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Don Lemon Tonight

President Trump Admits Taking Hydroxychloroquine; Terrorist Attacker At Pensacola Navy Station Had Significant Ties To Al Qaeda; All States Will Be Partially Reopened By End Of Week; President Trump Downplays Coronavirus Impact On Food Industry; President Trump Pushes Tax Breaks For Businesses On Dining And Entertainment Expenses As Restaurant Industry Craters; Teen Shares Story Of Battle With Coronavirus-Related Illness. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired May 18, 2020 - 22:00   ET

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

[22:00:00]

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: She works for the U.S. key team. You know, she has all these credentials that she got here.

Tonight, we're happy to report she is one step closer to receiving that green card. USCIS reopened her case, approved her national interest waiver. What does that mean? She can continue working at Columbia University Medical Center right now helping COVID patients. The doctor is hopeful she will receive a second approval. We'll see. We don't want to get ahead of ourselves. But we'll stay on the story.

And thank you for staying with us. Time for "CNN TONIGHT" with the man, Don Lemon.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: OK. So, I want to start on not good news but not -- I shouldn't say it's good news, it's just interesting news. And because I love the show so much. It's a sad passing but I love the show so much because there are two characters on that show that remind me of our relationship.

It's a sad passing, I'm talking about Ken Osmond. And you know, Ken Osmond played you on the show.

CUOMO: Eddie Haskell?

LEMON: Eddie Haskell because you're always in trouble.

CUOMO: Haven't heard.

LEMON: And I always said, I said to my team that you, that Eddie Haskell was, you were my Eddie Haskell to Wally. That's our relationship. It's my --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Who are you? You're Wally? You're not the beaver?

LEMON: No, I'm not the beaver.

CUOMO: You're --

LEMON: Because my mom said Chris is going to get you on trouble. Be careful with him on and off the air because he's always going to get you in trouble. I'm sad that Ken Esmond died today at the age 67.

But I love that show. Especially now with the pandemic, I've been watching old television shows more than ever now, and I've been watching that show. So, I'm going to miss him in real life, but I loved watching him on the show. He was a great character.

CUOMO: Well, may he rest in peace and his family, you know, take solace in the great legacy that he has and how many people he entertained.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: I thought you were going to go with Ward and June, though.

LEMON: I didn't want to, you know, cast you as June although it's a time, it's a new day.

CUOMO: I'll be proud to be June. She got a game together.

LEMON: She, I mean, the pearls and everything and the apron. You know, when you hear that apron --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: She wasn't falling for Fred either.

LEMON: When you're wearing that apron, cleaning fish I often think of June Cleaver when I see you out on the boat.

CUOMO: Yes, it's true. And by the way, a lot of those floral prints work well on me. Don't let this black and white getup have you sleep on my skills, d. Lemon. I have a whole array of stuff I wear.

LEMON: You had a fantastic show and lot of it we're going to cover. We are going to continue on with him on the Ahmaud Arbery story, talk about that video and other things that are out there. Messages coming from the family and what's going to happen possibly in the coming days.

I was also I've been told a press conference that should be happening right now with the attorney of William "Roddie" Bryant, so we'll see what's happening with that and on and on. So, we'll continue that story and talk about what happened today with the president, hydroxychloroquine, he's all over it.

Thank you, Chris. We'll see you soon.

CUOMO: D. Lemon, my man.

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

Here's our breaking news. On the day the coronavirus death toll in this country passes 90,000, the president suddenly announces that he is taking an unproven drug that medical experts warn can have harmful side effects.

This is really deadly serious. It is quite dangerous, really quite dangerous, and yet the president almost just off handedly drops a bomb into the middle of his Q&A with reporters today, shocking them with the news that he is taking hydroxychloroquine. A drug his own FDA has warned against.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The frontline workers, before you catch it, the frontline workers, many, many are taking it. I happen to be taking it. I happen to be taking it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hydroxychloroquine?

