White House Task Force member dr. Anthony fauci joins us this morning. On the lines. Millions struggle to get benefits. Desperation setting in as crowds seek applications. 6. 6 people filing for unemployment. The staggering new numbers this morning. Covid19 confrontation. Where are you from . The suspicious popup testing site driven out by angry residents. The red flags, the operation under investigation this morning. White house showdown. Joe biden set for the democratic nomination after Bernie Sanders drops out of the race. How the Coronavirus Crisis is reshaping the race for president. Severe weather strike. Overnight tornadoes touching down in arkansas, damaging homes and cars and powerful winds flipping a semi truck off the road in illinois. Were tracking the latest this morning. And day of hope. Were celebrating americans all across this great country, making a difference. With lines at drivethrough food banks stretching for miles, the Unsung Heroes racing to help hungry families in need, putting their own lives at risk. Plus the stars giving back, from Russell Wilson and ciara to j. J. Watt. I think one of the most beautiful things about this country is when people come together during difficult times to help each other out. This morning, what you can do if you need help or can give it. Good morning, america. We are looking forward to our day of hope. Something we could all use a little more of right now and this morning were partnering with feeding america and were shining a very deservedly bright light on those brave volunteers. And, robin, we see these images, extraordinary images, of those long lines. Yes, we do, my friend. Hundreds and hundreds of cars lining up in pennsylvania and people are counting on those volunteers that you speak of to help them put food on the table right now. This morning, were going to tell you how you can help. Now, another thing so many of us could use right now and that is a hug. So take a look at this image. A mother wrapping her daughter who is a nurse, wrapping her daughter in a clean sheet before hugging her. Were going to hear from them in just a few moments. Im sure both of them needed that hug, george. Boy, they sure did. It was so good to see that as well, robin. Good morning to you both. Here are the latest numbers we have right now. This morning, worldwide the death toll has now neared 90,000. Nearly 330,000 people have officially recovered from the virus, and here in the United States more than 14,000 have died. More than 24,000 have recovered. And the newest guidelines from the cdc are going to be released. Theyre making it easier for essential employees that may have exposed to covid19 to get back to work if theyre not experiencing symptoms. And were going to talk to dr. Anthony fauci of the White House Coronavirus task force in just a couple of minutes. Looking forward to hearing what he has to say. We begin with the hard hit state of new york. Whit johnson starts us off this morning. Good morning whit. Reporter there are encouraging signs that new york state is approaching the peak of the pandemic. The rate of hospitalizations a poors to be slowing. It comes with a painful toll. The governor urging people to stay the course and keep following those tough restrictions. This morning, new york state reeling from its deadliest day in the pandemic. Nearly 800 fatalities in just 24 hours. The statewide death toll now more than double the lives lost in 9 11. The mood is heavy. Inside this makeshift icu in maimonides hospital in brooklyn you are going to be sad and youre going to be mentally and physically strained. Reporter anesthesiologist daniel nekola on the phone informing someone their loved one is not doing well. Tearing off his mask. Head in his hands, needing a moment away from the mayhem and sadness. Honestly its one of the more psychologically exhausting parts of the job. Telling someone that their Family Member may not make it, it really does it takes a lot. Reporter new york officials worry the number of deaths from covid19 could actually be higher because some who die at home with coronaviruslike symptoms havent been included in the count. Most of the data coming from hospitals and nursing homes. We do want to know the truth about what happened in every death at home. Reporter this morning, some encouraging news from new yorkpresbyterian reporting for the First Time Since the outbreak they had more people go home than were admitted into the hospital. Governor cuomo cautiously optimistic, but urging new yorkers to continue to follow social distancing guidelines. If we stop what we are doing, you will see that curve change. Reporter other hot spots still growing in places like washington, d. C. , baltimore, louisiana, chicago, detroit, pennsylvania and florida. And its not just populated cities, this map published by the New York Times showing more than twothirds of Rural Counties nationwide have at least one confirmed case, but amid the despair, stories of hope and inspiration. Bronx Assembly Woman karina reyes left her job as a nurse when she took office last year, but she didnt hesitate to jump back into her scrubs to answer the call. Before i was an elected official this was always my passion. I think it would have been selfish of me to stay home knowing that my community needed the very specific set of skills that i have. Reporter and this photo, sheryl norton, fiercely embracing her daughter kelsey kerr, an icu nurse in cincinnati. I just thought theres got to be a way i could hug her. So i was walking past my Laundry Basket and saw my big sheet and i was like im going to throw this over her. And she got out of her car and had a mask on and i just said i have to hug you. So i threw it over her and hugged her. It was just incredible. Just to feel more normal again because we just have always been huggers and its just been very strange to consciously not and to just feel together again in a small moment of