Skip to main content

tv   Anderson Cooper 360  CNN  April 10, 2020 6:00pm-7:00pm PDT

6:00 pm
michael vasquez! come over here. i've heard such good things about you, your company. well, i wouldn't have done any of it without you. without this place. this is for you. michael, you didn't have to... and, we're going to need some help with the rest. you've worked so hard to achieve so much. perhaps it's time to partner with someone who knows you and your business well enough to understand what your wealth is really for. welcome to our second hour of "360." chris cuomo is home recuperating. worst of the pandemic so far. president trump wants the country to reopen based on signs that peak might be coming soon.
6:01 pm
spoke to director at university of washington, new study cited by white house. dr. chris murray said if we stop at may 1st, seeing return to almost where we are now, sometime in july. rebound may not happen in every state but substantial risk of rebound remains if we don't wait until most transmission is near zero in each state. matches up with "new york times" report that says government projections show a spike this summer in stay-at-home orders are lifted after 30 days. could mean as many as 200,000 deaths even if schools are closed and some social distancing still followed. government's numbers. i'll talk to political leaders from both coasts. for more, erika hill in new york. governor cuomo sounding
6:02 pm
cautiously optimistic that new york is slowing the infection rate despite the high deaths this week. >> reporter: he used those words. cautiously optimistic. hospital admissions are down, icu also down. good news. but deaths still high, 737 on thursday. seeing the dip in hospitalizations, fewer people needing to go into the icu is because of the measures put in place that people have been following. as you just pointed out, now is no time to lift any of those orders. >> in the city, mayor de blasio responded to stories of mass burials. what did he say? >> reporter: there was a public cemetery on hart island in new york city, which has been used for some time to bury those who don't have a person to claim their body after their death.
6:03 pm
there were rumors that mass burials would happen there because of victims of covid-19. mayor said there will not. will people be buried there? yes, bodies that have gone unclaimed unfortunately. mayor said each and every person brought there for burial will be treated with utmost dignity and respect. >> in terms of opening up again, something the president has continued to push for by next month, what did governor say? >> reporter: he's not pushing for it next month. he's said multiple times you cannot just flip a switch. has to be gradual and number of things they have to figure out for that. and paramount is testing. not just diagnostic but antibody testing. they can test 300 people a day right now, two weeks from now,
6:04 pm
about 2,000 tests. but millions of new yorkers need to go to work. he's calling on the federal government to bring in the defense production act here. he says that testing really needs to be scaled up and sees that was one way to happen. saying new york city is ready to work with the government. president was asked about that at briefing today and didn't seem inclined to use the dpa for that practice. >> erika, fresh. dr. sanjay gupta, chef medical officer osmosis.org, and drew griffith. sanjay, testing, mixed messes. president saying vast areas of the country don't need testing. i think he said iowa, places without a lot of cases don't need huge amounts of testing to get back to work. dr. birx says there needs to be quote, laser focused, methodical
6:05 pm
approach to testing combined with surveillance. we know there's not contact tracing in place. can you explain what it means? >> we need to test. places a couple of weeks ago thought they had dodged all this, wouldn't need significant testing, now they have thousands of patients with infection in those places. clearly we need testing everywhere. what people are comingling in terms of definitions here -- we don't need to test everybody in the country. people thought this means complete country testing, 325 million people. i don't think anybody is saying that but broader surveillance. mosaic that i think dr. birx was talking about, continue to test people coming into the hospitals. most of the people who get it don't need to go to the hospital. find other places to test in the community, maybe primary care doctors, places like that.
6:06 pm
also layer in the antibody testing, first test looks for virus, antibody testing looks for evidence you've been exposed to the virus. gives you idea of surveillance as well. all these things will be necessary. as you know, anderson, as we've talked about, if you find somebody who has the infection, you have got to trace their contacts. that involves a lot of -- laborious task, lot of people involved with doing that. all those need to happen. >> dr. desai. they don't know if almost half million cases reported in u.s. are tip of the iceberg, half the iceberg, 3/4 of the iceberg. former commissioner of the fda, dr. scott gottlieb. >> we do those tests mass scale. serology tests. test population broadly to find out who is exposed.
