Transcripts For MSNBCW First Look 20200424

Its ultraviolet or just very powerful light. And i think you said that hasnt been checked, but youre going to test it. And then i said supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And i think you said youre going to test that, too. Sounds interesting. Well get the right folks who could. And then i see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute, and is there a way we can do Something Like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So check that. Youre going to have to use medical doctors with, but it sounds interesting to me. A lot of people have been talking about summer. Maybe this is one of the reasons. I mentioned maybe it does go with heat and light and people didnt like that statement very much. The fake news didnt like it at all. And i just threw it out as a suggestion. But it seems like thats the case. It would be irresponsible for us to say that we feel that the summer is just going to totally kill the virus and that its a free for all and that people ignore those guides. That is not the case. The president mentioned the idea about cleaners and bleach. Theres no scenario that would be injected into a person, is there . No. Im here to talk about the findings we have on the study. We dont do that within our labs, our labs. I would like you to speak to the medical doctors to see if theres any way that you can apply light and heat to cure. You know . That if you could, and maybe you cant, maybe you cant. Again, im not a doctor. Im a person that has a huge you know what. Have you ever heard of that, the heat and the light in order to certain viruses, yes, but relative to this virus . That is a treatment. Certainly fever is a good thing when you have a fever, it helps your body respond. But not as i have not seen heat or light i think its a great thing to look at. I mean, you know okay . Sir, youre the president and people tune intoog these briefings, they want to get information and guidance and want to know what to do. Im the president and youre fake news. And you know what ill say to you . Ill say very nicely. I know you well because i know the guy. I see what he writes. Hes a total faker. Are you ready . Are you ready . Are you ready . Its just a suggestion. From a Brilliant Lab by a very, very smart perhaps brilliant man. Hes talking about sun, hes talking about heat, and you see the numbers. So that issite. Thats all i have. Im here to present talent. Im here to present ideas because we want ideas to get rid of this thing. And if heat is good and if sunlight is good, thats a great thing as far as im concerned. The ideas, yes, but the question is are the ideas responsible . That was quite a press conference last night. Medical, though, and policy experts are warning people against the president s suggestions. Lung specialist and Global Health policy experts dr. Vin gupta says this, this notion of injecting or ingesting any type of cleansing product into the body, it is irresponsible and it is dangerous. Its a common method that people utilize when they want to kill themselves. Also, as nationwide deaths for the coronavirus near 50,000, some states are starting to loosen statewide restrictions. In tennessee, restaurants will be allowed to reopen monday for Dinein Service with 50 capacity. Governor bill lee made the announcement yesterday and said he does not plan to extend the stay at home orders past the month. And Governor Kate Brown says she plans to lift restrictions on hospitals. Starting next month, hospitals will be able to reopen for nonessential surgical procedures as long as they reserve enough beds and protective gear for a surge in coronavirus cases. Also, several states across the country are enforcing stricter guidelines to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus. In north carolina, stay at home orders set to expire next week have been extended through may 8th. In illinois, stay at home orders expected to end this month have been extended through may. According to the associated press, in virginia, a ban on nonemergency surgeries was expected to expire today. But has been extended another week. This comes despite a Group Representing more than a hundred hospitals urge for the ban to end. And in minnesota, Public Schools will stay closed for the rest of the academic year. The order assures that students and teachers will finish out the school year through Distance Learning plans. The ban also means High School Seniors will not be able to walk in their graduation ceremonies. Also, the house passed a 484 billion spending package yesterday, providing more money for Small Businesses, hospitals, and testing. The new legislation would restart a Small Business loan program that dried up and allocate more money for Health Care Providers and for testing, as well. During the historic vote, a lot of lawmakers wore masks on the house floor and spoke through face coverings as they delivered their remarks. Trump, though, is expected to sign the bill into law and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are already in discussions about additional spending bills as debates continue about what next steps to take in response to the pandemics economic fallout of all of this. And the house voted yesterday on establishing a select committee to oversee the federal governments response to the coronavirus and to monitor President Trumps kwlemt implementation of nearly 3 trillion in relief measures. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the committee will be focused on ensuring that the money goes to taxpayers benefits and paychecks and is not being exploited in any way. The measure was pass odd a Party Line Vote of 212182 with republicans slamming the effort as an attempt to make the president look bad ahead of the november election. They said the panel was unnecessary, pointing to the existing multiple House Committee thats already have jurisdiction to monitor the law. Lets get into a bit of this. Joining me now, laura davison. Good morning to you. Lets start with your latest piece for bloomberg, basically exploring how a total of 881 billion has been put aside this month and thats including for taxpayers and businesses. Talk us through this. Yes. So its really, as you mentioned earlier, theres been 3 trillion in coronavirus aid thats been allocated by congress and already not quite a trillion. Almost a trillion of that has gone out, both in the form of the stimulus checks that people have been getting, both in the mail or the direct deposit and also particularly Small Businesses, you know, the initial pot almost 350 billion worth of money for Small Businesses has already been tapped dry. Congress approved another 320 billion yesterday. And theres even some concern that that, too, will dry up in just a matter of days and weeks. So theres a lot of concern, one, that the money is getting out of there quickly. Thats important. But two, also that the money is getting to the right people. We saw a lot of controversy this week with some businesses that technically qualified under the law, but steakhouse or shake shack that most people wouldnt consider Small Businesses claiming this money and having to ultimately return it. So that is where this oversight comes in from congress. Nancy pelosi wanted to make sure that they could see this money was being spent properly. So as guidelines in certain states are extended, shelter in place orders are extended, as well, americans are having to stay home and not go back to work. That is a concern for money and keeping the lights on, keeping food on the table, as well. I want to look ahead to the next stimulus bill in the works. And the question for Many Americans thinking could they potentially see another check hitting their Bank Accounts as they saw just a couple of weeks ago. That is certainly that democrats and congress are proposing. They say, look, this 1200 that adults got simply isnt enough to tide people over if theyre out of work for months or even into the fall. Thats something you see. The white house has so far been opposed to that idea. Theyve been calling more for a payroll tax cut, which, you know, would help some businesses, but wouldnt necessarily help people who are out of work at this point. So the other idea that is coming up is sort of a direct payment, a check going to businesses. As weve seen this Small Business loan money go so quickly, theres some concern that businesses are going to need another infusion of cash. So theres talk about creating some program that theres been for individuals on the Small Business side. Bloombergs laura davison, thank you. Still ahead, a growing number of College Students are filing lawsuits after the coronavirus outbreak forced School Closures across the country. Can those students get their tuition back . Plus, more mixed messaging from the white house as dr. Anthony fauci says one thing about testing and President Trump says something entirely different. Those stories and a check on your weather, when we come back. Your weather, when we come back. In nearly 100 years serving the military community, weve seen you go through tough times and every time, youve shown us, youre much tougher your heart, courage and commitment has always inspired us and now its no different so, were here with financial strength, stability and experience you can depend on and the online tools you need because you have always set the highest standard and reaching that standard is what were made for and reaching that standard is what were made for hey allergy muddlers. Achoo . Do your sneezes turn heads . Try zyrtec. It starts working hard at hour one. And works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Zyrtec muddle no more. I dont have to worry about that, do i . Are irritated. Harmful bacteria lurk just below the gum line. Crest gum detoxify, voted product of the year. It works below the gum line to neutralize harmful plaque bacteria and help reverse early gum damage. Gum detoxify, from crest. Welcome back, everybody. The university of colorado and Colorado State university are among the latest schools being sued because of coronavirus closures. Two class action lawsuits claim students fees should be returned because theyre applied to items on a closed campus such as Recreation Centers and transportation passes. However, the universities argue they also fund items that can be accessed remotely such as Telehealth Services. A return of suit decision is being filed anonymously at liberty university. The plaintiff in that case fears retaliation that accuses the school of, quote, profiteering from the virus. And at purdue, that student is suing and is asking for damages for what he claims is the difference in value between online and inperson instruction. Lets get into this. Joining me now, danny cevallos. I think a lot of people predicted Something Like this was going to happen. Theres a couple different issues here. And i want to start with the schools and ask if they have a valid claim to fees when students are not on campus any more. As i mentioned in one of the cases, they say its for Telehealth Services and also, talk about liberty university. And the claim there that the students is making about profiteeing. In all these cases, students and universities are party to a contract for education. So a court is going to look at whether or not the student received the benefit of the bargain of the contract. And the contracts terms control. Each of these will be different because each university is different. Some of the key issues are an act of god. In other