peter alexander asking a fair question. are you offering too much hope when you say these drugs are available immediately and your own health experts are saying we are not sure if it is going to work. we hope they work but we need to do the safety and trial and it is going to take months and he lashes out. >> he lashes out and when he lashed out on the most basic rudimentary laid up of the question at the end there which peter alexander was doing as a public service which is asking the president of the united states to address the american people, people who are scared and sitting at home right now watching him and not knowing about where their next paycheck is going to come from or whether or not they're going to get fatally ill. instead of answering that question, he attacked a reporter. it is trademark trump but it does not make it right. i got a criticism earlier this week for saying that the president in his tone then was acting like a leader while you know what? he did the opposite today in a very, very big way. our j

the problem that i saw with peter alexander confrontation, the thing he took offense to was when mr. alexander was stating the facts of the amount of people who have died, the amount of people who have the infection. it wasn't so much how to respond the american people. since it started, he said it was going to go away. he always does this thing with his hand, waving like it is going to go through. it is always denial. when we start investigating this, we will look at how south korea responded and how america responded because south korea wanted to know, the government wanted to know how to solve the problem. this president thinks he can wish as a child that the problem will go away. , the guestnt is spoke about our confidence in government and i believe our confidence in government will be lessened because of what happened in midweek. midweek when the present -- when the senator from north carolina who knew about it in january, all of this crop about china didn't tell them, they knew about it. what they did was they all kept it under wraps and when it comes out how long we have known

peter alexander has details. >> reporter: tonight president trump casting this crisis as an unprecedented battle. >> i view it, in a sense, as a wartime president. that's what we're fighting it's a very tough situation. it's the invisible enemy it's always the toughest enemy, the invisible enemy but we're going to defeat the invisible enemy. >> reporter: more details about one of the ways he wants to fight it, those checks to most americans. the administration calling for two rounds of payments, the first to start going out april 6th. the second, six weeks later. congress is still negotiating but it remains unclear how big the checks would be and who gets them president trump also pushing back on his treasury secretary's private warning to lawmakers that if the federal government does not act, unemployment could skyrocket to 20%. >> i don't agree that's an absolute total worst-case scenario. but no, we don't look at that at all. >> reporter: meanwhile, tonight he's brushing off frustrations about how some of the rich and famous are getting tests before others. how are nonsymptomatic, prof

nbc's peter alexander reports he hopes a win there can help reset the race. >> michigan, i'm counting on you in a big way. >> reporter: overnight in michigan, a resurgent joe biden looking to deliver a knockout blow to bernie sanders. >> look, i view myself as a bridge, not as anything else. there's an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me. they are the future of this country. >> reporter: touting a pair of new endorsements from his former rivals, kamala harris and cory booker. >> i am so proud to endorse joe biden to be the next president of the united states. >> are you ready to work for joe biden? are you ready to stand for joe biden? are you ready to vote for joe biden? >> reporter: sanders needing a strong performance take to blunt biden's momentum. >> which campaign is best able to defeat donald trump? and let me say without any hesitancy, any hesitancy, our campaign together is the campaign. >> reporter: the latest poll from michigan out monday shows biden with a double disabiligit over sanders who upset hillary clinton there four years ago. michigan is one of si

lester >> all right, peter alexander, thank you >>> and for now the pain is only getting worse for american businesses and their workers as those job losses grow. here's jo ling kent. >> reporter: tonight across the country businesses large and small shutting jobs as the impact of coronavirus deepens. major airlines grappling with the possibility of cutting even more domestic flights as so many take off nearly empty. florida now mandating that anyone flying from new york, nooumg or connecticut must self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. the airlines worry that other states may follow florida's lead. in picturesque hudson, wisconsin, stores are closing their doors to adhere to the governors new safer at home order going into effect thursdamoing. years. >> yes, we can last but how long i don't know >> reporter: throughout the country restaurant reservations have plumted to near zero as millions stay in. andrew was forced to close the portland keserant he owns with his wife furloughing all but one employee >> there's frustration as to not having control over something we've worked very hard

