good day, brian williams with you for the hour. our friend nicolle wallace will be along with us later this afternoon. we're expecting president trump and attorney general barr to announce this hour the deployment of more of those federal law enforcement officers like the ones we have seen on the streets of portland, oregon, clashing with protesters, they'll be expanded apparently into other cities across our country, according to the ap, chicago among the cities the president will be deploying them to, in what the ap says is an effort to combat rising crime, chicago was the scene of a terrible shooting just last night, the chicago mayor has said repeatedly the feds are not welcome in her city, we'll have much more on this as it develops

over this next hour. now, to the coronavirus pandemic, let's not forget, and the latest facts and headlines as we know them at this hour, nearly 4 million americans have been affected by the coronavirus. cdc saying the actual numbers could be 13 times higher in some places. death toll has passed 143,000 in our country with over 1,000 deaths recorded yesterday. former fda commissioner scott gottli gottlieb, 300,000 americans could be lost by the end of the year if things don't change. >> in the united states, probably you know by the end of the year, we could upwards of 300,000 if we continue on the current trajectory. right now, we have close to 1,000 casualties a day. if we don't change the

trajectory, you can do the math. >> on that topic, the president returns to the white house briefing room later today to talk about what his administration is doing to fight coronavirus, not clear if he'll be alone as he was yesterday during what was billed as a coronavirus task force briefing, the first in nearly three months from that lectern. the president repeated many of the false claims he's made throughout the pandemic, including that the virus will just disappear. the nation's top infectious disease expert dr. anthony fauci threw cold water on that notion today when he told a web conference held by the tb alliance that the virus won't be rad kated. however, dr. fauci said he's optimistic with the right steps we can get it under control eventually. more large school districts appearing to be defying the trump's administration efforts to get everybody back into school this fall, leaders in maryland's largest school district and two of the largest

in virginia calling for a virtual start to the new school year instead of a mix of in-person and distance learning. and the federal government has agreed to pay drugmaker pfizer and a german biotech firm about $2 million if any of the four vaccines they're jointly developing prove to be safe and effective. we're keeping an eye on california governor gavin newsom who's holding his daily briefing on the pandemic there. as his state appears to be on the verge of passing new york, the distinction of becoming the state with the highest number of cases. the golden tate was the first to enact a lockdown, but it has since become a hot spot for the coronavirus pandemic. since it started reopening. correspondent steve patterson with us from burbank, california, and steve, talk us

through the kind of case history of what happened in california for people who haven't followed the plot line and are we looking at still, again, more cases where reopening will be rescinded and a lockdown put back in place? >> reporter: well, brian, for everybody here i think there's a history about the beginning of this virus to where we are now because it's so dramatic turnaround this state has seen, back if march, you know, when the first stay-at-home order was issued across the country, there was sort of a widespread view that this state was doing everything right, and by all respects, a lot of messaging from the governor, from state and local officials saying, wear masks, stay indoors, stay-at-home orders stuck in people's minds, but then as time went on and cases declined, there came that moment where the

governor said we bent the curve and they started opening businesses back up, from that point, we have seen in more states, as ambulances roll into this hospital, where cases started spiking early july, around july 4th, is when those cases started to really shoot up. about 92 deaths added every single day. places like los angeles county about 40% of total cases in this state, hospitals are breaking records. just about month, about 28 of the last 30 days they've broken records, capacity, though, is still good, as this hospital -- as this ambulance rolls in, places like st. joseph's here in burbank, they still have about half capacity. they're able to handled this surge. they're worried about the spread. to focus on testing and contact

tracing, huge efforts the state is making that's expected to be in the governor's statements today. but everybody's talking about the context of what's going into today which is the director of the health and human services in the state has said over and over again that the governor's finger is base which i on the dimmer switch to roll back things in the state of california once again. the mayor has signaled of doing that once again. the largest city in the country to do that and they're looking at the data that they've done based on the rollback they had a week and a half ago. if you're about 80% of the state, that means movie theaters and gyms and office spaces and religious spaces, today is another decisive moment on what the governor will decide to do looking at that data which may take a few more weeks to get a

good handle of where this virus is going but the numbers are just on a steep incline, brian. >> steve patterson in burbank, you're so right, it went from national model to something closer to what we're looking at today as a patient comes into the e.r. behind steve. we welcome back to the broadcast today two of our good friends yamiche alci in,ndor and dr. wim shaftner. cdc adviser. the doctor has been able to join us by telephone. yamiche, a bit of an overview, here we are, juggling two topics, not by accident -- a pandemic and the rise of a kind of pseudosecret national police

force, vaguely run out of the justice department, homeland security, these are people militarized in camouflage and i want to point out, when i called them anonymous i mean to say there's no badge, no badge numbers, names on their uniforms, some of them have unit insignia that allowed us to trace them back to where they come from. >> that's right, what we see really a perfect storm of these challenges and president trump struggling but really not trying to quell a lot of the fear that people have and bring people together, so what the president is really doing is two things at once -- first when it comes to virus, he's adjusting his tone for reading notes whiem still really issuing a lot of mixed messaging yesterday at his first briefing at the podium since april, he put out the idea that this is going to worse before it

