Coronavirus. Delivering damming testimony before congress, giving a dire warning about the pandemic and the Trump Administrations continued lack of preparedness. Bright says the officials were dismissive in january, that the u. S. Did not have enough personal protective equipment. I was met with indifference, saying they were either too busy, they didnt have a plan. They didnt know who was responsible for procuring those. In some case, they had a sick child and they would get back to it later in the week. A number of excuses. But never any action. But going on to describe an email from an n95 mask supplier in january, calling it a moment he will never forget. And he said, were in deep shit. The world is, and we need to act. Bright says he got no response after pushing that to the highest levels of the department of health and Human Services. It was at that moment, he said, he knew there would be a crisis, saying the Trump Administration had no coordinated plan to combat coronavirus and continues to not have a master plan. But, of course, was removed from his post alleging retaliation from the Trump Administration for refusing to promote a drug that President Trump continued to push to help fight coronavirus. A drug thats been declared dangerous by the food and drug administration. The white house and President Trump says bright is simply a disgruntled employee. I will speak to debra katz in just moments. First, cnns Caitlin Collins reports on brights stunning assessment on how the Trump Administration dropped the ball in battling this deadly virus. Reporter today the vaccine official ousted from his job during the coronavirus pandemic said the administrations failure to warn the public about coronavirus cost lives. I believe americans need to be told the truth. People were not as prepared as they could have been around should have been. Reporter testifying for the First Time Since he was removed from his role as the head of the biomed cal advanced research and development authority, rick bright was a dire warning that the u. S. Doesnt have a master plan and there still arent enough tests. There still arent enough tests. Reporter so even this week as we are being told, anybody who wants a test can have a test. Is that true in the United States of america . No. Reporter bright alleges he was demoted for abouting to the widespread distribution of a drug promoted by the president. Hydroxychloroquine. Reporter and he says he was pressured to make it more widely available. Did the pressure from the white house and hhs General Council put you in a difficult position . Yes. Reporter bright says his superiors disregarded his early man, about mask shortages. Even though he passed along this urgent message from mike bowen, one of the only mask manufacturers in the u. S. Were in deep shit. The world is. And we need to act. And i pushed that forward to the highest levels i could in hhs and got no response. Reporter the former vaccine chief said hes troubled by the governments seeming inability to ramp up production of simple resources like swabs. He says to me, sir, that there is no master coordinated plan on how to respond to this outbreak. Reporter bright cautioned that there could be more shortages to come if the u. S. Doesnt make a plan now about how to distribute a vaccine once its ready. He also cast doubt on the president s optimistic time line about when that will be. I think we will have a vaccine by the end of the year. Will we be able to vaccinate people in the next few months . Its very unlikely. Reporter as he left if white house from pennsylvania, President Trump said he watched bright but dismissed his allegations. To me, its nothing more than a really disgruntled, unhappy person. Reporter the health and Human Services secretary also pushed back on brights claims as he testified, arguing that theyre unfounded. Everything hes complaining about was achieved. Reporter now, jake, mike bowen is that executive that rick bright the talking about there warning about essential mask services. He testified today he told lawmakers he has been a lifelong republican, but says he has been embarrassed by the way this pandemic has been handled. And he says the scientists are the ones the United States and the federal government needs to be listening to and he doesnt think thats happening. All right, Caitlin Collins at the white house, thank you so much. Joining me now is rick brights attorney debra katz. Thanks for joining me, miss katz. In a statement, the department of health and Human Services said mr. Bright had limited visibility into the whole of government response to covid19 and i want you to respond to the cliff that we just heard from health and Human Services secretary alex azar. Lets run that again. Everything hes complaining about was achieved. Everything he talked about was done. Oh, and by the way, whose job was it to actually lead the development of vaccines . Dr. Bright. So while were launching operation warp speed, hes not showing up for work to be a part of that. So there are two accusations in there. Lets take them one at a time, if we could, miss katz, so, azar says everything hes complaining about was achieved, everything he talked about was done. Is that not true . Of course, its not true. And that is such a tragic response. Theres no responsibility being taken for the fact that lives are being lost needlessly every single day. We still do not have very, very basic things that dr. Bright testified were needed. And the fact that this administration continues to lie to the American Public about our preparedness while we are going to be entered into a period where we will be socked again with both the influenza season and covid, its just tragic that we continue to be lied to by this administration. Dr. Bright