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New Day Sunday

U.S. Deaths Near 54,000 As Some States Ease Restrictions; Seven States Experimenting With Gradual Business Reopening; Illinois Reports Significant Rise In Calls To Poison Control; FDA Authorizes Three More Coronavirus Antibody Tests; New York Doctor Shares Video Diary Of His COVID-19 Experience; Maryland Town Rallies Around Woman Who Lost Husband To COVID-19; White House Discussing Plans To Replace HHS Secretary Alex Azar. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired April 26, 2020 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:14]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. CHARLIE BAKER (R-MA): We are in what we referred to as the surge here in Massachusetts.

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): If we don't do this right and we have a second spike, we end up with more economic damage.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): Maybe the life you saved is not your own. You still saved a life.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You can call it germ. You can call it a flu. You can call it a virus. You know, you can call it many different names. I'm not sure anybody even know what is it is.

BRAD PITT AS DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: We know what it is.

TRUMP: And then I say the disinfectant. Where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And, is there a way we can do something like that? By injection.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. And wherever you're watching around the world I'm Victor Blackwell. Thanks for being with us.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: And Christi Paul. We're so grateful to have you here.

You know, "The Washington Post" this morning has quite a headline, "Ready or not, America is opening back up."

BLACKWELL: Yes. But this morning the coronavirus has killed at least 53,934 Americans. And right now more restrictions are being lifted across the country. State leaders are hoping that the weeks of social distancing will now allow some businesses to reopen and allow people to return to some sense of normalcy. PAUL: We started to see a little bit of that this weekend. Barbershops and nail salons filled up in parts of Georgia. Take a look at the beaches in California. They were pretty packed with residents looking to beat the heat. And in Alaska, well, that state allowed some restaurants to open though they can't exceed 25 percent of their normal capacity.

BLACKWELL: Now as the restrictions are eased in some states Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease doctor, has a warning. He says states must have enough tests to respond to inevitable outbreaks that will occur and that the U.S. needs to double the amount of tests it's doing.

Let's begin with CNN's Jason Carroll in New York. Jason, good morning to you and despite some of the expert warnings that these states are not ready, more states will start to ease restriction this week. What are we expecting from other states?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, I mean, in terms of what to expect there's really, Victor, no one way of looking at this. Because when you look at the states across the country so many states have different plans, different ways of reopening.

New York still very much stay-at-home. But then you look at the state of Georgia where the governor there is taking a lot of heat from critics who are saying he's doing too much too soon.

You've got bowling alleys that are opening. Tattoo parlors. You've got a number of businesses there where you can go out and with some restrictions go to some of those businesses there.

You look the state of Kentucky, much different. Where you've got some aspects of the medical industry are opening this week. You'll be able to go to the dentist in Kentucky. You'll be able to go for physical therapy. Or you look out at Southern California where you've got some of the beaches open on limited capacity.

So, different states operating and reopening in different ways. But having said that, you still have governors in states such as New Jersey and in New York who are saying, look, too much, too soon.

In New York, for example, where some of the numbers are trending in a positive direction, "USNS Comfort," for example, just one patient left. The number of hospitalizations in the state are down. The number of intubations are down. But even with some of those positive numbers New York's governor says, look, still have to do a lot in terms of testing before anyone at least in this state can talk about reopening -- Victor, Christi.

PAUL: Yes, Jason. Dr. Anthony Fauci says that we need to double the testing that we're seeing so far. Did he say anything more about the capability of that? Because that's where the question is coming into play.

CARROLL: Right, a couple of things. You know, Dr. Fauci also talked a about the need for continued isolation and the need for contact tracing. But what he also pointed out is the need to increase the amount of testing in the United States by double.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE: We don't want to get fixated. But right now, you know, we're doing about 1.5 to 2 million per week. We probably should get up to twice that as we get into the next several weeks and I think we will. Testing is an important part of what we're doing, but it's not the only part.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: So, Dr. Fauci also went on to say that as the country starts to reopening -- all of these states reopening in different ways, he says it's very likely that what you're going to see are more outbreaks as more people are coming into contact with each other.

[06:05:01]

And he says, that's also another reason why you're going to need more and more tests -- Victor, Christi.

PAUL: All right. Jason Carroll, always appreciate your updates. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: So, after the president's comments on disinfectants on Thursday the Illinois public health director says her department has seen a significant increase in calls to poison control over the last two days.

