Latest headlines on the coronavirus pandemic. Newest Development President trump saying he wants to reopen the u. S. With a big bang. There are now more than 1. 4 million cases worldwide and more than 82,000 deaths around the globe. In the u. S. There are now more than 398,000 confirmed cases and more than 12,800 deaths. Here in hard hit new york city, more than 800 deaths from coronavirus. Reported today. The deadliest day so far. New york Governor Cuomo reporting that there maybe a bit of good news. Saying the number of hospitalizations appear to be leveling off. That the state maybe reaching what he calls a plateau. Also saying that social distancing is working. People still need to stay disciplined and continue staying home. The head of the cdc says a large majority of americans are following social distancing guidelines. Robert red field now predicting the u. S. Death toll from coronavirus maybe much lower than the initial prediction of up to 200,000. That is the president continues his scapegoating today. This time the World Health Organization. Were going to put a hold on money spent to the w. H. O. A powerful hold on it. And well see. Minutes later denying that he said what he just said. Follow up on that. Its the time to freeze funding to the who during a pandemic . Maybe not. Im not saying im going to do it. Well look at it. Well look at it. Investigate it and look at it. We will look at ending funding. If youre wondering where the threat to freeze funding to the who comes from, you may not be surprised to learn it is a fox news talking point. Its playing the blame game. Scapegoating. The fact is the World Health Organization is far from perfect. They were late on this. Cnn called this pandemic before the who did. And the who praised china handling of the coronavirus when we know china was hiding what was going on. Listen to what dr. Fauci said during the march 25 briefing. So, hes an out standing person. I have known him from the time he was the minister of health. Obviously over the years anyone who says the who hasnt had problems hasnt been watching. Under his leadership they have done well. Hes been all over this. I was on the phone with him a few hours ago leading a who call. Yet the president plays the plam game. As we get closer to 400,000 cases of coronavirus in the country. I want to bring in White House Correspondent and our resident fact checker. I watch the briefings and i go away most of the time shaking my head. My head is spinning. I dont know what happened. He says he was very strongly, powerfully going to hold funding from the w. H. O. And then says i didnt say that. Okay. I want you to listen to this. The president said on fox tonight about opening up country. Well, id love toep with a big bang. One beautiful country. And just open. Its very possible theres some areas that are not affected very much. The concept we open up sections and the concept where you open up everything. I think new york is getting ready if not already. Getting ready to peak. And once it peaks it will start coming down and come down fast. Were way under any polls or any models as they call them. Were way under. We hope to keep it that way. In terms of death. What is he talking about . Don, what we have seen and what you showed in that clip you showed in the beginning about cutting off funding or not. Any particular sentence na comes out of his mouth has a halflife of three seconds. He may mean it in the moment that he says it. It doesnt have meaning beyond that. Its subject to being completely reversed. He says im cutting it off. No, i didnt say that. I might. Ill open the country by easter. That would be a wonderful thing. Then backs off. Now hes chomping at the bit to reopen the country once he gets good news. It is very difficult to determine the genuine intention and more importantly what is the effect that the experts and administration are going to have on him to push back on his impulses because hes the president who is governed by impulse. I think we cant read too much into a strategy. This is the president who rifts and says something that comes off the top of his head and may not matter very much tomorrow. The president is slamming the World Health Organization saying they missed the pandemic. In late february, he was praising their coronavirus work. What is his scapegoating all about . Remember, he was praising its work at a time when he was trying to make the point this wasnt a big threat to the United States. So praising the World Health Organization at that time suited his objective. To tell people it wasnt a big deal. And not disturb the market and have a calmer situation in the country. Now that all hell has broken loose the country shut down. Hes looking for somebody to blame. Hes been in a full scale blame game for a couple of weeks now. Democrats, the media, governors, hospital workers. The w. H. O. It is true as you said at the top, the they were slow on this. But not as slow as the United States. And the United States being slow in part because they didnt accept the w. H. O. Testing technology. Which south korea did and exploited it successfully to avoid hit down. Thats a reason were in the situation were in. Trump tried to rewrite history asked about comparing coronavirus to the flu. Take a listen. You say very difficult. Two weeks ago you said it was a flu. What have you learned. I didnt say two weeks ago it was the flu. Excuse me. Foreign leaders who still are skeptical about the pandemic. And who are against social distancing. What is your advice. So, the worst pandemic we ever had in this world was a flu. It was called in 1917. 