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atlanta. this is our 14th cnn global town hall "coronavirus facts and fears." in the weeks since our last town hall, so much has changed in the country, including the outbreak. and though, we would all like to think that this pandemic is over, it isn't. experts say we are far from that. we have just gotten a new estimate from the cdc, and it's pretty grim. projecting more than 135,000 deaths by coronavirus by the 11th of next month. on top of that, ten states now this week have seen record numbers of new cases, including oklahoma, where the president, as you know, is going to be holding a massive indoor rally on saturday. >> and we want to begin by showing you two different pandemics. the pandemic, as it's been in europe, and the united states. take a look at your screen. two charts and the difference you see between them. on the top of the screen, that's the course in the european union. on the bottom, the course of covid in the u.s. on the top, you see cases, rising, peaking, and falling. on the bottom, you see them stuck, on a plateau of sorts, and starting to rise again from there. >> and that's the picture in this country. and many are fred thafraid thatd of taking the steps other countries have taken so successfully to get where they are, we're simply falling into this acceptance that hundreds of people dying every day. we're getting numb to it like mass killings but on a far larger scale. >> whether the white house wants to admit it or not, the worst public health disaster this country's seen in a century. and the president, after declaring himself a wartime president battling an invisible enemy now seems to want nothing to do with the virus, the task force, the sick, and the dead. in an interview published today in the "wall street journal," the president was asked whether he thought people were wearing mask to show their disapproval of him. could be, yeah, he said could be. he also called testing overrated. meantime, dr. anthony fauci on tape what he calls the bias some people have. we'd like to ask dr. fauci about that, among other things, but our request to have him on the program was denied, yet again. you see, he may be one of the nation's top scientists, but he is under the thumb of the white house. our requests to interview him, have to go through the white house. they have to approve it. our nation's scientist, being paid with taxpayer money on coronavirus, cannot speak unless the white house lets them speak to us. we actually asked for any doctor from the task force to join us, but we were denied. now, remember, we used to see fauci and birx every day, when they used to answer questions from the briefing room. but the white house doesn't do that anymore because the president suggested we inject disinfectant into humans, to experiment on them, to see if you can bleach the invisible enemy out of the body. he embarrassed himself and, for that, the coronavirus task force were brought to an end. the white house doesn't want to talk about this virus. and they couldn't be clearer about that. they want you, they want the american people, to believe that it's nearly gone away. dying out, as the president just said. not a great choice of words, by the way. the virus is not dying out but people continue to die. 617 today, as of 7:00 tonight. the coronavirus task force that was famously taking that big, strong, quote, whole-of-government approach that vice president pence talked a about so often. they've gone into hiding. like they're in the witness protection program. they don't update american people about new hotspots that are flaring up daily, including where the president is going this weekend. no. this administration wants you to believe the only reason we're seeing increasing numbers of cases is because of increased testing and that's simply a lie and they know it. vice president pence violating his own task force guidelines about wearing mask. he still wants to curry favorite with the president that he doesn't wear a mask. he even tried earlier this week to get governors to perpetuate the lies about testing. then, he got caught and just merely moved along. but be that as it may, the absence of someone from the task force won't stop us from bringing you everything we can in an hour. >> that's right, anderson. new york governor andrew cuomo is going to be joining us. his state has gone from the epicenter to perhaps the biggest success story in containing the outbreak. so much so, in fact, that he may impose a quarantine on people coming into new york. we're going to ask him about that. also, tonight. why covid-19 has taken such a disproportionate toll on african-americans, and what can be done to thang cchange that. >> we are also going to be taking questions for our medical and health experts. tweet them with the hashtag cnn town hall or leave a comment on cnn's facebook page. as always, lot of you have sent in questions. we'll try to get to as many as we can. we have reports around the world, including beijing, where they're clamping down hard. but first, where this country stands, with more than 118,000 lives lost and states that once thought themselves safe, now facing some very hard facts. >> tonight, more than 118,000 people in the u.s. have died from the coronavirus. and more than 2.1 million have tested positive. infection rates in more than 20 states are climbing, with ten states seeing their highest seven-day average of new, daily cases since the pandemic began. florida, alone, reporting more than 3,000 new cases. the highest the state has seen in a single day. >> clearly, there were states who, left to their own decision about that, went ahead and opened to a varying degree. maybe even -- i wouldn't say too soon, but certainly before they got to the benchmarks that they needed to get. >> we're not shutting down. you know, we're going to go forward. we're going to continue to protect. >> some cities that were doing well in the early months of the pandemic have seen a sudden surge since reopening. >> this is not a coincidence. for communities that have followed the guidelines, encouraged the use of masks, the mitigation efforts have worked. if we do not treat this threat seriously, more lives will be lost. >> new york city plans to enter phase two of reopening, next week. while the rest of the state has moved onto phase three, which allows for indoor dining at restaurants. but it all comes with a warning from new york's governor, andrew cuomo. >> stay vigilant. could come back. you don't stay smart, it will come back. could be a second wave. >> groups of people, from those attending protests to potential political rallies, remain a high risk. the effort to find a vaccine continues worldwide. 