top of the hour. it's friday night. where do you have to go? i'm chris cuomo. thank you for being with me. welcome to a bonus hour of "prime time." let's talk about treatment. big breakthrough right? a drug that may shorten the recovery time for patients with severe covid-19. in the hospital. it's just been approved for emergency use. that will make it more available. the drugs name, remdesivir. faster. remdesivir. now you know. the first authorized therapy

drug for this virus so far. it is our first tool in the box. a new report from top health experts is predicting this virus could keep spreading for at least another 18 months. maybe two years. perhaps 70% of the population has been infected. then there's the race for a vaccine. administration official says president trump goal with operation warp speed is 300 million doses by january. possible? yes. probable, let's discuss. let's bring in doctor of the harvard global health institute and mr. andy. former acting administrator for centers of medicare and medicaid. thank you. especially on a friday night. >> thanks for having us. >> so are you feeling the remdesivir? >> what's the level of enthusiasm we should have about the development and why. >> i am feeling enthusiasm.

let's be clear about what it is and isn't. what we know. it's not a miracle drug. you don't pop it and feel better. for critically ill patients it seems to help. with good quality studies, shows it people recover faster and probably reduces mortality. we're not sure. i don't see it as a miracle drug. it's a good step in the right direction. >> all right. it's better than nothing. which is where we were before. andy, 300 million doses. that they are front loading in anticipation they have it right in terms of how to plan a vaccine for this virus. plus minus. >> there's a couple concerning things. the smart thing is you have to start manufacturing even before you have a drug. you have to be ready. if you don't, what happens to

the first 20 million vaccines off the line. where do they go? it's a blalk black market. you have to be able to go with mass production. i think the idea of a moon shot to get it done in january is something just terrific. there's a hidden layer here. which is that for a drug company to say i'll rush the process and ask for one thing that we should be wary of. liability protection. in other words if we inject this drug in 300 million americans and 100 million of them die, we can't be sued. b b because you rushed us. do we want to inject 300 million people without safety knowledge. or wait and make sure it's safe. that's the question. >> great question. i hadn't thought of that. you're shaking your head, what's

the answer? >> i'm with him on this. we want to have a safety. i think we can get there, i don't know if we'll get a vaccine in january. but cutting corners on safety is bad idea. it's not going to deday by that much. it's worth it. we'll give it to a lot of folks. including as a ru including vulnerable people. if it's not safe it's more harm than good. the regular process vaccines are very safe. if we do our job right we produce a safe vaccine. >> i think you have to talk risk here. take risk here. here's why i'm saying it that way. i don't mean be reckless which is reopen when you don't know what the hell you're talking about. opposite. take the risk to make it right. i don't get moon shot mentality on the vaccine. but not going all in on getting

people to make the testing stuff and ppe here. when you know it's matter of national security and you know you'll have the same supply chain issues in the fall because it will go through all the different places on the same plain and latitude. why aren't we doing that? >> well, politically why not focus on the longer term problem. it will be judged in the long term. rather than every day. it's a political move. another thing on the vaccine, we would all agree to have to go bold. part of that is taking a portfolio play and approach. the w.h.o. is developing many many vaccine candidates. the eu is pairing for them all. asia is paying. u.s. is not at the table. if one of the 20 or 30 vaccines is successful and a leading candidate is not, we don't have skin in that game. there's a strategy here which we are choosing to go alone at

america first strategy. that is a potentially risky strategy. bold, fine. but let's get our hands on all the potential vaccine candidates. >> i like it. i like it. you can print the money and of course you'll have tons of rks with current si and economic fall out. if you don't get this out of the way as soon as possible you're not getting anywhere any time soon. i guess it's that scared money never wins mentality that brings me back to the tracing and testing. one company in maine? all love and respect to the company. thank you for being the only one able to step up and make a stick with polyester fiber at the end of it. i don't get why they're not all in the same way with pushing manufacturing of what you know you need when it's easier to achieve than a vaccine. what's your take?

