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President Trump Extends Social Distancing Guidelines Until April 30th; New York Remains the Hardest-Hit State in the United States; California Closes Vehicle Access to All State Parks; U.S. Navy Hospital Ship Accepts the First non-COVID-19 Patients; EasyJet Grounds its Entire Fleet of Planes; Steve Mnuchin Says Stimulus Checks Could be Coming in Three Weeks; Impact on Jobs, Corporate Earnings an Ongoing Concern; New York Nightlife Shuts Down, Workers Need Help; Atlanta Salutes Medical Professionals; New Images Show Air Pollution Down Across Europe; Parrot's Social Distancing Message: "Don't Go Out;" More Lives to Lose; Doctors Voice Out Concerns on Supplies; Italy Set Another Record on Casualties; P.M. Johnson's Administration Criticized Amid Crisis. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 30, 2020 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, there are almost three quarters of a million coronavirus cases globally.

To our viewers here in the United States, and across the world. Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm Rosemary Church.

Ahead this hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: So, we have between 100, and 200,000, we all together have done a very good job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Donald Trump concedes that more than 100,000 Americans could die from the coronavirus.

Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mask doesn't have official approval by health authorities, but ICU staff are already using them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Running out of supplies and one European country, doctors are making their own medical gear, and it's happening right now. It's killing the most vulnerable, it's costing trillions of dollars, and it's -- it will change life as we know it forever. It's not the pandemic. We explore it just ahead.

Thanks for being with us. Well some three months after the coronavirus was first detected, it's exploding around the world with astonishing speed. The number of global cases is now quickly approaching three quarters of a million, with more than 34,000 deaths. That is according to John Hopkins University.

Now this comes as the U.S. becomes the world's biggest COVID-19 hotspots with nearly 140,000 infections, that more than Italy and China. The American death toll has more than doubled in just the past few days, now exceeding 2,400.

The country's leading expert on infectious disease says that U.S. could eventually see upwards of 100,000 fatalities. When asked about that, President Trump said if the death toll can be help to that figure, it means that everyone did a, quote, "good job." That, to many, would still be a staggering loss of life.

The U.S. president suggested there could be millions of cases if no action was taken. Well, he also announced that he's extending virus restrictions for another month. Jeremy Diamond questioned him about the federal response and his shifting narrative.

JEREMY HUNT, BRITISH SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: President Trump on Sunday announcing that he is extending those social distancing guidelines to slow the spread of the coronavirus epidemic in the United States. Announcing that he will keep those guidelines in place for all Americans across the country until the end of April.

This is just days after the president was suggesting that he might want to begin opening the country's economy by Easter Sunday. And the president suggesting that just a few days ago.

But clearly, the president was convinced by his public health experts that he needed to keep these restrictions in place in order to avert worst-case scenario, as far as the death toll is concerned. Nonetheless, the president acknowledging that 100,000 Americans could die from the coronavirus. That was an estimate put out earlier on Sunday by Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the leading public health experts. And the president said that if he can keep it under that number, he feels like it will be a good job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If we can hold that down, as we are saying, to 100,000, it's a horrible number, maybe even less, but to 100,000, so we have between 100 and 200, 000, we all together have done a very good job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: Now the president also refused to back down on the statement that governors of various states across the country shouldn't be critical of him or his administration, but shouldn't said be appreciative. That was the word that the president used on Friday during a news conference when he said that those governors should be appreciative, and if they don't treat him right then he would not call them back.

I pressed the president on that on Sunday. Listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIAMOND: You are talking about governors of different states, and you said I want them to be appreciative, you also said if they don't treat you right --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: But I didn't say that.

DIAMOND: -- I don't call. These are direct, direct quote, sir.

TRUMP: I didn't say that. No, it's such a -- excuse me, are you ready? Ready? Ready? Take a look at what I said. I want them to be appreciative of me, OK, and then you cut it off because it's fake news.

(CROSSTALK)

[03:05:03]

DIAMOND: You and your administration, absolutely.

TRUMP: Please, let me just finish. You just said it again, and you know the answer is a lie.

