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Americans Flock To Public Places As Death Toll Nears 100,000; Dr. Birx Warns Social Distancing And Masks Are "Critical"; FDA Issues Warning: Coronavirus Is Not Yet Contained; Hong Kong Police Fire Tear Gas At Demonstrators; Mexico Records Its Largest Daily Increase In Coronavirus Deaths; Some Houses Of Worship Reopening, Others Remain Closed; Gov. Andrew Cuomo: New York Pro Sports Teams Can Begin Training Camps. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired May 24, 2020 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:59:15]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone. Thank you so much for joining me.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin with new warnings about the coronavirus as Americans celebrate this holiday weekend. From the looks of the beaches coast to coast, it is hard to tell that there is a pandemic still under way.

Ocean park communities are swarmed by people looking to spend their time outdoors after months of being cooped during stay-at-home orders. Social distancing seemingly on the backburner for many.

In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina officials declared this weekend an extraordinary event which is a type of executive order that authorizes law enforcement to take extra steps it needed to protect public health and safety.

All of this comes as the head of the FDA warned today that the coronavirus is not yet contained urging Americans to protect themselves and their communities. The number of deaths in the U.S. is closing in on a grim milestone, approaching 100,000.

And now two states in the south are seeing cases spike. North Carolina reporting its single highest one-day total on Saturday while Arkansas' governor says his state is seeing its second spike.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR ASA HUTCHINSON (R), ARKANSAS: It's clear and evident to me that we have one peak and then we've had a deep dip and then we're having a second peak right now. And they're really about 30 days apart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN has reporters from beaches -- from coast to coast. Let's begin with CNN's Natasha Chen Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

So Natasha -- what led to the city council to issue what's being called an extraordinary event order? And what does it mean exactly.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Fred -- the city resolution says that people were really problematic last weekend in not abiding by social distancing and they observed some behavior problems especially when it came to some modes of transportation.

And that is what they referred to when they made this executive order banning golf carts and in addition as you said giving police special authority to do things such as shutting down businesses between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. Perhaps asking for local state and federal assistance to enforce some of the rules here.

And remember, this is a city that is still under a civil emergency, and South Carolina is still under a general state of emergency. But If you look behind me on the beach here, I don't think you can tell that there is any emergency, so to speak.

We can see that people are keeping their parties separate from each other for the most part. But other than that, there's not that much difference than what another Memorial Day weekend would have looked like.

We talked to local residents about what they saw today, their first day bringing the kids back out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You wouldn't know a pandemic was going on by looking at the beach today. You just wouldn't. Because even during other summers, people are about to spread out about the way they are today. It's about the same. People don't usually sit that close to each other. They give each other a little bit of space.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: And if you look behind me here, this is one of the hotels on the beach. And I'm not seeing a ton of social distancing there. There are a bunch of people by the pool and gathered along that area where they might be ordering food.

And beyond that Fred -- you know, yesterday we were at Tybee Beach in Georgia, a similar thing we're observing today -- nobody here on the beach is wearing masks. We are wearing them when I'm off the air. I put it back on, but so far have not seen anyone wear them here -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And Natasha -- you had reported late in the day yesterday while in Tybee island in Georgia that there were people on the beach who were jeering you and your crew for wearing masks in between your live shots?

CHEN: That's right. And I also wear the mask obviously when I'm interviewing people in closer range. And I was actually live on the air yesterday with the mayor of Tybee Island when somebody saw us and the mayor and I were both wearing masks and they yelled at us to take them off.

Somebody claims that the sunlight is the best disinfectant. I mean -- the positive thing here is that we are outdoors and there is breeze. So that has, that going in their favor. But again, no one is wearing masks so far here in the street. I haven't seen that either.

WHITFIELD: All right. Natasha Chen -- thank you so much. This time in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

All right. CNN's Rosa Flores is in Pensacola Beach, Florida. Rosa -- are people following any type of social distancing guidelines where you are?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me show you around -- Fred because that is the one rule here and it's posted here very clearly. Groups of ten or less in one area, must remain six feet apart.