lester >> all right peter alexander, thank you. we'll be right back in 60 seconds with those on the risky front lines moving our food and other vital supplies is it safe >>> and the growing mental health toll on americans. the new ways to cope >>> the uk late today became the latest european country to impose a national lockdown as the virus ravages other countries that have ruled out similar drastic measures here's richard engel >> reporter: you don't want to be sick in spain tonight. patients line hallway floors in hospitals. a cautionary tale of how covid-19 can quickly overwhelm even modern health care systems. the death toll here now over 2,000 but hints of a brighter future in hard-hit italy for the second day, the death toll is going down still around 600 today, but the situation remains dire nbc's matt bradley is in rome. >> reporter: it's been a devastating weekend here in italy. the ambulances keep coming the medics in full protective gear. >> reporter: in china, where the virus first broke out, a different threat -- reco

don't be such a horse's [ bleep ]. >> that was peter alexander reporting. in other news, making it in the bay, the city of berkeley is breaking down barriers to help people try to make it through. the city council voted to ban landlords from asking potential renters if they have a criminal history. they say this will help former incarcerated people find affordable housing. landlords will still be able to check references, employment, and income status. berkeley is the second city in california to ban this. the first one was oakland. >>> and san jose is getting people in mobile homes more protection so they can make it in the bay. the "mercury news" reports the city council made provisions last night to help people from being evicted from their mobile home parks. some property owners say they want to redevelop their parks into affordable housing but then that means everyone living there would have to leave. housing advocates say the parks provide a low-cost option for people during the housing crisis. >>> some homeless people in the north bay are being allow

that's nbc nightly news for this saturday kate snow is in tomorrow i'm peter alexander reporting from>> good evening, everyone. thanks for joining us. i'm terry mcsweeney, and we are following breaking news out of sfo. the airport says an alaskan airlines employee has tested positive for covid-19. take a live look at the airport right now. airport officials say the employee worked in customer service, left work on tuesday, but only yesterday did the airline and airport find out about the diagnosis. it does not believe the worker had prolonged exposure to guests but other alaska airlines workers have been quarantined for possible exposure. >>> and more breaking news. just minutes ago, uc berkeley announced there's a confirmed case of coronavirus on campus. the patient is a graduate student who did not live on campus or in the city of berkeley. the university says the student has self-isolated in their city of residence, not saying where that is. they do not have any seeiorious symptoms. >>> also a third nba player tests positive for coronavirus. this is christian wood of the pistons, t

lester >> all right peter alexander, thank you. we'll be right back in 60 seconds with those on the risky front lines moving our food and other vital supplies is it safe >>> and the growing mental health toll on americans. the new ways to cope toll on americans. the new ways to cope. is. when considering another treatment, ask about xeljanz xr, a once-daily pill for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis or active psoriatic arthritis for whom methotrexate did not work well enough. it can reduce pain, swelling, and significantly improve physical function. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections like tb; don't start xeljanz if you have an infection. taking a higher than recommended dose of xeljanz for ra can increase risk of death. serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. as have tears in the stomach or intestines, serious allergic reactions, and changes in lab results. tell your doctor if you've been somewhere fungal infections are common, or if you've ha

peter alexander now with more on president trump's goal of reopening the u.s. for business despite guidance from many health officials >> reporter: president trump tonight explaining why he hopes to have the u.s. in his words opened up on easter just 19 days away >> easter's a very special day for me, and i see it's sort of in that time line i'm thinking about i think easter sunday and you'llchches all over our country. i think it would be a beautiful time >> reporter: but that proposed time line goes against what his top health advisor told nbc news just days ago about how long the pandemic will last >> i cannot see that all of a sudden next week or two weeks from now it's going to be over i don't think there's a chance of that >> reporter: the president arguing the white house's social distancing guidelines could be eased to allow americans back on the job >> we can socially distance ourselves and go to work, and you'll have the work a little bit harder >> reporter: and that the economy cannot wait >> you can destroy a country this way by closing it down. you

