♪ president trump has activated the national guard in new york, california and washington, and senate is deadlocked in a coronavirus stimulus package as more members are directly impacted by the virus. >> inside look at one of the most in-depth studies of the coronavirus taking place right now that explains why the prickly parts of the virus stab patients' lungs. with supplies running low, take you inside a day in the life of front lines nurses and doctors treating coronavirus

patients. >> i'm tired, stressed, scared icu doctor and don't scare that easily but this is scary >> "early today" starts now. good to have you with us, i'm frances rivera. >> i'm phillip mena. 80 million americans virtually on lockdown. over 80 million americans on virtual lockdown confirmed cases surged to over 35,000, almost half in new york. more than 400 americans have died eight states issued state at home orders, california, new york, new jersey, ohio, connecticut, louisiana any nonessential businesses found open could be fined. more than 7,000 national guard members are being deployed to cities across the country. in addition, president trump has activated additional troops in new york, california and washington as cases surge drastically. >> in new york, hospitals are banning partners from the

delivery room. women who give birth at new york presbyterian hospital will have to do so alone as millions shelter in place, renters falling into distress. federal government announced protections for homeowners but doesn't carry the 40 million renters. school closures have skyrocketed, nearly 54 million students sent home 45 states have closed all schools, many making courses available online but affect 20 million children who receive free school lunch. breaking overnight, canada and australia become the first countries to pull out of the olympics will not send athletes to tokyo if the games are not delayed by the pandemic japanese prime minister shinzo abe is considering postponing but says canceling is not an option mcdonald's restaurants will

close in u.k. early today. prime minister boris called on restaurants and pubs to close > pregnant with first child and remotely from home white house is signaling a is change in strategy for handling the pandemic. president trump tweeted we cannot let the cure be worse than the virus itself. we'll make a decision which way we want to go. jennifer johnson has more. >> reporter: with the number of cases of covid-19 rising rapidly, one in four americans sheltering at home, president trump announcing major steps to help struggling states says masks and life-saving equipment is being sent out and heaviest hit will get assistance from the national guard. >> instructed fema to supply four large federal medical stations with 1,000 beds for

new york eight large federal medical stations with 2,000 beds for california and three large federal medical stations and four small federal medical stations with 1,000 beds for the state of washington. >> reporter: president has also declared washington state a disaster area along with new york nation's top infectious disease doctor is warning the worst is yet to come. >> we're going to get hit, no doubt about it things we're seeing in the country, this physical separation as we're preventing influx of cases from coming in, i think that's going to go a long way to preventing us from coming an italy. >> reporter: president sending warm wishes to rand paul, first u.s. senator to test positive for covid-19 as the congressional members work on aid package for millions of americans losing their jobs. >> expecting us to do our part

we intend to do that. >> need to get money into the economy now to stabilize the economy. >> reporter: americans looking to washington to provide in the pandemic and help them survive battle between senate republicans and democrats threatens to derail the package. mitch mcconnell is vowing to take another vote after democrats blocked it over concerns on corporate bailouts seems like not even pandemic can stop partisan politics >> politics is in play here and the vote may be postponed until afternoon. republicans' concerned it will rattle the market for hours until they come to a solution here phase three of the so-called coronavirus -- some call it bailout -- this fiscal package that republicans say would give

money to small businesses to give to their workers, people sitting at home without paychecks. but democrats are concerned there are not enough protections in this bill, sick pay and leave for workers and no guarantees that bosses would actually turn that money over to employees instead of reinvesting it. >> our nation cannot afford the game of chicken. this is, mr. president, a national emergency, not a partisan opportunity >> legislation has many problems, at top of the list it includes a large corporate bailout with no protections for workers and virtually no oversight. >> lawmakers were planning to work late to work this out to come to preliminary vote to move this money forward president trump has said he wants to see this happen and he thinks they're getting close frances? >> we need that progress thank you tracy. the coronavirus continues to hit europe hard.

death toll continues to surge despite lockdowns. more than 13,000 deaths worldwide with 5,000 in italy. spain and france not far behind. italy taking more extreme methods by blocking all travel, including internally this as china continues to report low number of infections. ali arouzi in london >> horrifying scenes continue to play out in italian hospitals as death toll is almost 5,500, highest in the world and italy has about 60,000 positive cases it is already a country in strict lockdown, even more draconian measures are being taken in attempt to slow the spread of the virus. travel within the country has been banned. all nonessential business activity will be suspended and situation across europe

continues to be alarming as cases keep accelerating spain's death toll, 1,720. on sunday another 394 people had died in just 24 hours there. the government planning to extend the state of emergency for at least another two weeks with police patrols and military checkpoints across the country spain has second worst outbreak in europe after italy. in iran, death toll reached almost 2,000, over 25,000 cases but with lack of testing kits and transparency, there are fears the numbers may be much higher in germany, chancellor angela merkel is in quarantine after doctor who treated her tested positive for coronavirus unclear whether she too has the virus. china with largest number of confirmed cases but the pandemic

has largely moved to europe add the u.s. world health organization says more cases are reported in europe every day than in china at height of the epidemic. thank you. health officials are sounding alarm about a more curious symptom of the coronavirus. can cause patients to lose sense of smell and taste recommend self-isolating even without other symptoms one of them was utah jazz player rudy gobert. he lost his sense of smell. check in on the weather with meteorologist janessa webb >> haven't seen you since spring >> been a while. >> nice to be here >> not seeing spring conditions across the midwest and

northeast. talking about significant snowfall due to a coastal storm. forecast totals up to 9 to 12 inches will cause gusty winds to pick up from washington, d.c., all the way into new york city philadelphia, new york city, goinacross the northeast and ohio valley. back in mid-30s with feel like temperature at freezing mark it's spring and still talking about snow >> all right >> we're inside, anyway. >> one of the many odd things these days thanks coronavirus pandemic there is good news for drivers, gas prices are dropping.

price of regular plunked to just over $2.38 singer lionel richie think it's time to revive "we are the world. everyone's in this together. stocking up on fresh foods definitely after meatloaf. like clockwork. do it! run your dishwasher every night with cascade platinum. a load with as few as 8 dishes, is all it takes to save water. an energy star certified dishwasher uses less than four gallons per cycle. while handwashing uses that, every two minutes. so, do it. run your dishwasher every night with cascade platinum. the surprising way to save water.

