him in 19 87, called him one of the best jazz trumpeters in the world. he was 59 years old. and rabbi romey cohn. he was born in what's now slovakia. he lost his mom, two sisters and two brothers during the l holocaust. when he was just 16 years old, he joined an underground resista resistan resistance. he helped 56 families escape the nazis. he later settled in new york and got married. didn't have kids of his own, but he was deeply involved with his community. he was 91 years old. our thoughts are with all the families impacted by this pandemic. the news continues right now, want to hand it back to chris for "cuomo prime time." chris? >> anderson, thank you so much. always a pleasure to watch your show. and now it's my turn. i'm chris cuomo. welcome to "prime time." i'm doing the show in my basement in covid containment and i'm going to share some

insights i've learned into what this virus is like in terms of fighting it. but the most important point for us to discuss tonight is that it is crazy that anything less than 100% of this country is under a stay home order. are we really just going to wait for one community after the other to fall the same way, just keep repeating the same mistakes? you do not need 102 fever to get hot about what we learned today. our death toll has doubled in just three days time. this is the best and only chance we have to mitigate the effects of the virus. not mitigate the political fallout in red states. there's only one choice. self-isolation. all of us, together, as ever, as one. let's get after it. anybody who has ever seen me spar will tell you my first round is never my best.

and this has proven no different with coronavirus. now i know what i'm up against. i'll talk to you later in the show about the night i had last night. never had anything like it. i've never experienced any kind of fever like what i have going on all the time and the body aches and the tremors and the concern about not being able to do anything about it. i totally get why so many are so scared all over this country. and i've been now relaying messages and understanding with different doctors and in places about how so many people think they have something else but it's probably this. again, testing, awareness. we're letting ourselves be beaten by something that we don't have to. now, on a personal note for me, my biggest fear was passing this onto to christina and the kids. and even though i feel way worse than i did yesterday, in terms of symptoms, it's been a great day. they're negative. and that is the best thing i could have ever heard. doesn't mean that they can't be positive at some point in the

future, that they can't still be contaminated. i'm down in the basement, we're doing it super strict here. it's not easy. it is necessary and that's enough. so my greatest worry is my family, just like yours, and in understanding my own dynamic here, how you feel powerless and it's so worrisome what can happen. it's totally opened a different window in my heart for all those who have had to watch their loved ones slip away and go into the hospital where they can't visit and have them in places where they can't say good-bye, i mean, the dislocation that is being caused by this is so frightening. why wouldn't we do everything, every possible thing to avoid it? even if it's just one less case? we also want to talk to you tonight about the front lines of the war and how we're losing people there. that it's not just about what you do for yourself and for your family, it's keeping those people safe. now, in terms of not seeing enough, it's good news that the governor of florida has just

come to his senses and has a statewide stay at home order there. i got to tell you, no small irony that he doesn't want people from the cruise ship in florida, but he allowed spring breakers to go home all over the place all over this country and people are getting stiick in communities that wouldn't have exposure otherwise. why would the government let florida wait? w are you kidding? we have to be better than this at this point. dr. sanjay gun that, our chief is back, my brother and north star for many of us during this time. you were right when you told me that i would see a different side of this once the virus took root and that certainly came last night. thank you for teaching me the word rye gores. i know understand it better than i ever thought i would. >> chris, you -- look. i just want to say, and i know this is not what the segment's about. first of all, i'm happy to see you.

we spoke last night after the show. you had these rye gores. i'm just going to say it, so bad that i think you chipped a tooth. >> yes. >> this was significant for you, chris. and i'm just going to say, as well, you know, we talk about abdication of duty. i don't want to abdicate my duty. i know you are a worrier, but you're allowed to take a day off. say you feel worse today, i'm glad you don't have the tightness in the chest still. i was worried about that, but chris, man, you know, we love you, we think about you and it's okay to, you know, i know you're dreaming about this stuff, you're fully engaged but it's okay to take a day off. >> you're totally right, you got to take care of yourself, you can't take care of anybody else. i also followed your advice, i got this. in fact, people have been sending me these things. they heard you talk about oxygen, blood oxygen senator. you have to make sure your hand's warm. sorry, that's andrew. i'll talk to him later. pest. you have to make sure you have a warm hand and you put this on and it tells you your blood

