>> all right, allison barber there in durham, north carolina. allison, thank you. >>> let's head about two hours south of durham to wilmington, north carolina, coastal town there, i'm joined by the mayor of wilmington, north carolina, mayor bill saffo. i came to know you reasonably well last year during the unfortunate hurricane there. it's good to see you again. i know that just this last friday you lifted more restrictions there in wilmington, restrictions for breweries, wineries, distilleries. are you at all concerned about this latest rise in cases and whether you're lifting these restrictions too early? >> sure, we are. we knew that when we went from the mitigation phase to the reopening phase that we would see a spike. we hoped that during the mitigation phase on all the things we've asked people to do, wearing the masks, having the essential distancing, washing your hands, would carry over into the reopening phase. we knew there would be a spike. obviously we're testing a lot more but we hope that the spike is just temporary. but we are pr

allison barber joins us from greenville. what are you seeing. >> reporter: we are positioned just across from the mall. we aren't able to get all the way down on the property to report from there. this mall opened two hours ago. in the morning it looked like maybe the only people we were going to see here today were employees. but within 10, 15 minutes of it opening we saw a line start to form of about two dozen people waiting to get inside. now there are at least 200 cars here. i was able to see a little bit inside the mall. it is unlike anything i have ever seen. at the beginning, at the front of the door you can see what looks like a handful of security guards, mall employees using some sort of infrared-like system to take people's temperatures as customers are walking into the mall. there is no seating to be found anywhere. seating where you would have -- where it is a booth, say, pushed up against a wall, where it can't be removed they have taken the cushions out so people don't have the option even sit down. simon prop

so with me now from georgia is nbc news correspondent allison barber. n, i know businesses are open there. what are you seeing in terms of foot traffic, and what's the psyche like of the georgian? >> reporter: katy, there's been a different feeling depending on who you talk to. the governor has been talking in recent days pointing to the number of confirmed covid-19 cases hospitalized saying it is at the lowest it has been since hospitals started reporting that data on april 8th. but still the total number of cases statewide continues to climb. we are now very close to 34,000 confirmed covid-19 cases in this state. this county is a designated hot spot in the state of georgia. this hospital is the largest one in the county. and doctors and nurses we have spoken to say they are expecting even more of a surge in the coming weeks. right now there are over 2,000 confirmed cases in this county to help with what they expect to be even more numbers of confirmed cases. the state is sending them cargo units. they will go right here on this footprint, they will sta

hebert, really quickly, going back to allison barber's great report that we also just saw before theu expect we will see more cases in rural areas as we move forward? >> absolutely. it is an infectious prairie fire about to start in rural america. they have no access. their food insecure. about 40% of the people don't have any place to get food, especially after the covid-19 outbreak. we know their hospitals are 30 miles per hour at best and we're talking about not having ventilators in places, these places don't necessarily have hospital or hospital beds. so when you think about the children in this population who god forbid that dire situation in england starts to come over here, that's going to make a dire situation more devastating for our children. they have a really bat setup for failure. so what we must do is do the thing i mentioned and get everything on one page for their survival, i think so. >> dr. corey hebert, thank you for your time this hour. try to enjoy your weekend if you can, sir. >>> that's going to do it for me on this friday. new york governor andrew cuomo set t

we start this 1:00 hour with nbc's allison barber in durham, north carolina. dasha bumgarners in montgomery, alabama. north carolina saw the biggest one-day spike in covid cases over the weekend as this phased reopening continues there. what are health officials saying about the uptick in cases? >> reporter: hey, craig. yeah, the state's top doctor said that the rise on saturday was concerning and also notable, a spokesperson with the governor's afs told us in part that the increase in cases shows me must move forward slowly and cautiously. over 1, 100 positive covid cases reported on saturday. the state's 24 hoff hour increase. the numbers seem to drop on sunday going just under 500. today it seems like the number of confirmed cases is inching back up. as of 11:00 a.m. this morning the state reporting 742 cases in the last 24 hours. where we are, durham, north carolina, still has a local shelter at home order in place. the mayor of durham says that they didn't have a choice with that. they say that the number of confirmed cases in this county is three times h

newspaper says experts are trying to figure out how high the numbers will go, and my colleague allison barber isn't at a hospital. she's outside the lenox square mall in atlanta which just reopened this week. there's a huge disconnect in that state. hospitals are desperately trying to keep more people from dying while stores like that are trying to figure out how to get shoppers in. >> stephanie, it's unbelievably complicated. the governor of georgia lifted the stay-at-home orders for the majority of residents a few days ago. some businesses feel like they are ready to open. they say they are taking the necessary precautions installing plexiglas at checkout counters, requiring their employees to wear face masks and encouraging customers to do the same. some are trying to shift the focus of their business, of their brick and mortar stores to be more of a curbside only pick-up, order from the phone or order online situation. other businesses, though, we've spoken to, they say they feel with the restrictions lifting around them, even if they feel it's not the right choice right now but it's not