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New Day Sunday

Long Lines At Airports As Returning Americans Undergo Screening; World Takes Drastic Measures To Stem The Spread Of Coronavirus; President Trump Tests Negative For Coronavirus; Georgia Postpones Presidential Primary Due To Coronavirus; Spain Imposes Nationwide Lockdown To Stop Virus Spreading; France Shuts Down All Restaurants, Cafes, Cinemas And Clubs; Google Partners With U.S. Government To Develop Coronavirus Web Site; Multiple Cruise Ships Quarantined Over Coronavirus Outbreaks; Third NBA Player Tests Positive For Coronavirus; Acts Of Kindness Spread Hope As Virus Impacts Daily Life. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired March 15, 2020 - 06:00   ET

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


[06:00:12]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The U.K. government scrambling to make sense of new regulations from the United States.

KATHERINE ROGERS, PASSENGER ARRIVING IN THE U.S.: We got on an escalator and there were people that's piled at the bottom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New Orleans police shoo St. Patrick's Day revelers gathered in the Irish channel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very disappointed that the mayor decided to squash all the good times for St. Patrick's Day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Car after car, bumper to bumper, in a single-file line, this is now the front line in the war against COVID-19.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we don't want to do is to flood the waiting rooms and emergency departments with patients who are sick.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what Spain's coronavirus state of emergency looks like in Madrid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have not reached our peak. We will see more cases and we will see more suffering and death among the vulnerables.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY WEEKEND with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Big changes are creating major disruption around the world. Countries are moving to stop the spread of the coronavirus. CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. The U.S. first of all is expanding its European travel ban to include the United Kingdom and Ireland. That starts at midnight and the president says domestic travel restrictions may be next.

BLACKWELL: Americans coming back from Europe are finding chaos. Hours- long delays. Look at these lines.

PAUL: Oh, my gosh.

BLACKWELL: They're waiting to go through customs and health screenings at airports and that's raising some serious concerns about hundreds of passengers crowded so closely together potentially exposed.

PAUL: Dramatic emergency measures are in place in Europe. France is closing all non-essential businesses such as restaurants. People in Spain are ordered to stay in their homes. And Vatican is canceling public Easter events.

BLACKWELL: Now there is good news on the health of the president. President Trump says that he is tested negative for the virus after coming into contact with two people who tested positive.

2020 politics also feeling an impact. The state of Georgia is moving its presidential primary to May 19th joining Louisiana in delaying voting.

PAUL: Now the reason for the urgency it's clear in the numbers here. Take a look. 60 people have died in the U.S. There are now more than 2,800 confirmed cases. And around the world the latest data on confirmed cases from the World Health Organization and Johns Hopkins University ranges from more than 140,000 to more than 150,000, and more than 5,000 people who've died.

BLACKWELL: And we have reporters around the world covering all angles of this. Al Goodman is standing by in Madrid. Catherine Norris-Trent is in Paris. Sarah Westwood is in Washington. We're starting with CNN's Polo Sandoval in New York.

Polo, major lines there.

PAUL: Yes. The airports look -- they look disastrous. I don't know who would even want to think about being in that line. Especially when we talk about how people are supposed to keeping some sort of distance from each other. What are you seeing?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's an excellent point here, Victor and Christi, because of course you have the government asking people to practice social distancing. But for many Americans and permanent residents in the United States, upon their return they're greeted by these massive lines, people crammed into hallways to essentially go through the customs process. However, that's really just the beginning.

Of course, as of the last couple days the government has been enforcing this additional health screening. I want you to hear from passengers from across the country what they're experienced after a long flight home and then what they've encountered at airports here at home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGERS (on the phone): We got off our plane and we're directed down a hall and the international terminal. And we got on an escalator and it was just absolutely -- there were people just piled up at the bottom.

JULIA BAZALUK, CAME FROM LONDON: I spent three hours, I think, maybe a little bit more, waiting to first get to customs and then waiting to get second step where I'm not sure what was happening.

