so amazing. thank you, tyler. thanks for watching, everyone. our coverage continues. good evening, everybody. some cautiously optimistic news to report this evening. the white house coronavirus task force is talking about glimmers of hope. social distancing, they say, is working. and lowering the projections for the number of dead and hospitalized. even as new york announced its highest death count for a single day. we are going to talk about the new projections in a moment. we'll also talk about highwayow reopening of the country, when it occurs, might occur. the president, who was far more measured in his comments during the press briefing today said, this evening, he wants to reopen the country as quickly as possible. but would rely a lot on his medical sperexperts in terms of and when to do it. abc news out with a new report that says u.s. intelligence was warning as far back as november that the virus posed a danger.

analysts reportedly compiled a report that included it could be, quote, a cataclysmic event. the same source tells abc the top members of the defense department, as well as the white house, were briefed and it was included as well in the president's daily brief in early january. the president's first comment on the disease was in an interview with cnbc on january 22nd. this is what he said. >> the words about a pandemic at this point? >> no, not at all. and we're -- we have it totally under control. it's one person coming in from china. and we have it under control. it's going to be just fine. >> seven days later, we now know his trade advisor peter navarro wrote the first of at least two memos that warned of as many as half a million dead potentially. today, jim acosta asked a slightly different question. was he briefed on that memo? here is the exchange. >> just a followup on something from yesterday. quick question. yesterday, you said you had not

seen peter navarro's memo on coronavirus back in january. >> yeah. >> were you ever -- did you ever discuss those memos? >> i don't remember that. i've now seen the memo. i saw it. peter sends a lot of memos. i didn't see the memo. as you know, world health was saying that was not correct because, at the time, they called it wrong. but i didn't see the memo, but i acted as quickly -- people were shocked i acted so quickly, and everybody thought i was wrong because i did act so quickly, as you know, with respect to closing the borders. with respect, not only to china but, with europe i closed the borders. and i think that was very important. but, no, i didn't see the memo at the time but i have seen it since. >> well, for the latest on what's supposed to be the most deadly week so far for this virus, i want to start with erica hill. erica, you are in front of the hospital at the javits convention center. the makeshift hospital. how many patients are actually there? >> so we are told there are 104

covid-positive patients being treated here. of course, there are 2,500 available beds. governor cuomo said today that hospitalizations for the state are down. and in terms of all these extra beds, remember the javits convention center and the comfort ship, which is in the hudson river just a few blocks from here. those are what the governor is referring to as relief valves. he was saying today the fact there are still so many beds available is a sign of good preparation. >> increase in new cases. >> a blunt assessment from the top. >> it's going to be a bad week for deaths. >> for the second day in a row, new york state announcing a new high for single-day deaths. 779, on tuesday. with morgues overloaded, hard-hit communities are bringing in refrigerated trailers and more help. in new york city, hundreds of national guard members and more than 50 active duty mortuary military specialists are now assisting the medical examiner's office. as states and cities report a rising death toll, there is some

hope. projected deaths nationwide now expected to be closer to 60,000 by august. revised down significantly, thanks to social distancing. the message from officials, this is no time to let up. >> we're all looking to finally get out from under this. but it's not that time yet. the progress confirms the strategy's working. >> the white house task force also zeroing in on several additional cities as potential hotspots, including washington, d.c., baltimore, philadelphia, and houston. new cnn polling reveals a majority of americans feel the federal government has done a poor job preventing the spread. 80% feel the worst is yet to come. >> more rural areas are starting to get hit. and i'm really worried because hospitals in those areas don't have as many icu beds, don't have the same capacity. >> with each day, there is also mounting evidence that the virus is impacting african-americans at a much higher rate. underserved communities, also, hit hard. >> whatever the situation is,

natural disaster, hurricane katrina, the people standing on those rooftops were not rich, white people. why? why is it that the poorest people always pay the highest price? let's learn from this moment, and let's learn these lessons and let's do it now. >> new york governor andrew cuomo said the state will increase testing and research in minority communities starting today to better understand the disparity. meantime, supply needs continue to be a concern across the country. gm announced it will produce 30,000 ventilators for the national stockpile. costing nearly half a billion dollars. but those won't be delivered until the end of august. another concern. how and when to reopen the country? that conversation is starting with a focus on antibody testing to learn who was infected but