Now I want you to take a look with me because you'll see that this beach is set up so that the umbrellas are set apart, which is a great thing to see. And of course here in Escambia County there is a lot of space to spread out and to social distance. There are 27 miles of white sandy beaches here, and people are utilizing it.

Now, I just got off the phone with Robert Bender. He is the county commissioner from this area, and he tells me that last weekend was a top 12 weekend is what he called it, because there was about 20,000 people in Pensacola.

[14:04:49]

FLORES: Now the two weekends prior to that were at about 70 percent to 80 percent capacity, he tells me. And beaches here opened on May 1st. But he says that this is by no means what you would expect in Pensacola during Memorial Day Weekend.

Right now he's actually trying to calculate the numbers for us and I'm hoping that we can have those for you later -- Fred. But he says that two hotels are closed. Hotels are not at capacity. Vacation rentals just reopened Tuesday with restrictions and some of those restrictions include that residents from Louisiana cannot stay in those vacation rentals.

And when you look at these beaches, the market here -- these are drivable beaches. People from Texas and also from Louisiana and Tennessee drive to these beaches.

Now, Fred -- you know I'm based in Miami. I just flew in from Miami. That is the -- the epicenter of the pandemic here in Florida. I looked at the numbers in Escambia County. There's only 1 percent of the state's cases that are accounted for here in this county.

So I asked this commissioner is he concerned, the facts that he's seeing more and more people coming from other areas. He says, look, of course they're concerned but they're following all of the rules that Governor Ron DeSantis laid out for the reopening of the state and he hopes that everybody who comes and visits is comfortable -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Rosa Flores -- like your name, so pretty in pink. Thank you so much from Pensacola, Florida.

All right. On to California now. Warm weather is expected to test the state's recent easing of stay-at-home restrictions. CNN Paul Vercammen is in Playa Del Rey. So what are you seeing there?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am seeing people cooperating. We see some people without a mask off in the distance. We see someone with their bike has their mask on.

The rules here in Playa Del Rey for these L.A. County beaches, you're supposed to keep moving. And this bikeway is an interesting part of that story because they just opened it up for Memorial weekend -- 22 miles by the way. This goes from Torrance through Santa Monica where I was standing yesterday on the Pacific Palisades. And the idea is if you're moving, if you're on your bike or your racer scooter or whatever, you are helping to social distance.

And why did L.A. basically ease these restrictions? Well, you saw statistics that there was more than a thousand new cases and some 41 deaths but the good news is, there's so much testing that county officials are saying that the rate of infection is now down to 8.5 percent.

That's giving them confidence, and as you can see, a lot of people wearing their masks here on Dockweiler Beach. You're not but yes, thank you for the salute. They are participating in what they want to get done here which is be socially distant, keep your mask on and you can surf and swim all you want.

So far it's still early, 11:00 West Coast time but looking pretty good and pretty calm here -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. So early but we know people get out pretty early there for their nice walks and runs and bikes along the beach there.

All right. Paul Vercammen -0 thank you so much.

All right. White House coronavirus, rather, task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx weighed in on the pictures of packed beaches and a lack of masks or even social distancing, warning Americans must still be vigilant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DEBORAH BIRKS, WHITE HOUSE TASK FORCE COORDINATOR: We've made it clear that there's asymptomatic spread. And that means that people are spreading the virus unknowingly. And this is unusual in the case of respiratory diseases in many cases.

So you don't know who's infected. And so we really want to be clear all the time that social distancing is absolutely critical. And if you can't social distance and you're outside, you must wear a mask. These are items that are really critical to protect individuals. We've

learned a lot about this virus, but we now need to translate that learning into real changed behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Kristen Holmes joins me now from the White House. So Kristen -- does the White House have any kind of contingency plan in place just in case people do really start ignoring restrictions as the country reopens?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it doesn't seem so. At least not that President Trump himself is aware of. Remember, President Trump has been saying now for weeks that things are back to normal. He said that he's not going to be closing the country down again. He just said that on Thursday.

And this is a pattern for him. Two weeks ago he said they were opening up the country without a vaccine. That that wasn't necessary. And he doubled down on that on Friday when he said that religious institutions should be considered essential, despite the fact that CDC had just put out data showing a high infection rate at church events.

