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John Hopkins: 1,900+ Deaths in U.S. On Tuesday; Trump Deflects, Dismisses & Misleads; Wisconsin Holds Election Despite Health Precautions; U.K. Prime Minister is Stable, Not on Ventilation; Virus Hitting African-Americans Especially Hard. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired April 08, 2020 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:45]

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hi. Good to see you. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world.

Thanks for joining me. This is CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow.

So, just ahead on the show --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's a monster we're fighting, but signs are that our strategy is totally working.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: The U.S. president makes misleading claims about his record on the coronavirus pandemic as the U.S. marks its highest single-day death toll.

Also, U.S. unemployment numbers are on the rise. Thousands of Americans are risking everything, including -- look at these images -- standing in long lines to make ends meet.

And a new study shows how pregnant women are being impacted by the virus.

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CURNOW: So, the United States has now reached a deadly, new milestone. There have been a very high number of deaths from the coronavirus in a single day. On Tuesday, nearly 2,000 people died in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University. Overall, the virus has now claimed nearly 13,000 American lives and infected close to 400,000 people.

But still, the U.S. president says America could soon turn a corner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think we're reaching a level of where it's going to start coming down, where it's going to start sloping down. The good thing is that the number of beds needed, I think we were right about that. I was right. My group was right.

They're not needing nearly as many beds as they thought. They're not needing as many ventilators as they thought. In fact, we just saw -- in fact, I just saw on your show and a couple of other people just reported back to me that everyone is in great shape. I'd love to open with a big bang, one beautiful country and just open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: So, despite the president's remarks, the U.S. surgeon general has acknowledged that states still do face shortages of medical supplies, and as the virus surges across the country, Mr. Trump is also slamming the WHO, the World Health Organization, for its response to the pandemic. He's accused of institution of favoring China and threatened to withhold American funding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We're going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we're going to see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Well, the president later tried to walk back his comment, saying he's only considering the move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Quick follow-up on that. So, is the time to freeze funding to the WHO during a pandemic of this magnitude?

TRUMP: Maybe not. I'm not saying we're going to do it, but I'm going to look at it.

REPORTER: You did say you were going to.

TRUMP: No, I didn't. I said we're going to look at it. We're going to investigate it. We're going to look at it. But we will look at ending funding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Well, CNN's Erica Hill now looks at how the country in the hardest hit states are handling this pretty difficult stretch.

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ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With about 97 percent of the country now under stay-at-home orders, new evidence it may be working.

DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, CDC DIRECTOR: The numbers are going to be much, much, much, much lower than would have been predicted by the models.

HILL: The CDC saying the death toll could be lower than previous projections of 200,000, thanks to widespread social distancing, which models had initially estimated just 50 percent of the American public would follow. The reality today is much higher, though officials caution, this is no time to ease up.

On Monday, New York logging the state's largest single-day death toll. One overwhelmed funeral home doing its best to meet the need.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're no longer embalming them.

REPORTER: Why is that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just because the capacity -- we don't have time to have visitations. We're simply either burying directly or direct cremation.

HILL: Health care workers continuing to sound the alarm about personal protective equipment. In Maryland, one nurse practitioner tried making a face shield out of a page protector and a headband.

MARJORIE SIMPSON, NURSE PRACTITIONER: I put it on and I started crying. And I thought, I can't imagine anybody working -- wearing something like that.

[05:05:01]

HILL: Staff also a major concern, retired nurses and doctors answering the call to help relieve those on the front lines.

JULIANA MORAWSKI, RETIRED ER NURSE: I've never seen emergency departments or nursing or any of the services, actually, in general, under so much threat. And, you know, it's a family. So, when family is threatened, you try to step up as much as you can.

HILL: On board the Comfort, which will now be dedicated to COVID patients, the number of beds cut in half to 500 for safety. One crew member has tested positive.

