[Music] we have to remind ourselves it's good Friday traditionally this square would be packed dramatic images marking the end of another surreal week the cross carried by prisoners and the doctors and nurses battling Italy's fight the Pope's routed by very few on this holy day but on this Good Friday some good country still warning that this crisis is not over it has been the deadliest stretch of days yet here in the US as American has continued lining up for food a new warning tonight from the FBI so many are taking this time to help others are using it to cash in and we're keeping an eye on the future with cutting-edge work now underway as we begin to think about what life will look like when it returns to some semblance of normalcy [Music] good evening everyone I'm Lindsay Davis thanks so much for streaming with us and happy Good Friday a solemn day in the Christian faith commemorating a dark and bleak event but more than that it celebrates hope something we've been trying to celebrate regularly here and while this is no doubt a dark time for so many we are starting to see more beams of light shining through the darkness in Paris the chart Notre Dame Cathedral opening to the world again if only for a fleeting moment the Archbishop of Paris saying life is still here and in hard-hit Italy life is inching back to normal officials today announced some shops will reopen next week and back in the u.
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many say that the key to reopening this country and getting millions back to work relies on promising new testing to see who has had the virus and cannot infect others unfortunately the death toll worldwide did top 100, 000 today but here in the New York here in New York after a painful week at long last the curve may be flattening Governor Cuomo said today while social distancing is a grind and it's difficult we have to stick with it our wit Johnson leads us off tonight inside these hard-hit ICUs finally a promising sign for the first time since the outbreak began in New York more people leaving those intensive care units than going in the rate of hospitalizations down as someone who searches for solace in all this grief the the leveling off of the number of lives lost is somewhat hopeful sign the death toll slightly lower but appearing to hold steady at a staggering loss 777 people dying in the last 24 hours morgues filling so quickly crews are now digging more space at heart Island the city cemetery used to bury unclaimed bodies the crisis also playing out in maternity wards we were taken inside by mana T's Hospital in Brooklyn the scare of a lifetime for iris nolasco diagnosed with Kovan 1930 weeks pregnant doctors ordering an emergency c-section I just right to God to protect my baby and people that I had at home I thought that I would like dead her next memory special but short-lived the sound of her baby girl crying but doctors immediately separating the two taking the newborn away to the NICU to shield her from the virus the only way I I've seen my baby is to a camera and I was able to open it 24/7 and see how my baby's doing breathing smiling sometimes yawning iris connected to her daughter through a baby monitor only little isabella michelle still in the hospital but improving iris is now recovering at home hoping their first official meeting is just days away I just hope that I'd be I meana able to hold her and then just protect her was this is over I just want to spend every second with her and create that bond that we are missing now tonight as we've been reporting a terrible toll on african-americans in this country and in New York City 34% of coronavirus deaths in the Latino community for millions of Americans life on hold but the message stay home and stay the course it's really about the encouraging signs that we see but as encouraging as they are we have not reached the peak but still an emergency in so many cities today the Detroit Convention Center turned field hospital now treating kovat patients the state now taking more drastic steps banning travel between homes starting tomorrow our most vulnerable citizens are dying in a helpless manner in Maryland the governor warning there are tough days ahead we are ramping up the curve this is going to be one of our most dangerous times ever this weekend and over the next week or so but in Florida which was slower than other states to order restrictions the governor considering reopening schools in Maine and saying this this particular pandemic is one where I don't think nationwide there's been a thing fatality under 25 for whatever reason it just doesn't seem to to threaten you know kids but the CDC saying at least eight people under 24 have died in the u.
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states reporting to infants to teenagers and young adults among the victims like 22 year old Israel cells who died a short time after he and his wife welcomed a new baby tonight the White House confirming the president is creating a task force focused on reopening the country saying he'll announce early next week members of the medical and business communities will help decide how to move forward and I've got to make the biggest decision of my life and I've only started thinking about that I mean you know I've made a lot of big decisions over my life you understand that this is by far the biggest decision of my life because I have to say okay let's go this is what were you but on the front lines the battle continues to save lives right here yesterday we met nurse mary-kate Venera working in the same Brooklyn ICU where her father a physician was being treated for kovat 19 she was caring for others not him difficult for both of course I was not ever able to go inside of his room so I didn't want to cross-contaminate between other : 19 patients in him so I waved to him from outside of the glass today her dad dr.
