doctor redfield, to discuss the cdc and ongoing response to covid-19. i also want to welcome the subcommittee members, ranking member congressman thomas paul andour full committee chair . i want to thank you to subcommittee members who are here in person as well as subcommittee members who are participating by secure video teleconference. before i moved to my opening statements and because this is our first labor hhs and education appropriations committee hearing with some members participating remotely, i would like to begin by offering a brief explanation of how it will work and in order to benefit those members and the public. this hearing room has been configured to maintain the recommended six-foot social distancing between members, witnesses and other individuals in the room necessary to operate the hearing. which we have kept to a minimum. some members have opted to use secure video teleconferencing which allows them to participate remotely. for those on videoconference, once you start speaking, there will be a slight delay before you are displaye

why has the cdc been left behind? with the early declaration of a public health emergency by hhs on january 31st to say it's not a question of this will happen but when and further said disruption to everyday life might be severe but people might want to think about that s now cdc produced high quality in-depth publication take note the morbidity and mortality weekly reports and the experts have published evidence of universal testing to interrupt transmission of covid-19 as well as critically important19 a work of super spreading events which are responsible for transmitting the majority of cases of covid-19 they identify the cause the exposure a choir practice for 61 people led to 32 confirmed and probable cases and attendees at a church in arkansas poultry and processing facilities we cannot have the cdc that has that technical guidance we cannot have a cdc that has edited not scientifically driven or redrafted to sue political purposes we cannot have the cdc with data collection and reporting we cannot have the cdc

why has the cdc been left behind? when there was an early declaration of a public health emergency by hhs on january 31st? when the doctor said it is not a question of if this will happen but when this will happen, she further said, disruptions to every day life may be severe but people might want to start thinking about that now. cdc produced high quality indepth publications. you need to take note of this. the cdc's morbidity and mortality weekly reports, the mmwrs, cdc experts have published evidence about universal testing at skilled nursing facilities to interrupt transmission of covid-19. as well as critically important work about super spreading events which are responsible for trans mitti transmitting the majority of cases of covid-19. they identified the cause of some of the super spreading events, the larger events. the exposure at a choir practice where 61 people led to 32 confirmed and 20 probable cases. attendees at a church in arkansas, workers in meat and poultry processing facilities. we cannot have a c

smith: by early march, the cdc allowed for more people to get tests. rsisted, thougho nocelebrities. >> reports that kevin durant has been tested positive for the coronavirus. >> on social media, criticism for celebrities who'een tested, like celine dion, heidi klum, and reportedly kris nner. >> whatever it may be, i'm gonna quarantine myself. >> how are non-symptomatic professional athletes getting tests while others are waitingin ine? >> smith: we see stars being able to be tested, whereeoe without means or without celebrity status are unable to get tested. u >> yeaortunately, a lot of issues with regard to inequity in our society have really come out. but i think that people gea little bit intolerant when it's actually affecting the health om their loved es, their children when they realize that, you know, you're concerned about your mother. she can't get tested, but a vipt can get . and i think that during a pandemic, there's something quite wrong with-with that occurring. t>> our response is amonghe very wor in the world. certainly among all the ma

how does the cdc envision its combined test to be used? ery important as i mentioned as we get to the fall we will have both at the same time and cdc's developing that test that is right public health system but in parallel the private sector also now has advanced development. maybe dr. hahn wants to comment. to facilitate timely diagnosis of these two co-circulating pathogens. >> do you want to comment? >> we have been working with companies to actually look at that. admiral giroir is at the forefront of this. >> admiral? >> i would agree with my colleagues. we are all concerned about the possibility of co-circulation of influenza a and b and covid-19 with flu season and want to do everything we can to simplify the diagnosis and you can have -- if you have a single test and working with multiple manufacturers. the cdc as usual is usually in the lead and multiple manufacturers who will have this kind of test available. >> excellent. you all have been subject to a lot of criticism as has the president. often that's leveled after we know fact