11 vaccine studies are now in human trials. four, in the united states, even as the fight against the virus is made tougher, by those who don't believe the threat is real. >> one of the problems we face, in the united states, is that, unfortunately, there is a combination of an anti-science bias that people are, for reasons that sometimes are inconceivable and not understandable, they just don't believe science and they don't believe authority. >> unless you're effective at other things, like wearing a mask, avoiding contact, it's going to lead to the second wave. >> to underscore that point, dr. murray's institute that week just raised its estimate from about # 170,000 by october to more than 201,000. the same part of the government that seems to believe the virus is no big deal anymore, has just put out that estimate. projecting 135,000 americans by july 11th. it's been two weeks since our last town hall so i am curious where you think we are with this pandemic. >> you remember, anderson, this began along the coast with major international airports. that's where the virus probably first entered the united states. and that's why we saw peaks early in places like new york. but now, we are seeing the rest of america becoming increasingly infected by this virus as well. arizona, which is a third the population of new york, may soon surpass new york in hospitalizations. and icu beds are growing increasingly full in several states, including texas and florida. we see the numbers change. we see our attitudes change. the thing that is not changing is the virus, itself. it's still very contagious. since the last town hall, there was some confusion over asymptomatic spread. so i want to be clear about this. people can spread the virus, even if they're not showing symptoms. that's why masks are so important. they can decrease transmission sixfold. being outside can also decrease transmission eighteen fold. most of all, anderson, i think we are slowly figuring out what is acceptable in the united states, as you said. where more people are now dying every day, than have died in other countries, throughout this entire pandemic. essentially, two jumbo jets full of people every 24 hours. no one wants to shut down again. and there is a plmiddle ground here that may prevent us from having to do so but i worry the very people who would never accept shutting down again, are hardly doing anything to prevent that from happening. >> as we mentioned at the top, new york seeing progress. erica hill joins us with details on that and more. let's talk about the good news for new york. >> and there is some good news. governor andrew cuomo. i know you will be speaking to him a little bit later. saying they just had the highest number of tests done in new york state, and the lowest positive-percentage rate. that's good, right? the more testing you do, the fewer people who are testing positive. here, in new york city, mayor bill de blasio says they're ready to move into phase two. governor cuomo says he will announce that officially on friday. but noted new york is doing well but governor cuomo says he is concerned about what he's seeing, and he is concerned about people bringing the virus into yonew york state. he was asked specifically if he would consider a quarantine of travelers coming from florida. he might consider it, noting this was really a 180-degree turn from what we saw 100 days ago when florida put similar measures of travel into place for new york. >> yeah, erica. there is a lot of discussion about florida and people heard, in our opening piece, they are seeing that dramatic rise in cases. so much so, that there are fears that florida could become the next epicenter. what more can you tell us about what's happening there? >> yeah, absolutely. there is modeling from the children's hospital of philadelphia and the university of pennsylvania that is concerned that's exactly what could happen. florida could become the next epicenter. today, florida reporting its highest single day for new cases since this pandemic began. 3,207. the mayor of st. petersburg, actually telling cnn earlier, that he suspected there would be a rise but did not expect it to be like this. and when we look at the number, i know you know this so well, sanjay, and you talk about it all the time. it's not just new cases but it's hospitalizations. and one number giving a lot of people pause today out of florida is the fact that three-quarters of the adult icu beds are occupied now in that state. 