>>> THE MANHATTAN BRIDGE, THE NEW YORK SKYLINE OF ANOTHER
STAY-AT-HOME WEEK IN NEW YORK
CITY AND ELSEWHERE.
GOOD EVENING ONCE AGAIN.
DAY 1,177 OF THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION.
ADMINISTRATION. 200 DAYS TO GO UNTIL THE
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. THE CURRENT PRESIDENT STARTED
THIS DAY WISHING ALL AMERICANS A
HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY.
PERHAPS BECAUSE OF "THE NEW YORK
TIMES" STORY LAST NIGHT SAYING
REPUBLICANS WERE TRYING TO GET
THE PRESIDENT TO TALK LESS EVERY
DAY.
DAY. TODAY’S WHITE HOUSE BRIEFING
WENT ON FOR OVER TWO HOURS.
THE PRESIDENT SAID SOME OF THE
COVERAGE IS FAKE NEWS.
HE SAID TODAY FLATLY, EVERYONE
HAS THE VENTILATORS THEY NEED.
HE SAID, WE’RE IN GREAT SHAPE IN
EVERY WAY.
EVERY WAY. HE SAID AT A CERTAIN POINT, IT
WILL BE GONE.
IT WILL BE GONE, HE SAID, AND IT
WON’T BE MUCH LONGER.
HE SAID THERE’S NOT A LOT OF
ISSUES WITH TESTING, AND WE
DON’T NEED FULL TESTING.
HE TALKED ABOUT, QUOTE, THE
DEATH NUMBERS, THE NUMBERS OF
DEATH.
DEATH. HE SAID AT ONE POINT, WE’RE
TALKING 50, 60, 65 MAIN.YBE.
WHAT HE MEANT WAS 50,000,
60,000, OR 65,000 PEOPLE DEAD
POSSIBLY.
POSSIBLY. AND ON HIS TOPIC OF DEATH, HE
ISSUED HIS DAILY REMINDER OF HOW
BAD IT WOULD HAVE BEEN HAD HE
NOT ACTED AT ALL.
THAT PROMPTED DAVID AXELROD TO
SAY THE PRESIDENT WAS TAKING A
VICTORY LAP ON DEATHS.
THE PRESIDENT SAID STAYING AT
HOME LEADS TO DEATH ALSO, MAYBE
A DIFFERENT KIND OF DEATH, HE
SAID.
SAID. AND ABOUT HIS CAMPAIGN TO REOPEN
THE U.S. ECONOMY, SOMETHING
ULTIMATELY UP TO GOVERNORS AND
MAYORS AND INDIVIDUAL
BUSINESSES, HE SAID, I’VE GOT TO
MAKE THE BIGGEST DECISION OF MY
LIFE.
LIFE. QUOTE, SOMEBODY SAID IT’S
TOTALLY UP TO THE PRESIDENT, AND
IT IS.
IT IS. HE SAID THE STATES CAN DO THINGS
IF THEY WANT, AND HE ADDED HE
CAN OVERRIDE THEM.
HE SAID, I HAVE GREAT AUTHORITY
IF I WANT TO USE IT.
BACK IN THE REAL WORLD, IN OUR
STAY-AT HOME NATION, THE NUMBER
OF CORONAVIRUS DEATHS AROUND THE
WORLD TODAY TOPPED 100,000.
THERE ARE MORE THAN 1.6 MILLION
CONFIRMED INFECTIONS NOW.
IN THE UNITED STATES, THE DAILY
DEATH TOLL TOPPED 2,000 FOR THE
FIRST TIME.
FIRST TIME. WE SET A NEW RECORD FOR OUR
ONE-DAY DEATH TOLL.
NBC NEWS REPORTING OVER 18,000
PEOPLE HAVE NOW DIED FROM
CORONAVIRUS.
CORONAVIRUS. MORE THAN 490,000 ARE KNOWN TO
HAVE BEEN INFECTED.
THAT’S AN INCREASE OF OVER
30,000 CASES IN JUST THIS PAST
DAY ALONE.
DAY ALONE. AND THE OUTBREAK CONTINUES TO
SPREAD.
SPREAD. THE STATE OF MICHIGAN SAW ITS
DEADLIEST DAY THUS FAR.