>> absolutely. i don't understand the political calculus. i know as a doctor is that we need to substantially ramp up testing. federal government has largely not paid attention to this. they have come out and say we have enough tests when everybody knows, governors and red state blue state knows we don't have enough. when the military decides they will deal with something in a war, they have visibility to the entire supply chain. they make sure that tanks show up at the battlefield. they don't say the guys didn't show up with the parts. not our problem. that's the approach the federal government is taking on this. i have to say, i have been completely baffled. lack of testing is what is causing us to shut down. lack of testing is causing the shut down to last as long as it has. lack of testing will make it hard to open up again. it's simple. >> let me help you on the political side, the truth of the

scale of the problem is bad for the president in his estimation. now, the miscalculation he's making is all these governors left and right side of the aisle are popping in the polls like he can only dream about by telling the truth of the situation. and the problems they have. i think the calculation is off. andy, the idea that 100 senators are coming back monday and told there's not enough tests for all of them. do you need any stronger metaphor of the disconnect between the reality of where we are and this president telling people we're ready to reopen? >> there's certain things we're acceptable and in march and april that are no longer acceptable in may. by that we were in a crisis. we were scrambling. people were doing the best they could. to be here may 1, when the foundation says that we could use much more common swabs than the ones that are specialized

with the machine and italy or maine. we have companies saying they can't invest in testing machines because they don't want to be stuck with them when people don't need them and the governor the president not do anything. that maybe in the middle of the crisis in march and april. now we're in may. when you can't give 100 senators a test. that's a failure. that is a big failure. and we should have higher expectations now that we're away from the early stages. >> thank you. appreciate you both. have good weekends and hope you're healthy and happy. all right. you want to check something out that's interesting. look at this. see this map? all the states that are starting to are open this week. all across the country. question is, are some of these states reopening too quickly? how can that answer not be yes?

none knows how many cases they actually have. they're flying blind to different degrees. how is this okay? we'll take this on. and also coming up we have two big city mayors from two different states that are both reopening but with very different strategies. okay. another window into taking a critical look at why are you doing this? next. only roomba uses 2 multi-surface rubber brushes to clean all your floors. and with patented dirt detect technology, roomba finds dirt throughout your home. if it's not from irobot, it's not a roomba. soon, people will be walking back through your door.. soon, life will move forward. we'll welcome back old colleagues, get to know new ones some things may change, but we'll still be here,

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me and dylan are dna twins. ♪ ♪ dylan's like my brother. ♪ ♪ cisco. the bridge to possible. what happens when you fly blind? you don't know where you're going. coronavirus deaths spiking in texas. as this state begins reopening. how do you deal with that? as anything but a complete contra digs. texas saw the largest one day jump in deaths yesterday.

and it's second highest number of new cases today. more than 800 texans have been last to coronavirus. retail stores, malls, restaurants, theaters, reopening today. i'll be it with limited capacity. but still, every one of the moves increases the risk at the worst time. now, contrast with ohio. the republican governor there is taking a slower approach to reopening. deaths in his state surpass 1,000. today. joining us now mayors from both states. austin, texas mayor steve adler. cincinatti, ohio, mayor john cranley. thank you. >> god to be here. >> good to be here. >> first, let's be clear. i wish you both uneventful reopenings. i hope that everything goes way

better than any basis for suspicion of the same. i have and nobody should have any interest in seeing bad out comes to make a point. okay? believe me about that. we should be coming from a good place. let's talk about the decisions. cincinatti first. yes, i have talked to the governor. you are being more method cal than texas. all due respect. you can defend yourself in a second. you are still nowhere near declining numbers of cases as the cdc gave guideline. how do you balance caving to the pressure of wanting to reopen with flying blind because you can't test and trace in any big percentage way where you are going to reopen? >> well, thanks for having me. ohio has taken a different approach. we worked in a bipartisan manner. we have generally followed the

