State and local officials, because they may believe that its too soon to get back to business safely. Yeah, and the Staggering Number this morning, more than 20,000 americans killed by the coronavirus pandemic. The u. S. Is now number one worldwide in coronavirus deaths. All 50 states are under a federal disaster declaration for the first time in history, and it comes as the irs announces its beginning to send out or deposit, we should say, the first wave of stimulus checks. And this easter morning, most of the country is being asked to follow the advice to continue to stay socially distant, or practice social distancing, i should say, and worship and celebrate the holiday from home. There are some churches in the u. S. , and those leaders have said theyre not going to listen to local officials. Instead, theyre going to go on with services as usual. And just moments ago, pope francis leading Easter Sunday mass from a pretty empty st. Peters basilica, telling followers not to yield to fear in these challenging times. Really an extraordinary scene there. Cnns Kristen Holmes joining us now from the white house. And kristen, President Trump says hell be celebrating easter from home, streaming live a service from a dallas church. And the pastor there hes tuning into has quite a controversial past. Reporter yeah, amara, he certainly does. So, President Trump says because of social distancing, he will be joining virtually, of course, a controversial pastor Robert Jeffress. Now, i want to pull up a tweet here. This is his message to the people yesterday. The president saying wishing all a safe and blessed Easter Sunday. I will be tuning in to pastor Robert Jeffress at First Baptist church in dallas, texas, tomorrow morning. Of of course, we know jeffress is a longtime supporter of President Trump. He campaigned for him back in 2016. And hes known for his inflammatory remarks about catholics, gays, muslims, and mormons, among others. Now, tuning into this sermon is not the only thing President Trump will be doing. Hell also be mulling over the decision to reopen the economy amid a global pandemic, all of this while cnn is confirming new details in an explosive the New York Times report over the early days of this outbreak. Now, according to a Senior Administration official, while President Trump and his allies were out on tv offering messaging that essentially downplayed this virus, behind the scenes, medical experts were sounding an alarm. Heres what we have learned. In midfebruary, these medical experts and Public Health officials met together to convene what they call a tabletop exercise, essentially, this is mapping out the virus, seeing if it could become a pandemic and how that would happen. And the results of this exercise were alarming. Essentially, they learned during this that they needed to move the country from one position to another. That meant they wanted to move it from containment, which was keeping it out of the u. S. , to mitigation, which is what we are seeing now, that social distancing. So, why did it still take President Trump three weeks to move to mitigation . Well, weve learned that these experts wanted to meet with President Trump to give them their findings. However, on a flight back from india, one of the Public Health officials without permission, without the blessing of the president or the administration, started warning the public. That caused President Trump to go into a rage. And so, this plan was scrapped. We know the rest. We know that Vice President pence was then named head of the task force and then that messaging was really toned down. They were telling americans not to be alarmed. So, really interesting background here on the days leading up to and really already happening, that pandemic here in the u. S. Yes, some remarkable details in the new reporting. Let me go back to this decision the president says that will come fairly soon about when to open up the economy. Before we go too far into that narrative, kristen, its important that we remind people that this is not a decision that the president himself or solely will make. Reporter well, thats right, victor. We have to kind of go back in history here. The last several weeks, almost every day for the last several weeks, people were asking President Trump, why are you not issuing a National Lockdown . He said, thats up to the government. So, if you think about it, there is nothing for President Trump to actually open up. This was all done by those state governors. Now, i want to play a clip for you for a constitutional legal scholar who was actually on your show yesterday, because i think he can break it down better than i ever can. Listen. The united states, each governor will have authority to determine what happens in that particular state as far as the restrictions that have been put in place. The president being in charge of the federal government certainly does have some responsibilities. He can enact a travel ban as hes done. He can control the borders as hes done. But as far as specific state restrictions, if one governor wants to be more restrictive than another, the president cannot come in and override. It is a local decision. Reporter and you really heard this yesterday with new yorks Governor Andrew Cuomo. The president s name never even came up when he talked about reopening. But i want to offer one caveat here, which is, there is a chance that some of the states, particularly the republicanrun