And President Trump himself is living according to his own mantra. He is out there this weekend for the first time in months golfing, but there is some concern within the White House.

As you said, Dr. Deborah Birx, a key task force member, she worried today that perhaps the U.S. isn't doing enough. Take a listen.

[14:10:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. BIRX: We have to do much better with proactive testing. Not just count the number of tests we've done. That's great but really ensure those tests are being applied in a way that we find the asymptomatic cases. It is much easier to find symptomatic cases because people are sick. And when people are sick they're often not out and about, particularly if they have a severe case of COVID with high fever. What I'm worried about is what are we putting in place to find asymptomatic cases?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So there is a larger question here. There may not be a contingency plan if everybody is not social distancing but we need to be sure that we're all aware of and our viewers too, is that if there is no social distancing and if people get sick and if we see a surge, it is not up to the White House or President Trump to decide if states will open or not.

We saw this already a month ago and we went through this whole song and dance over whose responsibility it was. Was it the federal government's? Was it the state's? It will be up to those governors to decide if they're going to have to shut down their states if, in fact, there is too much non-social distancing and people get infected.

WHITFIELD: An interest in -- Dr. Birx was also asked about the President. He wore a mask when he visited a Ford plant -- Ford facility earlier in the week but then he says he didn't want the public to see him wearing a mask.

What was her response when asked about whether the President is maintaining proper social distancing, taking the same kind of precautions that the nation is being advised?

HOLMES: Well, essentially Dr. Birx said that she didn't know if he was doing it all the time but that she assumed that he was social distancing himself. But of course, we know that that isn't true.

Now, I do want to note that anyone who comes into contact with the President is tested. They take one of those Abbott tests and they get the results pretty much immediately. So there is some reasoning here for him to not need to wear a mask.

But we've seen in meeting after meeting that he doesn't wear a mask and neither do multiple people around him. Perhaps Secret Service agents as of late have been wearing masks. But the people who are actually sitting around the table usually not six feet apart do not have those masks on.

And we saw that again this weekend. He did not wear a mask when he loaded up to play golf. We saw pictures of him from the golf course not wearing a mask. And while he appeared to be social distancing in some cases, he was driving around yesterday on a golf cart by himself, there were other cases when he was out on the green directly next to people who were also not wearing a mask.

So it was interesting to hear her take on this and she really doubled down on this idea that masks are incredibly important. And as we've noted, especially over the last couple days, masks have become kind of a cultural and political breaking point between these two sides. And she was really making it clear today that that shouldn't be so, that the science was behind wearing a mask -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And making it hard to enforce, you know. Do as I say, but not as I do.

All right. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much.

All right. Coming up on the CNN NEWSROOM, a weekend warning. It's not over. States may be reopened, but the FDA says coronavirus is not contained. And in Mexico, a concerning spike after a record high number of new cases confirmed.

[14:13:17]

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WHITFIELD: As the U.S. nears the grim milestone of 100,000 coronavirus deaths, the FDA is issuing a new warning to Americans this holiday weekend stressing that coronavirus is not yet contained. This as thousands of people across the country flock to reopened beaches and parks.

Joining me now to discuss is Dr. Megan Ranney who is an emergency room physician with Lifespan Health System in Providence, Rhode Island. Doctor -- good to see you.

DR. MEGAN RANNEY, EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: Thank you -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So what are you seeing on the front lines in Rhode Island as more people are getting out, you know, cities and states are giving the green light to get out, enjoy parks, beaches, et cetera?

RANNEY: So COVID-19 is still amongst us here in Rhode Island just like everywhere across the United States. We still have a number of really sick patients in the hospital and we're still diagnosing new cases every day across the state.

But we're also seeing all the normal summer injuries and illnesses start to spike up as people are out and about. So we're seeing kind of trauma, people getting in car crashes and motorcycle crashes, the things that normally happen this time of year are coming back up again.

WHITFIELD: What do you worry about in terms of what's around the corner as it relates to coronavirus?

RANNEY: So I'm worried as is every other physician and public health professional across the country about what's going to happen in two or three weeks?

