Transcripts For MSNBCW MTP Daily 20200407

What theyre saying is they were fine, they were fine, and now theyre not. As we begin our hour with just a glimpse of what their lives are like right now, we want to send our heartfelt thanks to all of the medical staff on the front lines of this fight all around the country. Welcome to tuesday. It is meet the press daily. Im chuck todd continuing msnbcs breaking News Coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. We are standing by for todays Coronavirus Task force briefing from the white house. It could be a busy one that delves into multiple topics. President trump has removed the Inspector General overseeing the 2 trillion stim rescue package. Hes also so the to cast blame on the World Health Organization after reports emerged that one of his top economic advisers warned the white house about the dire threat of the virus. President trump was simultaneously downplaying it. The acting Navy Secretary has resigned after calling the captain of an Aircraft Carrier stricken with coronavirus stupid. Theres also been a shakeup in the White House Communications team. Again, all today. The Trump Campaign spokesperson will now be the White House Press secretary. All would be big headlines in their own right on any given day, but perhaps the most important question at this briefing, could revolve around what the experts like doctors fauci and birx have to say about the graphic thats on your screen right now. Because for the first time in quite some time there is evidence that the curve, at least in this country, of new cases could, and we caution could, be starting to bend in the right direction. And as you can see on this graphic, that tiny but notable dip in american cases is happening as a number of European Countries continue to show signs of bending their curves as well. This draconian social distancing may be working. So amid this National Nightmare there is a potential ray of light. What it means we dont know for sure. The growth rate of new cases has slowed to roughly 8 , but its still growing, folks. But at least cases are doubling at a rate of every eight days instead of more than that. Its still alarming. But it was doubling at a rate of every four to five days last week. So lets be clear. Even if the rate of infection is slowing, we still have a long road ahead of us to get through this. Right now we are on pace to hit roughly half a million confirmed cases this weekend. 1,300 people died in the 24 hours that was counted as yesterday, the second highest daily number so far. Hospitals, particularly in the northeast, are overwhelmed. But this morning on nbcs today show the u. S. Surgeon general sounded a note of cautious optimism just 48 hours after he was saying this is going to be a week that felt like pearl harbor to us. He said the social distancing measures are starting to show signs of working. And at the epicenter of the countrys outbreak in the new york area elected officials sounded similar notes of cautious optimism today. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that while the state had its single deadliest day their rate of new hospitalizations, thats the big one, is showing signs of slowing. Remember, if we can just have enough hospital beds get through this we can survive this, it doesnt mean a lot of people arent going to die. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said they also are seeing signs of being at or near a peak in cases as well. To be sure, far too early to know if these curves will continue to bend, if other emerging hot spots around the country i may have been slower to accuracy will see alarming spikes in the days or weeks ahead, or if the u. S. Health care system will hold up. And remember, as i reminded you earlier, it was just 48 hours ago that some of these same Public Health officials were basically begging the country to take this more seriously, warning that we were at a pearl harbor or 9 11 moment in this country. So we might have our first indication that more people might be heeding those warnings and this collective action is starting to have an impact. Joining me now from the white house as we await the Coronavirus Task force briefing is my nbc news colleague peter alexander. And also with us from long island a coronavirus hot spot just outside new york city is ron allen. Ron, let me start with you. I know youre at stonybrook. I know we spoke earlier today. Theres as many cases on long island today as there were more than there were in the country just a week or so ago. So to say that we are feeling good is a little too much to say, but what are you seeing on the ground there that at all gives some hope to the new york city area and long islanders in particular . Well, hope, yes, chuck, but reality as well. The thing ive heard today from so many officials is please dont take your foot off the gas. We have to keep at the social distancing. And there are still trying to get ready for what they see as a surge coming to this part of new york. The numbers have been going up every day. The number of deaths have been going up. And theyve only been going up during a spike of the past week or so. So they still anticipate a surge because theyve been about a week or so behind whats happened in new york city. So at this facility, for example, weve seen a line of cars all day coming in, people coming in for testing at these Testing Centers behind us. They say that theres a rate of about 40 testing positive, which is not to be unexpected because these are people who are feeling sick and make an appointment to come out here. Theyre also all over long island. Hospitals are trying to build up their capacity. Theyre still trying to increase it by 50 to 100 . Here at stonybrook theyve essentially closed moved their emergency room out here to the parking lot on the campus and they have converted the 600bed hospital into a 1,000bed hospital by expanding the emergency room and by using other space that was available. And theyre still working on a 1,000bed Field Hospital the u. S. Army corps of engineers is building on the campus as well. This is one of the major sites in the state. Like the Javits Center there in manhattan that the governor first tasked with trying to become a center for dealing with this virus. So we also keep hearing more equipment, more ppe, and the other