words, this is something that was so unexpected that we cant be expected to perform our end of the deal. We just cant deliver through no fault of our own. Was there a claude in there that anticipated this situation . If not, sometimes the defendant has to pay up. But sometimes, even if there is no claude, if events happened that are so completely unforeseeable, then the student may not be able to get the money back because the university could be excused. In other words, the court could say, look, no one in the world could have anticipated this. This is going to be an interesting litigation because there will be different results in different courts around the country because each state has their own unique contract law that may apply to the situation. What about the purdue seniors argument that his degree isnt going be worth as much because his last semester is online . Can he get damages for that argument . Its a bit of a challenging argument. It may not be the strongest argument among these because generally, hes going to have to show that all of these universities going online has diminished value. Well, if everyone has diminished value for online learning, then everyone is pretty much in the same place in the same boat no matter what. Danny sa volucevallos, thank much. Overseas, spain has extended their lockdown for a third time. Were going to go live to madrid, coming up next. O live t madrid, coming up next 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. j. Kfarmers is here for you. If youre off the roads for all of us, and if youre on the roads for us, well, were here for you, too. Welcome back, everybody. Spains state of emergency has been extended until may 9th, marking the third time the countrys lockdown has been prolonged. The conservative peoples party, the main opposition group, voted in favor of extending the measure once again giving Prime Ministers sanchezs socialist enough support. The Prime Minister needs Emergency Powers to keep a lockdown in place and to ex either full control over the countrys health system. Earlier this week, though, spain reported a small increase in the number of new cases and deaths, but overall reports show the latest numbers are steady. Joining me now to talk more about this from madrid, spain, willem marks for us. Good morning to you and great to see you today. Amid all of this, you have some reporting about americans that are stuck in spain during this lockdown. Yeah, yasmin. There was a wrenching choice facing thousands of American Students overseas, including here in spain last month. Whether they should run the risk of jumping on an airplane to return to their loved ones, whether they should stay where they were so far from home. Yesterday, we met with one Young American woman who faced that difficult decision and decided to stay here to help those most in need. I love madrid. My dad calls me a spaniard. Stanny spent the past seven years living in the capital of spain. Today is a day that we get to release people from quarantine. She will spend her afternoon, evening and some of her night treating elderly patients with covid19. With 14,000 dead, coronavirus has hit madrid harder than most. One in three residents at stacys care home has succumbed to the disease since her first shocking day on the job. They were laying in these beds. I dont want to say half dead, but it was scary. But the other part of me clicked into action of what do i need to do, how do i help . Stacy works as hard as any doctor, but shes actually a volunteer and still studies every morning. The lone american in a Medicine School class of 270 spaniards. Ahead of the lockdown, her parents begged her back to ohio. She insisted on staying in spain and serving in the only way she knew how. My thoughts were never to go home. Even if i had the option, i wouldnt, especially knowing that i wanted to help her. This is my passion, this is my career. I wouldnt run from it, ever. Caring for others so far from home, has taught her more about medicine than any classroom ever good. D we met one young woman here from kentucky who was worried about carrying the disease back to her mother. All of them said they were happy with the decision they had made ultimately to stay here, but all of them also said as we hit day 42 of this lockdown, they want to know when they can start rebuilding their lives and looking to the future. Yeah. I think theres a lot of questions on a lot of minds and im sure a lot of spaniards there are incredibly thankful for that womans help. Thank you. Great to see you. Still ahead, everybody, the president is once again criticizing the governor of georgia for planning to reopen the state today. But were digging into new reporting about how trump approved of the idea at first. Plus, a look at what we can expect on wall street today after u. S. Jobless claims hit 26 million. Were back in a moment. S hit 26 million. Were back in moa ment im Jo Ann Jenkins with aarp. The coronavirus continues to affect us all, and we are here, actively supporting you and your community. Every day, were providing trusted information from top health experts. Sharing tools to help protect families from fraud. And creating resources to support family caregivers everywhere. As always, you can count on aarp to advocate for you and your family. Join us and stay connected at aarp. Org coronavirus tide cleaners is offeringe. Free Laundry Services you. To the family of frontline responders. Visit hope. Tidecleaners. Com to learn more. Well, you see here. Theres a photo of you and theres a photo of your mommy and then theres a picture of me. But before our story it goes way, way, way back with your great, great, great grandparents. See this handsome man, his name is william. William fell in love with rose and they had a