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Coronavirus Pandemic; 99-Year-Old British Vet Raises Millions For Covid Fight; Countries Seeking IMF Help; G20 Suspends Debt Service Payments For Poor Countries; Empty Disney World Waits Out Coronavirus Lockdown; Americans Without Work Rationing Their Medicines; Russia Sees Biggest Increase, Putin Announces Aid Plan; Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega Appears In Public After Long Absence; 3D Printers Being Used To Make Medical Supplies; China May Have Conducted Low-Level Nuclear Tests in Lop Nur Nuclear Site; Iranian Vessels Harassed American Warships; Emmanuel Macron, Growing Support From Leaders For Global Truce; Teen Start-Up Lends Helping Hands. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired April 16, 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: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: If we're not happy, we'll take very strong action against a state or a governor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Powerful political focus are colliding here in the United States as the president wants to get back to business and state governors hold the line on social distancing.

That comes as the country's top intelligence experts take a hard look at whether the coronavirus could have come out of Chinese lab.

And France marking two disasters, one a year ago another going on right now. All that and more ahead.

Good to have you with us.

So, Donald Trump may be heading for a standoff with locally elected officials from coast to coast. The White House plans to unveil new guidelines in just a few hours to get people back to work, and kids back to school.

But several major cities, including Los Angeles, New York, and New Orleans say don't expect any concerts or sporting events until next year. The president heard from his newly formed business council Wednesday, but even industry leaders are telling him they need guarantees of more coronavirus testing.

And there is likely to be more bad U.S. economic news ahead of Thursday's opening bell. Figures are expected to show that an additional five million people filed for unemployment benefits last week.

Meanwhile, the IRS insists there won't be any delay in Americans getting stimulus checks after a last-minute decision that they include President Trump's name.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well I don't know too much about it, but I understand my name is there. I don't know where they are going, how they were going, I do understand it's not delaying anything. And I'm satisfied with that. I don't -- I don't imagine it's a big deal, I'm sure people will be very happy to get a big, fat beautiful check and my name is on it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta has more on the resistance President Trump is likely to get the economy moving again.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump is expected to unveil new social distancing guidelines on Thursday aimed at reopening parts of the U.S. The president told reporters gathered in the Rose Garden that the new guidelines are geared toward states where the coronavirus pandemic has not been as serious.

But the president told reporters that he'll be watching governors do closely, claiming at one point that he has the right to overrule whatever they decide. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have the right to do whatever we want. But we wouldn't do that, but no, we would have the right to close down what they are doing, if we want to do that. But we don't want to do that. And I don't think that there will be reason to do that, but we have the right to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: The president also expressed frustration with some of his nominees that have been languishing up on Capitol Hill, at one point, the president threatened to adjourned Congress to get things going but it's not clear whether Republicans or Democrats will go along with that idea.

Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: And the longer Americans remain cooped up under stay-at-home orders, the more restless some are growing. And now, in some places, protesters are letting state leaders know they're fed up with the restrictions.

Well, this protest in Michigan's capital was dubbed Operation Gridlock and it lived up to its name with drivers honking their horns waving flags and jamming up traffic for miles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONICA MONZO, PROTESTING STAY-AT-HOME ORDER: I truly believe that restriction should have been put on the people that are sick, that are coming down with the illness. I truly believe that there are some people that are at a higher risk than others. As people that are at a lower risk, I feel like we should continue our lives and continued working.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Well, Michigan has more than 28,000 cases of coronavirus, and more than 1,900 deaths. Governor Gretchen Whitmer who recently extended the stay-at-home order through April 30th says Wednesday's protest only put more lives at risk.

The leading health centers tallying the U.S. figures are now including probable coronavirus cases and deaths in their totals. As a result, we've seen another big jump in the numbers, now at more than 30,000 dead in the U.S.

[03:05:02]

We get more now from CNN's Nick Watt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI (D), LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: It's difficult to imagine us getting together in the thousands, anytime soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, no ball game, no concerts here in Los Angeles says the mayor, maybe for another here. Another year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): It's over when we have a vaccine. We want to use New York City as a laboratory, we are ready, willing, and able.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: But a vaccine could take anywhere from 8 to 18 months. Meantime, to reopen at all, we need lots of testing, and there is a potential impasse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The governors are supposed to do testing, it's up to the governors.

