that's you? the truck adds 10 pounds. in the arms. -okay... transfer your service online in a few easy steps. now that's simple, easy, awesome. transfer your service in minutes, making moving with xfinity a breeze. visit xfinity.com/moving today. good afternoon, everyone. i'm ayman mohyeldin. we're following big developments. here are the facts as we know them at this hour. any minute now, former vice president, 2020 presidential contender joe biden, will speak in his hometown of wilmington, delaware. he is expected to discuss the white house's response to the coronavirus pandemic. we'll bring that to you live when it gets under way. the european union announcing today that it is still barring u.s. travelers from its borders. starting tomorrow the council will lift travel restrictions from over a dozen countries,

including canada, australia and japan. the u.s. not making that cut. let's get you up to speed on the very latest numbers here in the u.s. there are more than 2.6 million confirmed coronavirus cases, and about 128,000 deaths. 16 states are either reversing or pausing their planned reopenings. new york governor andrew cuomo just announced that individuals traveling to new york from eight additional states will now be required to quarantine for at least two weeks. in total, 16 states are on that list, including georgia, texas and california. right now, four of the nation's top health experts and members of the administration testifying on capitol hill in front of the senate health, education, labor and pensions committee. top infectious disease expert dr. anthony fauci, robert redfield, admiral bret gerard

and steven hahn are briefing the senate and warning the surges we're seeing now could even get worse. >> we are now having 40,000-plus cases a day. i would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around. and so i am very concerned. >> let's go straight to capitol hill. nbc news correspondent leigh ann caldwell is there for us. this was a closely watched hearing. the title is "update on progress toward safely getting back to work and back to school." has that been the focus thus far or has it focused on what has led to this recent surge in cases across the south of the country? >> ayman, that's right. that was supposed to be the focus of this hearing. the chairman of the committee, senator lamar alexander of tennessee, i was speaking to him last week and he said one of his biggest focuses on an upcoming covid relief bill and everything

that congress does is going to be about getting kids back to school. he says it's going to take a lot of money to do so and that congress needs to address that. but at this hearing today, we're still having a debate that was happening months ago on this issue of masks. you heard from republicans and democrats bringing up the issue of masks and how important they are. again, senator alexander opened the hearing saying the president himself needs to lead by example and start wearing a mask. because there's so many people who follow him and would take his lead. but while this issue of masks was a big highlight of this hearing, you also heard, as you paid some pretty devastating news from dr. fauci saying that if things continue down the path that we are currently on, the high of cases that's currently at 40,000 will reach as many as 100,000 cases a day, ayman.

so this hearing was not a lot of good news when they wanted to look forward at the reopening of this country and getting kids back to school. instead, a lot more very troubling signs as cases continue to spike across the u.s. >> i was going to say, a dire warning there from dr. anthony fauci about the staggering numbers. leigh ann caldwell on capitol hill, thank you. as we mentioned, 16 states across the country are reversing the openings of businesses and restaurants. amid alarming surges of coronavirus cases. officials in florida and texas ordering bars shuttered as cases continue to skyrocket. dr. deborah birx is in arizona today following governor doug ducey's orders to close bars, gyms, movie theaters and waterparks for at least the next month while, in california, l.a. county officials there announced that beaches and boardwalks will be closed this holiday weekend. joining us now is nbc news political reporter vaughn hillyard in phoenix and nbc news

correspondent erin mclaughlin in manhattan beach, california. vaughn, let me begin with you. walk us through what's closing arizona, and do we know why the governor stopped short of mandating a full stay-at-home policy? >> ayman, there frankly had to be a reckoning at some point here in this state from the executive tower of the governor here. behind us. and that happened yesterday. it was may 15th when the state let its stay-at-home order expire and restaurants and retail, those waterparks opened. it was even planned that schools would begin opening just two weeks from now in july but finally, after record hospitalizations, record icu beds in use, finally it got to the point where the state was so close to being overwhelmed that the governor had to take action. and that's what he did yesterday afternoon. by signing those executive orders of pushing the school year back into august, closing down these various establishments. but i had the chance to ask the

governor the question, you know, why not go for essentially a shut down of this state like it was back in march. why not implement a stay-at-home policy because he himself said -- believed that the mitigation efforts he put into play will only go so far as in slowing the spread here. with an 87% icu bed capacity rate right now, the hospitals are on the verge of being simply overwhelmed. take a listen to his response to me. >> we're following public health in terms of the decisions that we're making. i talked to health care leaders from around the state on friday. talked about different options that were in front of us. and we're making a decision that is a targeted approach. >> could it be on the table next week, a stay-at-home order? >> i said i wake up every day, vaughn, and there is an additional set of problems, and we solve them in their turn. >> the concern here in the state

is that restaurants are still open. retail is still open. this weekend will be a big sign as to whether folks are actually adhering to this urging from the governor to stay at home. and i think it's important to note, you know, the governor here mentions the white house task force. the recommendations for reopening that they put forward back in the spring. arizona, along with the likes of texas and florida, these other states, they don't even come close to meeting those very guidelines the white house and dr. birx and vice president pence put forward. the number of cases continues to rise. hospitalizations rise. yet this is where arizona finds itself. a big two weeks ahead here, a ayman. let's head over to erin in california for a moment. the beaches there as we heard from vaughn, with the holiday weekend approaching, they opened up on memorial day. we're now going into july 4th where they are going to be closed. do officials think the holiday had something to do with spiking

cases that we're seeing in l.a. county and elsewhere? >> well, they do, ayman. i've been speaking to experts, and they point to that memorial day weekend as a starting point for the surge. california is experiencing that now. they believe that people really let their guard down on that weekend with the social distancing, with the masks, not wearing them, and now we're suffering the consequences in california. in just the last week, an uptick of 45% in confirmed cases. here in l.a. county, it crossed just yesterday the 100,000 case threshold. and authorities are extraordinarily concerned. taking this drastic action this upcoming holiday weekend, closing down this and other beaches along the california coast, prohibiting fireworks to stop people from congregating to enjoy them. they say these measures are necessary. just yesterday, the l.a. mayor saying time is running out. this is a key turning point for the city and the state.

>> the role in society is not to prevent death. it's to inform adults of the risks and the opportunities of life and to let them choose those opportunities and risks. it's not to wrap everybody in bubble wrap. a disease is this contagious and yet this nondeadly, then there is nothing we can do to keep it from spreading through. >> that was suzanne hadley, the mayor pro tem here in manhattan beach. and she's pushing back on the orders to close l.a. county beaches. she says -- >> erin, i'm so sorry to cut you off, but former vice president joe biden is about to begin his comments. we want to take those live. let's take a listen. >> i want to take a few minutes to tell you a little bit about what i think we should be doing right now and then be happy to

take questions. for weeks, we've been seeing the warning signs. numbers don't lie. infection rates are now going up in more states than they are going down. we' more than 125,000 people in the united states have lost their lives and those numbers and new infections continue to grow at alarming rate. and once again, confronting the simple fact that we won't be able to solve the economic crisis without a rigorous public health approach. they're not separable. despite the administration's propaganda that their response should be a cause for celebration, despite president trump's request that we should slow down testing because he thinks it makes him look bad, the covid-19 is still here, and the daily threat to the american health and prosperity is continuing. it didn't have to be this way. month after month, as other