TRUMP: I'm taking it, hydroxychloroquine. Right now, yes. A couple weeks ago I started taking it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?

TRUMP: Because I think it's good. I heard a lot of good stories. If it's not good, I'll tell you right -- I'm not going to get hurt by it, it's been around for 40 years for malaria, for lupus, for other things. I take it. Frontline workers take it. A lot of doctors take it. Excuse me. A lot of doctors take it. I take it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He's right on one thing, it's been around for a long time, for, guess what, he's right, for malaria, for lupus. But not for coronavirus. OK? It doesn't mean that it's right for this particular illness.

I want to make this absolutely clear. The President of the United States is taking a drug his own FDA says should not be use outside of hospitals and clinical trials. So, some anecdotal evidence that maybe it works, maybe.

But that's not absolute proof, that's not clinical evidence. Even though he says that he's tested negative for the coronavirus here. Even though that a new study the largest of its kind shows that hydroxychloroquine does not work against the virus even though heart problems are a known side effect of the drug.

[22:05:01]

And tonight, the president's physician, Dr. Sean Conley is issuing a statement that includes this. Quote, "after numerous discussions he and I had regarding the evidence for and against the use of hydroxychloroquine, we concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks." Which, frankly, raises more questions than answers as the president had more serious exposure to the virus than we know about. And why would he go against the advice of his own medical experts?

Look, if it works for him and for other people, good. But again, it's very dangerous because at this point most of the evidence and the studies that come in show that it's mostly harmful. But the president who just doesn't seem to understand how serious, how dangerous this could be, says this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I get a lot of tremendously positive news on the hydroxy, and I say, hey, you know the expression I've used, John? What do you have to lose? OK? What do you have to lose?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: What do you have to lose? The president, like many men of his age, 73, I'm serious, OK, has a common form of heart disease. Based on the results of his physical. And like I said, heart problems are a known side effect of hydroxychloroquine. But to the president it seems this is all a chance to mess with the reporter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I was just waiting to see your eyes light up when I said this. But you know, when I announced this. But I've taken it for a week and a half now and I'm still here. I'm still here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. Again, I need to say this. I hope that the president is OK, that it works for him, that he stays here, that he lives a very long and prosperous life. Most everyone does.

But if you look at the evidence of what it shows, that it's not good for a lot of people that they have tested. So, I'm just messing with you when there are deadly consequences to taking this drug outside, as the experts have said, clinical trials and a hospital?

What kind of leadership is that? What message are Americans going to take from that? Remember the whole injecting, bleach, and disinfectants and all of that, and the numbers went up from people calling and wondering and people had to come on and they had to issue statements saying don't take this?

I mean, what kind of -- what kind of messages is that from the president. The president taking a drug his own FDA has warned against. He'll take hydroxychloroquine, but he still won't wear a mask, even though that could actually protect other people.

I mean, again, it shouldn't be surprising I guess from the president after all he's been touting this drug for months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The FDA also gave emergency authorization for hydroxychloroquine. We're having some very good things happening with it.

It's shown very encouraging, very, very encouraging early results.

There's some good signs. You've read the signs. I've read the signs, and I'll say it, what do you have to lose? I'll say it again, what do you have to lose? Take it.

If things don't go as planned, it's not going to kill anybody.

It will be wonderful. It'll be so beautiful. It'll be a gift from heaven. And it works.

You have some other person put it forward that say, let's go with it, you know, what do you have to lose?

Try it. If you would like.

I've seen things that I sort of like, so what do I know, I'm not a doctor. I'm not a doctor. But I have common sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. Let me say what a President of the United States should say. OK? That there have been -- there are some anecdotal evidence from some doctors who believe that this could work for some people. But in clinical trials, it shows that it doesn't work for most people and it can be quite deadly.

So, here's what you should do. You should check with your own doctor and your own physician to see what works for you because not everything works for everybody. So, make sure you're safe and be responsible out there. Be responsible adults. Follow the advice of your physician.

