hello, everyone. i'm kate bolduan. thank you so much for joining me. here is the reality for this wednesday. we knew that the death toll was going to rise. and it is. in fact, it has doubled over just the past three days. now, reaching nearly 3900. yesterday was another single day record for deaths in this country. and the president now warns that the next 14 days are going to be rough. listen. >> i want every american to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead.

we're going to go through a very tough two weeks. this is going to be a very painful, very, very painful two weeks. >> new models that the white house is working with estimate that 100,000 to 240,000 americans could die from this virus. and that is if everyone abides by the strictest social distancing guidelines. with the country facing such a steep mountain to climb and the drum beat demanding critical medical supplies, it grows louder. and if that sounds like a broken record, well, of course, it is because everyone from health care workers on the front lines to governors of red and blue states say they aren't getting what they need. they don't have what they need. and they need it now. let's start today with cnn's shimon prokupecz. he's at one of new york's hardest hit hospitals. shimon, elmhurst hospital where you are in queens has been under sage for days.

now they're starting to see a shift. what are you hearing there? >> the shift is the incoming. that's all that's changed. it doesn't mean that in any way this hospital behind me specifically the emergency department isn't still overwhelmed. there are patients every where, entirely the emergency room, the department within this hospital, is made up of covid patients. in many cases, some of them very critical, requiring ventilators. they're doing other methods, cpap machines to try to prevent some of the patients from going on ventilators because usually they fear the outcome isn't always great at the end of that. they're doing all sorts of tricks, one doctor told me they have learned some tricks. they were running out of tubing for some of these ventilators. they now have some of these supplies. the supplies, we should note, some of the good news, the supplies have been coming. things are getting a little better on that end. they are getting the supplies that they need. they are getting the ventilators

that they need. but the big part is that they are still very much overwhelmed. a lot of patients are not going anywhere. so what the city has done and has relieved some of the pressure is that they have transferred some of the patients, the less critical patients, out of the hospital. one of the doctors told me, one of the saddest things going on inside this hospital is as patients get moved to the rooms within the hospital, there's a lot of sadness, a lot of depressing stuff because people are dying. and that's one of the difficult things that the hospital has faced. and quickly, kate, this hospital in many ways sort of became the test case. they were the first hospital to really experience what this virus was doing to people and how the hospital was going to respond. and really, they hope that people have listened and that other hospitals now going forward will be prepared, kate. >> lessons to be learned, but urgently. urgently need to be learned. shimon is there. thank you so much. >> of course, we have to keep an eye on new york and what is

happening here in new york. we're also watching in florida. why is that? because that's governor ron desantis is facing growing criticism. there are now more than 6700 confirmed cases in that state. at least 84 people have died. and despite having the largest population of residents 65 years old and older in the country, the governor has resisted doing what some 30 states have already done, issuing a state-wide state at holm order or something like it. cnn's rosa flores is in port everglades near miami where there's a lot going on there. what are you hearic from there? why does the governor think florida doesn't need this? >> you know, kate, governor desantis has maintained that throughout this that this virus has not touched every corner of this state, and therefore, it is not needed in the state of florida. but as you mentioned, he's had growing criticism from democratic lawmakers here in

florida, the agriculture commissioner, experts as well, that say that there should be a statewide order in the state of florida. instead, the governor focusing on airline passengers from new york, new jersey, connecticut, and later louisiana, asking that airline passengers be quarantined for two weeks upon their arrival to florida. that increased their criticism. here's what the govern did do, he issued a regional safer at home order that impacts miami-dade, broward, palm beach, and monroe counties. that's no mistake, the first three counties account for about 60% of the more than 6700 cases here in the state of florida. but a lot of that criticism is a little too late, is what some folks here in florida are saying, kate, because local governments had already issued safer at home orders in these areas. >> rosa, thank you so much. >> a lot coming out of florida. let's stay there. joining me is dr. marissa levine, a professor of public

