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Don Lemon Tonight

Senate Fails to Reach Bipartisan Deal for a Coronavirus Stimulus Package; President Trump Activating National Guard in New York, California and Washington. Italy Reports 651 Coronavirus Deaths in 24 Hours. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired March 22, 2020 - 21:00   ET

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

[21:00:00]

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: The Senate failing tonight to reach a bipartisan deal for a massive stimulus package as the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on the economy. There are now more than 32,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the United States and at least 410 deaths.

Tonight, the governors of Ohio, Delaware and Louisiana ordering residents of their states to stay home. Millions of Americans in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois and California already under orders to stay home. Coronavirus now infecting the Senate. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, the first senator to test positive for the virus. That news prompting four other senators including Mitt Romney and Mike Lee, both of Utah, to go into self-quarantine.

President Trump announcing tonight that he is activating the National Guard in three of the hardest hit states, New York, California and Washington. And sending those states much needed medical supplies.

So, I want to get right to the Senate failing to reach that bipartisan deal on the coronavirus stimulus package. Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill for us tonight. Lauren, good evening to you. A key procedural vote on a massive coronavirus stimulus bill failing in the Senate tonight. Why can't they come to an agreement?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well essentially there are some key sticking points. And I'll tell you, negotiations are still ongoing, Don. Steve Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary was seen leaving. Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate's office a little while ago, he's now in Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office. So those discussions are still ongoing with a little bit of shuttle diplomacy. But essentially, some of the discussion is revolving around basically state funds that would help to stimulate the economy in individual states.

It's the issue of how you structure those state stabilization funds that is dividing Democrats and Republicans. There's also a sticking point about the fact that Democrats are arguing that this package is doing too much for corporations that affected by coronavirus and not enough for individual workers who might be affected, might lose their jobs as part of this process. Now, Republicans argue you need to boost businesses who need to keep employees on their payrolls throughout this entire process. If you want to make sure we can weather this storm. But there's still big differences between Republicans and Democrats. Whether those get worked out tonight is still to be seen. Don?

LEMON: Yes. Listen. People are hurting right now. This is a race against time, Lauren. Do we know what the next step is for the Senate?

FOX: Well, essentially, they are just going to keep having conversations. I talked to Ron Wyden who is the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. He has been part of these negotiations from the beginning late last week. And essentially, what he said is that he has to stay all night long negotiating. He's going to and staff is still talking at that committee level. But I'll tell you, at the end of the day, this has to be a decision made by the majority leader and Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate. They have to come to an agreement. That's what we're going to be watching tonight, Don.

LEMON: Yes. We're talking about the Senate now. We've got to talk about Rand Paul, testing positive for coronavirus. Give us the latest, Lauren.

FOX: Well, essentially, we found out this afternoon that Senator Rand Paul became the very first U.S. senator to test positive for coronavirus. And we're getting some more information about why he got tested. Essentially, why it took so long to find out that he had coronavirus.

But my colleague, Jake Tapper, is learning tonight that essentially, he decided to get tested because he went to an event in early March where some attendees were later found out to have coronavirus. Now he never had any interaction, any direct interaction with those individuals, but out of an abundance of caution and because if you remember in 2019, he had surgery. He had part of his lung removed. He wanted to ensure that he was protected. So, he was tested, he found out today that he has coronavirus. And as a result, like you said, two of his colleagues have elected to self-quarantine out of an abundance of caution. Don?

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much Lauren. We appreciate that.

More than 32,000 people have tested positive for coronavirus in this country. At least 410 people have died.

Natasha Chen has a story of the president's plans to help states with the most patients.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And through FEMA, the federal government will be funding 100 percent of the cost of deploying National Guard units.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sunday's announcement sends troops to Washington, California, and New York. The states hardest hit by the coronavirus. A move that comes one week into the White House's 15-day plan to slow the spread of the pandemic. In one week, we've seen the number of cases in the U.S. go from 4,000 to more than 30,000 and the number of deaths have gone from 72 to at least 400. It's a signal that Americans may experience quarantined life far longer than 15 days.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): This is literally a matter of life and death. We get these facilities up, we get the supplies, we will save lives. If we don't we will lose lives.

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CHEN: Governor Andrew Cuomo says 40 to 80 percent of people across New York state will become infected. He and other governors had been calling for more federal help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are getting some progress. Now, it's not nearly enough, it's not fast enough. We're way behind the curve.

