was on a ventilator was dismissed as disinformation. then dominic robb, foreign secretary, chaired a 9:15 a.m. coronavirus war cabinet. now, at the press conference which was only four hours ago, dominic robb stood there and said the prime minister was comfortable, he was in good spirits and was continuing to lead the country. the language was incredibly precise. we did note a deterioration in the sense that originally they were referring to the prime minister's condition as mild, and now they were calling his symptoms persistent. but robb maintained the prime minister was at the helm, giving instructions when necessary. then, two or three hours later, we learned the prime minister had to be admitted to intensive care on the advice of his doctors. jake, we now await more information but we do know dominic robb will be deputizing for boris johnson, making key decisions in this national emergency. >> bianca, obviously we don't know a great deal prime minister's condition, but if the british government called it disinformation, the report, i think you said from russians, that boris johnson was on a ventilator, but we know now he's in intensive care. do we know if he is using oxygen or a ventilator? have they disclosed that one way or the other? >> reporter: all we have disclosed at the moment, jake, came from the statement released about an hour ago. they said that the prime minister remained conscious at this time, given how rapidly his condition has declined, we're talking about an hour and a half ago, the prime minister was conscious, and that he had been moved to the intensive care unit as a precaution should he require ventilation to aid his recovery. but now, if we consider the fact that the prime minister only went into hospital last night and that his condition does appear to have declined quickly, it's difficult to say the situation that he would be in now. obviously he's going to get more intensive care where he is with more one on one support than before. the doctors i've been speaking to, most of the time they move patients into the icu uni krchi because they need a greater source of oxygen in more extreme cases. as i mentioned, the prime minister had these persistent symptoms for ten days. the health secretary and the medical officer who had both been diagnosed with coronavirus at the same time as the prime minister were back working several days ago. the prime minister continuing to decline. jake, the last time we saw him in person was when he emerged on the steps of 10 downing street to show his support for the british national service. you could visibly see signs of sickness. then he went back in. then there's the odd video he's posted on twitter. they were obviously trying to capture his best moments, trying to keep the morale of the country high. >> it's interesting, it sounds like the protocols in the uk are similar to how they are in the united states, which is you really only get admitted in the united states if you're having trouble breathing. you can be weak, feverish, and in a lot of pain, but if you're not having trouble breathing, you're basically told after being examined to go home and rest. you're really only admitted in the united states if you're having breathing, for the most part. bianca, thank you so much. clarissa ward is outside the hospital where the prime minister is being clarissa, what are you learning? >> reporter: jake, i've been standing here for the better part of the day reporting lines given to us by 10 downing street who have been saying the prime minister was in good spirits, that this was a precautionary measure, that he was just going in to get some tests because he had had these persistent symptoms that have lasted ten days. you yourself remembered that just on friday boris johnson was saying, oh, it's still mild symptoms, but i can't seem to shake this fever. what a difference a few hours make, jake. now he is in the intensive care unit. there's no indication that, from what i'm hearing, that he has been intubated, which is to say he has been essentially put on a ventilator. but certainly [ inaudible ] business for him to have been admitted to the icu at all. i just want to give you a little bit of a picture here in the uk of how most of these emergency rooms are operating. basically what happens when you enter the emergency room, there is a clean bay and a dirty bay. the dirty bay is for all suspected and confirmed covid cases. once you're in the dirty bay, it's siphoned off into four different wards, one for suspected covid, one for confirmed covid, but manageable symptoms, such as given oxygen, given an iv drip if you're looking at secondary infection such as pneumonia as a result of the covid-19 virus, and the third ward is what they call full escalation. that is likely where boris johnson, although obviously he's the prime minister, it may be an exceptional circumstance, but the kind of level he's at, full escalation. it doesn't get more serious than this, jake. i think a lot of people in this country tonight will want to know and understand better how it is that just a few hours ago downing street was really trying to spin this as him very much being in