behind every number is a person. everybody, i was chris cuomo. welcome to "prime time." more than 500 coronavirus deaths, many of them here in new york. it's the worst news on the same day as we received perhaps the best hope for a concerted response. how do you put those two together? these are very confusing times. so to get some clarity we have two of the central figures of this crisis here with updates on their battle plans tonight. we have the governor of new york and the military's top coronavirus commander. now we already know the most important fact, the only way we get through this is together as ever as one. so what do you say? let's get after it. no small irony in the fact today is national doctors' day. and i see many of you filling up your social media feeds honoring the sacrifice they have made and that we all know is still to come. remember, if you want to honor

doctors, they're only asking us to do one thing. it's even a hash tag now. stay home. and not enough of us are doing it. and the proof of that is that, yeah, we're getting some good information and we'll go through it tonight, but it's about the rate of how fast this is moving not that it's actually a curve in cases. we have a long way to go. you've got to take this seriously. please, tonight if you're watching, i've never wanted you to watch it more because it means you're home. more than three-quarters of the population is under a stay at home order. this should be do doing for your own, your community, walking the walk we all talk about how we love this country and how we're for one another. it's time to prove it. these daily death tolls are staggering. i tell you don't get hung up on the number because it will always go up. we have no idea what the scope of the tragedy will be.

we lost many in new york today in these 500 deaths. so let's get some context on what the good news is, what the bad news is, what is the real deal about the state of play. we have the governor of the state of new york, my brother, andrew cuomo. governor, thank you for joining us. >> good to be with you, christopher. >> the good news, huge navy ship came in today. the president said we delivered on that. it got here sooner. what is the significance, because you've said that some of the reporting about the ship is right, some of it's wrong. what's the reality of what this event means? >> yeah. the reality is president trump sent the u.s. navy ship "comfort" to new york. it's in new york harbor. and the "comfort" and a federal facility that we built at the javits state convention center, those two facilities 2,500 beds in javits and 1,000 beds at the

ship will serve as a relief valve for the hospitals. they won't do covid patients themselves, but they'll be a relief valve for the hospital system, and that's the whole battle is the capacity of the hospital system. it will be a relief valve to relieve some of those patients so the hospitals can focus on the covid patients. >> so, simple question, has the president been stepping up? are they keeping their word on the federal level? >> yeah. look, i said to the president privately, i've said it publicly, we need to work together in partnership. this is the essence of federal/state relations, right? this is how we deal with these types of situations. if the president is helping the state of new york i will be the first person to say so. if we have a difference, i will be the first person to say so. and the president has been very helpful. the "comfort" has been helpful, the javits center, 2,500 beds.

a phenomenal job,one week they came into the javits center and built an entire field hospital and they're staffing it. so those two facilities alone right there you're talking about a great relief valve. now we still have problems and we have issues, right, your opening point was right. there's two missions. number one, stay home. reduce the infection rate. don't go out. you're exposing yourself to danger. you could get infected. you could infect someone else. second, this is going to be a battle at the hospitals, at the public health system. you're going to have a system deluged with people, and we'll have probably twice the capacity the health care system was designed for, and that's why you'll see the doctors, the nurses, the staff. that's why they're under such stress. >> you'll have twice the patients that the capacity was

designed for, meaning you will not have the beds and the ventilators and the staff to accommodate, you believe, by a factor of two? >> yeah, well, once you go to over capacity it's all of the above, right? actually the beds are the easiest thing to find. you wouldn't think of it, but it's easiest to find the beds. it's the equipment, because now you have every state trying to buy the same equipment, and you have countries all across the globe, the ppes, the ventilators, et cetera, and it's the staff. the staff is getting exhausted. i had one nurse say to me more than physically exhausted, i'm emotionally exhausted. this is weeks and this will go on for weeks, and you have people showing up into really dangerous situations. they don't know if they're going to contract the virus, if they're going to bring it home. many people are dying, and this is going to go on for weeks.

so that's a whole new stress on staff. >> and the worst is yet to come. ppe will be a big deal. as some may know or may not know, the governor put out a call that if this isn't happening in a bad way in your community or even in your state, come help us. and that is really a clarion call for the need to be calling out anybody who can come to help. it will be interesting to see who responds. the president said something today that i want your take on. the answer you've given so far, you said you don't know what he means. i want you to think about it a little bit more. let's play the sound about what the president suggested might be happening with some of the equipment we are all desperate to find for our health care professionals. >> new york hospital is packed all the time. how do you go from 10 to 20 to 300,000 -- 10,000 to 20,000 masks to 300,000, even though this is different.

