[Anderson Cooper, Cnn:] Our special coverage continues now with Brianna Keilar. I will see you later tonight on "360" at 8:00 p.m.
[Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news.
[Brianna Keilar, Cnn:] Hi there. I'm Brianna Keilar in Washington on this Friday, April 24. Today, the United States death fold passing a grim and stunning figure, more than 50,000 people in this country lost to coronavirus. In Los Angeles County, coronavirus is now the leading cause of death. But in the state of Georgia, where daily cases appear to be on a decline, but deaths are still on the rise, you can now visit gyms and bowling alleys, as nonessential businesses reopen. But, first, health experts are rushing to clarify President Trump's latest medical suggestions that could kill Americans if followed. This is one, that sunlight or heat could be used to treat coronavirus, and, two, that disinfectants like bleach that's right, bleach could perhaps be injected into the body to kill the virus, these absurd comments following this statement by a senior Homeland Security official about how the virus responds to light and disinfectants in the air and on surfaces, not including the human body, to be clear.
[William Bryan, Director, Department Of Homeland Security Science And Technology Directorate:] Our most striking observation to date is the powerful effect that solar light appears to have on killing the virus, both surfaces and in the air. I can tell you that bleach will kill the virus in five minutes. Isopropyl alcohol will kill the virus in 30 seconds. And that's with no manipulation, no rubbing, just bringing it on and leaving it go. You rub it, and it goes away even faster.
[Keilar:] But the president made a cognitive leap that would be purely hilarious, if it weren't so incredibly dangerous, saying this to his medical advisers
[Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] I would like to you speak to the medical doctors to see if there is any way that you can apply light and heat to cure. When I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute, and is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning, because you see it gets in the lungs.
[Keilar:] President Trump has since claimed that he was being sarcastic. But if you look there at Dr. Deborah Birx, the head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, she surely didn't pick up on the sarcasm, nor did most people with any basic grasp of science or household cleaners. So how bad is this? Well, the maker of Lysol issued a statement, saying quote "As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body through injection, ingestion, or other route." I want to go to CNN's Kaitlan Collins joining us now live from the White House. And, I mean, Kaitlan, of all of the unreliable and even wackadoodle stuff that the president has said in these briefings, this may really take the cake. And now the president is claiming this he wasn't being serious. What are you hearing?
[Kaitlan Collins, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Yes. So after there was a lot of criticism from these doctors, and, as you noted, Lysol had to put out a statement saying not to pursue this route, the White House first put out a statement this morning saying that reporters were taking the president out of context, and, of course, he always has said that people should consult with their doctors before pursuing treatments. What that statement did not say was that the president was being sarcastic, which is now what he is arguing, as he did here in the Oval Office not long ago.
[Trump:] No, I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you, just to see what would happen. Now, disinfectant or doing this maybe on the hands would work. And I was asking the question of the gentleman who was there yesterday, Bill, because when they say that something will last three or four hours or six hours, but if the sun is out, or if they use disinfectant, it goes away in less than a minute did you hear about this yesterday? But I was asking you to sarcastic, and a very sarcastic question, to the reporters in the room about disinfectant on the inside.
[Collins:] Brianna, I was in that room. The president was not asking that question to reporters. He was turning instead to the officials to his right, Dr. Birx and Bryan, this official from DHS who laid out this presentation about it working on surfaces and in the air. And the president suggested at one point that doctors should look into this, noting that he himself was not a doctor. And so we should just note that as well. And now, this afternoon, the CDC has even put out a tweet talking about household disinfectants and the ways that they should be used, saying it is not proper for people to use them or they should not be using them improperly and to follow the instructions on the label.
[Keilar:] Yes, we lock them under cabinets, right, so kids don't get to them. Maybe we will do the same for adults now. Kaitlan, the president seems to be backing off this plan to reopen the country on May 1. Tell us about this.
[Collins:] Yes, the questions are really, what is everything going to look like on May 1? Because we know, internally, that is what they have been pushing for here at the White House. That is the really been the agenda when the Coronavirus Task Force has been meeting and the president has been speaking with executives. Today, the vice president said he believed that most of the country could be opened up by Memorial Day. Of course, that's at the end of May. And we're looking at these plans. But one thing the White House is watching closely today is, of course, the reopening that are happening in Georgia. The president has expressed his displeasure with that, believing that they are moving too fast. And, of course, they are still arguing over testing and whether or not there is enough in the country, as we have seen governors say they do not feel like they are there yet. You saw Dr. Fauci say yesterday he also agreed with that sentiment, and the president said he did not agree.
