♪ welcome to monday. it is "meet the press" daily and i'm kristen welker in for chuck todd. on capitol hill it is a day to remember and honor civil rights icon john lewis as he becomes the first african-american lawmaker to lie in state at the capitol rotunda. we're expecting joe biden to pay his respects any minute now. president trump told reporters today that he is not planning to go to the capitol to pay his respects. we'll have more on congressman lewis's legacy and future of the social justice movement in the united states and where it goes from here. but we begin from a busy and tumultuous day from the white house starting with divisions and right and confusion over the president's priorities which

have left republicans struggling in talks for the next coronavirus relief package. republicans are finally rolling out their plan in piecemeal fashion and expected to include a rein job benefits. senate republicans are planning to hold a press conference later in hour. this is as new reporting in "the washington post" paints a dire portrait of the crisis in the white house. as the u.s. remains paralyzed by this ongoing surge of coronavirus cases, according to the post people close to trump say the president's inability to address the crisis is due to his almost pathological unwillingness to admit error. mean while robert o'brien has now tested positive for the virus making him the highest ranking white house official known to be infected. in addition to the public health and economic crises lashing this country, the white house is now also contending with the resurgence of protests and unrest. over the weekend there were a number of new clashes between

activists and authorities in cities around the country. and of course there is the worsening political crisis facing this white house with just 99 days until the election, a number of new polls now show the president trailing joe biden in must-win states like florida, arizona, michigan and north carolina. our nbc news team is covering every angle this situation. shannon pettypiece is at the white house. and steve kornacki at the big board and salil sapor. starting at the white house, take us inside of the west wing and what is the thinking with just 99 days to go, how are they addressing all of these crises, shannon? >> reporter: it is really an effort to shift where americans fears are. away from coronavirus and on to this issue of crime in the inner cities and anarchy which we heard the president hammering away at yesterday. i'm sorry, on friday. we have the president in north carolina at a vaccine plant

talking about vaccine research, we assuring the public that a vaccine is on the way. talking about the administration's response and sending ppe out to the states that are hardest hit. so an effort to calm the fears and projection the image of the situation as under control. we did not hear him talking about the protests, but we expect him to later this week. and it was certainly a major theme last week at the white house and continues to be a big theme of his campaign. that is where the president and his campaign see the strongest suit in talking about law and order and focusing on crime and not coronavirus. because when we hear the message from white house about they're doing to address the coronavirus surge we're seeing in so many cases, it is about response. and not about doing anything to stop the spread other than a few more mentions of masks. and of course, the public's attitude reflects that as we see these really rock bottom low numbers of people approving of

the president's handling of the coronavirus. >> yeah, and shannon, you talk about the fact that he was in north carolina today. of course, the republican national convention initially slated to be in north carolina. then after a feud with the governor there, president trump moved to florida, now he's canceling that portion of the convention. and the new poll numbers would show him struggling in north carolina. it is clearly a state he's trying to win back. i want to play a little bit of what we heard from president trump today and get your reaction on the other side. take a listen. >> is today's event about giving americans hope, a sense of optimism, is that what you're trying to do. >> i think so. but there would be not that same kind of hope if we weren't doing so well. i do believe a lot of the governors should be opening up states that they're not opening. and we'll see what happens with them. i think the poll numbers are very good. the poll numbers we have are very good. we have polls that show me

leading in almost every swing state. and substantially in other states by even more than i won in '16. >> so shannon, here we have the president praising the government's response to the coronavirus, praising the poll numbers, really trying to in some ways paint his own reality as it relates to a number of different crises that he's dealing with, right. >> reporter: right. and it is interesting, the comment on poll numbers which appear to goo against almost every public poll from media to independent pollsters and universities. when i talk to people at the trump campaign over the past week they certainly acknowledge that the president is behind. they think that he is not as far behind as some of the polls show and there is a confidence within the campaign that we overcame these obstacles before and you heard the president mention this today, we overcame this before we could overcome these bad poll

