Good afternoon. Im chuck todd here in washington. Here are the facts that we know at this hour. More promising news out of new york. The epicenter of the pandemic, governor andrew cuomo, says the curve is flattening with icu and hospital admissions down. The number of deaths was up by 100 yesterday so this plateauing will look good on the curve perhaps in a week but there will be these daytoday ups and downs. Were also expected to hear from the president. He may announce the Advisory Board that will help guide the reopening of the economy. Hell make that announcement, we think, this evening, during the Coronavirus Task force briefing. This council has already begun meeting behind closed doors. Right now two groups of governors on both coasts are joining forces to determine when the best time will be to ease shutdowns regionally and reopen their economies collectively. At 3 00 p. M. , governor gavin newsom of california will reveal a plan that will begin easing restrictions. More than 583 cases of coronavirus in the nation right now. There have been more than 24,000 deaths. And we have a team of reporters fanned out across the country to bring you all the facts as we know them right now. Well begin in california where theres another attempt at a new phase in the fight against coronavirus in california. And its all about testing. None of the testing procedures seem to have worked so far but well see. Right now theres a largescale Antibody Testing study under way to determine who had the virus and who may now be immune. Acco joining me is gadi schwartz. Forgive me for being skeptical about this, but i have a few questions about this antibody study. Number one, does it have fda approval . Number two, we already have some questions about whether these early antibody studies are effective. Theres been some questions in south korea. What makes usc think they have the correct test . Well, chuck, right now its not just usc. Its stanford, as well as ucla. So at the beginning, were going to see a lot of these tests come from institutions where they have epidemiology departments, and these tests are going to be parts of rigorous studies. So were still a ways from seeing these widescale tests but its frufstrating for californians under these stayathome orders and californians may see the worst Case Scenario slip us by. We may have flattened this curve so the immediate thought for so many people out here is, okay, well, when can we go back to work . And right now, the big key to that door is widescale testing and tracing. The test we were just talking about, and that is the Antibody Test to see who is effectively immune. So right now in those tests we were just talking about and in those studies, about 5,000 people overall have been tested in california. Most as part of those studies with ucla right now focusing on testing as many Frontline Health care workers as possible. And when it comes to fighting covid19, that information could help identify what are basically immune supersoldiers in the battle against the virus. Weve talked about how up until now california, as well as nearly every other state in the country still isnt conducting the amount of tests to see how many people actually have the virus. You were just talking about over half a million in the United States. Thats the bare minimum. So at this stage in the game, doctors and the medical staff will most likely get priority when it comes to the Antibody Testing but eventually those tests need to go mainstream very quickly. The thought is if the state can figure out how many people are already immune, and if that number is large enough, then they can slowly start allowing some people to come back to work. But thats just one component in a long list of things were probably going to hear from gavin newsom that needs to happen before things get back to normal. Chuck . Well, gadi schwartz, absolutely. Thank you very much. This is the biggest failure of the federal government using this time wisely to ramp up the ability to test. As deborah birx was caught on tape saying yesterday in a Conference Call with governors, its were millions of tests behind where she thought we would be. Only 200,000 conducted in state labs when she thought 3 million conducted over a certain period of time. Thats a wasted amount of time for us being locked in. Speaking to the white house response to the coronavirus, President Trump met with recovered covid19 patients just a short time ago. Were about four hours from the next Coronavirus Task force briefing. After the president used yesterday to play a campaignstyle video trying to defend his response to the virus and picked a fight with the nations governors over who is in charge of ochi iopening the country. Governors in the northeast and west opened up pacts. Tell the democrat governors that mutiny on the bountsy was one of my alltime favorite movies. A good oldfashioned mutiny every now and then san exciting and invigorating thing to watch, especially when they need something from the captain. Too easy. Joining me is hans nichols at the white house. So we had the president meeting with some recovered covid19 patients. I know that was a thing that we had reporters in, the pool was in there. We dont have a live feed of it. Might have some footage in a few minutes. But what do we know about this Economic Task force and are scientists going to be allowed on it . We fully