leaders in other countries took the necessary steps to get the virus under control, donald trump failed us. month after month, as many of us urged him to step up and do his job, he failed us. just look at the record. in january, i, along with others, sounded the alarm of the coronavirus outbreak. trump told the country that covid-19 is, quote, totally under control. and that everything will, quote, work out well. in february, i warned about the failure to get information that we needed from the chinese government. what i said was the president should demand xi produce the evidence. demand it. trump said, quote, we're in great shape. reported china's president said it was, quote, doing very well. in march, i set forth a detailed

plan for 500finished -- funded testing sites across the country as well as guaranteed paid leave. later that month i called for a full and immediate use of the defense production act. critical, critical for the delivery of supplies that were basically needed. trump accused health care workers -- he accused health care workers of stealing the masks. health care workers are stealing the masks. that's why we don't have them. in april, i released a plan to secure the supply chain for personal protective equipment, surge nationwide testing through a pandemic testing board and launch a nationwide health corps to focus on contact tracing. trump suggestions? americans should inject disinfectants into their body.

i condemned the false choice between preserving public health and our economy. i urged the administration to focus on the basic public health measures like testing that enable us to sustain our economic recovery. trump's response? he pushed for reopening without regard to safety and called testing, quote, frankly overrated. this month, i outlined a path to reopen our country safely and sustainably. it provided workers, small businesses, schools, state and local governments the tools, resources and guidance that they would need. trump's proposal? he set a cut-off date for federal funding of testing sites in several states. and actually went to court to take away health care for 22 million people by trying to get rid of obamacare. and now, donald trump is in retreat. remember, back in march, when i

called -- and he called -- he talked about the need to act like we were at war with the virus. he called himself a wartime president. remember when he exhorted the nation to sacrifice together and, quote, in the face of this inevitable and invisible enemy. what happened? now it's almost july, and it seems like our wartime president has surrendered, waved the white flag and left the battlefield. today we're facing a serious threat, and we have to meet it. we have to meet it as one country. but the president gives no direction. and he pits us against one another. we can't continue like this. half recovery, and half getting worse. we can't continue, half wearing a mask and half rejecting science. we can't continue half with a

plan and half just hoping for the best. we won't defeat this virus with a piecemeal approach. lifting restrictions prematurely, increasing the volatility of the crisis. raising the likelihood of needing to reimpose restrictions. until our science catches up to reality, until we have better treatment for those who will become infected and safe, proven, widely available vaccines, we have to continue to do all we can as the people and the government to keep our fellow americans safe and healthy. today i am releasing a plan with the steps i believe donald trump should undertake immediately to build on the road map i released back in march that would have saved lives if it had been adopted. it's a plan to save lives in the

months ahead. once again, i encourage him to adopt this plan in its entirety. this is too important for politics. first, testing, testing, testing. more testing is not only how you find more cases of coronavirus, mr. president, it's how you stop the coronavirus cases. testing followed by rigorous contact tracing. quarantining. and isolation protocols. for those who have been exposed. people aren't waiting in lines for miles and miles long in baking hot cars for drive-through nasal swabs for the fun of it. they're doing it so they can protect themselves but even more importantly, they know when they have this mask on, they're protecting others. they're protecting others. we know we're not where we need

to be in testing. there are still hospitals and nursing homes who don't have access to the tests they need. testing is how we see what's happening in communities all across the country. it's our eyes on the ground. without that testing, we're flying blind. that's why it's so important to have reliable access to testing everywhere. we need to increase federal support for testing. that includes doubling the number of drive-through testing sites and keep increasing them until there are no more lines. we should create a pandemic testing board to spearhead a nationwide campaign so every worker, every worker who is called back to their job can have the confidence that they and their fellow workers are not infected. you know, experts agree that we need more contact tracers to track the path of this virus.

individual states like new york and california already hired and are training thousands of tracers. but we need to do more, including hiring at least 100,000 federally funded workers to perform contact tracing and other public health tasks. and they should begin to be trained now. second, every single frontline worker should have the personal protective equipment that they need to be safe. five months into this crisis and our health care workers still are forced to scramble for their own supplies. and have to reuse these masks shift after shift. hundreds of health care workers have died from covid-19 and tens of thousands have become infected. it should be zero on both counts for these health care workers if they had the right equipment. you know, how we in this many

months into this still don't have what we need. that's why we have a defense production act. you know, mr. president, use your authority, mr. president. use it this week. stale scale up the production of n95 masks. you know the steps you've taken so far haven't gotten the job done, mr. president. fix the shortage of ppe for our health care workers before you tee off another round of golf. we can't just look at where we are today. we're into these masks and gloves and face shields for the foreseeable future and we need to be ready. we know more is coming. thirdly, we should be laser focused on treatments and vaccines. we should be leading a coordinated global approach on the science, not disregarding experts while pushing dangerous and disproven drugs as if they're treatments.

that's been some progress toward treatment in vaccines, but the administration hasn't been transparent about how they plan to manufacture enough doses to make sure there's equitable distribution to scale. i hope they're doing it now. i called for awhile ago, they should be providing $250 million to have a plan now exactly how they are going to distribute this so every american has access when and if the vaccine is available. they may be doing it, but we have no transparency. let us see, mr. president. the white house should report weekly on this progress. we can't end up in the same scratchy and distribution problems that we had in testing. we need to make sure the customers aren't being gouged by new drug and therapies and prices when they're developed. we have to immediately restore our relationship with the world health organization. for all of its shortcomings and

missteps around covid-19, this is why w.h.o. was created. it is essential to coordinating the global response during a pandemic. and the united states should be leading that response as we have in the past. covid-19 will likely worsen at the outset of flu season this year. so we need to put in place measures now -- now to ensure the seasonal flu vaccine can be ready, available and administered safely to those who need it under social distancing guidelines, especially for seniors. fourthly, we need real plans. real guidelines. with uniform nationwide standards to help us chart our economic reopening. whatever we've been doing now is not working. the state-by-state approach will only produce confusion and slow any progress. you know, you all reported the

cdc tried to clear guidelines about what stages of reopening should look like. the administration delayed and scaled back those plans. we need clear evidence -- clear evidence-based steps that states can adopt now. both the standard must be met in order to safely proceed with further openings and the reimposition of social distancing roles when cases begin to rise. you know, this is not rocket science. we need to support schools and child care programs so parents, if and when they can return to work, are confident that their children will be safe and cared for. you know, we should be holding and providing a sticker that says safe for shoppers. a certification to stores that prove they're minimizing their customers' risk and exposure.

we need a clear message from the very top of our federal government that everyone needs to wear a mask in public, period. period. wear a mask. it's not just about you. it's about your family. it's about your neighbors. it's about your colleagues. it's about keeping other people safe. it helps you, yes, but it's about keeping other people safe. it's a simple measure. it's also one of the most effective ways we can do the right thing. it may be inconvenient and may be uncomfortable, but it's the right thing to do as an american. protect your co-workers and neighbors. and finally, we need to protect the populations most at risk. our seniors.