numbers again. and this belief, that when i again talk to people on the campaign, a fundamental belief that the numbers aren't as bad as they appear and they are still within striking distance of joe biden. they are doubling down on this effort of this message of you will not be safe in joe biden's america, this trying to stoke fear of a country that falls into anarchy and crime under biden presidency and attacking biden's mental acumen, they see that as a strategy once they could get that message out to voters it will shift into biden's numbers and people's confident and that is the strategy and you're starting to hear that reflected in what the president is talking about as well. >> shannon, i think you're absolutely right. you have a number of campaign officials saying that it is not too late for this president to come back. we cannot talk about polls without bringing in steve kornacki at big board. and steve, we're getting new numbers so give us the reality check. how far behind is the president and how much worry should there be within trump world right now.

>> yeah. we've been talking about nationally joe biden having lead in the high single-digits near 10 points and you see that movement from 2016 reflects in the state polling. this alluded to a minute ago, the new marist poll out of north carolina. joe biden up by seven points, this is a state donald trump won by 3.5 points in 2016 so that is a big swing. seven point lead and that is a pick up for democrats. arizona, another state trump carried by more than three points in 2016, not gone for a democrat since 1996, here is our marist poll, biden leading by five points. and the recent polling, not nbc marist but from others. drawing your attention to the big three here. michigan, pennsylvania, wisconsin, three midwest states that president trump flipped. very narrowly in 2016. first time in three decades. the poll numbers there has shown

joe biden ahead by a solid margin. there is also florida, the president trump's home state, one that he won by a point in 2016 and the polling there for joe biden, this is surprising people not only is biden leading the lead has been sizable, an average of eight points and georgia, ohio, texas, these are states we talk about right now. the math of all of this. we'll set it up. this is where we landed in 2016. trump 306, clinton 232. democrats are saying look, the basic thing you talk about the three midwest states if they could get pennsylvania and michigan and wisconsin, that alone with nothing else changing would put biden over the top. now let's say they missed wisconsin and the republicans held down there and trump was able to win, mention that florida number. if biden gets florida, 29 electoral votes, he's well over 270. he could afford a loss in a state like michigan and still be over 270. arizona, north carolina, talking about georgia.

a lot of options come in play and a lot of possibilities for biden with the large national lead he has right now. right targets there in the midwest, florida just an absolutely huge one from an electoral college standpoint. if biden could flip florida and win one of the states midwest, donald trump is in trouble. with biden leading nationally, the electoral map presents a lot of possibilities right now at least for biden. >> florida, florida, florida. steve kornacki underscoring why we pay so much attention to that key battleground state. but just fascinating, steve, to see you play out all of the different scenarios there. i want to bring in salil capper. senate republicans are poised to unveil their any relief package and it does include a lower amount for those unemployment benefits. right now americans are getting enhanced unemployment benefits,

$600. but under the republican plan it would be less than that. break it down for us. what is in this plan and what do you anticipate democrats will say about this plan. >> this comes after weeks of painstaking negotiations between republicans and republicans. senate republicans have been arguing and fighting with each other over the bill and they have not been on the same page as the trump administration in putting together the details. here is what we do know. mitch mcconnell announced some details on the floor a short time ago. it is going to cost about a trillion dollars. there is a $100 billion for schools and another round of direct statements, similar to the 1200 included in the c.a.r.e.s act back in march but the critical piece a subject of the most fighting and battles with democrats is the unemployment provisions. right now jobless americans are getting $600 in federal bonus peer we can. republicans in the senate want to reduce that to $200 for the

first two months and then replace it with a system of 70% before the pandemic. and democrats, i have to say, if the goal is to pass this package through the senate it is off to a very por start because it needs seven democratic senators, and lindsey graham a republican was saying over the weekend that it is going to lose about half of the senate republicans and chuck schumer the democratic leader was on floor shortly after mcconnell ripping into the bill, called it half baked, half hearted, too little, too late. it is a far cry away from the $3.4 trillion bill that house democrats passed two months ago. and mcconnell is in a tough position because he's balancing competing demands with republicans and trying to come up with a bill that could pass the senate which needs democratic support, could be acceptable to house speaker nancy pelosi and all in this dangerous climate where president trump is struggling and threatening to take down republican senators with him and cost mcconnell his majority.

