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Growing COVID-19 Concerns Inside the White House; Despite Warnings, U.S. States Gradually Reopening; Warning of a New COVID- Related Illness Affecting Children New York; Prime Minister Boris Johnson Lays New Plan in Easing Restrictions; Germany Sees a Rise in New Infections; China Reports 17 New Cases, Lockdown Measures Implemented; Disneyland Reopens in Shanghai; Spike of New Cases in South Korea. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired May 11, 2020 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNA COREN, CNN HOST: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Anna Coren. Coming up on "CNN Newsroom," a top White House official calls it scary to go to work at the White House as the virus hits staffer and the president pushes for the country to reopen.

Some Europeans are waking up to more freedom as countries ease restrictions. We'll have live reports from London, and Paris.

As western nations start to reopen, we are seeing new outbreaks in China, and South Korea, among the first nations hit by the pandemic.

Our top story, concerns about COVID-19 inside the White House intensify. A source tells CNN, the U.S. president is worried the West Wing outbreak will undermine his argument that it is safe to open up the country.

And many may indeed wonder if the virus can get inside the United States most highly secured workplace, why should anyone else feel safe going back to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ECONOMIC ADVISER: I knew when I was going back in that I would be taking risks. That, you know, I'd be safer sitting at home at my house than going into a West Wing that even with all the testing in the world and the best medical team on Earth is a relatively cramped place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: President Trump's valet and another aide tested positive last week and we are now hearing he doesn't want to be near anyone who has not been tested. But as recently as Saturday, Mr. Trump held court, as you can see, not a mask in sight. The outbreak has prompted these key members of the administration's

coronavirus task force to all self-quarantine in some way or another, but not the U.S. Vice President. Well, his office says that it is not happening. Mike Pence is expected at the White House later today, even though it was his press secretary who tested positive on Friday.

A key coronavirus model now predicts the U.S. will see roughly 137,000 deaths by August. Well, that's up from the previous forecast of 134,000. The director of the model says the projection rose because more Americans are on the move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER MURRAY, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH METRICS AND EVALUATION: We are seeing just explosive increases in mobility in a number of states that we expect will translate into more cases of deaths, you know, in 10 days from now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Despite the warnings, a growing number of states are still moving forward with plans to ease restrictions. CNN's Polo Sandoval reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Starting Monday, New Hampshire will allow retail stores, barber shops and hair salons to take in some customers. In the south, Alabama gyms, restaurants and other businesses also will reopen under ertain rules.

Across the country, states taking a patchwork approach to reopening amid continuing, still climbing cases of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 1.3 million diagnosed with more than 79,000 deaths. Thirteen states have seen an average increase in new cases this past week, 15 have remained steady, and 22 states have seen a decline in new cases.

Despite a recent uptick in Ohio case, retailers will open Tuesday as part of the state's phased reopening strategy. Governor Mike DeWine describing the process on Fox News Sunday as something we have to do.

MIKE DEWINE, GOVERNOR OF OHIO: Well, it's really a risk, no matter what we do. It's a risk if we don't do anything, it's a risk if we do this. What we have done is come up with the best practices for businesses to reopen. We put business people together with health people, had them come up with best practices.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open up the county.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): On the West Coast, protesters return to the streets and stocked (ph) in California, demanding the governor lift the state's stay-at-home order and reopen businesses.

The White House facing challenges of its own, not only with a predicted May unemployment rate of 20 percent, but with news that two people on the West Wing tested positive for the virus. An Oval Office valet and the vice president press secretary.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the faces of the White House's coronavirus response team is on modified quarantine out of an abundance of caution and has not tested positive, and other administration officials taking precautions of their own.

[02:04:58]

KEVIN HASSETT, SENIOR ECONOMIC ADVISER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: So we've all been exposing ourselves to risks, you know, under the best guidance we could possibly have to keep us safe, but we are willing to take that chance because we love our country.

And I think that, you know, there are things that have to happen in that West Wing even if the building is a little bit old and under- ventilated and so on. And so yes, I absolutely have a mask in my pocket. I can wave it at you right now and I practice social distancing.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): In New York, signs of a new and disturbing COVID-related illness that's already proven deadly for some children. At least 85 kids, mainly toddler and elementary school age have been hospitalized with what doctors are describing as pediatric multi- system inflammatory syndrome. Three children have died and authorities' investigating of that number is even higher.

