Transcripts For MSNBCW The Rachel Maddow Show 20200408

All three of the people were going to be hosting. Its going to be a big evening. Glad to have you here. Patricia mcknight is an undergrad at the university of wisconsin at milwaukee. Shes a double major. Shes also working as an intern at the journal sentinel, the biggest newspaper in milwaukee. Today that intern at that paper, patricia mcknight, took this picture, which is pretty much the photo of the day in american news. It shows a line outside Washington High School in milwaukee today. Its a line to vote. In the foreground you see a milwaukee Resident Named jennifer taff holding that sign this is ridiculous. Ms. Taft told the paper by way of explanation for her sign, quote, im disgusted. I requested an absentee ballot almost three weeks ago and never got it. I have a father dying from lung disease, and i have to risk my life and his just to exposuerciy right to vote. At the time this intrepid intern, patricia mcknight, took this photo for the journal sentinel, Jennifer Taft told the paper she had already been in line for almost two hours. Over the course of the day today, in milwaukee, wisconsins largest city, the wait time to vote ranged from about an hour and a half to about 2 1 2 hours on average. The New York Times sent reporters to cover this remarkable or should i say ridiculous vote today as well. One New York Times reporter saying that across town from the Washington High School in milwaukee, at Alexander Hamilton high school in milwaukee, that high schools parking lot was completely filled with cars before daybreak today. And by 8 00 a. M. At Alexander Hamilton high school, the line to vote was more than 300 people long. The voting lines were stunning all over wisconsin today, not just because it shouldnt be this hard to vote in normal times, but because the Republicanled Legislature in wisconsin, aided by a conservativesonly state Supreme Court majority and a conservativesonly u. S. Supreme court majority, all insisted that this was what people had to be put through in wisconsin today if they had the temerity to still show up to vote. The Surgeon General of the United States went on the today show on nbc this morning and begged that people in wisconsin who were turning out to vote today should please keep six feet apart, please keep their faces covered with some kind of cloth covering or mask, and you can see from the images of people valiantly lining up to vote in wisconsin today that a lot of people did that. But you can also see just these harrowing images of old people, sick people, people needing physical assistance to stay in line and to get into their polling places, people literally in mortal danger from turning out in these circumstances and turning out nonetheless. Wisconsin republicans insisted that this election couldnt be moved like all the other elections were moved in other states in the country. They insisted it couldnting mailin ballots for this election. They insisted this election couldnt even have the deadlines extended for people to mail in their ballots. People would have to do it this way if they wanted to vote. You dont really want to vote. You know what were going to put you through if you want to . Wisconsin voters turned out, literally took their lives in har hands for no reason other than that the Republican Party believes a lower turnout election equals better chances for republican candidates and what a better way to achieve a low turnout election than forcing a vote in the middle of a pandemic, forcing voters to defy the stayathome order that thusz far has kept wisconsins case load to between 2,000 and 2,500 casesish. After today, though, who knows . Heres the republican speaker of the wisconsin state legislature, robin vos, in what will become the other defining image of todays news. You are incredibly safe to go out. You are incredibly safe to go out, he says. He is the republican leader in wisconsin who did more than anybody else to force this inperson election today in wisconsin, to force people to show up in person. Lets just play this one more time. You can see here, he is in a full ppe gown and gloves and a medical mask. Thats how hes going out today. But hes assuring everyone in his state that theres no problem. It is perfectly safe for you to go out. Just look at him. Look how safe he is. You are incredibly safe to go out. You are incredibly safe to go out. Dont you feel safer just looking at me . What . You dont have this . You dont have this kind of equipment . Wisconsins not even was deliberately the most dangerous way to do it so they got what they wanted today in wisconsin. As of today, there are roughly 1. 4 million known cases of coronavirus in the world. And of those 1. 4 million cases, almost 0. 4 million of them are in the United States. We are now at 394,000plus cases with more than 12,000 americans dead. Over 1,900 americans have died from coronavirus just in the past 24 hours, which means that one american is dying from coronavirus roughly every 45 seconds. Were starting to get very, very stark news about who exactly is dying from this in our country. Not every state or locality is reporting numbers broken down by race. But where those numbers exist, they are horrifying. In chicago, the population is about 30 black. Africanamericans so far make about 68 of the citys coronavirus deaths. In milwaukee where we saw all those good folks lined up to vote today, the population of milwaukee is about 28 black, but africanamericans so far make up about 73 of the citys deaths. In the state of louisiana, africanamericans make up about 70 of the state deaths. They are about 32 of that states population. In the state of michigan, populations about 14 black, but africanamericans are now 40 of the states deaths. And, again, death numbers and case numbers are not being reported