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Don Lemon Tonight

Coronavirus To Take More Lives Worldwide; President Trump Embraces Science; Mayor Jenny Durkan (D), Seattle Is Interviewed About How They Are Holding In Their State Amid The Growing Virus Cases; Americans Worry For Their Bills Piling Up; Resources For Renters And Homeowners As Coronavirus Batters The Economy; There Are Now 185,000- Plus U.S. Coronavirus Cases And 830 Reported Deaths; Dr. Sanjay Gupta Remembers 'Giant' Of Neurosurgery Who Separated Conjoined Twins. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired March 31, 2020 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon.

President Trump warning Americans that the next two weeks will be painful and tough as the coronavirus pandemic worsens. The White House said the number of Americans who could die from the virus could reach anywhere from 100,000 up to 240,000 people.

At least 830 new coronavirus -- coronavirus deaths reported just today in the United States. The most reported deaths in this country in a single day since the outbreak began. There are now more than 185,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the U.S. More than 38,000 people have died in this country.

And tonight, nearly 80 percent of Americans are living under stay-at- home or shelter-in place orders. The president formally extending -- formally extending social distancing guidelines for one more month now, at least until April 30th.

Let's discuss now. CNN' White House Correspondent, John Harwood is here and our resident fact checker Daniel Dale as well. Gentlemen, thank you for joining again this evening. John, you first. Today the president seemed to be aware on some level of how bad this could get. Talk to me about his response today.

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Don, I think we saw a president today who had been smacked in the face hard by a reality that's very, very grim. You know, so often the president comes across as somebody who is out of touch with what the rest of us can all see presenting kind of a hucksterish (Ph) view, a rosy view.

He called himself today a cheerleader but it is much harder to do that when you're not looking out at a curve that may rise up sometime in the near future. When it's rising right now and when you can see the curve steepening in terms of both numbers of cases and the numbers of deaths involved, when you have a best-case scenario of 100,000 deaths, that is a situation where even a president who is a cheerleader has got to be knocked back.

And I think Dr. Fauci and Dr. Burk -- Birx had the effect of grinding that reality into him. And so, what we saw him say today, the next two weeks is going to be very, very painful. He didn't qualify that in any way. That's very rare to see that from this president.

LEMON: Daniel, you know, you point out there was an overriding falsehood to the president's briefing today. I want you to watch this and then explain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: But think what would have happened if we didn't do anything. I mean, I've had many friends, business people, people with great common sense and they said, why don't we ride it out? A lot of people have said -- a lot of people have thought about it. Ride it out. Don't do anything. Just ride it out. And think of it as the flu. But it's not the flu. It's vicious.

This is a flu. This is like a flu. Now you treat this like a flu, it's a little like the regular flu that we have flu shots for. And we'll essentially have a flu shot for this in a fairly quick manner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Daniel, I probably should have let you set that up. But go on, explain.

DANIEL DALE, CNN REPORTER: So, Don, what we saw today was Trump attempting to portray himself as the wise leader who rejected the advice of his group that downplayed the crisis as a mere flu and wanted life to go on as normal.

But he didn't acknowledge that he had been the leader of that group. He had been the foremost advocate of that position. Everything that he was attributing to this unnamed group came from him, the president, repeatedly in January, February, and even into March.

So, yes, Trump did acknowledge what he called the sobering figures of 100,000 plus deaths, but he was dishonestly arguing that things would have been worse if he had not rejected the advice from this group that he actually led for weeks on end.

LEMON: Daniel, Trump and Pence also claimed he stopped all travel from Europe early in this outbreak. What are the facts on that?

DALE: So, Trump never stopped all travel from Europe. All travel from Europe has not stopped today. What Trump did do in march was implement restrictions on travel from Europe that did not cover the entirety of the continent, including 26 countries. He then added a couple of others.

It also included several important exemptions for permanent residents, for various relatives of U.S. citizens. So, when Trump portrays this as stopping all travel, he is significantly overstating what actually happened.

