let's get more from keir simmons >> reporter: desperate for oxygen for his patients dr. sumit ray makes call after call. >> till last night 2:30 at night i was struggling for oxygen. and again from morning. >> reporter: while fighting to keep patients alive they just resuss taitded this man india has the worst covid outbreak in the world. more than 20 million cases. over 225,000 dead. and now some experts estimate millions are infected every day >> we do not have time to -- we are losing patients here. >> reporter: alex crawford from our sister network sky news reached this hospital outside, patients are waiting for space. with oxygen their families have often had to find for them inside, dr. sumit ray finally receives some good news. >> just reached. >> how many more minutes do you have left >> i think 20, 25. i don't know we could have shut down anytime >> reporter: but the oxygen that arrives is only enough for a few more hours keir simmons, nbc news >> desperation there >>> up next for us, what's behind the big jump in americans retiring earlier than they planned >>>

keir simmons, nbc news, london >>> this week we have been traveling the country examining the road ahead from the pandemic and for los angeles that road travels through a landscape dotted with homeless encampments. l.a.'s mayor eric garcetti under growing pressure to help get more homeless into housing. i spoke to him today about that challenge across the city the tents stretch everywhere from hollywood to venice beach scenes from what could be a disaster movie now a seemingly permanent fixture on the streets of los angeles. >> if you're not shocked by what you see, then i don't know what you would be shocked by >> reporter: when covid first hit, the city stopped large-scale clean-ups at most encampments to keep the virus from spreading. that's when residents say things changed >> people shooting up, urinating out in the open vomiting >> reporter: officials here last counted more than 66,000 experiencing homelessness in january 2020 but that was before the pandemic struck and hundreds of thousands of angelenos lost their jobs. since then our partners on nbcla's investigative team have ca

with more on that, here's keir simmons. >> reporter: tonight nbc news confirms the u.s. intelligence report says three researchers at a wuhan lab fell ill and even went to the hospital right before the coronavirus pandemic began. there's been growing speculation the virus but an earlier joint study by the w.h.o. in china controversially dismissed claims the virus may have leaked from that lab. but back in march a member of that team told us some lab researchers were ill >> did some researchers get sick with flu-like symptoms in the fall of 2019? >> there were occasional illnesses because that's normal. there's nothing that stood out. >> do you remember how many researchers >> maybe one or two. certainly not a big thing. >> reporter: in february a western intelligence official told nbc news the u.s. has substantial intelligence that has not been made public about the actions the chinese government took related to the wuhan lab. and recently dr. fauci became the latest high-profile scientist to question china's theory that the virus came from an animal. >> i'm not convince

keir simmons got exclusive access to some of those involved in that effort >> reporter: sophie zhang, a data scientist, worked for facebook for more than two years and says she felt like she had the world on her shoulders. >> it was literally run by a new hire straight out of college. >> reporter: she said she found multiple blatant attempts by foreign national governments to abuse our platform what was your worst case example >> azerbaijan was the worst example. just because of the sheer size and audacity of the behavior >> reporter: azerbaijan, an authoritarian country whose government human rights watch say has waged a vicious crackdown on critics sophie was fired in 2020 for poor performance, for not focusing enough on her primary job, after she flagged propaganda around the world facebook says a more than 200-person expert team works with hundreds of sources like the fbi but sophie says they delayed some leads from smaller countries, sometimes for more than a year facebook told us "we fundamentally disagree with ms. zhang's characterization of our priorities." adding that they ha

keir simmons has more. >> reporter: emergency supplies of drugs an countries but this morning india has reached alms and more than e died. itsing anizing second wave overwhelming with not enough doctors, oxygen or hospital beds. >> no medicines on time, nothing. >> reporter: entire families are testing positive arriving at hospitals by the hour. they are lucky to find doctors able to help. many are left waiting, struggling to stay alive. >> they are dying on the way to the hospital because they are going from hospital to hospital trying to find the vaccine. >> reporter: just this morning india reports more than 300,000 new cases for the 12th straight day and medical experts say the real numbers may be ten times higher. >> we have patients in the wards who are very sick who should be in the icu but which don't have any space for them. >> reporter: the prime minister's government failing s supply in a country that manufact when the cases startedg up, i was hoping they tried to plan but turns out they didn't. they can barely keep up with the burials and cremations. india adding to the terr

our keir simmons reports. >> reporter: as the torch tours japan and test events are under way, tokyo organizers say they're not considering canceling the olympics but pressure is growing. tonight an influential japanese newspaper and sponsor for the games writing, "it's simply beyond reason to hold the olympics this summer." while in the "new england journal of medicine" u.s. scientists say calling off the games may be the safest option. >> cables are not serious efforts to put in serious measures to protect the athletes and the public >> reporter: even the cdc and u.s. state department warning americans not to travel to japan. organizers point out they're putting extensive safety measures in place. the u.s. olympic committee says it's confident in those steps and team usa will go. the ioc says at least 70% of athletes and officials will be vaccinated but so far only 2% of the japanese public is and 80% are against the games, polls say nbc universal, the parent company of nbc news, own the u.s. media rights to the olympics tonight the games facing an unprecedented challenge. with the

