weijia jiang, white hou correspondent for cbs news.usan page, washington bureau chief for "usa today." and philip rucker white house bureau chief for "the washington post." let's begin tonight. the president and the stateho one snapsin michigan where democratic governor gretchen hit me has faced intensecriticr ending her restrictions until m 28th. and president trump said "she should give a little." in maryland larry hogan told me in a "waington post" liv interview on thursday that he fierce the federal government could try to seize the 500,000 coronavirus tests his state secured from south korea. and he treated them like treasure when they landed at b.w.i. airport. >> it was like fort knockso us because it was going to save thousands of lives. >> is the nationalar guin maryland still protecting those tests? >> they are. the unanimous grd and the state police a both guarding them at anndclosed location. robert: amid the reopening plans and the protests and thelarm about testing, federal officials have warned governors to not got too fa

cbs' weijia jiang is at the white house tonight. ia. >> reporter: norah, sources at ford tell cbs news officials did everything they could to get president trump to wear a mask for the president trump to wear a mask, which he actually did for a portion of the tour, captured by somebody who was there, as you see, in this photo. the visit quickly took a political turn-- no surprise, since michigan is a critical battleground state that will play a key role in the president's re-election campaign. president trump flaunted a face mask to show he had the option of wearing one. >> i think i looked better in the mask. i really did. >> reporter: and explained why he chose not to put it on, even though ford's company policy is for everyone to do so. >> i had one on before. i wore one in this back area. but i didn't want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it. >> reporter: michigan's attorney general said it's also the state law. >> if he fails to wear a mask, he's going to be asked not to return to any enclosed facilities inside our state

norah. >> o'donnell: weijia jiang, thank you.ight, there's more encouraging news in the development of two experimental vaccines for covid-19. both have hit important milestones. cbs' charlie d'agata continues our series "racing to a cure." >> reporter: two front-runners in the hunt for the vaccine both reporting great strides tonight. the u.s.-backed oxford university project announced it's rapidly expanding human testing. the plan: vaccinate 10,260 people across britain, including children age 5-12, volunteers over 70, and front-line healthcare workers. >> the really critical question, eople., is whether the vaccine protects people. and, of course, we can only address that question once enough cases have occurred in the clinical trial. >> reporter: here's how it works: genetic material from the ecronavirus is injected into a weakened version of the common cold virus. the modified virus mimics covid- 19, kickstarting the immune system to attack if the real covid enters the body. from the original epicenter, china, scientists usi

who were on the beat weijia jiang, white house correspondent for cbs news. jonathan lemire, white house reporter for the associated press. abby phillip, political correspondent for cnn. and jake sherman, senior writer for politico, and co-author of "playbook." weijia you're at the white house tonight. you're talking to sources inside the west wing. looking at that testimony from dr. bright and dr. fauci, is the president listening or is he sidelining experts? weijia: it's greato be with you and i can tell you this really was a one-two punch for president trump because you hav top health experts undermining his argument that the country is ready to reopen, an argument that he took a step further just today, saying that withr without a vaccine, we are back. and because the president does not offer scientific data to support his side of this argument, he turns to attacking dr. fauci and bright, so we heard him say that fauci iso trying t play both sides here and that bright is just a disgruntled employee who shouldn't be working for the government at all. an so

last month, trump went after chinese-american reporter weijia jiang after she questioned him about his failure to warn americans about the virus in february as he held packed political rallies. he told her at the time to just relax and "keep your voice down." trump also falsely claimed at at his monday news briefing that anyone who wants a test can get one. pressed by a reporter, health and human services official admiral brett giroir later clarified "anybody who needs a test can get one," specifying this covered people with covid-19 symptoms or who were knowingly exposed to the virus. at the briefing, trump was standing in front of a banner that read "america leads the world in testing." meanwhile, "the washington post" reports a planned visit to a pennsylvania factory producing personal protective equipment was scuttled last week after officials at the braskem factory expressed concerns for the health of its workers. trump has refused to wear face masks while out in public. last week he toured a honeywell plant in arizona without a mask, ignoring a sign ordering everyone inside to we

