President Trump Dismisses Health Experts View on Hydroxychloroquine; WHO to Launch an Inquiry into COVID Response; Rolls-Royce To Cut At Least 9,000 Jobs As Pandemic Slams Aviation; President Trump Sending Ventilators To Russia; Putin Perceived Vulnerable Amid Virus Outbreak
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead, defying science seems to be a recurring theme for the U.S. president. Donald Trump continues to back his usage of an unproven drug despite clear potential dangers. Plus, some schools are slowly beginning to reopen while others don't anticipate students back in classrooms until 2021. And he has been promoted to honorary colonel. Now, Tom Moore is adding another title to his list of accolades. We look at what's next for the British World War II veteran raising money for healthcare workers. Good to have you with us. Well, today, we'll mark a new phase for the United States and its push to reopen the economy. In the coming hours, every state will have partially lifted measures and acted weeks ago to curve the spread of the coronavirus. And while infection rates are slowing across most of the U.S., cases still continue to rise in at least 17 states. But President Donald Trump says that's not necessarily a bad thing. Take a listen.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: When we have a lot of cases, I don't look at that as a bad thing, I look at that as in a certain respect as being a good thing, because it means our testing is much better. So, if we were testing a1 million people, instead of 14 million people, we would have far fewer cases. Right? So, I view it as a badge of honor. Really, it's a badge of honor.</s>CHURCH: Despite what Mr. Trump says, the U.S. is nowhere near the world's leader in testing per capita. Data shows many other countries are ranked higher than the U.S. in per capita testing. But the U.S. does have the world's highest death toll. So, far more than 91,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. Well, the president now says he is protecting himself from the virus by taking the anti-malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine. That is despite recent studies suggesting it has no benefit for coronavirus patients. Our Jeremy Diamond reports from Washington.</s>JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump on Tuesday doubling down on his decision to start taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure. The president doing so in the face of an FDA warning, in the face of multiple clinical studies that have shown that hydroxychloroquine is not effective against coronavirus, both treating it and also no evidence so far to show that it is effective at preventing someone from getting the infection.</s>TRUMP: I think it is worth it as a line of defense, and I will stay on it for a little while longer. I'm just very curious myself. But it seems to be very safe. But that study was a phony study, put out by the V.A. A lot of people are taking it. A lot of doctors are taking it. A lot of people swear by it. It has gotten a bad reputation, only because I'm promoting it. What has been determined is it doesn't harm you. It's a very powerful drug I guess, but it doesn't harm you.</s>DIAMOND: The president making a false claim there at the end because multiple studies have shown that hydroxychloroquine can cause heart problems. But the president nonetheless as you can see there, attacking one study in particular. He claimed at one point that it was a study conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs. It was not but, it was conducted in the Veterans Affairs hospitals. And it was also partially funded by the government's own National Institutes of Health. Now while the president is diving headfirst into this hydroxychloroquine pool, he is resisting doing the one thing that public health experts all agree is a sound preventive measure, and that is wearing a mask. The president on Tuesday was noncommittal about whether or not he will wear a mask when he visits this Ford manufacturing facility in Michigan on Thursday. Ford, though, has said that it has informed the White House that its policies is that everyone who goes into that facility needs to wear a mask. We'll see what the president decides to do.</s>CHURCH: So, let's bring in Dr. Dennis Carroll who joins us now live from Washington. He served as an infectious disease expert for the American government for decades, heading up USA AIDS emerging threats division, overseeing the response to Ebola, malaria, and Avian flu in dozens of countries around the world. Thank you, doctor, for joining us.</s>DENNIS CARROLL, INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT: It's a pleasure.</s>CHURCH: President Trump is now doubling down, defending his decision to take hydroxychloroquine despite there being no evidence to suggest in any way that it prevents COVID-19. The president also claims this anti-malarial drug is used by frontline workers and does no harm. What's your reaction to all of this?</s>CARROLL: Well, it's obviously at this point not a surprise to hear him doubled down on something that has no basis in reality. You know, there is very strong evidence now that one, hydroxychloroquine does not really bring the miracle cure that he was touting a month ago. And we've seen from studies that there is also a risk to patients with certain conditions. That in fact could exacerbate the infection and caused death. So, at one point, he said what do you have to lose. Well, clearly, there can be a loss of life through inappropriate use of this drug. So, it's a remarkable display of irresponsible -- irresponsibility by a president who we look to for get advice. And right now, he continues to tout fiction.</s>CHURCH: Yes. And of course, that is the concern that others might follow his lead and do this and, as you say, the risk is very high. I did want to get your reaction to this new research out of South Korea offering new hope perhaps of immunity for COVID-19 survivors. Preliminary findings show patients who re-tested positive for COVID-19 after being discharged are not contagious. What should we take from that study?</s>CARROLL: Well, again, it's still remains a remarkable mystery as to what extent being pre-exposed to COVID-19 virus provides immunity or not. We should take each of these early reports with a cautionary tale. We need to be careful to understand. You know, the immunity that we're looking for can be short lived in many different kinds of infections, and they can be long term. Obviously, what we need for to get the kind of protective effect we're looking for is an immunity that would last for at least years. And at this point, we have no indication about just how protective or not an infection might be. So, the story is still out. It's going to be key to controlling this virus, if in fact we do find that there is substantial immunity acquired through infection. It really elevates two things. One, those people who have been infected sort of decrease the pool of potential populations for the virus to spread too. But it also lays down a really good metric for thinking about how effective a vaccine might be.