yamiche alcindor, white house correspondent for "the pbs newshour." peter baker, cef white house compor "the new york times," "face the nation" and cbs news senior foreign affairs correspondent and white house reporter for "the washington post." presidentrump's initial response sparked criticism for inflaming racial tensions. he tweeted inha partt the protesters are, quote, thugs, and said he told minnesota's governor, tim walz, a democrat that if there is any dficulty we will assume control and, quote, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. twitter flagged the president's comments for glorifying violence. meanwhile, t presumptive democratic presidential nominee joe biden said this today. >> the origisinal n of this country still stains ouration today. we are a country with an open wound. and none of us can turn away. one of us can be silent. noneus can any longer can we hear the words "i can't breathe." and do nothing. robert: yamiche, you saw the split screen. what is the political dimension to those responses? >> it was quite a scritee slyn.

yamiche alcindor for pbs newshour. alexander, white house correspondent for us here at nbc news, and anna palmer, correspondent for politico and co-author of politico's playbook. well, peter, i assumed i would have been starting with a tweet from the president this morning responding to president obama. that hasn't happened yet. let's play a little bit of president obama not so subtly taking a dig at the pandemic response from national leadership. >> more than anything, this pandemic has fully finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they're doing. a lot of them aren't even pretending to be in charge. if the world's going to get better, it's going to be up to you. >> peter, i assume this becomes something that's a bit of a -- a bit of an attention seeker for the president today. >> well, we have seen it over the course of the last several days from president trump attacking his predecessor, barack obama, what he calls obamagate, this weekend, he's at camp david meeting wit

us is action political correspondent jonathan swan, from the washington post ann gare n and yamiche alcindor. ann and yamiche are msnbc political contributors. thank you for being here tonight. >>> ann garren, i want to start with you because you have a new story in the washington post that walks through what we're grappling with here, we grappled with the incredibly grim milestones. and you point out some of the things that president trump has been doing through this memorial day weekend. i think we have an excerpt from your story we can put up on the screen. but could you just walk us through for contrast what this president has been doing over this weekend? >> sure. well, kasie, i think what we were trying to do here is just point out that the president has made choices this weekend about the use of his time which really is the president's most precious resource, and what he chose to do really had very little to do, if anything to do, with memorial day. and also not a lot to do with the pandemic that is affecting so, so many americans. he played golf two days in a row which is the first t

william brangham will talk with the former medical director of new york's prisons, but first, yamiche alcindor brings us some voices from prisoners and their families. >> alcindor: there have been dozens cases of covid-ide the district of columbia jail. >> he tells me that people catch it like it's water. >> alcindor: the situation became so dire that, in april, a emergency overhaule jail's health measures. cykeithia staley's partner, william cox, is being held in the d.c. jail on a weapons possessi charge. >> people have corona. instead of them sending people home or sending them to a doctor, all they doing ise quarantine peo the cell for a long period of time. and that's not safe because the cells are dirty. people have died from it on the same unit, same floors that he's on.ik he feelsit's easy for him to get it. a indor: right now, more than two million americans are coronavirus outbreak deepens. many prison systems have ended in-person visits for loved ones. inmates say there's little they can do to avoid catching the virus. brian asey is serving a life sentence for kidnapping and rape so

white house correspondent yamiche alcindor begins our coverage. >> alcindo one in every six americans is now jobless.er last week, ano.8 million filed for unemployment. that means in the last six weeks, more than 30 million people lost their jobs but at the white house, president trump held out hope for bett times to come. >> i will say i think next year is going to be a spectacular year in terms of growth, in terms of bringing our country back. i think we're going to have a really good year. >> alcindor: the president spoke at a sit-down meeting with phile murphy, ey's democratic governor. murphy made his pitch for federal aid to help statesope. he said new jersey alone could need $20 to $30 billion. >> we don't see it as out, we see this as a partnership, doing the right thing in what is isthe worst health care crn the history of our nation. >> alcindor: todayhouse speaker nancy pelosi said thatal told, states could need $1 trillion in aid, over the next few years. the mounting economic losses are pressuring officials to lift restrictions on certain parts of the economy. and today,

