Is the worst yet to come, dr. Fauci . Yes, it is. I can say we will see more cases, and things will get worse than they are right now. Bottom line. Its going to get worse. If anyone out there believes it is not going to get worse, you are simply mistaken. The numbers speak to that notion. The caseload topping 1,200 in the United States, up from a thousand just hours before. Washington, d. C. s mayor announcing a state of emergency after a string of new cases there. Joining 21 other states and many more localities. New yorks governor designating a onemile radius containment zone in the new york city suburb of new rochelle. More colleges across the country cancelled classes and switched over to distance learning. Seattle shut down Public Schools for at least two weeks. And earlier this evening, a bombshell from the ncaa, the division i College Basketball tournament seen by tens of millions and attended by hundreds of thousands around the country will be played woutd spectators. No fans. Only families and essential staff. No fans either at tomorrows nba game between the Golden State Warriors and brooklyn nets. The network latenight shows also now audience free. The state Department Late today suspended all nonessential travel. All of it. Late today, we learned all tours at the capitol are being stopped. The announcement is expected shortly. And as all this unfolded, Financial Markets fell sharply, again. The dow industrials losing more than 1,400 points in the day, officially slipping to bare market territory. This is what the president s up against tonight. Its what we are all now up against. And elsewhere in the world, italy, for one, the situation is even darker. We are going to bring you reporting from there, as well as perspective on whether it is a sign of things to come in this country. And if it is, that is very worrying. First, i want to check in with Cnns Jim Acosta at the white house. Jim, the president s expected to speak. Any idea what he is going to say . We do have some indications, anderson, from sources briefed on the contents in this address cautioning us that the contents may change. The remarks may change before the president lays them out in this address to the nation from the oval office. But he is expected to lay out a path out of this crisis according to these sources weve been talking to. And, anderson, what the president wants to convey, also, is the fact that this started in another country. It started in china. Didnt start here. And in the words of one source, this did not start in america but americas going to find its way out of this. And so that is an indication, anderson, that the president is going to try to shift the blame somewhat and say, okay, this happened in china. It didnt start here. Essentially, to make the point that, you know, this didnt originate here in the United States. In terms of what he is going to recommend to the country, hes going to recommend a couple things. One is how to contain this coronavirus outbreak but also to contain some of the panic in the economy right now. We are told from our sources that the president is going to lay out some economic breaks for some of the industries that have been affected by this. Specifically, the travel industry, like the airlines, cruise ships, hotel industry. That sort of thing. Those companies, that industry, should expect some tax breaks outlined in this address. Two other things loo to look for, whether the president declares some sort of national emergency. We are hearing thats under active consideration inside the white house. And also, a Homeland Security official told lawmakers earlier today that the president and his team were also considering the idea of new travel restrictions over to europe. Whether or not those are outlined in this address is up in the air. As far as we know at this moment, our sources were telling us earlier this afternoon that he is more likely to talk about these economic breaks for Companies Impacted by this crisis and they have been tremendously, anderson. Im a little confused. I dont understand, and obviously, you know, well know more within an hour. But the whole thing of the president focusing that this didnt start here. What does that matter . Like, whats the point of that . Anderson, i think it is, in part, to address some of what is being said in conservative media. We have been seeing that brought up in conservative media over the last several days. And the president , we should point out when he was making with banking executives earlier today at the white house, he made the point of saying this started in china. So there is a sense talking to our sources who are familiar with this speech, that the president wants to make that point crystal clear. To some extent, anderson, one of the problems that the president has had and it is to a large extent is that he has not had the facts straight on this crisis. He has been contradicted time and again by his own Health Experts. And so part of the reason why they wanted to have this Oval Office Address is to show that the president is in command of the facts, that he is in command of where this process is going. And where all of this originated. I was told by one source that he wants to have sort of a ceolike moment. Looking in command from the oval office. The question, according to another source close to this process, is whether he conveys that hes in command of the