cbs' weijia jiang leads off our coverage. weijia? >> reporter: all day the president stood by his decision to take hydroxychloroquine and even called on cabinet members during that meeting to back him up as he slammed research that shows the drug may not have a positive impact as a treatment. all of the drama over the drug is unfolding as the administration scrambles to salvage the economy. no masks required for farmers and cabinet members who met with president trump at the white house. and on capitol hill -- >> we had a great meeting. >> reporter: after a lunch meeting with senate republicans, the president defended his use of hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic saying he would use it for a little while longer. the fda warns against taking it outside of a hospital or clinic. >> i think it gives you an additional level of safety. but you can ask many doctors are in favor of it, many frontline workers won't go there unless they have the hydroxy. and so again, this is an individual decision to make. >> reporter: the white house docto

cbs' weijia jiang is at the white house tonight. weijia.h, second ladyrah, second lady karen pence says vice president pence did not know it is the to wear ac's policy to wear a mask until after he left the facility on tuesday, even though the clinic says he knew beforehand. beforehand. e president did president did not talk about the controversy, but his s statement. today, vice president mike pence mifered an apparent mea culpa in the form of a face mask. he wore one while visiting a ventilator production line in indiana after receiving backlash earlier this week for not eek for notmask at the mayo sporting a mask at the mayo clinic. clinic. in washington... >> i'm in charge. >> reporter: ...president trump took ownership of "operation warp speed," the administration's ambitious effort to make 300 million doses of coronavirus vaccines available by the end of the year. >> no, i'm not over-promising. we're going to fast track it like you've never seen before. >> reporter: instead of waiting for one vaccine to emerge as a success, health off

we begin tonight with cbs' weijia jiang, who leads us off white house.house. weijia?reporter: norah, president trump acactually stopped talking about hydroxychloroquine publicly in recent weeks as the f.d.a. and other studies revealed a possible risk, but that did not stop him from taking it, which he says was his own idea that the white house doctor agreed to. president trump's revelation that he's taking the controversial drug hydroxychloroquine comes as top health officials warn of its potential danger. the president said he consulted with his doctor at the white house. >> i asked him, "what do you think?" he said, "well, if you'd like it." i said, yeah, i'd like to take it. a lot of people are. so i'm taking two, the zinc and e e hydroxy. all i can tell you is so far i oem to be okay. >> reporter: the f.d.a. has warned patients not to take hydroxychloroquine outside of a hospital and not to take it to prevent disease as it can cause heart rhythm problems. dr. william schaffner is an infectious disease specialist. >> there is no real indication, no evidence base fo

cbs' weijia jiang is traveling with the president in phoenix. ijia. >> reporter: norah, rick bright's complaint lays out in detail just how devastating he predicted the coronavirus would be and how he tried to get his superiors to listen. tonight, president trump is not addressing the bombshell report, focusing instead on reopening the country. an his first big trip in over a month, president trump ditched social distancing guidelines to greet the governor of arizona, doug ducey, and later toured a mask production line without cto complain about a shortage of testing and protective equipment, the vice president's acknowledgment that the coronavirus task force will be wound down is raising questions. top health adviser anthony fauci told cbs news he was unaware of the plans. >> mike pence and the task force have done a great job. but we're now looking at a little bit of a different form. >> reporter: in a new whistleblower complaint, rick bright, who was ousted from his job leading the administration's efforts to find a vaccine, hiaims he warned t