health and family medicine at the yurcuniversity of south flo in tampa. dr. levine, can you hear me? fwl i can hear you. good morning. >> thank you so much for getting on the phone. i really appreciate it. we heard from rosa said right there, that the governor in florida is facing a lot of criticism for not doing more. you take issue with the governor's position on this here as well. what is your message to him? >> so i understand what the governor is trying to do. he's trying to use data to make good policy decisions. our problem is that the testing has been delayed, and so the testing doesn't really give a full picture of what's going on in florida. i'm worried that people might be misled by the testing that in areas where we haven't had a case or maybe very few cases there might be the conclusion there's been no spread of virus, but we don't really know that, and we also know that doing these efforts, the physical distancing early, makes a big difference. and you know, i think that we're

add a time where those decisions have to be made. >> yeah, and as we have seen very clearly, look at new york, look at washington. pick a state at this point. testing and those numbers, it's a lagging indicator. it comes after. if you're working off those numbers, you're working behind the eight-ball. that's what dr. anthony fauci has said. what do you think needs to be happening right now in your state? >> actually, there's a lots of work happening at the local level. i was working with some modelers here in the tampa area, as the leaders were trying to make decisions. you know, in hillsborough and pinellas where tampa and st. petersburg are, the local leaders have issued a safer at home order because they see what's potentially coming. here's the issue with that. we're very concerned about overwhelming the resources we have in our health care system. we're seeing it happen in new york. so we want to make sure that we can work within what we have both with our hospital beds and icu beds, and we know that if we

can implicate these orders and if we can implement them early, we have a chance. but it requires everybody doing their part. this is an important time for people to come together. i think a mandate gives the message that this really matters. we're in unprecedented times. i wasn't always a fan of mandates when i got into public health, but as state public health commissioner in virginia, i saw policies make a huge difference, and particularly a governor or a state health officer making it clear that these issues are here and they're affecting us and we all have to do something makes a big difference. >> look, quite simply, from your perspective on the ground, what you have seen and with your experience, does the governor need to -- i'm going to say lockdown, but offer, mandate some stricter stay-at-home order and do it now? what do you fear will happen if he doesn't? >> well, i think the challenge is if we have a piecemeal

approach, which we have now, that may have some local impact, but people are still mobile. and what we have seen is with coronavirus, it can spread pretty rapidly. we're learning as we go. we're learning more about coronavirus, but we know it spreads, and we know that for every person who gets coronavirus without doing some type of physical distancing, two or three other people may pick it up. we need to cut that in half if not more to really make a difference in terms of being able to live within our resources. >> and if hearing the message you're putting out isn't enough, i fear and wonder what it will take for the governor then to make that decision if he isn't already getting the message that you're putting out clearly and many others are as well. dr. levine, thank you for what you do. thank you for coming on. >> you're welcome. thank you, kate. >> still ahead for us, resources are running low. hospitals are filling up. we know this. health care workers, they're really starting to become overwhelmed. i'm going to talk with a pulmonologist in new jurjy who

says this entire experience, and it's not over yet, this entire experience t has changed him. what he's doing. >> also, later, an the sobering projections about the possible death toll from the white house, vice president mike pence is speaking with cnn live about the white house's response, what the task force is doing in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. we'll be right back.

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in the epicenter of this crisis today. the state with the second most cases in the country. as of now, 267 people have died

in the state. dr. deborah birx, one of the top doctors leading the white house task force, drove that point home yesterday with this chart that you see on the screen right now. the striking trajectory of new jersey and new york, trying to warn other states of what could come, what could be on the way. let me bring in someone who is on the front lines, fighting the virus on the ground in new jersey. dr. jason chatkin add the valley hospital in new jersey, one of the hardest hit hospitals in the state. doctor, thank you for jumping on with me. >> thank you for having me, kate. >> really appreciate it. i read you told a reporter the number of covid cases you're seeing is rising exponentially. can you describe what you're seeing at your hospital? >> we're seeing the overwhelming majority of cases of patients that we have in our hospital are from covid-19. we have now outstripped our bed capacity with the number of patients that are admitted to