75% of general hospital beds, also, occupied. >> erica hill. thanks. now, oklahoma and tulsa the president's saturday rally said, quote, i wish we could postpone this to a time when the virus isn't as large a concern as it is today. abby phillip is there today. abby, how big a crowd do they expect? >> well, anderson, we are expecting some 20,000 people to be at the bok center, behind me. but the bigger crowd is likely to be outside in the overflow. we could see some 40,000 people. we have even heard local officials saying there could be 100,000 people coming into tulsa, both for this event, and other events, counter events, happening a few blocks away across town. i want to show you some of the people that are out here, lined up. they are the dyed in the wool donald trump fans. virtually, none of them are wearing face masks. they are outside, we should note. but they're out here, the way we often see them at trump events. with their flags. with their coolers. basically, camping out and making the point that they are treating this, 48 hours before the event, just like any other donald trump rally. even though, as you noted, this will be the largest event, largest gathering really of any kind, probably happening in the entire country since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. >> i guess, abby, is the concern is this rally could become a superspreader-type event. and i think the question is, is there anything being done, to try to prevent that from happening? >> well, the campaign has put forward their plans, which include giving out hand sanitizer, giving out masks. but there are two big questions they're facing. it's, one, are they going to enforce any kind of social distancing? and will they require those masks to be worn? we've already heard that they do not expect to require that masks will be worn indoors. but the center, the bok center, has just sent a letter this afternoon, asking the campaign for a written plan about how they are going to enforce public-safety measures, within that arena. and particularly, as it relates to social distancing. the campaign has not yet responded but it is hard to see, sanjay, how they will enforce any kind of social distancing if they plan to pack that arena to its almost-19,000-seat capacity. that is the central question, here, for attendees. the bok center says they'll have hundreds of hand-sanitizing locations. there'll be testing attendees for their temperatures before they come in. but an indoor event, 19,000 people, virtually no social distancing. it's hard to see how this will not become a superspreading event. if anyone in that crowd has coronavirus and perhaps doesn't know it. >> abby phillip, thanks very much. talking to the "wall street journal," the president again called coronavirus, quote, the plague that was sent by china. he suggested china might have spread it intentionally to hurt the u.s. economy because it's so incendiary, i want to read you the president's exact words when asked, quote, is that your gut on that? or do you have intelligence they may have pushed this beyond their border? president's reply, it's my sense. i hope not and i hope we'll be able to find it out. right now, china has an outbreak in its capital. cnn's david culver is live for us in beijing. some of the strictest measures in the world to get a grip on the virus in wuhan. what sparked this new cluster? >> it was interesting, anderson, listening to you and sanjay as you started off this town hall. mention, you know, as much as we want to think this is over, and perhaps move on with t. i mean, we have been dealing with this now since late january, five months. and it has now made a resurgence. and, in all places, the capital. and that's incredible to think about. i mean, this place was impenetrable. it was the fortress. beijing was really tightly protected, and was one of the last places to start easing those restrictions. what we know about the most recent cluster is, according to health officials here, it's once again linked to a market, eerily similar to wuhan. they say there are two theories behind that. one, potentially, it came in on seafood. they are saying maybe salmon. another is that, and this is more likely, it was transmitted from a person, who went in, infected. and then, with the shoulder-to-shoulder interactions, there's still a lot of contact. so it likely transmitted human to human in that setting. this is the narrative they are really pushing here and that is it's an imported case. saying it's a european strand, differentiating it from the one that originated in wuhan. >> fascinating. but, david, they're also saying it's largely contained now, right? what exactly is the effort looking like, to get that done? >> well, they are saying it is contained and under control. that's the most recent update that we've heard. it is with massive numbers, right? so they do this hundreds of thousands of people of testing they have done, by bussing people to certain stadiums. and then, we see the closures coming back. this is a place we started to enjoy some of the freedoms again. right away, you start to see gyms close again. you start to see restaurants. public spaces. and then, you have physical barriers going up. and i want to show you what we recorded just yesterday here. takes you a little bit closer to the market. obviously, we didn't get out of the vehicle. but this gives you an idea as to what those barriers look like. take a look. >> i'm going to give you a little look right here, through the window. this is the outskirts of the market. you can see, there are some folks back there with hazmat suits on. all of this is shut off. let's keep driving because i don't want to draw too much attention -- is because, if we were to cross into this restricted zone, we would then be, potentially, flagged and put into government quarantine. how do they know? a few ways. one, they could physically stop us and get our information. another is they would see the tags of the car, and they would mark that down and track us down. and another, big data that we've been living by here, they would trace you through your cell phone. we've heard several reports of people being flagged because of where their cell phones were located, geographically, within those high-risk areas. and then, being contacted and told they essentially need to be sealed off from the rest of the world. >> contact tracing, of course, we've talked about the technology used behind all of this, anderson and sanjay. it's through those qr codes we've shown you over the past several weeks. it's gotten a little bit redundant and, at times, inefficient. several jurisdictions have these. this is mine alone. i've got one, two, three, four different qrs as i have been traveling throughout china. >> fascinating to see. david