oxygen level. and this is a great gift to people who are fighting covid. because it lets you know, my chest situation is still good, it's got to be above 94, 95, 96 to 100 is normal when you're healthy. i got so many of these that the first, like, 20 people or so who go onto my social media, give me your address and i'll send you the extra ones that i have, because if you have covid, it's a great thing to have at home. i want to ask you something, sanjay. i'll take care of myself, but when you heard the president today -- >> please do. >> -- and you heard these guys, every state is different, you have to let them figure it out for themselves, you know every situation is different, a lot of them don't have the cases. i mean, is anywhere really different or is it just time that is different? >> nowhere's different. i mean, chris, this is a virus. we've been saying this, i think you and i have had this conversation for more than two months now. it's a virus. it doesn't respect boundaries or

borders. i can travel from county to county, state to state, region to region. that's the thing. when we say we're all in this together, that means, you know, how i behave effects you and how you behave effects me. and we're here in georgia right now and we still -- it's been announced but still not in effect, the stay at home order. we lost weeks. we lost weeks, there's thousands of people who have the illness and you know what? we don't actually know the number. we have no idea what the number actually is, as we've seen over and over again. we're wildly underestimating. the problem with something like this is, by the time you see it, it's too late. you know, there's other metaphors, but by the time you see this, it's too late. and there was plenty of warning here. i mean, chris, you're a warrior, you always call yourself a warrior, i'm not a fighter, i'm a soft spoken, mild mannered guy, but this has made me angry, but it doesn't have to happen. some of it had to happen because the virus is here, that's an act of mother nature, that was going to happen, but in terms of the

impact now, the places that are having the worst results in terms of fatality rateses all of that, are places that had the virus effect them but what drove up the fatality rates was the strain on the medical system. they weren't ready, even though they could see what was happening in other places around the world. so, yes. i mean, long answer, we need to have a national, you know, stay at home order. that's what they've done in countries who finally started to turn this around. we're not there yet. >> we're not there yet and we keep making excuses. that's the scariest part for me is, when you see somebody that knows they made a mistake and they don't really own it and they're only kind of making up for it, you know that mistake is going to be repeated. there is zero question, we'll have the governor of new jersey on next, you hear my brother, the governor of new york say this all the time, they are still fighting for ppe, with one another. they don't want to, they're not trying to hurt each other, but there's such a small supply, they're bidding at it. the federal government should have stopped that a long time

ago and created stability for them. testing. to hear dr. birx today say, these eliza tests are easy. we can work it up in no time. where has it been for months then, if it's so easy? and to hear them have a covid conference today. i'm ready to watch the conference, see my man sanjay after it and they start talking about drug interdiction ? now? that's a relevant part of our covid thing that people are trying to sneak drugs into the country now and that's what they're doing? what is that about to you? >> i think they just tried to take advantage of the national attention on this issue and maybe tried to, you know, move the ball a little bit, which is sad, because this is -- this is a big deal. to try to minimize it in some way like that. i -- there's some things i figure now, i keep a journal every night, there are some things that i may never understand. i'm a scientist, i like to figure things out, there are some things i may never

understand as to how some of these decisions have happened here. one thing that i'm really, you know, we talk about this getting bad, right? we talk about this curve accelerating. chris, these health care workers, you know, some of them are -- they're the ones who are exposed the most to this virus. they're the ones who can't keep social distance in hospitals, they're right next to each other. they're the ones like you that are going home to their families %-p. those numbers are going to go up, as well. and who is going to take care of the patients? you can see -- i think we're going to keep our health care system together, because we have this amazing ingenuity in the united states, but we are -- we're going to tax it, challenge it, strain it, probably like we've never seen before. i've never seen this before in my lifetime. i hope to never see it again. i've been a doctor for a long time. never seen anything like this and i keep thinking, two months ago, chris, two and a half months ago, we were talking about this, saying, here's the deal, here's how many ventilators are necessary, this is what happens, doctors and nurses have to take care of these patients, they have to

