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U.S. Confirmed Cases Top 46,000 with 16,600+ Deaths; Doctor: Virus Will Tell Us When It's Save to Open Up Again; Trump Downplays Use of Face Masks Despite CDC Advice; U.S. Fed Unleashes $2.3 Trillion in New Loans; OPEC Closing in on a Deal on Record Oil Cut; Australia Closed Off Gold Coast Beaches; U.S. Blocked Private Labs From Using Tests in January. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired April 10, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): -- No treatment had worked. And then one day, desperate, her parents gave her a non-psychoactive ingredient from a cannabis plant, called cannabidiol, or CBD.
PAIGE FIGI, MOTHER OF CHARLOTTE: This is Charlotte's web. She didn't have a seizure that day and then she didn't have a seizure that night. Right, I thought this is crazy.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And it was at that moment people started to see that marijuana, which had been considered dangerous, could also be a therapy. She changed my mind and opened my eyes to the possibility that this was a legitimate medicine. And in the process, she changed the world.
PAIGE FIGI: Probably the most important thing I'll ever do was to help my own child and then share that information, help others.
GUPTA: Charlotte Figi was the entire CBD movement wrapped up into a sweet little girl with a big smile and an even bigger heart. Her story changed policy about cannabis. States were inspired by the story of Charlotte Figi and made CBD more accessible around the United States to treat epilepsy. And in turn, scientists around the world wanted to study Charlotte's special CBD oil. Research that before Charlotte no one really seemed that interested in doing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was begging researchers and physicians to work with us and help us understand the phenomenon that we were seeing, and they absolutely wouldn't even talk to us. We were laughed out of rooms. Now they begged to research our product.
PAIGE FIGI: (INAUDIBLE) outside and this her day out.
GUPTA: Charlotte lived her short life to the fullest. And while she was almost this mythical miracle, she was also just a little girl. Who loved to do go tandem biking with her mom and while the last month was not easy, she had symptoms of COVID-19 while never testing positive, she eventually developed pneumonia which once again unleashed her seizures.
Her mother, Paige, says Charlotte was still smiling and happy until the very end when the seizure became more than her fragile little body could handle. Charlotte's life ended just as it began, in her mother's arms, surrounded by family who loved her, cherished her and protected her.
All forever changed by this little girl who forever changed the world and everyone like me who were caught in her glorious orbit. Please rest in peace, Charlie.
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GUPTA: You know, Don, I was speaking to this reverend today, Reverend Jenn Bailey. And she was reminding me that grief is always part of the journey and that if you don't shy away from grief, it allows you to actually feel more deeply for people, feel more deeply for Charlotte, and that's what putting together this piece I think actually did for me. It allowed me to really fully experience that grief. And I'll always be thankful to Miss Charlotte. I'll be thankful to both Charlotte and her mom for letting me be a part of her life -- Don.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR, TONIGHT: Thank you, Sanjay. And thank you for watching. Our coverage continues.
[04:05:00]
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome viewers in the United States who are just joining us. I'm Natalie Allen live from our Atlanta studio. And we want to go to the dramatic rise in confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths in the U.S.
Data tracked by Johns Hopkins University shows more than 460,000 infections. That is more than the combined reported totals of the three next highest countries, Spain, Italy and France. Erica Hill has more on the efforts being taken across the country.
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ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Empty streets, shuttered businesses, lives on hold. Signs of a long road ahead.
ANDREW CUOMO, NEW YORK GOVERNOR: The flattening of the curve last night happened because of what we did yesterday. If we stop acting the way we're acting you will see the numbers go up.
HILL: California's early efforts gaining praise for slowing the spread. As one northern county says sports are likely on hold through Thanksgiving.
In Chicago, more than 400 cases are linked to the Cook County jail. Making it one the county's largest sources of infection as the city opens up a 66,000 square foot refrigerated warehouse to ease overcrowding at morgues.
Positive cases now confirmed aboard three aircraft carriers. And the National Guard deployed to two New Jersey veterans' homes with dozens of positive cases and at least 12 deaths.
Meantime, the city of Philadelphia pushing back on claims it's a potential new hotspot.
THOMAS FARLEY, PHILADELPHIA HEALTH COMMISSIONER: We're not or by any means. And I'm hopeful that the social distancing steps we put in place few weeks ago are showing some signs of working.
HILL: New Jersey tightening statewide measures. Face coverings for all customers and employees at essential businesses like grocery stores and pharmacies. Strict limits on capacity and gatherings. Nevada limiting the size of religious gatherings as Louisiana doubles down.
JOHN BEL EDWARDS, LOUISIANA GOVERNOR: There was no Easter exemption from the stay-at-home order. There was no Easter exemption from the 10-person limit.
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HILL: The Kansas governor tried to do the same by executive order, only to be overruled by the state's legislative coordinating council which claimed it went too far by, quote, singling out one entity and limiting the free exercise of religion.
