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Coronavirus Now in All 50 States; Anyone Entering Italy Must Self-Quarantine; Macron Says France Is "in a War" against Virus; Asia Markets Sink after Early Gains; U.K. Pharmacies Deal with High Demand for Disinfectants. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired March 18, 2020 - 02:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause.

Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, millions of people on lockdown around the world. Borders closed from Eastern Europe to America's West Coast. As the coronavirus spreads, so, too, the drastic measures being taken to try and limit the impact of the virus.

Countries also going to great lengths to stem the economic fallout. The Trump administration announcing a $1 trillion stimulus package to cushion our faltering U.S. economy.

And Joe Biden sweeps key primary states, giving him a nearly insurmountable delegate lead, a turning point perhaps in the Democratic primary.

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VAUSE: Two weeks. No more. That's all the time the U.S. has left to prepare for an approaching viral tsunami. In two weeks the number of coronavirus cases is expected to surge here. So, too, the death toll and the strain on an already stretched health care system because, in terms of preparation, the United States is a lot more like Italy, which saw the virus explode two weeks ago and is now in Europe's hardest hit country.

The coronavirus is now confirmed in all 50 U.S. states. More than 100 people have already died. But the worst case scenario could see as many as 2 million dead. And right now avoiding Italy's fate rests on a response which varies from state to state, city to city, an inconsistent patchwork of measures, ranging from aggressive action, which changes daily lives, routines, the very fabric of society, to almost nothing.

And the economic pain already being acutely felt and the Trump administration is proposing a trillion-dollar stimulus package. According to a congressional source, the Treasury Secretary has warned the unemployment rate could rise to 20 percent. Word of that possible massive stimulus spending sent stocks soaring.

The Dow up 5 percent. The Nasdaq and SNP up 6 percent.

And a sign perhaps of life to come in Northern California. A shelter in place order has left busy streets empty, 8 million people ordered to stay home.

And the New York City mayor has warned he's considering issuing the same order. And residents should be prepared to shelter in place. The governor of New York state, though, says he does not believe at this point such action is necessary.

As officials impose stricter measures to slow the outbreak, millions across this country are making big adjustments in their daily lives. We begin our coverage with CNN's Erica Hill.

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ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Empty restaurants. Lonely streets. Millions ordered to stay in their homes without a clear end in sight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These measures will be disruptive to day-to-day life but there is no need to panic.

HILL (voice-over): The San Francisco Bay area's shelter in place order has prompted questions about whether similar measures could spread.

ANDREW CUOMO (D), GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK: Part of the year, the anxiety, people spread rumors, well, maybe you're going to quarantine New York City. And I have no interest whatsoever and no plan whatsoever to quarantine any city.

HILL (voice-over): And yet concern is growing by the day about how long any measure will last and what will be left when it's over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Small businesses are calling into my office one after the other. People are not going to the barber shops, they're not going to the restaurants, restaurants are being shut down, et cetera. We are seeing a massive collapse in the economy around this country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The unemployment requests, first-time requests for benefits that are coming in literally this week as we sit here are overwhelming.

HILL (voice-over): The White House today announced help is coming.

STEVEN MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: We're looking at sending checks to Americans immediately. Americans need cash now and the president wants to get cash now. And I mean now in the next two weeks.

HILL (voice-over): How much, when and who will be eligible remains unknown. The pledge comes as airlines are asking for an estimated $50 billion government bailout. And dozens of retailers announced nationwide closings, including Disney, Macy's, Nordstrom and Foot Locker.

Supermarkets across the U.S. are adjusting their hours, opening early for seniors in an effort to minimize their exposure. State and local officials preparing for an anticipated surge at hospitals and medical centers as elective surgeries are canceled. Patients are discharged more quickly and new facilities are prepped to offer additional capacity.

DR. JEREMY FAUST, EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: We can't do our jobs if we do not have access to our equipment and we don't have access to, you know, fresh supply lines.

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FAUST: And so we need to do everything we can to stave that off.

HILL (voice-over): The government has yet to provide a clear answer on how they'll meet the need for life-saving ventilators, advising states to get their own while calling on other industries to help meet the need for industrial masks.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're asking them to donate their N-95 masks to their local hospitals and also forego making additional orders.

