the soul of america, the first line of defense against the disease, the people who are actually out fighting it. not throwing press conferences and engaged in propaganda, but people who are fighting the disease and taking care of people, we've got to invest in the states and counties and cities. that's the heart of it. but we also -- >> since you mention that, let me run with that. i wonder what you think that might look like because there's been real division in terms of how to invest in states and cities. senate majority leader mcconnell made the comment about bankruptcy. governor cuomo in new york said i dare you to pass a bill that lets the states go bankrupt. there is a difference of opinion

of helping actually means. some said direct financial aid so cities and states can balance their budgets, which are going to be decimated for years to come. some have said it should be insurance benefits for first responders. there are a bunch of different ideas out right now. based on your conversations, what seems to have the most agreement today in terms of what to do next? >> well, look, the governors know best for the states. the county executives know best for the counties. the mayors and the city council people know best for the cities. we need to just get them the money. we need to make sure there is integrity and ethics at every level, accountability and responsibility both at the state and county level, but also at the federal level, too. that's what our committee is going to be doing. our oversight committee is going to to be making sure the hundreds of billions of dollars going out the door is spent on the neediest and not the greediest. the very first thing we did was send letters too big publicly held corporations that took more than $10 million when they are

worth more than $25 million and have lots of other access to capital. we said, return that money. and if not, we're going to engage in a whole set of interrogatories to you about what's going on. so we want to make sure the money is being used properly. but, look, the testing is critical for reopening. and i want to focus on that for a second because we are right now in a helter-skelter say ought i can world that the president has given us in terms of reopening. it's just chaos out there. there is a way to do this. the other countries have figured it out. we have the scientists that know how to do it. the centers for disease control know how to do it. what we need is a plan. the administration has no plan, but we need a plan to have real expanded testing, dramatically expanded testing, vigilant contact tracing so we chase down everybody who is in contact with somebody who had it, and we have treatment and quarantine. then we can start talking about instituting the public health protocols and different domains of social life.

whether it's k through 6 or 6 through 12 or colleges, restaurants, movie theaters, all those things. but just to blow the whistle one day and say it's easter or it's may 1st or 4th of july, everybody go back, that is a recipe for kay kostarelchaos an knows it. the vast majority understand that sets us up for further outbreaks and further shouds. >> before i let you go, you recently participated in a discussion on coronavirus has on our mental health. what was your biggest take away on that? >> 50% of americans say they are experiencing greater emotional and mental stress because of unemployment. we have 33 million people throne out of work in this crisis and we've lost -- i guess we're over 80,000 people. that's 80,000 families across america who are directly affected. and everybody is affected by besiege mentality and the lockdown. it's like we have to be under

voluntary house arrest in order to negotiate this pandemic which the administration has let get out of control. and at this point, they seem to be saying, let's just ignore it, we'll let it take its toll on the population. let's pretend everything is okay and send everybody back to work and they'll be okay in the white house because they have access to daily tests and results in 15 minutes. that is not a plan for getting america out of this nightmare. we need a real plan. >> democratic congressman jamie raskin. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> there are 4 million cases of coronavirus worldwide. some countries are making real progress. others are seeing a spike in cases. we'll get a global view of the pandemic next. and, can leave you feeling extremely sad and disinterested. overwhelmed by bipolar depression?

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a pandemic is by definition a widespread problem. in this case worldwide. there have been more than 4 million cases and more than

280,000 deaths around the globe. fortunately there are some signs of progress. france has just experienced its lowest daily death toll in weeks. it is preparing to ease lockdown restrictions. the u.k. is also easing restrictions. prime minister boris johnson says residents can exercise outside with social distancing and go to work if they cannot work from home. johnson added that fines will go up on people who disobey the restrictions. >> we've been through the initial peak, but it's coming down the mountain that is often more dangerous. we have a route and we have a plan, and everyone in government has the all-consuming pressure and challenge to save lives, restore livelihoods and gradually restore the freedoms that we need. >> in italy, one of the early hot spots, daily infections are rising at their lowest level in two months. more than 30,000 people have died in italy.

bad news in germany. its infection rate is on the rise. this comes just days after german chancellor angela merkel eased restrictions. sweden has imposed no restrictions. it's been trusting people to voluntarily do the responsible thing. sweden's caseload and death count continue to rise and have accelerated in recent days. and both china and south korea report new spikes in cases. lots to take in from around the world, and joining us to help with that is ryan heath, senior editor at politico. ryan, good evening. >> great to join you, joshua. >> let's start in the u.k. this new plan from boris johnson, how is that being received? i understand some people consider it controversial. i personally am not surprised since boris johnson had covid-19 and credited the national health service for saving his life. so how is the u.k. receiving that plan? >> i think with some sense of uncertainty. there's a little bit of confusion from the people that i've spoken to in britain today.

