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Cuomo Prime Time

Trump Disputes Nurse's Account Of "Sporadic" Access To PPE; Lawmakers Sue To End Washington State Governor's Stay-At-Home Order; White House: "Simply Nonsensical" To Test Every American; "COVID Toes" Emerging As Another Possible Sign Of Infection; Cook County, Illinois To Probe Deaths As Far Back As November For Evidence Of Coronavirus; Andres Backs Bill To Help Restaurants And Feed Those In Need. Aired 9- 10p ET

Aired May 06, 2020 - 21:00   ET

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


[21:00:00]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: It's incredible. He volunteered to come to New York to be nurse. He wasn't working as a nurse anymore. He had nurse training. But he decided, you know what, I'm going to do this.

The news continues right now. I want to hand it over to Chris for "CUOMO PRIME TIME".

Chris?

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Not just a beautiful moment to capture but there are a lot of healthcare workers that have literally been sacrificing their own private times in contact with families, even if they live locally, for fear of spreading it to their own families. That's a lot of sacrifice. It's important to remember it especially today on National Nurse Appreciation Day.

Thank you for that story and all the good work my brother, Big Daddy Anderson.

I wait for the laugh. I won't leave until it. I am Chris Cuomo, welcome to "Prime Time".

So look, the facts are not in dispute, not on this show. No state has met the relatively relaxed standard of 14 days of fewer cases to reopen. The question has become, is the goal still to save lives in this country? It seems the measure has changed. And America is deciding what to do now on the basis of how much death is OK? As the price of getting back to work and play.

Increasingly, life seems to be getting pretty cheap in America. Are you OK with that? The governor of the state where much of this first hit is not OK with it. In fact, he says he's infuriated with the state of play, and he will tell you why. The need is great, we know that. And the fact is seen plainly in the fight for food. So let's find solutions.

We have a man with the plan to stop hunger in this pandemic. You know Chef Andres, he is literally feeding the country and he has food for thought as well about what the fix is for hunger all across America. Remember, what affects one eventually affects all especially now. So together as ever, as one, let's get after it.

All right, here are the numbers. Forty-three states will have eased isolation restrictions by the end of this week. Is that progress? Again, not one has met the lacks federal standard for doing so. And remember, the virus hasn't changed, hospitals still being flooded, people still being killed in increasing numbers and in weird ways that are confounding science. There's no cure, there's no vaccine, and neither is coming anytime soon.

New hotspots are emerging. In fact, many states are expecting spikes after they reopen. Here are the facts in your face. You see the bright spots on the map. Those 19 states are now seeing an upward trend and confirmed COVID cases over the last 14 days. The 18 states shaded orange, they stand at about the same levels, which were what we're calling a plateau right now.

Only 13 states so far appear to be going down in cases but, again, even though down, none has met the White House marker for two straight weeks of declines to trigger reopening. And many places still don't have what they need to test, trace or treat the cases. Literally, not even enough PPE gear.

So, today, a prominent nurse, remember it's a National Nurses Day, pointed that out, the reality right next to the President. And look what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOPHIA THOMAS, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS: I think it's sporadic -- I've talked to my colleagues around the country. Certainly, there are pockets of areas where PPE is not ideal. But this is an unprecedented time. I've been reusing my N95 mask for a few weeks now.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Sporadic for you, but not sporadic for a lot of other people.

THOMAS: Oh, no, I agree, Mr. President.

TRUMP: Because I've heard the opposite.

THOMAS: Yes.

TRUMP: I've hear that they are loaded up with gowns now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: He better cross his arms in a defensive posture. First of all, how dare he do that to that nurse and put her on the spot. What have she's supposed to say, disagree with them? She's reusing her N95 mask. One should be enough. But it is not just sporadic for her. That's not even what the word means.

In pockets all over this country, they don't have what they need. And for a guy who believes his fate is tied to making this pandemic end, let me ask you, why does he keep denying what it will take to make it go away? Why does he hide from the needs instead of providing them? What is it to unite this country behind that desperation of fact instead of dividing?

We need the reality and you will get it from Governor Jay Inslee of Washington. He just extended stay home orders in his state until the end of the month, invoking the wrath of GOP lawmakers there. They're actually suing him claiming there is no longer an emergency. He says there is and it's a battle of life and death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Governor, thank you for joining us.

