"early today" starts right now >>> on this friday, good morning, i'm david gura. >> i'm frances rivera. >> the country is about to face the biggest test of the coronavirus as more businesses open up for the memorial day weekend. the united states has confirmed nearly 1.6 million infections and more than 95,000 lives have been lost to the virus >> flags will be lowered to half staff over the next three days in honor of the victims of covid-19 the flags will be lowered to pay tribute to veterans. a massive testing effort has been launched on the las vegas strip. they've teamed up to screen 4,000 casino workers a day resorts are hoping to reopen by june 1st but no official date has been set >>> facebook is the latest to announce that work from home may be the new normal. half of facebook's work force could be remote within the next five to ten years. salaries may be adjusted based on where employees choose to live another 2.4 million americans filed for unemployment benefits for thefirst time last week. nearly 40 billion people have lost their jobs during this pandemic >> the cdc is updat

i'm frances rivera >> i'm david gura. it has been 117 days since the first case of coronavirus was reported in the united states. now they say related mystery illness that could be affecting children the virus is showing no signs of letting up but has now claimed the lives of almost 87,000 americans and has infected over 1.4 million people >> california hospitals may have to use a lottery to determine which covid-19 patients will be treated with remdesivir. it suggests it helps speed up recovery in severely ill patients there are for more patients than doses. >>> the los angeles county fair is cancelled because of the pandemic it was set to begin september 4th. the fair typically attracts over 1 million visitors >>> the navy hospital ship, the usns mercy is leaving and returning to san diego it arrived in mid march to help treat the surge of coronavirus cases. tyson foods is slashing prices at supermarkets by 20 to 30% the move comes despite surging prices at meat packing plants. the company says the discounts are to help

. >>> good morning i'm david gura. >> nice to be with you i'm frances rivera friday is here and we're ending the week with the coronavirus pandemic it has been over two months since the first covid-19 fatality was reported in washington state now the death toll reached over 63,000 with more than a million confirmed cases. according to johns hopkins university, nearly 154,000 patients have now recovered from the virus in the u.s >> california, the navy hospital ship usns mercy sent some sailors to dry land. the crew arrived in los angeles five weeks ago to relieve stress on area hospitals. after requests of fema, about 40 service members are helping to treat elderly patients at a nursing home meanwhile, in northern california, the town of alliance declared itself free of coronavirus. a privately funded study tested the entire population of about 1800 local officials and they say no one tested positive the uc san francisco medical center said those are only preliminary results. >>> disney is offering more options for people who need re-useable face masks. the company has created a serie

joining us now is msnbc's very own david gura. what the new normal look like. >> yeah, absolutely. you know, twitter's decision is interesting because we're in the middle of this cultural and economic sea change as you described it and twitter out of the gate was pretty early on saying people can work from home. when you talk about a city like new york, you look at the financial service companies, we're talking about millions of square feet and thousands of people who work for those companies and have come in day in and day out, if that were to change that's a whole lot of vacancy, i took a drive up madison avenue this week, it's totally empty of commerce as well. a glimpse of what these cities might look like. as you think this through, people working from home, what does that mean of culture of workplaces, nbc has its own culture, how do you maintain that when you have so many people working all over, childcare is such a huge phenomena that we have to deal, working from home and working from home full time while you're taking ca

joining us with more is david gura. vid, we've been talking about air travel mid-pandemic, we're still moving to the far end of the sidewalk when we pass other people even with our masks on, talk about where we are right now in term of the airline industry? >> i called up an faa aviation, when you board a plane these days you're boarding with your carry-on bag but also boarding with a fear and lack of trust in all of this. the airlines are acutely aware of this. we have seen the airlines themselves and airports trying to put in place procedures and policies that are going to make passengers more comfortable. we'll see the glass partitions at ticket counters, at the gates, lot more you the passenger will have to do. a number of airlines have begun restrict to access to middle seats on planes. it's easy to do because they're not selling them, demand is so low, what's interesting is, you know, there hasn't been any effort to reconfigure the way planes are set out, they're not taking out middle seats from these planes. the r

. >> msnbc's david gura is outside the exchange. now we know the trading can be done electronically, are there any long-term changes that could be coming to the exchange? >> reporter: this has been a debate for a long time. you have to understand that the new york stock exchange stands alone when you look at stock markets around the world. there are still humans tendering those trades, having auctions on the floor of the new york stock exchange. i think what's interesting is they've proven this can be done electronically. something i heard from stacey cunningham, they're adamant to return to the way it was before in terms of having humans on the trading floor. they think it gives investors more confidence, makes them more comfortable with the process, something they've been doing for well over 100 years. they're adamant it's going to happen, but have proven it can't happen without humans. the general counsel of the sec who i spoke with, once the horse is out of the barn, can you get it back in? we're seeing small steps, about a quar

early today" starts right now >>> glad you're with ustion this thursday, i'm frances rivera >> i'm david gura. a dangerous situation is unfolding in the streets of minneapolis. protests over the death of george floyd who died after being pinned to the ground by a police officer another man has died overnight after being found near these protests with a gunshot wound. the victim did not survive now the mayor and governor are pleading with people to leave the area other demonstrations are now popping up across the country in solidarity with minnesota. protesters marched downtown. for more on this growing outrage here's more. >> reporter: more anger in minneapolis following the death of george floyd. for a second day protesters converged on the city's third police precinct. armed officers deployed on top of the building. reports of looting at a target store. >> everybody deserves equal justice and we have to send a message with this case the protesters rage ignited by this george floyd pleading with police officers while one officer pressed his knee into floyd's neck he was later pronounced dead

