National strategy, while republicans believe it should be left up to the states. Governor andrew cuomo, who has repeatedly expressed concern about obtaining the materials for those tests is heading to washington to meet with the president this afternoon. On that white house visit, what do you see the vocation bei discussion being . What will the focus of that visit be . Testing. What does testing mean and how can we do it . And how can the federal government work in partnership with the states. Good afternoon. Im katy tur. The number of confirmed cases of covid19 are on the rise, but some states are ready to reopen. In georgia, gyms, salons, bowling alleys, massage therapists and tattoo parlors will be allowed to reopen this week, so long as they abide by social distancing guidelines. Followed by movie theaters and restaurants next week. Well, gyms, nail salons, bowling alleys, tattoo parlors, it seems like they collected the list of businesses that were most risky and decided to open those first. Texas, tennessee, and South Carolina are also loosening some of their restrictions, scheduling staggered reopenings by the end of the month. But experts warn without comprehensive testing, let alone a vaccine, trying to return to normal too soon will only result in more spikes. We have got reporters in georgia, texas, and new york also at the white house. Lets dive right into it and begin in texas with msnbc correspondent Garrett Haake. So, garrett, last night, the Lieutenant Governor of texas was on fox news, doubling down on comments he made about a month ago, saying that there are more important things than living. Is that what is motivating the of texas, which is coming soon . Im not sure who the Lieutenant Governor speaks for, other than himself on this. But it does speak to some of the tension within texas about how to handle this reopening. Youve seen the governor take some relatively modest steps towards reopening the state on a statewide basis, including relaxing some restrictions around things like elective surgeries, theyre moving to what theyre calling retail to go. Starting on friday, but youve got some of the hardhit localities like dallas, where i am now, extending their stayathome order even longer. In houston, theyve been complaining about not having enough tests yet to really get a sense of the scope of the problem. One of the things i expect well hear from the governor when he spokes to reporters later today is talking about this new National Guard effort, that hes started, to try to expand testing in the state of texas. Where the hospitalization rate has remained relatively low, but texas has regularly been among the worstrated states in terms of per capita testing. Addressing those numbers would probably go a long way to calming fears here. But having the Lieutenant Governor weigh out on one end of the spectrum and someone like the Dallas County judge, urging much more caution here in the second largest city in the state has just led to confusion among people here in texas about what the real state of the problem is here and when and how reopening would even work . Garrett, from your encounters with regular texans, allow do they not that there are nonregular texans, how do they feel about going back out and having the state reopen . Reporter it really does depend, katy. You go to a Grocery Store here or a gas station in dallas, masks are now mandatory in businesses. And you do see people taking things like that seriously. But, for example, if youre out Walking Around in the parks here, the walking trails, the parks are fairly crowded. People are out and about. There is a desire, i think, to return to Something Like normalcy here. You know, its a weird dynamic in the cities where this does feel more real than in the suburbs and in the more than 50 counties in texas who havent reported a single case yet. Thats the challenge for government officials here in the state of texas is, trying to find a policy that works against across a state as big and as diverse in terms of the types of communities that you have here, and the types of virus problems that theyre experiencing. Reporter big cities and small towns. Garrett haake, thank you very much. And now lets go to georgia. We mentioned a moments ago that georgia is reopening gyms, reopening tattoo parlors, massage therapists and salons, bowling alleys. Nbc news correspondent blayne alexander explains whats going on in atlanta. Reporter well, katy, im standing outside of one of those georgia salons that will open their doors starting friday. This is the 11 hair salon. The sign says closed right now, but i spoke with the owner and he told me that quite frankly he had a very difficult decision to make. He said hes a small business. He wants to get back to work, he wants to get his employees back to work and open up shop, but at the same time, he is concerned about making sure that he and his customers stay safe. So, hes putting a number of safeguards into place. Hes giving all of the customers masks when they walk in. Hes only have a limited number of employees and customers in at the same time. But this is now the question for so many Business Owners across the state of georgia. Now, when i spoke with other elected officials across the state, they said, some of the ones that i spoke to said they were, quite frankly, caught offguard by this. I spoke with the mayor of albini, georgia, that may sound familiar to you, because weve been reporting for weeks now that that area has the highest number of deaths than anywhere in the state of georgia, despite the fact that its a small town. When i asked the mayor, is your town actually ready to open back up for business, he said, absolutely not. Over the weekend, they saw more funerals and more deaths. There are still