Richard Ferraro is out of the hospital and like so many health care workers jumping back in the fight to beat this virus when you were in the ICU and you saw your daughter on the other side of the glass was there ever a moment you wondered you might not make it I had many moments like that in fact at least two days worth I just could not breathe like quite frankly it was frightened but on top of that to see my daughter at the same time was very difficult love to see those stories of recovery wit Johnson joins us now with the president was asked about new federal projections looking at what would happen if stay at home orders were lifted after just 30 days what was his response Lindsey those projections by federal agencies reported by the New York Times would show a dramatic spike in infections if those orders were lifted the president's saying he hasn't seen them but that he would listen to his medical experts and in the end make his own decision Lindsey Witt Johnson for us back on this beat tonight thanks whit as the fight against kovat 19 rages here at New York and hotspots across the country there are a few pockets where the corona virus is very much out of sight out of mind Arcana Whitworth went to a town called Washington City in Utah where it's still business as usual for some 405 in Los Angeles is utterly empty yet the roads here in southwest Utah are totally jam-packed businesses it's still open hitting the links with friends they feel like long gone luxuries when so much of the country is locked down but in Washington City Utah this is still daily life you don't feel like you want to wear masks or gloves you feel safe yeah hand sanitizer in the car and I feel I mean like yeah you don't cut your face yeah so you guys just invited me to come party with you are you partying like normal join one should behind me in a group they say that's different because they're not in a restaurant but they're outside together there's a cigar shop that is open for business a nail salon where you can go get a manicure or a pedicure they say they're letting fewer people in at a time don't be a sheep my policy everyone's a sheep right now and they say we're a match people put a mask on don't be a sheep the research educate yourself education is a powerful tool but countywide they only have 35 cases here and one death Laci priest who owns and operates a barber shop in neighboring st.
George has stayed open for haircuts and beard trims and we're doing everything we can to keep it clean and safe and I don't see why we shouldn't why we shouldn't be open for Laci is like after the coronavirus that she's more concerned about we need to go on and live day to day still you know after this is all over and done with they're still gonna be like if I close my doors I don't know if I'm gonna be here when I do when it's time to reopen them so just being here and being cautious and being aware of our surroundings and the people that we're inviting into the shop restaurants are doing takeout only in some retail shops only allowing curbside pickup but jo-ann fabrics letting in 20 people at a time most residents move around freely without masks or gloves I think for a lot of people in Washington City their lives haven't changed that agree I agree city leaders encourage social distancing and only essential travel Utah is one of nine states without statewide shelter at home restrictions but the governor has extended a stay at home directive to May first local leaders in Washington City claim the virus is not spreading by community transfer and they want to keep it that way and Akina joins us now from Utah Cana the governor of Utah did announce some travel restrictions earlier today right yeah Lindsay so starting today any adult that enters the state will be required to fill out a health form so if you fly in you'll do it at the airport if you drive in you'll receive a text message asking you to fill out this form government leaders want to know if you've had any symptoms if you've been tested and where you've been traveling and the governor warns some people might have to be quarantined and talk us through the overall rules in Utah because some cities in that state are locked down at this point right so they're doing it county by county so leaders in more densely populated areas like Salt Lake County for example they've implemented their own restrictions but the governor hasn't issued a statewide decree which is why you're seeing people here in southwest Utah move about quite freely Lindsay Kaena thank you for that report it's so interesting to actually see people out and their daily life daily routine at parks at nail salons it's images that people like us here in New York we just haven't seen for so long so a really eye-opening report there of course yeah thank you now to a grim milestone the number of coronavirus deaths around the globe is now more than 100 thousand something that we could repeat again more than 100, 000 people have died from the virus in just the last few months and things are particularly batting the night in Kingdom nearly a thousand people dead since yesterday the deadliest day in that country so far but while the UK continues to struggle Prime Minister Boris Johnson appears to be getting better ABC's james Longman brings us the latest from London tonight officials acknowledge Boris Johnson is only in an early stage of recovery news that he's now been able to do short walks between periods of rest suggests how serious his condition was a spokesman saying he waved to doctors and nurses as he was moved out of the ICU but this morning Johnson's father painting a grim picture in Hughes that American expression he almost took one for the team saying his son is still not out of the woods and not far from where Boris Johnson recovers gratitude for health workers on the frontline the British government will also be conscious of growing anger 980 dead an ounce in the past 24 hours higher even than Italy on its worst day at the Vatican the Pope leading the faithful into a very different Easter weekend preaching this Good Friday in a near-empty sim Peter's Square his prayers for strength and compassion now seem especially poignant our thanks to James for that update and we talked to wit about this earlier take a listen to what President Trump said when he was asked what will drive his decision on when to reopen the country say sir what metrics you were used to make that the metrics right here that's my metrics that's all I can do I can listen to 35 people at the end I've got to make a decision and I only hope to god that it's the right decision but I would say without question it's the biggest decision I've ever had to make and joining us now is ABC News contributor Tom Bossard who served as Homeland Security Advisor for president Trump Tom so much discussion