asympto asymptomatic. >> this makes a very big difference in really understanding who can go back to work. >> dr. birx says those tests could be available in the next 10 to 14 days. though, in reality, there is no clear end date for this pandemic. pennsylvania and new york, following new jersey's lead. flags lower to half staff in honor of the thousands lost to this virus. >> erica, from governor cuomo, is he cautiously optimistic? >> i would describe it as cautiously optimistic with a healthy dose of realism. you know, one of the things he said today is it may look like we're flattening the curve in terms of what we have seen. but this is no time to be complacent. this is just further proof that you need to be doubling down on all of these measures of social distancing and staying at home. and he was also talking about whether there was a new normal to come on the other side of this. could we get back to normal? his whole point there was there's no going back. there's only looking ahead to the future. and that future will not look like what life was yesterday.

it will, in fact, be a new normal. and that's something that people are going to have to start wrapping their heads around. anderson. >> also, erica, if this newest projection is correct and the 60,000 range, that still means, you know, between now and -- and august, 45,000 people in this country may die if that projection is correct. it's still early in that sense. erica hill. joining me now is sanjay gupta and senior investigative correspondent drew griffin. so, sanjay, the new model shows a lower number of deaths going to august than originally predicted. talk a little bit about what -- what is attributed -- what that's attributed to. >> well, i think when -- when they were looking at the previous models, i mean, they were working on the data they had. and a couple of assumptions that was really focused on china. i mean, that was a place, a location, where they had gone through this curve of the infection. and they were trying to, like, plug in those assumptions from

china into this. but, now, as you look at those new numbers, you see that they've gone quite a bit down. and i think when you sort of dig into it, anderson, it really reflects the fact that there is other countries now that they are looking at that may have not had as stringent stay-at-home lockdown policies as china. but still did have some significant success with regard to decreasing hospitalizations and decreasing deaths. so it's -- i think that's really what's informing it, in addition to some new data that's coming in from the states. i should point out that it's still -- you know, it's -- there is a lot of variability still in these models. we've been following several of them, anderson. this one, for example, new york city. i was just looking. their range, at the peak, they say could be anywhere from 300 to 1,800 people possibly dying on the peak days in new york city. it's a wide range, is my point. and you have several other cities around the country now that are, you know, cities of significant concern. so the models are, you know, only as good as the assumptions

you are putting into them and there is a lot of assumption still. >> jim, in the briefing, you asked about the new model. what was the response? >> yeah. i asked dr. deborah birx because last week, you will recall we were in that dramatic briefing where the white house essentially said we could see 100,000 to 240,000 deaths. yesterday, we were starting to get an inkling that they were backing away from those figures and dr. deb borah birx said yes they are essentially seeing numbers come down so they are anticipating fewer deaths. and here's what she had to say when i asked her that question. >> i know many of you are watching the act now model and the -- the ihme model from -- and they have consistently decreased the number -- the m e mortality from over almost 90,000 or 86,000 down to 81,000. and, now, down to 61,000. that is modeled on what america is doing. >> and so she credits the social distancing for doing this.

but, anderson, one of the things that they are concerned about, we know this from talking to people inside the task force. they repeated this today. is that as people see these models come down, they don't want people to dial down the social distancing. that could cause these guidelines to snap back because, obviously, outbreaks could reoccur. if people start going back to the way life was before we started doing all of this. >> drew, i mean, the president made the claim today that, you know, the u.s. has -- what he said was, quote, the best testing systems. obviously, we know about all the problems that have existed with testing. what is the status of testing right now? because governor cuomo talked about this today and every scientist i talk to points this out. that testing is going to be -- governor cuomo called it the bridge that's going to get you to opening up the economy again. people going back to work. without testing in every state and contraact tracing, it's not going to happen. >> exactly. and the testing is getting better. the capacity is getting better. but, like you said, anderson,

keep in mind, we are just playing catchup to what was an abysmal rollout of the testing that we needed. the testing you needed to -- to identify, isolate, mitigate what is now this huge virus spread. i will tell you we're talking with labs every single day. they are still running out of these nose swabs. there's a constant problem with getting the reagent supply, the chemicals they need to run the tests. and the big, big companies. quest diagnostic, lab corps, telling us just this week their backlog is still four to five days to turn around a test. that's four or five days that you, your doctors, healthcare workers are waiting to see whether you have covid or not. so we're still far behind, but it is improving in capacity. >> sanjay, i mean, just on testing, first of all, it -- talk about that idea of testing being the bridge because not just the antibody test, which would tell you who was exposed already and, therefore, has some

