Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Fears Of A Second COVID-19 Wave; South Korea Postpones Reopening Of Schools Due To Spike In Cases; U.S. States Attempting To Restart Businesses; Questions Remain About U.K.'s Reopening Plan; Shanghai Disneyland Reopens With New Health Measures; Doctors Forced to Choose Whom to Treat with Remdesivir; Dr. Sasson's Return Home after 30 Days in New York; Navigating COVID-19 and the Aftermath of Abuse; Toyota and Honda Announcing Financial Results. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired May 12, 2020 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:16]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Just as they warned, easing of lockdowns brings new infections in old hotspots. And a minute mission accomplished moment for the American President, his senior advisor on the Coronavirus about to warn Congress of needless suffering and death caused by reopening too soon. And cracked up over COVID-19. Comedian Darrell Hammond talked about dealing with emotional trauma during a pandemic, which is like so many alone and isolated. Hello, welcome our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Just hours before his appearance at Congress, Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the leading figures in the government's effort to contain the coronavirus is expected to warn lawmakers that the U.S. will see needless suffering and death if the country opens up too quickly. That according to late reporting from the New York Times, those concerns though have been shared by world leaders and other medical experts, worried that if countries reopen too soon, we would see a resurgence of the virus. Germany was Europe's success story but infections there are now rising, South Korea also seeing a spike in new cases. More than 100 of them linked to nightclubs in Seoul and the government now pushing back on its plan to reopen schools by a week. China also dealing with its own flare up. The World Health Organization says these second waves signal the challenges which still lie ahead, and that extreme vigilance remains a requirement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MICHAEL RYAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WHO HEALTH EMERGENCIES PROGRAMME: Countries like Germany and countries like Korea shouldn't be criticized for looking, for finding, for being alert, for being ready and reacting quickly and engaging quickly to investigate, to isolate, to trace and to track. Because that's what we've been saying, the virus is still here.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: CNN's Paula Hancocks joins me again live from Seoul. So, Paula,
you know, as they say constant vigilance, Harry Potter. And I guess that's the case for South Korea, and really an indication of just how effective their, you know, contact tracing system is.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, John, the fact that they have already been able to test more than 7,000 people who they have traced and who have come forward because they believe that they were in this one particular nightclub district over a two-week period. So, it started on May 2nd when one 29-year-old man went to a number of clubs, he's since tested positive. And they have -- they have found more than 100 more cases, not just of those who may have come into contact with this individual but also secondary transmission as well, which the Seoul City Mayor says they're concerned about.
And another thing he said was that they believe there's about 36 percent of those that tested positive that were asymptomatic, had no symptoms whatsoever. So, this just shows that by tracing and by trying to find out exactly who was in that neighborhood over a certain period of time, they are able to pick up positive cases that otherwise would not even have known that they were carrying the virus. Now, they do say that the spread of -- the rate of spread is particularly high. The Seoul City Mayor has said the next two to three days are absolutely critical to try and contain this outbreak. John?
VAUSE: What's interesting about this is, and I don't know if this is unique to South Korea, but initially there was patient one, which was a woman who attended that church service I think in a city, a south of Seoul, and she was responsible in many ways for widespread infection of hundreds if not thousands of people. And there is a similar situation where one person it seems, you know, could very well be responsible for the infection of yet, again, hundreds, maybe even thousands of people. So, this is an indication that, you know, these are what I guess what people call super spreaders.
HANCOCKS: Well, certainly, it shows that you can't let your guard down. And this is exactly what the South Korean President Moon Jae-in said about this, talking about this one individual case, saying, it's not over until it's over. This is going to be a long time until it is -- it is fixed. And you can't let your guard down. And all of these clubs have since been ordered to close and some of the bars and restaurants in this area, as well. But of course, there is no criticism as to why these bars and clubs were open. Before, for example, schools were allowed to open, they were supposed to open tomorrow on Wednesday. At least year three of high school, so the highest level of age.
And then, there was going to be a phased introduction over a number of weeks. That's now had to be pushed back by at least a week at this point because they know that they haven't got this outbreak under control, but they do know also South Korea has done this before. We did see it as you said with that religious group down in Daegu in the southeast of the country. And they can do it once again because they can use please cooperation, they say, they're using credit card usage records, they're using mobile phone records. [01:05:01]
And the privacy laws here in South Korea have already been lowered and already been eased somewhat after the MERS outbreak because people realize the necessity of tracing and tracking individuals. So, in that respect, they can go further than other countries and they can attempt to contain this outbreak quicker than maybe other countries with higher privacy laws could do.
VAUSE: Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks live for us in Seoul. And the lesson, of course, is it just takes one infected person to -- for this virus to come back. So, thank you, Paula, appreciate it.
