Ruth Bader Ginsburg has once again been hospitalized. Quote, Justice Ginsberg was admitted to the john hopkins hospital in baltimore, maryland early this morning for treatment of a possible infection. She was initially evaluated at sibley memorial in washington, d. C. Last night after experiencing fever and chills. She underwent an endscopic procedure at john hopkins this afternoon to clean out a bile duct stent that was placed last ago. The justify is resting comfortably and will stay in the hospital a few days to receive interveus antibiotic treatment end quote. Nothing has gone according to plan, even if youre someone like Vice President mike pence. This mortgage pence headed out to the great state of louisiana officials of course as soon as Vice President pence was wheels up, we learned that one of the Top Republican official in louisiana would no longer be there on the tarmac to meet him when he landed because that official had just tested positive for coronavirus. Boy, that one way to stomp on a message. Tough to argue that the virus is under control and that schools should be reopened when the very people youre meeting with about those issues are coming down with covid19. Of course none of the headlines right now are encouraging because this is a problem that seems to get worse by the day. Florida, california, and texas are the three most populous states in the country. Yesterday all three states alone logged nearly 30,000 new cases. Thats nearly 20 of yesterdays worldwide total. The United States has 4. 4 of the worlds population, but yesterday we were 30 of all new cases in the world. Heres a sewnering headline from the Texas Tribune today. Texas hospitals are running out of drugs, beds, ventilators and even staff. Even though weve become accustomed to the dire local reporting, this one puts you on your back heels. Quote, an coronavirus patient was flown to a hospital flown by helicopter to a hospital in el campo 120 miles away because closer facilities could not take him. Ambulances are waiting up to ten hours to deliver patients to packed Hidalgo CountyEmergency Rooms. And short staffed hospitals in midland and odessa have had to turn away ailing covid19 patients from rural west texas facilities that cannot offer the care they need. Quote, epidemiologists say the states hospitals may be in for a longer, harder ride than places like new york where hospitals were stretched to capacity in the spring and some parked refrigerated trailers outside to store the bodies of people who died from covid19. Well, those stark images of makeshift morgues on the streets of manhattan are now being seen in texas cities. One such trailer has already been put to use in houston. Theyre now being requested all across the state. In corpus christi, the morgue there is already full. The county judge that oversees the city has been urging residents to take the virus seriously, telling the local tv station, quote, i am now having to order additional body bags and morgue trailers. People have to understand how real it is. End quote. The military, meanwhile, has started sending medical personnel to help in the states overwhelmed hospitals. In san antonio where medical facilities are being pushed to capacity, the military is sending dozens of nurses and respiratory specialists to hospitals across the city. Another military team is headed to houston. Others will be deployed in the coming days and weeks, depending on where the need is greatest. As texas tries to get a handle on this crisis, things are also getting worse in florida. Today that state set a new record for new coronavirus deaths just days after setting a new record for the highest number of daily infections. While all the metrics in the state keep ticking upward, the Governor Ron Desantis seems to be in a bit of denial. The daily beast notes hes begun characterizing the surge of new covid19 cases as a, quote, blip, even noting that florida has had a lot of different blips. That might help him sleep at night, but it definitely seems at odds with what medical staff in his own state are saying. Nbc news was able to obtain footage at the icu at Memorial West hospital near miami. As of this morning, that hospital had just two adult icu beds available. One nurse there told the daily beast that given the massive number of cases and the lack of Space Available in the emergency room, hospital staff have started treating people in the hallways. Another icu nurse warned that things are only getting worse. Weve definitely seen a surplus this month of patients coming in covid positive and Critical Care patients, unfortunately. Before, when this first began, we had increased numbers, but now it seems to be over capacity. And were starting to get to a point where its we see this much worse than when it first began. So with that said, i want to just put out a message to take this very seriously. Dont take it as a joke. Because one minute you could be coughing, the next minute, unfortunately, you could be admitted to the hospital. You could be coughing one minute and you could be admitted to the hospital. Were actually going to speak to that hospitals ceo in just a moment. That hospital is so busy that the ceo the ceo has actually been leaning on her training as a nurse. She started taking shifts in order to relieve the burden from some of the staff in the hospital. Thats the state of where things are right now. Given that cities and states all across the country are in crisis, now is the time that we should beery lying on science, and yet the Trump Administration doesnt seem to share that sentiment. Late this afternoon, the New York Times broke a stunning bit of newsing