In 2005, the population of jacksonville, florida, was fewer than 800,000 people. But come the week of the super bowl, an extra 100,000 people flooded into that city. That is a huge expansion in the number of people who are ever in jacksonville. When it came to the need to house all those people, it quickly became apparent that jacksonville didnt have nearly enough hotel rooms to go around, which should have been kind of a limiting factor for whether they were even in contention to get the super bowl at all, right . You cant house anybody whos coming to see the super bowl, then you cant host the super bowl. But despite their dearth of hotel rooms, jacksonville really, really wanted to host the super bowl that year. So in order to address the housing concerns, jacksonville got creative. The stadium sit as long the st. Johns river and because jacksonville is the smallest city to ever host the big game, theyve made up for a lack of hotel rooms with five cruise ships. Need a bed . In town to watch the super bowl . Head on down to the docks. Weve got five jumbosized cruise ships for you there. Thats what thousands of people ended up doing for housing during the super bowl in 2005. They rented rooms on cruise ships that were docked wherever the city of jacksonville could squeeze them in because they basically had no other options for where to put all those people. That was what jacksonville did in 2005. Well, now it is 15 years later, and that same city, jacksonville, florida, is getting ready to play host to a big National Event once again. This time they will be hosting the hastily relocated Republican National convention. It is now official. The Republican National convention that will nominate President Trump for a second term, that convention has been yanked at the last minute out of charlotte, North Carolina. They have moved it instead to jacksonville. They pulled the plug on charlotte, North Carolina, after President Trump went ballistic over North Carolinas governor, roy cooper, refusing to guarantee that the Republicans Convention would be held as if theres no coronavirus, with thousands of people all crammed into one place. They wanted no social distancing. They wanted no masks. They want it to look like there isnt anything going on in the country that might suggest any risk, any need for caution, any reminder of the body count of over 100,000 americans already and climbing. North carolina did not want to do it that way. And North Carolina doesnt seem particularly broken up about losing the rnc given that those are the conditions under which the president wants to hold that convention. When it first became clear that charlotte, North Carolina, might in fact lose that event because of this fight over whether were pretending coronavirus isnt happening, the biggest paper in charlotte ran this editorial in response. Quote, good riddance. And thats because North Carolina, whatever economic boost they might get from having a big Republican Convention in the high summer, North Carolina really isnt in a position to do something that catastrophically dangerous, to run a convention in that catastrophically perilous and risky a way in terms of where theyre at in the epidemic right now. I mean this is North Carolinas curve of new cases right now. North carolina is dealing with a steady and pronounced surge in new cases, particularly since they opened up, but its just been going up for a long time. The problem is so bad now in North Carolina that the state Health Director is warning in the last day that they may need to institute a new stayathome order in North Carolina. They reopened the first week of may. They may need to reclose given whats happening with case numbers there. North carolinas new case numbers per day keep hitting new records. Theyve hit two new daily case records in the past week. They saw a jump of more than 1,300 new cases yesterday. They saw more than 1,700 new cases today. They are dealing with recordhigh numbers of hospitalizations statewide. And where charlotte, North Carolina, is specifically, where the rnc was going to be specifically in mecklenburg county, that county not only has the highest number of cases in the state by far, theyve just had 11 Straight Days of tripledigit increases in that county alone in and around charlotte. So, yeah, in that environment maybe charlotte, North Carolina, is not the best place to have a huge gathering that the president insists must be conducted like this with lots of people who are Senior Citizens all in the same room together, all inside screaming and not Wearing Masks. So it wont be in charlotte, North Carolina. But it jacksonville, florida, any better a place to hold it if these are the circumstances under which the rnc wants to conduct itself . Is jacksonville any better . Do we know . Florida yesterday reported its highest singleday number of new coronavirus cases yet since the epidemic started. Then today they beat that record in florida. They beat the daily case number record that they just set yesterday because they set a new record today. The miami herald reporting today that their own review of public and nonpublic data, which is important in florida, show that new cases in the state have been consistently trending up since midmay, and the trends cannot be attributed to increases in testing. Now, the statewide data in florida is another thing, and its a contested thing. Well get to that in a minute. But in individual counties in florida, youre starting to see