Resurge. The possible risks. Lives on the line. The medical personnel risking everything. Some buying their own equipment, others reaching the breaking point. America is not prepared and nurses are not being protected. But hospital workers braving the battle as they head from one hot zone to another. Testing a new treatment. The recovered patients who may hold the answer, donating blood plasma in the hope to help others. Finally i have the opportunity to maybe save a life. Well hear from them this morning. And show of support. The firefighters who brought their best wishes right to a brothers window. This is love. Giving him extra motivation to fight this virus. Good morning, and happy sunday. We really appreciate you joining once again, we are doing our part for social distancing. Eva and i right here in the studio while whit is at home. Good morning, sir. Reporter dan, eva, good morning to you both. Yes, working from home like so many other americans. As you said, we all have to do our part, and this is a critical moment in the pandemic. The White House Coronavirus task force saying that new york, louisiana and detroit could all hit their peaks in the next six or seven days. Eva . No. ,hianght hit. More than 2,600 in new york city. New yorks governor says china has donated more than 1,000 ventilators to his state. Meanwhile, President Trump says that the governors have been asking the federal government have been asking for more ventilators and supplies than they really need and hes sending 1,000 military specialists right here to new york city. We have Team Coverage on gma this morning, and we start with Stephanie Ramos whos at new yorks Javits Convention center which has turned into a hospital for covid19 patients. Stephanie, good morning to you. Reporter dan, good morning. Thats right, the Javits Convention center will soon become a massive, 2,500bed hospital for covid19 patients to take the strain off of new yorks medical system. But new yorks governor said hes still pushing for hospital equipment with the peak of the virus on the way he says the state isnt ready. This morning, the Current Situation in new york is so dire the federal government is deploying 1,000 medical military personnel to the state as the Coronavirus Crisis deepens. This will be probably the toughest week between this week and next week, and there will be a lot of death unfortunately. Reporter new york Governor Cuomo saying the state may not be ready, and it may peak in the next several days. Were still working on the capacity, the more time we have to improve the capacity of the system the better. Reporter the empire state reporting more than 10,000 new cases overnight and more than 600 deaths statewide, the most in a single day yet. Intensive care units like this one at a Medical Center in brooklyn, full of covid19 patients. Meanwhile, others sick with the disease still waiting for beds. This is what we were born to do. So even if its a little scary, this is something that has actually unified us. Reporter in neighboring new jersey, cases topping nearly 35,000. The governor saying its now lost more people to covid19 than it did during the 9 11 attacks. Dr. Deborah birx with the White House Coronavirus task force is telling americans to brace themselves for the next two weeks. Urging people who live in areas like colorado, pennsylvania and the Nations Capital to heed the stayathome warnings. This is the moment to not be going to the grocery store, not going to the pharmacy, but doing everything you can to keep your family and your friends safe, and that means everybody doing the 6 feet distancing, washing your hands. Reporter but the president seeming to contradict his team again, suggesting churches make an exception for the upcoming easter holiday. Maybe we could allow special for churches, maybe we could talk about it, maybe we could allow them with great separation outside on easter sunday. Reporter the mixed messages coming as communities try to promote safe practices, recommended by health officials. In california, police throughout the bay area are now enforcing social distancing. The last time i was in front of you, i predicted that there will come a time where we have to cite and that time has come. And we have begun citing. Reporter at one of the nations largest retailers, walmart, a big change. Practice good social separation of at least 6 feet when possible. Reporter the retail chain now limiting the number of customers who can be inside at one time with lines snaking outside stores, but in kentucky, one preacher not letting social distancing get in the way of worship this sunday. Jack roberts says he will defy a state order banning mass gatherings, saying he plans to go ahead with his service today. We dont agree and like i told them, they have a job and i dont blame them for that. Thats their job. I have a job, and its called preach the gospel. I will continue to do what i have done for the last 52 years. That is to preach. Reporter all this as concern grows in other parts of america. Cases surging in michigan and massachusetts. In louisiana, state officials warning hospitals and medical staff are stretched thin. Were not going to have ventilators and were not obtaining staffing from the local hospitals. We are here to augment the hospitals. Reporter but in hard times, moments of humanity shine. These Critical Care workers took the time to thank another group of frontline workers, grocery workers. These people really do a lot for our community, and it feels like we should be giving them some stuff. Reporter and were seeing similar acts of kindness and compassion right here in new york city. Some Grocery Stores are creating fast sites for first responders, making an exception the taking them to the front of the line. Whit . Great to see those acts of kindness, especially right now. Stephanie ramos, thank you. One of the first economic casualties of this pandemic is sports. And now, President Trump is talking about the possibility of pro sports teams getting back on the field