Trillion coronavirus aid package saying it has a slush fund for big business republicans warning their rivals are playing with fire as the economy tanks. At risk, new warnings from Health Officials on the viruss toll on younger americans. We have to really examine why were seeing it here but we didnt see it in china. What the cdc is saying straight ahead. Plus olympics in jeopardy. The First Nations announce they wont send athletes to tokyo and the debate intensifies this morning over whether the games should really happen today monday, march 23rd, 2020 announcer from nbc news, this is a special edition of today the coronavirus pandemic with Savannah Guthrie and hoda kotb. And good morning, everybody. Welcome to today on monday morning. Its good to have you along with us once again we are separated but together in our hearts, hoda im working from home this week and youre back in the studio. Indeed, savannah. Its great, great to see your face on this monday morning. We do have a lot to get to when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic overnight, President Trump authorized the activation of the National Guard in the nations three hardest hit states, new york, washington, and california meantime theres a new case of coronavirus on capitol hill where negotiations on that massive economic rescue package have suddenly stalled. Also this morning the International Olympic committee for the first time says it will consider postponing tokyo 2020 word of that came after canada and australia announced they would not send athletes if the games are not delayed. All this as u. S. Cases of the virus have soared above 34,000 and 446 deaths our team has every aspect. Coverage starting with gabe gutierrez. Hes at a hospital in brooklyn, new york hey, gabe, good morning. Reporter hoda, good morning. New york city is now an epicenter of the growing pandemic the state has about 5 of the worlds confirmed cases. The prescreening tent behind me has seen long lines since last week, and now the numbers are soaring. This morning doctors and nurses coasttocoast tell us its critical. In some areas like masks, were down to zero. Despite government promises they are desperate for protective gear and say time is running out. Were about 10 days away from our Public Health system not being able to support coronavirus patients sufficiently for lack of equipment and supplies. In new York Governor Andrew Cuomo asking hospitals to expand their capacity by 50 . The state is turning four sites, including massive Javits Convention center in manhattan into temporary medical facilities to deal with the surge of new patients. Governor cuomo i also calling on the federal government to use the defense production act to Order Companies to make more ventilators and masks. Right now he says theres rampant price gouging. There are masks we were paying 0. 85 for were now paying 7. Why . Because im competing against every other state, and in some cases against other countries around the world. On the front lines Health Care Workers say they are in dire need. We just did another National Survey of our nurses as of march 20th 55 still say they dont have access to n95 respirators on their unit. Fear of contagion they are doing their best to protect themselves this virus is crazy contagious. The doctor from alabama is among those who have already tested positive for covid19. Theres a fear and everyone is trying to do the right thing. If we dont control in the next three or four weeks, our Health Care Workers will be overwhelmed and burning at both ends. The president said the preference is not to use the act but hoping private companies will step up. Concept of nationalizing our business is not a good concept gm and tesla offering to make ventilators. Gm tim cook said they are donating masks and retro if he retrofitting facilities to make them. 3m is ramping up production of the masks. Governor cuomo said the state might need more than 30,000 icu beds right now we have only about 3,000. Savannah. All right gabe overnight 2 trillion aid package was blocked by Senate Democrats on capitol hill. Theres also a new case of the virus there. Tom costello has that part of the story. Tom, good morning to you. Reporter good morning. The senate is going to try again to vote on its version of the 2 trillion stimulus package. However, they have a problem because now a u. S. Senator tested positive for the virus. House democrats say they want to have their own bill which really focuses they say more on families and workers than on big business the administrations focus, it says, is right now on pushing critical supplies, medical supplies to cities in need but as some of the hardest hit cities like new york, city Officials Say the federal response so far has been insufficient on capitol hill this morning, republicans and democrats remain at odds over spending. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell blame House Democrats after a procedural vote on the Senate Measure failed sunday evening. The speaker of the house shows up, and were back to square one. Nancy pelosi firing back democrats want more money and better protections for affected workers and their families. Well be introducing our own bill and hopefully it will be compatible with what they discuss in the senate. But mcconnell faces another major hurdle with rand paul becoming the first senator to test positive for the virus. Several other republican senators now in selfquarantine. All this adding to the debate over whether members of congress, many of whom are in the highrisk category for coronavirus, should be allowed to vote remotely, which is currently not allowed. I think it may be a constitutional reason why you should but we could be in a position where i would certainly be in favor of it, where they could vote from a certain outside location. With growing concerns about a deepening recession, treasury secretary mnuchin says it could be june before things start to normalize. The president stimulus package hoping demand for Services Like eating out will lead to a speedy economic recovery. Our goal is to get relief to americans as quickly as possible so that families can get by and Small Businesses can keep workers on the payroll this will help our economy, and you will see our economy skyrocket once this is over. This morning the message to more than a quarter of the u. S. Population, stay home. It all comes as more governors issue restrictions in an effort to contain the spread of the virus. The most recent, ohio. The new epicenter of the outbreak, new york, which has seen a dramatic spike in cases due in part to increased testing. New york state has 15 times more cases than any other state right now. Governor cuomo issuing a stern warning to young people who defied social distancing guidelines. Its selfdestructive, its disrespectful to other people, and it has to stop, and it has to stop now. The Administration Says so far a quarter of a million americans have been tested but the administration is now telling labs prioritize people who are already in the hospital when youre processing these in addition, the Administration Says its now working on a test that it says should be able to provide results within 45 minutes. Its hoping that test will be out by the end of the month. Hoda, back to you. All right, tom, thank you Governor Cuomo underscoring this point that Health Officials are now out with new warnings about the virus for younger americans. The question is why is the toll here more severe than it has been in other parts of the world. Nbcs sam brock in houston with more on that part of the story hey, sam. Hoda, good morning. As this pandemic continues to unfold, doctors here in the u. S. Still trying to figure this disease out. This morning were in houston on the site of the biggest Medical Center in the world where they are not providing details on hospitalizations but we do know, hoda, in the houston metro alone, there are at least 40 cases involving people who are 30 or younger two of those cases involving kids under the age of 10 this morning, the coronavirus proving to be unpredictable as the nations Top Health Experts try to pin down who is most at risk. Now as were seeing weeks move into months with this crisis we know a lot of our initial thoughts are not accurate we are seeing younger folks who can get hospitalized and also very sick. Information out of china initially pointed to older people being hit the hardest but the latest cdc data paints a different picture. Patients between the ages of 20 and 54 make up nearly 40 of covid19 hospitalizations in the u. S. With 12 of intensive care patients between the ages of 20 and 44 whats not clear is how many of the young patients had underlying conditions, making them more vulnerable the death rate among the Younger Group remains far lower still compared to those 65 and older. No matter how young you are, if you have an underlying serious medical condition, youre going to potentially get into trouble if they dont have underlying conditions, that will be something we have to really examine as to why were seeing it here but we didnt see it in china. Hes fighting for his life. Zacharys husband david was hospitalized after he became sick a week later, the 44yearold who has asthma, is now on a ventilator. Just taking it day by day, hour by hour College Students who packed beaches and bars over spring break widely criticized. Now a Florida University says five of its students have tested positive after returning from vacation. Young people can get it you will get sick. New yorks Governor Andrew Cuomo noting more than half the cases in the state are people between 18 and 49. A country relying on a Younger Generation being responsible reeling at the prospect they, too, could be at risk. As a doctor told me, there is no textbook for the coronavirus and how to handle it they are figuring this all out in realtime. In texas, dallas has issued what they call shelterinplace order. That takes place later tonight so far the states governor has yet to extend that order for the entire state savannah, back to you. All right, sam brock in houston for us thank you. And were joined now live by u. S. Surgeon general dr. Jerome adams. Good to see you again, sir. Good morning. I really didnt expect that id be on the today show for such a somber occasion. I want america to understand, this week its going to get bad. We really need to come together as a nation. Ive heard the story you were just playing young people out on beaches. We see here in d. C. That the district set up a cam for people to watch Cherry Blossoms you look on the cam, you see more people Walking Around than you see Cherry Blossoms. This is how the spread is occurring. We really, really you dont think people are taking it seriously . I think there are a lot of people who are doing the right things, but i think that unfortunately we are finding out a lot of people think this cant happen to them when you look at whats going on in new york, we said this at the beginning of 15 days to stop the spread initiative, the numbers happened two weeks ago. We dont want dallas or new orleans or chicago to turn into the next new york. It means Everyone Needs to be taking the right steps right now at home. I hear the urgency in your voice, sir i wanted to ask you, actually, because the president tweeted just last night around midnight. And he said and i can put it up on the screen