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U.S. approves Remdesivir as COVID-19 Treatment; Dozens of U.S. States Begin Reopening as Death Toll Climbs; Fauci to Appear before Senate Committee; South Korea Urges Caution on Kim Jong-un Reporting; U.S. and China Escalate Pandemic Blame Game; U.K. Looks at Expanded Testing, Easing Restrictions; Spaniards Allowed Outside as Death Rate Slows; Missouri Comedian on Reopening; First Responders Return to Front Lines; Thermal Goggles Safely Take Temperatures. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired May 02, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): New worrisome studies, one warning: 100,000 people in the U.S. could die by midsummer while another suggests COVID-19 could be with us for two years.
Meantime the Federal Drug Administration approving a drug to treat coronavirus as the CDC says the next few weeks are crucial.
Also, some humor.
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JEFF HOUGHTON, COMEDIAN: Go to work and home school. Go to there. Stay here. Go instead.
ALLEN (voice-over): A message from the weary parents in Missouri trying to keep it all together while barely getting by.
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ALLEN (voice-over): Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Natalie Allen. And this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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ALLEN: And thank you for joining us.
Unless there is a vaccine or an effective treatment in the relatively near future, infectious disease experts warn that the coronavirus pandemic is going to be with us for a long time, at least 18 months according to one new report.
And it predicts 60 percent or more of the U.S. population will eventually become infected. Right now, it is a fraction of that.
Johns Hopkins University has tracked 1.1 million cases among Americans and more than 65,000 deaths now.
Mindful of what is at stake, the U.S. government has given rapid approval for the sickest patients to get the antiviral drug remdesivir, which has shown some promise in clinical trials.
Yet even as new cases and deaths continue to climb nationwide, a huge portion of the country is relaxing stay-at-home restrictions and reopening some businesses. Experts fear it is much too early. But U.S. president Donald Trump said he hopes that the U.S. can keep the number of deaths below 100,000.
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TRUMP: People were thinking in terms of 1.5 million lives lost to 2.2 million without the mitigation. And hopefully we're going to come in below that 100,000 lives lost, which is a horrible number nevertheless.
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ALLEN: We want to tell you more now about the drug remdesivir and how it will be used to treat the most severe cases of COVID-19. For that, here is CNN's Sara Sidner.
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DR. FRANCIS RIEDO, EVERGREENHEALTH: It was now everybody that was potentially at risk.
SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dr. Francis Riedo is an infectious disease specialist on the front line of the war on coronavirus. From the first confirmed COVID-19 death in the U.S., Reno and EvergreenHealth in Kirkland, Washington, are now at the forefront of finding a treatment.
They are taking part in a clinical trial of remdesivir.
RIEDO: This is an intravenous medication that is given for 10 days.
SIDNER (voice-over): After it was administered to the sickest COVID-19 patients, Dr. Reno says it showed real promise. And that was just phase one of the trial.
SIDNER: When you go into a second phase of the trial, what does that mean?
RIEDO: So the second phase is going to use this as the backbone. So every patient will receive remdesivir because the first trial, act one, showed benefit. Shortened the course of illness and almost statistically significantly showed a decrease in mortality.
SIDNER (voice-over): In phase 2, some patients will also get a companion drug called bemcentinib, which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. But every COVID-19 patient in the trial will now be treated with remdesivir.
SIDNER: Why is that a big deal?
RIEDO: It's huge. This is the first scientifically proven beneficial drug in terms of treatment of SARS CoV 2.
SIDNER (voice-over): Trials of the drug are happens across 68 sites, more than 1,000 people have taken part. The result: patients recovered 31 percent more quickly with remdesivir, that translates to four fewer days of suffering in the hospital.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Although at 31 percent improvement, it doesn't seem like a knockout punch in percent, it is a very important proof of concept because what it has proven is that a drug can block this virus.
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SIDNER (voice-over): Remdesivir was originally created as a potential drug to treat Ebola. Dr. Riedo was also on the front lines of that battle, traveling to Africa. He hopes the drug works this time around.
But before the second trial was done, the president, alongside the CEO of Gilead, who makes the drug, announced the FDA's emergency use authorization for remdesivir.
DANIEL O'DAY, GILEAD: We'll be with the government to learn how best to distribute that within the United States.