206 DEATHS FROM THE VIRUS THOUGH
THE PRESIDENT MADE A POINT TODAY
OF SAYING MICHIGAN, QUOTE, IS
REALLY DOING MUCH BETTER THAN WE
THOUGHT.
THOUGHT. EARLIER TODAY I ASKED
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI ABOUT THE
LATEST DEATH TOLL PREDICTIONS
FOR OUR COUNTRY.
>> THE MOST RECENT EXAMINATION
OF THE MODEL WITH THE NEW DATA
THAT HAS BEEN PUT IN SAYS ABOUT
60,000.
60,000. I STILL THINK WE CAN DO EVEN
BETTER THAN THAT.
THAT’S WHY I’VE ALWAYS SAID,
SOMETIMES TO THE DISMAY OF MY
MODELING COLLEAGUES, THAT MODELS
ARE AS GOOD AS THE ASSUMPTIONS
YOU PUT IN, AND YOU COULD
INFLUENCE THOSE ASSUMPTIONS BY
REAL DATA.
REAL DATA. SO 60,000 IS WHERE THE MODEL IS
SAYING NOW, BUT LET’S SEE.
MAYBE WE CAN DO EVEN BETTER THAN
THAT.
THAT. >> MORE OF MY CONVERSATION WITH
DR. FAUCI COMING UP.
AS WE SAID, TRUMP STILL HAS HIS
SIGHTS SET ON REOPENING THE
AMERICAN ECONOMY AS HE PUTS IT.
AND TODAY HE OFFERED A PREVIEW
OF A NEW SECOND GOVERNMENT TASK
FORCE TO GET THINGS UP AND
RUNNING.
RUNNING. >> I CALL IT THE OPENING OUR
COUNTRY TASK FORCE, OR OPENING
OUR COUNTRY COUNCIL SO WE DON’T
GET IT CONFUSED WITH MIKE’S TASK
FORCE, WHICH HAS DONE SO GREAT.
AND WE’RE GOING TO HAVE THE
GREAT BUSINESS LEADERS, GREAT
DOCTORS.
DOCTORS. WE’RE GOING TO HAVE A GREAT
GROUP OF PEOPLE.
I DO SAY THIS, JIM.
I WANT TO GET IT OPEN AS SOON AS
POSSIBLE.
POSSIBLE. THIS COUNTRY WAS MEANT TO BE
OPEN AND VIBRANT AND GREAT, NOT
WHERE PEOPLE ARE, YOU KNOW,
STAYING --
STAYING -- >> ARE YOU DETERMINED TO DO --
>> I WOULD LOVE TO OPEN IT.
I’M NOT DETERMINED ANYTHING.
THE FACTS ARE GOING TO DETERMINE
WHAT I DO.
BUR WE DO WANT TO GET THE
COUNTRY OPEN.
COUNTRY OPEN. SO IMPORTANT.
SO IMPORTANT. >> HERE’S THE PROBLEM.
"THE NEW YORK TIMES" OBTAINED
GOVERNMENT PROJECTIONS THAT WARN
OF AN INCREASE IN CASES IF
RESTRICTIONS ARE LIFTED TOO
EARLY.
EARLY. "THE TIMES" REPORTS IT THIS WAY.
STAY-AT-HOME ORDERS, SCHOOL
CLOSURES, SOCIAL DISTANCING
GREATLY REDUCE INFECTIONS OF THE
CORONAVIRUS.
CORONAVIRUS. BUT LIFTING THOSE RESTRICTIONS
AFTER JUST 30 DAYS WILL LEAD TO
A DRAMATIC INFECTION SPIKE THIS
SUMMER AND DEATH TOLLS THAT
WOULD RIVAL DOING NOTHING.
TODAY THE PRESIDENT WAS ASKED
HOW HE’LL GO ABOUT DECIDING WHEN
TO REOPEN THE COUNTRY.
>> CAN YOU SAY, SIR, WHAT
METTICS YOU WILL USE TO MAKE
THAT DECISION?
THAT DECISION? >> THE METRICS RIGHT HERE.
THAT’S MY METRICS.
THAT’S ALL I CAN DO.
I CAN LISTEN TO 35 PEOPLE.
