er at night. ♪ with the right financial advisor life can be brilliant. ♪ howe a fox news alert, i'm howard kurtz in washington. andrew cuomo is about to brief reporters in his state, the hardest hit by the coronavirus. we may dip into governor cuomo, this as the number of confirmed cases in the u.s. passed the 26,000 mark this morning. vice president pence and his wife karen said last night they have tested negative for the virus. hawaii has offered, ordered a mandatory two week quarantine for all new arrivals, italy reporting 793 more deaths just yesterday, the largest one-day increase by far. and nbc audio technician larry edgeworth has dies after

contracting the virus, he also suffered from other health ailments. president trump has been taking a tougher stance, and he told reporters he's always taken the virus seriously. >> this is a pandemic. i've felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic. howard: but a review of the president's comments in january, february and earlier this month suggest otherwise. >> are you worried about a pandemic? >> no, not at all. we have it under control. it's one person coming in from china, and it's going to be just fine. now the democrats are politicizing the coronavirus. you know that, right? coronavirus. and this is their new hoax. >> [inaudible] >> no, i'm not concerned at all. no, i'm not. we've done a great job. howard: the president is no longer soft pedaling the mag magnitude of this crisis, saying

it could last until july or august. >> we have a problem that a month ago nobody ever thought about. this is a bad one, this is a very bad one. this is bad in the sense that it's so contagious. howard: and many in the media welcoming the president's new and sharper tone. >> he is being the kind of leader that people need with his tone today and yesterday. >> the president's tone has changed. this is not something that should be applauded or, frankly, something that should be expected to continue. this is where he should have been all along. >> the president was sober, he actually, he what a president's supposed to do, he delivered the bad news. howard: joining us now here in washington is stephanie grisham, the white house press secretary. welcome, i may have to interrupt our conversation to cover governor cuomo for at least a couple minutes. as i said, many people in the media are welcoming, even praising the president's new, more aggressive tone.

what caused the shift? >> you know, i don't know that there was a shift per se. you've got to remember the president, he declared a national health emergency in january. he took his decisive action to shut down the borders with china very, very early, and he's taken many bold actions since then including shutting down borders with europe. so he has acted appropriately as we have learned and had new developments about this virus. howard: but you know many programs have played clips similar to what i just did, many have written stories in which the president said things like we have totally got it under control. don't take my word for it, it seems to many people, stephanie, that earlier he was not where he is today in terms of the full scale mobilization. >> well, the virus, the virus wasn't where it was today at the beginning either. and i would also say i don't know why the media has to continue to look backwards. you've got to -- howard: all right.

let me pause you right there. governor andrew cuomo. >> numbers are still going up as we have discussed, we watch the other countries, you see that trajectory and trying to turn the trajectory. but as of now, the numbers are continuing to increase. we're working very hard to keep the rate of increase of the spread of the disease to a level that we can manage it in our hospital system. we have 53,000 hospital beds available. right now the curve suggests we could need 110,000 hospital beds, and that is an obvious problem. and that's what we're dealing with. you have the nation's role in the situation, you also have the states' role. this is what they call an emergency management situation, and there are rules for emergency management, who does

what. basically, the state governments, local governments manage an emergency unless the emergency overwhelms the capacity of the local government. and then the higher level of government takes over. that happens even on the state level. a city had been in charge, a county will be in charge unless it overwhelms their capacity, and then the state comes in and takes over. the federal government has made a decision to leave the states in charge of deciding quarantine procedures, whether to open, whether to close. that's why you see new york taking certain actions, illinois taking certain actions, different statements taking certain actions, because the federal government thus far has said different situations in different states, let the states decide dependent upon the number of cases they have. and i think that has been right to date. that could change, but it's been

right to date. however, the federal government should nationalize medical supply acquisition. the states simply cannot manage it. this state cannot manage it, statements all across the -- states all across the country can't manage it, certainly the states dealing with the highest caseload can't handle it. but you're hearing it all across the country from states, they just can't deal with finding the medical supplies that they need, and that's why i believe the federal government should take over that function. of contracting and acquiring all the medical supplies that we need. currently, when states are doing it, we are competing against other states. in some ways we're savaging other states. i'm trying to buy masks. i'm competing with california and illinois and florida, and that's not the way it should being frankly.