BILL DE BLASIO, MAYOR OF NEW YORK: As a father, I am feeling the concern I know other parents are feeling. Our health leadership is deeply concerned. Doctors are now calling this pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome.

And what it does is basically in a child's body triggers intensive, almost overwhelming immune system response, and that actually causes harm to the body. So as the body is fighting, it fights in such a manner that actually starts to cause other problems.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): New York Mayor Bill de Blasio adding that symptoms of the illness include fever, rashes, abdominal pain, and vomiting.

(on camera): The CDC now asking the state of New York to develop a national criteria for the illness. The expectation here is that we could see more of these cases especially outside of New York. What this does do, it's showing these parents concerns since these cases undercut what they have been told before, which is that younger people may not be as vulnerable.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Polo Sandoval reporting there. Well, let's talk more about this with Dr. Darragh O'Carroll. He's an emergency room physician in Honolulu, Hawaii and he consulted on the Netflix series "Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak."

Doctor, great to have you with us. As we've been reporting, there has been an outbreak at the White House, a place where the president and his staff are regularly tested, if not, daily. I mean, if they can't contain the virus at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, what hope is there for greater America?

DARRAGH O'CARROLL, EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: That is I think a legitimate concern and I admittedly, I'm not in the know of what sort of precautions that their team is taking. And you would think that they'd be taking the most extreme precautions possible because when our leaders do contract this illness, there is more worry as we saw on the U.K. with Boris.

So, I think the perception is that it could be worrisome, but it's a testament to how sneaky this virus is and how it spreads throughout the globe so rapidly, that there is, you know, a large percentage of asymptomatic carriers, and then also, that it can spread through respiratory droplets.

And so we're learning more and more about this disease and I think it's something that I think the White House would need to address to, you know, calm these worries that have come because of it.

COREN: Well, almost every U.S. state has now reopened, many of them, as you know, have not seen the worst of COVID-19, and this is only the first wave. As a health professional, are you concerned that states are reopening too soon?

O'CARROLL: There are some that -- granted, I am not in the know to every municipality in every state -- I know here in Hawaii, we've had one of the flattest curves in the country and we are definitely looking at phase one and phase two and phase three open up.

But there is a lot of places where the curve is not quite flat enough or, you know, it's still sort of going up. And the analogy I'd like to say is that it's akin to being in an airplane and, you know, we haven't quite landed yet and you're wanting to open up the door and so everybody's hair is going to get a little bit messy.

And I would encourage people to listen to the experts who've devoted their lives, decades and decades to studying not only these diseases, but other diseases, and listen to them as much as we can. Most of our leaders, if not all of our leaders are doing that.

COREN: Well, tell us about the situation in Hawaii where you are.

O'CARROLL: Well, we're doing well. I'm really proud of not only just our state and our leaders, Governor Ige and Lieutenant Governor Josh Green, who is a fellow E.R. physician like myself, our mayors as well. Kirk Caldwell have been really on point with adapting to the needed, you know, everybody is adapting across the globe.

You know, a couple of months ago, nobody had -- didn't even know what a coronavirus was or a spike protein or an antibody. And so to have this -- have our leaders be so open to learning and then also using those -- everything they've learned to make the proper recommendations and listening to us.

[02:10:02] So, our curve is really flat. We've had, you know, the last more than two weeks, we've had single digit numbers. A couple of days we've had no new cases. And so here in Hawaii we are looking at phase one opening at our low risk businesses and then onto phase two and phase three.

And it's a testament to, I think, three principles that the Hawaiian culture has really instilled in us, is that one, aloha, which is love, and two, family, ohana, and then three, kokua, our responsibility to our community as a whole.

And so when the recommendations came down to social distance, when the recommendations came down to wear masks, everybody was like, well, this is what we have to do. And so our state embraced all of those and I'm really proud of us in how we did that.

COREN: You talk about the social responsibility that you and other people in Hawaii felt. Will you help to distribute 1.6 million face masks across the state with the help of many pro surfers? Tell us about this initiative.