advice of the doctors and experts and the governor and the mayors of the seven biggest cities we talk every day. and by and large i think we're doing it about right. i wish we would have had a stronger emphasis on masks. and the opening today was fairly modest. and bars and restaurants are still closed. and i believe the way that we worked together democratic and republican in an open transparent way is about right. and we want people to work, but only if they can do so safely. and work differently than we did in the past. at least for the next 12 to 18 months. >> now first of all let me be clear. i get the pressure. i have one of you at home in my brother. i understand that people are hurting. this is not about burger and a beer. or vanity. they are suffering.

i get it. it is a weird reality that you are faced to deal with. which is you do not know with even 50% certainty how many cases you have in why city. you can't know. i know the testing metrics. you're flying blind. how do you justify a decision like that? >> well, first of all, the governor we are ramping up tests. we'll have 20,000 a day in couple weeks. hospitalization number which is the most important statistic to follow have plateaued. and remember, the reopening is very slow. we're not as you pointed out in the poping we're not opening bars and restaurants yet. we're doing general office, construction. there are 50% capacity, mask requirements for employees. i wish we were doing more op masks. it's fairly modest opening.

it's a decent balance. we want people to work and will continue to monitor the numbers going forward. >> understood. so, mayor adler, you owe cranley a drink for taking that fire and letting you go to school on the answers. obviously it's more of aggressive in texas. i'm not beating up on you guys. i wish you all blessings and making your decisions and i know that your hearts are in the right place. i have study the situations. there's no reason to come at you. i would if that were the situation. i don't see the basis for it. mayor, austin, texas we have spoken before. it's a big and important city. it's a thriving population. the testing in texas is everyone less than ohio. how worried are you about trying to do the right thing but going wrong?

>> i'm real nervous. this was noft a choice we got to make in the city. if it was we would have waited longer to execute. we don't know the testing is one thing. even more important than that we don't know what the behaviors are going to do to transfer the virus. that's what we don't know. we have been able to flatten this thing out because we have decreased physical interaction by 90%. >> you can't make the virus go down. it can't make the virus go down. there's zero chance. what we're doing is going to make less cases. we know that much. >> it's going to make more cases. what people don't know and where we're flying blind is how far can we go down and avoid a surge. at some point we'll cross that line and be facing another surge. that's what we don't know. that's why everybody here is real nervous. i'm nervous because of the messaging.

it sends -- people in the city are confused. they don't know whether it's over or not. i keep telling them, the stay at home order are still in place. the governors giving us exceptions. but people need to stay at home. they are confused by what's happening. i hope the governor is right. we'll do everything we can to make it as successful as we can. we don't know. we have to monitor the numbers and watch it every day. if we dip too low we have to act. >> now, another situation that actually joins you guys in purpose is you're broke. revenue is drying up. budget is already tight. both of your cities are victims of afiction. which is this is the best economy in the history of the world but why are big city budgets so tight? >> why did it take a few wiks for big powerful states for ohio, new york and texas to go

broke and condense budgets. because the economic reality is harsher than we have been hearing. on the fiscal level, what is the thought behind having mayors get together and say to the federal government, please have this stuff that we need made here. please give us the money to have the manpower to do the tracing. make the stuff here so we can get it faster. ppe, testing. make it here. have the desperation of america's effort reflect the desperation of the circumstances. what would that mean to you, mayor cranley, if you didn't have to bid against adler in austin. to find ppe. and that you didn't have to beg for testing from different places if you can get it? >> it's outrageous that we don't have a national unity. the only person leading this nation through this is your

brother. candidly. >> sad commentary if ever there were one. >> we're not getting the ppe and purchasing out of the president. and we have mitch mcconnell just south of ohio lecturing about bankruptcy when he spent more money than anybody. we have to balance the budget. he gets to print money. cops and firefighters will be laid off all over the country if they don't give us help. the bipartisan support of the governor, our senators, have called for the as nancy pelosi called rightly the heros bill for police and firefighters and public health department doing contact tracing and supervising businesses that are slowly opening to make sure they meet the mask requirements for employees and the requirement of reduced capacity. we have the infrastructure. we don't have the money.