GOV. JAY INSLEE (D-WA): You bet. Thank you.

[21:05:00]

CUOMO: So your state is a very interesting examination of the current state of play of the tension between safety and reopening, you're actually being sued by the Republicans in your state. What is your perspective on what this lawsuit is about?

INSLEE: Well, it's about biological ignorance and kind of human heartlessness. And I think that's the best way I can describe it. It's just trying to ignore the clear science of biology, which from an epidemiological standpoint is very clear that if we abandon our efforts that have been significantly successful today, this is a curve is going to go shoot and right back up, this beast is going to get off the floor and bite us back. And this is just a biological certainty.

And we have some legislators, you know, who have the art name after them that are paying more attention to that than the biology of this thing. And the thing that's maddening is that there's no dispute about that. This is just a biological fact.

CUOMO: How did it get to be so partisan, Gov.?

INSLEE: You know, it's very disappointing to me because when this started out, we had a very unified, very bipartisan approach in my state. I appreciated some Republicans speaking up in favor of it. But frankly, look, when the President asked Americans to conduct illegal activity and ignore the clear orders of governors that were the law of their respective states, that was just kind of a signal to his colleagues thinking this is how they're going to do battle politically.

And it's very, very unfortunate, because I can tell you, majorities of Republicans in my state support what we're doing. They get it, they care about their loved ones as much as we do. They understand science.

And this is just a bunch of elected folks, you know, trying to make a political statement rather than a rational unified approach. And our team has functioned very well. You know, beating viruses is the only ultimate team sport and our team in Washington has been very effective. Both ours, indeed, as citizens, pulling together honoring our -- we've had massive compliance with my order. And that's why we have been successful because Washington has have been committed.

So it's a lot of things, we're not letting this distract us. We're moving forward both in a way to protect our health and our economy because we all know --

CUOMO: Right.

INSLEE: -- the way to protect economy is to restore our health. They go hand in hand. They're not enemies. They are partners. And we're making good decisions in that direction.

CUOMO: And to be fair, you guys were ground zero. you had to come at this, you know, with fresh eyes. The country was asleep on it, when you started dealing with it. And a lot of the learning curve was through your experiences in that state.

You've opened up parks. You have an order that you're going to phase in, have some businesses open up. So it's not like you're completely closed. You have not met the CDC guidelines for 14 days of down cases, which means, technically, you're being more aggressive than the federal standard. You know, what more do they want at this point?

INSLEE: Sort of a political statement, and I think it is being driven by a political interests. That's all I can figure out. The biology is clear. The interest in human life is clear. The only motivation that I can figure out is trying to follow this siren song from the President who somehow believes that's in his political interest. And as I've said, it's most unfortunate.

CUOMO: Now here's what you're dealing with that it doesn't make sense to me. There's this urgency for COVID to go away. Everybody shares that. But we don't see the desperation to make it go away. And, in fact, what your state is experiencing is a perfect example of how the federal government has not motivated what needs to happen to create the circumstances to have COVID go away.

You still don't have the personal protective equipment that you need for the capacity in your hospitals. The testing and tracing that they want you to do, it's on the state, to reopen the way they want. You don't have the money to fund it and you don't have the testing resources to do it and get it processed and turned around. So how can you do what they want you to do when they don't give you the money or the equipment to do it?

INSLEE: That's an excellent question for which there's no answer. Look, we have to stand up a domestic manufacturing mobilization of our industrial base in the United States in order to solve this problem. I just literally walked out of a meeting where we're trying to figure out if we can stand up a domestic manufacturing base.

We do have several companies that are making mass and visors and gloves right now, but we're now starting to look, can we get a domestic manufacturer of swabs for goodness sakes. And as you know, we have not been able to do the tests we need. And the thing that is interesting, and it's a little counterintuitive, the need for testing and the need for PPE is going to go up as we reopen the economy, not down.

[21:10:02]

And I think people are just really, including the administration to some degree, has not realized that the demand for these products as we reopen the company, as people -- country, as people come back to work, they're going to need more tests even as the infection rate might go down. They're going to be more PPE in construction, in manufacturing, in restaurants to be able to have the mass we need.

