Transcripts For MSNBCW Andrea Mitchell Reports 20200326

I think of the police officers, i think of the firefighters who are up there every day. The Grocery Store workers who are working double shifts just to keep food on the shelves because people are buying so much food because they are nervous. The pharmacists who have lines going out the door and theyre showing up every day, day after day. The transportation workers who dont have the luxury of feeling tired because they have to get up and they have to drive the bus so the nurses and the Health Care Professionals can get to work. And those Health Care Professionals who are dealing with the virus that they didnt even understand. They still dont understand. And theyre there working, many of them seven days a week. So, yes, were tired. But look at what others among us have to do and the challenge theyre under and how they are stepping up. And who am i to complain about being tired when so many people are doing such heroic efforts . I also think this is going to be transformative and informative for society. You think about our children. I have my daughters here with me. This is the first time they faced a Real National adversity, right . You have a whole new generation who have never lifbed through anything like this. They never went to war. They were never drafted. They never went threw a national crisis. And this is going to shape them. And i can tell you just from having my daughters with me, yeah, theyre hurt. Theyre scared, but they are also learning through this. And at the end of the day, theyre going to be better people for it and theyre going to be better citizens for it. I believe that. Because theyre rising to the occasion. And as we go through this, lets make sure that were teaching them the right lessons and the right response, and those lessons and that response are the lessons that we get from our better angels. And during this difficult time, lets listen to the voices of our better angels, as individuals, as families, as a community and as a society. Were going to get through this. The only question is how we get through it and when we get through it, but lets make sure at the end of the day that we can say we are the better for it. And our children are the better for it. And i believe they will be. Questions . On the budget [ inaudible question ] we have stockpiles of ventilators. They are all across the state. Any hospital that needs ventilators, we get them ventilators from the nearest stockpile. What about a surge from the National Stockpile to new york, the president is taking steps to prevent running out . Yes, we are talking about the federal government about more ventilators. Were talking to the federal government about more overflow beds. Were shopping for ventilators ourselves. Were splitting ventilators, converting anesthesia ventilators to normal ventilators. Were all over the ventilator issue. The number hold on one second. The number of ventilators we need is so astronomical. Its not like them have them sitting in the warehouse in the federal government. There is no stockpile available. The federal government is doing what were doing, which is you have to find those ventilators or convert ventilators or get Additional Companies to manufacture ventilators. But theres not a stockpile that is large enough to meet the national need. You said yesterday the projections were showing that the hospital rates seem to be slowing. Today we see a 40 increase in the hospitalization. Were the projections wrong . Are you redoing those projections . How do you bite those two figures . When you talk to the projection models, what they will say is you get a fluctuation. They dont know if its a deviation in what the hospitals happened to report that day. Remember, this is selfreported data from the hospitals, jesse. So they say you get fluctuation from time to time. Dont look at any one day. Dont look at any period less than three or four days in sequence. We will just continue to watch it. On the budget excuse me one second, karen. When you said today and yesterday that ppe is not a problem but then we had this kind of trouble that some nurses were using trash bags and improvising. Can you right those statements as well . We called a few hospitals. Theres no doubt the past few days the distribution is a little stop and start. But we have enough ppe and the new york city Officials Say they have enough ppe for the new york city hospitals. Melissa, is that right . Yes, i spoke to ken davis, reacting to the story im sure we all saw. They assured me they had all of the ppe here. I checked in with new york city and they have all of the ppe in new york city. As the individual pop up theyre reacting in realtime but continue to ensure us they have what they need at the moment. We assured them if they dont, well get them what they need immediately. We have enough ppe in stock for the immediate need. Not past the immediate need but for the immediate need and we keep shopping. The budget quarterly reevaluation, is that something you would do . Would you do it in conjunction with the legislature . What advice would you give to schools and local governments how to cope with that . Look, were all coping with the same thing, first of all. The federal government has a revenue loss. State governments have a revenue lost. City government have a revenue lost. So no one can say, karen, well, i dont accept this reality of a revenue loss. It is a reality for everyone and everyone has to adjust to it. Im sure