Congressional leaders and white house negotiators continue their negotiations over a new Coronavirus Relief package. Three democratic sources telling nbc news the aid could include a 400 weekly boost for unemployment payments. The number of coronavirus patients has surpassed 4. 8 million with more than 159,000 deaths. That toll translates to one death from coronavirus every 80 seconds. Lets say that again. One death from coronavirus every 80 seconds. For all you people out there who say, oh, its just a cold. In the meantime, the number of tests being performed in the United States is dropping. The Associated Press says the number of tests per day slid 3. 6 over the past two weeks. That is down in 22 states. Weve got alarming news from the state of georgia. A second grader there has tested positive for the virus after attending the very first day of school. And in illinois, Chicago Public schools announcing all remote classes this fall semester. Our team of reporters is stationed across the country following the latest developments. I want to go first to new york where checkpoints are being set up at bridges and tunnels leading into the city after new spikes are being seen across the northeast. Ron allen is at one of those checkpoints. Ron, thus far, people have had to selfreport, selfquarantine and its all based on an honor system. Is that why were now seeing checkpoints to take this more seriously . Yes, stephanie. To take it more seriously. No one is being arrested and taken to jail. Its still a system where youre supposed to selfquarantine if you arrive here in new york from more than 30 other states, which are hot spots around the country. Its ironic new york was once the epicenter. Now the rates here are very, very low. And they want to keep them this way. Theres an estimate that as many as 20 of the new cases happening in new york are being brought here by people from out of state or out of the country as well. This check system has been in place at a number of airports around new york. Now its being put in place around tunnels and bridges and here at penn station where amtrak trains arrive, for example, from washington, d. C. Washington, d. C. , is not on the list of hot zones but maryland and virginia are. Now its important to point out that this system is going to be enforced by the new york city Sheriffs Department. Not the nypd or the state police. The Sheriffs Department is the courts. They enforce summons, subpoenas, evictions, those sorts of civil actions. They are the ones that are going to be doing this. And the goal, the main goal, is to provide information to people so that they will selfquarantine and that they can fill out these forms and that contact tracers can follow up if need be. But the bottom line is, new york wants to keep this number down and they want to know where people are coming in from out of state who might be carrying the virus. Stephanie . Ron, thank you. Lets head to the hardhit state of texas where one hospital there is so overwhelmed, they have had to helicopter patients out of the state to keep up with the massive surge in patients. Morgan chesky is in dallas. What is going on . Yeah, steph, good morning. Weve talked a lot about whats been happening in dallas and houston, the larger metropolitan areas. The part of the state still facing so much trouble against this fight in covid19 is in the rio grand valley. Weve heard about hidalgo county. Just to the side of it, its bordered by starr county where county leaders tell me 60 of the population lives at or below the poverty line. They have one small hospital with 45 beds. Thats been absolutely overrun by covid19 patients. And, steph, im told by the county Health Director that over the past several weeks, theyve been so overrun, theyve had federal team leaders that have been sitting down to try to help out. Do nothing but make phone calls to hospitals around that area trying to find empty beds. And listen to this. Theyve had 37 patients airlifted from this small hospital there in starr county. They couldnt find anyone in san antonio. They couldnt find a bed in houston, in dallas. On one patient they made 37 phone calls and that person didnt end up in a hospital until albuquerque, new mexico, said, hey, we have a bed available if you can get him here. And that is the reality facing these small communities that really dont get a lot of coverage. Not a lot of people are talking about them. They dont have the sheer numbers that draw a lot of attention, but this director tells me that he has seen up to 20 members of the same family stricken by covid, and he said just within the past couple of weeks, hes seen three siblings from the same family die. And the thing that really stuck with me is the fact that this man said because they havent been able to accommodate these patients and have had to airlift them to faraway communities, these families dont have the money to bring their deceased loved ones back home. And that is the fate facing so many south texans this morning. Back to you. Devastating fate. Now i want to head to mississippi where the number of coronavirus cases is climbing dramatically. Ellison barber is in jackson. You spoke to officials at one hospital where the icu is at maximum capacity. What did they tell you theyre up against . Hey, stephanie. So the hospital where we are, the university of mississippi medical center, they are the only hospital in mississippi with level one trauma care. They are the only hospital in this state that does transplants. Their icu beds, they are full. They are at capacity. The influx of Covid Patients has led to