EMMA REUSCH, FLYING IN FROM PORTUGAL: Very crowded which is not ideal considering what this contagion is. It's the worst system I can think of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Also remember exactly how we got here. You remember just a couple days the Trump administration announced its plan to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. So what they did they designated 13 airports across the country including here at New York's JFK requiring those passengers returning from about two dozen European countries to land at those airports. They can undergo that CDC mandated screening.

You hear from officials, they're explaining that this is all because of these enhanced measures that are meant to protect the health and safety of people in the United States.

[06:05:00]

Now when you hear from other officials there's certainly no shortage of criticism including Illinois' governor. Chicago's O'Hare also saw some significant lines. The governor there saying that the crowds at the airport are unacceptable and need to be addressed immediately.

The acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf did also go Twitter asking people for patience. At this point they are saying that the process of actually going through these health screenings which includes filling out questionnaire and then being checked out for possible symptoms last only about a minute, Victor and Christi. But multiply that by hundreds of thousands of passengers that are trying to make their way back into the United States. Well, the results are those massive lines.

The government certainly has a lot to make up for. Especially given the inconvenience and of course the concern that many passengers experienced yesterday.

PAUL: Yes. Concern more than anything.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Polo Sandoval for us there at JFK airport. Thank you so much.

Let's take it to Europe now where more countries are enacting stricter measures to limit the spread of the virus. We'll take you first to Spain. Nationwide travel restrictions are now in effect. Spaniards must stay inside their homes. Few exceptions here like going to the hospital, to buy essential supplies as well.

PAUL: Now, after a spike of more than 1,500 cases in a day, including the Spanish prime minister's wife tested positive, that's what prompted all of this. Al Goodman in Central Madrid for us right now. Al, help us understand what it's like there.

AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christi. This is the first day, this Sunday morning, where the whole nation of Spain wakes up and they understands what the rules are to enforce them staying at home except for those exceptional visits out for so called essential services. A day ago they knew there was going to be state of emergency but it was still unclear.

But last night, Saturday night, the prime minister made an extensive statement laid out the rules and those have been now been published everybody to see. And we're seeing enforcement picking up late last night right here in the center of Madrid. Police telling people to go home. Get off the streets. If you don't have something to do. They stopped me. If you don't have something to do, you need to be back at the house.

The prime minister telling the nation these are very difficult times. Here's how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEDRO SANCHEZ, SPANISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): As you all know, Spain is facing a public health emergency that requires extraordinary decisions. A pandemic that is global and that involves serious harm to people's well-being.

The measures we are going to adopt are drastic and will have consequences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOODMAN: Now, there are more than 6,000 cases nationwide. The prime minister also saying these could go to 10,000 in this coming week. The death rate approaching 200 and half of those deaths and half of those cases are right here in the capital, which is really shut down.

People have never seen it like this. I've been here for a long time. I've never seen it like this -- Christi.

PAUL: My goodness. Al Goodman, thank you so much for bringing us that.

BLACKWELL: All right. Let's head north to France now. The streets quiet this morning after sweeping restrictions announced by the French prime minister went into effect just a couple hours ago.

PAUL: Yes. All non-essential businesses, closed. The rule began about six hours ago at midnight it includes restaurants, cafes, cinemas, clubs. Catherine Norris-Trent is a reporter with France 24. She joins us now from Paris. I'm wondering how people are reacting to that. It's one thing to say, stay in your home. It's another thing to virtually shut everything down that they would normally do.

CATHERINE NORRIS-TRENT, REPORTER, FRANCE 24: Yes, Christi. People are still adapting to these sweeping new restrictions here in Paris. It was something of a shock to a lot of people here in France when the prime minister went on national TV around 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night and announced that there would be this new level of shutdowns. All restaurants, cafes, bars, theaters and all shops selling non-essential items such as food or medicine. They are all being shut down as of midnight on Saturday.