facts. Because, to be fair, anderson, he just hasnt been up until this point. Right. So i assume that means tonight he is not going to say that this is going to miraculously disappear from our shores, as he said, i think a week or week and a half ago with diamond and silk, you know, cheering him on. And i assume hes not going to say that this will all just go away, which is what i believe he said, if it was yesterday or the day before that. And that this is just like the flu, he has said that as well. Even though dr. Anthony fauci was saying up on capitol hill that the coronavirus is much, much worse than the flu. Anderson, talking to our sources, one of the things they are telling us tonight is they believe that the president is starting to, quote, get it. The question is whether or not that comes across in about an hour from now. Well see. Jim acosta, appreciate it. We will come back to you a bit later as we get closer to President Trumps address. Three medical and Health Experts now for the reaction on the profound impacts the virus had across the world. With me, chief medical correspondent dr. Sanjay gupta. Also, joining us, dr. Lena wen. And dr. Murphy, the 19th Surgeon General of the United States. We should mention dr. Murphy currently is on joe bidens committee. Sanjay, where are we versus where we were yesterday . You see a big reaction in the United States. The ncaa saying no more audiences. Talk shows saying no audience. I think this is a different phase now of things. Some would argue, look, we have been in this other phase for some time. But i think theres been an acknowledgment by lots of different organizations. I think dr. Faucis tone has changed. I mean, basically saying it doesnt matter if you have one case or no cases where you live, these cases are coming. It very much reminded me sort of the idea of a storm coming the way that he was speaking today. And he is essentially telling people to batten down the hatches. You know, hes maybe been saying this for some time. Again, that it was going to get a foothold here but i think the language has gotten stronger. Just for people who are maybe paying more attention to this today than they were a week ago, what precautionary measures can people take now . I think for the individuals, i think theres two major things. I mean, weve been talking a lot about what people can do to protest protect themselves. And at the same time,aying, you know, 80 of people will likely recover. I think there is a couple things to keep in mind. One is that people will get stick still even among those 08 . They will recover but this is something they need to be mindful of. Make sure they can take best care of themselves to try and not get the disease in the first place. But their health is able to withstand a significant illness. But we also identified a vulnerable population. The elderly and people with preexisting conditions, we all now have an obligation to buffer around them, to protect them. When you are talking about the vulnerable population, people above the age 70 . 75 . 70s and 80s. According to the data, above 60. But one of the things they wrote and dr. Fauci talked about this yesterday was all Healthy People have to conduct themselves as if they are a significant risk to anybody else with an underlying condition. How i interact with somebody, how id interact with my parents, for example. How i interact with anybody who has an underlying medical condition. Protecting the Elderly Population is up to all of us because we can infect even if we, ourselves, are not showing symptoms or sick. Thats right. And we have an obligation. Dr. Wen, what do you make of dr. Fauci testifying today in congress, quote, bottom line, its going to get worse. That seems to be an understatement. If you follow whats happening in italy and obviously china, it is much, much worse there. And it seems like we are just starting to kind of get our arms around how bad it could be here. Thats right. It definitely is going to get worse before we have any chance of it getting better. Even if we look at two weeks ago, we only have 15 cases diagnosed in the u. S. Now, were well over a thousand cases. And thats even with limited testing so as we get test capacities up and going, were going to find hundreds if not thousands ever cases in the coming weeks. And im really concerned about whats going to happen to our Healthcare System. We could be overwhelming our hospitals with patients who need ventilators, who need intensive care support. And its up to all of us, as sanjay was just saying, its up to all of us to try to reduce the rate of transmission so that we dont overwhelm the Healthcare System all at the same time. Dr. Murphy, do you know i mean, how many icu beds are there . How many ventilators are there . Im just trying to get a sense of where this may end up going. And ive just been reading up on whats been going on in italy and we are going to talk about that a little bit coming up. But if there are, you know, hundreds of thousands of elderly people who need to be hospitalized, and among them, tens of thousands or more who need to be on ventilators, is there that capacity . Well, this is a point of concern because what most doctors know and nurses know, who are in the Healthcare System, is that every year, during flu season, the hospitals get stretched to the limit. Youll see patients lined up in the hallways because there arent