CUOMO: We cannot do it, at least without federal support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: We'll reopen a bit, but this summer will still be different to all other summers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D-NY): If we move to, quickly put 50,000 people in Yankees Stadium, and that's part of why you see a resurgence of the disease, that would be the worst of all worlds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: California now exploring disposable restaurant menus and servers, wearing face masks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT REDFIELD, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: I do think we are going to have some social distancing that's going to be a critical part of our strategy as we go forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: Starting soon, New Yorkers must carry a mask everywhere they go, and wear it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Any situation in public where you cannot maintain social distancing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: New Jersey, now names and shame stay-at-home scofflaws.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GURBIR GREWAL, NEW JERSEY ATTORNEY GENERAL: From loitering in public places, to stupid things like holding front lawn Pink Floyd cover band converts. What's encouraging is that there is more compliance now than at the beginning of the emergency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: Reopening will be rolling regional, New York and New Jersey might have passed the peak. Meanwhile, Massachusetts has climbed to the third highest case count in the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROCHELLE WALENSKY, INFECTIOUS DISEASE PHYSICIAN, MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: We're probably going to get a peak number of needs for ventilators in about five to seven days and likely the peak number of deaths five to seven days after that. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: The CDC now estimates nearly 10,000 healthcare workers have been infected with this virus. And the food and retail union now running this PSA says 30 members have been killed by COVID-19.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARC PERRONE, PRESIDENT, UNITED FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION: Do I think that they should receive hazard pay or appreciation pay or whatever kind of pay you want to call it, the answer is yes, I do, because they're taking more risk every single day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: They want grocery clerks designated as extended first responders. That's our new normal. Will be for a while.

CHURCH: CNN's Nick Watt reporting there.

Well, we are learning the U.S. is looking into a theory that the coronavirus may have originated in a Chinese lab, not in a wet market in Wuhan and that the disease was accidentally released into the public.

There reportedly have been concerns for some time about the safety and management of the lab in question, the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Intelligence sources tell CNN the U.S. does not believe the virus was associated with any kind of bioweapon's research.

Now this comes as a new report from the Associated Press, based on an internal Chinese document, says China sat on critical information about the scope of the threat for some time before alerting the public.

CNN's David Culver has more on that.

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The internal documents acquired by the Associated Press suggest that China's top officials knew the potential severity of the virus, but for six days held off on sounding the alarm to the public.

The A.P. report is based on what they characterized as a leaked memo from a confidential teleconference involving the head of China's national health commission. CNN has gone through the government's public released of that teleconference which highlights the worries expressed by health officials to other leaders.

Now here is what we know of what China knew and when. Going back to December 8th, the Wuhan government disclosed the first patient symptoms of the then unknown virus. Nearly a month later, January 3rd, Wuhan health officials stressed there is no obvious human to human transmission, and on that same day, China notified the U.S. of the virus. On January 7th, President Xi Jinping's first public awareness is made

known and he ordered actions to be taken. A week after that, on January 14th, that the teleconference and that's when, according to a government release which came up more than a month after the conference, there was a sober understanding of the situation that was made known to top government officials.

They added that, quote, "clustered cases suggests that human to human transmission is possible."

But here's the concern, publicly, as late as January 19th, the Wuhan health commission said that the outbreak was controllable and preventable and not contagious. The next day a very different narrative.

[03:10:00]

Leading health officials acknowledged that cases of human to human transmission and even, they stressed, that medical personnel had gotten infected. Three days later, Wuhan went on lockdown.

Now, in response to past questions over transparency, China has repeatedly maintained that they have been open and forthcoming in their handling of this outbreak.

CNN has reached out to the national health commission for their comment on this latest reporting.

David Culver, CNN, Shanghai.

CHURCH: A new study suggests people might be most infectious with the coronavirus before they show any symptoms. Scientists behind the study say that people may be able to infect others two to three days before they begin feeling sick themselves.

The research published in the journal Nature Medicine is in line with other scientific studies that suggest seemingly healthy people are spreading the virus.

Meanwhile, some hopeful news when it comes to the race for a coronavirus vaccine, the lead scientists working on a vaccine for the National Institutes of Health says it could be ready sooner than expected. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIZZMEKIA CORBETT, LEAD SCIENTIST FOR VACCINE TRIALS, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: We are targeting fall for the emergency use, so that would be, you know, for healthcare workers and people who might be in constant contact and risk of being expose over and over.

And then for the general population, our target goal is for next spring, and that is if all things go well, and if these phase one, and phase two, and phase three clinical trials work simultaneously for the good, our plan is to have people vaccinated all over the world by next spring. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: We'll certainly keep our fingers crossed on that.

Sterghios Moschos is a molecular virologist at Northumbria University, and he joins us now live from Newcastle, England. Thank you so much for talking with us.

STERGHIOS MOSCHOS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN CELLULAR & MOLECULAR SCIENCES, NORTHUMBRIA UNIVERSITY: Good morning.

