the javits center where they set up four field hospitals with 250 beds each. they're going from a thousand bed and right now the javits center have fewer than 10 patients. why is that? tell me why the federal government decided neither of those facilities can have coronavirus patients. we start to get towards that math. this is developing story, swrwe have more on that coming up. we'll talk to the governor of washington state. washington state had to confront the nation's first case, the nation's first death and first large cluster of cases. there has recently positive noises of the case loads in washington state particularly in the seattle area potentially slowing down and flattening out in terms of how quickly it is spreading and how many people are getting infected. if those positive noises are accurate. if it does reflect as positive change in washington state, you should know it is painfully mixed picture there. washington state's rising number of cases is still a steeply rising number of cases as you can see here. and the governor of that state jay insle

works, and if that works well, that changes the numbers dramatically. >> cnn is there outside the javits center. evan mcmorris santoro, what else did the governor have to say? >> reporter: yes, i am here at javits convention center which is kind of a new landmark if you will of this state's fight against the covid-19 virus. initially the plan was for it to just take patients that were non-covid patients to free up more beds in the hospital system as the beds start to fill and more patients come in. on monday it will turn into a covid hospital where patients with the disease will come here to javits to be cared for, which again, is part of alleviating the hospital system. but a slaight shift for the rol of the javits center that could have a big impact on a state still waiting for equipment, trying to figure out what to do, because the governor says the apex, the high point of infection, is still around the corner. >> by the numbers we're not yet at the apex. we're getting closer depending on whose model you look at. they'll say four, favive, six, seven days. some people go out 14 days. our read

army and operations officer for the javits center. major pete, good afternoon, thank you so much for your time, give us a status update, how's it going inside? >> hey, bill, thanks for having me. inside the javits center, we are continuing to work across the government through all agencies, fema, health and human services to continue to increase the capacity and the capability here at the javits center, like you said, there is a 3,000 bed capacity and we are doing our utmost to increase that as much as we can. as time goes on to provide an offshoot for the city in new york to provide patients to come here, and give them a little bit of relief, and do it we can for the country. >> bill: you are doing god's work, too, just so you know major, screen left is our q rv vehicle, our quick response vehicle, it is moving throughout manhattan, a moment ago you saw go through central park. pretty nice day here in the northeast, temperatures bond to the 60s. that is a good, positive note that we've got here, at least weather-wise. major, how do y

covid patients now being taken to the makeshift hospital with 2,500 beds at the javits center. the nypd losing another member, a 26-year veteran and a school safety agent. new jersey's governor saying his state has now lost 100 more people than it did on 9/11. tonight, one of the president's top health advisers warning the three hottest area in the u.s., new york, detroit, and louisiana, will reach their apex in the next seven days. trevor ault leads us off. >> reporter: tonight, president trump warning the nation. >> this week will be the toughest week, between this week and next week, and there will be a lot of death, unfortunately. >> reporter: and telling americans there will soon be more covid-19 hot spots. >> they come, and they hit you like you got hit by a club. >> reporter: already getting hit, new york. the empire state bracing for the worst. governor andrew cuomo now saying the apex of coronavirus cases is likely seven days away, and warning his state is not prepared. >> it's good we are not at the apex because we are not yet ready for the apex either. we're not yet

we'll also go to the javits center. we've got some new numbers for the javits center.e're in and around new york city over the next two weeks because as you've been reporting throughout the course of the morning, this is supposed to be, over the next few days, this is going to be the epicenter. we are, according to the surgeon general yesterday, expecting quite the uptick in icu cases and hospitalizations and unfortunately deaths as well. we'll be spending the next two weeks in and around new york city, places like this, hot spots and the battle against covid-19, ayman. >> thank you to you and all the other reporters putting a spotlight on this. stay safe and healthy out there. we're going to be talking to you again throughout the course of this week. be well, my friend. >>> british prime minister boris johnson remains in the hospital being treated for the coronavirus. we're live in london where what he is saying today about his condition. >>> first, the state of wisconsin is moving ahead with its presidential primary scheduled for tomorrow, believe it or not. mayors a

cnn's evan mcmorris santoro is there outside the javits center in new york. we heard from governor cuomo earlier today that he is very eager to have this makeshift hospital ready to go. he says it will change the numbers dramatically. >> reporter: that's right, ana. i'm here at the javits center and originally when this was conceived the idea was put a thousand or more beds in here, use the beds to take people out of the existing hospital system who have covid freeing up the other hospital beds for covid patients. that plan has changed. on monday this javits center hospital, more than 2500 beds as you mentioned, will be home to covid patients and the more important part about it is there is also personnel to man and operate the beds. that is the main issue going forward the governor says is personnel and equipment. as you mentioned, new york state is the epicenter of the pandemic in the united states and new york city where i'm standing is the epicenter of that epicenter but the governor said today he is concerned about a new area nearby just in the east wher