Health Officials show their fear a little bit in terms of whats going on there. Yesterday the Health Director for Palm Beach County in florida convened a press conference at which she announced, quote, it is not contained in any way, shape, or form. That one county in florida, Palm Beach County, now says that its icu beds are at 81 capacity while case numbers are still going through the roof and still hitting new daily records. Thats bad. But for the whole state of florida, even though we know the case numbers statewide are as bad as theyve ever been and getting worse faster than they ever have, setting new records daily, and even though we know from the counties that some individual counties are really bending under the strain in terms of their hospitalization burdens, we really dont know how bad the burden is statewide in florida. I cant, for example, show you any charts about the current number of hospitalizations in florida or how theyve gone up or gone down over time. The reason i cant show you that is because florida doesnt release that data. Lots of other states, almost all the other states release their hospitalization data. Florida just stopped doing that. They stopped reporting hospitalization numbers statewide at the end of may, which the miami herald suggests is when their rise in cases really started taking off. They just decided they wouldnt put that information out in public view anymore. Florida is so cagey about its numbers when it comes to coronavirus that they fired the person theyd had running the states website showing all the coronavirus data. She says they fired her because they wanted her to manipulate and remove data in order to make the epidemic look more under control in florida than it actually was. Shes incidentally now launched her own handmade personal version of the florida coronavirus data dashboard that she used to run for the state. Shes just doing it herself now from home in her spare time because she says the state wouldnt let her post the real data online at the official site, so shes doing her best now just as a private individual. Florida has also resisted posting data about outbreaks and deaths at its Nursing Homes and in workplaces. Florida likes to keep the numbers nice and quiet because presumably if you dont know, then everythings fine . I mean thats one way of dealing with the crisis. Just pull the covers over your head, say everythings fine, and hope nobody notices the bodies piling up. But as they move the rnc, the Republican National convention and all those tens of thousands of republican delegates and all the media and all the hangerson, as they move that from charlotte, North Carolina, which knows it has a problem, to jacksonville, florida, where they dont say whether or not theyre having a problem, theres one other wrinkle to consider about the fact this is moving to jacksonville. As a mentioned a minute ago related to the super bowl, jacksonville has this interesting history of using cruise ships to house outoftowners who are visiting for large scale events. Well, now that jacksonville is going to host the Republican National convention because North Carolina was being so prissy about this dumb epidemic that republicans dont believe is real, it looks like the cruise ship Housing Solution is being considered once again for jacksonville for the Republican National convention in the middle of the epidemic. Cruise ships . Seriously . Yeah, the local nbc affiliate in jacksonville, florida, reporting that many of the hotels in the city are already sold out for the week of the rnc. Remember, they have moved this thing at the very last minute. Now the citys former mayor says there are active discussions going on about bringing in cruise ships to deal with overflow guests who are there for the rnc. The chairman of the Florida Republican party is also saying that cruise ships could be a good option in terms of housing people for the rnc. Yeah, nice place to stuff them into after they spend the day screaming and chanting indoors with tens of thousands of other mostly older people not Wearing Masks in one of the states with the largest and fastestgrowing epidemics in the country. Theyre going to put them on cruise ships. I mean next thing you know theyre going to announce a nightly rnc delegate doorknob licking competition or maybe just a big puppy pileup where everybody over age 75 all takes a lick on the same giant soft serve cone. Just stick your face in there, give it a slurp, and pass it on to the next grandpa. Anybody want to play sneeze in my face . Wet willy, anyone . After that, you can all go back to the cruise ship together to touch all the handrailings and then eat at the buffet. Achoo. Serio seriously. But florida is not alone in terms of its numbers going the wrong way and then making some weird decision as long side those numbers. Florida is worrying for lots of reasons, now especially given their plans for the rnc, but they really arent alone. Heres the lede at the New York Times tonight. Quote, two of the nations most populous states, texas and florida, both reported this week their highest daily totals of new coronavirus infections, a concerning sign. The rise in cases helps explain why the nation continues to record more than 20,000 new cases a day even as some of the original hot spots including new york have seen dramatic declines. Texas identified more than 2,000 new cases on both wednesday and thursday this week, the highest daily totals yet. The counties that