charge of the country, managing things and all his affairs from the hospital. this really is just a precautionary measure, they said. and now we find ourselves here in this circumstance with the prime minister of great britain in the intensive care unit behind me, jake. >> it's really a shocking development. clarissa ward outside the hospital where uk prime minister boris johnson is. thank you so much. joining me right now to discuss, cnn chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta, sanjay, as always, thanks so much for being here. it's possible that because he's the prime minister, they're just taking every precaution. but to be in the intensive care unit, what does that suggest to you? >> you know, i think this would not be a surprising development that we hear that he ends up on a breathing machine, jake. obviously this is a significant turn. but, you know, we're in the middle of a pandemic. these types of intensive care unit beds are a real premium, as everyone really knows, jake. he is the prime minister, so obviously, you know, you have to view this a little bit differently. he may be sort of being monitored right now. but there clearly was a level of concern that was significant, jake. keep in mind, ten days ago when he was diagnosed, last night he went into the hospital, they say for routine testing at that point. but still, to go into the hospital in the middle of a pandemic where there's lots of people who have covid, you run the risk of getting even more sick. it's a significant sort of decision to make. and now with the intensive care unit, i mean, there's really just a few reasons why that would happen, the primary one being the need for additional breathing support, probably through a breathing machine, could be something related to his heart, could be justly t th need for additional monitoring, trying some sort of new therapy. i think the clinicians are probably trying to sort out right now why the prime minister's condition worsened, obviously. the virus, obviously, but what is it doing to his body specifically? that's what they're trying to figure out so they can best determine what to do next. >> sanjay, it sounds as though the protocols are similar if not the same in the uk as they are here, which is one can be really weak, feverish, achy, loss of appetite, dehydrated, malnourished, even, and still not be admitted to a hospital if you're not having difficulty breathing. you and i know lots of people who have this, including two of our friends and colleagues, brooke baldwin and chris cuomo, who have dealing with this at home. for the prime minister to be admitted to the intensive care unit suggests, as you're saying, that there's something more, some difficulty with the breathing, whether it's getting oxygen or something more significant. >> yeah, absolutely, jake. i mean, given the nature of things right now in the world, going to the hospital, you know, really there's only enough beds for people who are seriously ill. so people are pretty much, unless they're seriously ill, being told to stay home. people who may have otherwise, under other circumstances, been admitted to the hospital. so he was, you know, admitted to the hospital last night and then this additional turn, where he's going to the intensive care unit. while the hospital beds themselves are in short supply, intensive care unit beds even more so, ventilators even more so, then all the people who make that work, respiratory therapists, the people who monitor the ventilator and monitor, obviously, the prime minister, these are people who are very much on the front lines. so you take a decision like that seriously. one thing i'll add, jake, another pattern we've seen, there are scientists all over the world trying to figure this out, you see people who are cruising along, they're sick, but they're okay pretty much, they stay at home, and then they do have a sudden decline. that can happen. i don't know if that's what happened with the prime minister last night or this afternoon or what. but that can happen. and it just makes us have to be more judicious to really pay attention to any kind of change that occurs, you know, whether it be the prime minister or anybody else for that matter. >> and let me just ask you more on a national level, here in the united states, we've passed now 10,000 deaths, and i'm wondering where you think we are in this virus, in the fight against this virus in terms of flattening the curve. is it state by state? what are you looking for, what are you anticipating? >> you know, i spent most of the weekend sort of looking at a lot of these models, talking to the people who are creating these models, some of the big ones, some of the smaller ones as well. new york, the models do seem to suggest, we have a curve, and when you look at the curves you see huge shaded areas because there's such a wide range of what the modeling shows. but it does look like we are still on the upward trajectory of what is happening in new york. and getting closer to where, you know, people call the apex. but the apex is looking more like it will be sort of a flat line for a period of time and then come down as opposed