thing were hearing now is more staff because the staff at hospitals are working overtime its now getting week after week of this relentless surge of patients. And so the bottom line, though, again is yes, there are these glimmers, there is this plateauing perhaps, but the last thing that they want to see out here is complacency. They dont want to see people coming out. They want to see us keep our foot on the gas. Chuck . Ron allen in on the campus there of stonybrook where they are setting up a Field Hospital. Ron, thanks very much. Peter, the president was awfully busy today on twitter, let alone having some meetings at the white house. But it looks like theres . Some deflection going on here. I want to highlight tweet number one about the w. H. O. Heres what he writes. The w. H. O. Really blew it. For some reason funded largely by the United States yet re china centric. Well be giving that i good look. Fortunately i rejected our advice on keeping our borders open to china early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation . Its not lost on me that this tweet happens on the day news is out that his own chief trade adviser Peter Navarro wrote a memo in late january saying this pandemic is coming. Yeah, youre right, chuck. The president is one to always deflect and place blame elsewhere. And certainly on this day thats what hes trying to do with that tweet there attacking the World Health Organization. First a fact check, that it was on january 30th that the World Health Organization declared a Global Health emergency. It was not until the next day following that that the president restricted travel from china. But lets get to that memo you were talking about that was sent by one of the president s sort of most ideological partners as it were inside the west wing. Were it to come from the Intelligence Community or from Public Health experts, people that the president routinely dismisses, you might somehow understand why it was being ignored. But this came from the president s trade adviser, the guy who has been his righthand man who views the world very similarly, certainly as it relates to china. It was written and shared on the 29th of january. Just the next day the president would say that things were totally under control. His exact language was we will have it under control, he said. So the bottom line is this was the first and the highest level alert where the alarms were sounded inside the west wing about the potential of a pandemic and the potential for a half million lives to be lost. There was even a second memo that followed to talked about the potential the risk if there wasnt an effort to create enough supplies, personal protective equipment and other things that were necessary, and funding as well. How much is it possible that Peter Navarros memos were ignored by some in the west wing because there are some people who think oh, Peter Navarros always looking to trash china and it didnt get taken with the same seriousness that had somebody else written it . I notice that some people are sort of trying to dismiss the memo that way. Others are saying it didnt get to the president. Whats the truth on sort of how his memo was received internally . Well, i think there are certainly people, and im hearing from some of these individuals as well, in and around the president who say that you know, that Peter Navarro can be a little bit of a flame thrower and certainly as it relates to china he can be heated on this. The timing of this memo leaking out without it getting into the details about how it was provided to members of the media was also striking because you remember Peter Navarro was facing fire in recent days, chuck, because of that fiery back and forth that took place between him and the leading the people most people view as americas doctor as it relates to this issue, dr. Anthony fauci a couple of days ago. Navarro was looking like he was on the wrong side of that argument as it were and all of a sudden there was this which would seem to put Peter Navarro on the right side in terms of the warnings. It was a convenient leak if youre looking for resume brandishment. Very quickly, the president and this is going to get confusing. The acting secretary of navy, who was in an acting position because the last one was fired, did he resign or get fired today over the handling of the roosevelt . Do we have clarity . And i know now theres an undersecretary of the army that is now the new acting acting secretary of the navy. Do we have any clarity on this . Well, ill tell you what is being said publicly at least. Within the last few minutes were hearing from the defense secretary, esper, saying that he accepted the resignation of the acting Navy Secretary, modly, here. But the way this came to be is really i think what most americans are marinating in, trying to get a better understanding of how this commander of the uss Theodore Roosevelt who was at sea with 150plus sailors on his own ship testing positive for coronavirus, weve now learned that he reportedly has tested positive as well, hes in quarantine in guam right now, that he raised the red flags. He sent a letter back to washington. It was leaked out to the San Francisco chronicle. As a result you saw that he was fired. It was the Washington Post from David Ignatius that reported that modly told a colleague, breaking news. Trump wants him fired. The next day he was fired. It was after that that modly would go down to guam. He was overheard on the loudspeaker on the ship telling folks that it was a betrayal of trust, that he was either too naive or too stupid to be their commanding officer. He said he stood by those words the next day. Then the president , chuck, as you saw, spoke out about it. Next thing you knew he was out. You can say hes resigned or whether he was fired, its clear the president wasnt satisfied with it. But to give the president credit for saying he wants into the veen here i think is premature given the fact that at least according to the Washington Post it was the president himself who wanted captain crozier fired in the first place. I think it was a bit naive if the now former acting secretary of the navy thought his remarks to the crew wouldnt leak out and become fodder in the public arena. Anyway, i know irony hasnt died completely. Peter alexander, ron allen, thank you both. I