DIAMOND: I could read you your full comments, sir, if that would be easier.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Let me just say. Look, your statement, and your response and your answer is a lie. Because here's the story, are you ready? I said I want them to be appreciative of me and then you go on, and then I go on, and you cut it off. But it says when you're not --

(CROSSTALK)

DIAMOND: You said, I want them to be appreciative, I don't want them to things that aren't true, I want them to be appreciative. We've done a great job. And I'm not talking about me, I'm talking about Mike Pence, the task force. I'm talking about FENA.

TRUMP: Thank you.

DIAMOND: The army corps of engineers.

TRUMP: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DIAMOND: And you can see there the president pushing back, but ultimately sticking with the same point that he doesn't feel these governors should be disrespecting him. Of course, in the fast, the president has also talked about this as a two-way street between him and the governors of various states.

Of course, those governors who have been critical of the president haven't been critical of him personally. What they have been saying is that the federal government hasn't been doing enough to get them vital medical supplies and equipment, whether it be ventilators or those N95 respirator masks.

But there is an interesting dichotomy here, even as we hear the president's rhetoric. The Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence, he just on Saturday, did phone Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, one of those governors who the president was targeting. And Whitmer then thanked him, not only for the call but for delivering more than 100,000 additional N95 masks.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

Well, clearly, there are a lot of political fights going on, but the reality on the ground matters the most.

Elmhurst Hospital in New York City's Queensboro is one of the facilities that's bursting with coronavirus patients while running critically low on supplies and space. This is the line of people waiting to be seen in the emergency room at Elmhurst, standing apart to maintain that social distancing.

The city's mayor says dozens of additional medical workers have been sent to the hospital to help care for the flood of people needing attention. A giant refrigerator truck has been moved to the property to hold what the hospital morgue cannot.

And to give you a better sense of the dreadful condition hospitals are facing right now, doctors and nurses have started filming their experiences on the front lines and have shared their stories with CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONALISA MOCHATUTA, EMERGENCY MEDICINE DOCTOR: Hi, everybody. My name is Monalisa Mochatuta. I'm an emergency medicine doctor in New York City. I'm making this video with my colleagues here in New York to try to help you understand how serious COVID-19 is, to encourage you to stay safe, to stay home, and to kind of give you a better idea of what's going on in New York City, just so you can really take this seriously.

Hospitals are running out of medications. Some hospitals don't have protective gear for staff or family members of patients that come to the hospital. We're running out of medications, we're running out of equipment, and we're even running out of oxygen, which is something that patients that have COVID-19 need.

RAVI WETTASINGHE, NEW YORK DOCTOR: We don't know who's going to do well, who's not going to do well. It's like you had a tipping point, you start drowning. You do really poorly. And we are running out of equipment in the hospital. Nearly everybody comes in emergency department has this and we are getting completely overwhelmed.

BENJAMIN OBASEKI, NEW YORK DOCTOR: There is a common misconception going around that there is only the elder people in our population that's being affected. That is simply untrue. Every day we are having people younger adults come in who have very little comorbidity or other illnesses going on who are being seriously affected by this illness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is really killing a lot of people.

ELIZABETH STACHTIARIS, NEW YORK DOCTOR: Hi. I'm Dr. Stachtiaris. And I work at an E.R. in Brooklyn. Today has been crazy. We're very short staffed. We're short supply.

For the last few weeks every day the chargers have been giving us a baggy of goodies, essentially, personal protective equipment that we must make last throughout the day. I currently did not get one today because we are out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Well, Dr. Richard Dawood is the medical director of London's Fleet Street Clinic. He joins me now live. Good to talk with you, sir.

RICHARD DAWOOD, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, FLEET STREET CLINIC: Good morning.

CHURCH: We just heard from some New York City doctors and specifically, we heard about the dire circumstances they are confronting while trying to save lives. That last doctor has no personal protective gear because the hospital his run out, and yet President Trump seems to think doctors and hospitals are exaggerating how much protective equipment they need, even suggesting they're hoarding it.

How is there such a disconnect between a president and the doctors working on the frontlines trying to save lives? Can you explain that to us?

DAWOOD: Well, I don't think anyone can explain that.