yamiche alcindor begins our coverage. >> alcindor: a night full of nationwide protests, amid a pandemicom new york city.... to columbus, ohio. and los angele for the third straig day, throngs of people took to the streets, outraged by the death of george floyd. on monday, minneapolis police arrested floyd, who was black. while detaining him, a white officer kept his knee on floyd's neck. floyd could be heard saying "i can't breathe." >> i can't breathe! >> alcindor: floyd was later taken to the hospital and died. the four officers have been fired. e officer who had his knee on floyd's neck, derek chauvin,as today taken into police custody. the county attorney mike freeman spoke this afternoon. >> he has been charged with third degree murder. we are in the process of continuing to review the evidence, there may be subsequent charges later. we entrust our police officers to use certain amounts of force to do their job, to protect us. they commit a criminal act if they use this force unreasonably. >> alcindo floyd's family issued a statement calling for even broader action: they said: "we

now, video of the incident has emerge yamiche alcindor has our report. >> alcindor: a graphic video.hocking shooting. and many unanswered questions. this cell phone footage is beliareved to show ahmaury jogging in a south georgia neighborhood before comingen upon twon a truck. the 25-year old tries to get around them. and then... >> alcindor: the video, released yesterday, has brought national attention to the incident,h whok place back on february 23. some believe this is yet another example of an unarmed black person shot and killed unfairly. charges were not initially brought against the two men, gregory mcmichael and his son travis. but, after the videoor release, a a prosecutor announced he plans to call a grand jury. >> he was a happy-go-l person. he loved his family. >> alcindor: wanda cooper is arbery's mother. said the process hen tooy, she long. >> a lot of time has passed, and pli'm ready to get these p who are responsible, you know, in jail. >> alcindor: gregory mcmichael told poliche thought arbery looked like a suspect in a nearby burary. he said he and his son followed

that, despite african americans making up only about 13% of the popu yamiche alcindor has this report on how these disparities are playing out in communities on the ground. j >> theret this huge weight that lays around my shoulders. c >> alcinra bates chamberlain is seeing up close the devastating impact of covid-19. the virus has torn through her family. >> my grandmother, my father, my cousin and my aunt, they're l hospitalized. >> alcindor: at hospitals across icago, they've all been on ventilators. >> i've never told my dad i love him so much. and i don't think we've ever told each other that we love each other this much. >> alcindor: glenn harston ii is mourning his aunt, margaret jones. after two weeks in the hospital, her kidneys and liver shut down. her family wasn't able to visit her. >> we don't know what the final we-- from the time that she entered the hospital, we never saw her again.r ned a conversation with her again. >> alcindor: he now fears 15 of his family members may have the rus. i still don't know the exact number. you know, a lot of relativesn' weable to get tes

for the pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor. >> nawaz: let's get the view of a leading voice from themunity. city councilwoman andrea jenkins is the vice president of the council. she represents the area where george floyd was arrested. she joins us now. councilwoman jenkins, welcome to the "newshour" and thank you for being with us. i want to begin with what you just heard from mayor fry. he was unequivocal. earlier today he said the officer needs to be charged. do you agree with him? >> amna, yes, i absolutely agree with mayor fry in his call for charges to be filed against the officer involved, and i am calling for all of the officers involved to be investigated. you know, as th the mayor said,f you or i had stood by in the commission of a crime, then we would be charged as accomplices. so it was clear to me what we witnessed in that video was a crime, and it was not only a crime against george floyd, although he suffered the most deep injustice, but, in my mind, i felt like -- it was a symbol for a knee on the neck of black america. you know, the president has loosened the restric

white house correspondent yamiche alcindor reports. >> alcindor: washington remains under lockdown. but today, president trump was out and about. he visited the u.s. capitol-- without wearing a mask-- to meet with republican senators. he also defended taking daily doses of hydroxychloroquine. the drug has potentially dangerouside effects, and it is unproven against covid-19. but president trump dismissed warnings that his actions send a dangerous message. >> i think it gives u 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. so again, this is an individual decision to make. >> alcindor: later, at a cabinet meeting, he spoke again. >> alcindor: the president also announced that he would gn an executive order directing government agencies to identify any regulations that can be temporarily waived to help reopen the economy and promote growth. republican senator rick scott of florida: >> if it's to help small businesses that don't have access to capital, i want to be helpful for them. b

