Curve by what we are doing. If we stop what we are doing, you will see that curve change. That curve is clearly a function of what we do day in and day out. And while we are squarely in the middle of life altering pandemic, were also squarely in the middle of what could be a life altering president ial campaign. So we begin with big news on that front. We have an apparent democratic president ial candidate, a nominee, down some 300 delegates to Vice President joe biden. Bernie sanders said he is suspending his run for the white house. The but he is not giving up on his progressive platform. And to maintain political leverage, he is ordering supporters not to give up their votes. This campaign is coming to an end. Our movement is not. Dr. Martin luther king jr. Reminded us that, the arc of the moral universe is long. But it bends towards justice. The fight for justice is what our campaign has been about. The fight for justice is what our movement remains about. We have a team to break this down with us. A Seismic Shift in the 2020 race. We begin with nbc news political reporter shaquille brewster. Hes been covering the Sanders Campaign since the very beginning. This has been a long time coming. But what i noticed in the announcement by Bernie Sanders is he was not asking his supporters to vote for joe biden during the primary. But instead to hang on to his votes wlachlt does votes. What does he hope to achieve by doing that . Hes trying to continue that leverage that he has. You know, senator sanders announced this to his staff during a Conference Call this morning. Then he had a live stream to his supporters and to the world, frankly, where he announced he was going to be suspending his campaign. He said it was a deeply personal decision for him and a decision that we know in talking with aides and advisors, took some time for him to make. And part of the reason that is because as he said in that live stream, he believes he won the contest of ideas. He believes he moved this party into one that is more open to ideas like medicare for all, raising the minimum wage, new deal. He believes hes had success on that front. But he also sees the challenge in the delegate path. He said that he cannot in good conscience stay in this race in the middle of this crisis knowing that it could make it harder for a democrat to go on and defeat donald trump. But as you mentioned, he says he will remain on the ballot and continue to accrue delegates. Listen to that part of his speech earlier today. On a practical note, let me also say this. I will stay on the ballot and all remaining states and continue to gather delegates. While Vice President biden will be the nominee. We must continue working to assemble as many delegates as possible at the Democratic Convention where we will be able to exert significant influence over the Party Platform and other functions. Stay in this fight with me. Let us go forward together. The struggle continues. Youve been hearing well wishes from the former 2020 rivals, folks like Elizabeth Warren, amy klobuchar, Camilla Harris saying nice things about him. You also had something he made a nod to the point of something his supporters are saying that he is able to build up that those delegates to certain leverage on the party. To be able to keep his imprint and lock in that support he had. Congresswoman omar released a statement saying that today her movement or the movement faces a setback but for those who plant to sit this election out or vote donald trump, she told them to just stop. We didnt hear a direct endorsement of Vice President bu biden. But did he congratulate Vice President biden on becoming the democratic nominee. Katy and brian . Lets move on to robert costa with the washington post. And, bob, for people who dont cover the molecular nature of politics or political customs, tell us what this move does and does not do and for starters why continue to gather delegates while calling your opponent the presumptive nominee . Ever since he launched the campaign in 2015 in the first campaign, senator sanders said this campaign is a movement. They wanted to pull really yank the Democratic Party to the left, put medicare for all and other liberal initiatives at the fore of the party. They want to go into that convention whether it is virtual or not and have influence on this platform. Because they see a long game theyre playing politically here to move the Democratic Party to their ideas. And theyve accepted that the pandemic and other issues, challenges have made the nomination impossible for senator sanders to secure. But theyre not going to give up the political fight. Hes always been a flinty independent senator and house member from vermont. Hes not someone that has worn the democratic label. He takes pride in independence and he wants to take that independence into a Democratic Convention. Bob, this means big things for the joe Biden Campaign. Not only are they now the presumptive nominee, that unlocks a lot of fundraising and enables him to have a joint fundraising agreement with the dnc. And most importantly, it means that president obama can now get involved in this race without being accused of playing favorites. A person close