And this has had a Significant Impact on africanamericans. A nation divided. What lessons have you learned throughout this . Abcs special series on how covid19 is exposing americas fault lines. And biden blunders. If you have problem figuring out whether youre for me or trump, you aint black. Under fire as the vp search ramps up. You want to have somebody who feels completely comfortable disagreeing with you. Chris christie and rahm emanuel take us inside the veepstakes process. All that, plus our powerhouse roundtable. Announcer from abc news, its this week. Here now, coanchor martha raddatz. Good morning, and welcome to this week. On memorial day weekend like no other. These are scenes from this weekend, as the country opens up presenting a major test for social distancing. While we did see thinner crowds and masks in some areas, like ocean city, maryland, we also saw dense crowds like this in texas, and while people are still heading to beaches, theyre not travel the ml y weekend brought the tsa one of its busiest travel days ever, screening roughly 2. 8 million passengers. This year, the agency screened fewer than 350,000, an 88 drop things could soon change with all 50 states gradually opening, but weve also reached a different milestone, a painful remind hear the the loss from this pandemic is with us. The flags at halfstaff at the white house as we near 100,000 deaths. The New York Times devoting its entire front page to the names of 1,000 victims of the virus, but President Trump is determined to get back to normal, golfing for the first time in more than two months as the total number of covid19 cases in the u. S. Steadily climbs past 1. 6 million. Governors are working to get back to some semblance of normal, but key questions remain. One alaskan mayor captures the dilemma so many are facing. My Worst Nightmare is with we have to go backwards. How do you do that . You already let everybody out. How do you catch them and put them back in . For more on this, White House Coronavirus response coordinator dr. Deborah birx joins us now. Good morning, dr. Birx. We have all 50 states gradually opening up, but saturday, North Carolina reported the highest oneday number of covid cases with 1s,107. 1sh 1,107. They call it a notable and concerning increase. Arkansas also reporting a second wave, and minnesota is reaching capacity in its icu. Should these states now scale back on relackixing the rules gn these statistics . I think its really important, and thank you for the question, to really understand whats driving those outbreaks, and we have been working with every county and state and local official both through the cdc and through the governors, through the governors calls to really encourage proactive testing. 4 some of this is increased testing in areas we know are at the highest risks whether its Nursing Homes, areas where people work, sleep and play together and really getting proactive testing out there to find cases before theres community spread. I think you know from the arkansas case, a lot of that was associated by a social gathering, and thats why we really made it clear that during this reopening, social gatherings should not be more than ten people. Even if theyre outside because you still need to maintain that social distancing. Right, but you said friday that people couldis, n keepingches i think its our job as Public Health officials every day to be informing the public of what puts them at risk. We made it clear theres asymptomatic spread, that means people are spreading the virus unknowingly. This is unusual in the case of respiratory diseases in many cases. So you dont know who is infected and we really want to be clear all the time that social distancing is absolutely critical, and if you cant social distance and youre outside, you must wear a mask. These are items that really critical to protect individuals. Weve learned a lot about this virus, but we now need to translate that learning into a transformed behavior. That will continue to drive down the number of cases. But i guess thats my point, youre not seeing it across the country. Youre not seeing it at those beaches. And i think thats our job to continue to communicate and i think we have to communicate through different venues, making sure that our generation sees and our millennials can help us get that message out there, of how to be together socially, yet distant. I think theres a way to do it. Americans are amazingly innovative and i think we need to have better continuous communication on how important that is and then highlighting these issues that come up like in arkansas with this pool party, thats why its really important you maintain those distance and again to speak to those who are vulnerable. Both in phase one and phase two of openings, we have asked you to continue to shelter in place because we know that those comorbidities are continue to shelter, while those who dont are going out but maintaining social distancing. Dr. Birx, the president on friday called on governors to open houses of worship right now, and yet, churches have been found to be one of the biggest superspreaders, one asymptomatic person in Washington State infected as many as 53 people in the choir. You said on friday that maybe some places should wait. What are your concerns there . I think theres two pieces that are important. Before the president made that announcement, he asked the cdc to get their guidance to churches up, so that churches could reopen safely, so that guidance is up there and available to all churches and congregants to understand how to worship together safely. Certainly worshiping outside, maintaining social distancing, and, you know, obviously not having physical contact with each other, and i know thats difficult. We all have made behavioral changes, and that needs to continue to happen. The guidance was up before the churches were asked to reopen and i think thats really important that both with opening up america again, those guidelines went out before we stopped the 30day stop the spread, again after the 15, which was 45 days total, this only works if we all follow the guidelines and protect one another. And dr. Birx, were approaching the very sad milestone of 100,000 deaths due to covid. Its a stunning figure. Do you have any reason to think that number is inflated and do you agree with dr. Fauci that the death count is almost certainly higher . Ive said from the beginning well follow the data and we provide the data thats integrated between multiple reporting sites and we have never altered the death numbers. In this country, weve been very inclusive. Ill tell you always, with any pandemic and any time people are fighting to save other peoples lives its difficult to count at the early part of the epidemic and well have time to look back and really ensure that we found all of those cases. Each of those cases and each of those deaths is very important to understand. Because were a different country than the other countries that have been infected. We want to really understand what is the risk to 30yearolds, 45yearolds. What is our risk to children . How do we prevent serious disease, and thats why all of this information together is really important to continue to get, and continue to validate. Dr. Birx, dr. Fauci said its inevitable that there will be a second wave of covid19, but President Trump says, we are not going to close the country if theres a second wave, is that the right approach . I think were trying to learn right now very carefully about how you reopen safely, you know we act like weve actually done this before and besides 1918 and 1919, we have not ever cles closed parts of america, and even then the whole country wasnt closed. Were trying to understand during this period of coming out of the closure, how do we maintain openness and safety . And i think thats what were going to be learning through may, june and july, and also, i want to be very clear to the American People were preparing for that potential fall issue, both in ppe which is protective devices both in ventilators, stockpiles and ensuring were really pushing on therapeutics and Vaccine Development so we can be ready if the virus does come back in a significant way. But you dont see the country closing down again . Its difficult to tell and i really am datadriven, so im collecting data right now about whether governors and whether states and whether communities are able to open safely, and what do i mean by that . We have to do much better with proactive testing. Not just count the number of tests weve done. Thats great, but really ensure those tests are being applied in a way that we find the asymptomatic cases. Its much easier to find symptomatic cases, because theyre stick. What im worried about is, what are we putting in place to find asymptomatic cases . Thats why weve asked for proactive, 100 testing of all residents and workers and then proactive ongoing tests of workers in Nursing Homes before Nursing Homes reopen for any kind of visitation, proactive testing where people are living together in large groups, to serve a meatpacking plant or agricultural workers. Or are transported together. We know all of these pieces are what we call risk for superspreading events. I really want to call them events rather than targeting individuals because individuals are unknowingly spreading the virus. Lets talk about events. All of this proactive testing needs to be a in place and needs to continue to be in place because that will determine safely remaining open in the fall. Okay, thanks so much for joining us this morning, dr. Birx. Thank you. Lets get more on all of this now with abc news contributor and former Homeland Security adviser tom bossert and surgeon and staff writer for the new yorker, dr. Atul gawande. Welcome to both of you, and tom bossert, i want to start with you. You and i have talked regularly over the past two months about the lessons this country is learning from this experience, and you say the big one is that staying home has worked. Thats why were able to slowly reopen, and yet there are many who believe that the country overreacted and i think you have seen a lot of them on the beaches. What would you say to them . Good morning, martha. Id say that my now biggest worry becomes that that conclusion is negative learning. The idea of believing that the shelter in place approach didnt work prevents us from again using it, and the plan from the beginning was never to enter into a nationwide lockdown, a blanket lockdown. We had to do that because we waited so long, and because we didnt have the