morning. the "today" show is coming up next, and you can have a great day here, kari says so a nice day for us, and take a walk around your neighborhood and use social distancing. we'll see you back here tomorrow morning. 3.8 million more. unemployment numbers show 30 million americans filed jobless claims in six weeks as head of the federal reserve urges coress to do more for struggling businesses. signs of hope, experimental drug >> what it has proven is that a drug can block this virus. >> the fda reportedly set to grant emergency approval as early as today, so how does it work and how soon could it be

available? we'll ask dr. anthony fauci in a live interview. split decisions, while more states forge ahead with reopening, the country's largest pumps the brakes, california now planning to close all beaches and parks, fearing a weekend repeat of scenes like this. honoring a hero. the family of an emergency room doctor who fought on the front lines speaks to us in their first interview to remember her legacy. >> i just would want people to know how much she gave to the world in her time here. >> the important message they want to share this morning. massive storm system, dangerous weather stretching from the deep south to new england, tens of millions in the path of heavy rain, flooding and high winds. al's forecast and the potential impact on your weekend. those stories, plus, heading home, the very first patient at one of new york's hardest hit

hospitals given a hero's sendoff after spending nearly two months battling the coronavirus. his inspiring story. today, thursday, april 30th, 2020. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today," with savannah guthrie, and hoda kotb, live from studio 1a. welcome to "today" on this thursday morning, so happy you're joining us, good morning, savannah. >> it's so nice to see you, hoda. we have a heartbreaking interview. dr. lorna breen was an e.r. doctor in new york city one of the hardest hit hospitals, over

the weekend she took her own life and we hear from her sister >> brand new numbers show 3.8 million americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, pushing the total since the outbreak began to 30 million. business correspondent jo ling kent joins us. you think about the number, 30 million, is seems huge. what does it all mean, jo? >> reporter: hoda, good morning. it is a staggering, upsetting number. 30 million. what it means is about 18% of the u.s. work force is currently out of a job. the biggest, hardest-hit states are florida, georgia, new york, and here in california. and the reason you keep seeing millions of people without work every week is the layoffs from big companies like boeing and lyft, as well as backed up systems in different states

finally processing claims. >> we're still hearing tons of complaints of people that can't get their hands on benefits, on the money. something is not working. what is that? >> reporter: yeah. these are very old, decades old systems in these states trying to process an onslaught, unprecedented amount of claims right now. i talked to california state labor secretary, she says they're doing everything they can, bringing in more than a thousand people to try to ramp up abilities here, also bringing in new technology, companies like google and microsoft are trying to help here. but these are old systems, expensive to operate, and very difficult to update. so the frustration is real. >> they have to work fast. rent is due tomorrow for a lot of people. thank you. let's turn to rare good news in the battle against the coronavirus. evidence an antiviral drug may help patients recover more quickly.

we'll talk about that with dr. anthony fauci in a moment. first, tom costello has more on the potential break through. >> reporter: good morning, hoda. we've been talking for weeks about potential drugs that might have efficacy, might work against this pandemic, none of them has had the gold seal of approval or approved by the fda. that may be about to change, there's promising news about this drug called remdesivir, it may be a real effective strategy in the fight against this pandemic. this morning, a promising option for treating the sickest coronavirus patients, with president trump's urging the fda appears poised to approve the use of remdesivir, an antiviral that has shown positive signs during clinical trials led by the nih. >> it is a medicine that prevents the virus from growing. >> what it has proven is that a drug can block this virus. >> reporter: dr. anthony fauci,

the nation's lead infectious disease expert saying there is clear cut evidence it works. >> we think it's really opening the door to the fact that we now have the capability of treating, and i can guarantee you as more people, more companies, more investigators get involved it's going to get better and better. >> reporter: the nih trial involved 1,100 patients nationwide. it's accelerated recovery times from 15 to 11 days and at 8% the mortality rate is lower than 11.6% of those who received a placebo. emory university hospital is leading the charge of the trial, more patients than any other site. we've been in contact for several weeks with a top researcher there, dr. meta. >> we do want to make sure we offer it to all the patients that would qualify and would get benefit from it. >> reporter: still he cautions

these results are preliminary. arnold wegg is both a doctor and a patient. he recovered from covid-19 after receiving remdesivir along with another drug. >> i think it's really appropriate to give these medicines with established track records a try in this desperate population. >> reporter: remdesivir is not for everybody, it's for the sickest of the sick in the hospital icu, only usable in an iv form. you're not going to see this in a pill form at the local pharmacy. the nih says the study still needs to be peer reviewed. gilead sciences is ramping up production of the med and now researchers want to know how effective it is in combination with other drugs and might that be even more helpful. savannah, back to you. >> all right, tom, thank you, that sets us up nicely for dr. anthony fauci, the face of america's response to the coronavirus pandemic and the director of the national

institute of allergy and infectious diseases. dr. fauci, good to see you with good news to report this morning. you said remdesivir is not a knockout, this isn't a miracle drug but it sounds like it is a breakthrough. can you explain why? >> well, it's a really important proof of concept because this is the first very highly powered, about 1,100 individuals and it was a placebo controlled, randomized trial, which i've been talking about for some time now, which is really the gold standard of how you prove something is safe and either works or doesn't work. and although the results were clearly positive from a statistically significant standpoint, they were modest, the improvement was 31% better chance of recovering and getting out of the hospital. that's important. but it's the first step in what we project will be better and

better drugs coming along, either alone or in combination, drugs of this type, and drugs addressing other targets of the virus. so it's good news. but i was very serious when i said this is not the total answer, by any means, but it's a very important first step. >> the fda is expected to grant emergency usage for this so that it could be put into practice right away. what do you know about that? how soon do you expect that? >> well, you know, it's going to be really quickly. i was speaking with the commissioner of the fda yesterday evening, last night, and he's moving along very quickly. they have not made a final decision yet. they have not announced it. but i would project that we're going to be seeing that reasonably soon. >> the company that makes the drug has described a very complex process, this is not easy, it's not a pill, it's intravenous, it takes months and months to manufacture. are you confident that enough

can be out there soon enough to make a difference here? >> well, what i'm hearing, savannah, is that the company is really committed to getting it out as much as they can, as quickly as they can. so i would hope that that actually winds up being the case. i'm pretty confident that that will be the case because i believe they're committed to trying to get this out as quickly as possible. so we'll see. but i think it's going to happen. >> we've been talking about a treatment, the big picture here, we all are badly wanting a vaccine, as you well know. the administration has confirmed that it has a program called operation warp speed, that's what the administration is calling it, according to reports the goal to speed the timeline for a vaccine, hundreds of millions of doses to be ready by january. do you feel that's in the realm of possibility? >> you know, i do, savannah. i mean, i'm obviously part of the team that's involved in that.