keir simmons, nbc news, london. >>> a driver is in custody after a slow speed chase in southern california this morning involving a uhaul truck. we brought you live coverage of this pursuit earlier today on "today in the bay." it began after the police spotted the uhaul that was reported. the uhaul finally could the fire. the suspect was unable to get away on foot. >>> supervisors will hold a vote to extend the city's $5 a hour pay increase. if approved the ordinance will remain in effect for five weeks. we're getting new insight on how big of an impact the pandemic is having on san francisco's chinatown. up tells sf gate that vacancy rates were at 16% before the pandemic took hold. last summer it skyrocketed to 58%. >>> happening now, depending on where you live in the u.s., you may have had a tough time sleeping last night. that is because noisy krikdas that make their appearance every 17 years, they are back. here's nbc's kerry sanders. >> so there's a lot of cicadas out. >> this morning, they are back. >> wow, after 17 years the long-awaited or dreaded depending on your perspective bro

one former instagram moderator telling our keir simmons he was forced to look at the worst of humanity of content a day. everything from hate speech to animal mutilation to videos of people committing suicide. >> joining us live from london, keir, good morning to you. >> reporter: these whistle-blowers talked about the sheer human toll of dealing with disturbing content on facebook and said things would slip through the cracks. they tell us she warned the company in honduras influence campaigns were being run, but it took the company more than a year and facebook was more concentrated on its concentration. >> at the end of the day facebook the cost of that abhorrent to society. >> reporter: as you might expect facebook disputes that. we fundamentally disagree with miss zhang's characterization of our priorities. we have already taken down more than 150 networks of coordinated inauthentic behavior. accenture, and many moderators telling us that it does worry about people's mental health. it says in a statement our people have 24/7 well-being support including proactive and on demand cou

keir simmons has the latest. keir, what sparked this violence?just getting news two israeli women have died in the israeli city of ash ka lan after the missiles were fired from gaza. it's been a long-running escalation, simmering tremors over east jerusalem led to clashes between israelis and palestinians and then the rockets from gaza and now the israeli air operation over gaza. steph, this morning the international community, including the u.s., is calling for lowered tensions. israeli stair strikes continued into the early hours of this morning. 130 targets across the gaza strip, israeli says, releasing cockpit video of the operation. israeli officials say 24 people, including 9 people died. israel says 15 were members of the militant group hamas. a mother and her son were killed can, this man says. israel declaring a line was crossed with hundreds of rockets fired from gaza, six targeting jerusalem and overnight two parking buildings hit. three were injured with different levels of severity, says this israeli police officer. the attacks follo

nbc's keir simmons joins us now from london with the latest. >> hi, stephanie.st 24 hours, they are back up again, 412,000 infections in just 24 hours. colleagues at the british network sky news went inside one hospital but really it is the story of so many hospitals in india. they are quite simply overwhelmed. desperate for oxygen for his patients, dr. sumet ray makes call after call. >> it's a struggle. 2:30 last night struggling for oxygen and again this morning. >> reporter: while fighting to keep patients alive, they just resuscitated this man. india has the worst covid outbreak in the world. more than 20 million cases, over 225,000 dead, and now some experts estimate millions are infected every day. >> we do not have time to feel sorry for somebody else. we're losing patients here. >> reporter: alex crawford from our sister network sky news reached this hospital. outside patients are waiting for space with oxygen their families have often had to find for them. inside dr. sumit ray finally receives some good news. >> oxygen was just received. >> reporter: h

let's bring in nbc news correspondent keir simmons, who's been reporting on the source of the virus fort kind of pressure can be exerted on china to force transparency here if we're ever to get to the bottom of this? >> chuck, that's a great question because it goes to the heart of the issue because i don't think any pressure can force china to be transparent. your previous guests were talking about a cover-up. china would say it's worked with the world health organization as for a study that recently published. that study was criticized even by the leader of the w.h.o. himself quite soon after because it ruled out the possibility of a lab leak. now, look, there's so many confusing details and it's mired in domestic politics and geopolitics. what this latest news that you were talking about there, nbc news confirming three researchers -- evidence of three researchers in wuhan's lab were sick, that appears to add more detail to the fact sheet that was published by secretary of state mike pompeo in the dyeing days of the trump administration. that fact sheet talked about people getting si