[23:05:00]

LEMON: John, you know, Trump also asked about the fight among states for -- he was asked about the fight among states for ventilators. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the ventilator. So, we've been hearing from governors who say they are fighting among themselves, essentially bidding among themselves to get these ventilators.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: They shouldn't be doing that. If that happens, they should be calling us. Look, we have ventilators but we've distributed thousands of ventilators. But they shouldn't be doing that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: We talked about it on the show, John, I mean, weren't governors told to find ventilators themselves. I mean, would this be happening if there was a coordinated White House strategy?

HARWOOD: You're exactly right. That's what they were told. The president himself said you go out and look for your own supplies and we'll be back up.

Of course, Jay Inslee, the governor of Washington famously said we don't need a backup. We need Tom Brady. The president has been caught betwixt and between here. He wants to be seen as acting decisively but he doesn't want responsibility if things go poorly.

He wants to portray himself as having a strong hand but not cross over into the free market. So, he has been reluctant to invoke and use the Defense Production Act in the situation, which is the kind of taking control of the supply chain, the logistics chain that would make a big difference in this situation and prevent this scramble among states. He has not done that.

And we're seeing some of the consequences play out. It's an administration that's fairly disorganized. It is a depleted administration.

This has been somebody who the president who hasn't filled a lot of the executive jobs that he has and we're seeing the weakened executive branch in action and it's leading to some of the complaints from the states and the president trying to disclaim responsibility.

LEMON: Thank you, Daniel. Thank you, John. I appreciate it.

I want to turn now to Dr. Michael Osterholm. He is the director of the Centers for -- the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policies, also the author of "Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs." Doctor, good to have you back on. Thank you. I really appreciate it.

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH AND POLICIES: Thank you, Don. Good to be with you.

LEMON: You doing OK?

OSTERHOLM: I am. I hope you are, too.

LEMON: Yes. Doing just fine. Thank you so much.

OSTERHOLM: It struck home close to you today.

LEMON: It did. And it's a tough night tonight. I'm a little bit distracted because I'm worried about my friend quite honestly. I tried to cheer him up today with the goofy jokes that we usually tell. So, I hope it worked but, you know, it's a little awkward but, yes, I am feeling it. So, thank you for saying that.

OSTERHOLM: Sure.

LEMON: It did hit close to home and I'm wishing him the best. So, I hope he's watching and I love you.

So, anyway, so, today, you know, we were told, doctor, that even with the extended social distancing, more than 100,000 possibly up to 240,000 Americans could die from coronavirus, but you don't think that these models are correct. Why is that?

OSTERHOLM: Well, first of all, in our business, you have to know that we say that all models are wrong and some just give you helpful information. What the White House did is basically took one model that has largely not been considered as even an all possible and use those numbers.

This model assumes that like Wuhan we're going to shut down all 50 states immediately and stay shut down for the duration of however long into the next fall. That's not going to happen.

The other models from Imperial College in London, the group at Harvard have all projected that it may be somewhere between one to two million cases during the same -- deaths during the same time period. And where truth is I don't know. But I would not rush on those numbers at all that we saw today. I just wouldn't.

LEMON: So, you know, at this point, is there anything else that the U.S. can be doing besides remaining at home for the foreseeable future? What else can we do?

OSTERHOLM: Well, first of all --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Let me ask you this -- let me ask you this, you know, when you mentioned Chris. It hits close to home. And it does. Like, when he said he feels helpless. Many Americans feel helpless maybe in a different way. He feels helpless when it comes to this virus. Many Americans feel helpless in a different way.

Like, they're just sitting at home doing nothing and maybe that they're not helping. They don't know. So, is there anything else that we can be doing besides this just sitting at home? Maybe it's the best thing. I don't know.

OSTERHOLM: Well, actually it's even worse than that in the sense that you are I are getting paid. There are a lot of people in this country right now that are furloughed, they're not getting paid and not quite sure what the federal supplement will be to their lives.

So that actually makes it even harder. I think what's important here, Don, is that we're seeing that this White House just doesn't have a plan. We go from press conference to press conference and we talk about, you know, 15-day or 30-day plan, which is largely in the hands of the 50 governors.

