floyd was an acclaimed chef who ran restaurants all over the world, including tab low, one of the first indian fine dining establishments in new york city. floyd was born in mumbai and went to culinary school in switzerland before coming to new york. his fellow chefs call him an innovator and a constant source of knowledge and inspiration. he leaves behind a wife and two sons. floyd was 59 years old. our thoughts are with all the families suffering tonight. our coronavirus coverage continues. time to hand it over to chris for "cuomo prime time." i'll see you tomorrow. chris? >> all right. anderson, i say it every night because it matters every night, thank you for telling the stories of those who are gone because of this virus. nobody does it better than you. i'm chris cuomo. welcome to "prime time." today has been the deadliest day so far of this new american war. question, why are cases growing so fast here? faster than in other countries. are we any closer to better weapons than just washing our hands and staying away from one

another? where are we in this war in terms of timing, planning, and potential? those are big questions and we have the perfect guests to answer them. not only does he know as much as anyone in this fight, he is believed more than anyone in this fight. dr. anthony fauci is here. let's get the facts and test the plan. together as ever as one. let's get after it. straight to dr. anthony fauci. we are lucky to have you back on "prime time" tonight. doctor, i hope you're doing well. >> i'm well. thank you, chris. good to be with you. >> question, you talk to the w.h.o., the world health organization. what perspective did you get just macro, lessons learned and insight into why us, doctor? why are we growing faster than other places we assume we're better set up than? >> well, you know, the insight you get is when you look at the

different patterns of what happened in different countries. china versus south korea versus what we're seeing in northern italy. it really gives you some interesting insight into things. not only in the explosive nature in certain places versus others, but also as you start to get to your peak, when do you know that you're actually turning the corner? and the data we went over at the w.h.o. call today, which was representatives from countries all over the world, was that you take a look at the number of new infections on any given day. so five days ago it was 600. then four days ago it was 800. then three days ago it was 1,000. you're going way, way up. it's when the new infections each day start to level off to be the same and then start going down, then you see the curve go down. and that's exactly what certain countries like china and south

korea have seen. italy is not there yet. italy got hit really badly. almost certainly, and i think this gets to your question about us here in the united states, is italy got hit very badly because they had a large number of importations from china by chinese tourists. and before they even knew what was going on, there was enough baseline people spreading that it essentially got out of hand and it became difficult for them, as good as they are, and they're very good, to be able to contain it in a way that is contact tracing all that kind of thing. it was more mitigation. how do we deal with what we have? they're in a very difficult position. if you go now to the united states, we're a big country and there are different patterns, chris. remember weeks ago, the hardest-hit part was in washington state. and that was a cluster of

nursing homes. >> right. >> and extended care homes. that was a different kind of thing than what you see in new york city. which very likely got seeded because new york city is a hub of influx of travellers. not only originally from china but also from europe, which has become the new china in the sense of the number of cases. so new york city is dominating the situation in the united states. about 60% of the infections are in the new york city metropolitan area, and 56% of the new infections are coming from the new york city metropolitan area. so you guys are getting hit terribly hard and it's so unfortunate, but that's the reason why it looks like this big explosion because it is what it is. whereas other areas of the country, although they're seeing cases, they're at different levels in that curve of kinetics. >> right. >> but new york is right in the

middle of it. >> until louisiana. and now you have the big easy is getting crushed, specifically new orleans. and all of a sudden they went from, like, 100 cases last week to now they're, like, ten times that plus. what's going on down there? >> it's the same thing. what it is is that what likely happened, they've done it now -- i mean, i have spoken to the political officials in new orleans and in the state of louisiana. they're now shutting things down in a very vigorous way. it is likely that that should have been done a little bit sooner. not blaming anyone on that, but you get caught unawares because the nature of this outbreak, chris, that's so frustrating and in many respects, you know, a bit frightening and intimidating is what you and i discussed, you know, several shows ago. it putters along and you think you're okay. then it starts to go up a little and then, bingo, it goes up in an exponential way.