testified for four hours about things that still havent been done and need to be done for us to combat this virus. And this response is really shocking. All right. Lets take the second half of what azar said there. He said, by the way, whose job was it to lead the development of a vaccine. Dr. Bright so while we were launching operate warp speed to produce a vaccine, hes not showing up for work to be a part of that whats your response to that . Thats just another spear campaign by this administration. Dr. Bright had 800 hours of accrued medical leave. Hes never taken a sick day and as a result of what happened and the first removal from the position, he suffered a great deal of stress and his Blood Pressure shot up and at the direction of his physician, his hypertension was out of control and hes been out on medical leave. Hes earned the medical leave. Its accrued medical leave. The Administration Knows exactly where he is. The other thing weve alleged in the complaint, when he was removed from his position. There was no position that they were actually sending him to. So he spent the last week trying to discuss birx position would be if he were to go to nih. But this Administration Still has not answered is the request of the office of special counsel to stay his removal and leave him in this position as director of barta, which is of course what is best for this nation and where dr. Bright most hopes will happen here he will be allowed to continue in his role and lead the nations effort to combat this, very, very deadly virus. So, lets talk about that because your client said today that the u. S. Can count on him to do his part to fight the pandemic, if he is not reinstated at barta, the name of the office where he was at hhs, will he eventually report to work at the nih his new job to combat this virus in a new capacity . Yes, she a committed public servant. He spent his entire life working to prepare for Something Like this. He is singularly qualified and unfortunately he has been side lined and put in a very diminished role. For whatever role he will work for the american people. Because his entire mission is to save lives. He will do that. His issue is will they ever giver him a roam . Thus far, they have never identified a position that will be appropriate for him. So he hasnt showed up to work because there is no place for him to go . I dont want to subscribe to he hasnt showed up for work. It was shocking that he was removed from his position as we have alleged in the complaint. He was lied to, what the new position would be. When he called nih, they had no knowledge he was going there. He spoke to he said i dont know collins is saying this to you. He got ping pongd. There was no role. As soon as he came forward and said he would bring a whistleblower complaint and he was put in this new role because this is a very Important Role to cast dispurgss about him and make uhl untruthful statements about him. He has reached out to nih to say what will my role be, what are my responsibilities . This was last week during a press conference in a real act of retaliation, they asked whether he was going to lead the shark tank effort. He said, absolutely nost. So i dont think this administration wants him. And, in fact, today the president tweeted something that suggested somebody as imminent as dr. Bright should not have a role working for the federal government. So this administration can criticize him for not showing up at work at a time he is under Doctors Orders not to go to work. But the fact is, they havent given him a position. All right. Debra katz. Thank you so much. We appreciate your time today. Absolutely. Thank you. Coming up next, i will talk to a pandemic expert who has said its possible up to 800,000 people in the u. S. Could ultimately die from covid19. Plus, the future is here, a look at how new technology is used to slow the spread of coronavirus. Stay with us. Can my side be firm . And my side super soft . Yes. With the sleep number 360 smart bed, on sale now, you can both adjust your comfort with your sleep number setting. Can it help me fall asleep faster . Yes. By gently warming your feet. But can it help keep me asleep . Absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. So, you can really promise better sleep . Not promise. Prove. During the memorial day sale, save 1,000 on the sleep number 360 special Edition Smart bed, now only 1,799. Only for a limited time. To learn more, go to sleepnumber. Com. In our national lead, georgia and colorado opening weeks ago are seeing a decline in cases some Health Experts could say because of the continued social distancing guidelines in place. In total, 24 states have seen a drop and nine have seen an increase, cnn erica hill reports, now President Trump is pushing for schools to reopen by the fall. Reporter Los Angeles County beaches are back. I think i have been going down to Orange County a lot to get my fix. So its nice to be at home. Reporter open today for exercise only no, sun bathing or large groups. The jersey shore along with other beaches in new jersey will be opened by memorial day. The grand canyon allowing limited access tomorrow, Yellowstone National park ready to accept visitors. And the mall of america, the countrys largest will reopen june 1st. In the countrys epicenter, covid19 hospitalizations, icu admissions and the percentage of people testing positive for the virus are all down. Three for three, a perfect day, new york city. Reporter nearly half the country. 