everywhere in the country in a way that is broken down by race. But everywhere those numbers are being reported, broken down by race, the Racial Disparities are haironfire bad. Asked at the white house today about these Racial Disparities, the president said and i quote i dont like it. We are going to have statistics over the next two to three days. Okay. Thats all he had to say about it. Its good to know he doesnt like it. Nobody knows what hes talking about, though, when it comes to these statistics hes going to have. I would tell you to watch this space in terms of figuring out what the president meant by that, but honestly dont. I mean dont watch this space for an explanation at least. Dont expect anything anymore. The two worst affected states in our country remain new york and new jersey. In new york, we have been trying to watch the daily numbers to get a sense of the overall trends in americas worst outbreak. This is the rate of growth of new cases in new york. And as you see, since about march 26th, it appears to be slowing. Thats, again, the rate of growth of new cases. Heres a chart showing similar similar patternish for the rate of growth for hospitalizations. It also vaguely appears to be slowing, at least a little bit. At least appears to be flattening out. The death rate in new york is still sky high, but if new cases are slowing down and hospitalizations really are slowing down too, then we should hopefully see the death numbers come down someday soon as well. As of today, new york reported its highest death toll yet, over 700 dead. As for new jersey, the second worsthit state in the nation so far, were going to speak the second worsthit state in the nation so far, i should tell you we are going to speak live with new jerseys Governor Phil Murphy tonight. That will be the first time we have spoken to him since the start of the coronavirus crisis. His state has just got a bear of an epidemic on their hands. Today they announced that 232 new jersey residents died from coronavirus just in the past 24 hours. Thats their highest death rate yet. The governor also made a public display today of gratitude to the state of california. California just sent new jersey 100 of their ventilators. This is what governor murphy said in response. Quote, california sending 100 lifesaving ventilators to new jersey. We are beyond grateful to governor gavin newsom and the people of california. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. We will repay the favor when california needs it. And here, look at this. We just got in this video tonight. I dont think you will have seen this anywhere else. This is where there is an overlap in the diagram between the most boring tape you can possibly imagine and tape that might also make you cry. What this is, is california packing up and shipping working ventilators to new jersey, 100 to new jersey. Also 100 to new york. Also 100 to illinois. Those arrived tonight. Tomorrow california will be shipping 50 more ventilators to d. C. And 50 to maryland and 50 to nevada. This is mutual aid among the states. Californias governor saying that, you know, listen, this is a loan, not a gift. If and when california needs these back for their own hospitalization peak, the governor of california saying that he knows these states will help california in their time of need just as california is helping now as these other states have such trouble. California isnt in its time of most acute need right now because california is where and how we have learned as a country that here, just like china, here just like everywhere, it matters if you take action to stop the epidemic. It particularly matters if you take early action and Decisive Action. California had the first known case of Community Transmission of coronavirus in this country. Somebody who hadnt visited china, hadnt had any known contact with anyone positive, but nevertheless had turned up with the virus. That first person was in california, northern california, back in late february. By midmarch, the governor of california had banned large gatherings. He had ordered the closure of places like bars and nightclubs. By march 16th, the San Francisco Bay Area Consortium of counties around San Francisco had put in place the countrys first stayathome order. This was something of a National Curiosity when the bay area counties first did that. But within three days, California Governor Gavin Newsom had ordered that stayathome order in effect statewide. First in the country. And acting fast and decisively seems to have made all the difference in the world. California had its first coronavirus death again, they had the first coronavirus Community Transmission case in the country. They had their first coronavirus death ten days before new york had their first death. But look at new yorks death toll versus the california death toll ever since. I mean look at the way that those things have gone up over time. New york now has more than ten times as many deaths as california. New york now has nearly ten times as many cases overall. And even within california, within that gigantic state, the effectiveness of early, Decisive Action by the government is paying dividends. You can see it even in different parts of the state. It was just a few days difference in terms of when their stayathome orders went into effect. But northern california, the San Francisco bay area, did act earlier than even the rest of the state, and they are doing better apparently because of it. On march 10th, San Francisco and los angeles had the same number of cases. But San Francisco acted first, acted the very next day to put in effect its stayathome order. And since then, since that starting point where San Francisco and l. A. Were at the same number, were both at 17 cases, since then San Francisco has seen its numbers rise tenfold, but l. A. Has