immunity. we -- we believe, as far as i know. but, also, it's the other testing just to see, you know, who may still be infected, who's not, and -- and to give people information and confidence. >> yeah, absolutely. testing was, is, and will be i think the cornerstone of all of this. right now, when you test, you not only want to find out -- excuse me, if someone is positive. but also, be able to isolate that person. trace their contacts. so that you can really try and, you know, slow down the spread. that's challenging. as you know, anderson, because of so much community spread right now. at the beginning of the curve and then, again, at the end of the curve, testing will be, you know, obviously very important. and, at that time, as we sort of come to the -- to the end of the curve, the tail of the curve, you will see an increased focus on testing. and the ability to isolate folks and contact trace them. that will be part of sort of getting the -- the infection to stay low. you know, to really reduce that

community spread. that, in addition to making sure hospitals have capacity and all of that sort of stuff. but, yeah, this is the antigen test. this is the virus testing. not the antibody testing. that will be important, as well. but the -- the testing for the virus will remain important. >> it's going to be up to states and state health departments. and from all the people i talk to, they say the states just aren't ready for that and the contact tracing. i want to ask you about these new cdc guidelines for essential critical workers. i think we have them to put on the screen. seems like a lot of what they are saying is already happening. it says take your temperature before work. wear a face mask at all times. practice social distancing in the workplace. >> this is for people who have known exposure to someone who's been diagnosed with covid-19, although it should be everybody. but you're right. some of these things have been in place for essential workers, particularly healthcare workers. for healthcare workers, there's even been recommendations that

if you have mild symptoms, you can continue to work with a mask. but you are getting a glimpse, i think, anderson, of what the return to work might look like more generally. take your temperature first thing in the morning. your temperature will be taken again when you get to work. you may wear a mask at work. you won't be allowed to congregate and break rooms, things like that. employers will have to create better airflow within buildings. make sure there is deep cleaning of all the surfaces on a regular basis. you are starting to get an idea of what this might look like for all workers. again, this is essential workers now. and it's for people who have had known exposure. but i think as we extrapolate and expand people going back to work, these are glimpses of what it might look like. >> didn't see by peter navarro. didn't acknowledge getting briefed on it. it is interesting. you know, the president said peter navarro sends a lot of

memos. i'm not sure what the likelihood is that he would have seen it. do you know? >> yeah. it was interesting, anderson, because yesterday he said he didn't see the memo. so i asked the president this evening, were you briefed on the memo? was it discussed in your presence? and he said i don't remember that. that was the answer that he gave to that question. and so it's very possible that this -- this memo did come up in conversations inside the white house. we're still digging on that. but the president said he began to take seriously what was going on with the coronavirus when he shut down travel or began travel restrictions on flights coming in from china. that is around the time that the peter navarro memo came out. the memo came out on the 27th. those restrictions went into place a couple of days after that. and so the president seems to be saying he was listening to the memo without acknowledging that he saw the memo or read the memo or was briefed on the memo. the other thing we should point out is that he did not really indicate, one way or the other, how much he knew about this

intelligence information that was coming into the pentagon back in november of last year, which backs up the timeline, of course, anderson, as to when intelligence officials were aware that there could be a very serious pandemic developing over in china. >> yeah. sanjay, stay with us. jim, thank you. drew griffin. still to come, a live report from china on the reopening of wuhan, again, the source of the coronavirus. number of people allowed to leave. plus, whether the danger there has truly subsided. also tonight, remembering john prine, who died of complications from coronavirus on tuesday. going to join us to remember the life of her friend, one of the storied songwriters in histories whose melodies caught to you and whose lyrics kept you. and a trade desk full of experts, available to answer your toughest questions. and i see it with zero commissions on online trades.