include houston and dallas are reporting some of the nations largest singleday rises. Cases are also trending upward around fort worth, texas, san antonio, texas, austin, texas, lubbock, texas, mcallen, texas, and midland, texas. In houston specifically, the county executive there, Harris County judge lynn hidalgo, unveiled a new sort of pictorial Warning System for Harris County yesterday. While she announced that the county is at the second highest level of warning, what theyre calling level two orange, which means significant and uncontrolled transmission of covid19 in Harris County. Im growing increasingly concerned that we may be approaching the precipice of a disaster. This week the covid19 General Hospital population in Harris County was the highest it has ever been. It was the highest on monday, and its gotten worse every day. Its out of hand right now. In the houston area, theyre already at 88 of icu capacity. And as you heard, the Harris County judge there say basically the county executive for Harris County, the General Hospital population in Harris County is the highest it had ever been on monday and has gotten worse every day since then. She says, im growing concerned we may be approaching the precipice of a disaster. But thats what were hearing now. Thats whats happening every day now in some of the most populous cities and states in the country, not to mention rural states and less populated states where one of the big concerns is how much of a Health Care Infrastructure they have to tax when the numbers really start taxing that infrastructure. I just talked about how North Carolina and florida are both going in the wrong direction right now. It makes it kind of weird that the rnc decided to hop from North Carolina to florida because of the way that North Carolina was dealing with its epidemic. Yeah. I mean those numbers that youre looking at there on your screen, those are their new case numbers. On top of just the case numbers, i mean right now nobody knows about florida hospitalizations statewide because florida has decided not to release that data. But we do know that North Carolina hospitalizations are hitting new records all the time now. Texas is hitting record case numbers every day now and record hospitalizations. Next door, arkansas is hitting record case numbers too and record hospitalizations. Weve also been closely watching alabama, where you know the state capital and its region, montgomery, is already overtopped in terms of its hospital capacity. Theyve just hit two Straight Days in alabama of their highest case number increases statewide. Theyve also hit their highest hospitalization numbers statewide. The state Health Department in alabama now issuing a statement telling alabama residents it is, quote, safer to be at home right now because of Community Transmission in alabama. Now, that advisory from the Health Department appears to be having no effect on actual policy in the state where republicans are in control of both the legislature and the governorship and where they just continue to steadily keep opening everything further up even as case numbers rise and rise and rise and Hospital Systems start to get tapped. The country is starting to figure out, though, that this is whats happening. The white house isnt talking about it. The president isnt talking about it. The National Media really likes to cover just lots of things that the president says. The president isnt talking about this anymore. If you can stop listening to whatever it is hes provoking you with and saying long enough to look around and notice whats going on in the country, the country is starting to realize that even though the white house is ignoring it, whats happening in terms of the virus right now, whats happening in terms of the epidemic is really bad. This isnt some second wave happening in the fall. This is a first wave thats either never cresting or a second wave thats arriving in june. As the country starts to wake up to this broadly speaking, it will be interesting and important to see if in the face of whats going on in all of these states with rising epidemics, it will be fascinating to see if the head in the sand dont talk about it approach still stays popular in the Republican Party and in general. This was nbc nightly News Coverage of this situation tonight. Reporter tonight, rising concerns as a surge of new covid19 cases hit multiple states. No one wants to slow down this opening of the economy if theres any way to avoid it. And we are in the any way to avoid it stage. Reporter in texas, a month after opening back up, hospital space is available. But at huft houston methodist, patients are up 40 . President trump himself criticized after photos from last nights dallas visit showed a packed church with few masks and limited social distancing. When you saw that picture of the president s meeting last night, what was your initial reaction . I was angry because thats our commander in chief. Thats the person whos supposed to be leading the effort to keep you alive in the time of covid. Reporter in south carolina, the governor lifting restrictions despite seeing the single largest daily increase in cases since the pandemic began. 