but on the cdc front, we are moving to data monetization. to taking the beginning of the pipeline for disease surveillance data which is a health care facility, and then the state health department, and then to the cdc. we are looking at electronic data modernization and we can thank the congress for those additional funds that are available there. in the here and now, we have redone our case report which includes specific sections about healthcare workers as well as workplace exposures so we are hoping the new form which the states now are getting up to speed on will improve our ability to know exactly where the occupational industries are. let me follow up on that, as you know the cdc has trouble getting states to use your form standards for information so that you can compare it nationally. will this particular standard be the same for every state or will they be able to marry it as they have in the past? >> thank you for that question. we are trying to move to a uniform system so that is the goal. with the cooperation of the states, and t

but the cdc is trying to do good work here. e sending out regular guidance on the importance, for instance of wearing masks as maybe the most evidence-based method. the president of the understanding refuses to wear a mask, his top adviser refuse to say wear a mask. he says it's an attack on him politically for people to wear masks. the cdc develops guidance for individual industries and businesses to reopen. the white house then prevents that guidance from being dispen dispensed, so i think the cdc needs i think they may have been prevented from doing the best work they could by this administration and this president. any good fire department that has a house on fire and the house next door in danger of catching fire, they do both. they try to do work next door to prevent the next house from catching fire. we're not doing both. so i want to frankly direct some of my questions to our witnesses with respect to what we're doing now, which also is probably dr. gerberding, you referenced how important it was for us to join the inter

redfield, the head of the cdc told reporters today. i'm going to quote exactly what he says because it's really rather simple, what everyone in this country needs to do from the president on down. the coronavirus doesn't travel well over distances of longer than 6 to 7 feet. if we can maintain 6 feet distancing. if we can wear face coverings when we are in public. particularly when we can't maintain the distancing and maintain vigilence in our hand hygiene, these are going to be really, really important defense mechanisms. what dr. redfield is saying, dr. jha, is rather simple. there's a political divide and arguments we're seeing all over the country over a simple thing like simply wearing a face mask. >> so it's really markabremarka. here we are in the 20th century, 120,000 dead. what we need to do is wear a mask, maintain social distancing and washing our hands. i will add one more thing, the government has to put more time and pressure into wrapping up more test and tracing so we can isolate people infected. that's not a very compli

redfield, why hasn't the cdc held regular bdm briefings during the pandemic as the cdc has done during past public crises, where it can provide information directing the public anywhere the media can ask questions? is it possible like a regular and direct communication from cdc has been contributing to the public's confusion about how to best protect themselves and this helped pandemic rices? dr. redfield: thank you very much, congressman. the cdc has communicated in different ways, clearly, first and foremost, we put over 1500 guidance -- july redfield, the president has been clear that when you get in front of a podium with a press conference, there is a higher likelihood you will reach a large number of people. more of't you having those press conferences? dr. redfield: we reached 1.5 billion people so far. conferences with the state department every week, almost every day, we have special conferences reaching out to special interest groups, whether it is business, face -- faith communities, etc., and we have also had conferences, as you know any be reinstituted our biweekly press c

so i hope that the president follows cdc recommendations. senator cruz and senator cornyn. and the rest of us. and assuring that testing is robust, that it's widespread that it's available. that's the only way we'll ever get this under control, is testing, tracing, and treating folks who are infected and have a medical impact from this. we need to educate the community to stay home when they don't need to come out. to wear masks, to wash our hands thoroughly and often. clearly we need to start to follow the recommendations of off health care professionals, not our political consultants. we can't open any state in this country based on president trump's political agenda. >> congressman gonzalez, thanks for joining the broadcast this morning. >> thank you for having me. >>> well, europe is about to open its borders to travelers next week but a huge question -- will americans be welcome? on on the sleep number 360 smart bed. can it help keep me asleep? absolutely, it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. a