want to turn now to a couple of experts on the scientific side of things. Drew harris is a Population Health expert, assistant professor at Thomas Jefferson university. And dr. Vin gupta has become a familiar face to many of you. Hes a Critical Care physician, pandemics consultant and msnbc contributor. Dr. Gupta, let me simply start with you. We cant figure out on my staff today if whether we should be embracing what appears to be some green shoots of good news on flattening the curve or if were just so battered with bad news that it just looks good in comparison. Where are we, dr. Gupta . Thanks, chuck. You know, you nailed it. We are looking for tea leaves that are positive. And this is positive. This is great news that we are making some inroads that social distancing, the psychological trauma of social distancing, its hard on all of us, is working. Thats great news. Because at least we know were going through this for a reason. But the models out of the university of washington at the institute for health metrics, other models say if we dont and this is what ron was saying earlier. If we dont keep our foot on the pedal were going to lose the gains weve already achieved. Its important to think past april 30th. These gains are contingent on social distancing continuing for the month ahead. After that. Into may. End of may. Who knows what looks we just dont know. We havent seen the forecast yet of what happens if we let off the pedal may 1st, june 1st, july 1st. We just dont know that. Theres a lot of uncertainty. We have to take this good news with caution and we cant let our guard down. Drew harris, help us understand when we should start to look at a model and say, yeah, thats right. Its all working. Well, i think its working according to plan. Were responding, flattening the curve. But youve got to remember the more pressure you put on a curve to flatten it the curve is going to be pushing back at the same time. So im concerned there are pockets of outbreaks throughout this country that were not exactly measuring, that the testing is still not robust enough to know if its spreading in communities we havent even heard of, communities you may not be covering in the weeks to come. You have to remember these are communitylevel curves that we sum and thats the entire country but this is a very diverse place. So there are going to be parts of the country where their peaks are going to come many weeks later. So we have to be really aware of that and track it. Also, the complacency that comes with saying oh, great, weve hit past our peak and now we can let is the wrong idea. Because there are many people who have not been exposed to this virus. And the minute we start backing down on social distancing and reexposure, exposing people for the first time to the virus, were going to see it roaring back. And the question is are we prepared to do whats necessary to put out those outbreaks when they begin again . Didnt we get a false positive, dr. Guptaw italy a week or so ago where it looked like italy was flattening and then it ended up looking like statistical noise then . Now it does look like its flattening. I mean, is there any way to read into that, in that way looking at what happened in italy . Chuck, i think to your point there is uncertainty. And just looking at one point in time and saying hey, we beat this, is dangerous. We need to look at trends. This is great. Im glad it seems like we are making progress here. But to your point, one point in time tells minimal information. We have to have a broader scope here. We need to recognize were definitely not out of the woods yet. And im concerned because im concerned theres a lot of leak. Theres a lot of leak in the president s will to stay the course. Hes getting a lot of pressure to open up the economy. We get that. But what misguided mixed messages on masks, for example, are causing people ive seen all types of things happen. Going out to the Grocery Store here in seattle, a lot of ppe use, for example. Because we dont know what to trust. Were getting mixed messages from the top. So this is going to tear at the fabric of lets stick together, lets stay socially distant for the time being. Lets minimize medical use of or nonmedical use of ppe. Theres a lot of things pulling at us, sticking towards a common goal here, which is social distancing for the time being. Drew harris, is there a point on the curve that we can sort of use as a goal to see i mean as it goes down, you know, theres flattening the curve and then theres actually bending it downward. At what point on the downward bend do you feel comfortable opening the economy up again . Well, i think what we start to see, theres not Community Spread of the disease. Right now we are looking in the rearview mirror. Thats really how weve been driving this car. Looking backwards. Because every case that we see as tested, many of them are actually people who are showing symptoms. So theyve already had the virus for a week or two at that point. So its reflecting things that have happened in the past. So we really wont know that social distancing is making a difference until a few weeks into the future, and even then as a dropoff its still going to be spread in peoples homes as theyve hunkered down the way weve been telling them but they can still spread it to those who are close to them. So were going to need a few of these cycles to go through to make sure that we are not going to see a recurrence of that. Its going to be up to the modelers and for other experts to really figure out whether we hit that number. But what we need to do is prepare to begin testing as we begin to let up on this. This is a wildfire that maybe were doing a good job of suppressing but until we know that those hot spots are also put out as they occur were ready to put water on them when they do occur. Were not going to be able to lippett dont tire suppression throughout the country. Dr. Gupta, are we i dont think anybody wanted to see a realtime experiment on lifting things too early, but do we have an experiment running right now in wisconsin with election with this primary day, with this decision to let people vote . Will we be able to learn a really harsh lesson one way or the other i guess if its not a harsh lesson then that would be the good news. But in three weeks were going to learn how to