to president obama tells me hes not going to say anything publicly today. Of course, hes going to be a uniting force in the Democratic Party. But for now, it is senator sanders time to be in the spotlight. Youre going to see Vice President biden start to make the vicepresident ial selection. And that is going to be an opportunity for him to reach out to the Sanders Movement but not to senator sanders himself n conversations today, Close Friends of senator sanders and advisors told me hes not interested in being on the democratic ticket. Youre not going to see Something Like 1980 when Ronald Reagan picked his rival to be on the ticket. But he would like to see, im told from sanders confidantes, a liberal, progressive, a democratic socialist be on the ticket with Vice President biden. But the biden allies im talking to, theyre really looking already november. Who is best positioned to help them, a woman, to help them beat President Trump . And theres an argument to be made that looking to the upper midwest might behoove the biden team or Elizabeth Warren that ran in the bernie lane but is did not alienate biden voters in the way that Bernie Sanders voters or bernie might have alienated biden voters. A lot of different candidates and options out there. The biden team said youll know when we go on a Vice President hunt when we tell you were going on a Vice President hunt. They have not started that yet, they say. Robert costa, thank you so much for joining us. Joining us now is, they say, exactly. Joining us now is msnbc political correspondent. When you take a look at all these numbers and the way that this race is playing out, i mean, gosh, looking at it back in january and looking at it today, what a surprise. Biden folks will call it historic. Tell us exactly what happened and what does that mean Going Forward for progressive candidates like Bernie Sanders . Yeah. I mean, Bernie Sanders hit a wall in this thing. Interesting that we never seen one quite played out like this. If you went back to iowa, remember, technically Pete Buttigieg won the state equivalent. But sanders had had the most votes in iowa. He won basically the popular vote out there by 6,000. He went to New Hampshire. He won the New Hampshire primary. And then he went to nevada and he got a big victory out of nevada. So you had the first three contest theres. It was kind of sanders in iowa and then sanders, sanders in New Hampshire and nevada. It thats what moment, thats the moment in past campaigns democratic and republican when a candidate starts to win the early states that you get a bandwagon effect. You start to get more endorsements. You start doing better in the next wave of states. A bandwagon effect takes hold. In the past weve seen voters like to get behind the frontrunner instead with Bernie Sanders this is the thing we have not seen before in a the kraic ra democratic race. His great success, especially when he won nevada, it was a gut check moment for the Democratic Party, for democratic voters and they all sort of collectively asked themselves, are we sure we want to do this . Are we sure we want to get behind Bernie Sanders . And then, of course, you went to South Carolina, jim said im with joe biden. Bidens poll numbers started moving up. He was always leading in South Carolina. But we were not expecting this. The absolute landslide that South Carolina turned into a 30 point victory for biden. Remember, we were here on primary night every single county in the state went for joe biden. South carolina was the first major test of black support. And there was Bernie Sanders who spent four years trying to fix what had had been a huge problem for his campaign in 2016. The lack of africanamerican support. He got the same numbers with black voters in South Carolina in 2020 that he got in 2016. And that moment when biden emerged there from South Carolina, buttigieg gets out. Klobuchar gets out. Flood of endorsements for biden. Then you just started sig, remember super tuesday biden swept through the south. Then you went to michigan. Remember, we had the michigan primary there on the tenth . Thats the big state fwho. You saw there is a core of this party that Bernie Sanders had deep support from and then the minute there was a bandwagon effect you thought might take hold, rest of the party said no and they found joe biden and joe biden got on a roll. It all happened very quickly. Steve, months ago i was able to look across the studio and see you. At least we can do this by remote control. Is there a modern day parallel to the power one state, South Carolina, had in exploding this Biden Campaign . It is fascinating, brian. We are conditioned sort of as political journalists, political analysts when we talk about both parties primaries to fixate on iowa and to fixate on New Hampshire. First two states here. But the state that has been getting it right on the democratic side in the more recent elections has been South Carolina. It was South Carolina, remember, in 2008 that launched obama. Remember he had that split decision there out of iowa, New Hampshire in 2008. Obama got the big win in South Carolina in 08. That launched him. That transformed the race in 08. In 16, Bernie Sanders