Ivanka trumps personal assistant has tested positive for coronavirus. The news coming hours after Vice President mike pences secretary katy miller tested positive, shes on the right without a mask there. This photo was taken on thursday, before her test. Meantime, former barack obama is speaking out about the pandemic in a private call to former members of his administration, obama had some harsh words for the way the crisis is being handled. What were going to be battling is not just a particular individual or political party. But what were fighting against is these long term trends in which being selfish, being tribal, being divided and seeing others as an enemy that has become a stronger impulse in american life. And by the way, you know, were seeing that internationally as well. And its part of the reason why the response to this Global Crisis has been so aimnemic and spotty. It would have been bad even with the best of governments. Its been an absolute chaotic disaster. When that mindset of whats in it for me and to heck with everybody else when that mindset is operationalized in our government. Lets start our coverage at the white house with cnns kristen holmes. Former president barack obama there not holding back on his observations. Has the white house said anything . Reporter good morning, fred. We have not heard back from the white house, but we, of course, have requested comment. One thing to note here, this is really the harshest criticism we have heard from the former president about the current administration. And it gives us a little bit of an insight as to what exactly obamas role might look like in terms of campaigning for biden as we get closer and closer to november. As you mentioned, this was on a private call with the obama alumni association, as you said, exstaffers here. Sources tell us the call was held to encourage the exstaffers to get more involved with the biden campaign. Something well be watching closely to see if this is the beginning of that campaigning for barack obama. And one thing i want to point out is that these comments are coming after a particularly chaotic week here at the white house. Just as you said, were looking at a point in which the trump administration, the president himself, is pushing these states to reopen. We have some of the most dire unemployment numbers that weve seen and at the same time, people here at the white house are testing positive for coronavirus. Leading many to wonder if theyre safe to go back to their jobs. And kristen, obama was also critical of the department of justices decision to drop the case against former National Security adviser michael flynn. Flynn was a National Security adviser to President Trump before he pled guilty to lying to the fbi. Obama saying that the rule of law was at risk. Take a listen. And the fact that there is no precedent that anybody can find for someone whos been charged with perjury getting off scotfree, thats the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that basic not just institutional norms, but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk. Reporter so two things i want to note here. One you hear the former president saying the word perjury. Thats not what flynn was charged with. He was charged with pleading guilty to lying to the fbi, he wasnt under oath. The other thing i want to point out that sometimes is forgotten in all of this is that flynn actually worked for the Obama Administration before working for the trump administration. Right. And it was president obama who, and his administration, advised against President Trump incorporating flynn within his administration. Thank you so much, kristen holmes, appreciate it. The coronavirus now hitting the white house staff, impacting the trump administration. Dr. Steven hahn, the head of the fda is now quarantining himself after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for coronavirus. This coming as katy miller, the press secretary for Vice President mike pence there on the right has tested positive. She is also the wife of President Trumps senior adviser, stephen miller, you see him on the left. She is the second white house staffer to test positive for coronavirus this week. President trumps personal valet also testing positive a few days ago. Lets bring in White House Reporter sara westwood. What kind of changes might be afoot at the white house in response to these developments . Reporter fred, white house officials moved quickly yesterday to respond to the news that katy miller, pences press secretary, had tested positive. They quickly initiated the Contact Tracing. They went back, tested everyone who had come into contact with katy recently, including her husband, stephen miller, the Top White House adviser, and including a handful of pence staffers who were on air force 2 with pence preparing to take off when they received the news about millers test results. All of those people thankfully did test negative. A Senior Administration official described to cnn some of the things that the white house will be doing to respond to this. One of them is more frequent cleanings of white house spaces. Those were already getting sanitized, theyre going to step that up, theyre also going to step up covid testing and Temperature Checks throughout the white house. Right now you cannot get on the white house grounds unless you have a Temperature Check but that does not catch people necessarily who are as asymptomatic. Cnn reported earlier this week that testing was limited to the people most closely around President Trump and Vice President pence, that testing is going to be broadened. Also cnn reported that compliance with mask and social distancing guidelines were not being followed to the letter within the white house, those are expected to be more strictly enforced. President trump and Vice President pence both stepped out of the white house this week and neither of them wore masks while they were in public. Miller tweeted yesterday she was feeling well and looking forward to getting back to work. I also understand that one of ivanka trumps personal as assistants has also tested positive. What do we know about that persons circumstances . Reporter technically that was the third person to test positive after miller and the valet. But her assistant was not working inside the white house and had not been around ivanka trump for nearly two months, she had been tell workering. But that aid was tested, she had no symptoms, she did test positive. Ivanka trump and Jared Kushner were tested on friday, their tests both came back negative as well, fred. Sara westwood, thank you so much. Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak here in the u. S. , testing has been a problem. Even now as more tests become available there are significant concerns about how accurate some of the kits are. Dr. Sanjay gupta explains. If youve heard anything lately about tests, its that we havent performed enough of them in the United States. Today everyone is so focussed on getting tested, they miss the point that a bad test is worse than no test. That may be another fundamental problem. Just how good are the tests in the first place . The fda basically has created a wild wild west environment for this testing where, under their approval process on an emergency basis, theyve let tests on the market that basically have a very, very wide range of results. Michaelos osterhome. The quality is a problem. Ammo heck lar diagnostic test can determine if you have the virus inside of you by drawing a sample from your nasal or saliva. How well the tests can find the genetic markers is known as sensitivity. If a test has poor sensitivity, it results in too many false negative results. That means too many people testing negative for the virus when they are actually infected. We under took a study we looked at 200 specimens and tested them by all five methods. And there are differences between these tests. Doctor gary procof is head of v vie roll. The tests caught nearly all but 5 of cases, but the highly touted abbott id now test missed up to 15 of infected patients. Another study found it potentially missed 25 of infections. And thats a concern. Because despite their negative test results, those people are actually infected and can still spread the virus. You would never want to use that test to screen somebody in the hospital to put them in a covid negative unit because in that case you cant afford to make a mistake. Reporter in a statement abbott said the type of viral transport media, the chemical used to carry the sample could be dy lewding samples. We communicated with our customers they should use the swab method. Just because we need something put out emergently doesnt mean we should put out things that dont work appropriately. When asked if accuracy was sacrificed at the expense of speed an fda spokesperson told cnn the oversight doesnt end with an emergency use authorization. Well continue to track the tests and take action if required. Obviously testing is important. Weve been talking about that for a long time. But not getting the infection is still the ultimate goal. So you want to do everything you can to protect yourself. We know in the white house now theyre getting tested every day. That might be too many tests, every day may be too frequently. But doing everything to slow the spread within the white house, people wearing masks, thats something well have to see. With regard to the tests themselves, there are a lot of people in the Public Health community that say the fda needs to be making sure the tests are accurate, validated. A bad test can be worse than no test at all. Dr. Sanjay gupta thank you so much. At least two children in new york have died after experiencing complications of an inflammatory syndrome that may be linked to the coronavirus. Health officials investigating after 73 pediatric patients across the state displayed symptoms similar to cow sake disease, which causes persistent fever, swelling of the hands and feet, redness in both eyes. Evan santorum joining me with more on this now. Reporter were expecting to hear from the governor in a few minutes with more information about whats going on here in new york. But the news so far is of potentially scary nature. People here have been worried about the Health Effects on older people for the past couple months but theres conversation now there might be a potential that children could be getting a strange new disease involving inflammatory effects that have so far claimed the lives of two young boys, we learned yesterday. Two boys under the age of ten. Its early days of this, we heard from one of the hospitals involved that its still a rare condition. Obviously it adds a new level of potential fear here in new york. Its a big fear. Evan, thank you so much for that. Still ahead, as the coronavirus pandemic drags on, many businesses are facing an uncertain future and some tough decisions, when and how to reopen after their states give them the green light. A live report next. And from false claims to false cures. Tons of misinformation and outright lies about the virus are saturating the internet. Whats being done to stop it and who is being held accountable. When bugs move in we stress out and spray. Well, we used to. New ortho home defense max indoor insect barrier kills and prevents bugs for up to a year without odors, stains or fuss. New ortho home defense max. Bugs gone. Stress gone. At t has created a 10 Million Dollar fund become schools. To help educators and families keep school in session. Because the key to keeping kids learning, is keeping kids connected. Get the perfectly grilled flavors of an outdoor grill indoors, and because its a ninja foodi, it can do even more, like transform into an air fryer. The ninja foodi grill, the grill that sears, sizzles, and air fry crisps. Petsmart has everything your pet needs delivered directly to your door. Or save 10 when you buy online and pick up in store. Now with curbside pickup. Shop petsmart. Com or download our mobile app today. It was just a token of our appreciation. And because we know how tirelessly you work. 