We have a tremendous number of people that have to come into government. And now more so than ever before because of the virus and the problem. We have to do it. And we have to do whatever we have to do. Earlier last month, you were in the oval office talking about now is not the time for partisanship. How will that act lower the partisanship in this town and could it potentially hinder the ability to get something done on coronavirus . Well, it is look, its been a very partisan government for a long period of time, not just this administration. You can go back into the last two administrations. Youve seen a lot of partisanship. But i have a very strong power. Id rather not use that power. But we have way over a hundred people that we badly need in this administration that should have been approved a long time ago and one of them is the head of voice of america. If you look at what theyre doing, and what theyre saying about our country, its a disgrace. The people that are running that. We have somebody thats really good, really talented, and that loves our country. And i want to get these people approved for that at least. If congress doesnt act by when theyve been warned and they have been warned right now. If they dont approve it, were going to go this route. Well probably be challenged in court and well see who wins. And Mitch Mcconnells office said the majority leader had a conservation a conversation, excuse me, with the president yesterday to, quote, discuss Senate Democrats unprecedented obstruction of the president s well qualified nominees and shared his continued frustration with the process. The leader pledged to find ways to confirm nominees considered Mission Critical to the covid19 pandemic. Here is the key line in the statement, though. Quote, this, but under senate rules, that will take consent from leader schumer. Also, begging in financial executives are reportedly pushing the Trump Administration to dramatically increase coronavirus testing availability before opening up the u. S. Economy. According to the wall street journal, the push came during a series of phone calls yesterday between the president and executives on his newly formed task force to reopen the economy. During yesterdays white house briefing, the president seemed to down play the issue. On a call with Business Leaders today, they said testing has got to be ramped up significantly before the country before they feel comfortable reopening their stores and restaurants and what not. Isnt that what Health Officials and state governors thats what i want, too. We have great tests and we want the states to administer these tests for the most part. Weve done more testing now than any country in the world, by far. We have at the best tests in the world and we will be working very much with the governors of the states. We want them to do it. Were not going to be run ago parking lot in arkansas. Were going to work closely with the governors in terms of that, getting additional equipment. It used to be three, four weeks ago, two weeks ago, can we get more ventilators, more ventilators, right . We got them vent laters and you dont hear that any more. Its been Pretty Amazing what weve been able to do. Meanwhile, were learning new details about the white houses apparent scramble to put together that new Advisory Group for restarting the u. S. Economy. The vast majority of those on the list, while happy to participate, were not informed that they would be named by the president and not told in advance what their roles might actually be. According to the washington post, some of the groups heard their names for the first time during the president s rose garden event on tuesday. One prominent washington lobbyist for a leading Global Organization told the post this, we got a note about a Conference Call like you would get invitesed to a zoom thing, a few lines in an email and that was it. Then our ceo heard his name in the rose garden. What the and then an expletive there. That lobbyist went on to say this. My company is furious. How do you go from join us on a call to, well, youre on the team. Joining me now, u. S. Economy managing editor for Bloomberg Peggy Collins for us. Peggy, good morning to you. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. You have top wall street leaders urging the president to ramp up covid19 testing before reopening the economy. Sounds like a pretty darn good idea to me. What are you hearing about that . Well, were certainly hearing people are turning towards a reopening of the economy and how do we do that. Certainly testing is one of the key factors there in terms of which businesses do you turn back on and how many people do you bring back on . Weve had essential workers deemed across the economy, health care workers, of course, others, but this would be an expansion of that and testing, widespread testing that where the results can come in quickly is one of the ways that people are saying that could help us get the economy off the ground. But people also have to feel comfortable about their own health going back to work, as well. Lets talk more