It is friday, may 15th. Just in case you were wondering. We have made it through yet another week amid this pandemic. Were going to begin with the testimony from the former government doctor who says that he lost a key post last month after opposing the president s push to use an unproven drug to treat the coronavirus. Rick bright, in charge of the federal agency that develops vaccines, told house lawmakers just yesterday there was no plan at the start of the outbreak and that there is still no plan today. Our window of opportunity is closing. If we fail to improve our response now based on science, i fear the pandemic will get worse and prolonged. There will be a resurgence this fall. Without better planning, 2020 could be the darkest winter in modern history. First and foremost, we need to be truthful with the american people. Americans deserve the truth. The truth must be based on science. We have the worlds greatest scientists. Let us lead. Let us speak without fear of retribution. Our nation was not as prepared as we should have been. As we could have been. Some scientists raised Early Warning signals that were overlooked. And pages from our pandemic play book were ignored by some in leadership. I believe with proper leadership and collaboration across government, with the best science leading the way, we can device a comprehensive strategy. The time is running out because the virus is still spreading everywhere. People are getting restless to leave their homes. When you look at the first four months of this year, would you describe the administrations response as a success or a failure . I believe we could have done better. I think there are critical steps that we did not take in time. Do you believe if your suggestions were kwleimplemente lives would have been saved and the is severity of the pandemic would have been lessened . So people died because you werent listened to . People died because they didnt have appropriate protective equipment to save their lives and protect them from getting infected. There was a visit to the cdc on march 6th. At that visit, the administration said anybody who wants a test will get a test. Was that true then . There still are not enough tests. So even this week as were being told anybody who wants a test can have a test, is that true in the United States of america . No. So President Trump also gave his thoughts on testing yesterday. Here he is during a speech at a Pennsylvania Company that distributes medical supplies. Could be that testing is frankly overrated. Maybe it is overrated. But whenever they start yelling we want more, we want more, then we do more and they say we want more. But we have the greatest testing in the world. And dont forget we have more cases than anybody in the world. Why . Because we do more testing. If we didnt do any testing, we would have very few cases. So the cdc yesterday released previously withheld guidance documents on reopening american institutions, which appeared to be less detailed than the draft recommendation sent to the white house for review last month. The new cdc guidelines if contain guidance to help businesses reopen safely. The Associated Press reported last week that the white house previously shelved cdc provided recommendations for safely reopening. U. S. Unemployment claims have now spent eight straight weeks in the millions, now totalling upwards of 36 million after 36 Million People, excuse me, after yesterday. The department of labor announced yesterday that another nearly 3 Million People applied for jobless claims last week. The amount of claims has been on a steady decline as parts of the country continue to reopen, but the number of people receiving ongoing benefits is still 22. 8 million. And sxomething to note here, yesterday the department of labor explained via twitter that the numbers were off by over 260,000 and should be much lower at just under 30,000. Claims. A major discrepancy there, to say the least. Joining me now, Peggy Collins. Peggy, good morning to you. What a brutal stretch we have had for unemployment numbers. So give us the big picture here, peggy. Where to things stand right now . And do you see any bright spots on the horizon . The numbers do keep going up. We saw almost another 3 million yesterday. And one of the bright spots that youre seeing is were starting to look at the numbers related to continuing claims. So those are people who are not only initially filing for their first week of unemployment benefits, but continue to go file. So those numbers are very high. That might be a sign that some Small Businesses that have gotten loans may be rehiring people. That is an area were looking at closely going forward. So as Small Businesses begin to rehire people, as states begin to reopen, getting back to work, folks are able to get up and go to work, possibility that could lower that number, as well. So as we talk about reopening, are there any specific states we are paying attention to . California and connecticut. In the data that came out yesterday, their numbers were unusually high in a couple of ways. Later in the day, connecticut corrected its number of jobless claims. That was inflating the National Figure somewhat. So that was good news in terms of the numbers looking extremely high in connecticut in terms of the initial jobless claims with that number being revised downward. And the states have had a lot