wear ppe each time. all of that has to be addressed -- and then here we are talking about it, knowing at this point it's -- it's really behind the your ccurve. maybe it is not worth looking in the rearview mirror anymore, but there's got to be lessons learned here so it doesn't happen again. >> well, one, if you don't, you know, learn the lessons, then even with dr. anthony fauci saying that we're ready for the next wave, it's hard to understand how, because they are saying they have tests for everybody wants them right now. sanjay, i know you get this all the time, i'm new to this kind of medical advocacy thing, because i'm sick, so people are now, like, reaching out. there are so many people in this country who can't get tested or haven't gotten results and they've had what clearly sounds like coronavirus for 10, 12, 14 days. i mean, we are nowhere close to being able to understand what we have to deal with in this country. so, you're only chance is self-isolation and to deal with capacity. and these hospitals, i mean --

you know, we use all of this, you know, this prayerful language for them, but what good is prayer if you're not doing the things that you can do in this world and in this life to make those right things happen for them? what good is it to say, you're praying for them and there are angels on earth, if you are not doing everything in your power to help them? what good is the prayer? >> i know. the situation now, chris, is that unless you're seriously or even critically ill, you are probably not going to really be at the hospital. i mean, because they got enough serious and critically ill patients over there. so, you know, again, i know this is not about you, although everyone is seeing you and you feel worse today than you did yesterday and you're going to have a few rough days, you know, there's no question, but in the past, you probably would have gone to the doctor. maybe even gone to a hospital. all the people who are sicker would go to the hospital. that's not an option right now. that's the situation we're in. so, a lot of these people are really having to rough it out at home and they're scared. i hear from them a lot. i hear from their families a

lot. you know how many emails i get every day, a family member says, hey, my loved one is really sick. i mean, they're asking me for advice via social media, via text message. i don't know what to do for some of these folks. i would say, call your doctor, time to go to the hospital. time to go see a doctor. they can't do that right now. so, and that's going to be the situation for awhile. thankfully, i will say, because, you know, i don't want this to be doom and gloom, most people will recover from this, but you know, we tend to look at things either in terms of life or death and how many people have died and i understand that. a lot of people are going to get very sick. super sick from this for awhile and they're going to have to rough it out at home because of what's happening in this country right now. i mean, that may be the safest place for them, there's no particular thur puttic for them in the hospital, but you know, man, just the emotional toll on top of the physical toll for the patient and their families is going to be -- it's going to be tough. it's something that most people have never experienced in this country. >> i'm seeing it first-hand, how

powerless your loved ones feel that they can't help you, because there is no really easy pill popping here that gets you through it and you can't be near them and my wife's got a mask on and gloves, you know, doing tray exchanges at the top of the stairs. this is spooky, you know, don came by today with his fiance looking at me like i'm in the zoo behind the glass door. this is a weird existence. i have people that love me and care about me that can give me things -- >> a lot of people. >> i'll tell you what. this is going to be hard and i know now, i have to be looking at an eight, ten-day fight. you i i'm ready for it now. it is maddening to have a fever all the time. right now, i think i was at 101 1/2 or something like that. to have that all day long, i totally get why it is making people dehydrated and making them really very upset. i totally get it. the only thing i have to correct you on, doc, before i let you go, listen.

my obvious manifestations of strength are a cry for help. i have seen you in so many places around this world show the most profound kind of strength and sensitivity that any man or woman could ever wish to exhibit in life. you are the best of us for a reason. you give us the truth, you literally save lives for people and you do it with a gentility that is probably the best medicine that there is. that's why i love you, not because you're a great doctor. you're a great person. thank you for being a friend to me, i promise i'm using my 0-2 thing. i'm doing well. >> you are a good man, chris, and i'm going to call you at 10:02. we'll chat then. >> i'll be there. >> house call. >> i'll be there. hopefully i'll save some of my teeth. sanjay, i'll check back with you in a moment. >> look, in terms of cases, new york does remain the nation's most infected state. the second-most, really is not going to be that big a coincidence. it's right next door in new

jersey. but the reason we really wanted to give governor phil murphy the platform tonight is to talk about this one part of the state that is seeing a surge in cases. and why is there a surge and what is the rheeality of his ability to fight the need in his state? we've got to have straight talk right now. we don't have the time for bs. next.

my name is jonatan and i work for verizon. i totally get how important it is to stay connected. we're connecting with people, we're offering them solutions. customers can do what they need to do, whenever they need to do it online. because it gives customers the ability to not come in to the store, they can simply tap and swipe. something that they can use wherever they are. we care about keeping you safe. at verizon, we are here, and we are ready. we are open 24/7 online, so you can keep managing all you need from home and through the verizon apps and verizon.com.