our black and brown populations. native communities being hit the hardest. vulnerable populations with pre-existing conditions. this continued growth in case numbers is causing fear and anxiety. people, especially older americans and those with loved ones in nursing homes. i get calls all the time. they're simply scared. they're frightened. this isn't just taking a toll on physical health. it's an emotional cost as well. we can't expect vulnerable populations to quarantine indefinitely without support. and i want them to know that their health and safety will be my responsibility if i'm your president. and i will not abandon you. you know, these are five fairly straightforward steps that are going to help defeat this

pandemic. and if you suspect that a lot of these steps are the same sorts of things i was talking about in march when i released my first covid-19 response, you'd be right. it feels like you're hearing the experts talk about the same issues for months, you'd be right. these have always been the steps the government needed to put in place to meet the threat. statewide lockdowns that so many americans lived under for months were intended to buy us time to get our act together. instead of using that time to prepare ourselves, donald trump squandered it. now here we are. more than three months later, we're hardly better prepared than we were in march. the infections are on the rise. the threat of massive spikes

that overwhelm the capacity of our health care system is on the horizon. americans anxious and out of work are fearful with their lives and their livelihoods. and donald trump is doing next to nothing about it. mr. president, the crisis is real. the crisis is real. and it's surging, mr. president. there are promises and predictions and wishful thinking pulled out of thin air. they're not only doing the country no good but making them lose even more faith in their government. america knows this crisis isn't behind us, even if you don't. they see what's happening, even if you refuse to, mr. president. they know we need a coordinated national plan. we need it now, even though you don't, mr. president. and won't do it.

you called yourself a cheerleader. we don't need a cheerleader, mr. president. we need a president, mr. president. a president who will level with the american people. a president that will tell us the unvarnished truth. the president that will take responsibility instead of always blaming others. a president that will listen to the experts. follow the science. allow them to speak. the president who will lead and be an example for the nation. wear a mask. keep your distance. limit the size of crowds. mr. president, this is not about you. it's about the health and well-being of the american public. the american people don't make enormous sacrifices over the past four months so they can just waste their time and you

can waste all the efforts they have undertaken with your midnight rantings and tweets. they don't make these sacrifices so you can ignore the science and turn responsible steps like wearing masks into a political statement. and they certainly didn't do it, mr. president, so you could wash your hands and walk away from this responsibility. whenever there are times this nation needs a cheerleader, now is not one of them. america needs a president. whatever trump does or does not do, we can't know today what the state of the covid-19 pandemic will be next january, but i'm almost certain, i hope i turn out to be wrong. i'm almost certain it won't be over. and if i should have the honor of being elected president, on

the day i'm sworn in, i'll get right to work implementing all aspects of the response that remain undone. i'll have more to say about my day one covid-19 agenda in the weeks to come. my response would begin well before i take the oath of office. it will start as soon as the election is decided. i'll be a president who respects scientists, who won't sencensor their ability to speak to the american people. i'll immediately reach out to dr. anthony fauci to ask him to continue his incredible service to the country. and i'll have, from day one, ready to go, the best medical experts and scientists to advise on our response. maybe most importantly, i will listen to them and let them speak freely, and i'll work with the governors and mayors of both parties from every state,

territory and tribe. it's a simple proposition, folks. we're all in this together. we've got to fight this together. we'll emerge from this stronger because we did it together. i'm confident we can. may god bless you all, and may god protect our troops. i'm happy to take questions if you have them. they gave me a list how to recognize you. is alex ap out there? couldn't tell with a mask, alex. >> we'll work with that. all right. so we reported yesterday that president trump was briefed as early as march of 2019 that russia had ordered or offered bounties to the taliban for the killing of u.s. soldiers. you called his inaction on this issue a betrayal. so broadly, what consequences do you think the president should face for that betrayal and,

specifically, what do you think congress should do? >> well, look, first of all, congress and the intelligence committees on the congress both parties should demand the facts. this seems to be a moving story. as i was leaving, i had the television on as i put on my shirt, and i understand there's even some more information that's come out today about what was known. one of two things. this president is -- he talks about cognitive capability. he doesn't seem to be cognitively aware of what's going on. he either reads and/or gets briefed on important issues and he forgets it, or he doesn't think it's necessary that he need to know it. but the fact is that at a minimum, at a minimum, the discrepancy allegedly between -- within the intelligence

community as reported, some thought it was more certain and others thought it was less certain. that should be resolved. the president should have, on day one, said, i want you to come before me in the situation room and lay out the differences and discretion. who is saying what? let's get to the bottom of this. number one. number two, it's clear to me that -- and i don't know whether he did, he should have immediately contacted our joint chiefs of staff, gotten them all in one room and sat and said, okay, what are we doing to prevent this? what are we doing to prepare to deal with this, if this is happening? how are we doing this? what are we doing? thirdly, he should, at a minimum, have picked up the phone and said vladimir, old buddy, if any of this is true, and it seems to me that you've

got a big problem. a big problem. and make it clear. get to the bottom of this. it appears as though from what i have -- and i don't have access to classified information anymore. but if what i have heard over the last week and the recent reporting that it was in the pdb, the presidential daily brief, the presidential daily brief is something i read every single day as vice president. the president read it every day. i was briefed every morning before i got to the white house and then again. so the idea that somehow he didn't know or isn't being briefed, it is a dereliction of duty if that's the case. and if he was briefed and nothing was done about this, that's a dereliction of duty. i guess the best way for me to end this is, i was talking to my wife jill, and i don't see her get outraged very often. she started asking, joe, what

would you have done if beau was still in harm's way and this information came out and the president -- beau was my son. i'm sorry. i apologize. he served in iraq for a year in the army. but if he'd been in afghanistan, what are those parents thinking out there? what are those sons and daughters, husbands and wives? it's an absolute dereliction of duty if any of this is even remotely true. so i think the president has a lot to answer for and should get the answers quickly. >> what consequences should he face if these allegations are true or these reports are true? >> if these allegations are true and he did nothing about this, then i think the public should -- unrelated to my running, conclude this man isn't fit to be president of the united states of america. >> thank you. >> i was told nbc, mike?

mike, he doesn't have to follow me every day around the country. >> the last time, a lot of us saw you on the campaign trail, you were locked in a difficult nomination battle. the polls today show you with a sizable national lead, a lead in a lot of the states critical in the electoral college. i wonder where do you think the race stands at this moment? what keeps you up at night as you look ahead? and can you maintain this advantage without campaigning in a traditional way, especially this fall when voters begin to really tune in? >> well, you know, i -- this is the most unusual campaign, i think, in modern history. but i started off with a premise, mike, that i'm going to follow the doc's orders. not just for me, but for the country. and that means that i am not going to be holding rallies. i am not going to be -- for example, you all are here, but

thank the school has put those circles around so we keep social distancing. everybody has masks on. as soon as i finish this, i'll put my mask back on. and so it's all been -- almost all been virtual, although i have gone to houston. i have gone into pennsylvania. i have gone to -- i have traveled but when i do, i get in, make my case, and leave, take questions and leave. and so -- but you know me. i'd much rather be out there with people because that's where i get the greatest feel. i can get a sense of what the -- by the look in their eyes, by the voices they have or what they are concerned about. but notwithstanding that, i have been surprised. the irony is we probably reach more people directly on one on one. you all, particularly those of you who are with the television stations. you all know that you're on.