PAUL: Yes. She says some of those calls included someone using a detergent-based solution for a sinus rinse. Another person gargling with a bleach and mouthwash mixture to try to kill germs. Here's the warning she's giving now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. NGOZI EZIKE, DIRECTOR, ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Injecting, ingesting, snorting household cleaners is dangerous. It is not advised and can be deadly. In the past two days, there's been a significant increase in calls to the Illinois Poison Center compared to this same time last year associated with exposures to cleaning agents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Our CNN medical analyst Dr. Saju Mathew with us now. He's also a public health specialist and primary care physician in Atlanta. Dr. Mathew, always so good to see you.

DR. SAJU MATHEW, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Thank you.

PAUL: I want to get your reaction to that. And I think a lot of people hear what's happening and they think surely nobody is going to try to drink or use bleach internally in some way to ingest it. There are so many messages not to do it, how effective are they? MATHEW: Good question, Christi. Yes, I realize that a lot of people are desperate. We're so worried about getting this infection and dying, but this is absolutely not a recommended treatment at all.

A lot of times as doctors we say, we don't have enough studies to prove that can be damaging. We don't need any studies, Christi, to prove that ingesting, swallowing, snorting, putting stuff on the eyes, face, could be very dangerous and life threatening. So, it's absolutely something that nobody should be doing at all for COVID-19.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about antibody tests that are happening. We are being told that finding out who has these antibodies could lead to the structure, the philosophy that gets people back to work, back to some sense of normalcy. But we got from the World Health Organization, this caveat that -- and this is from their release. There's currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection.

If that's true and there's no evidence yet, how does that change how we look at getting back to work?

MATHEW: Good morning, Victor.

We're all excited about this COVID-19 immunity passport. And if this virus is going to behave likes its cousins, you know, the SARS virus which offer two years of immunity or the common cold believe it or not which is also in the coronavirus family which offers two months of immunity, I think what the WHO is suggesting is we don't really know at this point. And as we know about 20 percent of people in New York tested positive for antibodies

So, I think what the World Health Organization is basically saying is don't get carried away just because you have antibodies, this is a new virus. We don't really know if we're going to have immunity or for how long we're going to have immunity. But we're going to find out soon in the near future as the antibody testing becomes more verifiable and more specific to COVID-19.

PAUL: As a doctor I know that you're getting used to the new reality that we're dealing with as are your patients. We're talking to our producer about how you have become a teledoctor so to speak because you're doing so many things that are not person to person any longer.

How confident are you that you can accurately diagnosis someone if you can't see them in person?

MATHEW: There's a lot that we could do with telemedicine. It's also something that's very new to me.

I'm a primary care physician that sees about 20 patients a day here in my city, but recently 90 percent of my visits have been telemedicine. And patients are really taking well to it.

There's a lot you can do. We can check -- the patient can check their blood pressure. They can check their pulse. I can see a patient. They can see me. I'm able to reassure them. The other day, Christi, I diagnosed a lady with a blood clot, which is a life-threatening illness all on telemedicine. There are restrictions, but there's so much we can do, especially patients that are anxious. Do I have COVID-19? I can see them. They can see me. I can reassure them. It's actually pretty remarkable how much we could do as telemedicine doctors.

BLACKWELL: Saju, the CDC tripled the number of symptoms of COVID-19.

[06:10:05]

Initially there were the three. Fever, cough, shortness of breath. They've added this weekend chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell.

I wonder headache and a sore throat those are common. Is there a single symptom that's enough to worry or is there a combination without a fever that should prompt concern?

MATHEW: Ninety-five percent of patients with COVID-19 will have a fever. It's probably close to 99 percent. Having said that, Victor, just as you mentioned, because we're learning about this virus in real time, we're adding more and more symptoms, loss of taste, loss of smell. And recently stroke-like symptoms. Patients that have neurological symptoms or even blue toes. These are all possible symptoms of COVID-19.

So, what I tell all my patients is, listen, we don't have a specific symptom. If you're concerned about anything you should really contact your doctor and make sure that they are aware of it.

PAUL: Saju, I want to get to this viewer question because it's a good one and it encompasses two things. One information from the World Health Organization that you're not immune, that there's no evidence of immunity if you have had COVID-19. And also a lot of the concerns about what's going to happen in the fall. If there's going to be a second wave.

Catherine Williams writes, "If you can get reinfected could the second time be less severe?"