O'CARROLL: Yes, I am the physician voice, excuse me, physician voice for Every1ne Hawaii, which is a, you know, has a core coalition of about nine friends of mine and mostly high school classmates that we're now all in our mid-30s, from all sectors of the community who originally banded together to promote civic awareness with election coming up in November, but pivoted as needed when COVID overtook the world.

And so what we realized is that we needed some high quality education. And then once we kind of determined that mask use, that we've seen the evidence that mask use by most of the population was going to help curb this disease.

We reached out to, our -- I would call them our local icons, our surf professionals who everybody looks up to, and through Zak Noyle, who is a prolific surf photographer and all his relationships. We got, you know, Carissa Moore, who is a 4-time world surfing league champion, a couple miles from where I'm standing right now, handing out masks to people who can't afford them.

And the most vulnerable of our communities is where we brought them to, you know, the community who, one, couldn't afford them or two, are the highest risk who have those diabetes and pulmonary disease and live in large communities where if this does get in, it would spread rapidly.

So, Every1ne Hawaii has been remarkable and that they partnered with Hawaiian Airlines. And Hawaiian Airlines, instead of being looking at us like we were crazy, that we had 2 million masks and we've got 400,000 left to deliver. We've got 2 million masks and these are non- medical grade dust surgical masks, so we're not stealing from or siphoning off anything from our -- PPE for our frontline medical workers.

But they are adequate for covering the face to prevent the spread of this droplet disease. And we have distributed them island wide and I'm just really proud that there are nine core members, but its many hands that make the chain. And it is just a testament to those three values of ohana, kokua and aloha. And so it kind of represents Hawaii and our state very well.

COREN: Yes, what a fabulous initiative. Congratulations to you and everybody involved for getting Hawaiians on board and fighting coronavirus. Dr. Daragh O'Carroll, great to speak to you. Many thanks for joining us.

Well, still to come, concerns arising in China. New cases are being reported and fresh lockdown measures are in effect.

And a spike of cases in South Korea is believed to be linked to one man, where he went, and how he allegedly spread the virus. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:15:00]

COREN: Welcome back. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to brief parliament just hours from now on his plan for reopening the United Kingdom. The country has been under lockdown for more than six weeks.

In a televised segment Sunday, Mr. Johnson asked people who cannot work from home to go back to their jobs. He specifically mentioned manufacturing and construction workers. But Mr. Johnson also said that the country must not spoil the progress it has made against the virus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I know, you know, that it would be madness to throw away that achievement by allowing a second spike. We must stay alert. We must continue to control the virus and save lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Well, CNN's Phil Black joins us now from Downing Street with the very latest. Phil, does the U.K. now have a clear road map to reopening the economy?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You wouldn't call it clear just yet, Anna. No, it's still a very broad aspirational plan, highly conditional, lots of ifs and buts, about just how this is going to proceed going forward.

And the first shift in direction that we heard from the prime minister last night isn't really a distinct shift in policy. As he said, it is a change in emphasis because up until now, the guidance has been work from home if you can, go to work if you must.

Now, the government is saying continue to work from home if you can, but if you can go to work safely, then you should do so. The government is actively encouraging British people to get out there and go to work, to return to their workplaces because they want to try, and as countries around the world do now, reinvigorate economic activity.

They want people to go back to their jobs to be paid by their employers and not a government funded furlough scheme. The key issue though, is how they're going to do this.

Technically they can do it from today, but there is a lot of detail about just how that's going to work, a lot of granular detail in each individual industry, each individual workplace. And we are waiting for those details to be revealed by the government. We'll get some more today, some more in the coming days.

And so there is for the moment, something of a vacuum between the government's very broad aspirational plan and just how this is going to work on a specific day to day basis. And crucially, how is it going to work safely without triggering a new resurgence in COVID-19.

[02:20:04]

There has been some clarity though on some lifestyle issues, which will please some people if they're worried about the other stuff, and that is that they are now - people in here are now allowed to spend as much time outdoors as they want to, either exercising, going to the beach, lying in a park, perhaps even socializing with others people, but as long as they only do it will maintaining those strict social distancing rules, Anna.