and the question is, you always have to say you want to get a vaccine that is safe and that's effective and that you can scale up rapidly. so what the plan is right now, as i mentioned to you a couple of times on the show, we're in early phases of a trial phase one. when you go into the next phase we're going to safely and carefully, but as quickly as we possibly can, try and get an answer as to whether it works and is safe and if so we're going to start ramping up production with the companies involved. and you do that at risk. in other words, you don't wait until you get an answer before you start manufacturing. you, at risk, proactively start making it, assuming it's going to work. and if it does, then you can scale up and hopefully get to that timeline. so we want to go quickly but we want to make sure it's safe and it's effective. i think that is doable -- >> that's a big -- >> if things fall in the right place, yeah. >> i was going to say, though, that's a big deal because we've

heard you say 12 to 18 months, i mean, january, hundreds of millions of doses that could be ready, i mean, that would be huge. >> right. well, yeah, but, savannah, remember, go back in time, i was saying in january and february that it would be a year to 18 months. so january is a year. so it isn't that much of what i had originally said. >> time flies, i guess. >> yeah, right. >> let me ask you about the stay at home orders, the federal guidelines expired today, many states are taking steps to open up their states in different ways. how nervous does that make you as the person who's got their >> well, savannah, i wouldn't say it makes me nervous but it makes me, again, committed to the things that i had been speaking about now for a considerable period of time, ever since we got into the

mitigation phase, the 30-day guidelines of gradually opening up as we get into now opening up america. remember, that's a phased process. the first phase we call a gateway. in other words you've really got to have 14 days of continual diminution in the number of your cases. so if the states and locally follow those guidelines in a gradual way and have the capability of, if you get blips, which we will get blips, savannah, there's no doubt, when you pull back, there will be cases, and what we need to do is make sure they have in place the capability of identifying isolating and contact tracing individuals. if they do that -- >> and do the states that are -- >> i feel cautiously optimistic. i feel cautiously optimistic that -- that we'll do it. >> sorry for the overtalk, we're on our satellite. do the states that are taking those steps now, in your mind,

have that ability to contact trace, and crack down on an outbreak if it starts again? >> you know, savannah, honestly, i can't go state by state with you and say this state is doing this and they have it. the only thing i can do is from 40,000 feet just continue to urge the ones who don't have that capability to really go very slowly and those that do go ahead and go by the guidelines. the guidelines are very, very explicit, and very clear. there's a lot of leeway because we give the governors the opportunity to be very flexible but you have to have the core principles of the guidelines. you can't just leap over things and get into a situation where you're really tempting a rebound. that's the thing i get concerned about. i hope they don't do that. >> all right, dr. fauci, thank you for your time this morning. we really appreciate it. and we should mention that tomorrow morning on "today" we're going to have the first television interview with the ceo of gilead sciences.

that is the company that makes remdesivir. and that's tomorrow morning on "today." hoda, over to you. >> savannah, thank you. >> hoda, good morning. the governor here in the state of florida unveiling plans to reopen parts of the state. but across the country a completely different story. we are expecting the governor there, gavin newsom to be announcing today he's putting state parks and beaches back on a total lockdown. this morning california taking a step backwards. after crowds packed just opened

beaches over the weekend. two law enforcement sources telling nbc news governor gavin newsom now plans to shut down all beaches and state parks effective tomorrow. on wednesday he told savannah, trying to recover too quickly could start a second wave more damaging than the first. >> we don't want to run the 90 yard dash, you saw the images, that is a real concern. >> reporter: the bay area extending shelter in place orders through may. although limited outdoor businesses could reopen, including construction and golf courses. in an effort to get back to normal, the mayor of los angeles promising to make coronavirus testing available to anyone who wants it, whether they have symptoms or not. the first major u.s. city to do so. meanwhile, in florida, where some of miami beach's most iconic stretches sit empty -- >> we do have hope. there is a light at the end of the tunnel. >> reporter: governor ron desantis allowing restaurants and retail to reopen next week at 25% capacity but not in the three biggest counties in the

southeast part of the state. runs this miami motel. >> more frustrating than confusing. >> i feel like this is the best day of my life and it brings me hope for the future. this thing might be ending soon. >> reporter: it's like a weight being lifted off your chest, in a way. >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: so far no state that's reopening right now has met the white house guidelines of 14 straight days of declining cases. they're expecting june for hotels and restaurants and hoda, savannah, interesting things going on here, i'm at one hotel on south beach where a new, safer, stronger implementation they're bringing into play infrared cameras that can take body temperatures of 120 people per minute allowing them to flag potential fevers. and now, hoda, to that story

of hope and perseverance in new york city, a patient who survived a long battle with coronavirus is finally back home. [ cheers and applause ] that was the moment rodrigo received the sendoff, the hospital's first covid patient way back at the beginning of march. 53 days later he's healthy and he's going home, amazing to see the health care workers applauding him. you know what, they deserve applause as well. al, you're tracking some storms. >> out west, some really hot weather. 9 million people under some sort of heat advisory or warning through friday. that's a tough time for beaches to be closed. look at the 10 to 20 degree above average temperature for yuma, palm springs. l.a. three degrees above normal. fresno, 89.

re record highs limoke capital one knows life doesn't update you about your credit card. for charges that might surprise you and helps you fix them. another way capital one is watching out for your money, when you're not. what's in your wallet? good morning. i am meteorologist, kari hall. as we look live outside in san francisco it's clear here but we have seen fog near the coast and also right along some of our coastal areas. we will see that drizzling continue as well. as we look at our temperatures inland, sunshine and highs in the 70s. our 7-day forecast keeps more of the same weather, and as we go

into the weekend slightly cooler with highs in the mid-70s and warming up again in the valleys next week. and that is your latest we and that is your latest weather. guys >> all right, al, thank you. coming up, savannah, i know you have a really powerful intervsa lives in the new york hospital she died by suicide earlier this week and this morning we're going to tell you about her, we're going to celebrate her legacy with her sister and her brother-in-law and we're really hoping this painful story will help other families. >> looking forward to hearing that. and a little later the growing frustration felt by parents coast-to-coast who are supervising their children's online learning. look for what's being done to ease some of that burden but first, this is "today" on nbc. there are times when our need to connect really matters. to keep customers and employees in the know. to keep business moving. comcast business is prepared for times like these.

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good morning to you. 7:26. i am marcus washington. a look at the waves in pacifica this morning and there's a new battle brewing over california's coastline. governor newsom is proposing a new order to close all beaches, and it follows the scenes of crowded beaches over the weekend in southern california. a month-old mystery finally solved. maybe you remember this dashcam video showing that car there plunging off a cliff, and divers tried to find any signs of that car and chp just announcing the driver was a san francisco woman

named tracy ivory sinclair. they id'd her from the recovered remains and matched the type of car she owned, and that car has not been found. right now we will get a look at the forecast for you. meteorologist, kari hall, has been tracking the forecast for us. >> it will be a beautiful day. as we take a live look in walnut creek, not a cloud here but we have seen clouds and drizzle along the coast. as we look at the temperatures spreading out from the coast to the inland areas, it stays in the 50s in half moon bay and then heading over to antioch where it reaches 79 degrees. in san jose, expect a high of 74 and napa will reach 77 degrees. nice but a bit above normal and we will see that weather go into the end of the we know, aek, an slight cooldown over the weekend and on sunday we could have early-morning drizzle, and then next week it will warm up and we will be back to summer-like

temperatures by next wednesday. back to you. >> thanks, kari. we will have another local news update coming up for you in 30 minutes.