culver, thank you very much. more on the progress made this week on treatments and vaccines. cnn's elizabeth cohen joins us with more on that. >> that's right. it had to do with steroids, actually. so this was a study that was done in the united kingdom. and what they found that patients when they were on ventilators, like very sick, if they would give them steroids, it really helped them. in fact, it decreased the death rate by about a third. now, anderson, i'll tell you that doctors i have been talking to in the u.s., they say they've been using these steroids for months. so this is not a new idea. but the doctor said look, it's great to see there's data behind what we were doing sort of instinctively because steroids reduce inflammation, and that's so important when treating very sicko v sic sick covid patients. another class of drugs used to treat arthritis, one of these drugs was studied by yale. still unclear exactly what it showed but lots of interest in these il6 drugs already on the market for rheumatoid arthritis. so pretty easy to transfer them over to covid patients and see if they work. anderson. >> elizabeth, there is also a lot of news about the vaccines. we've been hearing a lot about the moderna vaccine. that's an mrna vaccine. that's something that's never before been on the market. what is the benefit in using these sorts of new technologies? versus the sort of tried and true vaccine methods? >> sanjay, it's interesting because nearly all of the government funding for new vaccines has been to these new technologies. they have been tried out experimentally. they have not gone on the market. and that includes moderna. the thinking is they're much quicker to market. just because the way they're made, you can get them out much more quickly and that, of course, is important. there's also, some people think they're actually safer as well. let's take a look, sanjay, a sort of the global effort to get a vaccine. the w.h.o. reports there are 13 teams in clinical trials. in other words, they are trying these out in human beings. five of those teams are in china. four are in the u.s. two in the uk. one in germany and one in russia. anderson, sanjay. >> elizabeth cohen, thanks very much. coming up next, we'll talk to new york governor andrew cuomo about what the state is doing, and the step he is considering to keep out of staters from coming in, and perhaps bringing the virus with them. >> later, we are going to be talking to a doctor who's been leading the fight to change one of the saddest realities of this outbreak. the fact that people of color are bearing the brunt of it. that and answers to your questions and much more as our cnn global town hall continues. with a truly long-term view that's been through multiple market cycles for over 85 years? with capital group, i can. talk to your financial 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what do you see in the numbers? >> anderson, where we sit, it's been a dramatic turnaround, as you mentioned. we did have the worst-case scenario and began with the highest infection rate. that's because, remember, the virus came to new york from europe. and the federal government thought it was still in china. so we were blindsided by the virus. it landed in our airports, and we had the worst situation in the country. we had the worst situation on the globe. but we took it very seriously. we followed the science. we did the testing, et cetera. we now have the lowest infection rate in the country. we went from the highest infection rate, to the lowest infection rate. and we're reopening our regions, and we've been phasing in the economic activity. so our numbers are doing very, very well. we have less than a 1% infection rate. we did 60,000 tests yesterday. less than 1% infection rate. i'm not worried about the other states, as an american. but also, selfishly, people get on airplanes and they come to new york and they could bring the infection with them. >> so what do you do about that? i mean, do you talk about a mandatory quarantine for people enteri entering the state? is that -- is that actually doable? >> it is doable. and that -- that's what happened at the beginning of this, if you remember. seems like a lifetime ago. people put a quarantine on in their states, that people coming into their state, needed to be quarantined for 14 days. what they were saying is if you come to their state, and you come from a state that had a high infection rate, it was a mandatory quarantine, for 14 days, so you didn't infect their sfat. state. now, the tables have turned, 180 degrees, and we're considering it for new york. you have a lot of people in these states, where the infection rate is going through the roof. new york is in better shape than their state. and we're seeing people who want to come to new york, and i understand that. but we worked very hard to get the infection rate down. i don't want to see it going back up. >> seems like you always have to think a few chess moves ahead, governor. and if the state does decide someone must quarantine, for example, i think you have to think about where, exactly, are they going to go? how long? i guess, 14 days, you said. but how -- will that be enforceable? will you be able to enforce that, in some way? >> well, again, sanjay, we -- this happened the first go around, and it can be enforced and it can be done. i mean, the cruel irony is why are we here, right? if you could take new york state, that had the worst infection rate on the globe, per capita, and we turned it around, in a matter of 100 days. why are we seeing these increases in other states? that's the question we have to be asking ourselves. we know that more people are going to wind up dying, now. we've seen the models that anderson was just referring to. in one week, they said another 30,000 people would die by october. they made that shift, in one week, because they're extrapolating from this new viral spread. 