to sort of a single point in time. and the doubling time is around six or seven days for new york. it's similar for the country, where we're also seeing six or seven days. i think the apex or this flat top will be sort of different time periods, but both within the next few weeks now, jake. >> all right, dr. sanjay gupta, thank you so much, appreciate it. coming up, the surgeon general says this week will be the toughest week yet for some hotspots in the united states as deaths in the united states surpass 10,000. plus more than an hour, three people, and 13 computer crashes, all to apply for one small business loan, the stimulus troubles, next. >> announcer: "the lead" with jake tapper brought to you by tractor supply company, providing pet food, animal feed and gardening supplies. ♪ limu emu & doug [ siren ] give me your hand! i can save you... lots of money with liberty mutual! we customize your car insurance so you only pay for what you need! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ and sometimes, you can find yourself heading in a new direction. but when you're with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward. 450-degree oven, to box, to you, know that from ourlear, it's our policy that your pizza is never touched once it comes out of the oven. and we're taking extra steps, like no contact delivery, to ensure it. new york governor andrew cuomo saying today hospitals in his state are so overwhelmed there he will ask president trump to allow the navy medical ship that has come to port there to take coronavirus patients, which was not originally the plan. cnn's erica hill reports on the coronavirus fight from the epicenter, new york city. >> reporter: 250 beds at the meadowlands in new jersey. 2,500 in chicago's mccormick place exposition center. and another 2,500 at new york's massive javits center where covid patients began arriving over the weekend. new york governor andrew cuomo asking president trump to convert the navy hospital ship "comfort" to a covid ship as well. >> while none of this is good news, the flattening, possible flattening of the curve is better than the increases that we have seen. >> reporter: the cdc today warning the country's death toll could be higher because data is lagging by as much as two weeks. as a new york city councilman tweets, the city may need to bury victims in parks because morgues and trailers are reaching capacity. >> i've heard a lot of wild rumors but i have not heard anything about the city burying people in parks. >> reporter: around the country, communities adapting and bracing for what the surgeon general cautions will be the hardest and saddest week yet. >> this is going to be our pearl harbor moment, our 9/11 moment, only it's not going to be localized, it's going to be happening all over the country. >> reporter: in new orleans, mortuaries and morgues are at capacity. louisiana's governor says they could run out of ventilators and beds by the end of the week. officials in new york warn they may have even less time and resources. >> the numbers that we're really watching is still the number of hospital admissions, the numbers that are going into the icu and eventually on ventilators. and we're not seeing a decrease in those numbers yet. those are the numbers that will really strain our health care system. >> reporter: meantime, wide spreadsheet shortages of critical supplies across the country adding to the strain. a government watchdog report finds those shortages are making it harder for hospitals to test and protect their staff. the government adding new travel restrictions for cruise ship passengers and crew arriving in the u.s. not allowed on commercial flights and subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine. a third passenger from the "coral princess" now docked in miami has died. in new jersey, a mother and icu doctor is recovering from the virus, anxious to hold the children she wasn't sure she would see again. dr. julie john even making them a goodbye video. >> i just wanted to tell my kids that they are the most important thing in the world to me. i love you and i want to be there but i can't. that's the most important thing, when you can't breathe, i thought of my children and how i can say goodbye the best way. >> reporter: just heartbreaking to think how many people across this country, jake, had a similar thought of how do they say their goodbyes. thankfully she did not have to do that. another note on what we're seeing in terms of the "comfort" in new jersey, governor murphy says he got a call from washington earlier today saying some of those beds which will now be turned over for covid patients on board the "comfort" will go to patients from new jersey. he didn't have a specific number of how many. when you look at the 2,500 beds behind me at the javits center, the thousand on board the "comfort," these beds are what the governor is calling the relief valve for the rest of the state. >> erica hill, thank you so much. a heated argument inside the white house has spilled into the public. sources tell cnn the president's top trade adviser, pete are navarro, lashed out at dr. anthony fauci during a meeting