[22:10:01]

But at this point there is no clinical evidence that hydroxychloroquine has any effect, positive effect on the coronavirus. Wait until all the studies and the clinical trials are in. But check with your physician, OK? Now you know.

And with so much going on in the world, you may not remember this, OK? And the president doesn't want you to. It's a mass shooting at the Pensacola navy station, three sailors were killed, eight others were injured.

Why doesn't he want you to remember that, because the attacker had significant ties to Al Qaeda, confirmed today by the president's very on attorney general who says the evidence was in the attacker's phone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM BARR, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: Previously unknown to us that definitively establishes Alshamrani's significant ties to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, not only before the attack, but before he even arrived in the United States. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Since 9/11 no foreign terrorist organization has successfully directed a deadly attack in the U.S., that's according to a think tank, and it happened on this president's watch. He cannot blame his predecessor.

So, he is hoping that you just won't hear about it, instead he is spending a lot of time and a lot of energy during a daily pandemic cooking up a new charge against President Obama. One that will show you he's already full of holes trying to convince you that the former president had some nefarious involvement in the origins of the FBI's Russia investigation.

President Trump spent the weekend working on this unfounded anti-Obama conspiracy theory. And he did it at Camp David, you know, the retreat where other presidents held peace talks.

A source telling CNN the president appeared, quote, "highly focused on his predecessor over the weekend." When isn't he? Like I said before, Obama lives rent-free in his head.

The source going on to say that the president along with a group of his most ardent Republican defenders discussed how they could advance a baseless conspiracy theory about the former president.

And today President Trump's hand-picked attorney general, who is shocked, shocked to find there are attempts to use a justice system as a political weapon, still manages to work the names of President Obama and Vice President Biden in a sentence with the word criminal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARR: Now, as to President Obama and Vice President Biden, whatever their level of involvement, based on the information I have today, I don't expect Mr. Durham's work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: But clearly, that wasn't going to be enough for this president, not by a long shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If it was me, I guarantee they would be going after me. In his case, they're not, so I think it's just a continuation of a double standard. I'm surprised by it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Aren't you guys -- have you had enough on these conspiracy theories that turn out to be nothing? And let's not forget who started that baseless accusation of unspecified criminal behavior in the first place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Some terrible things have happened and it should never be allowed to happen in our country again. And you'll be seeing what's going on over the next, over the coming weeks, and I wish you'd write honestly about it but unfortunately you choose not to do so.

Yes, John, please.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is the crime exactly that you're accusing him off?

TRUMP: You know what the crime is, the crime is very obvious to everybody. All you have to do is read the newspapers except yours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Never named the crime. The President of the United States just throwing around completely unfounded accusations while refusing to even explain what he is talking about. Don't get it twisted.

Nothing but a desperate president searching for something, anything, the more outrageous the better, to distract from his own abysmal handling of the pandemic that has killed more than 90,000 Americans, the pandemic that has battered the American economy, leaving more than 36 million unemployed.

And remember, the president always -- has always seen a booming economy as his re-election ace in the hole. So, what does he do? He goes on the attack against former President Barack Obama, even trying to blame his predecessor for the pandemic, despite President Trump being in office for three years by the time the virus struck.

[22:15:06]

Yet it's former president's fault, but he's been in office for three years. And it bears repeating, this is exactly the kind of pandemic that the former president, Barack Obama, warned of way back in 2014.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: There may and likely will come a time in which we have both an airborne disease that is deadly. And in order for us to deal with that effectively, we have to put in place an infrastructure, not just here at home, but globally, that allows us to see it quickly, isolate it quickly, respond to it quickly.

So that if and when a new strain of flu like the Spanish flu crops up, five years from now or a decade from now, we've made the investment. And we're further along to be able to catch it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Twenty fourteen, time line right on the money. We got a lot more tonight on the pandemic and what doctors think the president's -- of the president's decision to take an unproven drug with potentially serious side effects.

