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President Trump Blasts Mail-In Voting; States Reopening; WHO Reports Largest One-Day Increase In Coronavirus Cases; Trump Blames China Incompetence For Mass Worldwide Killing After Praising The Country Early In The Pandemic; Churches Are Reopening, But Can Services Be Held Safely? Aired 6-7p ET

Aired May 20, 2020 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:13]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Tonight, Americans are weighing the risk of venturing out of their homes, now that all 50 states are at least partially reopened, even if the coronavirus is continuing to take a staggering toll.

More than 93,000 Americans have now died. More than 1.5 million have been infected. With this crisis still far from over, President Trump has been lashing out and trying to deflect blame.

Tonight, he's continuing to threaten to withhold emergency funding from Michigan and Nevada, falsely accusing those states of encouraging voter fraud as they lawfully offer citizens an opportunity to vote by mail, in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

And he's now trying to walk back criticism of the CDC director, saying Dr. Robert Redfield is doing a good job, even though sources tell CNN Redfield's fate is now in question.

Let's go straight to our White House Correspondent, Kaitlan Collins.

Kaitlan, you were there in the Cabinet room, the president meeting with two governors. What did the president say when you asked him about his threat to withhold funding from the states of Michigan and Nevada because of their efforts to encourage mail-in voting during this time of coronavirus pandemic?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, he now says it may not be necessary to withhold funding, though he didn't even specify which funding exactly it was that he wanted to withhold from Michigan, after the secretary of state sent out mail-in ballot applications to the state's registered voters, something the president had to correct earlier today after he said that the secretary of state had sent mail-in ballots to the state's registered voters.

But he's still alleging that something illegal is happening in Michigan, though, so far, his press secretary did not identify exactly what it is that he believes that's happening that is illegal.

And he himself, just without evidence, said he believes there is widespread fraud for mail-in voting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Mail-in ballots are very dangerous. There is tremendous fraud involved and tremendous illegality.

COLLINS: But there are many Republicans -- secretaries of state -- that are also moving to mail-in ballots because of the pandemic and people are scared to go vote.

TRUMP: Well, we're going to see how it all works out.

But they had 7.7 million applications sent out. They have -- in the state of Nevada, they have tremendous -- they have a tremendous drive- in, where you just mail in your ballots. You can't do that. You got to go and vote.

People have to check you. They have to see that it's you. They're supposed to look at you and check you and make sure that -- I mean, when you get thousands of ballots, and they put them in a bag and they just bring them in and people start count -- who knows where they come from?

It's so obvious. I mean, frankly, they should have voter I.D. That's what they should have.

If you really want to know what the country wants, the country wants voter I.D. Otherwise, there's going to be -- it's going to be subject to tremendous illegality and fraud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Now, Wolf, we should note the president and the first lady voted by mail in Florida's presidential primary about two months ago.

And he's making these allegations. It's not really clear where it's going to go from here, because, as we have noted, several Republican secretaries of state have also moved to this because of the pandemic and just how unclear the next few months is going to look like.

And even the RNC Chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, said she doesn't have a problem with mailing applications for these mail-in ballots.

BLITZER: People have been mailing in their ballots for a long time in all sorts of states right now. And there's very little evidence that there was widespread fraud at all.

Let's talk about the CDC director, Kaitlan, because the president also spoke about his relationship with Dr. Robert Redfield.

COLLINS: Yes, he praised him. He said he thinks he's doing a good job, Wolf. He also did denied CNN reporting from yesterday that the president had

complained about the CDC at a lunch with the Republican senators, even though multiple sources told us that the president had complained about it, talked about that delayed testing rollout that happened because of the contamination at a lab at the CDC, essentially violating their own lab practices.

But, instead, the president said he has confidence in the CDC, though he did question about those early tests that happened and what went on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: How come yesterday, at the Republican lunch, that you were complaining about the CDC and the delayed rollout of testing, do you think that...

TRUMP: No, I wasn't complaining. I don't know who gave you that. It's fake news.

COLLINS: Do you think Robert Redfield is doing a good job leading the CDC?

TRUMP: Yes, I do. I do. It's fake news, Kaitlan. Fake news. Therefore, you can report it on CNN.

COLLINS: But you didn't -- you didn't complain...

TRUMP: It's perfect for CNN.

COLLINS: You didn't complain about the CDC...

TRUMP: No, not at all.