there will be some people who say i dont have to adjust to it. I should be held harmless from reality. No one is held harmless from reality. Go toll any family out there, you know, reality doesnt count. So everyone has to deal with the reality. I cant protect them from the reality. The way again, weve never done this before. It doesnt mean we cant, just that we never have, but what were thinking about is quarterly or Something Like that adjustments that are almost mathematical reflections of what the revenues are. In other words, you know what the revenue projection is, and you know how much money you have made for that quarter, right . And whatever that deviation is would be automatic. It would be done by the division of the budget. I dont believe the legislature is going to come up here every quarter and go through numbers at this rate with the spread of the virus. I dont even know it would be responsible to ask for a convening of the legislature periodically. But thats the general concept were talking about. This is all a reaction to what the federal government did yesterday. I was shocked that they were so irresponsible in addressing the state and the city need. I mean, i never believed that they would just pass a piece of legislation that didnt address it. They just did not address the revenue shortfall. They provided money for cove id the amount of money were spending on the virus, but they did nothing on the revenue loss. They know we have to fund education. They will all say in their speeches, education, education, its our childrens future. And then they do absolutely nothing in the legislation. So i just want to keep it in check, as i said, emotion is a luxury, right, to be angry is a luxury. We dont have that luxury right now. Lets just deal with the facts and lets get through it. Let me ask rob mohican, the mastermind of the budget if i said anything wrong or thats what his plan is. Sometimes he has plans about that he doesnt tell me about. Were looking at our revenue forecast now and the governor said 15 billion is how much we project to be below forecast, so we project that out over the quarters and bimonthly those are transparent. You will see what the revenues are every month and we will adjust spending according to how the revenues come in. And that will be reflected, everyone will see those, controllers will see those. The goal is to be transparent up front so School Districts can see, this is what would happen if we dont reach the revenue forecast. So they would know what would happen each quarter. Governor, there were reports about those say who theyre close to running out ppe supplies in the next week and a half or so, as early as that. Is there a plan to direct more of that to the buffalo area . Yes. First of all, nick, anyone can give you a report that they are close to running out of ppe in a week and a half. I am close to running out of ppe in a week and a half, right . That is the status across the country. When i said we have enough for the immediate future, i mean the immediate future. We dont have enough for longterm supplies. The numbers are that fast. But any hospital anywhere, whatever we have, we will distribute. And we distribute it on a asneeded basis. To say i need it in a week and a half, frankly, were dealing with hospitals that need it tomorrow and the day after. Thats the kind of time frame were dealing with. But were doing everything we can. Were buying from china. I have people calling and volunteering private planes to go to china to pick up materials. Its really been an extraordinary. But anything we have, we will distribute. In fact did you see the senator say the task force, there wasnt enough time to resolve outstanding differences by the deadline. What is your response . You know, the gig Worker Task Force step back a sec. I said i want to do everything. I dont want to just do a budget but the policy initiatives we need to do because my expectation at this point is theres going to be a budget and nothing else. Normally we pass a budget and we come back for weeks and discuss policy matters. I dont know at this rate that theyre going to be weeks of legislative discussion afterwards so im trying to get as much done as we can in the budget. The caveat is there are some issues you really have to talk through and think through and the language is important and the details are important. Otherwise, you pass a bill its not about passing a bill, right . The legislature focuses on passing a bill. I focus on passing a bill that the best and smartest bill you can pass and that youre not going to have to come back and redo the next year because you didnt think it through. The gig economy is a complicated issue. And i dont believe were going to get the gig economy done in time for the budget. If they do come back and they do stay for weeks and we have time to talk it through, fine. But if you are asking me, are we going to be ready by next tuesday, i dont think so. Health officials have said that outpatients beds should not be promoted, encouraged, promoted or advertised. Youre saying something opposite, this is possible. How do we square these two we are seeing conflicting messages from the state and city. You test if the city doesnt have the capacity its a capacity issue, right . If you have the capacity to test, test. Flatten the curve, how do you flatten the curve . Only two days. Density control, keep people away from each other, and tests. How did china do it . How did south korea do it . How did everybody