What we need is a national plan so that we can actually take a look at what if it's much closer to one or two million number of deaths. Just for one moment. Let me walk through this very carefully.

[23:10:00]

If you assume 50 percent of the U.S. population is going to get infected in the next six to eight months, which is a pretty well accepted fact that that's possible.

If you take that, that's about somewhere in the neighborhood of 160 million people. If you just take 1 percent of that, 1 percent, which is a case fatality rate which is clearly what we've been seeing, that rate there is 1.6 million deaths.

And so, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that we have possibly a much, much harder road to go. And what we don't have a plan for is how are we going to deal with this? Are we going to try to stay in a lockdown like Wuhan until we have a vaccine, or are we going to do nothing beyond this initial suppression and then have cases go roaring back into hospitals two to three months from now?

LEMON: Wow.

OSTERHOLM: So that's what we need. We need a plan. That's what people want to see. They want a leader that's going to give them a plan.

LEMON: Here is what people want to know. A lot of people are wondering how a country this advanced and this prosperous could be brought to the brink of human and economic disaster like this. I mean, how -- did you see the line of cars of people who were waiting to get to, you know, to the food banks there? I mean, how did we get to this?

OSTERHOLM: Well, you know, it's actually in some ways not even that happy of a comment. I wrote a piece in 2005, both in the New England Journal of Medicine and foreign affairs and said we're not ready for the next pandemic and laid out all the reasons why.

And I wish it were 2005 again because we had much more in the way of capacity in our hospitals. We weren't so reliant on foreign supply chains, particularly China. And we actually had more capability then.

And so, what happened is we have basically gnawed our health care system down to the bone. There's no excess capacity. We don't have the protective equipment for health care workers because they can't afford to stockpile it in hospitals.

And now we know that our strategic national stockpile was a shelf about what we wanted it to be. We're not going have that. We're not going to have the ventilators. I saw the section you just did on the Defense Act. You know, that's not going to t make any real difference. It's going to take months and months to bring that kind of manufacturing up to speed.

We're going to have a lot of hospitals in this country that are going to have to make hard decisions about this.

So, I think all those things are true. But in the end, we'll get through it. And the way we're going to get through it is to have a plan to say this is what we're going to do, this is how we're going to make decisions, this is how we're going to bring the economy back.

At the same time, protecting our hospitals and having it last for more than just one press conference or one set of tweets. And that's what we don't have right now. We just don't have it.

LEMON: Doctor, thank you. You be safe. Please come back.

OSTERHOLM: Thank you.

LEMON: All right.

OSTERHOLM: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: All right. I want to bring in the mayor of Seattle. Mayor Jenny Durkan. Mayor, it's good to see you again. How are you holding up? Are you doing OK?

MAYOR JENNY DURKAN (D), SEATTLE, WA: Hey, Don. It's rough for all of us and particularly after listening to the doctor, your last guest. We know what we're in for and it's a very long haul.

LEMON: Seattle had the first known coronavirus in the U.S. And you were hit very hard early on. Tell me what you're dealing with today, mayor.

DURKAN: So, we were hit one of our neighboring towns had the first case in our county. Just a month ago. And at that time, Seattle had a booming economy, we were building buildings, and everything was looking good. And now a month later we are shut down, we have hundreds of thousands of people out of work.

I'm mindful tomorrow is the first day of the month. Many people are going to have to pay their rent, and they won't have the money to do it. The consequences of this has been so catastrophic. We've been doing everything we can out here. Governor Inslee, Dow Constantine, our executive, myself, the other

mayors, we've come up with concert of action and that's helped. We got some good numbers from the study today and yesterday that showed that the actions we've taken actually have slowed the virus significantly, as they pointed out at the White House.

But even with that, we know we have to keep it up for weeks, if not months. And that means we need a plan. And we need not just 50 plans or multiple plans within any one state, we have to have a plan as a nation to both figure out how we stop the spread of this virus, how we get ready for the rebound, and how we bring back our economies and help all of those people who don't have anything during that period of time. All of us have got to work together.