about this newly formed Economic Task force, as i was just reading as we led into you not necessarily people were informed that they were going the be on this task force. I want to know what youre hearing about that. And what can we actually expect regarding plans to tackle the extreme economic damage weve experienced in the last five or six weeks . Well, the president has had task forces in the past. So in terms of getting the economy up and running, gathering and he tease a gathering expertise could hurt in terms of getting people off the ground. But we are hearing that what the markets are looking for are signs of any real reopening and recovery. So were waiting for jobless claims to come out at 8 30 today. Retail sales came out yesterday and were a record 8 down. So were still seeing most of the damage reports coming through as opposed to positive signs that the economy is getting restarted. All right. Peggy collins for us, thank you. Stay close, peggy. Im going to talk to you again in just a little bit. So german chancellor Angela Merkel announced that the country will slowly ease restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The currents measures will stay in place until may 3rd, but next week shops under a certain size could reopen and schools will gradually begin to reopen by may 4th. But large public gatherings, such as religious services, will continue to be banned until august 31st. Bars, restaurants, cafes, and movie theaters will also remained closed. Germanys announcement is coming after several european nations have relaxed some restrictions on social distancing. Italy reopened bookstores and Childrens Clothing stores. Denmark has reopened schools and nurseries for children up to the age of 11. And in spain, construction and manufacturing continues as some nonessential employees return to work earlier this week. Lets get into this a bit. Joining me now from london, nbc news correspondent cal perry for us. Good morning to you. Great to see you, my friend. Want to start in the uk here. According to the office of national statistics, the uks death toll could feasibly exceed estimates that have been previously published. How is the government reacting to some of these latest numbers as we continue to see the death toll just go upandup in the uk . Yeah, not well. Theres really this atmosphere going on television. We saw it this morning with the Health Secretary and the media that is really pretty nasty. And it has to do not only with the opening up of the country, but also with the statistics that were talking about. And what were really talking about is elderly care homes. There are some 15,000 elderly care homes in england. And it appears as though were not seeing the inclusion of those who have died in elderly care homes in the daily death toll. Unfortunately, all were doing is were hearing from individual companies. One company in particular this morning came out and said in their 350 homes, they had 311 deaths. Now, we know that that is not being included in that daily death toll. It is possible that we could see some onequarter more deaths here in the uk because of underreporting from these care homes. The other thing that is being underreported is deaths due to holidays. We just had the Easter Holiday here. And i think its quite possible in the next dairts were going to see a sizable spike in the death toll in the uk due to undercounting. This all originated in the last 24 hours from a letter that was leaked from the department of health and social care, which talked not only about those who are dieing and not being counted, but also this issue of ppe and the ppe just not making it to these elderly care homes where, of course, the nurses need it frankly just as bad as they would in hospitals, yasmin. Cal, lets touch on germany for a moment beginning to soften some of the restrictions, opening up schools in the beginning of may. And then hearing about the testing that theyre able to pull off in germany, astounding, 100,000 tests a day. Any idea how they were able to pull that off . Well, they have an epidemiology system there that is top notch, that is the best in the world. And they were prepared for this. Their testing system was up and running really by the end of january. It is where the United Kingdom has failed. It is frankly where many people believe that the United States has failed. The United Kingdom wants to get to exactly where germany is. And they used that number, 100,000 tests every day. Unfortunately, the United Kingdom on its best day is doing about 16,000 testing. This is what is going to prevent things from opening up. The uk today is going to announce that we will stay in lockdown for at least another three weeks. There are people who, of course, are pushing for things to open up, Small Businesses, even some large businesses. Kfc wants to open up around the country and it will be unable to do so. And when you sort of look at the differences between what is happening in hospitals, for example, and what is happening at the airport, people can still travel in and out of Heathrow Airport in london without any