nbc's blayne alexander reports now from new orlethe typically soulful streets of new orleans are silent bourbon street a ghost town with businesses boarded up after the governor ordered residents to stay at home. >> it's quite frankly the case that the life you save could be your own, and all that you have to do to save lives is stay home. >> reporter: across louisiana, the numbers paint a stunning picture. in just the last 24 hours, an alarming 28% increase in the number of new coronavirus cases now totaling more than 2,300 since the outbreak began and 83 deaths, including a 17-year-old from new orleans. the city accounting for more than half of the state's fatalities experts say a big reason, last month's mardi gras. >> people weren't only catching beads but they were catching coronavirus, likely from each other. >> reporter: with hospital space running low, officials are planning to use a conventional center to treat non-critical patients, conjuring up jarring images of th hurricane katrina response in 2005 the move just one of many taken by governors across the south. kerry sanders

. >>> champion gymnasts aly raisman and simone biles are speaking out here's blayne alexander. >> reporter: new trouble for usa gymnastics in the wake of the larry nassar scandal after more than 150 women came forward accusing him of sexual abuse now usa gymnastics is proposing a settlement for those survivors who clai a coach or trainer. in return they would be required to release the u.s. olympic and paralympic committee along with ceo steve penny and former directors martha and bela karolyi from all claims. they denied any wrongdoing, but in a new interview with "today," retired gymnasts say that is not good enough. >> they refuse to take any accountability to address the issue, to figure out what went wrong, and they're continuing cover it up. >> reporter: last summer a congressional investigation found usa gymnastics along with the usa olympic committee and the fbi did not do enough. the organization did not specifically address the comments but said in a statement it has fully cooperated with investigator, writing in part, we're deeply committed to learning from these investigations

thanks to gabe gutierrez, and of course, blayne alexander. and joining us now this hour, dr. peggy hamburg, former fda commissioner and former new york city public health commissioner. and sylvia matthews burwell, president of american university here in washington, former hhs secretary, also the former head of omb. so, we've got so much experience here, and you had so many experience, we've enlarged our table so that we are sitting at a distance to keep safe distance, but also to take advantage of your expertise. first to you, dr. hamburg. you handled the new york city health issue before you became fda commissioner across the country. how do we explain the fda or cdc, tell us who, according to people i've spoken with, who are former colleagues of yours in the obama administration say that there's no way to explain the fda spending three months without fixing the test. >> well, it is hard to understand how we have gotten here when we had early warning of what this unfolding epidemic, now pandemic, could look like. and we have developed plans. we have practiced those plans. t

. >> blayne alexander, tell us what's happening today in selma. >> guys, good morning to you. as you said 55 years ago today, that is when this city selma, this bridge, ed mon pettis, the entirety of bloody sunday became almost synonymous with the fight for rights for african-americans. you see every year a large commemoration. so many people came across this bridge. congressman john lewis, one of them, and were beaten. that's what led to the voting rights act of 1965. also almost impossible to ignore the timing of all of this. we are in the middle of a heated 2020 presidential race. we are looking just hours away from super tuesday. and alabama is one of the states that's going to be voting on that very big day. so when we talk to a lot of people who have come from really all over the country to mark bloody sunday anniversary, that fact was not lost on them. take a look. >> i wanted to get the experience of what happened back in 1965 and knowing the things that happened in our history. it helps me to know more about what my people went through and other people that joined the

blayne alexander is outside jackson, mississippi, one of the busiest polling place this is jackson, asand it. what are you hearing on the ground from voters there, blayne? >> reporter: we've been seeing voters in and out all morning. we've been talking to voters, not that big of a surprise. i talked to a handful of people who support sander, the overwhelming majority going for joe biden and a big number is because of the demographics. 71% of voters here are african american. i don't need to premind you how well he's done. rob robin, you supported joe biden. tell me why. >> i will tell you that i was impressed with a lot of the work he had done with president obama. so that was one of the things that stood out for me with president -- vice president biden. >> to say the least, i did look at the other candidates, bernie sanders being one. he offered a lot of great things, but i just wasn't sure as to how he would get that across. for me to look at a proven record with vice president supporting obama, that sealed the deal for me. >> robin, thank you so much. i appreciate that. craig, what