the hospital. patients are boarding in areas of the hospital such as the emergency room, the recovery rooms, and other areas. the hospital has done a great job in finding new places that we can board patients and keep them. sorry, doctor. in part of what there's a lot of talk about right now, when it comes to hospitals that are stretched and strapped is the talk of resources, becoming scarce and so doctors are preparing to make extremely tough choices. but you are not just preparing for that. you are already facing that. you have had a patient who was in your care, had been in your care for years, whose family gave permission to take her off a ventilator in the midst of all this. doctors make tough choices all the time. i have two doctors in my family, but did you ever think you would have to have that conversation

with a family about the use of a ventilator? >> a couple of weeks ago, i was discussing the possibilities that we might have to start allocating resources based on whatever criteria. i couldn't believe that we had come to this so quickly. the patient was a dear patient of mine. she had been my patient for over 16 years. and i was very close with her and her husband, who also passed on from covid. that patient was not doing well. it's a discussion that we would have with the patient's family anyway. regarding how they're doing, their progress. after the conversation where i told them that she wasn't doing well, that the chances of her coming off the ventilator were not promising, ventilators were at that point almost gone as far as the amount we had available.

and that i recommended that they withdraw treatment because she was not going to get better. he asked if he could think about it for a little while. and i said that you could, but please understand that the one silver lining to this will be that the ventilator can go to somebody else who needs it. sort of like akin to organ donation. the one good thing that could come out of it. they subsequently accepted removing the ventilator, and that ventilator was sterilized and given to another patient. >> and she passed. >> and she passed. >> that is one of -- i can only imagine so many crushing decisions that you're facing every day. i have to say, you have been keeping a journal, as a way to deal with, is what you told my producers. you shared some of that with us. if it is okay, doctor, i would

like to read part of what jow written. it is so striking. and you wrote this as you were going in to see a covid-positive patient. you wrote this. as i gowned and walked into the room, i felt like a fireman running into the buildings on 9/11 as others ran out, but i did not brave, for as you know, i'm not that way. i was a nerd who was good at science in college. i cry during dog food commercials. you write about how you were afraid, you are afraid. your patients are afraid. i mean, this is heartbreaking for anyone to hear. you also are a father of nine children. what do you want people to know about what it's like going through this? >> well, it's something that -- that you can't imagine. again, again, i wouldn't put

myself in a category of firemen who run into buildings on 9/11, but because, you know, that's really much more enormous, but every time, you know, we go into a room, and it's not just me. it's the nurses at valley hospital, it's the respiratory therapists that are in the patient's faces, providing them care. i feel like there are imaginary like scrap metal flying out. any one time, you know, is my mask on completely right? could it hit me in the wrong place? how many viruses can populate my nose before i become infected? and yes, i have a 4-year-old son who happens to be absolutely beautiful child. he is -- my greatest fear is i'm going to be nothing more than a fleeting memory to him.

that he'll never remember who i am because who remembers anything at 4 years old? yet right now, he's my entire world. and i'm his entire world. i have a daughter who is getting married, and she's engaged. as i was talking to this patient, i was thinking in my mind, it was popping into my head, she'll be walking down the aisle and i won't be there. so that is absolutely part of this experience. but i am in no way unique. this is a experience we're going through with everybody. the entire hospital, all of -- and every hospital and every provider that's there. >> and that is why you need the protection that you deserve and require in order to do your job. god bless you. thank you so much, doctor. i can't thank you enough. >> my pleasure.

thank you. >> thank you so much. >> still ahead for us this hour, just amazing meeting that man. still ahead for us this hour, vice president mike pence is speaking with cnn about the administration's response to the coronavirus as the death toll here in the united states nears 4,000. >> and it's the first of the month, of course. for millions of americans, that means bills are due. mortgage payments, rent is due. that's the first time since the economy came to a halt and so many small businesses have been forced to close their doors. we'll speak with one family who is facing this cruel reality right now today. we'll be right back. aveeno® with prebiotic oat. it hydrates and softens skin. so it looks like this. and you feel like this. aveeno® daily moisturizer get skin healthy™