something is going on. and you ought to look into it as reporters. where are the masks going? are they going out the back door? how do you go from 10,000 to 300,000? and we have that in a lot of different places. so somebody should probably look into that. >> now you said i don't know what he means. you know what he means. he's saying that somebody is stealing this ppe stuff, or that something is being done with it that is wrong which is the implication is i'm doing the right thing. i'm getting them the right things in new york. i don't know what they're doing with them. that's the implication. what's your response? >> my response is, first of all, if i say i don't know what he means, you can't tell me that, yes, i do know what he means. you might think -- >> what do you think he could mean other than that? >> i don't know. it's a very vague thing. it went out the back door. i don't know what that means. >> what is it a stray cat? it didn't go out the back door.

he is saying somebody is taking it. >> maybe that's what he means, but i don't know. it's a very vague reference. you should ask the president. look, the exponential increase in the ppe is real, right? in the hospitals now this covid ppe, non-covid ppe, everyone is wearing ppe because you don't know who has covid and who doesn't have covid. every time they see a patient they have to change their ppe so, yes, the burn rate of the ppe is much higher. so i think when the president says it's an incredible increase, i think he's right. if you are right by what you thought he meant when he said out the back door, as if it is being stolen or misused, if that's what he meant, then he should say that, ask for an investigation, and that's how you handle that. if that's what he meant, which is what you think he meant.

>> i don't know what else he could mean, but your point is taken. it's about the burn rate. he may not understand the facts yet. he may not want to accept it. it's a way of hedging against the need as great as it is. but this is something that this president does. he's done it to you a few times. he goes back and forth about whether or not you're good or bad. right now you're good. poll numbers came out. he's very responsive to poll numbers, and they say you're popular now because of how you're doing this. so he weaponizes it and says you know what he should do, he should run for president, this guy, cuomo. he'd be better than biden, this guy cuomo. but he'd beat him, too. let me ask you something. with all of this adulation you're getting for doing your job, are you thinking about running for president? tell the audience. >> no. no. >> no, you won't answer? >> no. i answered. the answer is no. >> no, you're not thinking about it? >> sometimes it's one word. i said no. >> have you thought about it? >> no. >> are you open to thinking about it?

>> no. >> might you think about it at some point? >> no. >> how can you know what you might think about at some point right now? >> because i know what i might think about and what i won't think about. but you're a great interviewer, by the way. >> appreciate it. learned from the best. the point is this -- >> thank you. >> what do you think of him trying to play you against biden? he's trying to say joe biden is weak. look, even cuomo is stronger than he is, and he's not even running. what's your response? >> again, that's your interpretation of what you think the president was saying. i know joe biden many, many years. i worked with him when he was vice president. he has been a tremendous asset to the state of new york when he was the vice president with president obama. so i've worked with him on a professional level. i know him very well personally. i can't say enough good things about joe biden, so i think he's

a great public servant. i think he's been extraordinary on a number of levels. i think he's a good man. i think he has a good heart. i think he has a good soul. i think he's well meaning. he's knowledgeable as heck. he has wisdom. and i think he's a leader. at one point, chris, it comes down to a simple concept. it's about leadership, right? the experience, the wisdom, the capacity to do the job. not just think about it. not just talk about it. not just tweet about it. do the job. and joe biden is a guy who does the job. for real americans. we grew up middle-class new yorkers. we relate to him that way. he relates to people all across the country that way. and his sense of connectivity, his sense of capacity, you put all that together and he's the

real deal. >> well, we'll see. he has to get through his primary. there's a long race to go. we'll see how this plays for the president. two quick things. one, what do you still need in terms of the urgency? where are you on ventilators? where are you on ppe? where are you in terms of being up to where you need to be because of what you think is coming in context to tony fauci telling america today the sober reality that we could lose six digits in terms of the death toll in this disease, at least 100,000. what do you still need? >> well, if tony fauci is looking at the numbers, right -- >> right. >> that's why i respect him and like to talk to him. everybody has a theory, everybody has an idea, including you. i like to talk to fauci. he has numbers. he has facts. we in new york, you'll have different curves in different places around the country because the virus moves faster in some areas. it moves very fast in new york because we're a very dense area, we're very intense, we're on top of one another, so the virus moves fast. we are still on our way up the mountain of the curve.

