5 00 a. M. Here on the east coast. We appreciate you joining us. Our top story, infectious experts warn the coronavirus pandemic is going to be with us for 18 months or longer. Hoping to shorten that time line, the u. S. Government has given emergency approval for the antiviral drug remdesivir which has shown some promise in Clinical Trials for treating severely ill patients. So far, Johns Hopkins university has tracked 1. 1 million cases among americans and more than 65,000 deaths in this country. Yet, even as numbers soar, a huge portion of the country is relaxing stayathome restrictions and reopening some businesses. Experts fear, though, it is much too early. The u. S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention have spent the last couple of months trying to pin down exactly how the coronavirus got a foothold in the united states. And now they know. Heres cnns nick watt. Reporter limited testing but continued influx of infected travelers from overseas hot spots and cruise ships and large events like a conference in boston, a funeral in georgia, martz mardi gras in new orleans, all fuel for the deadly spread of the virus here in the u. S. , all of this from the cdc Principal Deputy director. Apparently, the flu season also made it hard to detect early clusters of the Early Detection of this virus into nursing homes, meat packing plants and dense urban areas like new york city accelerated transmission. This virus might circulate among us for another two years is another new study until 60 to 70 of us are infected. This is going to continue to be a rolling situation throughout the world. Expect many more new yorks to occur. Its very likely they will. Reporter the u. S. Doubled in the past few weeks and one newly updated study from new york now suggests 100,000 people in this country will die by midsummer. This morning in katy, texas, mall, movie theaters can open in a quarter capacity. Beginning to see guests on the ocean and on the beach. Reporter but in l. A. , 180 new cases, the biggest single day spike since all of this began. Were reopening today and it feels like a bit of a gamble. Reporter partial reopening at least now in 32 states but it doesnt appear any of them meet white house guidelineses that states have a downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14day period. There are some state, some cities, what have you, who are looking at that and kind of leapfrogged over the first checkpoint. I mean, obviously, cow get away with that but youre make a significant risk. Reporter meanwhile with ongoing outbreaks at Meat Processing plants, some commissaries now limiting how much meat they buy. In florida, theyll start reopening monday. But the states three largest county, excluded. I dont know that were able to open up our beaches really before june. Reporter meanwhile, in michigan, the governor in the shadow of armed protesters at the capital extended her states stayathome order through may 28th. Yesterdays scene at the capitol was disturbing to be quite honest, swastikas, confederate flags dont represent who we are as michiganders. Reporter the governor is now saying we are days not weeks away from him lifting some of those restrictions. Among the first businesses hes going to allow open are retail and hospitality, but he says, with some serious modifications that theyre work on right now. Nick watt, cnn, los angeles. More now on that drug remdesivir. Doctors in the u. S. Say it could be a reliable treatment, but they stress it is not a cure. You remember, during the first days. U. S. Outbreak, Washington State was at the center of the story. Well, our sara sidner was there then and now shes back as doctors try to break new ground on treating this deadly disease. Reporter doctors and scientists certainly do not want to give the public false hope when it comes to a drug that might be able to treat coronavirus. However, this drug is giving them some real hope. It was now everybody that was potentially at risk. Reporter this doctor is an Infectious Disease specialist on the front line of the coronavirus. From the first confirmed death, he and everyone at the kirkland, washington, are at the forefront of finding treatment. Theyre taking part in a Clinical Trial of remdesivir. This is a medication given for ten days. Reporter after it was administered to the sixest ten patients, dr. Reado says it shows real promise. When you go into the second phase of the trial what does that mean . Well, the second phase is going to use this as the back bone. Every patient will receive remdesivir, because the first trial, act one, showed benefits, shortened the course of illness and significantly showed a decrease in mortality. Reporter in phase two, some patients will get a companion drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, but every covid19 in the trial will now be treated with remdesivir. Why is that a big deal . Its huge. This is the first scientifically proven beneficial drug in terms of the treatment of covid19. Reporter trials have taken at more than 68 sites. The result, patients recovered 31 more quickly with remdesivir, that translated to four fewer days of suffering in a hospital. Although a 31 improvement doesnt seem like a knockout 100 , its a very important proof of concept because what it has proven is that a drug can block this virus. Reporter remdesivir was originally treated as a potential drug to treat ebola. Dr. Riedo was also on the front lines of that battle, traveling to africa. He hopes it works the second time around. But before the second trial was done, the president alongside gilead who makes the drug announced remdesivir. Well be working with