[03:09:58]

Yes, I mean, unfortunately, it would be much more reassuring if he was in better touch with what was actually going on in the front lines. So, I'm afraid that is calls for concern.

I mean, up until this crisis began, the United States had an outstanding international reputation for its work in public health with the CDC which has really led the world in so many different ways. And it is a bit alarming to see that the U.S. is now coping and having to deal with so many cases and appears to be facing these shortages and difficulties.

I mean, I have to say, these are almost universal. It's impossible for me to keep up with the production and distribution of the equipment and PPE that is required that -- (CROSSTALK)

CHURCH: Can you explain to us what the situation is for doctors in Britain as far as this protective equipment is concerned?

DAWOOD: Yes, it is still in dire short supply. I mean, all -- I mean, the problem is most of the rest of the time, a lot of this equipment is not required and just simply doesn't exist in the kind of quantities that it's now being needed in.

I mean, for example, Malaysia is one of the places that produces rubber gloves for the entire world. They are completely overwhelmed. The demand has way out stripped any ability to produce these things that are needed at a normal rate.

I mean, I -- in my own medical practice, we accumulated PPE at the time of SARS and bird flu and various other past crises. These things all have an expiry date, and we are left with stocks that end up, you know, you put the provision in place and it goes out of date. So, there is not exactly an incentive for everybody to stockpile these things when times are not needed.

CHURCH: Right.

DAWOOD: And that's the problem now that -- now that huge demand.

(CROSSTALK)

CHURCH: If I could ask you -- if I could ask you just about ventilators. Because we hear about the British company Dyson coming up with a design of a ventilator that they are apparently currently making and supplying to British hospitals and ultimately European hospitals. What do you know about that?

DAWOOD: Well, Dyson is one of many engineering companies that have risen to the challenge. The British government has started something called project Pitlane, which has harnessed the expertise of the Formula One racing teams.

All of the different perhaps seven or eight opposing teams now are all working together to design new ventilators, to reverse engineer existing technology, and to come up with different ways of using existing equipment.

This is proceeding at a huge pace, and in fact, the first ventilators that have risen from this project on the point of being in production and are being promised for something like the first or second week of April.

So, there is a huge technology drive, lots of different engineering companies and the supply chains that go with them are being activated to produce the parts and the technology and machinery. And this is the kind of innovation that is needed everywhere to put everybody's minds and abilities together to overcome this.

CHURCH: Absolutely, and a lot of this PPE equipment has to be manufactured. I mean this is exactly what the world needs, because everybody needs it. They can't sort of turn to another country and say send it to us because they are in great need for it.

Dr. Richard Dawood, thank you so much for joining us. We do appreciate it.

DAWOOD: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well, Italy reported hundreds of new deaths in the past 24 hours. Seven hundred fifty-six, but that's fewer than the day before. Italy has suffered the highest number of fatalities in the world, well over 10,000 because of the pandemic. The dying must remain alone, of course, and loved ones can't say their farewells.

Here is our Ben Wedeman.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Coffins, one next to another, next to another, lined up in a church in northern Italy, the epicenter of this country is coronavirus outbreak. Social distancing means family and friends can't say their final farewells. The sick were all alone as they lay dying.

[03:14:57]

"They were people," says Father Mario Carminati, "who died without anyone to hear or see them, without the possibility to talk to their loved ones, with no one to comfort them."

The increase in new cases has of late showed signs of beginning slowing down. But now, COVID-19 has killed more people in Italy than anywhere else on earth. The public health system, one of Europe's best, has been pushed to the limit.

The disease has killed more than 50 medical personnel, more than 7,000 have fallen ill. Italy has been under lockdown for almost three weeks, severe measures may be starting to bear fruit says Dr. Mareno Tresoldi (Ph).

"We should see less people arriving in the emergency ward," he says, "and we will be able to better look after patients."

Even if the numbers are starting to level out, the damage coronaviruses have done to this country is breathtaking. Friday evening, the 24-hour death toll was 969. Saturday evening, the authorities reported another 889 people had died. If there is light at the end of this tunnel, it is at best, a faint glimmer.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Rome.

CHURCH: To find out how you can feed the hungry, protect health professionals, aid refugees, and support service workers during the pandemic, you can go to cnn.com/impact.