we haven't hit the curve. one of the things we're doing now, i brought all the hospitals across the state together. the first time ever. and i said, look, we're no longer new york city hospitals, long island hospitals, public hospitals, private hospitals, upstate hospitals, we're one hospital system and we're going to operate that way and we're going to share equipment, share staff, share resources. all the fifedoms are broken down. we're going to make that entire health care system work. we're still on our way up the mountain. the apex is anywhere from six days to 21 days away depending on who you listen to. the apex can be 1 1/2 times the capacity of the hospital system or three times the capacity of the hospital system, depending on which projection you reach. i want to prepare for that apex because this virus has been ahead of us every step of the day, christopher. we have never gotten ahead of this virus. and you never win fighting the last battle.

and we have to get ahead of it. and the next encounter where we meet the enemy is on the top of the mountain at that apex, and that's what we have to be ready for. >> understood. now you've been really giving people a lot of comfort about recognizing the difficulties of staying at home, making an effort obviously to be home. you have your kids up there with you keeping them close. you said something about yourself, i'm not really good at cooking and, you know, i've had to learn and do stuff with the kids. i don't know why you're taking a shot at that. just because you don't cook, mom shares her secrets about how to make sauce with very few people. you shouldn't criticize yourself that you're not one of the people that mom saw as worthy to, you know, teach how to cook and make tomato sauce. >> well, look, i'm sure she would have, it's just that you spent so much more time in the kitchen, chris, than i did. you were just available to her. you had that always like mom's

little helper in the kitchen. i really respect that. i think it's because you were there and always underfoot. >> i don't see it that way. i don't see it that way. >> years in the kitchen when you think of it. i didn't mean to offend you. i didn't mean to offend you. >> i think you did. no offense taken. but what i'm saying is -- >> please, you helped mom in the kitchen was a beautiful thing. i had to do work. >> i didn't help mom in the kitchen. you're saying something different. she taught me things she chose not to teach you, is what i'm trying to say. you don't have to play the sound but -- hold on one second. >> where are you? where are you? >> where am i? i'm in the process of making a point is where i am. i'm in my basement. >> but where are you physically? >> i'm in my basement. >> you're in your basement. >> that's where i am. >> you spent a lot of time there, right? christina says she sends you there a lot. so kitchen and basement, that's where you've spent your life. >> here is what i'm trying to say. i'm in the basement because this

is where i have the ability to do this. right now i need to be working at home. that's why i'm here. but mom, you don't have to play the sound, but last night i was doing what i do for my family which is make my mother's sauce. she taught me how to make the sauce, which is something that is very coveted. and she said i can only teach he, not she, who will carry it on best. and you will see the b roll of me cooking. my mother called me and said, and i was listening to one of her favorite songs and you'll see i had a picture of her behind me as i always do when i'm cooking in the kitchen, a picture of my mother to remember our bond and how i care for her that she taught me how to make the sauce. she didn't teach anybody else. and she called me and said is andrew there? i said, no, mom, i'm all alone here out on the island with my family. and she said, where is he? and i said he's up in albany in the house with the big gates and the attack dog. and she said, oh, that's too

bad. and i said, it's okay, mom. i love him and i'll make sauce for him, too. and she started to cry, and then i said good-bye. >> yeah. >> that's what happened. >> you've always been good at manipulati manipulation, been the meatball of the family. look, some of us have to work, right? i don't have the luxury of working one hour a day. god bless you. i'm happy for you. >> first of all, it's a full-time job. >> most of us work more than an hour a day. >> be careful. i'm not just you look like you've been burning a lot of hours but you show up in a lot of places. and i know it gives comfort to people. if you get sick, god forbid, there's only one of you right now. and if you get sick, it's a problem. so i know you like to run around with your ill fitting jacket, but just remember that. you have to stay healthy. i need you, big brother, because i love you, and you're the center of the family, but you're the center of the state right now, also. >> yeah, but i have to do my job and mama didn't raise an

armchair general in me anyway. i'm not going to sit in my basement. i say to the national guard i'll never ask you to go anywhere that i won't go. i'll never ask you to do anything that i won't do. so i need to be out there doing my job. you stay where you are in the basement. i think it's very nice. i love you. be safe. call me some time. >> i have to be honest, this basement puts me in a bad position, and i am sitting in an armchair right now. those are two terrible facts. but you're doing the right thing, talking to the audience, being open with the media. i know you're working your tail off for everybody. i love you. i respect you. stay safe. i'll talk to you soon. i'll send you some sauce. >> love you, brother. >> mom's secret. >> thanks, thanks. i know. meatball. yeah. >> i heard it. it's a term of endearment in italian circles. to be the meatball. please hang up on him now. thank you very much. he has a lot of work to do. is he gone? is he gone? he's gone.