the fda is not being accurate. cdc is a tracer. nd the disease around the world you will see at the heart of that and then to diminish that but it is easy to be critical in an emergency. >> will what they said about modernization it would be difficult. >> particularly with that data infrastructure to collect data in almost real time with situational awareness and the pandemic situation thank you senator cassidy. senator murphy? >> thank you mr. chairman and to all the witnesses you know the high regard there needs to be reform at the cdc going forward and ways they didn't measure up let's be 100 percent clear the cdc is trying to do good work sending out regular guidance as the most evidence-based method the president of the united states refused to wear a mask. that's an attack on him politically and for individual industries. and then the white house prevents that guidance and then to take responsibility. and then to do some hard look internally but also and then to do the best work they could by this administration. and focus mov

abc's steve osunsami at the cdc in atlanta. >> reporter: the forecast from the cdc is sobering tonight. up to 143,000 total coronavirus deaths in america by the end of this month. just as things were improving in new york city, there's an alarming jump tonight in the number of people hospitalized with covid-19. a 75% jump in just one day. and the city's mayor says it's too early to know if it's because of the large crowds at protests in the streets. >> i would be surprised if that's what's causing it. i think we're much more likely in the next week, ten days, to see a manifestation, if there is one. >> reporter: new york state as whole has turned a corner, reporting 42 deaths on thursday -- its lowest daily number of deaths in eight weeks. authorities at the cdc say that they do believe the virus is marching with protesters around the country and could increase infections. >> i do think there is a potential, unfortunately, for this to be a seeding event. >> in los angeles, they're telling protesters to self-quarantine when they get home. 18 states plus puerto rico are seeing increases

since the cdc would be writing the comprehensive plan? >> we're developing a plan as we speak and, again, to keep building on the efforts to rebuild vaccine confidence in this country which is really critical and then on top of that have there will be a very defined plan for distribution of this vaccine, prioritization of this vaccine, monitoring for safety of the vaccine. >> but you can't tell us if it's going to be a couple weeks, a couple months, end of the year? do you have any estimate of what we'll see the plan? >> it's currently in development within the group, and i would anticipate we'll see that plan in the near weeks ahead, senator. >> weeks, not days, months? >> in the weeks ahead. it's something we're doing in combination with operation warp seed and cdc has been working on this plan literally for the last ten to 12 weeks. >> mr. chairman, i think we need to see that plan and need to know what it is, and american public needs to know what that is and communities need to know what that is, soy hope that we urge that plan to be

i can't say it's not critical to the cdc. we don't think it's the right message as you point out, again, we think it's really important in individuals, whether it's a bus or a train or a plane to have social distancing or at least reliable face covering. >> thank you. i just hope very much that the cdc or the appropriate agency basically tells these companies that that is unacceptable, they're endangering the lives of other people. let me go to another question. i don't have a lot of time, so i would appreciate brief answers. at the university of washington, the institute of health there indicated if 95% of the american people were to wear masks, we could save some 30,000 lives. a number of countries including south korea, france, turkey, and austria have provided low cost or free mask to all people, something i believe in. would you support the effort to greatly increase the production of high-quality masks in this country and distribute them free of charge to every household in america, dr. fauci or anyone else who wants to

will you please show her and the members of the cdc some love ? and the members of the cdc some love? this is my congressional district. i want all of the congresspeople to hear to sand please. show them some love. mike reilly jackson lee is please. show them some love. mike reillyjackson lee is here. —— the kind of people who are here. —— my colleague at jackson lee is kind of people who are here. —— my colleague atjackson lee is here. to mayor turner my dear friend and fraternity brother, tojudge mayor turner my dear friend and fraternity brother, to judge adolfo, two commissioners... —— tojudge hidalgo. to all of the members of the council. and i want to say a special word about another great american who is with us today. one whose name means help for humankind. one who was there with doctor king, one who was the father of the civil rights movement right here in houston, texas, one that we know and