price gouging is a tremendous problem, and it's only getting worse. there are masks that we were paying 85 cents for, we're now paying $7. why? because i'm competing against every other state and in some cases against other countries around the world. ventilators, which are the most precious if piece of equipment for this situation, they range in price from $16,000 to $40,000 each, and new york state needs 30,000 ventilators. howard: we'll continue to monitor governor cuomo's briefing in new york. he's been doing this daily. let's bring back stephanie grisham, the white house press secretary. you just heard governor cuomo saying the federal government should nationalize the meld call supplies -- medical supplies, is that something that could be under consideration? >> well, i mean, we'll see what happens. the task force is meeting every

day multiple times a day. i've got to tell you, and i want to tell the public, that this administration has been working around the clock with the leadership of the vice president and the president, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. people are not stop thing. they're doing -- stopping. they're doing everything they can to help keep the cup safe and healthy. that is the president's priority. so they've been working on that, and we'll see what next steps have to be taken. howard: before we interrupted, you were about to make a point about the press focusing on various things the president had to say in january, february and much of march which they say didn't match the coming crisis even though there weren't that many cases in the u.s. want to pick up that point? >> yeah. i just want to say that the president didn't have a crystal ball there, and he has acted appropriately. he has acted appropriately from the beginning. as i said, he declared a public health emerging in january, he started back in january working towards how important this virus has become for our country. and he has only ramped up those

efforts. again, the task force is meeting every singling day, they're briefing the public every single day, including the president. all they're focused on is making sure the american people get the information. i don't think it's appropriate right now for the press to be going backwards and figure out tick tocks of what happened when. we've got a crisis on our hands, we've got a coronavirus in this country, and the press, they have got a real opportunity, if you ask me, to also spread great information to this public and give information that our task force trying to get out there. howard: right. well, journalists would say looking at the record part of our scrutiny, but let's get specific. the president the other day really got into it with peter alexander, as you know. he had asked a question, the president was talking about a couple of malaria drugs, he doesn't know whether they'd be effective against coronavirus but was willing to support further reasonable research. he said are you giving false hope, and then alexander said what do you have to say to millions of scared americans.

the president said peter alexander had asked a nasty question and he was a terrible reporter. what was nasty about those questions? >> well, i want to point out before i answer that question, the president just the day before, i believe it was or prior to the day before that had said that he felt the media coverage was actually pretty fair. so he has given credit where it's due. in that instance, the fact that he, a reporter asking if he's giving false hope to the american people, i think that was inappropriate. he's the commander in chief. he is at the help. of this country. finish helm of this country. and it is his job as president to try and comfort this country and make sure that they know we're working towards options that will help people. it is his job to show not only leadership, but try to calm the american people. to say he's giving false hope, i think, was wildly inappropriate, and that's why he react the way he did. howard: cnn's john king reacted by calling the response b.s., he used the actual word on the air,

and rachel maddow said they shouldn't carry these briefings live because she says the president is spreading misinformation. your response. >> well, the irony there about they shouldn't have briefings is not lost on me, certainly. it doesn't surprise me that either of those networks or that cable channel would attack him. that's not the point. right now they need to set aside their bias against this president, and we need to do what this white house is doing and show leadership and try to get information to the american public. that is your job as journalists. howard: at another briefing the president responded to a question from one america news about when the media was supposedly siding with chinese communist party propaganda by saying they are siding with china. what did he mean? >> there have been many, many outlets that have printed that the chinese government is doing all that they can and that they are showing leadership towards

this views, and that's not the case. there's also, you know, there have been reporters who have jumped to calling it the chinese virus racist. he was talking about that. again, this is the media outlets ripping into the president because they can. ing this is why earlier he called it a hoax. he tonight call the virus a hoax -- he didn't call the virus a hoax, it's the way the democrats and media are treating it. this president is focused on the american people, so should the media, period. howard: i would just point out that those three paper, among many others, have supported about the lies and the coffer-up and the correct sorship of high that in the early beginning, and beijing has booted out "the wall street journal" and new york post. with much of the country shut down, the president is pushing a financial rescue plan on the hill, could cost almost a trillion and a half dollars to taxpayers, to small businesses,