gets better. a few minutes later, without using notes, it will all disappear. he's struggling with the idea that he has to tell the nation that things are going to get bad while still wanting to rely on his instincts and not really embrace the idea that we're in the full throes of a pandemic, still killing thousands of americans each month. add to the fact that the president feels personally agrieved by the protesters that are taking to the streets largely from my reporting not supporters of president trump, largely people who are looking at the country and saying there are deep flaws in america including but not limited to how we treat african-americans, latinos, people of color, and he's looking at those protesters saying they're my enemies. they don't want me to be reelected. as a result, you're seeing this use of force. really turning these federal officials on to protesters that

have been largely peaceful. i went to a briefing yesterday with the department of homeland security secretary, he was defending he doesn't want to use marked cars he believes they'll be targeted. but in that discussion, in that debate, is the idea that president trump hasn't really offered a full-throttled idea of what he thinks about systemic racism in this country, deal with black people being killed at 2 1/2 times the rate of white people. because he hasn't done that, we see a swelling, continued expansion of protesters, and people being frustrated by the state of affair and you're right, all of it under the banner of law and order and a campaign increasingly focused on the quote, the suburbs. the three of us, doctor, bring our humanity to our work and so it's in that respect i think of

your life's work, and just a personal question for a moment before we talk about this pandemic, you must be heartbroken at what you've witnessed on the medical front? >> oh, of course, brian. both on the personal side for the individuals involved, so much illness. on behalf of my colleagues who are at the bedsides work something hard and then also on the public health side, we could have had this virus i think much better controlled and we just let it slip through our fingers and now it's out there spreading widely under almost no control over most of this country with the possibly exception of new york and new england. we can do so much better across the board. >> doctor, i thought of you yesterday as well during the president's briefing. there he was advocating masks,

advocating social distancing, warning people not to crowd into bars and restaurants and i couldn't help but think midway through the briefing that it was a wonderful and complete briefing for about the first week of april. >> yes, indeed. and of course, one swallow as we say doesn't make a summer. we're so glad that that message went out and i wish now it would be sustained and affirmed. i would wish that masks would be worn in washington by everyone in a leadership position. almost constantly. i would wish that there would be a recommendation that we stay away from large group meetings of all kinds. and that we observe social distancing. if we had a national policy rather than this scatter shot policy that we currently have across the country there would be less confusion, but we need

consistent messaging over time and we ought to be putting those public health leaders, dr. fauci and dr. redfield at the fore with our political leadership supporting them. that would give the message that this is indeed science-based, it's medicine, it's public health, and it's the best way to go rather than a political decision. >> indeed, i'm going to quote from dr. fauci in an interview with "the new york times," quote, would you want me to say something that's directly contrary to what the president is doing? that's not helpful. all of a sudden you don't hear from me for a while. i'm trying to do my best to get the message across without being overtly at odds, okay, that's kind of an unbelievably melt --

meta can comment. we hear from the world's foremost expert on infectious diseases if happens to have that day, a podcast interview, a webinar he's participating in or a print interview that we can quote from, it's an unbelievable turn of events. yamiche, back to you. republicans on the hill have made it known, you and i both read in the weekend newspapers that they wanted more briefings. they're looking ahead roughly 100 day s many of them they're going to be down ballot for re-election, i'm not sure they meant briefings with only the president and none of the experts, the administration is able to call on, and as you witnessed yesterday when he briefs as a solo act, when q and a starts, he ends up wishing

well ghislaine maxwell, an accused sex trafficker. >> i mean that last part is just -- it was mind blowing that he said i wish her well. it was in some ways overshadowing all of the things that he said. but that's what you get from president trump at times. he struggles to stay on message or not take the bait. that being said, yesterday was a bit remarkable, you saw the president come out alone, this was a break from the way he had been doing things, he had been having the scientists come out even when you saw the president go on and on for two hours, as reporters we could ask questions directly to the health professionals, but yesterday, what the president did have a political briefing there and he was talking about science but i think of course it's important to hear from the scientists. in talking with white house officials what i've been told

the president hit rock bottom when it came to the tulsa rally. thousands of people he thought was going to show up, they didn't show up, with a number of people not wearing masks and not social distancing, he had to hobble back to washington, d.c., with the headlines his campaign failed at that event, that struck him he had to change his tune and get behind facial coverings and talk about social distancing. we see the president still going forward with this idea that he's done the best he can. yesterday, he said no governor needs anything, we know for sure that governors have been on the phone with mike pence saying they need more testing equipment. you want us to open schools back up we don't have the resources to social distance. what you're seeing there is the president really wanting to take a victory lap and still wanting to talk about the fact that he's

doing well with this virus. you can't have both. when you mix science with politics what you get is politics. >> terrific well put. two of our go-to friends during this or any other hour of our coverage. thank you for the starting off our live coverage this afternoon. while we've been having this conversation the news from california is not great. that state has surpassed new york for the highest number of coronavirus cases and let's not forget florida has been rising steadily and was nipping at california's stand as number two state. it's a lot to monitor. it's kind of a grim horse race to a number one position no one wants to occupy among our 50 states. a break for us. when we return -- another night

of clashes in portland, oregon, these militarized feds in camouflage with no names. a pseudosecret police force that may be coming soon to a city near you. in fact, there's going to be news on that front this afternoon. also ahead -- it's late july, as many parents know, as we have been saying here already, depending on where you live that means back to school in some parts of our country, a very tricky proposition and intensely personal decision for families during a pandemic. that and more when we come back. [♪] . every time you touch a surface, bacteria is left behind. now, consider how many times your family touches the surfaces in your home in 24 hours. try new microban 24.