dont know the full and complete composition of the task force. Just briefly on that meeting the president had inside, i believe, the cabinet room just moments ago. A slightly and i stress on slightly, more conciliatory tone from the president. What he said, and it was 40 minutes long, the one bit of news in there is that he said he will work in conjunction with the governors on opening up the economy, on opening states back up. That in conjunction line is maybe perhaps an indication the president wants to be more cooperative. Remember last night we had that press conference where the president talked about his total authority. Now earlier in the day, we heard from andrew cuomo. And cuomo was quite clear. He challenged the notion of total authority saying its just not constitutional. Then he went on to say he wasnt looking for a fight and wanted to continue to cooperate with the president. I dont think the president had seen cuomos remarks by the time he went into this meeting in the cabinet room, but at least the first initial take on this, more conciliatory and then he went on to a lot of things we heard from him before. The virtues and benefits of hydrochloroquine. Hes talking to recovered in one case, a state senator from the sdtate of michigan, someone affected by coronavirus and took chloroquine and recovered. How much of his time is he spending trying to defend that belief and how much is he just trying to show empathy for these victims . From what weve seen in the tape and its still playing out, were about 20 minutes in, it seems to be about 50 50. The president going around the table talking to individuals that have been affected and now recovered, trying to get their story and trying to draw some broader meaning of it. In this case, fitting with what hes been saying from the lectern and that is that we need more people on hydrochloroquine. Weve seen this when the president has a little bit of an anecdote he seizes upon it to make a broader political point. Hans nichols, that was very diplomatically put. Joining me is dr. Nadalia, an Infectious Disease doctor at Boston Medical Center and associate professor of Boston School of medicine. I want to start with what we just heard from the president because, again, if you spend any time reading any hydrochloroquine, you know, for instance, this morning, that the cia is recommending against the use of this as a therapeutic among members of the cia. They are saying be careful of this. I ask you as a medical professional, what is your advice on hydrochloroquine if you are a covid19 patient. Currently we still dont have any evidence that in randomized controlled trials that have come out. Theres a small one out this week, but what that shows is the level hiof high dose of hydroxychloroquine resulted in side effects to where the it had to be stopped. There are other randomized control trials ongoing still but a lot of medical centers have stopped recommending it as part of their treatment algorithm for compassionate use or experimental use where you look to see if theres a result. But i also think this is narrowing the field. There soare so many medical therapies currently in the works. This is one of the pillars well need as we begin opening up as a presence of medical therapy thats effective. So there are other antivirals, drugs that help your immune system as you move through this disease and, of course, theres the vaccines were working towards that we dont think are going to be around for another 12 months or so. All right. I want to shift to why we booked you today and thats the issue of testing specifically. Antibody testing, what were learning about the virus and, obviously, the whole point of trying one of the points of trying to basically shut us all in was to buy a lot of time, whether personal protective equipment, keep the hospitals from being overrun or get testing ramped up. The biggest failure, obviously, has been on testing. What were seeing out of south korea, how concerned are you this Antibody Testing is going to be much harder to get than were hoping it exists, but right now theres no proof that it does yet. Right. So the Antibody Test, theres a couple bits of this. One is, if somebody is positive on the Antibody Test, does that give you confidence that theyre immune to this disease . And theres a recent study that shows about 20 of the people may not mount enough of the response. Is that enough of an immune response they might actually be able to protect themselves, if theyre reexposed to the virus . Immunity itself is quite complex. All these other elements to it. Beyond that is just how many people do we think are immune . At the top of the hour, you talked about the reopening. There really cannot be a National Strategy to reopening because there are 51 different outbreaks going on. 51 different states with their health Care Capacity, their own issues with supply chain and levels of testing. Some of them are on the up swing of cases. And so theres this period which is preparedness period is making sure that each state gets to a point where they can quickly test, isolate, Contact Trace people who have it, but then there is the waiting period or the trial and error period which a lot of the countries you mentioned, singapore, hong kong, some countries in europe are going through right now in this period. Thats not the normal. Were not returning to normal. I dont even think were returning to normal after the vaccine comes around because well have to make some Public Health changes like not sending people to work when theyre sick, which is good. We want to make those changes. But this sis an inbetween period. Lets say we test everybody and the people that are immune with some may have a positive test not being immune, theres a study from germany that says 14 of people they tested were only the ones who had positive antibodies. 