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U.S. Nears 5 Million Cases With 160,000 Plus Deaths as Coronavirus Testing Declines In 29 States; Former CDC Directors Rip White House Mixed Messaging on Virus; Stimulus Talks Collapse and Trump Threatening Executive Action; Fauci Ducks Mail-In Voting Question; Potential Antibody Treatment Likely In Short Supply; Explosion Death Toll Climbs To 154 With 5,000 Wounded; CDC Warns Not To Wear Masks With Vents Or Valves. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired August 07, 2020 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[17:00:14]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're following breaking news.

The U.S. is now approaching 5 million known coronavirus cases. As of now, the pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 160,000 Americans. And as the crisis clearly deepens, the testing that's critical to getting it under control is declining in 29 states.

The situation in New York state however has improved to the point where the Governor Andrew Cuomo is clearing the way for schools to reopen next month including the nation's largest school district. That would be New York City.

Also breaking, talks between the Trump administration and congressional Democrats for another round of pandemic stimulus has just collapsed. The Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says he will recommend President Trump make good on his threat to take matters into his own hands through executive orders.

Let's get some more on the pandemic right now. CNN national correspondent Athena Jones is in New York for us. Athena, schools there and indeed across the state, they will be reopening.

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. That's right. One expert said this week that if New York can't safely reopen schools, I don't have hope for any part of the country. So, this is good news for parents and teachers. But I want to stress that whether they open in- person classes will be decided district by district. Here in New York City schools will be offering both remote and in-person learning options for the fall term. And the chancellor here says he will be watching the numbers like a hawk. And if the COVID - if the positivity rate for COVID tests reaches 3 percent, they will be moving to remote learning for the entire system.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JONES (voice-over): It's back to the classroom for millions of students in New York. Governor Andrew Cuomo clearing the way for all schools to reopen for in-person learning if they choose, including the country's largest school district, New York City.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY) (via telephone): Today is the deadline to look at the infection rate and make a determination. By our infection rates, all school districts can open everywhere in the state, every region is below the threshold that we established.

JONES (voice-over): New York was once one of the highest risk states in the nation. But now the COVID tests positivity rate has hovered around just 1 percent for weeks, down from nearly 15 percent at the beginning of May.

The school year is already underway in some states like Georgia where there are new concerns about safety after dozens of students and staffers tested positive for coronavirus in just the first few days. Teachers are concerned about in-person classes.

AIREANE MONTGOMERY, GEORGIA TEACHER: I will consider it being safe if we absolutely go digital for the first nine weeks. We have to do this based on scientific research. It cannot be any other way.

JONES (voice-over): A sophomore was suspended after tweeting this photograph of a crowded hallway at a school where masks are not required. The school later reversing the suspension.

HANNAH WATTERS, GEORGIA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: I was concerned for the safety of everyone in that building and everyone in the county because guidelines of the CDC have been telling us for months now weren't being followed.

JONES (voice-over): Guidelines like social distancing and mask wearing. But Georgia's lieutenant governor insists in-person classes are a must.

LT. GOV. GEOFF DUNCAN (R-GA): And it's a work in progress and we're going to do the best we possibly can. But to just stay at home and not be able to deliver education is not an option. It's not an option here in Georgia.

JONES (voice-over): The debate over schools in America rages as the World Health Organization warns the pandemic is skewing younger. 64 percent of cases worldwide occurring in people ages 25 to 64. The proportion of reported cases in teens and young adults has gone up six-fold. And the share among very young children and babies while still small in raw numbers has increased sevenfold.

Meanwhile, as daily nationwide deaths are averaging over a thousand for the last 11 days with 1,250 deaths reported on Thursday, five former CDC directors on a forum in ABC News calling for a national science-based plan and a consistent, coherent message to get the virus under control.

DR. RICHARD BESSER, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, CDC: We are the wealthiest nation on the planet, and we see countries all around the globe that have been able to take measures to get this under control in ways that we haven't even come close to.