this week on what kind of progress we've made in flattening the curve what are you seeing that's promising and and what's still concerns you about our progress as a country yeah hi Lindsey so the promising data suggests that we've succeeded and so-called flattening the curve right but the the troubling thing is that we keep aggregating some of us that data and it leads to what we just saw where people are seeing such a fundamentally different story in places like New York and Utah New York City's got over 8 million people in it and they've got over 170, 000 cases in New York State 80 percent of them are in New York City Utah has got 2000 cases in the entire state and the entire state is so sparsely populated that the whole state only has 3 million people and so when we start drawing conclusions that apply to Utah from our situation in New York we've run into these problems and I think where the president needs to be careful when he talks about making a decision it's not a decision I would encourage him to make a set of recommendations that kind of a policy framework that would drive us to opening up in a localized fashion so that we can account for that differential and the president was dismissive yesterday of the notion of widespread testing across the country can this virus be contained if we don't have that extensive testing as well as contact tracing to see where the disease continues to spread yeah so there's all these different layers and levels right so we can suppress it we can mitigate it we can outright contain it but it would probably cause too much of a problem to our economy the trick is finding that set of middle grounds and I think the answer here is not going to make people happy but it's a tedious attention to this detail over the entire summer where you have to start taking these scarce resources in tests and applying them in a very careful way ideally we test everybody but we just can't do that and so we're gonna have to test those that have symptoms and I think that the big change is gonna have to be supported and I think articulated and led by the federal public health officials is to change what they call these person a person of interest or the person under investigation sorry standards it can't just be the really ill anymore I think we're gonna have to move at some point here in the few weeks ahead into a standard in which we test anybody with any symptoms and use that as a as a bellwether to figure out where these different outbreaks are occurring and then we have to start tracing and isolating otherwise that will never get back and if we do do that and we do it smartly we can get back to work in a careful way and you've said before Tama the virus will still be here on May 1st and we can't run out then or will risk causing a second outbreak so what are the key steps that you think that we still need it to take in order for us to consider the process of starting to open things up again and also looking at where things stand now what's the timeframe that Americans should be thinking about yeah so that's just it there'll be different time frames in different places Utah New York will be different and then the key is to prioritize the scarce resource of tests we don't have enough and this is the problem we had the first go-around where we didn't have enough tests and we were waiting for data we can't wait for perfect we have to make decisions on good enough data so there are things that kind of test for flu-like symptoms right we call it an ili net that syndromic surveillance system that we have where all the emergency departments and doctors offices report people that have flu-like symptoms well let's just start assuming that reports of flu-like symptoms for public health purposes are indications of outbreaks in different cities and towns treat that seriously and prioritize our tests to people that are sick there so we can grab hold of new outbreaks and clamp them down without having to do what we did the first time which was a total nationwide clamp down that's the thing that kills our economy and it also undermines people's trust in their officials as they seem to be getting advice that doesn't apply to their locality and you saw in Kay nose piece earlier the different parts of the country responding differently to this pandemic how concerned you that we're gonna see outbreaks in areas that have not prepared enough for this yeah I'm concerned about three things if the president gives an all-clear as if it's one decision that applies to the whole monolithic country then all the horses come out of the barn at once then we're gonna have a readout break somewhere and maybe multiple places and then the second thing I'm worried about is what you heard in that undertone from that really good reporting out of Utah people not just not listening but being very skeptical of people that in some way and their experience seem to be overreacting so the idea here is to prioritize tests localize decision making and to be careful that we don't run blindly back into a virus minefield of people that can be sick but don't know it and there's no asymptomatic but infectious now restart this thing and that'll hurt our economy all over again Tom I want to ask you a question there's a bit beneath your paygrade and requires maybe a little bit of a crystal ball but it's it's something that people are curious about like let's say here in New York people who are planning a wedding or some kind of big family reunion in like the July or August timeframe are those things that you would say hey you guys should just go ahead and cancel that now don't plan on that or it's still a possibility that's not my below my pay grade no those are the biggest questions on everyone mine's you know we're gonna have to start planning for coming back into those social gatherings not just into our business functions and that's why among other things I'm gonna tell people they don't want to hear it but masks are a really important layer in this effort we saw the Czech Republic perform better than any other country in Eastern Europe because they just adopted and they made it cool to wear masks remember the mask is for all of us that don't feel sick keep it kind of diffuses the mind if you will in the virus minefield if we can add masks to this I think people can start having their weddings and social gatherings a lot more a lot more than they think are less sooner than they believe all right Tom boss our forests thank you so much as always for your insight we appreciate it and today of course is Good Friday a solemn spiritual day in normal time steeped in ritual and community but as we enter this holy weekend for many worship will be strictly between the individual and their God our Terry Moran reports on this Good Friday the darkness seems deeper look at st.