COLLINS: ... and the test...

TRUMP: No, no, no, no.

COLLINS: Do you think they did a good job with testing at the beginning?

TRUMP: Well, you're asking me a wise guy question.

At the beginning -- and again, I didn't put CDC there. CDC has been there long before the Trump administration came in. But they had a test that was -- was -- something happened to it. It was soiled. It was...

[18:05:05]

COLLINS: Contaminated.

TRUMP: It was soiled and/or foiled, but it was a problem, a short-term problem. It lasted for about a week.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Wolf, we actually know it led to weeks of delay in testing. That's what multiple health officials have said.

But we should note, as we were leaving the room there, he did say he's got about two days left in that hydroxychloroquine prescription that he's been taking. So it says that he should finish up about Friday with it, of course, given all the concerns we have heard from some medical experts about the president touting that he's taking a drug that's not proven to prevent or treat coronavirus, according to the FDA.

BLITZER: That's according to the FDA, indeed.

All right. We also saw, Kaitlan, the vice president traveling today for the first time since the day his press secretary tested positive for coronavirus. What was he doing down in Florida? And you were in the room when we heard from the president once again.

COLLINS: Yes. You see there that the vice president is not wearing a mask as he's in Florida. This is the first trip he's taken leaving Washington.

Last week, we really didn't see much of the vice president at all. He was trying to keep his distance from President Trump. He's changed that this week. He was visiting Florida, trying to essentially highlight their reopening that you can see is happening, people sitting at restaurants.

He's there with the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, not wearing a mask. And we should note his press secretary has still not returned to work and is still dealing with, of course, after she tested positive from that coronavirus test.

BLITZER: Yes. They should be sending a message back to the American public, wear a mask. At least better be safe than sorry.

All right, Kaitlan, thank you, as usual. Good reporting.

Let's get some more on the reopening moves across the country.

CNN's Nick Watt is in California for us.

So, Nick, what are you hearing about that state's latest efforts?

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, even hear in cautious California, we have just heard that more than half of the counties are now pushing ahead with reopening.

In L.A. today, it was the turn of car washes. They are now allowed to reopen. But it does look a little different. Every single worker is wearing a mask. And every single car is not just washed. It's also disinfected.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATT (voice-over): Retail reopens in Miami Beach today, but not the beaches or the hundreds of bars and restaurants. Not yet.

DAN GELBER (D), MAYOR OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA: This is to see how we do. We're a crowd-based city, so we want to make sure we don't draw too large a crowd.

WATT: In New York City, they're now installing ultraviolet lamps on buses and trains that flash and kill the virus during overnight cleaning to keep cramped commuters safe.

Across the state from tomorrow, religious gatherings allowed, but 10 people max.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): As a former altar boy, I get it.

WATT: And there's a renewed public education push.

CUOMO: You drive through some of these communities, and you can see that social distancing isn't happening. PPE is not being used, and hence the virus spreads.

WATT: As of this morning, when Connecticut got rolling, all 50 states have now started reopening. Yet, in at least 18, including Kentucky, new case counts are going up.

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): But the way we're reopening gives us the type of gradual and safe reopening, where we can do it while watching the data at the same time.

WATT: Boston now targeting June 1 to start, but taking more time than the rest of Massachusetts before opening up, say, office space.

MARTY WALSH (D), MAYOR OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: For example, making sure that, when people go into buildings, they get temperature checks, they get asked some questions, some basic questions, making sure there's proper protocol in place, the tracing.

WATT: July 4, still six-plus weeks away, is now the goal to have most businesses back open for the 10 million who live here in Los Angeles County, maybe even movie production.

DONNA LANGLEY, CHAIR, UNIVERSAL FILMED ENTERTAINMENT GROUP: The longer production remains shut down, the more full-time industry jobs are in jeopardy of being cut.

WATT: The CDC did finally publish its nationwide reopening guidelines, among them, sneeze guards in bars and every second row empty on the school bus.

But missing from an earlier draft shelved by the White House as too strict, any and all guidance for faith communities.

DR. RICHARD BESSER, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: I see some key elements that should be in there that aren't. And I'd like to understand, is that based on science, or is it not there for other reasons? WATT: And, tonight, new concerns about the accuracy of the number of COVID cases in Florida and Georgia, two states that were among the first to reopen.