SIDNER (voice-over): The FDA acting unusually quickly. For now, the drug is being used only in hospitals on the sickest COVID-19 patients. It is not a cure. Some of the patients treated with the drug still died. But others felt better, faster.
SIDNER: This could be one major tool in the fight against coronavirus.
RIEDO: Correct.
SIDNER: Wow.
RIEDO: But it all has to be proven and we all have to do the science, the careful science.
SIDNER: And we should be very clear that this is still only being given to the sickest of patients who are in the hospital. And it is done intravenously. This is not available right now to the wider public.
But with all the trials going on and the testing going on, there is a possibility that, in the future, they can figure out how to use this drug potentially for much milder cases of COVID-19 -- Sara Sidner, CNN, Seattle, Washington.
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ALLEN: Let's talk more about this with Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton in England. Good morning, Michael.
MICHAEL HEAD, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON: Thank you for having me on the show.
ALLEN: We appreciate it.
How encouraging are these trials on remdesivir?
Hopefully speeding up recovery from COVID.
HEAD: It is encouraging that we may have a antiviral drug that is at least partially helpful. As we heard, it is not a cure, it is not going to make the problems go away but it might be very useful in addition to the standard packages of care like oxygen and being on a ventilator. Adding in antiviral drugs can help to reduce the times people are in hospital.
ALLEN: Is it a possible link to a cure?
HEAD: I don't think that we can expect any of the existing antiviral drugs out there to be that magic cure. Some might be helpful on different patients. I think the only cure we can expect is to have a vaccine in place.
ALLEN: And what did you make of the fact that this was created to fight Ebola and it didn't work there but it may be working with COVID?
HEAD: Yes, it does show that, where we have drugs that have been developed for certain diseases, if they are not effective there, they may still be useful another time. So the trials that took place with Ebola, that did give us useful information around safety and toxicity. So we can speed up the development of the drugs for COVID.
ALLEN: A new report is sobering about how long this pandemic may be with us. The University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy says that COVID-19 could last as long as two years and won't be controlled until two-thirds of the world's population is immune.
What does that say about the staying power of this mysterious virus?
HEAD: Well, I think it shows that the virus probably will be here until we can get that vaccine in place. We need an effective vaccine that is distributed all around the world. So it is a huge effort. So the two-year estimate sounds plausible to me.
ALLEN: And now we have 30-plus states slowly reopening in the United States as we hear about the news that this pandemic might be here longer. And we also know that there is a very good chance, as Dr. Fauci has stated, that the fall and winter will see a second wave.
For example, on one of the states opening right here in Georgia, the day the governor lifted the stay-at-home order, the state announced 1,000 new cases in the past 24 hours.
What do you make of the lack of federal coordinated response in the U.S. and how that may affect trying to slow the spread?
HEAD: I think the problem is that you have all the states with different rules and regulations, which makes them a little bit like separate countries in a way. So it is difficult to have a countrywide level of intervention. People are moving across state boundaries, so it does make things very tricky, indeed.
But there needs to be great caution about loosening too soon because cases do go up.
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ALLEN: And it all comes back to testing. It is deemed so important. But the U.S. president plays it down.
But if testing can't be ramped up, how does the United States get ahead of this?
HEAD: I think widespread testing is absolutely vital. One of the countries that has done quite well has been South Korea and they have had a massive testing program across their country throughout this.
They even had, I think, some elections a couple weeks back and they have been contact testing since then and there has been very few new cases. So that is an example of a country that has handled the outbreak quite well. And it has been based on lots and lots of testing.
ALLEN: The United States is at an interesting time right now with the states opening up before we are at that point. We appreciate your insights. Michael, thanks so much for coming on.
HEAD: Thank you.
ALLEN: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has spent the past couple months trying to pin down exactly how the coronavirus got a foothold the United States and now they know. Here is Erica Hill.
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ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mardi Gras, a medical conference in Boston, a large funeral in Georgia, all three February events likely helped fuel the spread of coronavirus in the U.S.
Those new findings from the CDC confirming what many have suspected. Researchers also singling out the role of international travel and certain workplaces like meat packing plants, nursing homes and dense urban areas like New York City.
A lack of testing also contributed to the spread. The findings come at 32 states move to reopen by the weekend though none appear to have met the White House guidelines for a 14-day decline in cases.
MAYOR DAVID HOLT (R-OK), OKLAHOMA CITY: We still have a virus in this community. That virus does not care that it is May 1st. And you still have to take extreme precautions for your safety and the safety of those you love.
