training camp for nfl rookies began today with other players reporting next week. nbc's sam brock on the nfl's plan. >> reporter: football fans desperate for an nfl kickoff this fall -- >> clubs are working to create a clean and safe environment. >> reporter: -- just got a dose of good tonight the new news after the league warning from president and its players trump as we come on patched together a the air. plan for covid-19 the president holding testing. his first coronavirus two negatives required before players can briefing in 90 days. his new message to even enter camp, then daily testing for two weeks. americans. should the positivity it will probably get worse before it gets better. rate stay below 5%, and what he said about testing then goes to wearing masks. every other day. but notably not in attendance, dr. fauci or any other health you think there's any experts. guarantee the nfl has a season this year? also president trump >> i don't think asked about jeffrey there's any guarantee. epstein's alleged we want to pull this accomplice ghislaine off because america maxwell. needs it. it would be exciting the president in his to have the answer repeatedly opportunity to play saying, i wish her nfl football and be well. there to give people something to smile and also the top enjoy. vaccine makers on >> reporter: andrew capitol hill. whitworth is an l.a. their answer to the rams captain who has question everyone's seen covid up close asking. when could one be and personal. available? his whole family contracted the virus in late june, the outbreak surging. including his wife, four kids, and mother california topping and father-in-law. 400,000 cases, and new >> it almost killed my

from the cdc, why the true number of cases may be far higher than dad, so i think we reported. look at other families the chinese in the nfl, pregnant hackers accused of trying to steal women specifically, vaccine research. people who maybe are the charges just living with their announced. parents. president trump >> reporter: with an thafter scenes like this eye towards families and their safety, the nfl season set to start in september after major league in portland. baseball and the nba. the mayor's message, >> this since march stay out. 13th when everything shut down in sports is the major u.s. the most significant city shutting down summer camps after a covid outbreak. week in professional what it could mean for sports to see what it reopening america's might look like for schools. the rest of this year. and the nfl's new >> reporter: and testing strategy as tonight some promising early returns from the rookies report today nba, which just to training camp. reported its latest will the season start round of testing on time? results from the bubble in orlando. hundreds of players >> announcer: this is tested, zero positive. "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. lester. >> sam brock tonight. thank you. good evening, up next, a big everyone. a remarkable change of question that lots of kids are asking. tune for president trump today, who announced the covid pandemic will get worse before it gets better and made an unqualified call for mask-wearing as well liberty. liberty. ♪ only pay for what you need.b. as voicing support for more testing. all things he has mocked or openly downplayed until now. the about-face coming during a people are surprising themselves the moment realize

late-afternoon news conference. our team is ready to go, and the white they can du more with less asthma. house is where we begin with kristen welker. >> reporter: under pressure, president thanks to dupixent, the add-on treatment for specific types trump holding his first briefing on the coronavirus since of moderate-to-severe asthma. april, touting progress fighting covid-19. dupixent isn't for sudden breathing problems. >> the vaccines are coming, and they're it can improve lung function for better breathing coming a lot sooner than anyone thought in as little as 2 weeks possible, by years. and help prevent severe asthma attacks. >> reporter: tonight intensifying his defense of his administration's it's not a steroid but can help reduce handling of the crisis, but unlike or eliminate oral steroids. past briefings in which president trump dupixent can cause serious allergic reactions was flanked by members of the coronavirus task force, tonight including anaphylaxis. the president took the get help right away if you have rash, podium alone, bringing shortness of breath, chest pain, in a shift in tone. >> some areas of our tingling or numbness in your limbs. country are doing very well. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection others are doing less well. and don't change or stop your asthma treatments, it will probably unfortunately get worse before it gets including steroids, without talking to your doctor. better. something i don't like du more with less asthma. saying about things, but that's the way it is. >> reporter: including doing something he has talk to your doctor today about dupixent. rarely done, touting masks. >> we're instead asking americans to if your financial situation has changed, use masks, socially distance, and employ we may be able to help. vigorous hygiene, wash your hands every to give you the protein you need chance you get while sheltering high-risk with less of the sugar you don't.