HILL (voice-over): Questions about supply as the demand for answers grows.

HILL: Testing is still a major concern across the country. Here in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio says as of Thursday they're going to be opening up more testing. In fact they're going to get to the point where they'll be able to do some 5,000 tests a day in very short order.

And perhaps even more importantly those results will be back in just one to two days -- back to you.

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VAUSE: Erica, thank you.

The United States and Canada are considering suspending all non- essential travel between the two countries. A Trump administration official tells CNN an announcement could come in the next 24 to 48 hours. But the agreement is not yet final.

Negotiators are working out the definition of non-essential and what kinds of vehicles would still be allowed back and forth. But they stress business and trade between the two countries will continue.

In an unprecedented move, the European Union has closed its external borders to all non-essential travel. For the next 30 days, only goods and medical equipment will be allowed to cross, along with people deemed necessary to deal with the virus.

The E.U. hopes to encourage members to reopen their internal borders, allowing a quicker response to the virus. France, Spain, Denmark, most recently Germany have all closed many if not all of their borders.

The U.K. in its post-Brexit transition is expected to follow suit. Members of Europe's Schengen zone, like Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, are exempt from this agreement.

We're following developments across Europe. Journalist Al Goodman is standing by in Madrid. Senior international correspondent Jim Bittermann is standing by in Paris. But first we go to Rome. Reporter Delia Gallagher is there.

What is the latest there from Rome, Delia?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, a couple things happening here. One is, of course, confronting the ongoing emergency numbers from yesterday. We're up to some 31,000 total cases with, you know, a jump in about 3,000 new cases.

There is, of course, the acute emergency in the north for ICU beds, for ventilators. They have received some ventilators from China, for example. They are building out new temporary hospitals that will have some 600 beds in them in the Lombardy region with some more ICU beds.

And an American NGO called Samaritan's Purse has come over to a town called Cremona, where they are also helping to build out some temporary hospitals to try and confront major emergency in the north, which has more than half of these 31,000 cases.

The other thing that's happening here, John, is watching these numbers. We have been in lockdown for the whole country now for about 10 days. Experts are saying that's too soon to make any positive determination on whether the isolation is working.

But of course, the towns in the north have been on lockdown for about three or four weeks now. Those red zones began much earlier than the rest of the country. So Italy is watching very closely its numbers to see if indeed some initial results from these smaller towns, John, that have been on lockdown for a longer time are showing a trend, in which the positive cases have slowed, which suggests, of course, that the isolation is working.

So there's a lot of discussion right now to see whether or not in the next week they're saying will be crucial, the next 10 days to two weeks, to see if countrywide this major lockdown, which has been in place now, will have the desired effect on the numbers -- John.

VAUSE: OK. Delia, we appreciate that.

Thank you, Delia Gallagher there in Rome. CNN's Jim Bittermann.

It was just a few days ago when the president, Emmanuel Macron, was scolding the population for not taking this viral outbreak seriously enough.

What's happening now?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Well, now they are taking it seriously because, in fact, the real measures, the real lockdown measures took effect yesterday at noon. And the fines, if you're out and about without this special form that you're supposed to be carrying at all times, the fines start today.

The police are going to start enforcing it; 100,000 police across France have been mobilized for this.

One of the things that's interesting this morning, John, is our sister network, BFN, has done a poll just to see how the French are feeling these days about coronavirus and 81 percent, that's to say up 20 percent from just five days ago, 81 percent feel that it's a very serious problem and they're worried about it.

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BITTERMANN: And even more importantly, 93 percent say they are in favor of the kind of lockdown measures that are being talked about and are now in place. So it is an amazing sort of cohesion here within the French population and right across the political classes, because I think there's some understanding that it's something that's bigger than everybody.

So as these measures take place today, there's stories coming out of all sorts of problems everywhere. For example, on the eastern part of France, the military's been called in because the hospitals are overloaded.

There was a report overnight that a prisoner in the main jail just outside of Paris died and that, of course, would be a really bad sign because it could spread very quickly within the confines of a prison.

There's a lot of problems the French government has got to address, not the least of which is that they want to make sure people stay united over this idea that this lockdown is going to continue.