TRUMP: And whatever the states can get they should be getting. I say we are sort of a backup for the states.

CHEN: But the president did say deliveries of medical supplies and federal medical stations with thousands of beds will be going to the hardest hit states. So far, the shortage of such resources has prompted a new directive in some jurisdictions to test only high priority patients. Many hospitals have also stopped performing elective surgeries. One health care system in New York is barring visitors from the maternity ward, no one but the mother giving birth. All the while, health providers on the frontlines are bracing themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm afraid I'm going to get this virus. I'm going to try my hardest not to.

CHEN: All of this makes Congress' stimulus package crucial.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Make no mistake about it, we'll be voting tomorrow.

CHEN: But the fate of that vote could be in question as Senator Rand Paul announced he's tested positive for coronavirus and several other GOP Senators are in self-quarantine. With them absent, the bill will need serious bipartisan support to pass. And Democrats do not agree on details of the aid given to states and large industries.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): There are issues that have not been resolved. There are serious issues.

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL): The package that the Republicans have drawn up does nothing to help struggling workers.

First responders need PPE, equipment -- Personal Protective Equipment and resources today to our hospitals. And our first responders, there's nothing in it for them. You know, and instead, it creates a $500 billion slush fund for Steve Mnuchin to, you know, hand out loans for corporations as he please.

CHEN: Meanwhile, streets are growing quiet throughout the country. Even massive football stadiums are now becoming test sites. And as we continue facing this challenge in physical isolation, some like these high school students are finding ways to virtually stick together. Somewhere over the rainbow

CUOMO: America is America because we overcome adversity and challenges. We're going to overcome this and America will be the greater for it.

CHEN: Natasha Chen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Let's discuss now with Dr. Larry Brilliant. He is a chairman of the board of Ending Pandemic. Doctor, appreciate you joining us from home, it looks like. You're the doctor who helped eradicate smallpox. How do we end coronavirus, that's the question.

DR. LARRY BRILLIANT, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, I would say if I could just in the beginning. You said earlier that people are hurting and it's a race against time. That's certainly true. But this is not the zombie apocalypse. We are not all going to die. This is not a virus as bad as the one we invented with contagion. We have to let the disease lead us. There are still places in this country - it's a huge country -- where we should be doing containment and suppression, finding every new case and then intensively responding with all we have, all the time.

And then in the rest of the country, we should be doing mitigation. When you have a lot of community spread, that's what we're doing, social distancing. If we do both of these things, and every time we have a chance, we focus in with this intense containment. We'll slow the virus down. We're not going to stop it until we have a vaccine or an anti-viral that has vaccine-like properties.

LEMON: OK, let's talk about that. Those are very good points. And then I don't think people think it's a zombie - maybe people think it's a zombie apocalypse but it's not. It's not - I get it. I get what you're saying. So let's talk about containment versus mitigation. So, containment is what we're doing here, right? That's a social distancing, right? Where you're trying to --

BRILLIANT: I think containment - containment is more intense. So, when San Francisco's mayor declared an emergency very early. When we see that people are put under quarantine like circumstances where nobody can leave their House. When it's not a lazy fair kind of self- distancing as we saw in Italy. The reason I'm afraid that Italy got out of control was it was lazy fair. We can't sustain that kind of intensity every place all the time. But we can sustain it in those places that have a small number of cases or newly infected. So, we need to do both end.

LEMON: So explain mitigation. What do you mean by that? Just for people watching. BRILLIANT: It's what we are doing now in California. We're social distancing in the whole state. But I'm talking about the kind of intensive all-in that we can only do in a small area, a county or a small city. There's still places in the United States where we can do that and should to that. We shouldn't give up on trying to do that where we can.

LEMON: So, Dr. Brilliant, here is -- this is what I have been hearing from most people. OK? From many people - I can say most people - from many people.

[21:10:06]

Why not just get it over with and just give everyone a sort of holiday and say we're going to just shut pretty much everything down so we're going to take the numbers down so that we can completely flatten the curve. And that way everyone feels the effect of this instead of just doing it piecemeal. What do you say to that?

BRILLIANT: It's not going to get over, Don. What we can do is we can flatten the curve. What that really means is we're moving that curve way to the right. But we're doing that in order to save our hospitals who are being overwhelmed to you know use our - they're very few numbers of really of ventilators that we have. To make sure that people with heart attacks are going to the emergency - trauma are not denied an they die from other diseases. The whole point of flattening that curve is to be able to keep our hospitals and our health care system intact.