We've also got the got the latest tonight in the case that we have been following for you for more than two weeks now. This is the Ahmaud Arbery case, chased down, shot and killed while jogging --while jogging in a Georgia neighborhood.

A father and son, Gregory and Travis McMichael arrested and charged with felony murder. There are new developments tonight. I'm going to talk to an attorney for the family about that and that's coming up. While we're on the air in this program.

President Trump wasn't talking much about hydroxychloroquine for weeks until today. So, what happened? Just in the past couple of weeks that made the president decide to take the drug his own FDA has warned against. That is a question for Kaitlan Collins and Dr. William Schaffner after the break.

[22:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So, President Trump revealing today that he is taking the drug hydroxychloroquine despite medical experts and the FDA questioning its effectiveness and warning that the drug had -- the drug can potentially have harmful side effects such as causing heart problems.

So, I want to bring in now CNN's White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins and Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the division of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. So Kaitlan, hello. I did not see it live because I was actually -- were you in the room?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I wasn't in the room. It was a small group of reporters and these restaurant owners and they were there when the president when he made this surprise announcement.

LEMON: OK. OK. Because I was going to ask if your mouth hit the floor when I found out mine did. So, listen, we now have a statement it's from President Trump's doctor as to why the president is taking hydroxychloroquine. Fill us in. What did it say?

COLLINS: Well, let me, in the statement we were looking for some details, how long has the president been taking it, how long they expect him to continue to be taking it, and Don, we really didn't get that from the president's doctor. It's just this memo that he sent to the press secretary.

Its subject is hydroxychloroquine but if you read it, it never explicitly states that the president is taking it. Though it certainly implies it. And there is, you know, some confusing language in here. I want to read you a second graph where Dr. Sean Conley, the White House physician says after numerous discussions he and I had regarding the evidence for and against the use of hydroxychloroquine, we concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks.

Of course, we know those risks if you have coronavirus can be something as serious as a heart rhythm abnormality. And we have seen the president's own FDA recommended that you do not take hydroxychloroquine outside of a clinical trial or a supervised setting like a hospital.

But clearly, the president's doctor says they have felt that he needs to take it, though they really don't go into more detail than that, Don.

LEMON: Yes. I'm looking at it and I said to producers earlier, I said do you think he's really taking it? I mean, it's sad that you have to question a president, but we never know if he's telling the truth, honestly.

But you're right, it doesn't explicitly say that he's saying it. But he says after numerous discussions. So, all right, take him at his word that he's taking it, but it's very interesting that he would just let that out during a press conference.

OK. Dr. Schaffner, the president's doctor says that they concluded that the potential benefits outweigh the relative risks. Do you understand how that could be? What does that mean?

WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, PROFESSOR OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY: Well, good evening, Don. When I heard the news, I, frankly, was disappointed and a little bit confused because I don't think there's any body of credible body of scientific evidence to suggest that hydroxychloroquine will help prevent infections with the coronavirus. And of course, that's how it's been used at the present time.

Now, there's a lot of interest in this drug, has been for quite some time, and as you know, the treatment of patients who are already sick with hydroxychloroquine has evidence kind of on both sides, and it's not very strong evidence.

There are clinical trials that are currently underway trying to assess whether it's going to work. These are prospective grade a well- designed clinical trial. We ought to await the results of those. It's still ethical to do that.

But using this drug, so called prophylactically to prevent coronavirus infection, I -- I'm not aware of the evidence that shows that that works, and I certainly don't recommend anybody watching this program go out to their healthcare provider asking for such medication to prevent coronavirus infection.

LEMON: Listen, doctor, you and I have spoken about this before. I like to be positive and on the glass half-full side of this. Again, you should check your doctor. No one should be using this drug outside of clinical trials and a hospital. But there are some doctors out there anecdotally who say they have used it on patients and they have had good results.

[22:25:01]

But again, what we're simply saying, what doctors are simply saying and clinicians, there's not enough evidence and from what the evidence that they have now, it doesn't seem to be good, at least from the clinical trials that have taken place. It can cause heart palpitations. And tell me if I'm wrong here. And in some instances, even death.