normalcy. Reporter the New York Times is reporting that new Research Indicates covid19 was likely brought to the new york area by europe, not from asia and it was probably spreading in this area by mid february. Thats weeks before the first case was confirmed. George . Okay, whit. Thanks. We are now joined by dr. Anthony fauci. Dr. Fauci, thank you for joining us this morning. I want to begin with that new Research Showing that the covid19 may have been circulating in new york far earlier than people thought, midfebruary and that most of the cases came from europe. Whats your assessment of those studies . Well, i think thats probably correct, george because, you know, when you had the situation that europe became the epicenter pretty quickly after china really exploded with their cases. As you know, we cut off the travel from china relatively early and we were seeded with a relatively few number of cases from china. But very quickly the epicenter switched to europe, particularly northern italy and given the travel and the air traffic from anywhere in italy, but particularly northern italy, its just not surprising that unfortunately and inadvertently new york was seeded before they really knew what was going on. And thats why theyre in the difficult situation theyre in right now, very unfortunate situation. Boy, it sure is. And how about those new models now showing that the projected death tolls in the United States could be far lower than we previously thought . Maybe about 60,000 rather than 90,000 or 100,000. Yeah, thats obviously good news, george. You know, as ive always said, you give models to try and help you project such as the need for beds, the need for ventilators, et cetera, but the models are only as good as the assumptions that you put into the model and one of the assumptions was i believe, that there would be a certain degree of efficacy of the mitigation, the kinds of things were doing right now that new york is doing intensively. And so when you get new data, the data always trumps the model so you have to take your data and then refashion the model and thats whats happened. Weve gone from 100,000 to 200,000 down to about 60,000. Thats the good news. What we need to do is to make sure we dont let up on those mitigation, those physical separation programs, because if we do, that can just bounce back again. So even though its good news and encouraging, we got to make sure as i always say we keep our foot on the accelerator when it comes to mitigation. So people who look at these numbers and say, well relax the guidelines come may 1st with about three weeks to go, what is your message to them . My message is that the virus itself will determine the guideline. We hope that by the time we get to this extended 30day period, you know, we went from the 15 days of mitigation to the additional 30 days, which gets us to the end of april. I do hope by the time we get there that we will well see that curve, that bending in the curve which weve been talking about now for several weeks. Theres some indication that that might be going on. Particularly in new york, if you look at new york, as Governor Cuomo said very recently, the last few days have had a stabilization and a decrease in the hospitalizations, intensive care and need for intubation. You never want to claim victory prematurely. That would not be very good. When you see those kind of trends, you hope that well see that curve go down and then can start to think about gradually getting back to some sort of steps towards normality. Have we hit the peak in new york . Its tough to tell, george. We very well may be there. When you talk about peak, it does this and starts to come down. Its really looking like its going to make that turn. But, you know, being very careful and cautiously optimistic i wouldnt want to say that but i think that is what is going on. There have been some hope that early on that maybe the virus recedes with warmer, more humid weather. Where is the science on that now . You know, you should not assume, george, that the virus is going to diminish because of the coming of the warm weather. It might diminish for other reasons. Theres precedent with other infections like influenza and some of the common more benign coronaviruses that when the weather gets warmer, that the virus goes down. Its ability to replicate, to spread, it doesnt like warm, moist weather as much as it likes cold, dry weather. But having said that, one should not assume that we are going to be rescued by a change in the weather. You must assume that the virus will continue to do its thing. If we get some help from the weather, so be it, fine. But i dont think we need to assume that. Finally lets talk a little about the new normal after this crisis passes. Handshaking not part of the new normal . You know, i think at least for awhile, george, as ive said, you know, people have kind of raised their eyebrows when i said it. I think we should refrain from that right now because we really need to concentrate on the physical separation. But also even as you get back to normal, continue to wash your hands, because with viral diseases that are respiratory borne where people continue to touch their face and shake hands and touch doorknobs, to me the better part of valor is just hold off on that for awhile. Dr. Fauci, thanks for your time this morning. Always good to be with you, george. Always such good information from dr. Fauci. Michael, i dont know about you, im willing to live with elbow bumps for a long time. Im willing to do with a wave for awhile from six feet away. Thanks, george. Great interview. As we know, the pandemic has taken had its effect on the economy. The number of unemployment claims across the country have been staggering. All eyes will be on the new numbers due out this morning. Rebecca jarvis has the latest. Reporter good morning, michael. We have just learned that 6. 