of trouble consuming the volume of claims that have been processed or had to be processed. So that is another area that we have been watching and trying to capture in our reporting. Peggy collins, thank you, as always. Stay close. I will talk to you again in just a little bit. Still ahead, everybody, the fbi seizing the cell phone of senator richard burr in an investigation into stock sales. But he may not be the only lawmaker facing scrutiny. President trump ramping up his criticism of his pretdecessr and what he calls obamagate. Those stories and a check off your weather when we come back. Your weather when we come back j. K. Vo if youre off the roads for all of us, farmers is here for you. And if youre on the roads for us, well, were here for you, too. Or is it . What if business as usual means putting people first. And understanding their needs . If thats your business. 365 days of every year, then business as usual is precisely what these times require. Which is why your lexus dealer will do what weve always done. Put you first. Find out how we can service your individual needs at lexus. Com peoplefirst. Sprinting past every leak in our softest, smoothest fabric. Shes confident, protected, her strength respected. Depend. The only thing stronger than us, is you. I but what i do count on. Ts anis boost high protein. Rs, and now, theres boost mobility. With key nutrients to help support. Joints, muscles, and bones. Try boost mobility, with added collagen. Make familysized meals fast, and because its a ninja foodi, it can do things no other oven can, like flip away. The ninja foodi air fry oven, the oven that crisps and flips away. Welcome back, everybody. Republican senator richard burr announced that he is temporarily stepping down as chairman of the Senate Intel Committee after fbi agents seized his cell phone as part of an investigation into whether he sold thousands of stocks using inside information from his role on that committee. Burr wihas said he based that decision on publicly available information. A Senior Justice Department official told nbc news that the move was approved at the highest levels of the justice department, meaning ag bill barr signed off on them. The warrant was served on burrs attorney, but the phone was picked up at the senators home. Investigators also obtained a search warrant to obtain data in burrs icloud storage for his iphone. The move represents a significant escalation in the inquiry. As the New York Times is noting, suggests burr may be in serious legal jeopardy. The North Carolina senator has denied any wrongdoing and announced in a statement that he is stepping down as chairman of the Senate Intel Committee until the investigation is complete, writing in part this, quote, the work the Intelligence Committee and its members do is too important to risk hindering in any way. I believe this step is necessary to allow the committee to continue its essential work free of external distractions. Also, stock trades made by other senators are also under scrutiny. Disclosure records obtained by the New York Times are showing that the three senators sold Major Holdings around the same time as senator burr. All three deny doing anything wrong. The times reports that senator feinstein back in april was asked, quote, basic questions by Law Enforcement officials about the stock transactions made by her and her husband. Feinsteins spokesperson acknowledged that she provided documents to the fbi. And a spokesperson for neither lawfler declined to say that she had been contacted by the fbi. And that she has forwarded documents to the doj, to the s. E. C. And the Senate Ethics committee establishing that she and her husband acted entirely appropriately and observed both the letter and the spirit of the law. Senator lawflers husband has to be head of the new york stock exchange. Thanks for getting up with us this morning, danny. Some major developments, to say the least. What do you make of this unprecedented nature of the attorney general getting involved here basically signing off on an fbi warrant for a sitting senator inspect how significant is this . Investigating members of congress for Insider Trading is somewhat precedented. The debate clause of the institution generally protects members of congress from being intimidated by the executive branch for things they say or do in congress. Whether or not that extends to a search for someones personal cell phone, the federal court last year held that it doesnt extend to protect personal Electronic Devices and things like that. So in all likelihood, this is something that would that will be upheld if taken to court. So this is something that has happened before. The challenge is figuring out the extend of this future debate clause. To what degree are members of congress to be protected for things they do as members of congress . And that is the key here. Was this something done strictly in the work of congress or did some of these senators obtain information as senators or members of congress and then go out and trade on that such that it doesnt get coverage by this future debate clause, they dont have any privilege to do that. So lets talk about some of the other senators that could feasibly looked at here. They are claiming between feinstein and lawfler, claiming having outside advisers handling their stock decisions here. What comes into play here to prove