Good morning, everybody. I hope you all enjoyed your memorial day. It is tuesday, may 26th. And im yasmin vossoughian. America and the world saw two very different displays of leadership this memorial day. One from the president who made two public appearances yesterday without wearing a face mask. The other from former Vice President joe biden who emerged from his home for the first time in two months yesterday wearing a face mask. The president participated in the traditional wreath laying cemetery at Arlington National cemetery and spoke at baltimores ft. Mchenry as the death toll from coronavirus inches closer to 100,000. The president declared the service of americas Fallen Soldiers to those serving on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. In recent months, our nation and the world have been engaged in a new form of battle against an invisible enemy. Once more, the men and women of the United States military have answered the kale to duty and raced into danger. Tens of thousands of Service Members and National Guardsmen are on the front lines of our war against this terrible virus. Joe biden laid a wreath honoring Fallen Soldiers at a delaware war memorial and urged americans to, quote, never forget their sacrifices. It is the first time that hes been outside of his home since march 15th. Biden, his wife and the members of his security detail all wore face masks. The former Vice President and his staff were so diligent when it came to social distancing. At one point, an aid could be heard telling reporters to, quote, back up when they tried to press in closer. Biden caught the president s attention, of course. Trump repeated a picture of biden quoting, this might help explain why trump doesnt like to wear a mask in public. By the way, were all looking like that wearing a mask diligently because its important. So despite the u. S. Nearing 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus, the memorial day holiday brought photos and videos of crowds taken over the weekend are prompting concerns about a resurgence from the virus. That number is 5. 5 million. Videos of jam packed pool parties at lake of the oh czars in missouri on saturday showed hundreds of people blatantly ignoring signs to practice social distancing. It has prompted the county to issue a travel advisory and the Kansas City Health director is calling for all of the attendees to selfquarantine. And in point pleasant, new jersey, yesterday, a crowd of hundreds of people, many of them without masks to open the state. Later governor murphy drased the issue insisting his focus is on public safety. And now at least 10 medical and pharmaceutical companies are testing their vaccines and the latest to add to that list is novavax. It has begun human testing in phase one for its vaccine, which will include 130 Healthy People ages 18 to 59 in australia. The study expects results in july and if it is deemed safe to proceed a second phase will begin in multiple countries, including the United States with a broader age range and a stronger focus on if the risk of the coronavirus is actually reduced. Novavax received 138 million in funding which is backed by bill gates. Novavax predicts it could produce up to 100 million doses just this year and possibly more than 1 billion next year. And as the death toll nears 100,000, the coronavirus has hit hardest in areas that vote democratic. The same areas that voted for Hillary Clinton back in 2016. Counties won by President Trump in 2016 have reported just 27 of virus cases and 21 of deaths. Even though they represent represent 45 of the population. How to combat it and how quickly and completely to reopen. Joining me now, julia manchester. Great to see you on this tuesday morning. Thanks for getting up early with us. I want to talk about this stark contrast that were seeing first for the former Vice President joe biden and President Trump during memorial day celebration. Certainly a split screen moment where you saw the president not wearing a staff. His staff, it seems, for the most part not wearing a mask around him, and then you see biden with everybody around him, including himself and his wife, dr. Jill biden, wearing a mask. What type of message does that send . These two split screen moments yesterday of men running against each other for the upcoming november election . Yasmin, its amazing how something as simple as wearing a mask here in the United States amid the Global Pandemic has become such a political message, if you will. President trump not wearing a mask very much goes along with his messaging throughout the pandemic that hes essentially making his own rules for himself. Remember, a top aide to Vice President mike pence whose press secretary tested positive and shes, of course, married to one of President Trumps top aides. So there are people very close to the president who have tested positive and he has continued to not wear a mask. And i think it goes to show you how much he wants to get back to normal, if you will, and how much hes trying to make his own rules. Joe biden, on the other hand, is really trying to set an example essentially wearing a mask showing, you know, what he believes the public should be doing. He is essentially then saying that he should continue to follow cdc guidelines, follow the science and such and that is what youre seeing joe biden do. So two very stark differences and one very important thing to point out for both of these men. Theyre both over the age of 70 and theyre both very susceptible to this virus, as well. So lets go back to this report that i find fascinating and i understand it, as well. The hardest hit areas are primarily in dense areas like new york, los angeles, so on and to forth. If you think