6:07 pm
i think we'll find 1% to 5% of the total population. pockets could be higher, queens, new york is higher. but low overall. even professionals exposed to this virus, tsa workers, checkout lines in grocery stores, health care workers, people who touch a lot of people as part of their job, i think you'll find the level of exposure is about 10%, not very high. there's not a mass population of people immune to the virus who can return to work safely, it's a rather small percent. >> do you think that's accurate that very small part of the population has actually had the virus? >> i do. i think that's about right. in fact what i think we're going to realize, which is going in line with the comments, going to vary, talking about downtown new york or rural wyoming. one other point about serology, this test like any other has
6:08 pm
chance of false positives and negatives. we have to figure out standard to apply to determine whether we believe a certain level of antibody really means you're immune. that's a big issue coming weeks as well. >> dr. fauci saying that testing is the bridge to reopening the economy. what is the latest you're learning about the country's capabilities for testing, gearing capabilities. >> testing is getting better, testing for the actual virus of sick people. supply is still short in some places but they're able to fill the gap by moving stuff around. all around the testing is getting better. but it's this antibody testing that's beginning to roll out, dr. fauci teased it next week or so, and seemed to indicate more than one test. only one test is approved by fda for eau use. that's a small company i've had
6:09 pm
trouble getting into touch with, anderson. unless there are other companies doing the antibody tests that are going to be manufacturing in big, big numbers, we'll probably have a small rollout like we did for the coronavirus test itself. >> as gavin newsom, governor of california said, it's not just the test but the reagents and swabs needed. >> nose swabs, hear it all the time, they're in short supply. when the president says we don't need to test everywhere, we do. and make sure in iowa when they have a problem they have the nose swabs that go with the test. >> i'll play another clip from dr. gottlieb. >> rule of thumb might be 3.1 million encounters with primary care system every week. might want to test that level of people. upwards of 3.8 million people every week, presenting to health
6:10 pm
care system for whatever reason, swab them for coronavirus for the time being to detect outbreaks while they're small. >> interesting idea, people going to see hospitals and doctors and medical providers for other things be tested just as a sampling. does that make sense to you? >> it does make total sense. and scott gottlieb referring to primary care office, not even in the hospital. very small percentage of people with the infection will need to go to the hospital. he said 3.8 million visits a week, 750,000 tests a day, starting to get a sense of what this might look like to do it adequately. doesn't mean you'll get to 325 million people but roughly a million tests a day and you'll start to get good sense how widespread this is and find people infected and isolate
6:11 pm
them, start to think about -- talk about mitigation. but as we end the curve, want to go back into containment mode and contain people with the infection as well as their contacts. >> i understand the nih took steps forward today to start testing people all over the country with at-home mail kits. what is the potential size and scope of that? >> and it's a test, a survey basically that could give us a first glimpse of how much coronavirus has or has not penetrated the united states. want to get 10,000 volunteers, screen them over the phone, send them at-home test kits for antibody test when it's ready and get them back. and see in random sampling, who had it, didn't have it, where the pockets are. >> dr. desai, current tests are
6:12 pm
imperfect. 51 patients, missed 16 of the cases. you believed you had coronavirus and test came back negative, should that give us all pause? a you referenced that before but seems worth focusing on if it's that high false negative rate. >> let's walk through that. i had symptoms, cough, fever, shortness of breath, infectious disease doctor, let's get tested. tested negative. either it's right and i didn't have covid-19 but another virus. other option, saying i don't have it now but did have it. if i received a serology test kit, maybe have igg response to tell me i had it in the past. third option, most concerning, i do have covid-19 right now and test just missed it. that's what i'm getting at.
6:13 pm
as you have thousands of folks getting tested, this issue is going to get bigger and bigger, we're going to start wondering. we thought that person was immune and could start a business. now that person was touching and handling something that affected hundreds of other people and they were not immune. what does that mean? another outbreak on our hands? until we beef up testing and good, clear sense and confidence that the immune levels mean something we'll be where we are right now, research phase. >> thank you very much. president said today he has the power to reopen the economy, not the states. governor of connecticut comes on to talk about that and recovery effort. and in-depth look at what the president said publicly to administration privately. as the cases went to now almost
6:14 pm
half a million. at&t has connected us every day for over 100 years. and we're here for you - especially now, doing everything possible to keep you connected. through the resilience of our network and people... we can keep learning, keep sharing, keep watching, and most of all, keep together. it's the job we've always done... it is the job we will always do. ♪[woof] ♪
6:15 pm
450-degree oven, to box, to you, know that from our it's our policy that your pizza is never touched once it comes out of the oven. and we're taking extra steps, like no contact delivery, to ensure it.