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An independent organization that sets strict quality and purity standards nature made, the 1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand its my own thing that i can do for me. Since i dont have time to read, i mean i might as well listen. Or learn whats going on in the world, i can download a book and listen to it. I listen to spanish lessons sometimes to and from work. Yea, it makes me want to be better. Audible reintroduced this whole world to me. It changes your perspective. It makes you a different person. See what listening to audible can do for you. Breaking news. This very sad news to bring to you. Cultural icon and founding father of rock and roll, Little Richard died today. He was 87 years old. His son confirmed the death saying the cause is related to bone cancer. The legend is remembered for his 60 plus years in show business. George howl looks back on his incredible career and how he changed music. Little richard changed the course of rock and roll history with that iconic song, he sang Tootie Fruitie with raw inhibiti inhibition. When i started i never heard rock and roll before. The singer was born Richard Wayne penman in georgia in 1932, even though his roots were planted in gospel music he signed with specialty records in 1955 and began his journey to becoming a rock and roll icon. During the 50s, Little Richard made several more hit songs including long tall sally, good golly ms. Molly. I thought i would be a start. And he was. He landed a part in the musical comedy the girl cant help it in 1956. His voice paired with his screams made him a household name. However, at the start, the selfproclaimed architect of rock and roll quit the business and became a minister, he travelled across the country recording gospel music between 1959 and 1963. During the late 60s and 70s, Little Richard returned to the spotlight and began recording rock and roll once again. His influence on many artists was invaluables. James brown was my vocalist. Jim hendrix was my guy tar player 18 years old. For a period of time he lived the life of a rocker but never lost his faith. In 1985 the singer was involved in a car accident in los angeles and thanked god for saving his life. Everything else is secondary to have god or glory to god. Reporter he experienced a resurgence in the 80s after getting a role in downandout in beverly hills. Then he became an icon to be inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame. Im glad im the organize nater of rock and roll. In 1993, the National Academy of reporting arts and Sciences Awarded the fiery performer with the Lifetime Achievement award. Little richard performed well into his twilight years. And worries low your homes a home office, a home school and even, sometimes. A home drivethru. Heres your iced coffee to the moms keeping all of us running we thank you. 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Or save 10 when you buy online and pick up in store. Now with curbside pickup. Shop petsmart. Com or download our mobile app today. American businesses face an uncertain future as the coronavirus pandemic drags on, and many are also facing tough decisions on how and when to reopen as states begin to restart their economies. Natasha chen has been talking to many of the business owners. What are they telling you, naa that . Reporter there is a mixed reaction here, anyone desperate to earn any kind of money at all right now but they know it comes with a risk. And a lot of the places that are reopening have restrictions like requiring face masks or limiting the number of people who can be in any given space but there is risk. The mississippi governor said yesterday there will be a risk to anyone going back to any of these businesses that have reopened. He said hes doing this because he cannot allow Small Businesses to fold. By the end of the weekend all but three states will have eased quarantine restrictions in some way. Even in once hard hit rhode island where the governor said friday her state will be the first in the northeast to lift a stayathome order. If you look at the facts on the ground, the data on the ground, were doing better. And so, therefore, were in a better position so we can start to lift our restrictions a little bit sooner. Reporter restrictions are lifting from coasttocoast. In North Carolina Retail Stores reopened at 50 capacity. In delaware stores with offer curb side pick up. Same for california where stores can now deliver flowers for mothers day. For me as a small shop im not going to let anybody in, at least i can operate. Cannot just open everything because we will have a second wave and then well go back to square one. Reporter San Francisco has decided to keep businesses closed until may 18th but the rest of the state has some businesses reopening with modifications. I stay out of the politics. I just need to open. Were ready. This is what we have right now for takeout. Reporter nevada and alaska have now joined more than a dozen states to resume dine in service in restaurants with restrictions. People can also now get a drink at a bar in alaska at 25 capacity. In arizona, people can get their hair cut by appointment only. Same for texas with owners eager to open their doors. Everything is ready and my clients are more than ready. Everything. I lost everything. Destroyed my business. I lost my business. Thats what it has done. Reporter in iowa, people can go back to the dentist, go to campgrounds, the drive in movies and tanning facilities