1 out of 7 people. Lets say by next fall we double that. We didnt do a good job. Now 30 of the people actually have the disease. Can you imagine in october going to a concert where 2 out of 3 people are still vulnerable to this disease . In this inbetween period, i dont think we gather. And i think we work on making sure we provide the best medical care possible to people. Dr. Bhadalia, i think that was a very easy way to people to understand, and you just put it in terms a lot of people can understand that two out of three people may not have these immunities or may be vulnerable to covid19 by october. Appreciate the reality check there. We are now approximately six months from election day. The coronavirus at the forefront of Many Americans minds. A new poll is highlighting americans concerns about what that election will look like. Steve kornacki is here with an exclusive look at this new polling. Whats been interesting about all the polling ive seen over the last few weeks and this one confirms it again is the public seems to be more concerned about their health and safety than you might imagine. I think the elected officials are more divided in some ways than the public is. Folks certainly if you look at this polling and ask them, are you worried youll get the coronavirus . Somebody in your family is going to get it . The numbers there very high. Concern for Public Health. Concern for the health in their communities. Also concern about the economic impact. And there is concern about the election, too. One way or the other, theres going to be a president ial election this year. Is donald trump going to be reelected . Replaced with joe biden . Somehow thats going to have to happen. You take a look at ask folks, are you worried about that election . And what do you want that election to look like . Thats some of the interesting numbers. So first of all, i thought this was interesting. What do you think the impact is going to be on november, particularly on turnout in november. 68 of voters believe that this covid19 will have a big impact on turnout in november. How about this . Will it keep people from voting . Nearly twothirds, 63 , are concerned. This is going to keep people from getting out and voting, from participating in the election. That anxiety is much more pronounced among democrats, 77 , than it is among republicans, basically a split there among republicans. Also are you confident that the votes are going to be counted accurately the way people intend . 60 say theyre confident. The anxiety here, democrats are very split on that. 50 to 46 . Theres more confidence among republicans. What do you want the election to look like . If you throw a host of proposals at them, theres a lot of support here. Expanded early voting. Expanded vote by mail. Extend the registration deadlines. Let people register to vote online. The only one that doesnt really poll well there is let people vote online. Its overwhelming support from democrats but even among republican, until you get to online voting, majority support for all those proposals. Im not surprised on online voting. I think that will cut across a lot of ideological and partisan lines there. But those are some interesting numbers to remind you were going to get expanded early and mail vote. Just depends which state you live in. Steve, i want to play the democratic partys officially united. Everybody has spoken up in favor of joe biden, including former president obama. Let me play a quick clip of that and talk to you about it on the other side. Choosing joe to be my Vice President was one of the best decisions i ever made, and he became a close friend. And i believe joe has all the qualities we need in a president right now. Hes someone whose own life has taught him to persevere, how to bounce back when youve been knocked down. So mr. Kornacki, the political unit my pals there all noted how president obamas hits on trump were muted. Meaning they were more an attack on the Republican Party as a whole, that he really did sweep up that trump and the Republican Party are one in the same. Interesting messaging out of the president on that particular part of the messaging. I thought there was an extended tribute to bernie sanders. He went out of his way to say hey, look, the platform that joe biden is going to be running on is the most progressive any democrat has run on in modern times. There was a lot of emphasis there on party unity, on trying to tamp down lingering resentment that sanders voters may have towards biden. They see an opportunity here in getting everybody unified earlier than they did in 2016, earlier in 2008 when it was obama versus Hillary Clinton. You have to go back to 2004 to see everybody coming tlth this early. The one cautionary note is, im going to see you on the campaign trail as soon as i can. The thing weve seen from barack obama, when hes on the ballot, he does really well getting out there and