Transcripts For CNNW Cuomo Prime Time 20200402

Chris . Anderson, thank you so much. Always a pleasure to watch your show. And now its my turn. Im chris cuomo. Welcome to prime time. Im doing the show in my basement in covid containment and im going to share some insights ive learned into what this virus is like in terms of fighting it. But the most important point for us to discuss tonight is that it is crazy that anything less than 100 of this country is under a stay home order. Are we really just going to wait for one community after the other to fall the same way, just keep repeating the same mistakes . You do not need 102 fever to get hot about what we learned today. Our death toll has doubled in just three days time. This is the best and only chance we have to mitigate the effects of the virus. Not mitigate the political fallout in red states. Theres only one choice. Selfisolation. All of us, together, as ever, as one. Lets get after it. Anybody who has ever seen me spar will tell you my first round is never my best. And this has proven no different with coronavirus. Now i know what im up against. Ill talk to you later in the show about the night i had last night. Never had anything like it. Ive never experienced any kind of fever like what i have going on all the time and the body aches and the tremors and the concern about not being able to do anything about it. I totally get why so many are so scared all over this country. And ive been now relaying messages and understanding with different doctors and in places about how so many people think they have Something Else but its probably this. Again, testing, awareness. Were letting ourselves be beaten by something that we dont have to. Now, on a personal note for me, my biggest fear was passing this on to christina and the kids. And even though i feel way worse than i did yesterday, in terms of symptoms, its been a great day. Theyre negative. And that is the best thing i could have ever heard. Doesnt mean that they cant be positive at some point in the future, that they cant still be contaminated. Im down in the basement, were doing it super strict here. Its not easy. It is necessary and thats enough. So my greatest worry is my family, just like yours, and in understanding my own dynamic here, how you feel powerless and its so worrisome what can happen. Its totally opened a different window in my heart for all those who have had to watch their loved ones slip away and go into the hospital where they cant visit and have them in places where they cant say goodbye, i mean, the dislocation that is being caused by this is so frightening. Why wouldnt we do everything, every possible thing to avoid it . Even if its just one less case . We also want to talk to you tonight about the front lines of the war and how were losing people there. That its not just about what you do for yourself and for your family, its keeping those people safe. Now, in terms of not seeing enough, its good news that the governor of florida has just come to his senses and has a statewide stay at home order there. I got to tell you, no small irony that he doesnt want people from the cruise ship in florida, but he allowed spring breakers to go home all over the place all over this country and people are getting sick in communities that wouldnt have exposure otherwise. Why would the government let florida wait . Why were they let the governor of tennessee cast whether social distancing even works . Are you kidding . We have to be better than this at this point. Dr. Sanjay gupta, our chief is back, my brother and north star for many of us during this time. You were right when you told me that i would see a different side of this once the virus took root and that certainly came last night. Thank you for teaching me the word rigors. I know understand it better than i ever thought i would. Chris, you look. I just want to say, and i know this is not what the segments about. First of all, im happy to see you. We spoke last night after the show. You had these rigors. Im just going to say it, so bad that i think you chipped a tooth. Yes. This was significant for you, chris. And im just going to say, as well, you know, we talk about abdication of duty. I dont want to abdicate my duty. I know you are a worrier, but youre allowed to take a day off. Say you feel worse today, im glad you dont have the tightness in the chest still. I was worried about that, but chris, man, you know, we love you, we think about you and its okay to, you know, i know youre dreaming about this stuff, youre fully engaged but its okay to take a day off. Youre totally right, you got to take care of yourself, you cant take care of anybody else. I also followed your advice, i got this. In fact, people have been sending me these things. They heard you talk about oxygen, blood oxygen sensor. You have to make sure your hands warm. Sorry, thats andrew. Ill talk to him later. Pest. You have to make sure you have a warm hand and you put this on and it tells you your blood oxygen level. And this is a great gift to people who are fighting covid. Because it lets you know, my chest situation is still good, its got to be above 94, 95, 96 to 100 is normal when youre healthy. I got so many of these that the first, like, 20 people or so who go onto my social media, give me your address and ill send you the extra ones that i have, because if you have covid, its a great thing to have at home. I want to ask you something, sanjay. Ill take care of myself, but when you