about how the white house has further sidelined the cdc. Quote, the Trump Administration has ordered hospitals to bypass the centers for Disease Control and prevention, and beginning on wednesday send all coronavirus patient information to a central database in washington. A move that has alarmed Public Health experts who fear that the data will be distorted for political gain. Quote, from now on, the department of health and Human Services and not the cdc will collect daily reports about the patient that each hospital is treating, how many beds and ventilators are available, and other information vital to tracking the pandemic. The news is said to have come as a shock inside the cdc, but its just the latest assault against an institution that the white house has been trying to neuter for months now. Today four former cdc directors wrote an oped blasting the way the agency has been politicized under the Trump Administration. Quote, the cdc is home to thousands of experts who have for decades fought the deadly pathogens such as hiv, zika and ebola. Despite the inevitable challenges of evolving science and the publics expectation of certainty, these are the best people to help our country emerge from this crisis as safely as possible. Unfortunately, their sound science is being challenged with pot shots, sowing confusion and mistrust at a time the American People need leadership, expertise and clarity. Its not too late to give the cdc its proper role in guiding this response, but the clock is ticking. Joining us now is dr. Richard besser. He was one of the four former directors of the cdc who today published this oped in the Washington Post entitled, we ran the cdc selena no president ever politicized its science the way trump had. Dr. Besser, good to see you again, and thank you for joining us. Thanks, ali. Nice to be here. You and your four colleagues who ran the cdc wrote in the oped in the Washington Post, Public Health experts face two opponents, covid19, but also political leaders and others attempting to undermine the centers for Disease Control and prevention. Richard, i want to remind our viewers that a couple of months ago the cdc had prepared it had already been done a document that would allow churches, schools, workplaces, everybody to safely return to work and to reopen. And for some reason that document was shelved. It was kept from the public and nobody at the cdc could explain why the white house was hanging on to it either. Were trying to figure out whats behind the cdcs politicization of or marginalization of the cdc. You know, ali, i think one of the Biggest Challenges we face in this response is this division. This clash of messages between Public Health, which is all on the same page that this is a crisis. This is something that is in the early days, and what we do today will determine how many people die over the next months to face our nation. We have steps we can take as individuals. And if we follow Public Health science, we will save lives. On the other hand, youre seeing politics being injected into this Public Health response and the dire consequences of that. Youre seeing a lack of trust by the public in what scientists are say. A and you see a division of what people are doing based on politics and party. And that is dangerous for the entire nation. You and your colleagues who wrote this oped have worked at the cdc at different times and under different president s and when we have faced Public Health threats. This is by far the most serious, but its not the its not the only Public Health that americas faced. You say youve never seen anything like this. Have you seen anything sort of like it . I just didnt know the cdc i understand there are moments where people are interested in doing political bidding, but generally speaking, ive never seen it politicized by the administration this way. Well, you know, i worked at the cdc for 13 years, and, you know, ive never been prouder of any aspect of my career. Its full of incredibly dedicated civil servants. Patriotic americans who are working to protect lives here and around the globe. I led Emergency Response for four years and led the agency during the h1n1 swine flu pandemic, during the beginning of that. And, you know, when you develop guidance, you do it based on the best science, and to goes through a clearance process. So different agencies can comment on it. The white house can comment on it. And its important that policy is is part of that process and that conversation. But once a guidance is released, ive never seen an administration undercut the guidance of the cdc. The whole process is designed so when it comes forward politicians and scientists can unify behind that, and by doing so encourage the American Public to take the actions to protect their health that the Public HealthScientists Say are warranted. Let me ask you about this decision by the Trump Administration. Im just going to quote from the New York Times. Ordering hospitals to bypass the centers for Disease Control and prevention and beginning on wednesday send all coronavirus patient information to a central database in washington. A move that has alarmed Public Health experts. Not even sure what what do you what do you think it means . Well, you know, over the course of its history, there have been struggles, power struggles between cdc, which is located in atlanta, and some of the the people who work at the department of health and Human Services in washington. And one of the great things about cdc being being located in atlanta is that it can step aside from a lot of the politics that you get with any agency thats based in washington. The