trump says it's not racist but accurate because the virus started in china lester >> peter alexander at the white house. >>> today's sell-off on wall street caused the so-called circuit breakers to trigger halting trading. the seventh time that's happen in two weeks some wondering what will happen to the financial system and if they should consider pulling money out of banksour money in the bank isn't safe. the u.s. f stephanie ruhle is here what should we know? >> the markets might be ugly but that doesn't mean your money in the bank isn't safe. the u.s. financial system is stronger now than during the last financial crisis in 2008. whether you're savings are in a traditional or online bank, if it's ensured, your money is as safe as can be in the cities where the virus is more widespread and movements are restricted, it's totally understandable that some people are taking a bit more money out of atms, and that's okay if it makes them feel better to have more cash on hand but that's not really necessary, lester >> important reassurance, stephanie. thank you. >>> we'll be back in 60 s

peter alexander later talked about that exchange on-air. >> in tv terms, we call this a softball. i was trying to provide the president an opportunity to reassure the millions of americans, members of my own family and my neighbors in my community, and plenty people sitting at home right now. this was his opportunity to do that, to provide a sort of positive or uplifting message. instead, you saw the president's answer to that question. >> meanwhile, two u.s. senators are under pressure to explain some conveniently timed stock sales amid the coronavirus. senator richard burr has reported himself to the ethics committee after propublica revealed that after reassuring americans that the government was prepared to combat the virus, quote, the powerful chairman of the senate intelligence committee sold off a significant percentage of his stocks. burr defended his statement to nbc news saying he relied solely on public news reports to guide my decision. burr is taking heat from his fellow republican senator from north carolina, the up for re-election thom tillis, now saying senator bur

the president the other day really got into it with peter alexander, as you know.had asked a question, the president was talking about a couple of malaria drugs, he doesn't know whether they'd be effective against coronavirus but was willing to support further reasonable research. he said are you giving false hope, and then alexander said what do you have to say to millions of scared americans. the president said peter alexander had asked a nasty question and he was a terrible reporter. what was nasty about those questions? >> well, i want to point out before i answer that question, the president just the day before, i believe it was or prior to the day before that had said that he felt the media coverage was actually pretty fair. so he has given credit where it's due. in that instance, the fact that he, a reporter asking if he's giving false hope to the american people, i think that was inappropriate. he's the commander in chief. he is at the help. of this country. finish helm of this country. and it is his job as president to try and comfort this country and make

and one of the things that happened today is peter alexander from nbc news, which by the way just lost an employee to coronavirus, peter alexander basically threw the president a underhand softball and what are your message to americans that are scared and he responded by attacking him and then you asked the president about that directly. >> reporter: yeah, it seemed to be a benign question. what is your message to people that have their lives disrupted on a daily basis and the president was not happy with it and does he feel it is appropriate to be speaking to a reporter like that going off on a network while we're going through a pandemic. >> do you really think going off on peter, on a network is appropriate when the country is going through something like this. >> i do. because i think peter is -- i dealt with peter for a long time. and i think peter is not a good journalist when it comes to fairness. >> but he's asking for your message to the country. >> i think it is a good message. >> reporter: so the president there defending his actions. just moments later the same reporter as

. >> joining us as well is peter alexander from the white house. peter, you asked the president the question about whether celebrities or nba stars, other kinds of celebrities are getting first in line to get those tests that the average people cannot get access to. >> just to follow up on your conversation with chuck, it's notable as you talk about bernie sanders and joe biden that the president here only days after the oval office address where he called on americans to stop the partisanship again criticized joe biden calling him sleepy joe biden in his comments here in the coronavirus task force setting when we were questioning him. to my specific question on the topic of tests and where the tests are to this point, the federal government saying that only 59,000 tests through a matter of weeks total have been processed compared to 10,000 plus that were done a day in south korea as they were dealing with this crisis as well. the president and his colleagues basically said they're working on trying to get that process quicker and a lot of tests are

peter alexander is now with us. and since we're talking about you, peter, you asked legitimate questions about whether the president was giving fault optimism, false hope to the american people about these drug therapies. i want to share something personally because i was watching the president yesterday when he first mentioned chloroquine and i was watching from my office as i was preparing to come out here and i was with someone who takes that medicati medication for an underlying condition, someone who actually jumped into the air with hope and exuberance thinking that there was some mitigation in case this person got it. and the dashing of that hope with the reality check from dr. fauci, i mean, multiply that times the millions of people, your question was so well placed. we'll show the exchange. >> is it possible that your impulse to put a positive spin on things may be giving americans a false sense of hope -- >> i don't think so. no, i don't think so. >> the not yet approved drug. >> such a lovely question. lo