the governor of new york said he had asked for the javits center to be set up in a way that it could e coronavirus patients. the federal government said no. that said, the l.a. convention center's a different story. l.a.'s mayor, eric garcetti, said this week that their convention center medical buildout will be done in such a way that it may end up housing coronavirus patients, people who have symptoms that are not severe enough to require full hospitalization. we're seeing the same kind of planning in detroit, michigan. the convention center there being converted into a facility to care for up to 1,000 coronavirus patients. the u.s. army corps of engineers doing a lot of this work. they say that plans have already been drafted for a 3,000-bed coronavirus hospital in chicago. the chicago convention center would again house patients in varying degrees of illness. and yet in new york city the epicenter of the american outbreak, in new york city dealing with thousands of patients, already overwhelming many new york hospitals, the javits center, set up with federal help, isn't taking cor

and kathy, for the past few days we've been wondering precisely how many patients the javits center has seen so far. again, this is a 2,500 bed makeshift hospital there as well, what was once a convention center. i understand we've gotten new numbers on the number of patients at the javits center, what can you tell us? >> hey, craig, good morning to you. that's right. the latest numbers so far, 36 covid and non-covid patients who are treated for their illnesses behind me at the javits convention center which went online earlier this week and we have seen military members filing in and out of this facility, all morning long. and, craig, as you mentioned i've been out here for a couple of days. and compared to yesterday i have to say that there is a significant military presence, a larger volume of military members here on the ground and we heard from the vice president yesterday at his coronavirus task briefing and he mentioned that by tomorrow 3,000 d.o.d. and hhs officials will be on the ground offering the new york city area support and reenforcement as we enter a potential peak or pe

hospitals that are packed with patients, not to be able to have a relief valve and put people into the javits center, because you have, like, a thousand beds there or more. and soy p i put a staff of peop to be able to facilitate the hospital and javits itself to move patients out into javits to reduce the load on the various hospitals. that is happening today. it will accelerate this afternoon and it will go on again tomorrow and over the course of the week. and that will help the hospitals enormously, so it's a good thing. i wish it had happened a week ago, but it's better late than never. so it's a good idea and we're doing it today and tomorrow, going forward. >> i'm glad you are able to get the team in there to make that happen. michael dowling, thank you very muc much. >>> the fight to flatten the curve to keep the number of cases from growing, not completely overwhelming the health care system. dr. sanjay gupta is with me once more. can you walk us through where you think we are now? >> well, that solid line going into the dotted line, that inflection point right now where we are, but as you

go to jason carroll outside the javits center. jason, the governor says the state could be eight days away from seeing the peak. >> reporter: that's right, victor. and that's why the governor says it's key to get this javits center up and operational. as soon as possible. and, in fact, he called it a top operational priority for the city. the javits center is going to be able to take some 2,500 patients here when it's up and fully operational. you can imagine how that's going to put a great deal of relief on other hospitals in the city when this is operation and ready to go. again, the apex still several days away. new york city's mayor bill de blasio has said repeatedly the city is still not ready in terms of staffing, in terms of bed and in equipment. >> we think at some point next week we could have 5,000 people on ventilators. we're going to need 45,000 durss, nurses, respiratory therapists, et cetera. we need to add 60,000 more beds in the course of the next month or so. >> reporter: victor, new york's governor has also echoe

that's what the javits center is. usually a convention center and now a massive hospital with more than 2500 beds. they are looking to take patients out of the new york hospital system and bring them here to create more bed space. the governor again today talking about how hard he is trying to get ventilators. >> remember we ordered 17,000 ventilators. to give you an idea, the federal stockpile was about 10,000 ventilators for the nation. we ordered 17,000 just for the state of new york. when we ordered the ventilators we were paying for the ventilators, so, trust me, the financial situation of the state, we were not looking to spend a penny that we didn't have to spend. we placed that order for the ventilators and were paying for that order. >> wolf, we have talked about this for a couple of weekends. weekends is when politics comes out to play. that was comeau taking a shot at the white house for the continued claims that comeau is asking for too many ventilators and the white house firing back we don't think you nee

army-led facility there, the javits center? >> yes, they absolutely can get ready, but exactly as you were talking about, it's an all-in approach. and the way i think about it is normally health care has pretty predictable peaks and lulls during the year. it's like having waves on a beach, right. what happens with covid, because everybody gets sick at once, it's like a tsunami coming in and the crest of the wave is enormous. but the crest of the wave hits different parts of the country and different cities at different times. so as we think about how to move forward with this, if we can make sure that resources are deployed to wherever the wave is wresting at that moment. so initially it was seattle and portland and l.a., and it looks like we may have started hitting our crest and now if we have a little additional resources and like china has additional resources, we can redeploy the resources, whether it's ventilators, people or ppe to the places the wave is cresting next, like new york city. >> chrkristen holmes at the whi h