populations. [grunting noise] we are imploring young i'll take that. americans to avoid woohoo! packed bars and other 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar. crowded indoor ensure max protein. gatherings. with nutrients to support immune health. be safe and be smart. >> reporter: the president also asked why he has sent mixed puts cash back in your wallet. messages on masks, tweeting out a picture earn 5% cash back of himself wearing one for the first time on everything you buy at walmart.com... yesterday and then hours later, captured mom! paper towels! at a fund-raiser at ...including things for the science fair. his hotel without one. >> i have no problem with the masks. what's in your wallet? i view it this way. anything that potentially can help -- and that certainly can potentially help -- is a good thing. i have no problem. i carry it. i wear it. you saw me wearing it a number of times, and i'll continue. >> reporter: he also addressed why nearly six months in, testing is still falling short. >> we've done more testing by far than anybody. some of the tests, because it is massive volume, it takes longer. others of the tests, as you know, are very quick. they're 5-minute and 15-minute tests, and those are frankly the ones that i prefer. but we're doing massive numbers, and the numbers are coming down. and still going for my best. >> reporter: the one even though i live with a higher risk of stroke

moment the president veered off message due to afib... when he was asked ...not caused by a heart valve problem. about ghislaine maxwell, accused of so if there's a better treatment than warfarin, enabling jeffrey epstein's exploitation of minors. i want that too. eliquis. >> i don't know. i haven't really been following it too much. eliquis is proven to reduce stroke risk i just wish her well frankly. i've met her numerous better than warfarin. times over the years, plus has significantly less major bleeding than warfarin. especially since i lived in palm beach. eliquis is fda-approved and has both. >> reporter: tonight the president's rival, joe biden in delaware, what's next? reeling in a nice one. sharpening his attacks. don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. >> you know, he's quit on you, and he's quit on this country. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. this election is not just about him. it's about us. it's about you. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve >> reporter: now, the president's shift in or abnormal bleeding. strategy comes amid a while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily- slump in his poll numbers. it's not clear if -and it may take longer than usual he'll continue to do for any bleeding to stop. the briefings alone. dr. anthony fauci said seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, he was not invited to this one. like unusual bruising. lester. >> kristen welker at eliquis may increase your bleeding risk the white house if you take certain medicines. tonight, thanks. with the pandemic tell your doctor about all planned medical hitting the u.s. or dental procedures. ask your doctor about eliquis. especially hard and americans clinging to and if your ability to afford... the hope of a vaccine, ...your medication has changed, the nation's top vaccine makers offered we want to help. some credence to the president's sense of optimism, suggesting a they get that no two people are alike and customize your car ...your medication has changed, vaccine could pass fda scrutiny late this

year or early next. insurance so you only pay for what you need. here's tom costello. what do you think? >> reporter: at th i don't see it. university of maryland med center today, more only pay for what you need. volunteers rolling up ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ their sleeves for a covid-19 vaccine trial. this one run by drug giant pfizer. so far, 138,000 volunteers have signed up as drug companies race to stop the virus that's already claimed 600,000 lives worldwide. >> so the race is on, not against each other but against this virus. >> reporter: at a virtual congressional in our latest hearing today, episode of "nightly executives from five news: kids edition," leading vaccine is it safe to hang with your friends? developers said they're all in various dr. torres weighs in, plus bill nye the science guy with the best places to see and stages of testing, some now entering view a new comet. human trials. even before fda and catching up with approval, pfizer, ryan's world. how this 8-year-old merck, astrazeneca, and his family are moderna, and johnson & helping first johnson all plan to ramp up production to responders. meet global demand. our new episode is some members of streaming right now. and that is "nightly congress are concerned news" for this the white house could evening. try to fast-track a vaccine. i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each >> i want to make sure other. ♪ that you will guard against any pressure that comes from the

fda to either lower its standards or to approve something that you know doesn't meet the standards. >> we are working around the clock to accelerate our development, but we're not cutting corners on safety. >> reporter: among the volunteers in the maryland pfizer study, cynthia sikorsky, who received two doses in june, though she doesn't know if she received the vaccine or a placebo. have you had any side effects? >> i had just very mild side effects after the first vaccine, which consisted of very mild chills. but other than that, really none. >> reporter: 65 years old and in good health, volunteering, she says, is the least she could do. >> i felt it was something that i could do to help fight the coronavirus. >> kelly: welcome to >> reporter: in the "the kelly clarkson show" as we u.s., the nih is continue our summer staycation looking for 30,000 volunteers for each vaccine trial. celebration. as you can see, my whole yard is the signup link on its decked out because we are super website uses a network dr. anthony fauci classy here at the built decades ago. "the kelly clarkson show." volunteers receive a we come up with a good one to stipend and either a vaccine dose or a placebo. do, "sweet dreams," this is our lead researchers say