yamiche alcindor begins our coverage. >> alcindor: as businesses across the country prepare for gradual reopenings, the number of americans filing for unemployment appears to be leveling off. the labor department said 2.4 million americans filed claims this past week. that is a drastic drop from the surge seen late in march. but those numbers are still sky high. and the toll covid-19 is having on the economy overall remains vast: more than 38 million rkers sought jobless benefits in the past nine weeks. today before he left for a trip to michigan, president trump said the country would soon be on the path to recovery. >> the numbers are going to be very good into the future. we're going to be very good starting with our transition period, which will be probably june, june or july. he was on the defensive after the release of a colbia university model that estimated nearly 36,000 deaths could have been preventedad social distancing policies been enforced one week early. >> i was way early. columbia's an institutio that's very liberal. i think it's just a political hit job, you want to kn

yamiche alcindor begins our coverage tonight with a report on the latest. then, amna nawaz speaks with a community leader from the twin cities. this reporting is part of our ongoing series, "race matters." >> alcindor: violent protests. a community reeling. and a case that continues to capture the nation. minneapolis in daylight... smoke, still billowing from burnt out buildings... debris scattered on the ground... for a second night, demonstrations broke out over the death of george floyd. and again, there was violence; amid the chaos, one man was shot dead. this afternoon the national guard activate in responsed to unrest. the city has been on edge, when a minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for some eight minutes. floyd, a black man, had no pulse by the time he was loaded into an ambulance. the 46-year-old later died at a nearby hospital. mayor jacob frey has called for the national guard. today, he acknowledged the city's pain: >> last night is the result of so much built up anger and sadness. anger and sadness that has been ingrained in our

white house correspondent yamiche alcindor begins, with this report. >> the subcommittee on health will now come to order. >> reporter: today on capitol hill, a top scientist and whistleblower... >> top scientist andy on capitol whistle blower. >> some scientists raig d early warngnals that were overlooked. pages of our pandemic playbook were ignored. >> alcindor: dr. rick bright is a government expert on viruses who was working to combat covid- 19. he alleges that federal officials withheld information in the early months of the coronavirus outbreak. >> we did not forewarn people, we did not train pt ple, we did ucate them on social distancing and wearing a mask as we should have in january and february. all of those forewarnings, all of those educational opportunities for thamerican public could have an impact on further slowing this outbreak and saving more lives. >> alcindor: bright says he raised concerns about an unproven coronavirus treatment, hydroxychloroquine, touted by president trump. he also claims, in retaliation, he was pushed out his job as the director of the biomedical

ho for the pbs ne, i'm yamiche alcindor. >> woodruff: you can follow the supreme court oral arguments on our website at pbs.orgewshour. >> woodruff: the war of words between beijing and washington gets more aggressive bthe day. now, the trump white house is boosting theory that says the coronavirus was accidentally released from a lab in wuhan, where the outbreak began. here's nick schifrin on the tense international politics of the pandemic. >> schifrin: judy, that war of words accelerated yesterday with both the secretary of state and president trump laying blame for the pandemic on china, and on here's mr. trump at a fox news townhall last night suggesting it was accidentally released by the lab. ed in my opinion they made a mistake, they to cover it, they tried to put it out, it's like a fire. o it's realllike tryingt out a fire. they couldn't put out the fire. what the really treated the world badly on, they stopped people going into china, but ey didn't stop people going into the u.s.a. and all over the world. >> schifrin: so ishe trump administration right to point the finger a

white house correspondent for pbs news hour, yamiche alcindor. he is the moderator of "washington week" on pbs. the united states went from one death to 100,000 in just a few months' time. with what "usa today" called the fastest killer in u.s. history. while the pace of death has slowed, the united states leads the world by far. more than double the number of deaths in the united kingdom, which is ranked number two. president trump did not take questions from reporters in the hours after the milestone was hit, but the white house did release a statement through a deputy press secretary, saying the president's prayers are with those who are grieving. as the "washington post" notes, president trump has spent his life enthralled with numbers. his wealth, his ratings, his polls, even during the deadly coronavirus pandemic, he's remained fixated on metrics, peppering aides about infection statistics, favoring rosy projections, and obsessing over the gyrating stock market. as the nation reached a bleak milestone this week, 100,000 americans dead from