LEMON: No, but what I'm saying is - if you'll let me - what I'm saying is just because New York has something different than you know Ohio, which has something different than Wisconsin, which has something different than California, which has something different than Montana. Do you understand what I'm saying? Why can't you just --

BRILLIANT: Yes. Because the epidemiological picture is different in different places. You won't get the kind of compliance that you need to get in those areas where we're all in on containment if we try to have that intensive reaction all over the country all at once. Let the disease lead us. The epidemiologist will tell us where we can do containment still and where we need to do this kind of social distance mitigating. It's just - they're nuanced but they are different. It may come a time where we have to shut down the whole country. But I think there are places in the country right now where we will be better doing suppression or mitigation.

LEMON: Listen. I'm on a time crunch here up against the break. 14 years ago, you actually predicted a pandemic like this. You thought it was inevitable. Give us some advice here.

BRILLIANT: The first thing is no one should take any great pleasure in predicting this. That every epidemiologist in the country predicted this, not just me. I think we have to stick it out. We have to see this as a marathon. It's going to be a long and bumpy road. But I'm really encouraged by what I see with people going and volunteering in the civic way to take care of older people, bring them food, leaving it outside. I love the innovations we're seeing in Silicon Valley. I love the work that's being done in innovations on testing, vaccine delivery, antivirals. If we can flatten the curve or if we can slow this thing down, it - the cavalry really is coming in the form of innovation and I'm optimistic that the process is in place. People are taking it very seriously now.

LEMON: Dr. Larry Brilliant, we really appreciate you joining us. Thank you so much.

BRILLIANT: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: Well, is there a treatment on the horizon for the coronavirus? The doctors spoke about some of the innovations that are coming, but there is a drug trial set to begin on Tuesday. We're going to explain what we know.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:17:25]

LEMON: The numbers keep going up, even going up during the show. But what does it actually feel like when a person has a coronavirus? Listen to what some people say.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My muscles ached and my joints ached really it felt like somebody was stabbing me with an ice pick.

KEVIN HARRIS, CORONAVIRUS VICTIM: After I threw up, I could breathe. Once you get to the other side of it, you can breathe a little bit better. I mean it's the weirdest thing. You think you're going to die during one of those episodes. I mean you know you're going to die but then you don't.

LEMON: Joining me now is Dr. Anand Parekh is a chief medical adviser for the Bipartisan Policy Center as well as a former deputy assistant secretary for HHS from 2008 to 2015. Doctor Parekh, thank you. Well, he didn't die. Some folks who actually died from it. You know we talk about it a lot but it's important to actually see and hear from the people who actually have contracted the virus. And people have actually got to see what this virus does. No one has immunity. And doctors, you know you can only treat the horrible symptoms. Correct?

DR. ANAND PAREKH, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER, BIPARTISAN POLICY CENTER: That's absolutely right. I mean we're talking about fever, cough, shortness of breath, flu-like symptoms. But these are significant symptoms over a number of days. You could get better. But in six or seven days, if it you're not better, many people take a turn for the worse. And that's really done where hospitalization comes in.

LEMON: Doctor, I want you to listen, to both the president and New York Governor Cuomo, to them talking about starting trials to treat both coronavirus with two drugs, right? Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're also aggressively investigating a number of antiviral therapies and treatments to determine their potential in reducing the severity and duration of the symptoms. And you know how I feel because how I feel is on Tuesday. They are going to be starting it on Tuesday morning. And we're going to have some medications delivered that -- we're going to see if they work. They certainly are effective in other ways. And they -- they are safe, from the standpoint - is that they're not - they're not killing people.

CUOMO: We are also implementing the trial drug. We have secured 70,000 hydroxychloroquine, 10,000 Zithromax from the federal government. I want to thank PFDA for moving very expeditiously to get us this supply. The president ordered the FDA to move and the FDA moved. We're going to get this supply and the trial will start this Tuesday.

[21:20:07]

The president is optimistic about these - about these drugs. And we are all optimistic that it could work. I have spoken with a number of health officials and there's a good basis to believe that they could work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Sir, you know, I should have said two types of drugs, antimalarial and antibiotic dugs. Tuesday is just two days away from now. How will this all unfold, Doctor?