1918. Anywhere from 50 to 100 Million People died. That was a flu. You can say that i said it was a flu. Or you can say the flu is nothing to sneeze at. Whats the fact check . The president here is trying to have us believe that all the times he likened the coronavirus to the flu, he was not down playing it. He was warning us it could be a pandemic as bad as 1918. That was the suggestion. Thats complete nonsense. He used the phrase regular flu. He used the phrase common flu. He kept invoking the tens of thousands of deaths that happen in a conventional flu season. Like this year. Or last. And as he was doing that he kept down playing generally down playing the state of the out break in the u. S. Saying were going down to zero. It will go away. This is just as you said complete revisionism. Its false. Thank you. I appreciate it. Now i want to bring in a physician and assistant professor at George Washington university hospital. Thank you, doctor. Appreciate you joining us. In new york, were told hospital and icu admissions are down over the last couple days. Youre on the front line. What is it like in d. C. . Where are you in the fight . Great question. Different places around the country have been seeing Different Levels of patients. Obviously new york has been hit the hardest for seeing new orleans, detroit, other areas. But whats been interesting in a will the of the parts of the country is we have been building our Surge Capacity in a way we reduced elective surgery and expanded spaces. We have gotten message out about trying to avoid coming to the hospital unless you have a real serious need. So in washington d. C. And some other actually a lot of places around the country we have seen the daily census drop. Sometimes physicians are actually being told come in a couple hours late. We dont quite need you right now. Theres a reason for that. Its because patients are getting a message that says if its not really serious, you should probably stay home. Our concern is that people are staying home for two concerns. Staying home because they maybe afraid theyll get sick at the hospital. And i want them to feel that were doing our best to protect them from getting an infection in the hospital. If youre sick still come see us. The other thing is people is are afraid of going out in general. They hearing a mix message about masks and urban areas transportation is an issue. People are afraid to take subways and to walk on the sidewalk. Its interesting. I have heard it compared to the tidal wave coming. You see the water goes away from the shore before the big wave comes. I dont like that. Im afraid it might be the truth. I appreciate your time. Tonight the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States climbs up near 400,000, there maybe a slight glimmer of hope in the battle against the pandemic. With about 97 of the country now under state at home orders, new evidence it maybe working. The numbers will mean much lower than would have been predicted. The director of the cdc saying the u. S. Death toll could be lower than previous projections of 200,000. Thanks to widespread social distancing. Which models had initialliest mated just 50 of the American Public would follow. The reality today is much higher. Officials caution this is no time to ease up. On monday, new york logging the states largest single day death toll. One overwhelmed funeral doing best to meet the need. Were not longer embalming them. We dont have time to visitation. Were simply either burying directly or cremation. Healthcare workers continue to sound the alarm about personal protective equipment. One nurse in maryland tried making a face field out of a page protector and a head band. I put it on. And i started crying. I thought i cant imagine anybody working wearing Something Like that. Staff also a major concern. Retired nurses and doctors answering the call to help relieve those on the front line. I have never seen Emergency Departments or nursing or any of the services in general under so much threat. Its a family. So when families is threatened. You try to step up as much as you can. On board the comfort, which will be dedicated to covid19 patients. The number of beds cut in half to 500. For safety. One crew member tested positive. Meantime in florida, tightly packed line for unemployment forms are sobering picture of the growing need. Everybody is risking their lives to get the application. We have given out hundreds of applications. In connecticut, unemployment applications are about 20 times higher than anything the state seen during a recession. Wisconsin voters on tuesday trying to keep the distance at the poll. One of the nations largest groes are chaining announcing new restrictions on capacity. Amidconcerns about how and where the virus is spreading. In miami beach face coverings required for all customers and employees. At grocery stores, pharmacies and restaurants including those making deliveries. Theres been a real focus to on First Responders the needs that they have. As they are answering the calls. We know the new York Police Department on tuesday some 20 called out sick. 7,600 uniformed members chl of course they are not all calling out sick for coronavirus. They did announce 13th coronavirus related death today. Thank you so much. The Surgeon General says while everyone is susceptible to the coronavirus, africanamericans are at high risk. Well tell you the facts behind the reason why. Next. When you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea. Try pepto liquicaps for fast relief and ultracoating. Nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea. Get powerful relief with pepto bismol liquicaps. Keeping our customers, employees, and communities safe. 