Hall and this one, across the entire United States, we reported one death that day from coronavirus, just one. 12 total to that point in time. But just one for the day. Tonight, more than a thousand deaths reported within the past day. The exact number, at least 1,077. If you look at the sevenday moving average of cases, youll see that we are recording more than a thousand deaths a day since late july. Less than half of what we saw in april, but twice the amount we saw at the end of june. We asked for a doctor from the White House Coronavirus task force to join us tonight. That request was denied. As we said before, we do these town halls with or without the task force. We remain committed to bringing you the latest information about this pandemic. Were going to be taking your questions tonight, as well. Tweet them to us cnntownhall. Leave a comment on the cnn Facebook Page. A lot of you sent these questions in video form. Well get to as many of them as we can tonight. Also tonight, the questions for us, we do have a question for you. Its right there on the bottom of your screen. With schools reopening across the country, do you think schools should reopen . If you have kids, would you send them back and why . Leave a comment on our Facebook Page or tweet your answer to us. We want to feature some of your answers just a little later on in the show. We start with where we are right now. There are now more than 4. 8 million positive cases of the coronavirus in the u. S. More than 159,000 people have died. And while only a few states are showing increases, the death toll is rising in 15 states. When you look at the number of infections and the number of deaths, it really is quite concerning. The numbers dont lie. Arkansas and West Virginia are seeing a Record Number of hospitalizations. Florida surpassed 500,000 positive cases. Only the second state to do so after california. Health officials warn the virus is more widespread now than it was during the early days of the pandemic. Testing remains a huge problem. Many americans say it takes days for them to get results, which means they could be spreading the virus even as they wait. Its unacceptable, period. The ultimate goal is that you would have a test that you could do and get a result in ten minutes. There are now 26 vaccines and human trials around the world. The u. S. Government is investing heavily in some of these trials. The health and Human Services department made a deal this week to buy 100 million doses of a potential vaccine from johnson and johnson, making it the Sixth Company to receive federal money. Even with this progress, a vaccine is not expected to be available to the wider public until 2021. The death toll in the u. S. Could reach close to 300,000 before that happens. A new model from the university of washington shows that without widespread mask wearing, around 137,000 people could die between now and december. The virus is winning and the American People are losing. Its really up to us whether people want to wear mask and social distancing that will determine what that death toll becomes. The director of the organization responsible for that model will join us later in the program. After 20 town halls, lets talk about what we know and what we dont know about this virus. Yeah, anderson. We know that the virus has largely been constant in all of this. Maybe the only thing that has been constant. Across the country, we remain on this wild roller coaster ride. It seems that the emerging story now is that areas of the country get hit hard, hospitals get overwhelmed, people become understandably worried and behaviors start to slowly change. It seems to be a painful lesson taught over and over again. But sadly, not always remembered. Human behavior has proven more critical than the virus behavior at getting this under control. We also know schools are wanting to reopen. But in the majority of places, a reality is setting in, that this is going to be hard, if not impossible. 62 of the Largest School districts have decided to go virtual, at least for a while. Especially worrisome are places with a high Positivity Rate. You heard this term. A high Positivity Rate of 5 or higher according to the w. H. O. If you are fishing with a net, you put the net down and catch a lot of fish, that means you have a high positivity. As you might guess, theres a lot more fish down there that you are missing. You catch only one fish, low positivity, and theres not that many more fish down there. So Positivity Rates where i am are close to 11 . Where you are, the Positivity Rates are below 1 . So youre if a much better position to reopen schools in the next few months. But ive got to tell you, i think the roller coaster ride is likely to continue. I find hope in one of the things you said, which is that the virus has been reliable in its behavior, Human Behavior is what the variable is. To me, the hopeful part is, it is within our power to slow the spread of this. Theres just no about it. Wearing masks, social distancing, we know what works. The only thing that we can do, its just getting enough people to do it. Sn no question. And we have real world evidence, places in the world where its worked. No magic bullet, just basic Public Health behavior. Lets check in with athena jones with the area of the country of concern that dr. Birx has concerned, and concerning scenes like this one from a school that opened in georgia this week. Athena, what are we learning about these new areas of concern . Reporter well, anderson, dr. Deborah birx is concerned about these nine cities in californias central valley, because these are