nbc's blayne alexander is there for us. blaine, good to have you there.now you were in atlanta and now you're there in louisiana. does the growth rate there compare to some of the other major hot spots across the country, including here in new york? >> reporter: absolutely, eamon, it is near the top. when we talk about per capita cases, louisiana outside the new york and washington, is the highest in the country and certainly a place that has a smaller population than what you see in new york. the place is known for connecting, for people coming together, known of course for the biggest party, mardi gras, that is what some experts say really helped spur this explosion of cases that we've seen here in louisiana. it's also why much of new orleans looks like it does, almost eerily abandoned. the governor issued a shelter in place warning trying to get people to stay inside. at this point the number of cases we're told is only going to continue to rise, because of the testing, and because more cases will be confirmed. so we're talking about a growth, eamon, o

. >> nbc's blayne alexander is in new orleans and conducted that interview by a very safe distance. bla it's an extraordinary situation there. >> it absolutely, andrea. you don't have to go further to see the impact this is having on bourbon street. business is usually busy and bustling but with few exceptions, ghost town. all businesses bordered up. so of course they're looking at concern with the high numbers but the true source of the concern, andrea, is the fact the numbers are increasing as quickly as they are. that's why you're seeing the governor in very strong, very raw and emotional terms talking about the fact they're going to run out of hospital beds in less than two weeks. they're outfitting the convention center to accept some of the overflow, take some of the patients. andrea, i have to say one thing that's striking reporting on the ground for the better part of this week, with the number so high and this amount of people is so many people are touched. it seems to be escapes it. i spoke with one man who said he lost three friends in a single day. i talked with a widow

let me go to blayne alexander down in louisiana. and there is a lot of focus and for obvious reasons on the new york tri-state area but i heard the governor sound the alarm, how concerned are local officials in new orleans about what is happening there with the virus? >> reporter: very concerned, chuck. you talked about that alarming growth rate. let me give you numbers to make this thing real. so just in 24 hours, we have seen an increase in cases here in louisiana. 407 more cases today than this time yesterday. and an increase of 19 deaths. so, chuck, that is on track with what we're seeing in spain, and italy. and the governor is sounding the alarm and saying, look, if we don't get federal help in the state of louisiana fast, then new orleans is going to run out of hospital beds within two weeks. it is not necessarily a prediction, he said but that is what is going to happen. so we're seeing the cases spiking at an alarming rate. and experts are pointing to one big reason. so i'm standing right here on bourbon street. you recogni

olympics fast approaching, questions over what this means for tokyo less than five months away blayne alexander, nbc news >> there will be more of that interview tomorrow morning on "tod with gymnast aly raisman. >>> up next, your questions about coronavirus. one of the most prominent infectious disease doctors answers them >>> plus a drumming dynamo and the incredible honor he got at 6 years old. ♪ limu emu & doug [ siren ] give me your hand! i can save you... lots of money with liberty mutual! we customize your car insurance so you only pay for what you need! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ i learned about myuse grandfather's life. on ancestry and it was a remarkable twentieth-century transformation. he did a lot of living before i knew him. bring your family history to life like never before. get started for free at ancestry.com i protected my family againstnal dibacteria.ts but they don't last after people touch the surface again. new microban 24 - finally a household cleaner that keeps killing bacteria for 24 hours. watch as both brands kill 99.9% of bac

blayne alexander. >> with the case this is louisiana growing faster than anywhere else in the world, the reality is there are not enough test toss confirm every case. >> in miami, a mandatory curfew. orders to stay off the streets from 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. >> it is growing quickly. i mean, every time i go into work, we have at least a few more cases. >> now there's a statewide ban on vacation rentals in addition to a two-week quarantine to anyone arriving from louisiana and new york. in rhode island, police stopping cars with new york plates. >> right now, we have a pinpointed risk that we need to address and we need to be very serious. that risk is called new york city. >> that was nbc's erin mclaughlin reporting. >> also this morning, hospitals across the country should hopefully be getting more ventilators after president trump under pressure invoked a little used power of the presidency to get a major automaker to pitch in. that automaker says they were already on it. kelly o'donnell has the latest on that. kelly, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, kristen. despit

