so abbott is getting new tests into their hands, delivering the critical results they need. and until this fight is over, we...will...never...quit. because they never quit. good evening again. in this hour of "360" the president is poised to make this memorial day a turning point in his campaign to reopen the country, to transition as he

says to great next. this happening even as this day of remembrance also marks the approach of a disastrous milestone, 100,000 deaths from coronavirus. right now the death toll stands at more than 98,000 lives lost. and in 40 out of 50 states the number of new cases is either rising or holding steady. new cases on average are dropping in only 10 states. we talk about that, about the president's fight with the governor of north carolina over the republican convention, which the president wants to take place as scheduled in august. also the latest sign that states are going to be left essentially on their own when it comes to the kind of testing that will be needed to reopen. plus a question, what happens if a vaccine does not materialize. what will life look like then? first what life looks like now. cnn's kyung lah joins us now from los angeles with the latest. memorial day usually brings people outside. what kind of crowds have we been seeing today? >> reporter: we've been seeing steady foot traffic here up on the boardwalk, anderson. i want you to take a look at the beach. what the police here are saying is that this is not typical for a memorial day. you can see that there's sand in between people, there is some

social distancing. definitely, though, people are out a step forward as this country tries to reopen on this memorial day. >> on memorial day we remember our father, william e. cordero. >> i'll always remember gordon hartley. >> reporter: as americans gathered in online forums to remember the fallen on this memorial day, many others met in person, willing to push boundaries on this weekend that marks the start of summer. >> everybody's going to come back and say you should have, could have, would have. but you know, what the reality of it is at the end of the day i think we're all responsible for our own actions. >> reporter: in alabama crowds pack the sand. many ignoring social distancing. in southern california this beach sits mainly empty and visitors are wearing masks. but just a short drive away california hikers packed this canyon, shoulder to shoulder. >> this is just not good. it's too many people in one little area.

>> reporter: in response los angeles county shut down the trail immediately. crowds apparent as a cooped-up country reopens. from a giant pool party in houston, texas to this one in daytona beach, florida. >> we are beginning to see an uptick in cases in georgia, and i think it's clearly a result of people relaxing social distancing. >> reporter: data shows more states are heading in the wrong direction. the weekly average of new cases, while ten states here in green are down, 22 states in yellow hold steady. with 18 states in red and orange showing an increase. one of those states showing an increase in cases, arkansas. the governor marking the holiday says his state is in the middle of a second peak, citing some relaxing of social distancing but also increased testing. >> today we face another enemy. it is a deadly virus that cannot be seen.

it silently attacks and kills. almost 100,000 americans have lost their lives within 100 days as a result of this new enemy. >> reporter: and it is far from over, warns the world health organization. >> we need to be also cognizant of the fact that the disease can jump up at any time. we cannot make assumptions that just because the disease is on the way down now that it's going to keep going down and we're going to get a number of months to get ready for a second wave. we may get a second peak in this wave. >> so put away all of your fears, all of your fears. >> reporter: but patience runs short among some. north carolina protesters demanded the state open faster, even as the state's numbers climb. >> we want all of north carolina to be open. we want for us to be able to take care of our own health. all right? we don't want the government keeping us safe. >> reporter: the economy versus science clash weighing on local

leaders trying to contain the public health crisis. >> we have to pump the brakes. people are -- there are some who are pretending as though this virus never exists. and quite frankly it's not only endangering themselves and those who are at these gatherings but they're endangering everybody else. >> kyung, california officials have also released new guidelines regarding places of worship, retail stores. what are the details? >> reporter: it really does start to put out a road map of how californians are going to be able to shop and worship. in regards to shopping, they're going to be able to go back into stores again, but it's not springing back to normal. the way they're going to be shopping is with heavy restrictions. employees getting their temperature taken. people being limited inside the store. and as far as how it's going to be for places of worship, people will be allowed to do that, but it's going to be limited at 25% capacity, anderson. >> all right. kyung lah. kyung, thanks very much. appreciate it.

