Nightly Rundown: 1 in 5 Americans unemployed; Pence masks up; Operation Warp Speed; More stay-at-home orders expiring; Trapped on cruise ships; Nightly News: Kids Edition

The Nightly News - with Lester Holt - Nightly News: 4.30.20

To ensure delivery to your inbox add email@mail.nbcnews.com to your contacts | View in browser By Dan Donahue, NBC Nightly News Good Thursday afternoon. Lester Holt anchors a new episode of Nightly News: Kids Edition, answering questions from our younger viewers about the coronavirus pandemic, available now on NBCNews.com, our YouTube channel and your streaming device. Staggering new jobless numbers as U.S. coronavirus deaths top 61,000 Another 3.8 million people filed for unemployment last week as the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the economy, and the White House’s social distancing guidelines are set to expire today as deaths in the U.S. soar to over 61,370. Here are the latest updates: The Trump administration is launching a project dubbed Operation Warp Speed, with the aim of developing 300 million doses of a vaccine by January. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, told NBC News that goal is “doable if things fall in the right place.” Our Richard Engel is interviewing Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, who says the company will manufacture an experimental vaccine developed at the University of Oxford. Researchers have said the vaccine could be ready by September. In an unprecedented move, New York City will suspend subway service between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. to allow trains to be deep-cleaned, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. New York state will hire between 6,400 and 17,000 contact tracers, as part of a massive effort spearheaded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort is headed back to its home port in Virginia after departing from New York City. Cuomo said last week that the ship with 1,000 beds was no longer needed, as the strain on hospitals has eased. President Trump met with New Jersey’s Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy today at the White House. Murphy told the president his state desperately needs federal financial aid — an idea Republicans have resisted amid the pandemic. Macy’s plans to reopen 68 stores in states that have loosened stay-at-home restrictions, including Georgia and South Carolina. The department store chain is also aiming to reopen about 775 locations in six weeks, if infection rates drop and state and local governments permit it. Los Angeles is the first major U.S. city to offer free coronavirus testing to every resident, even if they do not have symptoms, Mayor Eric Garcetti said. Russia’s Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said he has tested positive for coronavirus, and told President Vladimir Putin he will self-isolate. Gov. Murphy thanks Trump for coronavirus relief during New Jersey's 'darkest hour' Over 30 million Americans file for unemployment in six weeks Jo Ling Kent is reporting on those new numbers from the Labor Department that show that more than 30 million people have filed for jobless benefits in just the last six weeks — nearly 1 in 5 American workers. The figures, while staggering, may not fully represent the severity of the crisis. Many states have been plagued with crashing websites and busy phone lines, creating a backlog that has prevented some Americans from applying for benefits. Some states have also been slow in paying out those benefits. California only paid 1 in 8 claims in March, according to Labor Department data. Other states have rejected a multitude of applicants. Florida has denied over 40 percent of claims — more than 267,000 — since March 15. Those rejections were a result of a mix-up in the system, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity told the Tampa Bay Times. The state is now encouraging Floridians who were denied to reapply. Pence wears face mask during visit to Indiana GM plant After taking heat for not wearing a face covering while visiting the Mayo Clinic on Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence donned a mask to tour the General Motors plant in Kokomo, Indiana that has been converted to manufacture ventilators. Second Lady Karen Pence told Fox News her husband did not know the Mayo Clinic had a policy requiring everyone to wear a mask until "after he left" the facility on Tuesday. In a tweet that's now been deleted, the Mayo Clinic said it had "informed @VP of the masking policy prior to his arrival." Pence wears mask at ventilator production plant after facing criticism White House social distancing guidelines to expire as states slowly reopen The White House’s “30 Days to Slow the Spread” guidelines on social distancing are set to expire tonight, as stay-at-home orders are expected to be lifted in five more states tonight. President Trump, who has sent mixed messages to states about reopening their economies, said on Wednesday he would not extend those federal guidelines. By the end of the day, stay-at-home orders are set to expire in Alabama, Idaho, Tennessee, and Texas. Georgia's order will also officially expire tonight, but the state already began the most aggressive reopening in the country last week. Indiana's order will expire tomorrow. Florida will begin reopening on Monday. Other states — Alaska, Colorado, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, and South Carolina — have either allowed their orders to expire already or have significantly loosened them. Eight states never put stay-at-home orders in place — Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming. Under the White House's three-phase plan for reopening, states are advised to wait until they have 14 days of declining cases before lifting their orders. None of the states moving to reopen so far has met that criteria. Miguel Almaguer is reporting tonight on the state-by-state patchwork strategy to restart the economy, that has led to some widely different approaches. In Texas, the state has ordered all beaches to reopen by tomorrow, overriding any local closures. But in California — where a stay-at-home order remains in effect in several counties until May 31 — Gov. Gavin Newsom today ordered all beaches closed in Orange County. Dr. Anthony Fauci, in an interview with NBC News today, warned against states reopening without the "capability of identifying, isolating and contact tracing individuals." "You can't just leap over things and get into a situation where you're really tempting a rebound," Fauci said. "That's the thing I get concerned about. I hope they don't do that." Over 100,000 cruise workers stranded at sea Three months into the coronavirus pandemic, more than 100,000 crew members remain trapped on cruise ships around the world, an investigation by The Guardian found. Many are quarantined in small cabins, some are not being paid, and at least 50 are infected with COVID-19, according to The Guardian. Cruise companies in American waters can remove those workers and send them home via private transportation if their executives sign an agreement with the CDC — but they are so far refusing to do so, the Miami Herald reported. The companies have complained that the disembarking plan is "too expensive," according to a CDC spokesperson, the Herald reported. Two of the largest cruise companies, Royal Caribbean and Holland America, told the Herald they are working to get crew members off their ships. Sam Brock is reporting on the standoff tonight. Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. After the broadcast, access Nightly News video on NBCNightlyNews.com or the NBC News app. FOLLOW US Download the NBC News Mobile App This email was sent to: stevenmagallanes520.nims@blogger.com. This is an automated email. Do not reply directly. 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10112 Privacy | Unsubcription | NBC Newsletters | Contact