7:30 now, it's thursday morning, it's the 30th of april, al roker. 7:30 now, it's thursday morning, it's the 30th of april, 2020 and there is our little corner of the world, a wet corner of the world this morning. i think we're going to see a lot of storms today up and down the east coast, guys. >> i can't believe it's the last day of april i can't believe may is tomorrow. >> tomorrow's may. >> it's all going full steam ahead, right to our 7:30 headlines, including rare good news in the battle against the coronavirus. there's evidence that an experimental anti viral drug may help patients recover more quickly. savannah los angeles is the first major city to offer free

coronavirus testing to all of its residents, regardless of whether they have symptoms the city says it has the capacity to test 18,000 people per day. and starting on monday, costco will require all customers to wear face coverings to enter their stores. the company says that the masks should not be seen as a substitute, though, for social distancing savannah and now, guys, one of the saddest and most shocking stories we've had to cover during this coronavirus outbreak dr. lorna breen oversaw the e.r. at new york presbyterian hospital, working at the center of the covid-19 crisis, she even contracted the virus herself well earlier this week dr. breen died by suicide. it's a loss that has left her family reeling and reminds all of us of the mental health challenges facing so many frontline workers. we spoke with lorna's sister and brother-in-law yesterday, their first interview and i asked them to tell us about the lorna they

loved and adored. >> my sister was beautiful she had such a beautiful soul. she was brilliant. she cared so much about her friends, her colleagues, her patients, her family she loved the world, she loved to travel. and i just would want people to know how much she gave to the world in her time here. >> dr. lorna breen's family says she was the friend you wished for and the doctor everyone deserves, a dynamo, equal parts fierce and fun, just returned from this snowboarding trip to montana with her sister in early march when duty called she went to work in the emergency room she headed at new york presbyterian's allen emergency room she headed at new york presbyterian's allen hospital just as the pandemic was tightening its grip on new york. >> what did she say about what

it was like in her hospital? >> she said it was like armageddon she said there are so many sick people everywhere. she said people are just dying in the waiting room before they even get in. there aren't enough hookups for the oxygen to help them. they're not getting admitted fast enough. you know, we just -- we can't keep up. >> within days lorna contracted covid herself, recovering at home for just a matter of days and then heading right back in. >> how much was she working? >> she had 12-hour shifts. and when she finished she said i can't leave. nobody's leaving i have to stay and help. and i kept telling my sister, you know, you can't -- if you can't function, you can't help anybody. you have to sleep. you have to rest she didn't want to give up she would not give up. she would not let it break her, which of course it did. >> there came a time when she called and asked for help. can you tell me about that

conversation >> she said she couldn't get out of her chair and i told her that i would buy her a plane ticket, and that she should go to the airport and she said, i can't, and i said can you go to the train? and she said, no, she said i can't get out of the chair and so she had a dear friend, who happens to be a psychiatrist in connecticut, from med school, and i called her and said, can you help and to her credit she literally stopped everything she was doing and drove to new york and she called me and said she can come to virginia, but she's going to need a lot of help so her friend drove her on the spot from new york to philadelphia, where my sister's best friend from high school picked her up and drove her to baltimore and i picked her up at 9:30 at night on the side of 695

outside of baltimore and i drove straight to uva emergency room here in charlottesville. >> lorna stayed at uva health for 11 days. >> i talked to her, of course, every day in the hospital. and she seemed like she was kind of coming back and she just -- she wanted to get out. she wanted to go back to work. >> last weekend she moved in with her sister jennifer and her husband corey. on sunday she died by suicide. when you think about what happened to lorna, do you believe it was a result of her being sick with covid, or do you believe it was a result of her having to work so hard under these incredibly strenuous conditions because of covid? >> savannah, i know, for myself, i know in my heart that it was both she had covid, and i believe that it altered her brain. and then she went back to the most horrific, unimaginable

conditions, and for somebody whose life's calling is helping people, and she just couldn't help enough people, and the combination was just untenable. >> do you feel like it's possible that this was an effect of the virus itself, a physical effect on her mind and her brain? >> i am 100% sure, of course with no scientific backing, that covid affected her brain we've asked the doctors at uva to do some research on my sister's brain to tell us if this is the case but i am certain that this affected her brain there's no question. >> i know that's one of the reasons why you're talking to me today is because you want to help, and you want to put this country on notice that their health care workers need care too. >> yeah, very much so.

and i'm hearing so much from people who work in health care saying we always have to be brave, we always have to be strong, it's not okay to say that you're suffering. there's a stigma and i know my sister felt like she couldn't sit down. she couldn't stop working. and she certainly couldn't tell anybody she was struggling and that needs to be a conversation that changes. >> i know you've set up a website, drlornabreen.com because you're hoping to raid rais awareness and resources for these very mental health programs that doctors and nurses and frontline workers so badly need. >> the name of the fund is the dr. lorna breen heroes fund because we know there are so many more heroes other than lorna out there and we want to do what we can to honor those heroes and raise awareness for those heroes because they can't

always do it for themselves. >> savannah, i want to add something else too for those who are working together, if you have a colleague or a friend, and you are wondering if they're suffering, they probably are, and you should reach out to that person. >> how are you going to remember lorna? how do you want to remember her? >> my sister was on fire she could not be stopped she was full of joy. she was full of life the lorna of the first 49 years was just so happy. and she had a deep faith, good friends. she loved her family and that's how i'll remember her. >> hoda, i think all of us need to remember her and remember all the doctors like her that are working so hard on the front lines.

i was so struck because she really was a dynamo. she had, according to her family, no history of mental health issues at all, was a strong and vibrant person, dedicated to her job, dedicated to her family. and yet somehow this took her. and they really want to raise awareness about that. >> boy, i think they did that. savannah i read about her in newspaper articles, and until this moment i didn't really get it until right now. and i think the whole thing, what they said there, like if a health care worker, whether or not they say they need help, ask them if they need help was so poignant how you described her as the friend everyone wished for and the doctor everyone deserved was so on point. >> well, i hope that we are honoring her memory and her work and everything she sacrificed. it raises a lot of good questions, i know we want to turn to dr. john torres, our medical correspondent on a couple of them, and dr. john, the first question i have is, you know, jennifer, her sister, feels like the fact that she had

covid-19 affected her brain. she was just a different person. is there any evidence? i know it's early, this is a novel virus, we're just learning is there any evidence of impact on the brain >> savannah, we do know that it impacts the brain but the connection between the impact and mental health is something we're still struggling to figure out and it's going to take time to figure it out but what we do know is people have had seizures, stroke-like symptoms, encephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain and after they have something like that a lot of times they have anxiety, increased stress and they end up having depression. so it's very possible that she had encephalitis or some issue like that with her brain because of the covid-19 and that left her with this type of depression that she was having a large struggle with. again, we're still struggling, we're still trying to understand this virus and figure out what exactly is going on but it's definitely possible that that