In Florida, an official was removed from the team that publishes the number of cases and deaths online. And in Georgia's online report, an error and a confusing graph brought criticism. The governor claims the data was accurate, but arranged differently than people expected.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: And a possible sign of things to come. Ford reopened a plant in Chicago yesterday. Today, they had to close it down again after two positive cases.

[18:10:05]

It's now back up and running, but Ford's truck plant in Dearborn is now closed, after a positive. They hope to get it open again tonight.

So, a sign of things to come, in that this could well be stop-start. Great that Ford is testing. Great they're taking it seriously. But this may happen time and time again across the country -- Wolf.

BLITZER: I suspect it probably will.

All right, Nick Watt, thanks very much.

Joining us now, the former acting Director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Richard Besser, and our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Dr. Besser, publicly, the president, as you just heard, is defending Dr. Redfield and the CDC. But behind the scenes, they have become the latest scapegoat for this crisis.

As the former acting CDC director, how worrying is that for you?

BESSER: Well, you know what really worries me, Wolf, is if public health is viewed as the enemy of getting the economy up and running.

Public health is the road map. It's the road map to getting the economy up and running. It's the road map for workers going to work, feeling safe that their risk of being exposed has been reduced.

It's the road map for the general public being comfortable going into stores and malls and restaurants. If you set it up that it's the enemy of the economy, then, as we move forward, and if people aren't doing the things that CDC and the states recommend, we may get people out to work quickly, but we're going to see a rise in cases, and we're going to be in a worse situation than we currently are.

BLITZER: Very interesting.

Sanjay, we do know now that there are some specific reopening guidelines that have just been released by the CDC, the 60-page document.

For example, they recommend, as far as child care programs, keeping kids relatively apart, close communal spaces, not necessarily sharing utensils and toys. Will these guidelines really help people feel more confident about the reopening?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think so.

I mean, there's some really pragmatic guidance in there. It's not one of those things that you can say, well, if I follow these guidelines, it's absolutely going to be that I don't -- that nobody gets the infection. I mean, no -- I don't think anybody is saying that.

It's about trying to be as safe as possible. But if you look at the guidelines, there's the advice, but then there's also the guidance to look at what's going on in your community. Is there evidence of significant spread?

Because that could change your approach to even the guidelines, the specifics of the guidelines. Are you going to be doing things more outside than inside? Because that might make a difference in terms of what you should be able to do, like with summer camps and things like that.

I think the key thing that I have taken away from that, and also Tom Frieden, another former CDC director writes about, is that it's not a binary thing, either you're open or you're closed. I mean, there is -- there is this sort of gray area in between that we're trying to define more, that they're trying to define more.

And these guidelines, I think, go a long way towards helping that.

BLITZER: Do you understand, Dr. Besser, why the White House was for several days now so reluctant to put out what they eventually did put out last night, these new guidelines?

BESSER: When something like this comes out, it should come out with fanfare, that here is something that can be used by different sectors.

CDC is planning and has scheduled calls with different sectors to go through the guidance to see how it's resonating. If you're not putting it forward as, here's what the country should be doing, I worry that some will look at it and say, well, this is truly optional.

You need our leaders to be modeling the behavior we want to see. And we need our communicator in chief to be saying, here it is. You have been asking for it, states. Take this and adapt it and adopt it to your locality.

BLITZER: Sanjay, we're just getting some breaking news in, very significant, potentially, breaking news, especially at a time when the U.S. is reopening, at least partially, all 50 states.

The director general of the World Health Organization has just said -- and I'm being very precise here -- there have been more cases reported to the agency of the coronavirus in the last 24 hours than at any time since the novel coronavirus outbreak began.

He said this. He said: "We still have a long way to go in this pandemic. In the last 24 hours, there have been 106,000 cases reported to the World Health Organization, the most in a single day since the outbreak began. Almost two-thirds of these cases were reported in just four countries," one of those countries clearly being the United States, the others, Russia, Brazil, and India.

This is pretty significant, at a time when the U.S. is trying to reopen.

GUPTA: Yes, there's no question, Wolf.

I mean, I saw that alert. And that's -- it's concerning. I mean, I think we have been saying that we're still in the middle of this. I mean, I know that, sometimes, people will see what's happening with these reopenings and think, well, we have definitely come out the other side.

And, sadly, we have not. As you mentioned, four countries, the United States being one of them, still making up the majority of new cases, not just existing patients, but new patients who are being infected.

