They have strokes. They have blood clots. They have spontaneous muscle breakdowns. The patients are very sick and they turn quickly. Thats always a challenge. We dont have the capacity of staff to care for so many patients. It is a very unnerving, scary thought to know the path were going on now, we can tip the entire Health Care System in all of texas and all of the nation. Once again we begin the show with sound from medical workers on the front line offense this pandemic. Welcome to friday. Its meet the press daily. The deaths are rising and the worst is yet to come. The United States set a record for nearly 73,000 confirmed cases in day. Cases are rising in 41 states right now. The u. S. Confirmed more than 1,000 deaths yesterday alone. What was going down is also going up on the death toll. This is shaping up to be another National Nightmare and to down play the surge as a result of testing is to ignore reality. Look at states across the country. Texas, cases are soaring. Hospitalizations are rising and now, the deaths are rapidly climbing. Lets go to arizona. Confirmed cases spiked. Testing basically maxed out. The number of actual cases is likely higher. Hospitalizations soared and now the deaths are rising there too. Theres an unsettling trend here. Look at florida. Cases and hospitalizations went up. Icu beds in miamidade are at 120 capacity. Now the deaths are rising too. Sadly, the same story in california. You can see the deaths beginning to climb sharply over the last few days in that state as well. Lets look at these curves in south carolina, alabama, tennessee, nevada. The cases and hospitalization curves in places like oklahoma, mississippi, arkansas and georgia. Were now at 140,000 americans who have died from this virus and that number will be climbing for a long time. 18 states are seeing Dangerous Levels of new cases right at this moment. Thats according to warnings from the white house own Coronavirus Task force. The warnings, you havent seen them because theyve not been published. They are still unpublished. This document from the task force is hundreds of pages of data and warnings for states to do more and apparently, it had to be leaked to the media for the public to see it. The warnings are all there in plain sight in the public data and in those private documents. The president and the white house seem focused on two things now. Reopening the country and finding some message that will help them win the election. Here now my nbc news colleague Kelly Odonnell at the white house and medical contributor dr. Gupta. I want to start with you. Earlier today we were Getting Started on this conversation. It looks like were headed for a really grim week of deaths next week. Is there anything in the data that says that wont be the case . No, chuck. What were going to see is the many states across the west coast and the south, they are suffering from increased cases, the likes of which we have never seen but concerningly hospitalization rates are going up. Icu staffing is bottleneck. Not just the beds but the staffing, chuck. One of the big issues im hearing from colleagues in arizona and texas is, they dont have the dialysis machine. They dont have the nurses that they need. You need an additional dialysis in addition to an icu nurse to save a patients life with covid19 who is on a ventilatov. They dont have the capability. Well see deaths continue to rise and hospitalizations continue to parallel that death increase. I also want to play something for you from the person in charge of the testing czar. His assistant secretary for health. He was talking about the issue of what he called unnecessary testing. Take a listen to what he said. When i talk about unnecessary testing, we know theres a lot of people who are being asked to retest themselves at the end of their illness. Some people are getting tested four or five, six times and thats really unnecessary. We need to decrease those tests but we also need to allow asymptommatic people to be tested. Now, lets unpack that statement there. Number one, that implies we have a test if we have all the tests we need in the world, should this matter . Im guessing we have a testing this is an issue of we have to start rationing tests . This notion that the individuals that get repeat tests, they are somehow the reason why we dont have enough tests is ridiculous. Hes distracting from the main point is we dont have enough of the right tests. The people that get four or five tests are the rare icu patient who we get a positive and then a negative. Then we need know. Can we take them off precaution so they can get procedures. Those are the individuals that may get multiple tests. Hes not being specific enough. Thats not the reason we dont have enough tests to restart schools. We dont have the right tests. The point of care tests. If the government was thinking far enough into the future would invest in heavily. These are the types of tests within 30 minutes you get a result. We know theres a lot of kpae companies thinking along the lines. They need scaled resources. One of the reasons there was a bit of over confidence, perhaps, on this idea we would have some form of reopening in mid to late summer. Sports leagues had this idea they could start playing. I think that everything was built on this assumption that Rapid Testing and the ability to get a result within half hour, maybe an hour, was going to allow a whole bunch of businesses to come back. That Technology Never happened. I went through this testing lag with him last week. He was just saying half of our tests, we get quick turn arounds. Im like but what about the other half. What happened here . Let me be specific, brett is not what hes saying is the quick right now is 72 hours, chuck. Thats quick. Maybe 24 hours if youre a symptommatic