DR. TOM FRIEDEN, FORMER CDC DIRECTOR: Americans are voting with their clicks. There have been 1.6 billion clicks on the CDC website.

JONES (voice-over): One place not planning to follow CDC guidelines, the town of Sturgis, South Dakota, where a motorcycle rally expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people kicks off today. No masks required. Even as the COVID positivity test rate stands at around 8 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here in Sturgis and we are making a family affair.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[17:05:03]

JONES: And one more thing about those CDC guidelines. The agency has updated its mask recommendations urging people not to use masks with valves or vents. They say that one-way valve -- it keeps the wearer cooler by allowing air to escape but it also allows respiratory droplets to escape, which could infect others. Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes, they could. Athena, thank you very much. Athena Jones reporting.

Let's go to the White House right now. Our chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta is with us. Jim, stimulus talks up on Capitol Hill. They have collapsed. The president, we're told, is now apparently getting ready to take some sort of executive action if a deal isn't necessarily reached. They still have until the end of today.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. With negotiations falling apart over a coronavirus relief bill, White House officials say President Trump is now expected to take some kind of executive action to provide financial support to Americans who are struggling to find work during this pandemic. The executive orders are likely to include enhanced unemployment benefits as well as some kind of action on suspending evictions from rental homes. At least that's what the talk is right now inside the White House.

Administration officials in the meantime are throwing cold water on the president's goal of having a coronavirus vaccine ready by Election Day. One senior administration official described that timeline as highly unlikely.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): President Trump's claim that a coronavirus vaccine could be ready by Election Day is receiving an injection of reality, as top administration health officials are saying, don't bet on it.

GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Sooner than November 3rd? DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (via telephone): I think in some cases, yes possible before, but right around that time.

ACOSTA (voice-over): A senior administration official told CNN that timeline is just not realistic saying it's, quote, "Metaphysically possible. But highly unlikely."

And Coronavirus Task Force doctor, Anthony Fauci said scientists may have to wait until November or December just to find out if a vaccine really works, adding, "maybe we'll get an answer as early as October, but I doubt it."

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH: Trying to put a finer prediction on the timetable right now, I don't think any of us have enough information yet to know how that's going to shake out.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The pandemic battered economy recovered somewhat in July with the unemployment rate falling to just above 10 percent with 1.8 million jobs added. Even with so many Americans still out of work, congressional Democrats and White House officials have been at odds all week over a coronavirus relief bill, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pointing the finger at top aides to the president.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): You know I have been in the White House when the president slammed the table and walked out. Well, that's really what Mr. Meadows did, slam the table and walk out.

ACOSTA (voice-over): White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is jabbing right back.

MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: I think for those that are suffering, they should be asking their Democrats in the House and the Senate why -- why have you failed to meet the needs that we have so rightly expressed?

ACOSTA (voice-over): Without a deal, the White House is signaling Mr. Trump will take executive action.

LARRY KUDLOW, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC ADVISER: The legal drafting is complete. We've had these intense discussions about this in the last several days. I don't want to make a prediction.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Democrats are also keeping an eye on Election Day accusing the administration of making changes to the nation's postal system that could slow down mail-in balloting. In a letter to the Postal Service inspector general, a group of Democratic senators wrote, the changes appear to pose a potential threat to mail-in ballots in the 2020 general election.

The president likes mail-in voting in Florida but not in other states like Nevada.

TRUMP: Florida has got a great Republican governor and it had a great Republican governor. Got Ron DeSantis, Rick Scott. ACOSTA (voice-over): The president is seizing on comments made by Joe Biden who seems to say African Americans are less diverse than their political views than Latino voters.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Unlike the African American community with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly different attitudes about different things.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Biden tried to clean that up, tweeting, "In no way did I mean to suggest the African American community is a monolith - not by identity, not on issues, not at all."