CHURCH: So, each day we learn something new about this novel coronavirus and now we are learning that people maybe at their most infectious before they even start to show any symptoms and even know that they are sick. How surprised are you by that new finding? And how often does the virus work like that?

MOSCHOS: Frankly, I'm not surprised at all. This being prepublication data showed in Medical Archives for at least two weeks now. I have to admit it's over (Inaudible) one period with all the work we're putting into it.

Flu is another example of a respiratory virus that peak comes before we start seeing symptoms. Therefore, to assume that this was not going to be the case, or let's assume that it was going to be the case would be premature, and I think that's the message to take home here. You can't extrapolate from other viruses. You have study basics.

CHURCH: Right, and given this new information does it make any sense at all loosening up on restrictions and opening countries up for business when it turns out we're dealing with the virus that is spreading before any symptoms appear.

Plus, the U.S. and the U.K. haven't been able to get sufficient and expansive COVID-19 testing made available. So, should there be this big push to get people back out there?

MOSCHOS: No. I think that's the straightest answer. I'm very much against the concept of loosening restrictions and movement, sooner rather than later. There is a, you know, there is a simple rationale about this.

If we let people loose sooner rather than later, the first thing they will do is partying about it. And as they're partying about it, they're going to initiate transmission chains again. Three weeks from that we're all going to be back into square one.

CHURCH: Yes. And we'll forego again. And of course, as more people get sick and start to recover from COVID-19, and as others realize that sickness as they suffered in February could very well have been COVID-19.

So, more and more people want to check to see if they have the antibodies for this virus. So that they can relax a little, and even donate their blood for the convalescent plasma. So, this increasing demand for the antibody tests, and the FDA in the

United States has authorized more of these tests, but how reliable and effective are they do you think?

MOSCHOS: I think the status from the scientific officers of the U.K. government actually tell us how reliable to the extent these tests can be. The U.K. invested 14 million in buying tests, and then had spent time testing those specificity.

So, there's four coronaviruses going around in the west of the world, such as the common cold. It's actually whether or not these tests can tell apart whether or not you had simple common cold or COVID symptoms cold.

[03:15:04]

So, I wouldn't be rushing us yet by this extent because they might be giving you the wrong answers. I think it's important that we get the validation independently from the manufacturers and then say that these things look like we are good enough, off we go, lets us start monitoring what's going on.

CHURCH: I also just --

(CROSSTALK)

MOSCHOS: I also need to add that if you get positive do not assume that this will last forever. We don't know long this would last, the immunity.

CHURCH: I wanted to ask you about that just very quickly, about immunity. Because if you are saying there's these very different strains, as what you're saying, then you might get one but be susceptible to another?

MOSCHOS: Yes. We know for example that with other coronaviruses, immunity last best for a year. So that would make you immune to one coronavirus. If the test can't tell apart which coronavirus it is, that's useless to you because you will go out there. If you have not had COVID, you might get COVID and you might end up in ICU.

But at the same time, if the test comes back positive, and it is extremely specific for COVID, we do not know how long this last for. It might mean that it lasts for a couple of months, it might mean that it last for a couple of decades, and the uncertainty is as broad as that.

CHURCH: That is very important making those points. We appreciate all of this. Sterghios Moschos, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.

MOSCHOS: You're very welcome.

CHURCH: Well, amid all of these, doctors, nurses, and all healthcare workers putting their lives on the line to help all of us, and they are professional lifesavers. Here is how some New Yorkers are saying thank you.

Cheering and clapping for their brave medical heroes while sheltering in place. You've been hearing this all over the world. And for more on how the virus is affecting people across the globe, you can head over to cnn.com. We have a new report on how the pandemic may have intensified India's car system and prevented some people from receiving much needed supplies.

Let's take a short break here. Still to come, the French military making up a new coronavirus cluster. How the virus infected hundreds on a navy ship. We're back with that in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: The great bell of Notre Dame ringing to mark a year since the devastating fire tore through the cathedral in France. It also honored the healthcare workers and first responders putting their lives on the line to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

[03:20:01]

The bell ringer wearing a face mask to protect himself from the virus in one of the world's hardest hit countries.

Well, the number of hospitalizations in France has decreased for the first time since the pandemic began. A top French health official says while France should applaud this milestone, it still needs to remain careful.

According to Johns Hopkins University the number of coronavirus cases now over 134,000. On Wednesday, France's armed forces announced that more than 600 crew members on an aircraft carrier have tested positive for the virus.

CNN's Cyril Vanier joins me now from Normandy, France. Good to see you, Cyril. Of course, we've seen this pattern play out in other countries, haven't we? The number of hospitalizations starts to decline but sadly people are still dying because of that lag time. What is the latest that you have on the situation across the country?

CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, you are absolutely right, Rosemary, and there are some days when it's hard to make sense of the numbers because everything depends on whether you are looking at absolute numbers or whether you are looking at trends.

And if you are looking at absolute numbers in France what you see is a tragedy. If you're looking at trends, what you see are positive signs. So absolute numbers first. Upwards of 17,000 people killed in France since the beginning of the epidemic. One of the highest death tolls in the world.

Upwards of 500 people who dies in -- died in the hospitals yesterday, and that's -- that's consistent, that's in line with the number of hospital deaths, daily hospital deaths over the last week. So that's fairly consistent. It's still very, very high. I want to remind our viewers it's

consistent that it's high. People are dying in French hospitals every three minutes. And in nursing homes it's even worse. The number of daily deaths announced yesterday was upwards of 900.

Now that has to be averaged out over a few days because there are lags in reporting but it's still very high. And the government has been adamant France is plateauing, it's plateauing at a high level of deaths.

Now onto the trends, where you start seeing positive signs. The balance of people in French hospitals for the first time yesterday is negative, meaning there are fewer people in hospital in France due to coronavirus than the previous day and it's the first time we've seen that since the beginning of the epidemic.

That obviously is a positive sign, and that obviously is a cause for optimism. Because we know that downstream from that if there are fewer people in hospital, that means that in a few days, you know, we will also be seeing fewer people needing intensive care. That's what we've been seeing for a few days already, and hopefully fever people dying from this, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes, absolutely. That is indeed the hope there in France, and all across the globe. Cyril Vanier bringing us the very latest on the situation in France. I appreciate that.

Well, it was touted a game-changer by U.S. President Donald Trump, but now a French study has found that the drug hydroxychloroquine does not help coronavirus patients. In that study, French doctors looked at the medical records of 181 patients, only half of the group had taken the drug within 48 hours of being admitted to the hospital with COVID-19.

Yet, there were no statistically significant differences in death rates compared to those who had not taken the drug. The study also raised important safety concerns with eight patients who had taken the drug developing abnormal heart rhythms.

Well, for the first time Germany is reporting more than 300 deaths from the coronavirus within a 24-hour period. But the number of confirmed infections remains at a lower level. The government says there are currently more than 130,000 cases.

And this comes as Germany gets ready to lift some of its lockdown measures. Chancellor Angela Merkel announced smaller shops will begin reopening as soon as next week if they follow certain hygiene plans.

However, as CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports while some restrictions are being eased, others are ramping up.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The German government is taking small steps to try and reopen this country's economy and the society after some pretty strong measures to try and combat the coronavirus crisis.

Angela Merkel went in front of the press on Wednesday and said that Germany is actually making some measures more restrictive than before. For instance, there are not going to be any gatherings with large crowds in this country until the end of August.

Germany also says that social distancing measures that have been put in place will remain in place until at least May 3rd.

Now, on the other hand, the Germans were also saying that smaller shops are going to be able to open next Monday. However, they do say that people going to those shops are strongly recommended to wear face masks. However, it is not a total requirement of the German government is putting out there.

[03:25:05]

Angela Merkel's government says that so far, their response to the coronavirus crisis has been efficient, as she put it, the Germans have a large amount of confirmed coronavirus cases.

However, the death toll still remains fairly low. Now Angela Merkel said that in their reasoning for loosening some of these measures, but at the same time keeping a lot of the hygiene measures in place and the social distancing ones as well, is they say they don't want to reverse some of the gains that they've made.

Right now, in Germany, the number of new confirmed coronavirus cases is going down. But the Germans do fear that there could be a spike if some of these measures to loosen and open the economy go in the wrong direction.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

CHURCH: The United Kingdom is expected to announce its extending lockdown measures for at least three more weeks. Government officials say restrictions are definitely having an impact. Hospital admissions fell by 1 percent nationwide Tuesday, 5 percent in greater London.

But despite evidence the curve is flattening, the high number of deaths will likely continue. And it's too soon to ease the restrictions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS WHITTY, BRITISH CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: We do all think that this has flattened out. Sadly, we do think that high number of deaths will continue for a, certainly a short while from where we are at the moment.

I think there's an additional reason that we are there, so I think at the moment we are not yet at the point where we can say confidently and safely this is now past the peak and we can start thinking very much about the next phases.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joins me now from London. So, Nick, despite some encouraging signs, the U.K. is set to extend its lockdown. What more are you learning about this?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: I have to say very little at this point. It has been clear for a number of days that the British cabinet led by Boris Johnson, the prime minister's deputy, Dominic Raab thinks we are going to be dealing with another three weeks of restriction on movement in the United Kingdom. But the specifics have not been released, particularly the specifics of how this comes to an end.