COREN: Yes I'm sure that is a welcome relief to many people. Phil, the prime minister's critics say his new guidance to stay alert is so vague, it's almost confusing. What's been the reaction?

BLACK: Yes. So, a shift in messaging from a very clear message, stay at home, to a new slogan of stay alert. And Critics ask, as a lot of people are asking, what does that actually mean? The government admits that it is nuanced. (Inaudible) says the British people are capable of determining precisely what that means in this new context, in this new phase of dealing with the pandemic.

But his critics, including the leaders of regional governments in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, they say it is just not clear enough, that it is irresponsible, that it is too open to interpretation.

And from their point of view, they say they are sticking to their existing message which is stay at home. We are just simply not ready to invite people to deviate from a message that is as clear and purposeful as that at this time, Anna.

COREN: Phil Black, joining us from London. Great to see you. Many thanks.

Well, as countries ease restrictions, they're keeping a close eye on what's known as the R value. That's how many people each sick person infects with the coronavirus. In Germany, that number has now reached more than 1.1 indicating that infections are on the rise again.

The (inaudible) republic health agency says it's too early to draw conclusions, but the number needs to be watched. Chancellor Angela Merkel has said restrictions that have been relaxed can be re-imposed if the pandemic accelerates again.

Well, mainland China is reporting 70 new cases of coronavirus. Seven were imported cases and 10 were locally transmitted. Well, fresh lockdown measures were announced for Shulan City in the northeastern Jilin province.

Five of the new cases are in Wuhan, the original epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. Wuhan had not reported a new case since April 3rd. Well, CNN's Steven Jiang is in Beijing and he joins us now. Steven, are Chinese authorities concerned about this latest outbreak?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: They certainly are, but officially the level of concern over Wuhan is moderate based on this government assessment of that one district in the city where these new cases have emerged.

Now, since the weekend, they have reported six new cases, all occurring in one particular residential neighborhood. And the official in charge of that neighborhood has now been sacked by the government for failing to prevent this resurgence. Now, as you understand, most people here in China are required to have this government health app on their mobile phones with an assigned color code to indicate their health status.

So for these residents in the neighborhoods, their code is now yellow instead of green. That would certainly limit their travel options and restrict their access to many public venues including their workplaces.

So for residents I n Wuhan, this is really the last thing they need to see after going through that 76 days of strict quarantine measures that resulted in such huge human tolls as well as economic suffering, Anna.

COREN: Steven Jiang joining us from Beijing. Many thanks for the update. Well, despite the new cases, Shanghai Disneyland is reopening. It's the first of the Disney theme parks to do so after being closed for more than three months.

Limited tickets were listed online Friday and sold out in just minutes. Businesses must now wear face masks and follow other strict guidelines before they go in.

Well, over the weekend, South Korea reported its biggest single day jump in coronavirus cases since early April. The spike in new cases is believed to be linked to Seoul's nightclub scene, with the president now warning of a second wave.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now from Seoul. And Paula, South Korea as we know has done an amazing job in halting the virus. How did this new outbreak occur? PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anna, the first patient that

was publicized really was back on May 2nd or at least that's when this 29-year-old man visited the club district of Itaewon here in Seoul.

And several days later, then tested positive, and then that is when emergency alerts were put out on mobiles by the government saying that anybody who had been in that area during that time should self-isolate and should try and get themselves tested.

[02:24:58]

Now, since that time, there have been 85 positive cases that have been linked to that one particular club-goer. We heard from the Seoul City mayor that some 3,000 plus people have already been tested, just for this one incident, and they say there is about more than 1,000 tests that they are still awaiting the results of.

But there are still others that they are unable to trace at this point. Now, to go inside the clubs, the patrons had to give their names and their mobile phone numbers so that they could be traced if necessary, but according to officials, some did give false information.

So, they are now using credit card usage records. They are cooperating with police. They are using mobile phone records to trying and trace all of those who they want to be tested.

Now, local media here in South Korea did report some of these bars as being gay bars, which has been criticized by rights groups here because there is discrimination against gays here in South Korea.

So there are some concerns that people would not want to come forward and would not want to face discrimination by saying that they had been in that area.

So these are the sorts of issues that officials are trying to deal with at this point. The Seoul City mayor says the next two to three days are critical in trying to contain this outbreak, also saying that if Seoul falls, the country falls, Anna.