areas that have that rising Positivity Rate that sanjay was just talking about. We heard this from dr. Birx and dr. Fauci, as well. Even the smallest uptick, half a percentage point in the Positivity Rate, can be an indication that theres a surge in cases in that area, which of course, can lead to rising hospitalizations and death. Deaths is what were very worried about. I want to show you this map. Were seeing new infection rates leveling off or falling in states. But the death toll continues to rise. Averaging over a thousand for the past seven days. Take a look at this map. You can see the darker colors in the south, texas, louisiana, mississippi. Those darker states are places where the death toll is rising in a certaining way. We talk about deaths as a lagging end kay for. Th lagging i woundicator. Anderson . You know, athena, dr. Fauci said last week that reopening schools was essentially going to be an experiment, thats how he described it. Can we say how that experiment is going so far . Reporter well, its not going well, sanjay. This is an experiment trying to return to normal when covid has made that impossible. So were seeing students and employees testing positive, leading to quarantines in places like georgia. I want to show you a picture that went viral on social media. Its in a hallway in a town in georgia, where you see a jam packed hallway. Not a lot of social distancing, and thats the issue. How much can students social distance on buses, in hallways, are they Wearing Masks . You have over 60 people quarantined in one georgia county because of people testing positive and over a hundred students and staff quarantined in mississippi, where several students and employees tested positive. So its a real gamble here. That picture, wow. Thank you very much. Another 1. 2 million americans filed for Unemployment Benefits for the first time. Randi kaye joins us from ft. Pierce, florida, a hot spot for the virus in this country. I know youre at a brewery. I understand the owner has had to make a number of very difficult and costly decisions. Reporter absolutely, anderson. This is a cidery, a new name in my vocabulary. Its been open about 2 1 2 years here in ft. Pierce. N then came the pandemic. They had to shut down, then allowed to reopen at 50 . Then they had to shut down again, because a lot of young people were testing positive, and the state thought thats where they were hanging out. But the owner of this cidery says you know what . He had to get creative and try to survive. So he got himself two food licenses and he also bought this food truck over here we can show you. And the state said yes, youre serving food and you have two food licenses, but that is just absolutely not enough. So he said last week, he needs to survive, he needs to support his family and he decided to just reopen. So if you take a look around me, you can see hes fully open here in the garden of the cidery. Hes got live music, hes got crowds here. He opened last week. He says hes getting a lot of support. This is emblematic of whats going on around the country where Small Businesses are doing all they can to survive. We see so many of them closing, whether its travel agencies or florists or restaurants or bars. And here is just one person, as an example of whats happening around the country. You know, it strikes me, outside definitely better than inside. But is the owner as concerned about getting fined or shut down permanently . How does that get handled . Reporter well, the state was here last week, sanjay. That was the last time hes heard from the state. He says hes not really concerned, he thinks the worst thing theyll do is stake his liquor license. If you look around, yes, it is fairly crowded, and maybe some of the experts and scientists might not like what they see. But he says people are social distancing, and its okay for people to hang out in this way, even though some people might disagree. He said if you can open disney world here in florida, why cant you open Something Like this . Once again, its part of a larger picture of what were seeing around the country, people getting creative and defying those government orders to stay closed and to try and support their family and survive. Yeah, hard times. Randi, appreciate it. Europe experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases after a number of countries hoped they contained their numbers. Christiane amanpour joins us from london with that story. What are you learning about the uptick in cases . Reporter there is afternoon an uptick, no doubt about it, because people are fed up and they want to go out and try to live a little. Clearly, we have seen in these graphs that we have, these sort of sevenday averages, looking higher in europe. About 10,000 cases per day now, compared to in march. However, it must be noted that as one expert told me, paul krugman, the nobel laureate, whats called a spike in europe would be an inconceivably good day in europe. Even in a country like spain, its 7. 1 new cases per 100,000, compared to 17 in the United States. In germany, its 1. 