thanks for joining us. next, a special edition of "nightline." . this is "nightline." tonight, defying orders to social distance. >> we continue to worship and practice our first amendment rights. >> when church and state collide. >> i 100% support faith, especially in times like this, but we have to do it safely. >> sparking outrage. >> you need to shut this church down! >> pushing the limits of pandemic warnings. church pews to public parks. and one on one with vice president mike pence. >> i want every working family to know that help is on the way. >> the white house's dire projection of the death toll to flattening the curve. >> if social distancing is the best tool to combat the pandemic, why not mandate it

nationally? >> "nightline" starts right now with byron pitts. >> the deadly wave that is covid-19 is steadily growing bigger every day. consider this. one month ago today only two people in the u.s. had died from the virus. tonight the death toll is more than 5100. men, women and children. more and more, states across the country are now hiding the danger signs, issuing stay at home restrictions. but tonight we take you inside the battle brewing between faith, the federal government and covid-19. >> people are the church, not the building. >> reporter: it's a warm spring evening in louisiana, and parishioners are gathering to worship at life tabernacle church outside baton rouge. the pastor welcomes his congregants. >> we are the good samaritans. the good, faithful members of this church.

>> reporter: but in recent days he has come under fire by holding services. >> we continue to worship and practice our first amendment rights. >> reporter: this past sunday, pastor spell says more than 1200 people gathered at his church. some were even bussed in. >> let me just tell you, the day of pints coentecost was fully c. >> reporter: his sermon was live cast and recorded by city news. but with the number of cases skyrocketing, some in the neighborhood were furious. >> we are a right, too, buddy! you need to shut that church down! >> reporter: the central police department says spell is in violation of the state order. >> mr. spell has chosen to embarrass us for his own self-promotion. >> we're here today because of violations of the governor's emergency order. >> reporter: yesterday morning spell was arrested. hours later, he was right back

at it, holding service again. >> to my church and to the 9800 people who come through my doors, do not be intimidated to come to this building because of fear that has been put in you. >> reporter: the number of covid-19 cases in our country continues to soar. about three out of four americans are under restrictions to stay home. the president has extended nationwide social distancing guidelines through april 30th. and dr. anthony fauci stressed again the main message, social distancing. >> people are suffering. people are dying. it's inconvenient from a societal standpoint, from an economic standpoint, to go through this, but this is going to be the answer to our problems. >> reporter: but that hasn't stopped some people from going to crowd places and ignoring the distancing rule. forcing local and state governments to crackdown. >> please stand at least six

feet apart. >> reporter: issuing fines, breaking up parties and conducting highway patrols. in rhode island they're checking license plates to warn people from out of state to quarantine. and in some places it they've made arrests. this live stream video posted to youtube shows hundreds of people packed inside the river of tampa bay church. >> people are going totally crazy, and i'm telling you right now, we got to pray that god will pull us out of this thing quickly. >> reporter: pastor brown held services despite a ban on non-essential businesses. >> his reckless disregard for human life put hundreds of people in his congregation at risk and thousands of residents who may interact with them this week in danger. >> reporter: the pastor was arrested and charged. today he announced he will be shutting down the church this sunday. his attorney says the county's

emergency order is unconstitutional. >> we will be pilifiling a laws not only against the sheriff but the executive order because it has so many exceptions it looks like swiss cheese. >> our constitutional rights don't disappear in a crisis or emergency that we have. we don't erase our constitution. >> this is a complicated issue for a lot of people. for people of faith, religious services aren't a luxury. in many states, liquor stores are open, and many people of faith look at that and say, well, if liquor stores are considered essential services, certainly, religious services for a lot of people are essential. >> we have to remember that houses of worship are typically crowded. people are very close together. there's a lot of talking, singing, close contact, handshaking, hugging, kissing. those are all things that immediate to be avoided now. >> reporter: case studies show religious gatherings in several countries have been the source of outbreaks before, not just in

the u.s. the concern for large gatherings stems from how easily covid-19 spreads. back in early march, a choir from washington state held a practice even as the state was grappling with infections and deaths at a seattle-area nursing home. >> we were aware of the spreading, but we didn't know how fast. >> reporter: the choir went ahead with its weekly rehearsal and took extra precautions. only about half the choir showed up. >> we said anyone who had any kind of preexisting conditions or even a sniffle should not come to this rehearsal. nobody shook hands. nobody hugged. >> we set up folding chairs for the rehearsals with three times the distance between shares as we normally have. >> reporter: everything seemed fine until three days later. >> i just in a fever and body aches, and i lost my sense of taste and smell. >> i got a fever of 101.6, and my husband got a fever.