that icu unit being overrun. So much so that they have been unable to accept patient transfers from other parts of the state and instead, theyve had to help facilitate airlifting those patients to other states so they can get care. We are negative 14 icu beds. That means holding in the Emergency Department or in the recovery room. Weve got icu patients that need a bed and theres not one available. So were in a deficit. So this tent right over here is one of the areas where doctors, nurses, medical personnel screen patients for covid19. You can see some of them in here, the area where they are working. They sit out here all day trying to get care to anyone who might possibly need it. Doctors, nurses at this hospital, they are exhausted. Mississippi, when you look at every state in america, they are last on the list when it comes to physicians per capita. They are at the top of the list when you look at the rates of hypertension and diabetes. They were already starting in a place where their resources were stretched thin. This pandemic, they say, has made it so much worse, and right now the number of covid cases in the state of mississippi is one of the highest rates per capita of every state. Stephanie . Ellison, thank you, and stay safe where you are. Joining us to explain why all of this matters to you is former cdc director thomas frieden, the president and ceo of resolve to save lives. Always good to see you. A second grader who is in a School District that recommends but does not require masks tested positive for coronavirus in the state of georgia after the very first day of classes. Were also seeing chicago going to allremote learning for the fall. Should any schools be reopening for inperson classes . Stephanie, the first thing to say is any place can open schools in a pandemic. Keeping them open is going to be a big challenge and School Systems and communities will need to do two things for that to happen successfully. First is control covid in the community. If covid is out of control, you wont be able to keep the school open. And second, make a number of adjustments in the school. Keeping Vulnerable People out of the school, making sure that youre distancing, having mask use as near to universal as possible. Going outside whenever you can. Moving in pods or smaller groups so that if there is a case, it doesnt spread like wildfire through the school. But only affects a smaller group. Those two things are key. Control it in the community, and take steps in the school. And just to add one thing, there are places around the country that still have bars open and think theyre going to be able to open the schools. Thats not going to happen. Youre going to have to make a choice, and we heard today from scotland with the first minister there saying with the choice between hospitality being open and our schools being open, were going with our schools. One would think that schools definitely matter more than bars. Facebook removed a post from President Trumps Facebook Page featuring his false claim, otherwise known as an absolute lie, claiming that children are almost immune to the coronavirus. Is this disinformation from the president of the United States pushing schools to reopen when they shouldnt, giving parents Bad Information when theyre desperate . Id like to focus on whats happening with the virus and whats happening with everyday americans. The virus is winning, and we are losing. We are losing more than 155,000 americans have lost their lives. Were losing our economy. Were losing our opportunities for education. And this is what we need to do, stephanie. We need to focus on the virus. We need to stop focusing on distractions. And that means looking at how many tests are coming back within two days. That means looking at how many people are being able to be quarantined before they get sick. So that they dont infect others. We need to look at how were really doing and use that information to improve so we can Work Together, stay apart, Work Together, and begin to get our economy, our education, and our society back to the new normal in this world of covid which is going to continue to be challenging whether or not we have a vaccine and whenever we have a vaccine. Tom, everything that youre saying is wildly important and necessary. But do you see any evidence in this country that any of it is happening . We know that the number of tests a day are going down. How does any of what you just said pair with whats actually being done . We need to look to states, counties, cities no, no, no. Not what we need to do. Tell me where you are where is that actually happening . Yeah, were seeing some progress in the northeast, in new york, vermont, cities and states throughout the northeast that are able to keep this at a low level. Were not out of the woods. We need to continue to really improve Contact Tracing and followup. Were also encouraged with some new tests coming out, antijgen tests. That can lead to much quicker isolation and much quicker quarantine of contacts, warning of contacts. There are some positive trends, and we need to build on those. Were seeing more places around the country report real numbers. Washington, d. C. , reporting the proportion of new cases arising among quarantined individuals. Thats a Success Story because each one of those individuals is someone who didnt spread the disease to others. That number is really low now but its doubled since they began reporting it. Every place, every state, every city, every county needs to report that so we can all Work Together and ignore the distractions. Focus on the virus and focus