dozens of people down there in the hospitals on ventilators right now. And he said what this order does is prevents him from protecting his citizens the way he wants to. Katy . Reporter it is so confusing to consider that they want to reopen businesses and talk about keeping those businesses under the social distancing guidelines, but the businesses that theyre reopening are heavily contact business. Nail salons, hair salons, bowling alleys, youre touching the same things, gyms, youre touching the same equipment. Its unclear how you social distance or keep materials safe in those scenarios. Lets bring in nbc news digital senior White House Reporter shannon pettypiece. So shannon, these are all pieces of the same puzzle. When you have some states reopening. Other states are going to feel the pressure, because if you lo allow travel between those states, it feels like youre locked down in one state, all for naught, if youre having people come in from states who do not have a lockdown. Also at the white house today, new york governor andrew cuomo, he says hes going to be talking about testing with the president. The president has been very standoffish on that subject for his responsibility. What are you expecting . Well, yeah, standoffish and defensive on testing and trying to shift that responsibility to the states. Cuomo has said, there is a states responsibility for testing, but what hes asking for is for the federal government to help with the supply chain to get the materials to the states that they need so they can be the ones to carry out the testing. So the things like the swabs tor reor the reagents. There continues to be this disconnect, as has been going on for weeks now, between what the governors are seeing in their states and what the white house is saying, at least publicly, about what the situation is out there. So maybe cuomo can help, you know, educate the president some or convey his perspective to the president some, on what the situation is like on the ground in new york when it comes to testing. The president has also been pingponging between allowing the states to decide for themselves about what they do and then seemingly pressuring the states by tweeting, liberate virginia, liberate michigan, et cetera. Bill barr was on hugh hewitt this morning, the attorney general, and he said that they might sue states with toostrict lockdowns. He said, quote, were looking carefully at a number of these rules that are being put into place. And if we think one goes too far, we initially true to jawbone the governors into rolling them back or adjusting them. And if theyre not and people bring lawsuits, we file statement of interest and side with the plaintiffs. So this is sort of the same question i asked garrett in texas, but i think it applies here, as well. Whats motivating this administration when it comes to these rolling reopenings . Is it health, is it the economy, or is it the election in innovate . Well, of course, what bill barr is saying echos what the president himself tried to say at one point where he said, he had total authority over what the states can do. And of course, the president feels like he is going to be held accountable for how this response to the coronavirus goes and how things look come november. And how the mood of the country is. And what the governors do in the states, he really only has limited control over. I think these are fascinating comments by bar, suggesting that the federal government could intervene in some way. Because for so long, conservatives or republicans have been such fierce advocates for states rights. So you would think that going, trying to block a state or strong arm a state or even sue a state for a law they have in place for the federal government to do would really undercut the states right argument that conservatives have really built so much of the Republican Party around. So its certainly something well be asking the president about later today in the briefing. You can almost predict which states they might target and which states they would leave alone. Shannon pettypiece, thank you. Joining me now from brooklyn, new york, is ron allen. Ron, new york is just focused on testing, testing, testing. That is theme of every single one of Andrew Cuomos press conferences lately. Whats the latest where you are . Reporter its even more so the theme of the mayor, when you get this down really to the especial epicenter of the epicenter. The city has opened up a number of testing sites like the one behind me where those tents are. At neighborhood clinics and neighborhood hospitals, theres about ten of them and theyre trying to open a few more next week, as well. This is grassroots testing in minority neighborhoods that have been harder hit disproportionately by the virus and by the infection rates. It feels like where other communities were several weeks ago, theres a very long line out here this morning, people waiting to get tested. Theyre giving priority to people who are 65 or older, people with preexisting conditions or anyone who presents with serious symptoms of the virus. Here in new york, theyre also trying to step up this antibody testing, which is not diagnostic. This is a test, as you know, to determine who has had the virus and recovered from it. And who, potentially, has some level of immunity. This would be great for health care workers, other frontline First Responders. Who can then get back to work with some feeling of protection, although its very unclear at this point just how much immunity someone would have who does have some level of antibodies. But, yes, testing, testing, testing is the mantra here. The governor or others dont think that theres any discussion about reopening any part of the state or the city, until there is wider testing, so