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it's the first of the month, and for so many, that means rent is due. bills need to be paid, with millions of americans laid off and businesses in every city, every state being forced to close their doors, what does that look like today? joining me right now are the owners of coyote cider works. in better times, they produce hard cider in virginia. a three-year-old small business with plans to expand.

today is a very different day. thank you very much for being here. >> thank you, kate. >> really appreciate it. wonderful to meet you. i'm so sorry it's under these circumstances. it is the first of the month. bills are due. what does that mean for you guys today? how do you describe what's happened in the last month? >> it's been almost a complete 180. we were this year we doubled our tank capacity. we were expanding our distribution into new york, new jersey, and maryland. outside of virginia. our projections had only been up and up and up. all of a sudden, this hit. it's been really bad because we lost about yathd% 80% of our in. distribution stopped. we can't have anyone in our tasting room and we can only do to-go orders. it's been a touch week. a tough month. and it looks like it's going to be another tough month or two. >> laura, how does it feel? >> sorry.

so we're hanging in there. we've got a lot of resources that look like they're coming down the pipeline that we're trying to figure out. and hopefully it comes in time, but like chris said, i mean, we were about to launch into all these different states. and it was just a really good pivot point for us. and with all those businesses now struggling, we don't know if those same opportunities will be there. so >> what do you need? you have the small business administration saying it's offering relief, saying that the stimulus bill that was put through provides relief for businesses like yours. you guys have been really facing some challenges with that. >> yeah, we have. i mean, we tried to apply for the emergency disaster loan two weeks ago. we went back in to finish the application, and it was deleted. then we redid it this weekend. and come to find out that the

sba completely relaunched the application process. so we had to redo it again monday. and then from there, there's also the cares act that was just passed, for the paycheck protection program. but that doesn't go through the sba, that goes through your local banks. so the banks from my understanding aren't even situated to start doing that yet. so we can't even apply for that for another week at least. >> i'm so sorry, and laura, i think it's important for people to understand. this isn't just an economic story for you. this is a true health care kries for you as well. your 10-year-old twin boys have cystic fibrosis, a disease, as everyone well knows, directly compromises their lungs. and so they're especially at risk to this virus. i mean, i can only imagine how scared you are. >> i guess for us, with cf,

everything is a challenge with that. any cold is dangerous to them, so it's not much different. i guess this is extreme, so yes, we're keeping them pretty much home all the time, but we were already home schooling and kind of taking care of their health care full time. that's just putting an extra spin on it because we're trying to balance staying in business and keeping them safe. >> and you will do it. because you guys, i can already tell, are amazing parents. thank you both so much. >> thank you. >> i really, really appreciate it. hopefully those calls are calls of people to come to help. thank you so much, guys. >> moments from now, friends, vice president mike pence is joining cnn's wolf blitzer for a live interview on the trump administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic. you would hope he hears the stories of the dankers and how the federal government can help them. that's coming up next. dandelions, lurking crabgrass and weak, thin grass.

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for the same medications as the vet, but up to 30 percent less with fast free shipping. visit petmeds.com today. welcome back, guys. another hard hit state, louisiana. reporting its largest number of new coronavirus cases in a 24-hour period on tuesday. there are now more than 5200 confirmed cases in the state with nearly 240 people killed by the virus. all of the numbers are, of

course, scary, but in new orleans, new orleans has been especially hard hit. louisiana's governor is now sounding the alarm, warning that the state could run out of ventilators this weekend. cnn's ed lavendera is in new orleans with more on this. what are you hearing there? >> hey, kate. there is a great deal of concern about how all of this is going to unfold here in the coming weeks. speaking with emergency officials here in the city of new orleans, they don't expect to see the peak for another two or three weeks. and so that makes that ventilator concern, those medical supplies still a great deal of concern over all of that. and then, one emergency official was describing to us one of the other troubling things they're noticing is here in particular in the city of new orleans, the death rate for people infected has been about 5%. a lot of factors that go into that. but it is one of the signs and one of the things that officials, too, are pointed to here that because of that number, they're really urging people to take all of these stay-at-home orders, to distance