SCHAFFNER: Yes. Now, there are many, many people who take this medication quite safely. They're supervised by their doctors for good reasons where we know the medicine works.

But if you're prescribing a medicine for an uncertain benefit, then you have exposed the patient to the risks even though they're small, but serious, the risks of adverse reactions. That's not a very good benefit risk ratio.

So, I don't see the use of the drug in this circumstance, and I certainly don't think it's something that we ought to suggest that other people do.

LEMON: Or promote as the president has promoted a lot. Kaitlan, thank you. Thank you, doctor. I appreciate both of your time and your expertise.

The U.S. surpassing 90,000 coronavirus deaths today. But a key coronavirus model now predicts over 143,000 people could die by August, which is actually less than they predicted a week ago. Why is that? I'm going to ask the former Obama White House Ebola czar next.

[22:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: As the death toll from coronavirus surpassed 90,000 in the U.S., every state is now in the process of reopening or making plans to do so. That even includes hard-hit states in the northeast. More tonight from CNN's Erica Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gyms in multiple states are open today, including Texas where offices also have the green light as the state moves into phase two.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): One thing we all know, an important part of reopening is access to child care. So, starting immediately, child care services are able to open.

HILL: Summer camps and youth sports can return May 31st. Bars and bowling allies can open Friday, the same day restaurants can start seating at 50 percent capacity. Texas posted its highest single-day spike in cases over the weekend, two weeks after easing restrictions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do have more testing that happening, but at the same time we're also recognizing that we have reopened and people are mixing, and so we don't know how those two equations coming in together, how that really is impacting the overall equation that we have. HILL: More than a third of the new cases there connected to meat

processing plants in the state. Overall, Texas is one of 17 states seeing a rise in new cases over the past week, 18 posting a decline, including Massachusetts, which just announced its plan for a phased reopening. California's new cases are holding steady as the governor loosens the criteria for reopening.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): We recognized the conditions across the state are unique and distinctive depending on where you are.

HILL: Churches maybe allowed to meet in person in the next few weeks. In person retail could open next month. Automakers returning to work in Michigan today with a few changes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm pretty comfortable with the precautions that I heard they're going to be taking.

HILL: While across country, beautiful weather, cabin fever, and more reopening made for a busy weekend.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been really steady, busier than I thought it was going to be.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am beyond excited to be shopping again.

HILL: In Scottsdale, Arizona, packed bars and restaurants.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have no more fear than contracting the flu, a cold, a virus that they haven't named yet.

HILL: Lines in the mall and outside this casino, though not everyone is ready for the crowds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You go to Walmart and everybody is on top of each other. And people in the bars are high-fiving, and people you don't even know and they try to get too close.

HILL: The University of South Carolina will reopen its campus this fall. But after thanksgiving, classes will move online, over fears of a possible spike in cases in early December. Purdue and Rice universities adopting a similar plan while Creighton University will end the fall semester before the holiday.

One vaccine currently in the works is showing signs of promise. All eight participants in the small study developed antibodies to the virus. Moderna, which is partnering with the NIH says if future studies go well, the vaccine could be available to the public as early as January.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything I'm seeing so far makes me optimistic.

HILL: NASCAR in Arlington for its first race in two months.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Green flag, NASCAR is back.

HILL: So is golf. A charity event in Florida raising more than $5.5 million for covid-19 relief. And there could be more live action soon. The governors of California, Texas, and New York say professional sports can return in the coming weeks, though fans will still be cheering from home. Erica Hill, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. Erica, thank you very much. Restaurant industry leaders pleading with the president for help today, but he is downplaying their problems. Will they get what they need? I'll ask someone who was in the meeting at the White House next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:35:00]

LEMON: So the president holding a meeting at the White House today with executives and leaders from the restaurant industry. And according to industry analysts, three decades of restaurant jobs were lost during March and April, making it one of the hardest-hit industries in this pandemic. As states begin to reopen, how long will it be until restaurants bounce back?

