- Welcome to the 700 Club.
We're all now surging to number one.
The United States is theepicenter of the coronavirus
pandemic with more casesthan any other country.
Major U.S. cities arebracing for the possibility
of becoming hot spots just like New York.
- Well meanwhile, a glimmer of hope.
The projected global numbers for COVID-19
have been revised down.
And Congress is on the verge of passing
that much-needed economicrelief for Americans.
Jennifer Wishon has the story.
- [Jennifer] Today theHouse plans to deliver
a $2.2 trillion economic rescue bill
after it passed the Senate 96 to zero.
- It will pass.
It will pass with astrong bipartisan support.
- [Jennifer] Checkscould arrive in mailboxes
by the first week in April, just in time.
The chairman of the FederalReserve says the economy
may well be in recession.
But today, a glimmer of light.
The report from ImperialCollege London that
predicted widespread infectionsalong with two million
deaths in the U.S., and reportedly helped
the Trump administrationtake serious steps
against the virus, has been revised down.
Isolation and lockdown measures
have changed their projections.
Dr. Deborah Birx says themodel never matched the reality
on the ground.
- So when people start talkingabout 20% of a population
getting infected, it's very scary.
But we don't have data that matches that
based on the experience.
- [Jennifer] But beyond the models,
New Yorkers are bearing thebrunt of about half the cases
in the U.S., and TheHill reports the CDC's
real world tracking israising concerns other cities
may face the same problems.
Dr. Anne Schuchat withthe CDC tells The Hill,
"I think what we'reseeing in New York City
"and New York State rightnow is a real warning
"to other areas about what may happen
"or what may already be starting to happen
"before we ease up on the social measures
"that are in place."
She declined to name citieslikely to see major outbreaks,
but there are growingconcerns that New Orleans
could become the next major epicenter.
Meanwhile, despitereports about shortages,
Dr. Birx says ICU beds arestill available in New York,
along with thousands of ventilators.
- To wake up this morningand look at people
talking about creating DNR situations,
Do Not Resuscitatesituations for patients.
There is no situation inthe United States right now
that warrants that kind of discussion.
- We grow more confident everyday that this too shall pass
with the cooperation andgenerosity and prayers.
- [Jennifer] Jennifer Wishon, CBN News.
- Well this too shallpass, but it's up to us
to make sure it doespass, and does pass by
without it coming to your home.
And the best way you cando that is stay home.
If you have to go out andif you have to buy things
in the grocery store, orbuy other necessities,
by all means, wipe down that cart.
Pay attention to what you're handling.
Make sure that when youbring it back into your home
you're wiping it down.
We've got to have thesekinds of protections.
I know it sounds unusual to go through
these kinds of procedures,
and everybody wants to socialize,
nobody wants to isolate.
But the reality is we have to.
We have to get to a positionwhere the virus doesn't spread.
Otherwise we're all gonnabe just like New York City.
We all saw the news reports,we all saw the people
on the streets in New York.
They were not working andso they were gathering
in the streets, notobserving social distancing.
And no wonder we're now seeing
the hospitals in New Yorkliterally overwhelmed.
Let's stop this together.
We can do this.
It's just please stay home.
Please stay in protected environments.
If you have a fever, if youhave any of the symptoms,
please go into quarantine.
Together we can get through this.
But if we continue in our current ways,
we're going to see moreof these viral blooms.
New Orleans is going to be next.
But just start thinkingof all those beaches
down in Florida, the number ofpeople that flocked to them,
were they transmission points,
and now they're all goinghome again after spring break.
How many more viral outbreaksdo we have to go through
before we all finally get the message?
If we just stay homeand wait this thing out
we can, we can crushthis virus in its tracks.
Well here's some other bad news.
A stunning announcementtoday out of the U.K.
Prime Minister BorisJohnson has tested positive
for the coronavirus.
Efrem Graham has that storyfrom the CBN newsroom.
Efrem.