testing. It was so late, but the idea now of getting out of that shelter in place, you know, restriction isnt to get out of it forever. Its to relax a little bit. Dr. Gawandes pillars are very important, and well come to them in a moment, but its to have the flexibility to return to them as needed in a localized fashion to prevent us from having to get into an autumn nationwide lockdown. I wished dr. Birx said its the plan so people dont view it as failure if it becomes necessary. Dr. Gawande, you had a piece outlining those four pillars of a strategy for reopening based on your experience at the hospital, hygiene, distancing, screening, masks, but you also set theres a fifth pillar thats arguably the most difficult, and that is culture. Can you ewill laborate on that . Yeah, part of this is the idea of masks were having a debate about safety versus freedom. Keep me safe, leave me alone. Masks are the idea, im going to protect you, you protect me, and further part of the four pillars is, paying attention to symptoms, screening every day in the workplace, or even when you go into stores for whether you have a fever, sore throat, even sniffles and those can be indicators of illness. Our culture has to be one that says, if i feel like im mildly sick i need to stay home. A case in missouri of the hairdresser who went to work every day, wore masks but had coronavirus symptoms for eight days and exposed a hundred people, the masks arent perfect. Our social distancing isnt perfect. Our handwashing isnt perfect. But if you put these four things together, it works. The majority of American People do feel better and safer at home. So if youre one of those people who is socially sdadistancing a doing exactly what you say, but you are out with others who are not, are you still safe . Well, theres a calculated risk going on right now. As dr. Birx said, were learning how to work with one another. Its not safe to be, you know, out en masse. She referred to the arkansas pool party, its safer outside, yet if were close together, not paying attention to doing all four parts of this, including staying at home if you are at all symptomatic, several people at that pool party have become infected. So you have to be able to put the pieces together, and you have to learn to do that, and you have to be able to gently remind one another this is what we need to do together to keep each other safe. Tom, we have about 30 seconds left here, we have cultural resistance in protests, the president encouraged them and continues to not wear a mask in public. Hes out golfing, his campaign is sending make America Great signs in beaches, this cant be helpful. You know, instead of focusing on what you cant do this weekend a couple of things you should do wear a mask, its common decency. Pray and think about those who passed in our former wars, and for fe memorial day, and those who also passed in the last three months, the 100,000 souls that have been lost in this country, and make sure you remember to wash your hands even though the shelter in place rules have been lifted. That message from both of you again and again. I thank you both. Up next, a deep dive into joe bidens Vice President search, who will he pick . Will it be someone from a crucial swing state . And how will those controversial comments about black voters affect his chances . Nate silver weighs in, and an inside look at the veep process with Chris Christie and rahm emanuel next. Veepstakes process. vo our communities need help like never before and wells fargo employees are assisting millions of customers across america through fee waivers and payment deferrals, helping people stay in their homes through mortgage Payment Relief efforts and donating 175 Million Dollars to help hundreds of local organizations provide food and other critical needs. When you need us, wells fargo is here to help. Make it tough to take care of yourself, thats why you can rely on natures bounty. To give you the support you need. To stay motivated keep active and sleep well. Add a little more health to your day. With natures bounty. Add a litt vo ore health we could never do what they do. But what we can do, is be a partner that never quits. Verizon is the most Reliable Network in america and puts First Responders first. Giving their calls priority 24 7. 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Since our beginning, our business has been people. Its evident in good times, with decisions focused on the longterm. And crucial when circumstances become difficult. That continued emphasis on people our advisors, associates, clients and communities gives us purpose, strength and a way forward. Today. And always. Thats why i take osteo biflex, to keep me moving the way i was made to. It nourishes and strengthens my joints for the long term. Osteo biflex. Plus vitamin d for immune support. Osteo biflex. Michael vasquez come over here. Ive heard such good things about you, your company. Well, i wouldnt have done any of it without you. Without this place. This is for you. Michael, you didnt have to. And, were going to need some help with the rest. Youve worked so hard to achieve so much. Perhaps its time to partner with someone who knows you and your business well enough to understand what your wealth is really for. Of course, id be honored