14 states showing a greater than 25 increase in cases in the last week. Recent spikes now prompting some areas to press pause. Nashville staying in phase two as both utah and oregon take similar steps. This is essentially a statewide yellow light. This oneweek pause will give our Public Health experts time to assess what factors are driving the spread of the virus and determine if we need to adjust our approach to reopening. If she makes that decision, theres a reason shes making that decision, and i have to trust that. Reporter nationwide, the virus still hitting familiar hot spots. This california nursing home evacuated early this morning after an outbreak, forcing every resident to relocate. And in oklahoma, whirlpool announcing its closing its plant in tulsa, where the virus just hit a new daily peak. The company saying exposed workers have been quarantined. And with each covid19 case in the plant, there is a thorough investigation that includes Contact Tracing. Nbc nightly newss Morgan Chesky reporting tonight. That last data point there, tulsa, oklahoma, closing down a whirlpool plant after an outbreak at that workplace, tulsa hitting a new daily peak in terms of its cases, i mean, yeah, these are the numbers right now in tulsa. This is from the tulsa county Health Department. That is not good in tulsa, oklahoma. And this is what the local headlines look like tonight in tulsa, oklahoma. Infections peak again for tulsa county. State Health Officials on friday, today reported 22 n2 ne cases of covid19. Heres another headline tonight in tulsa. Tulsa Health Department urges caution on gatherings as covid19 cases reach record daily high. Caution on gatherings. Of course, the Trump Campaign has Just Announced that tulsa, oklahoma, will be the site of the first big rally for the president s reelection effort next week. Next week, a week from today, on juneteenth, which is the day that celebrates the liberation of africanamericans from slavery. Trump is going to be in tulsa that day, yes, this tulsa where this is whats going on right now, for a big congregate rally indoors at an arena that seats 19,000 people. The cdc today just reupped its guidance on how people should keep themselves safe amid the rising epidemic. The cdc saying tonight that organizers of large gatherings should strongly encourage the use of face coverings for anybody at a large gathering. The countrys top Infectious Disease official, dr. Anthony fauci, telling abc news tonight that going to a mass event like what the president is planning in tulsa next week, a big congregate indoor event, he says is, quote, very risky and people should at least, if they can avoid being at a place like that, they should at least wear masks. Can we just put that can we just put the case numbers graph for tulsa up just one more time . Can i just yeah. Tulsa, i am sorry for what you are going through right now with these numbers. Tulsa, i am sorry for what you are about to go through next week courtesy of the president. But i tell ya, if you start hearing rumors that theyre going to pull cruise ships up the Arkansas River to downtown tulsa for the overflow, theres going to be a cruise ship component to this too . At that point, im not sorry. At that point, i have advice for you, which is run the other direction. Well be right back. 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But leaders in the Community Like tulsa County District one representative say this year the anticipation is more anxious. Its the perfect storm for something very bad to happen and here in tulsa. Because as the annual Juneteenth Celebration remains canceled due to safety concerns that celebrate was kanszled. We made that decision a month ago because of covid. President trump will hold a rally that same day at the bok center. Its a total slap in the face and a total insensitivity to not only whats going on here locally in tulsa but also whats going on nationally in this country. A slap in the face, she calls it. Thats tulsa, oklahoma, city counselor vanessa hall harper. A slap in the face. And of course its not just a slap in the face because the president is holding his first Reelection Campaign rally on juneteenth, but specifically because hes going to do that in tulsa. Tulsa is the site of what is widely considered to be the single worst incident of racial violence in american history, the 1921 massacre of hundreds of africanamericans at the hands of organized white rioters who looted and burned what was then known as black wall street. Were coming up on the centennial of when that happened, and tulsa has been very focused on that anniversary as it approaches. Vanessa hall harper now represents that part of tulsa, the greenwood district. Shes the only africanamerican on tulsas city council. She was elected in 2016. That was just a couple of months after a White Tulsa Police officer shot and killed a black driver named terence crutcher. That led to protests in tulsa after that officer was acquitted the following year. Earlier this year it looked like councillor harpers proposal for a public referendum on an independent oversight body for the tulsa police was poised to pass the city council until at the last minute, two of her fellow councilors pulled their support and then the proposal failed. Now, though, it does feel like things might change. Tulsa has been convulsed like the rest of the country with protests over the killing of george floyd. The mayor of tulsa and city council and the citys first africanamerican police chief, who has been on the job only a few months, say they are now working toward a set of Police Reforms for tulsa. But as if to highlight exactly what it is they are up against, this week a White Tulsa Police major went on a local conservative talk radio show, and