had the big win in New Hampshire. He was close in nevada. The question was could he be competitive in South Carolina . The question was answered emphatically in 2016. He could not. That set the stage for Everything Else that came in 2016 and in 2020, of course, what we just saw, it launched joe biden. South carolina, i think that might be storty ththe story tha from here. We have to pay closer attention to South CarolinaGoing Forward. The room may be empty, the big board manned by steve. Our thanks. After a quick break, another grim coronavirus milestone. A statement were making all too often as states from coast to coast in this country battle this invisible enemy. Also this hour, you will meet a colorado man who nearly lost his life to coronavirus. He spent six days in a coma on a ventilator. Thankfully, hell share his story of survival with us. And later, a glimpse of hope and slowing the spread of this virus. The key may be a simple blood test. Blood test thousands of women with metastatic Breast Cancer, which is Breast Cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, are living in the moment and taking ibrance. Ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr her2 metastatic Breast Cancer, as the first hormonal based therapy. Ibrance plus letrozole significantly delayed disease progression versus letrozole, and shrank tumors in over half of patients. Patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. Ibrance may cause severe inflammation of the lungs that can lead to death. Tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including trouble breathing, shortness of breath, cough, or chest pain. Before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. Common side effects include low red blood cell and low platelet counts, infections, tiredness, nausea, sore mouth, abnormalities in liver blood tests, diarrhea, hair thinning or loss, vomiting, rash, and loss of appetite. Be in your moment. Ask your doctor about ibrance. Were whacback. The u. S. Has now seen the highest single day death toll, nearly 14,000 american lives lost thus far. Greater than the number of americans who died as a result of h1n1, swine flu from 092010. This afternoon there are early signs that mitigation measures could be working. The university of washington which had predicted in their model up to 240,000 americans could die has revised their projections. Researchers there now believer we are just four days away, perhaps, from the peak in casualties and predicted death toll of 64,000 by the month of august. But the experts warned that this is one model. This is an imprecise highly changeable business. And we should all continue to socially distance particularly in growing hot spots. We have two of our reporters in two of those growing pot spots this afternoon. We want to begin in new orleans with our nbc news correspondent morgan chesky. Morgan, i can see youre on canal street. But at the same time, i cant believe that is canal street behind you. Yeah, brian, certainly a surreal experience to stand here on what should be an incredibly crowded part of new orleans and look at it as essentially a ghost town. And what were hearing from governor john edwards is this will be the status quo for some time. With that glimmer of hope and potentially flattening the curve, hes now calling on every person in his state to continue maintaining that social distance. Staying at home if at all possible. They are not out of the woods just yet. The past two days have seen at least 70 deaths statewide. New orleans hit especially hard and just to make sure they recover, they opened a Convention Center with 1,000 beds, brian. They can go up 2,000 more if they have to by the end of april. And this Pandemic Response is having a serious impact on the folks who live here and of course on the First Responders doing their part to help out so much f had a chance to hear from an emt working incredibly long hours coming facetoface with covid19 patients every day. And she shared just the experience with me in an interview. Take a listen. One of the things i think about with this pandemic is that when you have a natural disaster, a storm, tornado, hurricane, fire, you get to a point where its over and then can you rest and recover. For this particular disaster, theres no appreciable end in sight. Whether it is goi when is it going to end . When is it going to be over . When can we recover . Were all exhausted. But still working our butts off and doing the best we can. Everyone doing the best they can right now, brian. And one stat that i think important to note is this. Over the past three days here in louisiana, the number of people who have needed to be on ventilators has decreased. Lets hope that number continues. Brian . Ill take it from here. Let me share that is canal street, never seen it so quiet. Morgan in new orleans. Morgan, thank you very much. I want to go now to garret who is in houston. He is an msnbc spont fcorresponr us. Normally you cover the capital. They passed that stage four stimulus, now youre in houston. Tell me what its like to go from one end of the country to the other while covering the same story. Well, youre seeing the real effects of it here in texas. It