Meantime, in Florida, this tightly packed line for unemployment forms, a sobering picture of the growing need.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody out here's risking their lives to get this application.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've given out hundreds and hundreds of applications.

HILL: In Connecticut, unemployment applications are about 20 times higher than anything the state's seen during a recession. Wisconsin voters on Tuesday trying to keep their distance at the polls, as one of the nation's largest grocery chains announces new restrictions on capacity amid concerns about how and where the virus is spreading.

In Miami Beach, face coverings now required for all customers and employees at grocery stores, pharmacies, and restaurants, including those making deliveries.

(on camera): Here in New York city, as we see in communities around the globe, there is a focus on first responders. At the NYPD, today, we learned of a 13th coronavirus-related death. There are currently 57 NYPD employees in the hospital. Five of them are in critical condition.

And on Tuesday, some 7,600 uniformed members called out sick. That's nearly 20 percent of the NYPD, but it is important to note that those sick-outs do not mean all of those folks have coronavirus.

Back to you.

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CURNOW: OK, Erica Hill there. Thanks so much for that report, Erica, reporting from New York.

Now, the response in the U.S. to the coronavirus continued, as you saw in Erica's piece there, to be piecemeal and confusing for many Americans. Despite 400,000 infections across the country, Wisconsin held a statewide election on Tuesday. It was the only U.S. state to not postpone its April vote or to switch to mail-in ballots. People lined up with as many precautions as they could take.

Here's how the assembly speaker showed people it was safe to vote.

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ROBIN VOS, WISCONSIN ASSEMBLY SPEAKER: You can come to a polling place and do it safely. You have the ability to do curbside voting, just like they're doing here, even if it's in a different municipality without drive-up voting. You can request that the person come out. They'll deliver you a ballot. They'll check your I.D. You are incredibly safe to go out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: But you saw what he was wearing there. That safety message contrasting with the speaker delivering it in full protective gear.

So, Omar Jimenez has now more from Milwaukee on the state's very strange election.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Throughout the day on Tuesday, we saw long lines at some of the polling locations. We saw voters and poll workers in masks and gloves and many voters were actually happy to be able to carry out their civic duty. What they weren't happy about was that they had to risk their health to do so.

Now, the fact that we even had an election here at all came on the tail end of what was a long few days, even weeks, some could argue, of back-and-forth between legislature, courts, and the governor's office here in Wisconsin.

Namely, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, issued an executive order trying to move the election to June 9th, saying it wasn't safe. The Republican-led legislature appealed to the state Supreme Court. The state Supreme Court shot that down, so the election continued.

And then at the federal level, I mentioned that deadline for absentee ballots moved to April 13th. That came from a federal court order. Then, the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in and said, well, for those votes to be counted, they have to be postmarked by election day, which means for thousands of people who requested absentee ballots but hadn't received them yet, they had to choose between going in person to vote or not voting at all to have their voice heard.

Now, as this election came through, we mentioned Governor Tony Evers, who was against this from the very beginning, at least holding the election on this day, saying that while he still has health concerns, he is overwhelmed by the bravery, resilience, and heroism of the voters and poll workers he saw out here over the course of Tuesday.

And again, we now wait until April 13th to see what the results of this primary is in one of the most unique times in global history.

Omar Jimenez, CNN, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Most certainly is. Thank you so much for that.

So, we also, of course, following another major story. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is still in a London hospital battling his coronavirus infection. As you know, he's been in intensive care since Monday.

And Max Foster has been following all of this.

[05:10:01]

Max is live outside the hospital in London for us.

Good to see you, my friend. How's the prime minister doing? Have we had any updates?

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're not getting many updates, it has to be said. We talked about that a bit yesterday, didn't we, about messaging? It's being criticized, but the argument being they don't want to give a running commentary, it's a private matter to some extent.

And also, they don't want to worry the nation, but Boris Johnson is down there behind me in intensive care unit. Over the road we have Westminster, of course, where lots of questions are arising about leadership in this vacuum currently. It's being shared with Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, but some concern about what that actually means and some clarity, perhaps, needed.