>> so -- >> that's what's happening in new orleans now. >> so you got two different points of pressure coming from opposite directions. you have people saying it's been long enough, tony. you told me two weeks. i did two weeks. i can't do this anymore. i want to get back to work. we've got to open up. whatever happens happens. and then on the other side you have this pressure of clearly we have to do this a lot longer because the mitigation efforts aren't working. my brother, every other word out of his mouth is accelerating. it's blah, blah, blah, accelerating cases. accelerating pattern. so how do you deal with those opposite interests? we've done it long enough. we're frustrated. we want to get over this. and what you've told us to do so far, it's still accelerating. >> you're absolutely correct, 100%, chris. it's accelerating. and what you've got to do is when you have a big country like this, you've got to look at it in different ways. right now you wouldn't even think about not -- not putting the damper on what's going on in new york.

that would be outlandish as it's going up. no doubt. but there are other parts of the country which we need to get a better feel for what is going on. and the way we do that is by increasing testing and identifying people who are infected, isolating them, getting out of circulation and then do contact tracing. that's what we call containment. so you can do containment and maybe ease up a bit in one area, whereas in other areas where it's mitigation, all you got to do is put all your resources in there to help the people who are under this stressful situation. >> so, different solutions for different parts of the country? >> so it isn't all or none. >> i got you. different strategies for different part of the country. >> exactly. >> then you have, like, how long? i get it, the answer is going to be depends where you are. i get it. but if it's california and there you have the governor and the mayor discussing -- the los angeles mayor. that it's going to be months. it's going to take months for them. then you're hearing here in new

york andrew says, the governor here says we're two or three weeks from seeing the worst crush at the hospitals. i mean, it seems that the timeline is getting extended farther out, not that things are going better than expected anywhere. >> yeah. what you've got to do, chris, you've got to be realistic and you've got to understand that you don't make the timeline. the virus makes the timeline. so you've got to respond in what you see happen. and if you keep seeing this acceleration, it doesn't matter what you say one week, two weeks, three weeks, you've got to go with what the situation on the ground is. so when people say it may take months, i think what people are talking about is how long it takes to go all the way down. but you may see in a relatively shorter period of time when you're seeing the inkling of the flattening and coming down, but, you know, you can't make an

arbitrary decision -- >> right. >> -- until you see what you're dealing with. you need the data. >> all right. so let me ask you some quick punch questions here. these -- i'm skeptical of these things, so obviously you'll set us straight about what's true. vitamin c, vitamin d, you know, first it was these words i couldn't pronounce. dioxi whatever drug. then we hear somebody dies from the drug. other drug therapies they're trying. now it's vitamin c, vitamin d. are any of these things something we have any degree of confidence, and by we, i mean you, that can work of mitigating the extreme effects of this virus? >> i think you have to separate the vitamins from drugs that are being touted as being effective or not. for example, vitamin c is a pretty good antioxidant. i mean, there are studies that say vitamin c is very good against mitigating the effects of certain infections and others say there is know infect. it's essentially totally harmless, unless you take a ridiculous amount. so i have no problem with

vitamin c. there's some interesting situations about vitamin d. and in fact, tom frieden, who is the former cdc director, wrote an op-ed i think yesterday when he was talking about some interesting suggestions about various regions of the globe and respiratory infections that might be related to vitamin d. no definite proof, but, again, you're not getting hurt. but when you're talking about a drug that might have some toxicity, that's a different thing. that's why you keep hearing me over and over again saying the best optimal way is to do a randomized control trial to determine as quickly as possible whether something works, and if it does, get it out there. it doesn't, get it off the table. >> so, let me ask you something. new york, this two to three-week window where there is going to be a crush. forget about the timing. forget about the when. let's just deal with the reality. how frightening may it be for people living here and obviously