was interesting because the economic pain came in a lot of ways before the medical pain did. Oil markets sanction here. Businesses closed down with aggressive orders here. To try to get people to stay in place in the big cities. Like in houston and in dallas. And the testing lagged, thats what were discovering now is the numbers are starting to climb in houston and greater Harris County. The governor said that Vice President called him to talk about this rise in numbers of positive testing that theyre seeing in Harris County and houston. A lot of that is maybe because theyre finally ramping up testing here. The per capita testing in texas has been some of the lowest in the country. The site behind me can process 250 tests a day. There are four of the government provided sites around the city. But they were seeing the numbers starting to rise. Take a listen. The numbers that are being reported are far and away lower than what is actually happening. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind. If i just look at the number of people that in my own Health System that we have presumptively diagnosed with covid19 but we dont have a positive test to show anyone, you would recognize that. One of the early sfepz they took in houston is cancelling the radio. 60,000 people a night go to the rodeo in houston. That was seen as a big step at the time. It may look like a very prudent one when all said and done in texas. With us now, the director of colombia universitys National Center for disaster preparedness. Doctor, very nice of you to join us yet again. The American People i would believe are optimistic by nature. Yet, we crunch the math last night. We have tested. 6 of americans in a nation of 327 million people. Where do you think and its guesswork, where do you think we are in this . I hate to keep using the cliche were at the tip of the iceberg. There is some multiple of that. What multiple . We dont really know. Actually, its really important and its really important that we get a really good handle on how many people are actually infected and then how many people are actually immune to the disease . Because they had mild cases and built up antibodies or severe cases and they recovered. Those numbers, that data is not just academic, brian. Of course, those numbers will help determine when were able to start letting people go back to work. So theoretically, we certainly dont want to let people go back to work or go out to society if they still have the presence of the coronavirus in their bodies and then will shed them to other people outside. So the testing is absolutely instrumental to helping us know where we stand and what we can do to get back to normal as soon as possible. Its an uncomfortable situation to be in. I think we should acknowledge this is not good. It is not comfortable for people to live in such uncertainty. It is just the reality of what were dealing with. We dont know answers to things like will people be immune . How long will they be immune for . And we started way behind with testing. And we continue to be way behind in spite of row assurances from the white house and weve done a lot of tests. We have done a tiny fraction of what we need to do. We have to keep pushing. On the other hand, there are Many Companies now developing rapid tests or tests for the antibodies, the immune response. Theyre all over the market. Were hoping that well have some that will actually work and not be defective. But this is a tremendous amount of work that still needs to be done before we can really see significant light at the end of this very grim tunnel here. I want to ask you about that study about making the prediction that 200,000 people may die. They have given it, weve all been social distancing and obviously the circumstances that go into a model change when everybody starts taking precautions. Theyve revised it to say under 100,000 at best. What do you make of that model . And how much hope and faith should americans put into it . Yeah, this is really difficult, katy. Heres the reality. The modelers are hampered by the fact that theres not a given set of assumptions that allow them to predict the trajectories of this illness. Seen specifically in plain english what that means is that there is a certain amount of guesswork in saying heres how effective the virus is. Heres what the consequences are of really sheltering in place and maintaining that social distancing and all that. So they put these numbers into a formula and then they come out with another number at the conclusion of it which says that were predicting 60,000 or two million or whatever it is. But unfortunately, its another example of uncertainty this time generated by the scientists who are very, very smart and theyre doing the best they can to make the predictions. I just think at this point we have to wait and see. We need more data and more information. But people, i think should be reassured that it is possible that we can have a much lower fatality rate. From this dpandemic. The only tool in our toolbox right now to deal with this is the social separation, the distancing and sheltering in place. We dont have a specific medication, as you know. We certainly dont