boris johnson has said if you can go to work, do go to work, but that doesn't give those workers any clarity on whether their companies or their public sector employers are going to have their offices open on monday, for example. unlike some other countries, the u.k. is saying we'll do the schools last. we might do that in june. where as other countries like denmark and germany have already got their kids back in school. australia is doing the same thing now as well in a kind of staggered shift system. what we're seeing is a lot of experimentation really across not just the u.k., but across europe. there is still so much we don't know about this virus. everyone is really gambling to one extent or another. >> i'm glad you mentioned germany. we talked about the rise of cases in germany and sweden. where are things going wrong? is it just a lack of tight restrictions like in sweden or is there more to it than that? >> well, i think there's one big area where we know very little in a lot of european countries. first up, that is nursing homes, care homes. for example, germany does not include deaths in nursing homes

in their initial statistics. so their statistics look much better than a lot of other countries like belgium where around about half the deaths have been from these nursing homes. it's tending to range between 35 and 50% in countries. so germany looks better than it really is. in addition to what they've admitted, which is that having opened up their infection rate has gone up again. sweden does have some restrictions in place. they don't allow family to visit, for example, in the nursing homes. they obviously are now paying the price for not having those tougher restrictions in place. it's interesting, one of the arguments about why a country would loosen the restrictions we need to get the economy going. for example, an economy like sweden which is very much dependent on exports, it is an open outward looking economy because the rest of the world is suffering, the fact that they've kept many of their businesses and so on open isn't helping their overall gdp statistics. they're doing just as bad as denmark and finland, their neighbors, even though they are

opening up. basically they're getting the extra deaths, but none of the economic benefits at this point. so there's going to be some sense of reckoning for that, i think, in the coming days in sweden. >> before i let you go, what about these potential spikes in south korea and china? i know there's been deep skepticism of the information that china releases. south korea does not have that reputational issue. apparently things are good enough, for example, for shanghai disneyland to reopen. the tickets for the reopening i believe sold out in minutes, in an hour almost instantly. are they spiking for the same reasons or different reasons? >> different reasons. with china you've got many points of vulnerability. it's a country of 1.4 billion people so it doesn't take many things to go wrong in many places where you start seeing the numbers you see in europe or in some united states. in south korea there's been this very complicated situation, for example, where some night clubs have been open and some people

are gay and lesbian night clubbers haven't come forward and taken the test. the country hasn't been able to track and trace some of the outbreaks going on because they're afraid to be outed in their workplace and communities. what we've learned from the hiv/aids crisis the last few years, you want to remove those stigmas. you want to make sure people can act with confidence and privacy in order to get good health outcomes. and because we have some of those cultural issues in place like south korea, we're starting to see problems there. singapore has had it for different reasons. it's how they treat some of their migrant workers and how those people are housed. you've seen different reasons and different countries all of them tripping up because they have relaxed early. >> thank you, ryan. that's ryan heath, senior editor with politico. we now know of at least one covid-19 death at an i.c.e. detention facilities set on american soil. we'll talk immigration next. now there's scotts thick'r lawn 3-in-1 solution. with a soil improver! seed! and fertilizer to feed!

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coronavirus is an international issue. that makes it an immigration

issue, too. last month president trump restricted certain categories of immigrants from entering the u.s. for 60 days. federal statistics show that unauthorized crossings along the southern border dropped by 50% last month. stephen miller, the president's lead immigration advisor, is pushing to expand those restrictions. other advisors are pushing to leave them in place for months or even years. meanwhile, four senators submitted a letter urging the suspension of all new guest worker visas for 60 days. they also propose suspending other guest worker visas for at least a year. that letter cited our high unemployment and expressed concern for jobless americans and new college grads having to compete for work in such a limited job market. let's discuss it with caitlyn dickerson, national immigration reporter for "the new york times." caitlyn, welcome. >> thanks for having me. >> this all connects in various ways to the president's immigration agenda, including the border wall, including giving native-born americans

preference in the job market. how well is that working practically and politically? >> so, i think that right now you're seeing immigration crackdown on really significantly, and the trump administration is taking this opportunity from the coronavirus to push through these very restricti restrictive policies that it wanted to implement for sometime and, in fact, has tried and faced challenges in court. what's different now is with the pandemic, you're finding the president be able to meet these bars are reasonably tity. it's reasonable to shut the border down now. there is a risk the virus can be brought over the border. that's an argument the administration is make in court. policies could not be