But in terms of what we've heard today, a junior health minister has spoken saying the prime minister is comfortable, in good spirits, he's in a stable condition. He added that Mr. Johnson had some oxygen but is not on ventilation. So still, so far, good news. The updates we're getting are actually coming from Downing Street, though, over the river from where I am now.

Let's go over there to Nina Dos Santos, who can bring us the latest on what she's hearing this morning -- Nina.

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks so much. Good morning to you, Max.

Well, what we've seen over the last hour is Dominic Raab, who's standing in to deputize for the prime minister on certain tasks. The foreign secretary arrived. Also, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, arrived and then left about 45 minutes afterwards, and the chief medical officer of the United Kingdom.

This is the daily meeting of government, but it, of course, has been repurposed as a sort of war cabinet to deal with the coronavirus, and that is probably what they were talking about throughout the course of the 45 minutes that those three and other important senior advisers were here at Downing Street. They probably also were getting an update on the prime minister's condition.

As you said, the latest update is that there hasn't been a change in his condition. He still appears to be stable, comfortable, and in command of things and in good spirits. In fact, in a press conference chaired by Dominic Raab yesterday afternoon, he said that the prime minister would fight this, and he was confident that he would pull through.

In the meantime, the latest death toll in the United Kingdom from the coronavirus as per 5:00 p.m. yesterday evening was over 6,000 people, and the government also said that across England, Wales, and the rest of the U.K., 55,242 people had been tested positive, but the real question mark is the one over how many people will be having access to those tests. The government has ordered many of these antibody tests, and embarrassingly earlier this week had to admit that some of them weren't proven to actually work, so that puts them back to square one.

And one of the immediate challenges for Raab and his team while the president remains in ICU, will be, of course, how to keep people in their homes as we approach a long Easter weekend when the weather is getting better, spring is in full flow after, you know, a typically British winter, which is often quite bleak.

People want to go out and enjoy the outside spaces and the better weather, but they're being urged to stay indoors because the government scientists are saying that it seems as though the lockdown is working and that the number of cases is showing signs of heading towards a time where it might plateau.

When is the government likely to revise this lockdown? Well, we know that they're going to be having a meeting next week to review it. That doesn't necessarily mean that it will come off. The restrictions may well stay in place for some time. And the British people have been primed to expect that.

But the bigger question here in Downing Street is when is the prime minister going to be back? He's been absent since having been taken to hospital on Sunday evening. And even if he has spent some time in intensive care, albeit not on a ventilator as Downing Street is saying, he may well need quite some time to recover.

So, the question mark there is, who will be in charge fully and have the panoply of government under their mantle from here? Max?

FOSTER: Nina, thank you.

And, Robyn, interesting looking out over London, the sun is out. That would normally be a positive thing, as you know, having spent time here.

CURNOW: Yes.

FOSTER: The parts are going to get busy on weekends, so it's worrying the weather for the government, but looking down the streets, it's very eerie, it's very empty. You can hear birds chirping. It would be extraordinary for you to come and see, very different from what you're used to.

CURNOW: Yes, I mean, it does look like a beautiful day, and normally you take advantage of it, don't you, if you're in London. So, yes, it's certainly going to be strange. But folks need to stay inside, don't they?

Max, good to speak to you. Keep safe.

And we're going to stay in London, because Dr. Richard Dawood is the medical director the Fleet Street Clinic in London. He's also written extensively about health risks surrounding travel around the world.

Doctor, good to see you.

Before we get to Boris Johnson, I want your take on what our correspondent Max Foster and I were just talking about. Beautiful day in London, Easter weekend coming up. Are you concerned that folks are going to go out to parks across the country?

DR. RICHARD DAWOOD, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, FLEET STREET CLINIC: I think -- well, certainly, people are being advised to stay in.