to run for Vice President with the nominee. If he asked you to be his running mate, would you say yes . Yes. Obviously, id be honored if i were being considered. If asked, id be honored to serve alongside joe biden. Would you say yes . Id certainly say yes. I have had a conversation with some folks, an opening conversation. Just some of the many potential Vice President ial picks joe biden is considering. The list is all female and it includes senators, governors, several women of color and some former rivals, but conventional wisdom dictates the candidate try to select a running ma it from a Battle Ground state in hopes of swaying voters there. So we asked fivethirtyeights nate silver, do you buy that . Joe bidens got a long list of potential running mates ranging from big names in blue states like Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren to up and comers in battleground states like Gretchen Whitmer of michigan. Amy klobuchar is from minnesota, more of a purple state than youd think. Meanwhile, you have states that are going from red to purple like georgia where Stacey Abrams could be the pick, but its hard to find examples where the vp would really move the needle. Paul ryan didnt help mitt romney win in 2012. Tim kaine, remember him in 2016. Ive done my own research on this. The vp effect is pretty real but small. Maybe around two percentage points, but hey, you might say, voters dont care about the vp anyway, so might as well pick up points in an important swing state. The problem is the advantage is bigger in the smaller states. Say wyoming, where they might have a personal relationship with the candidate. And sarah palin, six or seven points to john mccain. But alaska only has three electoral votes. On the other hand, whitmer from densely populated and elector electorally rich michigan might be worth just one or two points to biden. These arent ordinary times. Biden is 71 years old, and were in the midst of a pandemic. Voters might put more experience. So, no i dont buy that biden needs to pick a vp from the swing state. Our thanks to nate. Rahm emanuel and Chris Christie are up next with an insider look at the vp vetting process and how changing norms for potential running mates might affect the 2020 ticket. Well be right back. K. 2020 ticket. Make it tough to take care of yourself, thats why you can rely on natures bounty. To give you the support you need. To stay motivated keep active and sleep well. Add a little more health to your day. With natures bounty. We waste up to 20 gallons of water add a little more health every time we prerinse lets skip the rinse. New finish quantum with activeblu technology, designed to clean without prerinsing. Switch to finish and skip the rinse to save water. We do things differently and aother money managers, dont understand why. Because our way works great for us but not for your clients. Thats why were a fiduciary, obligated to put clients first. So, what do you provide . 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Curbs are having a moment. From restaurants, to your veterinarian, to carmax. With contactless curbside pickup, you can shop online, then complete the purchase from the safety of your new car. Because thats the way it should be. Carmax. Home is playground,gym, and concert hall. And cvs health is helping, with free home prescription delivery, telehealth from aetna, and support for caregivers. Were doing all we can to help you stay well, as you stay in. Because now more than ever, home is where the heart is. Cvs health. Chris christie and rahm emanuel Chris Christie and rahm emanuel are standing by, ready to go. Well be right back. To fight an invisible enemy with courage and compassion. To comfort and to care, to hope, to press on, to do whatever it takes to beat the odds. We are the men and women of americas hospitals and health systems. And were here to care for you in every way every day. A lot of folks ask me why their dishwasher doesnt get everything clean. 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I guess when we see a black person voting for trump, you know trump is a threat to marginalize people in this country. It makes you i understand the statement, its a shock coming from a white male like joe biden. Some fallout from that tense interview. It comes as biden has acknowledged the next stage of the Vice President vetting is about to begin. We call on two of our own colleagues who has quite a bit of experience. As we debut a new segment on our program, powerhouse players. Chris christie and rahm emanuel. Theyll offer and analysis like nobody else as the 2020 election ramps up. And rahm, lets get right to it. You heard it right there. Joe biden putting his foot in his mouth. He apologized for being so cavalier. But where does this go from here . First of all, i think what it does, it obviously influences the Vice President ial selection. Everybody who tells you it doesnt isnt being honest. It has an impact on it, a weight on the scale, et cetera. And i think i give the Biden Campaign credit for immediately jumping on it and trying to deflate it, everybodys united in the party with a single goal of beating President Trump. Id step by saying it violated a number one rule, you have to project theyre going to earn every vote. And what this said