testing. Which makes no sense. This is what is going to prevent people from getting back to life. Testing, testing, testing, that will be the key to reopening the economy i think in a lot of places right now. Nbcs cal perry for us, still ahead, everybody, the Airline Industry is facing a record drop in travel due to the coronavirus outbreak. Now several carriers are facing lawsuits. Legal analyst danny sa sa volumus is here to weigh in on that. Now the governor is helping other out states in need as he had promised. Those stories plus a check on your weather when we come back. Your weather when we come back this is an athlete, twenty reps deep, sprinting past every leak in our softest, smoothest fabric. Shes confident, protected, her strength respected. Depend. The only thing stronger than us, is you. Weve worked to provide you with the financial strength, stability, and online tools you need. And now its no different. Because helping you through this crisis is what were made for. So were working 24 7 toected maintain a reliable network, to meet your growing internet needs. Were helping customers who are experiencing Financial Difficulties stay connected. Were increasing internet speeds for low income families in our internet essentials program. And delivering selfinstall kits to your door. Nos comprometemos a mantenerte conectado. Were committed to keeping you connected. For more information on how you can stay connected, visit xfinity. Com prepare. Welcome back, everybody. A Minnesota Police officer is suing United Airlines for only offering vouchers instead of a refund for a Family Vacation canceled due to the coronavirus. In a potential class action lawsuit, Jacob Rudolph requested a refund of the more than 1500 spent on a flight to hilton head that was grounded because of covid19. A federal suit filed in pennsylvania against southwest on monday seeks class action status for similar passengers left holding vouchers. The illinois suit stresses the need for monetary refunds over travel vouchers is pressing now. Travel vouchers provide little security in the public crisis particularly where many individual americans need money for food and basics. Danny cevallos, its always great to see you in the mornings here. I miss you and ayman both. Well, ayman is not here. So you just got me this morning. Lets talk about this suit here, danny, because it seems pretty straightforward to me. I mean, you have a trip essentially canceled because of something that is completely out of your control. The spread of this pandemic, the customer wants their money back. They dont want to necessarily be stuck with these vouchers because they need to essentially pay their bills. How can the airlines argue that theyre allowed to keep the passengers money . So far, the airlines appear to be invoking the legal principle of, oops, our bad. But i expect when they actually defend this case, theyre going to say at least in the first instance, we were allowed to offer vouchers. And then if push comes to shove, then we might have given refunds. But the complaints essentially allege that whatever the terms of the contracts are between passengers and airlines, and lets be honest, the passenger has no part in writing the contract. But even those contracts had to yield to the department of transportations directive that during this time of pandemic, you airlines have to give refunds to your customers. But they havent formally appeared to defend the case, so the airlines are going to have to come up with some defenses pretty quickly. So tell us about this potential of a class action status. How is exactly that going to work and how are other voucher holders, if they want, going to get in on this . Class actions are an interesting thing in our legal system. They allow large numbers of plaintiffs, as long as they have somewhat similar claims, to proceed as a giant group. And there are two kinds, really, of class actions. Theres the opt out and opt in. The default is that youre automatically in unless you want out of the class. And everybody has gotten those postcards in the mail saying that, surprise, you are a member of a class. There are other class actions that are called opt in where the default rule is you have to ask to get into the class. There are different strategic reasons for wanting one over the other. But at this point in litigation, both the complaints i reviewed are keeping all options open. Strategically, im guessing theyre going to want the default rule to be we want everybody in unless they affirmatively want out because youre dealing with mostly ticket prices which are relatively small damages here and youre going to want a class to be as big as possible if youre the plaintiffs attorneys. All right, danny cevallos, thank you, as always. Still ahead, michigan has one of the highest coronavirus death rates in the country. But protesters were seen hitting the streets this week because of stay at home orders. 