seen its numbers rise nearly fiftyfold. And, again, it looks like thats because San Francisco acted faster. The government acting quickly and decisively and may i emphasize quickly appears to be what has made california the closest thing that weve got to a Success Story in this country. And our country is not a Success Story. But if youre looking internally for somebody who has done it better than somebody else, if youre looking internally for someplace thats done better than expected, look to california. And they are not out of the woods. I mean as the governor said today, they want those ventilators back when they need them, even if their peak is going to be later and their peak isnt going to be as high as it would have otherwise been without these interventions. The l. A. County Public Health director is telling people in the Greater Los Angeles area, if you do not have to leave the house, this is the week this week and maybe next week, this is the time to just not leave your house at all, not for anything. And tonight just as we were getting on the air, the mayor of los angeles issued a new order that says any l. A. Resident visiting an essential business like a pharmacy or Grocery Store now must wear a facial covering or a mask or that person can be denied service in any california business, any los angeles business. So california for all its success in effect is still ramping up their measures against the spread of the virus. But theyve gone first on everything. And in two weeks or two months or wherever your state hits its apex or patients, hits its apex of hospitalizations, whenever that happens in your state watching me at home right now, you will look back ask wish whoever your governor is in your state had done with gavin newsom did in california weeks ago now. Joining us now is gavin newsom, governor of the great state of california. Governor, i know you have not been doing a lot of tv interviews. I really, really am grateful for you making time to be with us tonight. My honor. Thanks for having me, rachel. Let me just ask the way i just described the situation in your state, that was a pretty quick look at how things have gone. But let me ask you if i got anything wrong or if you thing im looking at anything in a wrongheaded way . No. I think youre right at this moment in time. But were sober about this moment in time, and its incredibly important that i emphasize to the 40 million californians, millions that are watching, to continue our stayathome orders, continue to practice physical distancing. Lets not run the 90yard dash. We still have an enormous amount of work ahead of us. In los angeles the county Health Director asked people to stay inside this week in particular. She said yesterday, if you have enough supplies in your home, this would be the week to skip shopping altogether. Now just tonight, the l. A. Mayor, eric garcetti, is mandating face masks or people can be denied services at stores. So los angeles is still doing some things that are sort of more acute interventions than you have ordered statewide. Do you see them as being on a different time line or track from the rest of the state . Do you agree with these things that l. A. Is doing essentially on their own right now . Yeah, localism is determinative. This is a nation state as you appropriately reference. 40 million people, the worlds fifth largest economy. So we really look for leadership at the local level, and mayor garcetti has been providing that. His Health Director is outstanding. Youre seeing that kind of leadership manifest all across the state where people are taking our baseline recommendations and guidance and they are conditioning based on local realities them even further. I just think that we should continue to do just that over the course of the coming weeks. But this is a curve, rachel, that we have bent in a significant way. But weve also stretched the curve as well. This is why this is a sober moment. And while we may not have the peak, we may not have the slope that new york and other parts of the country have, the reality is we are likely not to experience a peak for many, many weeks. What l. A. Is doing, i think, is appropriate based upon the fact that the numbers there are a little bit different than other parts of the state. But as i say, were not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination. Does that mean that you might consider some of those l. A. Specific measures being extended statewide if things take a turn in a direction that you are worried about . The face coverings mandate, a more strict instruction around these stay at home rules . Is that do you essentially see those things as being on your menu of options if things in california dont go the way you want them to go . Yeah. Whats happening is youre getting a little cabin fever. People are getting a little exhausted by these stayathome orders. You see that on the weekends around the beaches and our state parks. So more enforcement is necessary. Were starting to see more enforcement. Youre also seeing spots in the state, some of the rural parts of the state, not just the coastal parts, where not everybody is practicing that physical distancing. Yes, we work in real times. We recommend face coverings. The mask issue is more challenging as we continue to try to draw down and source more masks for our Frontline Health care workers and the like. But face coverings, when you cannot practice physical distancing, is important. But its not a substitute for the incredible potency and power of an individual practicing physical distancing. On the issue of masks, the San Francisco chronicle reporting today what looks like a spike in the number of California Health workers who are confirmed to have the virus. Its now 269 California Health workers testing positive, which is double the amount six days ago. Its nearly 