following special guidelines. Tennessee joins georgia in allowing people to go to bowling alleys. Pennsylvania is taking a county by county approach to reopening. Welcome news for this shop owner in williamsport. Were hoping those people under say age 60 come out more. Because again, they need to just get out, i think. Reporter and the rollout continues across the country. On monday were expecting barbershops, nail and hair salons to reopen, and same for florida where restaurants and churches will reopen. Joining me to discuss, an p epidemiologi epidemiologist. Good to see you, ann. We have 47 states at least partially reopening this weekend. What are your concerns . I think that the biggest concern that i have right now is that we still do not have the kind of widespread testing we need. And the ability to do the Contact Tracing or the case identification and Contact Tracing, which are the things weve been saying from the very beginning are needed to be in place across the board. And widely available before we can reopen. So, you know, we put all these gates in place in order to say, okay, were not going to open up until weve met these criteria, but we have not, in fact, met all of these criteria and are beginning to reopen. Former federal vaccine chief dr. Richard bright, who claims he was fired from his post for his reluctant to back hydrochloroquine, he had this to say about what he sees as a national response. I see too many doctors and nurses now dieing and i was thinking that we could have done more to get those masks and those supplies to them sooner. And if we had, would they still be alive today . Its a horrible thought to think about the time that passed when we could have done something and we didnt. Ann, do you agree with his criticism that this nation responded too late . The fact of the matter is, we need ppe, we needed ppe from the beginning. And it is truly a shame that we have not been able to get these supplies and equipment to everybody thats needed them. And its really brought forward the you know, the idea that we were not prepared and we should have been more prepared. And we have lost many lives because of this lack of preparedness. So i think that dr. Bright has valid points. Separate from that, the white house released a statement by the cdc director, dr. Robert redfield, which said, in a 17 page cdc report, on reopening america, and it was sent around earlier in the week. And what was sent it claims was a draft. It had not yet been vetted properly and that is why it was notreleased. This after cnn learned that the task force was not going to implement the recommendations for reopening america im going to have to interrupt my own question. We have to go to new york now and Governor Cuomo for his briefing. Lets listen in. People ask me often what do you think about our situation . And i say, i think about what i know. What does that mean . Good question. It means, in new york, what weve been doing is we follow the facts, we follow the data, we follow the science, we focus on what we know and the facts that we know, and we make our decisions based on the facts. So every morning we look at the facts. Facts today are that the hospitalization rate dropped once again. Which is very good news. The total hospitalization rate has dropped, the intubation rate has dropped. The number of new cases per day has dropped, its down to 572. Those are new cases, people who walk in the door of a hospital or people who are in the hospital and test positive. But thats down to 572. You see it hasnt been that level since we started back march 20, march 21. So that is welcome news. This is not welcome news, and this has been heartbreaking every day. 226 deaths. 226 families. And you see how that number has been infuriateingly constant, 226 is where we were five days ago. So we would like to see that number dropping at a far faster rate than it has been dropping. And these are 226 people who lost their lives despite everything our Health Care System could do. Right. Thats despite the best hospital care, the best nursing, the bet doctors, the best equipment. So its they are people who we know we made every effort possible to save. And to the extent theres some piece in that, then were looking for peace wherever we can. Priority for us today is dealing with a new issue that has come up, which is truly disturbing. And that is the issue on how the covid virus may affect young people, very young people, infan infants, children in Elementary School. We had thought, initially, and again so many of what the initial information we had turned out not to be correct or turned out to be modified, but we were laboring under the impression that young people were not affected by covid19. And that was actually good news, right. The vulnerable populations were older people, people with comorbidities. But the one of the few rays of good news was young people werent affected. Were not so sure that that is the fact anymore. Toddler, Elementary School children are presenting symptoms similar to kawasaki disease or toxic shock like syndrome. Now these are children who come in and dont present the symptoms were normally familiar with with covid. Its not a respiratory illness. Theyre not in respiratory distress. I think thats one of the reasons why this may be getting discovered this far into the process. Its more an inflammation of the blood vessels. Which can then cause problems with their heart. And there are 73 cases that the department of health, dr. Zucker, is now studying. But the illness has taken the lives of three young new yorkers. So this is new. And its developing. The department of health has communicating with the federal officials, the cdc, and the cdc has asked new york to develop National Criteria for this so that other states, other Hospital Systems can also be checking into this and looking into this. Again, as it turns out, these children