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lines of this pandemic, health care workers, risking their lives to treat patients. now we have a rare, inside look at challenges they face. doctor from new york shared her story with nbc news. >> i'm tired, stressed, scared i'm an icu doctor and i don't really scare that easily but this is scary. >> walking in to start the day here is our medical team making paper rounds before we go into the rooms. walking in the icu, going to my scrub machine because i do not want to bring this tough home. start with the gown so we don't get secretions on us put it on. see the goggles so we don't get droplets in our eyes two face masks on, gloves underneath and another set on top. here we go that's pair number one going on now. i'm going to do that for each

patient in every room. very cool invention by our nurses put very long tubing, been able to bring pumps from the patient outside the door and work the pumps from here. lot of times we have to support the patients upside down, take care of them, get them off the ventilator fast as we can. very long days, lots of patients, icu is full. going home two hours later than supposed to, maybe three i have my stuff to go inside and try not to contaminate anything. i will change out of my clothes right away, not to touch anything on the way up, go upstairs, take a shower, watch all the covid-19 off me. home, showered, and finally get to say hi to my kids and try to go eat dinner and

start again tomorrow another day. >> deepest gratitude to all of those front line health care workers. >> dedication and bravery and families' sacrifice. nascar fans got to be part of suledimat universe in the season's pause. new vaccine to battle the coronavirus. you're watching "early today." y to dissolve kitchen grease on contact. and it's great for bathrooms! just keep pumping the power nozzle to release a continuous burst of mist and make quick work of big jobs. it even works on stainless steel. it cuts through 100% of dirt, grease and grime. available with easy-to-swap refills. to get three times the cleaning power, try clean freak from mr. clean.

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ready for the green. green flag, we're racing in homestead. >> gentlemen, start your simulators nascar paired with i-racing to bring first enascar over the weekend. some of the drivers raced on simulated track. after 100 virtual laps, denny hamlin got the win and promised to donate the winnings for those affected by coronavirus. race against time. every second is critical for scientists but now there's no hope. rare look inside the army's race for a cure >> reporter: newest images we have of covid-19, mapped out in a secure government lab where researchers are urgently trying to understand the virus that's ravaging the world >> this is a gps for vaccine design without that understanding, you

can drive along a road and think you're going the right direction, but with this level of detail you actually know your destination. >> reporter: chief of structural biology here for decades walter reed has studied infectious diseases, including hiv/aids, sars and mers saying the sharp objects sticking out of this protein stab patient's lungs >> this is like a hook that binds to the lung cell. >> reporter: race is on to figure out how to stop them. these are antibodies and goal to get them to block this protein from attaching to the lungs? >> that's right. >> reporter: part of many efforts private and public across the world to stop the vaccine. not just public health but national security.

first testing of humans with another experimental vaccine began days ago in washington state. is this a new type of arms race? >> i think the best kind of arms race we're not working in opposition with one another but collaboration. >> reporter: even a fast track vaccine likely won't be ready for 12 to 18 months. dr. sheila peal is trying to learn more about the virus now >> this is the most challenging scenario i have faced in my entire career. >> reporter: a challenge for which the stakes could not be higher >> it's very, very urgent. we know if we don't do this, current pandemic is just going to continue until there are solutions that are effective we're doing our best to stop it rorr:ckly as we can >>epte a global race against time gabe gutierrez, nbc news, silver

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breathe on. the nhl season may be suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak but that's not stopping two brothers who play in the league from competing against one another. l.a. kings defenseman and jersey devils forward, andersons held a shootout for ultimate prize, toilet paper trophy. winner was younger brother mikey. toilet paper might be more valuable than lord stanley's cup. >> but that was four pack.

could have got 12. >> maybe next time it's about love. couples who decided to go ahead with weddings despite coronavirus. sharing special days on social media, with social distancing. kate snow. >> we're gathering here to witness holy matra moany >> not what they thought, married with minister four stories up. >> do you promise to love, horn, cherish and keep her as long as you both shall live. >> i do! >> but it worked >> i now pronounce you married >> reporter: casey and matt held their wedding online, complete with a flower girl with so much uncertainty now, tola and paul smith were

determined to find a way after venue canceled mayor agreed to meet them in a park. >> carolyn was kept us six feet apart and had us put the rings on the bible so she wouldn't hold them. >> reporter: connie and shingras are scientists, decided to cancel big ceremony and do it indoors. >> felt silly telling everybody to practice social distancing but saying didn't apply to our wedding because our day. socially irresponsible >> reporter: surprised them with decked out backyard. her uncle officiated >> felt like we had a wedding day with reception even though we had pizza it was still perfect >> reporter: and story they'll

tell forever kate snow, nbc news, new york. >> going to make the weddings even more special and unforgettable. >> going to be a lot of wednesday and thursday wdings ined t

the politics of a pandemic the senate battle over a stimulus package ends this a stalemate with both sides blaming the other for failure. as negotiations spill into monday with investors bracing for another blood bath on wall street rand paul reveals he has tested positive for coronavirus. he and a handful of members of congress go to quarantine as states press the trump administration for more aid and supplies with a number of patients exploding