so this is a huge challenge for the majority leader. >> it is. and i heard speaker pelosi essentially saying with nicolle moments ago that she wanted to meet with republican leaders after they unveiled their plan and she wanted to find some common ground. but of course, as you point out, in their bill the unemployment benefits are much greater, salil. so how do you see that playing out. is there room for negotiations there and do you think that what they wind up doing is some type of short-term extension? >> reporter: that is right. that is one thing that the two sides agree on. it is time to negotiate. mcconnell is urging democrats not to throw partisan bricks and to come to the table and negotiate a serious solution. where this goes from here is anybody's guess. democrats have refused to say what they would accept short of the $600 they say republicans

even agree amongst themselves and they do have the upper hand because the democrat party is more united at the moment. the final version according to aides is less than what the democrats have proposed, less than the $600 but now the negotiations begin. we'll see soon, depending on how united republicans are on this proposal, what democrats are ultimately willing to accept. it is not going to be $200. it is probably not $600 xs it is likely somewhere in between and the dynamic is that a more generous benefit is certain to benefit president trump and help the americans struggling now to pay bills and less likely to create this backlash environment that could oust not only the president but many of his republican allies in the senate. so there is a lot to watch for, i think this week and next week, in terms of the negotiation here on capitol hill. >> there certainly is. and meanwhile millions of americans depend on those checks and are watching so closely. shannon pet shannon pettypiece, one final

thought here, the president watching the negotiations on capitol hill quite closely but keeping his distance. that is thought to be a strategic move by negotiators at the white house so they could take the lead on this. mean while the big news out of the white house, the national security adviser testing positive, robert o'brien, for covid. what has the reaction been there behind the scenes, how much concern is there about this. >> reporter: this is the third person very close to the president and the white house who has been infected and of course this is the highest profile official. but we have the president's valet infected and the vice preside president's spokesperson was infected. and there was a big reaction, the vice president's spokesperson and it sort of changes things around here. i don't get that feeling despite how high profile and what a big position robert o'brien has. it is interesting to see, kristen. >> well, what a fantastic panel

to kick us off for this hour. shannon pettypiece, steve kornacki, salil capper, thank you very much. a lot of developments today. and ahead a resurgence in protest against racial injustice and in some places they're turning violent. we'll have the latest live from one of the protest zones coming up. but first a final farewell to georgia congressman john lewis. the congressman's casket arrived in the capitol rotunda this afternoon. lewis is the black lawmaker to lie in state. his public viewing is scheduled to be held in about an hour oust on the capitol steps due to covid 19. today his colleagues on hill honored his life with a tribute in a song. take a listen. ♪ amazing grace, how sweet the

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welcome back. this evening the public will be able to pay their respects to the late congressman john lewis in washington, d.c. the civil rights icon known as the conscience of congress will lie in state tonight and tomorrow. his public viewing will begin at less than an hour outside of the capitol. in order to ensure proper social distancing. the final trip to capitol hill began this afternoon when his casket was taken through the district, stopping at various landmarks, including what is now called black lives matter plaza just blocks from the white house. lewis visited that plaza last month weeks before his death from pancreatic cancer. a military honor guard cared hi casket into the capitol rotunda

where he was remembered by nancy pelosi and mitch mcconnell. and we also heard from john lewis himself courtesy of a recording of his address at emory university, a commencement address from 2014. >> i saw the signs that said white men, colored men, white women, colored women, i come home and ask my mother, my father, my grandparents, my great grand parents why and they said that is the way it is. don't get in the way. don't get in trouble. but one day in 1955, 15 years old in the 10th grade, i heard about rosa parks. i heard the words of martin luther king jr. on the radio. 1957, i met rosa parks at the age of 17.