So we're in a full-scale alert in our state to try to potentially grow our own industrial capacity. But we know that there's only one person in the whole country that has the ability to actually order this to be done and that's the President of the United States.

CUOMO: You said the President's response has been infuriating to you. Why?

INSLEE: Well, because there is only one person that can save us from the lack of this material, and that's the President of the United States, by using the Defense Production Act. I urged him weeks and weeks ago to do that. He refused to do so because he thought that that was not his responsibility. He described that he didn't want to be a supply clerk, as if that's a diminished role.

Look, I think providing PPE and testing material is an exalted responsibility right now. So, I was very disappointed he did not do that for weeks. Now, one good sign, because we're always looking for good news, there has been some movement in the administration to bring in some of the Defense Department's supply chain, to use the Defense Production Act in at least small ways. And we have been told by Admiral Giroir that we'll be receiving a half million swabs in the next several weeks. This will be tremendous if this happens.

And so we want to continue that effort. We want to encourage that effort by the administration. We have a number of voices in the administration, I think, in good faith, to try to encourage that mobilization. And if it's successful, it'll be a bright day. But until then, our states are on their own, as you know, including your brothers great work. So we got to keep the pedal to the metal in our states.

CUOMO: I mean, even if they give you everything that's been talked to at this point, obviously, you have the right criticism that it hasn't happened already. But you still wouldn't have what you need to test your population where you want to reopen on an ongoing basis. And, you know, there are two different signals coming out of the White House.

There is maybe we'll give you these things, as you just mentioned, but you also have the attorney general who says he's considering legal action against governors if they do what he deems too stringent of a restriction. And it happens to be language that's echoed in lawsuit against you by Republicans right now. Are you worried that you may have your federal government doing more to hurt you than to help you?

INSLEE: Not as much as maybe you might think because we beat the federal government. We've defeated Donald Trump 26 times in a row. Our excellent Attorney General Bob Ferguson is 26 and 0 against Donald Trump's ignoring the law and the constitution frequently. No, it is clear that our states do have authority to protect our people in the U.S. constitution. There's no question about that.

Donald Trump sort of had to beat a hasty retreat on that subject when he said he was in total control. And then he said he was going to authorize us. We're authorized by the U.S. constitution to act and by the vote of our people in our states, both Republicans and Democrats. So I think we're going to be at firm ground. I think we'll prevail in these lawsuits that are more political statements than anything so that we can protect our people. And this is about life.

And I have to tell you, I had a meeting with nurses today who are heroes, of course, this --

CUOMO: And today is National Nurse Appreciation Day.

INSLEE: National Nurse -- and I had a meeting with them today. And I was -- they were comparing some of the rhetoric, we're hearing out from some Republican politicians that, you know, these are just kind of old folks. And that is so offensive to me, to think that people over the age of 60 are sort of disposable humans. Being 69, I certainly don't appreciate that. There was a nurse who was about 65 who didn't appreciate it.

And look, the people -- these are losses of living people. When we lose a brother or a parent or a grandparent, it's a loss to the living. That's what's at stake here. And I just really -- it boils my blood when I hear comments from some of these Republican legislators that this is just a problem with folks of some age, so we shouldn't just worry about it. I can't stand that. That will not stand.

We need to speak against it. Call it out for what it is, which is inhumane selfishness. And make sure that we continue on this course, that the vast majority of people, at least in my state, believe is the right one.

CUOMO: It is scary how quickly life got cheap in America. Well, Governor, we know this from the polls, your leadership has never been more praised than it is right now. So politically, you're in your prime.

Governor Inslee, good luck going forward. We remain a platform for you to make your case to the American people.

INSLEE: Thank you very much. We're glad you're looking good and keep washing your hands.

[21:15:01]

CUOMO: Well, thank you, Governor. Be well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

All right, washing our hands is one thing but have you seen what's happening to some people's feet? COVID toes. By the way, that is nothing. We don't want to scare you too much right off the bat, but here's the thing. It's not about showing you scary pictures, it's what do they mean? Is this a new symptom that we have to look out for? Sanjay Gupta, the foot finder, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Trump and Co. keep trying to play down testing. It is dishonest and destructive and it is done by design. Exhibit A from new Press Secretary Kayleigh, I cannot tell a lie, McEnany.

