to the department of health so that they'll have accurate up to date information. >> there's no nationwide tracking that's currently being done. >> reporter: and in massachusetts, governor charlie baker has hired 1,000 contact tracers to interview people who have become infected. partners in health, a global health organization that ran a massive contact tracing effort in west africa during the 2015 ebola outbreak, is running the massachusetts program. >> everyone talks about flattening the curve. but we want to also shrink the curve, like shrink the total number of people that get sick. >> reporter: dr. joanne wokerji is the chief medical officer of partners in health. she said traditional contac tracing is more than asking who have you spent time with. it's also making sure you can handle being sick. >> so, i say, do you have the ability to quarantine? and he might say, no. i am the prime bread winner for this family. what am i going to do? then we figure out does he need

unemployment insurance, does he need food delivered to the house. >> reporter: that's all very cool. but we still have a big problem. you can't remember every single person you were near. total strangers in the grocery store. somebody behind you on the bus. >> the c.e.o.s of apple and google released this joint logo. >> they are teaming up to create voluntary coronavirus tracing and tracking software. >> reporter: well, if you've been watching the news, you know this next part. >> and then we came together it was a mind meld. >> reporter: dave burke is the vice president of engineering for android at google. >> almost too many people volunteering, everybody, i can't find anyone who doesn't want to help with the pandemic. >> reporter: and bud tribble is the vice president of software at apple. >> two tech titans launching a -- >> reporter: not only is it historic these two tech rivals are working together. it's also historic they're appearing together on my screen

and yours. >> the idea here that google and apple had, it wasn't new with us. could we use mobile phones to help public health agencies do a better job to amplify their efforts on contact tracing. >> and it was actually accredited to the academic institutions both in the u.s. and europe and asia. there are a lot of researchers thinking through this problem. >> reporter: okay. so what is this big project? it's a little technical, so let's take this slowly. you've heard of bluetooth, right? it's a weak radio signal that lets your phone send music to wireless head phones or music to your car's stereo. very soon, iphones and android phones will continuously broadcast a bluetooth beacon, basically a big number that changes every few minutes, to any phones within about 15 feet. meanwhile, of course, your phone is picking up the beacons from all other phones nearby. it remembers these interactions for 14 days. now, here is the cool part.

suppose that a few days later this guy tests positive for covid-19. if he's willing, he can report his diagnosis in an app from a public health agency. at that point everybody he's exposed in the last two weeks gets notified on their phones and advised to seek testing or quarantine. and to be clear, nobody has to participate if they don't want to, is that right? >> it's under user control. they can turn it on or off. >> that is one of the principles google and apple aligned on in the first five minutes, maybe first five seconds. >> reporter: if somebody opts in, will their name ever be shared? >> no. >> reporter: will their location ever be shared? >> no. >> reporter: will the data collected ever be hackable or shared with the government or used for marketing? >> no. in fact, the data doesn't go to

a central place. just know that you were close to somebody who was infected. that's it. >> reporter: south korea and singapore are doing digital tracing, too, but far more invasively. they do link the infections to your identity. but m.i.t. internet policy professor danny weissener says the americana proech, private and optional, willis, they'll likely try to hide from it. and if everyone wraps their cell phone in aluminum foil to try to prevent these signals from spreading around, then we would instead, they'll help state public health agencies create the apps, which should start arriving next month. one of the most amazing things about this collaboration is that i mean, for many, many years we thought of these two companies as smartphone arch rivals. >> it's very reassuring we see . we see the potential for

smartphones to help people. >> reporter: this historic collaboration between apple and google does face a few challenges. maybe not enough people will choose to turn it on. or maybe you'll get a notification, but you're actually fine. or vice versa. and if you are notified, what then? millions of people still can't get tested or can't afford to self-isolate. >> it's not a panacea. it's not the silver bullet. we have to do many different things in order to beat this pandemic. >> reporter: and as har vrd's louise ivers says, we have to try. >> this is the biggest public health emergency of our lifetimes, and we need to be ambitious about how we're going to get out of this because we cannot all stay home forever. i'm alex trebek here to tell you about the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85 and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three p's. what are the three p's?

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that's turned viewers into critic design critics. >> what's on your wall? >> i'm getting a background check from fashion commentator simon and jonathan adler. >> that is the trumpet my father took up late in life and was one of the loves of his life. it's my most prized possession. with so many of us sheltering in place, the places where we shelter have become objects of fascination. >> this world that we're living in now, where we're constantly on view, face time, zoom or

epr: wh a view of public figures in their private spaces, here's the ordinarily flamboyant lady gaga. >> we're in my office. >> she's very conservative looking. this is gaga running the hr department. i like it. >> reporter: daily show host, trevor noah. >> these are actually nfr aanic. and on the right side we see that he won some sort of award, which gives him an award-winning presence. >> reporter: journalist cynthia mcfadden. >> it's very well composed in a way that sort of creates serenity and looks very chic and appealing. >> thank you! >> reporter: and senator bernie sanders. >> i would hope that no matter what your political view is -- >> i appreciate that he has the chess set which says, i'm a strategic thinker which is important. >> reporter: some stars don't need any background at all. >> you can send somebody a virtual hug. >> only a real international global icon can do this kind of