Now you've just heard there from Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer of the United Kingdom, giving the complicated mixed message the government has to give here because they are seeing positive trends in numbers.

One number we hear in yesterday's briefing was that there are over 2,000 intensive care beds in the country which are not being used at this point. They have spare capacity.

Remember, from the start, the U.K.'s concern was they have to reduce the infection rate to be sure that the free health care service, the National Health Service here was not overstretched causing people to lose their lives because they couldn't get medical care.

That is not happening. And we are still, though, seeing horrifying numbers of deaths reported every day. Seven hundred sixty-seven reported yesterday, and that's just a number of people who test positive in hospital who then go on to died.

There may be as many according to some rough, I have to say, statistical analysis of 50 percent more who die elsewhere in the country, perhaps in the care homes or elsewhere. And there is a reporting lag as well, which mean said Chris Whitty in the days ahead to see the daily death toll spike a little after the recent holiday weekend.

We are expecting today Dominic Raab to lead a cabinet meeting in which there will be a discussion of how these measures are continued. An announcement on today most likely, possibly with some specifics about how we may see an end to this or a date for a subsequent review.

But there have been confusing signals about how this may emerge. A junior health minister has tweeted the idea that we are going to have some kind of lockdown until a vaccine emerges, well, that's over a year away according to most scientists.

And then one of the epidemiologists at Imperial College whose kind of emerged a bit of a sage in the absence of other government strategies here, has suggested we can't go back to normal again until we see some kind of vaccine, that social distancing will have to be maintained.

But that's all in the face of some, often horrifying numbers from the British government here in terms of the economic damage being done. So, the U.K. having to weigh a very complicated situation here between projecting a message that their measures are working, and that the deaths are awful but ebbing slowly, and we may hast past the peak we heard yesterday. But on top of that as well, except that they have to get the public ready here for the idea they could be endorse for a matter of weeks more.

Back to you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes, that's going to be tough. We start to see resistance in some of the world to being lockdown for too long.

Nick Paton Walsh, many thanks to you bringing us up to date on the situation in the U.K.

WALSH: I've lost a bit.

CHURCH: Well, a 99-year-old British army veteran has raised more than $15 million dollars to help the U.K.'s National Health Service fight the pandemic. Tom Moore served as a captain in World War II. He set a goal of walking the length of his 25-meter garden 100 times before he turned 100 years at the end of the month.

[03:30:00]

Moore says, he didn't expect much from the beginning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPTAIN TOM MOORE, BRITISH ARMY VETERAN: It was a joke. To say, I guess it may result, I'd been a 100 years-old. A 100 walks up here and reminded us a thousand times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: He is set to take his final 10 laps on Thursday, telling his followers online, hold on to your hats. Well done.

Well, half the countries around the world are looking for emergency loans, and the International Monetary Fund says, it's ready to help. The Green economic picture. That is ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: The global economic picture amid the pandemic remains bleak, in the U.S., weak bank earnings and retail sales that plunged 8.7 percent rocked the stock market, Wednesday. And it won't get any better with the weekly jobless claims report later Thursday. It's expected to show another five million people filed for benefits.

The International Monetary Fund says growth in Asia will stall zero in 2020, for the first time in almost 60 years. And oil prices, which seems to be a measure of global growth, remains weak at this time. And we go live now to Abu Dhabi. Where CNN's John Defterios is standing by. John, it all sounds terribly grim, doesn't it? And if five million Americans seek jobless claims today, what might that mean in terms of the U.S. unemployment rate?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, five million will take us, Rosemary to 20 million in a month. We imagine that 20 million and we have to remember the phases in front of those numbers and the people who are trying to keep their businesses open. That would take the unemployment rate to 13 percent and the tally by the end of June according to the U.S. Federal Reserve could hit 50 million Americans, that's a 165 in the workforce today. So, that is dire, something we haven't seen since the great recession.

As you are suggesting, Wall Street was down nearly 2 percent yesterday because of those retail sales numbers, and also industrial output was lower. These numbers will hit a narrow before Wall Street opens. It could be another turbulent day. At the International Monetary Fund World Bank meetings that were taking place, virtually, with the headquarters in Washington, the head of the fund was suggesting that even though the G20 countries have put up 7 trillion dollars, 2 trillion from the United States, it is vital that they keep their options open because of the coronavirus. Let's take a listen.

[03:35:09]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA, MANAGING DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND: Everything is on the table in terms of measures we can take. What we do, is first do all we can with the resources we have. Second, make sure that that there are no gaps in what we have to be of service to the membership. Everything is on the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS: And this is the challenge right now, Rosemary, because we saw the G20 countries give some debt relief, suspending payments on debt for 76 countries. What the IMF was suggesting for the first time is well surpasses what we saw in the global financial crisis. That more than 100 countries already are asking for support, and the virus really hasn't settled in to Africa, and Latin America, or big countries like Indonesia just yet.