the cdc now warning that pregnant women may have a higher risk. but luckily she received a plasma treatment at memorial herman hospital helped her beat the virus. she had this message for her doctor. he's probably watching this, what would you tell him? >> that you saved my life and my baby's life. >> reporter: you know, there's probably a lot of women like who, you know, are pregnant. what would you tell them? >> i was telling them, if they get it, don't give up. think about your baby. be strong for your baby, because i feel like the covid will drain your body, like, if you let it. >> reporter: the virus is spreading fast throughout this state, infecting 18 members of the barbosa family in north texas after they attended a surprise birthday party. >> my dad's hanging on by a thread. they're in there by themselves with no family, you know? and it's just heartbreaking. >> reporter: for the rodriguez family outside of houston, no one has to tell them how deadly this virus is. three members dying in ten days. >> i was doing everything i could to keep

karen bass: if you remember, it was when he was asked last quarter he had contacted the cdc. we went and remember what he said his campaign was what he have to lose so we did a document about hundred and 20 page document the said, first of all we began with black history but then we also had a variety of bills that we wanted to see if the white house was going to be interested in. we wanted to follow-up the many meeting with the cabinet secretaries. but i will say that after the meeting, is no communication. they never responded to us after that. we made numerous requests to meet with the cabinet secretaries. that never happened. host: do you think the president by choosing his first rally after the quarantine of coronavirus, his first rally in tulsa. the site of the tulsa massacre. do you think he did this, are you think he is pulling the substrate on a bullhorn to send a message, the white supremacist message to some of his followers. rep. karen bass: was very hard for me not to see it as a bullhorn. it just is because i do know that in the beginning, maybe they didn't under

the virus spread unchecked across the country. >> the cdc developed within ten days a test. that test is not a flawed test. it's perfect. >> the coronavirus pandemic isn't the first time he has been in a controversy during a national health crisis. in 1992 the height of the aids epidemic in america. the then army doctor and top aids researcher was involved in another scandal. he presented findings from a study he was doipg on a vaccine treatment for hiv at a aids conference. dozens of interviews and documents obtained and reviewed reveal fellow researchers accuse him of scientific misconduct. claiming he over sold the data and cherry picked results. officials attempted to rerun the numbers but failed to replicate the same results. a military memo calling for investigation shows he continued to publicly tout the data. despite assurances and private meetings he understood the past presentations to be error. and refrain from repeating that error. after a investigation the army didn't charge him. the then lieutenant was found in violation of army code. for his relationship with a

the word. before i close, i would like to speak briefly about how cdc is assisting the front lines of our health department to fight covid. with your support, cdc has awarded $12 billion to 646 jurisdictions, data monitorization is under way and public health laboratories are building resilience. the number of contact tracers have grown 345%. the disease impacts us all, and it's going to take all of us working together to stop it. together i believe we can achieve the possible. thank you, and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you, dr. redfield. admiral giroir, welcome. >> you just heard the director of the cdc and before him dr. anthony fauci testifying before the senate regarding the coronavirus outbreak. one notable comment there from dr. fauci saying that it remains, as he described it, their aspirational hope to have a working vaccine by early 2020 and 2021. let's go back to hear the testimony on the hill. >> testing now including the rad-x diagnostics program along with dr. collins to assure that innovations are immediately translated into practice. in order to get back safely to w

the cdc issued guidance on proper protocol for these facilities. york, like michigan, new new jersey, and california, apparently disregarded the guidance. do you think the decisions of the governors led to the unnecessary deaths in these nursing homes? dr. redfield: thank you for your question. seedritical issue here is things. one is on guidance. areas that we could impact nursing homes particularly for infection control working together with cms, very aggressively early on, was recognized in the nursing home really reach out -- re-channeled energy looking into the effectiveness of infection control and those nursing homes. then restricted visitors -- do you think the decisions lead to unnecessary death by toowing infected residents come back into the nursing home? all of these decisions that had been made in to early days are subject hindsight. we gave clear guidance on how old should be handled if they come into the nursing homes. question, we know there foreseeable future will not be a zero risk and we will not get to that. we know ourselves hav