could have happened and that could have altered her brain and the way she was thinking and like her sister said it wasn't the same person afterwards. >> and then adding to that the fact that she was right in the fire i mean, they -- the family likens it to a firefighter running into the burning building, there she went you, yourself are an e.r. doctor, you know this dynamic, you know the stressful situation and so many times there's a stigma you know, doctors and nurses and frontline workers don't feel like they can say, hey, i need help, i need a break. >> and, savannah, this hits very close to home. this is the life i lead as well. a lot of my colleagues go into the same type of thing what happens when you're in an emergency room on a regular basis, it's not unusual, especially if you're in a trauma center, to see bad trauma, heart attacks, people dying, having to tell families they lost a loved one on a daily basis, and you have to be able to do that, and at the same time disconnect and go on to the next patient and when you go home you don't to

take that with you, so when you go home you leave that behind, leave that in the car and that's really hard to deal with because you end up internalizing that a lot. and then you also have the stigma of being a doctor where you are the one that's supposed to be healing, you're not the one that's supposed to be sick and there is something to that, you know, physicians make the worst patients because a lot of times we don't want to tell people that things are going on, especially our colleagues who are working extra hard with lorna, you're at the end of your shift, if another trauma comes in, another covid-19 patient comes in, you don't want to leave and you feel like you need to stay there extra minutes, which adds on to extra hours and adds onto stress because you're not getting sleep. all that piles on to all the issues and conditions you're seeing, the death, that really starts affecting you after a while. that's where the burnout comes from and all these other issues as well. >> dr. john torres, thank you so much we're asking so much of our health care workers right now.

and we just want to say thank you, again, to jennifer and corey for sharing this story, wasn't easy. their website is drlornabreen.com, raising money for mental health programs for frontline workers. if you know someone struggling, we want to put this number on the screen, the national suicide prevention lifeline. 1-800-273-8255 you can always talk to somebody. hoda, send it to you. >> most important story we did today. this morning we have a lot to get to, including the struggles of home schooling, a lot of parents, including our own jacob ward, feeling overwhelmed these days, so what resources are out there to help you? jake's going to help all of us, next tremfya® helps adults

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eastern half of the country, the increases of extreme rainfall days across the midwest and the northeast. now, out west we are looking at really hot conditions, 10 to 20 degrees above average. we're looking at temperatures into the -- nick just jumped in there to help me along records possibly for las vegas, yuma, tucson, roswell, new mexico, and then as we move on into friday, look at that heat from vegas, dallas up to minneapolis and out to rapid city, we're expecting that warmth to make its way almost to the east although new york city is going to see temperatures a little bit bel good morning. i am meteorologist, kari hall. let's take a live look outside in dublin right now. as the sun shines we are going to start out with mild temperatures and then warms up nicely today feeling comfortable

with east bay highs reaching in the mid-70s, and we will see 70s in the north bay with napa reaching 77. it will stay cool along the coast as the fog lingers for longer, and then we will continue to warm up by the middle of next week. and oh. >> hi, nick. how tall is he again >> he's doing good i don't know, he's about 6'1", what time does school start? >> 9:45. >> 9:45. he's got a little time. >> until then, i've got to watch out. coming up next, what can't tom hanks do we're going to hear from him on he and rita wilson's personal donation that could help with the coronavirus vaccine.

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good thursday morning. i am meteorologist, kari hall. it's 7:56. let's take a live look outside looking from tiburon across the bay. there's fog on the other side of the golden gate bridge and that will hover near the coast as we go through the day keeping it cooler there, and the high temperatures will be spread out from the coastal areas to the inland valleys as we will see a spread of at least 20 degrees, and looking at a high of 78 in concord and in napa, expect a high of 77 degrees. our 7-day forecast shows we will continue to see slightly-above normal weather as we go into the weekend and go down a few degrees, and highs at 73 degrees on sunday and more clouds and possibly morning drizzle that can linger for a little while

longer, and then we warm up next week with highs reaching in the mid-80s. mike, what is the update on the morning commute? >> kari, a smooth drive but the golden gate bridge, reports from chp say there are a couple lanes blocked at the toll plaza coming in. i don't see a look of that from the drive shot. getting further down on 101, we have a diversion of one lane as you pass by 280, same as all we can going by there so slow your speeds going through the construction zone as there is more work to be done. governor newsom forcing all beaches up and down the state effectively closing tomorrow. crowded beaches over the weekend in southern california have newsom worried about the spread of the coronavirus. you can link to more now on our home page. the latest weekly jobless claims are out, and more than 30

million americans have lost their jobs since the virus took hold. i will have more local news coming up for you in the next half hour. u cook,

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it's 8:00 on "today," coming up, new hope, what we're learning about an experimental drug that could block the coronavirus. >> this is not the total answer, by any means, but it's a very important first step. >> as more states reveal their plans to reopen after weeks of stay at home orders. we're live with the latest. plus, school days. the growing frustration among parents forced to supervise their children's online learning. >> we are full-time parents, full-time teacher, full-time

employee, full-time housekeeper. >> what parents can do to ease the pressure. and no crowds, no problem. garth brooks and trisha yearwood are opening up their vocal cords. today, thursday, april 30, 2020. >> happy birthday to my mother. >> happy anniversary to my wife stacey, 20 years ago we said i do on the beaches of maui. >> i wanted to wish my dad a 50th happy birthday today. >> i need your honest opinion. >> should my fiance let me cut his hair? >> no, no. >> thumbs up or thumbs down, guys, i'm going to say thumbs down. >> i'm going to say thumbs down, i have to point out, speaking of hair, i don't know and we're doing this later, savannah colored her hair yesterday, you did it yourself. >> oh, yes, i tried to do it myself.

>> it looks on point. >> good-bye, i washed that gray right out of my hair, i tried anyway. >> looks good, welcome to "today," it's a thursday morning, we're so happy you are here with us. >> by the way, we are loving de. keep those coming in, post it on twitter or instagram, use the hashtag my today plaza, we'll snag it and put you on tv. let's get you caught up opt news at 8:00. encouraging news, even a possible breakthrough in the fight against the coronavirus. tom costello joins us with three things to watch. >> reporter: clearly that news this morning is the lead story, the anti viral treatment for the coronavirus. this is, in fact, not a vaccine, it's an iv treatment for the sickest patients in the hospital already. and the nih clinical trials conducted worldwide, the medicine helps cut the time

patients were in the hospital from 15 to 11 days, the mortality rate also dropped modestly, the fda is expected to give emergency approval for the use of remdesivir as soon as today. but earlier this morning dr. anthony fauci cautioned the drug shows promise, it's not a cure all. >> it's the first step in what we project will be better and better drugs coming along, either alone, or in combination, drugs of this type, and drugs addressing other targets of the virus. so it's good news. but i was very serious when i said this is not the total answer, by any means, but it's a very important first step. >> reporter: also, this morning, california is tapping the brakes ever so slightly on the reopening in that state with so many people flocking to area beaches when it was so hot over this past weekend, the governor expected to announce today that he's putting beaches and parks tomorrow. the mayor of los angeles is making coronavirus testing available to anybody in the

state regardless of whether they have symptoms. meanwhile, the san francisco area now extending its shelter in place orders through may. the limited outdoor business can reopen, including construction and golf courses. also, this morning the white house guidelines on social distancing will expire later today. the administration says it will not be extending those guidelines. the death toll in the united states right now stands at a staggering 60,000 people. hoda, back to you. >> tom costello, thank you. let's move to the economic toll of the coronavirus outbreak. new unemployment numbers coming from the labor department this morning, expected to show that jobless claims have now topped 30 million. it's an historic figure reached this just over one month. nbc business correspondent jo ling kent joins us. jo, good morning.