kid. His name was charles and charles met martha. Isnt she pretty . Yeah. Featuring the Emmy Awardwinning voice remote. Access to your favorite apps, including netflix, prime video, youtube and hulu. All without changing passwords and inputs. The most 4k content and movies and shows on any screen. The best Entertainment Experience all in one place. Woiselcome back, everybody. Were going to begin with more mixed messaging from the administration. In an interview with time magazine, dr. Anthony fauci said yesterday that the United States still needs to ramp up testing in order to contain the coronavirus. President trump was later asked about those comments and said he disagreed with dr. Fauci. We absolutely need to significantly ramp up not only the number of tests, but the capacity to actually perform them. I am not overly confident right now, at all, that we have what it takes to do that. Were Getting Better and better at it as the weeks go by, but we are not in a situation where we say were exactly where we want to be with regard to testing. As you know, and as ive said many times, were very advanced in testing. Other countries are calling us to find out what are we doing. Weve done more testing than every other nation combined. And thats a big statement. Dr. Fauci that were just not there yet . No, i dont agree with him on that. No, i think were doing a great job on testing. If he said that, i dont agree with it. Again, i just want to reiterate and fact check there, we have not done more testing than any other country. If you look at a per capita, we have not done the ample amount of testing in this country that we need to be doing at this point. Also, the president once again openly bashed Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp at yesterdays press briefing for his decision to reopen a host of nonessential businesses beginning today. I didnt like the fact that hes leaving certain things i want the states to open, more than he does, much more than he does, but i didnt like to see spas at this early stage, nor did the doctors. Is that a correct statement, deborah . I didnt like to see spas opening, frankly. I didnt like to see a lot of things happening and i wasnt happy with it and i wasnt happy with brian kemp. But here is the thing. Reports are indicating that the president was not always so against the state reopening. According to Administration Officials who spoke to the associated press, a trump and Vice President mike pence separately told the governor that they approved of his plan during several phone conversations both before and after it was announced on monday. Trumps sudden shift came only after top Health Adviser reviewed the plan more closely and insisted contest wag moving too quickly. Joining me now from boston, dr. Jeremy faust. Thank you for joining me to early this morning. Very much appreciate it. First, clear that up as i played the back and forth between dr. Fauci and the president. Are we at the capacity that we need to be testing at this point . Do we have the tools in place to be testing as much as we need to, especially as we are seeing states like georgia reopening . Thats the exact direct context is if were going reopen, do we have the right tests . Because thats the question. If everyone is going to shelter in place, you can do whatever you like and wait it out. But if youre going to try to reopen, you have to know that you can sense whats going on. Its like taking an airplane off. Its not just knowing that everything works, its knowing that you can detect a problem if that happens. Thats sensors. In our case, the sensors are the test. And for me, the way you will know if we have enough tests is if there is literally testing capability at the level of every pharmacy in your town. So pharmacies reflect needs. And so every pharmacy is serving that community. I think if we have testing at every pharmacy or that level, that will tell you that we are closer. So basically, the way we are with the flu right now that i could walk into a pharmacy or an urgent care facility, if i have these symptoms and i need to get tested, if we were there, then we will be at the ability to reopen across the country. I want to talk about some of the suggestions that the president made last night in his Coronavirus Briefing suggesting potentially injecting disinfectant into a person who has contracted the coronavirus. I cant believe im even asking this question. But i think its important to note because it is coming from the president , how dangerous is this suggestion . I would just say please dont do that, anybody. Thats a very bad idea. There are case reports about people doing this intentionally or unintentionally with disastrous consequences. There are Poison Control Centers on call 24 hours a day to take call toes receive patients who have been have had those kinds of exposures. So as an emergency doctor, i do see people who have had those kinds of exposures and the tragedy that can be around that. So im very concerned that he didnt say go do it. He said somebody should study that. But even that is enough, i fear, to get people to think about it and theyre desperate and Everyone Wants some kind of hope. But at some point, hope turns over into something dangerous and thats what i am concerned happened here. Again, he didnt say do it, he said somebody should look at it. But from a medical perspective, i became concerned when i heard that and i know a lot of my physician colleagues felt the same way. I think thats the key word you used there, desperation, as well, because people are desperate because they dont want to get sick and they want to get better and theyre hearing the president say that. So, dr. Faust, quickly walk us through a timeline here. There has been a lot of back and forth over the fall