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Welcome back, everybody. Thousands of demonstrators drove to the state capital in lansing, michigan, yesterday to fight the stay at home order. The protest, otherwise known aspiration gridlock, was organized by the American Commission federation and American Freedom fund. Drivers honked their horns while demonstrators chanted open up michigan followed by a lock her up chant in reference to their governor. And in kentucky, about a hundred people protested the stay at home orders, as well. Bill, i know that youve been tracking this curve for us and it appears here in new york the curve is certainly flattening, which is great news. The numbers of deaths, though, continuing to tick up throughout the country amid the good news that were seeing with the curve. Yeah. And yesterday was a frustrating day, yasmin, there is no way around it. We hit the plateau about a week ago and weve been waiting to come down a little bit. We took a couple of steps down over the holiday weekend. It was looking pretty good. And then we had a blip up. If you notice that red in the upper right, we had another jump up in xrayss. Yesterday was frustrating because the numbers went up compared to what we dealt with on tuesday and then on a wednesday. As far as the actual numbers go, the curve, you can see the blue line. Its not shooting up like it was, but we still had 30,000 new cases yesterday. And if you do the math, we know that 5 of the people that get covid19 end up in they die. So that would be another every time we get 30,000 new cases, thats another 1,500 americans that were going to lose from this virus. So as far as numbers went yesterday, i think the one that really jumped out was new jersey went down, but new york had a huge number with 11,000 new cases. So, you know, again, were still struggling with that. As far as weather, snow is falling in central colorado, accumulating heavy snow in places like iowa, illinois, and even into indiana. Yeah, not exactly spring conditions yet. All right. Thank you, bill. Still ahead, President Trump says data suggests the u. S. Has passed its peak of coronavirus cases and now hes ready to issue guidelines for reopening the economy. What were hearing about that, plus jobless claims are expected to surge again this morning with the release of the new economic data. Were going to take a look at where the market stands ahead of that. We are back in a moment. Re back. Its only human to find inspiration in nature. And also find answers. Our search to transform. Farm waste into renewable natural gas led chevron to partner with california bioenergy. Working to provide an alternative source of power. For a cleaner way forward. I do motivational speakingld. In addition to the substitute teaching. I honestly feel that thats my calling to give back to younger people. I think most adults will start realizing that they dont recall things as quickly as they used to or they dont remember things as vividly as they once did. Ive been taking prevagen for about three years now. People say to me periodically, man, youve got a memory like an elephant. Its really, really helped me tremendously. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. If were like techno. He world, we n one more time the trolls. Kpop. Yodelin. And hiphop. My bodys made of glitter and ill throw it in your face well, were doomed. The World Premiere is now in your home. A smooth jazz troll . I dont care for smooth jazz. Welcome back, everybody. Im yasmin vossoughian. Were going to begin this half hour as the coronavirus outbreak in new york is continuing to show positive signs of stabilizing. Despite Governor Andrew Cuomo announcing another 752 deaths just yesterday, the states vast need for ventilators has subsided and it will now disperse 150 of the life saving machines across the country. New yorkers are generous and they are grateful and gracious and when you need help, we will be there for you. And we will be. The state of michigan is going through an issue right now. The state of maryland is going through an issue. Were stabilized. Were going to send 100 ventilators to michigan and 50 to the state of maryland. So in an effort to continue to the states stabilization rates, Governor Cuomo issued an executive order requiring that all residents wear masks in public. Starting tomorrow. Also, the president today is expected to issue guidelines to governors on how to reopen the economy. Suggesting yesterday that some states might open before his may 1st deadline. All of American Society is engaged and mobilized in the war against the invisible enemy. While we must remain vigilant, it is clear that our aggressive strategy is working. The battle continues, but the data suggests that nationwide we have passed the peak on new cases. These encouraging developments have put us in a very strong position to finalize guidelines for states on reopening the country. Well also be speaking to americas governors tomorrow and then well be announcing exactly what is happening. You already know well be opening up states, some states much sooner than others. And we think some of the states can actually open up before the deadline of may 1st. And i think that that will be a very exciting time, indeed. So during an interview