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did you know you can save money bundling home and auto with progressive, and renters can bundle, too? i know, right? [ laughs ] [ singing continues ] why'd you stop? i was listening. [ microphone feedback ] before the break, we were discussing the possibility of reopening this country and how long that would take, and what the risks of doing it too soon might be. china is already taking steps in that direction. tens of thousands who proved they were healthy were allowed to leave wuhan, which is the source of the virus, after a 76-day lockdown. for more on how that's been going, i want to go to david culver in shanghai. so the lockdown has ended. it everything open in wuhan. >> far from it. state media portrays, from the images they put out there, a dramatic reopening. and the reality is in the 76 days since the lockdown started can leave bu hwuhan freely.

but talking to residents on the ground there, life is still far from normal. in fact, many of them are still subject to the rules of their local neighborhood committee. in the u.s., it would be like the hoa or your condo association that stipulates you can only go outside two hours a day, one person per family, and then you got to be back inside. those are still in place. schools are still closed. businesses in many places, even specifically within wuhan, are certainly shut down. some of them, simply not going to reopen. they were just crushed financially because of those 76 days of having to be closed. >> it's a pretty extreme condo association rules there. >> yeah. >> how did the folks prove that they are healthy to authorities so that they can leave? >> it has to do with big data. i referenced the qr codes before but we do everything on apps here so there is no touching, handing credit cards. there is no cash. so they use this ali pay app and

you have to push a button every time so you can't just screenshot it and we wait for what we consider to be our golden ticket. a green qr code. if it turns yellow or red, you have been flagged for some reason. so it is kind of a big-brother surveillance type but the reality is it's become a sense of pride for many people here when you can get into a hotel or shopping mall. and people have even gone to the extent of having people in the hospitality or service industry print them on stickers and print them on their lapel so you know you are dealing with somebody who has not likely been exposed to a confirmed case. but here is how specific this data gets kind of frighteningly so. they can tell where you have been on a plane. for example, if you were on an aircraft that had a confirmed case. if you were at the front of the cabin, well, chances are you'd still have a green qr code. if you were eight rows ahead, you might have a yellow one. if you were four rows ahead of that confirmed case, it might be red. so that's the kind of detail they get into. >> wow. i mean, we're not even close to

anything like that here in the u.s., just in terms of contact tracing. i'm not sure. obviously, there's all sorts of civil liberties issues as well. david, appreciate it. back with sanjay gupta. also joining us is a pediatric infectious disease physician and chief medical officer for the health education website osmosis.org. sanjay, first of all, just seeing that in china. i mean, is that something that actually would be built here? a testing system, a disease surveillance system? effective enough that -- i mean, that seems -- there's a whole bunch of issues with that but what kind of system would be in the united states to ensure that the society could reopen? >> well, i think when we get to the tail end of the curve and numbers start to come down, just the idea of basic public health strategies. people are getting tested. that is still a cornerstone of this. they can be isolated because the

test results come back quickly. and their contacts can be traced. i agree with you, anderson. i think it would be tough to do -- as has often been the case with some strategies in china, as effective as they may be. may be difficult to implement things like that here in the united states. but that's really not to take away from strategies that have worked in this country. the reason, again, without belaboring this point, it didn't really work in this country initially was because we didn't have adequate testing initially. so it was very -- by the time we caught up, i think it was pretty clear the virus was circulating. >> doctor, what concerns me about the system in the u.s. is that it's state by state. and it just seems like, from everybody -- every epidemiologist i've talked to, the states really are not the public health systems are not robust enough in order to have the widespread testing needed and, also, to do the contact tracing that's going to be need today ensure people have confidence they can be safe. >> that's right.

just to be very clear, this has gone on for a long time. you know, public health systems have been quietly their bundget have been chipped away at and they are amazing individuals working in those roles but they need to be supported with resources. so a lot of that contact-tracing work is now put on the individual that is sick and their family. to say, you know, you need to contact all the people you've been around and let them know that this is something we're worried about for you. and so, right now, that's how we're doing it. and, unfortunately, that's the situation we have been in because of this longstanding deinvestment in our healthcare system. >> doctor, the good news is scientists and medical professiona professional know what works. the question is funding it and getting people to do it. how possible is it to -- upscale is not a hard but to scale up such a system, you know, very quickly, state by state. >> you know, there is one thing that i've noticed in the -- in the past couple of weeks that i

