Negative for covid19 as recently as thursday. But out of an abundance of caution, he will not return to washington, and instead will self quarantine in tennessee for two weeks. Senator alexander notes he will work remotely on tuesday to chair a Senate Committee meeting by video conference. Dr. Anthony fauci and other members of the White House Coronavirus task force are also self quarantining. They will appear virtually at that hearing as well. Meanwhile, Vice President mike pence plans to report for duty at the white house tomorrow, after multiple white house staffers tested positive. They include the Vice President s spokeswoman. Lets talk to nbcs monica alma who works at the white house and we are told the president continues to follow the advice of the white house medical unit but if he is not quarantining what does following the advice really mean. There were questions about this all weekend long, given that the Vice President decided to take a trip to iowa on friday after learning his press secretary had tested positive. Several staff who were on that plane were removed out of an abundance of caution, but the Vice President continued on, and all of these events, where he interacted with several dozen people at multiple stops, all attempting to safely socially distance but not wearing a mask and what was critical this weekend were questions about what we do in the days to come, given news that some of the top doctors were going to be taking that extra step of self quarn fening. Vice president mike pence is not going to be doing that. Were told he will be at the white house tomorrow for some meetings but the weekend was an indication of how seriously they were evaluating about what to do and what next would be essential. They made sure that the Vice President didnt have any events on his public schedule this weekend. And what was also striking was that the president held an event last night at the white house, and senior military leadership, something the Vice President would normally attend, and while the Vice President could have been there, he was not. And his absence was noted. Given the close proximity to his press secretary, testing positive, were told the Vice President will be following that medical guide abc from his top doctors. He will be closely monitored and remember both he and the president are tested daily and were told as recently as today, they both tested negative for coronavirus. But its the latest example of how close and how much scrutiny the white house is under, now that the virus has really reached deep into the west wing. And tomorrow it will be interesting to see just how many staffers and officials come to work. Weve reached out to so many of the Coronavirus Task member, several of whom are taking that step to self quarantine but many of whom are saying they will keep seeing what doctors recommend but they will be working. As you mentioned, that tuesday panel, with so many of those, that will be done remotely, and it will be worth seeing whether the Vice President travels anywhere outside of washington, in the days to come. Joshua . Were waiting to see if he travels and also the Committee Meeting on tuesday, especially now that the chair of that committee is going to be quarantining and he said to chuck todd today on meet the press that he thinks testing is absolutely critical to reopening the economy. Big difference from what weve been hearing from the white house. Thank you, monica. Thats nbcs monica alba with the latest. Right now there are 1. 3 million confirmed cases of covid19 in the united states. More than 80,000 people have died. The latest unemployment numbers are very bad. And could get far worse. Last month, the u. S. Lost roughly 20 million jobs. The Unemployment Rate had been steadily dropping over the past several years. Now, its up to 14. 7 . That is a big reason why most governors are easing restrictions in the coming days. They hope to rein rvigorate the economies and restore some sense of normalcy but different states are using different restrictions in different ways a prime example of that, the beautiful beaches of ocean city, maryland, are wide open, ready for business. Meanwhile the mayor of boston says his city will not hold any large gatherings at least through early september. Also, this week, big changes are coming to mass transportation. Starting tomorrow, amtrak will reduce Passenger Capacity 50 , the rail service wants riders to wear face masks on board. Americas largest airlines, american jet blue, united and others, are also requiring face coverings. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration is reportedly planning to wind down its Coronavirus Task force in the coming weeks. But as it tries to turn the page, members of congress are still working to ensure that we get the help we so desperately need during this pandemic. Joining us now to discuss it is democratic congressman jamie raskin of maryland, a member of the newlyformed House Select Committee on the coronavirus crisis. Congressman, good evening. Joshua, delighted to be with you and happy mothers day to everybody out there. How is your district doing right now . Your district runs north from the dc border up to the Pennsylvania State line. How is it going there . Its montgomery county, frederick county, carol county, and well, people have been hanging tough. We have thousands of people who have the disease. Weve lost a lot of people. We had an outbreak at a nursing home in my district. So its fairly reflective of whats going to on around the country, and the numbers are not declining yet. So the idea of reopening i think is anath ma to everybody around here. When the white house found out