about the tourism industry, so it makes sense, but what do you think it means for the democrats as we head towards the november election . How could this affect the ballot box . I think in a way this could drive out the democratic vote. And in a lot of these hard hit communities, this could drive up the urgency to go out and vote. Two very different populations and how theyre responding to this. And i think for democrats, youre going to see them continue to drive home this message of this is a Public Health crisis, we need to put on the brakes, not reopen too quickly, but youre going to continue to see republicans, President Trump supporters, to really publicize those unemployment numbers that are very high and really emphasize the need to get the economy back to normal because we know that is something President Trump has campaigned on. Really in 2016 and throughout his presidency. Julia manchester, my friend, stay close. I will talk to you again in just a little bit. So as the nation observed memorial day yesterday, the president took to twitter to insult a marine officer and congressman conor lamb calling him a, quote, american fraud. Just a week before the states primary, trump threw his support behind Shawn Parnell, an Army Combat Veteran running for lambs 17th congressional district. While misspelling lambs name, the president sweeted Shawn Parnell is an american hero. Connor lamm, with two ms, will kill 2a, voteded to impeach on nothing. A total and complete sean parnell endorsement. However, lamm was one of 15 democrats to not vote for Speaker Pelosi back in 2019. In a response, lamm tweeted in part that republicans have been, quote, lying about my record since the day i became a candidate. Still ahead, the latest over the legal battle over mailin ballots. Republicans are now setting their sights on california. And later, the World Health Organization is out with a warn background a second peak where the coronavirus is declining. Those stories plus a check on your weather with bill karins when we come back. Er with bill when we come back. Still fresh. Unstopables inwash scent booster downy unstopables 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. Welcome back, everybody. The Republican NationalCommittee Filed suit on sunday against California Governor Gavin Newsom for an executive order to send every registered voter a ballot by mail for this years election. In a tweet announcing the action, Republican Party chair woman Ronna Mcdaniel called newsomes order a radical plan and a, quote, recipe for disaster that would create more opportunities for fraud and destroy the confidence californians deserve to have in their elections. The suit is joined by California Republicans and the Republican Congressional Committee argues the order deprives californians of their constitutional right to vote by making fraudulent voting inevitable. It follows a complaint filed that the governor is making, quote, an unlawful attempt to super seated and replace election law. Newsome said the ballot is important, but it is not a xwut for locations. Joining me now with more, danny cevallos. Great to see you on this tuesday morning. So let me get this straight here. Youve got the rnc basically saying that california voters are being deprovided of their constitutional right to vote because they can choose to vote by mail. So at this point, it seems like governor new so masome is sayin have the choice, you can use this ballot arriving in your mailbox at your house or if there are physical locations, if is the key word, if there are physical locations open in november, you can go there, as well. What do you make of this argument . The deprivation argument made by the plaintiffs in this case goes like this. That if you send out ballots and you allow everyone to vote by mail, that invites voter fraud. And voter fraud dilutes the votes of the people who vote lawfully. In fact, it arguably risks them having their vote not counted at all when the inevitable challenge comes in court to actually invalidate these ballots that were sent in. Thats the argument, at least, in the complaint, that voter dilution will occur even though more people are voting because they may be fraudulent votes. Youre going to dilute the votes of the people who lawfully voted. But what about the fact that im sure the governor, you know, making the argument that this could feasibly stem the spread, stop the spread of the coronavirus if we are, in fact, in a phase two of this thing resurging in the fall and we are in the midst of a november election, especially for those that are more susceptible to getting a more extreme form of this virus and allowing to participate an election by mailin ballot versus having to go into a physical location. It then gives them the opportunity to, in fact, vote, otherwise they would not have that opportunity if, in fact, they want to stay safe. There is no question in the intent he and the Public Policy behind governor newsomes order is to avoid increased infection. The argument against it by the rnc and the congressman and all the other plaintiffs is by doing so, you are sending votes youre not creating a system that has enough procedural safeguards. Youre sending ballots out to all registered voters and that could include people who are dead, people who are registered in multiple places. When you do that, then youre inviting disaster. Thats the argument. On the other hand, you have governors and states trying to figure out a way to cope with this pandemic and also ensure a valid election in november. Well, it seems like this is going to be a fight that will take us to november and a solution needs to be found, considering what we are facing with regard to this pandemic. Danny cevallos, thank