whats happening to everyday people in this country in communities where we can Work Together to gain the upper hand over the virus. Right on, dr. Frieden. This virus doesnt just disappear. It takes serious action and coordination. I really appreciate you joining us. Your expertise and leadership always. Still ahead out of work and out of money. Millions of people feeling crushed by this economy. The president is now threatening to step in if a new relief bill cannot be reached. Ill be asking congressman Josh Gottheimer where we stand right now. Plus, the chain of events leading up to President Trumps deal with kodak. You remember kodak. Huge american brand. Now got a huge deal from the government to help make drug ingredients. How a company with zero experience producing chemicals for pharmaceuticals got themselves a 765 million deal from the government to do so and in the process, sent its stock price soaring. Rdays happen. Pain happens. Aleve it. Aleve is proven stronger and longer on pain than tylenol. When pain happens, aleve it. All day strong. To soccer practices. And new adventures. You hope the more you give the less theyll miss. But even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past. They may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. Lets help protect them together. Because missing menb vaccination could mean missing out on a whole lot more. Ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. Its like walking into the Chocolate Factory and you won a golden ticket. All of these are face masks. This looks like a bottle of vodka. But when we first got these, we were like whoa [laughing] my threeyearold, when we get a box delivered, screams mommys work mommys work. With this pandemic, safety is even more important to make sure we go home safe every single day. Safety is even more important to make sure we go home just between us, cleaning with a mop and bucket is such a hassle. 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The president is now threatening to take executive action if the two sides cannot reach a deal soon. But theres determination coming from both sides. Mitch mcconnell telling politico yesterday, i want to get an outcome, even as there are divisions within his own party. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also sounding hopeful as she left meetings yesterday. I feel optimistic that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but how long that tunnel is remains to be seen. Nbcs Leigh Ann Caldwell on capitol hill with the latest. Where do we stand . Steph, so the good news is that talks are still happening and that means that there is a will to get things done. But the four negotiators, they created this selfimposed deadline of the end of the week to reach some sort of a deal. As we know, thats friday, and theyre still very far apart on a lot of issues. Sources tell me that democrats today are going to focus on the issues of education, Unemployment Insurance and state and local funding. The reason is because they are still so far apart on those. Just the other day, the administration offered 400 a week in Unemployment Insurance through early december. The democrats rejected that idea. They are Holding Strong on this additional 600 a week, and they want that through the end of the year at least. And they think the latest unemployment jobless claims today, another Million People filed for jobless claims, is proof for them that they need something big. They need something massive and that this issue is not going away soon. The big four, they are meeting today at 5 00 where these negotiations are going to continue, steph. Leigh ann, thank you. Democratic congressman from new jersey, Josh Gottheimer. Youve got until tomorrow. Do you think a deal is going to come . It has to. The fact weve passed legislation in the house 2 1 2 months ago and were still waiting here while youve got people, you saw the unemployment numbers. 16 in new jersey unemployed. Families are hurting. Small businesses are hurting. Got to get this done, stephanie. Whats the number one thing that needs to be in this relief bill. Well, for me, its the state and local dollars are key because weve got a 20 billion hole and our lot of our local communities cant afford to pay teachers and firefighters. The Unemployment Insurance is a very big challenge. Youve got people now with no additional support. Families that are struggling im getting calls. They dont know how theyll pay their bills, their rent, put food on their table. And a lot of Small Businesses called yesterday and said, i need help. Im going to have to close the doors. And restaurants are saying, what happens when it gets cold, beginning of september, end of september, and we cant have anybody come to our restaurants . What are we going to do then . Weve got to solve this problem now and its absurd that we havent gotten this done. Congressman, stay with me because i want to talk about another thing that has you and a number of your colleagues concerned at the very least this morning. Listen up. Last week the Trump Administration announced a 765 million loan to keep kodak remember that company, kodak, the photography company, to help them pivot to making chemicals for pharmaceuticals. Something they have absolutely no expertise in. Well, the news of this deal, guess what happened . Kodaks stock price shot up from 2 a share to 60 a share with the companys ceo and a group of insiders making hundreds of millions of dollars. I want to bring in nbcs jonathan swan. Hes been digging into covering this story, along with me. Jonathan allen, excuse me. Wal