Can we even answer that right now?

MATHEW: Technically speaking -- I'm sorry.

PAUL: Can we even answer that right now? I know there are so many questions about this disease.

MATHEW: Yes. We can answer that by looking at history. This virus, like I said, belongs to the family of coronaviruses. SARS is part of it. The common cold is part of it.

If you look at the history of viruses, if you develop some sort of immunity or antibodies, that second infection technically should not be as bad as the first. But, again, I want to be cautious because we don't know too much about the COVID-19 virus specifically. But I'm also optimistic that once we develop antibodies, we are going to have some form of immunity and that second possible infection should not be as severe as the first one.

BLACKWELL: Dr. Saju Mathew, always good to have you to offer some clarity, sir. Thanks for being with us.

PAUL: Thank you.

MATHEW: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: So, for weeks now we have been introducing the doctors in New York who have been really at the front of this fight of the pandemic. And it includes an anesthesiologist who recovered from COVID-19 and is now part of a hospital rapid response team.

PAUL: Yes. He gave CNN a firsthand look at the day-to-day challenges of treating patients during the crisis. Here's his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. ZEVY HAMBURGER, ANESTHESIOLOGIST, MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL: I'm Zevy Hamburger. I'm an anesthesiologist at Mount Sinai. I recovered from coronavirus about four or five weeks ago. And I have been working at Mount Sinai on the front lines treating patients and trying to support our staff as we fight the pandemic.

I'm donating convalescent plasma, which is hopefully rich antibodies. We give this plasma to someone who is acutely infected with coronavirus. The antibodies that are in the plasma start attacking the virus while the person themselves start mounting their own immune response, their own antibody response.

So I'm headed right now to assist with an intubation. I mean, it's putting a breathing tube in someone who's getting sicker and sicker and having difficulty breathing on their own.

So we're all ready to go. Jay (ph) our respiratory therapist is actually bringing in one of our ventilators so we can get prepared and everything set up before we actually do the procedure.

Running to another emergency airway with the respiratory rapid response team. Obviously trying to assess the situation as quickly as possible and intervening while we can to help people.

So I'm running to another intubation. This is my fifth for the day actually. It's about 2:30 in the afternoon.

It's really kind of crazy how sick this virus makes people. And because there's no visitors here, we end up taking the role of not just people as doctors but also the representative speaking to their families trying to connect loved ones with each other, holding the phone, trying to speak between mother and son and other family members. It might be their last words to each other.

When we're done with this crisis, when we've won I have a lot of hope. I think that this is going to make us come out a lot stronger and we're all going to work together. And all the people who are going to benefit from that are our future patients.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Let me take you to Bowie, Maryland now where people are rallying around a beloved community member who lost her husband to COVID-19.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

[06:15:04]

BLACKWELL: So, this is a motorcade that's driving past the home of Tamela Taylor-Orr. She's an assistant principal at a middle school in Prince George's County. Now get this. Her husband 55-year-old Curtis Orr died suddenly after contracting the virus this month.

Her friends and colleagues and students, they wanted to find a way to show their support while also paying tribute to her husband. So they created this caravan. You see the signs there. The hearts. And she stood there in the rain accepting those messages from her friends and colleagues.

PAUL: That kind of thing makes all the difference.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Especially when a lot of people who lose someone, they can't have traditional funerals.

PAUL: Right.

BLACKWELL: All those people cannot pack into a church or to a funeral home. So, this is the best that they could have done. And she really absorbed it and appreciated it.

PAUL: All right. It makes all the difference when you are -- especially when you're alone.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: And if you're trying to just reconcile that on your own. That's a hard thing to do.

I have seen a lot of people actually on social say, I want to go to church. You know, I want to be back with my church family.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: Well, there are some churches in Georgia that can hold services today. However, there's a pastor with a huge congregation saying, not so fast. Reverend Jamal Bryant is joining us to talk about his choice and how he believes you can pray and stay safe.

BLACKWELL: Still ahead, where's Kim Jong-un? New satellites, the images out of North Korea are adding to this growing mystery of the dictator's health and his disappearance from the public. Why the location of a train could be a clue. PAUL: And new questions this morning about a potential shakeup in President Trump's cabinet. What a White House source is telling us about a potential reshuffle at the Health and Human Services Department.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:21:02

BLACKWELL: Well, as the Trump administration faces criticism of its early response to the coronavirus pandemic, an official in the cabinet, his job may be in jeopardy. A senior administration official tells CNN that discussions are happening right now at the White House for a plan to replace the Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar.