- Gordon, Johnson will remain in charge
of the United Kingdom'sresponse to the outbreak.
He said he was tested forCOVID-19 on the advice
of the chief medical officerafter showing mild symptoms
involving a temperatureand a persistent cough.
He met in person with someof his senior ministers
and officials this week.
He Tweeted he's working fromhome and he can communicate
with his top team to fight the outbreak.
Back here in the United States,
Ohio governor Mike Dewine tells CBN News
his faith has guided his responseto the coronavirus crisis.
Dewine has been praised forrecognizing the threat early on,
and he tells CBN News's DavidBrody he lives every day
with the pressure of makingdecisions that can determine
if someone lives or dies.
- [David] Ohio governorMike Dewine doesn't dabble
in prophecy, but his earlymoves to combat the coronavirus
have looked prophetic.
Before there were anyknown cases in the state,
he shut down a big sportsfestival, and then,
after just three cases,he shut down the entire
K through 12 school system.
Dewine gave me the inside story and more
during our one-on-one interview.
- We made those decisionsbased on science,
based on what the bestexperts could tell us,
who really said, "Look, you've gotta have
"this social distancing, andyou've gotta do it early.
"Because if you wait toolong, it's too late."
Look, we're all dealingwith the same problem.
We do not have enough tests.
We don't have the testing capacity.
But that's, y'know that'sa nation wide problem.
And it's a real challenge.
And of course now what we'relooking for is making sure,
as the surge comes, this wave comes at us,
and we know it's comin', to make sure that
we do everything we can tobuild out our hospitals.
We think we may have todouble the size of our beds,
the number of our beds.
At the same time makingsure our medical personnel
have the personal protective gear
that they really, really need to have.
And so we've stopped allelective surgeries in Ohio.
For example we've askeddentists to do the same thing.
We've even asked theveterinarians to do the same thing
so we can save some ofthis gear for when we know
we're gonna really, really need it.
- There are certainstates that have exempted
religious gatherings fromthis stay at home order,
Ohio being one of them.
Why did you feel theneed to exempt religious
gatherings exactly,and what's your message
to people of faith all acrossOhio, and really the country?
Governor.
- Well I didn't thinkit was proper, really,
for government to infringe upon people's
First Amendment rights.
But we've also beenquite candid with people.
And I've been candid withministers and others.
I've had conferencecalls with them and say,
"Look, you're not doin'your folks any favors
"by bringing them together."
And what I've found is that churches
have been very adaptable.
- Governor, you're a father of eight,
a grandfather of 24,you're a devout Catholic.
I'm wonderin' about yourfaith and how it informs
what you're doing through this crisis
and how you've relied on yourfaith during this crisis.
Can you talk to me alittle bit about that?
- Sure.
I mean I think this is,if there's ever a time
when you need to make decisions based
on what you think thebest interest of people,
it's just a crisis like this.
And, y'know, I think theessential function of government
is to protect people.
And so that's what my faith tells me.
My faith tells me thatevery life is precious,
whether it's the unborn, after it's born,
basically from conceptionto natural death.
And so this is a matter of life and death.
We are dealing with people's lives.
And the decisions thatI make will determine,
to some extent, whether peopleare gonna live or not live.
So my attitude throughout thishas been let's get the facts.
I keep askin' questions.
I try to find everybody,anybody who knows anything
about this and try to learn from them.
And then base my decisions on that.
The other thing I'velearned throughout life
is that if I didn't trust,when I don't trust my gut,
when other people aregoin' one way and I think,
well, I probably outta go this way,
and then I end up goin' with them,
y'know, I'm usually wrong.
So I've learned to trust my gut.
And my instinct throughout this has been,
and this is based on what,y'know, the experts have told me.
But my gut has been we'renot movin' fast enough.
We just gotta move faster.
And so, that's my messageto my team every day,
that we gotta move faster.
As John Wayne said in one of his movies,
"We're burnin' daylight."