[21:20:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: If we tested every single American in this country at this moment, we have to retest them an hour later and then an hour later after that because at any moment, you could theoretically contract this virus. So the notion that everyone needs to be tested is just simply nonsensical. The people who need to be tested are vulnerable populations. We have to be strategic with our testing and we have done that so far.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: She has everything there wrong, except the idea that you can't test everybody all the time. But whoever asked for that? That was never the standard. In fact, the only person who ever even implied anything like that was Trump, who falsely implied to you that there would be enough tests for anybody who wants one. That was supposed to happen weeks ago.

And the reason nothing even close to it has happened is because he has done almost nothing to make it happen. Focus though on why they do this. Why play that game about, oh, testing, it would be silly to do what they want us to do. They want to hide the truth.

Testing is truth because numbers are truth. And they want you to believe that COVID is going away faster than it actually is because they believe the longer it is real, the worse it is for Trump in the election. The politics of forcing reopening is as obvious as it is ugly.

So let's focus on the reality of what we need. And that does begin with testing and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, chief doctor. Good to see you. Now, the reason we've been hammering on testing and tracing is you don't know what to do if you don't know what you're dealing with. And hospitalizations are important. But reopening is about exposing community, Sanjay. And unless you just want to guess, there's only one way to make smart decisions, right?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, you need to have the data. That's always been the case. Testing was the pivotal part of this, continues to be the pivotal part of this and will be the most important thing. I mean, without the data, you really can't make these decisions.

I think what's interesting, Chris, is there is these various criteria, right? Sickest people should get tested first, healthcare workers who have symptoms, then healthcare workers without symptoms, and then basically everybody else. But the real question, I think becomes, as you start to think about opening, and I think this is what those gating criteria sort of getting at was, how do you give people the confidence to start going back out in public.

In many of these places that are reopening, one of the things you're seeing, Chris, is that people still don't want to go out because, you know, they're frightened that either they'll contract the virus or they'll, you know, pass the virus on to somebody else. So, for that reason, you got to have testing. How do you get the psychological confidence back into people? I think that's one of the reasons.

And, you know, I don't know how many tests it is. And if you look at that Harvard road map, they do say that ultimately, it's, you know, they say, by July, 20 million tests a day, OK. That's a lot, right? That would be every person in the country roughly twice a month, every 14 days.

Now that's arbitrary, but it's that level of tests -- maybe it's not that number, but it's that sort of idea of testing that we need to be doing it very robustly where people are on a regular basis, make sure it's accurate, make sure they can get the results quickly that's going to be necessary.

CUOMO: Right. The paradox is, his play, politically, the President is to get people back out there but he's not giving them the thing that will give them confidence to get back out there, which is the recognition of the risk.

All right, now, something else. I want to talk to you about the agony of defeat. This -- what's it called? Chilblains or something like this, these feet pictures that I keep seeing everywhere.

GUPTA: Yes.

CUOMO: Horrifying. I'm sorry to make you laugh about it, because I know it's a serious issue. But what are we dealing with here with these toxic toes?

GUPTA: Yes. So they're COVID toes. I mean, it's interesting because you do have this sort of situation where you have new symptoms that appear with this particular virus, right? We heard about things like loss of smell, you know, impact on the heart. And now this condition that's called COVID toes, that's what they're calling, a chilblains, as you say, it kind of looks like frostbite in a way. You get these lesions on the toes.

And at first, you know, dermatologists weren't quite sure there was a relationship here. But increasingly, dermatologists, they're seeing a lot more of this phenomenon. Interestingly, not all the patients that they're seeing are testing positive for COVID. And they're thinking that maybe this is something that's a remnant of COVID.

So after someone recovers, for example. And it appears to be that they, you know, they -- either the inflammation in the body as a result of the virus, some inflammation seems to linger, Chris, this is something that you and I've talked about even in your own recovery. Or it could even be these tiny clots.

You know, we've talked a lot about the fact that for some reason, this virus seems to be what's called prothrombotic, more likely to make you make clots. People have had these clots go to their lungs. There's been some rare admittedly big cases of people developing clots causing strokes. And now it could be that these clots are actually causing a little damage in the small blood vessels and the toes.