in 1958 at the age of 18 i met martin luther king jr. and these two individuals inspired me to get in the way, to get in trouble. so i come here to say to you this morning on this beautiful campus, with your great education, you must find a way to get in the way. you must find a way to get in trouble. good trouble. necessary trouble. >> good trouble, necessary trouble. those words will always resonate. several members of the congressional black caucus in attendance today wore masks that red "good trouble" in honor of the trouble john lewis spent his life and risked his life advocating for. joining me now is one of those members of congress. who wore a good trouble mask today, congressman cedric richmond of louisiana, a former claire of the congressional blackwalk and co-chair of joe biden's campaign. thank you so much for joining me. my condolences to you for the

lost of your friend and colleague and really to everyone. this is a day of national mourning. we really appreciate your being here. >> it is a big loss for the congressional black caucus, the lewis family and a hume ungous loss for the country. it is a solemn day. >> it certainly is. talk, if you would, about the legacy of john lewis, what have we lost today as a nation and what have we gained because he is someone who was fighting for freedom and justice and equality into his final days and really wanted to pass that baton on to the next generation, these protesters who he saw stretched out all across the country. he was so proud of them, congressman. >> well, if you think about congressman lewis, he was fighting since the age of 15. all the way up to the age of 80. every day he woke up trying to make this a better country. trying to ensure equal rights

for african-americans and trying to fight for civil rights, for voting rights, for all of those things. and so he was on the battlefield for 80%, 90% of his life but 100% of his adult life. so he sees in the black lives matter protesters, especially the young ones, he sees a little bit of himself when he was 15 and 18 and 20 and 23. and he sees their energy and sees their passion and the fact that they're fighting to make a change. it is not for themselves but for their communities and that is what makes him so proud. so he always said that if you see something that is not right, try to fix it. get in the way. get in trouble. do something about it. and so he sees that in the black lives matter movement. we all do. and so, but it is hard to let a hero go.

but he took solace in the fact that he knew there would be people there to carry the torch forward. >> and his life was defined by the actions that he took as you point out, risking his life for civil rights, for the rest of us so that we may live in a better world. and today the house took action by unanimous consent voting to name the voting rights act that you hope to pass after congressman john lewis. tell me about that and realistically speaking when might that pass through both chambers? because it is going to be an uphill battle with this republican senate, right? >> well it meant a lot to put john lewis's name on it. he was the impetuous in the beginning. he fought for it. his speech at the lincoln memorial at the march on washington included voting

rights. his speeches before that talked about a civil rights bill without a voting rights bill would ring hallow. so he's been laser focused on voting rights. when will the senate pass it. that is a mitch mcconnell question. mitch was there today to say he was at march on washington. he heard john lewis speak and he said fond words of john lewis today. but if he means those words, then he should get with the speaker of the house, we should appoint a gang of eight, and we should hammer out the differences that are there to make sure we renew the voting rights act, that we correct the shelby decision, or the flaws that shelby highlighting and that we will have something in place to protect people's right to vote. especially black and brown and minority people. a and i have not seen mitch mcconnell's words, or hiss live up to his words. so his words therefore ring hollow until he makes some

action that shows that this is his belief. >> well, and he was fighting for the restoration of the voting rights act after he felt as though the shelby decision gutted it in 2013. until his final days and i know he would be standing with you all as you fight for the next relief package. i do want to ask you about that because millions of americans depend on these unemployment benefits. today the republican-led senate is going to introduce a package that will reduce their benefits. so in other words, americans are getting $600 now and they're getting a portion of their paycheck. is that something that you can support, is that something you think democrats would get behind in the house because ultimately something needs to pass if americans are going to get the relief they need in this critical moment. >> something has to pass. the last study i showed, showed

that 33% of americans were late on rent or late on their mortgage. but that half of the 33% paid it in full by the end of the month. and the only reason they were able to pay it in full was the fact that they had unemployment benefits coming in every week. and so this is much bigger than just unemployment benefits. this is a key spoke in the economic wheel for the country. two, it is the right thing to do considering all of the people that are confined to home or should be home because of a pandemic that is raging out of control and not due to the fault of any american citizen. it is due to the fault of our american leadership. and so, when you find americans in a vulnerable position, through no fault of their own, it is the role of the government to help. so i would hope that we get together and pass a robust

second or third c.a.r.e.s act, a heroes act which was the gold standard in terms of a relief package. but we have to do something. and for the senate to not act and to think that they could wait just shows, i think, a real ignorance on what american people are going through. specially the working class. >> and congressman, as we're having this conversation, i do just want to direct our viewers to what they're seeing right now, which is joe biden, dr. jill biden, walking into the capitol rotunda to pay their respects to the late congressman john lewis. if you would, let's just pause for a moment and take in what we're watching.