good morning, mr. sun. good morning, blair. [ chuckles ] whoo. i'm gonna grow big and strong. yes, you are. i'm gonna get this place all clean. i'll give you a hand. and i'm gonna put lisa on crutches!

wait, what? said she's gonna need crutches. she fell pretty hard. you might want to clean that up, girl. excuse us. when owning a small business gets real, progressive helps protect what you built with customizable coverage. -and i'm gonna -- -eh, eh, eh. -donny, no. -oh. the census counts us all. and an accurate count helps inform where billions go every year. so, don't miss your chance to be counted. shape your future. start here at 2020census.gov.

enough, not even close. they can say anyone that wants a

test can get one, they know that's bs because you and i both know that we know people in our lives that can't get tested, and when they do get tested, can't get results until they're already over the illness. now, a place dealing with this in real time is new jersey on a large level. their governor is having to make hard decisions, and he is having to do them at a disadvantage. let's bring in the new jersey governor phil murphy. thank you for joining us. >> chris, great to be with you. i want you to know you're 9 million member cousins in new jersey are praying for you. >> i love it. love those people, they're amazing. it shows we have great capacity to fight the virus if we do the right things. the northern part of your state is getting slapped hard, why. is it just the closest part to new york or something else going on there? >> i think it is overwhelmingly part of the metro new york reality, and your brother is

managing so brilliantly. you look at bergen county, slammed hardest in terms of positive cases, and i agree in terms of testing reality, but more importantly lives, precious lives lost. essex county, newark being the county seat there, hudson county right on the river, those three counties lead the way, both in positive tests, illnesses, and sadly fatalities. and it is part of the new york, metro new york reality without question. >> governor, the governor suggested, these governors, you would be shocked what they ask you for, it is like you can't believe they can use the amounts they're asking for, they just ask. it is never enough. are you anywhere near over capacity with absolutely anything that you need to fight the virus? >> the stark answer, chris, is no, and that doesn't mean we don't have open lines and doesn't mean we haven't gotten

support because we have. the lines are open, we've gotten support. for ventilators. we made progress but we're way short. we're way short on personal protective equipment, again, we have stepped in, we've never been in this business before. the state of new jersey has bought almost ten million pieces to distribute to our health care system. we're way short on beds, though the army corps is helping mightily. i'll going to tour our first popup field hospital tomorrow morning and we're short on pan power. our heroic health care workers need help from the bullpen, so, we put out a call to arms. the good news is, with over 6,000 people say they want to volunteer and come in and help, but we have a long way to go in all of the above. >> as a governor of a major state with major challenges, what do you say to a governor of tennessee that says, i'm not sure about this social distancing. the research is back and forth about whether it works. i don't think we need to do

anything right now. >> i don't know the specifics in tennessee, but i'm say two things, chris. if you base your decisions -- we started meeting on this in january. so, we were about as early as anybody. if you base your decisions on science, data, fact, health and medical inputs, the conclusions are quite easy to come to in terms of shutting yourself down, bending that curve, social distancing. there seems to be no other alternative. secondly, as your brother has eloquently save, i used the phrase we're a canary in the coal mine, i say this with a very heavy heart, this is coming to you, wherever you are. it's just a question of when. so, the faster you get out ahead of it, shut yourself down, do what we've been doing, new york's been doing, other states, literally break the back of that curve, flatten it as aggressively as possible until we all do that, this is going to be a reality everywhere. >> how long you think you're looking at? how long are we having this

conversation? two, five, eight weeks? >> i think, chris, i've said this, deep into may, i don't see any way around that. we're starting to -- we have hospitals in the north, in particular, bergen county, that are starting to divert, meaning that you have to go to plan b, that's already happening. we're going to get up in a very high level and we're going to stay there. please, god, the social distancing works and if people are looking for one message, if you are watching from jersey, it's simple. stay home until further notice. >> it's not an april fools' joke. the only fools are people who don't heed the warning. governor phil murphy, thank you for being ahead of this, thank you for being a leader and thank you for knowing that, if we can get out the information, we're always here. >> god bless you, chris, thanks for having me. >> you, as well. all right, now one of the things that just happened in the governor's state is, he just lost one of his front line heroes. and e.r. doctor who courageously

worked until the virus got him. i want to introduce you to their husband and close friend so that you can understand what this doctor did for us. what he had to deal with. and what kind of struggle he took on for everybody else. you hear their story and then you tell me we don't need to do better. at t-mobile, we know tt connection is more important than ever. we've increased network capacity, given more access to unlimited data. and provided free data for schools and students. visit t-mobile.com to learn more. you can also manage your account, make payments, and find t-mobile stores that are open near you. we've been asking, are you with us? but we want you to know, we're with you.