in the situation room last night after fauci warned there is no direct proof that an antimalarial drug can help treat coronavirus. navarro, who is not even remotely a medical expert, disagreed with dr. fauci, who is the head of infectious diseases at the national institutes of health. when asked on cnn earlier today why navarro's credentials as an economist make him more qualified than a top doctor, perhaps the top doctor in infectious diseases in the nation, here was navarro's answer. >> doctors disagree about things all the time. my qualifications in terms of looking at the science, uh, is that i'm a social scientist, i have a ph.d. and i understand how to read statistical studies, whether it's in medicine, the law, economics, or whatever. >> mm-hmm. cnn's kaitlan collins takes a closer look at how this public feud got started. >> what do you have to lose? >> reporter: ignoring the advice of medical experts, president trump is now promoting the use of an antimalarial drug that isn't proven to treat coronavirus yet. >> i'm not a doctor. but i have common sense. >> reporter: actual doctors are hedging their bets, warning there's no medical proof that hydroxychloroquine will work and cautioning it's still being tested. you wouldn't know that from listening to the president. >> and there are signs that it works on this, and very strong signs. >> reporter: experts say they have concerns about the well-known side effects of the drug, including fatal heart problems. >> you could lose your life. it's unproven. >> reporter: last week, the food and drug administration granted emergency approval for the white house's plan to distribute millions of doses to coronavirus patients. although no substantive trials have been completed yet. >> we don't have time to something and say, gee, let's take a couple of years to test it out and let's go and test with the test tubes and the laboratories. >> reporter: at the briefing yesterday, trump was standing next to dr. anthony fauci, the country's top infectious disease expert. but when a cnn reporter asked dr. fauci for his opinion on the drug, it was trump who entered instead. >> what is the evidence -- >> he answered the question 15 times. >> reporter: trump's push for the drug has caused tensions in the white house and even led to a heated disagreement between dr. fauci and trump's top trade adviser who doesn't have a medical degree. >> my qualifications in terms of looking at the science is that i'm a social scientist, i have a ph.d. >> reporter: peter navarro brought a stack of papers to a white house situation room meeting that he said was proof the drug worked. fauci pushed back, arguing any decisions should be based on actual data. >> two warords for you. second opinion. >> reporter: trump left that meeting and went straight to the briefing room where he told reporters this. >> i may take it, okay? i may take it. i'll have to ask my doctors about that. but i may take it. >> reporter: so, jake, he not only said he would consult with his doctors, something that people do not think is likely, that he's going to take that drug. but americans should talk with their own doctors, trump said, that he has continuously and repeatedly pushed from the white house briefing room. >> kaitlan collins, thank you very much. the dow closed up 1,600 points, the stock market's best day since march 24th, as pieces of the stimulus bill continue to roll out. a new hotline for lenders today is supposed to help the stimulus plan for small business loans. wells fargo says it maxed out on its $10 million cap on loan applications. let's bring in cnn's business anchor julia chatterley. julia, good to see you. for just one loan, we're told it took 72 minutes on the application site, it crashed 13 times, three different people had to try to do it. is the technology there for this kind of demand? >> not on this scale, not on this size, and not at this speed. that's what we've learned over the past few days. the dollar amounts we're lending is ten times the size of what the small business administration did in the whole of last year. so the technology glitches here i think are vast. if you imagine the billions of dollars that banks have tried to agree to loans just in the past couple of days, bank of america did $25 billion of loans on friday, they then have to upload all that information manually to the small business association website. 