>> you're watching joe biden, dr. jill biden paying their respects to congressman john lewis. their hands over their hearts at one moment as they paused at his casket. kogman richmond, your thoughts as you watch this unfold?

>> it is just really a especially moment. and i guess i'm at sort of an advantage because i knew how john lewis felt about vice president biden and i know how vice president biden feels about john lewis. and john lewis being a real hero. and the one thing we know about vice president biden is that he has a reverence for people who served this country. our men and women in uniform and especially our foot soldiers of the civil rights movement. and so for him to come down, specifically for no other reason than to give honor to congressman john lewis and his family, is a special moment and it shows that america understands what john lewis gave to america. and that is to really make it a more perfect union, or a less imperfect union, depending on

how you look at it. but we are recognizing it. so i think this tribute for a person who gave his entire life to make this country better is very fitting. i have disappointments in other ways, but i think that the country as a whole is celebrating the life and legacy of john lewis. and i think even the sitting vice president is scheduled to pay his respects later on today. but john lewis is a person that everybody in this country should be able to, one, hope that their children will be like him, but, two, acknowledge that he made this country an and this world a better place. >> president trump has said that he is not planning to visit the capitol. did you have a reaction to that? >> i don't. look, john lewis was such a special person. and the opposite of the sitting president. it wouldn't matter one way or the other. i think the fact that the

country is sending john lewis out in style, in appreciation, in recognition for what he meant to this country is what is important. and i think this whole movement, i think where we are at a country right now has less to do with what politicians do, and it's all about what regular people are doing. so whether it is the black lives matter movement or the protesters in the street or the country embracing the life and legacy of john lewis, i think that is far more important than what one person does who sits in the oval office. but it is unfortunate that he can never rise to the occasion. he can't rise to the occasion of john lewis's passing, he can't rise to the occasion of covid-19 and coronavirus. he just is unable to rise to the occasion. and i would just hate to spend any moments talking about him when we should be talking about all of the things that john lewis and his contemporaries did

to make this a better country. and you heard him in his voice talk about clainy and shwarno who you knew. so you just really have to talk about john and smile at the fact that he did so much and he was such a loveable guy and fun guy. i mean, what people don't really know is the jokester john, the smiling john, the having a good time john. who would also reminisce and tell me many stories that helped me along the way. but he was just a really nice person and he was a funny person. >> let me ask you, because i know he was deeply invested in this presidential race and we know that vice president biden is looking for his vice presidential nominee. the person who be his running mate, a lot of talk about kamala harris being at the top of that list. what do you make of that and i know there were some concerns

about the fact that in the first debate she really attacked him. she went after his record on busing. and that has caused some concern among some biden allies, that perhaps she is the front-runner but not necessarily the strongest choice. in fact, a politico reporting that chris dodd asked her about this and brushed it off and said that's just politics. what do you make of that? does that disqualify her in any way. >> that is really a very for the vice president. i would hope that all of those who profess to now how the vp and dr. biden feel about the debate performances of other candidates. i think it is a little immature and you don't really know what the vice president is thinking. he will ask solicited advice at the appropriate time. but for a person who has been in politics for over 40 years i'm sure there are things that

happen that you get over. and especially for the good of the country. so i just don't put a lot of weight into a number of, you know, leaks or undisclosed sources on vice president biden's frustration with anyone. i talk to him a lot. i don't sense it. i think that he is putting the ability to beat trump at the forefront and someone who thinks like him and who could be a great vice president like he was. so i think that is his thought process and i don't think that he's living in the past because right now we're all focused on the future. he's focused on beating donald trump. but nobody is worried about what happened at the first debate. my god, i think there were 100 debates. literally there were ten or 12 of them. so we're not worried about one sentence, one statement, one question at the first debate. >> congressman cedric richmond, thank you very much for taking time to talk to me about a range