[05:15:00]

Personally, I think that the risk of providing the social distancing is maintained. The risk of acquiring infection outdoors is vanishingly small, if you are a long way from other people. The issue is crowding together, so people coming together as groups of friends or having a picnic or sitting down together. That's much more of an issue than going for, you know, a solitary country walk or finding a way to keep your distance outdoors and still enjoy the sunshine.

CURNOW: OK.

DAWOOD: It's very hard balancing all of this. And you know, sometimes this all brings out the worst in people when they watch and see what other people are doing and then start, you know, raises aggression and everybody has their own interpretation. But I think as long as you can maintain a good, clear distance from somebody else, being outdoors per se should not pose a risk.

CURNOW: OK. That is certainly different advice coming from, you know, other doctors around --

DAWOOD: Yes, that's not the official party line.

CURNOW: No, it's not. You are slightly bucking the trend here, Doctor.

DAWOOD: Yes. But you know, I think the message that the government wishes to deliver is everybody should stay home.

CURNOW: Yes, yes. That's the sort of official doctor's orders, stay at home, or at least in your backyard, I think.

Let's talk about Boris Johnson. He has been in the ICU since Monday, still deeply worrying, even though the government is not giving a lot of information here.

DAWOOD: Yes. This infection is often described as an infection in two parts -- a biphasic infection. So, week one, we saw him coping and being able to carry on with his daily work to an extent, and then possibly even appearing to turn the corner a little bit, but then deteriorating and needing more medical support. And this tends to be what happens in the smaller group of people who become more seriously ill.

Of course, we're all hoping that that will be the end of it and that he will continue to improve from this point with good medical support, and we know he's in at center of high excellence and will be very well-supported. What I would say is that even after a mild illness, there is an aftermath of fatigue and perhaps inability to return quickly to normality. And so, even if, as we hope he will become quickly on the road to recovery, it could be a few days before he is fully feeling back to normal and able to resume all the responsibilities and duties.

CURNOW: Yes, and that's the best-case scenario, even after he's got out of ICU, it still seems like there's a long way to go, and the nation certainly behind him.

As you look in terms of your medical expertise -- and I know that you've done a lot of travel and medicine. If you look globally about which countries have dealt with this very well, is there any specific case study where you think, yeah, they did it? Germany, for example. Do you think lessons are being learned?

DAWOOD: Well, I mean, it's endlessly fascinating to see what has happened in different countries.

CURNOW: Yes.

DAWOOD: And it's not just about the strategy that each country has followed. It's also about the differences in behavior, in populations, in the health background, in the health infrastructure, you know. Some people have had different vaccination programs in place in different countries, for example, and that's been cited as a difference between the mortality and case numbers in Japan versus in Italy and the United States. So, there's so many different factors to unscramble.

But one can certainly look at countries like Taiwan and South Korea that have had a much tighter handle on things and have been much, much more well-prepared than many other countries. And in fact, it is actually very distressing looking from the outside at a country like the United States, which for so many years -- I mean, it has -- the U.S. has got world-class public health leadership in terms of the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control, and yet, we are seeing the strategy there in -- I mean, perhaps it's unkind to call it chaos, but it is really a surprise to see how different things are there than they could have been and how other countries seem to have a much more unified process for tackling things.

In the U.S., you've got the disconnect between federal control on one hand and all of the disparate measures being brought into -- put in place by individual states, versus other countries that have actually been able to come up with a truly unified response that is very much focused on the science rather than the politics.

[05:20:19]

CURNOW: Yes, and it's certainly even concerning being here in the U.S. those numbers are just continuing to tick up, 13,000 people dead here. And just on Tuesday, nearly 2,000 people dying. So, this certainly is a concern because we're in the United States.

But, Dr. Richard Dawood, thanks very much for your expertise. Appreciate you joining us here at CNN. Thank you, sir.

DAWOOD: Thank you.

CURNOW: So, you are watching CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow.