Mr. Trump tweeted, "Biden is no longer worthy of the Black Vote!"

TRUMP: I don't know what's going on with him, but it was a very insulting statement he made.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The president's attacks on Biden are tricky for Mr. Trump who has a long track record of racially offensive behavior including sharing this video featuring a supporter shouting "white power."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: White power! There you go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And the U.S. Intelligence Community issued a startling statement on election security today as the U.S. is closing in on the fall campaign. In that statement, intelligence officials warn Russia is trying to damage former Vice President Joe Biden's chances to win the White House. The statement from the Intelligence Community also says China prefers that President Trump fail in his bid for a second term. These warnings from the Intelligence Community come at a critical time for American voters who are largely unaware that the Russians were interfering with the election four years ago. Wolf?

BLITZER: Jim Acosta at the White House for us. With that, Jim, thank you very much.

Let's get some more on all of this. Dr. Leana Wen is joining us, the former health commissioner of Baltimore. Dr. Wen, thank you so much for joining us.

[17:10:00]

As you heard, Governor Cuomo of New York announced that the infection rate is low enough that all school districts across New York state can open for in-person classes. Do you think these districts' safety plans on paper will work in practice?

DR. LEANA WEN, FORMER BALTIMORE CITY HEALTH COMMISSIONER: It's a good question, Wolf. And it depends. I do think that Governor Cuomo's announcement overall makes sense because New York as a whole is doing it relatively well. And he is basing his decisions on the science and also on the number one determinant of whether schools can reopen safely, which is the level of community spread. But that said, these school districts still have to face some really challenging decisions themselves, and, specifically, they need to make sure that they have all the guidelines by the CDC implemented as much as possible.

So, they need to look at de densifying schools. They should look at whether they have enough testing contact tracing because it's not a question of if there will be outbreaks, it's a question of when. And I think that having the decision being left up to the schools makes sense. But we also need to do a lot more to provide the resources so that these schools can actually safely reopen and protect the students. And very importantly, the staff and teachers too.

BLITZER: Yes. That's so critically important, indeed. The World Health Organization, Dr. Wen, now says that the pandemic appears to skew younger right now with most of the cases by far among people ages 25 to 64. How much does the behavior of these young -- younger people influence whether schools, other essential parts of our society can safely function?

WEN: Well, I think we are seeing that the dynamics of the disease are changing as a result of young people who are working or younger people who are working and who may be experiencing some degree of quarantine fatigue as well. But I think we also know that when schools reopen, we are going to see an uptick in cases, especially in communities that don't have coronavirus under control. And as a result, the dynamics of the disease are going to keep on changing. Younger people tend to not get as sick, but they can definitely be vectors for transmission because none of us live in a bubble. And we are going to see rises in the number of cases overall. Especially if we do not have good surveillance systems in place to prevent an outbreak from becoming an epidemic.

BLITZER: Yes. That's also true. Let me ask you about the governor of Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine. As you know, yesterday he tested positive for his scheduled meeting with the president. That meeting didn't take place. But then a few hours later he had a second test and he tested negative. What do you think happened here?

WEN: So, this is a bit confusing. Because actually the coronavirus tests that are out there, the false positive rate is pretty low. So, if you test positive, generally you do actually have coronavirus. So, I don't know. I do think that Governor DeWine I believe is planning to have a third test, which will be important.

But I think this underscores a broader point about testing, which is that there will be inaccuracies. And actually, that's OK because in all medical tests, there is going to be some level of a false result. But perfect cannot be the enemy of the good here. I actually think that we should have far more testing. What the governor has access to is something that we should all have access to.

It would be wonderful if we had widespread testing that people can take before meetings, before going to asymptomatic screening purposes. People who don't have symptoms or risk factors. Even if we missed 20 percent, 10 percent of cases, that's still better than missing 100 percent because right now that's what we have. We are not testing asymptomatic people, so we are missing everyone. Let's at least have something and not let perfect be the enemy of the good.