1 new cases. So its much, much less, but they are concerned. And naturally as you all know, it was one thing to give clear orders to shut down, lock down, selfisolate at the height of the pandemic. The orders and the rules have simply been chaotic and mixed in the lockdown easing phase. And thats a big issue. I mean, theres no doubt that as things open up, youre going to see this up and down. Theres going to be new cases. But are there precautions that countries are putting in place to avoid those from turning into bigger spikes . Reporter i mean, there are. But as i say, it is kind of easy come, easy go. As you were just saying, people know what works, wear the mask, keep two meters distance. And youre seeing too little of that these days. However, germany, which has been good on testing from the beginning, is now offering free testing and quick tests. You know, the results come back very, very quickly. This is at airports and train stations. France is talking about making mandatory mask wearing in some of the busiest streets in some of the cities that may move to paris. And you are seeing, you know, hearing in the uk, youre meant to wear masks on public transport in retail situations, going into restaurants. But the number of people who do and who dont, you know, theres no rhyme nor reason to it. So thats the issue. Its the fact that there hasnt been a communicated rule of behavior as the lockdowns have been eased. Christiane amanpour, appreciate it. Thanks for the reporting. Up next, two frontline doctors join us to explain what theyre seeing up close. What is working and what isnt. Later, a discussion about Mental Health about someone who has been very open in this area, michael phelps. If youre at home thinking about your financial plan. So are we. Prudential helps 1 in 7 americans with their financial needs. Thats over 25 Million People. With over 90 years of investment experience, our thousands of Financial Professionals can help with secure video chat or on the phone. We make it easy for you with online tools, esignatures, and nomedicalexam life insurance. Plan for better days. Go to prudential. Com or talk to an advisor. Plan for better days. We see you. Looking out. For all of us. And though you may have lost sight of your own wellbeing, aetna never did. Were always here to help you focus on your health. Because its always, time for care. Is a friendly neighbor. Theyre teachers, retirees, vets, people committed to doing right by getting the count right. If you havent responded yet, theyll be stopping by to ask some simple questions that will inform how billions in federal funds are spent on local Services Every year for the next decade. So when they come knocking, say hi from a safe distance and do your part to support your community. Time is running out. Shape your future. Start here at 2020census. Gov. Plan matters more than ever. Unitedhealthcare Medicare Advantage plans have so much to take advantage of. See a doctor from the comfort and safety of home with zero copay. Call today to get more of the care you need. With zero copay. Welcome to camp tonsafun on xfinity its summer camp, but in your living room. Learn how to draw with a minions expert. How to build an indoor Obstacle Course plus. Whatever shes doing. And me, jade cattapreta. The host of es the soup camp tonsafun. Its like summer camp, but minus the poison ivy. Unless you own poison ivy. In which case, why . Just say summer camp into your xfinity voice remote to join. At the top of the program, we mentioned the projection of fatalities from coronavirus. It comes to us from the university of washington. Theyre projecting just over 295,011 deaths by december, almost 300,000 deaths. Joining us now is dr. Chris murray, director of the institute. Dr. Murray, we talked to you a lot over the last months. How did you get to the prediction of nearly 300,000 deaths by december, what kind of mask wearing does that entail . Well, that prediction, which is our base case or our what we think is going to happen, takes into account, you know, the current mask wearing in the u. S. , which is about 55 . It varies by state. And we dont include in that prediction much of an increase in mask wearing, other than what we have already seen. We do provide another scenario, which says what the power of masks could be. And i think in that modeling, d dr. Murray, it says 95 mask wearing could save about 70,000 lives. Im curious, how do you arrive at that number . If youre saying you could save that many lives, you must be saying as well that its preventing exponentially more infections, right . Well, what we do is we look at all the published studies that have tracked individuals Wearing Masks versus not, and see what sort of protection individuals get from mask wearing. And thats about 40 . You know, theres a range in the studies. But the best estimate is about 40 protection. And then when you put that into how that plays out in the transmission of the virus in the community, you get this really huge effect that accumulates over time. If every individual is wearing a mask is putting the brakes on transmission by 40 , that starts to add up. And thats why as we push the forecast out to december theres a huge benefit of mask wearing by november, 35,000 deaths or so. But you get an even larger benefit come the month of november. Its incredible to me that we can sit here and you can say 70,000 people would survive past the month of december if all of us, 95 of us, wore masks, if we did something as simple as putting a piece of cloth on our face for the benefit, not only of ourselves, but fellow citizens, our brothers and sisters and neighbors and people we dont even know. 70,000 people, for people out there listening, you know, selfish enough that theyre not wearing a mask for whatever reason, it just seems to me that if you hear that you can help save 70,000 peoples lives over the next, you know, six months or whatever, that just seems like a no brainer. Its an extraordinary opportunity. Its rare that you see something so simple, so inexpensive, so easy for everybody to participate and have such an extraordinary impact in the u. S. , but also all over