he said on that she that hes sure that systemic racism in policing doesnt exist. In fact, im going to give you the direct quote here so you do not think im exaggerating this. He said, and i quote directly. Quote, all the research on this says were shooting africanamericans about 24 less than we probably ought to be based on the crimes being committed. That Tulsa Police Major says he was taken out of context, and it was a, quote, hypothetical discussion of statistics. Okay. Again, what he said was, were shooting africanamericans about 24 less than we probably ought to be. That is what he said. That Tulsa Police Major has been condemned for those remarks from everybody from tulsas mayor to its police chief to state legislators. The president of the tulsa black officers coalition, who i should mention is the husband of councillor vanessa hall harper, he held a press conference this week to single out that major who made the comments as an example of the culture of policing that we are fighting against here in tulsa. But dont worry, everything should cool off in tulsa soon. One week from tonight, President Trump will be there for his first big rally for his Reelection Campaign held indoors at a 19,000person arena in downtown tulsa as, incidentally, tulsa hits a new record high in its coronavirus cases. Joining us now is tulsa city councillor vanessa hall harper. Councill councillor harper, i appreciate you joining us. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Im a big fan. Oh, thank you. Im a big fan of tulsa. I did a book tour a million years ago this past year and took my first stop in the country in tulsa after leaving new york and had such a warm welcome and had such a good time and had such great food and so enjoyed myself. And i feel like tulsa has a little piece of my heart. And i feel concerned about where youre at right now in terms of the epidemic, where youre at right now in terms of dealing with concerns around Police Violence and racism. Let me just ask you top line for how you feel your city is doing right now with these multiple challenges. We are in a very sensitivity place, and with the president coming here at this time, its very concerning to me. Its very concerning to me. I think and i fear that something very bad can happen very quickly. And so im really in a state of just, you know, still shock, disappointment, and anger that he chose to come to tulsa on june 19th, when we celebrate the emancipation. And i think its just a its a poke. Its intentional. It has to be intentional for a decision to be made like that. And i fear for my community. I fear for my community in particular. We played that clip of you explaining how, you know, tulsa traditionally has a big Juneteenth Celebration. And as you said, that was called off this year because of concerns about coronavirus because those kinds of events just arent happening. Now that there is going to be a big congregate event that night with the president s rally, i understand that a coalition of organizations in tulsa has Just Announced that there will be a juneteenth rally for justice that night, sort of counterprogramming the president s event. I just want to ask what your expectations are for that and what the balance is for thinking about doing Something Like that given both the sort of political need to show up and the concerns about why events like that have been canceled. I think that decision was made to show tulsa and this country that we are not okay with the president making the decision or his campaign staff, whomever making that decision to come here in tulsa. I am also very concerned about the covid19 crisis, but i understand that there are efforts under way to make sure that everyone has masks. We certainly dont have to worry about our community, citizens wearing those masks. Im more concerned about those individuals thats attending the trump rally where they are told, you know, or they are embarrassed about Wearing Masks. The individuals that im aware of that are in the planning process, theyre very concerned about that, and theyre taking all necessary precautions possible in order to ensure safety. And so i can guarantee you that not only the covid crisis is of a primary importance of doing all we can to not spread, but also we are more concerned about making a statement that it is not okay for the president to come here on juneteenth, to ground zero of the worst race massacre that ever took place in this country. And so i get both sides. I really do. And i am concerned. I am concerned about obviously not spreading covid, but also im concerned that something may blow up, and then we end up having citizens hurt and harmed by law enforcement. And so im really in an unstable place right now, but im just going to continue to pray and hope for the best. I hear your concern. I hear it both in your words and in your voice. Tulsa city councillor vanessa hall harper, thank you so much for your time tonight. I want to wish you and all your constituents good luck in the week ahead. I know these are trying times. Keep us apprised. Id love to have you back. Absolutely. Thank you so much. All right. Much more ahead here tonight this friday night. Stay with us. The calming scent of lavender by downy infusions calm. Laundry isnt done until its done with downy. So as you head back out on the road, well be doing what we do best. Providing some calm in your day. With virtual, realtime tours of our vehicles as well as remote purchasing. For a little help, on and off the road. Now when you buy or lease a new lincoln, well make up to 3 payments on your behalf. For spending a perfectly reasonable amount of time on the couch with tacos from grubhub . 