watching all over the country of what they see at the hospitals? do you think there's a chance that we're going to relive a katrina-type event when we were down there reporting in front of the superdome and there were people all lined up outside that place because they couldn't get in and they were sick and worse? is that what overcapacity looks like? is that what overwhelmed looks like? >> you know, overwhelmed looks like that, but, chris, i don't think that's going to happen. i hope not. i mean, nothing is impossible, but the reason i say i don't think that's going to happen is because you're right. and i know that governor cuomo is speaking about a certain period of time where he's going to be running out. he's now getting help with ventilators, with masks and others. hopefully that will be enough. i think it will be. to be able to match what he and others who are in a stressful situation as he is is -- are facing. but that's the reason why you've got to now put all of the cylinders going to try to keep up with this. because the one thing you don't want is you don't want a

situation where you run out of essential things that you need. >> right. >> i don't think that's going to happen. i don't want to scare anybody because i believe in the meetings that i've been in at the task force, you're talking about fema, you're talking about other organizations that are really geared to try and help out. you're getting private industry involved in making more of these things that we need. so we're putting a big push on. >> are you guys on the same page, you and andrew? because i know that everybody is saying that he's the voice of calm, but as we both know, he is really concerned that he's not going to have enough to deal with this. i know you talk to him on a regular basis. are you guys on the same page in terms of what he sees coming his way and what you think he can handle? >> yeah. well, you know, i think the governor's doing a terrific job. you're right, i do speak to him frequently. he really cares about this. he really wants to do best. he has to look at what the

worst-case scenario is. but if you look at the negotiations and the discussions that have been going on now, i think he's going to be okay, chris. i do think so. because every time we sit down at the meeting, we keep hearing about how we're going to be making sure at the local level and with the federal help, we're going to try to get him the things he needs. >> so let me ask you something, just to open the curtain to people a little bit. you and i have known each other a very long time. i grew up hearing your name in my house. andrew consulted you and you went against me on where my mother should be. but i hold no umbrage about that. even though you were one of the reasons my mother got taken out of my house. i do not hold it against you, dr. fauci. i want you to know that. that's not why i'm asking you the next question. >> i'm sorry, chris. >> how are you able -- you're not sorry, but that's okay. how do you stay optimistic? you made the right call. i was being emotional about it. i'm exposed to too many people. you and andrew made the right

call. now you're making those calls all the time. how do you stay optimistic when all the data and frightening and you talk to world officials and they say it's going to get more frightening and you look at your capabilities and where it's popping up and that seems frightening, how do you keep optimism about how we get through this in a good way any time soon? >> well, you know, chris, this is the life i've chosen. i mean, i know it would be challenging to be an infectious disease, but particularly geared towards countering outbreaks like this. you know, i stay optimistic, but not unrealistically optimistic. the one thing i try very hard, and i think i succeed, is not letting my upbeat optimistic, and i always say cautiously optimistic, my viewpoint on life ever, ever get me to be complacent. so i act optimistic. i mean, i give the appearance of

being optimistic, but deep down i just do everything i possibly can, assuming that the worst will happen and i've got to stop the worst from happening. >> can you -- >> so, you know, it's a little bit of a conflict there. >> well, listen, i mean, you got to prepare for the worst and you got to hope for the best. you're on the prepare for the worst side. we're on the hopeful side. the next wave, everybody keeps saying there will be another wave. do you think at this point you've gotten your colleagues and the national consciousness to the point where we won't go through this this way again? that we won't be playing catch-up. the testing won't be slow. we'll be in front of it. we can contact trace. we'll have the capabilities better in place if, god forbid, there is another wave, as expected? >> yeah. chris, first of all, you know, again, after talking to my colleagues on the w.h.o. call, i think it's more likely than not that this is going to turn around and come back in another season.

because right now in the southern hemisphere in southern africa, they're starting to get cases as they go into their winter, and if that happens, this is not going to disappear. i don't think it will. which makes me more fortified, chris, when you ask about how i feel about these things, of why we've got to get that vaccine tested, we've got to get it proven to be effective and we got to get it out. we've got to develop drugs so that when we come around next year it is not like this again. never again like this. so that we'll be prepared. it will be a totally different ball game if this comes back next winter, next fall. i'll guarantee you it will be different. >> well, listen, people listen to you, they believe in you, they believe what your saying, and when they hear you say that you're going to -- you believe more likely than not there is another wave coming, they're going to be behind any efforts to prepare. so, dr. anthony fauci, i promise you, i know you're not a