So luckily, what we're hearing is that it's not serious. I mean, it's painful. But it's not indicative of a more serious disease or anything tends to go away on its own. But there's another thing another, you know, sort of phenomenon of this particular disease COVID-19. But it's not indicative of a more serious disease or anything and tends to go away on its own. But there's another thing, another, you know, sort of phenomenon of this particular disease, COVID-19, that seems to be emerging.

[21:25:11]

CUOMO: Yes, I'm going to have to -- I'll give you a little spot check after the show tonight about what's going on with that. But, you know, look, the mystery of this keeps unraveling, which takes us to our next headline, which is -- and also deals with what this is doing in terms of clotting. There may be another medicine available to more severe cases --

GUPTA: Yes.

CUOMO: -- to help with duration and exposure. What have you heard?

GUPTA: Yes, this was -- again, really interesting. I mean, if you're someone who's -- you know, we're seeing the emergence of a new disease here, Chris. So, you know, for the medical establishment, you know, there's a lot of curiosity here, and investigative work that's going into try and figure this out and figure out what's tying all these things together. What is the unifying theory.

Respiratory disease, yes, loss of smell, cardiac disease, GI symptoms, COVID toes and now this idea that people may need to be on blood thinners when they develop this disease as well. So here's what they found. It was a study of about 2,700 patients.

And these were sick patients, Chris, who a certain percentage of them, when they're going on the ventilator, they were finding that somewhere between 60 percent and 70 percent of those patients were not surviving, OK? Those same patients if they were on a higher dose of a blood thinner, the mortality rate was closer to 20 percent to 30 percent. Still awful, but about half of what it was if you weren't on the blood thinners. So the scenario typically if someone is in the Intensive Care Unit, Chris, oftentimes are started on low dose blood thinners because they're immobile. You want to prevent clots from forming. But now these patients got more blood thinners because of the concerns about clots and they seem to do better. So again, this is brand-new, we're learning together.

But this idea now that people who are developing this coronavirus infection, developing the disease COVID might benefit from blood thinners at least at the point where they become more seriously ill, I think is becoming real.

It's a razor's edge, Chris. Because if you give blood thinners, what could happen? People could start to bleed. So you've got to make sure you're giving enough to be beneficial, but not too much to then also cause a problem.

CUOMO: Scary learning curve here. That's why the health care workers are so important. And we don't want to put them under any more stress than we need to. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, as always, value added. Thank you, sir.

GUPTA: Call me later.

CUOMO: I will. And you can use that line, agony of defeat. It's yours, yet another gift. Two ties and one line (ph).

GUPTA: OK, appreciate it.

CUOMO: All right, another COVID medical mystery. More reason to believe that this virus has been here and making us sick for much longer than we thought. The chief medical examiner in Chicago in the area there is revising -- revisiting, sorry, deaths. Why and how far back? Wait until you hear the answers, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:32:07]

CUOMO: All right. In Chicago, where cases are still climbing, the medical examiner is taking a second look at deaths from months ago. Why? Let's ask Dr. Ponni Arunkumar is the Cook County chief medical examiner. Doctor, thank you for joining us. I know you're very busy. I appreciate your time.

DR. PONNI ARUNKUMAR, COOK COUNTY CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER: Thank you for having me, Chris. The first case of COVID-19 in Cook County was reported on March 16th, 2020. But there are areas in California, especially in Santa Clara County, where they found cases much earlier than the first diagnose case in the United States.

We want to do our due diligence to find if there are cases in Cook County that covers Chicago and the neighboring suburbs. If there are cases that are due to COVID-19 that may have been missed, we want to do our due diligence to help public health, to see how this virus spread in Cook County. We're looking at cases from November 2019 to look at cases where we determine the cause of death is due to pneumonia or due to myocardial infarction, which is basically a heart attack, to see if this could be due to a virus or due to some thrombotic event and see if we can send tissue to CDC and see that's due to COVID-19.

On -- most of the time, natural deaths like pneumonia and heart attacks, the patients are going to a hospital, they die there. These usually don't come to our jurisdiction. They don't need a medical examiner to investigate these deaths. The treating physician signs out these death certificates. But if the patients die at home or they die suddenly, these are cases the medical examiner's offices usually investigate.

CUOMO: So --

ARUNKUMAR: And so for cases where we're -- go ahead.

CUOMO: Let me just ask you some context. Why November, not October or September? And what would be the value in identifying what kind of cases turned out to be COVID?