13 crashes in order to do that, to me, given the bottom we're talking about, make sense. there are all sorts of issues for all sorts of sizes of lenders here, jake. the only good news i can give you is i spoke to the chief of the banking association that represents the vast majority of lenders. he said amazon is helping the sba with their website and he says the money will flow by wednesday or thursday of this week. >> you have wells fargo also tapped out, citibank and chase had trouble uploading applications to the small business administration, the sba. if this is the situation for big banks, how do the smaller community lenders, how are they able to do it? >> the same issue, not necessarily the scale of the loans but with the sheer inability to give the borrower information to the small business association. i heard from one community bank that had three people, that's the only amount of people they could have adding this information to the website. they asked for a hundred log-in credentials, they were given two extra. it's a problem for banks of all sizes. what i heard today, jake, as well is that the website itself went down at around 1:00 p.m. eastern time, so no one was uploading information. i struggle to give you an optimistic view of what we're seeing here. there's so much demand, and the technology can't keep up. >> today former federal reserve chair janet yellen said the unemployment rate, she believes, is likely 12 or 13% and going to continue going up. she said unemployment might reach depression levels, which would be in the 20% range. she's not alone making this prediction. have you heard anyone say how long this unemployment might last? >> all the predictions suggest that we won't see a recovery now until the fourth quarter or into the first quarter of 2021. but janet yellen, former chair of the federal reserve, the central bank, was very calibrated. she said it's going to look and feel like a great depression, but this is different, because the hope is that we can get back to business, to quote her, as soon as possible. jake, you and i have discussed this before. one, the recovery is going to depend on the stimulus and how supportive it is, and we've talked about the challenges for small businesses. but two, getting in control of the health crisis. those two things are critical and we don't have either right now. >> all right, julia chatterley, cnn business anchor, thank you so much, as always, good to see you again. coming up, the hunt to find the origin of the coronavirus and why it's possible the original source might be still spreading it. stay with us. ♪ hey you, yeah you. i opened a sofi money account and it was the first time that i realized that i could be earning interest back on my money. this is amazing. i just discovered sofi, and i'm an investor with a diversified portfolio. who am i? they make you 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most likely. chinese researchers have already determined the coronavirus is 96% identical at the whole genome level to a bat coronavirus. 27 health scientists from the u.s. and across the world wrote this letter to "the lancet" condemning conspiracy theories and supporting the theory that overwhelmingly concludes that this coronavirus originated in wildlife, as have so many other emerging pathogens. >> these pathogens emerge from wildlife. >> reporter: one of those scientists is one of the most preeminent virus hunters in the world, peter dasher. >> because we've been doing this work in china for ten years, we have a whole series of genetic sequences of viruses we found with our colleagues. so they could compare what they see in people with what they see in bats. this is likely a bat origin virus. >> because it has that 96% comparison rate to what was actually in a bat, that's why you're saying it's very, very likely this did come from a bat, although we don't know where this strain actually came from? >> we're very confident that the origin of covid-19 is in bats. we just don't know where exactly it originated. that's what we need to do now. >> reporter: it is a genetic detective story. researcher will trace the virus that is killing thousands to a yet to be captured bat in the wild, to a potential animal that became the crossover vehicle for covid-19. yes, the virus could have transferred directly from bat to human. but most likely, he says, it was bats infecting farmed animals, animals brought to market alive and kept with people in one of the most perfect incubators for viral infection, the chinese wet market. >> this huge diversity of animals, live, in cages, on top of each other, with, you know, a pile of guts that have been pulled out of animals and thrown on the floor, as you walk towards the stalls, you sleep on the feces and blood. these are perfect places for viruses to spread. not only that, people working there, people coming and buying animals, they're chopping them up in front of you, and kids are playing there. you know, families almost live there. >> reporter: it's called zoonotic spillover. professor andrew cunningham with the zoological society of london has studied them for decades. >> wet markets, these live animal markets, are certainly a very good way of, if you like, trying to get a virus to spill over into people from wildlife. they're susceptible to getting viruses or other pathogens from the environment or from other animals that they wouldn't naturally come into close contact with, and then they can become virus factories. they're in close contact with human beings in the markets, people in relatively unhygienic conditions. >> reporter: reports from china were that some of the earliest cases were not associated with the wet market. then there's this theory, widely debunked. this paper from two chinese researchers that says it is plausible that the virus leaked accidentally from one of two labs near the wuhan seafood market. after an uproar and heated denials by the