[18:15:10]

So, I think it's obviously concerning. There is a contagious virus out there. And we also know that, had we not done some of the things that we had done, the numbers would have been even far worse than this.

So, it's tough to contextualize that for people. What we have done has helped. But the numbers are still going up, and we're still in the middle of it.

BLITZER: Yes, certainly, this crisis is by no means over, although some people would like to say it is. It's continuing and may be escalating, if you look at these worldwide numbers.

All right, Sanjay, thank you very much. Dr. Besser, thanks to you as well.

Just ahead: serious concerns about the accuracy of the data being released by the state of Georgia right now. I will talk about that and more with the Atlanta mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms.

Plus: new warnings about the potential dangers of resuming traditional worship services.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:18]

BLITZER: Breaking news this hour, the World Health Organization is now reporting its largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases globally since the outbreak began, 106,000 cases in just 24 hours.

Also breaking, President Trump confirming that, in two days, he will stop taking hydroxychloroquine in hopes of preventing the coronavirus, after defying FDA warnings that it's unproven and potentially risky.

Let's bring in our Chief Political Analyst, Gloria Borger, along with our White House Correspondent, Kaitlan Collins.

Gloria, the president is still pushing this drug that his own FDA says he shouldn't be pushing. Why do you think he's still doing this?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, this is a president who feels threatened in every single way, Wolf.

And what he's doing on hydroxychloroquine is basically separating himself from the science and the scientists. He's saying, I know better than the scientists. I'm taking hydroxychloroquine, even though it is not recommended. What have I got to lose?

And he is, in effect, saying, the science is rigged, just as he is saying, when he is talking about the elections and how you can't vote by mail, he's setting the predicate here for, gee, maybe the election will be rigged.

We have seen this before in 2016. And this is exactly what Donald Trump is doing right now. He's flooding the zone, as Steve Bannon put it during the 2016 campaign.

BLITZER: And he's promoting all sorts of very weird theories out there, totally, totally unproven conspiracy theories.

BORGER: Right.

BLITZER: You make any sense of this at all, Gloria?

BORGER: No.

Look, the only way you can make sense of it is to say, this is exactly the way Donald Trump behaves when he feels like he's threatened or in a corner. And he's clearly looking at the polls in some of the battleground states.

You don't think it's a coincidence that he's talking about Michigan and Nevada, do you? Those are states that are potentially very much up for grabs in the next election. And for some reason, he believes that, say, voting by mail would benefit Democrats, although there's been absolutely no proof to that effect.

So, he's in his campaign mode. And he's clearly feeling threatened.

BLITZER: In some ways, Kaitlan, this is nothing new from the president.

But the context of this crisis right now, what, 93,000 Americans have died in the past couple of months from the coronavirus pandemic, what does it say about his focus right now?

COLLINS: Well, I think a lot of the news that the president has been hearing from his political advisers about what could be to come in November has not been that great. It's been incredibly frustrating for the president. We have heard that

from multiple people who've spoken with him, people who work here, people on Capitol Hill, his allies outside of the White House.

And so Gloria says it's not a coincidence that this is happening and he's talking about a battleground state like Michigan. It's very clearly not. The president is not hiding the distinction there, because when we were in the Cabinet Room earlier, he was talking about his polling in Michigan, and he said he just got polling that showed him up, though, of course, he did not cite any of those numbers.

So he drew a pretty direct connection between those two. And, of course, he's made these allegations about voting like this before, so it's certainly not new in that regard.

And, Wolf, the question is, where does the president go forward with this theory? Does he stop advancing it? Because it's not just like it's Democratic states, or states with Democratic governors that are having mail-in voting.

There are several Republican secretaries of state that have also made moves towards this, because people are concerned about voting. And it's not just preparing for November, as you heard the press secretary allege or reference earlier. It's also about primaries that are coming up this summer, and they're just not sure what people need to do about voting. So they're trying to figure out a plan B, essentially.

BLITZER: Lots going on. All right, guys, thank you very, very much.

Just ahead: As Connecticut becomes the last state to reopen, are people turning out in restaurants and in stores?

And I will ask the Atlanta mayor about concerns that coronavirus data being released by the state of Georgia may not necessarily be all that accurate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:29:05]

BLITZER: We're following breaking news driving home that the coronavirus pandemic is still, still a very urgent global threat.