LEMON: You seem to be saying the same thing that Dr. Osterholm is saying, is that a coordinated plan is needed. I mean, Dr. Birx on the White House task force is cautiously pointing to your state, mayor, as showing some positive signs. Do you feel that on the ground? Do you feel that you're starting to turn a corner?

DURKAN: We do feel positive that we see that what we've done and choices we've made have had a positive impact.

LEMON: But you're cautious?

[23:14:58]

DURKAN: Yes. We're very cautious. Because all has come at a high human cost. And protecting those health care workers, flattening that curve like everyone talks about now is number one thing. But in doing so, so many businesses, small businesses, workers today have no source of income. And that's going to be for weeks and for months.

And we still have, you know, the virus is still spreading here. We have more deaths, more infections, and we don't -- we don't have test kits, for example.

That gets so infuriating when I hear that everybody has as much testing as their need. We have multiple locations that we need to be testing people who are very vulnerable. Where there's been outbreaks, for example, in the senior center. And we can't do it because we don't have the resources from the federal government.

So, I think we've got to start acting as a nation. We can't have the hunger games with states against state, city against city. We've got to pull together. We'll get through it but we'll only get through it if we work together.

LEMON: What is the lesson for the rest of the country, mayor? Especially the areas where this is yet to hit hard.

DURKAN: Do what's hard now. Because it will hit you and your economy will slow no matter what you do. And every day you wait, you risk lives. You know, we acted within five days to take the first steps to have people tele commute and slow down the spread of the virus. And then within a very short period of time did significant steps to

shut down businesses and gatherings. And it worked. But even so we've had hundreds of people lose their lives. We've had families who have been put through so much.

So, I would say to any governor or any mayor out there that just because you haven't seen the virus yet, it's coming. And if you take steps now to prepare, you can help buffer not just your community but all of America because we do have limited resources. And the fewer we need in any part of the country, the more we can get to places like New York and New Jersey and New Orleans who are suffering the most.

We need it here, too. We need PPE, we need hospital beds, we're grateful for what we've gotten but we've got to have a plan as a country. I believe we'll get through this. I really do. But we will come out different as a country and how we come up by the choices we make today.

LEMON: OK. Let's talk about that then. Because, listen, we can look back and we know. I mean, this is a fact. The United States blew it when it came to early testing. But I want to know, in your city, let's move forward now, how are you doing on testing now?

DURKAN: We're not doing very well. We had a problem where the CDC gave us some test kits to the county but they required if we use them, they would be sent to the lab in North Carolina, which is a four to five- day wait period.

That doesn't work and they were far too few. I just learned today that we have dozens of senior centers throughout the county, not just in Seattle, but in the region, who have had people test positive in those senior centers.

And we should be going in there and doing broad-based testing of the patients and of care givers. But we can't do it because we don't have enough testing to get it done.

So, you know, and if we don't do it, we'll see those numbers go up again. So, really, you know, we're cautiously optimistic. I want to thank everybody in Seattle and the region who made the tough choice to stay home. It's hard. And people have given up a lot for it. But it is working and saving healthcare workers.

LEMON: Yes. Mayor, thank you for coming on again. We really appreciate it. Thank you so much.

DURKAN: Hey, give Chris our best. He's -- we're all rooting for him and thank you, Don.

LEMON: Thank you. I said I wasn't going to do this. Thank you very much. Thank you.

DURKAN: All right. take care.

LEMON: That's my -- that's my guy. You know that.

DURKAN: I know.

LEMON: And so, it's been really tough. I said that --

(CROSSTALK)

DURKAN: He said he wouldn't forget me and we're not forgetting him.

LEMON: I've been distracted all night because I've been thinking about him. I'm really worried about him but, thank you, mayor.

DURKAN: Yes. How can you not? That's the human toll. So, hang in there, man.

LEMON: All right. Thanks a lot.

DURKAN: Ba-bye.

LEMON: Thank you.

I can't read that. We'll be right back.