heard the president today please do. And you heard these guys, every state is different, you have to let them figure it out for themselves, you know every situation is different, a lot of them dont have the cases. I mean, is anywhere really different or is it just time that is different . Nowheres different. I mean, chris, this is a virus. Weve been saying this, i think you and i have had this conversation for more than two months now. Its a virus. It doesnt respect boundaries or borders. It can travel from county to county, state to state, region to region. Thats the thing. When we say were all in this together, that means, you know, how i behave affects you and how you behave affects me. And were here in georgia right now and we still its been announced but still not in effect, the stay at home order. We lost weeks. We lost weeks, theres thousands of people who have the illness and you know what . We dont actually know the number. We have no idea what the number actually is, as weve seen over and over again. Were wildly underestimating. The problem with Something Like this is, by the time you see it, its too late. You know, theres other metaphors, but by the time you see this, its too late. And there was plenty of warning here. I mean, chris, youre a warrior, you always call yourself a warrior, im not a fighter, im a soft spoken, mild mannered guy, but this has made me angry, but it doesnt have to happen. Some of it had to happen because the virus is here, thats an act of mother nature, that was going to happen, but in terms of the impact now, the places that are having the worst results in terms of fatality rates, all of that, are places that had the virus affect them but what drove up the fatality rates was the strain on the medical system. They werent ready, even though they could see what was happening in other places around the world. So, yes. I mean, long answer, we need to have a national, you know, stay at home order. Thats what theyve done in countries who finally started to turn this around. Were not there yet. Were not there yet and we keep making excuses. Thats the scariest part for me is, when you see somebody that knows they made a mistake and they dont really own it and theyre only kind of making up for it, you know that mistake is going to be repeated. There is zero question, well have the governor of new jersey on next, you hear my brother, the governor of new york say this all the time, they are still fighting for ppe, with one another. They dont want to, theyre not trying to hurt each other, but theres such a small supply, theyre bidding at it. The federal government should have stopped that a long time ago and created stability for them. Testing. To hear dr. Birx today say, these eliza tests are easy. We can work it up in no time. Where has it been for months then, if its so easy . And to hear them have a covid conference today. Im ready to watch the conference, see my man sanjay after it and they Start Talking about drug interdiction . Now . Thats a relevant part of our covid thing that people are trying to sneak drugs into the country now and thats what theyre doing . What is that about to you . I think they just tried to take advantage of the National Attention on this issue and maybe tried to, you know, move the ball a little bit, which is sad, because this is this is a big deal. To try to minimize it in some way like that. I theres some things i figure now, i keep a journal every night, there are some things that i may never understand. About how some of these decisions are made. Im a scientist, i like to figure things out, there are some things i may never understand as to how some of these decisions have happened here. One thing that im really, you know, we talk about this getting bad, right . We talk about this curve accelerating. Chris, these Health Care Workers, you know, some of them are theyre the ones who are exposed the most to this virus. Theyre the ones who cant keep social distance in hospitals, theyre right next to each other. Theyre the ones like you that are going home to their families and worried about infecting them. Those numbers are going to go up, as well. And who is going to take care of the patients . You can see i think were going to keep our Health Care System together, because we have this amazing ingenuity in the united states, but we are were going to tax it, challenge it, strain it, probably like weve never seen before. Ive never seen this before in my lifetime. I hope to never see it again. Ive been a doctor for a long time. Never seen anything like this and i keep thinking, two months ago, chris, two and a half months ago, we were talking about this, saying, heres the deal, heres how many ventilators are necessary, this is what happens, doctors and nurses have to take care of these patients, they have to wear ppe each time. All of that has to be addressed and then here we are talking about it, knowing at this point its its really behind the curve. Maybe it is not worth looking in the Rearview Mirror anymore, but theres got to be Lessons Learned here so it doesnt happen again. Well, one, if you dont, you know, learn the lessons, then even with dr. Anthony fauci saying that were ready for the next wave, its hard to understand how, because they are saying they have tests for everybody wants them right now. Sanjay, i know you get this all the time, im new to this kind of medical advocacy thing, because im sick, so people are now, like, reaching out. There are so many people in