Health Care Worker or in a hospital setting then youll get a turn around in a few hours. For the 99 of the country, quick is 72 hours. Median time for result for the bulk of the country is five to seven days. Thats just not true. For flu, for years, we have have the rapid test. You might have gotten this flu test in the past. Its rapid flu test. Its not a good test. It misses three out of ten pos positive cases. We dont have good rapid tests. There was a failure to meet expectations because we didnt have that technology in place. Let me move to the policy and political side of things there. Dont leave me. Kelly odonnell, how did the president spend his day today . Reporter no public venevent. He did conduct a lengthy interview with Fox News Channel thats expected to air this weekend. We dont have the president coming forward and its one of the things that one of his top advisers says he should do in light of coronavirus and it would help, she argues, his Approval Ratings which have taken a real hit. Thats Kellyanne Conway who said when he was front and center briefing the country on coronavirus, taking a more visible coronavirus focused approach to certain events that would be better for the president politically, better for the country to hear. When the president did that earlier this spring there were times he said things that drew a lot of controversy, inaccurate and so forth. Her argument is for him to be more visible. At the same time, the president does take questions about it and so forth but he has tried to be more focused on things like the economy, on battling joe biden and the democrats over things like the cultural wars, the urban versus rule america. Those kinds of things. When you talk about the information flow from the white house in your opening segment talki ining about the 18 hot zo states in our country, that report from the task force, were told, has been released to all 50 states to the Health Officials in those states. As you pointed out, not released publicly. That information that might affect how people conduct themselves whether they wear masks or distance themselves, those personal decisions could arguably be affected by that information flow. That report has not opinion released publicly. We know that next week with more they, theres supposed to be information from the cdc about School Reopening. When you talk with the doctor about the potential for greater deaths next week, the white house plan, at least on friday afternoon, is to have events around School Reopening next week. Imagine some of the political dissonance of that if the plan holds next week. I want to get at what pyres to be, youre surfacing some internal messaging divide. Kellyanne conway going public with her belief the president should be back more front and center. We know others have argued the other end. This dispute between the cdc and hhs and who controls the data and looks like cdc took their ball and went home the other day. Shut things down. Turned it back on. To me that was more proof that there is a lot of infighting under water that were not seeing, it appears. What are you hearing . Reporter theres also an element of if you look at government writ large, there are usually i. T. Lags, problems on information sharing. The government typically does not have the most state of the art information sharing. Thats something we have been hearing about through this pandemic. Hospitals are not reporting all of their information in the same way. That has given the government, the federal government a chance to say we needed to change that system. Others are arguing that by changing the system, having hops report directly to an hhs database, not the cdc, there are questions about how transparent will that be. Will we know numbers of cases and the severity of those cases, how many icu patients and so forth. Will we have the same access to ta information where as the cdc has in its history, its whole purpose is to be the front line of Public Health information. Ashley parker, i started by asked what did the president do today. I know what the Vice President did today. He was on a Campaign Trip and making what his Campaign Hopes to be a signature, to begin what is a signature talking point of this campaign that joe biden might be the nominee but its Bernie Sanders that runs his agenda. I get where they are trying to go here. It just seems as if wheres this going in the middle of day like today. What is the thinking inside the Trump Campaign about sort of plowing forward on a Campaign Message in the midst of another record breaking day of coronavirus cases . Theres long been a frustration within the Trump Campaign and the president s general orbit about how behind they feel on Campaign Messaging and especially defining negatively joe biden. Part of that is what you said. Its the coronavirus. Thats where the nations attention was. Another significant part of that is the fact that the president has been able to exhibit very little selfdiscipline and has not been a i believe to stay on message. They are work at a point of trying to catch up and yes, i think you are going to see a lot of dissonance. Thats not what the public is most interested in. It seems like Bernie Sanders on a day when deaths in the country are skyrocketing. From the campaigns perspective and the president s perspective, this was long over due. They have failed doe fine joe biden and one of the things with this Campaign Shake up is to hit him with a hard feared message. They think one of the things that may be most effective is this idea hes to far left. Thats not always the easiest case to pin on joe biden. Its unclear how effective it will be. There are people in president s orbit who are happy to see what they feels like a semblance of message on the discipline front. It feels