60 more than yesterday. How are you doing on supplies and protective equipment for Health Workers . Do you have ta date on the california where you feel like you will have your hands around the problem in terms of supplying doctors and nurses and other Health Care Workers with everything they need . Substantively so. Look, weve been competing against other states, against other nations, against our own federal government for ppe, coveralls, masks, shields, n95 masks. Were not waiting around any longer and were not longer interested in the progress we were seeing in the past. In the last 48 hours, we have procured upwards of 200 Million Masks on a monthly basis that were confident we can supply the needs of the state of california, potentially the needs of other western states. And so we just inked a number of contracts in the last few days that give me confidence in being able to say that. Those masks, you are making significant news here, governor. Those masks will be manufactured in california . No. Theyll be manufactured overseas, but we were able to source them through california manufacturer and a consortium of nonprofits. The vast majority of those masks are n95 masks at a price where were not competing against others. Were not looking at gouging, the fraud, and the abuse in this space, competing against other states. We decided enoughs enough. Lets use the power of the purchasing power of the state of california as a nation state. We did just that. And in the next few weeks, were going to see supplies at that level into the state of california and potentially the opportunity to export some of those supplies to states in need. And just to be perfectly clear on that, just to drill down on that because i think you are going to make navl netional with this. You mentioned the number 200 Million Masks. This agreement that youve just signed, again within the last 48 hours, tell me about the overall number of masks you think you have been able to source this way and how that matches up against what you think you will be using in california. The prospect of california not only being able to meet its own needs but potentially export masks could be a gamechanger for the western United States. So let me contextualize it very briefly. The state of california has distributed 41 Million Masks, 41. 4 milli 41. 4 million n95 masks. Weve received just over 1 million from the federal government. Its not an indictment. Its not a cheap shot. At the end of the day, they dont have the masks at the national stockpile. We were going out and getting 5 million there, 200,000 there, competing against other states, competing against the federal government. We decided enough of the small ball. Lets use our purchasing power. Lets go at scale, and we built a consortium of nonprofits and a Large Manufacturer with appropriate contacts in asia, and now we have the confidence that 150plus million n95 masks, 50plus million surgical masks will come in on a monthly basis starting in the next few weeks. 150 million n95, 50 million surgical masks. I know that california still has challenges and i know that california still has a rising case number and still has rising death rates and still has concerns in terms of Health Workers. But california is also doing a lot of things right. In part it was early and decisive policy making in terms of limiting the spread of this disease and its the kind of innovation that youre just describing here in terms of getting the states needs met. Every state has its own challenges and its own circumstances here. Do you feel like you and your fellow governors are peers that are all working in the same direction here . Do you feel like you have role models to call on in terms of making these decisions . I mean california is its own thing. It always has been. But it does feel like the decisionmaking processes that you and your Leadership Team are going through right now, you must feel pretty alone. I do and i dont. I mean youre going to have one of those mentors up next in governor murphy, who has just been extraordinary. Hes a partner with the state of california. J. B. Pritzker, a partner with the state of california. Jay inslee out here in washington state, a partner. Governor brown up in oregon. Were building relationships, building kpcapacity, increasing our collaboration around procurement. These ventilators that were able to send out come from those personal relationships, those professional relationships. Theres a spirit of federalism and partnership and capacitybuilding thats really taking shape across this country. And youre bringing people to the forefront that i think are leading that effort, and im very grateful to those governors for everything theyre doing and their guidance. California governor gavin new soo newsome. I know youve been busy running the states response to this crisis. Thanks for making time for us tonight. Thanks for being here, sir. Good luck. Honor to be with you. Thank you. All right. Weve got, as i mentioned, a bunch of big interviews here tonight. A really honor to have Governor Newsom with us. And, again, underscoring what i think is some considerable news that he just made, he says the state of california has entered into contracts within the last 48 hours that will supply 200 masks per month for ppe, for California Health workers. So many that kofl mcalifornia m able to distribute them to other western states. Thats significant news. We are also going to be talking tonight with the governor of new jersey, with phil murphy, as Governor Newsom just mentioned. And next tonight, we are going to be talking with the Lieutenant General who is in charge of the army corps of engineers. We had him on this show a little more than a week ago. We got more response to that interview from you, our viewers, including some surprising ones, than anybody else we have had on this show in a very long time. Were going to check back in with general semonite tonight. Thats next. Stay with us. More than ever, your home is your sanctuary. Thats why lincoln offers you the ability to purchase a new vehicle remotely with participating dealers. An effortless transactionall without leaving the comfort and safetyof your home. Thats the power of sanctuary. And for a little extra help, receive 0 apr financing and defer your first payment up to 120 days on the purchase of a new lincoln. And defer your first payment up to 120 days nondrowsy claritin cool mint chewables. 