We have this just coming into us in the past few minutes. The authorities of Wuhan, China say they will conduct a city-wide test to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus. This comes after new cases were confirmed on Monday. Remember, this is where the outbreak was first detected. The city said no new cases have been reported in the past 24 hours. Wuhan just (INAUDIBLE) lockdown last month after 76 days. And there are 11 new cases in Shulan, in China's Northeast. This is a province which borders Russia and North Korea. Again, concerns that cases could be imported from -- you know, from Russia or North Korea, one of these other countries. Steven Jiang live in Beijing for us with more. So, tell us what the situation is in Wuhan with promises city- wide testing. Does that mean everyone undergoes the test? No questions asked?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Well, John, that obviously is the clear sign yet about how concerned the authorities are about this new cluster of cases in their city after no new cases being reported for over a month. Now, they're still working out the details according to stay media, but they are saying -- the authorities are saying they're going to prioritize testing for the more vulnerable groups, including the elderly, people with pre-existing conditions, as well as people living in more cramped quarters in the city's older neighborhoods.
Obviously, this is a response to the reemergence of locally- transmitted cases. Six in total, as you mentioned, over the weekend, all of them living within the same residential compound, and most of them actually were asymptomatic for a long time. So, all of this really raises new questions about this virus. How long it can linger because this neighborhood apparently had previous confirmed cases. But that was some time ago.
But even more alarming, though, is the situation in Shulan. Now, you mentioned this potential Russia link, but so far, all these more than a dozen cases since last Thursday, are locally transmitted. And that's why the city of 700,000 people are now being placed under a lockdown, the kind of draconian measures we had previously only seen in Wuhan, meaning residents are required to stay indoors, nobody goes out, and one member of each household can be allowed to buy groceries on a daily basis, schools businesses all shut and no transportation into and out of the city.
Now all this, because the authorities there are still baffled by their apparent patient zero, a laundry lady at the police locals -- at the local police station. She apparently had no travel history and no contact with other confirmed cases. So, that's why they're doing extensive contact tracing, as well as a lot of investigation trying to find out how she contracted this virus. But, John, there is this -- that all of this really shows us there's just so much about this virus we still do not know about. John?
VAUSE: And on that, as far as how much we know about this virus and what we know about, you know, making a vaccine, there are these accusations coming from a reporter in New York Times that Washington is planning on officially accusing Beijing of trying to hack their way into, you know, crucial information that the U.S. has about developing a vaccine, that is already being denied by China. So, what more do we know about that?
JIANG: That's right, this New York Times report is really something -- is reporting something we have already known for some time. You know, our own reporting indicates White House and FBI officials having sounding such alarms for weeks. But the New York Times obviously got a bit more details including the U.S. authorities are going to accuse China of using illicit means, not only cyber theft, but also so-called "nontraditional actors," meaning Chinese scholars and students working in U.S. labs. Now, I asked the Chinese government for a reaction on Monday. They flatly denied it, saying, China is actually at the forefront of corona -- research -- Coronavirus research. So, any allegation against the country without proof are just smearing and fabrication. John?
VAUSE: It doesn't mean they couldn't do a little help every now and then, I guess, but we'll see what happens with that. Steven, thank you. Steven Jiang in Beijing. Germany has been held up as a model for successfully managing this pandemic, conducting widespread testing early to help curb the spread. But since the country began allowing shops, cafes, restaurants to open last week, infections have started to rise. And there is concern now about a second wave of the virus or dealing with anti-lockdown protests, some of which have been violent. On Monday, Chancellor Angela Merkel urged everyone to continue social distancing, to wear masks to show some consideration.
France is in a state of emergency on Monday but with new safety measures in place. In Paris, all metro riders must wear a mask, or risk a fine of $145. On Monday, France recorded a deadly death toll, four times higher than the day before. Although all these figures could raise concerns about a second wave it is common to see a spike after the weekend.
[15:10:13]
Now, on the same day the U.S. death toll from the Coronavirus hit 80,000 people, the President Donald Trump essentially declared mission accomplished.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have met the moment and we have prevailed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Later, he said he actually meant the U.S. had prevailed on testing. Although, he failed to make that distinction in the initial part of his statement. The U.S. President also repeated a line that was not true the first time he said it in early March. Is still not true now. And that is anyone who wants to test can get one. A member of the Coronavirus Task Force corrected him saying, anyone who needs a test can get one. Donald Trump also said about 300,000 tests a day are being carried out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If people want to get tested, they get tested. But for the most part, they shouldn't want to get tested. There's no reason. They feel good. They don't have sniffles. They don't have sore throats. They don't have any problems.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: We should note at the end of April, he announced the U.S. would soon be able to test 5 million people every day. 300,000 is nowhere near 5 million. Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute says the U.S. should be at 900,000 tests a day by May 15th. That would be this Friday. Well, the White House takes some extra protective measures, there is no standard guidance for the rest of the country. Most states are reopening businesses, some take stricter views of what's needed for protections and others. CNN's Erica Hill takes a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Face coverings and social distancing, the new norm. At least 48 states will be partially opened by this weekend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's almost like we -- it's our first grand opening.
HILL: Restaurants, retail and manufacturing coming back online.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're really excited for customers to come back and enjoy, you know, the experience.
HILL: In Alabama, Jim's Hair & Nail Salons and large gatherings also have the green light. Restaurants in Colorado are limited to take out and delivery, yet this packed dining room with a scene on Mother's Day at one establishment, the governor's office telling CNN, the restaurant is endangering the lives of their staff, customers, and community. The owner said she never expected it to be so busy, but was happy people came out to support the Constitution. In South Dakota, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe using checkpoints to control the spread.
