good evening and welcome to "politics nation." tonight's lead, a tale two pandemics. as we are all inundated about the information about the horrors of the coronavirus pandemic, one thing now clearly stands out -- the disproportionate impact of covid-19 on african-americans and disadvantaged communities. i'm not saying the pandemic is a conspiracy to kill or target blacks, but it is illuminating the existing racial disparities in this country that reverberate in everything from health care to jobs, housing and more.

we are watching a crisis within a crisis unfold before us and our challenge is not just to expose it but to be sure when we rebuild and reemerge, we take strategic steps to rectify it. as we continue to grapple with this new normal and try to come together as a nation to battle this vicious pandemic, we cannot simply gloss over the toll that this who a this horrendous virus has taken on the black community. these disparities existed long before the virus, but they are magnified before us and while we mus flatten the curve, we must

also flatten inequality and health care, the economy, access to nutritionist food and overall quality of life. it is the only way we can truly emerge from this tragedy with a semblance of home for the future. joining me now, democratic congress woman robin kelly of illinois. she chairs the congressional black caucus's health brain trust. thank you, congresswoman, for being with us tonight. >> you're welcome. thanks for having me. >> as you tackle this and we look at the data in a that is s coming out, we can look for major cities. for example, in new york we are 23% of the population, 22 is black, 28% of the deaths are black, hispanics 29%, 34% of the deaths black. we look at your city of los angeles where 70% of the deaths

are black and you're only 29% of the population. los angeles and other cities, the same imbalance. i'm not saying the krpss created this, but it has illuminated it, it has brought it to light for some health disparities that has gone on long before this pandemic, long before the trump administration. now that we are dealing with it, seeing it, how do we confront it and try and flatten that curve as we flatten the curve of this vicious pandemic. >> this is just highlighting what has been going on for a long, long time forever. we've done a lot of work around maternal mortality and we see that african-american women die three to four times the rate as white women. the congress an black caucus and the brain trust, we are working really hard on putting certain

mechanisms in the next bills that are coming you. we have a supplemental to c.a.r.e.s. and then we have c.a.r.e.s.2 that we're also working on and we're hoping because this has exacerbated the problem so much or highlighted the problem and the press has taken hold of the issue, too, which helps that the press is finally highlighting what a problem this is, that that will enable us to move forward. but for this, we need more testing, need testing in concentrated areas, more personal protection equipment for front line workers, beside our health care workers, there's postal workers, people delivering, people driving trucks, on the subways and on the ls, the bus drivers. we need more ppe because those folks are using black and brown so many of them are going back into their community and their families but we need to have more testing definitely and then

people admitted to the hospital as need be. >> you mentioned testing and many of us have been saying for weeks now that we need to have more testing, particularly in those communities that do not have the same kind of health services where testing has been accessible to them and testing those that are homeless and incarcerated. many of us have reached out. i even had a conversation with president trump about it and we're beginning to see some people having to respond to that. how have you been able to see, if at all, the testing improved. for example, in your city, in the cook county jail, they found that 18 -- that out of 350 people that work in that jail were found to be positive, 238 inmate, 115 staff members and these are people that don't have the luxury of social distancing

and all. how do we deal with that? >> well, we have to look at letting, quite frankly, some people out of jail, non-violent offenders, those almost at the end of their sentence. you know, we have to be creative and also we have to test people, as they're coming to work we have to take temperatures and things like that. we have to be pro active. also, the other thing is we have to open up more testing sites, like where i live in the south suburbs of chicago, we didn't have any testing site but we just found out we're getting one but we also have to make sure we have enough, not just have one. we have to make sure we have enough because everyone doesn't have a car or there's not public transportation to get you to the testing. people still won't be tested. so we have to bring the test to the people, we have to bring the resources into the neighborhoods, whether it's, you know, a community center, health care center, we have to bring the testing to the people. >> now, representative, you

co-wrote an op-ed that was published this week. this line stuck with me and i'm quoting it, to be crystal clear, many deaths from that pandemic and the shocking disparity facing african-americans are the direct result of systemic disinvestment and access reduction pushed by congressional republicans. elaborate on that part of your op-ed. >> well, you know, as soon as the president got in, they tried to dismantle the affordable care act and they didn't really have anything to supplement for it so they've been working hard instead of building up our health care system, they were trying to take it apart. and there are improvements -- no bill is perfect for the affordable care act but they were always interested in tearing the bill down.