BLITZER: You would think six months into this crisis, this pandemic, we would have that kind of testing capability available all over the country.

The conundrum lots of Americans right now, Dr. Wen, are facing is whether to get that quick test result that might not necessarily be as accurate or face a possible delay for the more accurate test. You wrote about this in "The Washington Post." What factors should people be weighing?

WEN: I think there is one most important factor. And that is what is your risk factor? If you have medium to high risk of having coronavirus, if you have symptoms, if you've had exposure to someone with COVID-19, you should definitely get the more accurate test. But if you're using this for screening, if you (AUDIO GAP) and you want to all get tested in advance as an example, you don't have symptoms or exposure. You're in a low virus area. You should get the screening test. The one that's faster.

Ultimately, we should not be making the tradeoff between speed and accuracy. But I think this is actually one way for us to get out of the situation we're in, to invoke the defense production act, get millions of these fast screening tests that are out there and test everyone. That's what we should be able to get to.

That's frankly what we use for the rest of medicine. For low-risk people get the screening test. Higher risk people get the more accurate one.

BLITZER: Dr. Leana Wen, thanks as usual for joining us. Appreciate it very much.

WEN: Thank you.

[17:15:00]

BLITZER: Up next, is fear pitting himself against the president, stopping Dr. Anthony Fauci from giving the American public serious health advice on mail-in voting?

Plus, will President Trump make his nomination speech from the White House despite strong pushback from many of his fellow Republicans?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: As President Trump spreads misinformation about voting by mail, Dr. Anthony Fauci today declined to comment on whether voting by mail is a safer alternative to standing in line -- in long lines often, waiting to vote on November 3rd.

Let's talk about all of this with our chief political correspondent Dana Bash and our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

You know, Dana, Dr. Fauci today, he refused to comment on the safety of voting by mail saying he didn't want to be pitted against the president. Perhaps that's understandable.

[17:20:05]

But how problematic is it that he can't give the American public serious health advice without fear of potentially upsetting the president?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's very problematic. And the most remarkable thing is how he has been so adept at not answering but still very much signaling what he wants to say. I noticed when he did the interview earlier this week with Sanjay, that Sanjay asked him a question and he didn't answer it. And as he was not answering, he said I'm not going to say what you want me to say because I can't give that sound bite.

I mean he telegraphs what he can't say and when he's doing that, he's saying what he wants to say. The fact that he can't just say flatly what is plain as day, which is obviously voting by mail is when it comes to medical safety, it of course is safer than going and standing online, even if you're socially distanced, even if they're taking as many precautions as possible. He can't say that because the president is arguing till he's blue in the face that that's riddled with fraud, which we should say again and again and again there's no evidence of that.

BLITZER: And that's important, Sanjay. Because, forget about politics. It's common sense, as Dana says, that sending in your ballot by mail would put you at a lot less risk as opposed to going to a polling station waiting in line. What should voters know to protect their health heading into the election in November?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yep. Well, first of all, can I just say Dana is a very insightful reporter? Because that's exactly right, how Dr. Fauci communicates. And it took me 20 years to sort of figure that out.

But I think there's no question, you know, when we talk about the fact that there is a contagious virus that is circulating, one person can infect two or three people. It's you know if you're going to be in clustered groups and you're going to be there for long durations of time, it's a risk no matter what.

By the way, people always say, well, what about the protests, right? This is a common threat that often comes up. Those are also risky. There's no question. The virus doesn't care what the event is.

Now, it is better if you're outside versus inside. It's obviously a lot better if you're wearing a mask versus not. If you don't have long duration of contact, that helps things as well. But with voting in person is that it's often times the people who are working in those polling places, those voting places as well. They're there all day. They're potentially exposed to lots of people, typically indoors, lots of surfaces that can be touched.