cbs' weijia jiang joins us now from the white house. weijia?reporter: norah, cbs news has learned through an administratiff some c.d.c. staffers worry their science is being squashed for the sake of reopening, and they are frustrated because they say president trump, not medical experts, has colf pu messaging. for president trump, the time to ryopen the country for business is now. >> we're going to open up very big. we're going to open up-- i call it "transition to greatness." >> reporter: but new c.d.c. guidelines for reopening places like restaurants, camps and schools are far more detailed than the white house believes is necessary. they were shelved for weeks. instead, the administration issued single-page memos with very simple recommendations. on schools, other the memo suggested only having a plan for if students or employees get sick. but the latest c.d.c. guidelines go much further, saying if a person in a school building ousts positive, schools should consider closing for 1-2 days to clean and disinfect the building. democrats argue

yamiche, weijia jiang, susan we will be taking you as close to the news as we can.his discussion will continue on the "washington week" extra. find it on our website or our social media. but for now, i'm robert costa. good night from washington. [captioning performed by the utnational captioning inst which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.visit ncicap.org] ♪ announcer: corporate funding for ashington week" is provided by an d a new direction. fidelity is here to help you work through the unexpected. with financial planning and advice for today and tomorrow. ♪ >> kaiser permanente. additional funding is provided by the estate of arnold adams and koo and patricia yuen, commitd to bridging cultural differences in our communities, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs stationm f viewers like you. thank you. nathan masters: at midnight on january 17, 1920, the manufacture, sell, and transportation of intoxicating liquors became illegal across the united states. durose dry and trying years of prohibition, how did angel

weijia jiang, jonathan lemire,ll abby p and jake sherman, really appreciate it. thank you all for joining us. we will take you as close to the news as we can and on the "extra," we'll dig in more to 2020. you can find it on our social medi or website.ro good night washington. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsibn f its captntent and accuracy. visit ncicap.org.] >> corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> life isn'tin a straight l and sometimes you can find yourself heading in a new direction. fidelity is here to help you work through the unexpected with financial planng and advice for today,nd tomorrow. >> kaiser permanente.un additionalng is provided by the estate of arnold adams and koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation, committed toriing cultural differences in our communities. the corporation for public broadcasting and bs contributio your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. nathan masters: once upon a time, the cosmic stage washe smaller.un, the planets-- the entire univee--a

weijia jiang attempted to press the president on why he would make that comment to her specifically.competition to you if every day americans are still losing their lives and we are still seeing more cases every day? well, they are losing their lives everywhere around the world and maybe that's a question you should ask china. don't ask me, ask china that question, ok? when you ask them that question you may get a very unusual answer. yes, behind you, please. sir, why are you saying that to me specifically? i'm not saying it specifically to anybody. i'm saying to anybody that asks a nasty question. that's not a nasty question. please go ahead. ok, anybody else? please, go ahead. it's ok. next, next please. you called on me. i did and you did not respond and now i'm calling on the young lady in the back, please. ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much, appreciate it. thank you very much. so there you have it. katty kay is here again. what has the reaction been to that? this was meant to all be about testing and testing capacity and it was that last one minute of the briefing where t

weijia jiang was asking the president about the numbers of people tested here in the u.s.nd the exchange got testy and at one point the president said why don't you go ask china. many, many people taking issue with that. is mei lee still with us? are you with us? >> i'm so sorry. i thought we were going to listen to the sound unfold. i actually watched this live in my reaction was i have to say it was pretty visceral. it was an attack against her because of her ethnicity. she is chinese and raised here in the u.s. she proudly said she's chinese born west virginian. the beauty of the combination but being from asia and american which we want to protect saying we are all part of americans and we are all americans regardless of where we came from and so president trump kind of attacking her because of her ethnicity is saying why did you ask china. she pushed back and she said why are you asking me that question. why are you saying that specifically to me. she knew exactly what she was trying to say. she is a smart woman. we thought the president had toned down his rhetoric af