AT THE END, I GOT TO MAKE A
DECISION, AND I DIDN’T THINK OF
IT UNTIL YESTERDAY.
I SAID, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A BIG
DECISION.
DECISION. BUT I WANT TO BE GUIDED -- I’M
GOING TO BE GUIDED BY THEM.
I’M GOING TO BE GUIDED BY OUR
VICE PRESIDENT.
VICE PRESIDENT. I’M GOING TO MAKE A DECISION
BASED ON A LOT OF DIFFERENT
OPINIONS.
OPINIONS. >> THE PRESIDENT AGAIN INSISTED
OUR COUNTRY IS DOING TREMENDOUS
TESTING FOR CORONAVIRUS DESPITE
SHORTAGES AND BACKLOGS.
IN HARD-HIT NEW YORK, GOVERNOR
ANDREW CUOMO SAID ANTIBODY AND
DIAGNOSTIC TESTINGS ARE NEEDED
ON A MASSIVE SCALE TO SAFELY
RESTART THE ECONOMY.
HE ALSO REPORTED ANOTHER
DEVASTATING DAY FOR HIS STATE.
777 NEW DEATHS IN JUST THE PAST
DAY FOR A TOTAL OF MORE THAN
7,800 NOW.
7,800 NOW. SO FAR THERE ARE OVER 170,000
CONFIRMED CASES IN NEW YORK,
AGAIN, GREATER THAN ANY COUNTRY
EXCEPT OURS.
EXCEPT OURS. BUT AGAIN TODAY, CUOMO INCLUDED
SOME ENCOURAGING STATS.
>> WE ARE CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC
THAT WE ARE SLOWING THE
INFECTION RATE.
INFECTION RATE. THAT’S WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY.
THAT’S WHAT THE DATA SUGGESTS TO
US.
US. CHANGE IN TOTAL HOSPITALIZATIONS
IS DOWN NOT RELATIVE TO
YESTERDAY, BUT WHEN IT’S
AVERAGED, THE THREE-DAY AVERAGE
ON THE HOSPITALIZATIONS, YOU SEE
A DRAMATIC DECLINE IN THOSE
NUMBERS, AND THAT’S OBVIOUSLY
VERY GOOD NEWS.
CHANGE IN ICU ADMISSIONS IS
ACTUALLY A NEGATIVE NUMBER FOR
THE FIRST TIME SINCE WE STARTED
THIS INTENSE JOURNEY.
>> THE GOVERNOR AGAIN STRESSED
THE IMPORTANCE OF STAYING ON
COURSE IN ALL THIS SOCIAL
DISTANCING WE’RE EXPERIENCING.
THERE WERE TWO OTHER CHILLING
NUMBERS OUT OF NEW YORK CITY.
THE NYPD HAS NOW LOST 19 MEMBERS
TO THIS DISEASE.
THE DEPARTMENT REPORTED MORE
THAN 7,000 UNIFORMED MEMBERS
WERE OUT SICK RIGHT NOW.
THAT’S ROUGHLY 20% OF THE
DEPARTMENT’S UNIFORM WORKFORCE.
THEN THERE ARE THE CHILLING
IMAGES, NEW VIDEO OUT OF NEW
YORK CITY OF A TRENCH BEING DUG
AT THE PUBLIC CEMETERY ON HART
ISLAND TO ACCOMMODATE A DRAMATIC
INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF
UNCLAIMED BODIES.
UNCLAIMED BODIES. THE CEMETERY RECEIVING ROUGHLY
THE SAME AMOUNT OF BODIES PER
DAY THAT IT USED TO RECEIVE EACH
WEEK.
WEEK. MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO OFFERED
THIS SOBERING ASSESSMENT OF THE
PAST SEVEN DAYS.
>> THIS IS A WEEK WHERE WE
REACHED MILESTONES WE COULD
NEVER HAVE IMAGINED.
5,000 NEW YORKERS LOST.
SO MANY MORE THAN WE EVEN LOST
ON OUR WORST DAY OF 9/11.
A NUMBER WE LITERALLY CAN HARDLY
IMAGINE.
IMAGINE. AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE
PEOPLE WE LOST, A HUMAN STORY, A
FAMILY GRIEVING.
FAMILY GRIEVING. AT SOME POINT TODAY, WE WILL GET