So people are adjusting to this new reality. The streets in central Paris are quieter than usual but some people are still out and about, taking a walk. People going for a jog. So it's not complete lockdown. You're still allowed out of your house but a lot of places where there would be social gathers or social contacts have been shut down. And that is going to be something to get used to here in France, because it's a big part of French Parisian culture, of course.

And right up until the lockdown at midnight on Saturday, people were still out enjoying a meal or a drink on the terraces of the French capital saying they wanted to do that while they still could. We're entering a new phase now, though.

BLACKWELL: Catherine, the French will have to navigate what several states here in the U.S. will have to on Tuesday and that's voting. There are local elections there. Undoubtedly, people will be brought together. What are the specific precautions, the guidance for voters?

NORRIS-TRENT: Yes, that's right, Victor. There are local elections taking place. The first round of voting in those elections start at 8:00 a.m. local time here in France, and there are precautions at all of the polling stations.

[06:10:02]

Voters are being asked to stand three feet apart. There are markers on the ground set out in tape by election officials to keep people a good distance apart and then they're being told to let elderly or sick people through as a priority so that they don't have to stand around in cues. Voters are also being asked to bring their own pens and if possible their own ballot slips to the polling stations, which they've been sent via the post. They are also having regular disinfectants of the voting materials and the ballot boxes at the polling stations.

So a lot of security measures being put in place, but the government and President Macron have come under a great deal of criticism for continuing to hold these elections at a time when the other sweeping restrictions have come into force. Opposition politicians saying that they don't understand why the vote hasn't been postponed and even we have doctors coming out publicly, writing open letters saying that it is dangerous and risks further infections to continue with this vote.

BLACKWELL: And we heard here in the state of Georgia that's why the primary has been delayed two months. Catherine Norris-Trent, for us in Paris. Catherine, thank you.

PAUL: Thank you.

So the White House says President Trump has tested negative for the coronavirus, which comes as a surprise. Or after I should say a surprise announcement from the president yesterday, that, yes, he had taken the test and he did so on Friday.

BLACKWELL: Washington is up next. Let's go to CNN White House Reporter, Sarah Westwood for us. So the president and the White House, I mean, they have vacillated on will he take the test, will he not take the test? Is there a reason to? He has finally now done it. Why the change?

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, that's a great question, Victor, because in a memo released late Friday night the president's doctor, the White House physician, said there was no reason for the president to get tested, because the interactions that he had with people who had subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 didn't meet what the physician described as a high risk interaction. He described them as low-risk interactions and therefore the president in his words did not need to be tested. Now that came out late Friday night.

President Trump appeared in the briefing room yesterday and told reporters that he was tested Friday night though and the White House hasn't clarified whether that came before or after his doctor publicly stated that the president would not be tested. But, nonetheless, the White House physician releasing another memo yesterday saying that following in-depth conversations with the president, they mutually decided that the president would be tested for coronavirus. That test came back negative.

Now meanwhile Vice President Mike Pence sent an all staff email yesterday encouraging White House aides, administration officials to practice social distancing, to avoid physical contact with each other. This comes as sort of seems the White House is takes the threat of this virus more seriously for its own staff members and for the people around President Trump.

For example, reporters yesterday had their temperatures taken before they were sent into the briefing room. One reporter who registered 99.9-degree fever was actually turned away from that briefing. So measures are being taken to screen the people who are spending time around President Trump and Vice President Pence now, Victor and Christi.

PAUL: Yes. A lot of people are wondering if there's one site they can go to, to get more of the information that's out there nationally. The president we know on Friday had mentioned this national Web site Google was going to build. And he said that it would be done very quickly. Google disputed that. Do we have any clarity on that Web site this morning?

WESTWOOD: There's a lot of confusion surrounding that Web site that the White House said they were partnering with Google to create. Now Google came out on Friday suggested they were not building a Web site that was national in scale providing information about coronavirus testing. This is after President Trump got up in the Rose Garden and said that they were partnering with Google to very quickly launch a national Web site that could help people find out whether they needed to get tested and where they should go, but last night in a series of tweets Google did say they were partnering with the Trump administration to work on such a Web site.