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nbc national correspondent keir simmons joins us with the latest on the situation. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. this situation has been escalating for some time, simmering tensions over east jerusalem, leading to clashes between palestinians and police and palestinian militants are firing rockets and the israeli air force over gaza. there are international calls, including from the u.s., to lower tensions. israeli air strikes continued into the early hours of this morning. 130 targets across the palestinian gaza strip israel's military says, releasing cockpit video of the operation. palestinian officials say 24 people, including 9 children, died. israel says 15 were members of the militant group hamas. a mother and her son were killed, this man says. israel's prime minister declaring a red line was crossed with hundreds of rockets fired from gaza, six targeting jerusalem and overnight two apartment buildings hit. three were injured with different levels of severity, says this israeli police officer. the attacks followed days of unrest in jerusalem in the

msnbc news senior international correspondent keir simmons has more. >> reporter: pillars of britishticizing the royal family, telling oprah much his descent into drink and drugs. >> i find myself drinking not because i was enjoying, but i was trying to mask something. >> reporter: it's another interview deckase ago that's causing controversy where princess diana famously said there were three people in her marriage. an inquiry says to get the sitdown bbc journalist martin bashir lied to diana, even doctoring documents. apologizing but said diana would have still agreed to be interviewed. the bbc apologizing. >> it was a major couldn't because to making my parents' relationship worse. >> reporter: sincelis mother's death, prince harry says he has suffered with an uncare family who failed to support his wife when she wanted to take her own life. >> the thing that stopped her from seeing it through was how unfair to be in the position of losing another woman in my life. >> reporter: two interviews decades apart shaking the royal establishment. >> by the way, we should note that martin

keir simmons joins us now with a closer look at whether facebook, which is worth almost $1 trillion and nearly 50,000 people is meeting its global responsibilities. and keir, what did you find out? >> reporter: it's fascinating the conversation you were just having, because the conversation about facebook can't just be about domestic politics. it can't just be about facebook and president trump. think about the fact that facebook has billions of users around the world. pull back the curtain. i spoke to a senior facebook security executive, a former facebook moderator, and a former facebook data scientist. the executive told me that he believes that facebook has made real strides since the russian influence campaign in 2016, but the former employees say that what they saw was facebook struggling to police its platforms around the world. one even telling me she felt like she had blood on her hand. they are on facebook's front line, policing platforms designed to give everyone a voice. now they are speaking out. we are paid to look at the worst of humanity every day, this instagram content

nbc news senior international correspondent keir simmons has more. >> reporter: nbc news confirms the u.s. intelligence report says that three researchers at a wuhan lab fell ill and even went to the hospital right before the coronavirus pandemic began. there's been growing speculation the virus escaped from the wuhan institute of virology, but an earlier joint study by the w.h.o in china controversially dismissed claims that the virus may have leaked from that lab. but back in march, a member of that team told us some lab researchers were ill. >> did some researchers get sick with flu-like symptoms in the fall of 2019? >> there were occasional illnesses, because that's normal. there was nothing different about that. >> do you remember how many researchers? >> maybe one or two. it's certainly not a big -- a big thing. >> reporter: in february, a western intelligence official told nbc news the u.s. has substantial intelligence that has not been made public about the actions the chinese government took related to wuhan lab. and recently, dr. fauci became the latest high-profile scientis

nbc news senior international correspondent keir simmons has more. >> reporter: as the torch tours japan and test events are underway, tokyo organizers say they're not considering canceling the olympics, but pressure is growing. an influential japanese newspaper and sponsor for the games writing, it's simply beyond reason to hold the olympics this summer. while in the new "new england journal of medicine," u.s. scientists say calling off the games may be the safest option. >> there are not serious efforts to put in serious measures to protect the athletes and the public. >> reporter: even the cdc and u.s. state department warning americans not to travel to japan. organizers point out they're putting extensive safety measures in place. the u.s. olympic committee says it's confident in those steps and team usa will go. the ioc says at least 70% of athletes and officials will be vaccinated, but so far only 2% of the japanese public is and 80% are against the games, polls say. >> keir simmons reporting. we should point out, nbc universal, which is the parent company of nbc news and msnbc, ow

"today" senior international correspondent keir simmons has the latest. hey, keir.ood morning. >> reporter: hoda, good morning to you. from tomorrow, most travel between the u.s. and india will be banned. there are exemptions for united states citizens. india, a country of more than a billion people, is now battling new variants and the worst surge in coronavirus cases in the world. emergency supplies of oxygen, drugs, and masks are arriving from the u.s. and other countries, but this morning, india has reached almost 20 million cases and more than 200,000 have died. its agonizing second wave overwhelming with not enough oxygen, doctors, or hospital beds. >> no medicine and no cylinders, nothing. >> reporter: entire families are testing positive, arriving at hospitals by the hour. please save her, one man says. they are lucky to find doctors able to help. many are left waiting, struggling to stay alive. >> they're dying on the way to the hospital because they're going from hospital to hospital, trying to find a bed. >> reporter: just this morning, india reporting mo