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The president and dr. Fauci acknowledging the coronavirus pandemic having a disproportionate impact on africanamericans. The u. S. Surgeon general saying black americans are at highers risk for the virus because were not more likely to suffer from diabetic, heart and lung disease. That is concern about mine that i have talked about. For example africanamericans make up 30 of chicago. 72 of coronavirus deaths in that city. Last week, senator harris talked with me on the show about Health Disparity based on race in the country. Black families kp children 20 more likely to have asthma. Black families are 40 more likely to have high blood pressure. Black women are three times more likely than white women to have lupus. Viruss that effect the respiratory system have a direct impact on people who are suffering from sickle cell anemia. What we know is this virus by itself nature preys on people with preexisting conditions. Just so you know when i spoke to her about Racial Disparity and healthcare in the country, thats set up critics who claim that im racist. When i was pointing out facts. Now the data is clear. Coronavirus is impacting and killing people of color. And for the reasons that are based in medicine and science. But they tell us something about our society. More tonight from our very own dr. San jay gupta. Theres another risk factor. When it comes to the virus pandemic. And how its affecting a particular group of people. Race. We get closer to the apex of the curve, we want to find out just how much does race play a role. Turns out a lot. Why . I decided to find out myself. In the beginning, covid19 was far away. And it didnt even have a name. It was coming over to our shores from people who had traveled. Once it got a foothold in the United States. Its true self was revealed. Once people got infected. Because of diabetes and hoort disease. They would get it more severely and be at higher risk of dying. Shes past president of the American Public health association. I was really struck doctor jones. Were both doctors. I was hearing the story, it sounded just all of a sudden tragically familiar. Is this a familiar story . What we see is so familiar because the conditions of the life have changed significantly. Whats happening is we are carrying the burden of the limit td opportunities in our body. It shows up as diabetes, heart disease. And hyper tension. In terms of immune compromise and all of that. We are hearing from some officials that blacks have been disproportionately hit by the out break. Data shows in michigan where i grew up 14 of the population is black. They make up 41 of the coronavirus deaths. In illinois, 15 identify as africanamerican. But make up 42 of the death. Louisiana population is 32 black. Which accounts for about 70 of the coronavirus death. Heres the problem according to dr. Jones, as inadequate as testing has been for the country, the problem is even worse for africanamericans. Our whole National Testing st strategy started out as a clinical. Not Public Health. That disadvantaged the whole nation. Knowing who is impacted. And im told also that it has been harder for many people of color to get to test. Because of where testing stations have been located. Blacks are less likely to be tested, less likely to be treated. They are more likely to be on the front line. Essential workers. Upon whom we all depend. Were out here as Public Workers doing our job. Trying to make an honest living. To take care of our family. Detroit bus driver posted this online. On march 21. Its not easy for them to shelter in place. Its not easy. It might have jobs like Home Health Aid or bus driver or postal worker. For you to get on a bus and stand on the bus, and cough several times. Without covering up your mouth. And you know were in a pandemic. That lets me know that some folks dont care. Four days later, he became ill. At 50 years old. He died last wednesday. Still unclear how he got covid19. Theres no question there have been long standing structural inequalities. We couldnt get into the various things that sort of compromised that. Theres two things out standing. One we need to continue collecting data and it needs to be broken down by demographic. And understand whats happening. Also if theres a really tragic story of the rations of care. Hopefully it doesnt happen. We want to make sure the same structural inequalities dont man test with regard to rationing as well. I appreciate that. Lets discuss further now with dr. Brian williams trama surgeon and codirector of the surgical icu at university of chicago. Doctor, its a pleasure to have you on. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Youre in my former city of chicago. The deaths among africanamericans startling. Milwaukee and new orleans, louisiana where im from. Struggling with the same issue. What are you seeing where you are . Well here in chicago as you mention, we had a report that 70 of the deaths from covid19 are africanamerican patients. And right now we are at the university of chicago we still have capacity. We have beds and ventilators. So were working with the state and the city to prepare for that surge. I worked at the Public Hospital in atlanta and dallas. So it was not a surprise to me although its distressing to learn how devastating this virus has been to black americans. Having said that, i want you to listen to what the president said at the briefing tonight about africanamerican victims getting hit hard by the virus. Were trying to find out why it is its three and four times. Maybe it wont be the final number. Why is it three or four times more so for the black community as opposed to other people . It doesnt make sense. It doesnt make sense to him. We get it. And part of which is what dr. Gupta said. Racial disparity. Healthcare disparity. It is preexisting conditions. It is poverty. And on and on. Go ahead, doctor. Its very important for us how we shape the narrative when we talk about race being a risk factor for covid19 and other medical conditions. We have to look at Structural Racism and how its impacting the patients. We talk about race we put the owness upon the patients. Structural racism and environmental and healthcare barriers that vulnerable groups have to over come to get healthcare. Wekt collectively work to close the gaps so in times of crisis like now and seeing black americans being devastated by this, we can come together and close the gaps and provide treatment for everyone who ends up in the hospital. One thing thats been disturbing to me. This sort of cartoonish rumor that has been goipg around saying africanamericans think they cannot get the coronavirus. Because they are immune to it. No one that i know, no black person i know takes that seriously. They know its a joke on the internet. As a matter of fact the weeks before the people had shelter in place, i traveled to d. C. Or florida. Where ever i was going. I would sigh africanamericans in masks. People taking it seriously. So i dont i find it disturb lg people are spreading that is if africanamericans are that stupid to believe they are not su susceptible to the disease. Its simply not true. Can you please talk about that. I dont believe that is true. That is just a stupid rumor. Well, its absolutely false. Covid19 shows it has no respect for anyones race. Ethnicity. Economic status. We have seen heads of state get infected. We have seen Homeless People get infected. The notion race is somehow protected against the virus is absolute will false. What is important to recognize that certain races and ethnicities are more vulnerable to the negative impact of the virus due to structural persisting within the community. Access to healthcare. Black americans are wo times more likely to be uninsured than white americans. Theres economic disparity. Environmental disparity. So the question to ask is not are black americans immune to the disease. But why are so many blk americans in vulnerable positions and suffering as a result of the pandemic crisis. You have been very helpful. Thank you. I appreciate the time and expertise. Theres a lot of talk about using hydroxychloroquine. To treat coronavirus patients. But its not the only drug being looked at. Ill ask a member of the team researching antibody therapy and a former fda official about the potential treatment out there. These days you need faster internet that does all you expect and way more. Thats xfinity xfi. Get powerful wifi coverage that leaves no room behind with xfi pods. And now xfi advanced security is free with the xfi gateway, giving you an added layer of network protection, so every device thats connected is protected. Thats a 72 a year value. No one else offers this. Faster speed, coverage, and free advanced security at an unbeatable value with xfinity xfi. Can your internet do that . So were still many months away from a coronavirus vaccine. Other treatments are being explored. Under going clinical research. One treatment has been getting a will the of attention. Hydroxychloroquine. Which was aprooued by the fda under an emergency order last month. But how effective is it really . Lets discuss now with dr. James crow. Director of the vinder built University Medical center. Thank you so much for joining us. A lot of hope in the antibody therapy and thats something that you are researching. Dolly parten donated 1 million to the university effort. It you explain the antibody therapy for us and tell us what youre finding . Antibodies are the bodies natural immune system. The way we fought off virus and prevent getting sick again when you are exposed chl youll see groups are trying to harvest antibodies and plasma. And move them from an immune person who is recovered to another person at risk. Thats being tried. What were doing is trying to do that in a way that makes antibodies into a drug lt. We look through the immune cells of a person the white blood cells circulating in the body and find particular ones that are good for sars, and capture them and make the antibody from the person in the laboratory and eventually in factory. And so were developing the antibodies rapidly and hope to be using them in Clinical Trials in summer. I want to bring in a former fda official in the president of the center for science and public interest. Lets talk about the hydroxychloroquine with you. Thats