the world actually. Its quite extraordinary. If you had a stadium with 70,000 people in it, and you brought somebody who doesnt want to wear a mask to the stadium and said to them, look, these people will stay alive if you and many people like you wear a mask, will you do it . You think most people who have heart will say of course, ill wear this mask, its not that big a deal. These are 70,000 actual people. I dont know. I guess this is all obvious. But obviously not enough people are doing it. Im shocked only 55 of people are Wearing Masks. Yeah. Dr. Murray makes the modeling argument. But we have real world evidence as it turns out, countries around the world that benefitted from Wearing Masks. They dont have anything else we dont have. When i looked at the models, dr. Murray, it assumes that my understanding is it assumes certain state also reimpose mandates and stay at home orders over the next few months. Can you explain what that would look like exactly . And the flip of the question is if states dont reimpose those mandates, those that mean the death toll could be much worse . Absolutely. We have we put out online the three different scenarios, the one we think will happen, which includes states reacting when things get really bad. The one with mask wearing at 95 , and the one if states dont do anything. And the death toll in that scenario is much higher and it starts to shoot up in the month of november as winter comes around. So, yes, were factoring in by looking at what is the level around the country and also in other countries, where governments reimpose mandates. How bad do they wait for it to get . And thats where we have come up with this number about eight deaths per Million People per day when we think states would reimpose mandates. How much are you taking into account with the Colder Weather surge, just kind of a growth of the virus itself, the spread . Well, the model we factored that in quite consider ably. We looked at the relationship between transmission and at first temperature. Then we found theres a very strong relationship to the historic pattern in each state of pneumonia deaths. When you factor that in, we expect to see a bump between now, like the lowest point of transmission in terms of the biology, of almost 50 by february. So we go wow. Thats for the more northern states. The seasonal effect is less in texas and florida. But in the states farther north, its as much as a 50 bump in transmission. Dr. Murray, i appreciate talking to you and thank you for these projections. Its important to get an actual sense of what the road ahead looks like. Thats what Everyone Wants to know. The mask wearing, and more specific chi, the lack of it reached a boiling point with an emergency room doctor in california. 4,000 people a day die in this country, but the stemming should come our rights to kill us. Our rights to not wear a mask, that bull shit is going to kill us. South korea had four, one, two, three, four cases. They shut the whole damn country down. Shut it down were out here praying. This is going to get bad. When flu season comes, how am i going to differentiate flu from corona . How am i going to do that . So were at the point if we dont get serious, ashes, ashes, we all fall down. That was dr. Desmond carson, who is on the front lines fighting this virus. Thats where we want to put our focus on right now, a reality check with people seeing it up close. Dr. Carson is with us, as well as dr. Wilhelm in jackson, mississippi, a state that is seeing a surge of cases. Doctors, both of you thank you for being with us. Dr. Carson, do you think this will get worse before it gets better . You talk about flu season. Ive been thinking about the flu season, but when you put it in from the doctors perspective of how do you tell a person comes into your er, how do you tell if what they have is the flu or coronavirus and if our tests, you know, dont come back for two weeks, they can affect a whole lot of people before youre able to find that out. Thank you for having me. First, i would like to appreciate the stas ttistics an data given to us by the epidemiologists in washington. Those numbers paint the picture as grim. 300,000 deaths by december, that should tell us that we are not being aggressive enough. 600,000 people died in ww 2, and we, as americans, would dare let some single stranded virus approach our borders and not fight aggressively. But a physician who is actually in the icu, we as people outside, we just dont know how terrible that scenario is when you have to make a decision whos going to be on a ventilator, what is our ability to man the er. We say to people, we have to deal with death on a regular basis. So its horrible that we havent been more aggressive towards this virus. When the doctor says that we should look at an end point excuse me, an epidemiologist of eight deaths per a Million People, if thats the number, and we dont have poc, point of service testing, whereby we can test immediately, we have to be as aggressive to say it would be time to put down a mandate and shut the whole country down. You know, i mean, people seem largely insulated sometimes from whats going on in hospitals, which is why i want to talk to you. Dr. Wilhelm, youre in mississippi. Covid hospitalizations are at an alltime high. I want to read something you said earlier in the week. You said the best analogy that you could come up with is like going to a hotel and theres no walls between all the rooms and you can hear all the buzzers, the deepers, the tvs going on. Once in a while your neighbor who dies gets wheeled past you. It was tough to read. It