campaigning. But 2010, 2014, even 2016 out there with Hillary Clinton in the home strentch, that appeal has not rubbed off on others when hes not been on the ballot. And the president cant fight that gray hair, president obama. I have to admit it was striking. You realize we havent seen him in a few months. A lot of gray. A lot more gray hair these days, but a reminder, were all getting grayer and older. Steve kornacki, thank you. Up next on the west coast and east coast, governors are teaming up to put a regional plan in place to reopen their states when they determine it is safe to lift those stayathome orders. After the break, im going to talk to one of those governors, Oregon Governor kate brown on her pact with washington and california. A lot of Healthy Foods are very acidic and theyre actually pulling out the minerals from the enamel. I like to recommend pronamel to my patients. Pronamel will help push the minerals back into the enamel, to keep the enamel strong. I know it works. And i hear nothing but great things from my patients that have switched to it. I know it works. And i hear nothing but great things and you may know us from your very first sandwich,esh, your mammoth masterpiece, and whatever this was. Oscar mayer is found in more fridges than anyone else, because its the taste you count on. Make every sandwich count. Overnight they became our offices, schools and playgrounds. All those places out there, are now in here. Thats why were still offering fast, free two day shipping on thousands of items. Even the big stuff. And doing everything it takes to ensure your safety. So you can make your home everything you need it to be. Wayfair. Way more than furniture. Some people say thats ridiculous. Age is just an illusion. How you show up for the world, thats whats real. Whats your idea . I put it out there with a godaddy website. In spite of President Trumps insistence that he has the sole power to reopen the country, governors on the east and west coasts are banding together to come up with joint plans for reopening their states after issuing stayathome order orders. In seattle, officials are considering how to tread a path back to normal. Joining me is nbc news correspondent Erin Mclaughlin live in seattle. Erin, i know youve gotten a first look at how this would incrementally go. In some cases, look, seattle and San Francisco and l. A. Have had a different experience than portland. Theres still some differences in how the three states may treat their situations. Yeah, thats rirkts chuck. But at the same time, they all seem to be in agreement that their economies are not ready to reopen at this point. I was just speaking to seattles mayor jenny durkin, and she was telling me that seattle needs to remain closed for now. Yes, theyve seen progress here in washington. Theyve seen a flattening of the curve. They may even be on the down side of the curve but theyre still seeing community transmission. There are still small outbreaks. In one hospital here in seattle just this week, 14 medical workers diagnosed with covid19. Some of them asymptomatic. Durkin says reopening now would risk devastation. Take a listen. Weve got to continue this activity and this behavior because, if we dont, then well see a spike. And everybody knows, weve really depleted our Health Care Workers and our equipment and all those safeguards we had. We didnt have enough to begin with, but people are tired. If we had a peak now, i think wed be even more devastating than the first round. Durkin says she wants to see the number of new cases approach that zero point. Then she would consider reopening the city sector by sector. She says construction, the construction sector looks like it might be among the first sectors to reopen. That can be done at a safe social distancing. Other sectors such as restaurants, tourism, she said, will be more difficult. But for across the city, when they do decide to begin to reopen this economy, it will be a completely new reality check. Not to play mask police there, but i noticed the mayor was not wearing a mask in that interview. Yeah, thats right. She was not wearing a mask. Actually, i was a bit surprised here arriving here in seattle, not many people wearing the masks out on the streets but you enter a coffee shop next to this hospital, tape on the ground, people maintaining the safe social distance. Theyre very aware of the situation but not many masks out here on the streets of seattle. Thats interesting way of how perhaps east versus west coast on that front. Erin mclaughlin on the ground for us. Thank you. Joining me is one of the members of the western States Coalition of governors. Its Oregon Governor kate brown. Shes set to make an announcement i believe later this hour introducing your framework for reopening the state. Governor brown, welcome. So tell give us a preview. What are the metrics that you plan to use, and are there metrics youll still use individually for oregon even if it runs in a bit to plans that washington or california want to do . Well, im pleased that were able to coordinate our efforts with washington and california. Were all in this together. And i think its really important that we share information, best practices and resources. Were used to doing that on the west coast. The frame work im proposing today is simply a framework, and im going to invite oregonians to participate in the conversation