MICHAEL PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're calling on every American in every state, first to listen to your state and local authorities. But right after that, to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people. And know that in so doing we'll hasten the day. We'll hasten the day that we put the coronavirus in the past and we reopen our country.
HILL: The White House task force already working on a plan for that reopening, possibly in matter of weeks as experts and those on the frontlines urge caution.
WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST: I'm concerned that we're setting dates and not listening to the virus. The virus is going to tell us when it's safe to open up again.
SIMONE HANNAH-CLARK, ICU NURSE, MT. SINAI HOSPITAL: Everyone has to stay home and treat themselves like they are positive for COVID-19.
Reporter (on camera): We're also learning more today about what's happening at the Javits Center behind me. 2,500 beds here available for COVID patients, but just over 100 or so of them are being used, the city is asking for some of the military medical personnel on hand to help in other ways around the city. And today we learned 75 have been deployed to hospitals here in New York City to help relief medical staff at those facilities. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ALLEN: Well, there's still some debate over whether people should
wear masks. That is dividing public opinion, but America's first lady speaking out about it. Melania Trump shared this photo of herself in a cloth faced mask. She says people should follow guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and wear masks when social distancing is not possible. The image is in stark contrast to her husband's mixed messages on the subject.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The CDC is advising the use of non-medical cloth face covering as an additional voluntary public health measure. So it's voluntary. You don't have to do it. It's going to be really a voluntary thing. You can do it. You don't have to do it. I'm choosing not to do it. But some people may want to do it and that's OK. It's only a recommendation. It's voluntary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: The CDC adds masks should not replace social distancing measures.
Next here on the CNN NEWSROOM, with the coronavirus pandemic shutting down businesses, millions of Americans are suddenly out of a job. We'll explain the fed's latest action to try to shore up the country country's teetering economy.
Also ahead, Australia is emptying its beaches to fight the virus. We show you the latest ones that are now off limits.
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ALLEN: The U.S. Federal Reserve has made another dramatic move to prop up the U.S. economy in the face of the latest dismal unemployment report. It now will pump more than $2 trillion in loans to support small businesses, consumers and local governments.
This comes as the latest weekly jobs report says 6.6 million Americans filed for jobless benefits last week. That brings the three-week total to almost 17 million. That's roughly 11 percent of the U.S. labor force suddenly out of work. And it means the job collapse is deeper and faster than it was during the great recession of 2008.
Let's talk more about it with CNN's Christine Romans joining me from New York. And good morning to you -- Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS, CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Natalie.
ALLEN: That is a sobering jobs report. What does it say to you?
ROMANS: Well, I mean it says we've never seen anything like this. So many people thrown out of work in such a quick amount of time. And you know, the states have really been grappling with all of these people who are trying to file for unemployment benefits. I think those numbers probably under state, under count exactly how many people have lost their jobs because we've heard so many people can't even get through to the unemployment offices.
That video you're seeing right there is from Florida where they had to actually send people to get a paper jobless claims application because the systems couldn't handle the volume of people who need assistance.
ALLEN: Yes. One of my friends included in that. It's just --
ROMANS: Yes.
ALLEN: -- tragic what they're going through. And people from all walks of life as well. Let's talk about what about help for small businesses, Christine.
ROMANS: Sure.
ALLEN: I saw a report in "The New York Times" that the United States could lose 1/4 of its restaurants. It's hard to fathom how businesses will be able to come back.
ROMANS: And that's why the money right now is so important. And the money is there, Natalie. The promise has been made, but it has been beset with glitches, and lack of guidance, and banks trying to figure out how to work with the SBA and small businesses trying to figure out how to work with the banks.
You know, we were told that this would be up and running more smoothly by the middle of this week. There still are still a lot of glitches. And these small businesses usually have only, you know, a couple of weeks of money in the bank to pay all of their bills so they're really struggling here now. When they get these loans, if they keep their workers, they keep -- 75 percent of the loan is used to pay for payroll, those loans become free money.
So the point here is the government wants to help these small businesses but they've just got to get the money into their hands, into their bank accounts quickly. And that has been a real, real problem here. The speed of delivery has been a problem.
ALLEN: Yes, and many economists agree that the federal government's lack of response has put us -- put these people in this situation. Christine Romans, always appreciate it live in New York for us. Early in the morning. Thanks, Christine.
The world's biggest energy producers are putting aside their differences to end a brutal price war.
[04:20:00]
OPEC and Russia have now agreed on the terms of a potential deal to cut oil production by the largest amount ever, but one country, Mexico, is standing in the way right now.