By the way, they promised it's only 15 days but they're also saying it could be prolonged. If it was prolonged beyond 15 days, people might have a different attitude -- John.

VAUSE: I guess we'll see. Jim, 15 days seems to be the minimum. Others are saying it may be 28 days, maybe longer. But we'll see. Jim Bittermann, thank you for that report from Paris.

Spain has the most cases in Europe behind Italy, more than 1,100 infections, nearly 500 deaths. Journalist Al Goodwin joins me now from Madrid.

I guess for Spain the worst is coming.

AL GOODMAN, JOURNALIST: The worst is just -- we're peaking now as far as we can tell. The figures you just gave, the latest figures we have, more than 11,000 cases and nearly 500 deaths.

What's the change?

Those figures are about 15-16 hours old, John, so we're waiting for new figures. But what we're seeing is the number of cases has gone shooting up like this. And now the deaths had been slowly increasing and yesterday started to shoot up.

So the government on the health front is rushing resources in, 500,000, half a million surgical masks arrived from China to Spain yesterday. At the same time, the government, central government distributing another half a million masks out to the 17 regions.

There has been vast calls all across the country, we don't have enough equipment, we need the masks, the gloves and the equipment to did the testing. I'm right at the very heart, the center of the Spanish capital.

We see a military unit from a base on the outskirts of Madrid, patrolling this area to supplement the police, who've been issuing fines already. In France, they're about to start issuing the fines. In Spain they've been issuing the fines, hundreds of fines in the last couple of days, because the emergency, state of emergency went into effect here on the weekend.

Now the Spanish government, while people are basically confined to their homes, they can only go out to buy food, to the pharmacy, a few other things, the government moving late yesterday to try to ease the anxiety over the economic impact, promising a 200 billion euro or about $220 billion aid package for things like suspending mortgage payments.

You'll be able to get unemployment payment, even if you didn't work enough time in the temporary economy to collect. They're trying to ease the fears of the business owners, the workers, the unions. They've got a lot to handle now -- John.

VAUSE: To say the least. Al Goodman with the latest from Spain in Madrid. Thank you.

A consistent message from elected officials has been that Millennials are the key to slowing the spread of the coronavirus. On Tuesday, the White House coronavirus task force once again urged young people to stay home, even if they do not feel sick or have any symptoms.

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DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: Every single generation has a role to play. We're asking the younger generations to stop going out in public places, to bars and restaurants and spreading asymptomatic virus onto countertops and knobs and grocery stores and grocery carts.

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VAUSE: So why is this so critical?

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Young people can be a risk to people with these pre-existing conditions. And even if there's higher populations of elderly people in some of these states, there are still elderly people in all these states and people with these pre-existing conditions in all these states.

So that's the one thing I think we're going to keep coming back to, is that it has sort of felt like a patchwork thus far, one state handling it one way, another state another way. And I kept thinking that the federal government would come out with recommendations, which they have.

But then still allowing some of these other states to follow their own recommendations; Alabama, for example, saying 25 people or more.

It's not so much the number of people, Jake, to be clear. Those are arbitrary numbers. But I do think there needs to be national guidelines on this that everyone should abide by.

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VAUSE: And Dr. Gupta will answer more of your questions at a third CNN global town hall. "Coronavirus: Facts and Fears." That's Thursday 10:00 pm Eastern here in the United States. 6:00 am in Abu Dhabi, 10:00 am in Hong Kong. The program will replay a few hours later, 8:00 am in London, 4:00 pm in Hong Kong.

Still to come, the U.K.'s biggest pharmacy chain is facing unprecedented demand for things like hand sanitizer and other coronavirus essentials. We'll explain how they're fighting to keep their shelves stocked.

Also ahead, more wild swings for markets around the world. Live in Tokyo, we'll look at stocks around Asia.

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VAUSE: On Wall Street, U.S. futures are lower after Tuesday's rebound. All indices closed about 5 percent higher after the Trump administration proposed a trillion-dollar stimulus package to cushion the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

But now futures have dropped and they've dropped sharply across the board. Meantime in Asia, there was a positive start to trading but now it seems that the stock markets are sinking as well. Let's go to Kaori Enjoji, live in Tokyo with more on this.