open up or not via what happens in wisconsin . Chuck, maybe. I would say lets look to missouri. Not to call out missouri. But a governor that has still chosen to go their own route and go rogue to what 40 other states are doing. So wisconsin yes, there will be one point in time. But i dont know what missouris doing. Why are they choosing to not invoke shelter in place laws . It doesnt make any sense. Its irresponsible. And to the point that was just made, if you have one focus, one area where theres an outbreak where theres Community Transmission thats sustained, that can cause a wildfire that can go countrywide. So its irresponsible. We need a national approach. Weve been saying the same thing all the last several weeks. So what theyre doing in missouri is irresponsible. And thats where youre going to be watching to see whether that tells a catastrophic story around the country. Anyway, dr. Vin gupta, drew harris. I know dr. Gupta youre going to stick around for a little while. Well see the white house briefing, how long that happens. Thats been a marathon. Drew harris, thank you for sharing your expertise as well. We are about to start the white house Coronavirus Task force briefing. You saw theres a ton to get to in the briefing itself. This one could be a doozy. But once it begins we will bring the important parts to you live. Also pushed to the brink. New york citys First Responders are overloaded. Trying to keep up with the onslaught of coronavirus emergencies. Im going to talk to a paramedic on the front lines. Thats next. Thats next. 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. 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Thats simple, easy, awesome. Go to xfinitymobile. Com today. Welcome back. With more than 75,000 new york City Residents testing positive for covid19, we have some staggering and difficult new numbers that illustrate the battle First Responders in the city are facing. Last week the fdny received an average of 284 socalled cardiac arrest calls a day. That is up from 69 calls a day during the same period last year. Thats a big jump. 72 of those calls ended in a death. 72 . Last year 38 of those same calls ended in death. Keep in mind not all of these calls are related to the coronavirus. But it boils down to this. First responders are facing more than four times as many cardiac calls. Nearly ten times as many of those patients are dying. And possibly people are waiting till the very last minute before they call right now, which may be a reason for that increase in the death rate on this. Still, as paramedics struggle to handle this virus theyre also struggling to protect themselves. Right now nearly a quarter of all emts in new york city are out because of the coronavirus or a flulike symptom. Anthony amager, Vice President of the local 36 fdny Officers Union and also a working paramedic. Mr. Almagera, thank you for joining me. Paint a picture for us. Paint a picture for the viewers of what an average 24 hours is like right now in new york city for an emt. Yesterday we got 6,900 calls. Today were already up to 4,500. Its about 300 calls an hour give or take. Its unprecedented. We deal with normally 4,000 calls. It spikes a little in a heat wave or a hurricane or Something Like that. The amount of cardiac arrests like you alluded to earlier, its really something. I worked sunday. I did 12 cardiac arrests in 16 hours. A lot of the crews are doing the same out here. This virus has really taken its toll on people. Were trying to save as many lives as we can. But whats your biggest challenge . Physical personnel right now or the equipment or both . Both. As you mentioned about 25 of our workforce is in quarantine or have tested positive. The biggest challenge is to know our own status. We dont have dedicated testing for 911 providers in this city which is something the mayor has dropped the ball on. The equipment, the n95 masks, were running low on. The men and women of ems are doing the best they can. Theyve really been commendable. Theyre going out, answering the call. Yesterday not yesterday. Im sorry. A couple days ago i got a phone call from one of the emts at my station. She called me and stated that she wanted to she was still feeling sick and she felt bad, and i said of course she felt bad, you have the virus. She goes no, i feel bad because im not there helping you guys help everyone else. So just to show you the level of dedication that the men and women of the ems are doing day in and day out. But it is take its toll on us. Its really something. I want to tell me about this testing situation. You just alluded to it very quickly. Id like you to go back to it. Lets belabor this point. This is the original sin in this entire pandemic, has been our inability to test in a quick, in a reliable way, and were still trying to play catchup. I thought at least if you were on the front lines you would get access to testing. How hard is it for an emt to get a test . It doesnt exist for us in a dedicated way. We have to go to try and find a clinic, try and find some type of hospital or some setting that will provide it for us. The real issue with that is we have asked this mayor from day one to provide this for us so we dont bring it home to our families. The men and women of the ems signed up for a job. We get sick, we signed up for a job that we get sick on, that we can die from. We have died on this job through illness and injury. And but our families dont need to die with us. 700 people are currently being monitored on ems, quarantined or tested positive and they had to go get a test on their own through the luck of the draw trying to find it. We dont want to bring it home to our families, which is the major issue, the major concern my members call day in and day out for. Right. Anthony, ive got to wrap this up right now. But theres a lot of people watching that want to show an opportunity to give thanks to the emt workers. Is there a support network that people can contribute to that are helping out if there are folks that dont have the resources that perhaps your unions been able to give them in the past . Yeah, so if its possible we have a health fund website set up here to help fdny ems members and im sure other agencies around the country do. But the one for our site is www. Emsfdnyhelpfund. Com. If the public wants to help us in