[23:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Tomorrow is April 1st and all around the country rent and mortgage payments are due. But with millions of Americans out of work, you may be worried tonight about how you are going to pay.

So here to discuss now what you can do is Bianna Golodryga, a CNN senior global affairs analyst.

Good evening to you, Bianna. Thank you so much for joining us.

People around the country are scared. They're worrying how they're going to make their rent tomorrow. How they're going to make their mortgage. What resources are in place to help them?

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Look, I mean, it's really difficult to tell Americans to shelter in place when so many Americans are now worried about whether they will have a place to shelter in because of this coronavirus crisis.

We know three million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week and the majority of Americans, when you talk about their monthly expenses, it is to rent payment, it is for mortgage payments.

So, the government, obviously, aware of that and trying to mitigate a lot of the pain that we're going to be anticipating. They've already instituted a mandatory reprieve in local states and governments on specific headlines like no evictions for those that are renting, for those that own property. They have the stimulus package extended foreclosures for those that you get another six-month reprieve.

But this is just a stopgap measure. We also know the government is sending out $1,200. They're also suggesting that Americans who are in this situation and in this bind utilize some of the unemployment insurance money that they're going to be getting, the $600 that they're going to be getting, as well.

That is significant money but if you think about it, the median rent for a two-bedroom apartment in this country is $1,400.

[23:25:01]

And it would be one thing if you said, hey, (AUDIO GAP) everything will be fine and you can go about your business. The problem is, we don't know how long this is going to go for.

LEMON: Yes. Many states around the country, throughout the country, have ordered a temporary hold on evictions. I mean, that's good on a short-term basis, Bianna, but what happens when these holds expire and people will still likely be hurting financially? I mean, they are going to have to end up paying it. They're going to owe it.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And so, you have people starting to say maybe you just waive any of their monthly payments throughout this crisis. The problem is, we're focusing on those that are renters. But what about the landlords? The homeowners themselves? They also have rent to pay. They have dues to pay. They have bills to pay. That obviously goes to the city in a tax form.

So, this is something that needs to be worked out over the next few months. And that's why you may see additional stimulus even though $2.2 trillion is a huge number. That's why you're hearing you may see more to address these issues.

LEMON: What about -- yes. So, let's talk about people who own a home. What about people who own their home? What resources are in place for them?

GOLODRYGA: Well, for those who own their home, there is a 60-day delay in order for foreclosures with federally-backed mortgage loans. So, you get that reprieve the 60-days. The two months you can delay in your payment, if you need to.

But again, we're talking about a few months' time here. What Dr. Fauci is telling us you don't know when these furloughed workers will be returning back to work.

And when you start to see a crisis like this impact the real estate market, then you start to see an overall decline in not only local areas of the market but throughout the country and this is what you want to avoid and this is why, again, this is a stopgap measure, not a permanent fix because it's going to impact the economy and not only in the first or second quarter, the concern is what is going to happen over the next six months over the next year.

LEMON: The president was actually asked the other day about the help for people with tomorrow's rent payments. Here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: I think landlords are going to take it easy. We may put out a

statement on that. I think a lot of people that are owed money are going to take it easy. They sort of don't have a choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The mayor of Dallas has also urged landlords throughout his city to have a heart. What more should the federal government be doing, if they can, to help renters and homeowners?

GOLODRYGA: Yes, I saw the mayor of Dallas, I saw the mayor of Houston also institute that, as well, and suggest that landlords have a heart. But you think, listen, that's nice to say but what about implementing it? Right? How do you enforce something like that?

And that's where you may have to see, at some point, additional stimulus from the government but, also, perhaps, even -- the last thing you want is to have empty apartment complexes throughout the country and really see a depreciation in real estate value because that, obviously, has a ripple effect on local markets and local economies.

So, there could even be a situation where you have the government as a final backstop coming in and purchasing some of these complexes and units. We're not there yet but it's just one of the things that people will have to consider as we look at this problem evolving over the next few months.

I mean, we hope this ends soon, right. But we just don't know how long that will be.