30,000 people. w who, they project, will die, who didn't need to die. i don't know why what we have to do to get a wakeup call in this nation. >> well, how do you move forward, in a city like -- like new york? i mean, you have, now, restaurants, bars, doing takeout. but, you know, you've seen large crowds gathering, hanging out on streets, on a weekend night. the city doesn't seem to be able to really do anything about that. businesses, i guess, they can police what's right out in front of their business. but i mean, can they tell, you know, somebody half a block away to -- to -- to move along? or is that the city's responsibility? how does the city move through these stages now? >> yeah. two things. first, you are seeing increased activity. that's because we're phasing in the reopening of the economy. and we do it by following the metrics. and we're following the infection rate, literally, every day. about 60,000 tests per day. sanjay can tell you that's an enormous number of tests. no state in the united states does that many tests per capita. no country does that many tests. when you get that much information, per day, you can calibrate your reopening. and i said, from day one, on your show, rather than telling states just reopen. and say hallelujah and watch that virus take off. do a phased reopening, monitor it, and control the virus. and that will even be better for the economy because you won't see these starts and stops, that now rile the markets. and you'll save lives. so yes, you're seeing more activity. we monitor the infection rate. also, we're very serious about compliance. it is the responsibility of the city, new york city, that local government is responsible for the compliance. if the city doesn't do it, the state is a -- a backdrop to the city. i have the authority, on the state side, to actually close down a business, close down a restaurant, close down a bar that's violating it because we take it very seriously, as well as the mandatory mask policy. that we've had in place for two months, which has been very effective. but it's the local government's responsibility. if they fail, the state can step in. if everything goes bad and the city government is incompetent, then, we can slow down the opening of the economy, if we see any tick up in that infection rate. >> you know, masks have become such a contentious issue, it's remarkable, governor. as you know, probably, governor newsom ordered that masks are now mandatory in most public places in california. something that you did, you just mentioned, back in april for new york. why do you think that this has become such a contentious issue when the -- when the evidence is clear? we've been talking about it can reduce transmission significantly. is there a way to move beyond this so it's not so contentious anymore? >> sanjay, it's all been contentious, right? when i had to stand up and tell people you have to stay home, it was contentious. when i said schools are closed, it was contentious. when i said businesses are closed, it was contentious. when i said you have to wear a mask, it was contentious. it is disruptive and, you know, people don't want to be disrupted. they want to solve the virus, but they don't want disruption. but that's where government has to step in. we did the masks two months ago. i got beaten up for it. but it worked and we knew it worked, and you knew it worked. the scientists, all, knew that it worked. the numbers that are now coming out, world health organization, says it's even more effective than we knew weari, wearing a m. so none of these things were easy. but, it's following the science. you know, the difference in these states. some follow the politics, and some follow the public relations, frankly. and those are the states where you now see the virus going up. some states were smart. they made the tough decisions, but they did it early. and that's where you see it going down. this was always about the science, and not the politics. and if you handle this as a public-relations issue, then, of course, you're going to let people do whatever they want to do. let the economy open. no controls. and now, you see the virus go up. >> is -- you know, we're seeing this now. this rally this weekend in oklahoma. the president's going to, you know, theoretically pack 19,000 people into an indoor arena. doesn't seem like there's any social distancing. no one's required to wear a mask, though they'll probably hand them out. would you allow a large political rally in new york, in these circumstances, in this time? >> no. no. no. look. the president's position, all along, has been a political position. his position was, you know, this is a virus. it's a flu. don't worry about it. reopen the economy. reopen the economy. reopen the economy. he believes his re-election is correlated to the economy. i don't even think that's right, politically. i think it's correlated to leadership, not to the dow jones stockmarket index. but that's always been his position. just reopen the economy. the states that are doing that are seeing the virus go up. and seeing their hospitals fill up, and their icu beds fill up. and that's going to, not only hurt the economy, it's, also, going to cause more americans to die. when they raise up those projection models, which they're now doing, that is just an extrapolation on the viral rate that they're seeing. and when you see the spike, they then update the projection, which extrapolates out, how many more people die. 30,000 more people die, by october, in the model that the white house accepts. just think about that. and the president of the united states, knowing that the models now say another 30,000 people die by october, still, insists that we shouldn't be careful. we shouldn't follow the science. don't worry about the public health. have a political arena. i mean, it makes -- it makes no sense. and it's the exact wrong signal. and that's what the states who are getting into trouble are all following. >> governor andrew cuomo, appreciate your time. thank you. >> thanks. >> just ahead. more on the surge in cases including the high death rate among african-americans and why dr. anthony fauci says they have suffered disproportionately. >> we will also be answering your coronavirus questions when our global town hall continues. . and right now, love is more important than ever. in response to covid-19, subaru and our retailers are donating fifty million meals to feeding america, to help feed those who now need our help. its all part of our commitment to our communities through subaru loves to help. love, it's what makes subaru, subaru. did you know liberty mutual customizes your car insurance ta-da! so you only pay for what you need? i should get a quote. do it. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ cdc guidance recommends topical pain relievers first... like salonpas patch large. it's powerful, fda-approved to relieve moderate pain for up to 12 hours, yet non-addictive and gentle on the body. salonpas. it's good medicine. hisamitsu. the increase in new daily cases of coronavirus across the sunbelt of the united states could hit black americans particularly hard. in fact, today, dr. anthony fauci explained why it's been the case, so far. >> african-americans have suffered, disproportionately, from coronavirus disease. they've suffered in that their rate of infection is higher because of the nature of the economic status that many of them find themselves in. where they're outside working, being unable to physically separate. and then, when they do get infected, given the social determinants of health, make it, you know, for them, have a higher incidence of diseases like hypertension, obesity, diabetes. they are at much greater risk of experiencing the deleterious consequences, including death. >> show you what dr. fauci is talking about. this is from the brookings institution, which breaks down who exactly has died from the virus. that's despite the fact there are about four and a half-times more white than black americans in this country. joining me now is dr. ayla stanford, pediatric surgeon who founded the covid-19 consortium, which provides mobile testing unit. doctor, thanks so much for being with us. based on everything you are seeing on the front lines, why do you think is virus is so disproportionately affecting black americans? >> there's a myriad of reasons. some of which, dr. fauci mentioned. but i'd really like to focus on the tangible ones, that are happening, in realtime, with covid. and it has to do with -- particularly, when african-americans were being turned away from testing at work, even. doctors and nurses, where a white supervisor would say, well, you're not sick enough. these are folks we were testing, and then we would test them and they were positive. or a elderly mortician, who comes to get tested, and he doesn't have a prescription. and even though he's been burying people with covid, all day long, you won't test him because he doesn't have a script. >> no, it's -- well, i really admire what you're doing, dr. stanford. you have been doing this mobile testing around philadelphia. my understanding is you have tested nearly 6,000 people so far and you are going to where people are, right? neighborhoods, churches, parks, and shelters. i guess this is the whole point. but why did you -- you're a pediatric surgeon. that's what you do. what made you do this? be the person to do this? >> well, sanjay, if it's okay to call you sanjay. >> please. >> okay. sanjay, when you and i were both in medical school, we heard about these social determinants of health for over two decades. and when you hear dr. fauci say them now, they're no different than what we heard when we were in our 20s. and so, as i was sitting, watching these reports, hearing the same rhetoric, over and over. i said i'm not going to sit and listen, and have another town hall. and sit around the table and talk about it. i can do something, at this point. i'm a business owner. i have access to -- i have an account with lap corps, i can order testing kits. i have colleagues, who are board certified, that would donate their time. and we needed to just identify the individuals. so, when we started, we literally went to people's homes. and we went to where they were. we parked the van outside. they came outside of their homes, and we tested them, on the street. and we did that, throughout the city. and then, as we grew, we knew we had to go to places that african-americans trust, and that's the church. whether you go to church or not, they're in their community. so people walked. then, they walked home and told a neighbor. they walked. they rode their bikes. and someone saw them with a mask and they'd say, hey, where'd you get that mask? oh, around the corner at the church. and then, folks came over. we also went to homeless shelters. and when the residents were there for a meal, we stood outside. we answered their questions. they were scared that we might be giving them the disease, or that it would hurt. we answered their questions. and then, we tested them. we went to street corners. we wept nt to parks. wherever people were, we went to them because when they try to go to most of the testing sites that were in the suburbs, which they had to take buses and trains to get to, they were turned away because they weren't in a car. so we created barrier-free testing, to test folks. >> how do -- i mean, inequalities in how black, americans are treated in the healthcare system have existed before covid. covid has certainly brought them to the fore. how does that change? i mean, you know, that is a systematic issue, which we have, you know, has been reported on, for years and years and years. >> well, i'll tell you. the mantra that i developed for the black doctors covid-19 consortium is simply access, empathy, and action. so you need to open your doors. there were so many restrictions on people that needed the test the most. and then, when they come to you, welcome them. treat them like you would treat your mother, your brother, your sister, someone you care about. maybe