meatball is a term of endearment in any italian family. they only call one song that and it is the best thing you can be called. being in the basement was not helpful for me, but it was good for him to tell you where the state of play is with the president, the political implication to deal with it head on. he should tell you whether he's thinking of making a run for something. it's going to be a mixed picture for a while. we're going to have problems for a while. we're going to tell you personal stories and keep you on the front lines of where that fight is being had. for instance we have some who was surrounded by covid-19 victims. that's going to be the reality of people on the front lines 12 hours a day, day after day after day. she is a hero, nurse practitioner. it's not just doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, the people cleaning the floor, the people running the machines, making the diagnosis. so she took a camera with her into the hospital to show you the reality now and, remember, we're not even dealing with the worst yet.

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now obviously i love being able to have a side with my brother for that you is different than just the serious frontline general that he has to be. just to stay in touch with what we're all dealing with, we're all leaning on family right now. of course i'm worried about him being out there. of course i'm worried about how much he has under his control right now. but we balance that light and dark on a kind of keep everybody where we need to be. we have to do the same thing with the battle on the front lines. i know we're not as bad as it's going to be yet. i believe my brother. i believe the projections from fauci and the rest of the experts, but it's already so bad. they're so overworked. they are desperate for the ppe, the personal protective equipment. they are.

they are having to wear things more often than they should be. and we all say we love them and, to me, it's start to go smack of first responders after 9/11 and our troops when they go to war. we say we love them, but are we taking care of them? now that's why i want to tell you the next story this is no joke. a nurse practitioner from the critical care unit of north shore university hospital on long island here in new york. elise, thank you very much for joining us. thank you for what you're doing. and thank you for letting people understand the reality so they get that it's not just numbers, it's your life. >> thank you for having me. >> no, it is a privilege. tell people, even though it's not at the apex because, remember, people who aren't doing your job say, well, it's not that bad yet. it's not that bad yet. what is it like right now? >> bad. it's as bad as i've ever seen anything before. i've been doing this 20 years,

and i've never seen it this bad. i've been doing critical care for that long and these are patients that are the sickest i've ever seen. we're used to taking care of sick patients in the icu and them we have some easy ones. this is one after the other. we have six icus open strictly for covid patients, all on ventilation, intubated, sedated, paralyzed as sick as they can be. we have sicker patients on the regular floor that we usually have in the icu but don't have room for them. >> so what kinds of things? i don't think it's a time to hide anything from people. so when you say they're really sick, what kind of symptoms? what are you having to deal with? so people know if you want to play, play. but if you wind up in one of these beds, this is what you're going to be like. >> absolutely.

i can say stay home to stay safe, but if you wind up as sick as these people are, you're on a ventilator that we are unable to oxygenate people, give enough oxygen. we're putting people on their bellies to be able to make their lungs get more oxygen, putting people on high settings of the peep, something people wouldn't understand, it's to help the lungs even better than we are and we're still not oxygen rating people enough. >> we've heard from people saying, listen, these people get so sick they're coughing up blood, they're turning blue, they're being paralyzed by this. again on the ventilators, they can't get off. other nurses and health practicers are saying it's like we've been thrown to the lions, that we are all alone here and the case flow is coming and coming and one case is worse than the next and there is no

relief in sight. is that your reality as well? >> absolutely. today we opened our sixth icu but the one that i was working in today only had eight or nine patients to begin with. we filled it up to 21 patients and then opened the next icu all on the ventilator, all as sick as possible and it's just getting so bad and is getting worse every day. every day more and more patients. every day we're hearing to intubate for anesthesia to come, intubate and we cringe every time we hear that overhead because we know another patient is going on the ventilator and coming to the icu. >> i want you to be honest because you know the premium for us is on you. you're the ones who will get us through. we have to do our part, no question. i don't know if you had a chance

to hear my brother, but you know he's been out there doing a lot of this as the governor. he says he's doing what can he for the hospitals. the federal government says they're doing what they can. do you feel supported? do you feel that the government is doing what it can do for you? >> i actually have to say i do. i feel supported by the hospital. the hospital i work in i don't feel that i'm worried about ppe. we are reusing masks. we're reusing them every day. we're saving them in bags for the next shift unless they get contaminated and we are able to get new ones, and we do have new ones. i feel we got ventilators today from outside, and we are being supported. we do have enough equipment right now but we are going through it so fast, faster than i've ever seen before. we're changing nonstop, every time we go into another room, we're changing, washing our hands, and we're only reusing the masks and nothing else.