don't think i realized as much now, which is the innovation and the creativity that comes from a desperate situation. so a simple example is batch testing. right now, imageaine you are trying to screen 100 people. one way is to screen them individually. that's 100 tests. one clever idea that's being rolled out in germany is what if you took ten swabs and ran them in one test? then if any one of them is positive, then you go back and figure out which one. but if they're all negative, then you can rest assured they're all negative and you essentially did 10% of the work. so there are ways to scale up testing, that are available today, that we could try out and other countries have shown can work. >> sanjay, dr. faufrp saci said going forward, as a society, he thinks we should just forget about shaking hands. just try to break that custom. certainly, the president talked about that. he wasn't a big fan of handshaking in his civilian life. that would certainly be a big

shift for the world but certainly the united states. i mean, some countries it wouldn't be such a shift because that's not the tradition. >> yeah, culturally and places around the world, handshaking is not -- not common. you know, i don't know. i think it'd actually probably be a good idea. even aside from coronavirus, i mean, there's lots of other viruses, including flu, which can be transmitted that way. you know, i don't know. it'll be interesting to see. i do think as you and i have talked about, we have very short memory. even with something as significant as this but i think it would be smart to start and encourage people to adopt in addition to really thorough handwashing, which people are maybe better than they've ever been in their lives because of all that's going on. but those things even outside of a pandemic make a huge difference with regard to pathogens. so i -- i would like to see it. i don't know if it'll happen or not. >> yeah. doctor, thank you very much for all you are doing and i appreciate the time you spent with us tonight. thank you.

sanj sanjay, i want to ask you one more question. actually, one of the things bill gates had said to you and i when we were talking to him is that it's a tens of billions of dollar proposition to prepare for the next pandemic. but that there are things des n scientists can do that will quicken the amount of time that a vaccine comes to fruition. there is a whole bunch of stuff we can do to prepare for the next one. it's a question of political will to actually spend the money to do that. to your point about, you know, people forget very quickly and move on to other things, that would certainly be a shame given all that we have been through, thus far, if, on the other side of this, we don't adequately prepare for the next time. >> we can't let that happen, anderson. you know, and i think it's probably a little bit on us, frankly, a little bit in the media to keep beating the drudr this because people will forget

i think and move on. this is so important. we were not prepared. in 2017, dr. fauci also gave a talk that basically predicted a surprise pandemic. people have been talking about the idea of pandemic for some time. but even -- even aside from the preparation on testing and making sure we have surge capacity, that we have some redundancy in our healthcare system so we're not red lining when it comes to ventilators and ppe like we are now. just the surveillance. really looking around the world, anderson. like, you and i traveled to places around the world where zoonaughtic diseases. that is important. it's laborious work and most of it doesn't amount to anything that's going to turn into a pan dem d pandemic. think about the number of lives you could save, in all of this so, yeah, this can't just be a lessons learned that sits in the drawer somewhere. >> just quickly want to ask you again. the president today was praising

hydro hydroxy chloroqui hydroxychloroquine as a drug to treat the virus. cardiology group sent out a warning that some covid patients might be risk at heart arrhythmias of being treated with it. wonder what you think of that. >> yeah. so there was actually three cardiac associations, american heart association, i think cardiology association, and then specifically that focuses on heart rhythm abnormalities. this has been a concern with this particular medication. that it could cause heart rhythm abnormality or worsen a heart rhythm problem in somebody who already has one. it's a small study. all these studies are small studies. so, you know, just as difficult it is to read into the benefits of these medications, it's difficult to read studies into the side effects. but, in this one, they found out i think around 83-84 patients, that 11% of them developed this particular type of heart rhythm abnormality. wasn't necessarily something that caused significant problems or death. but it's -- it's an issue.

so what they're recommending is that everyone be screened with ekgs before they try these medications. that they be monitored with ekgs and if you have any kind of existing problem, you not get this drug. that could be a significant percentage of people, anderson. but, again, this is why you do studies. this is what you have to figure out so you don't inadvertently harm somebody by giving them a medication like this. >> sanjay, thank you. i will see you tomorrow night for the cnn global town hall coronavirus fact and fears. magic johnson will discuss why the pandemic is hitting the african-american community so hard. two hours of guests, live reports, and answers to your questions about coronavirus. that's tomorrow night starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern. up next tonight, i will talk to a doctor who has one of the toughest jobs in a hospital during this pandemic. intubating patients to go on a ventilator. he told "the washington post," quote, you are basically right next to the nuclear reactor. what it's like, when we continue.