politician, i don't talk politics with you, i talk practicalities, i talk protocols and i talk about what are path forward is. i wish you the best. stay well. god bless you and your family and god bless your efforts. dr. anthony fauci, you're always welcome here. >> thank you very much, and to you, too, chris. it's always a pleasure to be with you. >> and forget about the mom thing. i'm over it. i'm over it. she says hello. be well. get rest. take care of yourself. we need you. all right. so, look, that's dr. anthony fauci. we don't have better from him. he just told you there's going to be more of this. you have to prepare yourself for that. you have to steel yourself for that. we can get back to close to normal, but we have to be prepared for something abnormal. we didn't do it the first time. will we be better the next time? now another lawmaker now in self-quarantine, katie porter. you know her, star freshman congress member. she was fighting for remote voting, now she's waiting for a covid test result.

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katie porter tonight in self-quarantine, awaiting coronavirus test results. she joins us from her home in california. as you might imagine, i don't really care about the politics that much. how are you doing? when are you getting the test back? >> i don't know. i had my test taken a couple of days ago after feeling sick for about five days. i was in touch with my doctor. they told me to call back if i got a fever and my symptoms got worse. i did. i went in, i got tested. the great news is i don't have an ear infection or strep throat 4a or 4b. so we eliminated a few things. they said it could take two to ten days to get my test result, so i'm just spending every day here in my bedroom, making sure i try not to get my kids sick or anybody else sick. >> man are you getting a first-class taste of what it's like for so many people balancing professional, family, you're the mother, you're the hub of the family. tough spot. i'm sorry you're in it. do you have any symptoms at all? >> yes.

so, i started with kind of sniffles, sneezing, runny nose, then became incredibly fatigued at the end of last week. went to bed at 5:00. that's really not like me. i usually have a lot of energy. spent several days in bed and then got a fever late sunday night/early monday morning, and at that point called back to my doctor's office and they asked me to come in. so aches and pains, headaches. it doesn't feel like a cold, but i've been lucky i'm not having trouble breathing. that's a good thing. so i feel like i'm fortunate in that regard. we just don't know what this is, but no matter what it is, whether it's covid or something else, i don't want to make anyone else sick, especially right now. >> very responsible. and, look, it could be other things, so let's keep a little bit of optimism just in terms of how long it takes you out of the loop. now let's talk about something else. two to ten days, you're a damn member of congress. two to ten days to get a test turned around? >> no, look, my doctor -- i

don't know that my doctor knows i'm a member of congress, but regardless, this is the type of testing -- >> get a new doctor. get a new doctor if they don't know that you're a member of congress. >> no, no. so, listen, so many people are fighting this. i know people who have gotten their test results back in other parts of the country within 24 hours. >> mm-hmm. >> i know somebody who was tested four days before me who is still waiting. so we're seeing a lot of variability in this. and so while i obviously want the test results back for, you know, my own peace of mind so that my kids, i can see my kids. i'm not just talking to them through this door behind me, but i, you know, i also recognize that there are a lot of people out there who are having to wait for test results, and my situation here is, as you said, altogether too common, really. >> so we just had tony -- dr. anthony fauci on, and he says, look, talking to the w.h.o., seeing the way this is moving around the world, we have to anticipate another wave, which means we actually have to anticipate this time.

you're experiencing a big problem. two to ten days to get tested is a death sentence here, not in terms of your health. god forbid. i'm saying in terms of protocol. you'll never contact trace if you got a lag time of five days, let alone ten or more. how committed do you think you can get your colleagues on both sides of the aisle to be to force the white house and come together to get us ready for the next wave? testing, capabilities, capacities, planning, so we don't go through it this way again because i don't know if we can take this a second time. >> no, you're absolutely right. congress needs to learn its lesson here, but i also want to be clear. there are -- were a lot of good provisions in the law here that are just not being used. the defense production act was just sitting there as a tool. let's pick it up and use it. when i had that viral questioning with the cdc director about covering the costs of testing for people, that was an existing provision in the regulation at the health and human services, for cdc to