this country who cant get tested or havent gotten results and theyve had what clearly sounds like coronavirus for 10, 12, 14 days. I mean, we are nowhere close to being able to understand what we have to deal with in this country. So, youre only chance is selfisolation and to deal with capacity. And these hospitals, i mean you know, we use all of this, you know, this prayerful language for them, but what good is prayer if youre not doing the things that you can do in this world and in this life to make those right things happen for them . What good is it to say, youre praying for them and there are angels on earth, if you are not doing everything in your power to help them . What good is the prayer . I know. The situation now, chris, is that unless youre seriously or even critically ill, you are probably not going to really be at the hospital. I mean, because they got enough serious and critically ill patients over there. So, you know, again, i know this is not about you, although everyone is seeing you and you feel worse today than you did yesterday and youre going to have a few rough days, you know, theres no question, but in the past, you probably would have gone to the doctor. Maybe even gone to a hospital. All the people who are sicker would go to the hospital. Thats not an option right now. Thats the situation were in. So, a lot of these people are really having to rough it out at home and theyre scared. I hear from them a lot. I hear from their families a lot. You know how many emails i get every day, a Family Member says, hey, my loved one is really sick. I mean, theyre asking me for advice via social media, via text message. I dont know what to do for some of these folks. I would say, call your doctor, time to go to the hospital. Time to go see a doctor. They cant do that right now. So, and thats going to be the situation for awhile. Thankfully, i will say, because, you know, i dont want this to be doom and gloom, most people will recover from this, but you know, we tend to look at things either in terms of life or death and how many people have died and i understand that. A lot of people are going to get very sick. Super sick from this for awhile and theyre going to have to rough it out at home because of whats happening in this country right now. I mean, that may be the safest place for them, theres no particular therapeutic for them in the hospital, but you know, man, just the emotional toll on top of the physical toll for the patient and their families is going to be its going to be tough. Its something that most people have never experienced in this country. Im seeing it firsthand, how powerless your loved ones feel that they cant help you, because there is no really easy pill popping here that gets you through it and you cant be near them and my wifes got a mask on and gloves, you know, doing tray exchanges at the top of the stairs. This is spooky, you know, don came by today with his fiance looking at me like im in the zoo behind the glass door. This is a weird existence. I have people that love me and care about me that can give me things a lot of people. Ill tell you what. This is going to be hard and i know now, i have to be looking at an eight, tenday fight. Im ready for it now. Now, i understand what it is. It is maddening to have a fever all the time. Right now, i think i was at 101 1 2 or Something Like that. To have that all day long, i totally get why it is making people dehydrated and making them really very upset. I totally get it. The only thing i have to correct you on, doc, before i let you go, listen. My obvious manifestations of strength are a cry for help. I have seen you in so many places around this world show the most profound kind of strength and sensitivity that any man or woman could ever wish to exhibit in life. You are the best of us for a reason. You give us the truth, you literally save lives for people and you do it with a gentility that is probably the best medicine that there is. Thats why i love you, not because youre a great doctor. Youre a great person. Thank you for being a friend to me, i promise im using my 02 thing. Im doing well. You are a good man, chris, and im going to call you at 10 02. Well chat then. Ill be there. House call. Ill be there. Hopefully ill save some of my teeth. Sanjay, ill check back with you in a moment. Look, in terms of cases, new york does remain the nations most infected state. The secondmost, really is not going to be that big a coincidence. Its right next door in new jersey. But the reason we really wanted to give Governor Phil Murphy the platform tonight is to talk about this one part of the state that is seeing a surge in cases. And why is there a surge and what is the reality of his ability to fight the need in his state . Weve got to have Straight Talk right now. We dont have the time for bs. Next. And here we have another burst pipe in denmark. If you look close. Jamie, are there any interesting photos from your trip . Ouch, okay. Huh, boring, boring, you dont need to see that. Oh, here we go. Can you believe my client steig had never heard of a home and auto bundle or that renters could bundle . Wait, youre a lawyer . Only licensed in stockholm. What is happening . Jamie anyway, game show, kumite, cinderella story. You know karate . No, alan, i practice muay thai, completely different skillset. Thats why working together ist more important than ever. At t is committed to keeping you connected. So you can keep your patients cared for. Your customers