to affected industries. hasn't the republican party always been against what some call big government bailouts? >> i think that they still are, but this is an unusual situation. when you've got people who are being told to stay home, especially small businesses, you've got people in the service industry who are not able to work, it's important that we take care of those people. the president has said many times that the economy will bounce back. he believes that to be true. under his leadership he has made our economy boom, so we're able to do this. again, i think this is just an extraordinary circumstance, and it's very important that the people of this country are taken care of right now. howard: stephanie, you also work for the first lady. rick wilson, an anti-trump republican pundit, took aim at melania trump who has her bebest campaign and -- be best campaign, and we can put this up. he tweeted her picture with the hashtag be infected. a lot of criticism, he refused to apologize. your reaction. >> i think it shows what a small

fraction of a man he is. we're in a crisis right now, and the mrs. trump doing what she always does, working to try and help children and families especially understand that this is temporary and there are things that people can be doing at home. the fact that he did that, i really do hope that the particular cable network that he goes on, i hope that don lemon especially will insist on not having him on anymore. if a republican, excuse me, would have done that to somebody, it would be headline news everywhere. this has already been forgotten but, again, the bottom line is mrs. trump, the president, the vice president, this entire white house is focused on this country, and if people want to be small and petty about it, you know, that's their choice. howard: i've got about 20 seconds. the president, of course, is entitled to criticize any media coverage he want, but at this time of crisis and ang aye the -- anxiety in america, might it be better if he tried to stay above the fray in terms of the press? >> i think he has. he's gone out every single day

and faced the press. he has absolutely stayed above the fray. but when he is working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and he sees doctors and everyone in our administration working and the press are choosing to attack him on occasion, that's going to frustrate him, and he's going to fight back and defend what we're doing. and i think that's absolutely warranted. howard: right. >> the press, the media, oured administration, everybody should be working for this country together. howard: well, you're defending the the add as well, and -- administration as well, and if you do it well. appreciate you coming on, stephanie grisham. >> thank you. howard: and we will return now with this fox news alert9 to governor andrew cuomo, democratic governor of new york. >> don't pressure another democrat or elected official. i say that as bologna. i represent all the citizens of the state of new york. that is my job. it's a very simple job i have.

i fight for new yorkers, period. democrats, republicans, period. and this is no time to play politics. and we need our congressional delegation to stand up and to fight for new york. also on the federal role, i'm requesting today from the federal government that the army corpses immediately proceed -- army corps immediately proceed to erect temporary hospitals. i went out yesterday, i surveyed the sites. there are several good options that give us regional coverage. an army corpses temporary hospital at stony brook which is on long island, westbury which is on long island, westchester where we have that terrible cluster which is, thank goodness, reducing. and the javits center, which is a very large convention center in manhattan in new york. and new york city is obviously where we have the highest number of cases. i met with the army corps,

they've reviewed these sites, i approve it, i approve it on behalf of the state of new york, and now we just have to get it done and get it done quickly. these temporary hospitals are helpful, but they don't bring supplies, and they don't bring staff. and that compounds our problem of not having enough medical supplies and, frankly, compounds our problem of not having enough medical staff because we are trying to increase the capacity in our existing hospitals. the sites that we picked allow for indoor assembly of these facilities, so they won't be out of doors, they'll be indoors. some places we may need to do them outdoors, but these campuses also have tomorrow stories where the -- dormitories where the health care staff can stay. they're very large, there's space. and, again, i have made all

necessary approvals. so from my point of view, construction can start tomorrow. these are pictures of the places where we would assemble them in stony brooks old westbury, westchester center in westchester, all indoor locations, all open, all ready, accessible, jacob javits9 center. we just expanded it, it's one of the largest convention centers in the country. it's open, it is ready to go. there is no red tape on the side of new york. we're also asking fema to come in, federal emergency management agency, to come in and erect four federal hospitals at the javits center. the federal hospital is different than the army corps of