tonight, i want you to take the time to remember a very special man. his name is dr. frank gabron. frank was an e.r. doctor and two-time cancer survivor, so he knew how to fight. and he spent his final days tending to patients in a new jersey hospital. when he was there, he knew he was compromised, he knew he was exposed and he caught the virus himself.

he died within a week, passing away on tuesday in his husband's arms before help could arrive. dr. gabron's husband, arnold vargas, is with us, along with their close friend deborah, and i'm happy to have you both here. obviously these circumstances are not the way that i would want to meet anybody, let alone the husband and friend of a hero. i know you are heartbroken. but what do you want people to know about your husband and why he put himself in such jeopardy for people he didn't even know? >> he was a person, he loved to help people -- he just wanted to help people and he wanted to --

>> i know you're heartbroken. i know you are heart broken, but you know, what people need to see what is being taken from us from this virus. your husband had already fought through the battles he was supposed to fight. he beat cancer twice and he was trying to help everybody else, and people have to know how far our heroes are willing to go. we can do things to make sure that other doctors don't have to deal with it, deborah, and i'm sure that if the doctor were here, he would be saying, you can't put people in this situation. we got to care more about the people we call our heroes, deborah. >> absolutely. frank put people first, whether it was his coworkers or the patients. he felt that if he became a health care worker, if he were a doctor or a nurse, you did it because you cared and you wanted to make a difference. you were there for a reason. up had made that decision long before. so, he always worked to make the lives of the people he worked

with as good as he could. he made sure that they felt good. he taught them how to get satisfaction with compassion. and even as this was coming on, he was finding ways to make it work. and he was still, the last post that he had actually made was talking about how important it was for us to have compassion, kindness and care for each other. he didn't expect this to happen, as it was coming up, chris. he really didn't. he was working hard, we were talking every day, i was saying, how is it going? he said, it's busy but it's manageable. and it went from manageable to unmanageable overnight. and i think that's what happened. and even then, he looked for ways to make it work. even when he knew he was compromised. >> and that is a very important part of this. he knew he was compromised. and he did it anyway. tell us how that informs us about who he was. because that's not what people

will do ordinarily, people are generally selfish, even doctors. why would he do that, debra? >> well, i would tell you that he would say, and i think that this is true, because i don't think we're seeing that we have selfish health care workers right now, they're doing what they can, even though they are putting themselves and most importantly, their families at risk, as well, including the patients that are not currently compromised. i mean, it's a big thing we're asking them to face with no tools. it's like asking a soldier to go to the front line and giving them nothing, like, nothing to do their job. so, i think with frank, he would still know that it has to be done. what's your choice? you prepared your whole life for this. he went to school for it, you decided. being in the front lines is what each one of these health care workers prepare themselves for. they did not expect to have to go in with nothing. and i think that's the hardest part, so, what do you do? what are we asking them to do for us right now? and what are we asking them to do and putting their families at

risk? as arnold is currently sick. and, yeah. i think it's important for us to take a look at that and to understand that frank did this and would want some good to come from his loss and not for anything but to make us wake up and pay attention. we need to care for each other and we need to care for the people that need to care for us. >> right. and you can't just say it. you need to act on that. you're so right about our health care workers, you know, the reason we heroize them and say that they are not just our first responders, but the angels among us, is that they don't act on the selfish impulses that many of us do, and for you to say that arnold is dealing with this illness on top of now this loss, you know, i -- the only reason we share these stories is not to bathe people in pain, it's to make them understand the price of an action. and arnold, i'm so sorry to have to put you in this kind of situation, but i -- all i can

tell you is this -- when my family lost our father recently, one of the guys who is running for president right now, joe biden, called us and this isn't about his politics, i don't care about his politics. he said, some day, when your father's face and his name comes to your mind, a smile will come to your lips before a tear will come to your eye. and it may take a long time, but at some point, arnold, when you think about your husband and everything he meant to you, you will smile before you cry. and i just hope you know that we will do everything we can to honor his service and make sure that people don't have to be in his situation and that we will fight to make sure that people get a fair shake to do the job for the rest of us. i'm very sorry for your loss, arnold, i really am. >> thank you.