[Keilar:] All right, Kaitlan Collins, thank you so much at the White House. And joining me now is Dr. Vivek Murthy. He served as us surgeon general under President Obama. Doctor, thanks so much for being with us.
[Dr. Vivek Murthy, Former U.s. Surgeon General:] Thanks, Brianna. Good to be with you again.
[Keilar:] I just wonder what you think of the doctor or of the president saying the doctors should look at sunlight or U.V. rays or bleach being injected into the human body to treat coronavirus?
[Murthy:] Well, just so everyone is clear on it and this has been echoed by others over the course of the day there is no indication and it is really not safe to inject household cleaners into your body in order to address coronavirus. That's not an approved treatment. It's likely to be extraordinarily dangerous to you. And what this episode illustrates is that you have got to be extremely careful with what you say in the White House Briefing Room and certainly in the middle of a pandemic. But to speculate on unproven treatments and during a time of crisis like this is really quite dangerous. And what it also has become is a distraction. We are finding that government agencies and private companies are having to now put out messages clarifying to people that they should not ingest or inject detergents and chemicals. What we really need to be focused on, though, is laser-focused on testing, because if we want to open up the country safely, which is an objective, I think, all of us share, we're not going to be able to do that if we don't get beyond the testing plateau that we're at now and dramatically increase the number of tests available, the distribution of those tests, and shorten the turnaround time to get real results.
[Keilar:] Do you see that happening anytime soon?
[Murthy:] Well, we are making progress bit by bit on testing, but it is incremental and it is too slow. And what we're finding is that it's not just the testing machines that you need and this has been obvious to people in the world for a long time but you need the chemical reagents that go with it. You need the swabs that are used to do the test. You need to have the cartridges and many of these machines require. And you need to have the protective equipment that you can wear to ensure that it's safe to actually administer a test. All of these are really important. And what we have been hearing is some arguments that, OK, these machines exist in states, they should just use them. But states are saying, we don't have the other materials. And to encourage people just to keep using the machine without the materials is like telling somebody to wash their clothes because they have a washing machine, even though they have no detergent and it's not hooked up to water. That just doesn't work. You have got to pull all the pieces together.
[Keilar:] Yes.
[Murthy:] That's why what we need to do now is, we need the federal government to step in, take over the supply chain, and ensure we can produce the testing materials and machines that are required and distribute them to places that have need.
[Keilar:] Let's listen to what the vice president said about timing on coronavirus.
[Mike Pence, Vice President Of The United States:] I think, by Memorial Day weekend, we will largely have this coronavirus epidemic behind us.
[Unidentified Male:] Well, from your lips to God's ear.
[Pence:] And state and local officials will begin to reopen activities. You're going to see you're going to see states in the days ahead here begin to do that.
[Keilar:] By Memorial Day, largely, coronavirus epidemic behind us. Do you agree?
[Murthy:] Well, I think there are some parts of the country where you may see a slight and gradual relaxation of restrictions, but those will be in places where you have had a sustained decrease in the number of new cases and where the ability to both test and trace and quarantine contacts is in place. To do so ahead of time would be, frankly, irresponsible. And to indicate that the entire country will be there, when we still don't have a clear pathway to achieving the levels of testing that we need, is just simply not realistic. If one wants to accelerate the timeline between where we are now and when we can safely open up, then you have to have a clear plan for how to reach the goals on testing that we need to reach, where it is available to everyone who needs it. But, right now, people who need to get tested who have symptoms, actually, many of them still can't get tested. So, we're nowhere clear near to where we need to be in order to open things up safely.
[Keilar:] Dr. Vivek Murthy, I should also mention you're the author of the book "Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World." Dr. Murthy, thank you so much.
[Murthy:] Thank you, Brianna.
[Keilar:] Coming up: It's really like we're living in The Twilight Zone, right? That is the message from the Atlanta mayor, as Georgia allows visits to the gym, the hair salon and more. Plus, breaking news just in about the commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, who was ousted after raising the alarm about coronavirus on his ship.