Panic and fear were on the top of the agenda for ABC’s World News Tonight and the CBS Evening News during their Monday night broadcasts. Each of these networks harped on valid worries over a lack of personal protective equipment for health care workers, ventilators, and the lag in results of coronavirus testing. But it was only NBC Nightly News that highlighted what the Trump administration was doing to alleviate the problems.
On CBS, anchor Noah O’Donnell headed up a newscast that decried “the government response and the distribution of supplies.” White House correspondent Paula Reid chided President Trump for touting the one million tests already conducted and noted the lack of essential personal protective equipment (PPE). CBS also featured a doctor who suggested health care workers were “abandoned.”
“More basic medical supplies like masks and surgical gowns are also running low, endangering the lives of health care workers on the frontlines,” Reid declared. But nowhere in her report was the fact CEOs from American companies like My Pillow, Honeywell, Jockey International, Procter & Gamble, and United Technologies were at the White House, just minutes before their broadcast, talking about how they were converting their facilities to producing the needed N95 masks and other forms of PPE.
It was the same on ABC where they huffed about the current lack of PPE and a seven day lag in coronavirus testing. They also disgustingly hyped China scolding the U.S. for not having enough masks to go around.
While NBC didn’t mention the companies making the PPE, they didn’t deride the administration on that front either. However, they did tout other companies for answering the call of their country in a time of crisis, correspondent Geoff Bennett reported:
Tonight, just days after President Trump ordered General Motors to make ventilators, under the Defense Production Act, Ford Motor announcing it's teaming up with G.E. Health Care to produce 50,000 ventilators within the next 100 days transforming a factory in Michigan to help meet the demand of hospitals around the country.
In addition, anchor Lester Holt aired a segment about how “the FDA just approved a coronavirus test that gives patients results in as fast as five to 15 minutes.” The network’s Dr. John Torres reported, “this new test is going to be rolled out in Detroit this week to be used for frontline health care workers who are among the most vulnerable. The test we’ve been using takes anywhere from hours to several days.”
“This new test is portable and delivers results on the spot in less than 15 minutes, in addition, to quickly testing health care workers, this will also be critical for airports, drive-throughs, even jails because once a person tests positive they’ll go into isolation immediately, decreasing the spread of this highly contagious virus,” Dr. Torres added.
Meanwhile, when CBS’s Reid chided Trump for touting coronavirus testing in the U.S., she used a quick visual of Trump unboxing one of the new testing units without having explained what it was.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
NBC Nightly News
March 30, 2020
7:09:24 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: Also breaking, Ford joining GM in the race to produce enough ventilators, while President Trump has now reversed himself and extended social distancing guidelines until the end of April. Our Geoff Bennett is at the White House.
[Cuts to video]
GEOFF BENNETT: Tonight, just days after President Trump ordered General Motors to make ventilators, under the Defense Production Act, Ford Motor announcing it's teaming up with G.E. Health Care to produce 50,000 ventilators within the next 100 days transforming a factory in Michigan to help meet the demand of hospitals around the country.
But as coronavirus cases in the U.S. continue to climb, President Trump during a conference call with governors today downplayed the problems posed by a persistent lack of coronavirus test kits. Two sources familiar tell NBC News, in response to requests for more testing kits, the president responded by saying he hasn't “heard about testing in weeks.”
It all comes a day after the President accepted advice from his top medical experts to extend the nation's social distancing guidelines through the end of April. Dr. Anthony Fauci says he and Dr. Debra Birx presented the President with alarming new projections millions of Americans may contract the virus.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: We showed him the data and he looked at the data and he got it right away. It a clear picture. [Transition] We argued strongly with the President that he not withdraw those guidelines after 15 days but extend them and he did listen.
BENNETT: It's a stark shift for the President who last week complained about the economic pain caused by tight restrictions meant to slow the spread. Tweeting, “we cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself.” And pushed to reopen the country within weeks.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter.
BENNETT: The President now says Easter is when the government expects coronavirus deaths in the U.S. to peak.
[Cuts back to live]
And President Trump is now eyeing another new date on the calendar, June 1st is when he predicts the country will be on its way to recovery. Lester.
HOLT: Geoff Bennett at the White House, thank you.
(…)
7:23:33 p.m. Eastern
HOLT: All right. We're back now with our Dr. John Torres. John, the FDA just approved a coronavirus test that gives patients results in as fast as five to 15 minutes. How soon will this test be available?
DR. JOHN TORRES: Lester, this new test is going to be rolled out in Detroit this week to be used for frontline health care workers who are among the most vulnerable. The test we’ve been using takes anywhere from hours to several days. This new test is portable and delivers results on the spot in less than 15 minutes, in addition, to quickly testing health care workers, this will also be critical for airports, drive-throughs, even jails because once a person tests positive they’ll go into isolation immediately, decreasing the spread of this highly contagious virus.
The manufacturer tells me they plan to deliver 50,000 tests a day. Lester.
HOLT: Another important tool in the arsenal. Dr. John, thank you.