what were hearing about the most. You worked at the fda you are concerned about using this drug as a large scale uncontrolled expeerpt to fight coronavirus. Why is that . The way that we have made progress in medicine in the world has been through doing randomized control trials. And what im worried about is that because of the endorsement from the president , what we have is widespread availability of the drug in such a way it will be difficult to ever get the information at least domestically that we need. We have a product thats now widely available. And although we have no certainty at all there will be benefit, we have some certainty there will be toxicity. People have heart toxicity as a result. And some with lupus or Rheumatoid Arthritis bho wont be able to get the drug. Thats worrying. I was happened to be watching fox news before the show, putting clips together taking them out of context about people who were just advising caution on touting this drug not saying it shouldnt be used. But advising caution. Which i dont think is wrong to advice caution if its used for another illness. It doesnt mean that it should be used for this illness at least not yet. Look, everybody hopes the drug will turn out to be effective. Exactly. We all hope for that. The fact is that with the great majority of drugs the first introduced to humans dont turn out to earn approval. They turn out to be unsafe or ineffective for the thing they are tested. So that could happen here. We hope not. The only way were going to make progress against the disease is going back to the time honored approach of proper trial. Not listening to fox. To dr. Oz and Rudy Giuliani in the president s ear and telling him this is a miracle cure. What do you think the time line is for finding the right drugs and therapies to beat this pandemic . Hydroxychloroquine is actually going to be tested in a real trial. A controlled trial blinded on both sides. So the people who are receiving it will not know if theyre getting it. And providers, doctors and nurses will not know who is getting it. That just started. Its being led by our medical center. Vanderbilt. And theres a trial about 500 people that started. Im optimistic that well get an answer. Does it work or not. Or a preliminary answer from that type of trial. Rather than using it. Sec, these new therapies antibodies in which we transfer part of the bodys own immune system as a drug to inhibit the virus, these are going to be developed very rapidly. It will take a couple months before the material is ready for clinical trial. I think theres a lot of optimism they might be a bridge to confirm fema until we have a vaccine. Thank you both. I appreciate your time. Some sad news tonight out of vanderbilt University Medical center. Where they are looking for treatment. For covid19. Grammy Award Winning singer song writer has died from complications of the disease. Ha is according to a spokesman for the family. He was hospitalized after what his family calls a sudden onset of symptoms. He beat cancer twice. During his decades long krir. And in 2005 became the first singer song writer to perform at the library of congress. Rolling stone called him mark twain of american song writer. 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She cleans with Something Like this. Its got a round head. And its got power. Go pro with oralb. Power one on for oralbs best clean ever. Inspired by dentists. Oralbs round brush head surrounds each tooth to remove more plaque along the gum line. For cleaner teeth and healthier gums. Ill only use the one thats round. Oralb. Brush like a pro. Less than two weeks after lawmakers approve a massive 2 trillion relief package. Officials are facing glitches, break downs and frustration as they work to roll out the much needed money. In all of this happening as President Trump today fired the Inspector General over seeing the stimulus money. Joining me now to discuss. Cnn political commentator. Good to see you. Lets start with the firing of the man in charge of over seeing how the economic recovery money is being spent. Glen fine. You say this is an extremely bad sign. Why do you say that . Well, look, you always want over sight. The executive Branch Activity that is special so talking about 2 trillion of taxpayer money being dispersed in some cases never before. Unprecedented ways. Through Small Business loans and expanded safety net programs. It is especially true if were talking about the administration that we have now. That has lost all benefit of the doubt to be able to operate without oversight. Given the ways the president has actually succeeded in or awe tempted to abuse power doling out favors and punishing perceived political enemies. We want oversight. This was one of the key contention last minutes points of debate in the last the phase three Coronavirus Relief bill. That should be oversight the fact that trump already preemptively fired the person who would be conducting that i dont ever sight is troubling. The president said as of today the Small Business administration processed 70 billion in loans and that the federal government is in talks with supplement those funds. But not everyones loan has been processed and theres a will the of frustration for Small Business owners. Yes. That is absolutely true. There have been more than a few hiccups at this point with the Lending Program. Again unprecedented Lending Program for small