Listen, here in Rhode Island we're reopening based on data, based on science. We know that the number of new cases per day is about stable and it's starting to drop. But if people go out and about and get too close together too quickly, if they don't follow those precautions of wearing a mask, social distancing, isolating if they're sick and, of course, washing their hands, we're at risk of seeing a new spike of infections in two or three weeks and seeing our hospitals fill back up again in three or four weeks when the worst of the disease is amongst us.

So we're kind of waiting with bated breath and tracking the numbers and hoping that people keep following those basic precautions.

WHITFIELD: Last night the President retweeted a post saying that many physicians agree on the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine. This comes after a large study found that that drug can actually do more harm than good when used to treat coronavirus patients. The President has said that he has been using it, you know, as a preventative.

You're a physician. Do you see the benefit of taking this drug?

[14:19:57]

RANNEY: Let me be clear. Outside of a clinical trial, and outside of certain diseases for which there is good evidence for taking hydroxychloroquine, things like lupus, there is no evidence that someone should be taking hydroxychloroquine without being in a trial. There have been a number of studies showing that the drug is actually harmful for people who are already sick.

There are some ongoing trials looking at whether or not it works for prevention. But there is no data to support that right now and people should not be taking it outside of a trial because the drug can have really severe side effects including fatal heart arrythmias as well as a number of more mild side effects which people shouldn't be exposed to if it does no good.

WHITFIELD: And I also want to turn to a new study which found that hospitalized coronavirus patients appeared to fare better when they received infusions of antibody-filled convalescent plasma. How significant is this?

RANNEY: So it's one of a number of exciting, new studies that is coming out. That study was observational. So basically, they looked at people that got that convalescent plasma and compared it to people that didn't. They didn't control who got what. So there may have been something different about the people that got that serum.

They did see better results in people who got the serum, which is really promising and which goes along with the science that we already knew. But it is too soon to say whether it definitely works.

That said, for folks that are really sick and hospitalized, they're in the intensive care unit, it is something that we would be giving because we don't have a lot of treatments that work yet. The science is still ongoing and we're still waiting for more publications to come out.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dr. Megan Ranney, thank you so much.

RANNEY: Thank you.

All right. China is being criticized for a controversial security law. When we come back, protests and tear gas in the streets of Hong Kong.

[14:21:52]

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WHITFIELD: Anger spilling on to the streets of Hong Kong as pro- democracy demonstrators protest strict new national security measures imposed by Beijing. Police say they made about 180 arrests and four police officers were sent to the hospital.

CNN's Anna Coren was in the middle of the protests.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are less than half an hour into this mad, unauthorized march and police are firing tear gas. Dozens have turned out for this unauthorized march (INAUDIBLE) and within minutes police had acted to disperse the crowd.

This is in light of the national security legislation that Beijing wants enacted. It should be law within the week. Beijing completely overriding Hong Kong's legislator saying they've had 23 years to enact this. You haven't done it. We are going to force it upon you.

It would ban sedition, subversion, treason, secession. It would also ban international interference. These protests could very soon be illegal, be considered against the national security legislation.

There are police are arresting people up ahead. This is the first major protest that has happened in 2020. Obviously, COVID-19 has kept people at home. Now these Hong Kongers have turned out to the streets furious with Beijing's efforts to push through this national security legislation obviously designed to stamp out protests like these.

It is only 1:30 in the afternoon and already they're making arrests, already the police are firing tear gas. They are not tolerating demonstrations anymore here in Hong Kong as pro-democracy activists say on country-two systems is now dead. It's one country-one system. Hong Kong as we know it no longer exists.

Anna Coren, CNN -- Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you, Anna -- in a very tenuous Hong Kong.

All right. Meantime, there are growing fears that Latin America could be the next epicenter for the coronavirus outbreak. Brazil now has the second most confirmed cases in the world.

And as CNN's Matt Rivers reports the situation isn't much better in Mexico.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yet another new daily record recorded here in Mexico after Friday evening. Mexican health officials reported an additional 479 deaths as a result of this outbreak. That is the largest single-day increase in the death toll since this outbreak began.

And remember it was just two days ago that the previous daily death toll increased record had been set. That number was 424. Clearly eclipsed just 48 hours later by today's figure of 479.