you have a one to one conversation with someone out there because there's one person in the tv looking at you. i never quite thought of it that way before, but they tell me 200 million people have watched what i have done from home and the half dozen things we've gone out and done. and so the irony is, i think we're probably communicating directly in detail with more people than we would have otherwise. but i'd much rather be doing it in person. so far, it remains to be seen. i don't want to jinx myself. i know the polling data is very good, but i think it's really early. it's much too early to make any judgment. i think we've got a whole lot more work to do. i plan on laying out in detail my economic plan as to how we recover from this. a plan on dealing with foreign -- working out in detail what i am going to do if i am elected president so the people know what's coming. so i don't know if that answered your question, mike, but --

>> quick follow up to alex's question. have you requested a classified briefing as you'd be entitled to as the nominee? has the white house offered you a classified briefing? >> they have not offered a classified briefing and as this proceeds, i very well may do that. i've been talking to -- i have a significant foreign policy staff, as you know, that -- matter of fact, dozens of them. so i had a long meeting with my former national security adviser, former secretaries of state, et cetera, and got their read, what they've heard so far. but if this -- if it doesn't get cleared up quickly, then i will seek and ask if i can be briefed. >> have you begun to prepare for debates against president trump? >> i can hardly wait. >> thank you. over the weekend, princeton

decided to remove woodrow wilson's name from their school and buildings due to his racist thinking. president trump yesterday called that decision incredible stupidity. what do you think about princeton's decision and the president's comments? and more broadly, as the nation is in this moment of reckoning when it comes to race, we're seeing the removal of statues. also the removal of names from institutions and schools. do you think this is the right approach to come to terms with our nation's history and its leaders? what do you think when you see the removal of some of these statues? >> i think there are three categories. one, any institution that chose a name and wants to now jettison that name, that's a decision for them to make for whatever reason they make it. so i'm assuming the board of trustees at princeton university made the judgment about the woodrow wilson school. i don't know. but it was made within the context of a institution that chose that name and now no

longer wants to be associated with that name. and i think the president is -- well, secondly, i think there are -- there's a distinction between the -- as the former mayor of new orleans said, the difference between reminders and remembrances of history and recovery from history. so the idea of comparing whether or not george washington owned slaves or thomas jefferson owned slaves and somebody who was in rebellion committing treason running -- trying to take down a union to keep slavery, i think there's a distinction there. so i think the idea of bringing down i think all those confederate monuments to confederate soldiers and generals, et cetera, who strongly supported secession and

maintaining slavery and going to war to do it, i think those statues belong in museums. they don't belong in public places. and i think with regard to those statues that are -- and monuments like the jefferson memorial, i think there's an obligation that the government protect those monuments because they are different than -- that's a remembrance. it is not dealing with, you know, revering somebody who had that view. they had much broader views. they may have things in their past that are now and then distasteful. but that's a judgment for the -- so, for example, taking down, toppling christopher columbus or george washington's statue or et cetera, i think that is something that is -- the government has a responsibility and opportunity to protect from happening. >> and on a different subject, you have been doing these public events for the past month, which has put you in contact with more

people. have you been tested for coronavirus. if so, how frequently are you doing that? >> no, i have not been protected -- i have not been tested for the coronavirus for two reasons. one, i have had no symptoms, as my mother would say, knock on wood. and number two, i haven't wanted to take anybody else's place in the process. but the secret service, they all get tested. they're around my home. and anyone who comes into my home, including staff who comes in is tested to determine whether they have the virus. i expect when i'm going to -- so it doesn't look like i'm moving to the front of the line here is be tested relatively soon. my daughter has been tested. she was in florida as a -- she's a social worker working with the boys and girls club. she came home and before she could come home, she's been tested twice so to make sure

she's clear and quarantined. she lives in philadelphia. so -- but i haven't yet. i have not been tested yet. yes? i'm sorry, who was i supposed to go to next. anybody who -- i got to make sure i get the wilmington newspaper here before i leave or i'll be dead. >> thank you, mr. vice president. good to see you. i know we all hope that you continue to do this through november as often as possible. >> i will. the more i have an opportunity, i will do it. >> two quick questions. one to follow up on russia. you talked about what our president has done. yesterday you said at a fundraiser regarding vladimir putin, quote, i'll confront putin. i'll strengthen nato. i'll make clear to putin he'll have a price to pay for interference in our democratic processes. specifically, can you tell us what you would do to putin? if this is true and in general for what's happened in the past.

>> i can, but i will not, but i will tell him. here's the deal. the idea that putin or any other foreign leader can engage in attempting to manipulate a presidential election, the idea that he continues his activities in central and eastern europe that he's doing. the idea that it can be done without any consequences is not going to happen if i'm president in my administration. that ranges from everything to making sure we go to the united nations security council all the way to imposing sanctions that would be commensurate with the action that he has taken that is inappropriate. but i have had some very blunt, straightforward conversations with president putin when i was vice president and before that. and i think one of the reasons why it appears as though he doesn't want me to be president, he knows we'll have more of those conversations.

>> in another issue in the news last week, this week, probably next week, the supreme court. the president says he's going to issue an updated list of potential nominees to the court. you have said you would put a black woman on the court should a spot open up. but there are groups calling for you to release a list of specific names you'd put on the court. are you going to do that? would you -- >> one thing i hesitate to do is follow anything the president does at all because he usually does it all wrong. i have -- we are putting together a list of a group of african-american women who are qualified and have the experience to be in the court. i am not going to release that until we go further down the line in vetting them as well. and just like a logical question about vice president. i'm not releasing the names of all the vice presidential potential nominees. there are a number of women of color. there are latino women. there are asian.

there are -- across the board. and we're just under way now in the hard vet of going into the deep background checks that take anywhere from 6 to 8 weeks to be done. the committees have been formed and that's under way. >> august 1 is still the target announcement date? >> early august. i can't guarantee you august 1, but it will be in early august, before -- several weeks before the convention, i believe. yes? >> thank you, mr. vice president. this is a two-parter. just to follow up again on russia. do you believe that if those reports are true that trump is guilty of violating his oath of office? and on your vp choice, you've said that you want your running mate to be ready on day one to do the job. do you think that someone who does not have national security or foreign policy experience can be ready on day one?