And coming up next on CNN Newsroom, how doctors in Spain are using snorkeling gear and a little ingenuity to solve their shortage of circle surgical masks. We're be back with that in just a moment. [03:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Much-needed medical supplies have arrived in Madrid, Spain, country with one of the highest rates of coronavirus infection in the world. Military planes delivered the stockpile from the Czech Republic.

Well, with protective masks in short supplies, some doctors in Spain have gotten to creative, turning snorkeling masks into lifesaving equipment.

CNN's Scott McLean has more.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The coronavirus pandemic has turned the surgical mask into a hot commodity worldwide. Many Spanish hospitals they are in desperately short supply. A couple of doctors in northern Spain watch colleagues in Madrid struggle with shortages and had an idea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had a mask, a Decathlon mask in my house, and I thought that maybe I can so some kind of connection to use it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: Dr. Alfredo Redondo (Ph) is a cardiologist in Valladolid, Spain. Dr. Ignacio Amat is his boss.

IGNACIO AMAT, CHIEF CARDIOLOGIST, HCU VALLADOLID, SPAIN: As always, Ignacio has brought some ideas. This one I think it was a little bit crazy, but it is true that we are all very concerned, so we asked to validate all the crazy ideas.

MCLEAN: Making it work took some engineering, replacing the snorkel with a common medical grade filter attached by a custom-made tube 3D printed at the hospital. Each part can be sterilized, and re-used, and the filters last five days.

AMAT: These are absolutely protective. There is a complete sealing.

MCLEAN: The mask doesn't have official approval from health authorities, but ICU staff are already using them in Valladolid.

I wonder what this tells you about the situation that your country is in?

AMAT: We are in a dramatic situation. I know the authorities are doing as much as they can, but we need some solutions straightaway.

MCLEAN: That's because 15 percent of all confirmed cases in Spain are health care workers, one of the highest rates on earth. Some hospital staff in Madrid have had to make gowns out of garbage bags, and reuse single-use masks. To aid the initiatives sporting chain Decathlon has now blocked public sales of the 25-year-old mask.

Plus.

AMAT: Many, many people from around is trying to send us their scuba masks from home.

MCLEAN: In Valladolid the hospital is going all in on the easy breath, they've already bought a second 3D printer, and it's already catching on at other hospitals, desperate for a solution to protect staff on the front line.

Scott McLean, CNN, Madrid.

CHURCH: Necessity, the mother of invention always, right?

Well, British cabinet minister Michael Gove says people in the U.K. need to get ready for a significant period of lockdown measures. He made the comments while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains in isolation. He has tested positive for the virus and his government is facing growing criticism for its handling of the crisis.

For the latest, CNN's Nic Robertson joins us now live from London. Good to see you, Nick.

So, the British government was criticized in the initial stages of this pandemic but then seemed to move in the right direction. Now they are being roundly criticized again for their handling of it. What's going on here?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: You know, I think the reality is that the criticism that they are facing at the moment, the people that feel that the government hasn't done enough, that moved too slowly recognize that we are in this situation right now, and they have criticisms. But everyone needs to work together, I think that's the view at the moment.

But the view that the country is being prepared for by the deputy chief medical adviser is that there will be another three months of social distancing, that's not official government policy but that's what's being the ground is being prepared, is you will.

And she also said, Jenny Harries also said, the people should expect six months before things would get back to normal. But yes, there is, while the prime minister is in isolation, there is criticism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I've taken a test, that has come out positive.

ROBERTSON: U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the first world leader to get COVID-19. His health secretary and several top officials all have the symptoms all self-isolating. The message from government? Keep calm, we are carrying on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are no gaps in government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:24:59]

ROBERTSON: As emergency hospitals are hastily constructed, masks and other vital protective equipment, PPE, belatedly rushed to the pandemic's front lines, hospitals, by soldiers. There is also another message from government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The situation will get worse, before it gets better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: What to believe? What to think? Questions everyone is asking. With some falling unfavorably against the government. The respected medical journal The Lancet describing the government's response so far as a national scandal. Its editor-in-chief saying the government has failed to follow the World Health Organization's guidelines.