announcer: from nbc news this is a special edition of "today," the coronavirus pandemic, with peter alexander, kristen welker and dylan dreyer. >>> welcome to "today" and thank you for joining us on this saturday morning. peter and i are joining you once again from our bureau in washington, d.c. and are keeping the appropriate social distance from one another. >> i got the tape measure out it's a strong 6 feet separating us today. we thank you for joining us. a lot of the news you're hearing these days will be overwhelming, we will do you our best to bring you the latest headlines and also some stories that we hope will make you smile. nice to be here in d.c. near our families. >> that's right, we hope everyone's families staying together and staying safe as well. there are so many overnight developments to get to this morning. we do want to get you caught up on the very latest. 75 million people are now or will soon be staying home. the governors in new york and illinois now joining california issuing orders for residents to stay inside, except for activities like going to the grocery store

share with you a moment that has been getting a lot of press, the daily briefing on friday with peter alexander and this from the president. [video clip] >> i am not being overly optimistic. i sure think we ought to give it a try. there has been some interesting things happening, very good things. let's see what happens. we have nothing to lose. what do you have to lose? >> what do you say to americans who are scared though? millions who are scared right now. what do you say to americans who are watching you right now? >> i say you are a terrible reporter. that is what i say. that is a very nasty question. that gives a very bad signal that you are putting out. the american people are looking for answers and they are looking for hope and you are doing sensationalism, the same with nbc and comcast. that is really bad reporting. you want to get back to reporting instead of sensationalism. let's see if it works. it mightn't -- it might and it might not. who knows? i have been right a lot. host: that was the president and nbc reporter jason alexander. that was on drugs being discussed to potentially

. >> kimberly, peter alexander did not need a defense for me. he's unairingly fair in his coverage. ld trump seems to be triggered by and he clearly, his reaction to peter's question and later in the press came back around and attack peter again suggests that as david jolly suggested, there are other things that worked here, displays in this case are jerked by deeper things than the nature of the question. it could not be the question that drove his reaction. what do you make of trump that many people noted that donald trump made a shift. it was that market shaft, the shift from two months of there is no worry here, there is no problem here and we have an invisible enemy in this virus. i am the wartime commander. he made the shift but he ended this week with this displacy. what do we make of the totality we see this week and the punctuation mark and behavior of this press briefing made for the week. go. >> i will start by saying his reaction to peter was visceral in a lot of places. we heard president trump himself say in interviews since he was on the campaign trail that d demogradi

peter alexander has the details. >> reporter: the largest economic relief package in u.s. history, more than 2 trilli$2 t worth is expected to get the green light. >> this is not even a stimulus package, it is emergency relief. >> first up those direct payments to most americans for people making up to $75,000 a year, a $1,200 check couples makes up to 150 thr$1500 unemployment benefits arising to up to 600 ba$600 per week. forgivable loans up to $10 million to keep paying their employees. new rules on jor sight aoversig. andrew cuomo saying his stiet will get 3 billion dlars, what he says is not nearly enough >> the a drop in the bucket. >> we're going to look at it maybe we do sections of the country. >> reporter: his top public advisor calling the timeline an aspirational goal. >> it looks like he's made this absolute dez situation on something, he does have an open mind objeabout it >> reporter: as for those checks you can get them faster if you have direct deposit with the irs. >>> cases of the coronavirus continue to explode here in the united states and abroad the s

my colleague, peter alexander, asked the president about his many inaccurate statements and empty promisessimple question. >> is it possible that your impulse to put a positive spin on things may be giving americans a false sense of hope. >> no, i don't think so. i think that. >> not yet approved drug. >> such a lovely question. look, it may work, it may not work, and i agree with the doctor, what he said. may work, may not work. i feel good about it. that's all it is. just a feeling, you know. smart guy. >> you said americans were scared. nearly 200 dead, 14,000 who are sick, millions as you witness who are scared now. what do you say to americans watching you right now who are scared? >> i say that you're a terrible reporter, that's what i say. i think that's a very nasty question, and a very bad signal you're putting out to the american people. >> i am joined by congressman shawn patrick maloney, jonathan lemire, reporter for the associated press. the president instead of answering the question lashed out at peter alexander when he asked vice president pence the same question, he respon