6:16 pm
my bladder leak underwear.orried someone might see so, i switched. to always discreet boutique. its shape-hugging threads smooth out the back. so it fits better than depend. and no one notices. always discreet.
6:17 pm
6:18 pm
breaking news to report. according to johns hopkins university, today was deadliest day, 1,953 people died today, most ever in the u.s. in single day. been talking about when the country might be ready to reopen. president wants as soon as possible. governors issued stay-at-home orders, it's their decision to rescind them, president said any decision to reopen the country is his. >> states can do things if they want. i can override them if i want. i have -- this is shocking, people saying he's reasoned, lot of people are shocked. i have absolute authority to use it. >> connecticut governor ned lamott, one of the hardest hit states and one of the most deaths per capita.
6:19 pm
does the president in your opinion, most legal analysts say this is not the case, does the president have the power to reopen the states? from the constitution i understand it lies with governors and local officials. >> i think the president and federal government should give us guidance, then leave up to the governor. every situation is different, don't want somebody to act prematurely. like when president years ago hung up mission accomplished sign with dangerous consequences. don't want to be premature. >> you extended social distancing in connecticut until at least may 20th, more than a month from now. are you using different metrics from the president? that's not something the white house has done at this stage. >> i'm using the same metrics as dr. fauci and dr. birx. we want to give people notice,
6:20 pm
superintendents and teachers and students to know what they can expect and plan for. may 20th gives them that opportunity. doing online learning, education hasn't stopped, but want people to plan accordingly and take social distancing seriously. sometimes i worry people will take foot off the accelerator too early. >> i'm sure you're thinking about this as well, what does reopening look like in broad strokes? testing, contact tracing, that's also up to each state, are you equipped to have a lot of contact tracing? very extensive contact tracing which a lot of scientists say it necessary. antibody testing? >> i heard your previous panelists, testing, antibody testing is far from perfect but we've got to start somewhere. i want to test first responders,
6:21 pm
make sure the doctors and nurses going into the hospital are safe and have built up immunity. i've got tens of thousands of people in defense industry going into factories every day, by law we have to keep that open. want them to be tested as well as priority. make sure that people who have to get to work can do so safely. >> and then would -- you see the pictures in asia of people with hand-held thermometers everywhere testing random people to give them entry into a restaurant, mall or office building. is that something we'd likely see state to state? >> i think it makes all the sense in the world, especially for factories. factory can be just as contagious as a nursing home if you're not careful. i think we should have fever the thermometers to test them daily and keep them safe.
6:22 pm
>> might be dumb question but does the state have enough thermometers? i've been looking, it's hard to find right now. >> we have orders out for tens of thousands of thermometers. thousands have started arriving. we have smart thermometers for random testing across the state. bluetooth to iphone, up to the crowd, we'll be able to track fevers across the state to give us idea how the virus is progressing or decelerating. >> i went to every pharmacy in new milford for a thermometer, couldn't find one. i'll keep looking. you tweeted you're starting to see a flattening of the curve. is it about what you expected? are you relieved? it's hard to say that given the toll it's taking. >> i define it by hospitalization. that's best metric to see how
6:23 pm
the virus is progressing. obviously infections is conditioned upon how much testing you're doing. so yeah, we're seeing in fairfield county, southern connecticut, closest to the new york city epicenter, a slowing of the hospitalization rate. that gives us a little bit of hope. maybe the next few days i'll be able to say something more affirmatively. but at the same time the virus is moving upstate pretty quickly. we have slowed it with social distancing, just remind everybody it really makes a difference. >> governor lamont, appreciate it. >> thanks anderson. >> david gergen, adviser to former presidents and juliet kayyem.
6:24 pm
president didn't issue stay-at-home order, saying leave it up to the governors. it is up to the governors. under law. president can issue guidelines and use bully pulpit but that's the extent of it isn't it? >> it's very clear that the president can have great influence on the states. issued cdc guidelines by the president and had effect but they were not orders. also have seen that governors in the country are a really strong lot, not going to take it lying down. like governor lamont, he's got to may 20th, not going to back away if the president say may 1st, going to contest it. maybe go to the courts, be a mess. you had gavin newsom on saluting the president for cooperation and meeting his requests. at the same time he's not going to allow washington, d.c., to tell him how his citizens should
6:25 pm
live and behave. >> and juliette, to do the contact tracing and testing is also up to local officials, what it boils down to. >> it will definitely be at tactical level. president is under mistaken belief he's relevant to the task at hand. odd leadership role he's taken. he's not doing the things he ought to do, surveillance in january and february, getting test kits to the states, preparing all of us for what was about to happen, using the defense production act to get goods into the supply chain. and he's asserting a not -- literally does not exist, authority that he can tell the governors what to do when it comes to powers reserved to the states. public safety powers, public health powers, he's trying to make himself relevant.