Peter's Square in Rome tonight usually thronged with Holy Week pilgrims eerily almost empty only Pope Francis presiding while a small group including doctors and nurses prayed this Stations of the Cross an ancient devotion that marks the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross Lucretia Nostra Sione Oh God do not leave us in the darkness and shadow of death the Pope parade across the world no great solemn ceremonies anywhere no emotional processions through cities and towns even in the Holy Land just a few of the faithful gathering at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris still gutted by last year's terrible fire a service held in a side Chapel captured the loneliness and the ruin of this year's Good Friday around the world do feasts a drew Santa's fee amen if the corona virus pandemic seems to have sharpened people's sense of mortality and dread for Christians the true meaning of Good Friday is ultimately revealed on Easter Sunday in the celebration of Christ's resurrection New York's Cardinal speaking from his resident that's how Jesus works he turns our sufferings into healing he turns evil into good he turns death into life and we got to remember this is Good Friday in the u.
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a few church leaders are still defying lockdown orders and planning to hold Easter services they're trying to take down our great nation by shutting the doors to the church but we will not let them nothing is going to detour that Easter Sunday service from occurring some churches are finding a middle ground macgyvering Church you might say like this German pastor who took over a drive-in movie theater for services worshippers staying in their cars listening on car speakers but most churches will remain closed most of the faithful at home in some ways like the first Christians who remembered Jesus's words wherever two or three are gathered there mi terry moran ABC News Washington there mi in their midst and when we come back while so many are doing good deeds there are bad actors tonight the FBI warning about some tried to fraudulently cash in on the corona virus what you need to know and with so many remote learning and some school districts shutting down for the year as parents struggle to keep up our students really getting the education they need plus our weather team is warning of a potential major severe weather outbreak this weekend [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you've likely seen some of those texts warning about coronavirus fraud well tonight there are new warnings from the FBI and FTC about a dramatic spike in scheme specifically ones that prey on our fears of the coronavirus ABC's chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas on what you need to know tonight a stark warning from the FBI as thousands of American consumers say they've been the target of kovat 19 scams the FTC reporting today more than 15, 000 complaints nearly doubling the number recorded last week almost 12 million dollars in losses and Counting the FBI making arrests after arrests including Keith Middlebrook I've created the cure for CoV 19 Steele Vig 19 the coronavirus this is it right here there is no cure in Middlebrook has been arrested and charged with attempted wire fraud accused of advertising a false claim to lure investors this influenza tonight the state of Missouri is suing televangelist Jim Baker after his TV show promoted a silver solution cure for Kovac 19 a potion in a bottle that you could buy for $80 Baker's company says it was his guests who touted the product but they have stopped offering it the litigation is pending and then there are those suspect robo calls we can qualify you to get a free diabetic monitor and a complimentary testing kit for coronavirus and websites promising to deliver a corona virus vaccine for a fee when no such vaccine exists we're joined now by Pierre Thomas we're all spending a lot of time at home and online and there are a lot of messages that are coming at us so how should we protect ourselves from these bad actors Lindsay folks at home should ignore online offers for cures vaccinations and home test kits some of this stuff can be dangerous they should hang up on robo calls never donate in cash buy gift card or wire money to people selling Cove 8:19 products Lindsay really troubling at this time are a Pierre Thomas thanks so much many say the key to reopening the country is ultimately testing when we come back we'll take a closer look at all the work that's being done to try to figure out who's been exposed and the lines continue to swell for so many seeking food and basic necessities but it was also a great week on Wall Street so what's the disconnect here first our tweet-of-the-day a message from the mayor of Chicago [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] welcome back the stock market was closed today for Good Friday giving us all a bit of a breather from the roller coaster ups and downs of recent weeks so let's take a look by the numbers the Dow finished up more than 2600 points from last Friday's close a rare positive week since the kovat 19 pandemic hit that 12 percent rise for the week was the dow's best performance in more than four decades and the top companies in the S&P 500 are now up 25 percent from their recent lows in March the additional 2.