as we mentioned at the top, the president spent part of this solemn day fighting with north carolina's governor, threatening to pull the republican convention out of charlotte. the president tweeting, "unfortunately, democrat governor roy cooper nc is still in shutdown mood and unable to guarantee that by august we will be allowed full attendance in the arena." that was this morning as he prepared for the wreath laying at arlington and the remembrance at fort mchenry. later today he tweeted he has "zero interest" in hosting the convention at his doral resort in florida. the ballroom, he said, is too small. joining us now, charlotte city council member malcolm graham. malcolm, when you see the president making these types of remarks, i'm wondering what goes through your mind. >> thank you for having me, anderson. i am really not surprised. this day was coming. in terms of how we look forward toward the rnc in charlotte. to have a convention per his request where there's 50,000 attendees, 7500 volunteers, and over 1,000 media credential coming to charlotte in august is really insane.

it's not where we are as a community. our objective is to work with the governor and the local health department to ensure we're following the science and the data that will determine how we reopen and when we reopen. >> vice president pence said that the president's request was very reasonable of the north carolina governor. obviously, i mean, there are some who are going to see this as politics. it's a democratic governor. is politics involved here? >> i think it is. but obviously, we here at the charlotte city council, we're following the data and the science and we'll leave the politics to the guys in washington, d.c. governor roy cooper has really been very strong in terms of articulating the goals and objectives. we're currently in phase two starting last friday. but yet our numbers in north carolina are going up. so while we are trying to reopen, more people in north carolina are getting the virus.

we have to put public health in front of any type of political convention, whether it's the rnc in charlotte or the dnc in milwaukee. >> so who actually makes this decision and when is it going to be made? >> well, the decision follows the guidelines of the governor of the state of north carolina and our local health department officials. by coincidence we are meeting -- we in the charlotte city council tomorrow. and we're talking not only about the rnc but all the other conventions that are planned for the city of charlotte. there are some 19 conventions on the books for the months of july, august, and september. all of these conventions need to take a look at the scale and the scope and work within the guidelines of the governor and our local public health officials. so the rnc is no different than any of the other 18 that are coming. we want them to come but we want them to follow the standards that will be set by our governor

as well as the local health authorities. and the city council. >> at this point do you have -- has a limit on how many people might attend any kind of a convention in the city been determined? >> that's what we'll be talking about that tomorrow with our chief executive tomorrow. the phase 2 talks about, again, 10 inside, 25 outside. obviously we'll look -- certainly when you take a look at where we are as a community having 50,000 visitors coming in august is not in the best interest of those who are attending the rnc. nor are those frontline workers who will be working the rnc. and certainly -- not in the best interests of the citizens of charlotte based on -- from all over the country here in our community. >> well, councilman, i really appreciate your time tonight. and i look forward to finding out what happens tomorrow. councilman graham, thanks so much. more now on this as well as the growing evidence that as far as the administration is concerned states seem to be largely responsible, largely on their

own for testing. as well as obtaining the supplies to carry it out. what one public health advocate today compared to "the hunger games." joining us, cnn white house correspondent kaitlan collins, ron klain, obama administration ebola czar, biden campaign adviser. and cnn political analyst george phillips at the george washington university hospital in washington. kaitlan, any sense from what you've been learning from your sources just what the president's goal is here? is he really interested in moving the convention? is he -- i mean, is it definite they want a full convention with however many tens of thousands of people? >> some people said this could just be bluster, that they want to make sure they've got a basically hard and fast guarantee from these state officials in north carolina and in charlotte of what this convention is going to look like. something they don't feel like they have a good sense of now because you're hearing from a lot of officials they don't really know what the state's going to look like in late

august. but some people say the president is also completely serious about this, that if he is not able to have the convention that he's envisioning that there is a chance they could move it. and we saw several state officials volunteer to host it in their state today including in florida and in texas though we should note a lot of time and effort goes into planning these conventions, a lot of money has already been spent on this one in particular and it's notable the president is threatening to pull out because we've heard from republican officials so far who said yes, we're going to move forward with this convention but they weren't so sure on exactly what it was going to look like. because of course if there are concerns and there can't be large sporting events or concerts then how can you really make the case for putting all these delegates and these thousands of people in this one arena? they've been having conversations, anderson, of would they test every delegate, would they do temperature checks at the door? those are conversations we're told that are still ongoing. i guess we'll be waiting to see what guidance they get from the city of charlotte. >> dr. phillips, just from a medical perspective, can you