our time of need, because im sure members are going to start to need things as their families are out of work and as theyre sick, we do have some members at the moment who are in icu. A couple of them are intubated due to this disease. So if the public would like to help us, thats the best way to do it, is through the health fund website. Emsfdnyhelpfund. Com. Anthony almojera, a union leader, on the front lines. I any the public needs to understand how you guys are putting your lives on the line for all of us. Thank you for that. Much appreciated. I want to turn now. I want to go overseas here where in the uk where Prime Minister Boris Johnson is still in intensive care right now due to the coronavirus complications. After first being hospitalized on sunday. He was moved into icu yesterday as his condition worsened. According to 10 downing street hes on oxygen but not a ventilator, which of course as we know is an important distinction. This is all happening as the number of cases and deaths in the uk are rising. They hit a grim record of over 780 deaths there in the past 24 hours. France also hit a Record Number in the same time span. 833 deaths were recorded there overnight. But in other parts of europe there are signs of hope. Countries like austria, denmark, norway and even italy are starting to talk about reopening. A lot of flaltenning of curves in different European Countries. Joining me now, my colleague, nbc news chief foern correspondent richard engel. Richard, i feel like theres two ways to look at the Boris Johnson situation, right . Number one, you would assume they would not be admitting him to the hospital unless they absolutely had to. They won be giving him an icu bed unless they absolutely had to. Do you think they are underplaying the seriousness of this or are we being given the full story . So i spoke to one of Boris Johnsons associates, his former spokesman, and i asked him that very question. I said do you think that the government here would be more likely to move the Prime Minister because theyre worried about his health and they would react quickly if he was showing any symptoms, any labored breathing, send him quickly to an icu, or would they slow it down, would they be reluctant to do it because of the seriousness of the matter, because of the messaging that it would send, that it might make the public nervous. And he said it would probably be the latter, that Boris Johnson himself would be reluctant to o go, that he is a strong personality, he doesnt want to not be holding the reins of authority in his hands, that he made a rugby analogy. He said he takes it like a rugby player, if you knock him down he wants to get back in, wants to get back into the fight, and recognizing the seriousness of the messaging of this. So he thought it would have to be quite severe indeed for them to move him to the hospital. But going back to what he was talking about earlier, i am still shocked that ive been talking to virologists all around the world, with your interview just a short while ago with the front line medical worker. The testing is essential to this. You cant bluff your wei through it. No virologist ive talked to says you can just sort of hope for the best. I was talking today to a doctor in hong kong. He said they never had a testing issue, if you wanted a test you could get one. Yet theyre seeing a second wave in hong kong right now that is actually bigger than the first wave and its making people very nervous. They thought they had beaten it. Theyve never had any problems with testing. And theyre seeing this giant spike. They think because they have such good testing theyre going to be able to get this wave down quite quickly because people are disciplined, they know what to do. The Health Care System has handled this recently and handled it quite well. But unless you get that testing, unless you get it out quickly, you dont know what youre dealing with. You dont know whos got it. And you end up having to quarantine your entire society. And we know about the economic costs of all of that. Richard, before i let you go, id like a little european politics here and just simply can the eu survive this pandemic . Well, borders are getting a lot tighter than they used to. The whole idea of the eu is wed have a single open space. Youd have different political systems. But people would be able to move from country to country and it would be a giant Exchange Program for education and labor. And now as every country is getting nervous, it is each countrys systems and National Characteristics are coming out more and more. So the eu may survive because it is providing a lot of services, in particular to poorer countries, and is serving as a redistribution mechanism, but it is also were also seeing a tremendous moment of nationalism. And going back to what you were saying at the top of your conversation, when do you know its the right time to come out of hiding . You remember the game of hide and seek. At the end of the game the one person would call olly olly oxen free and everyone gets to come out of hiding. It doesnt really work that way. I dont think were going to get an olly oxen free, an all clear. Instead people start to peek out of the shadows. They start to take one foot out of hiding, see how much they can get away with it. And then if they get away with it a little bit they put another foot out. There have already been countries, austria, denmark, several countries, the Czech Republic that have put out schedules saying what theyre going to open over the next couple of weeks. Theyre going to open some small shops. Then theyre going to open some hairdressers. If that works theyre going to open some larger retail stores. So theyre taking this gradual approach but there is a plan. So i have a sense of what theyre doing when i talk about the Czech Republic or even italy but it is much harder to say what the plan is when looking from the outside in at the United States right now. Well, it is. And its clearly in europe it can be a country by country. In this country it might be state by state. If or even region by region within a specific state. Richard engel, boy, im really i mean, watching this issue with Boris Johnson, boy, i just i just hope things are good overnight. I know that entire country i think is hanging on. Officials here are saying hes in good spirits and is conscious and hes doing well. But still in icu. Its been quite the political upheaval for the uk as it is the last few years. This would just be another thing there that would be tough to take. Richard engel, thank you. Wrer awaiting the White House Coronavirus briefing. Were going to bring you that live when it happens. Up next, wisconsin is going to the polls despite the pandemic. 