HILL (voice-over): Diners in Texas reclaiming a morning routine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was ready, believe me.
HILL (voice-over): It's not just restaurants and retail coming back online today. Beaches, malls, even movie theaters, though at reduced capacity.
JASON GOULD, EXECUTIVE CHEF, COMMON BOND: We really had to think about it and decide. Are we ready? Do we want to do this?
HILL (voice-over): Ohio, Louisiana and Michigan extending stay-at- home orders.
Armed protesters convening in Lansing, calling for the state to reopen.
DAYNA POLEHANKI (D), MICHIGAN STATE SENATE: I am no wimp. But what I saw at work yesterday at the Michigan State Capitol, which was a bunch of men in the balcony of this chamber carrying rifles. I'm not embarrassed to say that I was afraid.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): -- many days not weeks.
HILL (voice-over): In California, the governor now saying the state is days, not weeks away from being able to reopen shops and restaurants though with restrictions in place. New concerns, Friday, about the safety of meat processing plants and the nation's food supply. Shoppers at military commissaries now limited to purchasing two meat items per visit in anticipation of possible shortages. A new report predicts the virus could be with us for at least another 18 months, until 60 to 70 percent of the population has been infected.
DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, BOARD CERTIFIED INTERNIST: I think people need to wrap their head around the fact that this is here to stay for a protracted period of time.
HILL (voice-over): Meantime, work continues on a virus. The warning.
FAUCI: Just say I have a vaccine and throwing it to people, what people don't appreciate, because they're so intent to getting a vaccine quickly, is that there could be a deleterious negative effect of enhancement of infection.
HILL (voice-over): As Americans wait, they're also honoring those we've lost.
In Connecticut, thousands of white flags, one for each person in the state who has died as a result of the virus. Pastor Patrick Collins calling the memorial a somber reminder that we are in this together.
Also here in New York state, Governor Cuomo announcing on Friday that the state is partnering with the crisis text line to offer mental health support to front line workers. He instructed insurance providers to waive fees for mental health services for frontline workers. Back to you.
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ALLEN: And Dr. Anthony Fauci is to testify before a committee in the Republican-led Senate May 12th. That is what an aide to the committee chairman is telling CNN.
But earlier we learned the White House is blocking Fauci from testifying next week before a committee in the Democrat controlled house. U.S. lawmakers are gearing up for an oversight battle and Fauci is a key figure.
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ALLEN: He has repeatedly distanced himself, he has done that, from how the Trump administration has been framing the response to this pandemic.
The U.S. is, of course, as you probably have heard, accusing China of letting this virus spread while China blames the U.S. of shifting blame. The war of words has gone up a notch and we'll fill you in coming up here.
Also North Korea's Kim Jong-un has apparently resurfaced. You would think that it would put an end to the rumors about his health but it has not.
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ALLEN: There has been speculation for weeks that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been in grave danger or even dead. Now state television there has broadcast video of him, saying that he spoke Friday at a ribbon cutting ceremony at a new fertilizer factory. It would be his first public appearance in weeks.
State media says it happened on May Day, also known as International Workers Day. CNN cannot independently confirm when or where this video was taken.
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ALLEN: Paula Hancocks is joining me live from Seoul. And she's been covering Kim Jong-un for many years now.
Paula, hard to tell, when it comes to North Korea, fact from fiction. So it is hard to tell if these photos are what they say they really are.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Natalie, without physically being there of course, you can't be 100 percent sure. But we are seeing footage, saying it was filmed on the 1st of May. And we are seeing banners and signage from the event which does reflect May 1st as well. So it would be surprising if it was not what it seems.
But we are seeing Kim Jong-un walking around at the fertilizer plant, laughing and joking with officials up on stage as well with his sister, Kim Yo Jong. And there are well wishers as well. They are wearing masks But Kim Jong-un and the elite VIPs around him not wearing masks at this point.
But there will be many people poring over these images. The first time that we have seen the footage of him in 21 days. Of course, it was back on April 15th when the alert was raised, when he didn't turn up to pay his respects at his grandfather's birthday, the birth date of the founder, Kim Il-sung. So that is really where the speculation started.
ALLEN: Yes, I sort of think what to glean from the images of him, his look or body language that stands out?