when they come in the room, sit down, instead of standing up and being in a rush to go somewhere. and it's great to talk about it. but things need to happen. i've been part of so many nih studies, where we come up with great ideas. you form focus groups and communities. you come with coffee and treats. and then, once your study is done and you publish the paper, everybody leaves. all the support that was there is gone. and someone has a new paper on their resume. >> dr. ayla stanford, yeah, thank you. thank you for what you're doing, thank you for being with us tonight. really appreciate it. >> absolutely. >> reminder. at the bottom of your screen, you are going to see our social media scroll that shows the questions people are asking. you can tweet us your questions with hashtag cnn town hall. you can also leave comment on the cnn facebook page. want to bring in dr. leana wen, emergency physician and baltimore's former health commissioner. dr. wen, let's get to viewer questions. one from lark in huntsville, alabama, sent in this video. >> how long will those of us who are at risk or vulnerable to covid-19 have to continue isolation? will we need to wait until a vaccine is available and widely distributed? >> dr. wen? >> it's going to take a year, a year and a half, or more, for a vaccine to be available and distributed. and it's not feasible to stay locked down until then. and so, i would do the things that you really love doing, but safely. so if you want to see family and friends, maybe meet in a backyard or in a park, outdoors, where you are spaced at least six feet apart. and if you're going grocery shopping or something else, make sure that you wear a mask, and keep up really good hand hygiene. >> and can i just say, as well, i really feel more ms. lark, who asked that question, right? she's stuck in her home. vulnerable. so i just got to say here for a year and a half. we wear masks for people like ms. lark. we have to do that, right? so she can leave her home and have some semblance of a life. so we're not just wearing them for ourselves, as lena and i have been talking about. so you should think about her. >> sorry. it is just kind of crazy that, on the one hand, we're being told businesses should open. economy's got to get going. and -- and -- and i certainly understand that. desperate, desperate economic straits. you know, and yet, i think it was you pointed this out earlier, sanjay. the administration who's pushing this is not continuing to push for the very safeguards that would allow for the reopening. i mean, just the wearing of masks. n it's now become this political signpost of where you stand, as opposed to helping out your neighbor. and it's not a test of your masculinity. >> yeah. i was really struck, even, you know, talking to governor cuomo about that. he said, look, it's a real contentious issue shutting down the economy. it's really contentious shutting down schools. yeah, i get that. those are big. put on a mask to protect people around you, it's this. it's just a two-second action to do that, and it can make such a huge difference. people who are so against possibly having to shut things down aren't doing the things that would prevent that from happening. and masks make such a big difference, at this point. >> dr. wen, i'm interested in your answer for this one. jessica asked i am a mother of three with a newborn and needless to say very busy. the house cleaning is definitely an extra burden and stress on the family. i was wondering what's the risk of having cleaners come in? and we would return once they're gone. >> so, it's probably safe. especially, if you are not going to be home, at the same time. and you can even use an abundance of caution, and make sure that the windows are open. and that they use your cleaning supplies. so that they're not bringing in a mop, that's being used from -- from house to house. >> it's so hard, dr. wen. i mean, i can't believe i'm saying this sentence. you and i both have newborns at home. i never even imagined i would say such a sentence. not about you but about me. but it is really hard because %-pd be able to hold the baby and stuff and it's a really tricky situation. >> absolutely. and anderson, i hope that wyatt is doing well and happy early father's day to both you and sanjay. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> yeah, i mean, it is really hard and i think people are faced with a decision about risk and i do think that if both families, if there are two families, grandparents and parents who are both reducing their risk as much as possible and they're willing to even self-quarantine for 14 days, let's say, that they can see each other and we do need that human contact. >> sanjay, nathan from new jersey sent in this question. >> is working in a high rise office building with no fresh air a safe or a dangerous covid-19 environment? if it's dangerous, shouldn't the public be made aware of it? >> yeah, i mean, this is an important point. ideally, you'd like to have as much ventilation in the area as possible, because you're trying to reduce the airborne time of these viral particles, make them not hang in the air as long, it's hard in high rise buildings. hopefully you have good filtration systems, good ventilation within the building, but it is a challenge and hopefully employ years are addressing this. >> and we asked you to shoot a video on the safety tips on going back to the office. let's take a look. >> there's no question things are going to look different at work the first time you go there. first of all, everyone's going to be wearing one of these. at our workplace, it's going to be a rule. the other thing i do when i go to the hospital is, i always stay bare below the elbow, that way my watch, my jewelry, my ring doesn't get contaminated. also easier to wash the hands. speaking of which -- carry hand sanitizer now, most people do. workplaces are going to make it easier by having stations like this. it's probably a better idea to take the stairs, but