>> reporter: now three weeks later, 45 members of the choir have been diagnosed with covid-19 or became ill with symptoms. at least three have been hospitalized. two are dead. the choir director says even when bigger groups think they're doing everything right, there is still a danger. >> the precautions that we took and the guidelines that we followed were not enough. >> and the theories about why so many people got sick from that one choir practice involved the possibility that there was a super spreader. the other theory is that the virus can spread more than six feet with the respiratory droplets that are projected in the course of singing. the third theory is that someone or multiple people could have been there and been completely asymptomatic, not known that they were infected with coronavirus. >> reporter: to demonstrate how one gathering could have a massive impact, a company called tectonics released this graphic illustration, it tracks the cell

phone data of a single beach in florida and shows how those cell phones move as people traveled home. lighting up in locations all over the country, revealing just how easy wide disbursal could be during a pandemic. so far, pastor tony spell says there's been no indication any of his congregants are ill. >> i don't know anybody who has flu symptoms connected with anybody in our church. >> reporter: they've been doing temperature checks at the door before service, but health experts say that's not enough. >> flattening the curve, to be clear, is about actions that we can take that benefit other people. in some ways, it's the most spiritual and the most eone can do. >> reporter: there is an ancient african proverb. when you pray, move your feet. the prayer of many doctors and nurses across america tonight to

people of all faiths, worship from home. up next, one on one with vice president mike pence. could there be a nationwide lockdown? i thought i was managing my moderate to severe crohn's disease. until i realized something was missing... me. you ok, sis? my symptoms were keeping me from really being there for my sisters. (announcement) "final boarding for flight 2007 to chicago" so i talked to my doctor and learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications. and the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection.

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cases of covid-19 surging to more than 213,000 cases in the u.s. america's federal frontman in this is vice president mike pence. i spoke with him earlier today and he made it clear are, the worst is still to come. mr. vice president thank you so much for joining us. we know you have limited time and we have lots of questions. you and the president have now made clear 100,000 to 240,000 americans could die in this pandemic. how do we avoid that? >> well, what we've done from the very beginning when the president stood at the white house task force in january is follow the data, follow the science. we looked at the day to day numbers in states that have been impacted in states across the country. and our team, our team brought that information to the president.

the president's brought it to the american people. and it's the reason why today we're asking every american for the next 30 days to continue at a minimum the president's coronavirus guidelines for america. every american can know that the way we bring that number down, the way we save lives is if each and every one of us will do our part to slow the spread. >> and to that point, mr. vice president, you and your team have talked a lot about the importance of social distancing. so if social distancing is the best tool to combat the pandemic, why not mandate it nationally? >> what we've done from the very beginning is really poll, folfo facts and the data and give our very best recommendation to the american public. but we've also been working very closely with governors around the country to make sure that they have the information and the resources to make the best decision for their communities. and the reality is, byron, today

there are some 19 states where there's been very little outbreak of the coronavirus. and we really do believe that if every american will put into practice the president's coronavirus guidelines, that's wash your hands. that's if you're sick stay home. that's if you can work from homewo homework work from home. we think that creates a foundation to be able to put this behind us. by the summertime. and ultimately, to save lives. >> as it relates to social distancing, we're still seeing large groups gather across the country in a variety of ways. this week in louisiana, people were still going to church. what's your message to folks still heading outside their homes to go to church services? >> well, for karen and i, and i know the president, we've been enjoying worship services online. we're so grateful to churches and synagogues and places of worship around america that have heed the president's coronavirus