envision august being a time in this country when tens of thousands of people gather together in a convention center or an arena? >> if i'm being honest, i cannot. we don't know what the trajectory of this virus is right now. we are seeing a few states where things are going in the right direction. but i'm afraid as we continue to reopen we're going to see the slope of incidents continue to go up and there's ways of doing things safely and there's ways of doing things carelessly. and what i'm seeing the president recommend right now by sort of putting his hand on the lever and really forcing this governor to try to commit to a large crowd is really just irresponsible and dangerous. when i look at this from a medical perspective and a disease perspective, look at where we've seen some of the super spreading events here in the united states. particularly in that one church where there was choir practice, where singing loudly creates these droplets and aerosols that infected so many dozens of people. now imagine the floor of a

convention center chock full of people that are excited and happy and screaming at the top of their lungs. the opportunity for spread there is incredible. if proper infection control measures aren't followed. >> ron, just in terms of testing, contact tracing, looking where things stand right now, it does feel as if states are pretty much on their own. and that's intentional by this administration, by the president. it seems like they want to have as much distance between the president and whatever may happen next, you know, down the road with this virus. i think it's one of the reasons the coronavirus task force doesn't hold public briefings, we don't hear from the scientists anymore from the white house podium. is there -- when you look at this, does it make sense if this is a war that this is largely left up to states to fight? >> of course it doesn't, anderson. but you're absolutely right. this is the way it's gone every step of the way. at first the president said that the white house would take

charge of testing. remember back in march when they were boasting about working with the big box stores and all the things they were going to do to make testing available. and then testing became a state responsibility. then the white house was going to take the lead on protective gear and they were going to really get all the stuff made and they were going to use the defense production act. and then they left protective gear. that's now a state responsibility. then on april 16th the president led a briefing where they said these will be the conditions for reopening, this is the white house plan for reopening. and now a month later they're like every state should do whatever they want. the problem is fighting an epidemic is hard. it requires science and leadership consistently day after day. and on each of these aspects, anderson, the president's made a little stab at it, found it too difficult, and then basically thrown it back at the state governments to sort it all out. >> kaitlan, i just find it amazing that on the one hand the president has both at the same time essentially, ron was saying a month later the president was kind of backing off those guidelines.

it seemed like it was even less than that that he was talking about encouraging people to liberate michigan and protest against things which he himself and the coronavirus task force were actually calling for. i mean, have you ever seen an administration that -- with a president that on the one hand puts out guidelines and then on the other hand basically undercuts or not even basically undercuts those very guidelines? >> yeah, look at what's happened with churches, with schools. they put out this guidance for churches basically saying the things that they needed to do. that comes after there was a lot of debate inside about whether or not the guidelines they had were too strict, which most people inside the white house thought they were too detailed and that's why you saw what happened last week. and then the president is saying he wants all churches open immediately. you see officials back off that a little bit saying if they need to wait a week wait another week. the president is now saying all schools should start to reopen. he was tweeting about that over the weekend.

when of course when you look at the guidelines for schools it's got to be one kid on a seat, in a bus seat. in certain lunch rooms they're not going to be using those. they're going to have having lunch in their classrooms. all these things that if you know teachers and if you know people who work in churches, i know both, they're not that easy to carry out. so when the president is saying do this immediately, that's kind of the mixed messages that are coming. anderson, it even comes with a death toll. remember the president said not that long ago he did not think we were going to get to that 100,000 number, he thought we'd be substantially less than that. you saw dr. birx say yesterday they're still operating in the west wing with the idea it's going to be anywhere from 100,000 to 240,000. >> any indication those coronavirus briefings will come back? i asked dr. fauci about this last week during our town hall, and he seemed to think we'd start to hear more from the scientists once again. but it doesn't seem like really we are. >> reporter: not at briefings so far. they haven't had any scheduled. that's still something we've