on fox news last night, republican senator john kennedy of hardhit louisiana said states should reopen despite acknowledging that it would accelerate the spread of the virus. Very, very soon, the can is going to run out of road. We have to open this economy. If we dont, its going on collapse. And if the u. S. Economy collapses, the World Economy collapses. And trying to burn down the village to save it is foolish. Yes, we shut down. But the shutdown did not stop the spread of the virus. The shutdown slowed the spread of the virus. At enormous cost. But its still spread. When we end the shutdown, the virus is going to spread faster. Thats just a fact. And the American People understand that. Of course, the idea of the shutdown is it will slow the spread of the virus and then eventually stop the spread of the virus. Joining me once again, peggy collins, managing ed for for bloomberg. Great to see you again. Talk to me about some of your thoughts on the push by some republican senators to quickly reopen parts of the economy. Well, i think the numbers in terms of the economic damage that have been out there and were expecting more today with jobless claims have been staggering for people. But at the same time, i think the American Public has also been absorbing the information that theyve been getting from Health Experts that in terms of the stay at home orders and people staying at home has actually stemmed the spread of the virus, which is going to be essentially what not only reopens the economy, but keeps it open. So we know that the president is expected to reveal new coronavirus guidelines and what should we expect with regard to opening up the economy and what type of recovery were going to have on the economic front. What are you hearing with regard to what the president will be presenting later today . So were expecting, as you said, an announcement later today that could indicate certain states are opening up more in may potentially or in coming weeks. You know, there is expected to be some debate around this depending on different states and where different governors feel their communities are. And so well have to wait and see. But also remember, youve got a lot of private businesses and Companies Across the u. S. Who will be making their own decisions, not only based on the virus, but in terms of how many workers they can get back quick quickly as well as their supply chains. There are a lot of factors involved in getting the economy up and going again. So the president reportedly decided to halt funding for the World Health Organized as we well know at this point, but at the urging of prominent advisers. The president s decision to pause nearly 500 million in public funding for the World Health Organization has garnered pushback from Congressional Democrats who say the president does not have the authority to unilaterally stop paying the World Health Organization. Willem, talk to us about the United States pausing funds for the World Health Organization. The funds are split into two buckets, essentially. Every two years, the u. S. Has to contribute money. That is almost 900 million u. S. Dollars. A lot of that money is something the u. S. Is meant to pay. That comes among specific disease radfication programs that the u. S. Continues to be a priority. The u. S. Has been interruptal in pushing these efforts around the world and if you look at the funding contributing to the global effort, the u. S. Is about a third of that amount. That will be significant when it comes to their ability in countries like pakistan, afghanistan. Where that virus is still alive in the wild, that is where they have these uj vaccination programs and those are the ones that will potentially suffer the most. Children in those countries could see a reemergence of polio and all the debilltations that come with us. Talk to us about what has been americas role in responding to global pandemics and what are global Health Officials saying now about americas covid19 response . What weve heard from the director is that the u. S. Did some things right and some things wrong but in terms of the u. S. Role, its been key. For polio, theyve contributed more than 3 billion over the past three or four decades in that effort. And i asked him about how important the cdc is responding to things like polio and covid19. The premier cdc is a core partner in this. It brings the scientific excellence. Even the work im describing to you now of surveillance, they are extensively supported by cdc. Cdc epidemiologists are working shoulder to shoulder with us. And what that means, he says, is that if this funding is halted, the data centers that give america an Early Warning signal, that could be put at risk. And that is he and other experts say could be significant down the road for u. S. Health. Great reporting this morning. Thank you, as always, great to see you. Still ahead, while new u. S. Cases of the coronavirus appear to be reaching a peak, the illness continues to claim the lives of americas most vulnerable. Your first look at morning joe is back in a moment. Look at m bisack in a