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Its one of the largest car shows in the world that attracts more than 800,000 people. This years auto show of course is canceled but tomorrow the tcf center will be operating instead as a 1,000bed Field Hospital. In the span of one week, the army corps of engineers was able to transform that huge arena, rolling in hospital beds, installing nursing stations, even hanging copper piping in order to feed oxygen to hundreds of makeshift rooms. It only took them seven days total. This is mccormick place. Its the Largest Convention center in all of north america. It was supposed to host a major indoor volleyball tournament this weekend. Instead it is being transformed into a 3,000bed Field Hospital for chicago coronavirus patients. The army corps had the first portion of that facility up and running in just five days. They did that while simultaneously converting three closed hospitals in the state of illinois into additional facilities for hundreds more coronavirus patients. In new york, the army corps is in the process of transforming two long island colleges in 1,000bed Field Hospitals. Theyre also putting up tent hospitals outside the Westchester County center. That site will house a 120bed facility for overflow patients from area hospitals. All of that is on top of the 2,000plus bed Field Hospital at the Javits Center, the big Convention Center in manhattan which as of now is accepting coronavirus patients even though that wasnt the initial plan. The army corps says theyve already secured additional sites and theyre slated to begin construction in tennessee and colorado and new mexico and california and florida. Theyre at work all over the country operating at really breakneck speed to assess sites and to convert them into hospital use. At the same time, theyre also giving states the blueprints they need, literally the blueprints, so states can erect these kinds of facilities on their own using the expertise of the army corps and what they have learned by standing these up all over the country. Joining us now once again is Lieutenant General todd semonite. Commanding general of the u. S. Army corps of engineers. Its a really honor to have you back with us tonight. Thank you so much for making time. Hey, rachel, you and i talked about 11 days ago. In those days ive flown to several places in the United States. You just think about the devastation thats out there. You talk about the heroics of the medical community. I just cant say enough. The thoughts and prayers of all of us. Were so proud to be on part of a World Class Team to try to make a little bit of a difference here. 11 days feels like about 11 years, and thats just for me who has this cushy desk job. I cant imagine how long it feels to you. Over that time since we last spoke, what have you learned . What have been the new challenges, new difficulties, anything surprising that has arisen as you and the army corps have been pursuing this mission all over the country . So i think thats the main thing is that this virus gets a vote. This virus has been changing, and you cant just figure out what is the plan and build out the plan. So when we went into this concept, we really did think that wed have a lot more capability to do things like hotels and dormitories. We were a little nervous of the great big Convention Center because we werent sure we could actually put covid in there. What we have learned is were able to build this out. You talked about detroit and chicago. What some phenomenal players up there. I met with governor whitmer. Governor pritzker was at the one down there. We were able to go into that Convention Center. We got to seal a lot of the gaps. Theyre little tiny air gaps. Then youve got to be able to modify the hvac system to be able to get to that pressure differential. Then you talked about the copper pipes. We didnt do this in javits initially but we came in and put oxygen. So instead of having to have little oxygen tanks where everybodys bed, we actually brought in central piping with oxygen to be able to modify that center. So every single time we build one, we have a standard design. You and i talked about that. And then we continue to modify the standard design and then site adapt it, power it down and be able to have decentralized execution at the point in need. So its been a very, very evolving concept. But as a result, were Getting Better and better capabilities. Thats fascinating. I was thinking exactly about that conversation that you and i had 11 days ago about the Javits Center. You explained here on our air that it was exliplicitly for nonCovid Patients. You said it was very hard to take an arena capability like the Javits Center and make it covid compliant. Now not only have you done it in lots of arenas, you have been able to change course to make that Javits Center covid compliant as well. It sounds like youve exceeded your own expectations there. It really goes back to this ability to being responsive to the needs of the mayor and the governor. Again, we work for fema. Were part of the federal team. You had a great discussion with Governor Newsom about this. Wheres the governor want to go with their plan, and then how do we continue to adapt . Obviously in