Last week. More than 26 Million People have filed for unemployment now over the past five weeks, officially erasing all of the job gains since the financial crisis of 08. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell facing bipartisan backlash for suggesting that states should file for bankruptcy which by law they cannot do, instead of receiving federal assistance. New york republican congressman peter king called the comments shameful and indefensible, while new yorks governor called it just a dumb idea. Not to fund state and local governments is incredibly shortsighted. They want to fund small business, fund the airlines, i understand that. But, state and local Government Funds police and fire and teachers and schools. How do you not fund police and fire and teachers and schools in the midst of this crisis . Senator Elizabeth Warren made the heartbreaking announcement today that her oldest brother died from the coronavirus. Warren said don reed died tuesday night in oklahoma. He was 86 years old. She wrote in a tweet today that what made him extra special was his smile. As with all afternoons here at this time period, im joined once again by my colleague, nicolle wallace. Nicolle, Maxine Waters apparently announced on the house floor her sister is dying of coronavirus, hospitalized in st. Louis. So for an increasing nexus of americans, sadly, this gets personalized. You know, in my Program Every day with some of the people who have lost their lives and it now knows no age boundary. It doesnt know the difference between people with political connections and it doesnt care about time zones. Its a scourge and its so sad that we have to spend as much time as we do with the fights between politicians. Usually, most days its been between trump and his advisers, his science advisers. Today its between Mitch Mcconnell and a republican, a very republicany republican calling him reprehensible and shameful and the democratic governor of new york whos basically telling the state of new york, the worlds coronavirus epicenter to drop dead and fend for itself. Its a Tragic Health crisis and a disgraceful political moment in this country. So thats what was on my mind, brian. Sorry, something i just think its amazing no, its crazy. Well, also mcconnell, in keeping with his brando oh and forgive the phrase, its by design, enjoys saying what he knows to a certain percentage of the population would be the most upsetting thing, this instantly like Everything Else in our lives and like a pandemic falls down between categories of red and blue. Right. And to your point, he said it in an interview, in a right wing interview meant to get to just that part of the political audience. Anyway, theres more news to get to. President trump has challenged the Science Behind coronavirus time and again which often leads to him either contradicting or being contradicted by his own Public Health experts. The latest example involves comments the cdc director made to the Washington Post in which he warned of another wave of coronavirus later this year. He said this, theres a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through. The post headline described it as likely to be even more devastating, and that led to a chain of contradictory statements by the president and his top medical advisers. Dr. Robert redfield was totally misquoted in the media on a statement about the fall season and the virus, totally misquoted. I spoke to him and he said it was ridiculous. He was talking about the flu and corona coming together at the same time, and corona could be just some little flareups that well take care of. Its also possible it doesnt come back at all. You were accurately quoted, right . I was accurate lly quoted in the Washington Post. What dr. Redfield is saying, first of all, is that we will have coronavirus in the fall. I am convinced of that because of the degree of transmissibility that it has, the global nature. What happens with that will depend on how were able to contain it when it occurs. Joining our conversation, dr. Lippy roy, an internal medicine physician and msnbc medical contributor, and our friend, former missouri senator, claire mccaskill, who is an msnbc political analyst. I just cannot i was venting to brian. This is, i think for both of us, our first foray into actually, brian was able to respond to that in his broadcast at 11 but its the first time i saw the president subjected the head of the cdc and dr. Birx and dr. Fauci too at that briefing and to see the president contradicted in real time while trying to extort them into ig saig somethi saying something that fits his narrative is increasingly uncomfortable. Its beyond awkward in those moments where the president stands at the podium and says the sky is blue and the people standing around him know that today the sky is nowhere near blue. It is a completely different color. And then they get up to the podium and correct him real time. It is so bizarre. I really i feel for the journalists in the room. I think all of us get frustrated from time to time because they are trying to get the information and challenge the president. I am proud of the journalists who have challenged the president in that space, and of course this is your lane, nicolle. You understand this better than anyone at our network, and it is a sight to see the amount of misinformation that has become the norm at the briefing podium in the white house. That room will never be the same after what this guy has done to it. Dr. Roy, will medicine ever be the same when weve got the best assets this country has to deploy to beat coronavirus or having to correct or uncorrect or half walk back something that irritated the president , is that the best use of their time . Good afternoon, nicolle. Good to be with you and brian. Look, when it