it's critical to kellyoke for today, by the enroll minority volunteers since covid eurythmics. has disproportionately affected those communities. ♪ sweet dreams are made of this ♪ >> we certainly aren't ♪ who am i to disagree? out to coerce any populations, but we ♪ i traveled the world would like minority ♪ and the seven seas populations to have full access and full ♪ everybody's looking for advantage of participating in these trials if they wish to something ♪ ♪ some of them want to use you do so. >> reporter: depending on the vaccine, researchers say we'd ♪ some of them want to get used probably all get two by you ♪ doses, and the fda is ♪ some of them want to abuse likely to approve more than one vaccine. you ♪ >> the first vaccine ♪ some of them want to be might not be the best vaccine for seniors or for children. >> reporter: the fda requires all vaccines to be at least 50% effective to receive approval. four of the five drug companies received taxpayer money to find a vaccine. today two of those companies told congress they will offer the vaccine for free or at cost. lester. >> tom costello tonight, thank you. the urgency for a vaccine comes as infections continue to soar in hot spots like california, texas, and florida and as the cdc

now says the real number of infections may be much higher than the current numbers suggest. here's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: with nearly 4 million americans testing positive for the coronavirus, tonight the cdc says the true number of people infected is likely ten times higher than reported in some regions. the new findings suggest those who are asymptomatic or didn't seek medical attention were likely spreading the virus in their own communities. >> everything was so uncertain. like we didn't know if our dad was going to be able to get off the ventilator, and we didn't know how bad my mom was at that time. >> reporter: when claire and grace green thought they had a mild viral infection, they unknowingly passed covid to their parents. their father jason nearly died. >> i feel like i had a strong desire to continue being a part of my family's life. >> reporter: the new analysis from the cdc based on antibody tests indicates the

hardest hit communities are nowhere close to achieving herd immunity, the level of exposure where the virus slows. >> although the number of cases are ten times higher than we thought they were, that number being much higher means the death rate is a lot lower.>> reporter: as california now surpasses a stunning 400,000 cases, the golden state continues to set grim milestones for new infections and deaths. while many hospitals across california are stressed, in some bigger cities there are open rooms in the icu. but in smaller communities, the situation is bleak. facing a breaking point, some covid patients in rural communities are being moved 70 miles away. cities like los angeles and san francisco are under tightening restrictions. >> we're exhausted, just exhausted. it's been going on for 4 1/2 months now. >> reporter: with the pandemic taking a deepening financial toll, this the line for unemployment benefits in oklahoma, the crisis is

spreading to smaller states like alaska, wyoming, and idaho. >> i don't remember march and april at all. >> reporter: billy zendry beat covid after four months in the hospital. >> god has some plan for me and i have to figure out what that is going forward. >> reporter: tonight stories of survival amid news a staggering number of americans are infected and spreading the virus without ever knowing it. miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. as covid cases surge and much of the focus of late has been among the spread among younger people, there's a new warning tonight about the growing impact on older americans. with that, here's kerry sanders. >> reporter: the villages in central florida, home to an estimated 51,000 retirees. hospital admissions of village residents with covid have increased nearly 40% in just three days. >> elderly people need to recognize that this virus is very discriminatory. it really picks on the elderly. >> it's a catastrophe. it's a disaster.

>> reporter: kate smith sloan advocates for the most vulnerable. how bad is the crisis for elderly in our country? >> well, we've described it as a category 5 hurricane. >> reporter: 95-year-old maria louisa cuevas died from coronavirus. the family suspects she was exposed to covid from an attending asymptomatic nurse who unknowingly spread it. >> so the only people who had access were the nurses and the people that work there. >> reporter: health officials say it's been difficult to get a handle on the problem among the elderly in large part because nursing homes continue to be overlooked according to former cdc director dr. thomas frieden. >> we are flying blind in the middle of the worst pandemic in 100 years. >> reporter: in florida where one in five residents is over the age of 65, the problem is most acute in long-term care facilities, and it's getting worse. the number of infected residents and staff at elder care facilities has more than doubled in just the past three weeks. florida's governor

today. >> we cannot allow a contagious patient to be sent back into a long-term care facility that doesn't have the capability of appropriately isolating them. >> reporter: tonight an analysis by nbc news of publicly available data shows covid-related deaths among residents at long-term care facilities now exceeds 56,000. lester. >> kerry sanders tonight, thank you. this evening, the justice department is accusing two men in china of trying to steal medical technology from companies here working on covid-19 treatments and vaccines. pete williams has details. >> reporter: less than a week after novavax, a maryland biotech firm announced that it was researching a potential covid vaccine, the fbi says, a computer hacker in china, li xiaoyu, searched for ways to hack into its computers. now he and a former college classmate are wanted men, charged by federal prosecutors with trying to hack into three other u.s.