3 trillion dollars of new money injected into the economy by the Federal Reserve Thursday helped ease market concerns as did positive news on fewer new coronavirus cases both in the US and overseas sparking optimism that the global economy can recover but Wall Street isn't Main Street in the positive news is likely little comfort for the more than 16 million Americans filing unemployment claims in the last three weeks or the for the thousands of small businesses struggling to secure loans to keep their business as afloat under a reminder that the market is still down around 20 percent from its highs in February and some analysts believe further dips to the stock market are still to come as the reality of the economic impact of kovat 19 becomes more clear in the weeks ahead and we still a lot more to report on tonight it may be a violent holiday weekend for millions up next the severe weather threat shaping up for Easter Sunday and how we can best make sure our children are getting the education they need in these trying times with most children out of school [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for the first time since New York became the epicenter of the nation's coronavirus outbreak Governor Andrew Cuomo says the number of deaths has dropped slightly the key to reopening is going to be testing I've said that from day one it's not going to be a light switch where you flip this economy like you flip a light switch the average of new hospitalizations and new admissions to intensive care also dropped for another consecutive day in New York New York Michigan Florida and Illinois are also watching their numbers closely in Boston of federal investigations underway into a rash of coronavirus related deaths at a home for veterans in Los Angeles it's now mandatory to wear face masks in public anybody working at an essential business or customers of those businesses now have to wear face coverings by law president Trump participated in what the White House called an Easter blessing with a Pentecostal preacher reminding Americans during this holiday week that because of the outbreak Americans won't be gathering as they usually do so we will not be able to gather together with one another we can use the sacred time to focus on prayer reflection and growing in our personal relationship with God most churches have planned a livestream services governors in some states say they will use police officers to enforce social distancing measures at the Vatican Pope Francis is leading services this Good Friday where social distancing measures plays music and mass streaming and broadcast to worshipers a severe weather threat looms over Easter weekend Texas already battered by severe storms now faces potential for wind hail and tornadoes 2ef zeroes touched down in Fayetteville Ohio now more than 50 million in the path of a possible tornado outbreak from Texas to the Carolinas with the Gulf states particularly at risk despite a pandemic the college bribery case against Lauri Lachlan and Massimo Jian uli continues prosecutors released a bunch of damning material against them including their daughters staged rowing photos that they sent to the scams alleged ringleader Rick singer overall Lachlan and Gia newly paid singer sham charity five hundred thousand dollars to falsify athletic portfolios for their daughters to get into USC their trial is set for October welcome back a large part of the country is also on severe weather watch over the holiday weekend tornadoes and severe storms ripped through the south here's just a bit of the devastation in Arkansas and in Texas damaging winds hail and intense flood swept in across much of the state causing a lot of damage and although it's April sure doesn't look like it in Maine look at that heavy snow blanketing several areas let's take a closer look at what to expect too over the weekend and what you need to do to stay safe from the storms while in quarantine ABC News senior meteorologist Rob Marciano has more hey Lizzie good evening to you on top of all that we have to think about with the kovin 19 safety measures we do have a significant severe weather threat happening this weekend pretty much the entire weekend we already have a severe thunderstorm watch that's posted for West Texas but this low that's coming out of California that ejects into the plains tomorrow and the real show begins really late in the day tomorrow and lasts right through Easter Sunday and even into Monday so here's how it pans out I think tomorrow late in the day San Antonio Austin Texas Dallas you could see some strong thunderstorms that could very well produce tornadoes large hail and some damaging winds that does cruise to Houston during the overnight hours tomorrow night into into Sunday and then we start to get more in the way of some lower-level dynamics a lot of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and ahead of this front we could see some supercell thunderstorms that develop and that means not just tornadoes but possibly some strong tornadoes that last on the ground for a long time and those are the scariest kind so from Central Louisiana right up through the entire state of Mississippi that's the bullseye and through Birmingham Tuscaloosa Alabama as well but you can't rule out one in Nashville Atlanta back through Tallahassee north and east today we're looking at a flood threat north and west there a snow threat as well so you're gonna want to keep an eye to your local WIC stations think about this if you'd normally go to a basement like I'm in right now that's a safe spot but if you don't have that luxury you mean typically go to a public shelter well those public shelters are likely not open because of kovat 19 