thank you so much. >> debra, yes? >> arnold and i had talked about this yesterday and i know it's hard, but i think you need to understand that frank died in his arms. he died basically before the paramedics arrived and the paramedics spent an hour in front of him trying to bring him back. so -- and then we have frank having people posting about how much of an impact they made on his life and when arnold and i talked about doing these interviews and talking about this, we knew it was because frank made it very clear that it's not about what happened, it's not about the outcome. you don't get to save every patient, but it's what you do with the outcome. and it's important for him to make sure we make a good outcome no matter what. and in this case, he lost his life needlessly, because if he had the equipment, he's a professional, he knew how to protect himself, but if he did lose his life, we need to make sure something good comes from this, and his message was always, care for each other, care for the people in front of

you. your satisfaction coming from feeling a person's pain and being able to do something about it. our goal is to make sure that everybody takes away whatever other issues there are, and make sure that we take care of each other and take care of our health care heroes. >> debra, thank you very much. and arnold, listen, there is no good way to explain what you've had to suffer through and i am so sorry that you are in so much pain. and i hope you take some solace over time in how your husband will be remembered. and that at least his last moments were with you. to be in the last moments with the people you love the most, there's a grace in that, as well. arnold, be well, let us know if there's anything that we can do. we're showing you the doctor right now. frank gabrin. >> thank you, chris. >> he literally gave his life to help people like you and me.

we do for people like him. arnold, be well and god bless. debra, thank you. >> thank you. >> and take care of your friend. i know you will. >> chris, take care of yourself, please. >> thank you so much. now, look. nobody wants to have to see people in pain like that. but is it making any more sense for you to ignore that that pain is going on because of how we're handling this? i don't know. he didn't have to die. he knew what he was doing. he could have been given different equipment. will we do enough? how can you see that and think that the answer is yeah, we've done enough? can't. it's not just the doctors and

nurses that are showing incredible bravery right now. you've got all of these front liners. paramedics, you know, the emts who are out there getting the first calls, for real. my next guests are getting bombarded, 911 has turned into covid-19, should be the number. they never expected this. i want to introduce you to a guy who will tell you that he was there for 9/11, he was there in iraq and right now, he's scared like he's never been before. next. you wouldn't accept an incomplete job from anyone else. so why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase relieves your worst symptoms which most pills don't. get all-in-one allergy relief for 24 hours, with flonase.

it's got all my favorite shows whiturn oright there.boom, i wish my trading platform worked like that. well have you tried thinkorswim? this is totally customizable, so you focus only on what you want. okay, it's got screeners and watchlists. and you can even see how your predictions might affect the value of the stocks you're interested in. now this is what i'm talking about. yeah, it'll free up more time for your... uh, true crime shows? british baking competitions. hm. didn't peg you for a crumpet guy. focus on what matters to you with thinkorswim. ♪ aand we're here for you -ry day fespecially now,rs. doing everything possible to keep you connected. through the resilience of our network and people...

we can keep learning, keep sharing, keep watching, and most of all, keep together. it's the job we've always done... it is the job we will always do. trust us. us kids are ready to take things into our own hands.

don't think so? hold my pouch. whaso let's do the rightver chanthing, today.ow. let's stay at home. let's wash up. let's always keep our distance - please, six feet apart at least. let's look after ourselves, as well as others. it will all be worth it. we can all do our part. so those on the front line can do their part. and when this is over, we will all, continue,

to thrive. so, fema just sent some desperately needed help to new york city. 500 emts and paramedics and about 250 ambulances. now, what do those numbers mean in the scope of the need? because remember, you can be

really impressed with what resources are being thrown, but what matters, and the only thing that matters, is whether or not that number is enough. not how big it is. context -- 911 calls are overwhelming the system. paramedics are going on more than 7,000 runs a day. and it's only going to get worse. phil suarez has been a new york city paramedic for more than 25 years. he was a humanitarian aid worker in the iraq war, he knows what 9/11 looked like up close and now he is living through this and he wants to talk to you about it. brother, thank you for doing the job and thank you for joining me. >> thank you, chris, for having me. >> now, 9/11, iraq war, those are scary things that took a toll on us that we never expected. this pandemic is a completely unique animal and it is straining the system in a way that we've never seen before. how have you experienced that?