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Its kind of hard to remember now but there was a time when you could count the number of coronavirus cases in the United States on your fingers. Our first case was reported on january 21st in washington state. Then a few days later there was one in chicago, and then there was two cases in california. By january 26th, we were up to five known cases in the whole country. But then in february we got this one very ominous sign of what was to come. At that point were counting a case here, a case there, figuring out where each case might have come from. And then there was this. I remember the chill running down my spine when i first heard this because it was the news of the first known outbreak in the United States where it wasnt just a person here or a person there. It was a place where potentially dozens of people had become infected all in the same place. Reporter heres what we know tonight. Two people were diagnosed with coronavirus at the Life Care Center of kirkland nursing home where we are set up tonight. Two people, a caretaker in her 40s, and a resident in her 70s, tested positive for coronavirus, and doctors are concerned an outbreak may be happening here. Public health says more than 50 others associated with life care who have respiratory symptoms are being monitored. Some are quarantined. More than 50 others with respiratory symptoms being monitored. What . I just remember like the blood draining out of me when i first heard that. That was the first word we had in this country about a whole lot of people all apparently getting this virus all at the same place. A congregate facility in which everybody got infected. I mean ultimately at least 100 people got the virus at that one nursing home in kirkland, washington. Dozens of people died at that one nursing home in kirkland, washington, just outside seattle. And that first known outbreak in february would of course just be the first. It was the start of a nationwide calamity in longterm care facilities of all kind. A calamity that still has not been mapped in full even as those facilities continue to be the place where more americans die than any other place from this virus thats now killed more than 113,000 of us. It wasnt until midapril that the federal Agency Responsible for overseeing Nursing Homes announced that facilities like this would be required to report all their cases, and the government would publish that data. Seemed like good news that the federal government was finally at least going to collect that information and publish it. That data, such as it is, finally arrived last week. Does that data finally help us get our heads around how big the problem is and how bad the problem has been in Nursing Homes in these places where the most americans have died from this thing . Well, how good is the data that they just released . Well, for example, if you look up in these new federal statistics the Life Care Center of kirkland, washington, the place where we know there was that first terrible fatal outbreak, the new federal data on Nursing Homes shows zero deaths at that facility even though we know dozens of people who lived there died from this virus. From the New York Times, quote, the federal government undercounted the number of virus deaths in u. S. Nursing homes. The local coverage in indianapolis, indiana, quote, Government Data about covid19 in Nursing Homes is deeply flawed. In texas, feds nationwide nursing home data expansive but incomplete. The connecticut post compared the federal data released by the Trump Administration with what the state offered and found, quote, the numbers from the federal government at best paint half the picture and are far less accurate than available state figures. The discrepancies were vexing enough that the Detroit Free Press just said that they would flatout not be listing detailed information on individual facilities without more vetting, meaning the federal government published data that they said was representative of what was going on in individual Nursing Homes including those in and around detroit. And in michigan, Detroit Free Press looked at those numbers and thought they were so bad or so wrong, they would not publish them or repeat them. Thats what the Trump Administration has done in terms of Nursing Homes and data. Its kind of like what were learning has happened as Nursing Homes have begged for protective equipment for their staff. You might remember Vice President pence making a big photo op out of delivering boxes to a nursing home while not wearing a mask alongside his press secretary who later tested positive. You know, thats politics, right . The big photo op. Heres the on the ground reality. The wall street journal now reporting, quote, Nursing Homes say some protective gear sent by fema is unusable. Quote, the blue gowns were large and not fitted, requiring tape to secure them, nursing home executives said. To remove them would require ripping them, likely exposing the wearer to the virus if the gown had been contaminated. One administration describing the gowns as, quote, glorified garbage bags. So here we are. The federal government sending gowns that are glorified garbage bags or look like gardening tarps, gowns that in some cases dont have armholes in