use. so the national strategic stockpile, it was there. what are we finding out? oh, a lot of the things were expired. oh, we didn't have enough of this or that and we didn't have a coordinated response. so i think the lesson here is, yes, we need to prepare, but i think a lost of what this is about is about how good our administration is as using the tools that it has. >> right. >> and i think we're seeing in my case, governor newsom in california really trying to make use of every resource. governor cuomo, of course, in new york doing that. but the fact that we're leaving it to every different governor and every different locality. >> right. >> it's really doing a favor to this virus and putting people's lives at risk. >> you're going to have to get us the answer. that's why you have to get better. in terms of why the president won't pull the trigger on making companies do it. in fact it would be pro-business because you're giving them the start-up capital and the transition capital you need. the provisions are right there in the act. that's how it works. you can just ask them to do it. it will never get done in time. now what you did almost get done is this bill, the largest

stimulus we've seen. probably won't be the only act of its kind that we're going to need when this is all over. how do people get the money, congresswoman. the idea if i don't have a direct deposit with the irs, how do i get my check? >> okay. so a couple of things to remember, the check is not the only kind of help that people are going to get. if you're unemployed, you're going to get the check through the system. for the direct relief, what we're hearing is $1,200 for adults phasing out for people who make over a certain amount, $500 for children. again, phasing out. and those phase-outs, by the way, are going to be difficult for people in high cost of living areas, which, unfortunately, like new york and california are some of our hardest hit areas right now. if you have a direct deposit with the irs, there's about 94 million taxpayers is the best estimate i've been able to find of people who do have a direct deposit on file with the irs. so that's a lot of folks. >> but what if you don't? what if you don't even file taxes because you're under the income level? you need the check the most.

>> great question. so if you don't file taxes what they're going to be using, i understand, is the 1099-g data so they're going to try to merge data sets. so if you're a recipient, say, of disability or social security, they're going to be able to pull that data set over. so that will be slower, but those people who receive government benefits right now like social security, disability, they do have direct deposit. so it definitely is going to be a problem. it's going to take longer for people who don't have direct deposit on tap, but there is a plan. i do think having the irs do the direct deposit is the best system that we have going to get help to the most people, but it's not perfect. there are going to be people who are going to have to wait, and truthfully, people can't afford to wait, especially with that april 1 deadline coming up, so many people have their bills due at the first of the month. whether it's rent, utilities, credit cards. they set that bill date for the first of the month, so getting this passed immediately so that those checks can -- we can try to get it into people's hands by the first of the month is incredibly important.

>> and remember those forbearance measures and remember the protect the little guy. let's not forget what we learned in 2008. congresswoman katie porter, god bless you and the family. i hope the results are negative. we're here. let us know so we can reassure your constituents and all the people who look to you for your guts and your intelligence all over this country. >> thank you. >> all right. all right. there is a lot of focus on new york. this is not where cases are growing the fastest. we talked about it with dr. anthony fauci. louisiana, specifically new orleans, why? we're going to ask a brother and sister who are living it. they are desperate to see their mother who has contracted coronavirus. she's in a nursing home. they're living the washington nightmare. doctors it's playing out again. will we do better this time? their story nerngs. as a struggling actor, i need all the breaks that i can get. at liberty butchumal- cut. liberty biberty- cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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. so, louisiana is now seeing

the fastest rate of coronavirus cases in the world. not just in this country, in the world. again, why here? why us? that's why we had dr. anthony fauci on. so let's look specifically at louisiana. in one week they went from a couple of hundred cases to now nearly 1,800. the root cause, again, like in washington, a cluster linked to a senior facility called the lamb beth house. 11 residents have already died because of the virus. 42 others have tested positive. these are some of the most vulnerable among us. that includes 84-year-old barbara gathrite. her children john and lynn join us now. i want you to see they are in separate panels because john's friend tested positive. he was exposed to the friend, so he wants to keep his sister

safe, so they are in separate panels. thank you for joining us, john and lynn. i am sorry to meet you under these circumstances. what is your latest understanding, john, with your mother in her situation? >> chris, thanks for having us. we talked to the nurse this morning. but she is eight days into the virus. she has stabilized. her fever has started to drop. she ate some chicken and vegetable soup the last few nights. and we're hoping that she's on the mend. the last time we saw her was a few days ago on facetime, and she was really -- didn't have another breath to even speak.

