Supplies left. What am i going to do with 400 ventilators when i need 30,000 . And strict new guidelines are announced. Everybody who was in new york should be selfquarantining for the next 14 days. As more states plead with the federal government, saying they are running out of time. New cruise ship crisis. Dozens of passengers and crew reporting flulike symptoms, stranded on board. Meals delivered directed to their rooms and waiter to the covid19 tests to be brought on board as the ship makes its way to florida. Olympic heartbreak. The summer games now officially postponed. Americas top athletes responding this morning. This moment is unprecedented, and its bigger than any sport. 12time olympic medalist swimmer ryan lochte joins us live. Also this morning, tornadoes hit the south. Devastating damage in mississippi, and a new storm on the move bringing heavy snow to the west. More possible twisters to the heartland. Were tracking the latest. And feeding america. What you need to know before you go to the grocery store. The right way to shop in these times and across the country, americans are asking the same question. How can i help . How food banks are stepping up to fill the need, and how you can pitch in right from your home. Good morning, america. Everybody, its great to have you with us. Its nice to have amy here as well, and its great to have robin joining us from her home on this wednesday morning. Happy hump day, robin. Happy hump day to all of you there in the studio. A short commute down to the screen room in my basement, but like so many working from home, and so much news to get to. So many people relieved to wake up in their homes this morning, and hearing about that 2 trillion deal headline, help is on the way, george, for so many people who are hurting. That is right, robin. Never before has washington moved so fast in such a big way, and President Trump is talking about getting back to normal saying easter is our timeline to reopen the country. The question, can that really be justified as this coronavirus continues to spread . There are now more than 55,000 cases in the u. S. , more than 800 deaths. New york now the epicenter of this global crisis. 23 states are restricting nonessential work. We have some breaking news this morning. Prince charles has tested positive for the coronavirus. Were going to have much more on that coming up in just a bit. All right, but we begin in washington where the white house and Congress Reached a deal early this morning on the economic rescue package that dwarves the entire budget of the united states. The stock market soared, its best day since the great depression, and terry moran starts us off with the details on the deal sparking so much hope. Good morning, terry. Reporter good morning, george. They closed this deal late into the night in an atmosphere of crisis, punctuated by partisan bickering, but they got the job done. This bill will as you say, throw an economic lifeline to businesses and workers who are getting absolutely hammered by the coronavirus pandemic. At last, we have a deal. Reporter just after midnight at the capitol, the senate and the congress announced that they had reached an agreement on the unprecedented 2 trillion spending package. In effect, this is a wartime investment into our nation. Reporter the rescue bill designed to offset the crippling Economic Impact of the coronavirus pandemic, providing over 800 billion in support for businesses, big and small, boosting Unemployment Benefits and sending onetime payments of 1,200 directly to most american taxpayers. To all americans i say, help is on the way. Big help and quick help. Reporter the legislation could now be passed and enacted within days as Congress Works to deliver critical Financial Support during this crisis. Welcome news to laid off workers who wont get a paycheck this week. The stimulus check would definitely help with my mortgage as well as our two car payments. It would definitely help our family. Reporter Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell says that bill will be voted on in the senate today. Then it goes back to the house where its expected to pass quickly. President trump has made clear he wants to sign that bill right away. So the money should start flowing very soon, george. Its going to go to individuals. An extension of unemployment, those direct checks and the fund for the businesses though will come with real strings attached. Reporter it does. One of the democrats major sticking points was that there was a 500 billion half a trillion dollar bailout for businesses hit hard. Democrats wanted transparency on that. They got it, an oversight committee. Theres a line in there that democrats wanted where businesses controlled by the president , the Vice President , members of congress and heads of the executive departments or cabinet members are prohibited from receiving federal funds. This is to make sure none of the trump hotels get it. President trump has been talking about his business, how hard the hotels are getting hit, but hes not going to get any money from this, george. Terry moran, thanks very much. Robin . As you know, cases in new york are skyrocketing and is now the focus for the task force. Tom llamas is in times square this morning. Good morning. I know its become a hot bed there in our city. Good morning. Reporter robin, good morning. New york city is now considered a high risk area. You can tell by looking here at times square, so few people here. This as there are new guidelines in place, anybody who was in new york city being told if you left you have to selfisolate for at least 14 days. This morning, a new timeline for america. The president hoping to ease some of the coronavirus restrictions and jump start the economy by april 12th, easter sunday, less than three weeks away. What a great timeline this would be. Easter is our timeline. What a great timeline. Reporter