and the resurgence of the pandemic in the fall. Along with the beginnings of the flu season. How do you see this playing out over the next six months or so . Well, its very difficult to predict, but what i will say is that if we do it wrong, it will be worse. So jumping into doing things sooner feels like its more normal but, in fact, that will be crippling both in terms of the Health Implications and also i would imagine the economic. Because if you have a spike in cases far sooner than six months from now or a year from now, people are going to be terrified by that. So what were looking for is to reopen in a safe way with testing in place, with a very, very low number of cases, with the ability to know where things are at. Because if you dont do that, then were never going to actually really be through this. Its just going be one long nightmare. And that is where you run into problems with capacity again. You might have avoided going over the cliff at the peak, but eventually if you have too many people on ventilators if we do it right, we could do it sooner. Dr. Faust, thank you. Appreciate it. So the worlds 1. 8 billion muslims marked the start of ramadan yesterday. Some people are allowed to shop for food, but indonesia has banned all nonessential travel. In pakistan, the government says it will not enforce its own rules limiting public gatherings at mosques during the holy month. In germany, chancellor Angela Merkel has said handling the crisis is still, quote, just beginning and the country needs to remain clever and cautious. And in the uk, millions of essential workers and their families will now be able to book a coronavirus tested online or through their employer. That is quite an advancement in testing. Cal, talk to us about testing. Yeah. The home testing kits that were ruled out this morning, if you go to the website, about 20 minutes ago, we ran out just about 10 30 in the morning here on their first day of the home testing. So were continuing to see here a real struggle on behalf of the government to get the testing out there. They say the government has the capacity right now to do about 40,000 a day, but on their best day, theyve only done 20,000. Their goal of 100,000 seems very, very unlikely to happen this month even though they said they would want it by this month. The situation is even worse when you look at care homes. I spoke to a woman who lost their mother in a care home. They could not get her a test when she was alive, but she passed away and they cant get a test now. Basically the same issues that were having here in the United States. What is the issue here . When you hear from dr. Fauci, he says we dont have the capacity to test, we dont have enough tests in the system. Weve been working on this issue for two, three months at this point. A lot of americans are scratching their heads and saying what is the issue. What is the issue in the uk . So the big difference here between the uk and the u. S. Right now is government officials have to answer direct questions from other government officials. The answers were getting is the basic infrastructure of testing did not exist in the uk before the virus. It did exist in a country like germany that is testing 100,000 people a day. You had people that were already trained to go out there and do the tests and get the accurate results. That didnt exist here in the united kingdom. Thats what the problem is. Still ahead, President Trump continues to defy experts with claims of a pending coronavirus vaccine. Your first look at morning joe is back in a moment. First look is back in a moment. Right now, it feels like the world standing still. But if you look to the land, its a whole different story. From farms to backyards, wheels are turning. Seeds are being planted. Animals are getting fed. And grass is growing. And families are giving their all to the soil because no matter how uncertain things get, the land never stops. So to all those linked to the land, we say thank you. Were here for you because we all run together. A lot of trials are going on and we have a lot of great, Brilliant Minds working on this both from the standpoint of a vaccine and therapeutics. We must be careful in all conditions, but we will we will get this done. Were very close to a vaccine. Unfortunately were not very close to testing because when the testing starts, it takes a period of time. But well get it done. That was the president at the Coronavirus Task force briefing yesterday saying research is close to producing a vaccine for covid19. The truth is, however, scientists continue to say a vaccine that has been proven safe remains at least 12 to 18 months away. And possibly even further. With that, lets switch gears and get a check with bill karins about the weekend weather and also the curve, bill, as we continue to see cases declining here in new york. Still an uptick across the country. And yasmin, im shocked its not getting more attention. We have now are 20 days past the peak. That was on april 4th. But now were 20 days later and the whole country has been doing our social distancing and let me show you what the numbers were yesterday. We had 32,000 new cases. We had seven states report the most cases theyve had in one day. Massachusetts, pennsylvania, nebraska all with new record daily cases yesterday. So weve done 20 days of social distancing and we havent made too much of a difference in the curve. Today were going to go over 900,000. We should be somewhere near a million cases in this country by the time we get to tuesday of next week. Let me take you into the fatality yesterday. The sixth deadliest day. Late last night, we went over 50,000 fatalities. It only took from april 11th and now as we go to april 24th, to go up 30,000 fatalities. Just speechless. Were going