HAROLD FRAZIER, CHAIRMAN, CHEYENNE RIVER SIOUX: Have you traveled to or from an area reported with COVID-19 cases? HILL: Measures the governor says are illegal because they interfere with traffic, though, the state does not have jurisdiction over tribal lands.
FRAZIER: That's all we're trying to do, is to save our people and residents on this reservation.
HILL: South Dakota is one of two states showing cases are up more than 50 percent in the past seven days. A model often cited by the White House is now predicting 137,000 Americans could die by August because of increased mobility.
JON HUSTED, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF OHIO: The Coronavirus is going to be with us throughout the rest of the year. We need to learn to live with it. We got to learn to live safely with it.
HILL: The government sending Remdesivir which the FDA says it can be used to treat severe cases to some of the hardest-hit states. The first antigen test receiving emergency use authorization, as the WHO on Monday cautions against relying unheard immunity. Meantime, New York is investigating 85 cases of an inflammatory illness in young children that could be related to COVID-19. Three have died.
DR. DEEPIKA THACKER, NEMOURS CHILDREN'S HEALTH SYSTEM: If the child appears really sick with shortness of breath, with severe headaches, vomiting, then probably head over to the nearest Children's Hospital.
HILL: A packed cross-country plane prompting Dr. Ethan Weiss to post this photo. He was heading home to California after volunteering in New York City Hospitals for the past several weeks. Connecticut announcing summer camps can open June 29th with limited capacity. Massachusetts set to begin a phased plan next Monday. While in the epicenter, Governor Andrew Cuomo says, three regions in his state will reopen on Friday.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): This is the next big step in this historic journey.
HILL: Governor Andrew Cuomo is saying there are two more regions in New York that have met six of the seven metrics needed to begin that phase reopening, and he says there's a chance they could actually be ready by this Friday. In New York, I'm Erica Hill, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plans for restarting the economy have been met with widespread criticism for being unclear and confusing. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland will keep their Coronavirus restrictions in place until May 28th. CNN's Max Foster has more now on the plans and the controversy.
[01:15:01]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Boris Johnson has come under a huge amount of criticism for the messaging around the way he plans to lift lockdown here in the U.K. if the infection rates remains low. A big growl brewing amongst the nations in the United Kingdom as well because in Wales, in Northern Ireland, and in Scotland, they're still firmly in lockdown. Those devolved administrations have stuck to that. And the politicians in those nations pretty frustrated with Boris Johnson when he comes out and makes big announcements and doesn't make it clear that he's only talking about England, and people living in England having to live by those new rules.
Amongst those new rules he's outlined are Brits being allowed to go out and meet one other person, but there are conditions attached to that. They have to remain two meters apart. It has to happen outside and not in people's gardens. The sort of complicated set up that is really confusing a lot of people out there. Opposition Leader Keir Starmer also pointing out that he's concerned about the messaging here. Also talking about workers who are being encouraged to go back to work. How can they be sure that workplaces are safe yet? Or, that the transport system is safe yet? What responsibilities are on police to enforce the rules here? If they're not particularly clear on them? These are big questions that do have to be answered.
On the business front, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the finance minister will come out on Tuesday to offer some clarity there. One of the points he no doubt will be asked about is where the owner's responsibility is here. For example, if a worker can't go back to work, because they can't sort out childcare, is the owner on them to try to resolve it somehow? Or is the owners on the employers to bear the costs of that? Big Questions. Also, how will furloughing move forward? Should furloughing rules be relaxed slightly to allow those on furlough to return back to work a bit to try to get the economy going? Big questions and have to be answered. And they have to answered in a clear way for people to fully understand them, but also have faith in the government. Max Foster, CNN, Berkshire, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Spain has reported the lowest number of deaths in more than seven weeks, just 123. Numbers not seen since mid-March. Phase One of lockdown de-escalation began Monday. That'll impact about half the population with groups of up to 10 allowed to gather. In some restaurants allowed to open but only at half capacity.
Meanwhile, in Europe's original Coronavirus epicenter, Italy, for the first time in two months, there are fewer than 1,000 Coronavirus patients being treated in intensive care. The milestone came after the Prime Minister's Office announced regional governments will take the lead in how to reopen. Certain businesses like bars and hairdressers will reopen next Monday. That is a regional authorities approve it.
Still to come, schools in Canada are getting ready to reopen and welcome back their students, but the new learning environment will be a lot different than what they left behind. Also, Shanghai Disney reopens. Disney's Florida Resorts are pushing booking dates from June to July more on its plans to fight the virus, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [01:20:22]
VAUSE: School is back in for students in the Netherlands with new infections there declining for weeks. Each school district is allowed to decide on how and when classes will return. And thousands of children in Switzerland were reunited with classmates after nearly a two-month lockdown. Some rooms, though, are half full to maintain social distancing. Meantime, Quebec, Canada will soon become one of the first places in North America to reopen schools. But as CNN's Paula Newton reports, students will have to adjust to a very different learning environment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: After two months of homeschooling, the brown family is getting a whole new education, the different kind of distance learning. For some kids in Canada, these were clearly tentative steps into a new reality. Hundreds of thousands of kids and kindergarten to grade six were invited back to class in the province of Quebec this week. It was voluntary and some schools put out videos to let kids know what to expect.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, kids, don't be alarmed. This is what we're going to look like when you return back.