like a bank shot. I think were finding out, they really did want to run against Bernie Sanders. It feels as if this entire thing was how would they run against Bernie Sanders and theyre trying to turn joe biden into something that 40 years of his record doesnt really show. Yeah. Its not an easy natural fit when the president himself is calling joe biden sleepy joe, the idea that he is a member of the antifa and a leftist protesting mob is just inherently in congruous. When you talk to voters, they sort of say, hes kind of a moderate guy, generally. Its a tricky hit. At least, again, some people in his orbit are so grateful that they are have some sort of message to deliver that they see a sliver of optimism there. I sense the same thing. I sense a people of people saying were talking about something that isnt the virus. Please pay attention. Its like okay, the virus is a pretty big story. I want to clowe with you dr. Gupta and circle this back to the virus. Is there any whats the best piece of good news you could give us about our fight against this virus right now . Were seeing Governor Newsom say if youre in read alert county, where things arent looking good, schools will not reopen. We need that sense of clarity. That clarity in messaging. I love what im seeing out of new jersey, shutting down indoor dining. Same thing in new york. Theres a strong stance thats consistent with evidence. Those are the good pieces of news that we wont have this rush to opening schools that the fool hearty and will not protect teachers or students. Youll see some of these large School Districts peel back. I think youll see chicago pull back, new york city pull back. I love to see that which is proper and evidence based. Your good news means were living a pandemic life now until a vaccine, unless somehow the federal government changes course in some dramatic fashion that they havent. Is that the bottom line . Thats the bottom line. We need a therapeutic. We need a vaccine or we just need testing. The right type of testing. You and i had this conversation since march. Its point of care testing. So long. Not a 7day turn around test. We need the right type of test and maybe we can do strategic reopenings but not with the current testing we have. Kelly odonnell, Ashley Parker and dr. Gupta, i appreciate all three of you getting us started with what is a mix of a virus and political lead this late afternoon. Thank you all. Up next, well check in with the hardest hit areas of this country. We have new information about the health of justice ruth gisbgisb ginsburg. Shes under treatment for liver cancer. She said the treatment will be effective and she will continue her sessions every two weeks. She added, ive said i would remain a member of the court add long as i can do the job full steam. I remain fully able to do that. Well be right back. Remain fullt well be right back. Dont just think about where youre headed this summer. Think about how youll get there. And now that you can lease or buy a new lincoln remotely or in person. Discovering that feeling has never been more effortless. Accept our summer invitation to get 0 apr on all 2020 lincoln vehicles. Only at your lincoln dealer. Were helping members catch up by spreading any missed usaa insurance payments over the next twelve months so they can keep more cash in your pockets for when it matters most find out more at usaa. Com for when it matters most welcome to camp tonsafun on xfinity its summer camp, but in your living room. Learn how to draw with a minions expert. How to build an indoor Obstacle Course plus. Whatever shes doing. And me, jade cattapreta. The host of es the soup camp tonsafun. Its like summer camp, but minus the poison ivy. Unless you own poison ivy. In which case, why . Just say summer camp into your xfinity voice remote to join. Welcome back. While coronavirus cases continue to spike across the country, situation is dire in hot spots like arizona. California is reporting a Record Number of hospitalizations for a Third Straight day and a Record Number of icu patients for a fourth consecutive day. In georgia which has faced ard Record Number of hospitalizations for three straight week, the governor is suing the mayor for continuing to enforce a mask order that bans cities and other municipalities for mandating masks. Lets start down south in atlanta. Heres the question ive been trying to get an answer to. Why did the governor believe he had to file suit . Have we gotten an explanation of why they had to file a lawsuit . Reporter that was one of the questions we asked him during that News Conference today. He is saying he believes this mandate put into place is confusing. Believes its so confusing it would hurt Small Businesses. He says thats the reason hes filing lawsuit. He said hes doing it on behalf of what he calls the Small Business owners who are struggling to survive. For context, a bit of context. This is the latest in this escalating battle that we have seen between mayor and atlanta and the governor of georgia and talking about the fact that the governor has said that local municipalities cant do anything more or less restrictive than what hes put into place. What hes trying to do is trying to block not only the mask man date but trying to stop the city of atlanta from rolling back the reopening measures that have been put in place. Here is a bit of what he had to say during his News Conference. Take a look. Men and women have seen their paychecks disappear. Father, mothers, sisters and brothers are barely hanging on. Mayor bottoms mask mandate cannot be enforced. Her decision to shut her businesses and undermine Economic Growth is devastating. Reporter thats what the governor had to say. The mayor, all of the City Council Members named in the lawsuit, i spoke with one earlier today