them. Sending those to Health Care Workers at Nursing Homes where we still dont have a clear sense of how many people are getting sick, how many people are dying or have died. I mean weve been talking about Nursing Homes as being the most dangerous place for americans in terms of this epidemic for months now. You would think that having months to work on it while tens of thousands of americans die in these facilities would at least give the federal government a little bit of a chance to get its act together when it comes to these facilities, right . When it comes to the riskiest place on earth in terms of coronavirus, right . Weve got the Worst Epidemic in the country sorry in the world, and the place where more americans are dying from this virus is in Nursing Homes. The federal government regulates them. What is it doing . Not counting whats going on there and sending them junk and telling them good luck. Pose for the photo op. This is not getting any better. The fact that the nursing home problem is old now doesnt mean its improving. This is in fact a deepening crisis where a uturn is desperately needed. Hold that thought. Alike and customize your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. What do you think . I dont see it. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. For spending a perfectly reasonable amount of time on the couch with tacos from grubhub . Grubhubs gonna reward you for that with a 5 off perk. doorbell rings [crowd] grubhub fireworks exploding to have constipation with belly pain, straining, and bloating, again and again. No way. More exercise. More water. And more fiber is the only way to manage it. Is it . Maybe you think. Its occasional constipation. Maybe its not. It could be a chronic medical condition called ibsc, and time to say yesss to linzess. Linzess works differently than laxatives. It helps relieve belly pain and lets you have more frequent and complete bowel movements. Do not give linzess to children less than six and it should not be given to children six to less than 18, it may harm them. Do not take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. Get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain, especially with bloody or black stools. The most common side effect is diarrhea, sometimes severe. If its severe, stop taking linzess and call your doctor right away. Other side effects include gas, stomach area pain, and swelling. Change your thinking to ibsc. If your constipation and belly pain keeps coming back, tell your doctor and say yesss to linzess. Tell your doctor there are so many toothpastes out there, which one should i use . Try crest pro active defense. It neutralizes bacteria for a healthier mouth than even the leading multibenefit toothpaste. Crest. 40,000. That is the latest estimate of how Many Americans in Nursing Homes and other longterm care facilities have lost their lives as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. So lets be clear. These 40,000 americans deserved better. Their deaths represent a failure of our nation to protect our people. Congressman James Clyburn at the congressional hearing yesterday on the devastating impact of the Coronavirus Crisis on americas Nursing Homes. House committees are not necessarily known for being fiery. This one was in part because for several members attending this hearing, this was personal. Congresswoman Maxine Waters lost her sister to covid19. Her sister contracted it at a nursing home. Congresswoman waters was there for the hearing, recognized by her colleagues, who shared their condolences. One of the first big nursing home outbreaks in the whole country was in the district represented by maryland congressman jamie raskin. But it took more than two months after the very first outbreak for the Trump Administration on may 11th simply to urge residents and staff of Nursing Homes to be tested. And that wasnt developing a plan to do it. It was just words, saying, you guys should be tested, and theres still no nationwide testing plan, Contact Tracing plan, enforcement plan. The calamity in american Nursing Homes will be remembered as one of our governments colossal and fatal screwups when the history of this epidemic is written. But it didnt have to be this way. Dr. David grabowski is a leading Health Policy expert from harvard medical school. Here was part of his testimony at that congressional hearing yesterday. Let me start by being blunt. Covid has completely devastated u. S. Nursing homes. It didnt have to be this way. What do i mean by that . Much of the negative impact of covid in Nursing Homes could have been avoided. However, rather than prioritizing the safety of the 1. 