we cannot let the cure be worse than the disease. At the end of the 15day period, we will decide which way what he want to go what does that mean . Well, it means that our 15 days to stop the spread initiative really was based on the fact when it came out a week ago, we were about two weeks behind italy and we really hoped to instill a sense of urgency across america that includes pulling down elective surgery cases i have an oped about that that includes social distancing measures stay at home, dont take unnecessary travel, avoid groups of larger than 10. That includes teleworking. There are parts of the country that are doing it. These work preventively. They work best the earlier you do it an people are waiting to see the spread before they get serious. We talked last week, dr. Adams, you acknowledged its likely going to have to be more than 15 days we take these measures again, this is the hazard of trying to interpret a tweet, but it sounded like the president was at least considering ending these measures after the 15day period when he says at the end of the 15 day period w will decide which way we want to go we dont want the cure to be worse than the disease that sounds like hes worried that what were doing to stop it is worse than the virus itself where do you come down on that well, savannah, as the nations doctor, im here to help america understand how we need to respond to this. Where i come down is that every single day counts, every single second counts. Right now there are not enough people out there who are taking this seriously you see it looking in california, people on the beaches. You see it in washington, d. C. , people out looking at the Cherry Blossoms we need to take this seriously weve talked a lot about that graphic. Everybody has seen it now. Flattening the curve this is the effort were all collectively involved in right now. If were not testing as much as we could be, how will we know . Whats your Progress Report on where we are on flattening the curve when you have places like new york state saying were not testing you anymore unless you come in here to the hospital so if youre not testing, how will we know if these measures are working . Thats a great question i had a tweet out yesterday where i pointed out last week if you look at monday to friday, testing increased by ten fold. Testing is definitely significantly increased across the country. Here is the problem. We arent testing the people who are at highest risk right now, and its why yesterday you heard the Vice President say and you heard me say, we need to make sure were prioritizing for Health Care Workers. We need to take care of the people who take care of people in hospitals and people at highest risk right now as tony fauci said many times and people have heard me say this, too. People need to act as if they have the virus right now so test or no test, we need you to understand, you could be spreading it to someone else or you could be getting it from someone else stay at home in new york the governor new york is the place where they have the most cases in the country. More than half the cases they have right now, 53 were actually young people between the ages of 18 and 49, which, of course, is very different than the earlier understandings of this virus are young people more at risk than previously thought . Well, so far the demography definitely seems to be very different in the United States versus in other countries that saw this hit earlier were looking into that. There are theories that it could be because we know we have a higher proportion of people in the United States and also in italy who vape we dont know if thats the only cause. But its important for young people to know you can get this disease. You can be hospitalized from this disease, you can die from this disease but most importantly you can spread it to your loved ones we need you to really lean in. Its why i reached out i want to give a shout out to kylie jenner who stepped up and sent out a message my daughter and son said, dad, make sure you call out layer engray, roman atwood, reaching ou to social Media Influencers who dont listen to Surgeon General but are on youtube and tiktok but say, hey, this is serious, and this includes you. I hope were getting the message out. Doctors, nurses, hospital staff have a message, too. They are begging for protective equipment. So far the president has resisted invoking defense production act hes activated but not using it yet. Hes resisted that, not sure from where you established as a medical professional thats the right thing to do from where you stand as a medical professional yourself, if doctors and nurses are begging for these kinds of equipment, is it time to Ask Companies not ask, Tell Companies to start helping in the manufacture of this lifesaving equipment well, a couple of things there. These are my colleagues. These are my friends im getting texts all through the night every minute from people i want you all to know as Surgeon General and as your colleague, i will not rest, i have not rested, i wont rest until we make sure the people taking care of the people get what they need to stay safe. Now, you asked about the defense production act here is the thing people dont understand you dont need to compel someone to do something they are already doing. We talked to 3m, and honeywell, they are at max production we spoke with hanes. We never would have thought if you invoke the defense production act to go to hanes. You dont need to compel people to do what they are already doing. The other important point. Were not going to ventilate our way out of this problem. Were not going to treat the way out of this problem. The way you stop the