PAREKH: Yes. So, there are a couple of issues here. So - and I think these are promising developments done but you have to be cautious. So both in China and France there has been some data but these are very small studies. No control groups. So no randomized controlled clinical trials which is the goal standard here. But essentially, these are drugs like chloroquine to prevent and treat malaria as well as hydroxychloroquine which is a drug to treat autoimmune conditions like lupus. And both of them it's though have antiviral properties as well as anti-inflammatory properties. And then there's Azithromycin which you heard about, which is an antibiotic but it actually does have anti-inflammatory properties.

So, the question is these drugs individually or in combination can they help. I think, Don, the critical point here is even though this is promising you, absolutely need a clinical trial, you need data, there's so many questions here. There's safety. There's effectiveness. There's who should get this. What type of patients? When should they get it in their course? What's the correct dose? How long should they get it for? So all of these are essential questions and need to be answered.

LEMON: Dr. Anand Parekh, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.

PAREKH: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: Healthcare workers warning that we could be facing a shortage of doctors and nurses if they get sick and have to enter quarantine themselves. But some retired nurses and doctors are saying they're ready to help. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:26:28]

LEMON: As a number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States surges past 32,000, President Trump announcing tonight that he is sending the National Guard in desperately and desperately needed medical supplies to New York, California and Washington. Three of the hardest hit states. Meanwhile, retired medical professionals are coming forward to offer their help and expertise to a health care system under stress. Here's CNN's Miguel Marquez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. ANNE SACHS-BERG, RETIRED DOCTOR RETURNING TO WORK: I am in the high-risk age group.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): High risk but highly motivated, 67-year-old Dr. Anne Sacks-Berg retired last year. No longer can she watch as the COVID-19 coronavirus kills and changes the way we live.

SACHS-BERG: I feel I have a moral obligation to share my skills.

MARQUEZ: For 28 years, she was an infectious disease and palliative care physician at Huntington Hospital on New York's Long Island. It's one of nearly two dozen hospitals run by Northwell Health, New York state's largest private health care provider. She is exactly the sort of health care professional hospitals everywhere need right now.

MARQUEZ (on camera): Why, may I ask, do you get emotional talking about this?

SACKS-BERG: I think it is because I feel it is a moral obligation and I, you know, I feel I have this in common with other health care workers, they're putting themselves on the line every day and going to work.

This is kind of who we are and what we're made for, and it's hard to sit on the sidelines.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): She is also one of thousands of Americans heeding the call, helping take on the biggest challenge the U.S. and the world has seen in generations.

SACKS-BERG: We can't imagine what it's going to be like a week or two from now. I think it's going to be -- it's going to be a bad situation and we are going to lose a lot of people.

MARQUEZ: Hospitals know what's coming. Not only are they critically short of protective masks, gloves, gowns, beds and ventilators, they also expect doctors, nurses and first responders to get sick and face quarantine themselves.

CUOMO: So, we're asking former doctors and nurses, contact your previous employer, Department of Health, we'll accelerate your recertification. MARQUEZ: Northwell Health, where Dr. Sacks-Berg worked for her entire career, has 72,000 employees helping run 23 hospitals and nearly 800 outpatient clinics throughout New York. 75 employees have tested positive for the virus, mostly from community exposure, but a larger number, 270, have been forced to stay home and self-quarantine due to exposure.

SACKS-BERG: I've got everything I need right here.

MARQUEZ: For now, Dr. Sacks-Berg is devouring every scrap of information about the disease she can, waiting for the inevitable call to return to work and get back in the game, whose rules are still not fully understood.

SACKS-BERG: I don't think we have any idea of how many people are going to end up requiring hospitalization in a very compacted period of time.

MARQUEZ: If and when a wave of critically ill patients need care, Dr. Sacks-Berg fully expects to be on the front line.

Miguel Marquez, CNN, Huntington, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, Miguel, thank you very much.

This just in. A spokesman for the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says the Leader Schumer and the Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin that they will be working late into the night and they just had another productive meeting. This is the fourth time that Schumer/Mnuchin met today.

[21:30:12]

So that is the latest news. They are going to be working into the night to try to get this all taken care of.

I want to bring in now Johnese Spisso. She is the president of the UCLA Health in Los Angeles. Johnese, thank you very much. I really appreciate you joining us.

JOHNESE SPISSO, PRESIDENT, UCLA HEALTH: Thank you.