themselves extremely serious, which is something i think the whole state hasn't quite wrapped its head around at this point, so those state officials and local official s hammering that point away. when it comes to ventilators, the governor of louisiana, john bell edwards, says he has requested 14,000 ventilators. 5,000 he's requested from the national stockpile. the governor says that so far, they have only received 292 ventilators. all of those have come from private contractors, nothing from the national stockpile as of yet. the governor did say that president trump did commit to send 150 ventilators here to the state, but as far as we know at this point, those ventilators haven't arrived and it's not exactly clear when they will arrive. so as you mentioned off the top here, the concern for that is that the ventilators could very well run out that they have here by this weekend. and why it's significant, if you look at the latest numbers we have, there was a jump of 50 people that needed ventilators in a 24-hour period.

and they believe that those numbers will only continue to escalate quickly here in the coming days. kate. >> ed, and one thing that louisiana is facing also is louisiana is surrounded by states who do not have state-wide stay-at-home orders, and lose does. what that means for the state is truly troubling as well. ed, thank you so much. good to see you, man. >> coming up for us still moments from now, vice president mike pence is joining wolf blitzer for a live interview about the trump administration's response, with the very latest coming from the top man on the task force of the coronavirus pandemic. that's next.

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welcome back. the president is now shifting and hardening his tone about the threat the coronavirus outbreak poses to the nation. the white house is now projecting the death toll could reach between 100,000 and 240,000 people, and that is if all americans abide by the strictest mitigation guidelines, which isn't happening right now. we have talked about florida already this hour and what's happening there. and exacerbating the problem, governors and health care workers say they're still facing critical shortages of protective gear. critical equipment, and tests. today, vice president mike pence is visiting walmart distribution center in virginia to highlight the efforts there to keep store shelves stocked and much needed essentials in the hands of americans in the middle of this crisis. the vice president joins my colleague and friend wolf blitzer right now. wolf. >> all right, thanks very much, kate. and joining us now, the head of

the white house coronavirus task force, the vice president of the united states, mike pence. mr. vice president, thank you so much for joining us. under better circumstances, we would have done this interview in person in my situation room, but we're practicing social distancing right now as your task force has so strongly recommended. so let's get to the news. we have a bunch of important questions we want to ask you. the president, as you know, is now preparing americans for the very, very real possibility that 100,000, maybe even as many as 240,000 americans could die from this virus in the next few weeks and months. that's more than the korean and vietnam wars combined. when exactly did you learn, mr. vice president, that that was likely the best case scenario? >> well, we have been working very closely with dr. deborah birx and all of our health care experts on the white house coronavirus task force to give the president the very best

projections. they call it modeling, wolf, where they look at what's happened around the world. we think italy may be the most comparable area to the united states at this point. for a variety of reasons, and so we built that modeling. i know that there's another organization, the gates foundation has supported that done similar modeling. what the president wanted to make clear to the american people yesterday is just how important the efforts over the next 30 days will be by every american to put into practice the president's coronavirus guidelines. we truly believe that while some of the initial estimates even in this modeling suggest that without every american putting into practice those guidelines of wash your hands, avoid groups of more than ten, use

drive-throughs through restaurants and the like that we could have literally seen between 1.6 million and 2.2 million losses, but the president also wanted to make it clear that our most recent modeling suggests that with strong mitigation, the range is still -- it's still heartbreaking when we think about the lives that could be lost, and so our message yesterday, our message over the next 30 days, is the future is in our hands. and if every american will listen to their state and local leaders, particularly in the areas where the coronavirus outbreak has been more significant, but if at a minimum they will go to coronavirus.gov and put into practice for their home, their family, their community, their workplace, those guidelines for america that we will be able to lower that number. and some of the early indicat n indications from states around