the institution said that cincinatti is the second most at risk for income loss. $90 million deficit we're looking at because we're relying on income tax. >> all right. i'm out of time. i'll make a point for adler that i know from looking at his budget figures in the stichlt the democrats are not in power in the senate. they in the house. they didn't fight to give states and city the money he needs in austin. that the state of texas needs. that cranley needs in cincinatti and ohio. they didn't fight for the money for the local government. so they can't have the money for the manpower to trace. that's a big need. that's on democrats in the house. you have to be fair about this. mayor adler, the best of luck to you. i'll give you break it's friday night. i won't come at you again. mayor cranley, thanks to both of you. i wish you good luck going forward. we're a call away. >> thank you so much. >> all right.

you put responsibility on the cities to do things they can't pay for and don't give them money. come on. in these troubling times we have to be real and we cathedrneed h. there's a will the of good things coming out of this. americans. my guest spent nine days in a coma. on a ventilator. battled through covid-19. why? because of doctors like amy compton phillips. remember her? a story that will give you the friday feels. next.

everything that every state wants to do is going to cause more cases. that's the reality. it is inevitable. the question is, whether we can prevent a second deadlier wave from happening. now, our next guest knows firsthand how bad things can get. he was practically right there. right when it was going to be no going home. nine days in acoma. hooked up to a ventilators. well over 70% of people on ventilators don't come off. darren godden is here. along with dr. phillips. i'm a big fan. we speak often about this. over saw clinical care in orange, california. where he was treated. they both join us now. can you hear me and see me? >> thanks for having me.

>> i have to tell you, you know the expression a bucket of sunshine. other than bringing home that bib baby boy, when i read into your story, there was a selfish reaction of it. there but for the grace. darren is young and strong. that could have been me. for you to make it through when you were in there and things were bad before you went into the skcoma, tell me when your hd and heart were. and how you were dealing with what you were looking at. >> for me, i actually from the time i was admitted on march 17 in the emergency department, once the doctor read the chest x-ray and said that there's a distinct pattern to the coronavirus and said it's there on the x-ray, i'm sure you have it. we'll confirm with a swab. at that point i went into shock.

i called my wife crying. i called a friend. from that point forward i don't remember much. my wife says i was depressed. i was isolated and alone and scared. the doctor said you're likely to get worse before you get better. one thing i didn't want to be was on a ventilator. i got worse and worse that week. by saturday i was on a tuesday by saturday i was having more oxygen. couldn't breathe. and the doctors decided that would be best for me. i was intubated and sedated and i was on a ventilator eight nights and nine days. agonizing for my wife. and it was scary. i'll tell you i don't remember much about it. i couldn't believe i got coronavirus. >> and you're in the hospital. she couldn't be there with you. >> no. i had actually -- i was driving

down it find a testing location in orange, california. and decided to also call at the same time to get a virtual visit with a doctor. and i got connected with a provider and pulled off the freeway and went through symptoms with her. had multiple days of a high fever and cough. different things i was explaining. she said go right away to the emergency room. and i was like no, i want a test. she said no, go now. what hospital are you near. st. joseph in orange and she said we'll call them and let you them know you're on the way. all within an hour from the time i was on the phone call to the time i got the news i had coronavirus. >> any under lying health conditions? >> no. i'm 44, no under lying health conditions. no idea who i cam in contact with it. i can think back to the two weeks prior, different things i