a notion like that, especially when you look at the intelligence reports and the reporting from that lining up with the fact that they were hearing of this pandemic and that is when it seems as if timingwise the trades had gone down. First, Insider Trading is hard to prove with regular folks. But the whole reason to get involved in the stock market is because you think you know something that someone else doesnt know. Then the argument comes up that almost anything that filters into congress as a public body is by definition Public Information and doesnt meet the standards of Insider Trading. But Insider Trading is a very complicated area of the law. So members of congress and the like often have a defense to any charge. Still ahead, everybody, the president calls on congress to have former president obama testify about the russia probe. But at least one Top Republican says thats not going to happen. Were back in a moment. S not go. Were back in a moment yeah, they help us with achievable steps along the way. So we can spend a bit now, knowing were prepared for the future. Surprise we renovated the guest room, so you can live with us. Oooh, well. Im good at my condo. Oh. I love her condo. Nana throws the best parties. Well planned, well invested, well protected. Voya. Be confident to and through retirement. For people with Heart Failure taking entresto, it may lead to a world of possibilities. 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Our priority will always be to keep you and our associates safe, while making sure you can still get the essentials you need. Welcome back, everybody. President trump has ramped up his attacks on barack obama and now hes calling on congress to have him testify. Trump has accused obama of illegally targeting his associates in what he has dubbed obamagate. There is no hard evidence to support this claim. He tweeted yesterday, quote, if i were a senator or a congressman, the first person i would skaul to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the usa by far, a former president obama. No more talk. It was the greatest political crime in the history of our country. And i was a democrat instead of a ri a republican, i think everybody would have been in jail a long time ago and im talking with 50year sentences. It is a disgrace whats happened. This is the greatest political scam, hoax in the history of our country. And Lindsey Graham has rejected the president s call to testify. Here is what he told reporters yesterday. I think it would be a bad precedent to compel a former president to come before the congress. That would open up a can of worms. For a variety of reasons, i dont think thats a good idea. Okay. Lets switch gears here and bring in nbc meteorologist bill karins. Good morning, bill. Good to see you today. Good morning. Happy friday. Weve had flooding in new orleans, chicago with flash flooding, a lot of wind damage and Power Outages in illinois and missouri. Today will be a dangerous day. We have Severe Weather in the northeast and a Tropical Storm forming just off the coastline of south florida. But first off with the Severe Weather, severe storms rolling through central this morning. And also down in southern louisiana. Later on this afternoon, we usually this time of year get threats. What is different is this Severe Weather threat will be the latest in new york, new hampshire, we may see tornados this afternoon in areas that dont typically get a lot of Severe Weather. As we go throughout the evening, well see that second area of Severe Weather from Oklahoma City and those storms will be arriving in , waco and dallas after dark tonight. The heaviest rainfall will be today. 70 chance. The Hurricane Hunter aircrafts will be flying into this to give us the official word today. But regardless, it will be moving away from florida as we go throughout the weekend. But things will be improving saturday and sunday. We may see 2 to 3 inches of rain, but it wont cause too many problems. Your weekend forecast coming up next half hour. Still ahead, how the Trump Administration is respond to go dr. Rick brights testimony before congress. Also, the white house reportedly thinking about making a deal with democrats to provide more aid to states feeling the pinch from coronavirus. Lets just say its more than a pinch at this point. Those stories and more, coming up next. Up next. Welcome back, everybody. Were going to begin this half hour with the testimony from dr. Rick bright. He told members of congress yesterday that the administrations timeline for a Coronavirus Vaccine is likely too optimistic and that there is no plan to mass produce and distribute one. Bright said he warned the administration about shortages of personal protective equipment and faltered the president and senior officials for having minimized the outbreak early on. Responding to the testimony, alex azar said brights information was outdated. While trump characterized bright as a disgruntled employee. Dr. Bright is up there testifying today. Everything hes complaining about was achieved. Everything he talked about was done. He says he talked about the need for respirators. We procured respirators under the president s direction. He said we need a Manhattan Project for vaccines. This president initiates a vaccine Manhattan Project, diagnostic Manhattan Project. Therapeutic Manhattan Project. Oh, and by the way, whose