kadlec and his colleagues did not tell the president it was time to start social distancing. it would be nearly three more weeks before the president took any of the steps they had planned to recommend. >> i think one of the big questions we're always going to have is what would have happened if we had acted sooner. if we had started these physical distancing measures a week earlier, the question will be asked how many lives would have been saved? according to some models, they say, you know, 50, 60% of people within that first wave may not have become infected. >> if you had a process that was ongoing and you started mitigation earlier, you could have saved lives. obviously no one is going to deny that. but what goes into those kinds of decisions is complicated. >> so in late february, the president was still holding crowded rallies. his administration had not yet recommended social distancing, and they had not solved the problem with the testing kits. then on february 27th, a breakthrough in the form of a phone call arranged by dr. anthony fauci. >> he wants the other healt

kadlec wrote to dr. eva lee.f so, we have a huge whole in our screening effort. >> she responded with a link confirming the story, and added -- >> simply, people are carrying the virus everywhere. >> that then sets in motion a greater urgency from the group that they've got to get to the president a plan to mitigate the problem inside the united states before it spreads further. >> it was now february 24th, and it was time, dr. kadlec and his colleagues decided, to tell president trump he needed to recommend social distancing. including shutting down big events and schools. but president trump was in india. >> the moment he got back to the united states they were going sit down with him and try to move the president forward with it. but one thing happened, a doctor with the cdc got ahead of the messaging and warned publicly there was going to be a severe disruption the american life. >> we are asking the american public to work with us to prepare for the expectation that this could be bad. >> the president was an

kadlec and other senior officials at the department of health and human services about the need to purchases for a potential vaccine, shortages of testing swabs, shortages of masks, and essential he's conveying that his warnings were no the not heeded in the specific manner. he's offering a troev of e-mails. but a more serious picture is emerging of the retaliation he faced and frankly of the administration's response to the pandemic in the beginning and some warning signs that may not have been heeded. >> it is startling. thank you. keep digging, keach reading. gloria, from what we have all just heard, it sounds like dr. bright was the canary that was ignored. >> exactly. don't forget what his position was. he was in charge of developing vaccines, which is what we all want and what we're all looking for. he has a doctorate in immunology, and he is somebody as we know from his previous statements, he thought things were being misdirected because of cronyism and politics. there's a side story here. alex azar, the head of hhs at the time, told the coronavirus task force that dr. bright had be

kadlec responded with surprise and asserted that the united states would be able to contain the virus keep it out of the united states. dr. bright was later told quote that "his request for urgent funding at the meeting on january 23rd set off quite a crap storm after the meeting." joining our discussion now is democratic congressman peter welch of vermont, a member of the intelligence overnight energy and commerce committee, which called for an inspector general, the inspector general to investigate dr. bright last month. congressman, thank you very much for joining us tonight. it is a stunning day when we get this full whistleblower complaint just page upon page upon page of damning indictment of the trump administration. >> well, it is. you know, i want to step back for a minute. this virus is incredibly powerful and it's a threat to all of us. we've lost more lives in america than we lost in the vietnam war, and that's in two months. but there's two approaches to leadership on this. in one, we're seeing with many of our governors, some republicans, some democrats, tell people what

greeted with skepticism, and also those officials, he said, the top officials azar and another, bob kadlec were confidently saying they could keep coronavirus out of the u.s. of course that has not happened some a lot of questions are also going to be about what his interactions were with other officials and whether or not that slowed down the administration's response even more overall to the coronavirus. >> kaitlan collins, appreciate it. thanks. >>> joining us now is juliettju dana bash, and sanjay gupta. sanjay, talking about disbanding the task force. obviously on the face of it it seems given this is an ongoing pandemic that will continue through the summer and very likely, you know, for until there's a vaccine or until enough people become infected that there's a change in the spread of this. what do you make of the idea of closing this down? >> well, i think it's a bad idea. you know, i hope that the work is still going on, you know, even if there's not these briefings and actual task force. you remember back in 2014 there was an ebola czar, and there was an idea that you need crea

that's bob kadlec. so, that will be notable. but also, if you look at this opening statement today, he talks about things like informing the public about basic things like what hand washing, certain protective measures like wearing a mask can do. he also talks about a national testing strategy, which is something that we know many lawmakers and governors say they don't feel has been properly developed and isn't ready for the nation that is now trying to reopen. and so, those things will be interesting to see, you know, just what the lawmakers press him on, on those types of things, and what he has to say about, you know, people who are still working inside this administration and still dealing with this pandemic response. >> all right, kaitlan, great reporting today. thai, kaitlan collins and dr dr. yasmin, for your perspective. >>> we want to look at the key states and go to tom foreman, who is tracking the numbers for us. tell us what you're seeing, tom. >> reporter: let's look at the big picture first. if you look at the numb

robert kadlec who is the hhs deputy secretary for preparedness and response.ole played by pharmaceutical clarice e. >> he is inappropriate to place inappropriate scientists. and protecting the health and safety of the americans. that's safety measures, like masks and decent action, but increasing testing to quickly identify outbreaks and contain them. >> thanks to the profound commitment of our citizens, and countless american lives have been saved. so the reopening of our country, who would have ever thought we were going to be saying that? reopening. >> if that's a bit of a change from what i reported at 9:00, and now the president has come out and said the coronavirus task force which looks like it might be winding down by the end of may or beginning of june, there is a state of existence indefinitely. members may be added and the real focus of that will be again on three openings and development of vaccines and therapeutics as well. it has changed. john roberts at the white house, thank you. >> ed: texas meanwhile is easing coronavirus restrictions. the st

robert kadlec, and dr. peter navarro have all refused to testify today. i now ask for a moment of silence in honor of the over 80,000 americans who have lost their lives from covid-19. the chair now recognizes -- >> before i'm recognized for an opening statement, i wonder if i can be recognized for a parliamentary inquiry. >> the gentleman is recognized to state his parliamentary inquiry. >> we agree is, i'd like clarification with this before us today, is this witness testifying as a government witness or as an individual? >> dr. bright is testifying as a federal employee. correct? and representing -- he is a federal employee representing himself. i now recognize the ranking member of the subcommittee. >> madam chair, just to question. normally we have name plates identifying who's at the table and just -- i know dr. bright, of course, but i'm not sure who's next to him. >> you're correct. i don't know why we don't have name plates. i didn't notice that when i came into the hearing room. can the staff provide them? is there any way the staff can provide

kadlec? mr. bowen: no. i have never heard from them before. rep. castor: you did not hear back until a month later when you received a form letter from the fda? mr. bowen: i do not relate those two events. and the timing, i would have to look back at emails. rep. castor: here's the frustration i have. .his continues to be a problem after you sent the email and dr. bright elevated it at the end of , april, february, march my, what i heard from hospital just yesterday, and 95's are still very difficult to procure. they are still in dire need for n95's. my community hospital, we still struggle to get n95's. the supply chain remains inconsistent and irregular. theyremain concerned that will be squeezed because of flu season and the coronavirus. why haven't we been able to get a handle on this? i know they have issued contracts. there was a contract apparently issued for $55 million to a company with no history of procuring medical equipment for a cost of $5.50 apiece. what do you know about that? mr. bowen: just what i read in the paper. nothing more t