served. Your students inspired. And your employees closer than ever. Our network is resilient. Our people are strong. Our job is to keep your business connected. Its what weve always done. Its what well always do. The reason i keep telling you not to focus on the numbers is because they are almost pointless right now. They will be exponential in jumps, case, dealts, more all the time, doubling rate, doubling rates, why . Because until all of us are self isolating, long enough to get ahead of the spread, this is the reality. And until testing gets anywhere near the place it needs to be, we will never be in front of this spread. So dont get caught up in the numbers. It will make you crazy. It will make you depressed. Instead, focus on the efforts to get us where we need to be. This president and Vice President keep saying how much theyre testing, but its not enough. Its not even close. And they know it. And they can say that anyone who wants a test can get one, and they know thats bs. Because you and i beth know that we know people in our lives who cant get tested and when they do get tested they cant get results until theyre already over the illness. Now a place that is dealing with this in realtime is new jersey on a large level. Their governor is having to make these hard decisions, and he is having to do them at a disadvantage. Lets bring in new jersey governor murphy. Governor, thanks for joining us. Chris, its great to be with you, and i want you to know that your nine million member cousins in new jersey are all praying for you. Listen, i love it, i love them, its amazing, and it just shows we have great capacity to beat this virus because of the way we care about each other, if we do the right things. Now the northern part of your state is getting slapped hard. Why . Do you think it is just the closest part to new york . Or is this Something Else going on there . Oy think overwhelmingly, i think overwhelmingly is part of the new york mentality, which your brother has been managing brilliantly and you look at bergentown, slammed with positive cases and i agree you with with the testing reality, but more importantly, the live, the precious lives worth. Essex, of course newark being the county seat, there hudson county, right on the river, those three counties, lead the way, both in positive tests, illnesses, and sadly, fatalities. And it is part of the new york, the metro new york reality without cast. Governor, the president once again suggested today, these governors, you would be shocked what they ask you for, you cant even believe they use the amounts they are asking for, they just ask, it is never enough, are you anywhere near overcapacity, with absolutely anything that you need, to fight the virus . I mean the stark answer, chris, is no. And that doesnt mean that we dont have open lines, and it doesnt mean that we havent gotten support. Because we v the lines are open. And weve gotten support. But were still way short of what were going to need for ventilators. Weve made progress. But were way short. Were way short on personal protective equipment. Again, we have stepped in, weve never been in this business before. The state of new jersey has bought almost ten million pieces to distribute to our Health Care System. Were way short on beds, though the army corps is helping mightily. Ill going to tour our first popup Field Hospital tomorrow morning and were short on manpower. Our heroic Health Care Workers need help from the bullpen, so, we put out a call to arms. The good news is, with over 6,000 people say they want to volunteer and come in and help, but we have a long way to go in all of the above. As a governor of a major state with major challenges, what do you say to a governor of tennessee that says, im not sure about this social distancing. The research is back and forth about whether it works. I dont think we need to do anything right now. I dont know the specifics in tennessee, but ill say two things, chris. If you base your decisions we started meeting on this in january. So, we were about as early as anybody. If you base your decisions on science, data, fact, health and medical inputs, the conclusions are quite easy to come to in terms of shutting yourself down, bending that curve, social distancing. There seems to be no other alternative. Secondly, as your brother has eloquently said, ive used the fraid, were a canary in the coal mine, i say this with a very heavy heart, this is coming to you, wherever you are. Its just a question of when. So, the faster you get out ahead of it, shut yourself down, do what weve been doing, new yorks been doing, other states, literally break the back of that curve, flatten it as aggressively as possible until we all do that, this is going to be a reality everywhere. How long you think youre looking at . How long are we having this conversation . Two, five, eight weeks . I think, chris, ive said this, deep into may, i dont see any way around that. Were starting to we have hospitals in the north, in particular, bergen county, that are starting to divert, meaning that you have to go to plan b, thats already happening. Were going to get up in a very high level and were going to stay there. Please, god, the social distancing works and if people are looking for one message, if you are watching from jersey, its simple. Stay home until further notice. Its not an april fools joke. The only fools are people who dont heed the warning. Governor phil murphy, thank you for being ahead of