Joining me now is Thomas Keller, chef and restaurateur and member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition, I should say the great Thomas Keller.

THOMAS KELLER, CHEF AND RESTAURATEUR, MEMBER, INDEPENDENT RESTAURANT COALITION: Great to see.

LEMON: So god to see you again, absolutely. You doing OK in all this?

KELLER: Well, you know, with everybody, it's hard to complain because we're all in kind of the same situation. But we're doing the best we can, feeding as many people as possible and just supporting one another to get over this and get through this. But I want to thank all those who are keeping us safe. I always want to say that because we can't forget those who are protecting us every day. Thanks though.

LEMON: Well said. I'm glad you said that. And I have to say my taste buds do miss you and your restaurant. So, listen, you were at this meeting today with the president. He insists that the economy and restaurants are going to make a big comeback and going to make a comeback fast. Are you as optimistic as the president?

[22:40:00]

KELLER: Well, you know, safety is first. So, I think really the most important thing to remember is the confidence and comfort that our guests will have coming to the restaurants. So, we really need to make sure that happens otherwise they won't come and we won't have this revival in our restaurant industry as we hope.

But I think once we get the confidence, once we get the comfort of our guests in line with what we want to do in our restaurants, then we should see some come back. It's going to be a long time. We have our PPP, our Paycheck Protection Program which we talked to the president about today and the staff, making some modification, extending that period of time for us, restaurants, because we're a little bit different than most of our businesses, other businesses.

That will help bridge us into -- hope to see as a restaurant relief fund in the future, that will help take us into the next six, 12, and 18 months, because it will take us that long to really get back on our feet.

LEMON: Thomas, I'm not sure if you can see on air, but I definitely want our viewers to look at this. OK? Because eating is a social experience, OK? And I want people to see this. This is a Japanese restaurant experiment. And it shows one person at a buffet put a substance on his hands to mimic the virus under a black light. And you can see everyone was contaminated after about 30 minutes.

And the CDC recently reported one asymptomatic diner in China spread the virus to nine others in part because of the restaurant's air conditioning system. How do you reassure people it's safe to eat out right now, Thomas?

KELLER: Yes. It's a terrifying situation. And we'll do everything we can following all the CDC guidelines, certainly our government's guidelines and the state and the county and the health departments. But that is our biggest concern is the safety of our guests and the safety of our staff. And so we don't really have a way to ensure that at this moment.

Short of a vaccine, that will end everything that we're talking about today. But to get that up to that point, we have to begin to try to bring back our profession. As you know, it employs between 11 and 15 million people depending on how you count it, 8 million of them are unemployed today.

LEMON: Right.

KELLER: And this is a critical situation for all of us. The restaurant profession does $1 trillion to the U.S. economy, so we really have to be concerned about how to get our restaurants back up and running again.

LEMON: Yes. Right on. And listen, great people work in that industry and they depend on the money that comes in from customers as service industry, and that's why I always tell -- listen, I kind of yell at people when they don't carry cash. What about the service workers? People who work in restaurants appreciate cash. Bring cash, carry cash all the time.

But speaking of that, speaking of all the people who work in the service industry and in restaurants, the president in the meeting, the president once again brought up his idea of making restaurant and entertainment spending deductible for businesses. Watch this and then we'll talked about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're looking at doing deductibility so that a corporation can use a restaurant, entertainment clubs et cetera and get deductibility. I think that will really have a big impact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Will allowing corporate executives to write off their meals have any real impact in this kind of crisis?

KELLER: Well, certainly not in this crisis because we're not open. I think in the future it'll be something that would benefit all restaurants, but we won't know that until we actually get to the point where we can operate in a position where we could have guests coming into our restaurants. I also want to remind us, we're not just talking about restaurants. It's the supply chain as well. It's all of our farmers, our butchers, the fishermen, the vintners, the distilleries, everybody who has associated with restaurants.