the javits center is 2,500 beds. we're in a desperate search for beds with staff. javits has beds, but more importantly federal staff and federal equipment. and i called the president this morning, and i explained the situation to him. and to his credit, to his credit, rachel, in one day he turned around and he called me this afternoon and said, we're going to use javits for covid patients, which is a big deal. it's 2,500 additional beds. the military apparently doesn't want to use the ship for non-covid because of a protocol on how they would then disinfect the ship, which i don't really understand frankly. but the ship was never supposed to be for covid patients. the original understanding was non-covid patients. >> there is this alarming report today from the entity that manages new york city hospitals that if you're in cardiac arrest somewhere in new york city and emts show up and they can't revive you on-site, there's now a change in protocol where they are not taking you to a hospital to try to revive you there because the hospitals are so overwhelmed. it does

he now says that the javits center, that convention center, that massive convention center originally intended for non-covid patients will now be treating people who have the virus. the governor also warning at the current burn rate, new york will be using every ventilator it has in just six days' time. we're also continuing to track the surge in cases across the country. right now there are more than 246,000 known cases in the united states. that's more than 29,000 cases than this time yesterday. so far, the virus has killed nearly 6,000 americans. let's go right to nbc's ron allen. ron is at mt. sinai hospital in new york city where medical professionals there are still begging for more supplies. ron, what are you hearing from those workers there at mt. sinai? >> reporter: a lot of emotion, craig, a lot of frustration, a lot of anger, a lot of fear, too, about working in conditions that one described as working into a suicide mission just about every day. we've heard so many stories of health care workers getting ill, passing away as they've been trying to save lives. the deluge of

york 'd new jersey and connecticut and they are personnel that are working on the ground at the javits center working of course at the u.s. and its comfort ship but because it at the present moment the utilization of both of those temporary facilities has been fairly modest. the d.o.d. actually worked with the city of new new york to establish what amounts to a uniform temp service they called the bullpen and today they literally deployed from the ship and from the javits center 75 medical personnel to relieve a dedicated health care workers within the hospital system in the city of new york and we'll continue to do that when to make sure those federal temporary hospital in javits center is fully staffed will make sure the u.s. and his comfort is staffed but but the physicians those military personnel. are going to be also be deployed across the city to bring much needed relief. to our health care workers in our system from the v.a. standpoint we've opened up a v.a. facilities in new york city east orange new jersey detroit michigan and we are opening up the v.a. facility but there coronaviru

. >> the bulk of them will go to the javits center and as of late yesterday, we agreed to deploy a few hundred of them to 11 new york city hospitals that are also seeing a deficiency when it comes to medical staff. >> reporter: with the heightened public health emergency, the javits center has shifted to treating covid positive cases and the department of defense is laying the risk of taking on coronavirus patients on hospital shifts, including the u.s.n.s. comfort, which has been nearly empty a week. >> that's why we opened up the javits center and expanded hospitals around the country for coronavirus. we are prepared to leverage the mercy and cold front to do that installations facilities and property must now wear face covering in other turn, a defense official saying captain brett crozier will remain in quarantine at naval base qualm for 14 days. fhelarm on a coronavirus outbreak on the uss theodore roosevelt the "new york times" shows he tested positive for the virus. the navy would not confirm this information. earlier this week, mayor bill de blasio warned the city would run out

our shimon prokupecz, there is some questions of how the javits center and the navy comfort is being used or not being used. the comfort has a houthousand b. the javits certain nter is a co only and what's up with the comfort? >> the javits will accept covid patients. initially they did not want to. the governor said the federal government, fema did not want to take those patients, those covid patient patients. that's what the new york hospitals need right now. they need relief for covid patients. the governor went to president trump and said i need help and i need you to allow and put pressure on the government to do this. the president did it. now because of that, because of the governor going to the president, the javits center is going to be taking covid patients. the ship which is behind me, they're not expected to take covid patients. about 20 people on that ship right now being treated. the military does not cannot covid patients on there because it is going to be difficult to disinfect the ship. the doctors in this town and nurse and medical town, they need relief from covid p