we could have withbeen further g in the health care for all americans. poverty is a beg paig part of t. more people to have had health care, more could have had cheaper deductibles but they were just interested in taking away what president obama had worked so hard on and instead of making improvements, they tried to take it away. >> without no replacement. they never came with an alternative. >> it's still the law of the land but it's weakened. there's not the mandate that you have to have insurance. so they tried to weaken it but it definitely has impacted what has been going on and frankly what is going on now. >> and, lastly, i'm out of time but i must ask you, as you say there's another bill coming forward, a second stimulus package, many in the black and brown communities that are small business people have not been able to get access to the funds

of $30 billion in the first stimulus bill for small businesses. are there moves to correct that? i know the democrats have blocked one of the bills so far. what are you putting in there to make sure that this is open to everybody and all that need this small business support, just to stay open and keep people employed? >> well, we are definitely trying to iron out where the barriers have been, but also the other thing is, at least where i am, sba, like the web site is not working like it should be working. so we have to make sure all of the things are in place so that people can go online and apply for these loans. that's one of the big issues also. but we are looking at putting more money in for individuals, for small businesses, for health care, a place where there's hospitals or health care centers because that's what we're getting back, that more money is needed and there's some things

that we have to tweak, so we're working on that now. >> as well as alternative financial institutions because many of them don't bank at the major banks that are hailing this. illinois congresswoman robin kelly, thank you for joining me again. >> thank you for having me. >> joining me is senator debbie stabenow. your state has these disparities, others in your state have been talking about the race gap in terms of health services, in terms of sba loans and you began trying to tackle that. tell us where you are and how you see closing this gap while we work on this for all americans but to make sure that we don't do it disproportionately. >> reverend al, first of all, it really good to be with you. i appreciate your voice on a regular basis. and these disparities, as you

know, have been with us always, health disparities, economic disparities, opportunity disparities. so there's multiple things that we need to be doing right now. first let me say before speaking of health, which is so important, you spoke about the small business loans. one of the things that woo fee strongly about, i feel strongly about, we will no extend smaller business dollars unless those with the big banks are also able to get critical funding for those small businesses. it's rural communities, it's farmers who do farm credit but not the big bank. so we want to make sure that all of our small businesses and this is incredibly important. right now when we talk about disparities, it right in front of us. it's the small business loan program that's not letting

minorities have the same opportunity. that's number one. on health disparities, the president says he's concerned about that. reverend al, it's real simple. he could open up obamacare and let people sign up today. he could, frankly, stop the lawsuit that he is also supporting to rip away health care completely. one other thing i just mentioned because the disparities are everything. in detroit, for example, if you want to find the area with the worst air pollution, it is in our areas that are predominantly black and brown communities. what happens? you are more likely to have asthma. in this virus, this is a respiratory virus, which means you're at high risk of getting sick or losing your life if you have asthma.

so it connected in so many ways. >> now, when you talk about that and you say that the president can open up people to go and deal with obamacare and other measures, for sure that don't understand, how practically would that immediately solve a lot of the hurdles that we are facing right now? >> well, reverend al, as you know, there's a once a year sign-up for obamacare. they could decide they're going to let people sign up again, go to the web site, health care.gov, be able to sign up. the majority of people get tax credits, which mean they pay a very low premium. they're able to go to a site where they can sign up for private insurance. it's very easy to do and the reality is that the majority of people in michigan that sign up to the private health care actually pay a very small

amount. they pay $10, $25, $50 a month for insurance. so it's something that is supported by federal tax credits that help people pay for the insurance and it would be one way, it's not the only way. certainly we need to be dramatically, you know, increasing what we're doing for hospitals and health centers. i want to know mental health as well, it a huge issue right now with community mental health and speaker for addiction treatment services. so we need to do all of those things, but when the president acts like he doesn't know what to do in addition to supporting the critical health care funding that's needed, there's some very specific things like allowing people to sign up for affordable health insurance if he wanted to do it. >> and they could do that immediately. let me ask you in the time i have left with you. you are sponsoring a bill with senator -- fellow senator