do it . Density control and testing. If you dont have the capacity to test and you can only test people, for example, who are coming into your hospitals, then you dont have the ability to do it. But if you have the ability to do it, do it. Its a way to flatten the curve. If you dont have the capacity and the ability, then you dont do it. Any hospital struggling in terms of capacity, running at 11 125 at this point, how much are we helping them with more availability. We have those in tranches, we have more overflow capacity well, first within that Hospital System, you would distribute patients, right . So within new york city one hospital is at 125 , lets say. Okay. Distribute within that Hospital System because not all of the hospitals are at capacity. Second, you have overflow facilities we facilities we are constructing. Im going back to javits tomorrow. Other ones we are discussing. You only do the redistribution issue once youre past everything you do in that area. Im not eager to redistribute people from downstate to upstate. There are just practical consequences. The family would have to travel further to visit them, et cetera. So thats the last option. There seems to be a migration of families and individuals from the new york city area into upstate counties. Would you consider either a travel ban or authorizing these counties to mandate a 14day quarantine . The counties can come with whatever suggestions they want. I dont have any mandating, any travel ban on my agenda. Of. In terms of the 14day requirement to quarantine, do you think that is a big enough step . Do you see people leaving for their second home doing that . Im not a doctor. I have a sister who is a doctor. I have a little doctor envy. I would refer back to doctor zuckers comments from yesterday. Hes the Health Commissioner from the state. He had strong opinions on that issue, and i would refer back to that. To enforce that prohibition, do you have concerns dr. Zuckers opinion was its not necessary and i would agree with dr. Zucker. You talked about the apex but how many days until we run out of ventilators . How many days on the conservative effort until we run out of ventilators . The maximum projection of an apex number for ventilators was about 40,000, right . We have maybe about 12,000, in that range, ventilators. That before you are talking about anesthesia machines and before you are talking about splitting, and that number changes. We dont have an estimate for what we would get there. Hopefully we never do. [ inaudible question ] any hospital that needs more testing kits again, we dont have enough. Hospitals tend to like to have supplies for a prolonged period of time, which i understand. So they want to have a onemonth supply, threeweek supply. We dont have that be ability. If we can provide a few days supply, thats what were looking at. Of which makes them uncomfortable, i understand, but thats just the situation were in. But any hospital that needs supplies immediately, the department of health can provide them. Anyone who needs a test and if the hospital doesnt have the supplies, we have mobile testing units that can go test a person. So they just have to contact the department of health. Can you answer this question, you were asked yesterday just to reemphasize, theres no plan in place for like a ventilator protocol where certain patients would be prioritized over others . No. Also, the construction workers, is there a reason theyre being treated as essential workers . We heard complaints from some people who feel like theyre working on top of each other, these are not sanitary conditions . We are looking at that now, jesse. I understand the point and i hear the point. I think some construction is essential, right . But it is something were looking at. I understand the point and it sounds right to me. Yes. The department of labor reported 4. 3 Million People filed for unemployment. Its probably a lot more considering people cannot apply or waiting in line. What is your message for people who lost their jobs over the last several days . Its not no one has lost their job i would say to provoke them. We have all lost our jobs. Its different. When you lose a job, it tends to suggest maybe you did something wrong, maybe it was your performance, a statement, an evaluation of you. This has nothing to do with you. Its the circumstance that we are in. And we must correct it. Theres a strength in the fact that its all of us, right . When its just you, then youre on your own. When its all of us, that suggests we have to do something about it because the collective demands it. And thats where we are. Im sure it is a terrible feeling, and a frightening feeling for everyone, nick. For everyone. Nobodys been here before. Im out of work, my business is closed, i dont have a paycheck, i cant leave the house. The the house has the family in it. Or im all alone. No ones been here before. And thats why, look, this is going to it is going to change us. I really believe that. It is going to help form a new generation. I can see it in my daughters eyes when i talk to them every night. I can see their fear, eyes open wide, theyre taking it all in. What does this mean . This is going to form a new generation, and it will transform who we are and how we think. But youre not alone. Youre not alone. Nobody is alone. Were all in the same situation. Lets go to someone who hasnt asked a question, if thats okay. Whats the plan for School Shutdown orders for elections, School Elections and exams . What is the longmaterial plan . Were looking that at an ongoing basis, unless you want to add something . The only modification is e much la exams, math and science exams, were suspended, basically canceled this year by the state education department. As the governor said, the School Closure plans are set to come back on. Were looking at that right now. One more from someone did he answer your question . Sort of. They said at least april 20th. This order goes through april 1. Were evaluating the governor is evaluating that now. There will be a decision on whether to extend the closure. Remember the 180day waiver ends effectively april 1. So whether or not to extend it is being considered by the governor right now. Lets take one more from anyone who hasnt asked a question. You mentioned getting people back to work and we have to start thinking about that. Do you have a plan for that now, or is that something youre still working on . Its something the nation is working on and were working through. The smartest way forward is a modified Public Health strategy that dovetails and complements a getbacktowork strategy. What we did was we closed everything down. That was our Public Health strategy. Just close everything. All businesses, all workers, old people, short people, tall people, every school, close everything. If you rethought that or had time to analyze that Public Health strategy, i dont know that you would say quarantine everyone. I dont even know that was the best Public Health policy. Young people than quarantined with older people is probably not the best Public Health strategy. The younger people could have been exposing the older people to an infection. So how do you modify the Public Health strategy to make it smarter from a Public Health point of view . But also starts to get you back to work . Younger people can go back to work. People who have resolved can go back to, would. People who once we get this antibody test, show that they had the virus and they resolved can go back to work. Thats how i think you do it. Its not were going to either do Public Health or economic develop, restarting. We have to do both. We have to do both. Were working on it. And i think thats the same thing the federal government is working through. Im going to go to work, guys. Le thank you very much. And good day. Im Andrea Mitchell in washington. You have just been hearing from new York Governor Andrew Cuomo on a state thats been a hot spot for the coronavirus. The governor said testing is up in new york but so is the number of positive tests for covid19. More than 37,000 people tested positive in new york state. For the first time, a triple digit rise in the number of deaths in one day, up to 385 people have now died from the virus in new york state. The government repeated the need for new york to choir nacquire ventilators saying some people had to stay on it a long time, some 30 days, and he said that does not estimate the loss to new york state, 10 billion to 15 billion. And there are two stunning numbers first. The number of confirmed cases continues to rise and the staggering impact on our economy, a record 3. 2 billion people filing unemployment claims for the week ending just five days ago. A number that is historic by any pleasure. Congress has finally reached agreement based in the senate how to help family and businesses large and small. The Senate Voting unanimously overnight and on the rescue package and Speaker Pelosi saying the house will make a final vote tomorrow. Members are not required to take a risky trip back to ug wa. They already have the votes here to pass that. As hospitals especially in new york run out of vital equipment, were seeing the fightening front page of the New York Post today, nurses resorting to trash bags for protection. Democratic congressman matt rose, serving long island and House Military Committee as a veteran and joins me now. Congressman, thank you very much. You listen to the governor saying the situation as displayed by the New York Post, and theyve been assured by these hospitals they have enough protective gear for now. But he said the increase is just escalating so rapidly, theyre going to need more. Sure. What is the situation in your borough, the state and the way youre reacting to what the senate did overnight . Well, absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. Look, the situation in any district, Staten Island and south brooklyn, is one we cannot be satisfied with. We need more ppe, we need me over ventilate everies. Our staff, each and every day our hospital staff, nurses, doctors, these are the front line workers of this new war and they are going to work eachp every day and putting their lives on the line. Earlier this century we had a debate as a country as to whether we should send soldiers to war without the equipment that they need. We fought hard in the senate, in congress, so that when i deploy to afghanistan, i did have the equipment we needed. We kcant wait for a tenyear debate on this. The federal government has to act and we have to start to see this as a rolling crisis. What new york is experiencing today with an urgent need for ventilators, urgent need for ppe and staff and hospital capacity, louisiana, florida, tennessee, california, could very well experience next month. This is a trial run for what the rest of the country will be experiencing, and we need help right now. Two aspects i want to ask you about first. The president has still not implemented the defense