so call your local officials at the very least get an alternate plan to keep you and your family safe with this situation again watch your local ABC stations and if you don't have that get yourself a handy dandy weather radio turn that on and it will alert you when dangerous weather heads your way so we'll keep track of it throughout the weekend Lindsay you stay safe from the weather and of course the virus back to you alright our thanks Rob covered 19 complicating even people responding to severe weather at this point and tonight convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein is facing an additional count of sexual assault Los Angeles County prosecutors announced today the new count is in connection with Weinstein's alleged attack of a woman at a Beverly Hills hotel in 2010 this comes on top of the four counts of sexual assault and battery he's already been charged with his Los Angeles he has pleaded not guilty and he's awaiting trial there the former Hollywood mogul was sent to prison in New York for 23 years after he was found guilty on rape and sexual assault charges back in February he recently overcame the corona virus as many have said the key to reopening the country just may lie in testing particularly for antibodies researchers in California tested thousands of people this week and our Kaylee hartaum has the latest developments tonight on the front lines of a key battle in the fight to get America back to work a line of people in Northern California waiting for an antibody test to determine whether they've been exposed to the corona virus without knowing it and may now be immune the key to reopening is going to be 10 the antibody testing in California part of a USC Stanford study requires just a drop of blood a simple pinprick they say it costs about 10 bucks and results are available in about 10 minutes 10 dollars 10 minutes per test and you are gathering incredibly valuable information we can do this on a very large scale if you want to the federal government has yet to deploy a nationwide test New York State the epicenter of the crisis is developing its own but they're only able to perform a few thousand tests a week it's not enough if you want to reopen on a meaningful scale and reopen quickly we need an unprecedented mobilization where government can produce these tests in the millions today Governor Cuomo calling on President Trump to use the defense production act to make private companies produce antibody tests but today from the White House there's not a lot of issues with testing the president has downplayed the need for nationwide testing to diagnose kovat 19 or detect whether a person has had the virus and is now possibly immune and we're going to see if we have it do you need it no is it a nice thing to do yes we're talking about three hundred and twenty five million people and that's not going to happen but dr.
Anthony Fauci says testing is key and today announced the federal government is closing in on an antibody test within a period of a week or so we're going to have a rather large number of tests that are available president Trump now making this pledge we're confident that the production will scale up to tens of millions of tests very quickly our thanks to Kaylee parents have certainly been transformed into teachers and principals after K through 12 schools started to close because of this pandemic almost a month ago Gianni Rodriguez who we first follow when she started teaching her four children a few weeks ago well she checked back in with us today to tell us how she's holding up with this new normal we're on week three of distance learning technically we were on week four but we had spring break in between at some point at the end of March so that was fun we've got a routine the kids know what they need to do they know what time they have to get up and they have to eat breakfast and all those things but it still to me is not getting any easier I'm back in school myself my class has started up again so I've got that on top of work and their school so I'm now like losing more of my mind than I've already lost the kids are adjusted pretty well to being at home and I think some colorful of them go for it but me I honestly cannot wait for this to be done as mom was tired and I just want to go back to everything being normal education struggles are certainly real for so many families right now for 55 million American children school is closed in its place virtual learning homeschooling and for many way too much screen time but not all families are equally equipped to navigate this new normal so for more we bring in former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan thanks so much for joining us we appreciate it so with children learning from home what about families that don't have computers or access to the Internet are you concerned about increasing the achievement gap and what should be done what this crisis is doing is letting all of us know exactly how unequal access to educational opportunity is today in our country and if there's any silver lining to this horrible time is if we have to confront this honestly and courageously together so the short term we're seeing amazing innovation Boston gave out 30, 000 devices my hometown here in Chicago 100, 000 devices San Antonio's doing the same thing is not just access to that technology to the hardware its access to the Internet and access to Wi-Fi we need to reimagine what education looks like what equal access to educational opportunity looks at the back end of this we have to close the digital divide once and for all and free school lunches are a lifeline for many families more so now than with unemployment rising what impact are the school