new york, because of the different changes in some of the medical populations, we were asked to be able to adapt. But the team rallied and as a result, weve got a very, very capable facility tonight thats taking care of people. How did the projections of when and where different places are going to hit their apex patient load how do those things factor into your Decision Making . Obviously every state in the country basically is coming to you, asking you to prioritize their locations, asking you to build there. Do those projections about whos going to be in the worst circumstances when factor into your Decision Making process in terms of where you go first . So they definitely do, and i think tonight weve done about 828 different assessments, so thats a lot of different buildings to look at. But were really down into building out probably 40 or 50 of those because a lot of those, you know, the states have decided they might not need them or something. But what weve done with our modeling and its hand in hand with Vice President pences task force is every single city has a curve. Governor newsom talked about it. Some are a plateau. Some are going to be a couple weeks down the road. So when we look at a facility, we go in very Detailed Analysis with a lot of the same fundamental modelling parameters. Then we build out that particular city. I said this before. We cant tell our guys, you get three or four weeks because thats when somebody wants it done. We say here is when the mayor needs to have it. Here is when the governor needs to have it. We need a plan here where its going to be a 21day build. It will go to the contractors and say this is going to be 24 7 because we do not want to be late the need. Were pushing real hard on the other facilities weve got. But right now we continue to think we can just barely stay ahead of the curve in all of those key cities. General, one last brief question. Is there anything thats going wrong . Is there anything that you need that you dont have . Is there anything that the American People should know about your needs in this incredibly Important Mission that youre on that you need help for . I dont think there is. Just two quick points. One is i still worry to a degree that there might be some leaders out there who are thinking theyre optimistic. So we keep going to the governor and say heres what were looking at. What are you looking at . Do you have enough beds, to try to make sure that those Decision Makers are making those decisions because, reaching, were out of time. Weve got two or three weeks left. But if we dont start a build in the next couple of days, we miss that window. Other thing is the president , the Vice President , the secretary of defense, they called me about a week and a half ago on my cell phone and said, todd, what do you need to be able to continue to focus . And whether its the administration, the governors, everybody is all in by trying to make sure were focused at one thing, and thats to be able to take care of this bed shortage and to be able to make sure were stepping up where we need to to be able to take care of these great americans. Lieutenant general todd semonite, chief of engineers, commanding general of the u. S. Army corps of engineers, thank you for helping us understand what youre doing. Rachel, have us back again because every week this is changing. I dont have a clue whats going to happen in ten days but you need to know the corps of engineers and the department of defense are fully committed to stay ahead of it. Absolutely, sir. Say the word. All right. Well be right back. Stay with us. Right back. Stay with us did you know diarrhea is often caused by bad bacteria in food . Try pepto diarrhea. Pepto® diarrhea is proven effective to treat symptoms, and it also targets the cause of diarrhea. The 3 times concentrated liquid formula coats and kills bacteria to relieve diarrhea. While the leading competitor does nothing to kill the bacteria, pepto® diarrhea gets to the source, killing the bad bacteria. So, try pepto® diarrhea, and remember to have it on hand every time you travel. 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Just likand unique needss, your lips have a unique print your lips are like no others, and need a lip routine thats just right for you chapstick has you covered chapstick. Put your lips first. baby sounds and cooing notification chime keyboard clicking we cant offer much during this time of crisis, but we can offer what we have. So from all of us working early mornings on the farm, long days in the plant, or late nights stocking shelves doing all we can to get you the milk you need. We hope it makes your breakfast a little brighter. Your snacks more nutritious. And reminds you when it comes to caring, there is no expiration date. Milk. Love whats real. Holy Name Medical Center in northern new jersey is a community hospital, medium size. Many of the staff were actually born here. It was also one of the hospitals hit earliest and hardest by the coronavirus. 