underneath was, im going to get your vote no matter what i do because the other guy is worse than me, that violates politics 101. Chris the Trump Campaign was immediately out with ads criticizing biden, does that continue. Sure, of course it does. Heres the problem, the Biden Campaign should do everything they can to keep joe biden in the basement and stop talking because as soon as he starts talking, he starts to create problems. Hes in a phase of the campaign right now where its really a referendum on the president unless he turns it into a binary choice by doing things like he just did, hes turning it bintoa binary choice. In terms of the impact on the Vice President ial pick, i hope it doesnt impact it, because if it does, he could take himself down, the mccain sara palin route, not the place he wants to go. In my view, this is the first do no harm pick for Vice President biden. Biden was already under some pressure to choose a black woman as running mate, he said multiple are under consideration, does this increase the pressure and the likelihood hell choose a black woman . It adds weight obviously to that effort. And i think, you know, i believe and i think you have to look at the history of Vice President , used to pick a Vice President , one do no harm and two balance your weakness, whether its geographical or ideological. When president clinton picked al gore in a southern moderate tennessee to arkansas, he changed the paradigm from balance to partnership, and i think that if you look at george bush had to worry about wyoming or president barack obama had to worry about delawares electoral votes. They answered the the Political Part of the equation, but they added a partnership element. I think in the end of the day, the most important vetting after getting to the final three will be, does Vice President joe biden see this person as his partner in making these critical decisions . And that to me will be the element that mounts because when you look at sarah palin, she did not fulfill john mccains message, themes and who he was as a character and it became apparent to the voters this was an impulse choice and not a real choice of a partnership. Chris, biden has committed to selecting a woman, does that box him in . Was that a good idea. Listen, its his call. It eliminates about 50 of the population, but thats his call. I think that, you know, here its even more stark, martha, rahm didnt mention one thing that i think is very important. Joe biden if elected will be 78 years old with the history of some Health Issues going into this. American people will be looking at this differently than a partnership. Theyre going to be looking at this person and saying, can i see this person as president . Even more starkly than they do with a normal Vice President ial pick. I dont think anybody was worried about barack obama prematurely dying in office. I dont think anybody was worried about george w. Bush in that regard, and so looking at this choice, you need to look at it that way as given Vice President joe bidens history. The Partnership Matters significantly. Theres no doubt. But also that person has to be able to see you but more importantly the American People in this instance has to see that choice as someone they can see as president of the United States in the next four years. Two things i want to pick up on that, one, its more than do no harm, this is additive. Different flip from past choices. Second, when you look from 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, all the gains democrats have made among suburban women voters with a college education. By saying he wants a Vice President who is a woman, he is building on a series of momentums, the biggest drop for donald trump from 2016 all the way to where we are today this sunday on memorial day has been women in the suburbs. Thats for the gains for congressional races, state capitols, and i would say this is a smart decision. It is what it is. It also indicates and signifies where the biggest gains have been for voters. Part of the base of any calculation of Senate Candidates a gubernatorial candidates. Or president ial in a swing state. And chris, you mentioned the vetting process. So you have been vetted by the Trump Campaign, by the Romney Campaign. Take us through whats happening now to that process, how will that work . The candidates are being vetted have put together voluminous amounts of documents. We were requested by the Romney Campaign to give ten years of tax returns. Every newspaper article you could find that had mentioned you, and then go through an kpa exhaustive questionnaire about everything that could possibly embarrass the president ial nominee, and in both instances, wept through and thats probably the stage theyre getting to now where theyre going to start to review those documents and then interview, and the questions at least in the romney process and the trump process were based off of your questionnaire, and things that they wanted to probe deeper on in their own vetting that they did based off of your things. When i was going through that trump vetting, a wellrespected washington, d. C. Lawyer, interviewed me for six hours, based off all of the information that they had gathered and so its a pretty exhaustive process. My guess is, theyre moving towards