CNN emerging markets editor, John Defterios joins us live now from Abu Dhabi. Hello to you, John. Let's talk about this breakthrough with OPEC and Russia. With a production cut this size of 10 million barrels, we would expect to see prices rocket, but not this time. Why is that?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, it's quite a correction, in fact, we had, Natalie. Down 9 percent on the U.S. benchmark and better than 4 percent on the international benchmark. And it tells you how big this glut is that they're trying to mop up. So their proposal is to cut 10 million barrels a day starting in May -- that's 10 percent of global supplies. And the drop in demand right now is estimated at least at this stage about 30 percent or 30 million barrels. And that's why that you've got that sort of market reaction.
We're talking about 2 billion barrels, something we've never seen before, by the end of 2020 if they didn't do anything. Now there is a wrinkle in this as you're suggesting from Mexico. The deal was that everybody around the table, this OPEC plus alliance, all 23, minus the 3 that had exceptions, had to cut about 23 percent of supplies. And this is something Mexico did not want to do. It was a nine-hour marathon session teleconference and Mexico held out and walked out. Now the trick is to get them back at the bargaining table to get this deal finalized.
ALLEN: Yes, Saudi Arabia called a special G20 meeting today. How does it fit into the effort to cut even more oil?
DEFTERIOS: Well, you have the 10 million on the table from the OPEC plus alliance. There's a hope here from the OPEC players and Russia that you can get another 5 million from G20 players, specifically the United States, Canada and Brazil are G20 members. Norway is not but they've talked about a contribution. And very importantly today, Mexico is a G20 player. So they walked out yesterday. The energy minister will be around the table and we had a 90-minute discussion between King Salman of Saudi Arabia, Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Trump. I have to think that President Trump's going to be making calls to Mexico City and say, come on, you cannot hold up a deal because of this cut that everybody else is doing at this stage. This is why it's so tense right now to go into that G20 meeting in about four hours.
ALLEN: All right. We'll wait and see Mexico's response if the U.S. President intervenes. John Defterios live in Abu Dhabi. All right, John, thanks so much.
As part of the ongoing fight against COVID-19, Australia has closed its famed Gold Coast beaches. With more than 13,000 confirmed cases in the country, according to Johns Hopkins, Australia is having to curtail the fun at the beach. CNN's Simon Cullen is in the Gold Coast.
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SIMON CULLEN, CNN (voice-over): This is the glittering Gold Coast. Its long, sandy beaches a magnet for surfers from all over the world and a destination that has marketed itself as Australia's playground. Now though it's off limits. Some of its most popular beaches have been
closed amid the ongoing effort to stop the spread of coronavirus. It was scenes like this last weekend of people crowded onto beaches that prompted authorities to act.
TOM TATE, MAYOR, CITY OF GOLD COAST: For us to win this fight against COVID-19, we're in it together and if the minority people are actually congregating and spreading it, I know I'm governing for the majority, but in this case health issue is the number one priority.
CULLEN: The Easter break is the last opportunity for Australians to enjoy a beach holiday before winter sets in. But Prime Minister Scott Morrison is urging people, this year stay home.
SCOTT MORRISON, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Failure to do so this weekend would completely undo everything we have achieved so far together and potentially worse.
CULLEN: Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach has already been closed because of people flouting social distancing rules. Its beachside pavilion is now being used as a pop-up coronavirus testing center.
DAVID FAKTOR, SAINT VINCENT'S HOSPITAL: We've identified in conjunction with (INAUDIBLE) help, a hot spot within the Bondi community, particularly the backpacker community.
CULLEN: For a country that has closed its borders to international visitors and spent billions of dollars to push in the economic impact, this Easter is like none other. The dream of a laid-back beach holiday gone, another sacrifice in the ever-lengthening battle against a global pandemic.
Simon Cullen, CNN, on the Gold Coast, Australia.
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[04:25:00]
ALLEN: Well, really in the pandemic U.S. laboratories had developed their own coronavirus test but CNN has learned the federal government got in the way costing precious time. Our investigative report about this is just ahead.
Also ahead, local leaders in Italy say they fear the country's coronavirus death toll is much higher than what's being reported. We take a look at the discrepancies.
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ALLEN: And welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from our studios in Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.
The Trump administration is hoping to get the U.S. and its economy quickly back on track, but health experts say there needs to be more coronavirus testing before even considering a return to normalcy, whatever that will be. Now CNN is learning that as early as January private labs were trying to develop effective tests but were blocked by the federal government. Drew Griffin explains what happened and what didn't.
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DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As coronavirus was silently racing around the world in late January and early February, the federal government not only failed to use the massive arsenal of hundreds of laboratories across the United States for emergency testing, it actually left road blocks in place to prevent non-government labs from assisting. That is according to documents obtained by CNN and interviews with more than a dozen scientists and physicians involved in coronavirus testing.
DR. AMESH ADALJA, JOHN HOPKINS UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR HEALTH SECURITY: At the very beginning of this pandemic, it was the federal government that had the sole ability to do the testing and made it very difficult for private labs, for university labs to make their own tests based on certain regulatory hurdles.
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