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VAUSE: It does seem one day it's up, the next day it's down again. And this is a market which is being driven pretty much by fear, isn't it?

KAORI ENJOJI, JOURNALIST: It is. And I think that to make projections beyond the next hour is very difficult when you have these wild swings of 1,000 points, 2,000 points in the equity markets.

But I can tell you that the initial optimism surrounding the U.S. stimulus package faded pretty quickly in the Asian trading session. So as you pointed out, with the Dow futures particularly down over 800 points now in Asian trading, that has triggered a U-turn in some of the key indices here.

Australia is down very sharply again. Tokyo has pushed into negative territory as well. And I think people are looking at yields as well. The U.S. Treasuries, a 10-year yield is back below the 1 percent, which also sends alarm bells to investors.

And as a result we're pushing into negative territory. I think also the fact that we're getting real numbers about how much this coronavirus is hurting companies and the economy just reinforces the view that the recession, particularly for countries, excuse me, that were already weak, like Japan, like many E.U. countries, is reinforcing the pessimism.

You have companies like All Nippon Airways, which is a big airline here in Japan and in Asia, saying that the flights from now until the end of April will be down 56 percent from what they originally planned because they have to cancel routes.

This is a warning sign. You also have trade data. China is Japan's biggest trading partner and you got numbers out of February, saying exports were down 47 percent in the month of February alone.

So I think it's a given among economists here that Japan is in recession already. The question is, how deep is it going to be and how long it's going to last, especially at a time when the economies in Europe and increasingly the U.S. are going into a standstill.

When you have big industries like the auto industry, with Volkswagen, Daimler and Nissan, Ford shutting down their European markets, this does not bode well for many corporations here. And I think there are expectations that there might be cash handouts in store from the Japanese government as well -- back to you, John.

VAUSE: Thank you, Kaori Enjoji live from Tokyo.

Across the U.K. there are empty shelves where hand sanitizer, soap and antiviral products should be. CNN's Nina dos Santos looks at how one U.K. pharmacy chain is trying to keep their stores stocked.

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NINA DOS SANTOS, CNNMONEY EUROPE EDITOR (voice-over): The sign has become familiar around the world and so have the empty shelves. As the U.K. steps up its effort to fight COVID-19, the country's largest pharmacy chain, Boots, finds itself on the front lines of supplying a panicked public trying to hoard supplies. And this is what they're after. We had to travel three hours north of

London to find it, deep in Boots headquarters.

DOS SANTOS: With the government continuing to urge people to wash their hands, demand for products like these has soared. Boots says that hand soap sales have increased by nearly 1,000 percent.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Other items like this paracetamol and vitamins are also selling fast which means Boots has to turn these truckloads around quickly, as soon as they reach the warehouse. The supplies aren't the problem, Boots says. It's getting them to where they're needed that presents the challenge.

That means calling up seasonal workers and hiring more delivery drivers. Still, at this shop just a few miles away, the aisles of painkillers are empty, thermometers gone and hand sanitizer, don't ask.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Undoubtedly what we're seeing at the moment is unprecedented. I've never seen it in my career and many of my colleagues have never seen it.

TRACEY CLEMENTS, BOOTS U.K. AND IRELAND: Clearly people are very anxious.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Tracy Clements is Boots' top operations executive. As such, it's her job to keep the firm's 2.5 thousand stores stocked.

DOS SANTOS: Why is hand sanitizer something that even on shelves of Boots is missing?

CLEMENTS: I think it has to be worth saying. The increases in volume of sales are like nothing we've ever seen before.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Like other retailers, Boots now limits how much any customer can buy. But as soon as the shelves are replenished, they're cleared, leaving shoppers disappointed and Boots staff facing their frustration.

CLEMENTS: So customers may find that we have it for a part of the day but not the whole of the day. But we continue to try to procure as much as possible.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): To increase provisions, the company is bringing on new brands and is in talks with fresh suppliers.

CLEMENTS: We're learning every hour. And that's what we need to do actually. We need to accept ,that in this type of situation, there is -- you can't be perfect, you have to make decisions that you believe are right.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Boots has more than 170 years of history on its side, supplying Britons through two world wars and the Spanish flu.