the problem is this is no time to be complacent, that's the message from the director of the cdc. >> health officials are concerned about community spread during the upcoming fourth of july holiday, as california sees a surge in new coronavirus cases. we have new information out today.>> reporter: the briefing today the cdc director says that now the data is showing that people who are pregnant or obese could be at greater risk of severe illness and there is also great concern that young people might be driving a surge in cases. for months now americans have seen signs about social distancing and wearing masks, the coronavirus remains a risk but now some see signs of virus fatigue. >> i think people have got more lax in the last two or three weeks. >> reporter: a poll shows the number of americans worried about getting an infection has dropped from 78% in april to 68% in june and support for stay-at-home orders also dropped from 80% in april to 50% in june. >> i'm so concerned a little bit but over the last couple months my concerns have gone down the middle a little bit, i'm starting

erica, the cdc director is sounding this alarm, the coronavirus is still here, it's still killing. and social distancing and wearing face masks are essential. >> reporter: yeah, wolf, that's right, cdc director dr. robert redfield was very clear today, he said the pandemic is not over. he stressed the need for social distancing, knowing that the virus can't travel much more than six or seven feet, so we have to maintain that distance. and, he says, you should absolutely have a face covering when you're out in public. in the nation's three most populous states, california, florida, and texas, things are going from bad to worse. >> i don't think history will look back forgivingly on the united states and americans who are going down think road. >> reporter: los angeles county has more confirmed cases than any other county in the country. >> we're still in the first wave of this pandemic. >> reporter: texas pausing its reopening to, quote, coral the spread of covid-19. also restricting elective surgeries in four counties. >> we're running out of that time. >> reporter: texas medical ce

the cdc, and that's the checkpoints.to use the public health act efforts and if we add here to guidelines of what we hear in many of these presentations that we just heard about the physical distance and the community, the use of masks, and some things like that, that will help to keep the level of infection in the community down which will then make help keep the children back to school. if you are in the area where you have a certain amount of infection dynamics, there are things that can creatively be done about modifying things like the school schedule. alternate days, morning versus evening, allowing under certain circumstances online virtual lessons. of those of the kind of things that we need to consider but also importantly always make the goal that it is very important to get the children back to school for unintended negative consequences that occur when we get them back to school. >> dr. redfield, one of the concerns would be for children generally speaking but haven't been damaged nearly as much as adults, pa

the new cdc guidelines from returning to everyday life, the precautions they're advising you take to stay safe at restaurants, hotels, even summer cookouts. >>> president trump speaking out on police reform his new message on choke holds, should they be banned and what he said that's raising eyebrows about abraham lincoln. >>> the president also hours away from traveling to west point, a thousand cadets brought back and quarantined in order to hear him speak at graduation and his new reaction after the nation's top general apologized for hearing in his church photo op. >>> the standoff in seattle. protesters taking over multiple city blocks, the police precinct boarded up, not an officer in sight the new threat to move the protesters out by force. >>> a video inspiring america. a whole neighborhood to come out to surprise an everyday hero. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening, everyone, an alarming rise in covid-19 cases, and hospitalizations in this country tonight rudely reminding us this virus is making its own rules, now having remarkably cl

outstanding health scientists at the china cdc. my predecessor established a people to people relationship with the china cdc that i perpetuated and dr. friedman perpetuated. we signed a memorandum of understanding, and every other year, we would visit each other's agencies. the cdc center leaders and i went to china. we helped inaugurate their new laboratories. we linked in an emergency operation center there to the various provinces in china. all of this came in the aftermath of sars, because china not want to be caught out unprepared on other emerging infectious diseases. during that time, scientific cooperation was as good as it gets between two countries that exchange the training, the collaborations, and it is shocking to me right now to see that change. i don't understand the precipitants of it, i don't understand the politics of it entirely, but i think it is a terrible loss. and it is that kind of science to science engagement that helps overcome some of the political differences that divide us and creates common ground tha

