President Trump Informs He Will Not be Wearing Facemask; Pregnant Fiance of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Recovering from Coronavirus Symptoms; President Trump Fires Inspector General for the Intelligence Community Michael Atkinson Who Reported Ukraine Call to Congress
WHITFIELD: Welcome back. The pregnant fiancee of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says she is, quote, on the mend after having coronavirus symptoms for a week. This comes a week after Johnson announced he tested positive for the virus. He has been in isolation with mild symptoms ever since. CNN's Bianca Nobilo is in London. So Bianca, give us the latest.</s>BIANCA NOBILO, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: Hi, Fred. Yes, we learned this evening in London that Boris Johnson's fiancee Carrie Symonds has been in bed for a week with coronavirus symptoms. She said that she didn't need to be tested. She is on the mend and she's feeling stronger. Adding to the anxiety here, of course is the fact that she is pregnant. She's expecting their baby in early summer. That was announced five weeks ago when Boris Johnson and Carrie also announced that they were getting married. After Boris Johnson tested positive for coronavirus, and that was announced eight days ago, Carrie Symonds moved out of 10 Downing Street where they were living together to another location in London. So she has not been dealing with these symptoms and the anxiety associated with the prime minister. She's been apart from him. Boris Johnson is still self-isolating because after seven days of having coronavirus symptoms he still maintained a temperature. So listening to medical advice, he now has to continue self-isolating until that temperature subsides. This all goes to underscore what we all know well at this point, that nobody is immune to catching COVID-19. Also, Britain has faced its deadliest day yet, recording 708 deaths in the United Kingdom. Now, scientists also caution that that number is likely to be an under report of the number of deaths that are happening, and that is because this is just the recorded deaths in the last 24 hours and not the actual deaths. So there's likely to be a lag on that, too. It is very important, therefore, that people in Britain abide by the new social distancing regulations. Where there has been concern expressed by the government, by the prime minister, by the health secretary that people in Britain are not abiding overall by their social distancing rules. In fact, I've even seen anecdotal evidence of that. About 10 meters from me, Fred, yesterday the police broke up a large gathering of young people that had been flocking to tourist sites and an uptick in motor vehicle traffic. So it is essential as Britain is reaching that peak that people in the country do abide by the social distancing rules.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, Bianca Nobilo, thank you so much from London. Appreciate it. On to Spain now, where the government says it will extend the country's nationwide state of alarm for the second time until April 26th. CNN's Scott McLean is in Madrid for us. So Scott, explain what this means.</s>SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fredricka. First, the good news. The good news is that there are signs in Spain that the situation here is stabilizing. The number of active cases being confirmed every day is going down. And though the death toll is still remarkably high, more than 800, it is the lowest that it's been in a week. The concern now is what happens when Spain reopens its borders and lets everybody out of their houses. Will the lockdown, a real national sacrifice, be worth it? The prime minister today said that the situation, or that this country was at a historic crossroads. He announced, as you mentioned that he'll be asking the Spanish parliament to extend the state of emergency for a second time, which would mean that Spaniards would now be home bound until at least April 26th. He also signaled that when Spain does emerge from this sort of national hibernation, that it would be done in phases, that the restrictions would not be lifted all at once. He also promised that nonessential workers who were ordered to stop working just beginning this week would be allowed to resume at Easter. One of the biggest problems as well, Fredricka, in this country has been the health care system. Health care workers, more than 10,000 of them have been infected with the coronavirus. There has been a lack of personal protective equipment in the hospitals and a lack of ventilators for patients. And while the situation has undoubtedly improved over the last couple of weeks, Spain seems to still struggle with procuring the equipment that it needs. Case in point, 114 ventilators that were supposed to arrive in Spain from Turkey will actually be staying in that country after Turkey announced that it couldn't justify exporting the machines given the needs of its own population.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, Scott McLean in Madrid, thank you. As coronavirus cases spread in prisons across this country, U.S. Attorney General William Barr is ordering prison officials to maximize early release programs for a wide swath of vulnerable inmates. Several states have seen growing clusters of coronavirus outbreaks at prisons in states like Louisiana, Connecticut, Ohio. The move comes at the end of a week that saw eight federal inmates die from the virus. And two months after his impeachment acquittal, President Trump has fired the inspector general who alerted Congress of the whistle-blower complaint that led to the president's impeachment. The firing of Michael Atkinson took place, and it is the latest in a string of firings by the administration of those who played a role in the inquiry. CNN's Sarah Westwood joins us now. So Sarah, has the White House explained the reason behind this firing?</s>SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Fred, we haven't gotten a lot of details yet about what led the president to take this move at this time, as you mentioned, two months after the end of the impeachment trial. But the president said in a letter sent late last night to Congress that he had essentially lost confidence in Michael Atkinson's ability to continue as the Intelligence Community Inspector General. He sent a letter to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees late last night, saying that at the end of the 30-day waiting period that he is required to take, to plans to remove Atkinson from that position. Sources tell CNN that Atkinson was informed last night that he would be placed on administrative leave. This naturally sparked outrage among Democrats who learned of the president's possible retaliatory move against Atkinson. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying in a statement last night the president must immediately cease his attacks on those who sacrificed to keep America safe, particularly during this time of national emergency. Of course, the timing of the president's move coming in the middle of his administration's response to coronavirus has been heavily criticized by Democrats, including the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, one of the first to learn of the president's move last night. Congressman Adam Schiff said in a statement "At a time our country is dealing with a national emergency and needs people in the Intelligence Community to speak truth to power, the president's dead of night decision puts our country and national security at greater risk." Earlier today the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaking to CNN said this is part of a pattern from President Trump firing people who were related to his impeachment inquiry. Take a listen.</s>SCHUMER: There's all too familiar a pattern in this administration. When you tell the president the truth, you get fired. This guy was a patriot. This guy stood for -- our intelligence agencies have done such a wonderful job. They don't make movies about them like about the military because, obviously, most of it is secret. But they risk their lives like our soldiers do, like our men and women in uniform do. They do amazing things to protect this country. And by politicizing it, dismantling it, not wanting to hear the truth, that's since World War II we have built up this fine, fine agency, and the president is undermining it.</s>WESTWOOD: Now, recall that the president had fired two witnesses who testified against him. Alexander Vindman was reassigned from the National Security Council after testifying in the impeachment inquiry. Former U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland was fired. The president, Fred, did not name a permanent successor for Atkinson, said that nomination would come at a later date. But did name a career intel official, Thomas Monheim, to hold that position in the interim, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, Sarah Westwood, thank you so much. All right. From social distancing to stimulus checks, don't forget to send us your questions about coronavirus on CNN.com. Our panel of experts will answer some of them next. But first, Surgeon General Jerome Adams shows us how to make a facemask with items from around the house.</s>DR. JEROME ADAMS, SURGEON GENERAL: Fold it to the middle from the bottom. Fold it to the middle from the top. Fold it again to the middle from the bottom, and again from the top. And then two rubber bands, one on one side and one on the other side. Then you fold either side to the middle, and you have yourself a cloth face covering. It's that easy.