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S clear, doing Everything Possible to keep you connected. Through the resilience of our network and people. We can keep learning, keep sharing, keep watching, and most of all, keep together. Its the job weve always done. It is the job we will always do. I need all the breaks, that i can get. At liberty butchumal cut. Liberty biberty cut. Well dub it. Liberty mutual customizes your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Welcome back. We are usually thrilled to get to say that if its tuesday someone is voting somewhere. But this isnt a usual tuesday and this probably shouldnt be a tuesday where somebody is voting somewhere. But it is. And it isnt thrilling to see that a political showdown in wisconsin has come to this. Long lines of people Wearing Masks and large crowds at polling stations across the state despite the pandemic gripping the country. President trump is among the republicans encouraging people to, quote, get out and vote. Wisconsins democratic governor issued a lastminute executive order moving the election to june. The republicancontrolled state legislature pushed back and the Wisconsin State Supreme Court sided with the gop. Then the u. S. Supreme court ruled as well, refusing to extend a deadline for absentee ballots. And though it was the republicans pushing yesterday to make todays election, for weeks governor tony avers has been resisting changing todays elections until late in the process even as other governors and other states were moving their election ppz now voters in wisconsin are forced to choose between their civic responsibilities and their health. Its also got a lot of people wondering what it all means for november. And we may be having a realtime experiment in what letting loose the social distancing guidelines could do if you dont do it. Shaquille brewster is in milwaukee for us, one of our political reporters. Im also joined by National Political correspondent steve kornacki. Shaq, tell me what youve been seeing all day. I notice that people are trying to at least create space in line. Thats good news to see. Reporter thats right, chuck. You mentioned outside when you look at these lines, which are long, especially here in milwaukee, where there are only five of the normally 180 polling locations, you see people trying to keep a little bit more space. You you see them all Wearing Masks. On the inside you definitely see social distancing being enforced. Each time a voter goes and votes theres a Health Official that comes down and wipes down that voting machine. When im talking to people, in the conversations im having with people its clear they do want to come out and vote and exercise that constitutional duty. But there is genuine frustration with the fact that they have to come out and vote. We know that absentee ballots have increased. There was a surge in ballots, over 800,000 ballots have been returned as of this morning. But the fact that people do have to come out, those who didnt get their ballots, and who had glitches in the system, theres a frustration that they have. Listen to what one voter told me. This is so wrong. This is just so wrong. This election should have been called off. You know, theyre telling us to stay in the house and, you know, staying six feet from each other. But then one of the most important times theyre forcing us to come out here in a group. Stop playing politics with our lives. You know, thats what im feeling. Reporter youre feeling like this is a game yeah. Reporter you get a sense that poll workers are really doing all they can to make this process as safe as possible for people. National guard members have been called. There are several Dozen National guard members at this polling location. Something a milwaukee election official actually said is they had more National Guard members assist in this election than they expected. They believe they actually had they known these numbers they would have been able to increase the amount of voting locations here in milwaukee but its too late at this point now. Theres lines that are going for about three hours. Chuck . And we may not get results for a week i think officially anyway. Shaquille brewster, ive got to leave it there. The president has just walked out. The briefing has begun. I do think in three weeks were going to know what has happened in wisconsin. Three weeks and see what happens if we have a mini hot spot or outbreak there that could have a huge impact. Look, theres a lot that happened today, as we told you at the top, at this press briefing were very curious to hear what doctors fauci and birx have to say about todays modeling news. Obviously theres news about these Inspector Generals, the firing of the active secretary of the navy. So its going to be quite the briefing. With that we will go in and out. If it at all veers off and gets way too political, well bring our medical experts back in. But for the most part lets listen in. The American People for continuing to follow our guidelines on slowing the spread. An expression that more and more people are thinking about. Nobody ever heard of it two months ago and now everybodys talking about slowing the spread, stopping the spread. Even during this painful week we see glimmers of very, very strong hope. And this will be a very painful week. And next week at least part of next week but probably all of it. Look, if one person dies its a painful week. And we know thats going to unfortunately happen. This is a monster were fighting. But signs are that our strategy is totally working. Every american has a role to play in winning this war. And were going to be winning it. Were going to be winning it powerfully. And well be prepared for the next one should it happen. But hopefully it wont. Our massive airlift operation for critical supplies, its called project air bridge, continued today as five massive planes, flights, landed in the United