of topics and for taking time to remember your friend and colleague congressman john lewis. we really appreciate it. and coming up after nearly two weeks of violent clashes between federal agents and protesters in portland, protests in support of portland and against racial injustice are growing all across the country. we're going to go live to portland, that's next. and later a major development in the race for a coronavirus vaccine. one vaccine trial has just entered the next phase. what that means for making it available to all americans. stay with us. -that's how a home and auto bundle is made. [ chuckles ] so, what are some key takeaways from this commercial? did any of you hear the "bundle your home and auto" part? -i like that, just not when it comes out of her mouth. -yeah, as a mother, i wouldn't want my kids to see that. -good mom. -to see -- wait. i'm sorry. what? -don't kids see enough violence as it is? -i've seen violence. -maybe we turn the word "bundle" into a character, like mr. bundles.

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welcome back. at the same time as we're honoring john lewis and remembering that mantra of nonviolence that characterized so many of the civil rights era protests, cities across country are bracing for potential violence after protest this is weekend turned into clashes. protests in portland have only intensified as they reach the 60th straight night on sunday. and now other cities are protesting in solidarity. in seattle the protests were declared a riot, 47 people were arrested and the police department reported that nearly 60 officers were injured in saturday's conflict. while seattle was protesting in solidarity with portland, the city was on the verge of the same situation with federal agents sent to seattle this weekend and put on stand-by in anticipation of violence. protests broke out in oakland,

california, richmond, virginia, and in austin, texas, where a protester was killed. austin authorities say garrett foster was killed when the driver of a car opened fire after a confrontation with protesters. nbc news mora barrett has been reporting from portland. thanks so much for joining us. we appreciate it. what is the latest from the ground there and there has been a sense that some of the federal agents have royaled some of the protesters and led to an intensefying of the some of the clashes there. what are you seeing and what are you hearing? >> reporter: kristen, that is exactly what we're seeing on the ground. my team and i have been here for a week and over the weekend we saw the president tweeting about the protesters being quote violent and anarchist and i want to be clear, yes, we have seen some protesters with violent action but nothing that is going to bring this federal courthouse down. as the president and the white house have suggested. but also we have seen federal agents make violent and

seemingly unwarranted arrests on people practicing civil disobedience. we've reached out to the federal agencies and have heard nothing back. and so when we're here on the ground talking to protesters, their concerned about the presence of federal agents is overvladdoing their overall message. last night i spoke with max smith, he's been out here for two months pushing the message of the supporters of the black lives matter movement and take a listen to what he told me. >> and what is your take on the federal presence here? do you think it is detracted from the overall message? >> yes. it is definitely detracting but it is intended to detract. for us on the ground who are auld here it doesn't make a difference. they act the same as cops but are more aggressive. we came out here in t-shirts and doing hula-hoops and so we came back and so we came back with vests and they aimed for the head and we started wearing helmets an now they call us

terrorists. who is escalating this. it is not us. >> reporter: he is determined to emphasize that message. they want to ultimately de fund the police which in there words means reallocating funding from the police to other community services and last flight that message pushed across hundreds of protesters here encouraging them to remember that message when they go out to vote in november. kristen. >> mora, fantastic interview there. and tell us if you would what is happening there on the ground right. it looks like they're putting up some barriers behind you. is that what is going on? >> reporter: exactly. let me step out of the way to take a look. a few days ago the fence was put back up before the weekend. they will placed cement barriers behind the fence but over the weekend protesters were able to topple that fence over and so now they're adding an extra layer of cement barriers for extra rephone forcement because

fence is a target of protesters here night after night as it standed between them and federal agents. >> mora barrett, thank you for so much of your great reporting. please stay safe as you continue to be on the ground there. we really appreciate it. coming up, some potentially positive news in the fight against coronavirus. keep it right here. we're back offer a quick break. a continuous glucose monitor, you don't have to. with a painless, one-second scan you can check your glucose with a smart phone or reader so you can stay in the moment. no matter where you are or what you're doing. ask your doctor for a prescription for the freestyle libre 14 day system. you can do it without fingersticks. learn more at freestylelibre.us.