have a vaccine. So all we have is this need to maintain the social distancing as disciplined a way as we possibly can. And i think thats really going to help. So what the final numbers will be, you know, were still looking at that and people working very hard to come up with it. The reality is we dont know but do know keeping separated from one another is going to be an important tool to keep in that fatality rate down. That enables the models to make better predictions. Doctor, thank you again for all your expertise. After a very quick break, well get into what the doctor was talking about, that antibody test. What is it . What does it look like . And when could we all be getting it so we can get life back to normal . Can get life back to normal doctor bob, what should i take for back pain . Before you take anything, i recommend applying topical relievers first. Salonpas lidocaine patch blocks pain receptors for effective, nonaddictive relief. Salonpas lidocaine. Patch, rollon or cream. Hisamitsu. You should be mad at tech that makes things worse. But youre not, because you have e trade whose tech makes life easier by automatically adding technical patterns on charts and helping you understand what they mean. Dont get mad, get e trade. A. Now to a potential game changer in the fight against the coronavirus. The fda has approved and now new york state is ramping up production of a finger pick blood test that could determine whether someone that recovered from the virus has its antibodies. Antibodies that could mean that person is immune. Joining us now is nbc news correspondent tom costello. What do we know about this test and when we might able to get it . So the fda approved this on an emergency basis and they say that they should be able to have the rolling out in volume by may at some point. Not clear if that is early may, late may. The idea is to rollout millions of these finger pick tests to get an idea of how widespread is the virus already in society . We really dont know. It is 1 . 5 . 20 . Once they have a handle on that and get an idea of how many people have the antibodies for this, then they might be able to say, okay, if you had the antibodies, if we can check you and clear you for that, you can go back to work. That will be critical information. For medical workers, paramedics, firefighters, doctors, nurses, et cetera. And also critical to get the economy working again. So thats why new york state right now is trying to rush through this procedure to see if they can ramp up more tests and roll them out more widely. Other states are also looking at that. Pennsylvania, north carolina, Stanford University is doing some testing as well. This is going to be critical to finding out exactly how widespread the virus already is or has been in the country and how many people have already been exposed, recovered and are now moving on. Tom, thank you for that. And with us to continue this conversation is dr. James hamlin. He is a staff writer for the atlantic. Happens to be a lecturer at the yale school of public health. Doctor, first of all, in your words, do you have a unique way of putting exactly how in the dark we are . I keep repeating the stat. We have tested. 6 of our population of 327 million. Theres no plainer english other than we have no earthly idea how Many Americans are Walking Around with this virus. Im not sure i have a clear way of saying it. But i am hopeful that when we have the serology tests you were mentioning that well have a better picture of how many people have already had this. You know, here in new york were being told dont go in for testing. You know, dont fill up the ers that are extremely crowded unless you are short of breath and really thinking you need hospital level care. So there are a lot of people out there having colds and cold and flu like symptoms they just dont know. They dont know if theyve had it or not. So we wont have an idea until we have Something Like that serology test. Dr. Hamlin, the president has been very vocal about his support for using hydroxychloroquine. There have been tests done with it or people have been given it and its not clear how effective its been. But what we are seeing is that some french hospitals are recommending not using that. Sweden as well because of the negative side effects in terms of the cardiac effects. What do we know about this drug . Is it wise to be telling the American Public that what do they have to lose . Why not try it . Its definitely not wise to tell people that they have nothing to lose right now. This is a new disease to the human species. And it involves our immune system acting in strange ways that are sometimes helpful to us and are sometimes actually the cause of the problem. And ultimately can end up ending our life. And this is a drug that can modulate the responses. It is possible it could have effect and sometimes the effect is good and sometimes bad depending on who takes it and in what amounts at what point in the disease. And there are Clinical Trials on going to tell tuesday exactly the answers to those questions and well know. But it is the case that most people recover from this disease. You dont want to risk taking something that could make it