if you have to take an elevator, this is going to be one of the higher risk situations a small space, indoors. try and find an elevator that's not that crowded. everyone should face in the same direction to reduce the spread of the virus and use something like a pen to push the button. so, it goes without saying, you want to think about every surface you touch. got to be thinking about this constantly. door will likely be propped open so you don't have to touch the handles. everyone's going to be disinfecting all their surfaces. this is going to be a very common thing. thinking about where you're sitting and who is sitting next to you. you're going to want to leave space, obviously. this way, but also, try not to sit directly across from someone. that's because you want to reduce the viral transfer. there was a single floor in south korea, according to this one study, where 94 people got infected. that's what you're trying t sta even before you come to work. take your temperature at home and if you have any symptoms, you should obviously stay there. and i'll tell you guys, a lot of this is going to be company to company. there aren't sort of nationwide policies or even statewide policies yet. people are still trying to figure this out as people return to work. >> yeah. i'm in a flash studio we call it at cnn headquarters in new york and they thankfully provide, i've got wipes here and this, as well, which, as sanjay knows, i've used his hair gel when i forgot -- >> i wasn't going to tell anybody. >> sanjay took a picture of it the other night. i don't recommend that. you should not be using purell as hair gel. let's get one more in before the break. a andrea asked this question. >> covid-19 seems to be an opportunistic disease. can breathinger stands like tear gas, smoke and pepper spray weaken the immune system and make people more susceptible to infection? and if so, do we know how this sort of soupor irritants might effect people? what can people do to protect themselves? >> that's a great question. >> yeah, so, tear gas does increase respiratory secretions. they make people sneeze and cough and rub their eyes, which are all risk factors in transmitting and acquiring covid-19. we're going to take a break. and then answer more of your questions, one i personally cannot wait to hear. when we come back. now anyin the s&p 500,panies even if their shares cost more. at $5 a slice, you could own ten companies for $50 instead of paying thousands. all commission free online. schwab stock slices: an easy way to start investing or to give the gift of stock ownership. schwab. own your tomorrow. schwab. as business moves forward, we're all changing the way things get done. like how we redefine collaboration... how we come up with new ways to serve our customers... and deliver our products. but no matter how things change, one thing never will - you can rely on the people and the network of at&t... to help keep your business connected. we all know customers can save big. [ cellphone chimes ] um, so, we're talking 24/7 protection. as it -- [ cellphone chimes ] [ clears throat ] mara, hello. [ cellphone clicking ] yeah? we can see you on your phone. oh, my bad. you can continue. [ clicking continues ] [ cellphone chimes ] i think she's still on the phone. [ cellphone chimes ] at mercedes-benz, nothing service will do.-class that's why we're expanding your range of choices. many dealers now offer optional pick-up & delivery and at-home maintenance, as well as online shopping with home delivery and special finance arrangements. so, whether you visit your local dealer or prefer the comfort of home you can count on the very highest level of service. get 0% apr financing up to 36 months on most models, and 90-day first-payment deferral on any model. welcome back to our global town hall. i want to get to another question. a concerned aunt named donna writes in, my niece lives in crosby, texas, she has a 6 month old. for new moms, at what age can children wear a mask? i heard not before 2 years, also, how can we protect our young children when we take walks in the strollers? >> well, the cdc recommends that children above the age of 2 wear masks, although, i have an almost 3-year-old and it's very hard for him to keep his mask on. it is pretty safe to take your kids out for a walk in a stroller, just make sure that there is enough distance around you to keep that six-fo feet as much as possible. if it's not, a lot of strollers have a cover that protects from the sun or rain, you can put that on and also, i like to carry a blanket with me and put the blanket on top of the stroller handle and that adds another level of protection, too. >> all right. thanks so much. loved hearing questions about babies now. never -- thank you so much, doctor. sanjay, thank you. also, big thanks to new york's governor, andrew cuomo and dr. stamford who was fantastic, as well. also, thanks to all of you who wrote in with your questions. if you didn't get your question answered tonight, the conversation continues at cnn.com/coronavirusanswers. sanjay, thank you so much for doing it again. >> yeah, thank you, anderson. and by the way, have a great weekend. your first father's day. >> i know. it's -- >> it's big. >> surreal. really surreal. there's a lot of people who, you know, father's day, mother's day are hard for people who have lost a parent and growing up, i never paid attention to father's day because my dad passed away and it was just too painful. so, to be celebrating father's day is -- it blows my mind. so, just another of the kind of wonders of what's going on. sanjay, thank you. happy father's day. and the news continues right now with another father, chris cuomo. chris? i'm chris cuomo. welcome to "prime time." it's time now, if you will indulge me, for a different kind of diagnosidiagnosis. one of a sickness that is even more pervasive than covid-19. i want you to witness the verl lens in real-time. president trump h
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