the government to determine how best to distribute that within the united states. Reporter the fda acting unusually quickly. For now, the drug is being used only in hospitals on the sickest covid19 operators. It is not a coor. Some of the patients treated with the drug still died but others felt better faster. So this could be one major tool in the fight against the coronavirus . Correct. Reporter wow. But it all has to be proven. Reporter we should be very clear this is only being given to the sickest of patients in the hospital and done intravenously. This is not available to the wider public. But by wul of the trials going on, all of the testing go on, there is a possibility that in the future they can figure out how to use this drug for much milder cases of covid19. Sara sidner, cnn, seattle, washington. Well, lets talk about this development by peter drobac, hes an Infectious Disease doctor. Hi, natalie. How impressive is that speeding up recovery from some very ill patients . Well, we should be cautious that its not a miracle drug. But this is a really exciting development. As your story pointed out this is the first approved treatment for the treatment of covid19. Thats tremendously important. We havent seen whether it saves lives, but it does seem to shorten the illness endurance of these patients and it might be effective earlier in the disease before all of the immune effects come into play where people do get sicker. All right. Well, well continue to watch and see how the trials go with it because as you say, theres really nothing else out there, is there . A lot of development, but this is obviously one of the first important tools in our toolkit and its very exciting. A new report says the covid pandemic is likely for last as long as two years and wont be control until twothirds of the worlds population is immune. How dire is that report, as far as this being with us this long, pete pete peter . Its sobering, but its realistic and whats important about this report, like any good model, it does give us a range of any potential scenario so we can plan for it. So what they did, is say look this virus is beginning to look like a lot of pandemics so lets use that information if we move on through time without a vaccine to halt this pandemic. There are a number of different scenarios, but in all cases, the indication is that it will take 18 to 24 months until a number of people become exposed to the virus to be herd immunity. What that means we should plan to live with this for the next couple of years and evening thats important as we look ahead. And couple that with what we know how that some 30plus states in the u. S. Are slowly reopening. And we know that fall and winter, well likely see a second wave. How dangerous is this, without widespread testing, in the united states, peter, to go ahead and let people out . We certainly understand the pressers. We understand the economic strain of these businesses, but it seems like each governor is just kind of saying, okay, enough, lets go back out. Yeah, there are a range of Different Things being tried. I think some states are better prepared than others. Look, theres two ways to slow the spread of a virus like this, right . The first are the social distancing measures including the shelter in place orders that weve all been living with. And then the other are the testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine measures to interrupt those chains of transmission. Both of those things can work. If we ease up on the social distancing and start getting back to normal life without ramping up the testing and isolation, the number of cases are going to go up. Thats just math. Thats one of the risks that we face in places where we havent been able to ramp up that infrastructure. The one maybe Silver Lining to all of this is that by a lot of different states going their own way, so to speak, were going to learn a lot about what works and doesnt work because theres not really a playbook for how to open back up. All right. We need a playbook for sure. Peter grdrobac, we always appreciate your insight, thank you. Thank you. Americas most prominent expert on the pandemic, dr. Anthony fauci is to testify on the committee in the Republicanled Senate may 12th. Thats what an aide is telling cnn. But earlier, we learned that the white house is blocking fauci testifying next week to a committee in the democratcontrolled house. U. S. Lawmakers are gearing up for an oversight battle, and fauci is a key figure. He has repeatedly distanced himself from how the Trump Administration has been framing the response to this pandemic. Well, north Koreas Kim Jongun has apparently resurfaced. We show you the video state Television Broadcast after weeks of speculation about where he was. Also coming up, the u. S. Accusing china of letting this virus spread, while china blames the u. S. Of shifting blame. The war of words has gone up, and well fill you in. [spokeswoman] meet the ninja foodi grill. Get the perfectly grilled flavors of an outdoor grill indoors, and because its a ninja foodi, it can do even more, like transform into an air fryer. The ninja foodi grill, the grill that sears, sizzles, and air fry crisps. When you have depression, it can plunge you into deep, dark lows. And, can leave you feeling extremely sad and disinterested. Overwhelmed by bipolar depression . Ask about vraylar. Not all types of depression should be treated the same. Vraylar effectively helps relieve all symptoms of bipolar depression. With just one pill, once a day. 