As for the confirmed number of cases, Mexican health officials reporting nearly 3,000 additional confirmed cases of this virus. That brings the overall case number to more than 62,500.

[14:29:53]

RIVERS: But that is just a lot of numbers and I want to put into context just how bad the last week has been here in Mexico.

Consider the overall death toll right now, 6,989. Of all those deaths, nearly one-third of those deaths have been reported in just the last seven days.

When it comes to the case total, the case total has increased by nearly 40 percent in just the last week. It is, without question, that we are seeing the worst days of this outbreak in Mexico so far.

And no one really knows exactly where it goes from here. What we do know for sure is that, at least at this moment, the government says it is continuing with its plan to begin to slowly reopen certain sectors of its economy June 1st.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And a quick programming note, Join CNN's Fareed Zakaria as he investigates the moment a pandemic was born. CNN's special report, China's Deadly Secret, begins tonight at 9:00.

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[14:35:00]

WHITFIELD: Muslims today are celebrating the end of fasting for Ramadan and some Christian churches are reopening. This comes after President Trump's demand earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important essential places of faith to open right now for this weekend. If they don't do it, I will override the governors.

In America, we need more prayer, not less.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: But not all churches are reopening. Some are continuing to hold services online, and others are planning to reopen in stages.

CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro is live outside St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. What's happening there?

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDNET: So the emphasis in New York remains slow and steady when it comes to reopening. And that's true of the catholic archdiocese here in New York as well, which says it represents around 3 million Catholics in the state.

So before we talk about them, let's listen to the governor explaining some of the plan about this slow reopening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): The country has been through this before, and you learn from the past so you don't make the same mistakes. When we went through this in the 1918 pandemic, you go back and look at the places that opened in an uncontrolled way, and you see that the virus came back and came back with a fury.

So this is not, again -- again, it's not about what you think, ideology. This is what we know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: So we know that this idea has been controversial to some but not to these catholic archdiocese officials here in New York who last week released a detailed proposal to slowly reopen churches here in the city that started, that will be similar to what we've seen across the entire state. Start with smaller events, like funerals, weddings, maybe baptisms, things with ten people or less. People asked to wear masks, people wearing -- services being wiped down and then actual mass with parishioners coming much after that.

Now, this is the kind of thing that we have been talking about in New York for a long time. But while we're talking about churches, we should be noting that it's not that the houses of worship have been closed to the good works while they've been closed to parishioners. In several hardest hit areas of the city, Governor Cuomo has turned to houses of worship to become places where PPE are distributed and where testing is done.

And even here at the St. Patrick's Cathedral behind, mass is being conducted, just without parishioners. It's being done online. There was one earlier today.

So, churches trying to reopen but doing it in the slow and steady way that the governor has outlined here in New York, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Evan McMorris-Santoro, thank you so much.

All right, one house of worship has been conducting online services with an heirloom that was used in hard times more than 70 years ago. This is a torah that military chaplain Nathan Zelizer took to the Pacific during World War II. He used it to comfort soldiers then. And now, it's being used to comfort members of his grandson's synagogue as they conduct live streaming services.

Meanwhile, some of varying denominations are pushing back against the White House's demand that all houses of worship open immediately. Father Edward Beck wrote this on cnn.com, who says that religious organizations have already been providing essential services without this presidential blessing. During this pandemic, I have buried the dead at cemeteries with limited family members present. I have prayed with people via FaceTime and Zoom. I even heard a confession in a supermarket parking lot.

We all want to be able to open churches and places of worship fully so that those who wish to gather in physical communion again can do so. However, this must be done incrementally and with utmost care.

Father Beck, a CNN Religion Commentator, joining us now from New Rochelle, New York, and Professor Julian Zelizer, the grandson of that military chaplain we referred to and CNN political analyst joining us from Sag Harbor, New York. Good to see you both.

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thanks, Fredricka.

EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGION COMMENTATOR: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: So, Father Beck, you first. Has it been instinct driving you and parishioners to practice your faith throughout but being led by safety?