implemented in the pass but they may end up sticking after the virus has left. >> on thursday we learned what might have been the first death of an i.c.e. detainee. the judge had ordered his release a few days prior. house are wes protecting immigrants in detention? or i should ask are we protecting them? >> there is very little you can do. we have about 30,000 individuals detained in federal custody on federal immigration charges and they live in close quarters and there's no way around it. another one of the challenges that we're facing now is that when you try to implement something like social distancing measures in a detention facility, then you see people's civil rights being infringed upon. that's a real challenge that sheriffs and private prison companies that operate these facilities are facing. in the best of circumstances, they want to do things like keep detained individuals far away from each other as much as possible, but that ends up requiring -- that means that people have to stay inside their

jail cell for 23 hours a day. that means they're not getting time for recreation. they're not getting any kind of flexibility in terms of their physical location. so it's a very difficult thing to do, and as a result you've seen a very large outbreak across these facilities. >> i wonder if coronavirus complicates this immigration argument somewhat. i mean, even new york's governor andrew cuomo has said restricting travel from certain parts of the world does have an effect in terms of the movement of the virus. he said, for instance, that when we restrict travel from china, we closed the front door but did not close the back door not restricting travel from europe. u.k. may be part of fighting coronavirus. it seems this pandemic has almost complicated or nuanced some pieces of the immigration argument, at least to an extent. >> in terms of creating an

argument in favor of limiting immigration, i think in the short term it has. what we're having to face and realize now is that, you know, the circumstances that caused people to leave their home country and try to migrate, especially to a place like the united states when we're talking about people leaving central america, these are really desperate circumstances that don't change in the face of a pandemic, but domestic policy does. and it has to. and so right now we're trying to modulate, we're trying to find the right balance of preventing the spread of coronavirus while also making sure that we are meeting, you know, what the federal laws and what international law requires in terms of providing a safe place for those who need it. but you're seeing across the board international students are facing challenges because their visas are in jeopardy. they have been booted from college dorms, but they don't

necessarily have places to live in the united states. people who are on work space visas may face expulsion even though from what economists who have studied it have said, coming from another country doesn't necessarily displace a job or take a job away that would automatically go to an american citizen. instead if that foreigner wasn't here. it's very complex. it's not a zero sum game. it's not easy math. it's going to involve economic considerations, political considerations and the emotional sentiment for each individual country. >> be interested to talk to you more about this as that shakes out because there's a whole lot of people who could fall through a lot of cracks in this debate. it will be interesting to see how that all shakes out. thank you, caitlan. that's caitlan dickerson, national immigration reporter for "the new york times." dining out could look very different when this outbreak is

over. chef andrew zimmern joins us to discuss how it pans out. stay close. that good? no you were talking about allstate and... i just... when i... accident forgiveness from allstate. click or call for a quote today.

covid-19 has shaken up our food supply, from dining out to buying groceries. this week the trump administration said it will begin buying $3 billion worth of meat and dairy and produce from farmers. much of that food would go to waste otherwise with few customers to buy it. the administration says it will

go instead to nonprofits like food banks. it's been ten days since president trump signed an executive order keeping meat processing plants open during this pandemic. he invoked the defense production act to classify these plants as essential infrastructure. the center for economics and policy research says that nearly 6900 plant workers have tested positive for covid-19. joining us now is chef and restaurateur andrew zimmern, the host of what's eating america. andrew, good evening. good to see you. >> likewise, good to see you, too. >> what is your sense of the administration's food box program, to send food to nonprofits like food banks and faith-based organizations? seems like a good idea, especially since a lot of this food would just kind of get throne away or produce would just get basically mulched otherwise. >> yes, you are correct. and i think like a lot of other government programs, the devil is in the details and we'll wait and see how it rolls out.

many of us who have been living and breathing these issues for decades were actually calling for this in march. we could see what was going to happen on our farms, in our meat plants, on our fishing boats in our crab picking houses, anywhere food is produced. those of us in the food space, you know, knew this was going to come down to a people issue, especially a people getting sick issue. and, therefore, it wasn't whether or not we had enough food. it was the distribution of it. many of us have been calling on the federal government to invoke an emergency act and allow fema to truck the food from the fields and farms, the dairies, and the abbot eurs where consumers can interact with it. finally we see the government doing that. for tonight thumbs up. let's see how it goes. >> with regard to meat