And Vice President Mike Pence tried to offer some clarity in the briefing room yesterday saying that there will be a pilot version in the San Francisco Bay Area that a subsidiary of Google is working on and they hope to test it there, and then roll it out to the whole U.S. at some point. That San Francisco Web site will be launching on Monday. But, again, a lot of confusion surrounding the rollout of this Web site. It does not appear that a national version is coming anytime soon.

BLACKWELL: Sarah Westwood for us there in Washington. Sarah, thank you.

So we would like to know how the coronavirus outbreak and the response to it is affecting you. Here's a tweet we received from Megan. "I manage a grocery store." I know where this is going. "We are all tired. This is worse than any food holiday with less staff."

I mean, the shelves are empty, the parking lots are full. You go to any grocery store it's the same story. We'll be sharing your stories throughout the morning. Send us a tweet @victorblackwell, @christi_paul. Use the #NEWDAYWEEKEND. We really do appreciate hearing from you.

[06:15:00]

We want to hear your stories, your thoughts. We're all kind of in this thing together.

BLACKWELL: Indeed we are.

PAUL: So cruise ships, they're being kept at sea as more passengers are diagnosed with coronavirus. So the question is, are they able to get the medical treatments that they need? Are the ships going to be allowed to dock? We'll talk about it.

BLACKWELL: Plus, acts of kindness in the middle of a pandemic. How a few good deeds they are making a big difference.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: As we're all sitting here together cruise ships are being quarantined off the coast of the Bahamas, Chile, Brazil, New Zealand. In fact the Bahamas isn't even allowing a ship with five confirmed cases of the coronavirus to dock in free port.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Patrick Oppmann joins us now. He's in Havana, Cuba. Patrick, what do we know about the passengers on these ships? PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, they are trying to keep it together because it really is something of a nightmare scenario for these thousands of passengers.

[06:20:02]

Two off the coast of Chile, one off the coast of Brazil, and this last ship that you're talking about that has five confirmed coronavirus cases that is off now the coast of free port in the Bahamas is the MS Braemar. It is an English cruise ship line, mid size cruise ship, about 900 passengers aboard, and they were supposed to dock last week in Barbados, get off -- end their cruise, but they found out that they had these five people onboard, four crew, one passenger that have now tested positive for the coronavirus. And so Barbados did not allow them to disembark there.

They have now come to the Bahamas which has not had any coronavirus cases officials there say so far. But the Bahamas is allowing them to refuel, to get more food. Resupply essentially off the coast. Not allowing them to dock but is not allowing anybody to get off the ship. They are stuck aboard the ship. And the passengers made available to be in touch with say they are trying to remain calm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: General mood of passengers is hopeful overall. Obviously worried about when and how we're getting home. And clearly you know the risk of catching the virus while we're on board the ship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OPPMANN: And so everybody aboard the ship would really like to know what happens next. The Bahamian government has been very firm saying that they will help the ship, they will allow them to resupply but then the ship needs to continue on somewhere else.

We know from talking with the United Kingdom, government representatives, representatives of this cruise ship line that they're desperately looking for another port of call. Essentially right now they are looking for a different country. They can get everybody off the ship, the people who are infected get them into quarantine at a hospital and then to get everybody, mainly British citizens, back home, but, of course, who, at this point in this pandemic, is going to want to accept this ship that has sick people aboard? That answer is not clear yet.

People are trying to remain calm, and the cruise ship line, the Fred. Olsen Cruise Ship line, has said that they have stopped all sailings for the foreseeable future, but, of course, for the passengers aboard this one particular ship, that news comes too late. They are stuck, and they are trying to find somewhere to go.

PAUL: Somebody has got to take them. These poor people. Patrick Oppmann, so grateful. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Well, coming up, more questions in the spaces of the mixed messages coming from the White House. We'll tell you which governor wants not only more countries added to the travel ban, but wants a domestic travel ban as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:27:01]

BLACKWELL: Welcome back.

The response to the coronavirus outbreak is not only not answering some of the more crucial questions that people have, it's creating new ones. So let's try to get some answers.