chinese government, one of the authors told "the wall street journal" the paper had been withdrawn because it was not supported by direct proofs. experienced virus hunters say the theory is bunk. >> people don't keep bats in captivity. it's complete baloney. >> it's basic biology. we don't need to invoke conspiracy theories. >> reporter: accusations of misinformation from both sides are slowing the work of the virus hunters, who are grounded by the same travel restrictions that have crippled the world. that is concerning, because without knowing where it came from, there is still a chance that original host species is spreading it. >> it's the so-called intermediate host, an annuimal e bat virus got into, the virus might still be in that host. there are hundreds, thousands of these animals in farms. maybe the virus is still there. so even if we get rid of the outbreak, there's still a chance that that virus could reemerge. and we need to find that quickly. >> reporter: jake, the answer lies with china and with western scientists still unable to travel. the trail is growing colder, jake. >> fascinating, drew griffin, thank you so much. quote, death is imminent for us. why one group of americans say they're particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus and they are pleading for help at great risk to themselves. a special lead investigation, that's next. 450-degree oven, to box, to you, it's our policy that your pizza is never touched once it comes out of the oven. and we're taking extra steps, like no contact delivery, to ensure it. ladies, my friends and i are having a debate. -i have a back rash. -alright. whoa, mara. i laugh like this. 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[ screaming ] if we're gonna save the world, we need to unite all the trolls. like k- pop... ♪ reggaeton... ♪ yodelin'... ♪ and hip hop. ♪ my whole body's made of glitter ♪ ♪ and i'll throw it in your face ♪ well, we're doomed. a smooth jazz troll? i don't care for smooth jazz. the world premiere is in your home friday. go to watchtrolls.com for more. rated pg. to helcvs pharmacyh the curris now offeringation free one to two-day delivery of prescriptions and everyday essentials. visit cvs.com/delivery or call your local pharmacy to learn more. free prescription delivery from cvs. i am totally blind. and non-24 can make me show up too early... or too late. or make me feel like i'm not really "there." talk to your doctor, and call 844-234-2424. a special investigation for "the lead" now. for one specific coronavirus-impacted group, prisoners, last week we learned about the first federal prisoner to die from coronavirus, patrick jones. he was serving time for a nonviolent offense. prisoners from lisbon, ohio to oakdale, louisiana have contracted the virus behind bars and died from it. health care workers warn that crowded prisons and jails with insufficient hygiene are becoming veritable petri dishes, incubating the virus and spreading it far beyond the walls of the facilities. some officials have promoted the release of some prisoners to reduce the chances of what essentially would be or could be a death sentence. perhaps nowhere are prisoners more vulnerable to this than in alabama, where "the lead" obtained footage of prisoners literally pleading for their lives. >> we need help. >> reporter: desperate please from behind bars. prisoners in the alabama correctional system fearing for their lives as the coronavirus pandemic spreads. >> it's going to be a mass grave site. >> reporter: cnn objecttained t video from inside state prisons in the last week, capturing just how deplorable conditions are in the facilities. the state department of correction, in an internal document, sounding the alarm. quote, 21,900 inmates being housed in crowded dormitories creates a very high exposure risk situation. >> they are not giving us hand sanitizer. they are not giving us proper soap. they're not giving us masks. >> reporter: inmates crammed together, overflowing in some spaces. >> we're super crowded, and it's super dangerous with the coronavirus. >> reporter: alabama state prisons are among the most crowded in the country, according to the bureau of justice statistics. and the justice department found that 13 major facilities in the state were 182% past capacity. one even at three times capacity. >> you see here there's no preventive measures to stop coronavirus from coming in. and by the prison being so overcrowded, once it starts spreading, it will flood like wildfire. >> reporter: almost no testing of prisoners has been done. the internal alabama department of corrections document reveals that in the worst case scenario, nearly 200 inmates could die given that conditions will, quote, accelerate the transmission of disease among the inmate population as well as the alabama department of corrections staff. social or physical distancing is not an option. >> that's how close we are. >> reporter: while some states and attorney general bill barr have released some inmates early to help mitigate the oncoming disaster, alabama for the most part has not. >> these are the people that they should be letting go due to the coronavirus. what