Still to come -- as France hits a grim milestone as well, find out what new restrictions Parisians are facing to try and slow the spread there.

Stay with us for that.

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CURNOW: The state of Louisiana recorded its highest single-day number of deaths from the coronavirus on Tuesday. Governor John Bel Edwards says his state has 17 new deaths, and he warned there are still dark days ahead.

[05:25:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS (D), LOUISIANA: And so, it's really essential that the people of Louisiana hear this message and understand that just because we think we're starting to flatten the curve doesn't mean our job is over. And in fact, now is the time to double down. This is still going to be a very difficult week, and next week is going to be difficult.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: And in the U.S., African-Americans are dying at a much higher rate from the coronavirus than any other groups. In Louisiana, 70 percent of people have died from the virus are African-American. In Illinois, 72 percent of people who have died from coronavirus in Chicago are African-American, though they make up 30 percent of the population.

And then in Michigan, around 40 percent of people who have died are also African-Americans.

The president says his administration will release more data over the next few days to better understand how the virus is impacting African- Americans.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, meantime, takes a closer look at the possible reasons this community is at high risk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the beginning, COVID-19 was far away, and it didn't even have a name.

DR. CAMARA JONES, FORMER PRESIDENT, AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION: It was coming over to our shores from people who had traveled.

GUPTA: But once it got a foothold in the United States, its true self was revealed.

JONES: Once people got infected, because of diabetes and heart disease and the like, that they would get it more severely and be at higher risk of dying.

GUPTA: Dr. Camara Jones is past president of the American Health Association.

(on camera): I was really struck, Dr. Jones. We are both doctors, and as I was hearing the story, it sounded just all of a sudden tragically familiar. Is this a familiar story?

JONES: What we see is so familiar because the conditions of our lives haven't changed significantly. And so, what's happening is that we are carrying the burden of these limited opportunities in our bodies, such as diabetes, heart disease, the hypertension, even in terms of, you know, immune compromised and all of that.

GUPTA (voice-over): Already, we are hearing from some officials that blacks have been disproportionately hit by the outbreak. Early data shows that in Michigan, where I grew up, 14 percent of the population is black, though they make up 41 percent of coronavirus deaths. In Illinois, 15 percent identify as African-American, but they make up 42 percent of deaths. Louisiana's population is 32 percent black, which accounts for about 70 percent of coronavirus deaths.

But here's the problem, according to Dr. Jones -- as inadequate as testing has been for the country, the problem is even worse for African-Americans.

JONES: Our whole national testing strategy has started out as a clinical strategy, not a public health strategy. That, of course, has disadvantaged the whole nation in terms of knowing who's infected. And I am told also that it has been harder for many people of color to get the test just because of where testing stations have been located.

GUPTA: While blacks are less likely to be tested, less likely to be treated, they are more likely to be on the front line -- essential workers upon whom we all depend.

JASON HARGROVE, BUS DRIVER: We're out here as public workers doing our job trying to make an honest living to take care of our families.

GUPTA: Detroit bus driver Jason Hargrove posted this online on March 21st.

JONES: It is not as easy for them to shelter in place, and it's not as easy because it might have front-facing jobs like home health aides or bus drivers or postal workers or working at Amazon and the like.

HARGROVE: For you to get on a bus and stand on the bus -- and cough several times without covering up your mouth, and you know that we're in the middle of a pandemic, that lets me know that some folks don't care.

GUPTA: Four days later, Hargrove, who is 50 years old, became ill. He died last Wednesday. It's still unclear how he got COVID-19.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Oh, no. Sanjay Gupta there reporting. Such an important story. Thanks, Sanjay.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Still to come -- unemployment claims are skyrocketing in the U.S. due to COVID-19. How this overburdened system is now forcing some people to stand in line. This is exactly what Sanjay was talking about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody out here is risking their lives to get this application.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm at the end of my rope. There are more people like me who are just wondering how long this is going to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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