6:26 pm
as you were both saying, in absence of the leadership, governors and mayors in private sector and people like us who every day stay inside take matters into our own hands because of that lack of leadership. >> what do you -- when you think about a state going back to work, what are some of the thoughts that go into that process? >> yeah, it's a really interesting -- the plan is being worked out by people outside of government, various experts thinking it through. how we think about it is not a date but metrics. you want to see increased testing capacity, hopefully treatments come on line so people would be if they were infected could have treatments. want to look at icu capacity, hospital capacity, and other metrics. i don't think about a date. i don't tell my kids about a date. massachusetts hasn't even hit
6:27 pm
peak yet. then as those metrics are met, you start to think about reopening. it's not going to be a light switch, people. it's going to be slow. start to think about places that are essential, schools, other retail, then the sporting stuff coming at the way end. it's a very long process. >> things like restaurants, bars -- >> go ahead. >> restaurants, bars, huge economy, restaurants, that's later on? is that what you're saying? >> i think what you have to think is either serve differently, half the number of tables, might be testing for temperature to go into those restaurants or bars. it's going to be so different for us. we don't quite comprehend it yet. we're learning from other countries. won't be a light switch and president is wrong to talk about dates. >> david, so interesting to listen to juliette talk about
6:28 pm
restaurants. when our correspondent in china was talking about testing people in restaurants before they can be allowed to go in, this was two months ago, i had never heard that before, and i was like wow, that's crazy they test people in restaurants. now seems like a totally normal, wise idea. >> just think about it, if you had dinner scheduled with four or five friends and didn't know whether they had been tested and you hadn't yourself, you're going to be reluctant to go to that dinner. there's a sinister force out there, people are frightened about that. i think reopening will be prolonged, especially consumer services. when the public is in public spots, it's going to be hard to launch these football season and other things that bring crowds together. another thing if i might, president was talking about this would be the hardest decision he's going to make. may well be hardest political
6:29 pm
decision he's going to make pause big gamble either way. if he pushes hard as he wants to do and reopens in may, he has to be gambling he won't have a big spike. if it comes along in summer or fall, he's done for reelect. if he listens to health officials and says let's open later, may well have double digit unemployment come november and might be done then. not an easy choice to make but big one. >> juliette, based on everything you know, before stay-at-home orders are lifted, you talked about some of the metrics that you would look at. who determines -- is it governors who determine what a company does for their employees? >> yeah, generally. basically what you're seeing is it a whole series -- people are preparing for this. viewers should be grateful
6:30 pm
there's lots of planning going around what it would look like. governor will set the conditions of what can open. commercial activity or curfews to impact things, transportation, all things that go into the commercial activity, governor will set the baseline. but various private institutions or companies are thinking about staged reopenings. that's how they have to think about it. let's say you have one store with a sick employee, you're going to have to close that store for a period of time. as david was saying, next 18, 24, 36 months from planner's perspective, we're just managing around the virus, living with the virus until we get a vaccine. trust me, it's going to be easier than this, we'll have more tools. ways to identify it and treatments. but we're going to be maneuvering for many years. got to brace ourselves for this.
6:31 pm
we have to think as employers, university presidents and governors have thinking about how do i maneuver and adapt around the virus for the next couple of years. >> interesting way to think of it, thank you very much. up next, los angeles mayor eric garcetti as l.a. county extends their stay-at-home order as well. be right back. or, give you unusually high energy, even when depressed. overwhelmed by bipolar depression? ask about vraylar. some medications only treat the lows or the highs. vraylar effectively treats depressive, acute manic and mixed episodes of bipolar i. full-spectrum relief of all symptoms, with just one pill, once a day. elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis have an increased risk of death or stroke. call your doctor about unusual changes in behavior or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children and young adults.