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Farm waste into renewable natural gas led chevron to partner with california bioenergy. Working to provide an alternative source of power. For a cleaner way forward. When taking a break from everyday life is critical to everyones health, there is one thing we can all do together complete the 2020 census. Your responses are critical to plan for the next 10 years of health care, infrastructure, and education. Lets make a difference, together, by taking a few minutes to go online to 2020census. Gov. Its for the wellbeing of your community and will help shape americas future. Theres been speculation for weeks that north Korean Leader kim jongun has been isnt grave danger or even dead. Well, now state television there has broadcast video of him saying he spoke friday at a Ribbon Cutting ceremony at a fertilizer factory. This would be his first public appearance in weeks. The report says it happened on may day also known as International Workers day. Cnn cannot independently confirm when or where, though, the video was taken. Paula hancocks joins me live from seoul. What can we glean from what were seeing there in north korea, paula . Reporter well, natalie, well, obviously we cant 100 confirm the images themselves. There were banners and there were also signs within the footage which did say may 1st. So we dont have any reason to disbelieve its fact that it happened on the day that it did. But what it would suggest and show its been almost three weeks since we have seen kim jongun in public. Of course, were seeing him walking, were seeing him laughing with officials, were seeing him on stage with the vips to assist kim jongun to assist to open in the Ribbon Cutting. This video will be gone over by experts to see if theres any indication he was in ill health. From what im seeing, hes not walking with a limp. When he disappeared back with an illness then, he came back with a walking cane and he came back from some foot surgery. That doesnt seem to be anything and it raises the question what did happen in the past three weeks, why was he not in the public eye. And most specifically, why didnt he pay his respects april 15th on the birthday of his father and in the country being leader. Theres a good chance, natalie, we will never know why he didnt go and pay his respects at that point. But certainly what were seeing from north korean state media is that kim jongun is back. As you say, not unusual for him to disappear but no one knows where hes been, really. Thank you, paula. Paula hancocks there in seoul for us. Well, their shared interest in north korea is just one example of how the u. S. And china need to work together. But right now, fingerpointing over covid19 is making that hard with the u. S. President trump blaming china for the outbreak and threatening some form of punishment. David culver looking at how beijing is responding. Reporter chinas staterun medial now ramping up its propaganda against the united states, taking direct aim at secretary of state mike pompeo. This week, a daily cctv commentary peaks pompeo for chinas mishandling of the coronavirus one saying hes turning himself on humankind. Thursday, they ran an editorial saying pompeos rhetoric makes the u. S. That its dealing with a colossal deficit. And then a mocking of u. S. Blaming china, portraying it as hypocritical. Are you listening to yourself . Reporter in the shadow of the coronavirus outbreak, the war of words is creating a deepening rift between u. S. And china. China is a very sophisticated country and they could have contained it. They either were unable to and they chose not to. And the world has suffered greatly. Reporter it is a change from Donald Trumps more sympathetic tone expressed repeatedly over the last few months. Look, i know that president xi loves people of china, he loves his country, and hes doing a good job with a very, very tough situation. Reporter while still not directly criticizing president xi jinping, President Trump is crediticizing china for the deay spread. Echoing secretary of state pompeos words. We know it started in china. It continues to pose a threat to the world. This is classic communist disinformation. This is what communists do. Reporter the white house further pushing the origin theory that the virus start in a wuhan laboratory. Last week, cnn returned to wuhan postlockdown. We travelled to the lab in question, the Wuhan Institute of virology. Chinese officials dismiss allegations that it started here. And a statement thursday from the u. S. Office of the acting director of u. S. Intelligence said it concluded that the coronavirus was not manmade or genetically modified. But noted it was still evaluating theories linking the outbreak to the lab. Cnns early reporting of this revealed chinas covering up and silencing of whistleblowers. The report also put in number the official number of china cases which is widely believed to be vastly underreported. However, china believes that the u. S. And the Trump Administration in particular is trying to deflect for its lack of preparedness for battling the virus within the united states. So youve got this heated rhetoric, this increased blame, and the worlds two largest economies no longer looking at international collaboration, but rather, in the midst of this animosityfilled faceoff. David culver, cnn, shanghai. Orange county, california, saw a huge spike in virus cases friday. And also a huge protest demanding officials reopen the beaches. Well show you the scene in Huntington Beach. Also, the uk says its met its testing goal. And now it wants to lay out a plan for reopening. When we return, a live report on why the actual numbers might not be so cut and dried. 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