by late summer. Abcs rachel scott is in washington with more on that. Rachel, good morning. Reporter whit, good morning. Yes, games have been called off, entire seasons suspended, but the president said that he does not want this to go on for months. He wants to see fans back in arenas and soon. After warning of coronavirus surge, President Trump made it clear he wants americans back in restaurants and fans filling sports stadiums as soon as possible. Eventually people will be able to occupy those seats in arenas next to each other. Like we have for all of my life and all of your life. They want to sit next to each other. Reporter on a Conference Call with Major League Sports commissioners, sources tell espn the president said the nfl season should start on time, players back on the field in september. When pressed, the president telling reporters he is not committing to a timeline. I cant tell you a date but i think its going to be sooner rather than later. Reporter state leaders fighting the pandemic arent as optimistic. California Governor Newsom chuckling at the suggestion. Do you believe that california is in a position where you will feel comfortable with 80,000 people going to Football Games in california in august or september . Im not anticipating that happening in the state. Reporter dr. Anthony fauci explaining the risks of moving too quickly. When you get it down, you need to make sure it doesnt resurge. Reporter and the president said he is considering creating a second Coronavirus Task force team focused on reopening the economy. Dan . So much economic damage. Rachel, thank you so much. And so much to discuss here this morning. Lets bring in abc chief White House Correspondent jonathan karl. Jon has been covering the president for years, and has an excellent new book out called front row at the trump show. Jon, good morning. First of all, congratulations on the new book and my first question is, were seeing an interesting mix of messages from the president this weekend, hes both warning us of the fact that were going to see a lot of deaths, unfortunately, and musing about filling church pews and sports stadiums. Given your experience with the president given in your book, how do you compute this . Well, all of the aspects of the trump show are on vivid display here, dan. The president is center stage quite literally every day at those press conferences. Viewing them, acting as if this is almost like a reality tv show. He talks about the numbers on one hand, the grim numbers about the disease, but also literally talking about the ratings of those press briefings. And his management style you see he is playing the boss. He listens to the experts but he is governing by gut, and this is why you see these wild swings in a single day. Yet at that press conference, depending on when you tuned in, you would think we were either just about to be over this o we aut tof this crisis. Is the. He loves aght, donald trum he loves to be able to bully his opponents, to brand his opponents, to give them nicknames and go after them in every possible way, but in this case its off kilter because the opponent is a virus that doesnt care or respond to any of that. At times in these daily briefings where the president sends different messages than his scientific advisers. Is there any tension behind the scenes here . Well, theres clearly some tension and sometimes you see it in front of the cameras, youve heard Anthony Fauci frustrated, he talked recently about how he tries to prepare the president for things to say at these briefings and the president doesnt say them. But the tension, the real tension that i hear about behind the scenes is not with the experts, but its actually with the president s political advisers. He is incredibly frustrated, lashing out because of how hes being portrayed in the news media. He feels hes not getting a fair shake on this. Again, back to the trump show, he reads the reviews and in this case he hates the way the reviews are playing out. Jon, thank you very much. I want to remind everyone, dont forget to check out jons excellent new book front row at the trump show. I read it. It is great. And later this morning, jon will be a guest on this week with George Stephanopoulos. Other guests include former Vice President joe biden, and defense secretary mark esper. Plus, george will take an exclusive look at the challenges the massive challenges that coronavirus is placing on the nations prison system. Thats all coming up on this week. And a reminder in this extraordinary era of news, check out our new streaming service, abc newslive. Whit, over to you. Dan, thank you. As this pandemic spreads and hospitals get we hearirowing stories frh reorrs on the lines about what they are facing. Abcs trevor ault also working from home this morning, joins us with more on that. Trevor, good morning. Reporter whit, good morning. Doctors and nurses are known for their ingenuity, but right now theyre facing unprecedented pressure and a crush of patients and so many of them keep telling us in order to tackle this pandemic, theyre having to put themselves at risk. As parts of the u. S. Prepare for to woron t front lines. I wear my own mask that i had purchased online, and thats just to save enough ppe for everyone else. Reporter those drastic steps necessary to fend off a virus thats proving to be deadly for healthcare workers. This detroit nurse caring for covid19 patients, contracted the virus herself and died just days later. Her hospital releasing a statement saying in part, as Healthcare Providers on the front line of this pandemic we know were not immine immune to the dramatic effects. With an apparent shortage of supplies of essential equipment i quit my job today. Reporter some healthcare workers say the risk has grown too great. Its not going to get any better. America is not prepared and nurses are not being protected. Reporter vera says she loves nursing and shes looking for jobs in telehealth but she has to protect herself and vulnerable members of her