to go past that 60,000 number. And as far as the weather goes, this weekend does not look great. This has been a frustrating april for many people. Youre stuck in your homes, youd like to get outside at least in your yard. Youre lucky enough to be in the burb. The northeast is looking at another rainy day today. The Severe Weather is done in the southeast. Hot in south texas. A couple of storms through florida. The weekend forecast, we get another rain storm coming through the middle of the country and the ohio valley. If you have one nice day in the northeast and midatlantic, it is saturday. Socially responsibly get outside and get some fresh air. Thats the day to do it because sunday looks ugly. Were going to get snow in areas of northern new england, yasmin. But as far as the numbers go, i just dont get it. I really want someone to explain how we still have this many new cases and weve been doing this now for three weeks. Ive got to say, though, it is staggering to look at that curve. 50,000 deaths in just two months. So incredibly sad for all the families that have lost someone during this time. Still ahead, everybody, were going to go live to cnbc for an early look at what is driving the day on wall street. As we go to break, weve got good flus in the fignews in the the coronavirus. More than one in five new york City Residents who were randomly tested for antibodies, they had positive results. That could such as many as 2. 7 million new york state residents have been infected and survived. We are back in a moment. Vived. We are back in a moment. What is that . Uh mine, why . Its just that its. Lavender. Yes it is, its for men but i like the smell of it laughs i know that every time that i suit up, there is a chance that thats the last time. 300 miles an hour, thats where i feel normal. I might be crazy but im not stupid. Having an annuity tells me that im protected. During turbulent times, consider protected Lifetime Income from an annuity as part of your retirement plan. This can help you cover your essential monthly expenses. Learn more at protectedincome. Org. Yeah. This moving thing never gets any easier. Well, xfinity makes moving super easy. I can transfer my internet and tv service in about a minute. Wow, that is easy. Almost as easy as having those guys help you move. We are those guys. Thats you . The truck adds 10 pounds. In the arms. Okay. Transfer your Service Online in a few easy steps. Now thats simple, easy, awesome. Transfer your service in minutes, making moving with xfinity a breeze. Visit xfinity. Com moving today. Welcome back, everybody. Unemployment claims have now topped 26 million since the country went into lockdown, effectively erasing all the jobs it added since the recession of 2008. Juliana is joining us live from london on this. Talk us through these numbers because they are astounding. Thats right. They really are staggering, yasmin. And yesterday, we got the latest batch of data, the last week of jobless claims filed. And it came in 4. 4 million more americans in the latest week of data have filed for unemployment benefits. That was a slightly worse number than the market was expecting. And i think to put it into perspective, it is key to look at the measure you just described that all of the u. S. Jobs that have been created since the last financial crisis have now been lost in the last month. So it has happened very, very swiftly. And that is a big part of the reason that washington has acted quickly to provide releigh to the economy and this week additional stimulus has been agreed. The house lawmakers returned to the capital yesterday where they voted to approve the next tranche of aid to support those people and businesses that are ailing. The near 500 billion billion has essentially depleted two Small Business relief to hospitals, and funds Testing Capacity nationwide, which is a crucial part of fighting the coronavirus pandemic, and enabling the path to reopening the economy. This bill had strong bipartisan support. Now, the question is, how long this funding will last. Yasmin . A lot of industries affected by this pandemic, poor production taking a beating due to the coronavirus. What can you tell us about how the meat packing industry is fairing amidst all this . One of the big unions in the meat packing industry has provided some data. According to the united food and commercial Workers International union, a meat packing plant is responsible for 10 of the countrys beef production and 25 of all pork production, and they have now closed. This is after 13 packing and Food Processing workers have died after contracting covid19. The union is stepping up pressure on the u. S. Department off agriculture, as well as the Coronavirus Task force, to strengthen measures around the meat packing industry to ensure the workers who are making this industry continue to function are protected themselves. Yasmin . Julianna tatelbaum live from london, thank you. Great to see you. Up next, a look at axios one big thing. Coming up on morning joe, more from President Trumps particularly unhinged Coronavirus Task force briefing yesterday. Plus, hardhit michigan announces it will offer testing for all essential workers. Well speak to senator Debbie Stabenow about how the new congressional aid package will impact her state. Morning joe is moments away. Smoothest fabric. Shes confident, protected, her strength respected. Depend. The only thing stronger than us, is you. Shethere will be partiesed, hand family gatherings. There will be parades and sporting events and concerts. 