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welcome back. less than a week into the

delayed start of the 2020 season, major league baseball is dealing with the first coronavirus outbreak. as of this morning, 14 members of the miami marlins tested positive for the coronavirus. the team postponed the home opener in miami set for this evening. the mlb postponed the match-up between the yankees and the phillies because the phillies hosted the marlins for a series of games this weekend. and the yankees would occupy the same clubhouse that the marlins just left. for now the marlins and phillys are both set to resume playing people but the marlins are quarantining in philadelphia until they receive their latest test results. the league has not yet said what would need to happen for the 2020 season to come to an early end. it is, however, holding a crisis meeting today. but there is some good news on the coronavirus front. hot spot states like arizona and texas now look like their new case numbers are in a decline. the new numbers show three out of the four biggest hot spots

have seen numbers go down in recent days an more potential good news, moderna, the american biotech company developing a coronavirus vaccine started phase three of the vaccine trial today, starting starting to test the first of 30,000 volunteers. joining me now to discuss all of this is an infectious disease expert. doctor, thank you so much for joining us. so many developments to get to. i want to start with the vaccine, because that's obviously, i think, the thing on everyone's mind. what does this progress announced by moderna, and the fact that they are now entering phase three, what do you make of that? >> this is now we're going to get real information how well this vaccine that's made it through phase one trials and also an ongoing phase two trial, how it fairs against the virus in the wild, to vaccinate people to see if they get infected. this is where we understand does

this work? it's hard to make extrapolations from phase one and two trials but phase three is where we definitively can answer whether it's a safe and effective vaccine. >> how quickly could we actually see results? let's say we get results by the fall, i think i heard november, how quickly could people start getting this vaccine? >> part of operation warp speed is to start manufacturing before we have the answers in, before phase three is finished. feasibly, you could have an emergency use authorization issued really closely, end of the phase three clinical trial and there's enough data to make that decision. and then have some doses on hand. that might go through a prioritization process where high-risk people like health care workers or people that have high-risk conditions get vaccinated first. so it's in the realm of possibility that before the end of this year, we start to see some people get into this their arms. but to stale it up for the rest

of the population, it will take some time and probably will be a period of several movements mon the population vaccinated to a level necessary to keep this at bay. >> now, you hear the sample size, 30,000 people. is that enough people to really get a sense of whether or not this vaccine works, how effective it is? >> when you figure out what the sample size needing to be, you do a calculation to try and figure out does your study have the power to detect a benefit or a harm? and 30,000 is a number they settled on based on those calculations. even after phase three, we still do phase four trials and a lot more. but the phase three is the big pivot point where you decide whether something is approved or not. and it is enough to get an inkling whether or not this will be protective and whether it's safe in that population, but we will be further post marketing studies on larger groups of people that understand what the

vaccine does in large groups of the population. >> and doctor, help us understand where we are with this virus right now. because as i just reported in some of the hot spots like arizona and texas, it looks like some of the numbers are starting to plateau. what do you make of that? what can we draw from these figures? >> well, what it shows is when you get hot spots and you take action, you can reverse those trends. it's not as if this is a foregone conclusion this spreads like wildfire. so what's likely happening in those states is you've seen governors and health authorities take targeted action, going after areas that were responsible for spread such as bars and large gatherings and trying to be aggressive with surgical approaches with what the contact traces were showing was causing those cases. and people in general are going to heed recommendations.