NEWTON: And it's not just the teachers who will look a little different. Six feet between desks and all classrooms, no sharing school supplies, play structures are off limits, and ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gym, library, MPR, cafeteria all our closed.
NEWTON: Posted on YouTube just last week, this school video has already been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, measure of the curiosity and apprehension some are feeling about a return to school.
MELANIE PRIMEAU, PRINCIPAL, HOWICK ELEMENTARY: It's like the first day of school with new rules and we need to show them those new rules and make it that they're as happy as possible so that they can learn.
NEWTON: This mother says it was a nerve wracking decision to come back, but...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: September is coming. And I said, you know what, let's try and get things going to get them back into reality, get them back into somewhat of a routine, and to realize what is going to be the new reality.
NEWTON: And this exhausted parents said she'd had enough of the homeschool.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're dairy farmers, as well. So, that hasn't stopped at all. The cows don't know that there's a pandemic going on.
NEWTON: And as the pandemic continues, for now, this is what a COVID classroom will look like. Fewer than half of the students showed up for school. Parents are
still quite reluctant. In fact, in Canada, most schools remain closed. Still, this offered a first glimpse into the future of education during this pandemic. Paula Newton, CNN Ottawa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: There's still no official announcement on when Disney World in Florida will reopen, but reservations can be made online starting July 1st. So far, just one Disney park is reopened, that's in Shanghai. CNN's David Culver takes a look at how Shanghai is now getting back to business.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Disney cast members lined the entrance to welcome guests back. The Shanghai Park reopening Monday after 3-1/2 months. It closed as the novel coronavirus ravaged parts of China. The latest government figures claim far fewer cases particularly in Shanghai.
Disney felt confident to reopen the gates limited mission to 30 percent capacity or 24,000 guests. But Disney CEO has said far fewer guests will be allowed initially. And on day one, CNN noticed a smaller crowd in the massive park coupled with several new safety measures.
ANDREW BOLSTEIN, SENIOR V.P. OF OPERATIONS, SHANGHAI DISNEY RESORT: And we have cast members here, monitoring the queues all throughout asking guests to maintain that respectful social distance at all times.
CULVER: Senior Vice President of Operations Andrew Bolstein says temperature screening starts before guests walk in. All visitors need to register online and booked for a specific arrival time to keep from congregating. To enter, you must have a green Shanghai Q.R. health code. That's the government's high-tech way to track potential exposures.
Inside the park, reminders to keep your distance. Yellow tape added two lines for attractions and restaurants.
Safe spacing even for the performances. This is one of the stages. Look here in the crowd. Pick a box. That's where you and your family unit will stand, keeping that distance.
Every other table blocked off to space out diners. After stepping off each ride, you'll find a row of hand sanitizer stations.
One thing that stands out to me is constant sanitation.
BOLSTEIN: So we have a very dedicated team of custodial cleaners that we've even increased the numbers of those throughout the park that are constantly wiping down all the surfaces.
CULVER: And for now, you can no longer hug Mickey or Minnie, not even a high five. A safe selfie distance will have to do along with facemasks.
[01:25:02]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so excited. It's --
CULVER: The new measures have not deterred Disney fans.
To me, it means the magic starts again, she tells me. But the joy here is not felt everywhere in China. As Disney reopens in Shanghai, a city in northeast China has gone into wartime mode, locking down to stop a recent spike in cases. And at the original epicenter of the outbreak, Wuhan, after weeks without any new cases, the city has reported six over the past two days dimming the festivities a bit at Shanghai Disneyland.
They've tried to balance celebration with remembrance, creating tributes to frontline health care workers. This is a projection of gratitude.
Disney says that they are sold out for the rest of the week as they have now imposed this new online ticketing system. So you reserve that block of time so that not everyone is rushing to the front gate at the same time to go into the park. It seems like there is demand. However, the question will be going forward, can they increase that capacity?
As of now, they're keeping well below that 30 percent government regulation. And it seems that people we talked to were comfortable with that. And not only made those who were visiting this park feel safer, but also those who are working here. David Culver, CNN, Shanghai Disneyland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The drug, Remdesivir, was in limited supply before showing promise in treating COVID-19. Now it's in really short supply. Doctors facing a tough choice who gets it? Who doesn't? And one doctor will share her experiences 30 grueling days on the medical frontlines in a New York hospital. She's back home now in Colorado.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour. South Korea reporting over 100 new Coronavirus infections linked to a nightclub cluster in Seoul. More than 70,000 people who were in the nightclub district have been tested. Earlier the pandemic, the country largely avoided a strict lockdown because the successful testing and contact tracing.