6 million americans were laid off last week and filed for new Unemployment Insurance. That means in three weeks more than 16 million americans have lost their job. This morning a tidal wave of unemployment claims. Another 6. 6 americans filed for unemployment claims. Now 15 million out of work and desperate for relief. In florida, hundreds of residents lining up in their cars to pick up applications. Police directing traffic. Weve given out hundreds and hundreds of applications. Reporter just one day earlier at that same spot outside of miami, chaos as crowds of people ignored social distancing pushing, shoving and snatching forms, desperate to file. Everybody out here is risking their lives to get this application. I have not paid one bill since this all happened. Reporter this woman of new york has been trying to file for weeks after the states website crashed. I calculated over 2,000 attempts to call. Im worried about putting food in my mouth. Reporter the financial crisis hitting home for Small Business owners too. For days california comic shop owner joe field has struggled to apply for a federal loan that would help pay his employees. Theres a lot of information here that i am not used to dealing with, even after having been in business for 32 years. Reporter Small Businesses make up 47 of employees in this country. The concern now, if the businesses dont survive, Many Americans wont have jobs to return to. Its hard to get the Small Businesses with enough Financial Flexibility to ramp back up when they want to and when theyre ready to. Reporter treasury telling us those 1,200 stimulus checks will begin depositing early next week. As for Unemployment Insurance, you have to apply in order to be eligible. George, you just have to keep trying. George . Okay, rebecca, thanks very much. Were going to turn now to the race for the white house. The november lineup now set as Bernie Sanders has dropped out of the race. The democratic contest, joe biden will be taking on donald trump in a race reshaped by the Coronavirus Crisis. Mary bruce is tracking the latest. Reporter this morning, joe biden is now the apparent democratic nominee. My good friend, he is a friend, Bernie Sanders announced he was suspending his campaign. Hes inspired and energized millions of supporters, especially young voters to join him in championing a progressive vision for our country. Reporter biden reaching out to sanders supporters after the vermont senator called it quits on wednesday, admitting victory was virtually impossible. I cannot in good conscious continue to mount a campaign that cannot win and which would interfere with the important work required of all of us in this difficult hour. Reporter but overnight sanders not yet ready to endorse his former rival. I will say that we are, you know, talking to joe and were talking to his team about how we can work together. Reporter the question now, what will the rest of this race look like . 16 states have postponed their primaries, many moving to expand mailin ballots. The Democratic Convention already pushed back to august and biden now says they may have to hold a Virtual Convention instead. Now, while sanders has suspended his campaign he does plan to remain on the ballot in states that still have primaries and that means he can continue to gather delegates and could give him leverage as he tries to influence the partys platform, george, especially on the issue of health care. Yeah, that has been his signature issue. Okay, mary, thanks very much. Robin . Okay, george, w to something we simply cannot do enough right now, and it is so important to thank our Health Care Workers there on the front lines. Take a look at this heroes welcome. A nurse had her camera rolling at the start of her day. First responders clapping, cheering, holding thoughtful messages to greet the medical team at north Shore University hospital in new york. Youre seeing this all around the country. Inspiration to take with them as they return to the front lines. And, michael, as my mama used to say you cant put a limit on gratitude. You cannot say thank you enough. You cannot say thank you enough and hopefully they feel the love, robin. I love watching people do that. And every night at 7 00 in the city you hear people screaming and hollering and banging on pots and pans to show them the gratitude they have for the great job theyre doing. Were going to go to commercial right now, and ill tell you whats coming up. Why some men of color say wearing a mask in public puts them at extra risk, and the intense confrontation caught on camera. Suspicious popup testing site driven out by angry residents. Was it legitimate . But first well go to ginger at home. Good morning, ginger. Reporter good morning, michael. Another arkansas tornado. This one at night in harrisburg. You can see about 30 homes were damaged and weve got to get to the chilly cities brought to you by planet fitness. Good morning. Im abc 7 news meteorologist mike nicco. A little fog, drizzle, spotty this morning like our showers this afternoon. Day five of being controlled by that low. It goes away for the weekend. It keeps getting warmer into next week. Today, upper 50s at the coast. Tonight, mid 40s to mid 50s with our last chance of some wet weather. Temperatures next week, how about mid 60s at the coast and mid to upper 70s in bay stay right there. Ay well be right back. Stop dancing around the pain that keeps you up again, and again. Advil pm silences pain, and you sleep the whole night. Advil pm in a time when so mit matters even more what doesnt change. Our hearts are open. Our teams are here. Doing everything we can to help all families. Today. Tomorrow. Always. Thousands of women with metastatic Breast Cancer, which is Breast Cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, are living in the moment and taking ibrance. Ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr her2 metastatic Breast Cancer, as the first hormonal based therapy. Ibrance