states, will feel pressure if President Trump goes out there and starts talking about loosening those restrictions. They want to seem as though they are in line with President Trump. They have done so since the beginning of this pandemic, and they dont want to stop doing that now. Yes. He will certainly have a lot of influence, but the decision will be up to the governors there. Kristen holmes for us at the white house. Kristen, thank you so much. Lets talk now about this pastor, who President Trump says hell tune in to for Easter Service today. Hes made some insensitive, lets call them, at least, comments about catholics, mormons, jews, even gone as far as to linking president obamas actions in the past to those of the antichrist, many others. Lets go to Sarah Westwood now. She has a deeper look at pastor jeffress comments. And hes really become an ally of the president. Reporter the president has chosen to tune in this morning to Easter Services to a pastor whos a longtime supporter, but whos also controversial. Pastor Robert Jeffress. And hes a terrific guy, a terrific man. Ive gotten to know him very well. Hes a man of great compassion. He loves our country. And im going to be with him on easter, meaning im going to be with him watching on a laptop. Reporter jeffress is someone who has long backed trump and who campaigned for him in 2016. He now serves as an adviser to the president and sits on his evangelical advisory board. But the Southern Baptist pastor also has a history of making inflammatory statements, particularly about other religions. Hes gone after mormons, muslims, catholics, and gay people in the past. And as he told cnn in 2011, hes even labeled some other religions like mormonism, as cults. The Southern Baptist convention, which is the largest protestant denomination in the world, has officially labeled mormonism as a cult. Reporter jeffress has received pushback for some of his commentary, including from former gop nominee mitt romney, who called the pastor a religious bigot when he was invited to pray at the Opening Ceremony of the u. S. Embassy in jerusalem. Jeffress has also accused former president obama of paving the way for the antichrist, suggested the Catholic Church was led astray by satan, and has claimed gay people lead miserable, filthy lifestyles. But trump has elevated jeffress since start of his presidency, when he invited jeffress to pray at a Church Service before his inauguration. Jeffress has defended trump on nearly every front, including against allegations of infidelity, because he says trump has done the most for christians. It is true. I believe President Trump is the most profaith president in history. Pastor Robert Jeffress, a great friend of mine. Hed say, our president may not b the best at the bible. He may not have read it 2,000 times, but hes the best for us. And thats good. Reporter jeffress beliefs about other faiths that they will not result in salvation are shared by some evangelicals, and he has characterized his views as coming from a place of deep conviction in his baptist faith. All right, Sarah Westwood, many thanks. Churches Holding Services with ten or more people will be breaking the law in kansas. The state Supreme Court sided with the democratic governor yesterday by ruling that republican lawmakers could not override her temporary ban on mass gatherings. This came after a morning session in which the courts justices heard oral arguments Via Video Conference in order to comply with social distancing guidelines. Now, Health Officials say three of the states 12 clusters of cases have stemmed from church gatherings. With us now is laura curran, county executive for Nassau County in new york. Ms. Curran, good morning to you. Good morning. So, you were early, ahead of most in new york, urging congregants to teleworship, to stay home, and not go to these large gatherings. I wonder how you watch or how you receive whats happening in kansas, this political backandforth. Being in a place thats lost so many people. And what youd tell those worshippers who will go to large gatherings this easter morning. I understand that people are frustrated. Theyre looking for comfort, especially on easter. Theyre looking for their culture, all of the traditions to kind of comfort and support them at this difficult time. As they rely on their faith at all times. But you know, people feel that they need it even more now. But i would say, if you want to protect your vulnerable in your family, in your congregation, in your community, the elderly, those with Underlying Health conditions, the best thing to do now is worship at home, worship in your heart, worship in your soul. You can use Technology Like the way im coming to you now to connect with others. We in new york, in Nassau County, were just to the east on long island of new york city. We had a serious surge of cases. We actually had to have our fire marshals go and break up those few religious services that were still happening. By and large, our people really did the right thing. They stayed home and they used social distancing in a way that we could really flatten the curve. So, i would just urge those others who want to get together i get the urge, but right now we have to practice differently. We have to pray differently, and we have to do it on our own or using technology to connect with others. Lets talk about the trends. You talked about flattening the curve. 