The World Health Organization just moments ago reporting 106,000 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours alone. That's the largest one- day increase since the outbreak began.

This as every state here in the United States is at least in some stage of reopening, Connecticut becoming the final state to lift restrictions, allowing restaurants, offices, retail to start getting back to business in some form.

Let's go to our National Correspondent, Brynn Gingras. She's in Connecticut for us.

Brynn, I understand you're at a restaurant. What are you hearing from the folks there?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, people are excited, Wolf.

And the weather has been cooperating all day. I can tell you, at Archie Moore's in Milford, where we are right now, every table has been basically filled in the outside patio for the entire day.

[18:30:00]

But, remember, this is the first state in the hard-hit tristate area to make this move and open restaurants, at least on a partial basis.

So there's a little bit of experimentation going on, that we've seen on in other parts of the country. With that, the restaurant has all these new guidelines that they're must be following. I want to show you just a few. Look they have paper menus now, of course, that they are only using for one table at a time.

They have arrows that are leading people in one way and out another through an exit. And then if you look into this outside patio area, you can see how far apart everyone is spaced, six feet between all of these tables.

But like I said, every table is pretty much full. Everybody wearing their masks and not really taking them off, unless they take a drink or they take to eat. Even one people -- one group rather that we saw come in didn't have a mask, they were told them they needed to go get one or the restaurant actually offered one to them.

So everyone very happy to finally have this little inch of freedom in the City of Connecticut. Listen to what we've been hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As far as we think, it's long overdue. You know, I mean I understand the caution, everybody wants to be safe in this and that. But sometimes some things should be taken to the extreme. And they just have to understand, people trapped inside, they just can't take it anymore, they've got to get back out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: Yes, and there will be a little bit more freedom. We just learned from the governor in a month, the rest of the restaurant except for the bar can open. And businesses, of course, are happy too. They closed right before St. Patrick's Day, Wolf, when people -- business owners were buying all of their alcohol and all of their food supplies and that just got shutdown.

And now, two months later, they can finally start doing a little bit more business only outside for the moment, but, again, in a month, more is going to open in the state as long as the numbers keep going in the way that they are, which has been down as of late. Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, fortunately the weather is good. All right, Brynn, thank you. Brynn Gingras reporting.

Let's go to Georgia right now. Georgia is reopening as well. We're joined by the Mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms. Mayor Bottoms, thanks so much for joining us.

I want to get your response, first of all, to the breaking news. You just heard it the World Health Organization announcing there have been more confirmed cases reported to the World Health Organization in the last 24 hours globally than at any time since the coronavirus outbreak began. How concerning, Mayor, is that to you?

MAYOR KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS (D), ATLANTA, GA: It's very concerning, Wolf, as all of America essentially is going back to business as usual in so many ways. And this is something we've been concerned about for quite some time in our state as we very aggressively reopen. You know, we've had so many questions about the data in our state and whether or not it's accurate data.

And I think, really, the telltale sign for so many of us will be what will be the impact on our hospitals. Will we begin to see more people coming in for treatment for COVID-19? I know in Georgia we are dismantling the expansion that we have in our World Congress Center. I hope it's not too soon.

But right now, based on our analysis on the date that we have from the state, we are about on a ten-day decline. We need four more days, of course, to be in that 14-day decline that we have been awaiting, but it is extremely concerning to see what's happening across the globe, and these numbers just remind us that nothing about this virus has changed.

BLITZER: Yes, all 50 states, as you know, Mayor, they are at least partially reopening. Georgia was one of the first states to loosen restrictions. When you and I spoke on Sunday, you said it was too soon to tell if your concern over Governor Kemp's decision was warranted. How do you feel about Georgia's reopening today?

BOTTOMS: Well, again, we are about ten days in. So if we had followed the CDC guidelines we would be four more days and then we could begin to relieve some of those restrictions that were in place. But that being said things are not as bad as I thought that they would be yet, and I am very hopeful that they continue that way. But as we know with COVID-19 there's often a lag in infections and when people begin to actually show symptoms and get sick.

And so right now it appears that we're doing better as a state, and I will -- I'll keep watching and waiting. And I said to you when I was here a few weeks ago that I wanted to be wrong on this, and I hope that I am wrong. I hope that we didn't take our foot off of the pedal too soon.

BLITZER: You know, we hope, of course, things continue to go down in terms of confirmed cases and confirmed deaths.