moment. New tide power pods one up the cleaning power of liquid. Can it one up spaghetti night . It sure can. Really . Can it one up breakfast in bed . Yeah, for sure. Thanks, boys. What about that . Uhh, yep it can . Yeah, even that i would very much like to see that. Me too. Introducing new tide power pods. One up the toughest stains with 50 more cleaning power than liquid detergent. Any further questions . Uh uh nope one up the power of liquid with new tide power pods. Over. Hey, want to try it . Ok here you go. Over. Under. Hey whoa, pop, pop. Your shoes untied. We always take care of the ones we love, no matter what. At lincoln financial, we share that responsibility. Standing by your side, as we have for over 115 years. I. And i. Was. Shocked. Na we share thtest. Ponsibility. Right away, called my mom, called my sisters. Im from cameroon, congo, and. The bantu people. I had ivory coast, and ghana. Togo. I was grateful. I just felt more connected. To who i am. Greater details. Richer stories. Get your dna kit today at ancestry. Com. Youre constantly weakening that enamel structure. Pronamel repair allows more minerals to penetrate deep into the enamel layer and it repairs it. It is pretty phenomenal. For people with Heart Failure taking entresto, it may lead to a world of possibilities. Entresto helps improve your hearts ability to pump blood to the body. Dont take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. Dont take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if youve had angioedema with an ace or arb. The most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. Ask your doctor about entresto. Welcome back, everybody. Coronavirus continues to claim more victims inside Nursing Homes across the country. Nbc news is reporting that so far more than 5500 people have died. One new jersey facility has been especially stretched beyond capacity by dieing residents. Police received an anonymous tip on monday that a body had been stored in a shed outside of a Rehabilitation Center in andover. By the time they arrived, police found 17 bodies piled inside the small morgue intended to hold no more than four people. Of those who died, 26 people had tested positive for the virus. With that, lets go to nbc meteorologist bill karins once again who always tracks the weather for us, but also tracking that curve. And just devastating, bill, to hear that story and to hear that that is the way someones life ends after living such a long life, to be bodies piled into essentially a Storage Facility awaiting for someone to come pick them up. And all these stories you hear from all these nurses that are, you know, facetime, the families, just trying to let the people as their loved one is dieing, its incredible. And, you know, i dont know how they do it. So lets get into what happened yesterday. We knew that the peak, were hoping, for the fatality, the daily, is going to be either this week or next week. Because it lags the apex of what we had where the new cases by about one or two weeks. Yesterday, we had 2,500 cases reported around the country. Were rapidly going up this portion of the curve. Yesterday, one of the numbers that really jumped out at me coming in at number three was the state of connecticut. Connecticut, after nearly a small state in population compared to most, almost 200 fatalities reported yesterday in connecticut. Now theyre up to 868. A lot of the other ones have been on this top six list for a while. Louisiana jumped back on this list. And massachusetts yesterday went over 1,000 fatalities total. So, yeah, just the numbers are staggering. Lets jump to the weather forecast. I know a lot of people will be hoping to get outside and enjoy some spring weather. Its nasty. It was not nice yesterday in the great lakes. Right now, were in the 20s and 30s in many areas of chicago to detroit. And unfortunately, we have snow coming for many people. Its snowing today in areas of colorado. Its going to snow tonight in areas of missouri. Well have snow moving in chicago, detroit youre going to get a couple of inches of snow. Eventually on friday into friday night, some of this will move into new england. So your weekend forecast, rain and wet snow. Ohio valley sliding into the northeast, late friday, Early Saturday Morning that exit tess northeast. Another thing we dont want to deal with is another Severe Weather outbreak. Sunday we may be dealing with that, more tornados after what that region is still cleaning up for what they dealt with. That is the last thing they need. Not fun. Still ahead, david kerr is going to join us with a preview of the latest unemployment numbers due out this morning. As we go to break, a look at some good being done of high sc created a telephone hot line offering prerecorded messages of positivity to help those struggling in violation. According to its website, the joy for all project. Thats what its called. Theyre seeking recorded submissions from those who want to lend a hand, including stories, jokes, kind messages, letters, poetry and music. Were back in a moment. re backt fred would do anything for his daughter