>> these are unprecedented times and i guess it's to be determined how it will end in the end. we're doing the best we can. in my time in new york city, i've never experienced such a ferocity of call volume, demand and the intensity of the system. from what we hear, we are expecting it to get worse in the next two to three weeks. we hope they're wrong, but we just are trying to get ourselves physically, psychologically ready just to meet the need. >> and it's a double-edged sword, right? because not only do you have to go on a ton of calls, but these calls are unique in that every time you show up, you are exposed to a problem. it's almost like every call you go to, you show up and there's a guy with a weapon there, pointing it at you and you do not have the equipment and you do not have the ppe that you need to cycle through the calls

the way you need to. how real is that statement that i just made? >> well, it is a threat, because it's an invisible threat. we can't see this virus, we just assume it's everywhere, so, we take maximum precautions on every patient. you know, i think ems, we're a bit more fortunate than many others, as we are used to working in low resource environments. so, we are -- by nature, we are able to adapt whatever environment necessary and sometimes you just -- you know, we come in day in and day out and we just look to do our job to the best of our abilities. >> what do you need? >> what do we need? we need a million things, you know? i think that ems, we're handling it as best we can. my personal concerns is that -- as what we are seeing is that

ems workers are starting to go down, just like other health care workers. you know, we're at a two-week, three-week period since we started taking more precautions and so, the ones -- there are many that got infected and they are going down. they're off the field. and my concern is that in the next few weeks leading up to this expected surge is that we are going to lose more players in the field and those are critical -- >> the thing is so, you know, it spreads so easily and i'm sure the calls -- what are you seeing most often when you show up and that it's a covid call? >> i mean, it varies, like now, they appear to be increasing in intensity, as far as, like, people are getting a little bit more -- cher sicker. a couple of weeks ago, it was more fear, it was -- they were symptomatic. now, we're starting to see those

most vulnerable in the population with a high er -- suh as heart problems, diabetes, respiratory issues and those -- that's what we're seeing mostly now that's heavily effected. >> i'll tell you what, if i had heard it in a vacuum, i would have been like, yeah, these people think they're sicker than they are. now that i have this thing and i know -- you know this already, phil, it manifests itself differently. some people think they have a lower gi flu, some people think they have a sinus infection. i've got this thing that presents like the pain and the tremors, what they call the rye gores, those things. and i'll tell you, if i couldn't breathe well, last night, i would have definitely freaked out and thought about having to call for help. if i couldn't have breathed through the shivering and that i thought was never going to end and the fever, i totally get why people are sent into a panic here, because you think you may not make it. and their best call is always going to be our best people,

which of course are you guys. so, we want to make sure that people understand the need, that you guys are going down from this and you have to be protected, give the equipment you need and give the staffing that you can have available to the extent that we can source it. and phil suarez, as you develop more understandings of what you need, you can come back whenever you want and let us know. >> thank you, chris. thank you so much. >> thank you for doing the job. thank you no keeping us safe. >> we try to do our best every day. you stay healthy, chris. wish you the best. >> thank you, brother. appreciate it. appreciate it. now, hook, again, i'm lucky, and i'm going to keep saying that to you because you have to understand. i'm doing this show not because i want to make myself sick. i don't want to make myself more sick. i don't know that i could, to be honest, but you have to see that you can get through this, okay? but at the same time, i'm trying to get you to understand the urgency. i'm doing the show because that's how much it matters. i can't sit on the couch and watch us have this bad

information put out here and this false sense of security that's going on. i want to share with you a little bit about what people are suffering through when they have covid. i had a night last night -- i'm telling you, i've had a lot of weird experiences in my life with health and everything else. i've never had anything like what haunted me last night with this virus, and now that i know i'm in it, i get it, but it gives me perspective on how we have to see people who are in need right now. and we are not there. next. e vo] restaurants are facing a crisis. and they're counting on your takeout and delivery orders to make it through. grubhub. together we can help save the restaurants we love.

my name is jonatan and i work for verizon. i totally get how important it is to stay connected. we're connecting with people, we're offering them solutions. customers can do what they need to do, whenever they need to do it online. because it gives customers the ability to not come in to the store, they can simply tap and swipe. something that they can use wherever they are. we care about keeping you safe. at verizon, we are here, and we are ready. we are open 24/7 online, so you can keep managing all you need from home and through the verizon apps and verizon.com.