the cdc said no, we will have our own test. they wasted a month developing a test of their own. when they tested the test, it did not work and we wasted another month to figure out and fix the problems with the test. the virus is spreading, people were getting sick and dying. we still don't have the most robust testing that we need frankly to be successful. identifying where the virus is, the hotspots, isolating them is the key to reopening and allowing people to get back to work safely. testing is everything and contact tracing has to go with it. if you were diagnosed positive, we have got to know who are you in contact with so we can either isolate them or alert them so they are not spreading it or getting sick themselves. cdc has also unfortunately as a result, it was seen as the gold on earlyin the world detection of diseases or problems and unfortunately that reputation has been tarnished during this pandemic. one of our goals has to be not only to add more resources to cdc but to revamp it so it returns to the gold standard all americans could be proud of. sen. warner: i co

there the same scientists that were there when i was at cdc. these are the same scientists who were led through numerous investigations successfully. i don't think there his -- there has been a deterioration of the cdc capability. there are surrounds on issues you made reference to, but i also think the ability of our entire public health system to be able to respond to a crisis like this requires people keep their eye on the prize. back to something csis has been working on, that we operate in our prepared domain in flexion between crisis and complete and c. the cdc budget revs up with the emergency supplementals after a crisis like a flu pandemic or ebola. getsrelaxes and the mother -- money gets used for other purposes. the same long-term commitment to continuously improving and involving our preparedness is not something our country has ever accomplished. i think the cdc and the public health system pay a big price for that. we are seeing that play out now. theresident trump said was no pandemic playbook and he inherited a mess and we were n

and then those standards with respirators and ppe are in adequate and unused while the cdc and prevention can be useful and nonbinding and although osha says it uses the enforcement authority to protect workers its own data shows the majority of infections are conducted only after workers have died. osha has complaint infections less than 1 percent of those filed while the secretary of labor says it does not need an emergency because osha already has the tools that it needs to enforce guidelines but the embarrassing truth is osha has not issued a single citation under the general duty clause to enforce that guidance. not once. this crisis was clearly foreseeable and osha was warned it was clear after the swine flu in the texas disease standard was needed requiring employers and the workplace and from the beginning of the trump administration and that the standard was relegated to the longtime regulatory agenda where it languishes today january 1 and i joined the chairman on calling on osha to put the infectious disease standard back on the agenda we also urged osha to issue compliance and

the texas governor says after another set of cases he's canceling surgeries and at the cdc warns data now shows it's not just older people at risk. on thursday they expanded the list to include people that are pregnant meaning some 60% of adults in the u.s.>> this outbreak is not over, this pandemic is not over.>> the cdc today added three new symptoms for the coronavirus, those are congestion, runny nose, diarrhea and nausea, they say as you plan for the fourth of july holidays try to remember to keep gatherings small, make sure you have social distancing and wear a mask. >>> apple is closing more stores in areas where coronavirus cases are spiking, seven stores in the houston area and an additional 14 stores in florida will all be closed temporarily starting tomorrow. apple previously closed stores in five states seeing a rising cases, the company says it's taking this additional step out of an abundance of caution. >>> a growing number of states are now issuing mandatory mask orders that includes nevada and his las vegas casinos. the governor of nevada says the mask directive will

to quote the cdc's deputy director of infectious diseases, we're not out of the woods yet. about 800 americans died from covid-19 every day and the latest estimate says the american death toll from the virus could hit 140,000 people by the fourth of july. across america this morning, covid-19 cases are on the rise in 22 states and puerto rico. >> some people don't know that the coronavirus is not gone and they are treating like it's gone. >> reporter: as protesters continue to crowd together and president trump announces he's bringing back campaign rallies, the cdc has published new guidelines urging people to wear masks and saying the places with the highest risk are large in-person gatherings where attendees travel from outside the local area. >> you can open up and help the economy by getting jobs back and doing things like that but that doesn't mean that you walk around without a mask, that you jump into a crowd, that you stop washing your hands, that you stop doing the things that are important. >> reporter: dr. antc a possibl cases could reveal itself in the next few