COREN: Yes, Paula, it really is a cautionary tale for other countries in the process of easing restrictions. Do you expect strict measures to return to Seoul?

HANCOCKS: I mean, certainly a possibility. We are just two days away from schools reopening in South Korea. There was going to be that the older class of high schools was going to start going back on Wednesday and there was going to be a phased introduction to the rest of the grades, over the next few weeks as well.

That is now in question. We know that the education ministry will be giving a briefing later today. We'll see whether or not that has to be changed.

But there was these -- the strict social distancing rules that had been relaxed just last Wednesday, although it's worth pointing out that even with those strict social distancing rules, these clubs were still able to operate and have hundreds of people inside, Anna.

COREN: Paula Hancocks joining us from Seoul. Many thanks.

The U.S. sees staggering job losses, but the White House is pumping the brakes on another stimulus package for now.

Plus, France begins to ease its lockdown. The strict rules remain in Paris. A live report is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:29:50]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A whole nation rooted for British army veteran, Tom Moore, to complete a personal marathon, 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday. Raising money for the county's health service, he crossed the finish line with a guard of honor from his old regiment. He set out to raise 1,000 pounds but ended up raising tens of millions.

TOM MOORE, BRITISH ARMY VETERAN: Fantastic sum of money. It's unbelievable that people would be so kind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The money goes to the organization, NHS charities together, which supports the U.K.'s health workers who are already sending messages of thanks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think you're amazing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amazing!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His 100th birthday is still days away, but social media is already awash with birthday messages to thank Captain Tom Moore for inspiring a nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:30:55]

COREN: The U.S. is reeling from Friday's job's report. The country lost more than 20 million jobs in April as a result of the coronavirus, and maze numbers could be even worse.

Experts predict unemployment could reach a record-breaking 20 percent. It's still unclear how the $3 trillion of economic relief to U.S. citizens will impact things. The White House, says before any more stimulus packages are pumped into the economy, the country needs to see how the first wave performs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVEN MNUCHIN, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY: What the president and I are now saying is, we spent a lot of money. A lot of this money is not even into the economy yet. Let's take the next few weeks. I'm having discussions with both the Republicans and the Democrats to understand these issues. The president and I are having conversations with outside people with business.

We just want to make sure that before we jump back in and send another few trillion of taxpayer's money, that we do it carefully.

LARRY KUDLOW, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC ADVISER: I do think there are issues here, and there'll probably going to be some agreements and disagreements. Each side has its own positions.

So, it's not that we're not talking, we are, it's just informal at this stage. And really, after all of this assistance, let's have a look at what the impact is, and at least, the next couple of weeks for the economy.

KEVIN HASSETT, SENIOR ECONOMIC ADVISER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: This is the biggest negative shock to an economy that we have ever seen in our lifetimes. And it hit in economy that in January, was about the strongest economy we'd ever seen.

And so, when you got two giant forces like that colliding, then, any economist who tells you they know exactly what is going to happen, you know, is feeding you a line. The fact, though, is that with all of the aggressive bipartisan action to toss maybe as much as $9 trillion at this sort of bridge to the other side, that we see things like in the jobs report on Friday. Almost everybody who declared themselves unemployed, said they expect to go back to work in the next six months.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: John Defterios, joins us now from Abu Dhabi. John, I mean, what a bleak picture, 20 percent U.S. unemployment potentially in the -- in the coming months. Do you expect there will be another bailout?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, there's going to be work on another bailout, no don't doubt about that, Anna, but we have 14.7 percent come out on Friday.

We're talking about 20 percent, but I thought it was fascinating that Steve Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, would not rule out 25 percent by the end of the first half of this year. In fact, the U.S. Federal Reserve was suggesting we could see the unemployment benefits for those applying for such activities, climbing to 50 million by that period of time, and we're at 33 million right now.

We have to keep into mind here, also, that the corporate restructuring underway in America is not nearly halfway through yet. We've seen some major names in the airline sector, manufacturing, the retail sectors, all laying off people so far, but it's not complete, especially for publicly traded companies.