protection act, korea war era act. And what weve seen now is states are competing against states. States are trying to get foreign aid. States are competing against fema for some of this protective gear. Sure. This has led to price gouging and prize rises. What should the states and the governors, mayors do to try to get the president to implement this act somebody. Its truly disgusting. This is dereliction of duty at this point. Right now we have states and even countries competing with each other over these supplies that are really in short supply. Its very simple what needs to happen, the federal government needs to assert all of its authority over this private marketplace, this private sector, to do a few things. First is to ramp up production. The second is to make sure that america is a preferred customer, as well as the states of municipalities most in need of the preferred customers. As the crisis moves on, those states and localities can support those who are currently in crisis. Were all in this together. Theres precedent for this in this country. You look at what we did in world war ii, when the federal government stepped in and actually built factories but then the private sector ran. I fear thats one of the issues at hand as well. The fact so many of these private companies are saying im not going to build a new factory because i dont know how long this demand will last and ive got to be concerned about my p l. Screw your p l. We have people dyeing, people that are made, and the government needs to step in and assert its authority. This is a wartime issue and wartime solution needed. In that context, what about using the military, a platoon or bra grade into new york city to construct some of the field offices to take the weight off the current hospitals and their icus . Absolutely. Heres what i think needs to happen in new york city and in my congressional district, and i will be very specific. About nine days ago i called on the u. S. Naval hospital to come to new york harbor. The president , governor cuomo, they got that done. I believe that ship will be here in the next several weeks to reduce the capacity and the burden for nonCovid Patients so our hospitals can focus on covid. The second thing is we have to look at new york citys only active base for hamilton in my district and deploy medical units there who can build shield hospitals, again, for nonCovid Patients. How can we expand beds, one thing we have to do that we have not done nearly enough in new york state, is look at the medicare system. I believe it should be expanded for nonveterans and an institution solely focused on Covid Patients so it can imagine the overflow. I have two hospitals in Staten Island that two weeks from now will not be able to bear the burden of its patients. The help from the Covid Community will be absolutely essential. The government has resources to send too. Ppes, ventilators. It needs to focus on new york. New york, this is not a testing thing. We have more people dyeing in new york, disproportionate number. Far more than any other city or state. Were the epicenter of the crisis. We need the militarys help. Weve got the package which is house is going to vote on by voice vote tomorrow. But in an unprecedented live interview, something we have not seen since 1987, the chairman of the Federal Reserve was live on the today show with Savannah Guthrie today about what the fed is willing to do. I wanted to play that for you as part of it. We can step in and replace that lending under our emergency lending powers. We can do that. We will look wherever it is in the Capital Markets where credit is not flowing, we have the unique circumstance to temporarily step in. When it comes to this ending, were not going to run out of ammunition. Thats not going to happen. He said its not a blank check, but we will do whatever it takes. We thought 2008 was chump change. If we thought it was quantum then, we need that 10x. Not just private sectors but municipalities and states. This, i believe, will be the defining moments of this generation. We have got to rise to the challenge using all of the tools are at disposal, the fed, the federal government, military industrial complex, our states as well as the private sector and they have to work in a synchronized fashion so as to deal with this now inevitable surge of Covid Patients, staffing, hospitals, ventilators, ppes. This isnt rocket science. We need a strategy, resources and solidarity. And i believe we as americans, we can get this done. Greatest country in the history of the world. New york city, greatest city in the history of the world. Were going to get through this. Zb max rose, freshman congressman from Staten Island and brooklyn. Thank you so much. Thank you for everything youre doing. Thank you again. Joining me now, nbc White House Correspondent and weekend today cohost Kristen Welker and nbcs rehema ellis outside bellevue hospital, one of the hospitals literally under siege. Thank you very much. Kristen, lets talk about President Trump and the economy. The fed chair made a rare appearance right before the jobless claims, of course, in anticipation of that clearly. He knew ahead of time what was coming, that this clear message, the fed will do whatever it takes. The fed is prepared to, you know, open the floodgates of money and thinks there will be a robust rebound. But he said very clearly that this is a health crisis, not a financial crisis. And that the Health Care Crisis as dr. Fauci quoted or