developing their inperson questions now, those people will start being interviewed by the designees of the Biden Campaign. It was a pretty rigorous process. One more thing to what rahm said, it can be an additive choice by picking a woman, but only if that woman is perceived as qualified and ready to be president. If he reaches based upon other factors for someone the public doesnt see as qualified, i think that will be a negative for his campaign, not a positive. Our thanks to our powerhouse players. Coming up, with reports of new coronavirus cases steady or declining in most states, the Nations Capital remains a hot spot, and is extremely worrisome to health officials. I spoke with washington, d. C. , mayor Muriel Bowser about that and the disparities of race and class amid the coronavirus pandemic. Our special abc news series, pandemic a nation divided, is next. A nation divided is next. Our Healthcare System has so much of our economic and socioeconomic inequity reflected whos able to go to doctor, whos able to afford a prescription, whos able to get preventive care. We know that theres a disparity. This is exacerbating it. Communities of color, minority community, dont have Adequate Health care. If you live in the rural parts of south carolina, the reality of it is getting to a doctor is harder than its ever been. All this week, abc news has taken an indepth look at the racial and socioeconomic disparities stemming from this pandemic. Weve shared their stories, families who have endured unfathomable loss. Workers putting themselves at risk to feed their families and ours. This morning, we take a closer look at the many communities of color hardest hit by the virus. Neighborhoods around the country, part of a nation divided. Has she been anything but black or brown, i think she would have gotten the care she would have needed. They would not haveer home to die. Reporter Francine Jefferson says that being a black front line worker in mississippi may have cost her sisterinlaw her life. All of them are considered essential workers, right . To feed american families. Your her family is without their mother. Reporter from the deep south to the midwest, from the Navajo Nation to our Nations Capital, the Global Pandemic exacerbating longstanding inequalities in the country. Second class citizens. The Playing Field is not level. Never has been. It doesnt look like it will be. Reporter in washington, d. C. , africanamericans make up 46 of the population but nearly 80 of coronavirus deaths. When i saw that hypertension and diabetes and Heart Disease were conditions that were really making the coronavirus complicated for people, i knew that we had to be in communities where we saw those preexisting bowser in one of the citys neighborhoods, where she was touring United Medical center, the hospital now ready to open up a new covid wing where ramped hup te up testing is being encouraged as well. We have been very focused on getting the word out to people about getting tested, isolating and staying home when they can. We know so many people that have been affected by infection and death, and theyre doing essential work. It really is just much harder to stay home as you say. Theyre essential workers. All of us who are going to the dproesgrocery stores can ri transit or get our trash picked up. When you look at washington, those are largely africanamericans who are doing that work. Reporter similar disparities in the bronx where black and latino residents are twice as likely to die from covid than anywhere else in new york city. I have never seen a more overwhelming sense of desperation in my district. Reporter Richie Torres told our juju chang that social distancing in the projects he grew up in and now represents is impossible. My maternal family has been living here for three generations. My mothers 60. She has hypertension, so you have to maintain distance from your own loved ones for their own protection. That takes a toll on the body. The difference in Life Expectancy between the south bronx and the Upper East Side of manhattan is ten years. So poverty is poison. Almost every patient i saw was covidpositive was a female. Reporter in chicago, this doctor works the front line of this crisis. Minority neighborhoods, the number of positive cases is twice, even threetimes the number of positive cases were seeing in white, more affluent neighborhoods. Reporter del rios told our Deborah Roberts were seeing the impact of Healthcare Systems that have been mistreating minorities for generations. When a person who walks into a hospital, are they are already at a disadvantage . There are multiple studies that suggest that you are more likely to be triaged as less urgent as a person whos white. Reporter back in d. C. A sense of urgency to write some historical wrongs. I heard you talk about local and National Leaders really look at the Africanamerican Community and say we have to address this health problem. Well, its more than health, right . We have to look at the Building Blocks of health. Having safe housing. Having access to clean water. Having access to good food and quality education. And good paying jobs. Those are the things that lead to a healthy community. So many people working to solve this crisis. The roundtable is up next. Well be right back. The