. >> i know you're standing in front of the javits center, and it's now a field hospital. before they were saying non-covid patients were going there. what's the pivot on that and how? >> that's right. starting on monday, the convention center behind me with 2,500 beds, in order to help deal with the overflow from the hospitals starting monday they'll accept patients with covid-19. the thinking here is if you talk to hospital administrators or people working in hospitals, they are seeing a lot of covid patients. i spoke with an er doctor in brooklyn yesterday who said others coming into the er for other ailments when they do a chest x-ray when admitting the patients and they're seeing what they call telltale signs of a coronavirus infection, infection visible in both lungs. the bot m tom line, as we heard from the governor, hospital administrators, not a lot of patients coming into the hospital nowadays are non-covid patients. so one hospital administrator said he was relieved that javits was going to be accepting them. >> athena, thank you. >>> the military is now deployin

now those patients are back at the javits center. the comfort was sent to new york to treat coronavirus patients. military personnel have arrived in new york and being deployed to city-owned hospitals. president trump has 1,000 military health professionals are being sent to take the pressure off exhausted nurses, doctors, and other workers. among the more than 100,000 new yorkers who have tested positive for the coronavirus, now there is a 4-year-old tiger at the broncos zoo. she has developed a dry cough. she was then tested and that's when they realized she had the coronavirus. authorities believe that she was infected by a zoo keeper who they say had no symptoms but nevertheless carried the virus. we're also told a number of other big cats at the bronx zoo are now testing positive. >> sandra: david lee miller in new york city for us this morning. thank you. >> ed: despite the sobering predictions from top health officials the president is trying to strike an optimistic hope as he spoke against the country's fight against covid-19

as you know the javits center has now been fully converted into a 3,000 vet hospital, one of the largest anywhere in the country. and by the incredible professionals, i have to say, the corps of engineers, what they can do is just incredible. they've done a fantastic job and they are building nationwide 21 temporary hospitals and care facilities, adding 17,000 hospital beds and they did that all within a very short period of time. it's incredible what they've done. the army corps of engineers. in fema has been fantastic. our sweeping airlift operation to get doctors and nurses supplied with protective equipment, it continues to expand with more than 24 flights already completed and 49 additional flights now scheduled in the near future, so that's been very successful in that gear and those outfits are being handed out. as they arrive they are going directly to point. the american medical system continues to perform beyond our highest expectations, reminding us that the united states is blessed with the most advanced health care and the most skilled health care workers anywhere in the pla

trevor ault joins us from the javits center. now converted into a hospital. we reported that facility and the hospital ship "the comfort" were supposed to relieve pressure on the hospitals here in new york, but so far they have been used far below their capacity. >> reporter: that's right, tom, and that's a problem that military officials haven't been able to figure out yet. both facilities had low patient numbers when they were treating people who didn't have to virus and low numbers now when they're treating people who do have it. it's possible because covid-19 patients can deteriorate and die quickly, other hospitals may be taking them even if they're full because sending them here or the "comfort" might be too much of a risk. >>> states reporting a surge in cases. millions set a mark easter sunday. a test of faith, but also a test of social distancing. some but not all churches urging parishioners to stay home. 2 concern those gatherings may threaten unnecessary exposure in the fight. abc's stephanie ramos is outside st. patrick's cathedral. [ bleep ] >>

we, as you may know, opened mccormick place, that's our version of the javits center, better, i would argue, but it's our convention center in chicago where we've got 500 beds for less acuity patients that we can move from hospitals who are covid positive into a new facility. we'll have 3,000 beds in that facility soon. and we're adding perhaps another 1,500 around the state. >> you said tuesday that after you told the trump administration that your state needed 4,000 ventilators, vice president pence said that you actually needed 1,400, not 4,000. is 1,400 going to be enough for illinois to survive the worst? >> look, i pray that the vice president was raight. let me tell you where i think he got his numbers. he looked at a university of washington projection that people are looking at. it's a very good model but they didn't put that model out there for resource allocation reasons. if you look at the model, there is a central point which is where it shows that illinois needs only 1,400 or fewer than 1,400 ventilators. but there's also a worst case scenario which shows that we would n

want to bring in kathy park, outside the javits center in new york city, it was a massive convention center, and now, it has become a makeshift hospital, it's accepting coronavirus patients, cha what have you seen there on the ground today? >> reporter: hey, craig, good evening to you. yes, originally, when the idea was proposed, to transform this massive convention center into a temporary hospital, the idea was to put in place a thousand beds and treat non-covid patients only. the goal was to lessen the strain on nearby hospitals, by taking on these noncovid patients. but the city is shut down. so those types of emergencies, we're not seeing those, so this massive convention center sat idle, sat empty for a couple of days, so officials reassessed the purpose of this temporary hospital, reached out to the federal government, got the okay, to start accepting covid-19 positive case, and the cases started to come through friday night. right now, we're still waiting to get an exact number of how many patients they are treating. but we do know that they have expanded the beds to 2500. the