[ "one morwoo!me" b[ laughing ]] woo! play pop music! ♪ no way dude, play rock music! yeah! -woah! no matter what music you like, stream it now on pandora with xfinity. and don't forget to catch "trolls world tour". let's party people! ♪ one more time

so, here's what i've learned. i wish had gotten this virus a month ago. and i'll tell you why. i wish i would have had it then so i could have told you then this is no joke. we are sleeping on something, and it is a mistake. and i would have had a different platform to jump on the president playing it as a hoax

and playing politics with this, because that time -- one of the reasons we keep going back to that time is because it's so painful that we blew our best chance. that's why we keep going back to it. especially when the president's inability to own it makes a journalist, makes a conscientious person suspect that he'd do the same thing again. you see what i'm saying? and we can't tolerate it a second time. literally i don't know that we survive it. and if i had gotten it sooner, i would have been able to explain, i think more directly, the vulnerability we face. because what do we know now a month later? families are being isolated, separated, devastated. i mean, to hear, you know, young vargas just lost his husband. he died in his arms. and, look, we're not doing enough, and you know it. and it is tough for all of us and it's tough for our leaders. there is a helplessness. even among those who are in control, and it is instructive to see that even when i see it

in my own brother. listen to this. >> i couldn't protect my own brother. with all he knows and as smart as he is, he couldn't protect himself. when he told me he had the coronavirus, it scared me. it frightened me. why? because we still don't know. you're talking about my little brother. this is my best friend. i'm out of control and there is nobody who can tell me and doctors can't tell me anything, and tony fauci can't tell me anything because nobody really knows. he did a show last night from his basement. what a gutsy, courageous thing to drop. kudos to him. my pop would be proud. i love you, little brother. and even though this isn't a

flattering picture -- i did not pick this picture with your mouth open, but it is suitable in some ways. >> he picked it. and what else am i going to do? i'm in the basement. what am i going to sit around all day and watch that there is not the right information being given still and we're letting states make choices about whether or not they do the only single thing that can make a difference for this country? nobody can sit on the sidelines right now. least of all somebody who has been blessed with a platform to talk to you about it. and the irony about my brother joking about how i look is not lost on me, all right? like he's some box of chocolates. but his heart, not just for me as his brother and family, but for the desperation to protect. that's his job, okay? his job is to protect the people of this state, just like every governor, just like this president. that's their job. do everything you can to protect. and it's easy for someone like me. i'm lucky, okay?

no matter how my journey goes with coronavirus, the life i've had, the family i have to take care of me, the ability i have to self-quarantine and people bringing me food and a wife and my kids. thank god didn't have it. look how lucky i got here. i want you to be thinking about everybody who is not as lucky as i am who are dealing with the same that i am and ten times worse, especially after what i learned last night. this virus came at me -- i've never seen anything like it, okay? so i've had a fever. you've had a fever, 102, 103-plus that wouldn't quit. it was like somebody was beating me like a pinata. i was shivering so much, sanjay's right, i chipped my tooth. these are not cheap, okay? they call them the rigors, like rigors, rnchl-i-g-o-r-s. so the sun comes up. i was up all night. i was hallucinating.

my dad was talking to me. i was seeing people i haven't seen since college. it was freaky. it may happen tonight. the doctor said it may happen five, eight times. i get that. you match that with chest conviction, people can't breathe, i totally get why we're losing so many people and hospitals are so crowded. so here's the message, don't be me, but more importantly, be better than we're being right now. care enough not just to stay home, but to stay on our leaders, to make sure that they're doing everything that they can to limit this. i'm telling you this is the part of our lives we will live through and remember the most. how do you want to be remembered during this time? it's now time for don lemon. "cnn tonight" right now. >> yeah, but also care enough -- i said last night to -- that we should, chris, cut each other some slack and just be human. and care enough to check on the people you love. i text y