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tonight fou workers. when they are on the job, they are being told to wear a face mask at all times and check their temperature. this includes healthcare workers, those who work in grocery stores, deliver the mail or packages, cook food for deliveries and more. cnn's jason carol has a look at how they're putting themselves at risk as they help keep our country running. >> businesses closed. streets empty. as new yorkers, like many people across the country, continue to live under a stay-at-home order. >> but for those who are deemed

essential, staying home is not an option. >> just pray to god that i make it through today. >> a number of so-called essential workers we found shared a common worry. thankful to have jobs when so many now do not. but, also, grave concerns about working during a pandemic. >> it's not easy. it's scary. i am telling you. every day we come in, we pray to god. you know, to keep us safe. you know. but it's our responsibility, at this time, to take care of the customers and the patients. >> the focus here, at thomas drugs on manhattan's upper west side, ensuring the staff's safety, while keeping up with customer needs for items such as thermometers, gloves, and masks. >> it's hard for us to get from the distributors. so we are just trying to get it but still, no, it's not easy. >> but for some essential workers, they have to deal with scenes like this before they can

get to work. miriam works in an emergency room, and shot this video in a bronx subway station last friday. >> so what do us essential workers do? how do we stay safe where we're not even safe at work, where we're supposed to be safe, because we have to deal with this pandemic. and we're not safe getting to work. >> vareta says she has no choice but to take the subway. she says she doesn't have the luxury of a car, so she has to commute by train, an hour and a half, each way, every day, from her home in harlem to the hospital in the bronx. she says the cdc recommendation of six feet of social distancing is challenging, at best. >> to be honest with you, that really doesn't exist in the train. that's like -- >> doesn't exist. >> it's, like, nonexistent. it's to the point that you're lucky if you get on when there's a little bit of people. usually, it's very crowded in the morning. >> city's transportation authority says ridership is down more than 90% and they do watch

for hotspots. but they say it is difficult operating even a reduced schedule because there are fewer healthy people to run the trains. jasmine works at trader joes and commutes by train, as well. she says she does what she can to keep her distance on her way to work, where her job is to help customers keep their distance. >> it is risky to come to work. it is a little bit scary but i'm trying to keep precautions, keep six feet away, change my mask, change my gloves frequently. it is a scare but got to stay safe. >> keeping spirits in supply is deemed essential as well. at 67th street wine and spirits, customers wait outside for their orders. here, they have hired some furloughed restaurant workers to keep up with demand. >> at the end of the day, ultimately, it's about the people. so if we can keep people employed, we feel happy. >> jason carol, cnn, new york.

>> up next, firsthand account from an essential worker, an icu doctor, who's had one of the most dangerous jobs in the hospital. intubating patients who need to go on siren laterventilators. be right back. spend a few minutes online today to impact the next 10 years of healthcare, infrastructure and education. go to 2020census.gov and respond today to make america's tomorrow brighter. it's time to shape our future. i am totally blind. and non-24 can throw my days and nights out of sync, keeping me from the things i love to do. talk to your doctor, and call 844-214-2424.

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country, it's the brave and dedicated nurses and doctors who are on the front lines of the fight against the pandemic. they are risking their own lives to save their patients.

dr. corey at the university of illinois of hospital in chicago, weeks ago, anesthesiologist for those about to have a baby. now, just inches away from a patient's face as he intubates them so they can be put on a ventilator. recently told "the washington post," quote, you are basically right next to the nuclear reactor. i go in confident and fast because if you miss the first try, you have to bring it out again. the doctor joins me now. thank you so much for being with us, and for what you're doing. can you just talk about the -- the -- what it's like doing this every single day? i mean, there is an intimacy to it. you are so close, you see the patient. you look them in the eye. what is this like? >> yeah, thanks, anderson, for having me on. you know, it's very challenging to describe what it feels like because you have this what looks like a space suit separating me and the patient. i am a normally used to interacting kind of face to face, on eye level.