but the deadly virus is still spreading and the nations top expert, dr. Anthony fauci offering a different view. Thats really very flexible. We just had a conversation with the president in the oval office talking about, you know, you could look at a date, but you have to be very flexible, on a literal day by day and week by week basis. You need to evaluate the feasibility of what youre trying to do. Reporter Health Officials also alarmed at the infection rate in new york city. The epicenter of the pandemic in the u. S. 60 of the countrys new cases come from right here, and now new guidelines for anyone who recently got out. Everybody who was in new york should be selfquarantining for the next 14 days to ensure that the virus doesnt spread to others no matter where they have gone, whether its florida, North Carolina or out to far reaches of long island. Reporter Governor Andrew Cuomo says he looks at stats every night, and now believes the virus peak in new york will be faster and higher than expected, saying hospitals without reenforcements may run out of critical supplies in two weeks. Fema says, were sending 400 ventilators. Really . What am i what am i going to do with 400 ventilators when i need 30,000 . Reporter the white house pushing back saying 4,000 ventilators are being delivered. I asked Governor Cuomo about the president s new timeline. What would your message be to President Trump about balancing the economy versus making sure this no longer spreads . We have to be smarter about it. You cant sacrifice human life to get the stock market up. Reporter and in louisiana which has one of the fastest infection rates in the world and the death toll is rising, the states governor bel edwards is pleading with the federal government for more help saying hes running out of time. The trajectory that were on is very problematic. The growth rate were seeing exceeds the capacity to deliver health care. Reporter and this morning, were also hearing about some of the lives lost. 34yearold cancer survivor, jeff gazerian of california tested positive for the virus after seeking treatment for pneumonia, spending five days on a ventilator before losing his battle. He just had a lot of love and humor and could approach and talk to anybody. Reporter and to give you a sense of how many doctors and volunteers are needed, overnight nyus medical school announcing that any student that has met their requirements will be able to graduate early and get out there on the front lines, robin to help anyone who needs it here in new york city. Thats really telling, tom. Thank you. Michael . Thank you, robin. Well bring in dr. Jennifer ashton who is joining us from her home, and doc, good morning to you. Jen, new york city released detailed statistics of its 15,000 cases. What numbers jumped out at you . Well, michael, i listened to that press conference that Governor Cuomo gave. Take a look at these numbers from the new york cases to date. At this time, 46 of cases are in a younger age group, ages 18 to 44. 62 of all deaths are in men, and 54 of deaths are in people 75 years of age and older and the trajectory in new york city is concerning. Everyone has been practicing social distancing and we have been talking about it for weeks now. President trump says he wants to open the country hopefully by easter. Does that make social distancing more urgent in the Current Situation . Oh, 100 , michael. And you have to understand that what were seeing today actually represents something that happened two weeks ago. Thats why the steps we take today are so essential, and if you look at this animation, if you imagine one sick person then spreads it to, lets say, two or three people, if one of those sick people stays home, down the road it has the potential to cut the number of cases almost in half. Thats why this is so important. Very important indeed. Now there are reports that some doctors in new York Hospitals are giving patients who have covid19 massive doses of vitamin c. Is there any science that that helps . Yeah. Theres been actually a lot about the use of vitamin c as a treatment in critically ill patients. The data is controversial, and again, it needs more research, but right now this is for a treatment, not prevention. Not prevention. All right, doc. Thank you so much for that, and im sure well be checking in with you quite a bit. George . Thank you, michael. Lets bring in tom bossert, President Trumps former Homeland Security adviser and lets start out by talking about this new goal set out by the president. This april timeline for getting back to normal. Thats his hope and goal. Take us inside the deliberations inside the white house right now as they try to figure out what kind of data could justify that notably the science advisers have not said its something right now that can be done. Yeah, george. The lesson of easter is one of resurrection, but its preceded by a lot of despair and death. I was struck more by dr. Fauci yesterday asking us to examine the feasibility of what we want to do. That was a good phrase. Not just feasibility, but want. The president wants to do this, but im not sure we have the resources to do it in a careful way without reintroducing second wave infections in places like new york and now very troublingly, new orleans. Thats the question right now. We heard Governor Cuomo say yesterday whats happening to new york is a bullet train heading for the rest of the country. Thats what a lot of people are thinking. What we are seeing in new york is what the rest of the country could face later. Yeah, george. Unfortunately, and this is always hard to wrap our minds around. The numbers we see in new orleans are about to experience that exponential growth, and that will overwhelm their Hospital Systems as well. Im worried about new york in the thrust of this overwhelming growth. But i am now very worried that as that Governor Cuomo in new york is worried about resources, other governors with legitimate competing leads are going to surface first, in louisiana, california and elsewhere, and so on. Thats an important point. The governors are in control of what happens in their states. They are, but george, thats the whole function of fema here to try to helped adjudicate competing needs for scarce resources. Tom bossert, thank you very much. Amy . The pandemic bringing the globe to a standstill. More than 400,000 cases worldwide. In india, officials banning all 1. 