PAUL: CNN's Sarah Westwood is following the latest for us from the White House. So, Sarah, what do you know about any eminent cabinet shake-up?

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, good morning, Christi. And it's not clear how eminent this move is or even if it will happen. Sources tell CNN that there's not necessarily an appetite for some kind of big staffing shake-up right now in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

But it is clear that Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar has been on thin ice in the Trump administration for a while now. We're hearing that there has been some finger pointing going on directed at Azar about some of the administration's earlier missteps related to handling the response to COVID-19.

And also the president was frustrated over the lack of communication from Azar on key health decisions earlier in the response. Now in a sign of perhaps the peril of the position that Azar is in, a long-time Trump loyalist Michael Caputo a former 2016 campaign adviser, was installed as the thus HHS spokesman just a couple week ago. A sign perhaps of the distrust that some Trump loyalists have of Azar and also, of course, at the beginning of all of this Vice President Mike Pence was appointed head of the coronavirus task force a job that Azar had been doing before.

Now an HHS spokesperson really down played this in a statement saying Secretary Azar is busy responding to a global public health crisis and doesn't have time for policy intrigue. The White House similarly dismissed this saying that it is a distraction. But, of course, this is all happening against the backdrop of scrutiny of the agency's ouster of its top vaccine expert, Dr. Rick Bright, who is now filing a whistleblower complaint at HHS, Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: Sarah, the president did a lot of tweeting yesterday but there's one that's getting a lot of attention where he talks about the waste that he sees, these briefings can be. There was no briefing yesterday.

What do we know? Is there some announcement coming? WESTWOOD: Well, it's an attitude, Victor, that's shared by many aides and allies who have been pushing the president to stop holding as many briefings. Or hearing that they are viewing them as a sort of diminishing returns coming out of these briefings that the president sometimes allows them to go on too long. And, of course, the episode that we saw on Thursday, the president referring to light and disinfectant inside the body as potential treatments something health experts quickly denounced.

As a prime example of the kind of missteps and unforced errors that can occur in that setting, but I want to read you what the president tweeted yesterday. He said, "What is the purpose of having White House News Conferences when the Lamestream Media asks nothing but hostile questions, and then refuses to report the truth or facts accurately. They get record ratings and the American people get nothing but Fake News. Not worth the time and effort."

And this comes as CNN is also reporting that the president has been absent from the task force meetings often the precede the briefings and that perhaps the White House is considering cutting back on these briefings, Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: All right. We'll see what the new week will bring. Sarah Westwood for us there at the White House. Thanks so much.

Later this morning, Jake Tapper will be joined by Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response task force coordinator, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Colorado governor Jared Polis, and Stacey Abrams also. That's coming up on "STATE OF THE UNION" right here on CNN at 9:00 eastern.

PAUL: So, Dr. Anthony Fauci has a very serious job. He's very stoic but he did crack a smile when he was asked this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Which actor would you want to play you? Here are some suggestions, doctor. Ben Stiller, Brad Pitt. Which one?

FAUCI: Oh, Brad Pitt of course.

PITT: I'm Dr. Anthony Fauci.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: And look at that. What happens last night on SNL?

[06:25:00]

That's one Mr. Brad Pitt and a lot of people saying he nailed it. We've got more of it coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Welcome back.

Hospitals all across the country are facing huge challenges because of the coronavirus pandemic.

PAUL Yes. And the situation is particularly tough for rural hospitals. There are fears that are growing there that some of these facilities may close for good. Here's CNN's Leyla Santiago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Among the rolling hills and the open fields --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A laid back community to me it's one of the best places to live.

SANTIAGO: Rural America has largely been able to avoid the worst of the coronaviruses. No packed ICUs and wards filling up but there are people with COVID-19. Eighty percent of rural counties across the country have now reported cases.

[06:30:00]

And though it is nowhere near the spike seen in metropolitan areas, for doctors, like Dr. Donovan Beckett in West Virginia --

DR. DONOVAN BECKETT, PHYSICIAN, WILILAMSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: It has been devastated. I mean, having COVID on top of it, an already struggling healthcare system has been quite burdensome.

SANTIAGO: The presence of a pandemic is just one more financial burden on struggling rural hospitals already trying to stay afloat. 19 rural hospitals closed last year, victims of cuts to Medicare and Medicaid funding and reduced populations.