joining me now from atlanta's hearts field airport, blayne alexander. blayne, not great. >> yeah. we are actually just seeing our first test of how things are going right now. we're standing right outside these doors. this is where the passengers are coming out after having gone through screening. i want to bring in damon. you just landed from charles degall airport in paris. i want to ask you about your experience because you were watching those crowds over the weekend, but you said most of the screening happened on the plane. >> correct. we weren't sure what to expect but i was quite pleased at the process. it was smooth. a majority of the process took place on the airplane. >> so talk to me about that. you got a form. walk me through that process after you got your form and filled it out. >> it was a one page questionnaire, asked questions about age, gender, health, two primary things, which were countries visited. have you visited any european countries? asia? and it also asked have we ever been in contact with anyone with the coronavirus. >> and you said when they took that f

first, nbc's blayne alexander is in new orleans. >> reporter: hoda, good morning to you. of course we recognize the french quarter but we have not seen it quite like this. here on bourbon street, not only are the businesses closed, they are boarded up. not a person in sight. experts believe this area may play a role in the exploding cases we're seeing right now thanks to the biggest party of the year, mardi gras. >> across louisiana, the numbers are simply staggering. >> it scared me. i screamed. i'm like, you're kidding me. >> reporter: the state has seen the fastest growth rates in the world. they soared to 2300 coronavirus cases and 83 deaths. >> if this spread continues on its current path, could it start to look like spain or italy? >> absolutely. >> new orleans, nearly 1,000 cases with 46 dead. now experts pointing to one major factor, mardi gras. >> people are drinking and sharing glasses, throwing beads off a float. unfortunately people aren't only catching beads from mardi gras but coronavirus. >> oliver stokes, a popular d.

. >> and in california, the polls closed about a half hour ago and we will go to blayne alexander, no radford there in san diego county, i believe. >> that is right, chuck and savannah and andrea. you can see if you are looking past me here, the end of the voting line is here. these polls closed about 35 minutes ago and so that the people you are looking at here, they were in line and this line was outside into the darkness and an hour before the polls closed and so there is a mix of people here, and some students in the late teens and early 20s and community members here to cast the vote. i wanted to introduce you to some of them. mikhail, you are a student here? >> yes. >> so 98% of the people on the ground said they were voting for sanders, and who did you vote for? >> biden. >> reporter: and you? >> bernie. >> so you are the first person that i have talked to that have cast a ballot for biden and why? >> i am thinking more about the country in total. >> reporter: what are the issues that really kind of get you going and saying that biden is my guy? >> experience. also, i just don'

. >> blayne alexander reporting there. >>> so the governor warns louisiana will run out of hospital beds within two weeks. they're preparing to use the convention center as overflow to house some of those patients. some recalling the response to hurricane katrina in 2005. >>> here at home the number of confirmed coronavirus cases continues to rise. in fremont city leaders will consider a wide range of measures to help stop the spread of the virus. the mayor spoke with us on "today in the bay" this morning. >> in addition to our review of the temporary moratorium on evictions, we're also looking at antigougi antigouging, antihoarding, administrator permitting, and adopting a resolution to enter into agreements for disaster assistance. >> mayor mei says the city council is looking into creating a testing center in the city like the one we saw earlier in this newscast in hayward. >>> struggling homeowners will buy some time on making their house payments. many banks already stepping up to help californians. citigroup, jp morgan chase, u.s. bank, wells fargo and 200 state chartered banks and

joining me from new orleans, correspondent blayne alexander. good afternoon. thanks for joining us.ew orleans coming under fire for large crowds during mardi gras couple weeks ago. do people think that's where a lot of cases came from? >> reporter: the short answer is yes, absolutely, at least in large part. i am on bourbon street now, you recognize it as bourbon street, don't typically see it like this. i can hear my voice echoing. that's how empty it is, that's how unusual it is here in new orleans. but yes. experts do believe what we saw exactly one month ago today on that tuesday, mardi gras, was more than a million people, packing the area, throwing beads, sharing drinks, standing in close proximity. they believe it was a breeding ground for coronavirus. one expert told me you saw about two weeks after mardi gras is when you started to see the first cases of coronavirus emerge in new orleans. and they believe that's why they're seeing the cases rise exponentially. let's talk about that rise. we're seeing large numbers, talking some of the highest in the country, but it is rate