was tough to try and process. What kind of toll does that take on you, dr. Wilhelm, and the other patients who are there trying to fight this . Its tough. Thats really the only word to describe it. Especially 4 1 2 months in, i guess since we had our last patient, its really taken a toll. The patients that are not on the ventilator who are not sedated, and who are aware of their surroundings, those are the oning that i feel most sorry for, because they can see whats happening around them. And theyre they may still have the news on, and seeing the worldwide tragedy involved and being worried that theyre next. Its difficult. Its difficult. Im sure a lot of people, they dont get to be with their families during that time. Youre probably the voice for them. Youre the person they spend time with. How are you doing . Thats right, yeah. I mean, the patients arent with their families. Were not allowed to have families up into the care unit for the usual visitation hours. So theyre up there alone most of the time. You know, weve done a pretty good job with facetime and using technology to allow patients to communicate with the families as best they can, and when theyre capable. Other than that, families are relying on a phone call from one of Us Health Care providers every day, providing that we have time to even do it. Wow. Dr. Carson, we were just watching video from the Doctors Hospital in jackson, mississippi. Just watching it, seeing the doctors, the nurses, all the technicians in ppe, with masks on, with facemasks on, it just makes me mad when you think about all the folks who have decided that they dont want to wear a mask can outside when they go to the walmart or they go to get a smoothy somewhere, because for whatever reason, they think its an assault on their personal liberty, even though theyre forced to wear seat belts and they dont seem to be complaining any longer about that. Theyre forced to wear clothing, they cant walk around nude. We all have to do some stuff. But you doctors and nurses, youre risking your lives every day. Youre bundled up and cleaning facemasks ad we see right now, and theres a bunch of yokels just walking down the street whols think theyre more important than other people and dont have to wear a mask. It infuriates me. I cant imagine what its like for people hike you who are object the frontlines. When you leave the hospital and you see people Walking Around without masks and proud of it. Its very disrespect fful to the physicians that were talking to in mississippi, having been in that scenario where you see death and life on a daytoday basis, and all these young people have to do is wear a mask, and identify and isolate themselves when identified as positive. Thats a very, very little effort, minimal effort to minimize the life that could be minimize the loss of life. Its ridiculous. Its disrespectful. Its inhumane. Were human beings. Its inhumane. And you end up taking care of people who have totally preventable infections. People end up dying totally preventable deaths. None of this sin evidenis inevi. Dr. Will mel wilhelm, we are learning more about this virus. I imagine that, you know, theres still so much we dont know, but have we learned things that help you improve the care of patients or things that you now know that you didnt know a few months ago . Yeah, there have been a lot of things that have happened. From a Clinical Management stand point. I assembled a team in early march to start looking at the treatment experience that has been coming in from around the world at that point, looking to the science to come up with a treatment algorhithm for us, as the worlds experience with the virus evolves. That continues to evolve. We all heard about steroids, remdesivir, some other things that have some improvement in outcomes. But none of them are profound, to be honest. We tried a number of things. Weve got multiple Clinical Trials going on. Weve got convalescent plasma, ventilator strategies that parallel the corner stones of ventilator management in critical care. Were doing all the things we know to do, but sadly, at the end of the day, we all feel like the best we have to offer at this point in time is supportive care, which is some of these simple drugs like dexamethasone, remdesivir were using on a lot of folks. But its mostly support of multiorgan failure with the ventilator, the dialysis, medications to maintain blood pressure. We appreciate all you are doing and all your colleagues are doing. And just keep at it. And i hope everybody else does their part. S be safe. When we continue, well answer your questions and talk with olympic champion swimmer michael phelps, winner of 28 olympic medals, most of them gold, and the Mental Health toll this pandemic has taken and hes been very upfront with his experiences onMental Health. Well talk to michael coming up. Mental health. Well talk to michael coming up. Let me grab a pen and some paper. Know what . Im gonna switch now. Just need my desk. My chair. And my phone. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. And tmobile doesnt just have a bigger network, but a better one than ever before, with scam protection built into its core. Introducing, scamshield, free from tmobile. Get fewer scam calls. Period. With tmobiles supercharged network, you can say goodbye to annoying scam calls, and feel free to answer your phone again. Hello webut you cant lose sight of your own wellbeing especially if you have a serious chronic medical condition. At aetna, were always here to help you focus on your health. Because its always time for care. Californias economic challenges are deepening. Frontline workers stretched too thin. Our nurses and medical professionals in a battle to save lives. Our schools, in a struggle to safely reopen, needing money for masks and ppe, and to ensure social distancing. And the costs to our economy, to our state budget . Mounting every day. We need to provide revenues now, to solve the problems we know are coming. As if to emphasize the mental strain the pandemic is causing persons, Michelle Obama said she too was dealing with some form of low grade depressionddressed the issue in her most recent podcast. These are not they are not fulfilling times spiritually. You know, so i know that i am dealing with some form of lowgrade depression, not just because of the quarantine, but because of the racial strife and just seeing this administration, watching the hypocrisy of it day in and day out is disspiriting. Those comments come on a day when a study finds that adults in the United States are experiencing Mental Health concerns at a higher rate than those in other high income countries. One athlete made no secret about the impact of the pandemic on his Mental Health, the swimmer michael fephelps. Hes the producer of the weight of gold. Thank you for being with us and for speaking out as you have been. I was reading something you wrote recently, you said the pandemic has been a challenge i never expected. All the uncertainty of being cooped up in a house, and so many questions, when will it end, what will life look like when its over, is my family safe . It drives me insane. There are so many of us who feel like this, as someone who has been very open about your struggles with Mental Health, how are you coping with all this . I would say my biggest thing is im trying to keep a normal routine, working out every day, understanding that its okay to not be okay. If i need help, ask for help. And trust me, at times its still very difficult. But i feel like for me, through this pandemic and i feel like the relationship with my wife has grown, i mean, tenfold. Like unbelievable amount. And just the things that weve been able to go through together, its been life changing. You have also talked about how youll never be cured about Mental Health is something youre always having to deal with and check in with yourself and with others. How do you deal with this on a daytoday basis, even before the pandemic, what are good days like versus bad days, and how do you know when you need to check in with somebody . For me, i try to do my best to live as simple as i can. At times, emotions go up, down, all over the place. I do have a difficult time. So i will talk to my wife. I can talk to a friend. You know, i think during this time its been extremely difficu difficult. So facetime with a friend, a phone call with a friend, those things go a long way and really do help. One thing i learned throughout my career is how dangerous it can be to compartmentalize. Stuff those emotions down and not to deal with them. You know, i think for me its ive had a difficult time, you know, going through those things from here and there. But i feel like when i do face those tough conversations that i dont want to have, i feel like theyre literally is a weight lifted off my back. Michael, it strikes me. Mental health can be a very sensitive topic for so many people. You talk a lot about this in your weight of gold documentary on hbo how we have to change the perception that problems with Mental Health are something we hide, we sort of power through and silence. I think, you know, because i hear from people all the time, especially now, were struggling. And what do you say to people out there that may be struggling but afraid to talk about it because of the stigma . I think the biggest thing i can say is youre not alone. You know, i felt after talking to some of these athletes and seeing, you know, firsthand in 2016 how many other athletes were struggling, that was an eye opener for me. But then i realized that i wasnt alone and we could all do something together and help out so many others. I think just talking about what youre going through, you know, for me its literally been a game changer, a life changer. So i think just Little Things like that literally asking for help. Yeah. I think the iisolation, you spoke about this, is the thing part of what is so upsetting and striking, one of the things i often thought about you, ive done some pieces on 60 minutes over the years with you. Yes, you had a family and teammates and stuff. But from the time you were little, you were going to a pool, swimming, you know, back and forth, in this lane, in your head. I imagine you have been isolated in your head, i mean, to be the kind of champion that you are, the mental, you know, isolation of it has got to be extraordinary. And so i feel like this must be something youve dealt with your entire life. I feel that its yes and no. Like i feel a lot of my life obviously is spent in the pool. And yes, i am staring at that black line and im in my own head four hours a day. I think for me, i was able to maintain it or, i dont know, i guess use it to help me potentially throughout my career. But i think now being out of the water and being dry, walking on land, i cant do the same things that i once did. So im basically trying to reprogram or relearn things that work for me. Yeah, you can only stuff that stuff down, you know, for performance reasons and other reasons for so long. At some point, it bubbles up and it bubbles up often in ways one doesnt want it to. Yeah, correct. Exactly. Speaking of a pool, michael, i want to show everyone a clip of you and anderson from