CHURCH: Yes. And John, on Monday, you and I talked about a historic cut in oil supplies. Now, we have oil hovering near an 18 year low again. Why is that? What could this mean?

DEFTERIOS: Well, we had two reports that came out yesterday, and the one from the United States showed that the supplies are rising at the fastest rate since the 1960s. We are looking at storage, according to the International Energy Agency as well in Paris, of a half a billion barrels in the U.S. And this is pretty simple, Rosemary. It is supply and demand. OPEC cut about 10 million barrels a day. The U.S. is going to lose 2 million according to the IEA. That's 12, but demand at this stage is dropping by 30 percent or 30 million barrels.

It should rebalanced the second half, we just don't know how deep the recession is going to be through the 3rd quarter, and whether we get this recovery going forward. We have major interventions by Donald Trump to end the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. And all for not, if you look at it today, because we closed below $20 a barrel for the first time since 2002, and we remain there right now? We don't see the uptick coming back 24 hours later.

CHURCH: Just incredible. All right, John Defterios, bringing us some analysis there and what all of this could mean going forward. I appreciate that.

Well, landmarks and attractions have closed their doors around the world to stop the spread of the coronavirus. And it's producing some striking scenes, take a look at this. Florida's Walt Disney World and Universal Theme Parks usually bustling with thousands of people, now completely empty. The parks have been closed since mid-March, and it is unknown when they might open. Disney's executive chairman says when they do reopen, visitors may have to have their temperatures checked before they can enter the grounds. It's going to be the new normal.

Well, for some Americans, it is not the coronavirus, but the economic downturn that is a bigger threat to their health. Without jobs, they can't pay for medicines they need, and some fear the government stimulus money will be too little too late. Assuming it comes at all. Kyung Lah reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRANDI TITUS, DIABETIC RATIONING INSULIN: Maybe three days left.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Diabetic Brandi Titus counts her days, by the insulin she's got left.

TITUS: When you turn it upside down, you can see there is not much left in it.

LAH: What happens when that insulin is gone?

TITUS: I am very worried that I will end up in a hospital bed, sitting next to someone who has coronavirus. I contract said virus, and then it ends up killing me.

LAH: Already rationing her insulin since losing her house keeping job of the coronavirus shut down, this week is the crossroads for her.

MICHAEL SHAWKI, RATIONING MEDICATION: That's the last one, yes.

LAH: And others like Michael Shawki, whose survival depends on life saving prescriptions and the federal stimulus money they are waiting on to pay for them.

SHAWKI: So, this is my last injection.

LAH: A two-time cancer survivor, and crown disease patient, Shawki has insurance. And yet, what is the co-pay for all of that?

SHAWKI: This is around 500 total, like if I got all of these with taxes, probably, about $500.

LAH: He was able to afford these life-sustaining drugs by managing a chain of New York bakeries, but when the coronavirus hit Manhattan last month, he was laid off. Now, he's rationing what he has left without knowing when his expected stimulus money will come in.

SHAWKI: Each day, this gets scarier.

LAH: How dire is this? This crisis for you?

SHAWKI: I think, life or death for some people, you know, for me, my fear is if I'm going to cause long term damage to myself, people are living check to check. When they're working. What do you think when the income goes away, do you think they are going to be able to survive on a few weeks? No.

LAH: Shawki took to Twitter, begging for help along with so many others. An essential employee rationing seizure meds until the stimulus check comes in. A single mother who needs prescriptions for her family, for each (inaudible) their supply of necessary treatments is a deadly game of chance.

[03:40:09]

TITUS: I wake up about 3:00 a.m. with a blood sugar that's about 400, 420.

LAH: Brandi Titus blood sugar levels are four times higher than average. She says it is not if she goes to the emergency room, but when.

TITUS: I wouldn't have a choice, my body will go into diabetic you know, acidosis.

LAH: Unlike those expecting government relief in the coming days, she won't be getting a stimulus check. She is behind on her child support, so like thousands of others, she doesn't qualify. She is on her own.

TITUS: It's hard. $100 might not be that much to you, but it could be my saving grace for tomorrow.