did. picking up coffee and going to the store. >> it's hard to know. >> i have no clue. >> you're in there, they put you on the ventilator. you're out of it. hopefully you didn't know how dire it is once you're on a ventilator. >> the question i get quite a bit. do you remember this? when you're on the ventilator they sedate you. you're in a coma. and hopefully you don't remember anything. by the grace of god and great nurses and respiratory therapist. i don't remember that. >> do you remember coming out of the coma and realizing you were going to be okay? >> i do. i don't remember when they took it off. but after about i don't know 12 hours or something i started to understand that people were looking in on me and i was in a room where there was a window and all the nurses and the staff

walk by and look at me. i felt like i was in a fish bowl. people would wave at me and looked happy. i couldn't quite understand it. i was gracious and wave back as much as i could. everything didn't work quite well after being on the ventilator. it was the next day my nurse explained to me when i was frustrated why is my body not working. why can't i lift my hand. she explained i was on the ventilator for eight days and told me the toll it take on your body and i had coronavirus. so it was at that point i was realizing i was lucky to be alive. >> there it is. that's the part. >> i talked to my wife. >> lots of tears and she told me that thousands of people were praying for me around the world. friend that harnessed a great army of people and praying. i have since heard stories from nurses and respiratory therapists that work there, that told me they prayed and talked

to me and told me to fight. and what incredible people. i'm so thankful for the care received and my family couldn't be present, that there were men and women who were not just providing care but caring for my whole person. as an individual. my family. they primaried for me and told me to fight for my boys and my wife. >> amy, you know how lucky he is. to have been in that circumstance. and wind up being like a -- right now. on tv. when you look at the case and what you're seeing, what are the realities when somebody is in that and how impressive is it that he is strong and on with us tonight? >> well, the reality is that darren was really close to death. and thank heavens he is young.

he is otherwise healthy. and so that really increasing his odds. that it's not that young people don't get this germ, they do. but when they get sick, they are more likely to live through it. so fortunately through luck and great medical care and unbelievably kind people that work with darren and his family and support of him, he was able to make it through. and fortunately younger people do have better odds of making it through than somebody who gets this later in life. >> you know, darren, i have been hearing about you. for a while. you became a symbol of hope for people. who's families had loved ones who were in hard way. and now the hard part for you to figure out is going to be what do you do with the chance that not everybody gets and so many

don't. and what it means about just how special your being on this earth is. what does that mean to you at this early stage? >> yeah, somebody asked me did you think why me. my answer is i haven't thought that. i do realize i have been given this opportunity to share the story. i have had many families reach out already and tell me they have family members on ventilators and luckily most have been coming off. still one young man we're praying for. in california. his name is austin. 24 year-old a nurse there. fighting 15 days on the ventilator. we believe he will come off. god has given me a story to share and give folks hope. i'm so grateful for those who cared for me and prayed for me.

the entire providence family was praying as well. my current employer gave me such grace and compassion. during this time. and showed that to my family and took care of many family. my wife and i feel like we have been given this chance and opportunity and the job is pay it forward. everybody that's reached out to me so far i have gotten a hold of them and encourage them. we're not just praying but shared different things the doctors and staff did for me. if they are helpful. they are part of a larger health system and it was comforting they treated the first patient in february or january. i was hoping behind the scenes they were sharing information and saying this worked here. try this on darren. i'm not sure if it happened. i'm thankful for that. i was where i knee needed to be. i was the first covid-19

positive patient in hospital. i got the very best care. i'm so thankful. pay it forward that's my message. >> the best care. she was on this from the beginning. she was getting the country rallied around making masks and getting the word out. we're big fans because of the actions. here are two things for you to deal with. one, you being in acoma was much tougher on your wife. you were out of it. you didn't have to deal with the reality. you have to do work there. you owe her. you have two sons who know something that every kid dreams is true. their dad is one of the toughest people that they'll ever meet. you beat something that most almost nobody beats the way you did. take the blessing and the grace. pay it forward. know that you have done something and given a digift to

your kid to fight to the finish even when the odds are against. thank you for sharing your story. doctor, as always. seems like you're always attached to good news. thank you for being with us. >> i like it that way. >> yeah. me too. all right. have a great weekend and as always, doctor, when you need something we're a call away. darr darren, you're added to that invitation. i told you. can you imagine being in that position? and can you imagine what you'd do with that new lease on life? sobering new report predicting coronavirus could last up to two more years. why? why is this thing so hard? let's get answers from one of the studies authors. next.