engineer temporary facility. the fema hospitals to come with staff and supplies. they're in 250-bed configurations. we're asking for four of those 250-bed configurations to be assembled in the javits center. the javits center can easily manage them. it's in the heart of man hat tan. they're fully quippedded, they're fully staffed. again, we are ready to go as soon as the federal government ready to go. that will then give us regional coverage in down state new york which is our most heavily impacted area. the president signed the fema emergency declaration allows fema to go to work. by that emergency declaration, funding for these services is splint 75% by the federal government, 25% by the state government. the federal government can waive the states' share, as they call

it, waive the 25% from the state. i'm also asking that -- requesting that the president waive the 25%. i just cannot pay the 25%. we literally don't have the funding to do it. and, by the way, i don't believe any state will be in a position to waive the 25 the -- 25%. i don't just is say that op my behalf, i say that on behalf of all the governors. i'm the vice chairman of national governors association, i've been speaking with governors all across the nation. no state has the financial capacity to participate, in my opinion. but i know for sure new york doesn't because we are the heavy, heaviest hit state right now. i'm asking the president to do what i did here in the state of new york, cut the red tape, cut the bureaucracy, just cut to the chase, get the army corps of engineers moving, get fema

moving, let's get those buildings up, let's are them in place before that trajectory hits its apex. time matters, minutes count, and this is literally a matter of life and death. we get these facilities up, we get the supplies, we will save lives. if we don't, we will lose lives. i don't mean to be overly dramatic, but i want to be honest, and that is the simple fact of this matter. we're also implementing the trial drug. we have secured 70,000 hydroxychloroquine, 10,000 -- i want to thank the fda for moving very expeditiously to get us this ply. the -- this supply. the fda moved. we're going to get this supply, and the trial will start this

tuesday. the president is optimistic about this, about these drugs, and we are all optimistic that it could work. i've spoken with a number of health officials, and there is a good basis to believe that they could work. some health officials point to africa which has a very low infection rate, and there's a theory that because they're taking this anti-malarial drug in africa, out may actually be one of the reasons why the infection rate is low in africa. we don't know, but let's find out, and let's find out quickly. and i agree with the president on that, and we're going to start, and we're going to start tuesday. i also think the fda should start approving serial logical testing for coronavirus antibodies, and they should do it as soon as possible. what this does is it tests the

blood to see if you have antibodies that were created to fight the cope that virus. the coronavirus. remember are, all the health officials say the krone views was here -- coronavirus was here before we started to test. many more people is have had the coronavirus than we think. most people have resolved the coronavirus who have had it. how do you know that? you can it's and find the antibody that the body created to fight the virus. if you have that antibody, it means you have the virus, and you've resolved that. why do you want to know that? because i want to know who had it, who has the antibody which means they most probably will not get it again, and that can help us get our medical staffs back to work faster. so it's a different level of

testing, but i think the fda should move as expeditiously as they they have before on this type of testing. find out who had it, who has the antibodies, and that will help us especially on medical staff shortages. also on the state role, what am i supposed to do? i'm not just looking to the federal government. i understand that we are responsible here in the state of new york, and we're doing everything we can on hyperspeed. we have to the expand the existing hospital capacity. this gets back to the 53,000 current beds when we may need 110,000 beds. we have said to the hospital administrators we have a goal of you increasing your capacity in each hospital by 100%. yes, an ambitious goal. yes, very difficult. yes, it may be impossible in some places.

but remember, a hospital is highly regulated, spaces regulated, the number of beds in a room is highly regulated. we're waiving all those regulations and saying just from a physical capacity point of view see if you can increase your capacity 100%. where'd we get 100%? we have 53,000 beds, we have to get to 110,000 beds, everybody increases by 100%, we meet the goal. simple. too simple, but we understand many hospitals won't be able to do it. however, at a minimum hospitals must give us a plan to increase capacity by at least 50%. so we would be at about 75,000 minimum against the 110 need. we would still have to find additional beds, i understand

that, and you see what we're doing with the federal government. there's an opportunity there. but every hospital goal of 100% increase in capacity, mandate of 50% increase in capacity. we also have an intensive care unit bed issue where we have to increase the number of intensive care units. that is limited by the number of ventilators. what makes an icu bed an icu bed in this case? it's that the icu bed has a ventilator. and that's where we get back to needing the ventilators desperately so we have those icu beds. we're putting out department of health emergency order to hospitals that says we're not just asking you to do this, it wouldn't just be a nice thing. i'm not just asking you as governor as a civic obligation. this is a law.