weijia jiang is at the white house. good morning. what does the president have to say?orning, tony and to everybody. president trump continues to push the country to quickly bounce back and says he does not consider that happening without reopening schools. claiming the virus has had very little impact on young people but you're right. his own top health experts disagree. >> he wants to play all sides of the equation. >> president trump pushed back against the warning dr. anthony fauci delivered at a senate hearing the day before. >> there is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you may not be able to control. we don't know everything about this virus, and we better be very careful, particularly when it comes to children. >> i was surprised by his answer actually because, you know, it's just -- to me, it's not an acceptable answer when it comes to schools. >> reporter: but a new cbs news poll finds most americans trust dr. fauci, though his unfavorable rating among conservatives has increased since april. >> the country needs guidance from the nation's bes

weijia jiang reports from the white house. >> our window of opportunity is closing. >> reporter: dr.ick bright issued a stark warning if the administration doesn't step up its response to covid-19. >> 2020 could be the darkest winter in modern history. >> reporter: bright told lawmakers the federal government's response has already failed to protect some americans. >> lives are in danger. i believe lives were lost. >> reporter: and he said early signs of drug and gear shortages were ignored. >> i'll never forget the emails i received indicating that we are -- our mask supply or n95 mask supply was decimated. and he said, we're in deep [ bleep ]. i pushed that forward to the highest levels i could in hhs. i got noresponse. >> reporter: president trump dismissed bright's accusations. >> i watched him. he looks like an angry, disgruntled employee who, frankly, according to some people, didn't do a very good job. >> reporter: and suggested that a vaccine was not far away. >> i think we're going to have a vaccine by the end of the year. >> reporter: but bright said that was overly optimis

weijia jiang is at the white house. how close is this to the president?> well, good morning, anthony. last night we learned of another possible close brush president trump had with the coronavirus. the head of the national guard tested positive on saturday afternoon just before a meeting with the president and other military officials. the general was reportedly forced to skip the gathering, though later a second test came up negative. he was not the first person close to the president at some point to test positive. at least two west wing staffers have tested positive for the virus, including the vice president's press contact katie miller whose husband is stephen miller, one of president trump's closest advisers. three members of the coronavirus task force are taking new protective measures since miller is also in charge of communications for the group and was often in close contact. dr. anthony fauci, cdc director dr. robert redfield and fda commissioner stephen hahn have gone into quarantine. but neither the president nor the vice president are self-i

weijia jiang, what message was the president trying to send?tony and to everybody. president trump made clear university that he is eager to restart the economy and announced billions of dollars are headed to states to help meet testing nieds and while the president repeatedly said the u.s. leads the world in coronavirus testing, he caused some confusion over who can get those tests. >> there's nobody close to us in the world and we certainly have done a great job on testing. >> reporter: president trump praised his administration's efforts to provide coronavirus testing throughout the country. one of his top health experts said the u.s. currently has the capacity to conduct 3 million tests per week, but some experts say the u.s. needs to perform at minimum more than 6 million per week. the president claimed widespread testing is already available. >> as far as americans getting a test they should all be able to get a test right now. >> but just moments after admiral brett jerwa corrected that. >> anybody who needs a test can get a test in amer

had this weird, racist response to a cbs reporter, weijia jiang. "ask china," looking straight at her. she was like, "what is wrong with you, seriously? why would you say that?" he said it in a leering, ugly, nasty way. he accused her of being nasty. kaitlin collins tried to ask her question, and he literally left and retreated back into the white house. he seemed to crumble under it all. he didn't like the way it was going, so he stormed off. i mean, he focuses on women reporters a lot. >> he really does. >> these women are great reporters. they're strong. they're fine. the question is, what's going on with him? >> yeah. >> we're talking about lives. >> it's not good. >> there's suffering, and there's death across the country. the president seems so consumed with how women, apparently, frame how he looks to the american public. he seems to sort of lose it in real time. >> boy. >> it's very disturbing. it's freaking nuts. >> he sure looked weak. also, of course -- >> really weird. >> -- what a racist response to a cbs reporter. i think she's from w