BECK: Well, Fred, if instinct is to avoid harm and possible death, then, yes, I think it has been instinct. I mean, we know that this virus is a killer. For a religious example, a rabbi in Brooklyn who contracted COVID-19 died and thousands of his congregants showed up for the funeral.

[14:40:01]

Well, that's not common sense. It's not looking out for the common good, and certainly, I think, it's going against any instinct. So, yes, I think the instinct has to lead us, but then our common sense also has to take over.

WHITFIELD: And, Julian, you wrote that in 1944, when you wrote this in Tablet Magazine, it's a beautiful read, that your grandfather, Nathan Zelizer, who had enlisted in the U.S. Military, was one of more than 300 rabbis commissioned as chaplains in World War II and was given a torah by the Jewish Welfare Board, an organization created in World War I, to help Jewish soldiers and train military chaplains.

And you write this. As Nathan, your grandfather, traveled to places as far away as Tinian and Saipan, the torah always remained by his side. It allowed him to physically transport the core of the Jewish tradition without having the formal architecture of the synagogue. The soldiers depended on the spiritual comfort that the prayers provided.

So you're making a correlation that, like in this pandemic during World War II, you couldn't always be in a place of worship but that you could still worship?

ZELIZER: That's exactly right. And in times of crisis, whether it's a war, a pandemic, sometimes our institutions, the places we go to have to be shut down for different reasons. And during the war, what was amazing was my grandfather took this torah, which allows you to conduct services, it allows him to fulfill the functions of a rabbi and to have congregational events. He took it in to war and he was able to use it so that soldiers could still have that element in their life, that spiritual element in their live even as they were overseas risking life and death.

And so that's why it's an important comparison to be made to all the great preachers who are conducting this virtually as we try to get through this phase.

WHITFIELD: And, Julian, as the presidential historian in you, when the president says he'll override any governor who doesn't open all churches, does he really have that power?

ZELIZER: No, he doesn't. That's voodoo presidential power we're talking about. And then this is another example where he is using this for political reasons, and claiming power he doesn't really have, and, again, not focused on the worship as opposed to the politics of the places of worship.

WHITFIELD: It really is a beautiful write in the Tablet. I have a certain affinity to those World War II guys. My dad was World War II and Korean War veteran, and it just is a such personal story you write. Thanks for that.

So, Father Beck, for anyone reluctant to go to their house of worship right now, what do you recommend anyone who says perhaps they feel guilty about not going if their church or synagogue or mosque is now open and they choose not to go?

BECK: I would say, throw that guilt in the river, and rather feel guilty about possibly putting your common man and woman in harm's way. Love of god and love of neighbor, right now, means looking out for the common good. That's how love of the other is to be transferred.

So what you should feel guilty about is if you go against that. Not if you can't right now happen to participate in person. There are many other ways you can access faith and spiritually. We are opening. Let us do it slowly, incrementally and safely.

WHITFIELD: Father Edward Beck, Julian Zelizer, thanks to both of you. I appreciate it.

BECK: Thank you.

ZELIZER: Thank you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion recommends that adults gets 2.5 hours of moderate exercise per week.

Whether you're standing up or sitting down, you can do some abdominal pulses. So pulling the navel in towards the spine, holding and releases for about 30 seconds, and then take a rest. This helps to support your lower back and helps improve posture.

Next time you're cooking at the stove or warming up something in the microwave do calf rises. Come up on to your tippy toes and then lower back down. This helps to strengthen and stabilize your ankle and knee joints, as well as give definition in your lower leg.

Next time you're about to sit on the couch and watch your favorite T.V. show, turn it into a squat. Sit down, put your feet as wide as your hips and then slowly stand back up. Repeat this about ten times. This is going to engage all of the muscles in your legs and it's going to make you feel accomplished and committed to your health and fitness. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: This was supposed to be the weekend of the 104th running of the Indy 500. Well, it's bumped, making way for another great need marking the sign of the times. Instead, the track is hosting a giant food drive for families in need. Vehicles rolled through picking up boxes of fresh milk, veggies, fruit and meat as the pandemic disrupt parts of the U.S. food supply chain.

[14:50:00]

CNN's Brynn Gingras reports on how some farmers are teaming up with food banks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The coronavirus continues to test the food supply chain in America. Farmers are facing agonizing decisions from euthanizing livestock to tossing crops.