Claudia Paolini, a thoracic and ethologist leads a union representing doctors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAUDIA PAOLINI, PRESIDENT, HOSPITAL CONSULTANTS AND SPECIALISTS ASSOCIATION: It's a snapshot. A snapshot of our members into the PPE and the preparedness for the onslaught. And 80 percent of our members that replies to this snapshot said they were fearful, they were anxious, they were fearful for their safety.

JOHNSON: Our action plan, as you know, sets up four phases of our approach to attacking the virus. Contain, delay, research, and mitigate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Just three weeks ago, Johnson's plan sounded solid. No one mentions it now. Back then, this former top government official was urging faster action, now reluctantly accepts the fate this government has delivered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN POWELL, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO BRITISH P.M. TONY BLAIR: I think it's very difficult to criticize the government in these circumstances, they're trying to do their best and very, very difficult circumstances. I think when we look back at it, when the inquiry happens, people may say it was a bit late to move, because usually, my experience in government was you have to move quickly if you have a crisis like this. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: That question will need to be raised, it's not in doubt. Paolini'as priority for now keeping her doctor's spirits up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAOLINI: The question we have to come afterwards it's not something that it's actually particularly useful right now to decide whether that's the right thing or the wrong thing because we can't judge it, because we don't know what the end result is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: A result that depends not just on government but on everyone in the country doing their bit, staying home, social distancing.

The prime minister from his isolation has released a second video. He does sound a little bit hoarse. But he is wearing a suit and tie as in his position as prime minister leading the fight back against the coronavirus as he said he will. And he has news, good news for the country that 20,000 to retired National Health Service workers have come back to the frontlines to help staff. That's something an appeal that the government had made.

Also, he said that three quarters of a million people have now volunteered to come forward and help the health service and help those 1.5 million people in the U.K. who are vulnerable, who the government has ask a shelter in place for the next 12 weeks.

So, you know, while there is criticism, this country is also rallying around to do everything it can to get through this crisis. I think we are seeing this worldwide. You know, people may have concerns and doubts about the way that they were led into this. However, that's not stopping them stepping up.

CHURCH: Yes. I mean, people across Britain definitely stepping up and around the world. It brings out the best and the worst in people.

Many thanks to you, Nic Robertson with the very latest there from London. I appreciate it.

Well, Russia says it's closing all of its border crossings beginning Monday including with Belarus to stop the spread of coronavirus. There are currently more than 1,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Russia.

Slummed Los Angeles area hospitals are getting some relief. U.S. Navy Ship Mercy has started taking in patients with problems not related to the coronavirus. We will give you a look inside when we come back.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:30:00] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. Just recapping our top story, President Trump is extending social distancing guidelines in the U.S. until April 30th. The move comes as the country faces more than 139,000 cases of coronavirus, the highest known number in the world.

Last week, Mr. Trump was focused on a quick economic recovery, saying he wanted the U.S. to open up by Easter. On Sunday, he acknowledged the number of deaths here could top 100,000 and might not peak for another two weeks.

New York remains the hardest hit state. Makeshift hospitals are growing up as officials say they are facing a shortage of critical equipment like protective gear and ventilators. And as New York grapples with this crisis, concerns are deepening over whether Los Angeles could emerge as the next hot spot for the pandemic.

The state has closed vehicle access to all 280 of its state parks. The decision came after a surge in visitors, making it impossible to maintain proper social distancing. Restrictions on beach access have already been in place.

For patients in the L.A. area with problems not related to the coronavirus, health is now on the coast. CNN's Paul Vercammen has more from the hospital ship, Mercy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Los Angeles, the Navy hospital ship, Mercy, has begun to treat its very first patients. This vessel has 1,000 beds. It will only treat patients who do not have COVID- 19. The idea is to take the pressure off of hospitals on land. The ship's captain saying, we are ready and energized.

And then behind me, you see this boardwalk empty, extreme social distancing measures in California. Not only can no one go on this boardwalk, all state parks and campgrounds closed. L.A. County has closed down its famous beaches and its public hiking trails.