been waiting on. it's notable when they're putting them on air. last week when the nih and they made all this news about a vaccine and that trial looking really promising, it's just very early, a very small group. that was dr. fauci's group at the nih. yet you did not see him on air talking about it. you saw secretary azar, the health and human services secretary discussing it. those are questions reporters have for those officials. we did see dr. birx at the briefing i believe on friday. i think she answered maybe two questions. certainly the reporters in that room had more questions for dr. birx as she was leaving but they haven't really had the same access to those officials like we did in the beginning days of this when they were coming out and exhaustively answering questions that didn't always go with the message that the president was selling. >> ron, i mean, is it -- i understand the administration wanting to kind of have their arms around what the message is every day. but muzzling scientists, no longer having these coronavirus task force briefings, and as far as i can tell the only real

reason they stopped is because the president made such a fool of himself by suggesting, you know, trial experiments injecting disinfectants into human beings and somehow getting uv light into somebody's body, that he was embarrassed and stopped them after that. the idea that his embarrassment is the reason the nation doesn't hear as much on a daily basis from important scientists is stunning to me. >> it is stunning, anderson. it also goes back to something kaitlan mentioned a moment ago, as the white house has departed farther and farther from science, the guidelines in april, just a few days later the president starts to tweet against his own guidelines and every week militates against his own guidelines it gets harder and harder for the scientists to stand there and toe the administration line. and they won't. so there's less of a desire on the part of the white house to hear from those scientists. it's counterproductive for the president's aims. i think this is what's most

interesting here. the president should want the public to get the facts and feel confident that they can re-enter the economy, they can go back to school if that's safe, they can do the things they say. people are going to believe that when they hear it from the scientists. the more the president muzzles the scientists, the more people feel they aren't being told the truth the less they're going to respond in the way the president wants them to. he thinks he's reassuring people by keeping scientists out of the picture. people would be more reassured if they heard the truth, good and bad, from the scientific experts. >> dr. phillips, as a medical person did you ever think you would see science being politicized to this degree? >> i really didn't. it makes our job incredibly difficult. here in washington, d.c. we are starting to see an uptick in our cases. other parts of the country are as well. and the idea that we may see differences in the prevalence of disease in different states

based on what party their governor belongs to or whether they're friends with the president is just maddening to me. we spend our lives learning about medicine and epidemiology and the science behind this, and some of us get ph.d.s and studying disaster medicine and epidemiology like i said, and to have someone with no science background get up there and start sort of countermand everything we say it's really counterproductive to the message. and as was said, it affects the trust that people have in science. when we've got parts of the country right now that 14% of the country don't vaccinate their kids, this is going to accumulate, this distrust in science. and when that vaccine is available it may culminate in problems where people refuse on a mass scale. so it really is an issue. >> dr. phillips, appreciate it. ron klain, kaitlan collins. thank you. coming up next a veteran of the fight to contain hiv/aids on what happens if this virus like that one can't be vaccinated against or vaccine's not available anytime soon.

and later speaking of the droplets and aerosols dr. phillips mentioned a moment ago we'll dig deeper on staying safe. expert advice. plus more video like this on sneezing and coughing. what you need to know about the risks. , you? your cels of them. that's why centrum contains 24 key nutrients to feed your cells, supporting your energy so you can take care of what matters most. centrum. feed your cells. fuel your life.

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she's confident, protected, her strength respected. depend. the only thing stronger than us, is you. we touched on some breaking news earlier tonight. a tenth company says it has entered the human phase of vaccine testing. maryland-based nova vax expects preliminary results by july. a different team in the uk is advising caution. researchers at oxford university say they face a challenge to broader testing which is a declining infection rate. so without artificially challenging patients by deliberately injecting them with the virus, which is controversial, getting definitive answers on effectiveness might be difficult. a 50% chance according to those researchers of getting no useful results at all. our next guest has plenty to say on challenges like that. william haseltein has done groundbreaking work on hiv/aids. former professor at harvard medical school, the harvard school of public heal.