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DOS SANTOS (voice-over): But for all retailers and pharmacies, coronavirus is a learning curve. And for customers, too -- Nina dos Santos, CNN, Nottingham, England.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, it's a big White House cash giveaway to households across America. All part of a trillion-dollar relief package amid fears the U.S. could spiral into recession.

Also ahead, a major postponement for one of the biggest sporting events in Europe, the UEFA 2020 championship delayed. We'll tell you until when. That's after the break.

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VAUSE: In the United States, concerns are growing the coronavirus will send the economy into a deep drawn-out recession. A source says the Treasury Secretary has warned a lack of government action could see the unemployment rate hit 20 percent, a number not seen inside since the Great Depression.

To avoid that the White House is proposing a staggering $1 trillion spending package, which would include loans and direct payments to households and businesses.

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STEVEN MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: We're looking at sending checks to Americans immediately. Americans need cash now and the president wants to get cash now. And I mean now in the next two weeks.

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VAUSE: Catherine Rampell is a CNN political commentator and an opinion writer for "The Washington Post." She's with us for this hour.

Thank you for coming in. Appreciate it.

CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good to be here.

VAUSE: If there is a positive here it seems like the leadership of this country, the senior leadership, all now saying the right things, they agree on this urgent need to help families and business. And the leader in the Senate, Republican Mitch McConnell says the Senate will pass a stimulus bill from the House and they will do it at warp speed. Here he is.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): A number of my members think there are considerable shortcomings in the House bill. My counsel to them is to gag and vote for it anyway, even if they think it has some shortcomings.

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VAUSE: And in that bill, there are provisions for free coronavirus testing. It secures paid emergency leave, it improves unemployment insurance, increases Medicaid funding to the States. But Rand Paul, Senator Rand Paul apparently is not prepared to hold his nose and just vote for it. Warp speed has come to a screeching halt. He's affected to some of the details.

And you know, the bigger picture here is it raises the question, is there ever a moment when all of these lawmakers from either party can actually rise above all this partisanship even in a crisis like this?

CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That is an excellent question. And I think these lawmakers need to, you know, behave like adults and do their damn jobs on behalf of the American people at this point. Look, the House passed a bill, I guess, in the wee hours of Saturday morning this past weekend. And it was not a perfect bill. There are certainly shortcomings in this legislation. But I think lawmakers in the Senate at this point need to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

For better or worse, they will have multiple bites at this apple. It is almost a certain outcome that they will have multiple rounds of stimulus that they will need to pass. They'll do this one, the White House has already called for additional stimulus, and both McConnell and his counterpart in the Democrats, Chuck Schumer, who's the Minority Leader, have advocated additional stimulus measures.

And remember, we saw these multiple rounds of stimulus in the 2008, 2009 crisis as well. So this should not be a surprise. I think at this point, lawmakers need to you know, bite the bullet, pass the imperfect thing, and then take another crack at it and fill in the gaps later.

VAUSE: Because you know, just for example, talking about getting thousands of dollars, you know, checks out to families within two weeks. I mean, that's so easy to do. So if they can't agree on this first, you know, stimulus bill, how are they going to get together on something like the money to families?

RAMPELL: The real issue with getting money to families may not be a political one. I think there is a fair amount of bipartisan support at this point for getting checks out to individual households. The exact amount is being haggled over, of course. But otherwise, there's a fair amount of consensus. The issue is more the plumbing of the U.S. government.

You may recall that in 2008, there was a similar direct payment that was given out to American households. It varied a little bit depending on what your income was, but everybody was eligible for this. And it took I think, several months at that point. Now, I don't know how much the system has been updated in the decade-plus since then.

But the issue is that if the -- if the Senate can't even come together to pass this bill, and then you have additional delays in getting the money out, you know, you're just losing precious time as we deal with this very urgent, immediate now economic crisis in addition to a public health crisis.

VAUSE: For the past few months, there was the coronavirus according to the experts, and the coronavirus according to the U.S. president. Here's how it looks from Donald Trump's viewpoint.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We pretty much shut it down coming in from China.

You know, in April, supposedly it dies with a hotter weather.

Looks like by April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.

In fact, we're very close to a vaccine.

We're going down, not up. We're going very substantially down.