their six feet of safety to a whole new level >> good thursday morning i'm frances rivera >> i'm david gura. >> in central michigan hundreds of homes and businesses are under water after torrents of rain overtook two dams triggering catastrophic flooding now they're trying to figure out how to evacuate while remaining safe amid the pandemic >> reporter: david, good morning. the flooding broke a 34-year record and on a normal day this would be an open park but am standing in several feet of water. it's been so destructive that the geography of the area could be permanently reshaped. the water came fast and furious, a pair ef zof dams failing send water gushing into homes and businesses >> massive amount of debris there. >> reporter: reducing much of this dam to rubble >> i never thought my life that dam would break. >> reporter: the flooding catastrophic, the governor declaring a state of emergency >> hard to believe that we're in the midst of 100-year crisis, a global pandemic and that we're also dealing with a flooding event that looks look the worst in 500 years >> evacuate the area >> it

earlier we spoke with my colleague david gura about what he saw. >> reporter: in the moments after the building started to burn, the mood turned celebratory. music coming from cars, people almost somber, sometimes they were cheering but it felt like a symbolic victory had been obtained and then a lot of protesters left. i got late at night and some of them left and they realized as things get later they get more intense and by the time i left the scene, probably a good hour and a half after that or two hours after that, it had taken on a slightly more sinister feel to it. and that's not to say the people are sinister, it's just that there was much more anger than there was protests there was much more grievance than there was protests. earlier there were speeches and the things you normally see. people walking around offering water to people. it was that sort of mood by after midnight it had turned into something that felt much more dangerous this was much more looting, you know, more stores being broken into there was a sense that the protesters had left and something else was left be

"early today" starts right now >> good morning, i'm david gura. >> i'm frances rivera. >> a top health official at the world health organization warns coronavirus may never go away as it resurges in some countries. the virus has now claimed the lives of almost 85,000 americans and has infected nearly 1.4 million people >>> beaches in southern california reopened to the public under the new rules people must wear masks if they're not in the water. sunbathing is still prohibited. pharmacists will now be able to order and administer covid-19 tests. the doctor's approval is notn wn will have to keep tabs on patrons as part of the reopening plan they must keep a log of all customers served along with their phone number officials say it's to facility contract tracing if an infection spreads. >>> and the urge to set sail is kicking in according to carnival cruisings bookings for august has shot up 600% there last year ships will be leaving from ports in florida and texas >>> wisconsin state supreme court has struck down the state's stay at home order the conservative judges called the order a

joining us now from outside the stock exchange is msnbc's david gura. can't help but wonder how much of this is just simply for symbolism, because how much of this has already been moved virtually anyway. >> you make a very good point. yes, this is a place where shares are bought and sold, a place for companies to go public, but it is a symbol of american capitalism and an important one. and the governor made that point as he drove his own car, to our surprise, outside after ringing the bell. he stopped to say this is a huge part of reopening the u.s. economy is getting the stock market up and running once again. it did happen in a partial way, about a quarter of the traders who were usually here showed up today and when they got here, they were greeted by medical personnel. had their temperatures taken, quilled out questionnaires and on the floor of the exchange, there's plexiglas everywhere, their movements are restricted, there's no eating of food, they're restricted to certain parts of the cafeteria. this is a fundamentally different place. and all

nbc's david gura is there outside the new york stock exchange with the latest. id, new york stock exchange, they don't even have desks. how have they set up social distancing rules in there? >> steph, i'm having a little trouble hearing you, but we're outside. if you can pan over here. that's a dodge charger being driven by the governor of the state of new york, andrew cuomo. rang the bell just moments ago. there's been such a push here to get the stock exchange back open. it's been 64 days since the stock exchange closed. i was thinking back on my way in here, steph. the last time that i saw you was on the floor of the exchange. i greeted you, gave you a hug and that seems like eons ago. traders are lining up. only about a quarter of them are returning to the floor this morning. they have to take a temperature test when they come in. there's a health questionnaire to fill out. what's going to be most abnormal is there are going to be so many restrictions on where they can go once they're on the trading floor. this is a much less boisterous trading floor than it

david gura here in new york. looking at sacramento, capital of california. protests taking place there. small group there flanked by police cars, blocking the road in sacramento. protests taking place across the country tonight, atlanta, brooklyn, denver, las vegas and los angeles as well, big protest downtown. police trying to move protesters back in downtown los angeles, these protests been going on several hours now in city of los angeles. of course the epicenter of all of this in minneapolis and st. paul, started because of the death of george floyd on memorial day. go now to jim kavanaugh who joins us now. you've been watching all of this unfold. back to something i was watching with my colleague, police response or lack thereof. last night we saw the precinct erupt in flames and mayor gave it his imprimater allows it to take place. press conference the mayor insisted things were under control, heard the governor say it as well. talked about using national guard to greater degree. your reaction to what we're seeing, lack of response to more fires tonigh

. >> carol lee live at the white house, david gura thank you as well. >>> i'm joint by the lieutenant governor of the state of michigan, garland gilchrist. lieutenant governor, thank you so much for joining us. let me first if i can, sir, get your reaction to that threat from president trump to withhold funding from your state over mail-in ballots in michigan. what is your message to the president, and what steps will michigan take to make sure that there isn't ballot fraud if you go forward with this? >> first off, eamon, thank you very much for having me. the state of michigan will go forward with sending people absentee ballot applications because the people of michigan in 2018 voted overwhelmingly that was what we wanted in order to enable mail-in voting and this is something the president is familiar with, as a mail-in voter himself so i'm really struck by this threat to the people of the state of michigan, and our democratic rights and our democratic values. we'll continue to push forward with the policy and the president's threat is dangerous and unacceptable and speaks to the