3 billion citizens from leaving their homes in what could be the largest lockdown in history. Theyre of course, trying to avoid the disaster in europe which brings us to that breaking news out of the uk. Prince charles has tested positive for coronavirus. Lets go to James Longman in london with the latest on that. Good morning, james. Reporter hi, amy. Its a real concern now to hear that Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, has now tested positive for coronavirus. Hes now in scotland with his wife. She, as were told, has not contracted the virus. We dont know who gave the prince coronavirus. He had a number of engagements recently. Its not been able to figure out who he contracted the coronavirus with. The queen is now with price philip. Were told she last saw Prince Charles on the 12th of march. Michael . All right, james. Thank you so much for that. The Transportation Industry has taken a huge hit in this crisis. Look at this sign of the times. With Airlines Cutting back on flights, this sight outside of los angeles in one of the several airfields known as a boneyard until full service is resumed. Right there it is full. On the seas, passengers from the grand princess, leaving quarantine one month after they first boarded. Were learning about trouble on a new ship. 77 people falling ill with flulike symptoms and gio benitez is at a cruise ship terminal here in new york city with more this morning. Good morning, gio. Reporter hey, michael. Good morning to you. Yeah, the cruise was supposed to end on saturday. Now five days later, those passengers are still on board, stuck at sea, this morning theyre sending us their desperate messages. This morning, 77 passengers and crew with flulike symptoms stranded on board this cruise ship off the coast of south america making its way towards florida. 305 americans among the people on the ship who have been asked to remain in their rooms. The ship does not have any covid19 tests on board. Another cruise ship bringing those tests tomorrow night along with other critical supplies. There are many people in their 70s and 80s on this ship and quite a few disabled. Reporter the ship left on march 7th for a twoweek the cruise ship suspended its operations since the outbreak. Ever since the cruise ship has been in limbo, unable to dock. There was only one case of the virus in brazil. We really had no concerns about joining the ship. Reporter passengers say they havent been off the ship in more than ten days. Their meals now delivered directly to their rooms. So many waiting for answers in the coming days. Holland america telling abc news, the safety and wellbeing of our guests and crew is one of our highest priorities, adding, the intention is to proceed to ft. Lauderdale, florida for arrival on march 30th. Alternative options are being developed. Now we should mention researchers recently tested the cabins of another cruise ship, the diamond princess, and they found the virus on surfaces for up to 17 days after the passengers left the boat. Just incredible, robin. 17 days. All right, gio. Thanks very much. We want everyone to take a look at two doctors. Two doctors from the mayo clinic in minnesota. They are bringing comfort through music, performing john lennons imagine. Imagine all the People Living for today whoo hoo you might say that im a dreamer but i am not the only one so many talents. The doctors told us, music goes places that medicine cannot go. They picked imagine because of its message of hope. The world coming together as one. I think we all can relate to that, dont you think so, guys . That gave me a lot of hope listening to that. I want that to be my doctor. That was beautiful. We have a lot more coming up. The 2020 olympics have been postponed as you know. Well tell you what team usa is saying, and Gold Medalist ryan lochte will join us live here on gma. And also why one university is reopening its dorms to the students in the middle of the crisis. First lets go to ginger at home. That Severe Weather forecast verified. Look at mississippi, and listen. Oh my gosh. That is mississippi, minor injuries and a new storm ill show you in a bit. For now lets get to the sunny cities brought to you by consumer cellular. Good morning. Im meteorologist mike nicco. Showers got an early start. They will come back later on. Even with sunshine today, the thunderstorms will develop because of that extra warm it creates. Quieter tonight, cooler, more foggy spots. Weekend looking wet. Next week is looking springlike. 55 to 58, thats all we can muster today. Cooler conditions from freezing in our valleys to mid 40s around San Francisco. My sevenday forecast, we are well be right back. E are wer well be right back. Make my. And trulicity activates my body to release it like its supposed to. Once weekly trulicity is for type 2 diabetes. Its not insulin. It starts acting from the first dose. And it lowers risk of heart attack, stroke, or death in people with known Heart Disease or multiple risk factors. Trulicity isnt for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. Dont take trulicity if youre allergic to it, you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, changes in vision, or Diabetic Retinopathy. Serious side effects may include pancreatitis. Taking trulicity with sulfonylurea or insulin raises low blood sugar risk. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, belly pain,