according to the cdc, asymptomatic and presymptomatic spread are real. that's the most important thing. the difference between the two, presymptomatic spread means you felt fine. you had no symptoms, and you possibly were contagious and then you later developed symptoms. that's presymptomatic. asymptomatic spread means you never developed any symptoms. you never knew you were sick, but you were still passing the virus. and people might be thinking, well, how on earth can you prove asymptomatic spread? there's multiple models out there that have shown asymptomatic spread had to be a large player in how the pandemic rolled out. not only in china and europe but here as well, which is why the cdc estimates that much as 30% to 40% of cases spread by asymptomatic spreaders. bottom line, just because you're feeling fine or you have no symptoms doesn't mean you should let your guard down right now and i hear people saying that, you know what? we're okay, we all feel fine. that is not the case. >> i'm hearing that too. people have definitely relaxed a little bit a

overnight, a startling headline from the cdc. the number of total infections could really be 20 million, 10 times higher than reported. texas and arizona slam the brakes on re-opening as these alarming images emerge from overseas. packed beaches in the uk as they begin to re-open. doctors here at home sounding the alarm. new highs in hospitalizations. in california, florida, alabama and texas. a dire situation in houston at this hour. one of the nation's leading public health experts joins us live. >>> on the offensive, former vice president joe biden says president trump needs to face the reality of the pandemic. >> there are no miracles coming. he thinks that finding out that more americans are sick will make him look bad. >> the presumptive democratic nominee's strongest attack yet with just over four months until election day. >>> mask mutiny. americans across the country refusing to cover their faces despite evidence showing masks helps save lives. the crackdown down by governors, airlines, even on the las vegas strip. this m

and the new alert from the cdc. the staggering number of unreported cases. >>> the deepening divide over masks. more states now mandating them and the new projections showing the huge number of lives that could be saved in everyone covered up. >>> calls for justice, millions at the titions for a new investigation into the death of elijah mclean >>> in north carolina, three officers fired after their shocking comments were caught on camera. >>> in the race for president joe biden jumping ahead in six key battleground states, all won by president trump in 2016 >>> the alarming new unemployment numbers, with that extra $600 a week in benefits set to run out will the government keep it going? >>> the new rules when baseball takes the field once again >>> and they love you. after 100 days the long awaited sights in paris. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening, i'm savannah guthrie in for lester and we begin tonight in the hot zone texas, florida, california the three most populous sta

instead president trump pushes dangerous disproven drugs, stands in the way of the cdc issues guidelines on reopening. they had them, wanted to issue them, and he wouldn't let them. he refuses to wear a mask, basic tests of leadership. he scaled back meetings on the covid-19 task force. i guess there's not much to do. in spite of experts saying that testing and tracing is necessary for reopening, he sent his testing czar home. the money provided to the pentagon for sent medical supplies -- the money provided to the pentagon for essential medical supplies, only 15% has made it out the door. donald trump wants to style himself as a wartime president against this invisible enemy, the coronavirus, but unlike any other wartime leader, he takes no responsibility. he exercises no leadership. now he's just flat surrendering the fight, instead of leading the charge to defeat the virus, he just basically waved a white flag and has retreated. so eager to get to his campaign rallies, that he'll put people at risk as everyone has pointed out, in violation of the cdc guidelines that still warn against