guidelines for america. we really believe this is a time when people should avoid gatherings of more than ten people. and so we continue to urge churches around america to heed to that. >> bridge this gap for me if you would. you and the president have insisted that resources are available by the thousands for states who need them. but governors, republicans and democrats, say they don't have what they need. on our air every single night, sir, we have doctors, nurses, foot soldiers on the ground who with tears in their eyes say they don't have what they need. how do you explain that discrepancy? >> we are leaving no stone unturned to make sure that our health care workers on the front lines have the protective equipment to be able to do their job and stay healthy while they do it. we're speaking regularly, particularly with governors in new york and new jersey and washington and california and

areas where there's been significant outbreak. we've been surging resources into those areas, whether it be the n 95 masks that health care workers need to wear or whether it be ventilators or gowns or gloves, and i promise you, we're delivering those by the millions. we're ordering them by the millions. >> you're at a distribution center in virginia. our food supply may be strong but our economy is hurting. today is the first day of the month, and a lot of americans have bills to pay, rent's due. what do you tell those people who are more concerned about the unemployment than you are the virus at this point, how can you tell them when they can get back to work? >> it's a great question, byron. appreciate that. and i am here at the walmart distribution center in virginia. because one of the great success stories, i think right after our great health care workers in this country, is all the men and women that are working to keep

our food supply strong and vibrant across the country. we've got farmers working in the fields. we've got a thousand people here at this virginia distribution center. it's really inspiring. but every american i know is concerned about the strength of this economy. and that's the reason why the president worked on a bipartisan basis on capitol hill to sign the relief and recovery act last week. we're grateful for democrat and republican leadership in congress that put that $2 trillion bill on the table. every american family of four on average will receive about $3400 in a direct payment in the weeks ahead. and we're going to continue to support critical industries around the country so that when we put the coronavirus behind us, which, if you looked at, if you looked at that modeling last night, we believe we're in a much better place by june 1st,

if every american will put these guidelines into practice. we really do believe that by memorial day weekend or by early summer we can, we can be through the hardest part of this. i want every working family to know that help is on the way. that the support we're giving the states in unemployment benefits is there. and, as president trump has said many times, we're going to do whatever it takes to get the american people, to get the health care workers, people afflicted by the coronavirus and to get our economy through this. >> mr. vice president i have a final question for you. and i ask this not in a political way, but for you, sir, like so many of us in our nation, are you a person of deep faith. no one doubts that. when you talk to god in your moments alone, do you find yourself worrying at all that people you represent and care deeply about have died and will die who did not need to because of steps the federal government did not take soon enough?

>> well, thank you for mentioning that we are talking about one american at a time. and i promise you, that's the way president trump thinks of this, it's the way i think of it. we wanted the american people to see the numbers so that we understand the challenging days that lie ahead. but i want people to know that our future is in your hands, that if every one of us will do and put into practice the guidelines for america that we can bring those numbers down. i really do believe we'll get through this and we'll come out stronger than ever before. >> vice president mike pence, thank you, sir. godspeed to you. >> thank you, byron. and next, remembering adam schlesinger, of fountains of wayne. ♪ she's all i want ♪ and i've waited for so long there will be parades and sporting events

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and finally tonight, celebrating adam schlesinger. the emmy-winning songwriter had it it going on. founding member of fountains of wayne, skyrocketing to success with "stacy's mom." ♪ stacy's mom has got it going on ♪ ♪ she's all i want >> schlesinger dying from covid-19 complications. he was 52. that's ♪ ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ♪ jimmy kimmel live it's ridiculous. from his house! >> jimmy: hi again.

it's jimmy kimmel. welcome to the show. welcome to my house. you know, when i was a kid, i used to pretend i was hosting a talk show in my kitchen, and finally, that dream has come true. not as glamorous as i'd imagined it would be. happy pranksgiving. today is, or was, april fools' day. just kidding! april fools'. it's still march, it'll be march forever. this is the one year where getting your house toilet-papered would be welcomed. warmly. but it didn't happen to me. i didn't know if people would be in the mood for pranks today because this year has so far been a series of them, but it turns out, they were. at least the prankers were. i can't speak for the prankees, but there were some very clever ideas floating around, and some twists on those ideas too, like this one involving a hoodie and a refrigerator. ♪