ARUNKUMAR: We're looking from November 1, if needed, we can go further back. But this is what we want to start off from. The reason we want to do this is to see exactly how this virus came to Chicago and the neighboring suburbs and how it has spread. It will help public health, it will help the residents of Cook County understand how this disease came to Cook County.

CUOMO: Tony Fauci, you know him obviously from the President's Task Force, he spoke about the curiosity here. This is part of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: When you look at autopsies, now, we're seeing things that we didn't expect. We thought it was all primary viral pneumonia. Then when you look at what's in there, there a thing called microthrombi, which means platelets aggregate in thrombosis form. And that may be why people who are in that situation seem to be doing well. And then all of a sudden, they rapidly and dramatically deteriorate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[21:35:15]

CUOMO: Here's what's spooks me about this, Doctor, and I'd love your perspective on it. It seems that you and the scientific and clinical community keep learning more about this virus that is confusing, that you can't see, that it keeps surprising you and killing people in weird ways. And at the same time, we seem to be rushing to reopening. What is your perspective on the mysterious nature of this and how you reconcile that with the race to reopen? ARUNKUMAR: We don't know much about this virus. We're still learning about it. How long does it last and surfaces, how long does it last in a dead body. So we're continuously learning about this virus.

We've seen cases, younger patients, teenagers dying from pulmonary thromboembolism, where we found that they tested positive for COVID- 19. So, yes, it is causing thrombotic events. It is causing strokes in younger patients. So we're still learning about this wires. And we still don't know everything about it. It can mutate. And about the stay-a-home order, I think, you know, we don't have enough testing available to see how prevalent that disease is. And that is what I can say from a pathological or forensic point of view.

CUOMO: It's an interesting thing. You know, there's so much desperation to have this end. And yet what we need most to give confidence to people to allow it to end and go out and restart our lives are the tests, right? Because that's the only way that people like you --

ARUNKUMAR: Yes.

CUOMO: -- can have the data to give someone like me the confidence that it's OK to go outside. And we're not doing the one thing -- do you have enough testing equipment and material that you need to assess the data in your own community?

ARUNKUMAR: We have testing available to test possible COVID cases. We don't have tests available to test all the people in the community. And so we don't know how prevalent it is in the community.

CUOMO: And every time you test, you wind up seeing a spike, because you wind up having all these new cases. There's a lot of unknown out there. Dr. Arunkumar, thank you so much. Please feel free to get in contact with us. We'll check back with you about what you're finding and what you need people to know about. See this as a platform for you to speak to the country.

ARUNKUMAR: Thank you for having me.

CUOMO: All right, God bless and be well.

All right, pushing back on reopening, by the way, just as a matter of perspective. This isn't about denying the need. It's about making the best choice to reopen in a way that makes us more likely to succeed. People are going hungry, OK. And at the same time, cops are being -- our crops are being destroyed because of lack of demand. And didn't think about how many restaurants have workers out of jobs because there are no customers.

What a weird confluence of problems. How do we solve them? Chef Jose Andres has an all in one solution to address the needs. I'm telling you, he's as close to a superhero as I've met, and he's here next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:42:39] CUOMO: The United States produces more food than any other nation, by far. Yet, have you seen scenes like this? Of course you have. It's not traffic. People are lined up for miles for food. And at the same time, farmers are forced to destroy millions of pounds of crops. No market. Countless restaurants that wish they could be feeding hungry people.

A maddening conflict of circumstances and no solutions from Washington. That's where a true American comes in. Chef Jose Andres, welcome back to "PRIME TIME".

CHEF JOSE ANDRES, FOUNDER, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: Thank you for having me.

CUOMO: If you are a superhero, your name should be senor saboroso. You are dealing with giving people food, but you are also feeding the faith of better days to come. And your work on the ground has given you ideas about how to fix what you see as obvious problems. Tell us everything.

ANDRES: Well, I'm going to do one thing. The men and women of World Central Kitchen, we've already reached over 5 million meals. And one of the ways we achieved this is by bringing in -- with our system, over thousands restaurants across 35, 40 states. And yesterday was a big day.