>> yes, and that depends -- look. one of the things you try to do, i've talked at length over the years with president obama about this. you try to find people who have a background and an expertise that you may not have. so one of the reasons president obama picked me is because i had considerable experience in getting things done in the congress and secondly, i had considerable experience in foreign policy. and national security. and although he had clear views of what, in fact, he wanted to do and what his strategy was in terms of america's role in the world. he was looking for someone who had day-to-day experience and knew a lot of those world leaders. and so i think that although that's a helpful thing to have, it's not necessary because i start off with the two places i still have some expertise are in both those places. and uniting the country and the

congress and foreign policy. and so it is almost all of the women i'm considering have had some exposure to foreign policy and national defense issues, security issues, but that is not a minimum requirement. a requirement is that they have the intellectual capacity as well as the temperament, as well as their leadership qualities that lend everyone to believe that they would be ready on day one to be president of the united states of america. with regard to whether or not the president -- it depends on exactly what he did and what he knew. but at a minimum, at a minimum, he either doesn't understand his job and is having difficulty sitting down and being able to read a report because a lot of those reports come across that

he says, i didn't read it. or i didn't see it. or i didn't know it. i don't know how he cannot read and not see and not know so many different things that have come up over the last three years. and so -- but it is clearly a dereliction of duty, and it is clearly something that i think everyone including my republican friends and my republican opponents in the house and senate are worried about as well. thank you. all right. where is the wilmington -- the "delaware state news." i mean "delaware news journal" i should say. that's my hometown team. i better call on them. >> how are you, mr. vice president. >> how are you? >> so, like other states, delaware, your home state, is seeing an increase in coronavirus cases. do you have a message for delaware officials, state and local governments for how they have handled the pandemic so far, how to handle it going forward? >> i think they've handled it

pretty well so far. but now i think you're seeing the governor make some adjustments because there has been an uptick. not tremendous, but there's an an uptick. it was one of the states that was -- i get briefed every day by a group of leding docs around the country of dr. ben -- anyway, i get a printout of the states that are doing better and doing worse up to now there's been a decline, and it's opening up slightly. i haven't spoken with the governor today, but my guess is he'll be looking at what happens on the beaches now and restaurants and bars. i don't know enough to know that, though. the good news is that it's flattened out. the bad news is there's a slight

up tick. i have not gone into the detail with the governor, nor have -- i speak to him not infrequently, but a couple times a month, three, four times a month. so i don't have any advice, because i don't know where it's popping up. now i'm going to get in trouble. fire away. tell them i'll be late, just a little bit, okay? >> thank you, mr. vice president. >> i always get in trouble on the last question. >> we appreciate it. the response to this pandemic has become very politicized, even wearing a mask has become political. if elected, how do you get americans on the same page? can year plan be successful if they aren't? >> well, i think the way to get on the same page is to -- i'm

going to try to say this politely -- is to lower the rhetoric based on division stop appealing to the -- the less healthy side of society. instead of, for example, when a golf cart goes by yelling white supremacy, and the president tweets it out, don't do things like that. bring the country together. we're giving a portion of the population that has responded to the sort of race baiting that the president has engaged in a sort of free pass, and it

generates division. we're also talking about -- the president talks about manhood and being strong, and you don't need the mask. i think we have to start appealing to the better side of human nature by pointing out that that mask is not so much to protect me. it's if i have undiagnosed, it's to protect other people. it's called patriotism. it's called responsibility. it's called making sure you look out for the other persons the president puts everything in terms of him. i'm not being facetious. it's i don't think or i don't take responsibility, or i didn't do that, or i believe that. it's not about i, it's about us. i think changing the tone of an

administration across the board, allowing scientists to speak, making sure that people understand the facts, good bad and indifferent. when a mistake is made, to say i made a mistake, i was wrong, i shouldn't have done it that way, we should do it this way. i think all those things change the atmosphere. let me conclude it by saying this, and i apologize if you've heard me saying this before -- the words of a president matter, no matter who the president is, no matter how responsible or irresponsible a president is. a president, whomever he or she is, can take us to war or bring peace, have markets rise or fall, appeal to the seamy side of society or to our angels. i know i was criticized --

legitimately criticized during the primaries by saying i plan on uniting the country, bringing democrats and republicans together. we have to do that. if we could do -- can't do that, we can't function. i think on this piece, if we stand up -- and by the way, don't hold me to numbers, please. you can correct me on this, but something like 70 or 74, or 75% of the american people think you should wear a mask. the overwhelming number think you should take these precautions, we should have opened more slowly. well, i think we should be talking to our better angels, and actually making people indirectly feel guilty for not doing the right thing. appeal to their better nature. that sounds almost idealistic,

but it's not. remind people, you don't wear this mask, you end up hurting someone or you get infected, you take it home to your child. you can take it home to your mother, your father, your husband, your wife. you have a moral obligation, because it really is. it really is. thank you. guys, i really do have to go. i apologize. i'm going to get in real trouble. i'm probably already in trouble. thank you -- go ahead. what's the last one. >> i'm confused about i delineation of the destruction of monuments. you talk about the fathers of this country worthy of press race. should confederate monuments be torn without without the vote of local elected officials? >> i think it's very different. it's better if they're taken down, like they took the

confederate flag off the mississippi flag. that's the better way of doing it, but i can understand -- i can understand the anger and anguish that people feel by having for years and years been under the statue of robert e. lee if you're an african-american. it's a difference it's always better to do it peacefully. there's a distinct between -- those monuments -- i -- i shift responsibility -- and i'm not -- i think elected officials where those statues are have a responsibility to move. put them in museums, get them down, but don't expect if you want sitting in front of you after all these years and we finally, finally are going through another phase of maybe responding to the systemic racism in america, and what we have seen happen is don't be surprised if someone pulls down the statue of jefferson davis.

it's better that they do not, but it's fundamentally different than pulling down the statue or going to the lincoln memorial and trying to pull -- not lincoln memorial, that's a bad example, the jefferson memorial. two quickies -- will you imply to three debates? >> oh, yes. >> three? >> yeah, i commit to -- look, i amou am committed to following the national debate group that sets up these debates, who they pick as the moderators, three of them. it's been this way for a long time. the first one is a one-on-one debate with a moderator. the next is a town meeting setting. the third one is a normal debate. again, i commit to those and looking forward to it. >> last question -- >> you're a lyin' dog. [ laughter ] >> you have -- i'm 65.

i forget my train of thought from time to time. you've got 12 years on me, sir. have you been tested for some degree of cognitive decline? >> i've been tested, and i'm constantly tested. look, all you have to do is watch me, and i can hardly way to compare my cognitive capability to the cognitive capability of the man i'm running against. thank you so much. that was joe biden right there, saying that he can hardly wait to compare his cognitive ability to donald trump's cognitive ability. this is the first time the former vice president has taken questions from the press, i believe since april 2nd, according to our own mike memoli who was there at that news conference. mr. biden was asked about the

russia bounty story and what he thought the president should suffer, in terms of consequences, if it turns out to be true. he said it is a dereliction of duty. he said the president deserves to be voted out of office. he also talked about cognitive ability, and that the president doesn't seem to be cognitively aware of what's happening in russia. when it comes to coronavirus, and he spent a lot of time on this, he's been giving the same advice since march, because they are the same recommendations and same advice that experts have been giving as well that's still not being followed in much of this country, and also with the presidents of the united states. eamo a this ended right between our two hours. when it comes to wearing a mask, the vice president was very clear in a way the president has

not been. he said, wear a mask. what we're seeing in the past few days especially, but maybe even more so today, a number of republicans who have come out and broken with the president on the issue of masks we had senator lamar in that meeting with dr. fauci, that a mask would send a message to millions of his supporters that this is something that would be taken seriously. >> as you saw in the press conference, what it really came down to was a contrast. he really every spent of the way contrasted himself from the way president trump has handling this not only between the vice president and president trump, but also between president trump, the scientific communities, members of his own party. even state and local officials who have come out and said to

wear a mask form the former vice president saying that the president has sowing the seeds of division in this country. we saw the video that the president retweeted of a couple saying "white power" and because of that, links that division to that the country has become divided whether or not to wear a mask. at one point the former vice president as well invoking criticism of president trump, talking about manhood, that it is manly somehow to not wear a mask and saying that that is precisely the contrast between him and what he would do if elected, that on day one he would ask dr. fauci to continue his role as the head of nih and infectious disease center, but at the same time saying to the scientific community, they would not be mu muzzled, they would be allowed to speak.