LEMON: This is some important information that you can relate to us and we're glad to have you. Let's talk about what we just heard in Miguel's report there in a minute. But let's start with what you are seeing at your hospitals and clinics right now. Tell me about it.

SPISSO: Thank you, Don. UCLA Health, which is in Los Angeles, operates four major hospitals in about 180 clinics throughout Los Angeles and Southern California. We continued to see numbers increase and we expect those numbers to continue to increase now that we're able to do more testing going forward. Today as of last night in Los Angeles County, we had 351 confirmed cases, with 4 deaths. We know however those numbers will rise as we're now able to do a lot more tests than we were a few weeks ago.

UCLA Health, we were one of the first to begin doing our own COVID-19 tests a few weeks ago, but we were limited to being able to do under about 100 a day. By next week, we should be doing 300-400 a day. Now that the new FDA released machines are available. And we hope to be able to continue to get the testing completed in the community.

The other thing we have been doing is really not only preparing our staff, but also making sure we have adequate levels of supplies to meet the volume. In addition, we have had to work really hard to create additional surge space. We have to keep in mind when this virus came into our cities, we were already dealing with hospitals that were really crowded in full. So, we had to take active measures to try to create capacity. Setting up tents outside of our emergency department, where we could expand care, doing drive-thru testing, eliminating elective surgeries, changing outpatient visits to telemedicine. Those things have freed up some capacity.

LEMON: What do you need most right now?

SPISSO: Most of all right now, we need just continued support and encouragement for our brave health care workers that are fighting this on the frontline. And Don, if your viewers could see them every day, I think people would be really inspired about the kind and compassionate care that is taking place. We also need to make sure -

LEMON: Because we -

SPISSO: Go ahead.

LEMON: Yes. Because of the breaking news, I want to get a lot in. Are you getting the help you need from the federal government -- from state and federal government?

SPISSO: Well, certainly, the recent moves with the FDA have really helped. With our state, we have had amazing support from the Governor Newsom.

LEMON: OK. So, you heard what was reported in Miguel's story about doctors and nurses -

SPISSO: Yes.

LEMON: -- coming out of retirement to help. Tell us what measures you're taking now. And do you think that you may end up calling people back in to help as well?

SPISSO: We have and we have had just a wonderful spirit of collaboration with our volunteers. Many people want to step up and help. And we hope to be able to take advantage of them if needed.

LEMON: Johnese, thank you so much. Listen. Sorry we had some breaking news. A lot of it.

SPISSO: Oh, that's fine.

LEMON: And we want to spend more time with you. But we appreciate it. Thank you. Best of luck. We hope to have you back.

SPISSO: Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you so much.

Italy's death toll going up by 651 people in just 24 hours. And now they've got more deaths than all of China despite China having more overall cases. Why that is and what we can do to learn from it. What can we learn from that? We're going to go live to Italy to look into that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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LEMON: Italy reporting that 651 people died there from the coronavirus in just 24 hours. That horrifying figure now pushing the total number of people dead in Italy to 5,476. As Barbie Nadeau reports, Italians are now finding themselves under increasingly strict lockdown measures.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): A convoy of military trucks passes through the northern Italian city of Bergamo. Crematorium so overwhelmed that the military is transporting the dead.

And there are many, many dead. More have now died from COVID-19 in Italy than in all of China where the virus first emerged. That's despite Italy having far fewer overall cases. The question, why and what can America learn from it? In addition to sending a plane full of supplies, Chinese have also sent the vice president of their Red Cross, who gave this explanation.

SUN SHUOPENG, VICE PRESIDENT, CHINESE RED CROSS: You are not having very strict lockout policy of the city because the public transportation is still working and people are still moving around, and you are still having like dinners and parties in the hotels and you are not wearing masks.

NADEAU (on camera): Here in Rome, it's plain to see, officials are putting every more stringent policies in place trying to keep people home. But as you can see, there are plenty of Romans out disobeying the order.

ANDREA, BUTCHER IN ROME (through translator): If I stay here every day, I risk contagion. There aren't rules. The people don't understand. It seems like Italians don't get it. They should not stand less than a meter apart.