back in 2008. You may remember this. He challenges you to race him. Of course. You had the handicap of doing it under water without taking a stroke. Take your mark, go turns out its not such a handicap for michael felphelps not take a stroke. So i guess the question really is, that was 12 years ago. Youre not training any more, michael. Do you think anderson could beat you now . I still think it would be tough. You know, one thing like i said before, my wife and i lift three days a week. Im working out seven days a week. So i could still probably do a pretty good 25. I was hoping that my incredible paleness would blind you under water and you would get disoerdisoriented, but it d work. I think obviously youre a champion for all your wife you have been a champion. I think whatoutre doing for Mental Health issues is so important, for someone like you to be out there talking about it and the value of therapy and getting help, i just really appreciate it, just as a citizen. So thank you. Ky a can i add one thing . Yeah. When i first started going to therapy and talking to somebody, if somebody is scared or nervous and, you know, cold feet, i was the same way. You know, i didnt want to talk to anybody. I kind of felt like it showed a weakness of mine. You know, once i started going through therapy and still am in it, its crazy to see how much it does and how much it really helps you. Just really helps you understand so much about yourself and i can say therapy changed my life. Thats fantastic. I hope you help a lot of people change their lives, and i think you are. So i really appreciate it. Go blue, michael. Thanks, guys. If you or someone you know needs help, you can find resources at our website. Were going get to your questions in a moment. First, we asked you this question at the top of the program. Do you think schools should reopen . If you have kids, would you send them back and why . The majority have leaned against school opening. Also at the bottom of the screen, youll see questions about covid people are asking. Joining us is dr. Lina wen, emergency room physician. I want to tell you both at the top of the broadcast, we showed a picture of a very crowded school in georgia. We just learned that two students were involved in taking those pictures and putting them out on twitter, i believe it was. According to the new york times, at least one of those students has been suspended for taking the picture and for putting it online. Which i just find extraordinary that i guess they have a rule against using social media during school hours. But its not a good look for the school, you know, clearly its not a good image that thats way too crowded for a for anybodys health. You know, im surprised that the school would actually suspend at least one of the students, maybe both. Well try to find out more about that. I want to get straight to viewer questions. David in indiana sent this in video. Take a look. Hello. My question is, should teachers and students change their clothes when they come home from school . Dr. Wen, what would you suggest . S i know a lot of doctors obviously do. Yes, so the vast majority of transmission we know by now is persontoperson, through direct contact. So the likelihood of getting covid19 through your clothes is pretty low. So i would say that for students and teachers, its probably not necessary. You can do it out of an abundance of caution, but not necessary unless you are a Health Care Worker and exposed to high levels of virus swhil at work. Carly in pennsylvania sent in video. Lets take a look. With growing evidence of aerosolized spread, if one person in the home sinfected, will simply quarantining in a different room is enough, or can the virus spread through the Homes Central air conditioning . Dr. Wen, what would you say . Yeah, so this is an interesting one, because while its theoretically possible that the virus that causes covid19 could be transmitted through air conditioning, of all the many thousands of papers written about this disease, to my knowledge, we havent had any documented cases of transmission between rooms, because of air conditioning. Now, i think we are also seeing this weve had a lot of cases in the sun belt, in california where people use air conditioning a lot. Again, we havent seen documented cases of this as of yet. I think that carly raises a good point about how hard it is for someone to keep isolated from other it is theyre at home, especially if there are young children, people share bathrooms. So good idea always to keep yourself physically separate as much as you can from loved ones. Dont share utensils. Wipe down common surfaces and best practice to keep your windows open to get fresh air as much as possible. What is the difference between n95 and kn95 masks and are the kn95 masks just as protective . Sanjay . Great question. We get these questions about masks all the time. You made really good points at the top of the show about the utility of masks. I thought it would be a good time. I made this little video. A good time to sort of look back on what we know and dont know about masks. It wasnt that long ago, just four months, when we were showing you how to make your own masks because there simply werent enough. You can make one using a bandana. A lot has changed since then. All kinds of masks, colors, styles. You can get a mask and you should get a mask but when you do you have to make sure to wear it right. Here is a surgical mask. You put it on. Now a lot of people wear it on their children. That doesnt obviously do any good. Some people wear it over their mouth and not their nose. You have to