LEMON: If I could step in here, Thomas, I don't mean to cut you off, but what about mom and pop restaurants, and not the, you know, the big restaurants? Does it help those restaurants?

KELLER: Sure. In terms of the tax --

LEMON: Of the deductibility?

KELLER: Deductibility? Again, it depends on who goes to those restaurants. It's certainly not going to help them as much as some of the other independent restaurants that are out there.

LEMON: Yes. You spoke at the meeting about how important restaurants are to the food supply chain. And you were talking a little about that in your previous answer which has been severely disrupted over the past couple of months. Farmers are having to destroy vegetables, dairy and other products. How big of a problem is that in terms of restaurants reopening?

KELLER: Well, we want to make sure that we have a ramp up to reopening so that the farmers, the fishermen, the gardeners can start to plant their crops, start to plan for the future when restaurants will reopen so that they are ready to supply restaurants. And that's an important part of the process here.

It's not just restaurant workers, it's not just restaurants, it's everybody who is associated with our profession. And we see many of them who are really struggling today and many of those are small farmers.

[22:45:04]

LEMON: The great Thomas Keller, thank you for coming on and the words you said for the people who are keeping us safe. Who are out there working and who are on the front lines, and thank you for speaking up for the people on behalf of your industry today at the White House. So, keep up the great work. Thanks again.

KELLER: Thanks, Don. I appreciate it. LEMON: Thank you.

Fire in his veins, that's what my next guess says it felt like to come down with an inflammatory syndrome linked to the coronavirus. He is 14 years old and one of 200 children we know to be diagnosed with the disease. His story, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Doctors are learning more about a frightening coronavirus linked syndrome affecting kids. 14 year-old Jack McMorrow spent days in the hospital. Recovering from heart failure caused by what the CDC is calling multi-syndrome inflammatory syndrome in children.

[22:50:13]

And his case could help doctors learn more about how to battle this new illness. Jack joins me now, along with Dr. Thomas Connors. One of the physicians who helped treat him. There they are right there. Jack's father, John McMorrow has given us permission to do this interview. Are you guys doing OK? Most of all Jack.

JACK MCMORROW, HOSPITALIZED WITH SEVERE INFLAMMATORY SYNDROME LINKED TO CORONAVIRUS: Hey.

LEMON: So, Jack, we're so glad that you could be here tonight. Tell us how you're feeling.

JACK MCMORROW: I'm feeling great. I'm glad to be home.

LEMON: I bet you are. You started experiencing strange symptoms mid- April. What did you hear and what did your parents think was happening?

JACK MCMORROW: My parents were really confused at first. But, I mean.

LEMON: What did both of you think what was happening? You can talked about what you thought Jack and what did your --

JOHN MCMORROW, FATHER OF JACK MCMORROW: We didn't think anything out of the ordinary. We definitely didn't think it was covid. It didn't express any of those symptoms. I thought it was a slight fever. Maybe a slight irritation. He had a rash on his hands.

And we dismissed it evenly. We spoke to his pediatrician. And he gave us some antibiotics. He had a slight fever. Within five days it blew up to be a lot more than that. He had everything that you see in a symptoms that they have now for the inflammatory diseases.

LEMON: Yes. And Jack, you didn't think it was covid related, right? Did you think you just had a cold or something of a sort?

JACK MCMORROW: Yes. Firstly it didn't seem like its covid related. Especially since we started off with a sore throat. And you don't have to really hear about like it being a sore throat or something like that. LEMON: The day you were hospitalized you woke up with pain that you

compared to having fire in your veins. Talk to me about that.

JACK MCMORROW: Yes, that morning it was Monday morning, I woke up and I couldn't move anything. Even for others to move my limbs at all it was just painful. And the only way I could describe it is that it felt like almost electricity or fire coursing through my veins.

LEMON: Wow. Now you say your fever was so high you couldn't feel the ice water your dad was using to try bring your temperature down?

JACK MCMORROW: The only sensation I would get would be a slight tingle here and there.

