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Published 06:23 IST, May 14th 2020

Trump on schools: 'We're opening our country'

President Donald Trump is calling on governors across the country to  reopen schools closed because of the coronavirus, pointedly taking issue with Dr. Anthony Fauci's caution against moving too quickly in sending students back to class.

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President Donald Trump is calling on governors across the country to  reopen schools closed because of the coronavirus, pointedly taking issue with Dr. Anthony Fauci's caution against moving too quickly in sending students back to class.

"We're opening our country; people want it open," President Trump says. "The schools are going to be open."

The president met with the governors of North Dakota and Colorado Wednesday and told them schools should reopen.

The president's tone suggests he's butting heads with the nation's top infectious disease expert, Associated Press White House reporter Zeke Miller says.

"He thinks you can't have an economic reopening without schools reopening, and then he believes that the testing and and other preventative measures that the administration have taken will be enough," Miller says. "They don't think this is any longer the same sense of urgency or emergency or was two months ago."

Fauci urged caution in testimony before a Senate committee Tuesday, although he made clear that he believes reopening decisions will likely differ from one region to the next.

Updated 06:23 IST, May 14th 2020