about how and when we reopen the state. The reality is we took we made the really difficult decision to close down our state early in order to save lives and stop the spread of the disease. That work is working. And its going to take a collaborative effort in terms of how and when we reopen the state. How much of this is going to be geographic, and how much of this will be industry specific . Well, i think youll have both of those factors in there. I think theres some really important criteria. Number one, we need to make sure we have enough professional protective equipment for folks on the ground and in congregate care facilities. We need to make sure workers on the front line have access to ppe. Our Grocery Store workers, our Public Safety workers. We also need to make sure that we dont create a spike. Its going to be gradual, incremental. Were going to use data, science and the brightest brains we have in oregon in make these decisions. So it sounds like based on that then, and based on where we are in Testing Capacity as a country, it sounds like were weeks away from being able to make any decisions like that because youll not have the data. Im curious, were you on the call yesterday where deborah birx was essentially lamenting the fact that state laboratories were only able to do a combined 200,000 tests when she thought 3 million. Were on the front lines. We know what the challenges are particularly around ppe, gloves, masks and gowns and, of course, around testing. Thats why i think its so important were all in this together. We need to Work Together, share resources, share data and gradually open our sectors and open our locations. Heres the reality. The reality is the disease knows no borders. Thats why its so important we Work Together, and thats exactly what were going to do. We certainly need more i want to ask the testing i was going to say, where are you on Testing Capacity, and can you open up if you dont if you dont increase that capacity . Were running about 8,000 tests a week. We believe that needs to substantially increase in order to reopen certain segments of the oregon economy. We have to be able to Contact Trace. We have to be able to identify people who test positive. We have to be able to socially isolate them. So we obviously need more Testing Capacity. We need more folks working on the ground, Public Health workers, to be able to do that. And then we also need facilities where people can be housed if they test positive for the co d covid19 disease. Whats your biggest problem on the Testing Capacity . Is it the equipment to do the testing, or is it the workers to essentially either get the results of the test or conduct the test . Like all states, were struggling with both of those, but id probably say the equipment has really been the challenge. What i appreciate is the Public Private partnerships that are happening and our ability to expand our Testing Capacity throughout the state. My team is working as hard as they can to make sure that we can increase our Testing Capacity. Were working with both the private sector and the Public Sector to make that happen. When it comes to Decision Making on reopening the economy, what the president says on may 1st, how much influence will that have on your Decision Making . Look, were all in this together. I think its really important that the states align our Decision Making. My first focus will be around opening our hospitals and our Health Care Clinics. I closed down i stopped all nonemergency care, and i did that because we didnt have adequate personal protective equipment. So its caused a hardship on oregonians across the state. People cant have the knee surgery they needed to have. Theyre in pain. People need to go see their dentists. All of those procedures have been stopped because we didnt have adequate ppe. So my focus is to make sure that oregonians can have access to basic medical care, whether its in a hospital, an ambulatory Surgery Center or Health Care Clinic around the state. But this is also important in terms of jobs. We want to make sure that we maintain the Current HealthCare Capacity that we have in rural oregon. Were a large state geographically. Were small, but mighty. We want to make sure that our rural hospitals can reopen and provide the really valuable Health Care Services that people need. But it also, obviously, is a job creator, right . In rural oregon, much needed, we dont want to lose that capacity and thats where im focused right now. Oregon governor kate brown, democrat from the northwest there, thanks for coming on and sharing your views and how you plan to do this. Youre setting high metric bars for reopening the government and well be following it very closely. Coming up how a book about the deadly 1918 flu epidemic spurred president george w. Bush to put together a comprehensive plan. What lessons we can learn from that today. Ill be joined by the author of that book, historian john berry, after the break. 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. Heres a razor that works differently. The Gillette Skinguard it has a guard between the blades that helps protect skin. The Gillette Skinguard. 