Joining me now, CNN National Security Analyst and former Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security, Juliette Kayyem.

Juliette, good morning to you.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good morning, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Let me start here with what's new overnight and the bottlenecking after this European travel ban. I believe we have some pictures we can put up, and also, you know, we're getting reaction. We saw from the governor of Illinois, but also from O'Hare international, they tweeted an apology that says that they've strongly encouraged their federal partners to increase staffing to meet demand. You know how this type of security enhancement should be executed.

KAYYEM: Right.

BLACKWELL: What do you extrapolate from the bottlenecks? Anything more significant than just the obvious lack of staff?

KAYYEM: Well, I think this is the result of a decision that was made in haste without getting the agency in charge to implement it, the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, to get them the manpower, or even the policies to get these people through. So this isn't only just a nightmare for those people it is literally the exact opposite of what we're all supposed to be doing now. That looks like a Petri dish of people together.

You know, we're telling everyone, don't go to movies. Don't go to concerts, and this is just dangerous. So I think it's the result of an administration that doesn't have what we might call just a battle rhythm of what they are actually going to implement so they sort of throw out something, I think, honestly, a little in panic, and then individual, people are impacted in ways that are just absolutely -- I'm going to be strong here. Absolutely outrageous. Not just from, you know, the convenience level but from the public health level.

BLACKWELL: Yes. So that was something that was pretty broad, that the decision to ban the countries --

KAYYEM: Right.

BLACKWELL: -- but the specific countries that were exempt, when we talk about the U.K., we talk about Ireland -- those now being added in at midnight. Seventy-two hours from when the president first announced on Wednesday night the travel ban and then adding two countries that were suspiciously not included initially what do you make of that turnaround, that reversal in such a short period of time?

KAYYEM: Look, just overall this focus on travel is, I think, just a really odd focus at this stage. And I think it shows the sort of, the way that the White House is still thinking about the situation we're in. It is here. This is a homeland security response now.

We need to get the kids. We need to get people identified who are sick. We need to have the entire public socially isolate. That should be the focus now. So they try to, I think, make whole a very odd travel ban by adding additional countries. Probably without more additional resources.

[06:30:00]

So we're just going to put more burdens on a system that can't handle it now. And then you just have a focus on this in a that's just -- it's a distraction at this stage. We need to be focused on identification and kit distribution and the public health and the public safety side of this.

I'm not opposed to urging people to not go on planes. I mean, we all are, because they just end up being areas where lots of people congregate, but in terms of a priority for where we are right now, we really need to focus that it's here rather than we can try to keep it out.

BLACKWELL: So Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wants to go one step further -- well, several steps further here. Beyond a European travel ban, he makes the case for a domestic travel ban. Here is what he said this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): I think the administration needs to look at domestic flights from certain areas where you have outbreaks. And obviously that involves a lot of things with the economy and everything, but I just think what we're seeing here is we're seeing cases now where people clearly would have acquired it somewhere else in the United States, brought it here.

The question is, if these measures are succeeding but then you still have more being brought in, it just makes it much more difficult to be able to contain it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now, the governor acknowledges that Florida Highway Patrol won't be able to stop people from driving across the state line, but what's the plausibility even of a domestic travel ban, stopping people from flying from Seattle to Florida, to other parts of the country?

KAYYEM: So it's not very feasible. I understand the desire to do that. It sort of makes sense. I think the better way to implement it is not as a travel ban but to have maybe, possibly, a stronger isolation ban in Seattle so that Seattle takes charge of where its people are.

I think it's very likely we're going to start to see this not unlike we've seen in Italy and saw in China, different ways of implementing. We have a hot zone essentially in Seattle. People know that word, which is that you just have a lot of cases. You also you have pressure on the system there.

So I think we need to stop thinking about this as ways of keeping stuff out but essentially how to isolate and protect the people who might already be at risk so that they essentially stay put. So I get this sort of political desire, like maybe we can keep this out. It's in every state now, and I would predict by the middle of this week every state will be under a sort of state of emergency as well as the United States is.