the hospitals must come up with a plan to increase capacity a minimum of 50, goal of 100%. we're also canceling all elective, non-critical surgery for hospitals as of wednesday. elective, non-critical. if it's a critical surgery, fine. if it's not critical, then postpone it. that a alone should get us 25-35% more beds. and again, that is a mandates that is going into effect for the hospitals. i understand the hospitals are not happy about it. i've heard that. the elective surgery a big source of revenue for the hospitals. i understand that, but this is not about money, this is about pluck -- public health. and we're putting that mandate in place starting today.

we're also creating additional beds in places where we can. we're taking over existing residential facilities, hotels, nursing homes and repurposing existing fundamentals. for example, this is the brooklyn center for rehabilitation center and health care. 600 beds that we're going to take over, and it will serve as a temporary hospital. and we're doing this in facilities all across the state. two different facts, i want to make sure we're clear just so this is no confusion. fact one, young people can get the coronavirus. they're wrong when they say they can't get it. they can get it. 18-49-year-olds represent 53% of the total cases in new york. this is not china, this is not south korea on the theory that,

welk i'm an american youth and, therefore, i have a superior immune system than china or south korea. no, that theory is not correct. in new york 53% of the cases 18ing-49 years -- 18-49 years old. second fact, older people and those with compromise immune system, underlying illnesses can die from the coronavirus. you're right, 18-49-year-old is probably not lethalling but you can get it, and you can get sick. and it's a nasty illness, and then you can transfer it to someone else. that's the case for young people. older people, obviously if you're an older person, it can be lethal. both facts are true and both facts have to be understood. going people can get it, you

will get sick, you probably won't die, but you can transfer it to someone who may very well die. and you can transfer it even inadvertently without knowing you're doing it. you can touch a surface, walk away. a day later someone can sit at this table and put their hand in the same place and contract the virus. i was in new york city yesterday, it was a pretty day. there is a density level in new york city that is wholly inappropriate. you would think there was nothing going on in parts of new york city. you would think it was just a bright, sunny saturday. i don't know what i'm saying that people don't get. i'm normally accused of being

overly blunt and direct. and i take that. it's true. i don't know what they're not understanding. this is not life as usual. one of this is life as usual. and this kind of density -- we talk about social distancing, i was in these parks, you would not, you would not know that anything was going on. this is just a mistake. it's a mistake. it's insensitive, it's arrogant, it's self-destructive, it's disrespectful to other people, and it has to stop, and it has to stop now. this is not a joke, and i am not kidding. we spoke with the mayor with of the the city of new york and the speaker of the city council,

corey johnson. i told both of them that this is a problem in new york city, this is especially a problem in new york city parks. new york city must develop an immediate plan to correct this situation. i want a plan that we can review in 24 hours so that we can approve it. there are many options. you have much less traffic in new york city because nonessential worker aren't going to work with. get creative. open streets to reduce the density. you want to go for a walk? god bless you. you want to go for a run? god bless you. but let's open streets, let's open space. that's with where people should be, in open space areas. not in dense locations. there is no group activity in parks. that is not the point. we spoke about it the other day. all sorts of kids playing basketball yesterday.

i play basketball. there's no concept of social distancing while playing basketball. that doesn't exist. you can't stay 6 feet away from a person playing basketball. you can, but then you're a lousy basketball mare, and you're going to lose. -- player, and you're going to lose. you just cannot do that the. we also have bigger parks in new york city. the park in brooklyn, 400 acres. van courtland park, there are big parks, there are big spaces. that's where you want to be. we need a plan from new york city. i want it in 24 hours because this is a significant problem that has to be corrected. in terms of numbers, i said yesterday new york is testing more people than any state in the country, and per capita more than any country on the globe. that is a positive accomplishment, pardon the

punker because we want testing, we want more testing. we ramped up very quickly, we're doing it better than anyone else, and that is a good thing. because when you identify a positive, or then you can isolate that person: and that's exactly what we're trying to do. when you increase number of tests, you're going to increase the number of people who test positive. and the numbers show exactly that. we have now tested 61,000 people. newly tested, 15,000 people. so these numbers just are exponential to what is being done anywhere else in the country. and that's why you're going to see much higher numbers than anywhere else. total number of new cases, 15,000. i'm sorry, total number of cases 15,000. total number of new cases, 4,800 new cases. you see the state, more and more