DR. RANDY TOBLER, CEO AND PHYSICIAN, SCOTLAND COUNTY HOSPITAL: It's just a perfect storm for Armageddon.

SANTIAGO: Dr. Randy Tobler is an, OB-GYN and the CEO of Scotland County Hospital in Missouri, which serves about 5,000 people. When elective procedures came to a halt in response to the coronavirus, their revenues dropped by more than half.

TOBLER: When we were already in a tremendously fragile financial situation, it has really put a tremendous burden on our ability to meet payroll.

SANTIAGO: Last month, the hospital furloughed some staff and reduced pay across the board, desperate to avoid running out of money and having to close, which would be devastating toing to the community.

TOBLER: Yes, these are the vulnerable population. They are older and they're sicker and they are for -- more vulnerable to the coronavirus menace.

DANIELLE BAIR, PATIENT, SCOTLAND COUNTY HOSPITAL: It is critical for our area to keep the hospital here.

SANTIAGO: Tobler's patients, Danielle and Jake Bair, are both recovering from COVID-19 and said, having a hospital with familiar faces closer to home made all the difference.

BAIR: We are about an hour from any other healthcare facility. And there are times when people need emergency care and we need it now.

SANTIAGO: Back in Mingo Count, West Virginia, Williamson Memorial Hospital will likely shut down any day.

BECKETT: We have obviously had to do away with having elective procedures then on an already struggling volume level. So that creates a perfect storm and makes it difficult.

SANTIAGO: After filing for bankruptcy late last year, the hospital was hoping a future partnership could save it. Then came COVID-19.

BECKETT: It was the last straw and the current hundred (ph) decided that they would go ahead and proceed closing the hospital.

SANTIAGO: The relief package Congress passed last month provided some temporary relief to rural hospitals with a $100 billion fund for hospitals and other healthcare providers. It's not enough, Tobler says.

TOBLER: We were a vulnerable and remain a vulnerable and are probably now a more vulnerable rural hospital because there's no foundational change.

SANTIAGO: And as for those elective procedures that so many of these rural hospitals depend on, lifting those restrictions, well, that will be up to state and local governments, and that is a conversation that some states are already having.

Leyla Santiago, CNN, Rappahannock County, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Our thanks to Leyla for that report.

Reports out of North Korea this morning, a possible thank you, a mysterious train stop are adding to this intrigue surrounding the health dictator Kim Jong-un.

PAUL: Yes. His current condition is still unknown. And this is days after CNN first reported that the U.S. is monitoring intelligence that Kim is in, quote, grave danger after a surgery.

Well, CNN's Will Ripley has reported from inside North Korea 19 times since 2014. This morning, he's following this mystery from Tokyo. So, Will, you are our go-to guy here and you have seen so much in North Korea. We always have questions about what's happening there because there is a mystery behind North Korea. But what are you seeing this morning that tells you something extraordinary might be happening?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi and Victor. Well, look, even when Kim Jong-un vanished from public site for 40 days back in 2014, and it turns out he was recovering from surgery, it was nothing like this in terms of the speculation and the conflicting reports running the full spectrum of Kim Jong-un being just fine to Kim Jong-un being at death's door.

These are reports that I suspect are based largely on secondhand information after CNN's Jim Sciutto received information directly from U.S. intelligence that they were monitoring information that Kim Jong- un's health was in grave danger after a surgical procedure. Rumors are spreading like wildfire.

I can tell you this. I have very well-placed sources who have no idea, days after Jim's initial report, what is actually happening with Kim Jong-un's health. And the reason for that is that only a very small group of people are going to have direct knowledge.

And so I, frankly, am taking a lot of these reports that we're hearing with a grain of salt until we hear directly confirmation, denial, facts from North Korea. And they have been radio silent in that regard.

Yes, they have been putting out bulletins saying, he sent a message to this leader or that leader. These are encrypted emails that have an electronic signature that other people sign off on. They prove nothing.

[06:35:00]

We don't have any recent pictures or video. And until we get that proof, all we have to do is read the tea leaves.

Now, we did get a new clue overnight in terms of the is satellite images that were released by a U.S. think tank 38 North. They show what appears to be Kim Jong-un's train at his luxurious beach front compound in Wonsan. It's a place I have visited before. The fact his train is there I find interesting, because Kim Jong-un usually prefers to fly there. He often flies his own plane to Wonsan. It's a much more convenient way for him to travel.