We were able to influence a bill, a bill that is bipartisan, but between Congressman Thompson, Congressman McGovern, all of the sudden, bipartisan support from Congressman Davis from Illinois, and at the same time in the Senate, Kamala Harris, and also Senator Tim Scott. All of the sudden, we have this simple idea, which is called the FEED Act, that this a very practical idea, a good solution where we show that good policy is good politics.

CUOMO: So how does it work?

ANDRES: Well, very simple. Through Congress making sure that they are able to do this FEED Act which is an old one that used to be called the Stafford Act. All of a sudden, governors are able to implement the funds that the federal government through FEMA. They can activate it and all of a sudden, they can partner with local NGOs, local restaurants to take care of local problems.

[21:45:12]

Governor Newsom has already implemented this in California to feed elderly. I guess -- I don't know if you know the governor of New York, that you can give a good voice about this program that already has proven to be working very well.

CUOMO: I will connect you with the love Gov right after this segment. But what I want to know, just so the audience gets it, is you have been able to coordinate the restaurants as outposts and then how do you find the food and who makes the food. You know, let us know how are you using different parts of the supply chain?

ANDRES: Listen, we need to understand that sometimes the bigger problems, they have very simple solutions. The systems before coronavirus began already was in place. We have the farmers, we have the distribution systems. America is all about distribution. We are the leader of distribution in the world. What we are trying to do is making sure that the systems keeps working so you don't see long lines across the food banks of America, at the same time, that farmers are dumping their unsold produce in the middle of the field.

Let's keep the system going. Let's keep America fed. Let's make sure that we don't have a humanitarian crisis by having Congress, by having the federal government investing in this crisis, so we can look at the future with hope as we get ready to reopen in the weeks or months to come.

CUOMO: So the governors then have money to execute this plan, which works to coordinate the crops and livestock that people have but can't sell. And who do they get that stuff to and who turns it into food and then gets it to the restaurants to distribute to people?

ANDRES: Again, it's the same systems as we have. Let's say I'm here in Maryland and I'm here in Virginia, we receive a lot of good produce from those farms. I go to the farmers market. The farmers markets, they don't sell the same amount of food, but somehow they keep these area fed.

We need to make sure that the systems we had in place, they don't stop functioning. Because now restaurants are almost all out of business. Many farmers don't have the same output. So now this is not only one solution, we need to make sure that the federal government comes with USDA and make sure that USDA buys from small farmers, the produce they are putting out.

All of a sudden that food maybe use by restaurants, by little NGOs like us, by food banks that right now are running out of food, by organizations of collectives of faith, is many ways we can be putting that food that American producers.

We need to keep reinvesting in what we were doing before all this crisis began. What we need to do is don't stop the system. So we can make sure that every American in need of food can have a plate of food for their families.

CUOMO: So it allows -- so the simple explanation is that the Food Act, the former Stafford Act allows governors to take up the space in the markets to create the demand for the farmers to deliver the produce to the restaurants to make the food and feed the communities.

ANDRES: You translate my English perfectly, but this is only one segment. We need to make sure that Congress, the White House supports extra credits to support the food banks. We need to make sure that we increase SNAPs to make sure that the families have enough money through these hard times.

We need to make sure that they can use SNAPs, what we call as food stamps, to be used in restaurants, to be also used to buy food online, to be used also to increase the quantity of fruits and vegetables that they can buy in the farmers markets. At the end of the day. These requires a 360 degree solution to fix this problem. I think it's very doable. We are already approving the concept in many ways by the way we are able to interact with the different opportunities of the system. I do believe that every problem has a very simple solution and becomes an opportunity. That's what World Central Kitchen is trying to prove to everybody.

CUOMO: We will get on the phone with the people who are sponsoring the bill and start creating pressure to see what happens with it. I'll get you on the phone with the governor. And your English is perfect because everything you say comes from the heart, and it is motivated by a very resourceful mind. So everything you say to me is perfect, Chef Jose Andres, and I thank you for feeding America.

ANDRES: Thank you and everybody should go back and read "The Jungle" Upton Sinclair. Everybody has to go back and read again by John Steinbick, "The Grapes of Wrath". Many of those things they've happened before. We need to learn from the past so we can come with the right solutions in the present, so we don't have a problem in the future.

[21:50:04]

Food is the solution of the many problems we face. Let's make sure that Congress, White House, we put those solutions working one bill at a time.