processing plants, one worker told "the washington post" she took medicine to lower her temperature so she wouldn't miss out on bonuses at work. your series, what's eating america, included towns where significant immigrant population was either moved in or recruited in to fill those jobs. i mean, americans have to eat, but what is the solution to this? or perhaps a solution to this? >> well, what we're seeing right now, this disease, this pandemic has held up a mirror to so many problems over the last 40 or 50 years. we all would love to place blame at someone's foot, but the fact of the matter is that immigration reform has been something that has -- is long overdue. when you were talking with caitlan earlier, i kept wanting to jump in as if i was listening to it, as if i was on air with you. the fact of the matter is that we have too few immigrants and visa migrant workers coming into this country to perform the

duties requires to put the food on the table of america's homes. right now one of the things that we're seeing is an incredible labor shortage that's brewing. i have reports from farmers that i'm talking to, dairy managers, corn farmers who -- excuse me, tomato farmers who can't get crops into the ground. crab companies that are operating at 60% of capacity because they have either employees who are sick or not getting enough workers coming into the system. the government is using the coronavirus pandemic as a cover for shutting down the borders instead of addressing the issues at hand. many of us have been calling for many weeks -- chef jose andres in my pilot episode with me. he and i five weeks ago started talking to the government about establishing cold zones and employee cold facilities where

employees could be quarantined and then step in when other employees got sick. as it has been for 400 years in this country, we simply are placing profits ahead of the people who are planting, harvesting, boxing, fishing, shipping, cutting our food. these are marginalized people, mostly people of color and immigrants and, quite frankly, we haven't been giving them the safety that they need to properly execute their jobs. >> what about restaurants? the national restaurant association estimates that the industry could lose almost a quarter trillion dollars this year. it had been on track, at least by the forecast, to make something like 900 something billion dollars this year. not take out delivery help, but apps take their cut, so do grocery apps. what do you see as the solution, at least, for some of this? >> we are potentially -- i underscore the word potentially -- looking at a restaurant extinction event if two things don't happen.

number one, payroll protection plan needs to be backstopped or extended in such a way so that restaurants that are currently closed now can use their p.p.p. money when they open. the second thing that needs to happen, as a founding member of the independent restaurant coalition and people can go to save restaurants.com and see our platforms, we're calling on congress as of april 29th to establish a restaurant stabilization program so that restaurants across the country, independent ones, can use those monies to hold onto their business, pay their employees, pay their rent, pay their insurance, pay their trust taxes that do so much for our state and municipal governments, as we ramp up into 100% of consumer confidence and going out into restaurants. remember, we're going to open restaurants maybe 80%, 70% of the ones that were open four months ago will actually be able

to open. and then we're going to see 25, 30, 40% of customers return to those restaurants until such a time as everyone feels safe interacting with each other. the restaurants are going to have at least half their seating capacity taken away so they're going to be losing money until such a time as they can ramp up. and restaurants economically are vital, vital engines of our economy. 95 cents of every dollar that comes into a restaurant goes out the back door into the community again. there's really no businesslike it in america. it's a trillion dollar industry that employs 11 million people. we simply can't let that business genre go away. >> one last question i have to ask you, and i have to ask you to keep it brief. do you think we'd be in this much trouble with the restaurant industry if americans did not waste so much food? >> i think food waste and the current issues that we have in restaurants are both very, very

important. they both have horrific consequence, but i do not see them as being related. it's a fantastic question, something we could spend an hour talking about. >> we certainly could. i would love to talk to you about that another time. andrew zimmern, the host of msnbc's what's eating america. if you missed it, watch it, it's fabulous. what's eating america, all one word. thank you for making time for us. just ahead, what does the mask you wear say about you, that is, if you wear one? plus we'll share some of your stories about how you are helping out during the outbreak. . for small prices, you can build big dreams. spend less, get way more.

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cvs health. does everything have to be about politics all the time? apparently, yeah, even with something as simple as wearing a mask. face coverings are a common sight now while running errands, taking a walk. they're more common in some parts of the country, and sometimes it seems more common among partisan lines.

president trump has told his advisors he does not wear a mask because it would, in his word, send the wrong message. experts say these coverings are not to protect you, but to protect others if you have the virus but do not know it. why has this ounce of prevention become a point of contention? joining us now is francesca feern teeny, comedian and journalist, host of "red, white and who." francesca, welcome. >> thank you, joshua. thanks for having me. >> we mentioned the president's been vocal about his hesitation to wear a mask. we've seen him recently out in public without one. how much do you think this is actually political in a deeper sense, as opposed to the president just being obstinate? >> oh, it goes real deep with this president. if he wore a mask or his vice president wore a mask, they would have to admit that the virus is real. and think of the stock market. so that's a difficult hurdle to get over. now we're seeing the ramifications of that. within the white house itself.