closures having on these children well I'm talking to school superintendents and those involved in food distribution every single week including a conference call today I'm actually blown away by the level of ingenuity commitment compassion empathy 8 school districts nonprofits are giving out millions of meals on a daily basis not just to school children to their families to other members in the community we see unemployment rates skyrocketing every single week families that were felt stable a few weeks ago now had their world turned upside down I'm schools aren't just physical buildings which learning takes place schools are social safety nets and they have turned into massive food distribution centers that need is growing it's gonna continue to grow but there's such a seriousness of purpose here it makes me feel really hopeful about where we're going you've pushed in the past states to adopt the common core standards which relies heavily on testing obviously how will that work this year I mean should schools put all those exams on hold what becomes on the court this means having high standards where students who are hitting those standards will be on staff to go on to college and be successful and not take remedial classes so what should schools do about end of your assessments you know no one really knows my honest opinion is that people are not gonna go back to a physical school building this year so it doesn't make any sense whatsoever to do those assessments if we are able to reopen school by the summer I would love to see lots and lots of kids around the country have the chance to go back to summer school if that's not possible we'll have to keep the online going online learning do the summer and then if we go back to our physical buildings in the fall maybe we extend the 2021 school year and go into next summer if I could also add the academic piece is huge but I are you now more than ever probably more important is supporting our children socially and emotionally and the amount of stress they're experiencing the amount of trauma taking care of students social and emotional needs making sure they're fed they're not hungry that for me is the absolute priority as we're speaking here today I just want to underscore a point that you just made a lot of students and and teachers alike or under the oppression that perhaps they may be going back to school in may you think that that's not likely I would love that to be the case I just don't know if that's realistic or not and again we have to be planning for every contingency so we have to plan to go back to school in May we used to plan to go back to school in June or July we have to plan to go back to school in September what do you think that the lasting impact on education is of the these few months of outside of school and and how should schools consider those who are gonna advance to the next grade for example well let me sort of step back in every crisis this is a terrible crisis and we are not ruin yet so we have to stay focused on getting through this crisis and keeping people alive first and foremost in every crisis there's an opportunity to think about things differently and to reimagine differently let me be really clear for me that the goal should not be to go back to what was there before you go back to court I'm quoting normal because quite frankly that normal wasn't good enough or far too many children across this country so how do we take our educational system to the next level I would think about who is that we talked earlier about closing the digital digital divide can we come back not to the old normal which wasn't good enough but to a new normal there's much more fair and just and equitable and where children across this country every single child has access to high-quality education that has to be there at our aspiration and I hope you have the courage to ask those hard questions and answer them together in a way that benefits every single child and ultimately benefits our our nation I just want to double back to again the idea of schools reopening do you think that that should be something that is a local decision or a national guideline well I think that this pandemic this virus doesn't know what district it's in or what city of dinner what county is in at what state is in it doesn't know any borders or barriers and so we have to work together I hate to close schools right let the Chicago Public Schools for seven and a half years we never took a single day off we never had a snow day we've never had a strike but this is a different time in our first priority is to keep people alive and so it is absolutely critical that we physical distance I like the term social distancing means stay connected socially more than ever so we have to maintain our physical distance and until we're past this it is life-saving for everybody keep the schools close and keep people at home and that's hard my wife and I have two children at home and we're all adjusting to this homeschooling thing together but for the foreseeable future we need to keep our physical distance and let this thing run its course platanus per heart and when it is safe to go back when it is safe we should go back but not a day before then we are all adjusting that is for sure I can't believe that in Chicago you never had a snow day but arne duncan i didn't believe no but no days off we appreciate that make sure those kids are educated or arne duncan we thank you so much for your time and your insight well most colleges and universities have now suspended in-person classes for the remainder of the semester and for students to quickly move off campus but in the days between cancellation and moving out it then dawned on some