peter alexander at the white house now. >> reporter: with strict new measures now being implemented in the hardest hit states like california and new york to slow the spread of the virus, tonight president trump says a national lockdown is not needed. >> we're working with the governors, and i don't think we'll ever find that necessary. >> reporter: lawmakers tonight are still hashing out an expected trillion-dollar economic relief package with those direct payments, up to $1,200 possibly for many americans $500 per child. >> there's tremendouspirit to something done so we'll see what happens. >> reporter: it comes a day after the president touted the immediate delivery of existing drugs that have also shown promise treating coronavirus but are still in clinical trials and not approved for that use. >> is it possible your impulse to put a positive spin on things may be giving americans a false sense -- >> i don't think so. i think that -- >> not yet approved drug -- >> such a lovely question look, it may work and it may not work. i feel good about it that's all it is just a feeling i'm

and peter alexander is at the white house. peter, there was one rather startling midnight tweet from the president, which caught all of our eyes, which was his suggesting that 15 days -- that the cure might be worse than the disease, that the 15 days and the impact on the economy might be hurting the economy more than it's helping curb the pandemic. have you any understanding of what he means by that and whether he's going against the advice of all of the medical doctors? >> reporter: yeah, andrea, we are detecting really a new tension right now between the president and his advisers, frankly, and some public health officials. given the fact that in my conversations with multiple administration officials right now, they are expressing real concerns about the sort of draconian restrictions, that these restrictions are too tight, have gone too far, and are in effect, taking the economy right now. they've expressed concerns, perhaps that public health experts were given too much leash in the early days of this to sort of set thos

let's bring in nbc's peter alexander. he's standing by at the white house.on this intervention in a moment. do we know what we might hear from the president at 3:00? >> yes, craig, we want to start with the breaking news. multiple administration officials tell nbc news at 3:00 the president is expected to announce a national emergency. a national emergency in response to this coronavirus outbreak that would allow for more money, billions of dollars to be directed to states and municipalities. how he goes about doing that remains to be seen. it could be done by invoking the pfafford act which basically allows for as much as $42 billion in disaster relief fund of fema, federal emergency management agency, to be directed to those states. that appears to be the basis for this 3:00 news conference the president announced by himself on twitter today, surprising some of his aide hes at least within the white house here. we heard yesterday in the oval office him suggesting this was one of the emergency powers he was considering. now based on multiple sources, and no

that sent the stock market surging today with the dow gaining more than 1,000 points our peter alexander is at the white house >> reporter: tonight the trump administration is pushing a huge new prescription to try to boost the devastated economy, sending cash directly to americans. >> we're looking at sending checks to americans immediately. americans need cash now, and the president wants to get cash now. and i mean now in the next two weeks >> reporter: the president promising what he calls bold action >> we don't want people losing their jobs or not having money to live when they were doing very well just four weeks ago. so we're going big, and that's the way it'll be >> reporter: tonight the white house is proposing what would be one of it largest emergency aid packages ervin the range of $1 trillion so far no word on how big those checks would be, but not everyone would get one. >> we don't need to send people who make $1 million a year checks >> reporter: it's now up to grz how much to spend. the proposed package also includes emergency loans for small businesses and billions for

peter alexander has late details for us. >> reporter: tonight, the largest economic relief package in u.s. history. more than $2 trillion worth, is expected to get the senate's green light, despite some last-minute drama. >> this is not even a stimulus package it is emergency relief >> reporter: first up, those direct payments to most americans. for people making up to $75,000 a year, a $1,200 check couples making up to $150,000 would get $2,400 plus an additional $500 per child next, unemployment benefits, rising by $600 a week for up to now expanded to include gig economy workers and freelancers. small businesses also getting a boost. forgivable loans up to $10 million to keep paying their employees. also in the deal, $500 billion for corporations, like airlines including new rules on oversight and a ban on stock buybacks and more than $100 billion for hospitals. new york governor andrew cuomo saying his state, that's been hardest hit, will get $3 billion, what he says is not nearly enough >> that is a drop in the bucket as to need. >> reporter: overnight, new reaction to the presid