>> reporter: 3.8 filed for claims last week. pushing the total of people out of work in the last six weeks to 30 million. that's 18% of the work force. with so many seeking unemployment, it has not been easy. >> we're going to see economic data for the second quarter that's worse than any data we've seen for the economy. >> the u.s. economy is now shrinking by almost 5%. and the grim reality is hitting americans hard. boeing, slashing 16,000 jobs after losing $641 million. in the first three months of the year. lyft, laying off nearly a thousand employees, 17% of its workforce. and with fewer people traveling, tripadvisor cutting 25% of its workers. hard hit retail is fighting to weather this pandemic too. at beverly center, a los angeles landmark for the last 40 years, the focus is on public health as they await the green light to reopen. >> every morninge' temperature check.center

has sat completely empty for six weeks now but behind the scenes the mall is figuring out what they need to do to make shoppers feel safe again. they're adding new hand sanitizer stations and limiting the number of people who can get into an elevator for social distancing. you'll also see decals on the floor keeping you social distanced apart from others, if you're not wearing a mask they will quietly ask you to leave. time is of the essence, a new report forecasts that nearly half of malls with department stores could close permanently over the next year as unemployment skyrockets in every industry. >> we went from 2,500 applications a day, just a few months ago, all in, just yesterday, 235,000 applications. >> reporter: so many workers have sharing horror stories with us how difficult it is to get their unemployment claims, backed up call centers, websites

that don't work. they aren't able to process as fast as they need them. we asked the secretary about that. they're a adding 1,300 workers. they're trying to revamp the systems as they go. but they have a long way to go. the ncaa is a step closer to letting college athletes get paid for the use of their names and likenesses. that means they could earn money for things like endorsement deals, social media content, and personal appearances. the ncaa's board of governors signed off on that rule change wednesday. >> it is a big deal. the ncaa for years has resisted anything that would look like compensation for athletes because they worry it's going to open the doors to schools having to or wanting to pay actual salaries to athletes. >> if the new policy is approved it could be in place for the 2021-22 school year.

savannah? actor and pilot harrison ford could be in some hot water after an incident at a southern california airport, officials say ford was at the controls of a small plane that taxied across a runway while another plane was practicing touch and go landings on that same runway. take a listen to what went on. >> hold short, you need to listen up. >> excuse me, sir, i thought exactly the opposite. i'm terribly sorry. >> a representative for ford says he misheard instructions from air traffic control. the faa is investigating. officials say there was no danger of a crash. this isn't ford's first incident as a pilot though. three years ago he mistakenly landed on a taxiway at an airport in orange county, california. we do have some good news from our friends tom hanks and rita wilson after their recovery from the coronavirus. we've known for years that helping others was definitely in

tom hanks' nature, but turns out it's in his blood too. he tweeted this photo of antibody rich plasma he's donating, saying it's as easy as taking a nap. talking about his recovery on npr's wait, don't tell me, earlier this month. >> we not have been approached we have said, do you want our blood, can we give plasma, and, in fact, we will be giving it now to the places that hope to work on what i would like to call the hanksine. >> i like it. it's catchy. yeah, good for them for doing their part. 8:09, that's the news. let's get to the boost. hoda, start us up today. young health care worker so busy treating coronavirus patients he had to miss his own graduation. so his co-workers held a ceremony right there at the hospital. ♪

they played that graduation march as his procession of one moved through the hallway. he didn't have a cap and gown but he did wear his ppe, his personal protective equipment. they had a graduation tassel, i just like the real thing. that will be a g here's some really happy news, and it's close to all of us here at "today," our very own kristen dahlgren has reported after many rounds of chemo, and radiation, she's done with her treatment and cancer free. she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, she's been open about this, shared her experience with us here on "today." her radiation treatments actually had to be delayed because of the pandemic and kristen reminds all of us that staying home and flattening that coronavirus curve means hospitals are safer for people who need to be treated for other serious health issues. kristen, we say congratulations.

she is amazing, coming to work, always with a smile, always working hard, and we're just so happy to share her good news. >> indeed, indeed. >> congrats, kristen. coming up next, all right, it's been, what, six, seven weeks now? raise your hand if you're nearing the breaking point when it comes to trying to homeschool your kids, is there any help on the way for parents? our own overwhelmed working dad, jake ward, has some answers, right after this th participatin. an effortless transaction- all without leaving the comfort- and safety of your home. that's the power of sanctuary. and for a little extra help, receive 0% apr financing and defer your first payment up to 120 days on the purchase of a new lincoln.

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to best serve you - our customers. because now, more than ever, being a good neighbor means everything. like a good neighbor, state farm is there. we'r solutions, and moms and dads, this one's for you, when it comes to parenting during this pandemic, a lot of us are in the same boat, trying our best to juggle working from home while also supervising our kids' online learning. >> savannah, for a lot of parents frustration is setting in, and that frustration has a number of states making changes, our tech correspondent and purposes of this conversation, father of two, jake ward has more on that jake, good to see you. >> i have two daughters in school and like so many people my wife and i are feeling a little overwhelmed with

overseeing their remote learning, the pressure on parents of having to run that process is hard enough while also dealing with losing a job, having to go out to work or having to work from home some states are weighing different options how to deal with this problem. and for many parents a solution cannot come soon enough. >> they're working from home, caring for a baby and managing two older kids' online schooling. this houston mom says seven more weeks of this and she might break. >> full-time parent, full-time teacher, full-time employee, full-time housekeeper, it's easy at that point to get in shutdown mode because it's overwhelming. >> reporter: her 16-year-old is self-sufficient academically, she fears her 5-year-old is falling behind. >> there's the worry the way you're teaching your child to do something will set them back because they'll miss something fundamental. sometimes you've got to have a good cry in your closet. >> at no time in human history

have parents been asked to do full-time schooling alongside their jobs, it's impossible. >> sarah decided to pull her 7-year-old son out of online classes entirely, tweeting we cannot cope with this insanity survival and protecting his well-being come first, her tweet quickly went viral. >> it touched a erves, spoke a truth that a lot of parents were feeling. >> reporter: now some states are taking action. public schools in washington, d.c. and many in georgia and texas announced they'll end the school year as early as friday. many new york city schools are dropping traditional grades. california may start its next school year as early as july, with precautions like desks six feet apart, and student lunches in classrooms. los angeles says it will wait for widespread testing but until all schools reopen many are teaching kids through online videos, work sheets, leaving parents to wonder how much learning is really going on here one poll found 56% of higher income parents worry kids are falling behind academically, lower income is 72%.