LAH: Michael Shawki was watching President Trump's White House briefing, he says this issue of the president's name on the stimulus check, and whether or not that might delay the checks arriving, while angry is in the right word. He uses the word hurt. He says Americans are hurting. And this should not be about anyone other than helping those Americans. Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And Russia has seen its biggest increase in cases yet nearly 3400 reported on Wednesday alone. It comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin in a video call with officials announced a $2.7 billion economic aid package meant to support regions all across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (TRANSLATOR): I have already spoken about the need for additional financial assistance to the regions. Their incomes have now dipped for various reasons, at the regional level, where a lot of work is underway to support the economy and the citizens have a big load, the regions must have the financial resources for this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And Russia has officially reported almost 25,000 cases of the virus, most of those are in Moscow, which is bracing for a shortage of hospital beds and trying to get 24 more medical facilities online.

Well, after vanishing from public view for more than a month, the president of Nicaragua has suddenly reappeared and is vowing to win the fight against coronavirus. In a televised speech Wednesday, Daniel Ortega did not address his long absence which had rose questions about his health. Instead, he tried to assure the public that Nicaragua is capable of dealing with this pandemic. He also defended his decision not to impose social distancing measures, saying the country will continue working during the outbreak.

Well, medical supply shortages are now being met with a new solution, 3d printing, and you will see what these sprinters are capable of creating. It is amazing. That's next.

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CHURCH: Well, across the world, people are becoming more innovative in their efforts to support health care workers. We have seen sowing groups, making face masks and liquor distillery is producing hand sanitizer and now as David Culver reports, 3d printers are being used to make much-needed medical supplies.

[03:45:03]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As the novel coronavirus, first swept through China, millions went into lockdown. And factories like this one in Wuhu, where Ben Baltes, Toybox 3d printers are made went dark.

BEN BALTES, CEO, TOYBOX: Our supply chain was completely shut down for two months.

CULVER: But as China slowly restarts, Baltes' production is back up. And as millions in the U.S. are now under stay-at-home orders, Toybox has seen sales go up, driven. He says by the goodwill of his customers.

BALTES: You know, without our help at all, they essentially formed a Facebook group and our community was really the one driving it.

CULVER: The Facebook group has become an online forum to share about various medical supplies that can be printed in 3d.

JENNY LEE, RETIRED SALON OWNER: We try, as a salon owner for a 16 years, and I'm a stay home now.

CULVER: Jenny Lee from Southern California has mobilized her whole family to help. They are printing out Y-splitters for ventilators. It is a simple plastic that channels air from one input to two outgoing tubes, potentially maximizing the use of ventilators of which some hospitals are experiencing dire shortages.

LEE: So, there is so many people that reach out to me and I am like loaded right now. I have like, so many.

CULVER: In Washington State, aerospace manufacturing engineer, Christian Parker, working from home, and joining in on that effort along with his 3 kids.

CHRISTIAN PARKER, AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING ENGINEER: I am not a medical professional at all. But, if this is something that I can give that helps save somebody's life or help take stress off of a doctor, or take stress off of a nurse or whoever. And help on those front lines, if it does that. Then I am good. And I will keep doing it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The splitter will allow for one ventilator to be used by multiple patients.

CULVER: Helen (inaudible) at Johns Hopkins University says several hospitals in the U.S. without enough ventilators are now finding success with the simple Y-splitter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Usually, you have one ventilator, one patient, and inclination can change the settings to give the patient exactly what they need. It happens when you have multiple patients on one splitter, you don't have as much fine tune to control for the patients.

CULVER: So, she and her team are now working quickly to develop an advanced type of splitter, and in the meantime, she says the simple splitters printed in homes across the U.S. appear to be effective. And they are allowing people of all ages to stay home and help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because usually we will just print a toy, and play with it, but now we are able to help people by printing what they need.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I shipped out 10 units to a lady in California who is coordinating with hospitals in Zimbabwe and Ghana as well. So, we are now reaching international locations.

CULVER: Lee's family is now getting the requests for other printed items. Like S-clips for face masks.

LEE: I want to do something, at least I put a smile on the nurses and doctors, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody really saw coronavirus coming. Supply chains are shot right now, but anyone with the 3d printer who is able to do these things at home now.

CULVER: Baltes says it's not about people buying his product, in fact, he has made the source code for the splitters, S-clips and even children's face masks free and available for any brand of 3d printer to use. From a factory in China, to families in the U.S., creating their own at home assembly lines, a globalized effort to give back. David Culver, CNN, Shanghai.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The United States says China may have conducted low level underground nuclear tests last year despite an international pact banning those blasts. A report from the U.S. State Department offers no proof, but points to suspicious activities around China's Lop Nur nuclear test site, including extensive excavation. The use of explosive containment chambers, and possible preparation to operate this site year-round. So far, no word from China.