even being the back half of a unicorn. Fortunately, the front half washed his shirt with gain. Ahhhhhhh. The irresistible scent of gain. Welcome back. In the last three weeks, 17 million americans applied for unemployment claims and the numbers are only expected to continue their rise. Some economists are expecting around another 5 million unemployment claims may have been added last week. Now there are projections that the Unemployment Rate could be anywhere from 10 to 15 unofficially. Wow. Those are huge numbers. Joining me now, gafd gerr for us. It is so great to see you, my friend. Talk to us about what we can expect here out of the Labor Department this morning. As you said, good to see you, as well. These are huge numbers and these will be huge numbers discreetly. If we got a oneweek reading in seven digits, that would be a huge thing. But now we have this series which is likely to be four weeks of jobless claims taking this partnership tuesday rise. That is startling new for economists and for americans, as well, as they look at the economy and the labor market within it. Were expect ago read today from the Labor Department that shows 5 Million People applied for these benefits for the first time. That is giving us data that backs up what weve heard from family and friends who have been furloughed that lost their jobs. But the situation is pretty dire here. You mentioned that Unemployment Rate. Economists i was talking to yesterday said were going to get a real read on that in a couple of weeks. But when you get numbers like these in the quantity that weve gotten them, it indicates how bad the labor market is. There is a real sense of d desperation. Its hard to forecast ahead when youre looking at numbers the size of which you havent seen in data in your lifetime before. So this is really unchartered territory for a lot of folks here. So give us a sense as to what theyre forecasting if, in fact, they can, about a bounceback. Can we bounce back . When could we feasibly bounce back and will there be even an industry for many of these people that are now unemployed to go back to. Its a great question. And the president talks so much about turning the economy back on and thats easier said than done can. Its not like flipping a switch here. If there is no historical they to. Yes, they can grab things from the Great Recession or great depression. That gives some information. This is really a new thing, to see the economy shocked as immediately as this economy has been. There has been policy response, and many folks think it has been effectively deployed. So much has been targeted on preserving the connection between employers and employees that they let go. With the hope, as they articulate, when things improve, theyll be able to rehire those workers. What is confounding about that, yasmin, is that takes time. Hiring workers and rehiring workers takes time, and we dont have a lot of time when it comes to the support systems put in place. The longer this takes, the more that connection is going to fray between those employers and past employees. So the data will continue to accumulate. There was a projection, suggestion early on here that there would be a surge at the beginning of this. Once we saw these lockdown measures put in place, saw the Small Businesses close, there was going to be a surge in applications at the beginning. What weve seen here is theres been a surge, but it keeps continuing week after week after week. The c. A. R. E. S. Act, the legislation the congress passed, that made it possible for more americans to apply for unemployment. Contract workers, as well, is added to the backlog here. Whats astonishing, and youll see it in the numbers today, yes, the claims are going to tick up. A lot of folks applying for the claims and getting the money from the government may have been unemployed for weeks now. Theres been this huge bottleneck weve heard reported on so much now. States have been just overwhelmed by the number of people, men and women applying for jobless benefits, yasmin. David, thank you, as always. Please stay healthy. Up next, axios one big thing. Coming up on morning joe, a big three hours ahead. A live interview with the apparent democratic president ial nominee, joe biden, and his wife, dr. Jill biden. Plus, conversation about leadership in times with crisis with two veterans. Former president ial candidate Pete Buttigieg and also stanley mccrystal. Also, lay dy gaga and her effor in the fight against the coronavirus. Morning joe is moments away. To help our communities when they come back together, respond to the 2020 census now. Spend a few minutes online today to impact the next 10 years of healthcare, infrastructure and education. Go to 2020census. Gov and respond today to make americas tomorrow brighter. Its time to shape our future. Being prepared and overcoming challenges. Usaa has been standing with them for nearly a hundred years. And well be here to serve you for a hundred more. And well be here to serve you for a hundred more. If we werent able to stream anything, i think theyd be lost. vo we are all home right now. Thats why verizon is giving you more of the entertainment you want. Dayley is usually watching a tv show, and mckenna is almost always listening to music. We love verizon. 