enough beds. Youll see icus that are full. And this is just during regular flu season. In a moment like this where we have this novel coronavirus, on top of the flu, this is really going to stretch our capacity, not just with beds and with ventilators but, were already seeing that hospitals and Health Systems are struggling with a shortage of gloves and masks. We also know that healthcare workers themselves, as they get sick and even as theyre quarantined, they get taken out of the workforce at exactly the time when we need them. So part of what we need to think about and really figure out as a country, both now and also for future outbreaks, is how do we build the Surge Capacity to supplement the people, the beds, the space, and the equipment that we need to really protect patients when they get ill . I want to talk more about this in a moment. Were going to take a requestqu break. We are also going to take a look at italy. The tragedy unfolding there. The lessons it may offer and the warning that it offers. Not only why it could happen here but some believe it will happen here unless drastic steps are taken. Well speak with someone who believes social distancing is the only answer in a phrase, cancel everything. They say. Also, as we wait to hear from the president , the question hanging over all of this, does he really grasp the impact for the country of what could be just days or weeks away . With advil liquigels, you have fastacting power over pain, so the whole world looks different. 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The cases and fatalities have sky rocketed. More than 800 people have died there so far. Hospitals being pushed beyond capacity and doctors are having to make the kind of treat or dont treat decisions usually reserved for wartime. If the president does not yet see that as a possible sign of things to come here, our next guest does. Yasha monk is associate professor at Johns Hopkins university and contributor of atlantic monthly. Quoting now from his piece, he writes, the coronavirus could spread with frightening rapidity, overburdening our Healthcare System until we adopt serious forms of social distancing, this suggests anyone in position of power or authority, instead of downplaying dangers of coronavirus, should ask people to cancel big gatherings and restrict most forms of nonessential travel. Professor, thanks for being with us. I read your piece this morning. A doctor friend of mine sent it to me in the atlantic. And i got to say it is it is terrifying and i am glad i read it because i feel like i have a greater sense of what is actually already happening in italy. You started off by pointing out, two weeks ago in italy, 322 confirmed cases. One week ago, 2,502 confirmed cases. Today, 10,149 cases. This thing is moving fast. Talk about whats happening in italy and the kind of choices that doctors are making about who lives and who dies. Yeah. So first of all, fact youre drawing attention to this disease increases at an exponential rate. We saw that in china. We saw that at the beginning in south korea. Were seeing that in germany and we are seeing it most dramatically in italy right now. Now, what happens when you jump in a matter of two weeks from 100 to a thousand and from a thousand to 10,000 cases, is that more and more people come into the Emergency Rooms, into the intensive care units in hospitals in those cities. And very quickly, it overwhelms the ability of a hospital to deal with it. It overwhelms the material they need, particularly artificial ventilators. And as a result, doctors are being pushed to the point where they might have to make a choice about which patient gets one of those ventilators and which patient is denied that care, which most likely means that theyre going to die. You focus in this article about guidelines that italian physicians and that work in intensive care have now put out for other doctors in italy, essentially, telling them or helping them to make those decisions. Those triage decisions. And were not talking about who gets treated first. Were talking about who gets treated and doesnt get treated. For instance, if a patient is very old, they might decide, well, given the limited resources and we dont have enough ventilators or hospital beds, if someone is very old, theyre not likely to live longer anyway. And so well treat somebody whos slightly younger. Or if theres somebody younger but they have comorbidity, thats going to make it harder for them to survive, they wont de get treatment. Were going to focus on someone else. Those are the decisions already being made, right . Yeah. So we dont know exactly to what extent theyre being made. But all the indications are that the Emergency Rooms are completely overwhelmed at this point. And this is the guidance that the doctors are being given. So, in essence, what they are trying to do is to use those resources in order to increase the benefit to the greatest numbers. And so the guidance says that if a patient is very old and, therefore, has less likelihood to recover and would have less fewer life years left even if they do recover, if a patient comes into the intensive care unit with a lot of other preexisting condition, such that they are less likely to make it, then they should be deprioritized for care. And that care should go to other people. Now, i have to tell you, you know, my training, im not a medical doctor. My