paraphrased, will dictate what the economy is going to do in terms of the timing. Were not talking about any easter reopening. Thats right. He clearly, andrea, sided with dr. Fauci when it comes to the timeline of reopening the economy and said the virus is going to dictate the timeline. Very different message from President Trump, who has really leaned into this easter deadline. Of course, white house officials cautious. They say look, President Trump is saying that is his hope. Hes trying to send a signal of optimism to these businesses, to people who are out of work right now, that there will be a light at the end of the tunnel. But the bottom line is that you seem to have broad agreement among some of these top officials, Health Officials and now the fed chair, that is the virus that has to dictate the reopening. Its important to point out, andrea, the president is not talking about reopening the entire economy. He will do it in stages within groups of people and geographically and those sorts of details are still being worked out and still being worked out if even that will be feasible by easter. Of course, were going to see President Trump, we expect to later on today, when he holds one of those briefings and undoubtedly he will get pressed on all of this, including those remarkable unemployment numbers the white house and lawmakers on capitol hill are hoping the historic stimulus package will help to stem the flow of that, andrea. And what area, chris, and i will just be very blunt, you and i both live, our families live in the District Of Columbia. In an unprecedented way the District Of Columbia in this package clearly from one side of the aisle had been treated like a territory. They put more in the coffers than 22 states. The d. C. Mayor is outraged. And lets hear what mayor bowser had to say today. Last night the Senate Passed its stage three Coronavirus Relief package, in which d. C. Is treated like a federal regulatory. D. C. Is not a territory. This means, according to their treatment, the district will only receive 500 million while every state will receive a direct payment of at least 1. 25 billion. And thats a difference of 725 million. Kristen, i want to just get your reaction. The package doesnt even handle all of the problems for the gig economy. But the unemployment benefits, other benefits going to the states will not come to d. C. In full measure. And as you point out, andrea, and its worth repeating that dc does pay more in federal taxes than 22 states. Typically when you have these kind of legislative packages, d. C. Is treated like a state. I think thats why youre seeing this outrage from the mayor, eleanor roosevelt, who was fighting to get more of those funds and i think thats why youre going to see the appreciate u kept up on lawmakers to try to get more funding. As you and i both know based on our conversations with people in the community, unemployment not only a huge concern but also the Ripple Effect in hospitals. The lack of ppe, those on the front line demanding more resources and more funding, andrea. Kristin ellis rehema ellis i from new york as well. The governor tried to respond to the devastating pictures from the New York Post saying right now at least the hospitals say they have what they need. He checked with that hospital, mt. Sinai i gets it was. What was the reality from the outside, what youre reporting . What we are hearing, andrea, what the governor is saying is not matching what our Health Care Workers are finding in the hospitals. You talk about those images on the front page of the New York Post and the video weve seen from the New York Times of a doctor crying out for help. We keep talking about this world ppe. I want people to know what that means, personal protection equipment. Were standing here at bellevue because this as the camera pans over a little bit this is what theyre doing, putting up these tents, makeshift morgue, if you will, out of fear theres going to be an overload of corporations. People who die from covid19. Already a hospital just six miles from here, overnight had 13 patients die at this hospital. A week ago a managing nurse at st. Sinai west in his 40s, we were told he died on tuesday from covid19. And Health Care Workers are besides themselves as you pointed out, some of them in garbage bags trying to have protective measures. And so the governor says they have what they need but there seems to be a disconnect between having what the state needs and getting it to the people who are more on the front line of health care so they can do their jobs and not risk their lives in the process. Here they are thanking, again, the governor hopes that it doesnt come to this, but new york state and new york city is getting ready for what they fear is going to be an onslaught of deaths from covid19. Andrea . Rehema ellis, thank you so much. Joining us now is dr. P. J. Brennan, chief doctor at the university of Pennsylvania Medical Center and dan gorman, from the u. S. House Intelligence Committee recovering from the coronavirus and also former u. S. Assistant attorney. To you, dr. Grand, first, how many hospitals are under your remit and what is the equipment situation in those hospitals . Thanks for having me, andrea. We have about six hospitals in our system, and an additional site that functions as our rehabilitation and hospice center. The situation with our personal protective equipment is quite tight. We certainly have enough from day to day but we are concerned where we will be