nbc's blayne alexander is in new orleans now. are officials doing there to prepare for the week ahead. >> they're trying to keep people off the streets. and it looks like as of right now people are listening to those orders. i'm in jackson square. typically this area is lined with dozens of artists. you kind of see some of the remnants of mardi gras. as of right now, nobody here except maybe a few joggers. there's a stay-at-home in order place from the governor sent down. they are hoping to flatten the curve but, really, i spoke with a medical expert and she talked about the fact that because you saw so many people packed together through mardi gras, that's why you're seeing those cases so high. and as the testing increases we're only going to see those number of cases increase, too. yesterday, just to give you an idea, the governor has said that they will likely run out of hospital space, hospital beds within two weeks. the mayor is already working up plans to possibly house as many as 3,000 parents as a nearby convention center

blayne alexander is live in selma. what's the latest? >> reporter: i'll show you. what you're looking at right now is the overflow crowd. behind me is ground kpapel ame church. that is where people are listening to people speaking on this commemoration of bloody sunday. but what you're hearing is kind of a telecast of the speakers inside. just a few moments ago you heard vaughn talk about former vice president joe biden. he just wrapped up his speech here. you heard applause inside the church, from people out here. and i really think that underscores what we're looking at here. it is impossible to talk about this commemoration of bloody sunday without noting the timing of this, without noting the fact that this is just two days away from that very heated super tuesday competition, election on tuesday, and the fact that you've got candidates who are still vying for that critical, crucial black vote. so this is something that happens every year. we heard joe biden here. we know that former mior michael bloomberg was also inside. i think we've got video of a striking

nbc's blayne alexander is live in new orleans.t is the biggest challenge to slowing the spread there. no longer are people partying on the streets? >> reporter: absolutely the spread continues. here in the french quarter, this is what they're doing. the governor told people to shelter in place, to stay inside. so you see streets like these. scenes like these all over new orleans. but the spread is still going in the sense that many people have not gotten tested, and the reality is that many people will not. they just don't have enough tests to go around. now what health officials are telling people in new orleans is to act as though you or somebody you know has this virus and to act accordingly. which is to stay inside. so there is a bit of good news. we know that some resources are on the way. about 250 hospital beds have been approved by the governor has made it clear that that is not enough. and i think that if you listen to the governor, especially his news conference yesterday, you hear that frustration in his voice. yesterda

joining me is nbc news correspondent blayne alexander.get tested and who's not. >> reporter: the answer is very few people. limited may not be a strong enough word. consider this, this facility here in marietta serves about 900,000 people between two counties. today i asked the county public health director exactly how many tests do they have. she told me they got fewer than 50 tests to serve some 900,000 people. that's an example of what we're seeing. a number of people will be turned away, they're prioritizing people that are health care officials, people who work with the elderly or law enforcement. here is their message for everybody else. take a look. >> we do not want people who do not have any symptoms or have mild symptoms to be going to emergency rooms and to your doctor's offices or urgent cares or health departments. do not go there to get tested. the test kits are limited. we have to protect our hospital resources right now. they're getting slammed right now. >> reporter: bottom line, katy, she's saying if you're not among tho

nbc's blayne alexander is at the world's busiest airport. hartsfield-jackson international in atlanta. i want to start with this. these overwhelming lines because of the health screenings at airports this weekend. were they conducting coronavirus tests? >> so what we're talking about, let me give you a lay of the land. we're talking about a tale two of extremes here at the world's busiest airport. this morning it's almost looking like anything but. this is not what you'd typically see on a monday morning at hartsfield-jackson. hardly any lines. empty ticket counters. this is the reality of so many people canceling their travel. y to go back to your question in terms of what we saw over the wc weekend, we saw people in 13 different airports waiting for hours. waiting to come back in go through those enhanced screenings, clear customs coming from places in europe as well. here in atlanta, the wait times were only about 10 minutes or so above normal but certainly not what we saw around the country. we're talking about dallas, chicago, o'hare, j