450degree oven, to box, to you, know that from our its our policy that your pizza is never touched once it comes out of the oven. And were taking extra steps, like no contact delivery, to ensure it. As scientists and leaders around the world search for medical advances in the fight against coronavirus, many look to the past for guidance. Thats what happened in 2005 when the book the great influenza, the story of the deadliest pandemic in history caused george w. Bush to prepare the nation for a possible pandemic. At this point there is no pandemic influenza in the United States or the world. But if history is our guide theres reason to be concerned. Joining me is the best selling author of the great influenza, john berry. Mr. Berry, thank you,ire. You may be the worlds foremost expert in studying pandemics weve had. Compared to where things were in the 1918 pandemic, where are we collectively as a globe . Are we onethird of the way through this . Halfway . Do we have our arms almost around it . Not quite . How would you describe where we are in society today, at what point in time in comparison to the 1918 outbreak. On the one hand, historians dont like to predict, but unfortunately, id say were still pretty early in this for a couple of rounds. Sorry about that. Thats okay. I think our viewers have a lot of patience these days. Were all learning these different video devices. Let me ask you then this question, the issue of reopening the economy. This was an issue back then. Some of the issues are the same were seeing play out now. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Thats exactly right. The biggest im so sorry. Thats all right there. Again, let me let you get one more shot at that. Go ahead. Okay. I apologize for that because i forgot the question trying to turn the phone off. Well start it over. Essentially, some of the political hand wringing that is taking place right now is very similar to what happened in 1918. So i would love for you to compare and contrast it and what lessons should politicians from now take from that . The lessons are pretty simple. Tell the truth like facts over fear, the slogan you displayed. And the social distancing. It worked in 1918. Its working now. I think one of the biggest management problems here is the length of time its going to take for coronavirus to pass through both an individual and a community. The biggest difference between 1918 and today is the speed. Influenza has a much faster incubation period. Roughly two days usually. This is closer to six days. Thats triple. Everything slows down. Influenza pass through a community in 6 to 10 weeks and then it was largely gone. That is not going to happen with coronavirus. When we do release when we start back up on the economy, there will clearly be an up tick. The question is, how carefully we control that up tick, whether it becomes a huge surge or whether its something we can keep some kind of containment over, as south korea did. Although south korea and the other asian countries, they are now seeing a major resurgence. Theyre still ahead of it, but it is coming back there. John, on the societal impact, theres this assumption that somehow if the president or governors say, hey, the economy is open, that maybe a switch gets flipped, but the public seems to be more hesitant. I know plenty of people saying, im not going out until theres a vaccine. How much of that did impact the pandemic back in 18 where people are hesitant to engage at first . Well, until it left the community, you had incredible numbers of absenteeism from most industries. The places where we have good data are like ship building, which was the war industry. There the absenteeism, even though the workers had medical care at work, which was not available in civilian community, and even though they were told they were as important as soldiers on the front line, you still had 60 absenteeism. They were either sick, caring for someone who is sick or afraid. So in the other industries that were not war industries, did not offer medical care, did not push the patriotism, the absenteeism was much greater. Railroads were not running because there werent people to service them. You had farmers that were afraid to deliver crops. You had stores that were not open. Fear is a pretty good enforcer. It sure is. John barry, the book great influenza, the story of the deadliest pandemic in history. I implore people to read it. Its been very helpful to me. Your expertise in this is going to be helpful for a lot of us. Thank you, and sorry about that phone. You know what, it happens, and i think hopefully it makes us all smile. It can be a charming thing at the end of the day. We got the information that matters the most so thank you, sir. Thank you. From sick farm and plant workers to closed restaurants, produce that has to be destroyed. B how the coronavirus is disrupting the food chain across the country. Well get more reporting on this on the ground in a few minutes. Give me your hand i can save you. Lots of money with Liberty Mutual we customize your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Subut when we realized she wasn hebattling sensitive skin, we switched to new tide plus downy free. Its gentle on her skin, and dermatologist recommended. New tide pods plus downy free. Safe for sensitive skin with eczema and psoriasis. 