And there we see a shifting at hospitals. At USC Medical Center, the Keck USC Medical Center, 60 surgery residents are going to take on nursing type-duties, including drawing blood and administering IV bags. We talked to the chief resident. He said this is something we signed up to do. We want to help.

CHRIS FORAN, CHIEF RESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: While we are happy to assist our nurses in any way we can, we certainly will not be replacing them.

[03:35:01]

FORAN: They are the backbone of health care in the United States. And, you know, listening to the epidemiologists, the infectious disease specialists, pulmonologists, those are the people that it is most important to listen to right now as we treated this escalating crisis.

VERCAMMEN: And another shifting of roles here in Los Angeles. The city fire department is taking on the testing of COVID-19. Their first priority is to test those firefighters, police officers, and even public works officials. They will also test those who are vulnerable, 65 or older, with pre-existing conditions, but they are now actively testing here in Los Angeles as the Mercy is now actively treating patients.

I'm Paul Vercammen, reporting from Los Angeles, now back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Thanks for that, Paul. European Airline EasyJet is now grounding its entire fleet due to the coronavirus pandemic. The budget airline also reached an agreement with its union to furlough staff beginning April 1st. The company is among many airlines across the world making drastic moves to survive the economic impact of the pandemic due to a drop in passengers.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says Americans can expect checks from the massive stimulus bill to be deposited directly into their accounts within three weeks. Experts say it could be longer than that though. In 2001, it took six weeks for the IRS to start sending rebate checks under a new tax cut law. And in 2008, checks went out three months after that stimulus package was signed into law.

In the meantime, investors remain worried about the pandemic's impact on corporate earnings and jobs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: The economy was in very, very good health, and we shut it down. Let me just say we are very sympathetic to the people who don't have jobs and that is why the president was very clear that he wanted me to work with Congress on a bipartisan basis quickly to support those people.

So I hope, number one, businesses rehire, small businesses rehire those people now that they have the money. Number two, people will have enhanced unemployment insurance. And number three, people who have direct deposit money in their accounts to provide liquidate. We want to get people back to work as quickly as we can, subject to the medical conditions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And our John Defterios joins us now from Abu Dhabi. Good to see you, John. So, of course, let's look at that. Last week, the U.S. approved the $2 trillion rescue package. Various Asian economies are coming up with their own stimulus plans. But despite this, we are seeing selling pressure back on. Why is that?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN ANCHOR AND EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Rosemary, the mood is brighter than it was just a couple of hours ago because we have seen U.S. futures rise but not very much. But at this stage, investors are grabbing at straws, if you will. It is all about this timeline of uncertainty.

You heard the views there of Steve Mnuchin on Capitol Hill. Nancy Pelosi is suggesting that we may need another stimulus package. That is sort of a cloud of uncertainty that people have to contend with right now. It is these crosscurrents that are affecting the stock market.

Let us take a look at the Monday performance for Asia. The Nikkei index had its losses in half but still ended well below the line. Hong Kong and Shanghai are down at about one percent. And then we saw a rally coming in the Kospi in Seoul to almost finish at break even. We saw Australia rallied by seven percent because of the government stimulus plan. And China is easing interest rates.

One of the drivers that we see in the markets today, though, Rosemary, is oil prices itself. This price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia will start in earnest on April 1st when the new supplies come on to the market. We touched a 17-year low on WTI, testing below $20 a barrel briefly and then coming right back up again.

What are we talking about here in terms of supply and demand? Saudi Arabia and the UAE, here in Abu Dhabi, are going to be adding nearly four million barrels a day starting April 1. They have already booked the orders for that. And then because of the coronavirus, we have seen demand drop by 20 percent. So that is a near 25 percent swing in supply and demand and why we see prices under pressure yet again today in the oil market.

CHURCH: Right. And just very quickly, the big unknown, of course, is when global growth will hit bottom. What helps to determine that?

DEFTERIOS: Well, again, it's when we go back to normal. I heard your story on EasyJet, grounding the entire fleet. The U.K. is now talking about months, not weeks. The timeline for President Trump is back it up to the end of April. It seems ambitious.

Very quickly here, JPMorgan Chase said we are going to lost 10 percent of global GDP in the first half alone. That is the equivalent of a trillion dollars. The stimulus package worldwide is $5 trillion. You can see the gap emerging.