counties, we're just down to a handful of counties now where we don't have existing cases. as i said, that is going to be 100% covered, it's just a matter of time. on the hospitalization rate, which is a number that i watch very closely, it's 1900 cases out of 15,000. 13%. ing13% is actually lower than it has been. we've been running at 15%, 16%, as high as 20%. this is 13%. this is the key indicator because this is saying how many people are going to come into your health care system as number goes up. so this is a, is not bad news. across the country you with see new york now has 15,000 cases, washington state, 1600.

california, 1500. so we have roughly 15 times the number of cases. now, do we really have 15 times number of cases? you don't know. we're testing much more than anyone else. so that is a major factor in this. but i have no doubt that we have more cases. we have more density, we have more people from other countries who come to new york than many other states. so i have no reason to believe that we don't have more. i don't believe we have 15 times more. i believe that's also a factor that we test more than anyone else. 114 new deaths. total number of deaths, 374. and that is a soak e oring -- sobering, sad and really

distressing fact that should give everyone pause because that's what this is all about. is saving lives, and we've lost 374 new yorkers. keeping it all in perspective, johns hopkins has followed this from day one, 311,000 cases, 13,000 deaths. astronaut -- statewide deaths, to the, -- to the extent we can research the cause of death and the demographics of death, what we're seeing roughly, 70% of those who passed away were 70 years old or older. and the majority had underlying health conditions. okay? so it is what we said it was. approximately 80% of the deaths of those under 70 years old had

an underlying health condition. so young people can get it, young people will get sick, young people can transfer. mortality, lethality, older, compromised immune system, underlying illness. that's what we're seeing. but even within that population, the capacity of our health care system can save those lives. it doesn't mean just because you're 80 and you have a come propleased immune -- compromisedded immune system or an underlying health condition and you get coronavirus you must pass away. that's going to be depend on how good our health care system is. but in terms of overall perspective, i'm afraid for

myself, i'm afraid for my sister, i'm afraid for my child. older, underlying illness, be very, very, very careful. this gets back to matilda's law. this gets back to my mother. that's my fear. this gets back to nursing homes, senior care facilities, etc. personal advice -- this is not factual, i try to present facts, i try to present everything i know, i try to present unbiased facts, i try to present numbers because people need information. when to you get anxious, when do you get fearful? when you don't get information or you doubt the information or you think people don't know what they're talking about or you think you're getting lied to. so i present facts. this is personal advice. this is not factual. it's gratuitous. you can take it, you can throw

it in the pail. but we have to think this situation through. don't be reactive at this point to this situation. yes, you are out of control in many ways. you're out of control to this virus. you're out of work. situations are changing. they're not in your control. you don't even know how long this is going to go on. it's a very frightening feeling. that is true. but you can also take back some control. start to anticipate and plan what's going to go on. plan for the negatives and plan for the positives. there are going to be negatives, and there are going to be positives. there are real economic consequences. how do you handle the economic consequences? you're not alone. it's everyone in the united states. that's why you see this federal

government acting quickly to get funding into the pockets of families who need it. but think through what the economics mean. think through the social issues and the social impact of this. think through the emotional issues of this. you know, it would be unnatural if you didn't have a flood of emotions going on. until be unnatural. it would be unnatural. either you wouldn't understand what was happening, or you wouldn't appreciate it. but if you know the facts and you understand what's going on, you have to have a flood of individual emotions. positive and negative. and anticipated. you know, stay home, stay home, stay home. well, if you stay home, remember the old expression cabin fever, right? you stay home alone, you don't want to be isolated emotionally.

you can be ice late physically are. you -- isolated physically are. you want to keep those the emotional connections. you want to talk to people. you want to write letters, you want to have emotional connectivity. that is very important. if you're not alone and you're in the house with the family and the kids and everybody's together, that's a different set of emotional complexities, you know? being in that enclosed environment normally the kids are out, everybody's going to work, and you're only together a short period of time today. now you're all in the same place for 24 hours. you know, i remember when the kids were young, what it was like. it was pure joy. but i remember what it was like to be with them for multiple hours, you know? and it's complicated. i live alone. i'm even getting a annoyed with the dog, you know?