yamiche alcindor for pbs newshour.eter alexander, white house correspondent for us here at nbc news, and anna palmer, senior washington correspondent for politico and coauthor of politico's playbook. well, peter, i assumed i would have been starting with a tweet from the president this morning responding to president obama. that hasn't happened yet. let's play a little bit of president obama not so subtly taking a dig at the pandemic response from national leadership. >> more than anything, this pandemic has fully finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they're doing. a lot of them aren't even pretending to be in charge. if the world's going to get better, it's going to be up to you. >> peter, i assume this becomes something that's a bit of a -- a bit of an attention seeker for the president today. >> well, we have seen it over the course of the last several days from president trump attacking his predecessor, barack obama, what he calls obamagate. this weekend he's at ca

joining me now yamiche alcindor. guess, yamiche, you and i really try hard not to make the story about us, but there has been criticism and there always is criticism and maybe there should be criticism about the way the media handles allegations like this. what in your thinking is the role that the media should play when things like this happen? >> the role we should play is to investigate and to really deeply look at each allegation any woman makes. i think it's the responsibility of journalists to try to get to the truth, try to get to the bottom of that. we've now seen multiple reports on tara reade's allegation. i think i suspect he's going to have have to answer questions about this because that's part of the era of me too, you're going to have to continue to defend yourself especially if you're speak in the office of the presidency. so apart from tara reade, there are other women who said joe biden made them feel uncomfortb. we should report those facts. the tough thing, of course, is joe biden is up against pre

yamiche alcindor takes a closer look. >> alcindor: some see the firings as a threat to the independent government watchdogs. the president says many of the people he removed were too partisan. the most recent firing comes after the president removed or replaced inspectors general for the intelligence community, the defense department and the department of health and human services. joining me to talk about the role of inspectors general is joel brenner. he was an i.g. for the national security agency under president george w. bush. and, from 2006 to 2009, he was the head of u.s. counterintelligence under the director of national intelligence. he also serv under president obama. thank you for being here. i want to first play what president trump had to say at the white house when he was talking about the state department ig and talking about the fact that of course he was fired after there were reports that surfaced that he was looking into an arms trading deal with saudi arabia as well as serving state mike pompeo's personal conduct. here is what he said. >> i don't know him at all. i

and thanks to carol lee and yamiche alcindor. and, of course, charlie sykes. >>> coming up next -- it's the start of summer but not the start of summer as we know it. how beach towns and businesses alike are preparing for memorial day weekend. >>> plus, our national guard has been put on the frontlines against the fight against covid-19 since the beginning. but now some of their benefits are in question. more on that coming up later this hour. stay with us, you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. of an outdoor grill indo ors, and because it's a ninja foodi, it can do even more, like transform into an air fryer. the ninja foodi grill, the grill that sears, sizzles, and air fry crisps. you should be mad your neighbor always wants to hang out. and you should be mad your smart fridge is unnecessarily complicated. make ice. making ice. but you're not mad because you have e*trade which isn't complicated. their tools make trading quicker and simpler so you can take on the markets with confidence. don't get mad get e*trade an

. >> alcindor: for the pbs newsho, i'm yamiche alcindor. oo >>uff: one of the best ways to prevent spreading coronavirus is hand washing. but, in some places-- like flint, michigan-- that is not a simple task. flint-- which is majority african american and largely naor-- is still reeling from the 2014 water contaon crisis, and now it's grappling with a new public health emer john yang is back, speaking with the ctor who helped expose t water cris about how this pandemic is hitting the city. >> yang: judy, in flint, michigan, the conavirus pandemic isn't the only health problem the folks there are dealing with right now. it com on top of the ongoing issue of elevated lead levels in the drinng water, a problem at marked its sixth anniversary recently. flint pediatrician dr. mona hanna-attisha was one of the earliest to sound the alm about the water problem. she joins us by skype from her home. dr. mona hanna-attisha, thanks so much for joining us. and i should note, one reason why you are at home and not seeing patients right now is- that you havu have recovered from coronavirus. how are you f