this, thank you for being a leader and thank you for knowing that, if we can get out the information, were always here. God bless you, chris, thanks for having me. You, as well. All right, now one of the things that just happened in the Governors State is, he just lost one of his front line heroes. An e. R. Doctor who courageously worked until the virus got him. I want to introduce you to the husband and close friend so that you can understand what this doctor did for us. What he had to deal with. And what kind of struggle he took on for everybody else. You hear their story and then you tell me we dont need to do better. At papa johns, we want you to know that from our 450degree oven, to box, to you, 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. She spends too much time on the internet. According to the census, you can complete the census online in no time at all. Shape your future. Start here. Complete the census at 2020census. Gov. Shape your future. Start here. My name is jonatan and i work for verizon. I totally get how important it is to stay connected. Were connecting with people, were offering them solutions. Customers can do what they need to do, whenever they need to do it online. Because it gives customers the ability to not come in to the store, they can simply tap and swipe. Something that they can use wherever they are. We care about keeping you safe. At verizon, we are here, and we are ready. We are open 24 7 online, so you can keep managing all you need from home and through the verizon apps and verizon. Com. These expect and way more. Internthats xfinity xfi. U get powerful wifi coverage that leaves no room behind with xfi pods. And now xfi advanced security is free with the xfi gateway, giving you an added layer of network protection, so every device thats connected is protected. Thats a 72 a year value. No one else offers this. Faster speed, coverage, and free advanced security at an unbeatable value with xfinity xfi. Can your internet do that . Tonight, i want you to take the time to remember a very special man. His name is dr. Frank gabron. Frank was an e. R. Doctor and twotime cancer survivor, so he knew how to fight. And he spent his final days tending to patients in a new jersey hospital. When he was there, he knew he was compromised, he knew he was exposed and he caught the virus himself. He died within a week, passing away on tuesday in his husbands arms before help could arrive. Dr. Gabrons husband, arnold vargas, is with us, along with their close friend deborah, and im happy to have you both here. Obviously these circumstances are not the way that i would want to meet anybody, let alone the husband and friend of a hero. I know you are heartbroken. But what do you want people to know about your husband and why he put himself in such jeopardy for people he didnt even know . He was a person, he loved to help people he just wanted to help people and he wanted to i know youre heartbroken. I know you are heart broken, but you know what, people need to see what is being taken from us from this virus. Your husband had already fought through the battles he was supposed to fight. He beat cancer twice and he was trying to help everybody else, and people have to know how far our heroes are willing to go. We can do things to make sure that other doctors dont have to deal with it, deborah, and im sure that if the doctor were here, he would be saying, you cant put people in this situation. We got to care more about the people we call our heroes, deborah. Absolutely. Frank put people first, whether it was his coworkers or the patients. He felt that if he became a health care worker, if he were a doctor or a nurse, you did it because you cared and you wanted to make a difference. You were there for a reason. You had made that decision long before. So, he always worked to make the lives of the people he worked with as good as he could. He made sure that they felt good. He taught them how to get satisfaction with compassion. And even as this was coming on, he was finding ways to make it work. And he was still, the last post that he had actually made was talking about how important it was for us to have compassion, kindness and care for each other. He didnt expect this to happen, as it was coming up, chris. He really didnt. He was working hard, we were talking every day, i was saying, how is it going . He said, its busy but its manageable. And it went from manageable to unmanageable overnight. And i think thats what happened. And even then, he looked for ways to make it work. Even when he knew he was compromised. And that is a very important part of this. He knew he was compromised. And he did it anyway. Tell us how that informs us about who he was. Because thats not what people will do ordinarily, people are generally selfish, even doctors. Why would he do that, debra . Well, i would tell you that he would say, and i think that this is true, because i dont think were seeing that we have selfish Health Care Workers right now, theyre doing what they can, even though they are putting themselves and most importantly, their families at risk, as well, including the patients that are not currently compromised. I mean, its a big thing were asking them to face with no tools. Its like asking a soldier to go to the front line and giving them nothing, like, nothing to do their job. So, i think with frank, he would still know that it has to be done. Whats your choice . You prepared your whole life for this. He went to school for