worse or could introduce a new problem before we know for sure its safe and effective. Doctor, let me ask you about two conversations i heard from the last 24 hours from serious people theorizing about what it will be like when were, lets say, beyond the backside of the curve. We heard that disney may do temperature checks when they welcome guests back into the parks . Are we going to have routine temperature checks entering airports, restaurants, movie theaters, number one . Number, two people are going to be ult what weary of those that have it and are asymptomatic, those that already had it, those that have not had it. And this serious person is asking are we going have a marking system, live strong bracelets for people who by their profession have to work in close proximity, have to deal with the public . How are we going to know what people are going to need to know . That sounds like a dystopian idea of marking people. I know. This is unprecedented, unchartered territory. Im all for thinking outside the box. Until we have a vaccine and we feel like we have really good immunity, everything in life is going to be changed and it is going to come in waves where we gradually reintroduce certain activities. P and getting to the point of having Mass Gatherings like concerts and festivals and having people feel comfortable and safe going to those things doesnt seem like in the cards until we have that vaccination and immunity. But reopening, you know, some businesses and letting people feel like they can have small social gatherings at certain points depending how things progress, that will happen in certain areas. And some people will feel confident in doing that because they have the antibodies. And other people will not want to take chances. And it will be important that, you know, everybody thinks continues to think about everyone else in this, that even if they feel like they want to have a more aggressive policy towards reopening things earlier that, you know, we need to think about the people who are most who could be most hurt by us doing that too quickly. I think it bears repeating, it all comes down to test. We need to test. Dr. James hamblin, thank you. He was known as one of colorados sickest patients. Now after income a coma and spending six days on a ventilator,er ne ventilator, Ernesto Castro is back home. Hell share his story with us after a really quick break. Aftek yes. Yeah sure. Yes. 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An update on the departure of Bernie Sanders from the 2020 field. A source confirms that senator sanders did speak with former Vice President joe biden today. No word yet on exactly what they spoke about on that call. Even though were calling advisors to both camps and trying to figure it out. Indeed we are. Turning back to coronavirus. Ernesto castro says he is lucky to be alive. The 35yearold colorado man spent six days in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator. And then terrific happened. He got better. He was discharged from the hospital days before his birthday. Just in time to celebrate with his son, daughter, and his girlfriend. We are so happy hes been able to join us and mr. Castro in talking to people who have had this, its like fingerprints. Its like snowflakes. I think katy and i found no two cases have been alike. No two sets of symptoms have been alike. First of all, were so happy youre well. But tell us what it was like at its worst. You know, i said this plenty of times. If it wasnt for the staff at uc health, i wouldnt be here today. Im blessed to be alive. Im thankful every day to god that he gave me the Second Opportunity and you are correct. No two cases are the same. And i just encourage everybody to get stronger, to have fighting and to keep, you know, listening to the advice of people like yourselves and, you know, our government and make sure to follow the proper precautions. Medical staff called you the miracle patient. When you came down with covid19, were you aware that maybe this would hit you harder . Was there an underlying condition . Or did this just come out of the blue for you . You know, i did have two things. Im asthmatic. And i have a Strong Family history of diabetes in my family. And im prediabetic myself. Thats why when the symptoms got worse, thats when i broke down and i told my girlfriend, can you please take me to the hospital. Sn i dont think i can wait until my next appointment or go to denver. She said do you believe you have the coronavirus . I said yes. Thats when i immediately was rushed or driven to uc Health Medical facilities. Zblr being placed on the ventilator is so traumatic to the human body. For people for whom this is a huge mystery and a big third rail, i assume you are she dated during every step of that and you yourself have no memory of that aspect of your care . You know, you are correct. I was fully sedated. I was completely out. The only thing i recall is when i was being rushed to be sedated, i remember them placing the mask, you know, the oxygen over my face and then asked me to do a countdown. And, you know, days passed. Thats when i woke up. Ernesto, how are your kids dealing with this . You know this has been a