a new study warns the pandemic could last as long as two years until more than two-thirds of the population is infected. why? to the idea of herd immunity. coauthored by john berry. who wrote the great influ. the 1918 out break which the president calls the 1917 out break. not sure why. welcome back to "prime time." good to have you, john. >> thanks.

good to be back. >> is there anybody who calls it the 1917? is that when it started and we're just -- why? >> you know, it's a strange -- it encapsulates too many things about him. if he makes a mistake instead of admitting it he wraps his arms around it and insists he can get away with it. >> the idea of it taking that long. you're a pessimist. no way, we have never dealt with anything that went on that long in this country. not since 1918 and even then. we're much bet r off now. why believe this? >> 1918 did take that long. so there was a pandemic in 1889 that lasted three years. pandemics take a while to work their way through. even in 57 and 68 when we had

vaccines. they took a while. if we get a vaccine, then what we said in the study is short circuited. fortunately. the point really of the study is to remind people and everyone who does it wants a vaccine. every author of the study. there's four of us. i'm over 70. i want a vaccine. sooner than later. but it may not work. there are many pitfalls between here and getting a vaccine. a little bit of reality checking and recognizing what could happen if we do not deliver a vaccine and prepare for that. so that we're not don't get the rug pulled out from under us again. >> what is the key thing in terms of how we structure the strategy that determines how long this takes? >> well, the irony is the more

effective we are in terms of social distancing so that we don't get a huge spike, the longer the process will take. by the same token the more effective we are the fewer people will die. if you go back a few weeks. seems like years. only a few weeks ago to the early studies predicting deaths in the united states of 1 to 2 million. if we did nothing, as this disease has persisted and people died, those numbers look more and more accurate if we had done nothing. we did do somebody, we intervened. those intervention have been successful. we're getting over confident. there's not a single state that met the white house criteria. forget about the skeptical public health people.

and yet they are reopening. i'm afraid, and i hope we can prevent that, if we do things right. >> and doing right, means doing less. and we are in a climate, right now, where people want to do more. john barry, you did the right thing putting the piece out. people have to have the perspective of or o-mile-an-h r perspective of more than just the immediate appetite. so thank you for doing it. i hope you stay healthy and i look forward to seeing you again. best for the weekend for you and your family. >> you, too. thanks very much. >> great story for you on a friday night. you got to keep -- you got to keep it positive when we can. high school principal. boy, did he go as big as the state of texas that he's in. and that's why he's, tonight, ameri-can. did you know diarrhea is often caused by bad bacteria in food?

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ordinary people, doing the extraordinary during the pandemic makes them an ameri-can. texas high school principal. ma making sure that graduation ceremonies -- of course, they're going to be cancelled -- but he wants to make sure that seniors feel special and get their diplomas, get this, in person. verdi montgomery is his name. he gets in his car, and he drives to all 612 students' homes or jobs to meet up. it took him 12 days.

800 miles of road. he gave every single -- single graduation a snickers bar. why? because he's joked with all of them, one day, they'll look back on all of this and snicker. what a memory. what a moment. what a man. thank you for watching. stay tuned. the news always continues, here, on cnn. a partner for years. allows us to stay connected to our 80 plus locations across the country. we use verizon throughout our entire day. it's an integral part of how our practice runs. we need our project managers and our superintendents to be able to communicate. we don't have to be together to work together. (vo) at verizon, we're here, and we're ready. we're open 24/7 online with tools and support to help your business stay connected at verizon.com/ready.

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good evening. hope as well as uncertainty as fda approves first emergency use for treatment of coronavirus not a cure