The president, as you know, is, based on CNN's reporting, seems to be sidelining the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is headquartered, as you know, in Atlanta, your city.

[18:35:06]

And he seems to be also ignoring warnings from the Food and Drug Administration about an unproven potentially dangerous drug, hydroxychloroquine. What does that say to you about he's handling of this crisis?

BOTTOMS: I think it's what we unfortunately have come to expect with this president. We don't expect the president to know everything about everything, but what we do expect is that he will surround himself with people, with experts who do know what's right and what's wrong. And it continues to concern me that he's not listening to these experts.

The CDC has survived multiple administrations. It's not a partisan organization. These are health experts, these are our scientists, these are professionals. So if you aren't listening to the leaders of the CDC and what they have to say about this outbreak and how we should respond as Americans, then I'm not sure who you will listen to. And that concerns me. And I would expect more from our president.

BLITZER: Yes, it concerns a lot of folks out there. All right, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta, thanks so much for joining us. Good luck.

BOTTOMS: Thank you.

BLITZER: Just ahead, President Trump is railing against China's coronavirus response after praising China early during the pandemic. I'll speak with CNN's Fareed Zakaria about that.

And there's also a new evidence right now that churches have been a hotbed for the virus as many Americans are planning to actually to return to services. We'll update you on the latest information when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

BLITZER: President Trump is again pitting the blame for the coronavirus pandemic on China whose response to the virus, he once actually praised, now saying it was that country incompetence that led to the mass, in his words, worldwide killing.

Let's bring in CNN's Fareed Zakaria, the host of "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS." In January, Fareed, the president was actually praising President Xi of China for his handling of the virus. He complimented China's efforts and transparency. February, he said, President Xi was strong, sharp, powerfully focused. So what has happened? Now he's really getting tough on China.

FAREED ZAKARI, CNN FAREED ZAKARIA GPS: Wolf, it is clear what has happened, which is that the American response and the death toll has been so high, and America's performance, you know, compared to the rest of the world has been so terrible that Donald Trump is doing what he often does, which is looking for somebody to blame.

And if you remember, he ran the 2016 campaign saying that the Mexicans were to blame for America's problems. He was going to build that wall and Mexico was going to pay. Now it's China's fault and China will pay.

China did some bad -- some things wrong and some things were covered up. But let me just give you one fact, Wolf, which is the rest of the world got to know, when the United States got to know, right? Particularly China's neighbors, like Taiwan and South Korea. They acted fast, they acted smart, they acted aggressively, unlike the Trump administration.

Do you know how many deaths there have been in South Korea? 263. Do you know how many deaths there have been in Taiwan because of COVID? Seven. In other words, if you had acted fast -- and by the way, those countries got millions of Chinese tourists and millions of Chinese travelers. So what South Korea and Taiwan showed you is, it's not -- the problem wasn't that the Chinese were hiding it, and that may be true but a separate issue. The problem was once Trump found out, he waited, not a few days but two months.

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting, Fareed, because viewers can learn a lot more about this. It's critically important in the special report that you've prepared for CNN. You investigate how the pandemic was borne.

I want to play a clip. Here is a look from your special report on what was happening in Wuhan, China, in Mid-January.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Wuhan they held a banquet for thousands of people all together eating dinner in one place. It was a political pageant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A potluck dinner for 40,000 people to get that dinner into the Guinness Book of World Records.

ZAKARIA: That's right. With the virus racing through the city, local officials are trying to break a record for the largest ever potluck dinner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which turned into a giant super spreader event and increased the epidemic enormously, disaster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: It's pretty incredible, Fareed. What other aspects of the pandemic do you explore in your special report?

ZAKARI: Well, we really try to take you back to -- it's easy to now look back. It's very difficult to understand what it was like at the time when everyone was trying to figure out what was happening, this new virus, how lethal is it, how transmissible it is, and then a system, a communist party that believes in control, control, control, control, control of information.

What happens to that doctor who tries to be a whistleblower? Did Beijing then cover it up? And then once they decide on, oh, my God, this is serious, this is real, the speed which they turned around and shutdown Wuhan and found a way to tackle the virus.

[18:45:06]

So it's, you know, it's a very complicated story, and people have, you know, the slogans and the political name-calling. What we try to do is take you back to the time when it was just happening and what did it look like in Wuhan, what did it look like in Beijing and then, of course, looking back at what has happened.

