We're in a country with fast resources, fast expertise, yet we're looking at 100,000 dead.

Sir, how on earth did we get here?

Every death that we've experienced is a tragedy.

Tonight, a date-line investigation inside America's COVID-19 response.

At what point did you realize that there was a freight train coming down the rail address?

Very early on.

We weren't prepared. We weren't even getting prepared.

It was like a ticking time bomb catastrophic failure.

We uncover insider emails, White House documents, and for the first time in detail,

lay out the pandemic playbook that might have changed everything.

Could lives have been saved if we had acted more quickly?

For sure, last time is it been meant to last lives.

Do you not ask what mistakes were made, what things should have been done?

Why was it not more urgency?

You can't imagine a greater sense of urgency.

The Playbook.

Good evening, I'm Lester Holt.

With the nation's attention turned to George Floyd's death and demonstrations across the country,

calling for equal justice, you might not have noticed.

The COVID-19 pandemic remains rampant and deadly.

In fact, as the country opens up, some states are seeing an alarming surge in cases.

Tonight, we look back on how it all began and ask the White House,

...