traumatic experience for all of us. I have a beautiful 19yearold baby girl named camilla and i have a wonderful son that, is you know, 12 years old. His name is jordan. You know, emotionally, mentally, its been hard. Both of them did present some symptoms. And, of course, because i interact so much with them, they presume them as being positive and started making sure that they were quarantined and started making sure that they were given proper medications. Of course being so young and healthy, both of them, it didnt take more than a couple days for them to start feeling better and start reacting to the medications. Thats one of the scariest aspects of this. When you have a baby, especially that, baby wants love and attention and you have so much physical contact with them. The idea that you can be asymptomatic and spreading it around or that you might come down with something, having to separate yourself from your children is just its a hurdle that i cant even imagine overcoming on my end of things. So Ernesto Castro, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story. Congratulations. Were so happy that you got better. Thank you so much. And next up, we say covid19 doesnt discriminate. But circumstances do. And large cities across the country, africanamericans are getting hit hardest by this virus. What could be done about it . It next. Virus. What could be done about it . It next. Youre clearly someone who takes care of yourself. So when it comes to screening for colon cancer, dont wait. Because when caught early, its more treatable. Im cologuard. Im noninvasive and detect altered dna in your stool to find 92 of colon cancers. Even in early stages. Tell me more. Its for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. False positive and negative results may occur. Ask your prescriber if cologuard is right for you. Im on it. Thats a step in the right direction. And sometimes, you can find yourself heading in a new direction. But when youre with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, theres nothing to stop you from moving forward. Oh, oh, announcer ® sure onceweekly ozempic® is helping many people with type 2 diabetes like james lower their blood sugar. A majority of adults who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. Heres your a1c. Oh my a1c is under 7 announcer and you may lose weight. Adults who took ozempic® lost on average up to 12 pounds. I lost almost 12 pounds oh announcer for those also with known heart disease, ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, or death. It lowers the risk. Oh and i only have to take it once a week. Oh oh, oh, oh, ozempic® announcer ozempic® is not for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. Do not share needles or pens. Dont reuse needles. Do not take ozempic® if you have a personal or Family History of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to ozempic®. Stop taking ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, itching, rash, or trouble breathing. Serious side effects may include pancreatitis. Tell your doctor if you have Diabetic Retinopathy or vision changes. Taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk. Common side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and constipation. Some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. Onceweekly ozempic® is helping me reach my blood sugar goal. Oh, oh, oh, ozempic® announcer you may pay as little as 25 per prescription. Ask your Health Care Provider today about onceweekly ozempic®. Welcome back. As pressure increases on the cdc to track and release coronavirus data by race instead of age, more states are choosing to report their demographics. Those numbers confirm what many people already knew, an alarmingly high rate of africanamericans infected and dying from this virus. Today White House Coronavirus response coordinator dr. Deborah birx said while she recognizes the trend, the focus at the white house will remain, quote, on all americans. I want to make it clear, we dont think africanamericans are more susceptible to getting infected, but we do think with the number of preexisting conditions and this brings us back to the social determine nance of health. Once this is over, we need to look carefully into each of those items to look at what its going to take to ensure the health of all americans. Joining us from atlanta, nbc correspondent blayne alexander. Blayne, yesterday dr. Fauci went through it. Its oath history, sad history to a lot of people. Heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, almost the trinity of underlying conditions that this virus takes advantage of, say nothing of so many africanamericans being in front line occupations these days. Reporter absolutely, brian. I just got off the phone with the head of the National Medical association, the countrys Largest Organization for black doctors. He summed it up like this, when the rest of the country gets a cold, black america gets pneumonia. He says thats what hes been seeing, his colleagues. The numbers back that up. Lets look at louisiana, for instance. About a third of the population, 32 africanamerican, but black people accounting for 70 of the deaths in that state. When we