nbc's peter alexander is at the white house. with we know they were working late into the night to reach the stimulus deal. what's the administration saying about it this morning? >> reporter: we haven't heard anything formally from the president yesterday. white house officials tell nbc news there's no day lie between treasury secretary steve mnuchin as related to this massive $2 trillion stimulus bill, no daylight between him and the president here, that the president was very much expected to sign this. obviously they still have some devil in the details. but right now, at least within the last half an hour, it was scheduled that mnuchin would be detailing a lot of this to senat senators. then it goes to the house. that would likely have to be unanimous consent given that so many lawmakers are around right now to deal with it. the bottom line is that the white house, craig, feels good about this. they want to get this done as evidenced by the president's own comments saying, the economy wasn't built to be shutdown. we need to

nbc's peter alexander has the very latest on this. ter, good morning to you. >> reporter: hey, savannah good morning to you call it the super tuesday sequel as democratic primary voters head to the polls in many states many of them appear favorable to the vice president joe biden as you note, no bigger prize today than michigan. 125 delegates up for grabs there. it really may be a do or die state for bernie sanders where he claimed an upset win over hillary clinton in 2016. now he needs it to try to reset the race >> michigan, i'm counting on you in a big way >> reporter: overnight in michigan, a resurgent joe biden looking to deliver a knockout blow to bernie sanders >> look, i view myself as a bridge, not as anything else there's an entire generation of leaders you saw standing behind me they are the future of this country. >> reporter: touting a pair of new endorsements from his former rivals, kamala harris and cory booker >> i am so proud to endorse joe biden to be the next president of the united states >> are you ready to work fo

. >> reporter: hey, hoda, good mornin correspondent peter alexander. peter, good morning. >> reporter: hey, hoda, good morning to you after expressing his desire for the u.s. to be back up and running again by easter, the president is now deferring to his public health experts extending those social distancing guidelines through the month of april, for the first time acknowledging the death toll in the u.s. could exceed 100,000 from the president a new time line announcing the federal government social distancing guidelines will stay in place for at least another month. >> the peak in death rate is likely to hit in two weeks therefore, we will be extending our guidelines to april 30th to slow the spread. >> the president sunday backing off his hope that the country would open up by easter, now circling a new date on the calendar, when he says life will get back to normal. >> we will expect by june 1st we will be well on our way to recovery we think by june 1st, a lot of great things will be happening nothing would be worse than declaring victory before

the problem that i saw with peter alexander confrontation, the thing he took offense to was when mr. exander was stating the facts of the amount of people who have died, the amount of people who have the infection. it wasn't so much how to respond the american people. since it started, he said it was going to go away. he always does this thing with his hand, waving like it is going to go through. it is always denial. when we start investigating this, we will look at how south korea responded and how america responded because south korea wanted to know, the government wanted to know how to solve the problem. this president thinks he can wish as a child that the problem will go away. , the guestnt is spoke about our confidence in government and i believe our confidence in government will be lessened because of what happened in midweek. midweek when the present -- when the senator from north carolina who knew about it in january, all of this crop about china didn't tell them, they knew about it. what they did was they all kept it under wraps and when it comes out how long we have known a

peter alexander is in d.c. with details. >> president trump casting this crisis as an unpressodentdcedend battle >> i view it as a wartime president. that's what we're fighting it's a very tough situation. it's the invisible enemy it's always the toughest enemy but we're going to defeat the invisible enemy. >> and more details about the ways he wants to fight it, those checks to most americans two rounds of payments, the first to start going out april 6th, the second six weeks later. congress is still negotiating but it remains unclear how big the checks would be and who gets them president trump also pushing back on his treasury secretary's private warning to lawmakers that if the federal government does not act unemployment could sky roktd to 20% >> i don't agree that's a total worst case scenario, but no, we don't look at that at all >> reporter: meanwhile he's brushing off frustrations about how some of the rich and famous are getting tests before others. >> how are nonsymptomatic athletes getting the tests