So, you know it just raises the risk. If you spread people out, it takes longer. That increases duration. You get the point. I mean the virus doesn't care. The virus just wants to find a host. So, if there's a host close by it's going to make the jump. That's what viruses do.

BLITZER: And a lot of people who work at those polling stations are older people and may be in greater danger -

GUPTA: That's right.

BLITZER: -- of potentially of this coronavirus.

You know, Dana, the president continues also to imply that the country now is on the rebound. But the IHME model projects the death toll will reach nearly 300,000 - 300,000 Americans by December 1st. If we continue trending that, clearly that will influence how people view the election and whether they feel safe to vote in person.

BASH: Yes. No question about it. And this is just, you know, Exhibit Z starting with A of how the president, despite the fact that he wants so much to will the virus away, to will the reality that he wants to be the actual reality is just not possible because of the medical reason that Sanjay just laid out of the way that this virus moves. It doesn't bend a political will. It doesn't get charmed by the president's rhetoric or anybody's rhetoric. It's just not the way it works. And as this has gone on for so long, has people whether they are in a big city or on a rural area now, understand the problems with this virus, know people with the virus, know people who know people with the virus. It is hitting home more than ever before. And there's nothing that the president can do to change that.

BLITZER: You know, it's amazing, you know, Sanjay, the president keeps saying we're doing great. But when you look at these numbers and I checked today how the United States is doing compared to some other industrialized countries. Look at this. The U.S. yesterday at 1,250 confirmed deaths here in the United States in one day. But look at these other countries right now. United Kingdom, 49. Germany, two. South Korea, one. Clearly, they have things so much better under control than we do.

GUPTA: It's at once horrifying and possibly inspiring. It's horrifying because you know we're - we're you know 1,000 - more than 1,000 people have died you know.

[17:25:00]

And I know some of these folks. You know I have talked to some of these families. It's really -- it's devastating. We keep putting these numbers up on the screen. Man, you know it's just unbelievable the situation that we're in. But it's inspiring, Wolf, because, you know look, they don't have anything we don't have. I mean we have in fact more resources than some of the countries you're comparing us to at this point.

And we can get there. It's going to take us longer because this disease, this infection has become more widespread in the United States. So just like with any human body, a more widespread disease may require more aggressive treatment. But it can still respond to treatment. We just have to do it. It's amazing to me that it's still at this point we're not doing the basic things, the basic primary measures to bring these numbers down.

BLITZER: It is not only amazing. It's so disappointing and so sad, indeed. It's an awful situation and a failure here in the United States to correctly over these past five, six months deal with this. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much. Dana Bash, thanks to you as well.

Coming up, why a promising coronavirus treatment will likely be in short supply. Who would be first to get it? We'll update you on that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:31:10]

BLITZER: Very encouraging news, we might see a very promising antibody treatment for the coronavirus in a matter of a few months. But it's also clear to this point, most Americans won't necessarily be able to get it, at least at first.

Our Political Correspondent Sara Murray is working the story for us. Sara, these antibody treatments, they appear very promising.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: They do appear promising. You know, they're already being tested on humans. They could be available months before a vaccine is available. But there are still a lot of questions, like exactly how many doses could we get this year and who would be the people who receive them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY (voice-over): An antibody treatment that could protect people from coronavirus could be available as early as this fall. But warning signs loom for getting into the millions of Americans who might benefit from it.

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH: I think the monoclonal antibody cocktails have a lot going for them.

MURRAY (voice-over): Health experts are optimistic that monoclonal antibody treatments designed in the lab to mimic the antibodies a person would normally produce to fight off infection could help prevent coronavirus infections and stave off the worst of the disease for sick patients. It could be a lifesaver in nursing homes, hospitals, or even for Americans with severe underlying conditions.

DR. LEN SCHLEIFER, REGENERON CEO: I think everybody's killing themselves to do the right thing.