LEMON: Hospitals -- I'm sorry. That was the next thing. I told you I was distracted. Yes, I'm sorry about that. Thank you, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Can I just tell you, by the way, we're all -- we're all -- I mean, for you being on-air and I know, you know, this is one of the situations where you try to be stoic and focus on the headlines.

It's tough. It's tough. So, you know, I also feel for Chris and I know it's tough for you and we're all -- we're all fighting and rooting for him tonight.

LEMON: Well, you know, sorry. I said I wasn't going to do this. Jesus. He's probably sitting at home laughing at me. So here is the thing, I have to -- when I walk into work every day, Chris and I are really good friends. We live near each other.

And so, when I walk into work every day, I have to walk by where Chris is. So, I usually go to his office and say, you know, sometimes I bring the dogs and we just say hello. Anyway, he's not here and we have this great relationship.

GOLODRYGA: I've known Chris -- Chris and I go back to when he and I both worked at ABC. He was one the first people to congratulate me when I was pregnant telling me that meant I was healthy.

Speaking of healthy, I don't know anybody else who is healthier than Chris. And so, it was good to see his face on television tonight.

LEMON: Yes.

GOLODRYGA And you know, it's just a reminder this impacts everyone and anyone. And it doesn't discriminate.

LEMON: Yes. Well, look, he's going to be fine. I mean, we've been talking all day and we're texting. He's like, people are treating me like I'm dying. He's like, I'm not dying.

But, you know, we had that fun relationship and so I don't want -- I don't want people to think that we're making light of it. Obviously, reporting the serious stuff. We know how many people are dying it. But that's the relationship we have. And I've tried to cheer him up.

[23:30:01]

But you don't know -- he's right. You don't know what to do in these situations and how to act and just trying to, you know -- so I don't even know what to say. Anyway, I just --

(CROSSTALK)

GOLODRYGA: Look, I think -- I think the takeaway -- and the takeaway, Don, is that we are all in this together and some people are more fortunate than others and maybe they don't have to worry about rent this month. But we are all scared. This is something that is a great unknown that we are all walking into as a country.

LEMON: Yeah.

GOLODRYGA: We are trying to take this step by step. I covered the financial crisis and the housing market then, but this feels so completely different because --

LEMON: Yeah.

GOLODRYGA: -- this is something that no one anticipated. It really is no one's fault. It's not like people defaulted on their mortgages. So hopefully with the help of government and the money that people are going to be receiving, if you have that money now and you have enough to hold off on the next month, maybe try to negotiate with your landlord. Maybe try to save that money now because we don't know how long this is going to go on for.

LEMON: I think it's a good time, umm, to say that we should all cut each other some slack, right? And just --

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

LEMON: -- landlords, everyone. Everyone --

GOLODRYGA: Yeah.

LEMON: Just chill out, everybody.

GOLODRYGA: I agree. I agree.

LEMON: Thank you, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: There is no winner (ph).

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Thank you. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: More than 185,000 cases of coronavirus in this country, 830 reported deaths just today, and health care workers on the frontlines are under siege.

I want to bring in now Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips, the chief clinical officer at Providence St. Joseph Health in Seattle, and Dr. John Schieffelin, assistant professor at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, my home state of Louisiana. Thank you both. Good to see you and get your expertise on what is going on. So, Dr. Compton-Phillips, how are you feeling tonight? I mean, do you see any light at the end of the tunnel there in Seattle?

AMY COMPTON-PHILLIPS, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST, CHIEF CLINICAL OFFICER AT PROVIDENCE ST. JOSEPH HEALTH: I actually do see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel, which is a positive, you know. Because we started our social distancing measures earlier than the rest of the country, we're now starting to see a slower rate of increase in the number of people coming into the hospitals and we think we're getting closer and closer to the peak here. So, knock on wood. We're not out of the woods yet, but we are starting to see glimmers of hope.

LEMON: Dr. Schieffelin, Louisiana suffered its worst day yet, over 1,200 new cases and over 50 deaths just today. The peak is nowhere near. What are you seeing -- tell me -- take us to your hospital. What are you seeing?