he would immediately begin his covid response plan the day after the election was decided. so i think he's laying out a stark contrast to this pandemic response from day one, and certainly the mask has become one of the more politicized issues in this country. >> and he said it's your duty to your fellow americans. i hope we have this ready for us, but there's a graph i want to show. when you're talking about a contrast, there's a graph that shows the coronavirus as it spiked in the eu. it shows it up on the way up spiking at a high level and coming right down based on the response in a european nations tonight, the lockdowns they took

as an entire nation to flatten it and then decline the spread. at the same time you see the spread in the united states. here it is. we come down slightly, and now we're peaked going even higher. maybe the public can take the recommendations as seriously as they should have. we're talking about a contrast, just contrast what the european union did and what the united states did. you can argue there's no bigger indictment on the leadership from the top of this country than what we saw on that graph right there. ayman, thank you so much for sticking with us. we're going to go to mike memoli, joining us from

wilmington, delaware. mike, you were in the news conference. what stood out to you? >> reporter: first, that the news conference occurred at all. what's been the number one attack we have seen from the trump campaign against joe biden, as he's jumped out to a strong lead is that he's hiding in the basement. he did a zoom conference in april. the fact that he's doing this, and even stayed longer than his aides might have liked him to, is certainly part of the story. you saw him comfortable in that setting. the topic of the speech he gave itself was the coronavirus and the contrast that the biden campaign believes what voters is going to be deciding on in november. you saw the former vice president doing a month-by-month, side-by-died comparison of his statements and

recommendation about what he would be doing as president, as it relates to the coronavirus versus what president trump has been saying and doing. let's take a listen to some of the vice president's remarks, laying out what he sees as the important contract when his, actions and the president's. >> we don't need a cheerleader, mr. president. we need a president. the president who will level with the american people, who will tell us the unvarnished truth, a president who will take responsibility instead of always blaming others. >> reporter: katy, we've been talking about who joe biden might be choosing as a running mate. he talked a bit about it in response to questions, but essential his running mate for now is anthony fauci. he said one of the first calls he would make after the election was decided, would be to ask him to extend his service on behalf

of the country for another presidency, laying out the fact he would have uncensored access to the public in order to make the recommendations that are necessary. we also heard him weigh in on the conphet rad monuments, this raging debate, him saying it would be better for local government to make decisions like in mississippi, with the decision to vote in the legislature, the governor going to sign legislation to take the battle flag off of the state flag, but he understands the frustration we have seen in the streets, of course, as people are trying to tear these statues down. talking, of course, about russia as well, if the fact that president trump was aware of in his intelligence briefings, that it would be a dereliction of duty, and him also saying that he may in fact request an intelligence briefing to begin getting those himself, but reminding he has a team of very experienced professionals with foreign policy experience around him to guide him in this

process. lastly, to the point where we began, the fact he's not been out on the campaign trail, he said in response to my question, it's unlikely he'll be doing rallies. he certainly misses the opportunity for talk to voters, but following the docs, as he said, katy. >> interesting, mike, i've heard from some former obama officials, that it's actually a good thing he's not on the trail. it's allowing the president to run against himself and not have joe biden as his direct foil. >> reporter: absolutely. you saw the former vice president aware of it, turning it back on the president, saying he can't wait to go up against the cognitive capacity of the man he's running again. but it's interesting, what the

campaign has been doing, what is good medically, what is the right thing to do as far as following the doctor's orders is also the right thing political. one of the contrasts that help said biden apart from the democratic nomination process is he himself could be presidential, somebody who's been feel with the country. so the fact he's not out there giving speeches it makes those mamts when moments when he speaks stand out. >> on the issue on the vice president, there would be an announcement in early august. mike, we're going to stick with you to find out what information you get as you get it over the next few weeks. thank you very much. let's stick with covid-19. cases are surging across the country. some cases nearing or topping the numbers seen during the

first peak. 17 states are pausing or rolling back their reopening plans as of this afternoon, as experts warning that this crisis is essential running unchecked. top public health officials including dr. anthony fauci and cdc director chris redfield testified before the senate health committee today. dr. fauci blaine the occurrence spikes in large part on the country reopening too soon and americans ignoring guidelines. >> perhaps maybe in some going too quickly and skipping over some checkpoints, but even in states in which the leadership in the form of the governors and mayors did it right with the right recommendations, what we saw visually in clips and in photographs of individuals in the community doing an all-or-none phenomenon, which is

dangerous. that means either lock down or open up in a way we see people in bars not wearing masks, not paying attention to physical distancing. >> joining me now from capitol hill is cakasey hunt. what was the reaction of lawmakers on that committee? >> reporter: well, katy, i think you have seen a pretty university stance from both democrats and republicans, which is that they are all almost to a person saying the same thing, which is wear a mask. it was across the street from democrats and republicans. they were pushing public health officials to give them more information about the nitty-gritty details of what we know about the virus, how the administration is handling things, what kinds of information their constituents could be using to make decision

about their own lives and local leaders should be making decision about schools reopening. we have to say, we have seen controversy after controversy where republicans in congress have not been willing to push back against the president. this issue i would describe as an emerging breaking point. while republicans aren't necessarily willing to go all the way out in a limb and really go after the president, they are certainly not championing the response he's had to the pandemic, and in some cases they are asking him to step out there and lead on mask wears, on social distancing. here's what senator lamar alexander, the chairman of the committee, a republicans from tennessee, had to say earlier today. watch. >> unfortunately this simple life-saving practice has become part of the political debate.

if you're for trump, you don't wear a mask. if you're against trump, you do. that's why i suggested the president occasionally wear a mask. he has plenty of admirers, they would follow his lead. it would help end this political debate. >> reporter: so there you have it. senator alexander saying your followers listen to you, president trump. if you do this, perhaps they will do this as well, you should lead by example. the reality here, katy, is suddenly all of these republicans, as the months have worn on, as our response to this has faltered, as the numbers start to go up, it is increasingly clear the senate is on the line for republicans in the fall and the only answer to the economic crisis is a public health answer, solving those problems.