HANCOCKS: Certainly there will be many people more qualified than me who look at these photos and these images and seeing if there is any indication as to whether there was ill health, any kind of medical procedure as some had reported.
We're not seeing a limp as we saw in 2014 when he came out back after foot surgery or some kind of surgery. We are not seeing anything that shows that he has been in ill health. But certainly intelligence agencies will be looking at all the footage as to whether or not there is any indication that he has been in ill health.
ALLEN: All right. Paula Hancocks for us in Seoul, a story we'll continue to follow. Thanks so much.
Shared interests in North Korea is just one example of how the U.S. and China need to work together. Right now finger pointing over COVID- 19 is making that hard, with U.S. President Trump blaming China for the outbreak and threatening some form of punishment. David Culver looks at how Beijing is responding. He is in Shanghai.
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DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chinese state run media now ramping up its propaganda against the United States, taking direct aim at secretary of state Mike Pompeo.
This week, a near daily CCTV commentary attacks Pompeo for calling out China's mishandling of the coronavirus. One saying, he is turning himself to be the enemy of humankind by spreading a political virus.
On Thursday, the peoples daily, the official newspaper for China's Communist Party, ran an editorial saying that Pompeo's rhetoric makes the U.S. look like it is dealing with a colossal moral deficit. Government controlled Xinhua tweeted an animation further mocking the U.S' blaming of China and portraying it as hypocritical.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you listening to yourselves?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are always correct, even though we contradict ourselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CULVER (voice-over): In the shadows of the coronavirus outbreak, the war of words is creating a deepening rift between the U.S. and China.
TRUMP: China is a very sophisticated country and they could've contained it, they were either unable to or they chose not to. And the world is suffering greatly.
CULVER (voice-over): It is a change from Donald Trump's more sympathetic tone, expressed repeatedly over the past few months.
TRUMP: Look, I know President Xi loves the people of China, he loves this country and he is doing a very good job with a very, very tough situation.
CULVER (voice-over): While still not directly criticizing President Xi Jinping, President Trump is increasingly criticizing China for the virus' devastating and deadly spread, echoing secretary of state Mike Pompeo's hardline stance.
MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We know it started in Wuhan, China, we don't know from where it started. And in spite of our best efforts to get experts on the ground, they continue to hide and obfuscate. That is wrong and it poses a threat to the world. This is classic Communist disinformation. This is what Communists do.
CULVER (voice-over): The White House now further pushing the origin theory that the virus started in a Wuhan laboratory.
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CULVER (voice-over): Last week, CNN returned to Wuhan post lockdown, traveled to the lab in question, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
We captured a few images from the exterior of the gated campus. Chinese officials dismiss allegations that it started here. In a statement Thursday from the U.S. office of the acting Director of National Intelligence, said that it concluded the coronavirus was not manmade or genetically modified but noted it was still evaluating theories linking to the outbreak to the lab.
CNN's early reporting of this revealed that China's covering up and silencing of whistleblowers. Our reports put into question China's official number of cases, which have been revised repeatedly and is widely believed to be vastly under reported. CULVER: However, China believes that the U.S. and the Trump administration in particular is trying to deflect for its lack of preparedness in battling this virus in the United States. Until you have this heated rhetoric, this increased blame and the
world's two largest economies no longer looking at international collaboration but rather, in the midst of this animosity filled face off -- David Culver, CNN, Shanghai.
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ALLEN: The United Kingdom says that it has met its testing goal and now it wants to lay out a plan for reopening. When we return, we'll have a live report from London and we'll find out why the actual numbers might not be so cut and dry.
Also the U.S. Navy now says it plans to run silent on just how many coronavirus cases are on board its ships. We take you to the Pentagon to explain the decision.
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ALLEN: Welcome back to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Natalie Allen.
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ALLEN: Britain is shifting its focus to ramping up coronavirus testing as Downing Street promises to reveal a plan next week to ease lockdown measures. The government said it met its goal to test 100,000 people a day on Friday.
But it later clarified that more than 120,000 tests had been distributed; not that all the tests had necessarily been completed. Let's turn now to CNN's Hadas Gold.
Good morning, Hadas. Expanded testing has been promised for some time there. It looks like it is finally beginning.
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Natalie, at the beginning of April, the U.K. government laid out this really ambitious plan, saying that they would have 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month.