>> i have a loving partner, plenty of financial resources, a full fridge, and a stable internet connection and i'm going out of my mind. >> right. >> how does my situation compare, do you think, to other people >> we've got families who are faced with making decisions, do i leave my 12-year-old home alone, or do i not go to work? what if i only have one tablet in the house, and i've got three kids hopefully employers are really taking those things into consideration. >> reporter: in south bend, indiana, ms. brown cannot afford internet fast enough for her three kids online schooling at home she has to pick up a signal from a wifi enabled school bus. >> it was important for me for them to keep up with their grades i have all honor roll students. >> reporter: these are not normal times and we're going to have to take some steps in order to make our homes and our schools and our work and our marriages function right now first, experts say you don't

have to put your kids through a full workday of school reading a book, building a fort, just having a conversation, those things are valuable too. second, don't compare yourself to other people on social media. this is not the moment for working parents to be learning a new language, or perfecting their croissant. take it easy on yourself you can't be nice to anyone else if you're not good to yourself call your local boys and girls clubs to see if they have a volunteer tutor, call a friend to unload or take a 15-minute break. >> it's difficult for parents in the best of times and it's a million times more difficult now. we're parenting in a pandemic. this is not productivity contest. >> reporter: you guys, let's be clear, this is not a problem that any one parent can solve alone. think about it, states are now allowing businesses to reopen, but keeping schools closed, i mean, that's tough for working parents. in other countries parents right now have federal support to help solve this problem france, for instance, is offering direct financial assistance to parents of young

children stuck at home we don't even figure the labor of being a parent into our gross domestic product in this country. the question is how we're going to keep families from being crushed under too many responsibilities i should mention here, for more resources to help parents with homeschooling go to our website at today.com. >> jake, i'm glad you featured the woman driving to the bus to get the wifi but the reality is, there are millions -- >> reporter: can you believe that >> millions of parents in this country who don't have access to wifi if you don't have access to wifi, certainly high speed, you're in a whole heap of trouble. >> reporter: the coronavirus has exposed so many problems one of them is that 20 million people in this country, is the estimate by the latest census numbers, don't have internet at home, not even a phone they can use. if you can imagine trying to keep everything going, you can't even work from home in the way i get to if you don't have an internet connection, much less

get your kids into remote schooling. there's a huge problem here, guys and hopefully we can figure out a solution. >> i was reading in an article how some kids were embarrassed of where they lived and they didn't want to do zoom school. they felt embarrassed that this was what they were going to be showing their classmates and it breaks your heart to think that's another factor being weighed in all this. >> i know. you know, the difficulty, i think, for parents across the country is the idea that there's just too much being put on them right and i can feel, i think we can all feel this national mood shifting toward, okay, we're going to reopen, but to see states reopening while saying schools are going to be closed, i don't understand, i mean,ky sort of limp through it because i work at home if i had to be out in the world, and my kids were not going to be in school, or were supposed to be homeschooling, i don't understand how that's supposed to work.

i think everybody's looking for a bigger solution than just parents having to be tough about this. >> you highlighted a lot of important issues, jake ward, thank you, thank you, sir, and good luck, by the way. good luck out there with those two girls. >> thank you, no problem. let's switch gears, go to mr. roker with a check of the forecast hey, al. >> hey, i'm one of the lucky ones, nick's self-sufficient right now doing his schoolwork, we're okay we're looking along the eastern seaboard, 1,300 miles, a line of thunderstorm stretch, cooler temperatures and 10 to 20 degrees below average from chicago to boston all the way down to atlanta. we're going to be looking at that cooler weather. flood watches in effect from parts of the northeast, record highs out west and strong storms moving into the western plains that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your >> good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. we take a live look outside in san francisco. beautiful, mostly clear here, but there's some fog right along the immediate coastline. and so that will keep it cool for our highs today. only reaching into the upper 50s

in half moon bay. meantime, for the inland east bay, highs in the upper 70s. it will be much more comfortable but we're looking at more of this weather in the forecast over the next several days. >> and that's your latest and that's your latest weather, guys. >> all right, guys, here we go, carson's in the house. he's working on "pop start," what you got, honey? >> daly. >> guys, good morning, coming up i'll let you know about garth brooks and trisha yearwood, keeping the saturday night grand ole opry tradition alive, on the way in "pop start". >> looking forward to that, also, al roker with that much needed, well deserved surprise for an incredible group down in texas dedicated to feeding families in need but first, your local news

good morning. 8:26. i'm marcus washington. a months-old mystery finally solved. maybe you remember this dash cam video that showed that car plunging off the cliff. this is near devil's slide in late december. divers tried weeks to find the sign of a car but didn't find anything. some even thought that maybe the video was doctored. the chp saying the driver was a san francisco woman ni.d.'d her eventually recovered from montero state beach and they matched it with the type of car she owned. that car has not been found. right now we want to get a

look at the forecast for you. it's going to be a nice one out there, kari. >> yeah, we're going to see our inland temperatures today reach into the upper 70s. i think we'll get a lot more sunshine compared to yesterday for many of our microclimate. well above normal temperatures for today and tomorrow. and then just a slight cooldown for the weekend. sunday will be the coolest day as we see more clouds and even morning drizzle. then we warm up again early next week with our valleys reaching into the low to mid-80s. staying in the 60s in san francisco with fog drifting through at times. we'll continue to monitor that in the forecast, marcus. >> thanks, kari. we'll have another local news update coming up in 30 minutes.

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8:30 now, it's thursday morning, it is the 8:30 now, it's thursday morning, it is the last day of april 2020. what does that make it, april 600, 2020. april 90th, 2020, and tomorrow's may 1st. got it. >> just ahead here, some small business solutions, we're going to continue our series with a dedicated gym owner, really dedicated gym owner, forced to close but she found a way to satisfy both her clients and her staff as well. then we're going to talk to steph ruhle about what some other businesses can learn from

her success. >> always love when steph ruhle is on and these incredible volunteers, they dropped everything they were doing to help people who were hurting during this pandemic. do you know what al roker decided to do? he decided it was high time they got taken care of. al? >> well, i tell you, that's exactly right, hoda, we had a lot of fun orchestrating a surprise for these folks who give back to their communities. first, the weather,let start off with the weekend. heavy rain in the northeast and new england, strong storms firing up in the central rockies, record heat from texas into the southwest and then as we move into saturday, more record heat, stretching from texas all the way into southern california. rain and wind in the pacific

northwest. we're looking at sunshine up and down the eastern half of the country. then sunday, that next storm system comes into the mid-mississippi and ohio river valleys, record heat continuing through texas, sunshine through the southwest, and some wet weather moves into the >> good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. let's take a live look outside in dublin. sunshine here, although we've seen some low clouds and fog moving in to parts of the bay area. there will be a wide range in temperatures today. still misting and drizzling for much of the day in half moon bay. temperatures staying in the upper 50s. then sunshine inland so we're looking at mid to upper 70s. it will be a very nice day today and tomorrow and then slightly cooler for the weekend. but we're getting ready for more warm weather for the inland areas by the beginning of early next week. "pop start" is sponsored by state farm, a proud sponsor of a "parks and recreation" special. >> oh, yes, it is time for "pop