[03:39:57]

DEFTERIOS: I'm speaking to a number of different business people and they're suggesting that the recession continues through the 3rd quarter, which is September of this year.

CHURCH: That is tough to hear. For so many people out there, especially those who are retiring, that is just horrendous. John Defterios, many thanks to you for bringing us all of that. Appreciate it.

Well, CNN has exclusively learned that the U.S. Justice Department is investigating stock trades made by lawmakers ahead of the market downturn caused by the spread of the virus. According to sources familiar with the matter, the FBI has already reached out to at least one of them, Senator Richard Burr, you see him there.

The investigators are trying to find out if lawmakers tried to profit from information on the virus from private briefings. Barr has said that he relied only on public news reports when he sold between 628,000 and nearly $2 million in stocks in February. It is illegal for U.S. lawmakers to use inside information for financial benefit. We will continue to follow that story.

Coming up, the lights are off at New York's bars and clubs, and their owners aren't sure when they will turn back on. How the coronavirus is impacting the city's most vibrant nightlife.

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CHURCH: I want you to take a look at this map. It shows how spring break in Florida may have potentially spread the coronavirus. It was created by company called TectonixGEO and tracks the cell phones of a group on one beach in Fort Lauderdale. It shows some dispersing after the holiday, carrying whatever illnesses they may have contracted across the country. Incredible.

New Yorkers will be fined $250 to $500 if they don't follow social distancing policies.

[03:44:57]

CHURCH: New York Mayor Bill de Blasio says if police tell people to disperse, keep moving or maintain distance. But if they disobey the order, they will have to pay.

New York has long been known as the city that never sleeps. Now, bus and restaurants across the city are closed, and hundreds of thousands of people are out of a job. Our Elle Reeve shares some of their stories.

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ELLE REEVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What would this look like at 2:00 a.m. on a Saturday?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People would be dancing on the stage. We end up having thousands of people in the course of the night.

REEVE (voice-over): Nightlife is a huge ecosystem, supporting nearly 300,000 jobs in New York City from people who work in clubs and bars to freelancers who design how they look and sound.

(On camera): Have you considered laying off your staff?

JOHN BARCLAY, OWNER, BOSSA NOVA CIVIC CLUB: Yeah.

REEVE (voice-over): Are you going to do that?

BARCLAY: We are. Unfortunately, yes.

REEVE (voice-over): With no income or job prospects for the foreseeable future, many don't know how they will restart when the crisis is over.

BARCLAY: My number one priority is trying to get my employees paid because I had 12, 15 people that have been working here for essentially seven years. And now, they are just in really, really bad shape.

REEVE (voice-over): John Barclay owns Bossa Nova Civic Club in Brooklyn, New York.

(On camera): So, why would you lay off employees?

BARCLAY: You know, they understand that is the best path for unemployment insurance. There is just no way that this business could afford to pay them for months.

KIP DAVIS, FREELANCE LIGHTING DESIGNER: I'm a freelance lighting designer. All the nightclubs that I would be working for, all of those projects are either ground to a halt or are themselves cancelled as those nightclub owners are now wondering how they are going to pay their rent.

DHRUV CHOPRA, CO-OWNER, ELSEWHERE: Most businesses, small businesses only have two weeks of cash flow even in, like, good days. No one is arguing that we should be staying open during this period but something has to give.

We fundamentally believe that music and nightlife are a part of personal identity, personal expression, and it is one of the things that makes New York City so vibrant and so closely diverse. We, as a society, value that, you know, night life is something that we should support and champion and save. We really do need that government assistance.

REEVE (voice-over): A government stimulus package could help small businesses. But many nightlife workers wonder if that will be enough to keep the industry going. Some of them have started raising money online through GoFundMe and Patreon, but they say they can't make up for systemic failure through a patchwork of internet fundraisers.

FRANKIE HUTCHINSON, CO-FOUNDER, DISCWOMAN: Unless the city put some kind of clamp on rent for businesses and also individuals themselves, I do not see how people can survive. They are just bleeding money.