</s>CHURCH: The Washington University model often cited by the White House projects there will be 147,000 deaths in the United State by early August due to this increase mobility we are seeing across the country as the states open up. But Dr. Christopher Murray who heads that up thinks wearing masks could make all the difference. Of course, President Trump hasn't been wearing a mask. And he isn't committing to wearing one in the future. Why does so many Americans push back on this? What's the science behind the wearing of a face mask?</s>CARROLL: Well, remember, this is a respiratory disease. Which means the virus, a large percentage of the virus that's in our body, is in our respiratory tract, our lungs. And when we cough and sneeze, that is how we spread the virus. So, obviously, the smart thing to do is, by wearing a mask, we limit, if we are infected, if I'm infected, I have a mask on, when I cough and sneeze, I really trap that virus inside the mask and protect the people around me. And from the other side, if I am not infected, but a person close to me is, and they cough and sneeze, I lower the risk of my, sort of, inhaling that virus. So, it's really a protective barrier. It's nothing more than that. And again, as we know, the virus travels by air by way of our coughing and sneezing. It's a smart common-sense thing to do. Very low tech. Very simple, and very inexpensive but extraordinarily effective. That -- that's why when you go into hospitals, you are always seeing nurses and doctors and health workers wearing protective masks, because there are so many diseases that are spread by this route. And it is a proven, clinical, effectiveness.</s>CHURCH: Dr. Dennis Carroll, thank you so much. It is an honor to speak with you. I appreciate it.</s>CARROLL: It was a pleasure being with you this evening, as well.</s>CHURCH: Well, the U.K. announced more than 500 additional deaths from the coronavirus on Tuesday as the British government's strategy is under new scrutiny. Johns Hopkins University counts more than 35,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the U.K. and more than 250,000 cases, making it the worst hit country in Europe. And that's adding pressure to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. His plan to reopen schools is raising concern. A new survey from a leading British teachers union says 85 percent of teachers think it's unsafe to return to school on June 1st. Well, CNN's Nic Robertson joins me now from London. Good to see you, Nic. So, the U.K. COVID-19 death toll has risen to more than 35,000. And that, as we just said, raising questions about the handling of this health crisis by the prime minister. What's the latest on this?</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, one of the areas of focus are the care homes. And it continues to get a lot of scrutiny about when specifically, the government decided to sort of give greater protection to care homes. The focus was put on hospitals, and indeed, a testing system, testing people who are thought to have COVID-19 was then scaled back from a national level to specifically people in hospitals. It wasn't extended to care homes until later in March. That is one of the areas under scrutiny. And one of the reasons for that that the care homes come up for so much scrutiny is because it's estimated that about a quarter of all those people in the U.K. who have died of COVID-19 were residents of care homes, or working in care homes. Indeed, the Office of National Statistics, all statistics within the U.K. puts the death toll from COVID-19 at higher than the figure the government currently has of about 35,000. The figure it has is in excess of 41,000, perhaps as many as 42,000. And there is a figure that's even higher than that, perhaps 55,000 if you look at the sort of average and average death toll across the same period in previous years. There is about 55,000 additional deaths that would normally be expected. So, the government is taking a lot of heat on this. And one of the times the prime minister takes the most heat is during prime minister's question time which is in a few hours today. And he is taking a lot more heat in those sessions because there is a much more effective leader at the opposition, Keir Starmer took over from Jeremy Corbyn, and he is widely judged so far as to be giving the prime minister a very difficult time. He is a lawyer. So, Keir Starmer is a lawyer and his forensic approach to breaking down the government's alleged failings here, a lot of people would allege that, is very systematic and very forensic. This is why Boris Johnson has been having a tough time in these recent prime minister question time, Rosemary.</s>CHURCH: Interesting. And Nic, as the death toll across the U.K. increases to shocking levels, how is the government's new effort to expand testing and contact tracing progressing?</s>ROBERTSON: Not smoothly, I think is a very short answer. The government said that it would recruit 18,000 people who could be involved in the phoning and the tracking electronically of people who'd been in contact with somebody who was proven to have COVID-19. They subsequently recruited over 20,000 people. The training for those people is ongoing. But one of the key, key parts for the test, track, and trace approach to controlling, containing, understanding in dealing with COVID-19 is an app, and that app is being trial on the Isle of White in the U.K. Sort of it's an island so it's relatively easy to have a contained population. About a third of the people there have taken up this app, but there seems to be problems with the way that the app is operating. So, this is part of the solution, the government says. The people to do the tracking and tracing. But there are -- there is growing concern that this isn't going to be ready for when the prime minister wants schools to begin reopening the first of June. And so, that's creating considerable pushback not just from teachers, not just from teaching unions, but also from some of the government's own scientific advisers who are saying test, track and trace won't be ready in time. But what the government wants to see is sort of a real beginning to get back to some stages of normality, particularly schools.</s>CHURCH: Yes, it is a valid concern. And no doubt, parents are worried as well. Nic Robertson bringing us the latest there from London. Many thanks. Well, President Trump says he is considering a travel ban on Latin America, particularly Brazil. That country reported its biggest daily jump in new coronavirus cases and deaths on Tuesday. And currently, it has the third highest number of cases globally. CNN's Shasta Darlington has the latest now from Sau Paulo.</s>SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Brazil, record high deaths in COVID-19 infections setting it on the path to become the world's next hot spot. On Tuesday night, the health ministry reported 1,179 new deaths, a record. The number of new confirmed cases also a record, at 17,000. U.S. President Donald Trump says he is considering a ban on travel from Brazil, while in Sao Paulo, officials have declared a five-day holiday to try and get people to stay home. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is focusing his attention on expanding the use of malaria drugs to treat coronavirus and has yet to name a new health minister, even though his second one resigned last week. Shasta Darlington, CNN, Sao Paulo.</s>CHURCH: Well, students in South Korea are back in class today. But in France, a few schools had to close after a virus scare. Reports from Seoul and Paris, that's coming up next.