Well, the U.S. is accusing Iran of harassing its warships in the Arabian Sea. The U.S. Navy released this video that it says shows Iranian vessels repeatedly making dangerous approaches to six of its ships for about an hour. The U.S. says this happened while it was conducting operations with army helicopters in international waters. The crew issued multiple warnings by radio and blasted the ships horns.

The French president says he has the backing from some of the permanent members of the U.N. security council for a global truth during the pandemic, in a radio interview, Emmanuel Macron said this, President Xi Jinping confirmed his agreement to me. President Trump confirmed his agreement to me. Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirm his agreement to me. I think President Putin will definitely agree too.

Well, the U.N. secretary general made the call for an immediate cease- fire last month, saying the fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war. Pope Francis echoed the plea during his Easter mass and called for an end to weapons manufacturing.

[03:50:13]

We will take a short break here, still to come. Teenagers in California may not be able to go to school, but they are still staying busy, how a high school start-up is helping out during the pandemic. We are back with that in moment.

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CHURCH: Well, kindness often caused very little yet its value is immense. Gestures from friends, neighbors, and strangers shining array of hope in the midst of this pandemic. A start-up in California called Six Feet Supplies is now turning high schoolers into heroes. They provide a simple, but much needed service delivering groceries to vulnerable members of the community. Joining me now, Eric Luo and Zoe Monterola, cofounders of Six Feet Supplies. Good to have you both with us.

ERIC LUO, CO-FOUNDER SIX FEET SUPPLIES: It's good to be on.

CHURCH: Now your high school students, and you pull together this group of 37 volunteers who shop and deliver groceries for free to neighbors in need. How did you come up with that idea, and how does it work exactly? ZOE MONTEROLA, CO-FOUNDER SIX FEET SUPPLIES: We came up with this

idea while we were at global prep academy, and an after school program that encourages product base learning. We are on a zoom call, and our teacher was talking about a neighbor that left him a note on his door saying that if he needed anything, just to give him a call, and the immediate thought popped into my head, why can't we have this on a larger scale in our community? And it works on the basis of people trusting teenagers who delivered their groceries for free, and have a lot of safety precautions.

CHURCH: Well, that's great. And Eric, why did you both feel the need to do this and how are you sharing this idea with other like-minded students?

LUO: Yes. So, part of my inspiration came from a new story that I saw about an elderly couple in Oregon who paid someone $100 to do grocery shopping for them. And I realized that isn't in isolated incident and that people like that are all across this country, and need similar help like that, so we thought, there are people in Santa Clarita who will need people to go to grocery shopping for them. So, we just wanted to make sure that we are available, because without school we can make sure to take the proper time to get educated, take necessary precautions, and do this properly without endangering anyone else.

And when it came down to finding like-minded people, there were a lot of people who were willing to help us out during this time, even if they couldn't go out and shop like, because their parents didn't want them to, they were still able to help out behind the scenes with spreading the word on social media, and reaching out to other organizations just to help us get the word out that we are available to help the people of Santa Clarita.

[03:55:00]

CHURCH: It's a wonderful idea, and Zoe, how do you and all of the other volunteers protect yourselves when you go shopping for these groceries? And do you ever worry that you may have exposed yourselves to covid-19 by doing this?

MONTEROLA: Right, so at our headquarters, we have masks and gloves for our volunteers to use. We've had training with registered nurses, who have us safety precautions from you know using gloves, carefully, so we don't cross contaminate to keeping the safe distance from leaving groceries and going back to deliver his car. And just having proper hand washing techniques and just having the proper safety equipment at all times.

CHURCH: That's great. And Eric, how is your service different to other grocery delivery services that people can have access to?

LUO: So, the biggest similar service that we found was Instacart, and we saw a lot of mixed reviews about it, but a lot of people who used this -- or told us that they had tried Instacart once or twice and they hadn't gone like a proper service, and it wasn't fitting into their needs. And we haven't seen any other large-scale volunteer organization similar to this, and when it came down to it, seeing people suffer because of a business like Instacart that is charging exorbitant delivery fees, not often getting the orders correct, we wanted to make sure that we would be better than them to make sure that we are here to help you, so we wanted to do the best that we could to make sure that you are our number one priority.

CHURCH: And Zoe, you get the final word. How does it make you feel when you do this for people?

MONTEROLA: It's such a humbling experience being able to help so many people and just have such communities support behind a group of teams just wanting to do good for the community at this time. Where we are so fragmented.

CHURCH: That is wonderful and you are both wonderful young people and your volunteers and of course you are sharing this model with other students who would probably want to follow in your footsteps. Many thanks to both of you, Eric and Zoe. I appreciate it.

LUO: Thank you so much for having us.

MONTEROLA: Thank you.

CHURCH: Our young heroes there. And thank you for joining us, I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.

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END