comes to epidemics and pandemics, this is something that the medical and Public Health communities have known for decades, if not centuries, for as long as human beings have existed, epidemics have existed and it will continue. I guess this is an example weve seen yet again where politics is directly intersecting with medicine. Im not a politician but i can tell you that as a physician and a Public Health advocate the words coming from Political Leadership matter because there are a lot of people that listen and follow those words. More importantly, they get false hope from that and thats something as a physician i try to battle and make sure i dont distill upon my patients. Theres inaccuracy but then theres false hope that you do not want to instill because if something really just damaging about that. You want to instill hope but hope thats based in realism. Claire mccaskill, i dont have to tell you what an interesting state you live in for this and so many other topics and conversations. This virus, we have learned, does not respect state lines. It doesnt see boundaries, and yet why is this kind of degenerating to a red versus blue fight . Is it all about trumps support and its effect on Public Attitudes . Well, im so glad youre going to give me to get a piece of Mitch Mcconnell on this. This guy, he is a Political Animal through and through. Political power is what he cares about. Its whats motivated him. Its the only thing thats motivated him his entire life, so he was playing political games very irresponsibly. You know the thing that really burns me about this. Mitch mcconnell, his state, takes almost 150 billion from the federal government, more than the people of kentucky pay the federal government, 150 billion they get. You know what new york does . New york gives the federal government over 100 billion of money they dont get back. So for Mitch Mcconnell to want to lecture and if you look at the states that are largest donor states to these states like kentucky where theyre taking in more federal money than theyre paying in federal taxes, it is new york. It is new jersey. It is connecticut. It is the state of washington. It is the state of illinois. These are the favorite targets of Mitch Mcconnell and frankly the president , and those are the states that are giving more so other states can have more than they pay in. The notion that he thinks they need to be left by the side of the road is so unfair. And Mitch Mcconnell is already in some trouble in kentucky. This ought to get him in more trouble around the country. People ought to get really even more focused on taking him out of power and the democrats taking over the senate. Sorry i had to go off. Other than a scenario thats all right, thats okay. Dr. Roy, other than a scenario where youre defending a thesis or making a presentation as a young resident to the physicians in charge, can you imagine and weve now seen this kind of sing for your supper hostage video that both doctors have been forced to perform with the president looming behind them and looking on. Can you imagine having to deliver a medical opinion through the strainer of polit s politics . Well, i do not envy the position that dr. Fauci and redfield and birx, what theyre in right now. I was a former city and state employee so i have some sense of, i guess, some of the bureaucracy that goes on and i guess the politics, frankly. At the end of the day, brian, its people, right . You have to deal with people, and people have to Work Together to battle and to really address this common problem. This is not just a local city or county problem or state problem. This is a national problem. In fact, its actually a global problem. But it needs a really coordinated national response. You mentioned the word resident. I was just talking to one of my dear friends whos a resident in internal medicine at a manhattan hospital who just finished his icu rotation and he said that the entire icu, its a covid unit whereas before it used to be copd and Heart Failure and cancer and kidney failure. Now its all covid and he spent the entire day basically on his ipad having family meetings. As a former resident whos done a lot of icu time i remember having those inperson family conversations, those really difficult moments when youre sitting across from a Family Member telling them that their loved one is sick, not getting better, taking a down turn, still on a ventilator, not getting better. Now imagine having those really intimate conversations Long Distance by ipad. Its so far from ideal. Thank you for this conversation. We appreciate you both coming on on this day of all days. When we come back, the toll this is taking on First Responders. Well talk to the head of the Firefighters Union about what theyre going through as emergency calls have been surging. And later, what would be the light at the very end of a long tunnel. We have the latest on a search for a vaccine for this. Ave the h for a vaccine for this what is that . Uh mine, why . Its just that its. Lavender. Yes it is, its for men but i like the smell of it laughs many of lifes moments in thare being put on hold. Are staying at home, at carvana, we understand that, for some, getting a car just cant wait. To help, were giving our customers up to 90 days to make their first payment. Shop online from the comfort of your couch, and get your car with touchless delivery to keep you safe. And for even Greater Peace of mind, all carvana cars come with a sevenday return policy. So, if you need to keep moving, were here for you. At carvana the safer way to buy a car. 450degree oven, to box, to you, know that from our its our policy that your pizza is never touched once it comes out of the oven. And were taking extra steps, like no contact delivery, to ensure it. In a new op said in ted in