6:32 pm
report fever, stiff muscles, or confusion, which may mean a life-threatening reaction, or uncontrollable muscle movements, which may be permanent. side effects may not appear for several weeks. metabolic changes may occur. movement dysfunction, restlessness, sleepiness, stomach issues are common side effects. when bipolar depression overwhelms, ask how vraylar can help. if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, little things can become your big moment. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated... ...with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression... ...or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines, and if you're pregnant or planning to be.
6:33 pm
otezla. show more of you. fechildren's claritin allergy relief. and relief from symptoms caused by over two hundred outdoor and indoor allergens. because to a kid, a grassy hill is irresistabale. children's claritin. feel the clarity and live claritin clear. 450-degree oven, to box, to you, know that from our it's our policy that your pizza is never touched once it comes out of the oven. and we're taking extra steps, like no contact delivery, to ensure it.
6:34 pm
it's more than just fast. it keeps all your devices running smoothly. with built-in security that protects your kids... ...no matter what they're up to. it protects your info... ...and gives you 24/7 peace of mind... ...that if it's connected, it's protected. even that that pet-camera thingy. [ whines ] can your internet do that? xfinity xfi can because it's... ...simple, easy, awesome.
6:35 pm
[ barking ] considering size and scope of the population, california has been faring relatively well during the pandemic, earlier on "360," governor gavin newsom said one reason is social distancing. mayor eric garcetti, how is the city of los angeles doing tonight? >> it's very sad every day to see the roll call, lost two city employees this week. but we've been less hard hit than other areas of the country.
6:36 pm
one of the first areas in america to go deep with social distancing and closing down meetings. five days in a row of single digit increases. won't be happy until negative numbers day to day, but we are bending that curve, even though the peak has not come yet. >> los angeles county has extended stay-at-home order for may 15th at least. set to end a week from now. talk about why you think that was important to do and to announce that now. >> we take our advice from doctors. not politicians, not close friends and not just on instinct, but listening to public health professionals. that was the clear advice. tough in a city like this, doing relatively better, even though rough for everybody and economically devastating for us all to tell everybody it's time to put foot on the accelerator, but seeing it around the world.
6:37 pm
san francisco in 1918 declared victory early only to have a wave of deaths. l.a. was proud to be among the first doing the measures but had to wait until everybody did it together. this virus doesn't care what city is first or second. coming out of this, we need to do it together, need national leadership to establish the standards. my asked is cares corps like peace corps or teaching corps, put people to work as public health professionals to track, trace, count and intervene with the blood tests to get back to work. >> even people just taking temperatures of people. governor of connecticut said they've ordered a lot of thermometers. is that something california or los angeles as done as well? >> absolutely. we've had to go alone with this from the beginning, super governor has helped a lot but
6:38 pm
been on the phone with mayors up and down the state, around the country. compare masks and equipment and had to stand up testing on our own, even with the city not having medical department, taken our firefighters, now 22 are open. per capita surpassed what south korea has been able to test, the gold standard. had to do that all through our own creativity and on our own. it's now time for national leadership to come in and establish standards. new rules for the workplace like osha rules keep us safe, we need covid rules. and cares corps, staff up like in san francisco with librarians and medical school students to help the health professionals without enough people on staff today. should be hurriedly doing. it's not about a date but having the infrastructure to return
6:39 pm
people to more normal life at work, school and in public. >> is the federal government giving health guidelines about employee workplace, how that would work, does everybody have to wear a mask inside their offices, do they have to -- is it six feet apart still, is that being worked on by the federal government? are you expecting to hear that? >> yeah, some are. the president talked about it. many states are. i have an advisory group of leading economists, business leaders, workers, others, union representatives thinking through those things. but advice for president and congress, don't wait for this to be dispersed to 50 states and tens of thousands of cities but come up with standards now. give us funding at local level to hire people out of work to do