michig michigan -- michigan senator to allow $500 patrioyments for old residents. >> we had a hard time in getting any money for children. in the end we were able to get bipartisan support for using a definition of the child tax credit that only went up to age 16. there's a real gap, you have 17, 18-year-old college students that are dependent on their parents right now. they should be included as well. >> senator stabenow, many thanks for being with us. now to moo ply political panel.

hugh hewitt and zerlina, how do we deal with the disparities and health care based on race in this country in the middle of the pandemic so that we come out having, in many ways, better in terms of equalizing health care as we take care of the american populous. >> one of the things that comes to mind as we go through this crisis is that the results are not surprising and it reminds me of something that representative iona presley says, the people closest to the pain need to be the closest to the power.

in this particular moment, this particular crisis, all the factors, lack of adequate health care and housing, a livable wage that allows people to have a safety net if a crisis like this should come up rn those a, thos issues that some have pushed to the for froefront in concrete ps of legislation that they are still continuing to push through the senate and the who us because people need real support. they need actual cash in hand to pay the rent, to buy food for their family members and buy medications they may need on a regular basis. all of these structural issues in the long term need to be dealt with but in the short term thank god we have people in the congress understand while these issues while pervasive need to be addressed right now.

we cannot wait. because people are suffering in this current moment. >> you, as we are, all dealing in this country with an unbelievable atrocity. how do we ride above partisan politics and find common ground in what in your judgment is the common ground area that we can deal with thinks disparities as we deal with trying to bring this country through this pandemic? >> i think it's a unique moment, al. i saw josh hawley call for 80% of make good money, basically federal business interrupts insurance for everybody, which i think would be a fine idea for congress to embrace. but certainsomething i heard ean the show is these disparities are preexisting long before president trump, before president obama. they go back a long time in the united states, especially among communities of color and it is particularly incumbent on dr. fauchi and dr. birx have

said, repeatedly and sometimes it pops up suddenly and it's not on everyone's screen, it incumbent to identify those around them who are most vulnerable, those with diabetes, heart disease, obesity, any of the sort of illnesses we see overrepresented in the african-american community and take special precautions they not be exposed, that they don't go out, to be a real pain in the neck for your grandparents and your mom and dad if you're the right age. i thought that's the most important message as to the politics of it. i don't think it's a political issue. this is a crises we've never dealt with, at least in our lifetime, not sense 1918 and that pandemic. i'm looking for everyone to look pass politics. senator hawley's is a very good

idea. not a conservative position, a necessary position. >> zerlina, it is not a political pandemic and certainly we should rise above politics to deal with it, but it has been a political situation that has led to the continual disparities between how people get health care in this country or for that matter stimulus money in this country, even long before this administration or president obama's administration, as you had said. so we're going to have to have a political solution to some of these things and not try to get it weighed down with petty politics. >> it's more of a legislative solution. there are actual policy proposals that are going through congress right now that are being debated that would help people today. if you were going to tackle an issue like student loan debt, putting a hold on student loan

debt for millions of american millennials and generation zs, that's one political solution but it's really a policy solution. and so there are oftentimes when those things intersect and it is a matter of politics because you need the political will to push those things through the congress. too often we kowtow to the powerful. it seems we always have money for bailouts and tax cuts but we never have money when a crisis occurs and the people who can not going to work on a zoom meeting because they're a bus driver and they're making working class wages, those people that need to ten to go to work, those are essential workers and those are the people that our government, which is tasked through our constitution in protecting our people, those are the folks that the politicians need to keep at the forefront of their mind as we go

through this crisis, which is still very much unfolding as we sit here. >> oh, we're not even at the peak yet in many places. hugh, let me ask you, how do we grade our president and present administration is handling this? do you think they're handling it well? do you think as some are saying, even on the right, saying the president should stop handling the daily briefings and let the experts to put the information out? >> absolutely not. i want the daily briefings to continue. i want them to remember there is no daily beefing in the people's republic of china where yamiche alcindor and others can challenge the most powerful people in the world. i think the president is doing a good job with an absolutely unprecedented situation. i blame the people's rfrt epublf