A lot of questions remain over the U.K.'s disconnected plan to reopen with Prime Minister Boris Johnson now under fire. The new steps to ease lockdown measures will be only applied to England, after Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland extended their restrictions until the end of the month.
And at a news conference in Washington, the U.S. President claimed astonishingly that we've met the moment and we have prevailed. He later said he meant the U.S. had prevailed on testing. U.S. President also claimed falsely, once again, that anyone who wants a test can get one.
[01:29:51]
Meantime, doctors in the United States are facing a tough decision. Who gets treated with Remdesivir? The only drug so far to show promise as a treatment for severe cases of COVID-19. The drug is in short supply and critics say the federal government is just making matters worse.
CNN's Elizabeth Cohen explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Remdesivir -- the only drug that has been shown in a large rigorous study to fight COVID-19.
Given limited supplies, the federal government has been doling it out. Some hospitals getting less than they need, other hospitals getting none.
GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: New York state is working with HHS, Health and Human services on the federal side administering to 2,900 people at 15 hospitals.
COHEN: The federal government is giving New York enough Remdesivir for 2,900 patients. But there are about 7,262 coronavirus patients in New York hospitals.
That same situation playing out around the country. This vial from the first shipment of Remdesivir received last week by Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where Dr. Rochelle Walensky is chief of infectious diseases.
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: We know that the doses of this drug that we are going to get are not going to be enough to treat every patient that we have in the hospital.
COHEN: So they've had to make decisions about who gets Remdesivir and who doesn't.
WALENSKY: This was hard.
COHEN: At Mass General they have about 200 patients with the virus, and they have enough Remdesivir for only 65 patients. And more patients are being admitted every day, and doctors don't know when they will get more of the drug.
Mass General's decision -- a hospital committee, not the patient's doctor -- decides who gets it.
WALENSKY: This is not how we like to practice medicine.
COHEN: But she says, it's the most equitable way to do it. WALENSKY: It is nearly an impossible situation to be in medicine when you think that there is something you could and should be doing for somebody, and you don't have it to give.
COHEN: The federal government has never explained how they decided which hospitals would receive Remdesivir and how much.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This drug is promising, and we want to get it to the American people and to the areas that need it most.
COHEN: Saturday, the federal government said, in addition to sending Remdesivir to hospitals, they'd also sent to some state health departments, and intend eventually to send it to all state health departments. But they haven't said how much they will send to each state, or their formula for determining those amounts.
REP. LLOYD DOGGETT (D), TEXAS: This administration, of course, doesn't believe in transparency, but health care providers need to know about this.
COHEN: Representative Lloyd Doggett runs the House Ways and Means Health subcommittee and has been following the Remdesivir rollout.
DOGGETT: It has been bungled from the very beginning.
COHEN: And now doctors trying to do their best to allocate this scarce resource.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN -= reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And across the United States, months of heroic work by so many health care workers to save lives during the first wave of the coronavirus may be undone as most states move to reopen and the number of confirmed cases is rising again in some places.
Dr. Comilla Sasson is an emergency medicine physician from Colorado. She's just returned from volunteering for 30 days at a New York City hospital. Thank you for being with us.
DR. COMILLA SASSON, EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: You know, on the one hand it must be great to be home. But then on the other, you know, there are a lot of images coming out of many parts of the country, including from Colorado over the weekend. This restaurant -- it was very busy. It was very cramped. It doesn't look like anyone is practicing social distancing. There are no masks.
We should say that, you know, stay at home orders have been lifted and masks are not required in public. But I wonder if the people in that restaurant had seen just some of what you saw and experienced New York, would they be there at that restaurant? Would they be following the guidance that we hear from the public health experts? DR. SASSON: You know I think this is probably what makes it so
challenging, being physicians and health care providers right now, that we see the ravages of what happens when people get COVID-19.
And I think, you know, spend a day with me in the emergency department seeing what happens and I think people would really think differently about their actions. At least I would hope they would. You know, I think we have this whole movement out here, the anti-maskers and the people who think that this is a hoax, this doesn't really exist.
I'm going to tell you right now it absolutely exists and it has torn up families all throughout New York City and all throughout the world, really.
VAUSE: And you arrived in New York City, you are assigned to a field hospital which, you know, in this day and age seems astonishing that there would be a field hospital. But, you know, for you and doctors and nurses, you know this is all about essentially learning on the job in a way because, you know, with the treatment involved from, you know, I guess -- and it continues to evolve right now. So would you compare when you first arrived to how you are treating COVID-19 patients to the day you left and how much it changed in just that one month period?
DR. SASSON: Oh my gosh. You know, it's so crazy, and we are sort of living in this really interesting time of (INAUDIBLE) rich and sort of data lacking for much of what we're trying to treat in terms of coronavirus and so we are learning something literally every day.
[013456]
DR. SASSON: And I think a lot of folks think, oh gosh, well, you know what, if it changes every day then that must mean that we don't know what we're doing. But it's that we're learning as we go. This is such a new disease for us to both treat and try to prevent that I think, you know, it's just kind of the nature of the beast right now.