And honestly, just a few days ago, it didn't seem like the government would have reached that goal. But on Friday, they said that they had. And they said they had more than 122,000 tests. However, there is a big caveat because around 27,000 of those tests were home kits that were sent home. Tests that have not been completed.
The rate of actual completed tests is closer to around 80,000 tests. There are some people criticizing the government, saying you haven't actually done what you said. But regardless, you do have to see just how much of the capability has been ramped up on testing here in the United Kingdom. Just a week ago, the U.K. was only conducting just around 25,000 tests
a day. So that is a huge jump to reach 80,000 tests. And also U.K. officials are hailing at-home testing kits, saying that they will make a huge difference.
But of course, testing, as we all know, is only one element of trying to lift these lockdowns. The U.K. is also trying to hire 18,000 contact tracers. These are people who will be in touch with those who have tested positive and will try to figure out where they have been, who they have been in contact with, to try to tell those people to test themselves or to isolate themselves.
Right now the U.K. only has a few hundred contact tracers and they are trying to hire 18,000 people by mid-May, another big goal. And all of this together will be a huge part of trying to lift the lockdown.
And we're expecting prime minister Boris Johnson, only recently released from the hospital, he says on Thursday he will start laying out his plan on how the U.K. will slowly come out of its lockdown.
ALLEN: We'll wait and see what he has to say. We wish all the best on this uptick in testing. Hadas Gold in London. Thanks.
Spain is allowing people to get outside after seven weeks of strict stay at home orders. It is one of the latest steps towards what the country calls a new normality. The easing of restrictions come as the rate of infections there has slowed down. Al Goodman is joining us from Madrid.
It has to be a huge relief to get this break.
AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Natalie, this is a big deal. For most Spanish adults, this is the first time in seven weeks that they have been able to leave the house for anything other than a short trip to the grocery store or pharmacy.
Now they are getting out, to be able to take a walk, to be able to take a run by themselves, to be able to ride a bike. And so we're just across the street from a park that remains closed but most of the adults are able do their workouts in the morning or evening.
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GOODMAN: And it is about 10:30 here in the morning and, in late morning, you can see that it is for the people who are older than 70 years old, they now have their own time and they will also be able to come back late in the afternoon.
And then in the main part of the day from 12:00 to 7:00, it will be the kids who, as we know, got out last week for the first time after six weeks. So all of this is part of the transition.
But the government is urging people to wear masks if you are closer than two meters which I am to some of these people, and to keep your hygiene and they are trying to keep the groups apart so the most vulnerable are not mixing with the bulk of the adults. ALLEN: And the runners look like they are spreading out. Thank you,
Al.
The U.S. Navy is battling coronavirus on at least two ships, where the total number of cases is approaching 1,200. The ships are the destroyer, the USS Kidd, and the aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
As CNN's Ryan Browne reports from the Pentagon, the Navy is changing what it plans to say from now on about the illnesses on board.
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RYAN BROWNE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The number of coronavirus cases on two U.S. warships reached new highs on Friday, hitting about 1,100 on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, and nearing 100 on the destroyer, the USS Kidd.
The Kidd recently pulled into port in San Diego to be cleaned and disinfected and the crew can be treated. And the Roosevelt's crew is returning to duty. Those who tested negative have been allowed to return to the ship in hopes that it can get back into operations and out of port in Guam soon.
The Navy has stopped releasing official statistics about the number of coronavirus cases on those ships, arguing that, because the crew has been tested, that the cases have plateaued. But we will be monitoring it closely and leaving any updates as they come -- Ryan Browne at the Pentagon.
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ALLEN: And some U.S. states are reopening, many as a matter of fact. But workers with kids at home have few options. A Missouri based comedian and parent joins me to talk about what they are going through.
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J. HOUGHTON: Sure, we can do it, we can home school.
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GOV. MIKE PARSON (R-MO): You got a job and you're in Missouri and again, your owner calls you and says you need to come back to work and you come back to work. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: All right. You got to get back out there. That is the governor of Missouri, set to reopen his state Monday, warning people who don't go back to work that they won't have protection. But schools are closed for the rest of this academic year. So what to do.
Comedian Jeff Houghton is a Missouri parent and also the host of "The Mystery Hour," a nationally syndicated show. He has been doing the math and, well, he has some questions.
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J. HOUGHTON: So now to get this straight, I am to go to work and home school. My boss expects me in the office. And my kids expect me to teach them.