happen to have the covid antibodies or be positive for covid. But those were not the symptoms they showed when they came into the Hospital System. So, its still very much a situation that is developing. But it is a serious situation. The department of health is also going to be working with the new York Genome Center and Rockefeller University to conduct a genome and rna sequencing study to see if theres something about these children that may present a definable situation. But rest assured the department of health is on top of it. This is the last thing that we need at this time with all thats going on, with all the anxiety we have. Now for parents to have to worry about whether or not their youngster was infected. And again, symptoms that dont even seem like the symptoms we associate with covid19. So we still have a lot to learn about this virus. And every day is another eye opening situation. But rest assured, the department of health is doing everything that they can do. I think its fair to say that the new York State Department of health is the first one that has been on this situation. And again, working with the cdc and whatever we find out well not only share with the public but well also share with other states and other Hospital Systems, because it is very possible that this is been going on for several weeks and it hasnt been diagnosed as related to covid. So again, well keep you updated. I know many people are concerned about that, as they should be. Priority that weve been working on throughout has been protecting our frontline workers. Were very aware of the sacrifices that the frontline workers are making so so many of us can stay home and stay safe. And we want to make sure were doing everything we can to protect our frontline workers. Weve been working with the health care workers, police officers, firefighters, emts and transit workers. We have to keep the Transit System workers, thats how many workers get to work. If we had to close down public transit, our Hospital System would have suffered. Thats how nurses get there, the hospital staff gets there. But our transit workers had to operate that Transit System right in the midst of this covid vie v virus and it never stopped. Bus operators, train operators, the station cleaners. So while everyone was trying to get home, trying to stay safe, they were showing up for work every day to make sure that the people who did need to go to work could get to work. Weve already conducted the largest Antibody Test in the country. 15,000 people in that sample. What the Antibody Test tells you is who has been infected by the virus and then has the antibodies as they recover. And that gives us a baseline, that 15,000 survey statewide, to compare other groups against. So we know what the average infection rate is in different parts of the state. We can then compare groups to that baseline. We recently tested the transit workers with the large who have been doing the operations of the Transit System. We tested 1,300 thats a large size sample. 14 was the infection rate among transit workers. And thats actually good news. Wed like to see zero, but 14 is below the average infection rate for new yorkers. So it means that the transit workers infection rate is below the norm for new york city. Within the transit workers, its a little higher with station workers than with Bus Operators or train conductors, assistant conductors. But all categories are below the new york city norm. And the new york city norm was 19. 9. So that is good news. And that also affirms the news weve heard on the other essentialrontline workers. Our health care workers, nurses, doctors, we were afraid that because they were literally in the Emergency Rooms theyd have a higher infection rate. But turns out thats not true. 12 was the infection rate among those workers. Shows that the ppe works when we talk about masks and gloves, et cetera. Its not that nurses and doctors in those Emergency Rooms have fancier equipment, a more sophisticated equipment. This is the same type of masks that they wear. So it works. New york political director had an infection rate of 10 . Fire department and emt had an infection rate of 17 , which is the highest of all those groups. We think its higher because of the emt workers. But again, all below the new york city rate of 19. 9. Another issue that weve been aware of and were working on is the fact that poor and minority communities are suffering most. The numbers in this state are not nearly as bad as the disparity in many other states. But any disparity is bad. And thats what we have been focussing on here. We did surveys and data that show if you look at the 21 zip codes with the highest number of hospitalizations for covid, 20 of those 21 have greater than average africanamerican or latino populations. 20 of 21 of those zip codes. So theres no doubt that it is a problem. And you can weve mapped this and you can see exactly where people are coming from as theyre walking into hospitals. Part of the new system that weve implemented through this is hospitals report nightly how many cases they have, where they come from, and we can now literally map the number of people and where theyre coming from throughout the state. And then when you look into that information, especially in brooklyn and the bronx, its clear that the communities are heavier minority population and heavier low income population. And when you compare that with the overall city rate, it makes the same point. That hospitalization rate, infection rate among the minority community, lower income communities is higher than the average. Unfortunately, in a cruel irony, this often the case. When you look at disasters, emergencies, i dont care if theyre hurricanes, floods, whatever they are, cruel irony is, the poorest people pay the highest price. Ive seen this across the country when i was at hud. Youre there to take