So even in that one month our protocols changed tremendously from day 1 to day 30 and they continue to change and it's just what we have to do to be able to keep up with the pace of science and more importantly save more lives.
VAUSE: Yes. Because the more with deal with this virus, the more we learn, you build on the existing knowledge. And one area, that is ventilators because it seems there are now some questions over whether it is actually necessary to go down that road as often and as early as has been the case. So is that one of the things that you saw in New York?
DR. SASSON: You know, it's very controversial right now, the idea that it's a bit early which is to put somebody on a ventilator right away when they start to have problems breathing versus this idea of putting them on positive pressure ventilation, which can be something like a BIPAP machine or CPAP machine or even (INAUDIBLE) nasal stimulus (ph). And it's this really delicate balance between keeping the health care provider safe because it is potentially an aerosol-generating procedure that could bring up coronavirus into the air and potentially get us sick as well.
Versus the idea of you intubate them early, get them on a ventilator, get them on a closed circuit device that actually could help keep everybody else safe, and also keep that person's lungs and having breathe on their own. A really delicate balance.
The issue is really coming to the forefront in New York City because that's where they've seen the most number of cases. And I will be honest, I think the data is going to sway the other direction now. I think we're going to have to start figuring out how to do that positive pressure ventilation and try to mitigate sort of, you know, that time that it takes to get somebody on the ventilator.
So again, I think ultimately some folks are going to be sick enough they're going to need to be the ventilator, but I think we're trying to figure out what is that right balance of sort of keeping them on that positive pressure until they actually have to get on that ventilator as a very last resort.
VAUSE: It's because of -- that's the evolution of science. You learn as you go and you build on this existing body of knowledge. Doesn't mean you were wrong at the beginning, it just that it means you know more now.
You kept a video blog of your time in New York. I want to play part of the entry from your last night, your last shift in New York. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SASSON: I am leaving New York City. I'm very hopeful that if we all come together we can actually fight and beat coronavirus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You know, in theory you are right, but we should have touched on this before. How someone responds to this virus has almost become an act of politics. So just hit the facts here. In particular wearing a mask is mostly for the benefit of those around you. So what do you say to people who don't want to wear a mask in a grocery store, or at a pharmacy, or at a restaurant?
DR. SASSON: You know what, you have to do it for everybody else. Everyone's actions matter. I can't say that enough. I mean it's not about you necessarily, it's about everybody else around you.
So you don't know other people's stories. You don't know if they have multiple sclerosis or they are on chemotherapy. Or maybe they go home to their mother-in-law who's 65 years old and has diabetes and high blood pressure.
You know I think it's really just trying to take this out of the -- out of the politics, out of the idea that this is you know, what about my freedoms. It's really just about being a kind person and doing what is right. And you know, it's hard to sometimes get that across to people but knowing what we have seen, what we continue to see with a number of cases rising every day everybody's actions matter.
I don't know how to say that more strongly, other than to just have folks again spend a day, you know, talking to one of my patients, who had four family members die, literally that lives with him.
These are real stories, these are families that will never be the same. And so you don't want that to be your family, you don't' want to be your neighbor's family.
VAUSE: Before we go, I just wanted to mention you returned from New York on Friday, just in time for Mother's Day which was over the weekend. I just want to show you the homecoming because the welcome home is heartwarming. Here it is. Here are the kids and you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is at the door? Do you want to go look?
DR. SASSON: Hi.
Oh my god, hi guys. Hi baby. Hi. Oh my goodness me. What are you eating? I missed you so much. I missed you so much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys surprised.
DR. SASSON: Were you guys surprised? Did Mama surprise you?
Come here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my gosh.
DR. SASSON: Holy molly. Oh, my goodness, I just got tackled.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: I saw it over the weekend it made me feel really good. Those kids really missed you. And you must be so happy you're all back together.
DR. SASSON: Yes. It was the offensive lineman who tackled me.
(CROSSTALK)
DR. SASSON: I don't know who was happier, you know. If it was the kids or it was me or my husband. He has been by himself with two kids for four weeks.
[01:39:57]
VAUSE: Well, it's a great sacrifice. I hope that his sacrifice was worth it. I hope your sacrifice was worth it. You saved a lot of lives, and (INAUDIBLE) New York, and this isn't over yet but thank you for everything -- Dr. Sasson. DR. SASSON: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: You're welcome.
Still to come, dealing with past trauma amid the collective trauma of a global pandemic. Comedian and abuse survivor Darrell Hammond will tell us how he's dealing with emotional wounds of the past while living in lockdown isolation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Since this pandemic began, we've watched as hundreds of thousands of people have died, being locked inside as millions of jobs were lost and a staggering number of businesses closed their doors.
We've seen this health crisis expose failed institution which were charged with our protection. There is fear of the future, a mourning for the past, and exhaustion and fatigue from feeling so powerless.
Well, health folks (ph) are now warning of a wave of mental health problems in the months and years ahead, for many survivors of past emotional trauma, the current fear and uncertainty have already triggered dark memories, and painful emotions from long ago.