MURRAY (voice-over): Both Regeneron and Eli Lilly are currently testing the treatments on humans and clinical trials. There's no guarantee it will work. But both say they're already scaling up production in anticipation. Even in a best-case scenario, though, only a few hundred thousand doses are likely to be available this year. SCHLEIFER: No matter what, we probably won't be able to make enough capacity, we'll have to direct these antibodies where we can do the most good assuming that they work.

MURRAY (voice-over): According to a Duke University study, based on the numbers in August, the U.S. would need more than 60 million doses over the next year to treat every American hospitalised with coronavirus, fighting coronavirus at home or exposed to coronavirus from someone in the same household. The federal government isn't buying up potential drugs in the same way it's pre ordering vaccines.

DR. JANET WOODCOCK, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION: Advanced purchasing of therapeutics is going to be slow. We have to select the most promising one.

MURRAY (voice-over): So far, Regeneron is one of the only companies with a government contract.

SCHLEIFER: I do think we can do this fairly. We can do it reasonably and most important, we have to do it.

MURRAY (voice-over): But the government's shoddy track record on testing personal protective gear and distributing drugs like remdesivir is already raising concerns about potential shortages of antibody treatments.

DR. DAN SKOVRONSKY, ELI LILLY'S CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER: Distribution of other things during this pandemic, as you've described, testing, PPE, masks, ventilators. All of those have been with controversy and I hope that we're learning from those.

REP. BILL FOSTER (D-IL): We may be in this position where, yes, there's a miracle cure that can then prevent or cure COVID-19 but we do not have the manufacturing to meet the demand.

MURRAY (voice-over): Congressman Foster worries low supply could lead to wealthy Americans using their money or connections to jump the line.

SKOVRONSKY: We're committed to the equitable distribution of vaccine. And that should not involve the patient's ability to pay, it should not involve their status and society or their political connections.

DR. ALEXANDER STEMER, SYMPHONY CARE NETWORK COVID-19 TASK FORCE COVID--CHAIR: Everyone's going to want to be at the front of the line.

MURRAY (voice-over): Clinical trials at Symphony nursing homes, which lacked pharmacies and additional staff to administer IVs, reveal other logistical hurdles ahead.

STEMER: Lilly not only has the RV that's been outfitted as a pharmacy, they also have rented Penske trucks that are full of infusion shares and infusion poles.

(END VIDEOTAPE) MURRAY: Now, we asked the government for more information on how this will all work. And Dr. Janet Woodcock, who's the head of therapeutics for Operation Warp Speed said in a statement to CNN, they are trying to scale up manufacturing as quickly as possible that they're committed to transparency. And that the CDC and the Department of Defense are already working on ways to distribute therapeutics as well as vaccines. But as far as specifics, she didn't offer many, Wolf.

[17:35:04]

BLITZER: Sara Murray, very good report. Thanks very much for that.

Let's get some more in all of this. William Haseltine is joining us, the Chairman and President of ACCESS Health International. Professor Haseltine, thanks so much for joining us. How promising do you believe these potential antibody treatments are?

WILLIAM HASELTINE, CHAIR AND PRESIDENT, ACCESS HEALTH INTERNATIONAL: Well, I think antibodies are going to be successful. I think they'll be successful in treating people early in the infectious process. Once the virus has progressed to do a lot of bodily damage, it will be hard to stop it just by stopping the virus. But it has another very important use, and that is protecting healthcare workers who were exposed on a regular basis.

This is not an easy drug to administer. I developed one for anthrax that does the same thing, protects people from being infected and will save them if they should be infected. But you have to inject it intravenously. It's expensive to make. As you have heard on the preceding program, it takes difficult manufacturing procedure.

It can be done. I think we could certainly protect our health care workers. We can treat those people in that window before they start to get very sick but are already becoming quite ill. So that limiting it. It's very promising. And the other good news is they're about, at least by my count, at least 25 groups that are on this trail. There are some that are in the lead, and we're going to get those relatively soon.

BLITZER: Yes.