And we're at the mercy of this coronavirus. The snapback, because people are going back to work, can a vaccine be created, and what are the mutations going forward? Again, these are huge question marks. And to give you a sense of the desperation that you had, that string of sound bites there from the weekend program in United States. Kevin Hassett, who was an economic adviser to the White House was suggesting, because people are so desperate in terms of their incomes at the stage, and unemployment, they're asking to put together a package for a food date, and then have broadband access for those who are going to be looking for jobs, when the economy starts to snap back in the third quarter if that is the case.

Now there is a debate, as you heard from the treasury secretary, let's hold off for three weeks to see how the $3 trillion has been spent. Now, we have White House Democrats suggesting, let's get started now because we know desperate times ahead in the next 90 days are there.

And this delay for the first month and a half, as we find out, Anna, has been extremely expensive because they're having to put more money at play now because we're so far behind the curve at the beginning.

[02:34:59]

COREN: And John, sorry, close to home for you, Emirates Airlines, still manage to squeeze out a profit but, I guess, turbulence is ahead with such low oil prices?

DEFTERIOS: Well, Anna, we have a couple of big stories here. Emirates Airline with its annual results squeezing out the profit, as you suggested. And now, more austerity in Saudi Arabia.

Emirates had the annual profit, but they suggest that their fourth- quarter fiscal year was extremely difficult. So, they made about $330 million in the last fiscal year, but the chairman, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum has been there since the beginning of the carrier 35 years ago, says, it will be the worst period ahead in the next 18 months in the history of the carrier.

This is a long haul carrier that bridges Asia, to Europe, and to the United States, and also, Africa. So, think about it, the Iran-Iraq War, the Gulf War, the Ebola crisis, the SARS crisis, they says, this is, by far, the worst.

And we all get to a new normal, to at least, the second half of 2022, if not into 2023. And you have the number one exporter, Saudi Arabia, announcing severe austerity outside. Their sales tax with the VAT will go from five percent, only induced in 2018, going to 15 percent right now.

This is the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, having to take tough measures, and even the rollout of his 2030 plan, to the major diversification projects, they'll definitely slowdown as a result of the fall, and the oil crisis, and the coronavirus.

COREN: John Defterios, joining us from Abu Dhabi. Many thanks for the update.

Healthcare giant, Johnson and Johnson, hopes to make a billion coronavirus vaccines for next year, but it has a lot of competition. Whoever does successfully develop a vaccine will face a number of challenges. CNN's Anna Stewart reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At least, 100 COVID-19 vaccines are in development around the world. From small biotech firms and university research groups to the big pharmaceutical companies. Eight groups have broken through to the next phase, human trials.

If one succeeds and gets regulatory approval from individual countries, the next challenge begins, producing enough vaccine for the world.

THOMAS CUENI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURERS: When you look at the biggest vaccine manufacturers, there may be five in the industrialized world able and with skillset know how to manufacture at large scales. And even if you combine their capacity and they don't have excess capacity, they might struggle to come up with the volumes you need right now

STEWART: Pharmaceutical companies are forming partnerships. Even united, they could face major manufacturing challenges.

CUENI: At the end of the day, you may have a vaccine, but then you find out you don't have enough vials. The bottleneck might be at the end of the supply chain.

STEWART: The entire world needs this vaccine, but who gets it first?

KATHERINE O'BRIEN, DIRECTOR, IMMUNIZATION, VACCINES, AND BIOLOGICALS DEPARTMENT, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: In any product that is -- has inadequate supply to meet all of the demand. There will always be interests at heart to serve, you know, the primary interests of those who are in control of the product.

STEWART: There are concerns countries could put national interests first.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Everybody wants to get a vaccine for their country, for the safety of their country, and if possible, make it available to the world.

STEWART: How a vaccine is shared is a question for politicians, and it needs to be answered soon.

O'BRIEN: If everything went perfectly well, we might be able to see early licensure of those products near the end of 2020. I've never seen a product where everything goes as planned. Maybe we'll get lucky.

STEWART: And if we do, there are further challenges ahead to vaccinate the world.

Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COREN: Well, France is now reporting its lowest daily death toll since lockdown measures went into place. This as parts of the country get ready to reopen, but Paris will remain under tight measures.