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. Thats unnecessarily complicated. Make ice. Making ice. But youre not because you have e trade which isnt complicated. Their tools make trading quicker and simpler so you can take on the markets with confidence. Dont get mad get e trade. As the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on the Nations Health and economy, the strain on the Food Supply Chain is suddenly becoming a graver concern than once thought. Workers in Meat Processing plants across the country are falling ill at a big rate. Smithfield foods had to close a plant in south dakota sunday after 230 of its workers in one plant became infected with covid19. Just contemplate that. The facility produces more than 5 of the nations pork supply. Joining me for more on this is our own blayne alexander. Blayne, this is yet another impact of the coronavirus. Not our food supply, having the coronavirus, but the folks that give us the ability to go to the Grocery Store to get that food. Absolutely, chuck. And the certain that Ripple Effect will only grow larger. We focused our reporting on a poultry plant. A tyson foods poultry plant in georgia. And the employees i talked to told me that they are terrified to go to work. Thats because four employees at that single plant have died from covid19. Some of the employees that i talked to describe working shoulder to shoulder on the line. One told me that she feels like when she goes in, shes risking her life because shes so close to people and she doesnt know who is sick or who isnt. Weve been talking with tyson foods about this since last week. Weve been reporting on this for days. Tyson has made improvements. They sent a picture from inside that plant where you can see plastic dividers separating the workers along the line. They shut down the plant for 48 hours over the weekend to have it be deep cleaned. I spoke with the union rep who represents so many of those employees inside. He told me thats not enough. Take a look. Some companies have put measures in place. Are those measures enough . I dont think they are. If we can protect workers from when they walk in the door and when they walk out, that company has done what they need to do. So what theyre calling for, chuck, is for there to slow down the lines. Essentially that would give workers more opportunity to distance from each other. I will say theres the bigger concern over what this looks like when it translates to us going to Grocery Stores and getting meet from tget ing meat from the coolers in the Grocery Stores. Upon shutting down the smithfield plant in south dakota, he said he worries this puts us close to the line when it comes to our nations meat supply. Now the administration has sought to reassure americans saying the food supply is very strong, but again, there is the concern when you see more employees possibly getting sick what that looks like in terms of productivity for these plants across the country, chuck. And i think were all learning our supply chains are not as obvious and not as not as maybe as common sense connected as you might think because its so international. Anyway, blayne alexander, thank you. Joining me is a former u. S. Secretary of agriculture from 1995 to 2001, dan glickman. Also served nine terms in congress from kansas. Hes now Vice President at the aspen institute. Secretary glickman, long time no visual, but nice to see you. Let me start with your knowledge of the Food Supply Chain. We dont have a food supply issue but it does seem as if we may have a distribution issue and a worker capacity issue. What now that youve seen all of this reporting and what the concerns are, what would you be asking of the Food Industries here if you were secretary of agriculture right now . Well, the Food Supply Chain is complicated by the fact when it comes to meat and poultry its an industrialized system. So it requires lots and lots of labor to mass produce food that goes out to the public. And that food is safe. But theres no question that when you mass produce food and lots of labor, you have some of the issues in terms of close and confined situations, and it will require the Food Companies to really examine how they protect their workers and, otherwise, what will happen is plants might shut down. If plants shut down, people either wont be able to get their food in the Grocery Store in the same way they get it now, or in some cases, as weve seen, farmers and ranchers will have no alternative but to throw or dump their food away. While this is happening, we also have a radical increase in the unemployment rate. Lots of poor people who need more food at food banks than weve ever seen than weve ever before. So the bottom line is, this is a big, comprehensive issue thats going to require consumers, the food industry, and the government to Work Together on to try to minimize any dislocation, so that consumers are still able to get their food and that the people that work in these plants are treated fairly. Considering how labor intensive, essentially, slaughterhouses are, i know we call them meat packing plants now, but essentially, as labor intensive as they are, whether its about deboning chicken or pork or meat or all of this stuff, based on your knowledge of how these places work, it sounds like given social distancing guidelines and if were going to be dealing with this virus for 18 months, that a lot of these processing plants have to radically change how they do their work. Well, theres no question that theyre going to have to seriously look at sanitary conditions and how food is produced and how employees are dealt with in this context. Theyve gotten better. I want to