LEMON: My goodness. Dr. Connor, you are with us, right?

DR. THOMAS CONNORS, PEDIATRIC CRITICAL CARE SPECIALIST, NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN: I'm here.

LEMON: OK. So, Dr. Connors, you treated Jack. Tell us what you thought when you first saw him. I mean, this got really serious really fast for him. And he went into heart failure.

CONNORS: Yes, you know, we met jack he had a high fever. He had a high heart rate. And he had a low blood pressure. And he was showing signs of having shock.

LEMON: Really. No preexisting conditions?

CONNORS: No. Not to our knowledge.

LEMON: None. And you have seen about 40 children with similar symptoms. You say, Jack's case is different from others because he tested positive for both the coronavirus and for the antibodies? Is that correct?

CONNORS: That's correct. We have seen about 40 children at Columbia University Medical Center and the children's hospital of those kids, only 40 percent necessarily test positive or in determinant for the SARS covid two virus from the nasal pharynx swab.

LEMON: OK, so testing positive for that and the antibodies does that show us how little we know about this virus?

CONNORS: No, it shows us two different things actually. Two different aspects of this infection. When you have an active infection and especially one that is transmitted by the respiratory tract. You can find it first in your upper respiratory track. In the nose and in the throat.

After you had an infection what you hope will happen is that your immune system will develop protection to it. You see it again and the most common thing to look for protection is antibodies. And so Jack had the response from both the antibodies which show that he had a previous infection. Or had enough time with the infection to amount an immune response. And he also still had a positive strain for it in the nose.

LEMON: Got it. OK. So, had a previous infection but -- all right, that's all, I don't want to go down that route.

CONNORS: He had enough time with the infection to act a response from his immune system.

LEMON: OK, Got it.

CONNORS: We hope it will be protective in the future.

LEMON: Yes. And we hope so. So, Jack, you and your family aren't sure where you even got the coronavirus. Your school went out on March 18. And you only left your apartment once to do laundry in your building. Correct?

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JACK MCMORROW: Once.

LEMON: Once. So, you have no idea.

JACK MCMORROW: Yes. That's correct.

LEMON: And no one else you know has come down?

JACK MCMORROW: I have been home for like eight weeks, nine weeks.

LEMON: Yes. And no one else you know came down with any of this?

JACK MCMORROW: No. Nobody. Nobody in the house though.

LEMON: Yes, so Jack, you're home now. But you'll still be taking medication to help your recovery for months. Give me your message to anyone who may still think that young people don't need to worry about coronavirus.

JACK MCMORROW: I'm living proof that you do.

LEMON: Very simple.

JOHN MCMORROW: He's happy to be alive.

LEMON: And I'm sure you are too, dad. Aren't you?

JOHN MCMORROW: Absolutely. Dr. Connor, thank you again very much.

JACK MCMORROW: We really never got to thank you. Thank you so much. Honestly. We never got to see you.

CONNORS: You're welcome, Jack.

JACK MCMORROW: We made a great recovery. Thank you.

CONNORS: You're looking great. I don't know why you're up this late, though. LEMON: You never got to see him?

JACK MCMORROW: Well, not after --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Wait. Say it again.

JACK MCMORROW: Not after I was discharge. No, I didn't never get to see him and yet it is a little weird seeing you without the mask.

LEMON: You want to say anything to them, doctor?

CONNORS: No, I'm just glad to see you guys are doing better. And it's really great to see you recovered and no longer in the hospital. Great seeing you. But don't come back.

(LAUGHTER)

JACK MCMORROW: Yes. Same here. You said it, Doc. You said it.

LEMON: Jack, John and Dr. Connors, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

JACK MCMORROW: Thanks.

CONNORS. Thank you.

LEMON: Good luck to all of you. Stay safe out there.

CONNORS, Good luck, Jack.

JACK MCMORROW: Good night.

LEMON: Thank you. The U.S. surpassing 1.5 million coronavirus cases. We'll talk about that and more, next.

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