thank you so much, professor, for being with us. you've written expensively about the challenges posed by this virus. you've compared that work done by you and others that stretches back 35 years ago, continues in this day in the fight against hiv/aids. what's your assessment of where things stand right now? >> well, at best, anderson -- thanks for the question. at best we have some preliminary results, very preliminary. sometimes many of them aren't even published, they're just press releases we have to try to analyze. but i would say even the preliminary data we have is problematic. though data i've seen that is published shows that for the type of vaccines we were talking about, the oxford ones, for example, they're giving partial protection. that is, they may protect against the lung but they don't protect against the nose. so in my view we're still in a very early stage. the question is when we're going to have it. it's if we're going to have it. not only is it if we're going to have it, it's what we're going to have when we have it. will it be full or partial

protection? next question is who is it for? is it for the people who really need it, the old? they don't make good reactions to most vaccines. it's really difficult. the older you get the harder it is to vaccinate you. and then finally there's questions of how are we paying for all this? is it transparent? why did america rush $1.2 billion to a very profitable pharmaceutical company in england to get this work done? they made over $2.5 billion last year. they need another billion american dollars to make a product with the use of american money or anybody's money? and another company that has no proven technology, moderna, got half a billion dollars. so there's a lot of questions about what's actually going on. there's a rush. we need a vaccine. we want a vaccine. but in my mind the question is still if, not when. >> so this notion that things are happening at warp speed and -- which i'm not even sure

exactly other than from star trek what that means, from an actual vaccine standpoint, and people like dr. fauci and others have talked about 18 months as a hopeful i guess and best case scenario. i mean, is that -- do you put a percentage on the chance of that actually happening? >> low percent. and if you listen to tony carefully, he's now warning against the other meaning of warp. which is to distort. that's the actual meaning of warp. and i'm really afraid that what warp speed is going to mean is warping normal processes, warping the very necessary clinical trials process, and very critically warping the regulatory process, how we actually decide what should be used and what shouldn't. remember, when we're using a vaccine, we're giving it to healthy people.

maybe hundreds of millions. maybe billions of healthy people. we're not treating somebody who's critically ill. we're treating healthy people with vaccines. we've got to be extraordinarily careful when doing that. and that takes time. it takes time to make sure that treating 100, 200, a billion people is a safe thing to do. we can't do that overnight. >> this notion of challenge testing, essentially infecting a certain number of people with the virus who have been given a vaccine, i mean, obviously there's lots of ethical concerns. is that in any possible way ethical? given the high death toll. >> it would be possible if there were a treatment. but there is no treatment. 20% of people who get covid get really ill. and when i mean really ill they may have lifelong consequences. they may lose kidney function

and have lifelong dialysis. they may have myocarditis and have weak hearts, damaged hearts. they may have their aortas blow up with one aneurysm. there's a lot of very bad things. you can get blood clots in your brain, get strokes. there's a lot of terrible things that happen to about 20% of those who are infected. and with no treatment, and we really don't have an effective treatment for this virus, it is madness to consider injecting anybody with this drug, with this virus, without any kind of cure with no idea whether the vaccine will work. you know, it isn't that there's a shortage of patients. south america is exploding with cases. africa is exploding. our own country, illinois has four times as many cases as it did two months ago. texas has twice or three times as many cases. and so does most of the south. america is loaded with cases. so there's no shortage of

potential infected people. all you have to do is go to russia or india. it's exploding. or the united states or south america. i don't know why they're talking this way. it's a really scary thing. i've never heard of such a thing. >> if a safe covid-19 vaccine is not developed in the next 12 to 18 months, what do you think happens? what does this then look like? >> maybe, anderson, we'll wake up and understand what we really have to do. there's no mystery to controlling this infection. you just look to eastern asian countries. they've done it. beijing hasn't had a single infection for over five or six weeks now. not one infection. same in most chinese cities. they shut it down. human beings through behavior without a drug and without a vaccine can shut down this virus. the recipe is simple. very simple. identify those infected. identify all those exposed.

and mandatory solo isolation for 14 days in controlled conditions for those exposed. that does it. with a strong stay-at-home order. you do that and the infections could be over in six weeks in this country. can't americans do that? why can't my fellow americans do that? that's the way to build an economy back. that's the way to create safe cities. that's the way to open schools. that's what we see in countries that do it. why can't we do it? >> but obviously china has more draconian policies -- >> south korea. >> well, south korea -- you're right. >> taiwan. >> taiwan as well. >> taiwan. i mean, it's not a mystery. countries that are democracies can do this. new zealand, australia. are those foreign places run by chinese? i don't think so. >> it's a really important discussion. it's fascinating talking to you >> you don't need a vaccine to stop the virus.