>> how are you going to do this emotionally, physically, mentally if it gets twice as bad as it is now? >> so today was a rough day. every day -- every time we open a new icu, it's rough. once we get it open and up and running, we're getting staff from all other areas. i worked with a plastic surgeon today. i am a critical care nurse practitioner, used to working with pulmonary care doctors and icu people. today i worked with people from the medicine floors, hospitalists that only do hospital medicine. i worked with people from plastic surgery today. everybody is coming together to work together to support each other trying to take critical care people and put them in each of the icus to support each team to build it up. we're getting taxed because we're the knowledge there amongst other health care providers that are helping us.

>> one other thing, i would never put you in a position of politics, but the president, the explanation is probably ignorance that he doesn't understand how much ppe is being used and, still, he said something today and i want to reinforce the character of the people involved here. the idea i don't know where all this ppe is going, maybe it's slipping out the back door, to me -- my brother disagrees -- that to me sounded like an ugly implication, like somebody is taking some of this stuff and it's not just that you don't have enough. i want you to speak to the character of the men and women that you're working with right now and how they're coming together, how seriously they take their jobs and a level of trust that you have of these people in terms of somebody slipping out the back door with things. >> absolutely. so right now we're working with people from all different icus, i'm only used to working with my team, not working with people from thoracic icu, and the camaraderie has been

unbelievable, the teamwork. the community giving us food every single day is unbelievable. the people just want to be there to take care of the patients and make people better because it's devastating what's going on. we're seeing firsthand people in there young, ages 30s, 40s. we had a 20-year-old. nobody is ins vinvincible. we're in this together and fighting together to keep people alive. we're fighting together. we're face timing families to be with them. physically i'm holding people's hands as they're dying because their family is not there with them. it's terrible. but we're there as a community together being families for these patients. >> so not only is it that people aren't stealing things but you guys are making moments for families that they're not going to have, you're going above and beyond, and that's why we're keeping our spotlight on you guys because you are the best of

us. and in the worst of times, we see the best in humanity and that is going to be you and your brothers and sisters on the front lines in the hospitals. please, elyse, let us know anything that needs to get out about what you need or what's happening, and we will be here for you the way you are here for us. >> thank you. thank you for the support, everybody. >> thank you. stay strong. stay well. god bless. >> god bless america. >> look, she is proof of why america is blessed. i mean, can you imagine having to hold hand after hand of people who are passing away because you know there's no one there with them, no family because they can't come. 13-hour shift after 13-hour shift day after day and they're not even where they're going to be yet and they know it. imagine that strain. we have to be there for them. the war analogy holds. we talk to the people on the front lines, hear from the politicians, we'll talk to the

man in charge of our armed forces across north america to tell us how they are approaching this and what they see as our best bet going forward next. w?wó

all right. good news, the "usn the comfort" will serve as an impressive reminder for the best fighting force in this battle which just turned a manhattan convention center into one of the country's largest temporary hospitals. the man in charge of this unprecedented effort is general terence shaughnessy. welcome to "prime time." >> thank you, chris. >> so my brother is obviously the governor of new york. he was talking with a tone amazement about how quickly the javits center was brought into being a relief valve for the state of new york and how the

ship "comfort" is not only aptly named but will be a great way of offloading those who don't have covid into a situation they can still be cared for. how big do you see the need in new york and how well can you match up in terms of capabilities? >> well, chris, i think the story we heard from elyse is why we're here. you hear the stories of the true heroes of what's going on today. they need relief and extra capability. that's what we brought in with the "comfort" and medical capability that's coming into the javits center. we hear loud and clear that we need help. the federal aspect is here. we want to be part of the solution. >> in terms of staff, that seems to be the big deal, right, as my brother and other experts have said, it's not the beds, it's the man and woman power, the human capital to do it. how can you assist with that? >> yeah, you're exactly right. in new york and across our great