it, he decided. Being in the front lines is what each one of these Health Care Workers prepare themselves for. They did not expect to have to go in with nothing. And i think thats the hardest part, so, what do you do . What are we asking them to do for us right now . And what are we asking them to do and putting their families at risk . As arnold is currently sick. And, yeah. I think its important for us to take a look at that and to understand that frank did this and would want some good to come from his loss and not for anything but to make us wake up and pay attention. We need to care for each other and we need to care for the people that need to care for us. Right. And you cant just say it. You need to act on that. Youre so right about our Health Care Workers, you know, the reason we heroize them and say that they are not just our first responders, but the angels among us, is that they dont act on the selfish impulses that many of us do, and for you to say that arnold is dealing with this illness on top of now this loss, you know, i the only reason we share these stories is not to bathe people in pain, its to make them understand the price of an action. And arnold, im so sorry to have to put you in this kind of situation, but i all i can tell you is this when my family lost our father recently, one of the guys who is running for president right now, joe biden, called us and this isnt about his politics, i dont care about his politics. He said, some day, when your fathers face and his name comes to your mind, a smile will come to your lips before a tear will come to your eye. And it may take a long time, but at some point, arnold, when you think about your husband and everything he meant to you, you will smile before you cry. And i just hope you know that we will do everything we can to honor his service and make sure that people dont have to be in his situation and that we will fight to make sure that people get a fair shake to do the job for the rest of us. Im very sorry for your loss, arnold, i really am. Thank you. Thank you so much. Debra, yes . Arnold and i had talked about this yesterday and i know its hard, but i think you need to understand that frank died in his arms. He died basically before the paramedics arrived and the paramedics spent an hour in front of him trying to bring him back. So and then we have frank having people posting about how much of an impact they made on his life and when arnold and i talked about doing these interviews and talking about this, we knew it was because frank made it very clear that its not about what happened, its not about the outcome. You dont get to save every patient, but its what you do with the outcome. And its important for him to make sure we make a good outcome no matter what. And in this case, he lost his life needlessly, because if he had the equipment, hes a professional, he knew how to protect himself, but if he did lose his life, we need to make sure something good comes from this, and his message was always, care for each other, care for the people in front of you. Your satisfaction coming from feeling a persons pain and being able to do something about it. The pain that we feel for franks loss, our goal is to make sure that everybody takes away whatever other issues there are, and make sure that we take care of each other and take care of our health care heroes. Debra, thank you very much. And arnold, listen, there is no good way to explain what youve had to suffer through and i am so sorry that you are in so much pain. And i hope you take some solace over time in how your husband will be remembered. And that at least his last moments were with you. To be in the last moments with the people you love the most, theres a grace in that, as well. Arnold, be well, let us know if theres anything that we can do. Were showing you the doctor right now. Frank gabrin. Gave his life to help people like you and me. We do for people like him. So families dont have to be destroyed for what we know we could be doing. Arnold, be well and god bless. Debra, thank you. Thank you. And take care of your friend. I know you will. Chris, take care of yourself, please. Thank you so much. Now, look. Nobody wants to have to see people in pain like that. But is it making any more sense for you to ignore that that pain is going on because of how were handling this . I dont know. He didnt have to die. He knew what he was doing. He could have been given different equipment. Will we do enough . How can you see that and think that the answer is yeah, weve done enough . Cant. Its not just the doctors and nurses that are showing incredible bravery right now. Youve got all of these front liners. Paramedics, you know, the emts who are out there getting the first calls, for real. My next guests are getting bombarded, 911 has turned into covid19, should be the number. They never expected this. I want to introduce you to a guy who will tell you that he was there for 9 11, he was there in iraq and right now, hes scared like hes never been before. Next. The mortality rate is much higher than the president claimed. Hes also completely discarding the advice from Public Health experts. President trump also ended that Global Health Security Unit within the white house. The president and his administration was very slow to move on this virus. Tonight the number of people filing for unemployment is soaring. And across the nation, widespread layoffs. Unemployment could hit 30 percent. Unite the country is responsible