we need behavior to stop the virus. >> and political -- and leadership. >> well, of course. you need leadership. but the idea that science is going to reach into its bag and pull out magically the cure is fanciful. that's not how we work. we work carefully, empirically. we look at the data. and we go on to the next step. that's how we work. and to hope that this will happen without behavior change is imaginary. use the tools we have to solve the problems we have. that's what doctors do. whenever they look at sick patients they don't say i'm hoping for a new drug tomorrow. they say what can i do with what i've got to save this poor person? >> it's fascinating talking to you. i'd love to talk to you another time. thank you for all you've done on hiv/aids as well. >> thank you very much. i appreciate it. >> up next why masks and social distancing are important. a look at how far a simple cough can spread the coronavirus.

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earlier we showed you pictures of the crowds of people at beaches and elsewhere this memorial day weekend who ignored health officials' guidelines to wear masks and to socially distance. on sunday a member of the coronavirus task force dr. deborah birx was asked about the images and she explained why close contact like that is dangerous. >> we now have excellent scientific evidence of how far droplets go when we speak, or just simply talking to one another. and we know that it's important for people to socially interact, but we also know it's important that we have to have masks on if we're less than six feet and that we have to maintain that six feet distance. >> that six feet of distance is really at least six feet of distance, as our randi kaye discovered, the contents of a cough or sneeze can travel a lot farther than we may realize. >> heavy cough.

three, two, one. >> inside this lab at florida atlantic university two engineering professors are measuring the power of a cough. >> three, two, one. >> using a dummy, they fill its mouth with a mix of glycerin and water. then with a pump force the dummy to cough. then wait to see how far the droplets travel. they fill the air. visible with the green laser light, simulating what happens when we cough. >> it generates particles on the order of 10 to 20 microns, which is roughly close to what the smallest droplet sizes are when we cough. >> reporter: take note how quickly the simulated respiratory droplets spread. >> one. >> reporter: the droplets expelled travel the distance of three feet almost immediately. within five seconds the droplets were at six feet. then nine feet in just about ten seconds. remember, nine feet is three feet beyond the recommended

social distancing guidelines. >> already reaching roughly nine feet now. it's still moving farther slowly. >> reporter: the fog of droplets lingered in the air but kept moving forward taking just another 30 to 40 seconds to float another three feet. >> it's getting closer to 12 feet now. >> reporter: yes, he said 12 feet. over and over again the simulated droplets blew past the six-foot mark, often doubling that distance. >> that's past three feet already, approaching six feet. and it looks like it has crossed six feet. and now it has slowed down. >> reporter: how long might they linger at nine feet and twelve feet? >> at nine feet they could linger for two to three minutes. but the concentration is less than what it would be at six feet by a factor of eight. >> reporter: the professors say

the droplets become less dense the further they travel. but they still hang in the air. still with the ability to carry disease. and watch this. even when we put a simple mask on the dummy particles still dispersed from the sides of the mask though they didn't travel very far. >> certainly if you're not wearing a mask you're supposed to cough into your elbow. but if you cough into your hand, this is what happens. let's turn out the lights. i'll put my hand up against the mouth of this dummy and simulate a cough. you can see the droplets spray in all directions. they may not travel as far, maybe about three feet or so, but they spray everywhere. and they can linger in the air. possibly for as long as three minutes. intensity of the cough matters. so we tested a gentle cough too. the lighter cough didn't go very far at all, about three feet. but the question remains, how close is too close? >> do you think based on what you've seen in your own lab that six feet is enough for social

distancing? >> six feet is the minimum distance you should keep. it seems that -- >> but further is better? >> further is better. >> reporter: randi kaye, cnn, dania beach, florida. >> it's remarkable to see it like that. for more let's bring in dr. celine gounder, cnn medical analyst and infectious dead special exist epidemiologist. dr. gounder, after seeing that cough simulation and how far droplets can travel, when you think about current social distancing guidelines, it's just a reminder of how critical it is to wear a mask. >> well, i think that's right. the way i think about this, anderson, is it's like a bunch of slices of swiss cheese where any one slice has lots of holes in it but you double up, you triple up. you have multiple slices you can close those holes. social distancing is one slice, but wearing a mask is another. and they each help prevent transmission and together your risk is dramatically decreased. >> dr. gounder, appreciate it. thanks very much. just ahead we're going to continue to remember those who have fallen to the coronavirus.

