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Morning folks. Apologies if your phone is about to give off a bunch of notifications. I'll be live tweeting @GovRicketts' appearance in a bit on @jaketapper's Sunday morning show on @CNN.
He is expected to ask @GovRicketts about President @realDonaldTrump's comments about what #Nebraska has done right and whether the governor is prepared to reopen in the coming days and weeks. He'll also be speaking to the governors of Michigan and Washington.
Tapper: Death tally over 2k. Talking about Trump backing off a potential quarantine for NYC. Talking about new federal guidelines on when schools and business might be able to reopen.
First up, guest wise, is @SpeakerPelosi. She's talking about the doubling of deaths, the need to take every precaution. Pelosi: His denial at the beginning was deadly. Problems with equipment, deadly. We need testing before we can evaluate the nature of what is in these regions.
Pelosi: I don't know what the scientists are saying. We have to take every precaution.
Pelosi: Everything wasn't great 20 days ago. In that 20 days, because we weren't prepared we now have 2,000 deaths and 100,000 cases. We want to work in a unifying way, but we can't allow him to make these underestimates of what's going on here.
Pelosi: We still don't have enough testing, and we still don't have enough equipment, even after these bills. We need to get what we need to the states. So our first responders have what they need.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is being quoted that the $2 trillion stimulus package didn't address the revenue shortfall of these shutdowns to state and local governments. Pelosi says they'll have to pass another bill to meet the need.
Pelosi: We have to do more to make visits to the doctor covered. The states, municipalities and other institutions need more resources. I understand the governor's anger. We have big needs in California and in other states in the union. This is life and death equipment.
Pelosi is criticizing the Trump administration for not requiring businesses to manufacture ventilators sooner.
Tapper is asking about the president's signing statement that removed or minimized some of the congressional oversight on the administration's loan program for businesses, etc.
Pelosi: The bill Republicans wanted would put employers first and trickle down to workers. We did jujutsu on it and tried to put workers first.
Pelosi: We will have our oversight in the Congress. It's just the same business as usual for the president, turning the bill back toward corporate America and away from the people.
Tapper: It's been reported you and he have not spoken in five months.

Pelosi: I'm the Speaker of the House. Legislation is my responsibility. Conversations with the president are not a key part of that. I spoke with him at the SOTU.
Dr. Fauci is next. Tapper is asking about latest developments. Why did the admin go with a travel advisory and will it stop the virus? Fauci: I think it will help stop. The original proposal was to consider an enforceable quarantine.
Fauci: The reason he decided this is you don't want to get to the point you're enforcing things that could hurt morale. The infection rate in New York is about 56 percent of all new infections in the country are coming from that part of the country.
Fauci: What you don't want is people from that part of the country traveling elsewhere and spreading this innocently.
Tapper: Do you believe the U.S. is now the epicenter of this disease? Fauci: It's certainly a focus. We have difficult areas, New York. Detroit and other areas are going to see difficulties. Some places are shifting to mitigation.
Fauci: We also don't want to neglect other areas of the country where it looks like there are relatively few infections. If we test and get people out of circulation with contact tracing, we might be able to prevent those areas from getting to the point we need mitigation.
Fauci: There are things called models with various assumptions. The model is only as good as your assumptions. They give a worst case scenario and a best case scenario. Never seen the worst case happen. When you use numbers like 2 mil that's almost off the chart.
Fauci: I would expect 100k to 200k deaths, millions of cases. But we don't need to do projections. Let's just look at the data we have and not look at the worst and best case scenarios.
Tapper: How long do you think it's going to last and what steps need to be taken?

Fauci: I want to see a flattening and turning down of the curve.
Fauci: When we start to see a daily number of cases flatten out, turn the corner and come down, then you can start doing modifications of the intensity of our mitigation. The virus itself determines the timetable. When we see that, we'll be at the point we can pull back a little.
Tapper: There's this talk of loosening of the guidelines in some parts of the country, opening schools and businesses. I hear that and hear what you are saying. There could be hotspots we don't know about. What do you think about recommendations that some parts could loosen?
Fauci: Take an area that has moderate activity. You can't empirically say it. You have to go there, test in an efficient way. You must know in real time that someone is infected. If you release restrictions before you have a good eyeball, you're going to get in trouble.
Fauci: I'm for it in an appropriate place, but not without the tools in real time to do what I just said. If we can do that we can keep things contained. It's doable, but only if you have the tools.

Tapper: Do we have those tools?
Fauci: I don't think it's how many tests do you need. You want to make it easy enough to get a test in real time if you need it. We have an amazingly larger number of tests. I want to see them on the ground, able to be implemented where we need them.
Fauci: If we could do that, I think we could reasonably pull back on some of those restrictions. That's what we're trying to do. In some places they are. There are still places you can't get testing easier, but those are fewer and fewer than there were.
Tapper: When do you think you will be comfortable with the amount of testing to open up parts of the country?

Fauci: It depends on the availability of the rapid tests. When are we getting those tests and PPEs, that's when we'd be a able to get to that point.
Tapper: You don't think we're ready to lift guidelines yet?

Fauci: We're going to seriously discuss that. I don't think we're at that point yet. We're a group and a task force so we will discuss it. It's a little iffy there. If we need to push the day forward, we will.
They're now talking about New York and ventilators.