We have done an incredible job. We're going to continue. It's going to disappear one day, it's like a miracle, it will disappear.

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VAUSE: Yet, none of that was true. And on Monday, Trump's tone and demeanor was notably much more serious, so to on Tuesday. But then he was asked why there's this marked change in just how he was talking and how he was you know, basically addressing this issue. This is what he said.

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TRUMP: This is a real -- this is a pandemic. I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic. All you had to do is look at other countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, then why didn't he say so? I mean, that's some lightning fast revisionist history going on.

RAMPELL: Yes, I think the issue with Donald Trump is that the most important lesson that he learned both in his private career as a business person and in his political career is that you only care about today. There are never any consequences. Tomorrow is tomorrow's problem.

And he's been governing during this pandemic, in the same way that sort of assuming that if he can just do stock markets today, even if that leads Americans to, for example, take fewer precautionary measures because they're not so worried about the pandemic, they think it's a hoax, etcetera, if Trump just says, don't worry about it, it's not an issue, it's a hoax, it's fake news, go about your business, that might help stock markets today, even if it hurts him -- hurts Americans, hurts him politically, tomorrow.

And I think it's finally catching up with him that tomorrow has come. And in fact, Americans are getting sick. Some of them are dying. And in fact, they may be holding the president accountable for those terrible outcomes and for the fact that he played down this crisis for so long.

[02:35:19]

VAUSE: Then there's the reason behind this sudden change. Some have actually suggested, it could be a New York Times story, which estimated the worst-case scenario would see two million Americans dead by the end of all of this. Others have suggested that you know, the President and his aides now see this response as a real threat to his reelection. So to those two, which one would you see is more likely for this changing tone?

RAMPELL: I would like to hope it's the potential human cost. You know, experience suggests that it's really that he's looking out for number one, as he always has. Maybe it's a combination. Maybe he's genuinely concerned about the American people, but he's also concerned about his electoral chances. You know, they're not mutually exclusive.

VAUSE: Catherine, thanks so much for being with us. I appreciate it.

RAMPELL: Thank you.

VAUSE: Another major sporting event is on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic. UEFA Euro 2020 championship will now be held next year. CNN's Christina Macfarlane reports from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ANCHOR: For the first time in its history, football's biggest European competition has been postponed by a year because of the coronavirus. Euro 2020 is now Euro 2021. So what does this mean for world football? Well, here's what we know. The 2014 tournament will now take place from June 11th to July 11th, 2021, and will still be contested across 12 different host cities.

The final international qualifying events for Euro 2020 will now be moved from March to begin in June 2020. Anyone with a ticket, keep it. There's no word yet on whether it'll be valid for next year's championship but you are entitled to a refund. You wait for promises.

Now, for what we don't know when the Champions League or the Europa League will conclude. For now, UEFA has suspended all European competitions and matches for clubs and teams men and women until further notice. With no announcements of changes or a truncated schedule to enable the season to be completed, Europe is effectively on hold. But there's also uncertainty over existing international competitions

with a raft of major tournaments planned for 2021. UEFA say any changes to this lineup will be announced in due course. So what's next? Well, UEFA will set up a working group to delve into the calendar and find a way to break the log jam of fixtures, but don't expect quick decisions.

Football has never seen this before. Nobody has seen this before. It's a defining moment. And football isn't immune. Even this timetable isn't guaranteed. Christina Macfarlane, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Joe Biden moved a lot closer to locking up the Democratic presidential nomination. Coming up, primaries in three states Tuesday night could made the end of the road for Bernie Sanders.

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VAUSE: CNN is projecting Joe Biden will sweep Tuesday Democratic presidential primaries in Arizona, Illinois, and Florida. The wins will put him substantially ahead of his political rival Bernie Sanders in the delegate count needed to secure the party's nomination. That's expected to ramp up the pressure on Sanders to end his campaign.

In a speech from his home, Biden sounded like he had it all sewn up acknowledging Sanders influence and reaching out to his supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator Sanders and I may disagree on tactics, but we share a common vision for the need to provide affordable health care for all Americans, reducing common equity that has risen so drastically, to tackling the existential threat of our time, climate change.