so we -- i didn't -- i just told her not to speak and that i would just talk and tell her about everybody that misses her and blow her kisses. but she looked -- she looked pale and her labored breathing and her inability to really to speak, it just -- it was disheartening. it was scary. >> i can't imagine. i see so much of you in her face, especially in the pictures with you guys side by side. lynn -- >> right. i take after my mom. >> lynn, the idea of not being able to get to the center of the family has to just be so taxing emotionally. what has been the hardest part for you in this, lynn, in terms of being able to deal with not bei being able to be by your mama's side? >> well, you know, i lived very close to the place that she

lives, just a few blocks away, and so i'm able to see my mom like every day, you know? i'm a big part of her life, even though she's there and i bring my little dog over there and cheer her up, and her whole face lights up when i come in. and now that she's sick with this virus, you know, i'm very concerned for her life and i'm afraid -- i'm afraid that i won't ever see my mom again, and it breaks my heart not to be there to hold her hand and talk to her, comfort her right now. >> god forbid you don't get to see her again. your brother says that she's moving in the right direction. i understand why you've got to be so nervous because she's vulnerable and people in that place have succumbed to the virus. but the best information you're getting, lin, is that she's going in the right direction right now, yes? she's not on any instruments or anything? >> no, she's not --

>> great. >> and i do think they're taking good care of her there. they're doing the best they can. but i also feel like that place is really overwhelmed, you know? there's a lot going on that i don't think they're really completely prepared for, you know? i do believe that they're doing a good job of taking care of my mom, i just -- i just think the whole situation is so overwhelming. >> i know. and we saw it all in washington, too, and i'm sure you're thinking about that, and what that was like. >> absolutely. >> i know. >> yeah. >> look, let's just -- >> i wish things had been different in that moment, you know? like, i mean, every nursing home in the country should have been testing and taking different protocol in that moment. we should have learned from that. >> i know. we keep reliving a lot of mistakes here. and the hope is that we get it together in so many different ways so that any more exposure we have to this is handled. john, let me ask you something. what is the experience so that we just don't, you know, i don't want to bathe you guys in the concern about your mom the whole

time, you know? we want the country to know what you're going through and for you to know that there are people who care about you and that will push for information and we're here for you as a contact to help in anything that you need with your mom. but, john, why do you think this is happening in louisiana? all of a sudden you guys went from, like, a trickle to cases to this exploding. what's the common wisdom down there? do you think it was mardi gras and too much mixing or what was it? >> you know, i think it's probably -- mardi gras is certainly one of the theories that is out there, and that would explain a lot, but, you know, here in new orleans it's a lot of getting together, it's a lot of meals and drinking and music and dancing, and, you know, we're just very interactive. ita italy is kind of experiencing that same response because of their closeless, they touch each other a lot. >> let's let the good times roll. hopefully we all get back to

that as soon as possible, but we do what we need to do in the meantime to secure the health of people like your mom and so many in that greatest generation and, frankly, a lot of people our age and younger as well. john and lin, i promise you, you've got us as a point of contact. let me know if your information flow slows down. we'll do everything we can. and please stay in touch. i want to make sure that your mom's all right. i'd love to meet her. >> thank you so much, chris. >> thanks, chris. >> god bless. >> appreciate you bringing us on. >> thank you for sharing your story. >> thank you for getting it out there. >> listen, new orleans, queens, what's the difference? together as ever as one. it's not just a tag line for. tigss and tv types, it's over only way through this. we see that truth in the actions of our brothers and sisters springing into action to help make the weapons we need and that we're lacking in this war. like who? like christian siriano, big shot designer to the stars. didn't matter.