decision to have hospitals directly report to washington rather than cdc makes no sense. Cdc is the agency that needs to receive that data. Needs to look at whats happening in states. If theyre getting data on how many people are hospitalized and how many are in the icu, cdc needs to be able to look and see how does that correlate with actions that states have taken . Whos being affected . Are they getting data that is broken down by race and ethnicity to ensure that everyone in every state and every county has has what they need to be be safe . You dont want that information going directly to washington where it can be influenced even more by ibs mr. Politics. How does the cdc come up with things like guidelines . For instance, the cdc on the website on how to spread spread prevent the spread of covid19 in children says limit time with other children. If children meet in groups, it can put everyone at risk. Children can pass this illness on to others who have severe risk of covid19. Feels pretty benign. When guidelines are written at the cdc is there a thought to politicization, is there a thought to the idea that someone might not like the way that were presenting this . How does it how does it come to be . Yeah, its a process of reviewing the literature. For Something Like this about spread between children, theres a lot of data im a pediatrician and worked on Infectious Diseases at cdc for a long time. Theres a lot of information out there about how children share viruses. About how flu spreads. And a lot of the guidance thats been developed around prevention of covid comes from the experience with influenza and the experience in previous pandemics of influenza. And its really important that we learn from other nations to see, is the same thing happening here . Or is it possible that children are less likely to spread it to each other with covid than they are with the flu . And if they are, are less likely, that could change how we approach this. So that scientific inquiry is such a critical part of cdc. And its so important that the public is brought along with that so that when guidance changes, people understand why and theyre willing to make the changes in their own behavior. If theyre not hearing that process, theyll be very skeptical and you lack that trust, which is essential. Dr. Besser, good to see you, as always. Thank you for joining us. Dr. Richard besser is the former acting director of the cdc. Hes currently the chief executive of the Robert Wood Johnson foundation. As we mentioned earlier, florida recorded its highest singleday death toll of the coronavirus so far, and thats in addition to recording 29 some sorry, to recording 9,000 new new daily cases. Thats shy of sundays record of 15,000 cases, but its more than enough to continue the already see veev stain strain on floridas hospitals particularly those in the southern part of the state. Last week one local official began sounding the alarm about the impending shortage of beds and staffing at her miami area hospital. Weve converted an entire Central Tower into negative pressure so that we can accommodate more covid patients. Im busting at the seams inside the hospital. Im busting at the seams in terms of the icu. She is lea carpenter. She is a nurse and she is also ceo of Memorial West in pembroke pines. My icu is beyond capacity. Were at 106 of capacity at this moment. That was lea carpenter, ceo of a hospital near miami on friday. By monday, carpenter was unable to do any further media interviews because she had to pitch in and help combat the patient overload. A hospital spokesperson told the daily beast, quote, while lea is a ceo at Memorial Hospital west, shes also a nurse and taking shifts during the surge, so shes unavailable to us for the time being. She had finally emerged, but only to warn while her hospital has the resources needs right now, quote, if the surge continues, i have significant concerns about a about whether or not we will have what we need. Joining us now is lea carpenter, nurse and ceo of Memorial Hospital west in pembroke pines, florida, part of the Memorial Health care system. Lea, thank you for being with us. I mean, its a remarkable story that youve actually had to pitch in. Youre obviously not doing it for the photo op, so you actually have staffing problems. Weve heard about personal protective equipment shortages. Weve heard of convalescent plaza possible shortages. We still dont have adequate testing around this country, but you also on top of that have a staffing problem. That is correct. I can tell you we really started initially having space concerns, but with a little creativity and ingenuity of my construction teams, weve been able to expand and create additional spaces elsewhere in the hospital. Were staffing adequately at this time, but i can tell you that its more related to nurses taking additional shifts and really just their commitment to making sure that our patients have everything that they need. So, many of my nurses are taking one to two additional 12hour shifts a week. They do it with a smile on their face, but were concerned. Were concerned about their wellbeing. Yeah, im always fascinated when im in a hospital to see nurses and doctors with a smile on their face. Understanding that the turmoil and the trauma that goes along with that job. How is Everybody Holding out . Because we have now we are now into our fifth month of medical professionals being on the front line of this devastating illness. So i think a lot of it has to do with leadership. It starts at the top with our board and our senior execs. We make every effort to make sure that our employees are well taken ca