Senator Sanders and his supporters have brought a remarkable path and tenacity to all of these issues. Together, they have shifted the fundamental conversation in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Max Baucus is a former ambassador to China and a former Democratic Senator from the state of Montana. He joins me now from Bozeman in Montana. Welcome to the program, sir.

MAX BAUCUS (D), FORMER SENATOR FROM MONTANA: It's great here. Thank you very much.

VAUSE: Great. It seems we've sort of seen this movie before. If not the entire movie, then definitely the ending. Back in 2016, Bernie Sanders stayed in the race long after he had any chance of winning, and the end result was harming Hillary Clinton's campaign. How much harm, I guess that's up for debate. But he was labeled a spoiler back then, does he risk being labeled a spoiler once more if he -- if he continues on in this campaign?

BAUCUS: Right. Well, I think this is much different. Back in 2016, a lot of voters, Democrats and Republican voters get disenchanted with Washington D.C. with the Democratic establishment with Republican establishment. Basically, Trump appeal to them (INAUDIBLE) not just with Democratic voters but some Democratic voters with the Republicans voted for Trump.

This is much different. Back then, Bernie Sanders was running against Hillary. There was no president to run against. This time, there is a president against, Donald Trump. Democrats are very organized. They're very, very (INAUDIBLE) opposition to Donald Trump. So this time, it was clear now, math is a math, that Vice President Biden is the presumptive nominee. It's going to be more likely that Bernie is going to come over to Joe earlier and it's more likely for his supporters will as well because they very much want to beat Donald Trump.

Now, of course, Vice President Biden is got to reach out to him, talk to him, talk to Bernie, be sympathetic, and the Joe Biden I know will do just that. I've known Joe for 42 years. He's what you see now, it's what you always have seen that is a very solid and decent person. So I think he'll do that.

VAUSE: Back in 2016, many of the Sanders supporters, they stayed home on election day. One in 10 actually voted for Trump. They're young, they are very loyal to Sanders, and obviously, Joe Biden knows this. Listen to the former president just a few hours ago, after the results came in. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: So let me say especially to the young voters who have been inspired by Senator Sanders. I hear you. I know what's at stake. I know what we have to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, it's one thing for Biden to make this appeal. But ultimately, isn't that now just up to Bernie Sanders and what he says and how he acts, which will have the most influence over his supporters come November?

BAUCUS: Well, it's both. Clearly, they both know that Vice President Biden is going to be the nominee. They both know that. If that's the case, (INAUDIBLE) to work together. They want to beat Donald Trump. Bernie Sanders desperately wants to beat Donald Trump.

I think Bernie Sanders, in the end, will not (INAUDIBLE). He cares about this country. He cares about beating Donald Trump. And sure, he's done a good job pushing Biden all the way to his side in several issue issues like for example, free education for all, pushing more toward if not Medicare for all, at least, Joe Biden be more for Bernie, Medicare. So I think that it is going to work out. There's not much --

[02:45:30] VAUSE: You know, the voting was postponed in Ohio because of the coronavirus and it's now sort of impacted every part of daily life in this country. On Tuesday, President Trump was asked what sort of job does he think he's done dealing with his health crisis? This what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The only thing we haven't done well, is to get good press. We've done a fantastic job, but it hasn't been appreciated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Now, there's a new poll, which found eight percent of Democrats trust the information about the virus coming from President Trump, about three-quarters of Republican is trust it. But you know, it's obviously a very, very big divide there. But does that translate into more support for Biden or more support for Sanders? It would seem to benefit Biden mostly, right?

BAUCUS: There's no question it's going to benefit Joe Biden. Biden is trusted, and he's stable. It's interesting. I think, in the end, voters want change, want change for the better, but they also don't want to rock the boat to boat too much. Voters tend to be a little bit conservative. They care about their livelihood. They care about the jobs, education for their kids, clean air and water. So you will find a real sense of stability with (INAUDIBLE) and that's very important today with the coronavirus.

It's also important because a lot of Americans, (INAUDIBLE) find their incomes are not quite what they think it should be. People wants to (INAUDIBLE). They want somebody to talk to the other side of the pile to get results. And that's I think going to benefit Biden pretty much at this point.