the country is that what the american people have done so far in our first 15 days has made a real difference. but the next two weeks, the next 30 days are vital, and we're calling on every american to do their part. >> the president, unfortunately, said just two days ago, mr. vice president, that he had only seen these horrific numbers for the first time just a couple days ago. given that you and the task force are responsible for managing this crisis on the president's behalf, why had apparently he says he had never seen these kinds of numbers before. they had been out there. the studies had been out there, the models have been out there for weeks. >> dr. deborah birx is one of the leading experts on infectious diseases in the world. when the president tapped me to lead the white house coronavirus task force in late february, the first decision i made was to bring her home to america to

lead on all of our analysis. and she completed the latest work using the latest data, wolf, on friday. and it was those numbers that were presented to the president, taking into account the measures we had done before, the fact that the president suspended all travel from china in january. we put travel advisories and screening in place for people coming from asia and also from italy. then suspending travel from europe, the uk, and ireland, and all of the mitigation efforts that the federal government has advanced and states have been advancing. it's those numbers the president was presented with on saturday. that's why he made the decision on the spot to call on the american people for 30 more days to slow the spread. >> the president now says the next few weeks in his words are going to be very, very painful. but let's not forget, on january 22nd, he said we have it totally under control. on february 25th, he said it was

very well under control. february 27th, he said the he said the virus, in his words, was going to just disappear. but now we're being told under the best scenario, 100,000 americans over the next few weeks and months could die. it's an awful situation to even think about. what happened? why was the u.s. so late in understanding the enormity of this coronavirus? >> well, i will be very candid with you and say that in mid-january, the cdc was still assessing that the risk of the coronavirus to the american people was low. the very first case, which was someone who had been in china i believe took place in late january, around the 20th day of january. but wolf, i think the american people are grateful for the fact that while a lot of other things

were going on in washington, d.c., before january was out, the president stood up the white house coronavirus task force, assembled a whole-of-government response, and then did what no other president had ever done in american history. he suspended all travel into the united states from china. at that point, other than cases that had been people who had been in china, we had virtually no cases in this country, but the president took that unprecedented action on the recommendation of his coronavirus task force. and every step of the way, as the president did again this weekend, we've been taking bold and decisive steps at the president's direction to put the health of america first. and i promise all of your viewers that we'll continue to do just that. >> less than a month ago, on march 11th, there were 11 deaths in the united states. we're now approaching 4,000

deaths in the united states . in the next few months, it could be 100,000 or 200,000. the president last night said that new york and new jersey, in his words, got off to a very late start in fighting the virus, but didn't the united states as a whole -- and i'll reiterate the question, mr. vice president -- didn't the united states as a whole get off to a late start? >> well, the reality is that we could have been better off if china had been more forthcoming. i mean, the reality is that china's been more transparent with regard to the coronavirus than certainly they were for other infectious diseases over the last 15 years. but what appears evident now is that long before the world learned in december that china was dealing with this, and maybe as much as a month earlier than that that the outbreak was real in china. but i have to tell you, having

been leading this task force for now more than a month, i couldn't be more proud of not just the president's leadership, but all of those that have been advising this president every step of the way, and i honestly couldn't be more proud of the leadership at state levels all across the country. the president and i are in continuous contact with governors around the state, around the states. and to see that in the areas where there's been significant outbreaks, in california and washington, certainly in new york, new jersey, and connecticut, governors have been stepping up, putting into practice even tougher guidelines with our full support. but this effort at the government level has been matched by places like where i am right now, a walmart distribution center in virginia that's keeping food on the table all across america. i mean, you remember about a month ago, wolf, we had some

real shortages taking place at grocery stores because people were going and buying as much as a month worth of groceries. they were concerned that grocery stores would run out of food. the president brought all of our distributors, all of the grocery store leaders in the country together more than a month ago. they all committed, and they're living it out every day -- we're keeping the grocery stores open. we're keeping the truck lines rolling. distribution centers like this are working. and american agriculture is working overtime. we're keeping food on the table. we're rolling supplies to the american people. and places like this are, frankly, i think an inspiration to people all across the country, people that are working in what we call critical infrastructure are showing up for work every day. they're doing their part and they're making sure the american people have what they need for their families and their communities. >> yeah, i'll just point out, it would have been good if the president wouldn't have been belittling the enormity of this crisis, the coronavirus pandemic, as he was.