55 deaths so far. 175 infected people hospitalized. Michelle aceto is the director of nursing. The nursing staff have been amazing. Every time they go into a patient room, they know that not only are they the caregive, but they are the standin family member. Reporter and sometimes it is their family. Three of acetos relatives have tested positive for coronavirus, including her motherinlaw, who was hospitalized here and celebrated her 89th birthday with nurses sing. Happy birthday to you reporter two days later, she died. That hospital where nbc news Stephanie Gosk filed that report, that hospital is in teaneck, new jersey. We all know the epicenter of the pandemic in the u. S. Is new york. But the state with the second most coronavirus cases and deaths right behind new york is new jersey. One sobering local headline put it succinctly. Quote, if new jersey were a country, it would rank ninth in the world for coronavirus cases. Even as new york may be hitting its peak, maybe essentially now, new jersey Officials Say they think new jerseys coronavirus peak may still be ten days or so away. And the implications of that are stark with as many cases and as many deaths as theyve got already. Today new jersey officials ordered 20 refrigerated morgue trucks that can hold nearly 1,700 bodies. Supplies of drugs used to treat coronavirus patients are also reportedly running low in new jersey hospitals. There have been 22 deaths in the last 2 1 2 weeks at one nursing home in elizabeth, new jersey, which is absolutely harrowing. County jails are on lockdown as both prisoners and staff continue to test positive at alarming rates. Hospitals in the state of new jersey are being overwhelmed. By the end of last week, there were nine hospitals in northern new jersey that were already diverted patients to other facilities because they didnt have the beds or the staff to take in anyone else. Nine of them. New jersey advanced media captured a snapshot of that bad circumstance in one new jersey hospital from this weekend. Quote, overrun with covid19 patients, University Hospital in newark was stretched to its limits saturday morning. More than 150 confirmed Covid Patients and a few dozen suspected cases were requiring care. Officials started calling around searching for additional medical personnel. Several members of newarks Emergency Medical Services team, the emts, were off duty and some of them had just finished a full shift of their own. It didnt matter. The ems workers set up monitors, helped intubate patients, got the critically ill to ventilators and started ivs. Some even helped clean areas of the highly trafficked ward. Newarks ems coordinator said the doctors and nurses at that hospital were so relieved that, quote, Staff Members were crying. They couldnt even form sentences. And that is an amazing and moving story about these Frontline Health workers pulling together to help each other get through a harrowing night, right . Ems workers having already worked a full shift, right . Ems workers saying nevertheless saying im off now. Ill come to the hospital. But that unit, they cover all of the city of new york and its nearly 300,000 units. That unit has already had several of their own members out sick with coronavirus. Theyre already stretched to the breaking point and they did a great thing for that overwhelmed hospital in their district this weekend. But that is not a sustainable model for how new jersey is going to get through this, particularly if their peak is yet to come. How does new jersey get through this . Hold that thought. At bayer, were discovering more about the links between heart and kidney disease, so george can keep discovering new adventures. At bayer, this is why we science. Aand were here for you ry day fespecially now,rs. 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. Then you might have a dcondition called dry mouth. . Biotene is clinically proven to soothe and moisturize a dry mouth. Plus, it freshens breath. Biotene. Immediate and long lasting dry mouth symptom relief. Joining us now is the governor of the great state of new jersey, phil murphy. Governor murphy, i know this is a crucial time for you and your Leadership Team. Thank you so much for making time to talk us through this tonight. Really appreciate you being here. Honored to be with you, rachel. Today you had the sad responsibility to announce your states largest oneday death toll yet. Overall, more than 1,200 people have died in your state. More than 1,000 of those deaths reported just in the past week. I have to ask you where you feel like you are in new jersey in terms of how bad this is going to get and how much worse its going to get from here. Yeah, today was a tough day. By the way, on saturday we passed the number of fatalities we suffered on 9 11, and we were second only to new york state to give another sense of the gravity of what were dealing with. Were probably realistically two or three weeks away from when this is going to really hit the top, and its a war, and its a war that were waging on two fronts. Thats the way we think about it. On the one hand, behavior of all 9 million of us. If youre watching from jersey, please stay home. Please, god, stay home. And the more of that we can do, the more likely it is that weve got a manageable amount of cases to deal with. On the other hand, its building out and your good stories on holy name in teaneck and University Hospital in newark show this. We need to get more beds, more ventilators, more personal protective equipment, more Health Care Workers. And theres a strategy for all that. We dont have enough of it right now, but those are the two fronts of the war, and were battling each minute to minute on both sides. When you talk about having a manageable number of cases, obviously one case is too many in terms of what anybody would want to see. But given the rate of increase of cases and the rate of increase in hospitalizations in new jersey that i was looking at today in preparation to talk with you, i am worried about the capacity of new jersey hospitals. I am worried about reports that more than half a dozen new jersey hospitals by last week were already turning patients to other facilities because they couldnt take in anyone new. How concerned are you realistically that new jerseys Hospital Capacity isnt going to be up to the numbers that you are going to have . Listen, concerned without question. And weve got you know, were aggressively pursuing all those avenues i just mentioned. General semonite was on. His colleague, general jeff millhorn and i will tour a 500bed field medical station tomorrow in edison, new jersey. Thats one of three field medical stations. President