VAUSE: At this point, given the guidance from the CDC about limiting gatherings to no more than 10 people and the risk of spreading the coronavirus, and the reality that, you know, Bernie Sanders, despite whatever -- you know, the math just isn't there, he can't really win at this point. If he does decide to stay on or continue this race going, is there something the party could do, the Democratic National Committee to do to actually end this primary early or shut it down?

BAUCUS: But before we get to that, you know, I think the coronavirus is actually (INAUDIBLE). And now with (INAUDIBLE) more than 10 people, with 50 people gathering, that hurts Bernie. But there isn't a lot (INAUDIBLE). Watching the debate last Sunday night that is between Biden and Bernie, were very much it seemed to me that format, without a crowd, helped Biden and hurt Bernie. Bernie could not feed on the crowd.

Now that the leadership in the party can help. But frankly, it's more up to Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. And frankly, I think very much that the two of them want to beat Trump, will work together. Sure, the price is going to play a role. There are some big donors who themselves want to be Trump, very much want to be Trump. So there's a strong unity here in the Democratic Party in 2020 that you did not see 2016.

VAUSE: That's a good point to end on. Senator, thanks so much for being with us. We really appreciate it. Regular hand washing is a key to staying safe from the coronavirus and preventing its spread. And in Vietnam, getting that message out in a way that has the world sing and dancing. A little corona liberty in a moment.

[02:50:00]

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VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Well, like most zoos, tourist attraction is pretty much everything. Chicago's Shedd Aquarium is closed because of the pandemic, but one special guest, there he is, was allowed to take a private to, Wellington, the Rockhopper penguin. This little guy was among other penguins allowed to just stroll around the aquarium for a bit. As you can imagine the video is bringing a few smiles during this difficult time. At least 160 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus in the state of Illinois.

We said before, we'll say it again, regular washing of hands might be the difference between this pandemic being an international crisis and a global catastrophe. In Vietnam, they're using music to educate not just why handwashing is so important, but also the right way to do it. As Kristie Lu Stout reports, the world is not only listening, but loving it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The humble public service announcement was a vital tool used by governments to share information like how to wear a mask, wash your hands, or not to hoard supplies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you sick?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, but I want to protect myself from germs.

STOUT: But one spot is getting more attention than others. This PSA by Vietnam's health ministry on the virus has gone went viral, racking up billions of views on YouTube with a catchy hook and a strong public hygiene message. But Vietnamese dancer Quang Dang has taken it to the next level.

His choreography has carried the song to tens of millions of additional views on the video app TikTok.

JOHN OLIVER, COMEDIAN: The song is incredible.

STOUT: Getting a boost from a public shout out by comedian John Oliver.

It's more than just a dance. You actually go through multiple moves on how to wash your hands.

QUANG DANG, DANCER AND CHOREOGRAPHER: The first one is that you have to rub your hands like this. Yes, you rub your hands. It's very easy, palm to palm. And the second one is the back of this hand to the palm of your hands. Yes. And the touchpoints is like finger interlaced finger interlace.

STOUT: And it sparked a global TikTok dance challenged. People in the world over are posting videos of themselves doing the dance using the hashtag (INAUDIBLE) or handwashing moves. But for every popular public health campaign on social media --

[02:55:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's corona time.

STOUT: There is a torrent of xenophobic content and misleading videos.

DONG DONG, FACULTY OF MEDICINE, CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: Since we do not have enough like credibility track and we do not have enough check-in that kind of social media platform, so it makes the health professionals concern about the actual effectiveness and as well as the outcomes of these videos.

STOUT: TikTok has removed some posts. Its rule state, "We do not permit misinformation that could cause harm to our community or the larger public." Quang Dang filmed his original handwashing dance video outside his studio in Ho Chi Minh's Chinatown making it also a message of solidarity.

DANG: Dance is not a medicine but our mind, our education is what we can prevent this disease to going further and further.

STOUT: Spreading joy, not germs.

I am not a good dancer. Can you help me learn your dance?

DANG: Sure, why not?

STOUT: Let's do it.

With a good clean handwashing tutorial.

DANG: A CNN reporter is doing with me my dance. I can't believe it.

STOUT: Kristie Lu Stout, CNN Hong Kong.

Thank you so much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: She's right. She's not a good dancer. Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. A lot more news after a very short break.

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