Comedian Darrell Hammond, best known for his many years on "Saturday Night Live" is a survivor of childhood abuse both emotional and physical. His life and ongoing struggle is the focus of a documentary currently on Netflix called "Cracked Up".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARRELL HAMMOND, COMEDIAN: A psychiatrist, I think he was number 11, said that I was a manic depressive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are schizophrenic.
HAMMOND: I might be multiple personality.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Non-psychiatric facilities including lockdown. I will just give him these pills.
HAMMOND: He goes, well, says let's face it you are a nut.
He made me laugh.
He's like I'm joking with you because you are not any of these things. You are this way because of something that happened to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And Darrell and Michelle Esrick who made the documentary, join us now from New York for more on how to deal with trauma especially during this incredibly difficult time. It is good to see you both again.
MICHELLE ESRICK, FILMMAKER: Nice to see you -- John. Thank you. HAMMOND: Good to see you too.
VAUSE: Ok Darrell -- I want to start with you because, you know, unlike 9/11 which was this awful day, it was one day with a long term consequences, it seems like we lived three months worth of 9/11s, and the level of stress and anxiety for everyone seems unrelenting. So what have you noticed in how you are coping with this collective trauma as it impacts your own experience?
HAMMOND: It does feel like 9/11. I really struggled with, you know, the isolation. I mean we are mammals; we congregate to make ourselves feel better and now we can't. So it is really hard in the beginning.
I make sure that I make at least one outing a day. I make sure that I'm in touch with the people that matter to me the most. And it's still hard.
VAUSE: I want to play a clip from the documentary because there's a scene from a news conference, when the moderator cut you off and says we have got to move on. I just want to play your reaction and what you say. Here it is.
[01:44:57]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMOND: To have something happen, where I think you've disrespected me devastates you.
But then I realized, you mean the world isn't ending? You mean I'm not dying? I'm not getting killed?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: I played this because it's an example of how anything can be a trigger. And right now because of the increased stress and the anxiety, are there increased triggers, if you like, for people who have been, you know, survivors of trauma?
HAMMOND: You know, the biggest trigger is not knowing when it's going to end -- not really. Wondering what's going to happen if we do all of these things where we take away the lockdowns and we go out and try to do human stuff. I mean it's a lot of fear.
When does this stop? You know. I mean listen, I am grateful for the things that I have, but when, you know, when you are not doing the jobs you used to do, you're not living where you used to live, you're not hanging out where people used to hang out, you're not doing all of those things that you're sort of congregating with people, you know, as I say, I'm still learning and some days are ok. Some days are not.
VAUSE: And Michelle -- you were actually among the first to be admitted for in the hospital for COVID-19 as a patient. This is back in March. I want to read what you posted on Facebook at the time, at least part of it. Here it is. "It's very scary and isolating. Doctors and nurses come in with protective gear, no visitors allowed, no flowers allowed, nothing can come in. I have no clue where I got it. I'm the first person I know who got it. The isolation is getting to me on top of being so ill. I hope I will get through it."
You make the point about the isolation and in other posts, you talk about how the doctors and nurses in those early days avoided eye contact. And that had a real emotional impact.
ESRICK: Yes, it did. I mean connection is the opposite of trauma. (INAUDIBLE) when I asked him what is the definition of trauma? He said when your reality is not seen or known, and we all need to be seen.
You know, I was the fifth person on the COVID unit at Mount Sinai in New York, and I think we were all terrified. The doctors, the nurses, the patients -- because I was asking them, are you scared? Everybody was scared.
But, yes, I think on the third or fourth day there, I said to my doctor, you know, if you could please just ask your staff to make eye contact with me and say how are you. I mean now, I think that the nurses and the doctors are so making an attempt to sort of be the family and be the friends for the patient because nobody is allowed in there. You know, your loved ones are not in there. So it definitely was challenging.
VAUSE: You know, one of the real a-ha moments in the documentary, memorable moment was when Darrell has this basically this moment when he remembers what his childhood was all about. Those repressed memories are coming back. And it was when his mother volunteered to look after the newborn child.
Here it is from the documentary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMOND: My wife got pregnant, the baby was born, and then I heard my wife say your mom called, and she said, hey, as a mom, you need a break. She said she would take the baby.
My soul knew all along what had happened and I didn't know until my child's life was now on the line.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So, Darrell -- when I heard that, I was wondering, you know, that raises lot of issues for people who have been ordered to stay indoors or shelter in place with an abuser, either their mom or their dad or both, they have no caregiver. It must be terrifying.
HAMMOND: I mean heard from a friend that works at a children's advocacy group in Montgomery, Alabama who said that cases are spiking like crazy. But no one is really reporting them because normally it's the teacher that reports. Teachers find the abuse and report it. And now, you know, they are not in school and they are not able to. I mean, you know, I remember the good old days when you can just -- when you're having a bad day, you could go to a 12-step meeting and have coffee after, you know. Just being with people, like-minded people trying to do the same thing you are doing, I mean it was healing. And to be trapped inside with an abuser is unspeakable. I don't even know how to give words to it.
VAUSE: You mentioned this earlier, Michelle but coping mechanisms and learning how to deal with this, very important. And again here's part of the documentary where that is addressed.