States packed with personal protective equipment and our nations heroic healthcare workers will be the ben fir beneficiaries of that. 27 more flights are scheduled over the next couple of weeks. The army corps of engineers is constructing facilities that will support more than 15,000 hospital beds to treat patients in need. So theyre building now approximately 15,000. They just completed the big one in new york. They just completed and are in the process of continuing in chicago and many other places. Theyre incredible. The army corps of engineers, we owe them a lot. What theyre able to do in such a short period of time. Theyll build these massive facilities, 2,000 beds in four days. So its really something very special. I know, i was in the Construction Industry and you dont see that happen very often. I want to remind governors and Emergency Managers that sharing Realtime Data with us about equipment and their needs is very important. All of their supplies, hospital occupancies, critical. A lot of the occupancy is really getting a little bit lower than anticipated and thats good. We sort of thought that was going to happen. Were getting along very well with the governors. This whole situation with respect to talking to us about equipment and equipment needs, giving us a little bit of lead time, so important. All the supplies. Were getting it to everybody like they never thought possible. But well ensure that we can rapidly deploy federal assets where and when theyre needed, especially on ventilators. Were actually getting some ventilators back. As you know, the state of california was back. They sent some back which they wont need. And Washington State likewise. And we have some others coming back. So were using them in areas we need them. We are pressing forward aggressively on the scientific fronteer of the medical war. The companies i spoke to, the four leading i call them the genius companies. Theyre doing incredibly well with respect to cures and also with respect to a vaccine thats going to protect us, totally protect us, and they have some great potential. Its going to take a little while yet but they have some great potential, some great early results. And the governors been working hard and we are working hard with the governors. Theres been great coordination, especially over the last little while. Weve given them a lot of equipment, a lot of ventilators, but a lot of equipment of all types. And i will protect you if your governor fails, if you have a governor thats failing were going to protect you. But the governors are working well with us over the last period of time. Today in our stockpile of ventilators and again, we need the stockpile so we can immediately move them from place to place wherever the monster hits. Its a monster. We have 8,675 ventilators right now in stock ready to move. And we have all sorts of incredible soldiers, our military is going to move them should they be needed in, as an example, if we need additional in new york or the new york city area. You have state, you have city, and spoke to mayor de blasio and we really have a great wellcoordinated campaign with mayor de blasio. Its been really good. Spoke to governor cuomo. Its been great coordination. So if they need something, we have it. If louisiana needs something, we have it. Same thing with michigan. Same thing with illinois. There are certain spots that are very hot. And well see what happens. But well know pretty much we have time and well be able to move it. In addition to the 8,675 ventilators we have 2,200 arriving on april 13th. We have 5,500 arriving on may 4. These are ones that were building for the most part. And we have asknow, Great Companies building them. Ford, general motors, g. E. We have really some Great Companies that are doing it. On may 18th we have 12,000. On june 1, we have 20,000. On june 29th, we have 60,000 ventilators coming. 60. 60. So we have a total of 110 ventilators coming over a short period of time. I dont think well need them. Hopefully we wont need them. I dont think well need anywhere near them. But well have them pour the future, and well also be able to help other countries who are desperate for ventilators. The uk called today and wanted to know would it be possible to get 200, and were going work it out. Weve got to work it out. Theyve been great partners, united kingdom. And were going to work it out for them. So they wanted 200. They needed them desperately. We now have ten drugs in active trials. We have 15 more soon to follow, as well as two vaccine candidates in active clinical trials. Well do whatever it takes to secure needed medical supplies and bring more production of essential medicines back to our shores. Were doing that. Were bringing them back to our shores. A lot of these companies, they went a little bit haywire. They went away from this great country, and they had them produced elsewhere. So were going the start bringing them back. Ive been talking about that for a long time. Not only with medical, but lots of other things. America continues to perform more testing than any other nation in the world, and i think thats probably why we have more cases, because when you look at some of these very large companies, i know for a fact that they have far more cases than we do, but they dont report them. Weve performed 1. 8 million tests today. So thats 1,870,000 tests. Think of that, 1,870,000 tests today. Now were performing them at a level that nobody has ever seen before. As we announced yesterday, cvs testing sites in rhode island and georgia will be using abbott labs fiveminute test. Were down to five minutes. Its a fiveminute test so that people can get their results back very quickly. And were actively engaging on the problem of increased impacts. This is a real problem. And its showing up very strongly in our data on the African American community, and were doing everything in our power to address this challenge. Its a tremendous challenge. Its terrible. And provide support to African American citizens of this country who are going through a lot, but its been disproportional. Theyre getting hit very, very hard. In fact, while we have tony here, id like to maybe have you come up and address that one, and then ill continue. But if you could address that, that would be great. Thank you, mr. President. We have a particularly