Washington Post bill gates lays out what we need to be doing before we reopen the u. S. Economy. He goes on to encourage researchers to explore new methods of treatment and of course the vital need for a vaccine. He writes, world war ii was the defining moment of my parents generation. Similarly, the coronavirus pandemic, the first in a century, will define this era. But there is one big difference between a world war and a pandemic. All of humanity can Work Together to learn about the disease and develop the capacity to fight it. Bill gates sat down with Savannah Guthrie today. He discussed what his foundation is doing to combat this global pandemic. Here is some of that conversation. The vaccine is the most likely solution and so great scientists are rushing to get that done and actually ive been surprised how quickly theyre moving. Theres a number that have even begun that human testing thats key there, and so it could be that in a year we have lots of a vaccine and then once you get it out to lots of people, then you have enough Community Immunity that you wont see this widespread problem again. So we have this first peak in the u. S. With the right policies well have small some areas that go back and have infections but we shouldnt see countrywide anything like this. If were careful, over 60 of the total deaths will be in the first peak and much modest later on. The economic effects have been unbelievable and so well be dealing with that literally for years to come. But a miracle therapeutic or the vaccine are the only thing that well be able to say, okay, were back to normal. And just a note here to share our homework, were going to have more of savannahs conversation with bill gates because it was conducted for a special were airing tonight at 10 00 eastern time. Nicolle wallace and i anchoring from separate locations, what could go wrong, are going to anchor this special broadcast about covid19 testing and Contact Tracing. You can watch the special report were calling testing and the road to reopening tonight at 10 00 p. M. Eastern time here on msnbc. Nicolle, i think you and i go into this while in separate locations of one mind. Were going to endeavor wherever we can to make this about testing and not trump and medicine and science and not politics, though we will note, im sure, many times the two of them are tied together. I would only note what gates just said about if we follow the right policies, he still sees and he has a lot of company in this a second peak or two but nothing close to the death toll that we have just experienced. The only part of the story that involves trump at this point this is about a country brought to its knees over a pandemic that our leaders were warned about, could read in the newspapers. It really doesnt have as much to do with classified intel the way the russia attack in 2016 on our election did. This is about what we know and what we all want, and what we know is that it still threatens all of our communities. Its why were all at home. What we all want to know is how we get from here back to a new normal. I dont even think people have app expectation that their old lives are readily available, certainly not in the near term, but when you hear people like bill gates saying that the pathway to the new normal is a vaccine, full stop and i heard that from Governor Cuomo this week too when i asked him about broadway and the subway and some of the places in our very dense city that are most dense of all, and if were waiting for a vaccine to be readily available, were waiting a whole lot longer than until this summer. Yeah. Well, anyway, well have time for all of this and well get to see savannahs full conversation tonight when we rejoin each other in primetime. Another break for us this hour. When we come back, as promised, the segment on the toll this pandemic is taking on our nations First Responders. S tak nations First Responders. Happen every day. People are surprising themselves the moment they realize they can du more with less asthma. Thanks to dupixent, the addon treatment for specific types of moderatetosevere asthma. Dupixent isnt for sudden breathing problems. It can improve lung function for better breathing in as little as 2 weeks and help prevent severe asthma attacks. Its not a steroid but can help reduce or eliminate oral steroids. Dont use if allergic to dupixent. Serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. Tell your doctor right away about signs of inflamed blood vessels, such as rash, shortness of breath, chest pain, tingling or numbness in your limbs. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection and before stopping any asthma medicines, including oral steroids. Du more with less asthma. Talk to your doctor about dupixent. There is nothing that is more soul breaking than hearing someones pain for their Family Member who will never be the same again. Our job is to fix people, help them, get them out of the hospital, but we see all these people and theyre broken. And frankly, so are we. We have been trying to chronicle the stories of doctors and nurses on the front lines and after spending several weeks on the front lines of this pandemic, new york citys First Responders continue to face a crushing reality that takes both an emotional and a physical toll on them and their colleagues. Vincent variali, the president of the ems Officers Union and remember theyre part of the fdny, shared some of the unique challenges facing his team. Quote, we were already understaffed to begin with but now we have more people out sick and we have an increase in the call volume. This is a recipe for disaster. On monday alone almost one out of five of the fdnys ems workers were out sick who have themselves tested positive for covid19. With us, president of the International Association of