you, as always. Still ahead, as more and more states reopen, there is an ongoing debate about places of worship. The president has deemed churches essential and now some are fighting to open their doors. We are back in a moment. S. We are back in a moment. Welcome back, everybody. There is a battle being wage dollars over reopening houses of worship. Nbcs Lee Alexander has more on this. The separation between church and state is facing a new test as houses of worship nationwide fight to open their doors. In minnesota with malls starting to reopen, some pasters announcing theyre doing the same. Now governor tim walls is changing course. We have a solid plan that if followed can keep people safe. In florida, catholic mass will be allowed to resume in miami dade and broward counties. We have built a plan to slowly allow people to enter our parish buildings. And california governor newsome issued strict guidelines for allowing Worship Centers to reopen in the coming weeks. And rather than passing a collection plate, worshippers are encouraged to use a stationary box or online giving. At blessed sack meant in massachusetts, they are taking notes. In order for people to come to church, they have to register. For weeks, Health Officials have traced outbreaks to houses of worship. Thats why many leaders say its still too soon. Right now, its truly irresponsible to open the doors of our chuch. In atlanta, pastor kevin muriel says this sanctuary could sit empty for months. 500 african methodist churches will be closed for months. If we can ensure any parishioner is safe without any risk, thats when well come back. All right. Our thanks to nbc thes Blain Alexander for that report. Lets switch gears and get a check on your weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. Good morning to you, yasmin. Great to see you once again. Over storms possible in areas of the northern plains. We were drenched yesterday in areas of south florida. Thats goes to exit a little bit during the day today. So we see three areas of rain. One near kansas city, houston, corpus christi. Then theres the rain off the florida east coast. As we go throughout the day today, a lot of the rain will be shifting offer the texas southeast coast. In houston, the weather will be improving. Bu montana towards lake charles. As we go throughout this afternoon, heavy rain over the little rock area. A chance of flash flooding up to lincoln, nebraska. Here is the forecast for where the heaviest rains will be. You see hit and miss all through areas of the south. Were get to go that time of year, its warm, its humid. And in the afternoon, youre going to get those storms from mississippi through alabama. And if we do get any severe storms today, from des moines, mason city, lacrosse into areas of northern wisconsin, a few tornados, large hail and damaging winds possible and these storms should stay just south of the minneapolis st. Paul area. For todays forecast, were warming it up in the northeast. Boston should be near 80 degrees today. Temperatures 77 to 78. Well notice that that warmth continues throughout much of the country. Take a look in the west, yasmin. Were going on be about 108 to 110 in phoenix the whole entire rest of the week. Major heat wave and record heat in the west. Well talk about that coming up. Thank you, bill. Still ahead, as the nation nears 100,000 coronavirus deaths, the president is defending his golf outings over the weekend. The president has repeatedly touted hydroxychloroquine for treating coronavirus, but the World Health Organization is raising concerns. D Health Organs raising concerns you wouldnt accept an incomplete job from anyone else. So why accept it from your allergy pills . Flonase relieves your worst symptoms which most pills dont. Get allinone allergy relief for 24 hours, with flonase. Since your ancestors served in world war two. Which most pills dont. Many of their stories remain untold. Find and honor the veterans in your family. Their stories live on at ancestry. There are times when our need to connect really matters. To keep customers and employees in the know. To keep business moving. Comcast business is prepared for times like these. Powered by the nations largest gigspeed network. To help give you the speed, reliability, and security you need. Tools to manage your business from any device, anywhere. And a team of experts here for you 24 7. Weve always believed in the power of working together. Thats why, when every connection counts. You can count on us. Welcome back, everybody. Im yasmin vossoughian. Were going to begin this half hour as a trial looking into the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine and treating coronavirus patients being temporarily suspended for safety concerns. The director of the World Health Organization making the announcement just yesterday saying in part this, the executive group has implemented a temporary pause within the solidarity trial. While the safety data is reviewed by the data safety monitoring board. The director noted that the drug is still generally seen as safe in treating malaria. In an interview over the weekend, President Trump said he had, quote, just finished taking a twoweek course of the drug. The medication he has vigorously promoted as a preventive or a curative treatment for the coronavirus. And President Trump yesterday continue to go defend his golf outings over memorial day weekend as the u. S. Coronavirus death toll is approaching 100,000 lives lost. In a series of tweets, the president argued that he played, quote, to get outside for a little exercise before complaining about the medias scrutiny. And then tried to deflect attention elsewhere writing in part this, some stories about the fact that