Here to discuss more is Melissa Bell from Paris. Melissa, more than 26,000 deaths to date. What's the plan for France's reopening?

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the very first day after 55 days of irrelevant -- relatively strictly enforced lockdown, Anna. The French are getting back to something like normality, but with important restrictions on their movements, especially, in the red zones of France that is in and around Paris and the east of the country which remain much more firmly locked down than the rest, but still, a return to something like normal.

For instance, people don't need those pieces of paper, those documents to leave their homes anymore. So, there is a greater sense of freedom. But, of course, the question is whether those COVID-19 numbers can be kept down? As you said, yesterday, an important milestone, the lowest rise in the number of deaths since that French lockdown began.

So, it shows that these measures have been working. Can they keep the COVID-19 figures down in this new system of greater freedom? That is the big question -- one of the big tests, of course, is the return to school.

[02:40:09]

BELL: That happens for about a million school children here in France this week. And one of the questions underlying that return to school for so many young Europeans over the course the next couple of weeks is whether children can be kept separate from one another, and therefore, safe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BELL: Some of those European citizens hardest hit by stay-at-home orders are finally getting back to something approaching normal. These teenagers in Germany were returning to their school building one by one.

In Denmark, primary school children were the first in Europe to get back to their classrooms on April 15th, some less enthusiastically than others. With teaching staff facing a whole new set of challenges.

HENRIK WILHELMSEN, SCHOOL HEADTEACHER: We have soap, disinfectant all over the place. We have -- we have put lines in the floor to indicate two meters intervals, so the children can see what is two meters.

BELL: Since the start of Europe's coronavirus outbreak in late February, Italy, then Spain, France, and many other E.U. countries gradually put in place stay-at-home orders and closed schools. Only now are many countries beginning to reopen.

And crucial to getting parents back to work is getting their children back into class. In the Netherlands, the classrooms that will open Monday will look very different. Here as in France, some children have started early. Children of health care workers, for instance. This week, other primary school children will return to class on a voluntary basis, and classes will be smaller. So, priority will be given to the children of essential workers.

In announcing the reopening of schools, the French president explained it was a matter of social justice.

EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): Too many children, especially in poorer neighborhoods and in the countryside are deprived of school, with no access to digital learning, and cannot be helped in the same way by their parents.

BELL: As schools like this one gradually reopen their doors, it will be an important test. The government here has said that it will not hesitate to bring in another stay-at-home order should those COVID-19 figures rise once again.

So, can kids inside schools be kept safe from one another, and are parents happy to be sending them back?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm looking forward to them going back to school because I have to work. My husband is working also, and it's very complicated to work at home with kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We have asked for our children to go back to school. But first, children from disadvantaged backgrounds. That's not our case. And since we work remotely, we are not the priority.

BELL: Many French schoolchildren will have to wait before going back to school, a reminder that closing down back in March was easy and obvious enough, it is reopening that is harder even as the battle against the outbreak continues.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BELL: It is with one eye, Anna, on the economic figures that the French government decided to reopen. It is now keeping that other eye very firmly on those COVID-19 figures to see whether their opening is happening as safe as it needs it to.

COREN: Melissa Bell, joining us from Paris. Many thanks.

Well, more than two months after the fatal shooting of an African American jogger, a state prosecutor seeks answers about how the victim's case was handled?

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[02:46:30]

COREN: In the state of Georgia, the top prosecutor is requesting a federal investigation into how officials handled the case of Ahmaud Arbery. The unarmed black man was fatally shot by two white men while jogging in February. One of the suspects told police, they followed him because they thought he was behind a series of break-ins in the area. A video of the February shooting surfaced just days ago. The footage is difficult to watch but it is important.

CNN's Don Lemon spoke with the attorney for William Bryan, the man who recorded the video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Did he call 911 when this was happening?

KEVIN GOUGH, LAWYER FOR WILLIAM BRYAN: He does not call 911. To my knowledge, I don't think there's any evidence that he did.

LEMON: Because you said -- you said that he did everything he could, but he did not call 911, but he did record it.

GOUGH: Well, you can't record and call 911 at the same time, not on the same phone.

LEMON: I think people are happy that this video is out there, right? Because it helps with this case. But I think --

(CROSSTALK)

GOUGH: It is the case.