trump has given new jersey a slug of the beds on the usns comfort. Weve got a call to arms for Health Care Workers, by the way, to come and volunteer to relieve our heroic workers. Weve gotten ventilators, several slugs out of the federal strategic stockpile. We need more. California, by the way, big shoutout to gavin newsom, who is sending some our way. Were constantly prowling the globe for personal protective equipment. So these are fronts that were aggressively pursuing all at the same time. And the concerns are real. The concerns are real without question, particularly in the northern and northeastern counties in our state which are part of the metro new york reality. One of the things that ive been interested to see you and your team working on in new jersey is a plan, a statewide plan to help longterm care facilities. I know that more than half of new jerseys longterm care facilities have at least one case of coronavirus, 10 of the states fatalities thus far are linked to nursing homes. Weve seen large numbers of death in individual facilities. Its just terrifying when we think about our elders, our Older Americans in these facilities where they need to be for a million reasons, but it does feel like this virus rips through them like a wildfire through dry grass. What is the longterm care Facility Plan that you are working on . What are the principles that are guiding that plan . You could not be more right. There are certain communities which we are laser focused on and which are huge issues and longterm care facilities are at the top of that list. Ive got folks working literally right now on reassessing our entire state plan. A lot of it has to do with cohorting, covid, noncovivid patients. Cohorting covid noncovivid employees themselves. Restricting access. Moving patients around, which is a delicate as you know, you have a lot of folks in these longterm care facilities who are already at or near end of life circumstances to begin with. So moving them around is a very delicate, challenging process in and of itself. But trying to get a better cohorting of the patient groups, particularly again in the north and Central Counties in our state, is sort of job number one for us. Weve been on it, but we need to be even more aggressive than weve been. In those longterm care facilities, in your state prisons and your jails, in your hospitals and dealing with these rising numbers, you have a remarkable challenge on your hands, governor. The whole country is pulling for you. I know you havent had as much attention as new york has, but youve got a remarkable cl challenge ahead of you. Please come back and tell us what you need and good luck, sir. Thank you, rachel. Were jersey and were jersey strong. Thank you for that. I know you are, sir. Thank you. All right. Well be right back. Stay with us. Here. And when it snows, the kids go sledding right there. The frels family runs with us on a john deere 1 series tractor. Because this is more than just land, its home. Search john deere 1 series for more. When they bundle home and auto with progressive. Wow, thats. And now the progressive commercial halftime show, featuring smash mouth. Hey now, youre an all star get your game on, go play thank you goodnight [ cheers and applause ] now enjoy the second half of the commercial even renters can bundle and save where did that come from . The kitchen. It was halftime. Where did that come from . No no no no no, theres no space there maybe over here . Hot hot oven mitts oven mitts everythings stuck in the drawers im sorry oh, jeez. Hi. Kelly clarkson. Try wayfair oh, ok. Its going to help you, with all of. This yeah, here you go. Thank you oh, i like that one [ laugh ] thats a lot of storage perfect. Youre welcome i love it. How did you do all this . Wayfair speaking of dinner, whatre we eating, guys . 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. Does that mean they have to grow apart from their friends, or from the things they love to do . With right at home, it doesnt. Right at homes professional team thoughtfully selects caregivers to help with personal care, housekeeping, meals and most of all, staying engaged in life. Oh, thank you, thank you. Youre welcome. Are you ready to go . Oh, i sure am. We can provide the right care, right at home. Discover a new world discover whats good pantene nutrient blends there are times when our need to connect really matters. To keep customers and employees in the know. To keep business moving. Comcast business is prepared for times like these. Powered by the nations largest gigspeed network. To help give you the speed, reliability, and security you need. Tools to manage your business from any device, anywhere. And a team of experts here for you 24 7. Weve always believed in the power of working together. Thats why, when every connection counts. You can count on us. Now its time for an nbc news special report hosted by lester holt. Good night. The next week is going to be the hardest moment for Many Americans in their edge tire lives. America put to the test. This is life or death. Confronting sickness and death on a scale previously unimaginable. The system is over capacitated. Health care workers on the front lines. This is definitely the biggest thing ive experienced. Its like standing on a beach and watching the tsunami come in. Public officials, often at odds. Were starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. This is going to get worse before better. As millions shelter at home and wonder about their jobs. Were already living paycheck to paycheck. Their safety. Cherish every moment and take nothing for granted. Their future. This is the moment to keep your family and your friends safe. This is an nbc news special report. The coronavirus pandemic. Hello, everyone, im lester holt in new york. For the next hour, were going to bring