HASELTINE: But there is something else that's coming and that is a chemical drug, a pill. Those will be coming to, and those will be a lot easier to use, a lot easier to distribute, and we'll do the same thing. That's what we have now for HIV, and that's what we can have for this too.

BLITZER: Let's hope we get all of that. So what needs to be happening now, Professor Haseltine, so that once a treatment, any treatment is proven safe and successful, what needs to be happening now so that we can actually get it to the people first of all in most need but then to so many others?

HASELTINE: Well, I think the first things that we have to do is to make sure for the antibodies, that we have a manufacturing capability. We've seen billions of dollars up to almost $10 billion thrown to the manufacturer of vaccines. We need to do the same thing at a very large scale for the manufacturer of these antibodies. We have a lot, there's over 100 antibody drugs being produced.

The world has a lot of capacity. These are for rheumatoid arthritis and many things. There are many antibody drugs. And so we do have capacities to make a lot. We just have to use them properly and get the industry to focus their capacity on producing these drugs, at least for a short period of time. It can be done.

Then, of course, we have the infusion centers, which the hospitals have for their own staff, and for the patients. And if we're going to extend that more broadly for people who were exposed, which I hope we will, then what they were talking about earlier is having trucks equipped for infusion is a good thing to do. I think by that time, there'll be pills to take, make it a lot easier.

Pills are much easier to manufacture. They're a lot cheaper to manufacture. And we're going to have a series of pills you can take to stop this virus from killing you, and to stop you from getting it if you're exposed.

BLITZER: Let's hope and it happens sooner rather than later. So many lives are at stake.

HASELTINE: That's right.

BLITZER: William Haseltine, as usual, thanks so much for joining us.

HASELTINE: You're welcome. Thank you.

BLITZER: All right. Coming up, we'll have the latest on this week's deadly explosion in Beirut. The Lebanese just announced President Trump has promised the United States will be sending urgent aid.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:43:13]

BLITZER: Stay with us for more of the coronavirus crisis, but there's also breaking news we're following in the aftermath of this week's deadly explosion in Beirut. Lebanon just announced President Trump at a phone call with the Lebanese President said the U.S. will send urgent aid.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Beirut for us. So first, Ben, update us on the very latest.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, of course, there was this conversation with President Trump and Lebanese President Michel Aoun. We haven't heard the White House version of this but apparently President Trump pledged that the United States would take part in a conference being organized by the French government in Paris to try to organize relief aid for Lebanon. The Lebanese President pledged to President Trump that he would continue his efforts to reform the Lebanese government and to fight corruption. Now, it's not quite clear what is being done at the moment to achieve those two ends. What's interesting today is that one of the major Lebanese television stations announced that they would no longer carry any live speeches or statements by Lebanese politicians or officials because they no longer have faith in them. They said we don't want to hear words, we want to see action.

Now action is being taken slowly in this investigation to find out what was behind the blast Tuesday evening that killed more than 150 people here. We understand that the head of Lebanese customs was questioned and has now been detained in connection with that investigation. That's in addition to 16 officials in the port who have also been put under arrest.

[17:45:05]

Today, we also heard from the Secretary General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah who flatly denied that Hezbollah had anything in the port. He said, not a bullet, not a rocket, no explosives, nothing. Now it's questionable among many Lebanese whether that is actually the truth. Many people believe that Hezbollah has some sort of controlling interest in the port here.

And in addition to that, we had the opportunity to go to one of Beirut's main hospitals dealing with COVID. They have been overwhelmed by a flood of the injured from that blast. And there's a problem developing here. Many of the hospitals in the area of the port were damaged. They were also taking care of COVID patients.

And today, we saw 274 new cases of COVID here, that's a record. So you have reduced capacity because of the destruction and increased demand because of the numbers of case. Wolf?

BLITZER: It's an awful, awful situation and our hearts go out to all the people of Lebanon right now. Ben, we will stay in close touch with you. Thank you very much.