24 states showing a decline in new cases over the pacht week. Since reopening three weeks ago, new cases in georgia are down 12 . Colorados dropping 36 . Pennsylvanias numbers are down 14 as the voices pushing to reopen that state grow louder. Were not sheep, were people. Reporter when couragement from President Trump. Visiting a medical factory in the state today. Most of the equipment is made in the usa. Reporter pat barr is in wisconsin after a state stream court ruled a stayathome order was unenforcement and illegal. Welcome to america i am happy to be back. Reporter the governor warning it will set the state back. You cant let the courts ruling undue all we have done and all the sacrifices wisconsinens have made over these past few months. Reporter parents wondering what september will bring as parents push for the children to go back to the classroom. I think we have to open our schools. Young people are little affected by this. Reporter the virus, while often less severe in children can affect young people who can also be carriers. 17 states are now investigating possible cases of a rare but concerning inflammatory illness in School Age Children which may be linked to covid19. Most of the children impacted more than 100 are in new york. The facts from there virus have changed. And i believe they will continue to change. Reporter as states begin to reopen, new findings from the National Institutes of health show respiratory droplets could remain in the air for 8 minutes, raising concerns about how long the virus may linger. This is a highly contagious disease. Thats why question are seeing outbreaks in call centers and choirs and other places where people are in a confined space with a lot of oughts. And i do really worry when social distancing guidelines are lift lifted. Reporter listen, i want to show you live pictures out of orlando, florida, where universal citywalk is reopening at 4 00 from 4 00 to 10 00 every day, just a handful of businesses, restaurants opening. There will be limited menus, tables spaced appropriately, we are told, no Valet Parking and it will continue to monitor to see about possible changes in the future, jake. All right, erica hill, thank you so much. Joining us now, michael osterhome director of research and policy at the university of minnesota, michael, good to see you again. So let me ask you. Good day. Its been nearly three weeks since georgia reopened. That state has not seen a huge spike, neither has california or pennsylvania or florida. What do you make of it . Well, i think there are actually two things we have to consider here. One is give it another week or two, to see, if, in fact, those transmissions that occurred three weeks ago resulted in cases finally being detected. But i think also we have to consider the possibility that just as we have been talking about from a pandemic standpoint, that if you look at influenza, you have initial peaks of cases that occur or first wave. It disappears, literally. Very few cases and then twotothree months later, it comes back with a vengeance. So i dont take any comfort that the viruses basically, there were few or more of them right now as much as i look at whats going to happen long term. I also heard from a Health Expert that maybe one of the things thats gone on in georgia and florida and elsewhere, is that while they are easing back into reopening some stores and the like, some retail outlets, people are continuing to wear masks. Theyre continuing to practice social distancing. So, its possible that that is even more effective than we thought it would be . Right. We have to just be at it in the we dont know. It could be partly theyre still doing that. It could be the fact that the cases will increase as we see the second or third level of transmissions from two weeks ago, or it could be that we could all be witnessing this virus just slowly in a sense going away for now. But i think the Important Message there is so we can forecast it now that, in fact, if that happens, that is not necessarily a good sign. That that means it very well could be acting like an influenza virus which just discuss disappear and comes back with a vengeance so we are left with all these unanswered questions, whats going on . Thats right in 1918 the first wave was nothing compared to the second and third waves of the influenza. Today, Richard Bright the ousted director of the biomed cal Research Authority or barta said quote lines were lost because of the delayed response if getting ppe, personal protective equipment like masks to doctors and doctors and nurses are wearing substandard masks. Is this true . Is this continuing to be a rob . What more need to be done . Number one, we have been talking about ppe since day one. I believe that a Healthcare Worker is fought protected in the they have an n95 respirator on when they are working in wards with covid cases. We seen many Healthcare Workers who have become cases of Covid Infection and that, more importantly, not only infected severely ill even suggesting a dose phenomena. I think a lot of this can go back to inadequate ppe. Ultimately, one day we will look back and learn we didnt protect our Healthcare Workers nearly enough. What im concerned about going forward, how do we, if we have a big surge of cases like in 1918, what do we do then for protective equipment . So we need now to be really thinking about that. Now is not the time to ease up and say, well, cases are going down, maybe were over the hump. If anything, its more preparation now than we have ever done. A businessman that testified, Mike Bo Bowen from texas. He talked how he warned the administration in january he offered the manufacturer these n95 masks you were talking about. Rick bright sounded the alarm in the administration, boeing and bright said the administration ignored his offer. Here was his response when asked about that today and he was reassigned. I am a republican. I have been a life long republican. And im embarrassed by how thats been handled. Whats your reaction . Well, we didnt