JOHN SCHIEFFELIN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, TULANE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Sure, thank you, Don. So, I don't want to have your viewers be too deceived by the numbers. I think that the increase in number of cases right now actually is a reflection of the big increasing capacity in the state, which is a really good thing.

So the state and other commercial partners were really able to catch up with a lot of backlogged samples. I think that has a lot to do with the jump in numbers. What -- but in terms of what we're seeing in the hospitals, I've actually spent a lot of time in two hospitals, not only Tulane Medical Center but also children's hospital in New Orleans, and what we're seeing right now is actually things are a little more controlled than they were a week or two ago.

I think all the doctors and nurses are really sort of getting into their groove about our new reality. Things are definitely stretched. There's no doubt about that. But I think we've got a little more control of the chaos and have a good understanding based on all of our colleagues in Seattle, in New York, and Boston who have sort of prepped us for what is to come for us because they're a couple of weeks ahead of us.

LEMON: So you're prepared for the coming surge, is that what you're telling me? You're at least as prepared as you can be.

SCHIEFFELIN: I think to a great degree, I think most of our health care workers are mentally prepared for what is to come. I think our hospital systems have really gone out of their way to prepare us as much as possible. We've really ramped up the number of ICU beds and ventilators available.

I think the whole health care community has a good idea of what our capacity is and when we are going to max out and reach that capacity. But at the same time, we have this new 3,000-bed hospital opening up in the convention center, which gives us a little glimmer of hope that there may be some relief on the horizon.

LEMON: OK. Well, let's see. We hope there's some relief on the horizon. Dr. Compton-Phillips, we're going to get you in on the other side of the break and talk about what is next. I mean, how prepared can we be for this and our health care workers. We'll be right back.

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[23:40:00]

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LEMON: So we're learning tonight that Warren Buffett is stepping up to help doctors on the frontlines in New York. The billionaire lent two of his 13-sitter planes to Mount Sinai Health System to pick up 130,000 N-95 masks from a hospital system in China last week. That almost doubled Mount Sinai's supply of those urgently needed masks. So that is some good news here.

Back with me now is Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips and also Dr. John Schieffelin. So, Dr. Compton-Phillips, let me bring you in because, you know, we are now starting to hear about shortages of sedation drugs in Denver and in Baltimore because so many patients have to be intubated. I mean, that is horrible for the patients but it must take a toll on the doctors and the nurses as well.

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: Yeah, this entire thing takes a toll on the doctors and nurses. In fact, since it first started, you know, since it was unexpected, we were all kind of back on our heels. And so since that time, especially here in Seattle since we were early on, we have had to really lean in and say how do we get ahead of this thing?

[23:45:00]

So, in addition to scrapping everywhere for PPE, for the tools to keep doctors and nurses safe, we realized early on that things like medications could be short because so many of the raw ingredients are made in China and India. So, parts of the world that we expected would be shut down. So we started pre-ordering those kind of medications. That has put us in good step.

But we also started doing several other things like in the first hospitals where we had patients, we learned from doctors in China and in Italy what was the best way to care for patients on ventilators. We did calls with them. Then we started sharing that via grand rounds with not only other doctors in Providence but across the country so that we could actually optimize how we're caring for patients in the hospital.

We started clinical trials to start identifying drugs that helped not only treat the virus itself but also the inflammatory response that makes the pneumonia so much worse. So we really started saying we can't just constantly be in reacting to the shortages and to what we can anticipate coming, but let's get ahead of that. Let's use our analytics. Let's start preparing ahead for what we know is going to happen. That started helping us feel a little bit more in control.

LEMON: What do you guys know about the serum antibody testing? Will we be able to use and develop tests like that to know who may have already had coronavirus and have gotten over it? That's really important to know. I see you shaking your head, Dr. Compton-Phillips. Go on.

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: It is definitely really important. In fact, I was on the phone with the CEO of LabCorp this morning talking exactly about that. Because it is starting to come available, it is not mass marketed yet, it's not FDA approved yet.