LEMON: I think people are understanding -- people are having a hard time understanding why it was more important for him to record than call 911, can you explain that?

GOUGH: Well, I'm not going to speak for him or relay what he said, but you have seen the video, and you're familiar with the -- is absolutely impossible on those circumstances that people around the neighborhood weren't calling. So, there's every reason to believe that, that was happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Don, also spoke with the fiancee of the man who recorded the shooting. She says the family has been receiving death threats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY ELROD, FIANCEE OF WILLIAM BRYANT: We're scared to go home. We're scared. I mean, we're living out of my car pretty much right now because we can't go home. If we did go home, we've got to run in, grab clothes, and then leave again, because we feel like our home is not safe.

We can't -- you know, we can't celebrate Mother's Day with my family, which -- that's very difficult. But then, to -- I think on miss Arbery, not being able to celebrate with her child or young man, you know. It is just -- it's a terrible, terrible situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: The suspects in the shooting were arrested last week and faced charges of murder and aggravated assaults. Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

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COREN: If there's something people around the world could use right now, it's a distraction. The kind they typically get from sports and rooting for their team. Well, many leagues are on hold, some of them are slowly coming back.

And the CNN's Don Riddell, tells us that during a pandemic games look very, very different.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Just a few months ago, this would have seemed ridiculous. Life-sized cutout football fans attending a top Bundesliga game in Germany. But now, it's really happening.

This is the only way that thousands of football supporters can be present for their team, Borussia Monchengladbach. This weekend, Germany's top league returns after two months on the sidelines and enforced hiatus because of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

Some of the leagues in Europe such as France and the Netherlands have already been canceled. Ajax Amsterdam were top of the table, but now have nothing to show for it. The CEO and legendary former goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, says he's curious to see how it's going to work across the border in Germany.

EDWIN VAN DER SAR, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, AJAX: (INAUDIBLE) so that's a couple of days ago, some players, they contracted the coronavirus. And of course, I'm not sure how Germany that's the plans to do. And of course, they -- and most of the bigger leagues have rely local T.V. revenue. And that's probably one of the other big reasons that those leagues are going ahead.

RIDDELL: England's Premier League is the most lucrative football league in the world. They haven't yet given up on the 2019-20 season, but the so-called, Project Restart is still being furiously debated. All 20 clubs are meeting again on Monday to discuss when the season might resume.

[02:55:06]

RIDDELL: Football hasn't disappeared completely during the outbreak. They carried on playing in Belarus and a handful of other countries around the world. But the most significant development recently can be found in South Korea, where baseball and football have returned this month.

These are encouraging signs for sports fans in the United States. When it comes to the likes of basketball, baseball, and soccer returning. The timing of the outbreak has so far not interfered with the NFL. A new schedule has just been published. Their top stars can't wait.

RUSSELL WILSON, QUARTERBACK, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: When sports comes back, I know everybody is going to be screaming. They're going to be -- they're going to be ready to roll. I think it's going to be crazier than ever before. I think there's going to be -- the ratings are going to be higher than ever.

And so, hopefully, we can bring a little hope to people soon. And hopefully, we can bring a little bit of inspiration too.

RIDDELL: But these times remain very uncertain. UFC has been one of the most bullish sports throughout the crisis, but they were just reminded that they cannot control the virus.

Just hours before UFC 249 in Florida, middleweight fighter Ronaldo Jacare Souza was forced to withdraw from Saturday night's event because he and two cornermen had tested positive for COVID-19. UFC president Dana White accepts that there is always going to be an element of risk.

DANA WHITE, PRESIDENT, ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP: There are no guarantees in life. There are no guarantees. There's no 100 percent guarantee I'm going to be safe driving home after this interview. There's no guarantee that I'm -- you know, anything can happen. It's part of life. And -- but we're going to -- we're going to take away as much risk as we possibly can to put on this event.

RIDDELL: So that makes the Bundesliga's return this weekend all the more interesting. The league teams and players say they're taking every possible precaution. But how safe an environment can it really be? There won't be any fans in the stadiums, but the rest of the sports world will be paying very close attention.

Don Riddell, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Anna Coren. The news continues with Rosemary Church, after the break.

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