they had two stop staffers to coronavirus, what they said is everything is going to be okay because we are doing daily tests for all of the staff and we get a result within 15 or 20 minutes. Were doing social distancing. All of those things which nobody else has in their workplace. So im glad theyve figured out what is the proper Public Health protocol for a workplace, but you cant say were just going to use it for the white house and send the meat packers back to work, or send the federal workers back to the department of defense, or the department of state, when you dont have any of those things in place. So my constituents are staying at home and theyre staying safe. They understand we dont have a treatment for this thing, and we dont have a vaccine for it, and the only thing weve got, the only thing that is working is social distancing. And its absolutely deranged for the white house, to be trying to send everybody back into their workplace, without taking the proper Public Health precautions. And another thing they havent done is release what the centers for Disease Control found. It turned out that the cdc said we have a whole set of guidance and principles that should be used for reopening and trump squashed it and he said im not going to let anybody see it. Were demanding, i am demanding, that the white house allow the cdc to release to every governor in america, every mayor in america, and every person in america, exactly what their scientific criteria are for reopening. As we mentioned, youre a member of that select committee. There was a great deal of bipartisanship, it seem, at the beginning of this pandemic, in terms of trying to get Financial Aid to millions of americans. What do you think congresss next move should be on the coronavirus . Specifically what do you think that congress and the administration can accomplish together right now . Well, i think the states and the counties and the cities are up against a wall, because their revenues have been sharply declining, as all of the businesses have closed, and yet, the demands on them are skyrocketing in terms of Public Health and Public Safety and welfare and so on. And theyre going to engage in mass layoffs, and theyre not going to be able to engage in the services they need. So we need to invest in our heroes. As nancy pelosi says. We are talking about the firefighters. Were talking about the cops. The first responders. The nurses, the doctors, the public hospitals. What were talking about is really the heart and the soul of america, the first line of defense, against the disease. The people are actually out fighting it, not throwing press conferences and engaged in propaganda, but people who are actually fighting the disease and taking care of people, weve got to invest in the states and the counties and cities. Thats the heart of it. But we also need to since you mentioned that, let me run with that, i wonder what you think that might look like because theres been real division how to invest in states and cities, and state Senate Majority leader made that comment about bankruptcy, and Governor Cuomo says i dare you pass a bill to let the state goes bankrupt, because there seems to be differing opinions of what helping would actually mean and some said direct Financial Aid to balance the budgets which will be decimated for the year to come. Some say it should be Insurance Benefits for first responders. There are a bunch of different ideas out right now. Based on your conversations, what seems to have the most agreement today in terms of what to do next . Well, look, the governors know best for the states, the county executives know best for the county, the mayor and the City Council People know best for the cities. We need to get them the money, we need to make sure there is integrity and ethics at every level. Accountability and responsibility. Both in the same county level, but also at the federal level, too. And thats what our committee is going to be doing. Our Oversight Committee will be making sure that the hundreds and billions of dollars going out the door is spent on the neediest and not the greediest. The very first thing that we did was to send letters to big publiclyheld corporations, that took more than 10 million when they are worth more than 25 million and have lots of other access to capital, and we said return that money, and if not, were going to engage in a whole set of interrogatories to you, about whats going on. So we will want to make sure that the money is being used properly. Look, the testing is critical for reopening. And i want to focus on that for a second. Because we are right now in a healthier skelter chaotic world that the president has given us, there is just chaos out there. There are ways to do this. Other countries have figured it out. There are ways to do it. The centers for Disease Control knows how to do it. And what we need is a plan. The nation hadministration has. We need a plan for testing, expanded testing, vigilant Contact Tracing and chase down everyone who is in contact with someone who has it, treatment and quarantine, an then we can Start Talking about instituting the Public Health protocols and different domains of social life, whether it is k6, or 612, colleges, restaurant, movie theater, all of those things, but to blow the whistle one day, easter, or may 1st, or fourth of july, everybody go back, that is a recipe for chaos, and the public knows it. And every poll shows the vast majority of the people understand that sets us up for further outbreaks and further problems. With regards to health before i let you go, congressman, you recently participated in a round table discussion on the toll that