Fauci: Are there ventilators to that are there you need better access to or do we need to get them to him? We'll try to help him either way. He's got to have the ventilators.
Tapper now asking about President Trump saying don't call the governors of Washington and Michigan if they don't treat you right. Should the federal government call?

Fauci: The reality, not the rhetoric, are different. People are going to get what they need. It doesn't matter.
Now they're talking with the NYC mayor about travel restrictions. I'll take a brief break to wait for the governors.
For folks who are wondering, @GovRicketts will be appearing from his Omaha dining room via video chat.
Interesting to hear Mayor DeBlasio of NYC saying no one should be looking back at previous actions (and holding people accountable) until this is done. He's been criticized for his actions encouraging people to go on living.
Tapper: You've criticized President Trump's actions. How is that different?

DeBlasio: If we had the testing we had needed when we needed it this could be a different reality. The time to ask these questions is after this is over.
The governor of Michigan is up next, Gretchen Whitmer.

Tapper: Are you now getting what you need from the federal government?

Whitmer: We are relieved. We now have enough masks to get through the weekend. Grateful for FEMA, the VP. We talked.
Whitmer: Asking our residents to chip in as well. We've got distilleries making hand sanitizer. We shouldn't be fighting one another. We should be fighting COVID-19.

Tapper is now showing the not appreciative to me or federal government clip.
Whitmer: Whitmer: I don't have energy to respond to every slight. The dire situation in Detroit is getting worse by the minute. They're working with us now, and I need all the help we can get.
Tapper: What about the troubles with vendors?

Whitmer: The story in Michigan is the same in other states. We're trying to get every piece of PPE we can. In some cases the federal government is taking priority. The goods we had contracted for are going to the feds.
Whitmer: It's a unique situation we're in right now, but not because it's unique to Michigan. My role is to get every piece of personal equipment to Michigan nurses and doctors that I can. We need some assistance. We're going to need thousands of ventilators.
Whitmer: These other pressure points are real and there are a lot of lives at stake.
Whitmer: This is a novel virus. There's no cure. There's no vaccine. There's little protection. We need this help so our hospitals have a chance to fight this. We're asking people to do their part.
Washington's Gov. Jay Inslee up next. Tapper: It's said they're running blind with almost no testing.

Inslee: We have a desperate need for the testing kits. We've had some success building up the capacity to read them.
Inslee: Something as simple as the swabs. We do not have those simple things. That's why we have to mobilize the entire manufacturing base in the U.S. This is so severe in my state, people are driving 300 miles to pick up supplies.
Tapper: Dr. Fauci said earlier there are parts of the country where it's easy to get tests and places where you can't. How are these states being given to states and localities?
Inslee: This is why we need some federal coordination. Elon Musk says we don't really have a shortage of ventilators, just a poor distribution of them. That's where the federal government can really help. We're getting help from the federal stockpile. The Guard is helping.
Inslee: We could use a more coordinated federal response.
Tapper: If President Trump were to issue the guidelines, would you open parts of your state?

Inslee: We need to make decisions based on science and reality. This is going to continue to spread like wildfire to every corner of my state. We have only one weapon, social distancing.
Inslee: I think the two-week stay home, stay healthy initiative will have to be extended. I would not want to be responsible for spreading this virus to places that seem OK today.
Tapper asking about the Trump clip about not returning the call for him and governors who are not appreciative.
Tapper: Do you think your relationship with the president is impacting your ability to get what you need from the federal government?

Inslee: The Army is in my state building hospitals. We have great relationships. We are still having conversations with the VP. Talked to FEMA.
Inslee: We're not distracted by some of the noise out of the White House, but boy, we have a lot more work to do.
Now Tapper is talking about Nebraska reporting its first death. Asking about relaxing social distancing guidelines.

Tapper: Nebraska doesn't have the same kind of caseloads. Do you think this is the right thing?
Ricketts: President Trump also said governors and states will be able to make their own decisions. We've got a plan and we'll keep working our plan. We're putting our restrictions in place, based on that plan.

Tapper: How many tests have been done in Nebraska? 650k tests in US
Ricketts: Couple thousand tests. Our plan is built on having limited tests until we have more.

Tapper: Many rural counties don't have any ICU beds. Can the rural health system in Nebraska handle this crisis assuming it does become full-blown?
Ricketts: The key is managing it so we limit the spread. Getting our PPEs delivered to where it is needed. Same type of testing in our rural areas, same criteria, same screener, if you will. Rural hospitals already transfer patients today based on if they can handle it.
Tapper: After president referred to criticisms of coronavirus, why did you feel the need to make that clear?

Ricketts: Reporter asked me and said this is very serious. We have to take it very seriously. We need people to pay attention to the plan. Closing restaurants to dine-in.
Ricketts: Staying home.

Tapper: You've said you have 600 ventilators and are seeking more. Does it give you pause to compete with other states with more cases right now?
Ricketts: We are doing an analysis right now on need for hospital beds and ventilators and we will seek what we need. I've not experienced the issue some of my colleagues have experienced. We also are looking to buy PPE and other supplies for the State of Nebraska.
Ricketts: You can either have the federal gov do everything or the states. I prefer that we leave it up to the states to manage this, because we will have a better outcome. You can't have it both ways.
OK. Going to peel off to write this up really quickly. Thanks for following along. If anybody thinks I missed something he said that was key, please let me know.
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