Coming up, a key model says 70,000 American lives could be saved this year, if almost everyone here on the country wore a mask. But this is important question, which masks should you be wearing? We're getting get new details from a brand-new CDC guidance report, that's next.

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[17:51:36]

BLITZER: We're learning more about what kind of masks we all should be wearing. CNN's Brian Todd is working the story for us. Brian, I understand it's a new guidance on masks from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What are you learning?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is new guidance, Wolf. Public health experts tonight are really streamlining the advice they're giving Americans on what kind of masks we should be wearing. And they say there's never been a more important time to listen to that advice.

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TODD (voice-over): For months, America's top health officials and experts have pounded home the message, we have to wear masks to combat this pandemic. Tonight, the U.S. government says not just any mask will do. The CDC says we should not wear masks with one way vents or valves. A trainer of frontline medical personnel wearing protective gear shows us why.

GAVIN MACGREGOR-SKINNER, GLOBAL BIORISK ADVISORY COUNCIL: Mask with valves have a one way valve. And this doesn't work. Because what happens, and we've known this for a long time, when I breathe out, that valve only opens and allows that air to escape from me, which could infect you.

TODD (voice-over): Public health experts say those top of the line N95 surgical masks should not be worn by members of the public, should be reserved for frontline health care workers. So just what kind of masks should the rest of us be wearing?

MACGREGOR-SKINNER: It should be really tightly woven fabric, bed sheets make ideal facial masks because they can be claimed and the woven material is really tight. So again, anything like that works well. Anything that's -- any material that stretches does not make a good mask because it'll allow those respiratory drops to escape.

TODD (voice-over): Are there enough top of the line masks for doctors and nurses on the front lines? For weeks, the Trump administration has been telling us there are, saying this about personal protective equipment.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: PPE, we hear remains very strong.

TODD (voice-over): But nurses, governors, other frontline workers across the country have said they're struggling to get enough masks and other supplies.

MACGREGOR-SKINNER: The shortage is real. In a number of hospitals, nursing homes, long-term care facilities that I work in every day, yes, they're struggling. They're struggling with supply chain issues.

TODD (voice-over): So, the FDA has now loosened its requirements for companies to get emergency authorization for masks and other gear. This all comes as new studies and projections drive home the point, mask wearing is simply a matter of life and death at this moment in the pandemic.

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington now forecasts America's death toll from coronavirus could reach nearly 300,000 by December 1st. But if 95 percent of people in the U.S. were masks, that number could drop by about 70,000 fewer deaths.

PROF. WILLIAM HANAGE, EPIDEMIOLOGIST, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: It is unquestionable that if you deny the virus the opportunity to transmit, that slows the pandemic down. If you deny it enough opportunities to transmit, it will go extinct. So everything that you can do to stop giving it the opportunity to infect another human being is extremely helpful. Masks are a large part of that.

TODD (voice-over): And frontline professionals are now saying, enough, enough of people refusing to wear masks or simply not remembering or caring enough to take the precaution.

DR. DESMOND CARSON, EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN: As a very little effort, minimal effort to minimize loss of life. It's just -- it's ridiculous. It's disrespectful. It's inhumane. We're human beings.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Medical experts do can see there's been way too much confusion over the wearing of masks, different guidelines over which masks to wear, how to wear them even whether to wear them at all. But one expert points out, hey, this is a pandemic, even our top experts are going to make mistakes sometimes.

[17:55:11]

What's important, he says, is that our medical leaders are transparent with us on what they're learning, when they're learning it. And it's very important, he says, that we listen to them, especially regarding mask wearing. Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, it's critically important that everyone when they go outside, just wear a mask, you'll save people's lives and you might save your own life at the same time. Brian Todd, thank you very much.

There's more breaking news, we're following the U.S. now inching closer and closer to 5 million known coronavirus cases as the death toll climbs. But testing declines in more than two dozen states.

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