a doctor who could have saved himself, could have stayed home. instead he chose to save others.

we like to continue highlighting people who died during this coronavirus pandemic and remember their lives and honor them. people who've left immense impacts on the communities they've served. dr. james mahoney is just one man who did exactly that. he has left a huge impact on his community. he's known as charlie to his friends and family. he was an icu doctor here in new york, worked at a hospital that mostly served underserved communities. when the coronavirus came to this city, he could have stopped. he was 62 years old. he already had a long career serving as a doctor. he wouldn't give up, though. he even worked nights at a hospital across the street from his own. one month ago he died. and we're now joined by two members of dr. mahoney's family. his daughter stephanie mahoney and his son ryan. thank you for being with us. and we're so sorry for your loss. how long, stephanie, had your

dad been a doctor? >> since the early '80s, i believe. so a long time. before i was born. a really long time. >> he had seen a lot of stuff. i mean, the aids crisis. you know, everything that's happened, all this -- the sheer number of people whose lives he has touched, stephanie, is extraordinary. >> i mean, so many people have reached out to us. it's been almost unbelievable. we have -- i think my e-mail, and my text message inbox is completely full of messages from his former patients, staff at the hospital, just saying how great of a doctor he was. and for so many years, you can imagine, like i said, our inboxes are completely full. but it makes us so proud to know that he touched so many lives. >> and i understand when the pandemic started to get really bad in new york a lot of older doctors stopped going into hospitals to serve patients because they needed to protect themselves, and it's very understandable.

but your dad wanted to be on the front lines no matter what. >> absolutely. that was like his m.o. we weren't going to tell him no and nobody was ever going to tell him no. he was there every day. and he worked extremely hard. he did what he had to do. >> ryan, can you tell us a little bit -- how did your dad get sick? when did you first know that it was coronavirus? >> well, he had called us and told us that he had a fever, and we had face-timed him. he was at home for about a week before he went to the hospital. while he was in the hospital, we were able to talk to him and face-time with him and everything like that. but you know, he was admitted to his own hospital. so he was surrounded by people that he loved. >> that is such a blessing, stephanie. so many people i've talked to, their loved ones, they weren't able to be there with their loved ones. and you know, they were with strangers when they died. but not your dad. >> no, no.

he was surrounded by, like my brother said, all the people at the hospital and his long-time partner don havens was also able to be at the hospital because she's a nurse who worked at that same hospital. we were happy knowing that she was there and able to kind of give us updates on him. because it was really devastating to us that we but it's just not the same. >> yeah. i understand, even after he got coronavirus and he was at home, that he was still checking in on his patients, from home. i mean, just shows you what kind of guy he was. >> right. right. he actually -- it's a funny story. he actually called up stephanie. the hospital and said that he was going to do some charts that night or whatever. i don't know if you want to tell that story. >> he was going to do charts while he was in the hospital? >> yeah. and i said you need to rest, papa. like, calm down. he's like, no, i might do some charts. i'm feeling a little bit bertte.