So it's just a matter of resources now and where is our focus. And I think we need to focus on isolation and care more than, can we control the airplanes.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And to be clear, Governor DeSantis is more concerned about New Yorkers because of the connection between New York and Florida more than Seattle. But we received your point.

Juliette Kayyem, thanks so much.

KAYYEM: Thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: All right. Tonight, I'm sure that the two Democrats who will be debating will talk a lot about the coronavirus response in their battle for the nomination. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders, one-on-one for the first time. Be sure to watch the CNN and Univision Democratic presidential debate tonight at 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

PAUL: All right. Parents, I know a lot of you are preparing to work from home. And if you have young children, you're thinking, well, what does that look like? How am I going to talk to them about what's happening without scaring them? And finding time to get done where I have to get done as well, we're going to talk about, maybe have some advice. Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:00]

BLACKWELL: All right. We're just getting this in. This is from Nike. Starting tomorrow, Nike is Closing all of its stores in the United States and Canada and Western Europe and Australia and New Zealand. It's all to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. They released a statement just a few minutes ago and they say the move was made to support the well-being of their teammates and consumers.

However, its stores in South Korea and Japan and most of China are staying open for now. PAUL: So the spread of coronavirus is raising obviously a lot of questions for parents. You're going to working from home a lot, I'm sure, this week. Maybe you have young children. And one of the most difficult things is try to explain what this is to kids. How does it spread? How do we protect ourselves?

We have some advice on how to get that done accurately for you to get through to your children. We have the Superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools, Meria Carstarphen, and NPR Education Correspondent Anya Kamenetz. Thank you, ladies, for being with us. We're glad to have you here.

Meria, I wanted to go to you first though real quickly, because a lot of people are wondering why schools were closed so expansively. I know that on Atlanta Public Schools' website, it says there wasn't a particular person that was testing positive, and yet everything is canceled for two, three, maybe four weeks? I think it's still undecided?

MERIA CARSTARPHEN, SUPERINTENDENT OF ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: We're planning up to six weeks if necessary.

PAUL: So what made the determination for you?

CARSTARPHEN: So, Atlanta, the City of Atlanta, is between two counties, we have two counties in our city. And there were confirmed cases in both. And it was clear that it was spreading.

And so what we were learning from a lot of the behavior of the virus, I'm not an expert, but we're listening to the CDC and others who are studying this all the time that we have moved -- there's no way to prevent the virus spread.

[06:40:01]

So we started moving into containment and mitigation strategies. And it was our belief that -- given the guidance we were given, that it was important for us to take a proactive, preemptive strike to contain by closing schools, and that is a very hard decision. We know what that means for kids with food insecurities.

We know what that means for families who are working, but I think that our behavior as a system started with the end in mind. We always believed, or at least our leadership team believed, that we would have to close the district at some point. It was just when would it happen. And we prepared with that mindset and I think that set us up for being a great partner for containment and for mitigating against the spread.

PAUL: So, Anya, I think especially younger children, it's hard to explain it to them because they want their structure. You know, they're used to, and may take a lot of security in what they know is coming. What is the best way, do you think, to explain this to kids without scaring them?

ANYA KAMENETZ, NPR EDUCATION CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, I think that's exactly right. You know, we can't hide our own anxiety from our children. Even very small children pick up on that. And they are hearing little snatches of things.

So the first thing to do is to sit down with them and ask, what have you heard, what questions do you have, and then the reassuring things they need to know, you know, children, thank goodness, are not getting very, very sick. So that's something they need to hear. They need to hear that lots of people are working hard to solve this and fix this.

And they need to know we can all do a lot to help. We can all wash our hands. We can all get better about keeping the house clean. Taking off your shoes when you come in. These are things we're going to do as a family. So let them know exactly what's going on as far as what they can understand.

PAUL: You mentioned earlier, Meria, about the food insecurity among these kids. And we know there are kids that their main source of food is school, breakfast and lunch. You have come up with a plan and I love the fact that APS did this to make sure that they don't go hungry.