roundtable is up next. Well be right back. Take us through your thought process of why you decided take us through your t process of why you decided not to wear a mask . I did wear i had one on before. I wore one in the back area. I didnt want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it. I was given a choice. I had one on in an area they preferred it. It was very nice. It was very nice. They said ary. What about the example it would set i think it sets an example both ways. President trump at a ford plant in michigan this week, highlighting the cultural and political divide over mask wearing and so many other restrictions. Lets talk about all that with the roundtable now, with our chief White House Correspondent jon karl, out with his new bestseller, front row at the trump show. Chief justice correspondent pierre thomas, and Washington Bureau chief for the associated press, julie pace. Welcome to all of you. And jon, i want to start with you, the partisan messaging on the coronavirus is clear. The president travels the country, goes to briefings what a mask, pushing for bolder reopening steps, while democrats largely urge caution and joe biden remains in his basement, how do you see that strategy playing out for President Trump . President trump clearly wants to project strength by not wearing a mask, by getting out there again. Youll see him making at least a couple of trips a week outside of washington. He wants to portray himself as the person that is trying to reopen this country and get back to normal, but remember, martha. Donald trump is somebody who instinctively understands his base better than anybody, and he knows that part of that base believes this entire threat from the beginning has been overblown. Part of that base on the fringes, measurable, are people who think that dr. Fauci, has been part of a conspiracy to undermine President Trump, these are the people who refuse to wear masks. Hes playing to those people as well, and theres a real risk here though. You see it in the polling. Donald trump is now trailing in several recent polls among senior citizens, the most vulnerable population, and that was the population that was the group, the demographic for the group that voted for him overwhelmingly in 2016. And certainly a risk, jon, if the virus comes back in a very big way. Hes taking a gamble that there will not be a second wave, that we know from the medical experts that has the potential to be worse than what we saw in the first wave. Julie, how does joe biden counter that . Well, joe biden, right now, is taking the totally opposite approach by just staying home. Thats his strategy here, not to be out traveling to say that hes following the guidance of Public Health officials right now, hes trying to connect with voters virtually. Its been a little bit of pa bumpy process. As most of us know, its not as clean and easy when youre able to do your job in a normal way. His strategy is to point the attention to the president s response to the pandemic. To make this a referendum election on trump, to focus on his missteps here, and i think increasingly as we hit as you mentioned earlier in the program, the 100,000 deaths number which is just extraordinary to really emphasize what a lot of democrats see as a lack of empathy from this president , a lack of really understanding about the very personal impact that this virus has had on so many families across this country. The issue of churches, the president has been issuing threats, saying he could overrule governors who dont allow churches to reopen, thats not something he really has the authority to do, does he . Lot of legal scholars say he doesnt have the authority. He has the most powerful and influential law firm in the country in the Justice Department and they could try to intervene. They already put states on notice that churches and houses of worship must be treated in the same way you treat businesses like stores and restaurants, if youre allowing them to open the Justice Department is beginning to make the case you ought to allow houses of worship to open as well. And jon, you touched on this a little bit, but the president meanwhile is clearly laying out his new rally strategy. If he cant hold rallies, youll use official travel to visit swing states, these trips really have turned into campaign events, havent they . They have taken the place of campaign events. If you talk to the president s political advisers they believe he can be out in a more Traditional Campaign setting by the middle of summer, by july, of course thats an open question, but he wants to get out there, he wants to get out, back at his rallies. Its interesting, martha, to listen to the two parties planning for their convention. Both conventions are in late august. First the democrats, then the republicans. Democrats are very enhanced in the planning for something that more resembles a virtual convention, and republicans really dont even want to talk publicly and not even much privately about the alternatives to a real convention for, you know, they were planning for charlotte. Julie, we got the president out there, and well see more of him. Do you think joe biden emerges from that basement . Does he get out in some fashion to campaign in the next month . I do think well start to see joe