care of a flood or storm, its the poorer communities that get wiped out first, right. Its the low land. Its the land that tends to flood that has the lower value and thats where the Lower Community lower Income Community tends to locate. So we understand why, we understand the health disparities, we understand comorbiditie comorbidities. But we also understand it is just not right. It is just not right. And we have to address it. We saw the same thing in hurricane katrina. Those people who were on rooftops were not the wealthy, white part of the community. They were predominantly minority. They were predominantly low income, those roof tops very often were public housing. So this has been the pattern. Flint, michigan, the people who were Drinking Water that was poison, they were low income minority populations. If you even go back to 1927, the great mississippi flood, where does the mississippi flood . It floods the low lands. It floods lower income communities. We get it, but we have to break the cycle. New york were going right at finneding the reasons for the disparity and addressing them. Were doing more testing in communities of color, were doing testing in housing, partnering with ready responders, which is a group doing great work. Weve delivered ppe equipment, masks over 1 million, hand sanitizer, et cetera, to public housing. And today addressing a new mission to address exactly this, which is to expand testing to low income communities and communities of color. Were partnering with north well health, which is the Largest Health system in new york. And theyre going to set up 22 additional testing sites at churches in predominantly minority communities. This is a different kind of partnership. Its creative, but its necessary. Were working with both churches individually and association of churches, and northwell, northwell will provide the testing in churches in lower income communities and communities of color. The churches will help us outreach to the community to get people to come in and explain why its important to explain why its important for people to come in and get tested and northwell will do the testing. We have 24 sites in the new york city area. Some will be opening the week of may 12th. Some will be opening the second week of may 19th. But you see the coverage when we add the network of churches is very broad. Again, focussed on these communities that we want to reach out to. These 24 new sites will be working with the Current Network of sites and weve already located many testing sites in minority communities and low income communities. But when you put the church based sites together with the drivethru sites, together with the walkin testing sites and our sites in public housing, the coverage will be the so thes will s test test test the so thes will ites will be t. We now need new yorkers to go get the tests. I do this with people all day long. I feel fine. I feel fine. You can feel fine and test positive for covid. You can. You can be asymptomatic and still have the covid virus. Well, if i feel fine, whats the difference . Because you can give it to someone else who will not feel fine. And you can give it to a person who is more in a vulnerable community, group. Older person, person with an underlying illness and they can be in serious trouble. So you want to know if you have it, not just for yourself but so you dont communicate it to anyone else. I want to thank our partners who are have been working on this. Its exactly what we want to do all through this situation. We said we dont want to just deal with this virus. We dont want to just replace what was there. We actually want to make sure that we build back better than before. I understand that this inequity, this disparity exists. I understand its existed for decades. I understand it exists all across the country. But not new york. Not new york. It shouldnt be here. I want to thank our congressional leaders who are partners in this effort who have been instrumental in organizing the churches and putting it together with northwell health. The congresswoman from brooklyn and from congressman Hakeem Jeffries. I also want to thank the Church Groups. This is not the normal line of business for churches to be setting up testing sites for a covid virus. But i think it is the mission of the churches. Theyre there to serve the community. Theyre there to work with the community and meet the needs at that time, and this is the need at that time. So theyve been extraordinarily helpful and cooperative. I especially want to thank reverend rivera and reverend david braley for coming up with the idea and working with the other groups to get them to all participate. So weve never done anything like this before, but there are a lot of firsts for all of us in this situation. So i want to thank you for much very what theyre doing here. And its my pleasure to announce that weve been joined with congressman Hakeem Jeffries who is a personal friend of mine. A great star for the state of new york in washington. His voice, his leadership has been pivotal, not just for york but for the entire nation. This is a time we need the federal government to work and work well and work efficiently and effectively and work for the people which sometimes doesnt happen in washington. And the people, the police, the firefighters, the people of this state couldnt have a better, more powerful advocate than congressman Hakeem Jeffries. And the congressman worked tirelessly to put together this arrangement that were announcing today with the churches. Again, it is a different type of partnership. But we do what we have to do in new york, and the congressman saw the need and he reached out to the Church Groups and brought them together to be where we are today. Congressman, thank you so much for everything you do, but especially thank you for what you did to bring these Church Groups together