companies working on covid treatments and testing. they didn't succeed in stealing anything, the justice department says, but their cyberattacks were a potential distraction. >> we are concerned that the hacking or even the attempted hacking of that information can slow down the research. >> reporter: and the fbi says the two chinese men targeted companies in other countries doing covid research, part of a worldwide hacking campaign that also targeted high-tech firms and military contractors. sometimes they did it for profit, the fbi says, and sometimes they stole secrets at the request of chinese intelligence officers based in this building. >> when china violates criminal laws and international norms, we will not tolerate it. >> reporter: u.s. officials have been saying for weeks now that china is trying to steal american covid-19 secrets, but this is the first time anybody's actually been charged with trying to do it. novavax says it's confident it can continue its vaccine work without disruption. lester. >> all right. pete williams, thanks. in 60 seconds,

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♪ back now with president trump's threat to send federal forces into more cities after violent clashes in portland, oregon, between protesters and government agents. our gabe gutierrez now on the mayor's pushing back. >> reporter: tonight in what critics say is clearly a cornerstone of his re-election strategy, president trump is threatening to send in federal law enforcement to stop surging violence in major cities from new york to chicago. >> look at what's going on. all run by democrats, all run by very liberal democrats. and you know what? if biden got in, that would be true for the country. the whole country would go to hell. >> this is a game he's playing to divert attention away from the many crises that are facing this nation. >> reporter: the trump administration says it sent federal agents to portland, oregon, to defend federal buildings against

violent attacks. but the mayor there says that escalated the conflict. now mayors from six major cities are sending this letter to the attorney general, blasting that deployment. >> i'll be darned if i'm going to let anybody, even if their name is mr. president, bring those kind of troops to our city. >> reporter: some legal experts are raising constitutional questions. >> what's unprecedented is using federal law enforcement like this, that is to say, as a counterprotest force, in a context in which cities and states have said we don't need them. >> reporter: still it has been an especially violent summer. atlanta has seen a 300% spike in shooting victims the second week of july compared to the same time last year. in new york city, over the past week, shooting victims are up more than 200%. last week, 1-year-old devel gardner jr. died in brooklyn after being shot in the stomach while sitting in a stroller during a barbecue. >> i was just -- i was crushed.

>> reporter: we spoke with his father and grandmother. >> it's not the older people doing it. it's the young people doing it. so they could protest day and night until the sun turns blue, but they need to stop the gun violence. >> reporter: experts say this summer's surge in violence is due to a perfect storm of the pandemic and widespread anger against the police. lester. >> all right, gabe. thank you. with the school year fast approaching, summer camps have been viewed as a test run of sorts for getting kids back together in groups. but after an outbreak in one major u.s. city camps there are shutting down. here's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: with school districts scrambling to get ready for the first day back, whatever that may look like, a reality check on what is possible in miami. >> we're going to be closing all of our summer camps effective this week. >> reporter: park-run day camps shut down early after four cases of covid were discovered among campers and staff. many educators see summer camp as the canary in the coal mine for reopening schools, and there

have been mixed results. in missouri, 82 kids and staff got sick at an overnight camp earlier this month even with extra safety measures in place like health screenings, voluntary self-quarantine before camp began, and new air filtration systems in cabins. but at the hideaway day camp in pennsylvania, success. >> what has worked the best for us is keeping those campers in a controlled environment. so in very small groups, rotating together and away from other groups. >> reporter: so when two campers tested positive for covid, only those children and staff had to be quarantined. but camp is not school. >> most of your activities are outside. most of schools' activities are inside. >> for sure. i think it's going to be quite the challenge. >> reporter: facing those challenges will take smart plans and money. today the senate majority leader proposed $105 billion for schools. >> their educations depend on it. in some cases, their safety depends on it,

and so do the livelihoods of working parents. >> reporter: but some teachers are worried. florida's largest teachers union is suing the governor over his order to reopen schools five days a week. >> they're saying they want to open up these schools, but yet they're not putting more funding. >> reporter: governor ron desantis said on monday the aim of the order was to give parents options, including remote learning if they prefer. while at hideaway day camp, the benefits of being with other kids are obvious. >> i was ready to do something different and get out of the house. >> i think they are thrilled, overwhelmed, and we're kind of seeing them come back to life. >> reporter: for the school year, that's a goal everyone shares. stephanie gosk, nbc news. up next, the nfl's plan as the new season fast approaches. we've seen a thing or two. like how nice it is to save on your auto policy. but it's even nicer knowing that if this happens... ...or this happens... ...or this.... ...or this...

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