level of simplicity. ♪ ♪ >> this is our jim mcgaffigan. i love his chandeliers. >> i've never seen so many chandeliers. it adds a burst of glamor to jim. >> we're going to get through this. >> seeing the couch they have could be the most interesting information that you learn today that's not horrifying. >> reporter: amanda hess is a critic at large for new york times. she says focusing on the scenery can be a welcome distraction. >> there's something soothing about meditating on the pattern of reese witherspoon's chair. >> yes. even though it couldn't be less important, but that's part of what makes it so nice. >> reporter: of course, public figures are used to being public. but what about everybody else? >> what we're divulging by letting people see us in our home environments, i wonder if

we're going to regret this. >> it's certainly possible, but i found that, you know, when i get on a zoom chat with my colleagues, i'm looking at their surroundings and i'm certainly interested, but i don't think i'm judgmental because for the most part, somebody else is looking at your apartment, too. so it's this mutual experience. >> reporter: mutual, but not always equal. students suddenly having to take classes online and seeing each other's home environments are learning about their own class differences. >> it has revealed these divides and also probably connections between people that may never have been revealed otherwise. >> reporter: of course, the era of revealing ourselves via video chat -- >> i think one of your children walked in. >> reporter: pre-dates the covid-19 crisis. remember professor robert kelly? you may know him better as bbc dad. >> at the time you know, it was like this sensational viral thing, and now it's just normal.

>> now we're all bbc dad. >> we are all bbc dad now. >> ladies and gentlemen, tom hanks. >> reporter: after all, we're living in an era where tom hanks hosted saturday night live from his kitchen. >> that is some sound effect of applause. >> somebody told me they think a lot of big hollywood stars are using their kitchens because there's a little bit of a democratizing effect at work. do you think there's anything to that? >> yeah, i think that's a great you don't look around and see the sort of jim gaffigan level of chandeliers and glamor. you know, it humanizes tom hanks. jim

the battle against the coronavirus has inspired a legion of volunteers, many of

whom are risking their own lives on the front lines of this pandemic. steve hartman has one hero's story. >> we begin today with an alarming milestone -- >> reporter: as the misery spreads, most of us are relieved to be watching the worst of it from the safety of our sofas. 47-year-old bevan strick land of high point, north carolina, was one of those comfortably on the couch. but some switch flipped in you. >> yeah, i was kd of a switch. it's funny you say that. why am i sitting here? >> reporter: bevan, a nurse, had just contracted a serious case of empathy. >> i can imagine the nurses being so exhausted, so stressed out. if i can just go and relieve a shift for them. >> reporter: that was a month ago. and today bevan is working at mount sinai queens, the epicenter of the outbreak in new york city. she cares for the sickest patients under the most demanding conditions. solely because she believes she was made for a moment like this.

>> i'm not afraid. i'm not easily shaken by things. i was in a bank robbery. i was held at gun point. i was tied up for 15 minutes. he was tying me up. i said, are we on candid camera? i wanted to make him laugh. i figured i'll make myself human to him and he won't want to kill me. >> reporter: it was at that point that i realized this was no ordinary hero. then i learned that although she's not technically a volunteer, she has to get paid for legal reasons. bevan plans to donate everything she makes after expenses to the mount sinai support staff. and fact is, she could really use the money. she has student loans and she's a single mom with twin 16-year-old boys back home. >> cheers, man. >> reporter: it did she ask you if she could do this or did she tell you she was doing it? >> multiple times after saying yes, are you sure you want me to? >> reporter: why did you say yes? >> life is not to serve yourself, but to serve others. >> reporter: these apples didn't fall far. >> i believe it's our duty.

i believe we should be compelled to do something when we can. >> reporter: there is a switch that goes off in some people during perilous times. whether it's the football coach who steps in to stop a school shooter. the nfl player who joins the army after 9/11. or the nurse who simply stands up from her couch. there will alwayshose who run toward disaster when everyone else iseing. >> somebody's got to help. what if we all said we could handle it and we couldn't do it? what if everybody said that? >> reporter: it certainly wouldn't be america. steve hartman, cbs news, on the road. >> and that's the overnight news for this wednesday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, check back here later for "cbs thisorning" and follow us any time at captioning sponsored by cbs ♪ >> o'donnell: breaking news tonight: the new warning from

the c.d.c. director with america divided. today, two kinds of protests-- one to open the country, and another for better protection for frontline medical workers as southern states begin to reopen, the debate raging across america that pits the health of americans against the health of the economy. >> i don't want to pass it to anybody else. yet, i am a single mom. i have to pay my bills. .> o'donnell: oil prices still plunging. gas is cheap, but there is as americans stand in food lines, the big company that just announced big layoffs. billions more in aid: congress reaches a deal to give nearly $500 billion tl