[laughter] being in one place. so think that through because that is real, and it's going to go on for a period of time. this is not a short-term situation. finish this is not a long weekend. this is not a week. the timeline, nobody can tell you. it depends on how we handle it. but 40, up to 80% of the population will wind up getting this virus. all we're trying to do is slow the spread, but it will spread, it is that contagious. again, that's nothing to panic over. you saw the numbers. unless you're older with an underlying illness, etc., it's something that you're going to resolve, but it's going to work its way through society. we'll manage that capacity rate.

but it is going to be four months, six months,en nine months -- nine months. you look at china, once they really changed the trajectory -- which we have not done yet -- eight months. we're in that range. nobody has a crystal ball, nobody can tell you. well, i want to know, i want to know, i need to know. nobody can tell you. i've spoken to more people on this issue than 99% of the people in this country. no one can tell you. not from the superb dr. fauci to the world health obviously, to the national institute of health. but it is in that range. so start to plan accordingly. it's going to be hard, there is no doubt. i'm not minimizing it. and i don't think you should either. but at the same time, it is going to be okay.

we don't want to overreact either, right? the grocery stores are going to function, there's going to be food, the transportation systems are going to function, the pharmacies going to be open. all essential services will be maintained. there's not going to be chaos, there's not going to be anarchy. order and function will be maintained. life is going to go on. different, but life is going to go on. so there is no reason to be going to grocery stores and hoarding food. you see all this overreaction on the tv every day which then makes you think maybe i'm, i'm missing it, maybe i should run to the store and buy toilet paper. no. life is going to go on. the toilet paper's going to be there tomorrow. so a deep breath with on all of that. but i do believe that whatever

this is four months, six months, nine months, we are going to be the better for it. you know, they talk about the greatest generation, the generation that survive world war ii. dealing with hardship actually makes you stronger. life on the individual level, on the collective level, on the social level, life is not about avoiding challenges. challenges are going to come your way. life is going to knock you on your rear end at one point. something will happen, and then life becomes about overcoming those challenges. that's what life is about. and that's what this country is about. america is america because we overcome adversity and challenges. that's how we were born. that's what we've done all our life.

we overcome challenges. ands this is a period of challenge for this generation. and that's what has always made america great, and that's what's going to make this generation great. i believe that to the bottom of my soul. we're going to overcome this, and america will be the greater for it. and my hope is that new york is going to lead the way forward. and together, we will. questions. enter governor, on the new york city -- howard: new york golf andrew cuomo scolding people in new york city for getting together in large numbers in places like central park, also calling on the federal government to nationalize the acquisition of medical supplies, saying the states can't do it on their own. let's bring in mollie hemingway of the federalist here in washington, als ray suarez, and in los angeles radio talk show host leslie marshall.

let me start with mollie and ray. i want to go back to president trump and the briefings this week on the coronavirus. i mentioned earlier a reporter if one america news asking the president whether he considers it racist from the president using the term chinese virus, and here's how it went down. >> major left-wing news media have teamed up with chinese communist party narrative and saying you're racist. >> it amazes me when i read "the wall street journal," which is always so negative, it awe maizes me when i read "the new york times" -- "the washington post" is going wild, they are siding with china. howard: mollie, the president says these newspapers who have just been banned by beijing are siding with china. do you see evidence of that? >> first of all, there's differences. "the wall street journal" tends to play it pretty straight. "the new york times" and washington post less so, they do a lot of critical analysis of

the president. we're really seeing that this is a complex moment, and our media are not particularly up to the challenge. already, you know, if it's an apolitical story, they sensationalize things, they are unable to provide context. when you're dealing with a complicated public health, economic, constitutional issues like what we're going through now, they're just not doing a particularly good job, and their need for trump to fail at all costs -- which they've shown that they, that they're obsessed with for the last several years -- makes it particularly problematic. howard: ray, there's a difference between criticizing the media coverage as the president does all the time and saying these organizations are siding with china. your thoughts. >> it's just a ramping up of the same kind of rhetoric that was present in the briefing room earlier in the trump administration. if you look carefully at the pages of all three newspapers, you'll find reported the attempts of the chinese government to cover up the spread in wuhan in the early