but it's so interesting to me the way that it also displays this false masculinity, right? like that they're just trying to exemplify some sort of machismo, as if they think "mask" is short for "emasculate." if you're a tough guy, you're not going to get sick, but other people will. and again, americans are following suit. we know the fish rots from the head down, as they say. so people are taking after the president's bad example. and of course it's been politicized. now we are all in our own little fiefdoms, our personal tree houses, and we make the rules. because the parents aren't home. they might never be coming home. >> are you making fun of my tree house? >> listen, not yours. >> let go of my tree house. we was having a nice conversation. i will let that slide just this once. i should note, regarding the president, we received word there will be another briefing tomorrow. it's not described as a

coronavirus task force briefing, it's just a press briefing on testing. that's noteworthy because the last time we had a coronavirus task force briefing was april 27th, almost two full weeks ago. so we'll be expecting that tomorrow, scheduled at 4:00 p.m. eastern time. francesca, how did this medical precaution become such a cultural big deal? we've seen very intense protests, shouting matches, there are charges of first-degree murder related to a security guard being shot connected to face masks. it was fun when it was just an internet meme and one of these culture war things. now it's gotten really heavy ska little crazy. what is going on here? >> well, i think there's two issues. one is the actual wearing of a mask, which obviously has been politicized as we just talked about. and the other is the way that mask wearing and social distancing guidelines have been enforced. and how it's been enforced and how one is policed has a lot to do with one's race and

socioeconomic status and relative privilege. so while you see some people complaining on twitter that mayor garcetti of los angeles is requiring people to wear masks outside, on trails, and seeking exemptions, other people, say in brooklyn, new york, are being brutalized by police officers for not wearing a mask or being socially distant enough. and i know that in the west village, police officers were handing out masks to sunbathers sitting in parks. so it really hits on a lot of these different issues. i think about world war ii, right, and the last time we had to pull together as a nation and there was a war effort, there were gasoline shortages and rations, there were meat rations. and i'm like, was there a karen back in the day who was like, no, no, no, i can't be rationed on meat because i'm on the keto diet. >> oh, karen. >> maybe that was a thing. >> oh, karen.

karen keeps popping up. yes, you're absolutely right about the way that we view this as a society. that's what we're going to get to in just a second. and also, interesting the way that this has been enforced differently in different communities. that could be a whole other hour of conversation. but since you made fun of my tree house, i'm going to let you go, francesca feern teeny. >> i'm sure it's very nice. >> it is, or was. is she's host of "red, white and you." thanks very much. >> thank you. francesca mentioned world war ii, we asked you last night to tell us what you're doing to do your part to stop the spread of coronavirus. here is some of what you sent us. with all of my catering events postponed or canceled, i saw a need and i jumped in. in addition to feeding kids i'm also managing a pantry that went from serving 20 families a week to serving 250 families. nancy in california says, i have a compromised immune system so i can't be out helping by

volunteering. i am finishing sewing my 200th mask, though, part of a group in sonoma county in northern california that is sewing masks for first responders, essential workers, family, friends, et cetera. we have distributed over 12,000 to date. here in new york, laurie writes, i don't have a huge amount of money to give away, although i have done so, but more than that i am reaching out to people who are sad and fearful and providing what i can to give them emotional support. in tennessee, brenda is helping students through a tough school year. i am trying to get 89 kids ready to take the ap biology test on may 18th. it's so different this year. the three-hour test is now down to 45 minutes, online at home, and every kid in the world will take the test at 1:00 p.m. central time on may 18th. i meet my kids every day at 1:00 p.m. to study and practice. they are scared and mystified by the crazy circumstances but we are resilient. we get through this together.

thank you so very much for sharing your stories with us and for doing what you're doing. thank you for making time for us on msnbc. i hope to see you back here again this weekend. until we meet again, i'm joshua johnson. stay safe, stay sharp, we will get through this. good night, mom. ♪ we hope you find our digital solutions helpful to bank safely from home. deposit a check with your phone or tablet. check balances, pay bills, transfer money and more. send money to people you know and trust with zelle. stay safe. stay home. together, we'll get through this. pnc bank you ever wish you weren't a motaur?

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this sunday, health and the economy. president trump pivots from fighting the virus -- >> this country can't stay closed and locked down for years. >> -- to promoting the economy. even trying to shut down the coronavirus task force before backing off. >> i had no idea how popular the task force is. until actually yesterday. >> mr. trump questioning science. >> i feel about vaccines like i feel about tests. this is going to go away without a vaccine. >> insisting it's time to get back to normal as the economy suffers. >> we can't stop working. we can't stop living. >> but at what cost? >> if it really picks up, it's very hard to stop again.