Go to there, stay here. Go and stay. Go and stay. School's closed. Work opened. Home school opened. It is important that we remain six feet away from each other and across town from ourselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: I love it. And your wife, I don't know how much home schooling she can do what with the wine drinking there, good to see you, that is funny stuff. Top of the morning to you. Our thanks for being up early or staying up late to be with us. But really though, shouldn't you be resting up to be here and there come Monday?
J. HOUGHTON: Yes, I think you're right. It is a difficult task, I have to figure out -- I have a weekend to figure out how to do that.
ALLEN: You make a good point. And it is indicative of how this is playing out all over the country. You know, there are protests in Michigan for the right to work. In California people are angry that they can't go to the beach.
All the while cases are still rising in 18 states. You get a sense that there is not a coordinated, big, thoughtful plan here and families like yours are kind of caught up in this mayhem.
J. HOUGHTON: Yes, that is a mess in the big sense and in a small sense, inside your house as you are trying to figure out what do, and a literal mess often with little kids and to go to work and be home at the same time. So it takes a lot of coordinating and a lot of fumbling.
ALLEN: Let's talk about the coordinating. I want to play another clip now for our viewers. This is you and your wife discussing your isolation calendar. Let's watch as the two of you map out your week. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J. HOUGHTON: I was thinking Saturday, what if the kids are play fighting that turns into real fighting because they have so much pent up energy and emotions right now?
MICHELLE HOUGHTON, JEFF'S WIFE: I think that I can do it in the morning if we get it over with because I think in the afternoon I'm planning on fretting.
J. HOUGHTON: I think Monday I'm going to need to stare out the window a lot. So I'll be fairly distant. I'll be around. You won't hear much, just like kind of sighs. Like .
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: That is pretty good stuff.
Is it really kind of like that, Jeff?
J. HOUGHTON: Yes. I don't know if you can relate to this but when you have kids and you are married, your life revolves around coordinating your calendar. So I think coordinating your breakdowns probably makes sense right now.
ALLEN: I hope it is not too severe. OK.
What kind of feedback are you getting from your show when you talk about the conundrum that so many families are dealing with right now and you are able to put a positive or funny spin on it?
J. HOUGHTON: Yes, you know, I think comedy is often just saying the plain truth in a creative, clever way. And so basically if you've been like, oh, yes, that is me, that is totally me.
And that is, I think, the mark of a successful video for us when people do that. And right now we're up for a Webby award. And we're excited about that if anyone wants to help me out, I mean, I'm kind of struggling here in the house.
ALLEN: Well, congrats to that. And you're up against some biggies as well. Right now we're looking at you giving a news conference about your situation.
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ALLEN: And the only folks in that news conference are your little kids, I believe, and they had some questions for you.
Can you give us a sample of that?
I think they just said, "How can we not be bored?"
J. HOUGHTON: Yes. A lot of that. A lot of being bored and mentioning how much they are bored.
ALLEN: And how many kids do you have at home?
J. HOUGHTON: We have two, a 7-year old and 2-year old.
ALLEN: Oh, wow. That is kind of a broad range there as far as figuring out how to do new math and how to learn to count.
J. HOUGHTON: Yes, it really is. We're trying to teach one school things while the 2-year old is just a monster. A cute monster but...
ALLEN: That is why they make them cute at that age because they are monsters. So we'll still take care of them. We appreciate the laughs. We need a lot of that now. And we'll see you on your show that you do from your home now in Springfield, Missouri, "The Mystery Hour." Good luck on Monday and beyond.
J. HOUGHTON: Thanks so much, Natalie.
ALLEN: All the best.
Coming up here, first responders are fighting the pandemic on the front lines, despite the risk to their own health. We have a report on the struggles these heroes face every day.
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ALLEN: Less than two weeks after the worst mass murder in Canada's history, Justin Trudeau is taking action.
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JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Today, we are closing the market for military grade assault weapons in Canada. We are banning 1,500 models and variants of these firearms by way of regulations.
These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only, to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time. There is no use and no place for such weapons in Canada.
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ALLEN: The ban covers buying, selling, importing and transporting assaults-style weapons. In late April, a gunman killed 22 people in the provinces of Nova Scotia. Some died in fires he set. Police say the gunman had several semiautomatic handguns and at least two semiautomatic rifles. Witnesses describe one as a military style assault rifle.