coronavirus is taking on our Mental Health. Before i let you go, what was your biggest takeaway from that . The 50 of americans are saying that theyre experiencing greater emotional and mental stress, because of the unemployment, we have 33 Million People thrown out of work, in this crisis, and weve lost, i guess were over 80,000 people, thats 80,000 families across america, who are directly affected, and everybodys affected by the siege mentality, and the lockdown. Its like we have to be under voluntary house arrest, in order to negotiate this pandemic, which the administration has let get out of control, and at this point, they seem to be saying, lets just ignore it, let its take its toll on the population, and lets pretend everything is okay, and send everybody back to work and they will be fine in the white house because they have access to daily tests and results in 15 minutes. That is not a plan for getting america out of this nightmare. We need a real plan. Democratic congressman jamie raskin of maryland, thank you very much. Thanks for having me. Coming up, now there are now more than four million confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide. Some cases are making real progress. Others are seeing a spike in cases. Well get a global view of the pandemic next. Se moves look fam . Then you might have a condition called dry mouth. Biotene is clinically proven to soothe and moisturize a dry mouth. Plus, it freshens breath. Biotene. Immediate and long lasting dry mouth symptom relief. Right now, there are over a million Walmart Associates doing their best to keep our nation going. Because despite everything thats changed, one thing hasnt and thats our devotion to you and our communities. Our priority will always be to keep you and our associates safe, while making sure you can still get the essentials you need. And the clock could be ticking towards bad breath, receding gums and possibly tooth loss. Help turn back the clock on gingivitis with parodontax. Leave bleeding gums behind. Parodontax. I got this Mountain Bike for only 11. Dealdash. Com, the fair and honest bidding site. An ipad worth 505, was sold for less than 24; a playstation 4 for less than 16; and a schultz 4k television for less than 2. I won these bluetooth headphones for 20. I got these three suitcases for less than 40. And shipping is always free. Go to dealdash. Com right now and see how much you can save. A pandemic is by definition a widespread problem. In this case, worldwide. Have there have been more than four million cases and more than 280,000 deaths around the globe. Fortunately, there are some signs of progress. France has just experienced its lowest daily death toll in weeks. It is preparing to ease lockdown restrictions. The u. K. Is also easing restrictions. Prime minister Boris Johnson says residents can exercise outside with social distancing and go to work if they cannot work from home. Johnson added that fines will go up on people who disobey the restrictions. Weve been through the initial peak. But its coming down the mountain that is often more dangerous. We have a route. And we have a plan. And everyone in government has the allconsuming pressure and challenge to save lives, to restore livelihoods and glad ry restore the freedoms that we need. In italy, one of the early hot spots, daily infections are rising, after the lowest level in two months. More than 30,000 people have died in italy. Bad news in germany. Its infection rate is on the rise. This comes just days after the german chancellor Angela Merkel eased restrictions. Sweden has imposed no restrictions. Its been trusting people to voluntarily do the responsible thing. Swedens case load and death count continue to rise and have accelerated in recent days. And both china and south korea report new spikes in cases. Lots to take in from around the world. And joining us to help with that is ryan heath, Senior Editor at politico. Ryan, good evening. Thanks for joining us. Lets start in the u. K. , this new plan for Prime MinisterBoris Johnson, how is that being received . I understand some people call it controversial. I personally am not surprised since Boris Johnson had covid19 and credited the National Health service for saving his life. So how is the u. K. Receiving that plan . I think with some sense of uncertainty. Theres a little bit of confusion from the people ive spoken to in britain today. Boris johnson says if you can go to work, do go to work but that doesnt give the worker any clarity on whether their company or Public Sector employers will have their offices open on monday for example. And others say we might do that in june. And other countries like denmark and germany have their kids back in school and trying to do the same thing, in a staggered shift system. So what were seeing is a lot of experimentation across not just the u. K. , but across europe. Theres still some who dont know about the virus and everyone gambling to one extent or another. And glad you talked about germany. We are talking about the rise of cases in germany and sweden. Where are things going wrong . Is it the lack of tight restrictions like in sweden or more to it than that . I think there is one big area where we know very little in European Countries and that is nursing home, care homes and for example, germany does not include deaths in Nursing Homes in their official statistics so their statistics look much better than a lot of other countries unlike belgium where about half of the deaths have been Nursing Homes. It is tending to range from 35 to 50 in countries. So germany looks better than it really is in addition to having what they admitted, that their opening up and thei