We're burnin' daylight andwe're runnin' out of time.
And we gotta get this rightand we gotta move quick.
- [David] That's an area wherethis governor has excelled.
David Brody, CBN News.
- And you can see David's full interview
with Governor Dewine at cbnnews.com.
I wanna turn now to Israeland one of the biggest
turnarounds in thecountry's political history.
Benny Gantz of the oppositionBlue and White party
has reportedly agreed to joina national unity government
with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
As Chris Mitchell reports from Jerusalem,
the coronavirus pandemicplayed a major role
in this political breakthrough.
- [Chris] After weeks of refusing to join
a national emergency government,
Blue and White leaderBenny Gantz set the stage
for joining forces withPrime Minister Netanyahu.
In a speech before a nearly empty Knesset
because of thecoronaviirus, Gantz said why
he made his decision.
(speaking foreign language)
- Let's join hands and take Israel
out of the crisis it is in.
Together, let us put Israelbefore anything else.
- According to thedeal, Gantz could become
either foreign or defense minister,
while Netanyahu will remainprime minister for 18 months
until 2021, when Gantzwill become prime minister.
The deal now bringstogether a number of parties
to create a sizeable governing coalition.
It's the first sign of unityand political stability
within Israel in more than a year.
The deal also effectively split Gantz's
Blue and White party,
which was one of the largest in Israel.
One of it's leaders, Yair Lapid,
refused to join the government.
(speaking foreign language)
- The most important thingright now is to work together
to fight the coronavirus.
But that's not an excuse to sit in
a government with Netanyahu.
- [Chris] The agreementis a political victory
for Benjamin Netanyahu.
He remains prime minister,and this could delay
the trial he is facing onthree separate indictments.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Netanyahu has called for anemergency government for weeks.
More than 3000 Israelis are now infected.
The country is in a near-total lockdown
to prevent the spread of the coronavirus,
as Netanyahu is trying toprevent a health catastrophe.
With a stable government,it appears Israel can now
face the pandemic with a unified front
on the eve of one of Judaismsholiest feasts, Passover.
It marks the time when theJewish people were saved
from the Biblical ten plagues in Egypt.
Their prayer this yearis that they can be saved
from another plague once again.
Chris Mitchell, CBN News, Jerusalem.
- A critical time for unity for us all.
Gordon.
- I hope that ourpoliticians here in America
get the same message.
It's time to put America first.
Unfortunately it seems like everyone wants
to score political points.
But we're facing a crisisthat's unprecedented.
You have to literally go back 100 years
to find something that's even close
to what we're facing today.
This isn't a time for political division.
This is a time where wecome shoulder to shoulder
and say, what's the best way forward?
How can we as a country make it through?
How can we stop this virus in its tracks?
But it seems to be a political season,
and because an election's coming up,
we wanna score electionpoints as opposed to really
getting together to sayhow do we solve this
and do it as fast andas quickly as we can?
Here's a thought for you,and keep this in mind
as we get closer to the election.
Is going to a voting booth anopportunity to get the virus?
Are we just creating yetanother wave of viral infection
by gathering people to vote?
What does that mean for absentee ballots?
How do we have a presidential election
in the middle of a pandemic?
Well if you wanna knowmore about the coronavirus,
if you wanna get the latest information,
we have a absolutelyfree web page for you,
cbnnews.com/coronavirus.
We also have a freedownloadable fact sheet.
All you have to do is go tothat website, cbnnews.com,
and you can find how youcan play a part in stopping
this horrible disease.
You can build a much strongerimmune system for yourself.
But the biggest key isalways social isolation,
making sure you're thoroughlywashing your hands,
and wiping down any surface before
you come into contact with it.
That way you're protected,you're able to say,
"I'm virus-free."
Together we can stop this thing.
If we continue on our currentways and ignore the warnings,
all that's going to happen is this virus
is going to spread.
So stay informed.
Go to cbnnews.com/coronavirus.