and medium size businesses. That was bound to happen. This is a new program, the Small Business administration was not designed for anything of this scale. Nonetheless, a lot of the problems need to be fixed as soon as possible. Businesses are desperate. They are worried they are not going to be able to come back if and when the economy recovers. With the pandemic is under control. In a very near future. There have been problems with the web site and not enough log in with banks and uncloer guy gans dance for forms. Banks themselves havent gotten sufficient guidance to move loans off the books. They are waiting for information. A lot of hiccups need to be worked out and beyond that of course we need more money to be funneled into the program. Thank you. Well be right back. Know that fr 450degree oven, to box, to you, its our policy that your pizza is never touched once it comes out of the oven. And were taking extra steps, like no contact delivery, to ensure it. Working day in, day out. E. At t is here. Providing support with advanced services for First Responders. And connected temporary hospitals, mobile testing sites and Emergency Management centers. Because until their job is done, it is essential that we all have their backs. Its what weve always done. Its what well always do. Or psoriatic arthritis, severe psoriasis Little Things can be a big deal. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not an injection or a cream. Its a pill that treats differently. For psoriasis, 75 clearer skin is achievable, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. 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Listen, we know now that President Trumps trade adviser Peter Navarro sent a memo to the white house in late january warning that the coronavirus could become a fullblown pandemic that could risk trillions of dollars in economic losses and the health of millions of americans. Shouldnt that have set off a fullscale Pandemic Response from the administration and the cdc . Yeah, thanks for having me, don, first of all. And glad youve been to birmingham. You know, absolutely. It should have. And that should have amplified the concerns that had already been voiced by many scientists and Public Health people who were concerned about two things. One is the epidemiology of these respiratory infection thats have emerged from china. And the best example is sars. Sars came out as you know now about almost 20 years ago and could have been absolutely devastating. As it was, it did kill hundreds of people. But we were very lucky and contained it. The second thing is that these viruses are incredibly infectious, these coronaviruses. And when they come out of this animal reservoir, which is where we think this one did, they are bad actors. Weve never seen these in our bodies before. As you know well, that this coronavirus is a completely new infection for us. So we knew that there was a vulnerable population worldwide that could be infected with a virus that could potentially spread very easily from china. And that makes us very nervous. Or made us very nervous at that time. Yeah. Doctor, the cdc hasnt held its own Briefing Since march 9th. What do you make of dr. Redfields role in all of this . Well, dr. Redfield is a political appointee. So he serves at the pleasure of the president. The distinction there is he is the leader of a cadre of incredible scientists and Public Health warriors really. I mean, the people at the cdc who have been through this many times with influenza, with sars, with you name it, anthrax, all the things that weve been confronted with over the last several decades, these people are pros. They know what theyre doing. And thats why their absence from not so much the president ial briefings, i would love to see them there, but i would love to see them in their own briefing and being more out there answering our questions. Doctor, thank you. Thats all we have time for. We appreciate you joining us. Thanks so much. Thank you. Stay healthy. You as well. And thank you for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues. Its our policy that your pizza is never touched once it comes out of the oven. And were taking extra steps, like no contact delivery, to ensure it. We cant offer much during this time of crisis, but we can offer what we have. So from all of us working early mornings on the farm, long days in the plant, or late nights stocking shelves doing all we can to get you the milk you need. We hope it makes your breakfast a little brighter. Your snacks more nutritious. And reminds you when it comes to caring, there is no expiration date. Milk. Love whats real. [ one morwoo me by[ laughing ] woo play pop music no way dude, play rock music yeah woah no matter what music you like, stream it now on pandora with xfinity. And dont forget to catch Trolls World Tour in theaters and at home on demand friday. Rated pg. Lets party people one more time good evening. New york state today saw its biggest jump in covidrelated deaths. And new evidence that the virus is disproportionately killing black americans. The president expressed his concern today over that fact and well talk more about why this is happening to black americans. There was potentially some good news. The director of the cdc is saying because of ongoing social distancing efforts, we may see fewer fatalities than recent modeling projected. Heres what he said. Even those models that were