the javits center came from the president, same with the comfort. that personnel came from the president. let's not forget about project air bridge, that's the public-private partnership organized by the white house. it sent massive u.s. cargo planes to pick up crucial medical supplies from factories around the world to get them here as fast as possible. so far, 64 flights have been completed. at least 50 more are scheduled. this massive mobilization did not happen overnight. didn't happen by chance either. from the very first days of the virus, the president has taken one bold action after another to protect american lives. there is an op-ed in "the wall street journal" rightly pointed out, president trump acted with dispatch to keep americans safe, even when that was unpopular. like on january 31st when president trump and travel to and from china. the first quarantine in over 30 years and subsequent travel ban's. the mob, media raised to call him racist. they said he overreacted. "the new york times" come the geniuses they are, they indicated day

all of that is on top of the 2,000-plus bed field hospital at the javits center, the big convention center in manhattan which as of now is accepting coronavirus patients even though that wasn't the initial plan. the army corps says they've already secured additional sites and they're slated to begin construction in tennessee and colorado and new mexico and california and florida. they're at work all over the country operating at really breakneck speed to assess sites and to convert them into hospital use. at the same time, they're also giving states the blueprints they need, literally the blueprints, so states can erect these kinds of facilities on their own using the expertise of the army corps and what they have learned by standing these up all over the country. joining us now once again is lieutenant general todd semonite. commanding general of the u.s. army corps of engineers. it's a really honor to have you back with us tonight. thank you so much for making time. >> hey, rachel, you and i talked about 11 days ago. in those days i've flown to several places in the united states. you ju

that the president has also staffed of the entire javits center with his personnel. in our great that hospital for new york and for the governor who was ill-prepared. we have the usns comfort in new york harbor which will now treat covid-19 patients as well. the lack of state and new york city preparations is shocking. after 9/11 after the first trade center bombing, numerous terror threats knowing that new york state, new york city in particular has the highest concentration of people in the smallest geographical area making new york city the most vulnerable to any pandemic as cuomo's own health care task force warned them about in november of 2015 in detail. you let me tell you something about new york city, it has been an epic fail on all levels of new york government. state and city, a disaster. there is no excuse after 9/11, no excuse after being warned by a task force, and you had years to fix the problems. new york needs to know while the president was working was working around the clock to make available millions of doses of hydroxychloroquine, all talk no a

they are personnel that are working on the ground at the javits center, working of course at the u.s.comfort ship. but, because of the present moment the utilization of both of those temporary facilities has been fairly modest dod actually worked with the city of new york to establish what amounts to a uniform temp service. they called it the bullpen. today, they literally deployed from the ship and the javits center, 75 medical personnel to relieve dedicated health care workers within the hospital system and the city of new york and we will continue to do that. we want to make sure that federal temporary hospital center at the javits center is fully staff and we want to make sure the u.s. ns comfort is staffed but the physicians and military personnel are also going to be deployed across the city to bring much-needed relief to our health care workers and our system. from the va standpoint, we have opened up va facilities in new york city, east orange, new jersey, the detroit system and we are opening up the va facility to coronavirus patients in shreveport, louisiana. finally, i ment

>> my understanding at the javits center is they will accept covid patients.it, assignments to be the more stable patients may go to place like the javits center. i don't know about their kp capacity for vent lailators and critical care. be pashttients have to conform. dwoep we don't want to transfer somebody at risk would you tell us having the right emergency procedures or the icu capability in place. transferring pasht inring patie a challenge with this virus. we haven't been able to predict exactly who is going to become very, very severely ill for this illness versus who stands a chance of recovering from this illness. it has to go day by day depending on the progression of symptoms. there's a wide spectrum saying this person would do well in this facility or that is a bit of a challenge because it may take several days for someone to develop severe symptoms or recover completely from their sympto symptoms. determining which patients are going to which facility changes on a day-to-day hour to hour basis. that's yet to be determined. >> that is such a good

>> absolutely, that javits center could turn out to be a critical resource. trevor ault for us in new york. thank you. >>> the fda says a drug the president has touted as a possible treatment for coronavirus is now in short supply and that's causing concern for those who use the medication for non-covid-19 illnesses. abc's david wright has more. >> reporter: mara capio, a hospital social rker in alorow just a two-week supply of the medicine she's relied on for 16 years to treat her autoimmune disorder. >> it's very frustrating. it's just going to severely impact me being able to go to work. >> reporter: hydroxychloroquine is in high demand as a possible treatment for covid-19. >> you know, i'm a smart guy. i feel good about it. and we're going to see. >> reporter: aside from a small unverified study in china, the drug's efficacy on coronavirus has yet to be proven but president trump pushed the fda to allow compassionate use for severe covid-19 patients. >> we ought to give it a try. let's see what happens. we have nothing to lose. >> reporter: but others inc