start," mr. daly, take us away. >> that's right, it's red plaid pajama edition of "pop start" today, we start with parks and recreation, that big special we told you about last week, it's airing tonight, the entire cast is returning, amy polar, rob lowe and many others, reprising role as they figure out how to stay connected under quarantine like the rest of us. like the rest of us, sneak peek. >> what are you doing, are you in your cabin? >> i am, i come up here to hunt meat so i don't have to go to the grocery store. i've built up about a 12-year supply of venison jerky, i can ship you some, you'll probably have to get your incisor teeth sharpened. >> no. when you travel are you practicing social distancing. >> i've been practicing social distancing since i was 4 years old. >> the show's creator says the logistics for making this episode were difficult, the actors all shot their own parts

and directed over zoom, a big undertaking and it is coming for a worthy cause, fans can donate to feeding america and our sponsor state farm along with the show's writers, producers and cast, matching the donations up to $500,000. that's great. the parks and recreation special airs tonight at 8:30, right here on nbc. next up, meghan markle. even though the duchess of sussex has moved from england to sunny los angeles she's still very much involved with her favorite british charities and that includes smart works, an organization that provides high quality interview clothes and interview training to unemployed women. one of those women got a huge surprise ahead of a job interview when markle popped up, via video chat, to give her a pep talk. >> you seem incredibly confident and prepared and i know everyone here is so excited when i was reading about, you know, what your interests are, and especially the focus on mental health as well. >> yeah, yeah. >> technologies -- >> yes. >> that's excellent. i think you're going to be fantastic. >> thank you so much.

that means so much to me. >> of course, i just wanted to be able to call in and tell you, best of luck, and my fingers are crossed for you. >> thank you so much. >> how about that? talk about a confidence boost ahead of a job interview. that is very, very cool. and finally, on "pop start," garth brooks and trisha yearwood, country fans are getting an extra special treat this weekend, garth and trisha announced they're performing at the grand ole opry this saturday night, of course it's going to be different than what we're used to, the opry will be completely empty except for garth and trisha, here's garth announcing the big news and what to expect from the show. >> we're going to be doing the opry, and i'm going to do some n the planet, don't know if i'm going to do any of mine. we're going to do the greatest country music for me. so i'm sure there's going some jones and randy travis and strait, haggerd and then, you know, the queen, she's going to

sing some of the greatest stuff ever and it could all be her stuff too. this is going to be a fun saturday night right here. >> that's going to be cool, guys, by the way it will be the grand ole opry's 4,922nd consecutive saturday night broadcast and you'll be able to check it out on garth and trisha's facebook pages, very good. >> i love how he calls her the queen, that's my favorite thing and my other thing is they've done concerts and busting the internet so they need the grand ole opry, they need this platform. and carson, you're packing your bags, you're going to l.a. for "the voice"? >> that's right, "the voice" is going to be happening, live shows, quite the undertaking as all the artists and coaches are going to be at home, we're working on the details. onwill still be here on "today" hand. >> is jack daly getting up? >> it's going to be awfully

early, west coast time, but we'll see what the kid's made of. >> jack disappeared, by the way. >> he's right here. >> safe travels. >> thanks, guys. just ahead, from harnessing the power of social media to getting grants, steph ruhle has new ways to help small businesses stay afloat. we're also going to show you the ingenious way that one small business, a local fitness business forced to close its doors, is managing to keep its employees on the payroll nonetheless. nonetheless. but first, this is "today" " nonetheless. but first, this is "today" " when you think of a bank, you think of people in a place. but when you have the chase mobile app, your bank can be virtually any place. so, when you get a check... you can deposit it from here. and you can see your transactions and check your balance from here. you can save for an emergency from here.

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back now, 8:39 with small business solutions today, our series focused on their struggles and what the future back now, 8:39 with small business solutions today, our series focused on their struggles and what the future looks like, well, this morning a gym owner who flexed her business smarts, and managed to keep her clients happy while keeping many of her employees working. >> when the shutdown order hit new york thousands of gyms were forced to shut their doors but the woman you're about to meet

she did the same thing but she quickly took her fitness business online and it turned out to be the right fit. new york city, largely closed for business, the emotional toll painful, the economic impact catastrophic carrie sadowitz has seen it firsthand. she owns a bid called the fitting room, three locations in manhattan, classes like taking a personal trainer session with 23 other people. >> business was good and then all of a sudden a pandemic. >> yeah. >> how did you guys adjust >> we started to put in place smaller class sizes, and started to take measures to make people comfortable within the existing studios. >> reporter: soon she and every other gym owner were forced to close shop she had 50 employees and needed to come up with a plan fast. >> we went zoom. >> limited zoom classes to 24 so that everyone could see and talk

to everyone else. >> shoulder tap, nice and slow >> reporter: the lead trainer, called fit pros. >> it's great because our workout does work so well at home you know, you don't need a spin bike or a giant piece of machinery, it's functional training you can even do it body weight or simple equipment. >> reporter: she's riding out the quarantine with her sister rebecca in los angeles and haven't missed a class in weeks. >> living in a suspended reality and having this class, which is some tie to like my prior life, my normal life, gives me tremendous solace. >> reporter: rebecca, new to the program, says she even appreciates it when a trainer calls her out to improve her form. >> in this moment it's pretty nice to have -- to be seen by somebody other than my family. >> reporter: carrie says since

they've gone online 15% of their carrie also told me she applied clients are first timers, that for one of those ppp loans and still waiting to hear if it's may be due in part to the fact that she cut the price for class nearly in half been approved. what's important to her, she's if it is she said it would be monumental for her and her managed to keep half her staff on the payroll with a goal of staff. let's bring in our senior business correspondent steph hiring everyone back ruhle, always good to see you, a recent survey of small my friend, and we'll get to more business owners found that if the current economic disruption on small businesses and how they persists for another one or two months, more than a quarter of can survive and thrive in this new environment in a moment. but let's start with them expect to close for good. unemployment numbers just out, every business is unique 3.8 million americans filed last sadowitz said that might be what saves them. >> do some soul searching about what it is that your customers week, that brings the six-week total to roughly 30 million now, rely on you for and then figure roughly the size of the state of texas, what do out how you can continue to from the numbers, steph? >> craig, when you hear a number bring the essence of what you offer to them in different ways. >> personal training done in groups from the comfort of your own home. like that, surely it's upsetting, it's devastating, we haven't seen something like this >> the individual picture i see in american history, but remember, demand hasn't is like a door and your choice disappeared. all of those clients of that fitness trainer, they want to is a gone fishing sign or like busy, innovating, so i say i'm come back. it's not the demand that's disappeared, we asked our country to go home and turn our