it's increasingly clear that that is driving a wedge between the president and his supporters in his own party, katy. >> because it's taken so many months for them to start asking the president to wear a mask publicly -- i will say senator alexander did that with kid loave gloves, and you only have to do it occasionally and please set an example -- i'm paraphrasing, obviously -- but the fact it's taken so long, it shows that it's become a political calculation for a lot of republican lawmakers, that they see their majority on the line kasie hunt, thank you for all the of that reporting. >> reporter: thank you. the state of florida reported around additional 6,000 new cases today. also the highest three-day total in the entire nation. some mayors have instituted a patchwork policy of mask requirements to help curb the

spread, and several mayors have also decided to shut down beaches during the july 4th weekend. the closures stretch from the keys to ft. lauderdale. with me from lauder day by the sea is kerry sanders. i say patchwork, because there's a town in florida where the mayor instituted a mask policy and the city council unanimously overturned it. how does the state of florida get control of this if everybody's going to be doing different things? somewhat effectively south korea was able to take control of the coronavirus. look at florida. florida's governor, republican, desantis, describing he will allow counties and local

governments to decide what they want to do. pensacola, the town of milton, a small town population, but still very much the order by the mayor telling the people to wear mask a political one. the council then voted they would take that off the books, and nobody has to wear a mask. so you have, as you well know, politicians who start at the local level, who will move up through the system, maybe become a state representative, eventually become perhaps a member of consequence. that pathway now has a checkmark on their careers, u.s. like the way they might stand up or disavow, whether they believe in gun ownership or gun control. this is becoming an issue that will last a long time. when i talk to certainly business people about how they field, especially here, here's what one gentleman had to tell

me. >> why doesn't the state have one rule for the entire state, as opposed to the patchwork of county and city and difference here and difference there? >> unfortunately this is america. we're independent and we're democratic. we're not a communist state. >> so the idea of having one rule across the state to you -- >> is not right. everybody's different. therein lies the difference. florida specifically, however, with that patchwork, as i'm at the batch here today, very hot, 93 degrees, as i look, almost everybody is socially distanced. the sadness here, katy is this july 4th weekend, here in broward county to the south, and miami-dade county even further south, the batches will be closed, fireworks canceled, all

because of this continuing spread of coronavirus here in the south and southwest, but specifically here in south florida. katy? >> people are waiting for a therapeutic. a mask is somebo-- kerry sander thank you very much. a house democrat briefed on the intelligence this morning, at least by the white house, will join us next. rning, at least by the white house, will join us next. 49... 50!

i found you! good job. now i'm gonna stay here and you go hide. watch your favorites from anywhere in the house with the xfinity stream app. free with your xfinity service. now any room can be a tv room. stream live tv, on demand shows and movies even your dvr recordings. download the xfinity stream app today to stream the entertainment you love. xfinity. the future of awesome.

i got this mountain bike for only $11. dealdash.com, the fair and honest bidding site. an ipad worth $505, was sold for less than $24; a playstation 4 for less than $16; and a schultz 4k television for less than $2. i won these bluetooth headphones for $20. i got these three suitcases for less than $40. and shipping is always free. go to dealdash.com right now and see how much you can save. new reporting out today challenges the white house's claims that president trump was not briefed on intelligence, that russia offered the taliban bounties for the death of american troops. nbc news has confirmed that white house advisers were aware of the assessment early last year. last year. the associated press reported

today that then national security adviser john bolton said he briefed president trump in 2019. nbc news has not confirmed that. the president received a written briefing in february of this year. again, the white house has insisted president trump never received a briefing about the intel and the veracity of the intel remains unclear. the pdb, the highly classified document proud for the president and his stop security advisers. following a briefing at the white house this morning, house democrats requested why the president failed to act on the information.

i find it insxlik act that the president hag current before e the, on the bounty of american troops. i do not understand for a moment why an is relying on i don't know, i haven't heard. i haven't been briefed. let's bring in carol lee. much of this reporting comes from your sources in the white house and beyond. a lot of heavy lifting on the term "briefing." is the white house saying it wasn't in the pdb? are they saying that john bolton as the a.p. reported, never said anything to the president or didn't even hear about it last year, as we've been reporting? >> reporter: they're maintaining the president was not aware of this plot by the russians until it essential came out in news

report. one official saying it was out there in the news, the president was, quote, brought up to speed. that's their position and they're sticking to it. a person with direct knowledge of the intelligence on russian bounties tells us white house and senior officials at the national security council knew about this early last year, so that going back to march of 2019 and that at that time it raised real concerns, particularly among military. now, that really expands the time frame that we're talking about here. it not only raises new questions about how it's possible the president didn't know about it over a course of 15 months or more, and also is likely to increase calls for the president to actually do something about this and explain why he hasn't. a lot of questioning continue to pile up, but the white house issic itting as to the story

that the president didn't know about this until it essential came out last week. >> carol, what do we know right now about the veracity of the intelligence? what have you been hearing? >> we know the white house is saying that the intelligence was not corroborated, that there were some intelligence officials who thought that it was credible and then there were others who didn't find it credible. what's what they essential briefed lawmakers on today. you heard steny hoyer there saying that essential -- there were different judgments on the level of credibility, he said, but in his view and the view of others who were there, this was not as the president called it, a hoax. there's some disputes about whether the intelligence was credible and whether it was something that should have risen to the level of the president being informed by that.

>> the white house has said he was not briefed. the president himself says he's not been briefed. carol lee, thank you very much. joining me now is mikey sherrill. she also served as a russia policy officer in the u.s. navy. congresswoman, thank you very much for joining us. what did you learn this morning that you can share with us? >> well, as you said, i was at the white house briefing this morning. as a former russian policy officers in the united states navy, we've had grave concerns. we know russia has not been a good actor in afghanistan, so the reporting they had offered bounties on the head of u.s. soldiers was a critical concern of mine and my sense was the administration needed to do everything they could to get to the bottom of it. i advocated for that.

when we were at the briefing this morning, what we asked for there is the president come out and say -- commit to getting to the bottom of this, and if this is credible, that there are repercussions for the russians. to date he's not done that. congresswoman was this an intel briefing done by intelligence officials, or done by white house officials? >> it was done mainly by white house officials, mainly chief of staff meadows, but i think that was part of the problem. we did not hear from the cia. we did not hear from the nsa, for example, the intelligence-gathering agencies. those are people we do need to hear from to understand better the intelligence. >> why would you not be hearing from them immediately? >> we have asked for that, and we are getting to the bottom of that right now. we also said today, and steny

hoyer repeated this several times during the meeting, this does not make up for a full briefing of congress. this was simply the first step. >> what do you want to see the president do? >> i said to see the president, first and foremost today, come out today and commit to our troops and the families of our troops, he will do everything in his power to get to the bottom of the reporting, that there were bounties. i also critical want him to commit, if he finds this intelligence credible, there will be repercussions for russia. what i think unnerved so many of us is the fact this reporting was out there, and the president has spoken to putin reportedly five times since march. so he is claiming he had not heard any of this. if that is the case, he should be very concerned about the

intelligence operation, that he was not briefed on this, even if they're disputed claims, that he had not heard this before being on the phone five times with president putin. >> let's talk about that. disputed claims. intelligence is murky. intelligence is never unanimous, or very rarely unanimous, if it ever is. normally what is the threshold for what the president learns? >> there's no threshold. it's murky,s it comes from a variety of sources. the sources aren't always in agreement. you have to sift through that. i think what our concern is and what my concern is, with the president's engagement with russia, he needs to make sure he is briefed on all the intelligence. for him to say repeatedly that he had not been briefed on any of this, given that he had been engaged with the president

pewing, and given that he's been advocating for russia to rejoin the g8, this is something he shoob made aware of ensuring that his intelligence agencies get to the bottom of this. "new york times" is reporting that the alleged russian bounty is an investigation into an april 19th car bombing that killed three marines. did you hear anything about that this morning? >> i can't comment on what we talked about today, but generally that area did not come up. congresswoman mikie sherrill, thank you for your time today. we appreciate it. >> thank you so much. coming up next, an update from two of america's coronavirus hot spots, arizona and texas. two states that decided to reopen early, and are now racing