But we're actually already starting a clinical trial particularly with health care workers looking at how many people have the antibodies to the infection because we do believe a significant number of people have gotten exposed to the infection and didn't even know they had it.

LEMON: Right.

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: You know, they thought they had allergies or didn't have any symptoms. So the only way you can tell who is immune and how prevalent this has been is to do that look back version of testing antibodies.

LEMON: Dr. Schieffelin, in the short time we have left here, can you just -- can you push us forward here and give us some words of wisdom? What is next?

SCHIEFFELIN: I think for us and other areas of the country, this is a marathon. This is not a sprint. This is a disease that has a long incubation period. Patients that get sick and need hospitalization have a long hospital course and require a lot of care. This is, you know, we're all hearing about flattening the curve but even once we flatten the curve, we still got to take care of these patients in the hospital for two if not three weeks after that.

LEMON: Yeah. SCHIEFFELIN: So this is going to be long slog to get through all this. It takes a lot of patience and stamina. We just got to support each other like we have been doing.

LEMON: OK. Dr. Schieffelin, Dr. Compton-Phillips, thank you both. I appreciate it. We'll be right back.

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[23:50:00]

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LEMON: Before we leave you tonight, the coronavirus has touched our Dr. Sanjay Gupta personally. And tonight, he remembers the remarkable Dr. James T. Goodrich.

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SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You may not have immediately recognized him behind the mask. But the tufts of grey hair and twinkling eyes would eventually give him away. For 27 hours, we sat together as he meticulously operated on Anias and Jadon McDonald, separating their brains, two children among countless others, alive, thriving because of Dr. James Goodrich.

JAMES T. GOODRICH, PEDIATRIC NEUROSURGEON: You've got to think after a while they kind of like become your own kids. My god, the Christmas cards you get from families you've been taking care of for 30 years. It's like you operate on a child that's just been born. It's a life- altering experience for a parent.

GUPTA (voice-over): For Anias and Jadon's mom, Nicole, it was like watching a superhero.

NICOLE MCDONALD, ANIAS'S AND JADON'S MOTHER: I'm so blessed to say that not only did I get to see Dr. Goodrich with his cape on doing the most brilliant complex surgeries that anybody could do, but I got to know him with his cape off.

GUPTA (voice-over): We bonded over our shared calling, neurosurgery. In our world, we pretty much all know each other because there are just about 4,600 neurosurgeons in the country. And we also bonded over our shared love of kids, all kids.

MCDONALD: This is for you and all the work that you've done and what you did to make our family whole by making our babies separate. We love you.

(LAUGHTER)

GUPTA (voice-over): So dedicated to his work, Dr. Goodrich never had kids of his own.

(On camera): Was it a conscious decision not to have kids because you didn't want that emotional --

GOODRICH: Not really conscious. But the problem was I was in the military before college. And so when I came out, I had to go back basically to community college, then college, then I did an M.D. Ph.D., so then graduate school, medical school, then residency. And we kept talking about it but just kept postponing it.

[23:55:02]

GOODRICH: Next thing I know, too old.

GUPTA (on camera): You've been busy taking care of the world's kids.

GOODRICH: It seems that way at times.

GUPTA (voice-over): Next to him for the past 10 years, helping him take care of those kids, craniofacial surgeon Dr. Oren Tepper.

OREN TEPPER, CRANIOFACIAL SURGEON: We used to joke. We would call him the world's most interesting man because he was. He was a wine connoisseur. He was a surfer. Until his very last days, I imagine he was surfing.

GUPTA (voice-over): There will be too many cruel and unfair stories like this one. This new disease thrust upon us. COVID-19 doesn't discriminate based on what you do or who you are. In this case, it is robbing the life of someone who had saved so many. This past Monday morning, he died.

MCDONALD: He fought with the ferocity for my family in a way that I will never, ever forget, that I will forever appreciate. There will never be another James Goodrich. Not even close. He will never be matched, let alone replaced in the world.

GUPTA (voice-over): We knew the losses would come, but they are no less painful when they do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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