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. When you take align, you have the support of a probiotic and the gastroenterologists who developed it. Align naturally helps to soothe your occasional digestive upsets 24 7. So where you go the pro goes. Go with align, the pros in digestive health. And i dont count the wrinkles. But what i do count on is boost high protein. And now, introducing new boost women. With key nutrients to help support thyroid, bone, hair and skin health. All with great taste. New, boost women. Designed just for you. Your dedication and humanity. But today, as youre being challenged more than ever, i see heroes, not just to me but to so many. Thank you for keeping us safe. And for being our light. For always doing your part, to make the world shine a little more bright. To our over onemillion heroes, in towns across america, i say thank you. Featuring the Emmy Awardwinning voice remote. Access to your favorite apps, including netflix, prime video, youtube and hulu. All without changing passwords and inputs. The most 4k content and movies and shows on any screen. The best Entertainment Experience all in one place. Welcome back, everybody. Joining us now with a look at axios am, National Political reporter for axios, john that n swan. Good morning to you. Talk about axios one big thing today. We often have arguments about which trump tweets to take seriously and report on, which ones to dismiss as bluff and bluster. I have a long reported piece this morning that also sort of doubles as an argument to take seriously trumps tweets from wednesday, in which he threatens or he says that he has directed the navy to destroy, shoot and destroy, iranian gun boats that are harassing u. S. Navy ships at sea in the persian gulf. I have some reporting throughout his administration this is actually an obsession of trumps. Its one of the issues on which he clashed really heavily with former defense secretary james mattis. Trump actually ordered his National Security team to come up with plans to blow up these iranian boats that are harassing u. S. Ships. H. R. Mcmaster asked for those plans, and mattis ignored the request. He thought it was an intemperate suggestion. Now, you have a National Security team that is largely aligned around this idea. The uniformed military came out in fullthroated support. You have a National Security adviser who is fully supportive, and a secretary of state. It is quite a different context. You know, trump has shocked people before when he killed general soleimani. He surprised some of his aides. I think there is a temptation to dismiss this as hot talk and distraction, and maybe distraction in a crisis is part of the motivation, but i think this particular threat should be taken seriously. Jonathan, as i saw this tweet, and this directive it seems, from the president , i was completely shocked, to say the least. Considering what were dealing with domestically here, with regards to the pandemic, and what iran is also dealing with domestically there with the pandem pandemic, how its spread throughout that country and the leadership that has died amidst all of this. Why should we be so concerned and take this so this threat so seriously at this specific moment . Well, it should be taken seriously simply because it is an escalation. I mean, if these vessels under the current way the navy operates, this harassment has not risen to the level that they shoot on these ships. You see the videos. Theyre sort of circling around and, you know, menacinglmenacin cetera. If they were to blow it up, itd be a significant step. Now, there is flexibility under the rules, and the commanders now know theyre not going to be reprimanded from washington. You know, this is at a time when both countries are being royaled by this virus. It is a tinderbox, as weve seen. You just dont know where these miscalculations and reactions can head. It is very unpredictable. A tinderbox in which they want to shift responsibility, as well, amidst all of that. Want to switch gears, jonathan, as i have you. Matthew whitaker, former acting attorney general of the u. S. , coming out with a memoir titled above the law. The inside story of how the Justice Department tried to subvert President Trump. What are you hearing about this . Well, im glad you put the cover up. Thats all i have from this book. Its actually appeared live on amazon. Its not every day, or even every decade, that a former head of a department accuses his old workplace of trying to sabotage the president. You see the cover there has a foreword by devin nunes. You get a sense of where this is heading. Images of james comeys head, peter strzok, andrew mccabe. I would say straight to President Trumps veins. Ive got to say, i want to know what the book count is on either current or former Administration Officials during the trump presidency, and if that book count is larger than any other current or former Administration Officials in other presidencies. I would be confident to say that it is. Jonathan swan, thank you, as always. Going to be reading axios am in a little bit. Sign up at signup. Axios. Com. That does it for me on this friday morning. Im yasmin vossoughian. Morning joe starts right now. Hi, everybody. Hi, dr. Ned. Thank you very much. Doctor, this Malpractice Committee received a few complaints against you. Im just here to present talent. Im here to present ideas. Theres a crazy man with a sk scalpel in er, demanding to see a quack. Supposing you bring the light into the body, through the skin or some other way. Slow down, sir. Youre going to give yourself skin failure. I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. Our one chance is transcendental. Is there a way we can do Something Like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning . Ill need a golf cart motor with 1,000 volts, stat. It sounds interesting to me. Dr. Nick, we owe you an apology. Consider the charges dropped. All right dr. Nick meets President Trump, unfortunately, in a doozy of a