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yes, i was touching my face in the last segment. no, it's not because i have bad hygiene. it's because i was getting emotional about what they're dealing with with their mother because i think about my own the way you think about yours, and this is really hard for everybody, so i got what i did. i know you shouldn't touch your face, but i can't be crying on television all the timeneither. ameri-cans, they are the best of us stepping up to help the rest of us. like who? fashion designer christian siriano. so my brother, new york's governor calls out for help last week with this tweet. siriano sees it and he responds, i'm in, and he gets his whole team to start making masks. guess how many he's made in just

days? let's hear it from him. christian siriano, welcome to "prime time" and thank you for what you're doing, brother. >> thank you so much. >> so how many masks? >> we are -- we are up to almost 500 a day. so we will have a couple thousand by the end of the week and we're really excited. i mean, who knew that that was what we were going to be doing. >> why did you do it? >> i think it just was like, it felt like the right moment. i think, you know, i was listening to the governor every day, and i felt kind of like we couldn't do anything. i mean, my whole team, we make gowns all day so i was like, well, we can sew, we can try to help. even if we help 2,000 people. that's 2,000 more than we didn't before, so why not? >> the need is so desperate. i know the state is grateful and they've reached out to you. so because you're a designer, did you just go with what they told you to do with the mask? is there a little bit of a siriano flourish to the mask? >> i mean, i really -- i did try to keep it as technical as it

could. they sent me a pattern. we tried to follow it as best we could. i mean, the difference really is that our mask -- the fit is a little better. i had to work on it a little bit, and it's washable. i mean, you can wear this and wash it and bleach it, and i think that's really important, that you can wear it more than once. so it's for all those people, you know, everybody that does even work in a doctor's office or a hospital that is going home every day. they want to wear something that they can wash at home and then wear the next day. i thought that was very important. >> now, what did they say to you on the public health side about whether the washability was consistent with their standards. are they okay with that? >> at the end of the day, we still have a label in every mask that says, you know, we can't guarantee anything. >> okay. >> because, you know, we're not medical mask makers. >> right. >> this is really just to help and prevent as much as we can. >> yes. >> i hope one day we get there, that we can make a real fully protective gear, but this is really just to help.

but i think it will. i think even just peace of mind, people will be able to go home thinking, like, oh, i feel a little better not having nothing. >> absolutely. especially all of the essential workers now, which is so much more broad than just the front line heros that we have. obvious, right? i mean, the health care workers and all the caregivers. the people driving them to work. you have all our utility workers who are still out there and members of the trades that are doing things. a lot of them don't have any ppe. so let me see what you're coming up with for the mask. >> yeah, yeah, i mean, we made -- you know, it's pretty simple. we're making them in kind of white and gray. nothing fancy. they will not have any labels in them. the most important part is this kind of bendable metal piece here. that kind of helps fit on the nose. so pretty stretchy, comfortable, but easy. like, very simple, but i think speaks volumes. >> well, what speaks volumes is you making the effort. this is not what you do. this is not what you were supposed to do.

this is not what you were told to do. you did it on your own, and that is a beautiful thing and an example to so many people in this country that we're not hiding, we're stepping up. >> yeah, i think you have to. any, like, small businessowner in new york city, it's kind of like, we also want to make sure that our companies survive and our people. i mean, all of my employees have families. they need to work. so this is a way they were able to work and do something great so i think it's, like, the best of both worlds. >> and a lot of them are home, right? your workers are home, so this is a way of keeping them doing things. yeah, tell me. describe the situation, please. >> yeah, no, it is a mix. we have some people at homeworking from home because they want to stay at home and we respect that. we actually got approved to have a few people work in the studio. we're all pretty separate. but it is hard. i will say, the production of masks, you have to be with each other just to make products. so we try to be as safe as we can and we're following all the guidelines, and -- but the governor gave us permission,