china. president xi held it back. reading a story about ecuador. in the largest city in ecuador, hundreds of bodies are in the streets in the largest city of ecuador. the afro ek wa dordian population is extremely devastated. >> but most of the people died in new york, they are infected by people coming from europe. so it may have started somewhere in china but it's different places that has contributed to where we are and just blaming china and calling it a chinese disease and attacking yamiche alcindor. >> i think yamiche is a great reporter. i think it's great she

challenges the president. we should not put any prop fwaga that has anything to do with any of us. >> it the ccg and president g. >> i was not talking about you atalki attacking yamiche, i was talking about the president attacking her. coming up, how the coronavirus outbreak has illuminated how much worse of a public health crisis communities of color face. even before this pandemic got started. but first, my colleague richard lui. >> the null mber of condition firmed coronavirus cases remains on the rise. more than half a million people across the country are or have been infected and roughly 20,000 people have died. the u.s. has now surpassed italy for the highest number of

covid-19 deaths in the world. this marks the first time in history that a major disaster has hit all 50 states at once. in new york city, mayor bill de blasio there making the call that city public schools will remain closed for the rest of the academic year, though the state's governor, andrew cuomo, says the mayor's decision is not in line with what other nearby school districts are doing and it will be further evaluated. >> to los angeles where county health officials are recommending even more social distancing they warn more than 30% of residents could be infected by summer. as a result, the county has extended its safer at home order through may 15. and apple and google are teaming up to create smartphone technology that will help track the coronavirus. it is expected to be rolled out next month and will use blue tooth technology on iphones and androids to alert people if they have been in the vicinity of someone who has the virus.

with this news update, i'm richard lui. did have

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. we have a lot more politics nation on the way, including a live conversation with new york city mayor bill deblass rode bl announced the closure of the city's schools for the rest of the school year, seemingly to the dismay of governor andrew cuomo. tomorrow tune in for an all-new politics nation. i'll speak live with dr. anthony fauci, the director of national ins -- institute of alga allerg and infectious diseases.

and at 8 p.m. eastern, my colleague, nicolle wallace, will host a special and will be joined by baseball legend alex rodriguez among others. you won't want to miss it. if the coronavirus outbreak has done one thing, it has illustrated to those paying attention just how much worst of a public health picture communities of colors face even as this crisis hits. this is a pandemic within the pandemic with black and brown communities from chicago to charlotte, north carolina suffering disproportionately from the virus. of course the trump's response was particularly schizophrenic.

jerome adams basically telling us stop smoking and other bad habits. joining me is the president of suni health sciences university in brooklyn. drflt rowley, this race gap in health services, many will say y'all are just bringing up race but we're talking about actual lives that are being lost and we're against any life being lost and we're for this pandemic being solved for everyone, but it should concern people if there's an imbalance, if you're really about saving lives, you want to make sure that you're doing it where the pain is. explains to us in your position here operating a major health facility in the inner city why this is important and where you think we ought to be focused on. >> good to be with you.

this pandemic is frustrating, chilling and unamerican. we know that inner city communities, black and brown, have long suffered disproportionate health care and health disparities. at no time in our 200-plus-year history of the united states of america has the health status of minorities ever approached those of their white compatriots. and this pandemic has laid that bare, illuminated that fact. you know, our people by and large, you know, do what my late mentor used to say, do the work of the world. they wait on tables, they sort mail, deliver packages, wait on us at the grocery store. those are the types of people unfortunately in our fellow citizens suffering the most with the disparities, hypertension, end stage renal disease, kidney

disease and this virus has been focused on those of us like a laser beam who have these conditio conditions. >> in milwaukee county, wisconsin, black residents make up 28% of the population, 73% of the deaths from covid-19. in louisiana it's 32% of the population, 70% of the deaths and in illinois statewide black people are 15% of the population, 43% of the deaths. these are not close percentages with you look at the populations and the deaths. this is because this has been a problem of health care disparities for a long time. don't we have an opportunity while the nation is focused on this, while the congress and the president and others are having to acknowledge this to really