when they're in a hot spot, when it's dangerous to go outside, people will start to social distance on their own. they will start to be more mindful of their actions. this is the model that we need to take, that we cannot necessarily act as if there's not a pandemic, or we'll get the results of california, texas, arizona, and florida. but we can always bring this back by investing in public health, putting in proper interventions, increasing testing and talking to the public about what actions they need to take in the face of this virus. >> obviously, there's a lot of focus on whether schools can reopen in the fall. the cdc releasing guidelines for that to happen. but the science is still out on how children under the age of 10 are impacted. how does that inform schools across the country and frankly the federal government as it seeks to make this happen in the fall? is it realistic at this point? >> i do think it's realistic in

certain parts of the country. we in general know that children are spared the most severe complications. we know that older children may act more like adults in terms of magnifying the results to the community. younger children tend to do much better and less likely to spread to other individuals and we have data from other schools that have opened. so we can come up with a proper way to open schools. it k789 be done everywhere. you couldn't do it in miami-dade county where the outbreak is so out of control that it would be so disruptive to try and open a school. but there are places where we can do it. i think there is science, and the american academy of pediatrics have endorsed this approach. it's unfortunate that the whole thing is politicized because it's hard to have an honest discussion about it. but it is something that i think should be a goal and a priority, and has been done in other countries. i think we can get there if we take the correct actions.

>> all right, zsuch great information related to covid-19. thank you for joining us. great to see you. >> thank you. i do want to turn now to another aspect of coronavirus. today is the deadline of a federal judge set for the government to release migrant children from immigration and customs enforcement centers because of covid-19. but that judge has now ruled that her own order to release children by today is unenforceable. in her ruling last month, which set the current deadline, the judge said that children who are detained with their parents should be released from detention centers. the reasoning was clear, due to covid-19 outbreaks. i.c.e. facilities are "on fire and there is no more time for half measures." but the judge has no authority over the release of parents and i.c.e. refused to release children and parents together, raising the possibility of another round of family

separations. so to explain this further, jacob joins me now. jacob is the author of "separated, inside an american tragedy," where he gives us an inside view of the family separation crisis, which he has covered so closely over the past several years. thank you so much for joining me. break this down, what does this decision mean by the judge? >> it's good to see you too, my friend. this is a bittersweet day for the children and families. the judge has said her order is not enforceable at this time, which means we will not be seeing family separations, at least at this moment. but what it also means is that these families will remain locked up in i.c.e. detention, which is on fire according to the judge with the coronavirus, indefinitely. that is not good news, obviously, for not only the 100 or so children in i.c.e. detention and their 300 or so parents and kids total, but this

battle is one that is going to continue. and it's one that the trump administration could solve right now, they say, by releasing the children and families together. they could do it as you and i are talking to each other, but they refuse to do so. >> and this is obviously one of president trump's signature issues. is it possible that the trump administration goes in the other direction and actually pushes against this ruling by the judge? >> well, what the lawyers seem to think is going to happen is that the trump administration will continue to let this fight play out and put this into the hands of the lawyers to battle on a case by case basis for these children. what we're seeing now is the underlying policy goals that the trump administration always wanted during family separation, indefinitely detain children and their parents and deport immediately children who come here by themselves right back to their home country. we're seeing that happen under a law called title 42.

as a matter of fact, the administration was dealt a setback in that case today, as well. >> yeah. let me ask you about that. the trump administration and the aclu just filed another brief today. what can you tell us about that? >> children were taken out overnight. our colleagues got that footage at 2:30 in the morning on friday. many of us were saying this is like family separations all over again. we're asking where are the children? the aclu and the texas civil right process jekt has won a major victory for the 17 children detained in that hotel. they're going to be transferred to the office of refugee resettlement where they will receive legal counsel. it's important to note that this title 42 program is going to be stopped, that's that public health law that the trump administration was using to immediately deport people back to their home country. kids saying that they were a public health risk because of the coronavirus. so that's a legal battle, just

like the case that will continue. >> jacojacob, thank you so much joining us with all of your great information and critical reporting that you have done on this topic. we really appreciate it. good to see you. and that is all for tonight. chuck will be back tomorrow with more "meet the press daily." "the beat with ari melber" starts right now. >> this is "the beat" and i am ari melber. tonight is one of those nights that we think could be special. we have been working for a while on a report digging into what some democrats say is key to joe biden beating president trump in november. it will be a new installment from our back story series, coming up in just a few minutes. but we begin right now with news on this covid relief bill, republican senators releasing proposals to cut money for people who lost jobs by $400. steve mnuchin and the chief of