and now i have this barrier between me and the patient. they don't have any family or visitors around them. so you are kind of taking on the roles of a lot of dinnfferent people. it's very scary. it's scare why arify myself. it's scary for my loved ones and of course it's scary for the patient so there is a lot of pressure but it's whatwear trained to do so happy to do it. >> you wrote about this but you are also -- you could be the last person that that person sees. >> yeah, you know, i take that very seriously. normally, as an anesthesiologist, it's people having surgery. it's not maybe the happiest day but they know what to expect and we do our best to kind of make them happy and comfortable and set the expectations. but -- and everyone expects to wake up. but when you are intubating a patient with coronavirus, you know, i take it very seriously that i may be the last face they see or voice they hear, and i try to take some time to show some compassion and really, you

know, show that we're going to take good care of them. and i'm going to see to it that they get good care at the hospital. >> and you write about, you know, you try to do this quickly. and it can be done, i think, in 10 to 15 seconds you said but people cough, and oftentimes, your mask is covered with what they bring up. one of the things you wrote, you said i have to find a way to hold it together in order to do this job. i tear up sometimes and if i do, it can fog up my face shield. how do you keep doing this? i mean, you have an underlying condition, asthma, and obviously that's a concern as well. >> yeah. so it's kind of a multifaceted or there is lots of different components to it. i would say first, and foremost, it starts by having a good team. so starting with the leadership in my department and anesthesia and then my co-workers who we all share a lot of responsibility request check in on each other day to day. but then there is loved ones, friends, facebook and instagram have gotten support, offering to send me food.

honestly, people have -- it's blowing me away how supportive people are being. so that really does help. and then you just you realize you're trained for this and you -- you go where the data leads you and you do the best you can. >> i read, also, you said that in between when you go back to the break room or wherever you go, you exercise for your lungs to -- to try to keep your lungs healthy. that's something that -- it's something chris cuomo was talking about, too. about, you know, sort of fighting this. how important is that to you? is that is it something you recommend other people do? >> well, yeah, i think it can't hurt. we know that exercise and indict are really helpful for a strong immune system. and, of course, you need the best immune system you can to fight this virus. but i don't only do it to keep my lungs strong but it also kind of keeps me balanced and kind of keeps me focused if i just take a few minutes for myself, and can do that between patients. you know, it's not always

superbusy every night. so between patients, i try to go back to the call room and just have a moment. >> you volunteered to be the person who does this. i mean, who does the intubations. >> yeah. so, initially, you know, when the pandemic was -- first started to arise in chicago. you know, we -- we discussed kind of different plans and we came up with a few different kind of clever ways or staffing ideas. and one of the things i said is, you know, i don't take care of older relatives. i don't have young kids. i'm relatively healthy. i'm young. i'm happy to do whatever i can. and, you know, now that it's becoming busier or quite a bit busier, we are definitely sharing the roles and responsibilities a little bit more. but, yeah, i'm happy to do it. i feel like i was raised and born to be a physician and to take care of patients. >> well, thank you for what you are doing. it's -- i appreciate it. i know a lot of people do. thank you. >> thank you, anderson. >> be careful. coming up, we remember

singer/songwriter john prine who's died of complications from coronavirus. i will speak to bonnie raitt about her friend prine, his music, and his legacy. -that's how a home and auto bundle is made. [ chuckles ] so, what are some key takeaways from this commercial? did any of you hear the "bundle your home and auto" part?

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for the same medications as the vet, but up to 30 percent less with fast free shipping. visit petmeds.com today. to coronavirus is now at least 1,800. we've been trying each night to honor those who died and tonight that means honoring a legend. john prine died yesterday, he was 73 years old. he had a musical style that was all his own. it was his lyrics that grabbed a hold of his fans. he counted legendary musicians among his fans. one of them, bonnie raitt, who appeared with him just last november at a concert. the song is one prine wrote and raitt made her own. "angel from montgomery." take a listen.