try and deal with this disparity as we heal the nation as a whole? >> absolutely, reverend al. we need a focused federal effort to surge resources into those communities around the country that have long suffered health care disparities. we've known since 1985 during the reagan administration, the report on black and minority health that for the first time documented, again, disparities had been with us ever since record recorded, we must do the political and public health will and medical will to tackle this. i fear as dr. fauci will tell you tomorrow, we're likely to have a second wave of this. i want minority communities, black and brown communities to be ready for the second wave and to have a robust testing regime that will be able to better handle and better isolate and quarantine members of our

families who have been stricken with this virus. >> a lot of this comes from poverty and the environment and we know we can't redo the whole infrastructure of the social make-up of the country overnight, but what specifically can be done to try and deal with the disparities in the immediate future while we deal with this pandemic and if it reoccurs later this year? what things can we do without people saying, yes, we need to redo the whole social order, which we do need to do and need to begin to work on but what immediate steps can we do right now? >> well, i think immediately we need to focus testing into those communities you just highlighted. my beloved hometown of new orleans is being ravaged by covid relatedily n illness. we need a rigorous testing effort in hot zones so we can

better know the extent, what we refer to in public health as the prevalence and incidence of covid so we can design effective public health strategies, to catch it before it gets worses are before it gets to our grandmothers and those with preexisting conditions in our families. again, i think we have anecdotal evidence around the country that african-americans and latinos are not getting tested sufficiently, even when they present with similar symptoms, similar to what others are presenting with who do get testing. this has to be addressed in the near term. like i said, because i am concerned about the next wave if we don't have a vigorous, focused testing strategy in the communities that have been most affected by this virus, we will be in the same place sixs a, se months from now as we are today. >> dr. wayne rowley, thank you for being with us.

>> now let's go to louisiana. it has become a growing hot spot in the coronavirus. the outbreak has seen more than 20,000 confirmed cases and at least 800 fatalities. the state is also home to a large population of people who are at high risk for the disease. almost one third of louisiana residents are black, nearly one in five people there are living in poverty and about 10% of louisianans under 65 are living without -- without, i emphasize -- health insurance. louisiana state university is teaming up with the virtual primary care service k-health to provide free medical assistance for the month of april. the whole month to those who need it most. joining me now, dr. rebecca gee, the former secretary of louisiana health department and now the ceo of lsu health

services. tell us, miss gee, about what this teaming up will do and how this may be a bright light in all of this darkness that we're looking at. >> well, lsu is really excited to be a part of the solution here. as you mentioned, there are tremendous health care disparities that are laying bare, a lot of the gaps we have in social services. one good thing is we've had a medication expansion that governor edwards began in 2016 and has covered over 480,000 people, but there's still individuals withoutprimary care doctors and about 8% uninsured. so lsu wanted to team up to provide health care for everyone in the state so if you have a question, do you have covid or not, are you worried about your symptoms, if you even have a primary care system, go to lsu.k-health.ai and get paired to a doctor within 20 minutes.

that will alleviate pressure on our emergency rooms and hospitals. >> it takes away some of the pressure and we could assume that could also lead to trying to deal with those that are infected in a more expedition way. >> right. the safest place to be is at home. if you can maintain yourself at home, if you have what you need, you should stay at home. this app is going to help people who can't stay at home get support of the doctor. once you get ahold of somebody, you're abe to keep that same doctor at the same time. here is an actual referral, he is a resource. ls you, our chancellor and doctors and in yours are on the front lines but we're also here

to try to fix other issues and, as you said earlier, this virus is really highlighting so many challenges that we dr some of which we can solve now and some which we're going to have to continue to address. i just want to mention one thing that's also really important, why we're seeing health care disparities to such a agree in louisiana is our front line workers are being treated as disposable. they're not being given the proper masks, the proper protection when they have to bag groceries or working in the pharmacies where people need to get their life-saving medication, disproportionately lower income and people are color and it unacceptable our large companies have not protected them and given them the ppe as well. we wrote an article this week asking, please, let's get this solved. our health care workers are under siege. we're helping to solve that problem and lsu feels more comfortable that our people have what they need to protect them