family. Id rather be without pay for a couple of weeks and look for another job than possibly lose my life or my family members. Reporter an er nurse in sinai, michigan sharing the heartbreaking reality that Health Care Workers are facing. Were losing a lot of patients quickly and as a nurse and a doctor, usually you can give yourself a couple moments to regain composure, but now you dont even have the moment to do that because as soon as theres one death, youve got somebody else in the process of crashing and youre running from one bed to the next without any time to really absorb what has just gone on until the end of your shift. Reporter this morning, hospital workersho the at risk are getting back up. These medical workers boarded a flight from atlanta in late march, theyre now volunteering in new york. New york is in a greater need, and at some point other states will have the same need in the pandemic. Reporter well, so far 85,000 medical volunteers have stepped up to help here in new york, including more than 20,000 who have come in from out of state like that last nurse we heard from, she left behind her family and her children in birmingham, alabama. To go where she felt she was needed most. Eva . All right, trevor ault for us. Thank you so much. Lets bring in our chief medical correspondent dr. Jennifer ashton with the more on the latest covid19 headlines. Thanks so much for waking up with us this morning. Yesterday in the president s briefing he talked about drug treatments for coronavirus going so far as to suggest that he might start taking hydroxychloroquine himself. What can you tell us about this medication . Well, eva, first of all, theres very limited data on the use of this drug in patients with covid19, but any time you talk about a drug therapy, you have to weigh the benefits versus the risks. The benefits it does show some promise in lab and limited studies coming out of china and france, but the risks of this medication anyone can get a headache, they can get nausea, and potentially a rare but fatal irregular heartbeat. Rie right now the fda has approved it for emergency use authorization for doctors to prescribe to teenagers and adults with covid19 generally in a hospitalized setting. The recommendations is to get an ekg before starting it. Its not like taking candy. Speaking of the heart, whats the latest data about how covid19 affects the heart . Well, there was an interesting study just recently published in jama, eva, and we know that coronavirus can cause intestinal infections and obviously lung infections, but of the limited data thats out about patients who have died from covid19, it seems there are inflammatory cells that invade the heart muscle. Then that can lead to fatal irregular heartbeats and in some cases almost like an acute heart attack. Its important to understand that this virus attacks a lot more than just the lungs. All right, dr. Jennifer ashton for us. Still so much that were learning about this virus at this time. And now, its time for a check of our weather. Lets turn it over to rob marciano whos working from home. Good morning, rob. Good morning to you, eva. Hope your sunday is off to a good start. We have a couple of storm systems to deal with. First of all, the noreaster that wouldnt go away caused some flooding yesterday across the jersey shore 37 heres some pictures of of acity a januarylike storm thats coming in the west coast here, it will stick around for several days. Winter storm warnings posted for the sierras. Probably see a couple of feet of snow. Winds 90 Miles Per Hour today, tomorrow, right in through tuesday. This will be kind of a nas weather day, but we do need this rain and snowfall for the snow pack still well below average statewide and good sunday morning. Here is emeryville. We have clouds, breezy winds and some downpours on the way today, possible thunderstorm, then it gets cold behind the system. Lingering showers into your monday. This is a level one on our storm impact scale, anywhere from a quarter inch to threequarters of an inch and could see a little bit of hail if you get a thunderstorm. At cue weather sevenday forecast featuring the cool weather with the rain and wind today. A few peeks of sun tomorrow and then drier and warmer. My 8yearold field producer just left the studio, left the door open, the heats on. Shes got a lot to learn here. But were making do, guys. Back to you. At least you have a field producer today. Yes, send our best to 8yearold madeline. Im sure shes not enjoying rob, thank you very much. Le vin were going to move over toto janai who is also beaming in from her home this morning with a story of firefighters in florida who would not let the new restrictions stop them from supporting a firefighter. Janai, good morning to you. Reporter were trying to make sure we find these feelgood stories. This one comes from the miamidade firefighters, from fire station 36, they knew they couldnt go to visit to one of their brothers in the hospital being treated for coronavirus so they did the next best thing. Look at this, they brought their truck and their best wishes right in front of the hospital, climbing their ladder, in what theyre calling a get well soon visit. Their brother in arms can be heard gasping for air as he took it all in. This is love. This is the only kind of love you can get from the brother and sisterhood at the firehouse. Theres just no other way to explain how this makes me feel. Reporter the firefighters brought the ladder up to the fourth floor and approached the window with a sign that read, your new firehouse. Of course, were wishing him a speedy recovery. They wished him a speedy recovery on behalf of the entire department. Incredible they took all of that extra effort to be able to visit him and show him some love and it just shows you how much people, you know, are really touched by all this across so many Different Industries and facets of life. Making sure to be there for those who are dealing with the Health Issues right now. Yeah, its incredible to s