CUOMO: Chef, God bless. I love you. And thank you.

All right. From feeding America to healing America. Our medical heroes, you know they're risking their lives. And they ask us one thing. So many of us say, oh, I love them. Are you showing the love? Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: All right, it is National Nurse Recognition Day. It's actually the beginning of National Nurses week, May 6 to 12. It's still not really official. You know, nurses have fought for 30 years for recognition day. President Reagan finally made this day, May 6, official in 1982. But the fight have been going on from the '50s.

[21:55:01]

Nurses recognize the whole week. And, boy, do they deserve it now more than ever. As Churchill said during World War II, never have so many relied on the efforts of so few. You've seen the images of them working overtime in crowded hospitals. Some without enough PPE, I'm sorry, Mr. President, but that's the truth.

You've heard the emotional stories. Nurses giving dying patients their personal cell phones so they could say goodbye to their loved ones. Three million registered nurses in the U.S., you know, the highest percentage of healthcare workers. Thousands have come here to New York City volunteering to help fight this. Thousands of nurses have also paid the price for their efforts, contracting the virus themselves. The CDC says 10 percent to 20 percent of the infected are healthcare workers. Many have fallen. Kious Jordan Kelly, we spoke to his sister here, you may remember. He was an assistant nurse manager at Mount Sinai West Hospital in Manhattan. He died on March 24th just 48 years old. His last words were to his sister, I love you. Going back to sleep.

Fifty-four year old Lisa Ewald worked for more than 20 years as a nurse at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. She died on April 1st, a week after telling family that she tested positive for COVID. Lisa's niece says she cared so much more about other people than she did herself. And just last week, Tina Reeves lost her battle, a nurse working at the Pickaway Correctional Institution in Ohio. Public servant for 14 years. She leaves behind three kids and 10 grandkids.

The list of victims is far too long to name every single one, but you should keep them in your heart. Because despite these dangerous, heroic nurses put smiles on their faces and uplift patients and one another. You've seen these TikTok videos. God bless them for having the energy to do it.

Today all over the country, there have been celebrations in their honor, applause, signs, messages of support on social media from everyone, celebrities, politicians, sports teams. But here's the thing. If you ask them, what can we do for you, what can we get you, what do you need, to a person no matter where they work across this country, they say the same thing to me, stay home. Please do what you can to keep cases down.

So my question is, how many of us who say we love them don't really show that love? My message for all of you on this day is show the love. Do what you can to keep cases down. Your choice isn't just about you. You know now that it affects others, including maybe them. And how about our government? Get them the damn PPE they need. Have it made in this country.

Remember, Rosie the Riveter. These are desperate times everybody says it. How about having desperate times call for desperate measures? Really, America can't muster making gowns and masks when we made aircraft carriers and B-24 bombers?

Also, here's something else that would be really great for them. A new bill in the House from New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. Now the bill would forgive student debt for all healthcare workers who are literally putting their lives on the line to save others. There's precedent for this. We do it for the military, and we should, OK.

I think it makes sense to do it for these heroes as well during this time. What do you think? We certainly give a lot more money to a lot less worthy causes. And think about it. What do we do for them? We do the applause. At night here in New York City, I try to show it to you on a regular basis. Why? Because I want to remind all of us of our interconnection and our interdependence, and that we recognize what they're doing. So many of them are putting up with so much.

Remember Dr. Afridi (ph) there that I had on last night? Volunteering 12-hour shifts in a COVID ICU? That's not the job she does. She's an orthopaedist. She volunteered, and then this country kickback a green card application. She's from Canada, by the way, before you start playing any race games.

And why? Because people aren't being recognized for their value. And that's what I hope we remember today. These health care workers, especially nurses for today, they deserve more than applause. They deserve that we give our best efforts, that we use our head to craft great policy. That we don't cave to political considerations.

We know the need is great. The need is great for them too. They're watching people die on a daily basis from a disease we don't even understand. Don't they deserve -- and don't. frankly, you and the rest of this country deserve that we do smart things that show that we value people's lives enough to make moves that will ensure they have a chance to live those lives.

So, you want to show your thanks? I hope that these nurses get shown the same love, by all of us, that they give every day. Thank you for watching. "CNN TONIGHT" with D. Lemon starts right now.