now he's finally on board. the models, mr. vice president, do predict that 100,000 people dying are based on a national, a national lockdown. but right now, the whole country isn't on the same page, as you well know. why not, mr. vice president, issue a national stay-at-home order right now? >> well, wolf, respectfully, i'd take issue with two things that you just said. i don't believe the president has ever belittled the threat of the coronavirus -- >> well, i was suggesting, mr. vice president, with all due respect -- >> this moment. i think he expressed gratitude and confidence in health care workers in this country -- >> i'm not saying that, but i was just suggesting -- >> -- president trump is going to continue to be confident that we will meet this moment. but with regard to the modeling -- >> let me just interrupt, respectfully, mr. vice president. what i'm suggesting that he was saying at one point, it wasn't as bad as the regular flu and he was talking about automobile accidents. he seemed to be suggesting at

one point there were 15 cases, it would get down to zero very quickly. that was what i was basing that sentence on. but go ahead and make your point. >> well, look, the president is an optimistic person. we've been from the very beginning, when the president suspended all travel from china and stood up the white house coronavirus task force in january, we have been hoping for the best but planning for the worst, and that's been being worked out every single day. and what the american people can see in this president every day is a leader who knows that we will get through this. but as the president was clear yesterday, particularly, the next two weeks are going to be very tough, and our hearts and our prayers go out to the families who have suffered loss so far. we continue to urge people to put these guidelines into effect, because wolf, while the

risk of serious illness to the average american remains low, the risk of serious consequences to seniors with serious underlying health conditions or anyone with an immunodeficiency is very real, and we want people to practice these guidelines so that they don't inadvertently expose someone who would be vulnerable. but let me be clear on the data point that you just made. the estimates that dr. birx unveiled yesterday, the so-called modeling that she laid out, was based on the mitigation efforts that are in effect in some states and also the president's coronavirus guidelines for america. we really believe that if every american, whether you're in a state that has a significant outbreak of coronavirus or not, puts these into practice. and if every american in states that are impacted listens and heeds their state and local authorities, we cannot only meet

that, but i hope and i pray that that number is much lower than the estimates that -- >> we certainly do. >> -- that were presented yesterday. that's what we're all working toward every single day. >> if it's 4,000 now, another 96,000, at least, you know. it's hard to comprehend these numbers. i asked you a question about national order -- >> can i also say -- >> go ahead. >> may i just say one thing? you know, these are not numbers. these are americans. >> right. >> these are our loved ones. you know, my mom is 87 years young. my stepfather is 88. and has had some health challenges. you know, i want everybody to know that we are taking this one american at a time. and i think if everybody takes the same view and recognizes, if all of us do all that we can to heed these guidelines, to listen to state and local authorities, we're not just going to bring

numbers down, we're going to save lives and we're going to hasten the day that we put this behind us. i mean, when you look at that curve yesterday, there are tough days ahead, and the president was straight with the american people about that. but i hope people look at what happens if all of us continue to do our part, and that is by some time in early june, we could well have the coronavirus largely behind us as a nation, reopen our country, put america back to work. >> and with 100,000 people presumably be dead by then in early june here in the united states? is that what you're saying? >> the time frame for the epidemic is a period of time where the number of losses becomes much lower byloss. i just want to make sure people

know there is light at the end of the tunnel. we can save lives between now and the summertime by putting these guidelines into practice, wolf -- >> but why not do a national -- >> and we can put this behind us sooner. >> why not do a national govern says that would carry a lot of weight in his state, where there are a lot of retirees. why not get that over with for the whole country? because people are moving around the country freely right now. >> well, actually, i've been very inspired by the way o the last 15 days, people in states that have very little outbreak of coronavirus are still putting into practice the guidelines for america. what i can promise your viewers is we're going to continue to bring the recommendation