owners about a response so far and the task force is scheduled to hold another briefing as well peter alexander us the latest from capitol hill >> reporter: president trump at fema >> feel free to call me, the vice president, anybody at the table. >> reporter: calling for help for devastated industries. i had to shut down the strip in las vegas and tens of thousands of hospitality workers have been displaced. >> demanding to know why he has not used the defense production act after invoking the law that would compel private companies to manufacture life saving supplies >> governors are supposed to be doing a lot of this work federal government is not supposed to be out there buying vast amounts of items and shipping >> the white house highlighting one of the ways it's stepped up. waiving liability so manufactures can send industrial masks to be used in hospitals. president trump signing a relief package that provides paid sick leave and ununemployment benefits and he's opened up the barring companies that receive federal aid for using it for executive bonuses or to buy back their own stock. >>

trillion dollars and offering some new details about those checks that would go to americans here is peter alexander with that. >>epdent trump tonight at fema. >> feel free to call me, the vice president, anybody at the table. >> reporter: pressed by governors on teleconference for help including devastated industries in their states like in nevada. >> unfortunately had to shut down the strip in las vegas and tens of thousands of hospitality workers have been displaced. >> reporter: the president earlier responding to bipartisan critics demanding to know why he has not used the defense production act that day after invoking the law to compel private companies to manufacture life-saving supplies like ventilators. >> governors are supposed to do a lot of work. federal government is not to be out ther buying vast amounts of items and shipping we're in the a shipping clerk. >> reporter: the white house waiving liabilities so u.s. manufacturers can send millions of ne industrial masks meant for construction sites to be used in hospitals. president trump overnight signing a relief package that provides pa

nbc's peter alexander gives us the latest from d.c. >>> the trump administration is purk a huge new prescription to try to boost the devastated economy. sending cash directly to americans. >> we're looking at sending checks to americans immediately. americans need cash now and the president wants to get cash now. and i mean now in the next two weeks. >> reporter: the president promising what he calls bold action s >> we don't want people losing their jobs or not having money to live when they were doing very well just a few weeks ago >> reporter: the white house proposing what would be one of the largest emergency aid pablgages ever, in the range of a trill dollars. so far no word on how big those checks would be. but not everyone would get one good we don't need to send people who make a million dollars a year checks. okay >> reporter: it's now up to congress how much lawmakers are willing to spend the proposed package also includes emergency loans for small businesses and billions for the hardest-hit industries like the airlines. meanwhile, president trump who's been criticized for repeatedly

. >> announcer: from nbc news this is "today" with peter alexander, kristen welker, and dylan dreyer live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> welcome to "today" and thank you so much for joining us on this saturday morning. peter is taking some time off today, and we are so happy to have the great jose diaz-balart here. >> nice to see you this morning. >> it's great to see you as well. you're pulling double duty. busy day. >> and peter alexander taking a day off, what a rarity that is. it's great to see him home today. >> exactly. and we do want to get right to our top story and that is the overnight developments in the coronavirus outbreak as the number of cases and deaths jump once again. here's the very latest. there are now 334 confirmed cases of coronavirus here in the u.s. overnight two more deaths were reported this time in florida. these are the first deaths outside of the west coast and brings the total deaths to 17. >> 900,000 test kits have been delivered and another 200,000 are expected to be handed out later today. this does fall short of the 1.5 million that had been

you're saying but i want to play a clip for you of the president engaging a member of the press peter alexander of m s n b c attic rotavirus hearing and it raises the question of whether you know the president's eyeballs are on the virus and what's happening the country or the president is using this as if the campaign rally with listen to the clip. of the. americans were scared i guess nearly 200 dead 14000 who were said millions as you witnessed who are scared right now what you say to americans who are watching you right now who are scared. i say that you're a terrible reporter that's what i say. president we're just i think it's a very nasty question and i think it's a very bad signal that you're putting out to the american people the american people are looking for answers and they're looking for hope and your doings insatiate alyssum and the same with n.b.c. and con casts i don't i don't put comcast i could contest so so adam just back to you very quickly that to me feels like campaign mode not coronavirus briefing mode is there a difference and should there be a difference. you know ther