they understand exactly how deep and how widespread the virus has been. Especially the taeantibody test. Thats the Main Objective there to determine how and there are always surveillanceambulanc, of course, living here, how dly affected the state and city are by the virus. How widespread it is. But the governor did say that there is a plan to start doing some elective surgeries up in upstate new york in some hospitals, a slight loosening. But on the other hand, the mayor here in new york city canceled big gatherings, parades, major events through the end of june. Katy . Ron allen in brooklyn with what is now the everpresent noise of at least brooklyn and new york city, as a whole, those sirens. Its the only noise you hear now. You dont hear people, you dont hear car, you dont hear business. You hear sirens. Ron allen, thank you very much. And lets bring in the former corrector of the centers for disease control, dr. Thomas frieden. Dr. Frieden, thank you very much for joining us. What do you make of these states that are deciding to reopen . Georgia in particular saying that they want to reopen gyms and hair salons and nail salons, massage therapists. On the one hand, these are legitimately hard decisions. Theres a lot we dont know. Its crucial that we base decisions on data and move gradually. You cant expect to see the result in one week or even two of relaxation of physical distancing. It will take three to four weeks at a minimum to see what that will cause. But its a risky experiment to open quickly. Fwa because if the cases arent coming down. If your Health Care System and Public Health system arent ready, if you arent ready to distance safely in society and shield your most vulnerable and if you arent ready to reimpose physical distancing promptly, if you do see a spike in cases, there can be preventable deaths. Everybody wants the economy to reopen. Nobody wants to stay home for an inde indefinite period. I think that is safe to say. That being said, how do you keep how do you keep the entire country safe if one state is on lockdown and the state next to it is not or the state, you know, a couple of hours away by plane is not. Do you then demand that theres no interstate travel . First off, i hope well focus not so much on the date as on the data, on what we need to do to reopen as soon and as safely as possible. We can all agree on that. There arent enough tests. Lets be frank. Therefore, we need to prioritize those who need the most and will contribute most to limiting the spread of the infection. But its not just about testing. Its about isolating people, Contact Tracing and quarantine. You do those four things, you can keep the virus in a box, and enable us to get out sooner and safer. You dont do those four things, and when we come out, the virus will come raging back in all likelihood. Its not just about the date. Its about what we do to make the new normal as safe as possible. The virus will be with us until we have a vaccine. So we need to use this time to create a safer space in society. And that means, yes, more testing. And also, very intensive Contact Tracing. Isolation of everyone whos ill, whether thats in the home or maybe in a hotel or dorm if they dont need hospitalization. Safer hospitals, also, make sure that were dealing with nursing homes, which are, as i said before, ground zero for this epidemic. And we need to quarantine contacts. Warn people theyve been exposed so they dont send that chain of transmission onward. But none of those things are in place, especially in the states that are reopening, as Garrett Haake just pointed out, texas has done very little testing. So these things are not in place, and yet, these states are going to reopen. So ive got to ask you one more time, does that mean that we should not allow interstate travel. If you have georgia, texas, tennessee, South Carolina reopening and potentially having a spike in cases there, because testing is not widely available, Contact Tracing is not happening, quarantining, therefore, is not happening for those who might have been exposed. Again, there are asymptomatic spreaders out there, do you stop them from traveling to other states, so as to not make it worse on the states that are already feeling already feeling the crisis and are currently under lock down . Well, first off, lets be clear that this is a risky experiment. Its trial and error. But errors here can be fatal for the People Living in communities and i do think there needs to be some distinctions, not only among states, but within states, as well. There are some places that may be able to open sooner than others. And we have to listen to what the community is saying, as long as we follow the essential principles of safety. But look at canada, look at australia. I cant conceive of an america where there are barriers between states. And yet, its almost unthinkable that there wouldnt be, if theres massive spread in some states and not much spread in others. Thats why its so important, we try to Work Together to get this virus controlled everywhere. I think you make really good points. Its inconceivable to think that we wouldnt have and also inconceivable to think that we wouldnt have it. Dr. Thomas friedman, thank you very much for joining us and lending your expertise. We appreciate it. Still ahead, what could our new normal look like . How seeing your doctor, going to the gym or shopping all change . Plus, europes slow return. Like us, theyre grappling with the collision of dire medical warnings and hard economic realities. And speaking of economic realities, Las Vegas Strip remains shut down. The citys mayor calls it insanity. But how do you safely reopen a city where social distancing is basically impossible . 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