at the javits center in new york, at the convention center in new orleans, and at the convention center in dallas. and we informed each of the governors of those states today at their requests we were making those military medical personnel available to operate in all covid facility. but we would emphasize to people in that community who believe you've been impacted or have contracted the coronavirus, contact your local health care provider. we anticipate in the new york area that your local health care provider will make the decision whether you transferred to the javits center. and in all case, simply look to the guidance of your local governors about how best to receive the care that every american, every

the dozen or so patients removed from the javits center, some of those patients later tested positive. the military is short of recruits. that affects the pipeline. the fewer recruits you have putting into the pipeline the less you have preparing for war. jon? jon: lucas tomlinson with some of the conundrums tat pentagon. -- at the pentagon. thank you. >>> italy seems to have turned a corner in its own battle with covid-19. the numbers of new cases there have hit a plateau after four weeks of lockdown. this as the pope sends a video message of encouragement to catholics around the world ahead of holy week celebrations. amy kellogg is in florence with more. >> -- in terms of the numbers of coronavirus infections, but italy still has the largest number of deaths. it was here where coronavirus really exploded first in europe of course, and that didn't give hospitals time to prepare. in some cases they just assumed they were dealing with regular flu cases and sometimes those doctors and nurses went on to infect other patients not knowing. the hospitals became hot spots and in many cases t

so, just taking for example what happened in new york city with the javits center, that went through fema. governor cuomo, mayor de blasio, they say, we think we can convert the javits center into a makeshift hospital. fema says, ok army corps of out.eers, go check it the army corps since of people to check it out and then fema some ok, go hire contractors to do the work. that is how it works. the army corps is really a key player, the key player in building or getting built all of these shift hospitals and tickle centers that are being established all over the country. the head of the army corps was on tv saying that they had 620ived, i think it was requests from mayors and city officials around the country to check out convention centers, empty stadiums, abandoned warehouses or whatnot to see if they could be suitable for conversion into some sort of temporary medical facility. some of those medical facilities are going to be used for treating patients with covid-19 and some will be used specifically not for patients with covid-19, but to handle what would be called the overflow so

to make sure those federal temporary hospital and javits center is fully staffed.sure the usns comfort is staffed but the physicians, those military personnel are going to be also be deployed across the city to bring much-needed relief to our health care workers in our system. from the va standpoint we opened up a va facilities in new york city, east orange, new jersey, detroit, michigan, and we're opening up the va facility to coronavirus patients in shreveport, louisiana. finally i mentioned that today we exceeded more than two million tests that have been performed across the country and also literally working with the u.s. public health service state around the country stood up hundreds of drive-through testing site. just this week fema and the u.s. public health service announced that we will give an option of states to transition from a federal testing site, dozens of which have been assembled around the country to a state-managed site. i want to emphasize this is an option. we believe it gives states greater flexibility to style sites, manage sites in areas

and all of that is on top of the 2,000 plus-bed field hospital at the javits center which as of now isepting coronavirus patients even though that wasn't the initial plan. the army corp. says they've secured additional sites and they're slated to continue construction in tennessee, california, new mexico, florida, at work all over the country operating at breakneck speed to assess sites and convert them into hospital use. at the same time they're also giving states the blueprints they need like literally the blueprints so states can erect these kinds of facilities on their own using the expertise of the army corp. and what they have learned by standing these things up. joining us now is lieutenant general todd semonite. general, it's a real honor to have you back with us tonight. thanks so much for making time. >> you and i talked about 11 days ago and in those 11 days i've flown around to several places in the united states. just about the devastation out there. you talk about heroics of the medical community. i can't say enough the thoughts and prayers of all of us and those devastat

he would like them, the javits center to take covid patients as soon as possible. >> reporter: yes, he did. that ship that's here docked on the highway not far from the javits center behind me, that ship is going to take covid patients. the governor says he's going to speak to the president this afternoon about it. remember they said they're not going to take covid patients. that's going to change. over the week the president gave some indications that he would be willing to do that. he would tell the military to go ahead and open the ship up to covid patients. the reason for this anderson is the strain on hospitals. there are 17,000 patients across the state that are hospitalized because of the coronavirus and in order to ease the stress on these hospitals, they need more vets. you will have the javits center here which is going to take 2500 and not far from here you are going to have another thousand at the ship which is going to relief a lot of the stress and the pressure that the hospitals are facing. the other key stat here and some other hopeful news here from the governor is tha