MAURO, NEWSSTAND WORKER IN ROME (through translator): Lots of people are afraid. They are taking the situation very seriously. They go around in face masks and keep their distance. They try to avoid contact while others act like nothing is happening, like it is a normal flu. They are underestimating the problem. NADEAU (voice-over): Italy declared its first positive cases at the end of January. The Prime Minister moved quickly to declare a state of emergency. But it would not be until three weeks later on February 23rd that the government started to ban public gatherings, closed schools and asked anyone who might have been exposed to self- quarantine in northern Italy, where most of the cases were at that point.

Leaders sent mixed messages, even politicians posting photos of themselves out drinking cocktails in Milan. It would not be until two weeks after that, March 8th, that the region was put on lockdown. 233 were already dead.

[21:40:06]

Marzio Toniolo is a schoolteacher in San Fiorano, part of the original red zone.

MARZIO TONIOLO, TEACHER, SAN FIORANO (through translator): Here, people have never stop dying. Every day it has been like this. We have a number of deaths that just keep increasing, exponentially.

A police car has just passed by. Maybe the first time I've heard this, they are asking the population to stay inside their homes.

NADEAU: Italy's population is older than average. And the average coronavirus victim here is just over 80. Like other European countries, testing here has not been nearly as aggressive as in countries like Korea. Meaning, it has been much harder to trace the infection.

And as the center of the first contagion in Europe, its hospitals were immediately overwhelmed. At first, Italy's government counted on people to do the right thing. Now, they make sure they do.

DANIELA CONFALONIERI, NURSE IN MILAN (through translator): There is a high-level of contagion and we are not even counting the dead anymore. Look at the news that's coming out of Italy and take note of what the situation really is like. It's unimaginable.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And Barbie Nadeau joins me now from Rome. Barbie, thank you so much for that. A fascinating story report that you have there. The numbers from Italy are just devastating. How is the medical community even coping?

NADEAU: They are really not you know. Especially in the north of the country. There are nearly 5,000 medical workers who have tested positive for the virus, many of those are actually forced to stay on the shift because there just aren't enough doctors. We have had 18 doctors die since this started. And it's put such a stress on the entire health system across the whole country. Don?

LEMON: An American defense official, telling CNN, that Italy is requesting U.S. military support including critical medical equipment. I mean we know there's members of the U.S. military stationed in Italy. Have they been asked to help?

NADEAU: Well you know there's seven military bases across the country. And there are three big ones in the north of Italy that are right there in the red zone. We know from early on, they not only do the Italians ask for help with the building of field hospitals and things, but the Americans offered. It's a very - it's a friendly atmosphere between the communities that host these military bases and the Italians who live there. And you know, it stands to reason that they would be cooperative in that sense.

LEMON: Are the reports of more deaths and infection making more people obey the lockdown, Barbie?

NADEAU: Well you know we have seen these incredible numbers over the weekend. And I think that coupled with an incredible police enforcement out there on the streets, something I haven't seen since the beginning of the lockdown. I think both of those things working together, we're seeing more people compliant. But you still see people out for no reason. You know the people that you see the same dog being walked by you know four or five different people that you know aren't even related. Those are excuses to get out of the house that are not justifiable in this critical situation.

LEMON: Got it. I had a similar conversation about those, about people you know going for runs and the social distancing here. But outdoor exercise is now banned in northern Italy. Grocery stores are taking people's temperatures before allowing them inside. Is it likely that these measures will be put in place across the entire country?

NADEAU: Well you know I think most people who live in Italy, myself included, hope so. I think that's what needs to be done in order to stop the spread of the virus. And to sort of begin flattening the curve so that we can start seeing the incremental numbers go down. Something has got to be done.

LEMON: So, what are you hearing? How do Italians feel when they see things like military convoys and police cars on the streets with loud speakers issuing warnings, because we are told here in New York, you know, they are going to be patrol officers out now reminding people about these stay - you know stay at home orders or you know people not being out. How do Italians feel about that?

NADEAU: Well you know it's really horrible situation to be in this lockdown. When you hear that police car go through and it's a male monotone voice, it sounds straight out of a movie really, telling people it's too dangerous to be outside. Go into your homes. And you know the only sound you hear at night are just the street cleaners disinfecting the sidewalks. Those types of things are really, really terrifying for most people that live in this country. And I think people understand how serious this is and just want the nightmare to be over soon.

LEMON: You said they understand, but then you know you said that the same - you see the same people - the same dog being walked by different people. But there are still people out there who don't seem to be taking it seriously.