. >> reporter: i'm blayne alexander in atlanta's busiest airport.mpty they've closed two security checkpoints earlier this week part of the international terminal had to be cleaned after a tsa worker tested positive for coronavirus. it's something that we've seen at at least six other airports around the country now, starting tonight, the city is going to look a lot like this airport. in fact all atlanta restaurants, bars, gyms, and other public spaces have been ordered to close starting at midnight >> reporter: i'm garrett haake in chicago the big three automakers announced they're shutting down plants across america in an effort to protect employees. that means 150,000 workers won't be back at their jobs this month. this morning harley-davidson said they would shut down their plants as well after a worker at one of them was diagnosed with the virus. and here in chicago tonight, the city's mayor said the nation's third largest school district will stay shut until at least april 21st >> the view from around the country. >>> with thousands of people

blayne alexander, welcome to you on this significant sunday. who all is there? >> reporter: alex, good morning to you from selma, alabama. certainly a lot of people. in fact if you can look at the screen here behind me, this is kind of a telecast of what's going on inside brown chapel ame. a couple of people couldn't make it inside so they're watching from outside. senator doug jones is coming up after former mayor mike bloomberg finishes his remarks in the church. we saw former vice president joe biden escorted into the church. this is almost a who's who in politics today. the correlation cannot be lost considering we're celebrating the 55th anniversary of the city, of the movement that really has become almost synonymous with the african-american fight for voting rights in this country. we're sitting here two days ahead of super tuesday. alabama itself is a super tuesday state. you see all of these people, all of the people who have come out, they've celebrated. this is a tradition that happens year after year. they kind of reenact that march against the edmon

let's go now to blayne alexander in atlanta. tell us how things are going and how they got that way. >> reporter: the hpospitals are under tremendous pressure. considering you talked about that there are 2300 cases, more than 25% are hospitalized. so you talk to the people that already go to hontss for things that you don't stop during the coronavirus, the mayor of atlanta is predicting that within weeks atlanta hospitals will hit capacity. and if you go about 2 1/2 hours south, a much smaller community, you are seeing more than 200 cases there. that is more than counties eight times its size. so the hospitals there are already overrun. so here in metro, atlanta, the city is under a shelter in placed on while the city is looking for alternatives, places to serve as makeshift hospitals if and when they become full. >> and i know that part of georgia well. that is not too far from the section in north florida where my family is from. and they are concerned about becoming a hot spot. are there other hot spots? >> reporter: the bigg

you see her there, blayne alexander is our reporter in jackson tonight. hey, blayne. >> hey, brian. you already said it, the black vote is really going to be the thing to watch down here in mississippi. and likely to key the delivering a good night for joe biden. now, we're just now actually getting our very first full look at turnout today in mississippi. we understand that the numbers have been steady throughout the day, and in fact, the absentee ballots and the number of registered voters is higher than back in 2016, i'm told. but the real number to watch, of course, is going to be the black vote. now, according to our nbc news exit poll, roughly two thirds of all mississippi voters that turned out today are african-american. it puts that into context, that's higher than south carolina. that's higher than any contest we have seen so far, and i don't need to remind you that is fantastic news for joe biden. now, by contrast, bernie sanders has not historically done well in mississippi. in fact, back in went 16, he only won about 16% of the vote. he did not win a single county when

let's go to blaine alexander i've got to tell you, blayne, i have seen you do different shots here. it's been remarkable. so much different from mardi gras time. >> reporter: that's the juxtaposition they're looking at, looking at the fact that a little over a month ago you had more than a million people packing the streets of new orleans. let's look back at what things looked like when we talked about coronavirus back in february. back then it was a problem mainly being talked about as something in china and europe. there were only a handful of cases in the u.s. and wand delivered a pandemic. so the may yore said it there was no case to have it called off. what you have now, more than a month later is one of the fastest-growing rates in the world. so that's concerns the officials so much. we're talking about a number of deaths that keep climbing by the day. now we're seeing the city has just opened up calling for a city-wide ppe, calling to people in tattoo salons, dental offices, people who may have some masks in the back or gloves, to drop them off at locations, because they are

olympics fast approaching, questions over what this means for tokyo less than five months away blayne alexandernews >> there will be more of that exclusive interview with gymness ali coming up later on "today. > nvib>>"iisle man" becomes the first horror movie of 2020 >> and more on the coronavirus it♪ ♪all strength, no sweat for adults with moderately to severely active crohn's disease, stelara® works differently. studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection or flu-like symptoms or sores, have had cancer, or develop new skin growths, or if anyone in your house needs or recently had a vaccine. including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems. these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. some serious allergic reactions and lung inflammation can occur. talk to your doctor today, and learn how janssen can help you expl