and of course the cdc and oversees all of this. i spoke with the former acting director of the cdc about his thoughts for the race for a vaccine. >> one of the things that i'm excited about is how much energy and effort is going into looking at potential vaccines right now. there's no guarantee that we will ever have a vaccine against covid. there are a number of viral infections, hiv and dengue are two of them that scientists have been working for decades and we still don't have one. seeing the amount of effort that's going into this and the speed, the resources, gives me hope that we'll have a vaccine, but it's a long time between where we are now and early development and showing that a vaccine is safe to give to people and is effective. and so i want to make sure that people understand the importance of following public health measures now until the word comes down that we no longer need to. >> so that means masks and social distancing. and not going out at all if you're sick, even though everything is opening up again. now, rem

the cdc guidelines mirror the state measures that were put in place while the state was waiting for the federal government to act. it goes a step beyond the social distancing. >> san francisco retailers and other workplaces are preparing to reopen but not to business as usual. >> sanitizing every hour, sanitizing all the pens so there's no transform. >> masks are mandatory. hand washing, more cleaning and social distancing new norms. >> people are using the stairs, sometimes we do the stairs and clean the railings. >> there's worries about covid- 19 cases spiking. four construction sites were shut down due to covid-19 cases. two sites in san jose and one in millipedeis had 3 to 5 cases with another nine sites open. on friday the cdc posted the guidelines for how to approach reenteringo site. >> to make informed decisions on to go out and what precautions to take. >> use stairs not elevators, no elbow bumps or high fives. avoid waiting rooms and lobbies and cash payments. >> this whole situation has made us rethink the way we do things. >> now people should try to assess the risks of eve

we did pass legislation that requires the cdc to come forward with some of the demographic information, and the head of the cdc had to publicly apologize for the report, because it basically has no information. how damaging would it be if the united states had to lock down, have everyone stay-at-home, shut down the economy again? chairwoman bass: it would be very damaging, but again, over 100,000 people we have lost -- we need to do something extreme. here you have the united states, the richest country in the world, and we never got a handle on this in the beginning, which is why it is so bad. one of the things that happened in the obama administration was, we faced a potential pandemic with ebola. what did obama do? he mobilized the entire world and ebola didn't even spread in africa. the world health organization predicted a million people would die. 11,000 people died. people, theyllion have had 6000 people died. there is no reason except for the fact that this pandemic was handled inappropriately from the very beginning, it ballooned, and we've never been able to get control of it

and shoe cat of the cdc address a virtual meeting of the u.s. conference of mayors. they outlined the timeline of the coronavirus and spoke about vaccine development. this is 45 minutes. his considered one of the most trustworthy that a goal figures in the world. his rational accolades, achievements, and honors are wide. while he is not able to join us in person today, he's actually at the corona task force as we speak, i believe, he wanted to share a message with us. haveauci: i'm pleased to this opportunity to address the conference of mayors on this extremely important topic, namely covid-19. i'm going to give you an overview briefly and talk about the research response. you all know the history. itseems like years ago, but was just a few months ago that we had thrust upon us this new china,hat came out of likely, almost certainly, from bat to apecies from a human, leading to an outbreak first recognized in a wet market in wuhan. the chinese recognized the strain and reported it on january 9, loading the sequence on a database for us to look at on the 10th of janu

the cdc now warning that pregnant women may have a higher risk. ly she received a plasma treatment at memorial herman hospital that may have helped . the virus is spreading fast throughout this state, infecting 18 members of the barbosa family in north texas after they attended a surprise birthday party. >> my dad's hanging on by a thread. they're in there by themselves with no family. it's just heartbreaking. >> reporter: for the rodriguez family outside of houston, no one has to tell them how deadly this virus is. three members dying in ten days. >> i was doing everything i could to keep my parents, my father, alive. and it just -- it wasn't enough. >> reporter: in houston, even helicopters are being used to transport covid-19 patients that are critically ill. this life flight chopper sterilized with a robotic u.v. device. the staff onboard telling us about these difficult missions. >> patients that we are transporting are some of the sickest of the sick covid patients that are out there. these patients are on ventilators. they've been paralyzed