but we need to protect or disproportionately essential workers so they don't bring home the covid virus and get protected and also their families. and social distancing is sometimes not available to them. i think we need to be much more conscio conscious. >> people don't realize a lot of these ef accepssential workers front line are working without that protection, doing it at great risks and they doesn't have the options that others may have but they're doing it anyway, options in terms of protecting themselves to the degree that they should and could if there were more people leaning in doing the types of things you're doing with this partnership. >> that's right. >> i think it could also be a model to see other people, other institutions and companies come together in these type of

partnerships around the country. >> right. if all of us just bought ten masks and gave one to an essential worker we see without one, we would solve this problem immediately. we've really got to address this. i don't want to see one more person in a grocery store who is delivering a package to me without a mask there are people who don't want to wear one but if someone wants one, they should have one. it's too far into this epidemic to be delaying and for corporations in particular not to be covering every employee. >> i think that's important because what you see people on the front line or at a place, as you said, where they're at the checkout counter working. it's not they're being irresponsible, the equipment is not available in many cases for them and they're working to protect their families and keep themselves going and they should not have to work under those conditions. dr. rebecca gee, thank you for being with us. now we go to new york city hall.

joining me is mayor bill de blasio. thank you, mr. mayor, for joining me tonight. you announced today the closing of the schools of the city of new york until the end of the term, the support of the city workers union, the teachers union and others, as you have made this decision. explain to us how you came to this decision. >> rev, it was a tough one. any time we have to do something that doesn't allow us to give everything we want to give to our kids, it tough. but the school chancellor, we decided last night it really was time when you look at what's going on out there, we are far from over with fighting the coronavirus. we've got weeks and months ahead where we're going to have to keep our guard up, keep those tight rules with social distancing, with shelter in place and the more we looked at it, we looked about the health concerns of our kids, our

parents, our educators. it was just crystal clear the right thing to do is to keep the school system shut, focus on distance learning, make sure we can give the kids the best quality online learning experience that they can have. that really means making sure every child, regardless of income, has the devices and internet services they need and that's something we are guaranteeing. >> let me stop you right there, mr. mayor. one of the things i don't think has been covered a lot since you announced this is you said you're going to get 300,000 ipads and give them free to students. explain that. that could be a game changer. >> thank you, rev. i agree. you and i have talked about finally overcoming this digital divide. this crisis, despite the horror of this crisis in this moment, a

door is opening to achieve some justice. so we're going to get 300,000 kids ipads. i just talked to tim cook, the ceo of apple today. they are rushing the order to make sure we have everything we need this month, by the end of the month every child will have the ipad and the internet service to go with it. and then they'll be able to keep using them, rev, be able to keep using them for everything in their education. this is so important. we're talking about 300,000 kids overwhelmingly kids who come from families that have not been given fairness in our society, they've grappled with poverty, many immigrant families, including families that have been put through hell these last through years by the policies of the trump administration. here's a small act of justice in the midst of this crisis. but if we really all pull together and our educators have been great, our parents have been great, we can get kids a quality education. we can make sure our seniors

still graduate this school year so they can continue with their future. but what we will not do is put our kids, our parents, our educators in harm's way. and what we will not do is reopen the door for a resurgence of the coronavirus. that would be the biggest mistake of all. >> now there's been a lot ado about what the governor said, andrew cuomo, about not so fast and back and forward. i know you very well, i know him well and i know that both of you have concerns of the health of the citizens. will you and the governor, you think, come together on this and really -- because what you're talking about in terms of those ipads and the coverage that many communities did not have in order to do this is really shifting a lot of the questions we have of what is available based on income and based on