difficult problem of exacerbation of a health disparity. Weve known literally forever that diseases like diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and asthma are disproportionately afflicting the minority populations, particularly the African Americans. Unfortunately, when you look at the predisposing conditions that lead to a bad outcome with coronavirus, the things that get people into icus, that require intubation and often lead to death, they are just those very como comorbidi comorbidities. Were very concerned about that. Its very sad. There is nothing we can do about it right now except give them the best possible care to avoid those complications. Thank you very much. And tony, i think youre going to have some pretty accurate numbers over the next few days, right . But they are very theyre very nasty numbers. Terrible numbers. In total, 1,200 abbott machines, abbott laboratories, theyve been fantastic, have been shipped now nationwide. Up to 500 more are being produced every week. And 50,000 testing cartridges are being manufactured per day. That means a lot of very fast tests. No nation in the world has developed a more diverse and robust Testing Capacity than the United States. Were dealing with other nations, helping them out, because the testing is very tough for them. And our tests are very accurate. A lot of tests are out there and theyre not accurate at all. In fact, some of the tests you dont have a clue whats going on. So were working with other nation, trying to get them help also. At a time when Many Americans are experiencing increased stress, anxiety and personal loss, we must also ensure that our country can meet the Mental Health needs of those struggling in this crisis. There are people struggling. Theyre struggling. And some people are getting to know each other. Some families are getting to know each other in a positive note. But there are a lot of people struggling. On thursday, ill be speaking to leaders and advocates from the Mental Health organizations all across our country. And we are going to be talking about resources and tools that will make available to them. They need help, and its a big problem. When you take something where it was the most successful country in the world, still is, the whole world is shut down. Think of it. Were down to numbers that are incredible. As i said yesterday, i think its 182 countries right now. 182 countries are under attack by the by the scourge, by this virus. But as we wage medical war on the virus, were also speeding Economic Relief to our people. Its incredible. We just had a meeting that was absolutely incredible with the banks. I spoke with leaders in the banking and finance industry about our efforts to help American Workers and employers. As of today, Small Business has processed more than 70 billion in guaranteed loans and will provide much needed relief for nearly a quarter million businesses already. So we are going to be providing tremendous amounts of money to the Small Businesses of our country. Weve been absolutely clobbered. And theyll be keeping open, and theyll be paying their employees. And theyll will all set to go. Well have a rocket upward. I want to thank david solomon, ceo of goldman sachs. Brian moynihan, ceo of bank of america; gordon smith, coimpeachment, coo of jp morgan chase; charles scharf, ceo of wells fargo; michael corbett, ceo of citi group; al kelly, ceo of visa; michael vribok ceo of mastercard, michael wilcox, ceo and chairman of grand rapids state bank. And we had numerous others also on the call. I just appreciate them. They are were way ahead of schedule, by the way. Were way ahead of schedule. The Paycheck Protection Program has been incredible. So based on the incredible success of the program, im announcing that ill be asking congress to provide an additional 250 billion for the paycheck protection, which will help keep americans employed to facilitate a quick and full recovery. Were doing very well. Were looking very bipartisan. A lot of people want to do it. And the plan is amazing. Theyre processing hundreds of thousands of loans. And this is the big banks that are doing it, the community banks. But the biggest banks right now in our country are doing it. And theyre doing it for a lot of reasons. One of them is they want to help people. The w. H. O. , thats the World Health Organization, receives vast amounts of money from the United States. And we pay for a majority, the biggest portion of their money. And they actually criticized and disagreed with my travel ban at the time i did it. And they were wrong. Theyve been wrong about a lot of things. And they had a lot of information early and they didnt want to they seemed very chinacentric. And we have to look into that. So were going to look into it. We pay for we give them the majority of the money that they get. And its much more than the 58. The 58 million is a small portion of what theyve gotten over the years. Sometimes they get much more than that. Sometimes its for programs that theyre doing. And its much bigger numbers. And if the programs are good, thats great as far as were concerned. But we want the look into it. World health organization. Because they really are they called it wrong. They called it wrong. They really they missed the call. They could have called it months earlier. They would have known, and they should have known, and they probably did know. So well be looking into that railroad carefully. And were going to put a hold on money spent to the w. H. O. Were going to put a very powerful hold on it. And were going to see. Its a great thing if it works, but when they call every shot wrong, thats no good. Were this the midst of a Great National struggle, one that requires the shared sacrifice of all americans. In recent week, its been remarkable to see so Many Companies and organizations and individuals like the banks that i just told you about, the biggest banks in the world, they stepped up to help Small Business. They have big business, Small Business. Big business will some day be the Small Business. But the Small Business is 50 of our economic strength. They just rose to the occasion. Everybody is rising to the occasion. Its been incredible to watch. To honor and celebrate the extraordinary examples of patriotism and citizenship, were seeing im asking americans to use t the