three, four days out. Right now we have efficient supplies of n95 and face shields and munch csurgical masks but w have one to share. According to the medical school you have, we noticed nyu suggested their medical students could advance their graduation and start as interns. Is there any prospect of doing that . Then you get a large medical school. There is. Most of our fourthyear students completed their studies and awaiting management midmay. Que but were working with the vice dean of acceleration to reduce it to about a third of the entries. Residents will be coming to us afterwards to complete their residency. Were looking on getting more on board at an earlier time. We are looking at fellows treating in personalty areas and would like to bring them on when possible. Were looking at all reemployment across the mission so we can back phfill where we e shortage of staff. I want to read you something i got from a doctor i know from a Suburban Hospital and has been there, interviewing selfof his colleagues. Reporting from the front, connor writes that he ran out of propofol, the most useful sedative for ventable patients. Hydro quinoline is being used and running the risk of being depleted. This is just one report from one doctor interviewing a number of his colleagues. Are you facing those kinds of shortages of meds . Supply chain is a very serious issue in every respect. We are paying close attention to our supplies through pharmacy and our materials management poster giving us daily reports and were really looking across the system on a regular basis to see we have to move the supplies. Dr. Drugs are in short supplies. We havent run out of them. Its been one to treat patients but we dont have good evidence on efficacy yet but we had to clam many down to ensure we have the drug when we do need it. Dan goldman, you suffered not only getting the disease but being unable to get a test. What has your experience been as you tried to as you have been recovering thankfully from this . Lucky my symptoms were probably on the moderate side. I didnt suffer any real breathing issues, which is the biggest concern for anyone who has coronavirus. But just like dr. Brennan, i have been talking to some of the doctors that i was dealing with over the last couple of weeks and it is an absolute abomination these medical professionals do not have the supplies that they need. I think Everyone Needs to understand, there is only one aspect of our government that can require and fulfill those splay needs and thats the federal government. The states do not have the ability to force companies to make these supplies. Only the federal government. And it is it is bewildering to me that we in the United States ever america are in a situation where as dr. Brennan is describing, that the medical professionals to fight the biggest pandemic in a century do not have the supplies they need. China, they were wearing two gowns. Here they are wearing trash bags. It is really remarkable that this is what the United States how the United States is dealing with this pandemic. Dan goldman, dr. P. J. Brennan, thank you both so very much. Coming up is there any sign social distancing is having an impact on the spread of covid19 around the country . Well have those facts next. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports. Stay with us on msnbc. Life isnt a straight line. And sometimes, you can find yourself heading in a new direction. But when youre with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, theres nothing to stop you from moving forward. A partner who makes sure every step is clear, hey allergy muddlers. Achoo do your sneezes turn heads . Try zyrtec. Zyrtec starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Zyrtec. Muddle no more. And try zyrtecd for proven relief of your allergies, sinus pressure, and congestion. Super emma just about sleeps in her cape. But when we realized she was battling sensitive skin, we switched to tide pods free gentle. Its gentle on her skin, and dermatologist recommended. Tide free gentle. Safe for skin with psoriasis and eczema. So is social distancing working is this strict measures were put in place in new rochelle, new york, two weeks ago. The latest numbers show the spread of the virus in that cit. Joining me now is jeremy, former Obama Administration official who led the u. S. Response to international disasters. Thanks very much for joining us. Theres a lot of evidence that social distancing does work, despite the pressure that we all feel to get back to business as usual. Yes, thats right. Thats one of the big lessons that comes out of the chinese experience. When they began applying these very dramatic measures to contain peoples movements, they did see a decline in cases. Whats important is they didnt do that on its own. They did that in conjunction with a rapid scale up in Public Health techniques and scale up in testing so they could be very targeted in quarantining and isolating people. What we have in the u. S. Right now is only about half that package. Were doing the social distancing. Were still not where we need to be on Public Health controls and testing. To those who may say there was no way to predict this, want to brink to everyones attention, tom bossert, who used to be in the National Security council under President Trump and was forced out, almost three years ago, in july of 2017, he was interviewed at the aspen security conference, i was there, by david sanger, our friend and colleague from the New York