♪ i'm an old woman ♪ named after my mother ♪ another child that's grew old ♪ ♪ if dreams were thunder ♪ lightning was desire ♪ this old house would have burnt down ♪ ♪ a long time ago ♪ make me an angel ♪ that flies from montgomery ♪ make me a poster ♪ of an old rodeo ♪ just give me one thing ♪ i can hold onto ♪ to believe in this living ♪ is just a hard way to go

>> bonnie raitt joins me now. thank you for being with us. i'm so sorry it's under these circumstances. but wow, to watch you two on that stage. you knew him since the 1970s. you stayed close to him throughout your career. what was he like? what are some of the things that you remember most? >> well, we started out in 1971 together, both of us had our first albums and we were playing greenwich village, clubs around the corner and the word had spread about this incredible guy from chicago and we just hit it off right away and ever since i heard that first record with angel on it, i knew i wanted to sing it. and it was, you know, we were young and everybody was -- it was a great time to be starting out. really great. and always been one of my talismans and great friends. >> to be young in the 70s in greenwich village, it must have been something. you said something about john, you said quote, he's the

combination of being that tender and that wise and that astute mix with his homespun sense of humor. probably the closest thing to seeing mark twain in person. he had a really uncanny way of capturing every day life, happy or sad, funny or thought-provoking. >> absolutely. and, you know, he was, like a lot of the people that i love the most, he was, you know, as humorous as he was deep and he was the same guy offstage as he was on and immediately adorable and people fell in love with him the minute you see him and then he would hit you with those songs. his ability to dig deep, as well as to be humorous, is a great combination. >> i just want to read a quick lyric from "angel from montgomery" that we just heard. make me an angel that flies from montgomery. make me a poster of an old rodeo. just give me one thing that i can hold onto. to believe in this living is just a hard way to go. his way to capture the human

condition, in a few simple lines, there's incredible power in so much of what he did. >> yeah, and to be that succinct. and it seemed effortless. it was just an incredible gift he had. to think of how many decades of music that he's given us, it was just heartbreaking to all of us that this virus took one of our most beloved and treasured, you know, all the world around, there will never be another john prine. >> roger ebert, the famous film critic, he was working for "the chicago sun times" and wrote a music review back in the '70s, john's first review, i read. and the headline was, singing mailman who delivers a powerful message in a few words. and it amazes me, some of the aspects of john's life, that he was a mailman and able to, you know, quickly dash off a song while on his route. >> i know, incredible story. and, you know, all of the -- growing up in arkansas, just in

that county and his family being from the roots that he was, he really represents so much of a cross section of america, and for me, you know, as a west coast person, growing up, i mean, chicago and the midwest and arkansas were, like, foreign countries for me and john brought it all home to the rest of us. he brought such truth and such universal truth. but so precisely american, you know? >> what do you think his -- sitting here with all that we're going through, he had a wry sense of humor, i wonder what his message would be to everybody? >> well, his last record, i mean, it's not that many people that can have five decades and have the greatest time of his career be the last year, you know. the "tree of forgiveness" album brought him such acclaim. and there's a song on there, "when i get to heaven," he lived a very fulfilled life, with a beautiful wife and kids.

his career, his peers and his fans celebrating him, i mean, he was at the pinnacle of his life and he'd come through so many health challenges already, i really felt that he really knew how lucky he was to have made it this far and was just -- that song, "when i get to heaven" is the one that i'm going to be listening to when i want to smile and think of him. dancing a little jig going off stage. >> well, what an incredible life, just extraordinary. bonnie raitt, thank you so much for talking with us. >> thank you, anderson. >> you take care. i want to take a minute to update you on a story we brought you a couple weeks ago. colorado man named zach branson was facing liver transplant surgery, threatened with cancellation because of the pandemic. a lot of surgeries had been canceled. and the donor was his uncle. initially, hospital authorities said the surgery was onhold. good news tonight. and we all need it. surgery took place a couple days ago and was successful.

zach nor his uncle have the virus. the doctor who performed that operation with zach right there. some good news to end on. the news continues right now, want to hand it over to chris for "cuomo prime time." chris, how are you feeling? >> better than i deserve. i wish you out there a very sweet passover. going to have special meaning for all of us now. we got to count our blessings and, yes, we know what it's like to hope that a very evil spirit passes us by, because that's what we're dealing with right now. i am still better than i deserve. my brother, be well. always great to see you. i'm chris cuomo. welcome to "prime time." new york has once again reported its deadliest day. that's two days in a row of deadliest days and yet again, this context of potential good news in that, not in death, but in what it suggests about flattening of the curve, as reported by the governor of new york. so, tonight, we have that man, the governor of new york will join us. we'll talk to him about the realities with coronavirus in his own state and while we have him, let's get a take on this