REEVE (on camera): Are you worried that you might have to close down forever?

BARCLAY: Terrified, yeah.

REEVE (on camera): What would you do?

BARCLAY: I have no clue. I probably have to move back in with my mother.

REEVE (on camera): Do you think you would be able to go back to the way it was when the crisis is over?

CHOPRA: Not for a long time.

DAVIS: After a pandemic of this nature where crowds are the danger, how do we ever look at engaging en masse the same way?

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CHURCH: But, you know, there are bright spots amid all the uncertainty and pain, and here is one of them.

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(MUSIC PLAYING)

CHURCH (voice-over): Atlanta residents, they are saluting medical professionals on the frontlines of this pandemic in what has become a new nightly tradition.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

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[03:50:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. The coronavirus crisis has helped one thing, the environment. As people stay home and go out less, air quality is improving. New images from the European Space Agency show a sharp decline in pollution over several major cities. As Bill Weir reports, this pandemic is a stark reminder of just how important it is to heed warnings from the experts.

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BILL WEIR, CNN JOURNALIST AND ANCHOR: Hello, earth lovers. Bill Weir, CNN, from a very surreal Brooklyn, where for some reason, I can't stop thinking about all of the disaster movies that start with someone in power ignoring a scientist.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have it totally under control. It's one person coming in from China.

WEIR (voice-over): That is just one of the parallels between coronavirus and the climate crisis.

D. TRUMP: You only have 11 years to live, folks, 11 years because climate change is just coming up on us so fast.

WEIR (voice-over): Think about it. Both kill the most vulnerable and will cost trillions. Both will reveal heroic first responders and scientists and aspiring neighbors, as well as deplorable hoarders, grifters and profiteers. And both are reminders that life as we know it depends on predictable flights and growing seasons and supply chains. But what if the age of predictability is over? (On camera): This brings us to the main difference between coronavirus and climate change, fear. Exhibit A is Jane's Carousel here in Brooklyn. The last time it was this deserted was after super storm Sandy. Between the melting ice caps and sea level rise, there is no scientific doubt that my neighborhood is going back underwater.

But invisible carbon dioxide molecules cannot shut down a carousel or a city or a world the way that an invisible virus can because we think we have time. Time waters down fear.

(Voice-over): But if we can go back in time, just a few months, would we take science a lot more seriously?

[03:54:58]

WEIR (voice-over): Would we know that the countries that wait for their people to start dying, before acting, suffer the worst? And the countries with the most transparency, decisive leadership and mutual trust, fare the best?

(On camera): Would we know the importance of flattening the curve? You've probably seen this by now, right? This represents time. This is the number of patients on the dotted line. This is our hospital capacity. A sudden pandemic, a spike, crashes the system. But with enough smart leadership and mass cooperation, we can flatten the curve. Guess what? This works with climate, too.

(Voice-over): Miami is trying to flatten the curve of sea level rise by spending millions on higher streets and bigger posts. California is trying to flatten their curve with new wildfire regulations and insurance laws. But, so much of humanity still thinks about the climate crisis the way a spring breaker thinks about coronavirus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No school and we can do whatever we want.

WEIR (voice-over): Since the global fossil fuel economy slowed down, you can see the cleaner air from space. And in just a few weeks, China conserved about half as much heat trapping pollution as Australia or the United Kingdom burns in a year.

(On camera): Mother earth can bounce back if we let her and it shouldn't take a global pandemic and recession first, just more smart science, more smart leadership, and a sense that we are all in this together. Something to think about the next time you wash your hands for 20 seconds to save people you will never meet, and life as we know it.

Bill Weir, CNN, New York.

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CHURCH: Medical experts say that social distancing is one of the most effective ways to fight the coronavirus pandemic. The message is echoing across America and the world right now, stay home. Even some pets are doing their part to make sure that families stay safe.

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LUCA THE PARROT: Zehava, there is corona.

ZEHAVA SHABAT, OWNER OF PARROT: That's true, there is corona. We need to stay at home.

LUCA THE PARROT: Don't go out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Don't go out, the message from Luca the parrot in Israel. I'll be back with more of "CNN Newsroom" in just a moment. Just stay with us.

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