6:40 pm
this work. and scale up the blood tests to have people ready to go. every day we wait is one more day of economic suffering. another day to find $10 billion to keep people alive. quicker we do this, better off we'll be and will show example to the world how to recover from this. >> public health departments for decades have been underfunded across the country. to ramp up, get serious about contact tracing and not leave it up to the infected person, have somebody making the contacts and really doing it, require hiring a lot of people. >> one estimate we heard this week was 300,000 people. spoke with speaker pelosi this morning, had good call with the administration during the day as well, with governor newsom talking about how to help. just as president kennedy had
6:41 pm
the peace corps and president johnson the teacher corps, what better way to step up and help the country do something bigger than yourself, accelerate being able to restart the economy. >> thank you very much. >> appreciate you anderson. president trump has been taking center stage, sometimes speaking and taking questions for marathon sessions. today going to look at the time line before the briefings started. >> pandemic at this point? >> not at all. we have it totally under control. one person coming in from china. we have it under control. it's going to be just fine this was president donald trump one day after first reported case of coronavirus in the united states. were more than 300 cases in china and quickly spreading to other countries. >> this is where authorities believe the source of the science is, wildlife and seafood
6:42 pm
market. you can see it's cordoned off, police at all corners. >> china had alerted cdc director january 3rd. white house aides met with nick mulvaney, acting white house chief staff on the 2nd asking him to get president to pay more attention to the virus. did address it in speech in michigan only to downplay the threat. >> we're working closely with china and other countries and we think it's going to have a very good ending for us, i can assure you. >> january 29th, white house trade adviser peter navarro wrote first of two memos about dire consequences. warned the virus could cause more than 500,000 deaths in the united states. president has said he didn't see the memo. but this wasn't the first time the administration was alerted to the threat. according to abc news,
6:43 pm
intelligence community had been raising concerns about contagion in china and been raising concerns in president's daily brief. >> when did you first learn? >> about the gravity of it, it sometime just prior to closing the country to china. >> referring to january 31st, when white house announced travel restrictions to china. >> foreign nationals other than immediate family of u.s. citizens and permanent residents who have traveled in china within last 14 days will be denied entry into the united states for this time. >> according to "new york times," more than 40,000 people still arrived in u.s. from china in months after the ban was enacted. next week, february 5th, senate voted to acquit the president in impeachment trial. though at the time the president said he wasn't paying attention to the impeachment trial, now
6:44 pm
says might have distracted him from the coronavirus. >> did it divert your attention? >> i don't like to think i did. i think i handled it well, probably did. i got impeached. >> after the trial ended, president was again downplaying the seriousness of the situation. >> by the way, the virus, they're working hard, looks like by april in theory when it gets a little warmer, miraculously goes away. hope that's true. >> february 23rd, peter navarro's second memo warning that more than 1 million americans could potentially die. virus had spread to 28 countries, more than 78,000 cases. next day the president tweeted the coronavirus is very much under control in the usa. that wasn't the tone from the cdc in a briefing to reporters the day after that tweet. >> it's not so much a question if this will happen anymore but rather more a question exactly when this will happen. >> this is the president the day
6:45 pm
after that cdc briefing. >> i don't think it's inevitable. i think there's a chance it could get worse, could get fairly substantially worse but nothing's inevitable. when you have 15 people with the whole world coming into the united states and 15 people are better or close to being better, that's pretty good. >> just three days later, first death in the u.s. from the coronavirus took place in washington state. as cases grew, so did confusion over testing, vaccines and treatment. march 6th, president toured the cdc. >> i like this stuff, i really get it. people are surprised that i understand it. every one of these doctors said how do you know so much p this? maybe i have natural ability, maybe should have done that instead of running for president. >> also made a promise not true then or now. >> anyone who wants a test can get a test. >> was not widely available on that date and still isn't.