[01:49:57]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. BESSEL VAN DER KOLK, PSYCHIATRIST: It's not one answer. Everybody must discover what the answer is for them. And what the right method is for them.
HAMMOND: I started coming here so I can start to sleep.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What keeps you up?
HAMMOND: I don't know, hypervigilant. It can happen again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So Michelle -- just for you, at this point in time, how important is it for everyone to find that one thing which will help them get through this anxiety and the stress?
ESRICK: I think it's really important. That was Bessel Van Der Kolk, Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk, who you know, who is one of our great trauma experts, who wrote this amazing book on trauma and healing called "The Body Keeps the Score".
And you know, he says, like if you're looking for a trauma therapist, don't find -- you know, don't go to somebody who's going to try to fix you. Go to somebody who is willing to connect with you, to see you, who is really interested in you.
And there is not one answer. There are many modalities. There is yoga, mindful meditation, EMDR, tapping, neural feedback, somatic therapy. But you really want to find somebody who is interested in you. And maybe it's not even going to be a doctor, maybe it's going to be friend. Maybe it's going to be, you know, something that helps you calm yourself down.
VAUSE: And it's important that people actually take care of themselves and be aware of just how stressful and how difficult this moment is with all of us isolated and stuck at home.
So thanks to you both. It's good to see you. Thanks for coming in.
ESRICK: Thank you -- John. Thanks for having us.
HAMMOND: Thank you.
VAUSE: And we should note, "Cracked Up" is trending right now on Netflix. It's a moving documentary which is filled with a lot of Darrell's signature humor as well. It's an easy watch. You can also visit the Website, crackupmovie.com for news on the film as well as resources which are posted there from Darrell, Michelle, and everybody who worked on that documentary. It's a good watch.
Well, the pandemic has left many of the big carmakers devastated. Now financial results from two Japanese carmakers are expected to show the extent of the pandemic on their bottom line. That's ahead.
Also, when will America see the return of its national pastime? Details on the plan to resume Major League Baseball -- also ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Tesla openly defied California's health and safety guidelines and has reopened its only electric car plant in the U.S. CEO Elon Musk has been a fierce critic of stay-at-home orders and says he will soon join workers who return to the production lines on Monday. Local officials are urging Musk to scale back operations while working on a plan on when and how to reopen safely.
In Japan, two of the world's biggest carmakers are releasing their financial results from the past fiscal year. It should give us an idea of just how much this pandemic has impacted the auto industry. Honda's numbers are expected to soon. Toyota just released theirs.
For more on that, journalist Kaori Enjoji is live this hour in Tokyo.
Those numbers from Toyota are -- they're still in the black, they're still making money but they are not looking good.
KAORI ENJOJI, JOURNALIST: That's right. The forecast for this fiscal year are pretty grim though. They are expecting profits -- operating profits to be down 80 percent year on year. But I think you have to put it into a little bit of perspective. I mean they're going to be selling on a consolidated basis, 20 percent fewer cars this year, yet they're going to manage to eke a profit.
[015451]
ENJOJI: And as the president, Akio Toyoda said, that is the better performance company wide overall post Lehman crisis, when the sales drop was a little bit less pronounced but still they fell into the red. And I think that goes to show some of the lessons the company may have learned after the Lehman crisis.
But still, this new figure for this business year is the weakest in nine years and they're saying that productivity and sales have probably not reached the levels that we saw at the same time a year ago until at least the end of the year, when they expect sales to be around 90 percent year on year.
So this is one of the healthiest companies and the most cash rich companies in Japan, so you can imagine the pain being felt across industry here in Japan as the continued -- as the lockdown continues globally.
Some of the production facilities are coming back online, particularly in North America this week but that one point mid-March, they were all close around the world, so they do say the forecast is going to be very uneven in how we see the sales recovery. And they are saying that by giving these forecasts, they're being a little bit ambitious they say as well because they cannot really accurately predict what kind of a V-shaped or U-shaped this recovery is going to be.
But because they are such a big employer, and because so many of the small or medium sized companies rely on them for business throughout Japan, throughout the world, they have to give some kind of guidance for this business year.
So I think for the year that just ended, the profits were off slightly from their expectations in February. But as we can expect, the business is going to be very slow recovering this business year but they do say on the bright side that sales are likely have bottomed, excuse me, in the month of April.
But this does not bode well for the rest of the industry here. Because Toyota is the backbone of Japanese manufacturing and that's one of the reasons why many economists are forecasting a big drop, maybe 20-25 percent in overall Japan GDP in the current quarter, which would be John -- the lowest level in the post war period.
VAUSE: Wow. And wow -- that's a big drop. Thank you -- Kaori. Kaori Enjoji there. Some analysis and the latest on the currency report profits -- thank you.
Now, America's past time may soon return. Owners from Major League Baseball have reportedly created their own proposal to begin a reduced season in early July, but no fans will be allowed at least for now. The League did not provide further details to CNN, but it is expected this plan will be presented to the players association in just the next few hours. We will see what happens.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
My colleague and friend Anna Coren takes over for me after a very short break.
[01:59:57]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