3 million individuals that live in Nursing Homes and the staff that care for them, we failed to invest in testing, ppe, and the workforce. We allowed a problem that could have been contained to grow into a national crisis. It did not have to be this way. Joining us now is dr. David grabowski, professor of Health Care Policy at harvard medical school. Doctor, i really appreciate you making time to be here tonight. Thanks. Thank you, rachel. Congressman clyburn opened the hearing by saying that nursing home deaths account for 40,000 deaths among the roughly 113,000 americans who have died already. Do you think thats accurate . Do you think we have a general true sense of the scale of the problem in Nursing Homes and how many people have died there from this virus . We actually dont have a full count, and thats incredibly sad. You mentioned earlier just the issue with the incomplete data. So we started back in march with this pandemic. The federal government wasnt recording data. They finally put together this National Database here in june actually, starting end of may into june, and we dont have a complete record going back to the start of this pandemic. Its absolutely ridiculous. So with 40,000 deaths, thats actually probably an underestimate to a lot of us. Weve seen the federal government not do very much when it comes to Nursing Homes, particularly from my view, given the scale of death in these facilities, just how Many Americans have lost their lives, how many infections there have been. We have seen a sort of highly publicized effort from the federal government to send boxes of ppe to Nursing Homes. Theres been some pretty harsh coverage over the past few days, though, that it seems like a lot of what the government has been sending to individual homes is not expected. Its not designed to meet the specific needs of those homes, and in some cases, its junk or at least unrelated to the needs of a typical nursing home in terms of how they serve their patients. What do you make of that effort . Should the federal government even be trying to do that, or is it just that they should be doing it, and theyre just failing to execute . The federal government should absolutely be providing ppe to all of our Nursing Homes across the country. The federal government, as you mentioned earlier, agreed to provide two weeks of ppe to every nursing home in the country. Clearly Nursing Homes need more than two weeks, but at least that was a start. However, most of the ppe that has been shipped is actually unusable. Then some Nursing Homes are actually still waiting on that ppe. This is part of our National Shame around this issue. Ppe is the number one weapon towards fighting the virus in Nursing Homes. The fact that were sending out our workers, this staff who are heroes, theyre not always appreciated as much as other direct caregivers, but these nursing home staff are heroes. They deserve ppe. They deserve testing. We need to make certain we have ppe in every nursing home in the country. And the fact that were shipping, you know, glorified garbage bags to our direct caregivers is absolutely unacceptable. I feel like anybody flipping the channels and coming across this discussion that you and i are having right now might think this show is a rerun because the discussion about not having the importance of ppe and not having ppe and needing to get ppe to frontline providers who dont have it feels like a discussion we had as a country in march. Weve stopped having that discussion. People assume that means that things have been fixed. Setting aside whether or not Health Care Workers in hospitals have adequate access to ppe, which is a whole other discussion, i just feel like this nursing home situation sort of advanced in public consciousness enough to define for people what the problem is, and just zero progress has been made toward making things any better, toward getting testing to them in a systematic way, toward getting them ppe, toward getting them the support they need, toward getting them the staffing support they need to be able to properly care for this incredibly vulnerable population. I despair that things arent Getting Better after all this time. I completely agree on that point. Weve been in a loop now for weeks literally. We failed to learn back in march from the lessons in europe and china. Then we failed to learn over the last three months from the lessons of kirkland. So basically as you just suggested, rachel, were basically in the same place we were three months ago with testing and ppe. At what point are we going to start paying attention to Nursing Homes . We cant ignore this. If you want to contain the coronavirus in this country, it starts with Nursing Homes. Thats where the cases are. Thats where we need to put our resources and our attention. And its not going to come from the top down. We cant count on the federal government, which oversees these facilities, to get this right. They have proven that now. The energy here is going to have to come from somewhere else. Dr. David grabowski, i really appreciate you being here tonight. I get very upset about this issue, but your clarity on it is really helpful and grounding. Thank you. Thanks, rachel. I appreciate your attention on this issue. Yeah, all right. Well be right back. Stay with us. Ay with us can it one up whatever theyre doing . For sure. Seriously . One up the power of liquid, one up the toughest stains. Any further questions . Uh uh one up the power of liquid with new tide power pods. 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Youll remember that john bolton refused to testify or handily avoided testifying during the democraticled impeachment proceedings against trump late last year. He says he included everything he testified about had he been man enough to get up there and say his peace when it mattered. It has been absolutely palpable all day long. But ill tell you early next week, we are going to be speaking to a former senior government senior Government Official who i am very much looking forward to hearing from who may be a little bit of the antidote to john bolton, and that is robert gates who will be joining us live here on tuesday night as his new book comes out. Couldnt be happier about it. See you on monday. One week ago i sat here and said to yo d