CARSTARPHEN: Right. And you don't do it alone. It requires a lot of partnership and a lot of thoughtfulness about how your community works. So every district in the United States will have to come up, I think, with their own unique plan.

But for us, it first started with ensuring that we had anchor sites, where you could not only get the bag meal for lunch and breakfast, but you could also get fresh fruits and vegetables and also get hard canned goods so that you could cook throughout the week and for supper, because we can do breakfast and lunch, getting to dinner is a little harder for a school system.

So we teamed up with non-profits like your local food bank. And we have a new non-profit called Gooder that does help us with the fresh foods and the produce, and then went a step further to make sure that our communities knew about all of the food bank options. And we also got waivers to allow us, which is what we'll be announcing going into next week that we can serve in more of our individual schools in our communities and using your bus transportation system that you already have to kind of run food routes, if you will, throughout your communities. It will also help bring the food closer to families in their homes.

PAUL: That means so much to these families who when you think about canceling school, it's not just the education part or the social part. It's the essential food part of that. I'm so glad, grateful, that you thought through that and was able -- you were able to do that.

I have a tweet I want to get to you, Anya, real quickly from somebody who said, having a difficult time explaining to my teenagers why they need to limit exposure. I want young people to take the threat seriously but I don't want in frightened. So you talk about what we have to say to young children. What about teenagers, because they often look at us and think, you don't know, what you're talking about anyway, mom and dad?

KAMENETZ: Right, right. I mean, this is really going to be based on your judgment about your child's development, but I think that teenagers, you know, this is a time for a little of a math lesson. Show them the flat and curve infographic that's been going around and why it's so important that we spread out the number of infections, talk about the older people in their community, in their family that they love, and how important it is to protect those people, that we may be able to go out and spread it around, but it's really going to be severely affect the most vulnerable among us, and call upon this for them.

This is a character-building experience. I told my daughter, who's younger, I said, you should keep a diary right now, because people are going to be talking about this for a very long time.

PAUL: Yes. Meria Carstarphen, Anya Kamenetz, thank you both so much for being with us.

CARSTARPHEN: Thank you for having us.

KAMENETZ: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Another pro athlete has tested positive for coronavirus and his league's postponed and delayed play. Hear how an organization is using those cancellations to feed people.

[06:45:01]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Another NBA player has tested positive for coronavirus, third confirmed case in the league.

PAUL: Yes. Coy Wire is here with the very latest.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So the Detroit Pistons, they're saying one of their players has come back tested positive for coronavirus and much the case, as exactly was the case with the Utah Jazz player. They're not yet releasing his name now, initially, so maybe we will be able to see who it is later.

The team says the player has been self-isolating since Wednesday and is being cared for by the Pistons medical staffers as they coordinate with health officials.

And while we don't know for certain how the player contracted the virus, the Pistons played the Jazz last Saturday in Detroit, and it was days later that Jazz all-stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell both positive. Mitchell updating everyone on social media yesterday.

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DONOVAN MITCHELL, UTAH JAZZ GUARD: I feel fine. Things are going well. I'm just taking proper precautions. As it was told to me by the health authorities, you've got to stay in isolation.

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WIRE: Good to hear he's heeding the advice and sharing and hopefully kids are looking up to him to know, to take this thing seriously, right?

Now, Toronto Raptors, they played the Jazz two days after the Pistons game. The team says none of its players have tested positive.

Meanwhile, Rudy Gobert has donated half a million dollars between the Jazz' arena staff and relief efforts there in Utah and Oklahoma and in his home country of France. You may remember a few days before, Gobert became the NBA's first positive test, he mocked the league's precautionary measures at a press conference. There you see him touching mics before running off.

Now, almost every major sports league has come to a halt, as we know. Now, other major upcoming events are coming into question. Legendary trainer Bob Baffert is saying the Kentucky Derby officials might move the race to June or even September, quote, Churchill Downs is saying they're not going to run the derby without people there. Whenever they cancel the Masters, that's like the Derby. I've never seen anything like this. It's kind of scary.