Times. This is what tom bossert had to say about what they were then trying to do. At this point, we need to look clear eyed at the fact that we might have a devastating pandemic influenza or intentional anthrax attack. The weakest country among us with the least Preventative Care capabilities are going to be the patient zero outbreak source. And theyll end up killing and infecting the world. He was, of course, forced out, that whole operation was downsized dramatically. There, in fact, was an Obama Administration National Security Council Table top exercise january 13th, 2017, for the incoming nsc, and the pandemic, the response to the ebola and the pandemic preparations were one of the things that was exercised for the incoming team. Thats absolutely right. We came out of that experience somewhat, you know, somewhat calmly terrified if i can put it that way about the prospects how vulnerable we and the recalled were about future pandemics. You hear that echoed in tom bosserts comments. We tried to put a lot of infrastructure in place before we left. The administration set up the Pandemic Team at the white house. We put together a whole guide book on how future administrations should approach pandemic response. That was reported in politico today and i and my tecontribute to the developed of that team. There were multiple efforts to leave infrastructure in place to deal with this kind of risk and warning the Incoming Administration to take it seriously. We should do a shoutout to susan rice and her team for what they tried to get the incoming team to do. Jeremy, thank you very much for joining us again today. Let me borrow something from our friends at the today show because in these troubling times, we really need a midday boost, if you will, to restore our faith in humanity. Our friends at the today show found a way to do just that. Just watch this. Broken down and tired of living life on a merrygoround you cant find a fighter by sitting here so we can work it out these are simply not normal times. There are a thousand new diagnoses in a single day. Thats what were bracing for. I took an oath to save lives. Were going to put our lives on the line. Were going to do everything we can to save your life and so we need your help to make that possible. Ill rise up ill rise like the day i rise up i rise unafraid i rise up and i do it a thousand times again and i rise up like the waves i rise up in spite of it i rise up and i do it a thousand times again for you for you for you and ill rise up ill rise like the day ill rise up ill rise unafraid ill rise up and id do is a thousand times again for you for you for you all we need is hope and that we have each other we have each other we will rise we will rise we will rise well rise ill rise up rise like the day ill rise up in spite of the ache i will rise a thousand times again thank you, robin and joe from the today show. We needed that. That does it for us for this edition of Andrea Mitchell reports. Stephanie ruhle continues our coverage after this. Can find yof heading in a new direction. But when youre with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, theres nothing to stop you from moving forward. A partner who makes sure every step is clear, i had moderatetoseveres rheumatoid arthritis. Ive always been the ringleader had a zest for life. Flash forward, then ra kept me from the important things. And what my doctor said surprised me. She said my joint pain could mean permanent joint damage. And enbrel helps relieve joint pain, and helps stop that joint damage. Ask about enbrel so you can get back to being your true self. Enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. Serious sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and Blood Disorders and allergic reactions have occurred. Tell your doctor if youve been someplace where fungal infections are common. Or if youre prone to infections, have cuts or sores have had hepatitis b, have been treated for Heart Failure or if you have persistent fever, bruising, bleeding or paleness. Dont start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. Visit enbrel. Com to see how your joint damage could progress. Enbrel fda approved for over 20 years. From anyone else. So why accept it from your allergy pills . Flonase relieves your worst symptoms which most pills dont. Get allinone allergy relief for 24 hours, with flonase. Were committed to serving, our communities which most pills dont. By doing what we do best. Serving you and making one great steak. Thats why we have curbside takeaway and delivery on outback. Com because at outback steakhouse, were here to serve you. Its more than just fast. It keeps all your devices running smoothly. With builtin security that protects your kids. No matter what theyre up to. It protects your info. And gives you 24 7 peace of mind. That if its connected, its protected. Even that that petcamera thingy. [ whines ] can your internet do that . Xfinity xfi can because its. Simple, easy, awesome. [ barking ] good afternoon. Im stephanie ruhle. Today the u. S. Weekly jobless claims soared to record highs with 3. 28 million new claims for unemployment compensation. Thats more than double of what expectations were. Right now markets are up in spite of the jobless claims and the dow at this point up over 1,000. This comes as the coronavirus death toll in the United States has officially topped 1,000 making this the deadliest week of the pandemic for americans. And in a unanimous, thats not something you hear me