in the world can this man do? >> reporter: the alabama department of corrections gave us no specific response to our story, directing to us their website detailing their response to the outbreak in general which says in part, quote, rest assured that all inmates in our custody will continue to be provided with the services to which they are entitled including rehabilitative, medical, dental, and mental health through the duration of the covid-19 outbreak. a response seemingly from a world unlike the one where prisoners say they do not even have basic hygiene needs met. >> ain't none. >> we're seeing some very outdated. we cannot wash our hands simultaneously, at the same time, you know. >> reporter: leading these inmates to risk retaliation to publicly beg you right now. >> my thing to the outside world is, help. help. help for the overcrowding. help for sanitary purposes. help for a release mechanism. we need to release some of these people. we need help. >> reporter: and forcing these men to potentially face a horrific fate no judge or jury sentenced them to. >> it's a death sentence for those in my age category. for many, faith plays such an important role during these trying times. it's holy week for christians. passover begins wednesday night for jews. ramadan starts soon for muslims. many places of worship have closed. but as nbc's tom foreman reports, some are open, putting their faith over social and physical distancing. [ bell ringing ] >> reporter: in the holiest week of the year for christians, a battle is brewing between some government leaders convinced any churches still open are putting everyone at risk for the virus. >> everyone needs to right now at this moment act like you have it and thank god that you don't. >> reporter: and some religious folks who flatly disagree. >> we have to open up so that people that are in spiritual need right now more than ever, our churches need to be open. >> reporter: government enthusiasm for cracking down on worship services has been lukewarm in places. the more than 40 states with stay-at-home orders, 14 have given churches exemptions, despite outbreaks already being attributed to religious services. in california, the governor's office has defined worship as an essential service even though some municipalities strongly object. >> this is not only undermining our ability to implement social distancing here. it's really undermining the sacrifices that millions of floridians have been making across the state for the past couple of weeks. >> reporter: in louisiana, where the virus is raging, a baton rouge pastor is still holding services allegedly drawing hundreds. the governor there -- >> we're not going to enforce our way out of this. >> reporter: at the vatican, palm sunday typically draws massive crowds to st. peters square. the view this year, startlingly different. to be sure, many places of worship in the united states have shifted to online services. >> easter's the easiest day to preach because all of us long for hope. >> reporter: yet in some corners of the religious world, that's just not enough. in arkansas, the awakened church continues to hold services while telling worshippers to spread out and avoid hugging or handshakes. the governor there is also pushing back, only lightly. >> we don't recommend that. but if it's within the guidelines, then that's understandable. >> reporter: perhaps it is understandable to some who are very devout and the politicians who count on them for votes. but health experts also say they have faith, faith that every time people gather in large groups, they're putting us all in danger, jake. >> they sure are. tom foreman, thanks so much. coming up, quote, too naive, or too stupid? the acting secretary of the navy blasting a commander for having raised concerns about his crew and coronavirus. you'll hear what he said, next. this is our home. we've never seen it look quite like this. but there's no mistaking it. and it's our job to protect it. because the best people to fight for our communities are those within them. so if you've just bought a volkswagen, or were thinking of buying sometime soon, we're here to help with the community-driven promise. 450-degree oven, to box, to you, know that from our it's our policy that your pizza is never touched once it comes out of the oven. and we're taking extra steps, like no contact delivery, to ensure it. it's an easy way to earn it's cashback on the stuff i'm already buying. when you have a child and they're constantly growing out of clothing, earning cashback from rakuten just makes everything easier. sometimes it's 3% sometimes it's 8% but you're always getting cashback. the way cashback works on rakuten is so they get a commission from the store and then they share that commission with me. and you have money, more money to spend because you got free money. go to rakuten.com and sign up today for a $10 bonus. i need all the breaks, that i can get. at liberty butchumal- cut. liberty biberty- cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ the ups and downs of frequent mood swings can plummet you to extreme lows. 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