6:46 pm
five days later, a statement meant to reassure the public. filled with errors, starting with travel restrictions with europe. >> prohibitions for tremendous amount of trade and cargo but other things as we get approval. >> trade and cargo were not included in the provisions. had to clarify that after the speech. also promised coverage for all coronavirus treatments. >> earlier i met with leaders of health insurance industry who agreed to waive all copayments for coronavirus treatments, extend insurance coverage to these payments and prevent surprise billing. >> only testing was agreed to. march 15th, national emergency, tone now different than months earlier. >> talking about the virus? no, that's not under control any place in the world. >> going to bring back in former
6:47 pm
presidential adviser david gergen. clearly the president has been using the briefings as opportunity to rewrite the history of his administration's response to the virus, his comments about the virus. do you think that's successful? look at poll numbers and again it breaks down along political lines of how people see the president's response. >> it has been increasingly unsuccessful. i think it's actually harming him now. just last couple of days, "wall street journal" editorial page told the president shut up, get off the stage, leave it to the experts, come out when you need to, leave it to the experts. now brit hume, dean at fox news and well respected as tweeted basically, mr. president would you please get off the stage. these rambling, narcissistic apologetic -- not apologetic but
6:48 pm
sort of back patting, self-congratulatory sessions are increasingly painful for a lot of people to watch. i understand why he's doing it, tucking it right up close as he can to primetime, getting big audiences which he loves of course -- >> he's -- >> rallies. >> and talking about and tweeti tweeting ratings on these things. people think it's normal now but it's not normal. >> that's right. briefings have become a joke and increasingly the press corps has been negative about it. now i think the public is turning off too. i think he would be well advised to pull back, speak less and more seriously and less self-congratulatory. polls, the bump is gone he got from rally around the flag, cnn poll has him behind biden by 11
6:49 pm
points, bigger than the actual distance but big negative bounce for him. >> and to see how everybody who stands up there with the president -- scientists don't do it as much anymore but vice president pence, can't tell -- for a while i was counting how many times he would start a sentence saying at the president's direction we did this. it becomes a joke after a while. >> i think that's right. and it's beneath the dignity of the president. wish for the country's sake -- we need leadership now at presidential level that matches the leadership we're seeing at gubernatorial level with cuomo and many others. >> there's a difference between leadership and cheerleadership. thank you david. up next, continue to remember the victims of the pandemic. at bayer, we make one-a-day prenatal vitamins
6:50 pm
to support healthy baby development, so michelle's little bundle of joy can get the very best start in life. at bayer, this is why we science.
6:51 pm
new crest pro/active defense. you're doing more to keep your body healthy for the future. shouldn't your toothpaste do the same for your mouth? now with crest pro/active defense, future proof your whole mouth. its active defense technology neutralizes bacteria to shield against potential issues. crest. who've got their eczema under control.rs, with less eczema, you can show more skin. so roll up those sleeves. and help heal your skin from within with dupixent. dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, even between flare ups.
6:52 pm
dupixent is a biologic, and not a cream or steroid. many people taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin, and, had significantly less itch. that's a difference you can feel. don't use if you're allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. if you take asthma medicines, don't change or stop them without talking to your doctor. so help heal your skin from within. and talk to your eczema specialist about dupixent.
6:53 pm
6:54 pm
more breaking news to report this hour. the u.s. has now recorded more than 500,000 cases. 500,399 so far in what is also the deadliest day from the coronavirus in the u.s. tonight we want to take a moment as we often do as we try to do most nights to try to remember some of those who have passed away in represent weeks from the virus. chris madden was known for his involvement in his community in new york. he was on the school board. he was part of the town's youth sports league. the chamber of commerce. he set up the community neighborhood watch program. the week before he died, chris posted on his facebook page, he asked everyone for prayers. his community mourns him as does his wife and three children. chris madden was just 49 years old. father jorge ortiz, father jorge as he was known, was the pastor of st. bridges church in new york, in brooklyn. he's the first u.s. catholic priest to die from the virus. he celebrated mass as recently
6:55 pm
as march 19th in a live stream for his parishioners watching from home. in that sermon, he said there is no better time than this time of trials and challenges to fulfill our calling of holiness. when we asking what will happen to us, trust in the father, he said. father jorge was 49. ellis marcelis jr. was a renowned jazz musician. ellis was a pianist and a composer and he was the first chair of the jazz studies program at the university of new orleans. in a post on facebook, vinton called his dad a humble man with a lyrical sound that captured the spirit of place, new orleans. he also said i grew up seeing how much he struggled and sacrificed to represent and teach vital human values that floated far above the stifling segregation and prejudice that defined his youth.
6:56 pm
but strangely enough, also imbued his art with an even more pungent and biting accuracy. ellis marsales jr. was 85 years old. our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by the virus. the news continues right now. i want to turn things over to erin for erin burnett "outfront." once it comes out of the oven. and we're taking extra steps, like no contact delivery, to ensure it.
6:57 pm
i appreciate what makes each person unique. that's why i like liberty mutual. they get that no two people are alike and customize your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. almost done. what do you think? i don't see it. only pay for what you need.
6:58 pm
♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ 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.
6:59 pm
7:00 pm
"outfront" next, breaking news, president trump pressing to re-open the government in just weeks as the u.s. suffers its deadliest day since the outbreak began. plus, new hampshire now allowing voters to mail in their november ballots because of the outbreak. it's an option trump has railed against, calling it corrupt and fraudulent. new hampshire's republican governor responds. and the trump campaign trying to paint joe biden as weak when it comes to china in the pandemic and they're doing it by implying a former united states governor as a chinese