and that was when he was at his most -- when he was at his sickest. it just shows what kind of doctor he was and how much he cared about his patients right up till the end. >> did he ever say look, try to sit this one out? >> no, because my dad, he was doing what he loved and was going to do his job. so i felt like, no matter what i said, he was still going to go in there and, you know, take care of his patients. he did his best, when he got sick, to assure us, i'm going to be okay, guys. i'm going to be okay. every time we talked to him. i'm going to be fine. i'm going to be okay. i took him at his word, you know? >> yeah. >> what was he like, just as a dad? >> well, i mean, he was like the best dad you could ask for. you know, he was a very loving person. he love -- he loved what he did. but he also loved being a father. he loved being, you know, my baseball coach. he loved being my football coach. you know, and he jouust loved to -- he also loved to tell stories. that's the funny thing about my

dad. he loved to tell stories and he'd always tell the same stories over and over and over again. >> did you have to pretend that you hadn't heard them before? >> yeah. you know, as i got older, i learned to appreciate them and i'd kind of entice him to tell us a story that i had heard a million times before. i would -- i would do anything to hear one of those stories again. >> yeah. i know that feeling. it's -- yeah. but, you know, i mean, to know -- it's so fascinating to me, when you're kids things annoy you about your parents like telling the same stories over and over again. but then, as an adult, you start to love those traditions or the annoying repetition of it. you know, you long to hear that. >> yeah. and we took -- we had so many adventures with our dad, traveling and going on cruises, and doing things like that. that he had stories for days. i mean, stories of skiing. stories of us, you know, in bermuda and things like that. and he just -- he was such a character. and he would tell them so

excitedly, that it would leave you, you know, wanting more. >> yeah. well, to be, both, a storyteller and a lifesaver is quite a combination. stephanie and ryan, thank you so much for telling us about your dad. sounds like an extraordinary guy. and i'm really just so sorry four your loss. >> thank you so much for having us. >> you take care. this memorial day holiday, we also remember those who have died in military service to our country. many older veterans survived war and conflict, only to be faced with a new threat, at home, during the years where they should have peace. the holy oaks soldiers home in massachusetts is a nursing home for veterans. when the pandemic hit, holy oaks suffered with 74 veterans who were infected and later died from the virus. we remember them tonight. among them, james miller. world war ii from 1943 to 1945. he landed on omaha beach on d-day. saw heavy combat. he didn't often talk about it. his family said he wasn't one to

complain. after the war, he worked as a firefighter in west springfield, massachusetts, for 32 years. he and his wife anna were married for 64 years. imagine that. they had four children, six grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. he was known as a man of great faith, who loved and adored his kids and his grandkids and great grandkids. they all looked up to him as a role model for their family, as you'd imagine. james miller was 96 years old and he will be missed. candy, the massachusetts native joined the air force. worked her way up to the rank of captain to air force base in mississippi before she left the military. later in life, she worked as a traveling nurse. she drove many miles around the u.s. in her trusty jeep. it was a job where candy was able to help people, while seeing as much of the country as she could. she was known as an energetic woman who loved meeting people wherever she went. candy was 73 years old. james sullivan enlisted in the u.s. army in 1942.

served four years in the south pacific and that was tough. he was an artillery technician during world war ii. he was awarded a bronze star for his service. after the war, he came home to massachusetts. married the love of his life, mary sullivan. they were together for 65 years. they had three children, nine grandchildren, and four great grandchildren. james was known as the consummate gentleman. he was an avid red sox fan but loved even more to watch his own kids and grandkids play sports growing up. he was known to give a spirited way to go, pal, whenever anyone in the family accomplished something. whenever anyone would ask how he was doing, his usual reply was, never had a bad day. james sullivan was 99 years old. we remember them all. and all the veterans we've lost to coronavirus and any family impacted by this pandemic. we'll be back in a moment. sprinkles are for winners. we surprised you. on occasion, we've probably even annoyed you. we've done this all with one thing in mind.

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want to turn things over to don lemon and "cnn tonight." don. >> thank you, very much, anderson. happy memorial day to you and wyatt and the entire family. appreciate that. this is a special holiday edition of cnn tonight. i am don lemon. good evening, everyone. we have some breaking news now. more than half of states are now investigating hundreds of cases of multisymptom inflammatory syndrome in children. a condition that doctors believe could be linked to the coronavirus. health departments, across this country, identifying more than 350 confirmed and potential cases in at least 26 states at washington, d.c. -- and also, washington, d.c. we are going to have more on that, in a moment. that, as this memorial day weekend, the death toll from the coronavirus this country, well, it passes 98,000. we are closing in on the 100,000 mark. there are more than 1.6 million reported cases across the country, as states reopen and