for the content of this advertising. So, fema just sent some desperately needed help to new york city. 500 emts and paramedics and about 250 ambulances. Now, what do those numbers mean in the scope of the need . Because remember, you can be really impressed with what resources are being thrown, but what matters, and the only thing that matters, is whether or not that number is enough. Not how big it is. Context 911 calls are overwhelming the system. Paramedics are going on more than 7,000 runs a day. And its only going to get worse. Phil suarez has been a new york city paramedic for more than 25 years. He was a humanitarian aid worker in the iraq war, he knows what 9 11 looked like up close and now he is living through this and he wants to talk to you about it. Brother, thank you for doing the job and thank you for joining me. Thank you, chris, for having me. Now, 9 11, iraq war, those are scary things that took a toll on us that we never expected. This pandemic is a completely unique animal and it is straining the system in a way that weve never seen before. How have you experienced that . These are unprecedented times and i guess its to be determined how it will end in the end. Were doing the best we can. In my time in new york city, ive never experienced such a ferocity of call volume, demand and the intensity of the system. From what we hear, we are expecting it to get worse in the next two to three weeks. We hope theyre wrong, but we just are trying to get ourselves physically, psychologically ready just to meet the need. And its a doubleedged sword, right . Because not only do you have to go on a ton of calls, but these calls are unique in that every time you show up, you are exposed to a problem. Its almost like every call you go to, you show up and theres a guy with a weapon there, pointing it at you and you do not have the equipment and you do not have the ppe that you need to cycle through the calls the way you need to. How real is that statement that i just made . Well, it is a threat, because its an invisible threat. We cant see this virus, we just assume its everywhere, so, we take maximum precautions on every patient. You know, i think ems, were a bit more fortunate than many others, as we are used to working in low resource environments. So, we are by nature, we are able to adapt whatever environment necessary and sometimes you just you know, we come in day in and day out and we just look to do our job to the best of our abilities. What do you need . What do we need . We need a million things, you know . I think that ems, were handling it as best we can. My personal concerns is that as what we are seeing is that ems workers are starting to go down, just like other Health Care Workers. You know, were at a twoweek, threeweek period since we started taking more precautions and so, the ones there are many that got infected and they are going down. Theyre off the field. And my concern is that in the next few weeks leading up to this expected surge is that we are going to lose more players in the field and those are critical the thing is so, you know, it spreads so easily and im sure the calls what are you seeing most often when you show up and that its a covid call . Is it someone so freaked out not being able to breathe that thats what made them call . I mean, it varies, like now, they appear to be increasing in intensity, as far as, like, people are getting a little bit more theyre sicker. A couple of weeks ago, it was more fear, it was they were symptomatic. Now, were starting to see those most vulnerable in the population with a higher mostly now thats heavily affected. Ill tell you what, if i had heard it in a vacuum, id be like, yeah, a lot of people think theyre sicker than they are. Now that i have this thing, and you know this already, phil, it manifests its way in different people. Some people think they got a lower gi flu. Some people think they have a sinus infection. I got this kind of fibrotremor. If i could couldnt breathe well, last night, i definitely would have freaked out and thought about having to call for help. If i couldnt have breathed through the shivering that i thought was never going to end and the fever, i totally get why people are sent into a panic here, because you think you may not make it. And their best call is always going to be our best people which are, of course, you guys. So we want to make sure that people understand the need, that you guys are going down from this and you have to be protected given the equipment that you need and given the staffing you can have available, to the extent that we can source it. And i promise you, phil suarez, as you develop more understandings of what you need, you can come back whenever you want and let us know. Thank you, chris. Thank you so much. Thank you for doing the job. Thank you for keeping us safe. We try to do our best every day, and you stay healthy, chris, wish you the best. Thank you, brother. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Now, look. Again, im lucky. And im going to keep saying it to you because you have to understand. Im doing this show not because i want to make myself sick. I dont want to make myself more sick. I dont know that i could, to be honest. But you have to see that you can get through this. Okay . But, at the same time, im trying to get you to understand the urgency. Im doing the show because thats how much it matters. I cant sit on the couch and watch us have this Bad Information put out here, and this false sense of security thats going on. And i want to share with you a little bit about what people are suffering through when they have covid. I had a night last night. Im telling you, i have had a lot of weird experiences in my life with health and everything else. Ive never had anything like what haunted me last night with this virus. And now that i know im in it, i get it. But it gives me perspective on how we have to see people who are in need right now, and we are not there yet. Next. Er 100 years. And were here for you especially now, doing Everything Possible to keep you connected. Through the resilience of our network and people. We can keep learning, keep sharing, keep watching, and most of all, keep together. Its the job weve always done. It is the job we will always do. [ one morwoo me b[ laughing ]] woo play pop music no way dude, play rock music yeah woah no matter what music you like, stream it now on pandora with xfinity. And dont forget to catch trolls world tour. Lets party people one more time so heres what ive learned. I wish i had gotten this virus a month ago. And ill tell you why. I wish i would have had it then so i couldve told you then, this is no joke. We are sleeping on something. It is a mistake. And i would have had a different platform to jump on the president playing it as a hoax and playing politics with this. Because that time, one of the reasons we keep going back to that time is because its so painful we blew our best chance. Thats why we keep going back to it. Especially, when the president s inability to own it makes a journalist, makes a conscientious person suspect that hed do the same thing again. You see what im saying . And we cant tolerate it a second time. Literally, i dont know that wed survive it. And if i had gotten it sooner, i would have been able to explain, i think, more directly, the vulnerability we face. Because what do we know now, a month later . Families are being isolated, separated, devastated. I mean, to hear, you know, young vargas just lost his husband. He died in his arms. And, look, were not doing enough and you know it. And it is tough for all of us. And its tough for our leaders. There is a helplessness. Even among those who are in control. And it is instructive to see that even when i see it in my own brother. Listen to this. I couldnt protect my own brother. With all he knows and as smart as he is, he couldnt protect himself. When he told me he had the coronavirus, it scared me. It frightened me. Why . Because we still dont know. Im talking about my little brother. This is my best friend. Im out of control, and theres nobody who can tell me. And doctors cant tell me anything. And tony fauci cant tell me anything because nobody really knows. It didnt show last night from his basement. What a gutsy, courageous thing to do. Kudos to him. My pop would be proud. I love you, little brother. And even though this isnt a flattering picture, i did not pick this picture with your mouth open but it is suitable in some ways. He picked it. And what else am i going to do . Im in the basement. What am i going to sit around all day and watch that theres not the right information being given still . And we are letting states make choices about whether or not they do the only single thing that can make a difference for this country. Nobody can sit on the sidelines right now. Least of all somebody whos been blessed with a platform to talk to you about it. And the irony about my brother joking about how i look is not lost on me. All right. Like hes some box of chocolates. But his heart, not just for me as his brother and family but, for the desperation to protect. Thats his job. Okay. His job is to protect the people of this state. Just like every governor. Just like this president. Thats their job. Do everything you can to protect. And its easy for someone like me. Im lucky. Okay. No matter how my journey goes with coronavirus, the life ive had, the family i have to take care of me. The ability i have to selfquarantine and people bringing me food. And a wife and my kids, thank god, didnt have it. Look how lucky i got here. I want you to be thinking about everybody whos not as lucky as i am, who are dealing with the same that i am and ten times worse. Especially, after what i learned last night. This virus came at me ive never seen anything like it. Okay. So, yeah, ive had ive had a fever. Youve had a fever. But 102. 103. 103 plus. That wouldnt quit and it was like somebody was beating me like a pinata and i was shivering so much that sanjays right. I chipped my tooth. These are not cheap. Okay . And they call them the rigors like rigors but rigors. So the sun comes up. I was up all night. Im telling you i was hallucinating. My dad was talking to me. I was seeing people from college. People i havent seen in forever. It was it was freaky what i lived through last night. And it might happen again tonight. Doctor says it may happen like five, eight times. You know, i get it now. And if you match that with chest constriction and people cant breathe, i totally get why were losing so many people and why our hospitals are so crowded. So heres the message. Dont be me. But, more importantly, be better than were being right now. Care enough not just to stay home but to stay on our leaders. To make sure that theyre doing everything they can to limit this. Im telling you this is the part of our lives we will live through and remember the most. How do you want to be remembered during this time