. >> the bulk of them that will go to the javits center late yesterday we agreed to deploy a few hundred of them to 11 new york city hospitals that are also seeing a deficiency when it comes to medical staff zblnc >> reporter: with the heightened public health emergency the javits center has shifted to treating covid positive cases. the department of defense is weighing the risk of taking on coronavirus patients on hospital ships including the usns comfort which has been nearly empty for a week. >> thawhr expanded hospitals around the country for the coronavirus. we're prepared to leverage the mercy and comfort as well to do that. >> reporter: all personnel on d.o.d. installations, facilities and property must now wear face coverings. and in another turn, a defense official confirming to nbc news that captain brett crozier will remain in quarantine for 14 days this week he was fired for sounding the alarm about a coronavirus outbreak on the u.s.s. theodore roosevelt. the "new york times" reports that he tested positive for the virus. the navy would not confirm this information. originall

about 500 hospital beds will be open there, in addition to the 2,500 at the javits center. now, one of the largest churches in the world, the cathedral of st. john the divine, over the next coming days, is expected to also provide an additional 200 beds within that church. so state authorities, city authorities here in new york are, you know, there is some of that encouraging news, brian, but again, it's hard to overlook 731 deaths in one day, the single deadliest day during this outbreak, brian. >> i'll take it from here. i have one other question for you. the bed capacity. javits center is now open, the "usns" is now open, even though there is a crew member who has tested positive with covid. there are a number of other field hospitals. what is being done to alleviate the overcrowding in the ers right now? how is that being considered and how quickly can they get patients from the hospitals to the javits center or two any of those other field hospitals? >> reporter: yeah, katy, that's a growing frustration among many of the doctors and nurses that we have spoken with. the

we're at the javits centering with more on that. welcome to you. a bit of an update tone from the governor. he had super-big thanks for the state of organ for the number of ventilators they were loaning the state. where you are, there's also news as well. >> reporter: yeah, a bigger chunk coming from klein as well, him making that announcement today. he sounded markedly different from the daily briefings he had been given prior to this. it's difficult to get on camera and give bad news every day. he was me aren'tly surprised at the donations, and nothing being in times squares. nobody here at the javits center here in hell's kitchen in manhattan, save for the volunteers and medical professionals, and military personnel who are headed in here, because this convention is now operational. all right. so back to the ventilators, and of course this much-needed donation from not only oregon, but china. he said he had been working on this a bit now, and that he worked with ambassadors and other rep activities to try to get this done. he also asked for the

i can tell you after having stood down here by the javits center, the convention center that's now asive military-run hospital starting next week, i've been here a couple weekends. the only people walking around are people in uniform. the military is a big part of the fight here in new york, which remains the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the united states. the governor set it's not just here in jav its the military would be uses. 325 of those doctors, nurses and technicians who run machines like ventilators are being deployed today to new york's public hospital system which is currently the most taxed part of the system under coronavirus, according to governor andrew cuomo. so the military are already here and going to be a big part of the solution moving forward. fred? >> so, evan, do we know anything about logistics? like how people will be transported there? how word gets out for those who feel sick, about checking in to javits as opposed to any other new york facility? starting tomorrow? >> reporter: so a lot of details have not been fully released yet, but i'll tell

and governor cuomo addressed that once again, 125 beds in the javits center and that is the largest hospital now in the country. just a massive convention center that is acting as a relief valve for many of these hospitals that are so overwhelmed in and around the city. 2,500 beds for covid patients at javits center and another 500 now as "usns comfort." authorities had been saying in new york they needed tens of thousands of extra beds but now for at least the time being, they say they have the hospital space, but still question staff. but what everybody is waiting for is the data that might be suggesting the beginning of the plateau. at least in hospital admissions, icu numbers, that seems to be leveling off. thank you, andrea. >> thank you, gabe and thank you for all of your reporting which has been extraordinary over these many days and weeks, in fact. >>> now joining us, nbc white house correspondent and "weekend today" co-host kristen welker and "the washington post" reporter robert costa, moderator, of course, 6 "washington week" on pbs. this whole novato memo, it looked from my persp

comfort, he ordered fema to construct a massive -- largest in the country -- temporary hospital ae javits center nt offered both the ship and the center to be converted to accept covid patients, you have to change the ventilation and everything else. the president also sent all the ventilators and millions of medical supplies and medicine that de blasio never had. comrade de blasio, not grateful. shamefully standing in front of a microphone accusing the president of leaving new yorkers to die. you can't make this up, he said it -- watch. >> i remember famously in the 1970s when one of your predecessors gerald ford didn't care to help new york city during the fiscal crisis, there was that famous daily news cover that said forward to city "drop dead." mr. trump, mr. president, are you going to save new york city or are you telling new york city to drop dead to? >> sean: comrade de blasio, if president trump didn't bail your sorry unprepared ass out, many more new yorkers would have died, many more would have been infected, many more would've been hospitalized that nobody would've had a ventilator.

