we start with cnn's jim accosta. jim, how is the white house squaring the president's call for packed churches on easter sunday with the reality of the pandemic? i mean, talking about a light at the end of the tunnel is -- i'm not sure what tunnel he's looking at. >> reporter: anderson, it was kind of a medical mission accomplished moment for the president. he was talking about the country being near the end of an historic battle. for many doctors, nurses, hospitals, governors and mayors, the battle has just begun. the president also said during the briefing it was a lot shorter than the ones we've seen in recent days, he's going to be listening to the expertise of dr. debra burkes, and anthony fauci, the doctors on his task force. dr. fauci told reporters earlier the president and the administration need to be very flexible, as he put it, in terms of this easter time line. anderson, we have not gotten any sense as to what the battle plan is, which parts of the country are going to be opened up first, which states is

jim accosta tried to ask the president about that today. jim, what did he say?rter: he tried to write it off as a snarky question, anderson. he went on to reveal part of his thinking on this. he was trying to keep americans from panicking and remaining calm. at one point he said, it is going to go away. it is true it will go away. and then at one point, anderson, he made sort of a cryptic comment. he said, i could cause panic much better than you. i would make you look like a minor league player. not sure what the president meant by that. he wrapped up his comments in response to the question by saying he believes his administration's response has been, quote, almost a miracle. i'm not sure there are many people who believe that that is the case right now, anderson. the >> the president pivoted on his messaging saying the economy is number two on his list, he wants to save a lot of lives. when you tune into his press conferences, a lot of the focus is on economic issues. >> reporter: it had been. and you recall last week when he was talking about reopening the c

want to start thing off right now with cnn's jim accosta at the white house with late reporting. jim, the president says the country needs do get back to work. everybody agrees with that. sooner rather than later, the president says. he's not providing medical data that would indicate it's a safe idea or discussing how the elderly and the most vulnerable would still be protected with others going back to work. >> reporter: right. that's right, we got none of those details, anderson. the president was pushing to reopen the country a lot faster than these public experts would like to see. we saw almost immediately dr. anthony fauci, the top doctor on the coronavirus task force, pushing back on this saying the virus could be hitting the united states in cycles and talking about what's been happening in china. as they've been getting 9 virus under control, they've been relaxing travel restrictions and seeing the virus come back into their country via travelers who are going to china. one thing i will say, anderson, is we did get some useful information from the treasury secretary stev

. >> cnn's jim accosta was listening in the press conference as well and has his own reporting on whated up to it. he joins us now. the president seems to be suggesting somehow the measures being taken to counter the virus are becoming worse than the virus itself. >> reporter: that's right, anderson. you heard the president say a number of times during the briefing at the white house he doesn't want the cure to be worse than the problem, and so he is announcing he was announcing just a few moments ago that he plans on getting the country moving again, getting the economy going again. there are not a lot of specifics at this point as to how that's going to take place, but you could hear where the president's mind is going in all of this. at one point he was talking about how the coronavirus so far has not been as deadly as the seasonal flu, it's not as deadly as car accidents as the comparisons he made during the briefing. but, abd but, anderson, huge implications. if the country reopens again, gets the economy revved up again, does that mean people can go to the airports, can they go t