The train being there could indicate maybe he had surgery and he can't fly right now. Maybe there is a serious procession about to leave from his compound because trains often serve that role. Kim Jong-un took a train to meet with President Trump with Hanoi at the summit. His father, Kim Jong-il died on this train and was taken back to Pyongyang on board.

But even the presence of the train really doesn't prove or disprove anything about Kim Jong-un's health, the only answers we will get, Christie and Victor, are from the North Koreans themselves, when and if they're ready to give that information to the world.

BLACKWELL: And the world is waiting for that information. Will Ripley there for us this morning, thanks so much, Will.

PAUL: Thank you, Will.

BLACKWELL: So, coming up, we have this -- it's an amazing story of a former Navy fighter pilot who has spent six years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He's going to share the lessons that he learned from that time and how they applied to living during this pandemic. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:00]

BLACKWELL: So you're up early with us, a good chance that you weren't up to late last night. So you missed it, Saturday Night Live at home was back this weekend. Brad Pitt was the host. And he opened the show as Dr. Anthony Fauci, the national health expert of this ongoing pandemic.

PAUL: Now, Pitt translated the president's recent remarks about COVID- 19. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Anybody that needs a test gets a test. They are there. They have the tests. And the tests are beautiful.

BRAD PITT, ACTOR: Okay, a couple things. I don't know if I would describe the test as beautiful. Unless your idea of beauty is having a cotton swab tickle your brain. Also, when he said everyone can get a test, what he meant was almost no one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: So, CNN Chief Media Correspondent and Anchor of Reliable Sources, our Brian Stelter with us now. All right, Stelter, just talk about saying, listen, I want Brad Pitt and just getting it laid out right there.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: This is the incredible powerful of CNN and New Day, because Dr. Fauci was on a few weeks ago and he was asked on the morning show, who would you want to have play you. And I think as maybe as a joke, Fauci said Brad Pitt. But ask and you shall receive when you're one of the nation's top doctors. Can you imagine the call that Brad Pitt was getting at home from SNL asking to participate?

But, hey, I guess these actors, these celebrities, they don't have a lot to go do either right now. They are at home just like most of the rest of us. So it's actually pretty easy to get someone like Brad Pitt to come on SNL.

I also loved how the end of this cold open, Brad Pitt got more serious. He took makeup off. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PITT: I'm getting fired. But until then, I'm going to be there putting out the facts for whoever is listening. And when I hear things like the virus can be cured if everyone takes the Tide Pod challenge, I'll be there to say, please don't.

And to the real Dr. Fauci, thank you for your calm and your clarity in this unnerving time. And thank you to the medical workers, first responders and their families for being on the frontline. And now live, kind of, from all across America, it's Saturday Night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: What a difference a great wig makes. I mean, he transforms in a moment right there. And it's great to hear that tribute to Dr. Fauci and other heroes of this experience on SNL.

You know what I noticed about SNL? This is the second time there's an at-home episode of the late night show. And like a lot of these late night shows and entertainment shows and talk shows, they are getting more professional looking and formalized and it's starting to look like real T.V. again.

I think what's happening is, just like the rest of the country, people are getting settled in for what may be a very long duration experience of being at home, of hunkering down. And these shows are getting pretty good at doing it.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And we all have had to get pretty good at doing it. You know it well. I know it well.

Let me ask you before you go, there's one more sketch that you want to talk about. Tell me about it.

STELTER: Well, I don't know what was going on with this sketch, which featured our friends at a headline news with a character named Brian Sutter, definitely not me. I think if they ever parodied me, I'll know it. But it was a little bit of a Chris Cuomo vibe going on. We'll show you the video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have been quarantined in my guest house for about ten days now. Unfortunately, I did pass the virus to my teenage daughter, Sarah. She's doing fine, although she is stuck in here with me. So -- but we're getting along okay, right, Sarah?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: So they have got the Chris Cuomo background down pretty perfectly. The but the idea of the sketch here, you have the teenage daughter working the camera using the snapchat filters against him.

[06:45:04]

It kind of surprises -- actually, it hasn't happened very often in television news in recent weeks. I'm just glad my three-year-old can't quite work the camera yet, guys.

PAUL: We're all grateful that our kids can't work the cameras yet. Yes, they will.

BLACKWELL: Someday, we'll get there.

PAUL: Stelter, thank you so much. STELTER: Thank you.