seniors that they're not actually gonna get to participate in a traditional commencement ceremony so many of them decided we'll hold our own DIY ceremonies or foemen sment says they're now called we caught up with a few of those seniors take a look together and initially I I only meant it to be I mean it was a sort of a half joking event and then Simon is certainly something I've been looking forward to I think what's special about it is it's a place for like your family to come and gather and celebrate you and just for there to be like sort of ritual – it can really help see like confusion leading somewhere I don't think I've ever cried so much in one day just to think that like I will never will be able to see these people ever again because of this whole pandemic Korona men sment just kind of reinstalled my hope and my positivity in this whole situation because like yeah we didn't get the official commencement where we got like all of our cool caps and gowns but it was it meant so much just to be like earth in a little forum in front of her book store with all of our friends I asked one of my friends hey can we do this together and so I created a Facebook group and I started sharing this with the student body for me particularly was a a very touch moment because coming here as the first openly trans woman at Wellesley College I wanted to graduate like I ambition this moment for so long I wanted to to walk that stage be there with my friends be there with the people that I love so it was very meaningful to me and I know I was very meaningful to other people especially for low-income and first-generation students immigrant students this eye thing only demonstrates how a community together can make things happen like brilliantly a little pomp and circumstance any way they can get it and when we come back some were working from home or not letting Quarantine cramp their style the outfit inspiration you never knew you needed and before we go to break we leave you with this peaceful moment the US Department of Interior posting this virtual hike in Oregon [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] that beautiful voice that you're hearing is an Ohio doctor not only treating his patients but trying to uplift them as well and one Walmart executive recently mentioned an increase in sales for tops but not bottoms suggesting that people are only concerned from the waist up or whatever can be seen on zoom from plaid pajamas too frivolous frocks or those who even bother to make it out of their PJs what are you wearing while working from home we want to know when every day is dressed down Friday maybe sometimes it's turn-up Tuesday and the biggest decision after you get up is choosing your getup we're posing the age-old red carpet question of who are you wearing as you strut the catwalk from the closet to the couch for the conference call at noon bedroom chic Java pants or the classic sweat suit loungewear at its finest virtually an international competition of who wore it best slippers are in and robes are making a huge comeback a duvet cover shawl yes we're bedspreads these days is actually a thing while some are bringing sexy back others are going for a revival of the 80s at wfh Fitz aka working from home outfits is an Instagram page entirely devoted to the new executive uniforms of the season an entire thread about threat instagram has become a virtual meeting place for an entire community of strangers using hot kochore to combat the lockdown blues with style even famed as Isaac Mizrahi posted this for separation over pant I don't know about you but I cannot face another pair of yoga pants or pull-on pants or lounge pants I just can't I'm kind of thinking like a three-piece suit a really tight suit which will not be a problem right now the monochromatic loungewear – towel turbans yes the ultimate accessory a baby on your hip because that's how we roll these days even man's best friend is getting in on the work from home action if clothing were a mullet this would be in business on the top party on the bottom because let's blow your computer screen after all so go ahead unleash your inner Tiger came out it's a world where only the out fittest survive aspiring designer and fabric shops are closed no problem she's out her sister covered sewing together old towels and bed sheets echoing the latest runway styles of Paris from the hardwood floors of home even the grande on herself editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine Anna Wintour posted her stay chic stay at home classic knit sweater and scarf ensemble and of course sunglasses a must from swanky to sexy Dappy to debonair frills or no frills go ahead and work it from home don't be afraid to rock those tiered ruffled sleeves with boots to boot and some snazzy fridge pins to bring it all together really so last season even doing don't let cabin fever hamper your style elegance is a frame of mind in these days Humphrey reign supreme what struck me on this site wasn't all that snazzy but a pair of socks blue ones for blue sky thinking because they're all sunny days ahead and before we go tonight the image of the day amid the pandemic newborn babies at a hospital in Thailand are being given many face shields like the one that you're looking at right now a way to give a little extra protection to those adorable bundles of joy they're pretty cute too not so sure about fashionable but thanks so much for joining us tonight I'm Lindsay Davis finally tonight thousands of people they lost their lives this week and behind each of those statistics is a name and a face well tonight we remember those whose lives were cut short way too soon good night [Music] you [Music] you you [Music] you.