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Joining me now with a look at axios am, editor in chief for axios, nick johnston. Good morning to you. Talk about axios one big thing today. Good morning. Todays one big thing is the coronavirus chain reaction. The National Pandemic lockdown have led to, who would think these things would be happening as society reacts to the pandemic. The return of the phone call. Weve seen things anecdotally. The rise of jigsaw puzzles. Telemedicine and things like that. Its really turned the United States into this giant sort of lab for both scientistic and sociological experiment. It is fascinating to see how these play out in the near term and the long term. Looking at these underlying trends to see if they really be will impact the United States going forward. This may be more shortterm, but its the environmental impact. With nobody flying, with nobody driving, were seeing in real time scientistic experiment s o the spread of pollution. Weve seen reports in National Parks that wildlife is going. One report had the number of bears in yosemite quadrupling. Mayors are pushing back against plastic bag bans, saying itd be a way to protect against the pandemic. The cloth bags that people switch to become a coronavirus car carrier. On the business side, as we see, annual meetings move online. It made it more difficult for social activists to sort of challenge companies on a lot of the issues. Just changing around environmental and social government things that companies have been fighting for. Also, the rise in teltelemedici. A lot has moved online. Well see how many of the shortterm trends play out into the new normal once the pandemic ends and were back open for business. Physicians said theyve been doing a lot of telemedicine recently because there is a high need for it at this point. Folks just dont want to go to doctors offices and hospitals right now. Lets talk about the announcement thats going to be coming from the president later today. Like ly telling governors if thy want to open up their economies, go ahead and do so on their own. Obviously, that is going to spark a lot of debate nationwide from coast to coast. How is this going to be controversial throughout the country . How do you see it playing out . This is a big thing were looking at, what happens next. President trump is going to probably change his tune from earlier in the week, when he said hed direct governors and would be in charge of how the opening happens. We expect him to tell governors today hell defer to their judgment. That can be problematic. Could make it a political decision, as red state governors rush forward with opening, and while other blue state governors, areas more affected with the coronavirus, hold back. It plays on what we have seen with some of these protests happening. There is a big one in michigan yesterday, where President Trump supporters were agitating for a reopening of the government. The president pushing it to the governor could make it a political decision, where his supporters view this as a campaign issue. Reopening the economy, being able to boost part of the election. That makes it a tension between societies saying, push forward much more slowly, based on the Health Experts, and others pushing for faster. Look for it to play against blue and red state gov no, sernors. A protrump super pac portraying joe biden soft on china. Interesting. What more can you tell us on this . This is a big news story well see play in the campaign. The Trump Campaign fighting back against china on the w. H. O. Is tying biden to china. Saying he wasnt strong on pushing back on china, and also disputing the chinese numbers on the coronavirus. Itll be a Huge Campaign issue, specifically, the coronavirus. Nicholas johnston, thank you. Well be reading axios a. M. In a little while. Signup. Axi signup. Axios. Com. That does it for me on this thursday morning. Morning joe starts right now. Very, very soon, the can is going to run out of road. Weve got to open this economy. If we dont, its going to collapse. And if the u. S. Economy collapses, the world collapses. Trying to burn down the village to save it is foolish. Yes, we shut down. But the shutdown did not stop the spread of the virus. The shutdown slowed the spread of the virus at enormous cost, but it still spread. When we end the shutdown, the virus is going to spread faster. Thats just a fact. The American People understand that. Republican senator john kennedy of hardhit louisiana, that states should reopen, despite acknowledging that would accelerate the spread of this deadly virus. Well, its just one of the dumbest things ive actually hear him say. Hes said so many stupid things over the past year, its hard to count. Hes from a state that, again, everybody went to mardi gras. When out to mardi gras and spread the coronavirus across the country. Its just like florida having spring break. You can actually