PAUL: And, remember, you can catch Brian on Reliable Sources, 11:00 A.M. Eastern today right here on CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: While, the coronavirus pandemic, I know, is affecting all of us in different ways, there's no doubt what we're living through is challenging, unlike anything that we have ever experienced before because we're doing it not just individually, but collectively as well.

Our next guest knows all about overcoming adversity though. Take a look at him here. He served in Vietnam.

[06:50:00]

He spent nearly six years as a prisoner of war. Former Navy Fighter Pilot Captain Charlie Plumb is with us now.

Captain Plumb, I first want to say thank you for your service and for what you went through for this country to make sure that we have the freedoms that we have.

When we think about the fact that you were shot down during combat over North Vietnam and then were held for six years and you talk about how you were tortured and you were beaten, and we know, physically, you were so, obviously, broken at times. How mentally did you keep from breaking?

CAPTAIN CHARLIE PLUMB, FORMER NAVY FIGHTER PILOT AND POW: You have to see that the interesting part is that the torture and the beatings and the bad food and the disease weren't the roughest part. The toughest part in a prison situation was the isolation that we underwent, because they kept us separated from all the other fighter pilots. I mean, sometimes we'd have a roommate if we were lucky, but other than that, we were totally isolated.

And it so relates to what we're all going through right now with the fear and the loneliness and the frustration and the isolation and the lack of toilet paper. You can't make this stuff up. But you draw on your inner strength. You lose your mind, as we did.

I started out by going back through my life and trying to remember every book I had ever read, every movie I had ever seen, every girl I had ever dated, and that took about three months to totally exhaust my total autobiography.

And then I went forward in my mind and planned the future, because we had no books to read or T.V. to watch or windows to look at, not a pencil or piece of paper to write on for nearly six years.

PAUL: I want to listen here to part of your TED talk as well, where you discussed how to find value in adversity. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PLUMB: But you will have challenges in your life. That's part of life. The stress, the adversity, and I am convinced that adversity is a horrible thing to waste, that there's value in every experience in life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: There are a lot of people, as you mentioned, that they have anxiety and the isolation and maybe feeling hopelessness. How do you find value? How do we find value in this crisis?

PLUMB: I try to make it a puzzle. I'm a big believer that there is value in adversity. And then the tricky part is finding it. And so I challenge myself every day to find positive parts of negative issues. And I think that we all can do that because there truly is value in every adversity in life.

PAUL: When you are in that dark place mentally, is there one thought, is there one quote, one memory, one technique you use to try to keep your sanity and to try to keep you engaged?

PLUMB: the normal human response, I think, in any kind adversity is to start blaming other people when we throw ourselves with this acid, this vitriol. And I quote this meant a lot to me and I got this in the prison camp, as a matter of fact, is a guy tapping on a wall, tapping quotes and bible verses and poetry. And what he said was this. Acid does more harm in the vessel it's stored than on the subject it's poured. The idea is if I have all this hate and vitriol within me, it's going to destroy me.

And I decided in that prison camp that if I was going to die there, they're going to have to work at it. I wasn't going to kill myself by being bitter and angry and blaming everybody else from my problem and going into this pity party. And so I think that's really the key, is that to take advantage of adversity, you have to deny the fact that it's anybody else's fault but yours. Take control of your destiny. Be open and honest. Tap into your support groups that you have. And challenge yourself to find the value.

PAUL: Captain Charlie Plumb, you are extraordinary. Thank you so much for taking time to be with us and thank you again for your service and your words that I think a lot of us need to hear. Thank you so much. Take good care of yourself.

PLUMB: Thanks, Christi.

BLACKWELL: So, coming up next hour, the dilemma of how to reopen the economy and keep workers safe. We'll be asking Mary Kay Henry, who speaks for 2 million service employees how she thinks America can safely get back to work.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:00] PAUL: I know, we just want to keep listening, don't we? Alicia Keys says every time she plays her new song, Good Job, she cries, close here. We get it.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Keys says that she wrote the song months ago and originally she was thinking of people like her mother and grandmother. But as the pandemic spread, it just made sense to her that the lyrics also served as a tribute to healthcare professionals, frontline workers, parents and teachers and it certainly does, beautiful lyrics. And, of course, when she's singing, she commands all the attention, beautifully written.

[07:00:01]

And, listen, in just a few minutes, we'll be joined by the pastor, Jamal Bryant.