which was really great, and we really appreciate him and his team for working so hard for us, too. so we're able to help. so it's been really great. >> and how's the team? everybody health and? >> everyone is so healthy. i mean, anybody that doesn't feel comfortable we, obviously, want to respect them and they can go home and work from home. i will say the women who have been in my office sewing every single day 500 masks a day is unbelievable to see. and pretty amazing. they don't have to come to work and they have been. >> people care. it is a uniquely american and, obviously, a uniquely new york trait. as my mother says people come together as family and i love that people are getting to meet you this way also, christian. obviously, i know who you are. my wife covers your industry as part of her business the purist and wellness and fashion and so i know who you are. but to meet a member of your generation this way when so many

people are getting a black eye for not understanding the seriousness, you are embracing what will get us through this so thank you. thank you for doing this. >> thank you. i appreciate it. >> listen. i appreciate you, giving you the opportunity is nothing because you are an american. you're showing us at our best. good luck. >> thank you so much. >> i got a bigger task for christian. maybe after this, he can help my brother learn how to dress. you ever see him? shirts very big and baggy and tiny head and tough combination. as you can see, we will be part of the solution here. it is not top down. it is not going to be our leaders. we have to do it also. more information on how you can help, go to cnn.com/intact. another example of somebody trying to reach out and help. someone reached out to me and gave me a great guide for what i should tell you about how we have to be living right now.

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story telling time. a buddy of mine is one of the best voice doctors in the world so he is not to blame for how i sound. so he text me to check in. so many of you have done that, by the way. i love that and never forget how people have reached out to be supportive at this time and we do this job for you. it is a privilege. my buddy writes i have to tell people to think positive. i said, you are so right! we have been through far worse for far longer. think of the greatest generation and their sacrifices. by the way, let's remember not to kill them off if i have a misplaced sense of where the best of us are killed off so the rest of us can take the easy way out. then he text me not what i meant. think positive. i'm sorry.

we can't be passive. we have to think about others as my mother says, family, reach out and helping source equipment and sharing essentials, not hoarding and going online and hugging with your heart. care about you and let people know. that's why we are doing it and get after fit on instagram. reach out to your friends and people that you haven't seen and tell them i miss you, i'll see you soon. i writes shut up and let me finish! tell people to live as if they were positive for the virus. think like you were positive. third time is a charm. now i get it. how would you live your life if you were positive for covid-19? think about it. you'd stay home. you'd stay away from anyone in the house. you would need your own space and wash and sanitize

compulsively and you'd stay at home and be acutely aware of what you did affected anybody else and insist we have enough beds and equipment and that this government was doing everything it could do to take care of you and people like you now and gfo bid if there is another way. it is the west prescription for all of us. the hardship is real. it's getting worse with time. and bad economic news is going to make it harder to stay the course. i know that. the job numbers are going to come out tomorrow. it's going to be week over week but not good. wall street knows that and interesting to see how they react but it's really about the rest of us and especially the president putting it in our minds it's been long enough. i know, you know, we had tony fauci on, dr. anthony foucauci

says the virus sets the time line. you don't set the time line. the virus sets the time line so you have to look at the rates. are the rates coming down? here is your question. coming down how? the rate of acceleration or they are actually less cases than two days ago? really important distinction. we will stay on that. but it doesn't matter. this is going to curve when it curves. it doesn't change what we have to do. we have to think positive. if i had this test and i were positive, how would i live? how would i treat the people around me? how would i treat my movements? how would i treat my mentality about what i want to see for other people? and we do also have to use it as a metaphor for everything. care about one another enough to reach out. i get upset when i think about this stuff because i know that a lot of people are in pain. and it is frustrating that i can't do more and i know you feel the same way.

there is a powerlessness in this. but, together, as ever as one, we will see our way through. strong head. strong heart. all day. we will get through it. thank you for watching. "cnn tonight" can d. lemon is right now. >> you have to spend more time with the people you love and this is forcing us to do that. sometimes it causes fights. right? you spend way too much time cooped up with it. i think it shows people what is important. i know that we have to do the news and that we have to give people the numbers which is really about people, right? there are people, their lives are behind the numbers and, sadly, people do die. i got to tell you, in all of this, when people tell me sometimes their favorite moment in this is at the end of the show, your show in the beginning of my show when you say i love you. i know it's corny. but people actually really like that. they say that