the javi javits center, will be manned by military, they should be in place tomorrow.tart sending quite a few people to the javits center, it is right in the middle of everything. so that will be something great. we appreciate governor cuomo's nice statements and like wise governor murphy. we have worked very well with both of them, and with all of the governors, vice president pence had a call this morning with them, that lasted for close to two hours. and i understand that there was not a negative person on the call, 50 governors, just about 50, i think they were all on from what i understood. and they were positive about everything. their federal government has been doing for them, you will hear what is rather amazing actually. nationwide, army corps of engineers building 22 field hospitals and alternate care sites in 18 states, have you a combination of 22 fee field hospitals and alternate care sites, this is a little bit of a smaller version of the hospital. we have a lot of them, they will go up in ain' in -- 18 differen, we deployed 8450 hospital beds. from fede

the left side of the screen is the javits center and right side is the hospital ship.fficials say the patients were tested for covid-19 as part of a protocol. they were transferred to the comfort. then they tested positive, but they spent a night on the ship before the results came in. the patients have been moved to the javits center and right now, the usns comfort is not taking, we're told coronavirus patients and boy, kristin, does this bring up so many questions about what's happening with the usns comfort as well. you've got two hospital ships, some 2000 beds set up for trauma cases, one in new york, one in los angeles and they're well less than 10% filled. part of the reason because they want to be able to test everybody for coronavirus before they get on the ship and now they have this. gillian:. kristin: yeah, it goes to show you some of the technical difficulties that people in new york, doctors on front lines are dealing with. one up-side i'll say, this reporting according to lucas tomlinson, the official said that we did plan for something like this to happe

as you know, the javits center has been fully converted into a 3,000-bed hospital, one of the largest anywhere in the country. and by the incredible professionals, i have to say, the corps of engineer, what they can do is incredible. they've done a fantastic job, they're building nationwide 21 temporary hospitals and care facilities, adding 17,000 hospital beds, and they did that all within a very short period of time, it's incredible what they've done, army corps of engineers, and fema has been fantastic. our sweeping airlift operation to keep doctors and nurses supplied with protective equipment, project air bridge, continues to expand with more than 24 flights already completed. and 49 additional flyings now scheduled in the near future. so that's been very successful. and that gear, those outfits are being handed out as they arrive, they're going directly to point. the american medical system continues to perform beyond our highest expectations. reminding us that the united states is blessed with the most advanced health care and the most skilled health care workers anywhere on th

the javits center which is incredible is almost empty. i'm not saying i wish i -- there were more people there. we brought in the boat, the comfort. the comfort was originally not supposed to be for this at all. the coronavirus. he was not supposed to be flat at all. they called and said could we haven't. that was a number of weeks ago. we say we don't think you needed but if you needed, we'll do it. then they said could you get the medical personnel to run the javits center? could you get the medical personnel to run the ship? we said of its necessary will well and we did. there were military personnel. the ones mayor de blasio was great to in terms of his statements. i really appreciated his statements. i am too. the level of genius and bravery, they are great people. the military people. we pieced it together. i would say it took less than two hours. it was done in house. >> reporter: this was produced by government employees, by people here at the white house, this campaign style -- >> i wouldn't use the word produce. they took some c

we will find out, but the javits center is going to be the main federal assistance. that is 2500 beds, staff, equipment that will be a significant release valve for much of downstate, if we get that up and running. that is their priority. [indiscernible] gov. cuomo: non-covid beds overflow if we needed. when we started, the main concern was having enough beds. it has now shifted to equipment and staff. have a good weekend. thank you. c-span's "washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. on new voting measures states are considering for the november elections. then health care ready executive director on meeting the needs of patients during outbreaks, a captain of the usns mercy on there role the hospital ship is playing on the fight -- in the fight against the current of ours pandemic, and the author of a book on the history of influenza. be sure to watch washington journal. a.day, on q and lines been on the front of the white house coronavirus task force. >> when you're dealing in the interface of politics, policy, and medicine, th

kathy, for people in new york, everybody knows the jacob javits center. it takes up probably a few square miles on the west side of manhattan. for people who don't know it, it is cavernous. it is huge. it is probably the biggest facility in all of new york city and it was initially set up to house non-covid-19 patients but because of the high number of cases it's been converted into a makeshift coronavirus hospital. tell me what's happened inside that place behind you. >> reporter: ali, good morning to you. that is right, this is a massive convention center, 2 million square feet which has been temporarily transformed into this emergency field hospital. originally the idea was to treat these non-covid patients with 1,000 beds to relieve some of the stress on nearby hospitals and take some of the emergencies not related to the coronavirus, but after growing criticism and the fact that this space was sitting pretty much empty, governor cuomo reached out to president trump, asked for a change in plans and got the okay from the federal government. so now, as