busy innovating. economy off, and right now the government is offering expanded >> everyone we talked to unemployment benefits. stressed how important this community is to them, the clients want to pafo so that trainer right there has half of her staff getting those unemployment benefits, but she wants to bring them back i don't want people to think this is permanent, especially if you consider there are states reopening, and think about if she gets the ppp loan, which she might, she'll most likely be bringing those people back, many people got those loans this week, so you should get positive things could change. >> for other small businesses out there, steph, to weather the storm, what are some things they can do >> this is the time to get creative you need to think about what goods and services can i provide, and what do people out there need and try to match the two. a distillery, yes, this could be a time where you might be able to make a different product. if you have a ballet studio, a fitness center, reconnect with your customers, you said it a moment ago, customers want to be seen they want to be heard. this is a perfect time to create

that community, and figure out, can i do something virtually if you think, steph, that sounds all well and good, i'm not a digital girl, guess who's home right now, college students, high school students, lots of younger people who are tech savvy, they could help you make the transition you can start online sales and online gift cards. i can tell you, we see these stories every day, people out there want to help we don't want to lose main street and you'd be surprised there are consumers across thel would on gift cards today, because i want my local restaurant to be there tomorrow. >> really quickly, though, what about those businesses that are hands on, i mean, salon owners, barbers, housekeepers, like what can they do? >> i know it's hard, but don't give up. yesterday i saw savannah doing her own hair on instagram. it was amazing, it was inspiring, but i promise, it

means savannah really, really wants to get back to her hair salon. so you have -- if you are that salon, you want to reach out to your customers, if you're coloring your hair at home, let me get on the phone with you, maybe i can send you a kit or go online, and offer for a period of time on instagram, a free course, a free tutorial and after that i can start charging. this is a time when us as consumers are really realizing how much we need those services out there, so stay connected to your customers, and i have a strong feeling they're going to pay you a little bit now and they're going to try to pay you more later. >> steph ruhle, appreciate the insight, my friend, thank you. >> thank you. up next, paying it forward what happens when volunteers who are working hard to feed their neighbors, what happens when they have someone reach out with a helping hand for them? al roker, his beautiful surprise for some very, very deserving community leaders. but first, this is "today" on nbc. we're all doing our part by staying at home.

that could mean an increase in energy bills. you can save by setting your heat to 68 or lower... unplugging and turning off devices when not in use... or just letting the sun light your home. stay well and keep it golden.

can to help their community, and al, you got to give them both a very well deserved surprise. >> thanks, savannah, that's right, down in san antonio, texas juan ramos, a founder of a student outreach program and one of his volunteers, angela williams, they've both faced new challenges since this coronavirus outbreak. yet, these folks are rising above their circumstances to help others in need. since the world health organization declared covid-19 a global pandemic the u.s. grinding to a halt with millions and millions of americans without jobs. the images of cars waiting at food banks, lining up by the thousands, making us gasp. some of the most jaw dropping in

san antonio, texas. that's where juan ramos lives, he's a youth pastor, and founder of r 3 outreach program. >> we offer many different services, like tutoring and mentorship and we try to get students any resources they need. >> reporter: normally the center would be filled with students from the area. today the center is serving a different purpose. >> we are feeding people three times a week, i think to date we have fed over 4,000 meals. >> reporter: r 3 is solely reliant on donations and sponsors, juan and his team of volunteers serving hot meals to be picked up or delivered for hundreds of folks in need. >> it's not an option not to do what we're doing, we're going to do this, we're going to help people. >> reporter: one of r 3's own volunteers is facing hardship. angela williams and her daughter are dependent on her husband's income after statewide stay at home orders forced angela to close her business and lay off her employees. >> i have tried unemployment, the sba loan and unfortunately

none of those things have panned out as of yet. >> reporter: angela's going to food banks to feed her own family, using her time at home to cook hundreds of meals for r 3. >> on mondays and wednesdays, goes anywhere from 10 to 13 hours, i cook all day long, we package them and give them out to people. a hot meal is something a lot of us really take for granted. >> reporter: as a survivor of hurricane katrina, angela knows what it's like to have nothing. at one point they didn't know where their family would stay. or where the next meal would come from. >> i don't want any child or parent to ever feel that or to know what that feels like. because i know what that feels like, i know what it's like to be hungry, i want to be that person that hands them a hot meal and says, you know what, there is hope, do not give up. >> reporter: after hearing juan and angela's stories and all they've done for their community we wanted to do something for them.

>> so nice to see you guys and the things you have been doing for your community is just -- blew us away when we heard about it. so we wanted to do something for you to help you continue your mission. so, if you could do me a favor, and head to your front doors. on the count of three, i want you to open your doors. one, two, three. >> okay. >> oh, my god. they're everywhere. >> there's a lot of them. >> this is so crazy. thank you. that is so incredible. >> wow, i'm so excited, thank you. >> delivered straight to their dosands of dollars worth of food and supplies, that

>> all these groceries, and essential items, are there for you from our sponsor walmart. and they want to thank you for all the time and effort that you guys put in to helping feed people in need in this time of crisis, just our small way of saying thank you. >> thank you so much. >> this is a huge, huge way. there's nothing -- there is nothing small about this. >> god bless you both. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> thank you, god bless you. >> you all ever come to san antonio, call me, i will cook you all dinner. >> we're going to take you up on that angela. and yesterday our producer received an update from her, she and juan have already shared some of their groceries they received with five other families. so they are paying it forward, guys.

>> that was great. >> that was spot on, al, wow. >> perfectly cetng to smile about, al, we're going to be back in a moment. this is "today" on nbc. right now, staying connected is more important than ever. and fast, reliable, secure internet from xfinity can help. we have plans to fit every budget with speeds up to a gig-all at xfinity.com. we'll ship you a self-install kit that makes setup quick, safe and easy. no tech visit required. and our simple digital tools will help you manage your account online. at xfinity, we're committed to keeping you connected. find great offers and value, today, at xfinity.com

xxxx up next, chatting with retired astronaut scott kelly. >> unexpected youtube star giving advice to good morning. 8:56. i'm marcus washington. warehouse workers at several retailers plan to strike tomorrow. this after the death of a worker from complications caused by coronavirus at amazon's tracy distribution center. amazon is confirming the death saying the employee last worked at the facility april 1st and at that point was showing no symptoms. it's still not clear how the person became infected. and a look at the waves in pacifica this morning. and there's a new battle brewing

over california's coastline. governor newsom today plans to unveil a new order to close all beaches to slow the spread of the virus. it follows scenes of crowded beaches over the weekend in southern california. happening now, kris sanchez is monitoring the developments which also include a new hard closure of all state parks. she'll have a live report in our midday newscast. you can also link to more at the top of our home page. the latest weekly jobless numbers are out. an additional 3.8 million americans filed first-time claims. that means more than 30 million americans have now lost jobs since the pandemic took hold. the news is weighing on wall street. the dow has been down nearly 1%. more on twitter.

live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza, this is the "3rd hour of today." >> and a good thursday morning, everyone, welcome to the "3rd hour of today. craig melvin here in studio 1a late e unemployment numbers, 3.8 million americans filed for benefits last week, that brings the six-week total now to more than 30 million. as we've talked about this push to reopen and get some of those folks back to work, al in california looks like they're actually willing to pump the brakes a little bit. >> yeah,