tell you, that when you maybe compare it to 30 or 40 years ago, things are much better at these plants. But they still have an awful lot of people working very closely together and it is it creates a problem when you have a pandemic or when you have pathogens in the air. So, im you know, i dont want to see the consumers hurt by not having the accessibility to the product, but youve got to keep the plants safe in order for production to continue. And thats what, as a country, weve got to work on. And thats what this whole covid19 has done, is its required us to look at all of these segments of the economy, which weve never really looked at before, and we just assume that everything was perfect. And while the food supply is safe, i dont think anybody is saying that the food isnt safe, it is. But the way we produce food, were going to have to examine that in the future. Thats right. People need to learn, if you like your boneless chicken thighs, a lot of labor went into that. A lot of hours, a lot of work went into getting you that special packaging and maybe that isnt going to be available that way for some time. Anyway, dan glickman, former secretary of agriculture, thank you for sharing a bit of your expertise with us. Up next, Wisconsins State Assembly is minutes away from an historic vote on coronavirus legislation. Were going to explain after the break. Youre watching msnbc. This is my body of proof. Proof i can fight moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. Proof i can fight psoriatic arthritis. With humira. Proof of less joint pain. And clearer skin in psa. Humira targets and blocks a source of inflammation that contributes to joint pain and irreversible damage. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Humira is proven to help stop further joint damage,. And its the 1prescribed biologic for psa. Want more proof . Ask your rheumatologist about humira citratefree. In about five minutes, Wisconsin State Assembly is going to gavel in for a first of its kind session. And it may not be the first of its kind around the country after today. About half of the 99 lawmakers plan to attend a vote today advisovia teleconference for the first time in that assemblys history. The vote is on legislation to expand its Coronavirus Response bill, which includes suspending a oneweek waiting period for people to apply for unemployment benefits. The States Senate is expected to hold a similar virtual session tomorrow. Heres a look at the trend of new cases in wisconsin from the new york times. There is still concern stemming from last weeks election in wisconsin that it may have helped spread the virus, but it is important to know, we wont know if it did for another two weeks. We are accustomed to seeing campaigns end in victory rallies after Election Results come in, with candidates on stage surrounded by families and supporters, but last night, we saw something a little bit different. This is newly elected Wisconsin State Supreme Court justice jill karwowski, declaring victory over the incumbent conservativeleaning justice to serve a tenyear term on the court, all while making sure to adhere to social distancing guidelines. I just want to thank very, very much for all the hard work that all of you did to help elect me the next justice on the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. I couldnt have done it without your help. Im celebrating social distance wise with my friends so there you go. Wisconsin having to show us virtual legislation, virtual victory speeches. Welcome to the new normal of american elections. That brings this hour to a close for me. Ill see you back here tonight for meet the press daily as well as the Coronavirus Press conference briefing. My colleagues, katy tur and Brian Williams pick up our coverage after this quick break. And ill tell you some important things to know about medicare. First, it doesnt pay for everything. Say this pizza is your part b medical expenses. This much about 80 medicare will pay for. Whats left is on you. 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. These are the only plans to carry the aarp endorsement for meeting their high standards of quality and service. So call Unitedhealthcare Insurance Company today and ask for your free decision guide. With this type of plan, youll have the freedom to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. And when you travel, your plan will go with you anywhere in the country. Whew call unitedhealthcare today and ask for your free decision guide. Call unitedhealthcare today now more than ever, we need the good stuff in life. Family, comfort, belly laughs, joy, togetherness, and of course, love. Milk. Love whats real. And good day. Technical issues resolved. Brian williams back with katy tur and with you for the next 90 minutes. Here are the facts at this hour. There are now nearly 600,000 confirmed cases of covid19 in the u. S. Again, that number counts the roughly 0. 9 of the population thats been tested. 25,000 lives have been lost. Today, House Speaker nancy pelosi announced democrats are working on an interim stimulus package, as well as a more robust socalled cares 2 package. Its not clear if Senate Republicans are willing to come to the table. In a new interview with the associated press, dr. Anthony fauci said, quote, were not there yet when it comes to reopening the u. S. Economy. He called the may 1st target