No different at Marshman Farms in Upstate New York.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I remember my husband was in the house, and his brother actually had called and said, hey, there's no place for this milk to go. It has to get dumped. And it created a bit of a silence, because never had that happened.

GINGRAS: Never in seven generations on this dairy farm. About 7,000 gallons of milk down the drain with restaurants, schools and businesses closed, the supply chain severed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a responsibility to feed the world. And you know that things are bad when you can't do that.

GINGRAS: This at time when the need for food assistance is exploding across the country.

RANDI SHUBIN DRESNER, PRESIDENT AND CEO, INLAND HARVEST FOOD BANK: We know that the farmers didn't want to dump all that milk. So it was really upsetting for everybody and to get the phone calls from individuals who could use that milk.

GINGRAS: This Long Island food bank served 3,600 families in one day. Shubin Dresner says it was the largest single food drive in the state. Many waited hours to get a week's worth of groceries. Some families were even turned away.

A humbling moment for Sandra Marcial, it's her first time here.

SANDRA MARCIAL, AMITYVILLE, NEW YORK RESIDENT: I drive a school bus, so I've been affected since March 13th, I have not been working.

GINGRAS: It's been a struggle.

MARCIAL: Oh, yes. I have kids at home, myself and I'm taking care of my aunt too, so it's a struggle. GINGRAS: In her 25-pound bag of groceries, cheese and yogurt made with milk from Marshman Farms.

MARCIAL: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

GINGRAS: The link between farmer to food bank to families is slowly reconnecting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have a great day.

GINGRAS: A federal bill introduced in the House this month would give states more money to pay farmers for their surpluses, and streamline those goods to food assistance programs. That's already happening in New York, a state diverted $25 million of its emergency health money to connect the dots.

PETER MCGUINNESS, PRESIDENT, CHOBANI: We're going to buy additional milk, which will help the dairy farmers. I think if we all did our part, I think, collectively, we could really help humanity.

GINGRAS: It's a short-term solution as the country's unemployment numbers skyrocket. This food bank alone estimates it will feed 2 million more families this year than last year.

DRESNER: This is the new face of how we will be distributing for quite some time.

GINGRAS: We met a woman who lost her job, said she was a school bus driver. She took home food that day. Some of that food came from milk from this farm. How does that make you feel?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Accomplished, like accomplished --

GINGRAS: Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And sports could make its comeback. The NBA is in talks with Disney, which could see its return as early as July. More on that, next.

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WHITFIELD: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said professional sports leagues are now permitted to begin training camps in his state, this as the NBA confirms talks to play out the rest of its 2020 season at Disney World in Florida.

The league suspended play in mid-March after a player tested positive for coronavirus. Disney's sports complex would serve as a single site for games, practices and housing.

CNN's Carolyn Manno has the latest. CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Fred, so far, we've seen the NBA be very cautious in considering a return to play, but now we're starting to see things take shape a little bit. There's a timeline that's being established with the end of July as the target date for games to be played once again.

The other piece of news here that's interesting is that we have a location. It's Orlando, Florida. According to the league, exploratory talks are being held to have all games at ESPN's wide world of sports complex down at Walt Disney World with the players and coaches and staff all staying at the resort.

The other thing here, Fred, is that players are going to need some time to get back into shape. Only half of the teams have reopened their practice facilities for individual workouts. So we're likely going to learn a lot more about the season and postseason format, what this is actually going to look like if the NBA moves forward, the number of teams that could be involved, are they playoff teams, are they everybody, and also the safety protocols that are going to be taking place. That information will probably be coming to us in the next couple of weeks. There's a lot to consider, not only players but teams in their entirety in terms of keeping everybody safe.

But the big takeaway here, Fred, is that we've got one centralized location now that's being identified by the NBA as a place where the season and potentially the postseason could move forward.

WHITFIELD: All right. Carolyn, thank you so much.

All right, Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, auctioned off his championship ring from Super Bowl LI for charity. It sold for just over $1 million. The proceeds will go to four organizations, Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, World Central Kitchen and No Kid Hungry.

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