with northwell so we could announce this initiative. Congressman, good to be with you. Good morning, governor. Great to be with you and, of course, thank you for the tremendous leadership that you have provided to the people of the empire state and the nation in so many ways during this moment of trial and tribulation. I just appreciate the fact that your leadership has been evidencebased, datadriven, compassionate and comprehensive. And todays announcement is just another example of that. We know that this is an extraordinary pandemic, and it requires an extraordinary governmental response at all levels of government. Its all hands on deck at the city, the state and the federal level. And the new york delegation is committed to continuing to work with you to make sure that we can drive the federal resources into new york state to match the level of infection, pain, suffering and death that weve all had to endure. Its an all of government moment and, of course, an all of america moment as youve encouraged all of us to dig deeper here in new york and throughout. And in that spirit, we know that the houses of worship, the Spiritual Community has always been there to help the Community Get through a storm. These churches have been there through the crack cocaine epidemic to welcome people in while others were rejecting them. Our churches have been there, for instance, to address the high rates of gun violence through gun buyback programs, taking thousands of guns off the streets in their congregations, buildings. And these houses are worship, these churches and spiritual leaders have been there to partner with the state and Law Enforcement organizations like the Brooklyn District Attorneys Office through begin again initiatives to address old warrants and summons and citations that can impact the ability of people from communities of color to be able to get all of the opportunities to benefit from our full economy. So now, at this moment, thanks to their continued engagement and your leadership and willingness to partner, we can address this covid19 pandemic with these houses of worship and religious leaders who have the credibility, the authenticity and the capacity to reach those in the community who need to be tested because at the end of the day this is not over for any of us until its over for all of us. And as youve indicated, we know that communities of color have been hit particularly hard. We are disproportionately overrepresented amongst our essential frontline workers. Live in dense environments and have historically been underresourced throughout the nation. And so this Testing Initiative will be incredibly essential and to ensuring that we can turn the corner in communities of color such as those that i represent as well as those represented by great members of the delegation like velasquez, meeks, adriana and so many others. So thank you, governor, for your partnership. I thank ebc and the other church coalitions for their initiative and willingness to do what is necessary for us to confront this storm. The scripture says, weeping may endure during the long night, but joy will come in the morning. Im thankful for our leadership, Governor Cuomo. Thankful for the partnership with our houses of worship, and were all going to be there with the community until its morning time in the United States of america once again. Beautiful. Thank you so much, congressman. So well said. Some people say, well, churches are closed. No, churches are open. Churches never close, and theyre doing their work and theyre performing their mission. Congressman, big week for you. What youre doing in washington is so important to all of us. This legislation that may be passed by washington getting this country the aid they need, getting their state the aid we need, pass legislation, did great for Small Businesses, but i know your priority now is to bring funding for working new yorkers, working americans, the police, the firefighters, the health care that have gotten us through this making sure the state governments can function so we can do the reopening. And we could not have a better voice. We couldnt have a stronger voice, more capable voice than yours and our delegation fighting for us. And for the nation. You make the case for new york. You are making the case for america. Because we are just a microcosm, new york. We did get hardest hit in the number of cases, but you addressed the need here. You addressed the need in america and we know you can do it. God bless you. Thank you very much for being with us, congressman jeffries. God bless you. Thanks. Thats our congressional delegation. Representing all new yorkers. Tough, smart, united, disciplined and loving. Questions . Yes, question about you and your fellow northern governors. You have a cooperative regional approach. Does that change at all if connecticut on the 20th has restaurants open, but white plains is not and if in new jersey you have some of the beaches open. I know thats them and were us, but how does that make you feel . It makes me feel fine. Theres a lot that doesnt make me feel fine but that im fine with. We said from the getgo, we all have slightly different situations. We talk about numbers. Numbers are slightly different in all these areas. Numbers are different within the state of new york. We have up state, down state. You have a strategy that works based on the facts in that area. We said we have to coordinate states because what one state does, by definition, impacts other states. That doesnt mean necessarily that we have to do the same thing. But it does mean we should know what each other is doing before we do it so we can coordinate and discuss it. I understand, governor lamont in connecticut and governor murphy in new jersey, those were the two closest states, obviously. But were working with the entire northeast. But were in total lock step. I know what theyre