biden take some steps to get out of the basement, get out of his house. I dont think it will look like a Traditional Campaign rally kind of setting, but i think they are feeling some pressure to show a little more of a proactive stance here. As i mentioned, they want this to be a referendum election on trump, but you have to be careful when you do that to not lean completely on the idea of, hey. The other guy is bad. Just vote for me as the alternative. You do have to start giving people a reason to vote for you as well, and in order to do that, you do need to be more of a visible presence. Lets come back to joe bidens comments about black voters. You heard the comments he made. He seems to charlamagne the god, seems to get a little bit of a pass, but does this really impact the black vote . Martha, note to older white male voters, dont tell black voters whats black enough and whos black enough, its not going to fly. Im not sure how its going to fly. Some of the young africanamerican voters, they dont like this notion of how biden speaks about black people. Sometimes they believe in some cases, democrats take black votes for granted. Theyre not down with that. Some of the older africanamerican voters, again n a very Diverse Group believe when the president said things like the countries, good people on both sides in the situation of charlottesville, that this does not matter that much in the grand scheme of things, but turnout is key so it could matter. Pierre, i want to talk about the Michael Flynn case, former National Security adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi. The fbi now conducting its own internal review. Weve also gotten this controversy over unmasking. Bring us up to take with that. You had this weekend, the fbi director ordering a review of how the flynn case was covered and investigated. You also have a situation where the Justice Department is trying to drop the case. The federal judge in that case is being very skeptical, hes pushing for hearings where well have an outside party and former prosecutor and judge making the case for why that should not happen. Flynn has become the symbol of whether the russia investigation should have been started in the first place. Two things could have been true at the same time, problems with how that interview was conducted. But no doubt he lied to the fbi. Which is federal crime. Julie, one thing we are seeing is that Senate Republicans have pretty much fallen in line behind the president getting far more aggressive in helping the president seek retribution against his political enemy and absolutely, this is a united force right now wean the white house, Justice Department and gnat republicans, who in a lot of ways are doing the president s bidding when rick serving as the acting dni was declassifying documents. I think it shows republicans are releasing that information publicly, and it shows that republicans are on backward with the president s reelection strategy which is that its a base strategy. Its not an expand the tent strategy. They know that the president wins reelection and the way they winks their party wins in the fall is to get those trump voters out in big numbers. Jon, from your view, why are republicans so anxious to relitigate this russia problem with just over five months into the election, is this part of the bigger strategy . Well, its certainly something that the president is keenly focused on and the republicans take their cues for this from the president. Martha, its important to point out, although republicans maybe be using for this political purposes to distract, there are real concerns, real issues surrounding that Michael Flynn investigation. That doesnt mean the russia investigation started off on false pretenses, but there are ways the fbi pursued that case. Real concerns regardless of whatever, you know, political motivations may be behind raising the issue right now. Very quickly, jon, the mailin voting. President trump has talked about that a lot as fraudulent, and theres no evidence that theres massive fraud. No evidence of that, and theres a bipartisan movement in this country, republicans and democrats looking to have, to find a way to ensure voters to vote even if were in a second wave of the pandemic. Mailin voting is going to be part of that solution. Thanks to all of us for joining us on this sunday. On this memorial day, we honor those who have given their lives in service to our country. At arlington cemetery, soldiers all Wearing Masks this memorial day, placing flags at each grave site honoring the nations fallen heroes. We want to pay a special tribute to those veterans who have lived through battles, witnessed the horrors of war and lost their lives to an invisible enemy, covid19. More than 97,000 americans have lost their lives to this virus, more than 1,100 of them, veterans. This morning and every morning, we think of those veterans and their families. Thanks for joining us this morning. Have a good day. Ans and their families. Thanks for joining us this morning. Have a good day. Good sunday morning. Live look outside from our tower cam where it is 65 in san francisco, 63 oakland and san jose. Our warming trend getting under way today. Our excessive heat watch begins tomorrow for the holiday. Ill have all of the details on