where you live, this can be a national model. >> it sure can be. look, rev, this horrible, painful crisis has pointed out the disparities in our society more starkly yet again. we're dealing with the worst health care crisis in hundreds of years, the worst economic crisis since the great depression and the disparities have a spotlight on them, rev and this is a moment we need to fight for a more fair and just and equal society. as we get to the recovery, it cannot be recover by replacing what we had with another status quo. we actually have to see this as a moment to change our country, our city, create equality where it did not exist. so this small act of giving every child the opportunity to connect to that world of learning and in supporting them through it, supporting their parentss are we're going to do a lot to make sure parents get real educators on the phone to help them through, understand how to support their kids best. this could be transcendent even

amidst this pain. i'll always work with the state, with the government. my responsibility is not to the federal or state government or another elected official. my responsibility is to those kids, those parents, those educators who need to be safe and my responsibility is to protect my people and have i to do what i think is right to stop the coronavirus from holding this city in its grip, to fight it back and to make sure that we get out of this horrible moment in our history and move forward. the only way we're going to do that is by being vigilant and smart and not taking our foot off the gas. i've said -- you've seen it with your own eyes, new yorkers are the heros here, the health care workers, the first rear spondsp have been amazing but the people who have practiced social distancing and shelter in place, that's why you see finally

imfluchlts oi improvements in our hospitals. that's because the people did that, rev, and i'm going to make sure i protect them and help them close the door on this disease once and for all. >> do you and the governor, do you think you talk and work through whatever. if you need me, i have a phone and i can connect the two of you together to mediate if p necessary. >> rev, you would be a fine mediator. i think we are always going to work things through in the common interest of her people. but i am just being real clear. and the school chancellor. he runs the biggest school system in the nation. we are saying this is what has to happen to protect our people. we're doing what we know how to do. i run the school system under mayorial control with the chancellor. we're saying this is the right direction to go and this is what

we're going to do. >> all right, mayor de blasio. my final p thoughts on the eve of easter sunday. stay with us. we've seen you go through tough times and every time, you've shown us, you're much tougher your heart, courage and commitment has always inspired us and now it's no different so, we're here with financial strength, stability and experience you can depend on and the online tools you need because you have always set the highest standard and reaching that standard is what we're made for ♪ and reaching that standard is what we're made for there will be parties and family gatherings. there will be parades and sporting events and concerts. to help our communities when they come back together, respond to the 2020 census now. spend a few minutes online today to impact the next 10 years of healthcare, infrastructure and education. go to 2020census.gov and respond today

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we are in a huge crisis. this is a big moment like we've never seen before in our lifetime. and it calls for big leadership. that is why i'm saying we need to put aside or political

differences. yeah, we will have them and we will exercise them. but this moment, big people need to rise above whether it is above those on one side of the aisle or the other. whether we have differences with the president of not. we need to seek to be big enough to find how we can stop this pandemic from taking lives. people are dying. people are dying which is why the president and others need to work with their critics which is why i said the governor of new york and the mayor of new york need to come together. everybody needs to remember we are dealing with people are dying and no one should know that better than who claim they are faith leaders, those who said they are going to have easter sunday services tomorrow morning. how can we celebrate the resurrection having people risk

death, poor health. what is the meaning of easter if we're not trying to have people rise above affliction, not have them flirt with being in -- somehow coming down with an affliction. i know, as anyone does, that grew up in a christian home like i did, that the resurrection sunday is important. it is so important that we need to stay home tomorrow and worship the resurrection, the rising and conquering of things that brought us down symbolizing of the sacrifice of who we believe to be the christ. doing what is right for his sheep, his people, and that is stay home tomorrow. celebrate easter, but celebrate it safely. that does it for me. thanks for watching. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. eastern. up next, my cold next, chris jans

jansen picks up our news coverage. we can't offer much during this time of crisis, but we can offer what we have. so from all of us working early mornings on the farm,

long days in the plant, or late nights stocking shelves doing all we can to get you the milk you need. we hope it makes your breakfast a little brighter. your snacks more nutritious. and reminds you when it comes to caring, there is no expiration date. milk. love what's real.

hello, everyone. i'm chris jansing. you're watching msnbc. at this hour, a somber reality here in the u.s. we are now leading the world in the number of coronavirus related deaths, surpassing italy. this hour, 20,000 people, that have died of the virus. italy less.