Now, the UFC is the only major U.S. sport still fighting, so to speak. UFC President Dana White is having to scramble though to find venues. Fight night in Brazil yesterday went on but without fans, as you can see there. Next week's in London, that has to be moved due to travel restrictions in the U.K. and upcoming events moved in the States also have to be moved. But White says, those fights will go on.

Now, when the NCAA canceled conference basketball tournaments, Greensboro Coliseum, the site of the ACC Championships, was left with a surplus of uneaten food. Well, the Out of the Garden Project, a non- profit in the Greensboro, North Carolina, providing meals to children and families in need, they knew exactly what to do.

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DON MILHOLIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OUT OF THE GARDEN PROJECT: We can feel however we want to about the ACC tournament canceled, but the blessing in that is there are going to be thousands of children who are going to get meals that may not have had that not happened.

Now, I'm not saying that's necessarily worth the tradeoff but it's not a waste.

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WIRE: The director there of the organization went on to say that they're also going to be able address what you were just talking about with our guest, about the students who are out of school needing meals. They're going to be able to use some of that surplus food as well in the event that schools continue to be closed there.

PAUL: That's good to hear. Thank you, Coy. We appreciate it. And on that line, there's one thing that this pandemic cannot do, and that's stop people from being kind, from generous, from making compassion a comeback.

Up next, we're going to tell you about some of the things people are doing around the world, and share some of your stories as well. Stay close.

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PAUL: As fear over the coronavirus spreads, there are acts of kindness by people all around the world that are spreading something else, hope.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Robyn Curnow has a look at a few for us.

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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One of the most insidious effects of the coronavirus is fear. But when times feel as if they're at their worst, we can see hope through the actions of others.

In Italy, residents shuttered in their homes broke out into a round of applause from balconies in a show of support for the doctors and nurses caring for the sick.

Basketball star Steph Curry and his wife are helping to raise money to buy a million meals for children in California who may not have access to lunch anymore because of the school closings.

AYESHA CURRY, RAISING MONEY TO REPLACE SCHOOL MEALS: We want to make sure that we rally around everyone and ensure that these kids are not wondering where their next meal is coming from.

CURNOW: Local communities are asking people to buy gift certificates and vouchers to their favorite restaurants to keep revenue coming in as fewer people are choosing to dine out.

A woman in Oregon tweeted about an elderly couple too afraid to go into a grocery store, so she went instead to get their food. Her tweet is being shared over a hundred thousand times.

REBECCA MEHRA, HELPED ELDERLY COUPLE: It's a difficult time. People are really scared. There's a lot of nerves. I see it in schools, in grocery stores and other places around the community that I live in. But kindness helps.

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CURNOW: People have been using the #coronakindness on Twitter to spread positive stories of how communities are coming together as more and more people are isolated and sick.

Robyn Curnow, CNN, Atlanta. PAUL: Robyn, thank you.

So the outbreak obviously has changed all of our normal routines. We've been sharing your stories here, because you've been sharing them with us and we thank you so much for doing so.

I want to share one with you right now. Somebody wrote, just got back from a family dog walk and now looking forward to a Sunday brunch. Happy family time and stay healthy.

BLACKWELL: This is from Ernie. We were all set to have a baptism for my nephew on the 21st. But now, that's not going to happen in my area because of the churches.

And we know that there are several churches across the country, really, that are moving to a Teleworship. And we've got a couple members of the clergy who are with us next hour and talk about the impact on religious communities.

PAUL: And keep the tweets coming, won't you, because we really do love to hear from you @victorblackwell, @christi_paul. Use the #newdayweekend.

And we have some pictures to share with you. Can you imagine this? Thousands of people living a travelers' nightmare in airports across the U.S. this morning.

BLACKWELL: The huge, long lines, this ongoing wait because of the coronavirus screenings. We're live from one of the country's biggest and busiest airports.

The next hour of your NEW DAY starts right now.

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