yamiche alcindor begins there. >> alcindor: today, the supreme cot was in session, but you could hardly tell by the relative quiet outside the courthouse. instead, it was e voice of chief justice john roberts that kicked off today's oralme ars, over the phone. >> case number 19-46, patent and trademark office versus booking.com. ms. ross? chief justice, and may please the court. the supreme court.a first for justices normally hear arguments in a case together, and in person. the socially distanced justices, four of them in their 70s or 80s, took turns quesing attorneys over the phone. the arguments theyeard today had been rescheduled because of the pandemic. and, there were the occasional glites: for a few seconds, b audio rendered justice stephen >> thank you, counr: justice breyer?ou >> thank >> alcindor: but any issues were minor, in an argument that also included questions from justice clarence thoma >> thank you, counsel.as? >> yes, ms. ross. >> alcindor: it was just his third time posing questions at degument, over at least a dea trademarsek , inlving the also this month: cases ab

people nationwide, including, now, some in the whi house.in we bith white house correspondent yamiche alcindor, and the day's developments. >> alcindor: in muche country, the push to re-open is gaining steam. >> right now i have 100% of an empty dining room,loo if you me 50%, we're cool with it. >> alcindor: just as the white house's top scientists advising president trump are being forced into self-isolation. three white house g ficials leade nation's pandemic response are all sequestered: dr. anthony fai, the nation's top infectious disease expert; dr. robert redfield, director of ntthe centers for disease l and prevention; and dr. stephen hahn, the commissioner of the food and drug administration. they are doing so after coming into contact with key ite house staffers who tested positive. today, the white house directed alwest wing staff to wear masks at all times in th building, except when they are at their own desks. president trump weighed in today, at a briefing in the rose garden. we have a lot of people schooling in and out, many of those people, most of those people are tested depen

as yamiche alcindor reports, the case drew widespread public attention after a video of the shooting was released on the internet earlier this week. >> alcindor: since then, judy, e nation has become familiar with this name: ahmaud arbery. he was a 25-year-old black man chased and killed by two white men while he jogged in a georgia neighborhood on february 23rd. the two men, gregory mcmichael and travis mcmichael, said they pursued him because they believed he looked like a suspect in recent burglaries. arbery was unarmed. the video, shot from behind, seems to show that arbery was trying to go around their truck. they then confronted him and later shot him. they told police he attacked them as they were trying to hold him and wait for police. his father, marcus arbery, and his attorney, benjamin crump, join me now. thank you so much for being here, both of you. mr. arbery, ahmaud was your baby son, the youngest, he was an athlete. he liked to run. tell me how often he ran the route in that georgia neighborhood and whether he had any reason to fear for his life. >> he ran all the tim

yamiche alcindor reports on the controversy that has erupted when the president's words aren't based on facts. >> alcindor: an angry president. a murder conspiracy theory. and a pained family. today, it's a letter from a widower that is calling attention to president trump's open embrace of false theories. last week, timothy klausutis wrote to the c.e.o. of twitter, urging him to delete tweets by president trump that suggested his wife, lori, was murdered. in the letter, obtained by the "new york times," klausutis says that "conspiracy theorists, including most recently the president of the united states, continue to spread their bile and misinformation on the platform, disparaging the memory of" his wife. lori klausutis died in 2001. president trump has repeatedly spread the baseless idea that her former boss, current cable news host joe scarborough, might have had something to do with her death. late todayt the white house, the president doubled down. >> you know, it's a very suspicious thing. and, i hope somebody gets to the bottom of it. >> alcindor: today, scarborough, who has b

joining our conversation, pbs news hour, white house correspondent yamiche alcindor and dr. rom columbia university. lucky for us both are msnbc contributor. yamiche, i said this behind your back and i'll say it to your face. you were having a moment, my friend, asking the questions that everybody wants answered. i'll ask you to start where you think our tensions should be this hour. what is on this president's agenda today? where seattis the gap between t milestone that is a gut punch, and where does his attention seem to be? >> i think today we have this incredible split screen where we have america mourning the loss of more than 100,000 americans dying from the coronavirus, and we have a president who's focused on settling scores and lashing out on twitter because they've started to fact check his tweets and are doing what a lot of people have been urging them to do which is really telling people that the president at times and often frequently on twitter is spreading information that is wrong or untruthful. i think what's important to note is that this comes after the pre