Police officers, firefighters and other first responders are being hit especially hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Many are being infected. But that often does not sideline them for long. CNN's Brian Todd profiles those who have contracted the disease, beat it and are already back on the front lines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 15 years with the Fairfax County Fire Department in Northern Virginia, there wasn't a lot that Captain Christopher Warner hadn't seen or couldn't cope with. But when you got the news in early April that he was positive for the coronavirus, he says it was flat out unnerving.
CAPT. CHRISTOPHER WARNER, FAIRFAX COUNTY FIRE & RESCUE: The potential that you could unknowingly come to work and spread this to your coworkers, so their -- they can spread it to their household and you being the source, very uncomfortable.
TODD: Across the United States, thousands of first responders like Warner have gotten sick with the coronavirus, battled through it and returned to the front lines.
In New York City alone, where dozens of police and firefighters have died from coronavirus, more than 7,000 of them have returned to the job after recovering. But first, they have to deal with their own illness, go through isolation, battle their own fears as New York paramedic Aline Reich did a few weeks ago.
ALINE BOCANEGRA REICH, FDNY PARAMEDIC: I have never been sick or in my whole entire life. I never feared dying as much as I have now.
TODD: Some come back fighting recurrent coughs, weight loss, energy depletion. Before getting sick, Warner used to be able to run an 8.5 minute mile.
Now --
WARNER: Nowhere near the 8.5 minute mile and nowhere near being able to do the mile without being kind of fatigued.
TODD: Many of them wonder if they really do have immunity, worry about infecting their relatives and colleagues. But still, they battle. The work of saving people in this pandemic is too important to them.
D.C. assistant fire chief John Donnelly recently watched two young firefighters who had just recovered go on a COVID call.
ASSISTANT CHIEF JOHN DONNELLY, WASHINGTON, D.C., FIRE & EMS: To watch them go back like that, look at it missed a step. I know inside, they had to be worried about it. It was a little emotional for me to watch them go out and do the work. I was very proud of how they represented our department and our community.
TODD: First responders tell us that they bring new skills and sensibilities to the front lines after recovering.
SHANTICE SAMUELS, D.C. FIREFIGHTER/EMT: I was able to be more in touch with my patients who called because I know exactly how they were feeling with a lot of it.
TODD: And having gone through it, they're able to offer a knowing reassurance to patients. But many recovering first responders need their own reassurance. New York ER Doctor Lorna Breen who just had recovered from coronavirus took her own life recently.
Donnelly worries about the emotional wellbeing of his recovering firefighters.
DONNELLY: To take this job and to do this job, you have to feel a little invincible. When things go wrong, your mind says, I'm having problems with this. That those are chinks in the armor that can weaken the system.
TODD: Donnelly and other first responders acknowledge that there are professional stigmas associated with firefighters, ER doctors and others, who need help for anxiety and depression. Some of them actually are punished for seeking that out help.
Even before this pandemic, ER doctors were at higher risks for suicide. And advocates say that on average, before the pandemic, suicide killed more firefighters in the U.S. each year than actual fires -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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ALLEN: An augmented reality company is joining the fight against coronavirus based in China.
[04:55:00]
ALLEN: They have developed these temperature sensing specs. They use an infrared camera to detect the exact body temperature of people up to 3 meters away. So now those responsible for spotting temperatures and potential virus infections can remain hands off.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Compared with a thermometer, it is more convenient and safer. We can keep a safe distance.
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ALLEN: And they are now developing an enhanced version that can take the temperature of multiple people at once, for use in busy places like airports and shopping centers.
To ease the strain on hospitals, Tokyo's government has a unique alternative for housing coronavirus patients, with some extra unique staff, so to say. Robots will help serve COVID-19 patients with milder symptoms at some hotels in Japan's capital.
The robot hotels are part of an effort to free up hospital beds for more severe cases. The humanoid staff debuted Friday and they appear to be a pretty friendly bunch.
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ALLEN (voice-over): The robots greet quarantined guests with morale boosting messages, instructing them instructing them to check their temperature regularly and reminding them to always wear a face mask. In addition, autonomous vacuuming robots will sanitize areas that
might be risky for human staff to clean. Tokyo officials say they hope to expand the use of robots in the city's hotels. Japan has secured more than 10,000 rooms to accommodate patients with lighter symptoms.
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ALLEN: That is our first hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'll have our top stories right after this. Thanks so much for watching.