days of the virus. you'll find reporting on the extendstive measures that the chinese government took to throttling freedom of movement and freedom of speech when it would have helped to have people able to speak freely about how to respond to the virus. and you'll see report proking about how china -- reporting about how china is trying to win the pr battle by pivoting toward giving materials and supplies and advice -- howard: right. >> -- to countries around the world -- howard: let me jump in because i'm coming up on a hard break. leslie, joe biden says he's going to start doing coronavirus briefing himself tomorrow. he and the campaign have been kind of wiped off the radar by the coronavirus, would you agree? >> well, yeah, absolutely. joe biden i doesn't suffer from this as much as senator sanders does because he wasn't out there doing as many big rallies, and also senator sanders still a sitting senator and has work to do, so joe biden can focus on giving that message which does start on monday, you are

correct. howard: all right. let me get the hard break in here, and we'll be back on the other side. ! mom (on speakerphone): hi! son (on speakerphone): dad, i two goals today! vo: getting to a comfortable retirement doesn't have to be an uncomfortable thought. see how lincoln can help. stays at choicehotels.com and earn a free night. because when your business is making the most of it, our business is you. book direct at choicehotels.com

howard: at the white house, nbc's peter alexander asked whether the president was giving people a false sense of hope about the effects of two malaria discussion, and then this happened. >> what do you say to americans who are scared though? nearly 200 dead, 14,000. infected, millions, as you witnessed, who are scared right now. what do you say to americans who are watching you right now who are scared? >> say that you're a terrible reporter, that's what i say. >> [inaudible] >> i think that was a very nasty question, and i think it's a very bad signal that you're putting out to the american people. the american people are looking for answers, and they're looking for hope, and you're doing sensationalism, and the same with nbc and comcast, i don't

call it comcast, i call it con cast. howard: mollie hemingway, was this, in fact, a nasty question? >> in a vacuum, the question was totally fine. the three minutes preceding which were accusing him of trying to harm the american people, that was the part that i think bothered the president. and it's important when people report about it, that they do include that context of what led up to this moment. and this general approach of being so negative against the president, i think, doesn't wear as well as a lot of people in the media think it does. howard: ray suarez, your thoughts on that stuff with the nbc reporter, but also stephanie grisham telling me earlier she doesn't think it's appropriate for the media to be looking back at the president who some say minimized this for weeks and weeks and weeks. is that part of our job, or should we be just focused on today and tomorrow? >> a press secretary who has said wrong, incorrect,

misleading things about the state of play for months, that's probably a good position to take. we were not at 15 cases on our way to 0 when he said it. a test was not available to every american who wanted one when he said it, it's not each true today. so why wouldn't stephanie grisham suggest that we shouldn't keep looking back? the job for any president is to be careful, consistent and credible, and i guess we can do a postmortem when this is the all over on whether the president succeeded -- howard: leslie marshall, i asked you about joe biden. he won florida, illinois this week, has the coronavirus basically frozen the campaign? >> no. the cope that virus has taken over as the leading news item because it's affecting so many people. it's so rapid, it's unprecedented, it's nothing that we've ever seen in any of our lifetimes because the last epidemic or pandemic on this level was about 100 years ago, according to my husband the doctor and other medical

professionals. people are frightened -- howard: all right. >> if i can weigh in quick -- howard: you can't, the computer's going to cut us off. thank you so much. we'll see you next week. ♪ ♪ ck to the landers, head turners and stripe burners. run with us on a john deere mower. because this is more than just grass. it's home. search john deere mowers for more.

♪ ♪ arthel: fox news alert, the u.s. death toll topping 300 as more states go into lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic. governors in some of the hardest hit states now looking at remote areas to set up field hospitals as doctors and nurses say supplies are dangerously close to running out. hello, everyone, and welcome to "america's news headquarters." i'm arthel neville. eric: i'm eric shawn. thank you for joining us. this week our country will be on standstill, under siege from the coronavirus. major cities across the country hook like ghost townes washington is now working -- ghost towns as washington is working on a massive stimulu