BLITZER: We're really looking forward to it.

Fareed, thanks so much. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for your special report.

And to our viewers, be sure to join Fareed as he investigates the moment a pandemic was born, the CNN special report "China's Deadly Secret" airs this coming Sunday night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN.

Just ahead, we'll take a closer look at the challenges places of worship across the United States are facing as they get ready to hold religious services during the pandemic and the creative solutions many of them are now using.

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[18:50:40]

BLITZER: Tonight, as places of worship across the country begin to invite parishioners back inside, there are new warnings about the potential dangers of resuming traditional services.

CNN's Brian Todd is looking to all of this for us.

Brian, what are you learning?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we have new information tonight on some churches which reopened only to see coronavirus cases surge because of the reopenings. It's bringing warnings from health officials and health experts regarding how churches should move forward.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): Tonight, new indications of the dangers of reopening churches during this pandemic. The Catoosa Baptist Tabernacle Church in Ringgold, Georgia, and the Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Houston have closed their doors for the second time.

Several Parishioners and leaders of those churches reportedly testing positive for coronavirus after they reopened in recent weeks. Officials investigating tonight whether a priest at a Houston church who died recently died of COVID-19.

DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EPIDEMIOLOGIST, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: You bring a lot of people together, put them in small close quarters, you have a lot of, you know, proximity, people touching, people saying, you know, saying peace. Bringing people together in religious events where frequently there could be crying, there could be shouting, there could be singing, I think all of those may bring significant risk of infection.

TODD: A church in rural Arkansas was what some call a super spreader. Two people who went to events there in early March initiating a chain reaction which infected at least 30 parishioners and killed at least three of them. But tonight, experts are warning it's not just the formal services associated with churches which are dangerous but also their ancillary events.

DR. LEANA WEN, PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSOR, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: There was a case where one infected individual spread to more than 50 just because of choir practice. Birthdays and funerals and other events where people are hugging and touching would also be such types of events, too.

TODD: Tonight, the state of New York is testing religious communities in New York City for antibodies of coronavirus and is starting to allow religious gathering again but only with a maximum of ten people at a time.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: The last thing we want to do have a religious ceremony that winds up having more people infected.

TODD: As thousands of churches reopen around the world, our ideas of a typical service are going out the window. This week, Pope Francis celebrated the first public mass in two months in St. Peter's Basilica, but only with a limited number of worshippers.

Father Timothy Pelc in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, got creative on Easter Sunday, using a squirt gun to dispense holy water to parishioners driving by.

Health experts are recommending drive-in services in parking lots, virtual services, temporary suspicions of church daycare. But one expert says it shouldn't be doctors or public officials who mandate those changes.

DEL RIO: I think it is not me as a physician to needs to tell them. I work with leaders of the community who then tell the congregation and the people that go to those churches and those synagogues and those mosques what they need to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: So, is this the end of large religious gatherings like Christmas Eve, Easter, Jewish and Muslim holidays? The health experts we spoke to say it should be more of a pause, but it could be a long one. One expert says there could be recommendations coming that the next large religious gatherings that we see should not be held until around Christmas of 2021 -- Wolf.

BLITZER: What are you hearing from the experts you're speaking to, Brian? Should churches, for example, make any significant changes to their actual services?

TODD: They're saying, Wolf, that these churches have to make big changes if people are going to continue to go to church throughout the rest of this year. They've got to have distancing. They have to limit their services to maybe 10, 15 people at once.

They really shouldn't sing or shout or do hymns like that because people raise their voices. The droplets flow. It's really dangerous.

BLITZER: Brian Todd reporting for us, good information. Appreciate it, Brian. Thank you very much.

And we'll have more news just ahead.

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[18:59:18]

BLITZER: As we do every night, we close with a tribute to some of those who died from the coronavirus.

Arlene Stringer-Cuevas of New York was 86 years old. She was the first woman to represent her neighborhood of Washington Heights on the New York City Council. Her son Scott remembers her as a tough single mother who loved them and her city.

Alan Kaplan was 69. His twin brother Richard finally remembers their final day together doing something they love, attending a baseball game. He tells us Alan's constant laughter will be missed by those he leaves behind, including his two daughters, grandchildren and his beloved wife Ella.

May they rest in peace, and may their memories be a blessing.

Thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.

We'll continue to follow the breaking news.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.