put it way up over your nose and sometimes a little higher than you think so it doesnt keep slipping down. This is a cloth mask. Moo i daughter made this. Those work well. Make sure theyre at least two layers. These masks work. There was a great study out of lancet which basically said the likelihood of me transmitting the virus if i didnt have a mask on was 17 or 18 . If i did have a mask on it was closer to 3 . You are talking about a sixfold difference potentially. It is not perfect. But it can really help. So let me show you something here. Bill nye the science guy. You know him. He did this little experiment trying to show how much air actually gets out of these masks. Trying to blow out a candle. Ill try. Im blowing pretty hard. You know, cant blow out the candle. I guess that is sort of the point. Again, you have these types of masks which can make a difference. If we start wearing them, i want to show you Something Else real quick. This is to the question. N95 masks. That is what this looks like. And its supposed to really get a good seal around the mouth and the nose. If you have it on properly, and iwayer this one taking care of covid patients, you should block about 90 of particles. It is not just the mask but also the filter that has an electrostatic charge to really grab the viral particles so it can work well. The kn95 masks are almost identical but they are regulated by the chinese government. The regulations are pretty similar. You do have to beware of potential counterfeits. There are a lot of fakes out there. Go to the cdc website, give your model number of your mask, and find out if it is in fact real. Good to know you can go to that website. Well put some of that information on social media as well. But anderson, again, you made a point. Dr. Murray made a point. It is remarkable to me. 70,000 lives potentially saved within the next few months if we all just wore masks. If youre not doing it for yourself do it for people around you. 70,000 people, according to the latest projection, 70,000 people might not die if we go from 55 of this country Wearing Masks to 95 of the country Wearing Masks. It is a big a huge jump to make. But that is individuals deciding and families deciding, you know what . Were bigger than the inconvenience of this. Well do this for our fellow citizens. Sanjay, serenity in charlotte, North Carolina sent in this video. Lets watch. Why are some people asymptomatic . Is it because of the strong antibody response or some other factors . Sanjay . Well, we seem to have a better idea of what puts people at increased risk. We talk a lot about the vulnerability factors such as age and preexisting conditions. I think there is a question that is sort of perculating in terms of what might be protective. We reported last week as you know, anderson, a story about some people having natural tcells. Tcell reactivity because theyve been exposed to other coronaviruss in the past. That may offer them some protection. But there is still a question, a randomness sometimes about people who seem to do just fine, minimally symptomatic. Same age. Same preexisting medical condition as somebody else. Has significant problems. We are still learning. There is a humility about all this for everyone. This is our 20th town hall. What is the one thing you want people to know . I would want people to know we are not powerless against this virus. Whatever models that dr. Murray and others are showing, they are the models of what could happen but we can change the trajectory. This is not a hurricane that is going to hit us no matter what we do. We actually have the power to do something. We can wear these masks that protect ourselves and each other. We can keep physical distancing. We have the ability to save lives. Dr. Wen, thank you. Thank you to everyone who submitted a question. Up next how you can help others in the pandemic and more resources if you are looking for help yourself. The virus is still spreading. Californias economic challenges are deepening. Frontline workers stretched too thin. Our nurses and medical professionals in a battle to save lives. Our schools, in a struggle to safely reopen, needing money for masks and ppe, and to ensure social distancing. And the costs to our economy, to our state budget . Mounting every day. We need to provide revenues now, to solve the problems we know are coming. Welcome back to our cnn town hall coronavirus facts and fears. We hope tonight we have helped with answers to your questions about the pandemic. There is one more thing you should know and that is how you can help. For more information on that go to cnn. Com impact. Also our impact team has put together an interactive guide of resources at cnn. Com coronavirus how to help. There youll find a list of organizations, resources, ideas to donate or find help for yourself or a loved one. Sanjay as always thank you so much. Big thanks to michael phelps, doctors, we want to thank all of you who wrote in with your questions. If you didnt get your questions answered tonight the conversation continues at cnn. Com coronavirus answers. The news continues right now with chris cuomo. All right. Thank you, anderson. I am chris cuomo. Welcome to primetime. We had assumed the president was refusing to help us with testing because he was making a political calculation, but, regrettably, we may have been wrong. Today this president gave us reason to believe that his judgment may not just be bad. It may be impaired. Did you hear this . He is going to do things that nobody would ever, would ever think even possible. Take away your guns, destroy your second amendment, no