[21:45:00]

NADEAU: Yes. And when you see these death numbers, it's incredible that someone would take a risk like that because every single person that leaves their home could be - could contract the virus or could spread it in the elevator on the way down or you know meeting someone on the street. It's just so - I think it's so incomprehensible how serious this is, how many people have died, what a - you know stress it is on the health care system. I think in a sense people don't really want to believe it. And you know we're going to be in this for the long haul. You know I don't know how long this lockdown is going to end. But it's not going to be any time soon.

LEMON: Barbie Nadeau, we have our lessons to learn from Italy here in the United States. We appreciate your reporting. Thank you so much.

Local leaders and hospitals warning about major medical equipment shortages. But some small businesses are stepping up. Taking care to fill the gap. We're going to take a look at one of them, next.

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LEMON: We're hearing more stories of Americans taking care to help their country during the coronavirus pandemic, like in Upstate New York, where one couple transformed their 3D printer business into a production line for desperately needed medical supplies. CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro has a story.

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EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Medical workers across the country are searching everywhere for basic supplies these days. Some may have found what they're looking for in a basement in Liverpool, New York. That's where Stephanie Keefe and Isaac Budmen run Budmen Industries.

The couple normally makes 3D printers, and shares plans and tips online as part of an international underground home printing culture.

ISAAC BUDMEN, BUDMEN INDUSTRIES: We've seen people use 3D printers for everything from the prosthetic hands to knickknacks from their favorite Marvel film.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Until last weekend, that is. As the coronavirus began to spread, they figured out how to make medical face shields with their printers. It took a couple days and a half-dozen prototypes to get it right.

(on camera): Tell me about the masks themselves.

STEPHANIE KEEF, BUDMEN INDUSTRIES: We send a 3D file to the printer, and it prints this visor. It takes about 58 minutes on our machines to print. MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice-over): Isaac and Stephanie purchased the elastic and clear plastic needed to complete the shields and sanitized their studio. Volunteers make up an assembly line.

With 16 printers running around the clock, so far, they've kicked out nearly 400 completed masks, all delivered to the local emergency management department in Onondaga County.

BUDMEN: We can accelerate the flattening of the curve by deploying this technology and getting people connected, then it's time well spent.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: It's not just their Upstate New York community they're impacting, they've also turned their social networker 3D printer aficionados into a network of tiny medical supply factories.

(on camera): This has gone beyond just your small company and your small set of 3D printers now, right?

BUDMEN: When the first batch got delivered, all of a sudden, we started hearing from people all over the globe. First responders in all of these areas, who are short on supplies and who need shields. At the same time, we also got a waterfall of responses from people with 3D printers.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice-over): So they set up a database to connect those in need with others who have a 3D printer and a desire to help. So far, their face mask schematic has been downloaded nearly 2,000 times. The number of requests for masks -- according to Budmen Industries -- is more than 40,000.

Dr. Anushri Anandajara made one of those requests. She works at one of New York City's biggest hospitals. Even she is having to seek help from unconventional sources.

DR. ANUSHRI ANANDJARA, MT. SINAI HOSPITAL: At this point, we are realizing no one is coming to save us, and we as a community at a grassroots level have to start to mobilize to utilize all of the resources that we have. You know, at some point, maybe, the federal government and the supply channels will kick in, but not enough and not soon enough.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Until then, hospitals and health care workers will have to rely on American ingenuity and people like Isaac and Stephanie.

BUDMEN: I think it was JFK who said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." And in this moment, we feel like we can do this for our country.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: People doing what they can for their neighbors is nothing new, but making medical devices at home because hospitals can't get them? For the time being, that's the new normal.

Evan McMorris-Santoro, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Nicely done.

Pay attention to this as well. Before we leave you tonight, I just want you to take a look at this. My friend, Tyler Perry, put out a call to his friends to help him sing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" and what he got back is pretty special, the whole world in this together. And our thoughts are with the doctors and the nurses doing so much for us all right now.

TYLER PERRY, ACTOR: He's got the whole world in his hands. He's got the whole world in his hands. He's the got the whole world in his hands. He's the whole world in his hands.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's got you and me, brother, in his hands. He's got you and me brother, in his hands. He's got you and me brother, sister in his hands. He's got the whole world in his hands.

[21:55:08]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's got you and me sister, in his hands. He's got you and me sister, in his hands. I promise you, he's got you and me, sister, in his hand. He's got the whole world, the whole world in his hand.

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