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as the situation in portland, oregon, escalates, it become clear what we're seeing on the streets of that city is just a start of an effort under the banner of law and order to create a narrative tailor made for re-election campaign. for the second night in a row, hundreds of protesters in

portland rallying against police brutality were meant by these federal agents militarized, using tear gas, local leaders say federal involvement has increased the protesting as a result, increased the violence and injuries, alleging some agents are using unmarked vehicles to make unlawful snatch and grab arrests. just two of the reasons oregon's attorney general who was on this broadcast with nicolle and me just yesterday is suing the federal agencies involved. but president trump has been very clear, he believes this tactic is helping protect america's federal buildings and he uses the word "heritage." and that he intends to deploy federal agents to other cities run by democrats in his words, like chicago, baltimore, philadelphia. the president along with his attorney general bill barr will be holding an event during this hour where they're expected to

announce this surge of federal agents into other big cities including chicago to help combat rising crime. all that as we said according to the socialed press. "the new york times" as those federal agents clash with protesters in portland, trump's campaign ads have grown darker and more ominous. we welcome back to the broadcast kimberly atkins, senior opinion writer for the boston globe. she remains an nbc news contributor. also with us, former fbi special agent clint watts. a national security contributor for us. welcome to you both. kim, the snarky way to put this is, no matter where you live if you thought all your city was missing was a secret police force on the streets, you may be

in luck rather soon it will be interesting to see what happens in chicago where mayor lori lightfoot has said in no uncertain terms they're not welcome. >> yes, and look, president trump gave the game away yesterday when he essentially said that this is way for him to set himself apart from joe biden. this is a campaign move, this is not about law and order and it's a very comfortable campaign spot to engage in this sort of culture war, divisive racial messaging. remember, brian, his appeal to black voters back in 2016, they were living in hell holes and what do they have to lose? he's promised a federalized police response to crack down on them. that was a dog whistle to his white supporters who were

motivated by racial grievance and fear and so he's entrenched right into that as he's leading into his attempt to be reelected. >> clint, i've been thinking about you, there was a time when you were required to wear these very same fatigues that we're seeing in the streets of portland, oregon, militarized cam mow, because thaw were in the military, you served your country in the u.s. army prior to the fbi, what do you make of just the opt ix of what we're seeing in portland, no names, maybe a unit insignia on either sleeve? >> brian, it's remarkable. we used to talk in context of russia and ukraine about little green men unidentified paramilitary showing up in the streets, we have it in our own streets. it's unthinkable. law enforcement is duty to

protect and serve the communities they're in. you have your name on your uniform, you have your badge, you have your authority and what organization you represent, right now in this country, we have mailitias, under no way abe to enforce the law showing up in military fatigues with weapons at different protest sites. what should your response be when a guy comes out of an unmarked van and tries to grab you on the street? this is a decisive turn that's clearly for political purpose, portland protesters i started off as an fbi agent there, there's been protesters there in portland in pioneer square for the last 20 years, this just creates more conflict. i think it's designed to do just

that. oregon isn't a strong hold for president trump. he can amplify on his social media feeds. >> kim atkins, so much talk in our business this is a bit as we say inside the beltway, but no sooner had donald trump finished his remarks yesterday as the mainstream media especially were off to the races talking about his change in tone, with a straight face and unironically it will be interesting to see if that tone continues today. if he goes it alone. if he brings any expertise to the room. and if he continues the theme of what we were hearing late march, early april from the cdc, wear mask, remain distant, don't crowd into interior spaces.

>> yes, two points on that, one, aside from his change in tone about wearing a mask, we still saw him repeating a lot of misinformation saying the united states is testing more than in other countries when that's not true, the virus will disappear, so it wasn't that much of a change in messaging it was a switch on that one issue of masks. my other point is, this could be what i have come to term the trump boomerang, he reeled in for some reason, seeing the political winds are actually listening to his advisers for once and going against his own instinct finding that he doesn't like that outcome and then reverting back to where he was in the first place or perhaps even farther so, we have seen him do that repeatedly. i'm withholding judgment and seeing if by the end of the week, you know, saying he won't wear a mask again and really digging deep in this denial when

it comes to the seriousness of this virus. >> clint, i've been quoting you in absentia, i want to reach back into our conversations on the air into the past, on the subject of vaccines, sooner or later, with this talk about vaccines, we're going to get at least a first wave of vaccines and then hopefully the 300 million doses our federal government has in mind for american citizens. this will raise, again the anti-vaccine community with opinion polls back in may showing almost 50/50 split american public, will i get it, will i not in you've said in the past, that the anti-vaccine

co