792 Nassau County residents, according to the latest numbers, who have died as a result of covid19. More than any other state, with the exception of new jersey, michigan, and louisiana. Its been a horrific week. What are the trends of the deaths and the new cases there in Nassau County . So, for about six days in a row now, we have seen more hospital discharges, Covid Patients discharged, than weve seen new patients coming in. So, that tells me we are really in a plateau, which is good news. Unfortunately, as you mentioned, you know, the number of fatalities is sort of a lagging indicator. People who have been on ventilators for a couple of weeks who just didnt make it. So, we will see those death numbers continue to go up, unfortunately. But the good news is, the light at the end of the tunnel is we have more being discharged than new patients coming in. And that proves that flattening the curve really is reliant on social distancing. So, you know, i feel like were in a position here, new york, here in Nassau County, to tell the rest of the country that hasnt seen a surge, you can make your curve so much lower if you do right thing now and practice social distancing. And remember, its about your most vulnerable your parents, your grandparents, people who are diabetic, people with hypertension. Let me ask you about this backandforth. Im not asking you to get into the middle of a political fight, but i want to understand the coalition. Weve heard from the mayor of new york, bill de blasio, that schools in new york will reopen next academic year. Theyll be closed for the rest of this year. Then we heard from Governor Cuomo that the mayor cannot make that decision because he didnt close them. He cant reopen them. Then the mayor said that we will keep these schools closed. I understand that you support a regional decisionmaking body to work with the mayors, to work with the governors of connecticut and new jersey, but how cohesive is this coalition if were seeing this backandforth publicly . Well, as we know, there has been a rivalry for quite some time between the mayor and the governor. Yes. However, my opinion is, in Nassau County, we are part of a thriving metropolitan region, a very important economic region. We are not an island unto ourselves. We have to, when we begin to reopen society, reopening schools is part of getting business up and running again. We have to do it looking at the numbers, and we have to do it together. I support Governor Cuomos regional approach. You announced back on march 15th the shutdown of schools in Nassau County. Will that decision be up to you when to reopen them or is that something that you will allow the governor to decide . That is something i will do in coordination with the governor. I know hes speaking with the governors of connecticut and new jersey, with whom we are very, very connected in this region. And doing it together, doing it right, and ill tell you, something that keeps my Health Commission commissioner, Larry Eisenstein an Infectious Disease specialist something that keeps him up at night is making sure we do this properly, because so many of us have not been exposed and the last thing we want now is when we begin to reopen is a spike in cases. So we have to do is methodically and we have to do it together as a region. And based on the data, laura curran, county executive for Nassau County, new york. Thanks so much for your time and the best to you and everyone there. Stay strong. Thank you. This morning, pope francis led Easter Sunday mass from a nearempty st. Peters basilica. Yeah, social distancing has forced people to rethink how they celebrate, everyone this year. Cnns Delia Gallagher is with us now from rome. So, what was in this new environment, the popes message today . Reporter well, the pope said, victor, that his first thought went to those who have died, their families, those who are still in the hospital, and of course, health care workers, the doctors and nurses that are continuing to care for those patients. But he also took the opportunity to talk about some global issues. He called for a global ceasefire in countries that are in conflict, like syria. The pope said, you know, we shouldnt be spending money on manufacturing weapons when that money can go to health care and helping to save lives. He also called on wealthy countries to reduce or even forgive the debt in poor countries. These are themes that weve heard before from pope francis, but perhaps his words are given a kind of new impetus now that we are in this global pandemic. Victor, amara . Everything in context here. Delia gallagher for us there in rome. Thank you so much. Well, the irs sent out the first wave of the stimulus payments. So, how should you spend it . We have some dos and donts from a financial expert, ahead. For over 100 years. Y and were here for you especially now, doing Everything Possible to keep you connected. Through the resilience of our network and people. We can keep learning, keep sharing, keep watching, and most of all, keep together. Its the job weve always done. It is the job we will always do. Robinwithout the commission fees. So, you can start investing today wherever you are even hanging with your dog. So, what are you waiting for . Download now and get your first stock on us. Robinhood. Welcome back, everyone. You can check your bank account and you may see that relief, the cash relief, from the government. The irs sent out or deposited, we should sa