nation and we're certainly building some beds and building those things the key element is how do we staff them with the right personnel. we're working hard and the example i use is not only "the comfort" but the 1,000 medical personnel, the javits center with 500 or so army medical technicians and doctors and nurses and then we're going nationwide. we're going down to jacksonville, our team from jacksonville is going down to new orleans and dallas, and they're following in on facilities that are already there just bringing the staff that expertise and that is key across our nation, the shortfall of health care workers at this incredibly important time. >> half of the field hospitals are now dedicated to the covid-19 fight. what is expected to be on the worst end, can we handle it? >> this is the whole of america approach. the cooperation we're seeing all the way from the public, private

to the interagency, to the state, local and federal part of it. we have to come together as a team and that's what we're seeing, the only way we're going to get through this. i am confident we are going to get through it and get through it together. >> it's the only way we've ever made it through anything difficult and we've relied on the military, never this way, though. this is a unique effort to have at home. usually there are people like me and the rest of the cnn team telling the stories of heroism from the men and women on the ground in, you know, off our shores. this is off our shores. your men and women are going to get this and they're going to get this both in living their own lives and in helping others. how are you going to handle that? >> we're certainly taking that into consideration and of course we will take the proper precautions like elyse and the civilian health care workers are. we're also worried about our home and defense mission, our global mission set. we, the united states military, are taking those precautions to

be sure we can operate in and amongst the virus and continue to do our mission. >> it is a very scary thought. we haven't heard it mentioned in a while. we are vulnerable right now. we are fighting inside against a virus and that is an opportunistic for those abroad and we have to be aware of. general o'shaughnessy, with people like you at the helm, we know we're going to give it our best shot. thank you, sir, stay well, and i wish you well. >> good luck to you and alm of the health care workers, thank you for what you're doing. >> they need our thanks for sure, general, and you deserve ours. a little bit of a scary thought, but i'm glad the general brought it up. we do have to balance. can't throw everything at this, what if something happens, somebody attacks? i know it sounds far-fetched. so did covid-19. the president now says over

1 million americans have been tested for coronavirus. could this new 15-minute test help end the gridlock for so many others? and how about the other things you're hearing all the time on social media, what's true and what isn't? the good doctor is in the house, our chief with the answers next.

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all right. the need is real for this new test that could provide results in a matter of minutes. 15 is what they're saying. in california more than two-thirds of those tested are still waiting for results and, yes, i get your messages from all over the country. i know that's the most common complaint. dr. sanjay gupta is with me. the idea of a 15-minute test from the fda sounds amazing. what are the practical realities? >> well, we're watching this unfold real time, chris, so this

was just approved last friday. we've been talking to the makers of this 15-minute test and they say starting april 1st they're going to start shipping out about 50,000 of these a day, so they're not out yet. but they will go out. i think it will be a big deal because that timing will be really important. as you know, we've talked about it, people waiting several days for the test results. what are they doing during that time? if they're positive they could still be spreading the virus. quickly, the self-administered swabs. that's going to be, i think, a pretty big deal as well. you do have to send those back in to the lab so you will have to wait a while to get those results, but i do think these are going to change testing to some extent. it's been a long time coming. hopefully this will help. >> and it will still be a long time because even if it's 50,000 a week or twhawhatever they can to get up to capacity of how many tests we need. it would be a nice addition to the mix. ibuprofen, don't take it,

covid-19 loves it. is that true? >> there's been a lot that i've read about this, and there was some concern initially. a lot of people said, look, ibuprofen could be making the covid disease worse. world health organization weighed in looked at the data and said probably not. it's okay. it is an anti-inflammatory, a nonstero nonsteroidal. if you're someone who deals with autoimmune disease, it may not be the best option. for most people, chris, this ibuprofen, advil, medications shouldn't be a problem. >> okay. and just in terms of perspective, tony fauci says 100,000 people may die. people thought it might be in the millions. and they're saying that the rate of acceleration is slowing down. what is the reality about what is our current state of expectation about how bad this could be and whether or not we're anywhere near flattening the curve? >> well, this is really interesting, chris. i think that a lot of people pay

attention to something known as doubling time, how long does it take to double the numbers, the number of cases, the number of hospitalizations, the number of people who have died. that's a good thing, but it's actually lower now than in the rest of the country. so the rest of the country has actually started to speed up and double a little faster than new york. what i think is interesting, chris, even if you look at the states where there aren't that many cases and you really dig deep into the data there, what you find is the curves, even though there's a smaller number of cases, are very similar to these things -- these places that we call these hot spots. they're just earlier in the -- >> right. >> -- timeline. so i think we're seeing this sort of patchwork picture across the country that makes it confusing. middle of april, as you heard, maybe the peak in new york where you are. middle of may perhaps is possibly the peak down in florida. and then all these other places in between. so it's tough.