look at the city of chicago, less than a third africanamerican population there, but nearly 70 accounting for the deaths. Were seeing numbers that tell the same story when we look at places like washington, d. C. , new york, even small towns here in georgia, were seeing a disproportionate rate where black people are being affected by coronavirus. We can talk about these numbers, guys, really it starts to hit home when you listen to the doctors, to the nurses who have been seeing this every day on the front lines. I talked with dr. Lori punch, a trauma surgeon in an icu near st. Louis. Here is what shes told me about what shes seeing. You pass through door after door after door where a patient is fighting for their life on the other side, and almost every single one of them is black. I have never seen a disease process play out like that. What we know from limited studies, from our preliminary data is that, if youre black, youre four times as likely to end up on the ventilator. That means the disease is showing up in you much more severely than it is in the general public. Reporter so, guys, she told me that of all the dozens of patients shes treated since the out break began, theres only one patient that she can remember thats not africanamerican. We have these stories, this kind of patchwork of numbers across the country. But theres not a Central Place where all of these numbers are being tallied from states across the country. Thats why youre seeing the growing call for the cdc to release the numbers when it comes to cases of coronavirus and deaths broken down by race. Those studies are just stunning, and those numbers are stunning. Nbcs blayne alexander. Another quick break as we approach the 3 00 p. M. Hour. On the other side well go to growing new york, theres early signs that the virus impact is leveling off, again, early signs. Thats not a signal that life will return to normal any time soon. Well explain why when our Team Coverage continues right after this. And ill tell you some important things to know about medicare. First, it doesnt pay for everything. Say this pizza. [mmm pizza. ] is your part b medical expenses. This much about 80 percent. Medicare will pay for. Whats left. This slice here. Well. Thats on you. And thats where an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by Unitedhealthcare Insurance Company comes in. This type of plan helps pay some of what medicare doesnt. And these are the only plans to carry the aarp endorsement. Thats because they meet their high standards of quality and service. Wanna learn more . Its easy. Call Unitedhealthcare Insurance Company now and ask. For this free decision guide. Inside youll find the range of aarp Medicare Supplement plans and their rates. Apply any time, too. Oh. Speaking of time. About a little over half way and theres more to tell. Like, how. With this type of plan, youll have the freedom to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. Great for staying with the one you know. Or finding. Somebody new, like a specialist. There are no networks and no referrals needed. None. And when you travel, your plan will go with you anywhere in the country. So, if youre in another state visiting the grandkids, stay awhile. Enjoy. And know that youll still be able to see any doctor who accepts medicare patients. So call unitedhealthcare today. They are committed to being there for you. Tick, tick, tick, time for a wrap up. A Medicare Supplement plan helps pay some of what medicare doesnt. You know, the pizza slice. It allows you to choose any doctor, who accepts medicare patients. And these are the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. Whew call unitedhealthcare today and ask for this free decision guide. It seems like everything is gebut my bladder leak pad . I thought it had to be thick to protect. But not anymore. Because new always discreet is made differently. Unlike other pads, new always discreet has ultrathin layers that quickly turn liquid to gel and lock it inside. So now, i get strong protection, in a pad i barely feel. Always protected. Always discreet. Good afternoon. Im katy tur. With me this hour is brian williams. Today there are early signs that major cities are gaining ground in the fight against coronavirus. That does not mean the danger is anywhere near over. First off to california where governor gavin newsom says his state is flattening the curve, crediting the stayathome orders. Los angeles mandating residents wear masks. In hardhit new york city, Governor Andrew Cuomo says we need to stay vigilant. Schools and nonessential businesses will be closed until at least april 29th. The fine for violating social distancing was raised to a minimum of 500. We are flattening the curve by what we are doing. If we stop what were doing, youll see that curve change. That curve is purely a function of what we do day in and day out. Its not a time to get complacent, to do anything different than what weve been doing. Whether or not we are flattening the curve, the u. S. Is still in a crisis, make no mistake. Experts expect the rate of infection will continue to climb long after we have reached the peak of the outbreak. Hospitals across our country are, lets not