to control a rapid rise in new infections. control a rapid risw infections

we're following the latest developments on the pandemic. here are the facts as we know them this hour. americans will be barred from traveling to the european union when nonessential travel resumes tomorrow. the eu released a list of 15 countries whose citizens will be allowed. the u.s. is not on it. new york, new jersey and connecticut have expanded their list of states whose residents will have to quarantine if they visit the tristate area. 16 states are not subject to the 14-day quarantine travel advisory. the original list only included nine states. connecticut has released a plan to reopen schools this fall. safety measures including keeping desks six feet apart,

one-way hallways and mandatory masks for both students and teachers. testing sites across texas are overwhelmed as coronavirus cases spike in that case. houston is seeing an average of 700 new cases confirmed daily. the city's testing sites are strained with long wait times and tests running out by midday. david, you were you were waiting to come out with us. on the side of the road, i assume you're on a testing site with a long line of cars. >> the delmar stadium. the parking lot has been packed with cars. i think the story in texas is yes, capacity has been improved, but demand is so much more that capacity can't keep up. they've administered 500 tests here the past few days. it's closed down at noon each and every day. the mayor here in houston says

that's unacceptable. today was the first day they would offer 650 deaths. i was just speak with somebody at the city health department. he anticipates they'll administer that many tests, but people are waiting in line. they do want this. while i was waiting to speak with you, a guy had been turned away from the gate, we chatted a bit, and at the end we said, are you sick or just want to get tested? he said he had symptoms. you have to be prescreened to get into this site. this is a city of 2.3 million people, katy. the fact that they at city facilities can just test 1300 people a day leaves a pretty yawning gap. >> it feels like deja vu. everything we went through here in march and april and the rest of the country watched is going through now.

it almost feels like people weren't paying attention to what was happening here in the trisay. you and i both remember those days when we would hear about 911 facilities were inundated. yesterday at a press conference, the police chief mentioned a similar thing here. it does feel eerily familiar. look at what the governor has done and not done. he's issued two executive orders instructing hospitals, medical facilities in eight counties across the state to not do elective surgeries. he's closed the bars. that's some subject of controversy. bar owners were marching in austin a few hours ago, saying that's unfair, that they're essential workers. we can debate the validity of that, but they're upset. they say essential the horse is out of the barn. it's hard to put the horseback

into the barn, katy. >> you heard it from lawmakers here in the tristate, heard it from health officials, from doctors on our air, over and over again. new york is your future, back in march and april. new york is your future, get prepared now. david gurra, thank you very much. arizona's governor is rolling back its opening. the new executive order closed bars, gyms, theaters and water parks. it also prohibits most indoor public gatherings of 50 people or more. today arizona reported a single-day high. high next guest is an emergency medicine physician, who wrote about the reality from medical workers on the front lines down there. let's bring in dr. bradley dreyfuss. an assistant professor at the university of arizona college of medicine. doctor, thank you very much for being with us. i guess the first question is,

what is the reality down there? what is it like? >> first of all, thank you for having me. the reality is pretty stark. the hospitals are full, the icus are full, we're having a heart time if there are open beds, to be able to staff them. our healthcare workforce, not just doctors and nurses, but radiology techs, all services, everyone is stretched to the max emotionally physically. i found out two more of moo i colleagues just became ill with covid-19. it's frightening, quite frankly. >> what do you think the state needs to do right now? >> the state, fortunately, has moved toward closing down facilities. we need to significantly increase or testing, tracing and isolation or quarantining. we need to be using

evidence-based policy. those are a few of the business pieces. shutting down nonessential services. we need to shut this down before we are like new york. we don't want trucks in front of the hospital with people who unfortunately died. >> arizona, texas, the rest of the country saw what was happening and what happened to our hospitals in march and april. what were hospitals in arizona doing to prepare for this, as they saw what was happening here? >> there was an effort to try to figure out how to create surge

capacity. honestly healthcare workforce has a big limitation. after of first peak of the first wave, people were stressed, anxious, and some people decided they didn't want to work anymore. that's increasingly is a common concern. we're the ones holding the patients' hands when they don't have friends and family at their bedside. when they come in short of breath and need a tube in the airway, and go on a ventilator, we might be the last people they see. i can tell you we had a third patient of a family come in intubated. in a single family. that's absolutely devastating. with failed to frame masks as actually patriotic, which absolutely is, as well as hand waring, physical distancing, and we failed to frame it in terms that we really understand, and

honestly i -- i hazard to guess that no one would be willing to play russian roulette with their friends and family's lives. essential that's what's happening. >> that's really well put. the idea that three members of one family being intubated is horrific. dr. bradley dreyfuss, thank you for joining us. good luck to you, sir. we appreciate your time. coming up next, breaking news from atlanta, where a former police officer charged in the death of rayshard brooks made his first appearance in course this afternoon. we'll go to seattle where the city's police chief says it's time for the city's occupied protest zone to go. don't go anywhere. occupied protest zone to go. don't go anywhere.

this afternoon the former atlanta police officer charged with shooting rayshard brooks made his first appearance in court by video. he's in court for a bond hearing. he's charged with felony murder and ten other offenses. he's accused of killing brooks in the parking lot of a wendy's. joining me is blayne alexander. blayne? >> reporter: well, katy, that bond hearing is going on right now. it's been under way about 45

minutes. it's happening virtually. aside from the judge in the chambers, everyone else is appearing via videoconferencing. they're peating for bond. when the district attorney brought charges against him and the other officer in this case, he did not recommend any sort of bond for garrett rolfe, who is facing the harsher of the two charges. right now his attorneys are arguing basically two claims. one, saying he's not a flight risk. if he is released, there's no question he will appear in future hearings. the other thing is they're saying there is, quote, significant evidence to indicate he was legally justified in shooting brooks that night. so one thing that it's going to come down to is the role of the taser in all of this. in a 27-page bond petition they submitted, they pointed to a case that was unrelated, but you

may remember the case when six officers were charged for tasing two college students and pulling them from the cars. a district attorney in that case said it was considered a deadly weapon, so the foreign for rolfe said in rayshard brooks was in possession of a taser, and it's considered a deadly weapon, then the officer was in fear for his life and justified. in seattle, the six-block zone occupied by protesters may soon be coming to an end. the police chief said enough is enough after another round of violence claimed the life of a teenager and left another 14-year-old in critical condition. it was the fourth shooting in or near the area in the past ten days. joining us from seattle's c.h.o.p. zone is steve

patterson. >> reporter: it's always tense here, but i think those tensions have elevated. the six-block zone, this is the middle of it, but part of the zone has reduced a bit. we'll try to pan all the way down straight back. that would be c.h.o.p.'s western border. we're kind of stationed on the eastern border. you see the attention is focused down there. that's s-dot trucks were here earlier, removing the very outer border of the c.h.o.p. zone. after they left, protesters filled in, making their own makeshift border. that happens to be gone now, but you see the attention of whether or not people want to left the city in, or whether or not they don't. that's been the problem of leadership here since day one. there are multiple factions. they have settled on the demand they want, but holding the east precinct has kind of gone back

and forth between them staying