. >> maria hinojosa, rashad robinson, yamiche alcindor, and basil smikle, thank you for being with uswe take a look at more of these images. new york city on the left. you saw someone being carried to the curb who may have been overcome by tear gas or something similar. that's been part of the narrative of the entire night, not just the protesters but the press as well. msnbc's ali velshi and morgan chesky in minneapolis were caught up in some of that same gas as minnesota state patrol officers and national guardsmen pushed and pushed and pushed to get crowds away from the fifth precinct and kind of split them up as they were making their way north, kind of in the direction of downtown minneapolis. we also saw in los angeles tremendous challenges in trying to keep order, including a few moments where the police were pushed back by some of the protesters. that may get more intense as the night goes on. we know that l.a.'s mayor, eric garcetti, has extended a curfew that was supposed to just extend to a few parts of los angeles, to the entire area of los angeles. we're also hearing abou

yamiche alcindor, we miss you, to too. and peter baker. thank you both for being on the show this morning. great to have you. kurt bardella joins us, on how joe biden can use trump's promise to drain the swamp against him. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. give me your hand! i can save you... lots of money with liberty mutual! we customize your car insurance so you only pay for what you need! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ it won't wait for a convenient time. or for hospitals to get back to normal again. that's why, at cancer treatment centers of america, we aren't waiting. we're right here, still focused on the only thing we do, providing world-class cancer care, all under one roof. because cancer isn't just what we do, it's all we do. cancer treatment centers of america. call now for an appointment. among my patisensitivity as well tas gum issues. does it worry me? absolutely. new sensodyne sensitivity & gum gives us the dual action effect that really takes care of both our teeth sen

correspondent for pbs news hour, yamiche alcindor.and from the department of defense, nbc national security analyst, jeremy bash. yeah, so john heilemann, i want to bring you in for a second. something crossed on the twitter machine. i've been talking this morning about polls that david brooks has in his "new york times" column, talking about how, for the most part, we're a unified country. this pandemic has brought us together in ways that we haven't been united since after 9/11. and you see scenes of just utter insanity, with people carrying around ar-15s in the michigan capit capitol. of course, cable news jumps on that. you start to think that that signifies a large percentage of the population. then you read these numbers, abc, 90% support social distancing rules. yougov poll, 90% think a second wave is going to come if we reopen too early. pew poll, 89% support bipartisan federal aid packages. 77% think more aid is going to be necessary. "usa today," 90% support increased testing. 79% support a temporary halt in immigration. you

and yamiche alcindor of pbs news hour.onathan lemire is still with us, as well. >> let's talk about polls. one poll after another is showing donald trump get routed by joe biden when it comes to senior citizens. as we predicted, you lie to senior citizens about things that can kill them, senior citizens probably less likely than more likely to vote for you in the upcoming election. it seems to make sense to me. i don't know much about politicians, but i do get that. 57% to 42%. general election matchup. these are numbers we haven't seen. seniors used to be trump's base. another georgia poll by public opinion strategies. joe biden ahead by a point in a republican poll. texas this week, biden tied with trump in texas this week. this map is breaking hard for biden and democrats. what are republicans to do? >> you know, joe, this is not -- i feel like there's a little bit of a -- in the same way we talk about trump the last three years, there's been a little bit of that quality to the discussion. we now are in the same phase a

well over 1.3 miiohin peopoulese nawi we begin with white house correspondent yamiche cindor,ve and the day's pments. >> alcindor: in muche country, the push to re-open is gaining steam. >> right now i have 100% of an empty dining room,loo if you me 50%, we're cool with it. >> alcindo asuse's top scientists adv wedis into selation. three white house officials leading the nation's pandemic onsere seqst: dranthony fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert; dr. robert redfield, director of ntthe centers for disease l and prevention; and dr. stephen hahn, the commissioner of the food and drug administration. ngey are doing so after comi into contact with key ite house staffers who tested positive. today, the white house directed masks at all times in the building, except when they aret today, at a briefing in the rose gard. we have a lot of people schooling people, most of those people are tested depending on what porgses of the oval ofice area they are president's office gets tested. and i felt no vulnerality whatsoever. >> alcindor: just last week,he president's personal v sted positive for covid-19. >> bu