you've heard millions. you heard 100,000 from fauci. it's jarring i think for people to hear these numbers in terms of the possible number of deaths. the truth, i'll tell you, chris, probably lies somewhere in between those two numbers. you know, we did not react quickly enough to this, as we know. we did not test quickly enough, and for some of these things you can't just play catch-up. so i think that's what dr. fauci was sort of referring to. >> you got to own what you did wrong the first time because there is going to be another wave, and if you don't learn from the past you will repeat it. we see it time and again. sanjay gupta, thank you so much. stay healthy, brother. love you. >> you too, brother. you got it. >> all right. the president today told you the truth about things you needed to hear, and it was a totally new message for him. now, what do we make of it? you can't just take what he says now. you have to look at the whole picture and you have to argue that we have to be on the same page, including this president. here's where we are and here's where we're not, next.

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very vigorously following these guidelines we could save more than 1 million american lives. this is a very vital 30 days. we're sort of putting it all on the line, this 30 days. over 1 million americans have now been tested. more than any other country by far. >> imagine if that 30 days had come 30 or 60 days ago. imagine if he gave that same message back when he first heard about this. and, remember, not only did he not tell you then, he was giving you the toxic opposite of the truth.

>> democrats are politicizing the coronavirus. they tried the impeachment hoax. this is their new hoax. when you have 15 people and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be close to zero, that's a pretty good job we've done. >> well, why do you keep going back? because if you don't learn from the mistakes that you made then, you will repeat them. those cheering behind him when he was talking about it a hoax. you know, how many of them are sick today? how many of them are sick because they believed trump when he said it was a hoax and they didn't self-contain? they didn't take the precautions. you know, the task force now hesitate 100,000 dead are likely. and in trump fashion, the guy who said it was a hoax, that nobody was going to die, he now is saying 100,000, oh, it could have been 20 times that or more. he's going farther than anyone else now in the opposite direction.

>> when tony and deborah came up with numbers yesterday to say that if we did nothing, you could lose 2.2 -- up to 2.-- maybe beyond, i don't know, maybe beyond, but 2.2 million people if we did nothing. >> that's as bad as calling it a hoax. because, look, forget about the numbers. don't try to make it look like we brought it down. it's that we did do nothing for too long, and that is a reality that this president still refuses to own. >> what do you say to americans who are upset with you over the way you downplayed this crisis over the last couple of months? >> we are doing a great job. if you look at those individual statements, they're all true. stay calm. it will go away. you know -- you know it is going away and it will go away. the statements i made are i want to keep the country calm, i don't want panic in the country. i could cause panic much better than even you. instead of asking a nasty,

snarky question like that, you should ask a real question. >> it is not just a real question, the real question. many of you are confused about whether or not your community is the same country as what you're seeing in new york. it doesn't seem as bad. he has to be consistent and on message. and he can say that's why everybody hates cnn. look, you guys are coming to us in droves, and we understand why. we know that everybody is scared and that we need the facts and we need reality and you don't always get that from this white house on a good day. we report to you and for you. and we will expose the mistakes of the past because otherwise we're going to repeat them, especially with this president, and he still does not get what this war is about. listen to his own words. >> the spirit, i've never seen anything like it. it's a beautiful thing to watch. unfortunately, the enemy is death. it's death.

a lot of people are dying. so it's very unpleasant. it's a very unpleasant thing. and i've said it before and i'll say it again, i am very proud to be your president. >> he said the enemy is death. the enemy is not death. the enemy is disinformation, inaction, lies, division. these are all the things this virus is testing in our society, as much as it's testing our bodies. it's going to test our ability to sacrifice, our ability to lead and our ability to follow. the president did nail one point, though, he should be very proud to be president of the united states, and if he wants to talk aspiration and easter being the perfect time, the message of rebirth and renewal may not apply to what's happening with this virus, but it should apply to him and for him. this is a chance for him to show he doesn't have to lie, he doesn't have to divide, he can tell the truth and he can howl allow people to do their best for the rest of us. will he? that will be the test and we will know that in due time. thank you for watching us. our coverage continues tonight,