President Trump To Announce Council Aimed At Reopening Economy; U.K. ICU Doctor Writes A Letter To President Trump
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, I'm Robyn Curnow. You're watching CNN. It is 5:32 in the morning here on the east coast. So, the U.S. President Donald Trump says the White House will announce in the coming hours the creation of a committee focused on reopening the country for business. Mr. Trump also insists that as president, he has the ultimate authority to reopen the U.S. But governors in at least 10 states disagree with that assertion. On Monday, states on both coasts announced they've created their own regional pacts to work together on how to reopen their economies once it is safe to do so. Alison Kosik joins me now with the latest from New York. And how are markets reacting to all of that? Hi, Alison.</s>ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. I think right now, you're looking at markets focusing more on earnings season, which kicks off today. It's when we're really going to get the first glimpse as to how American companies have been impacted by the coronavirus crisis. And first up we're going to be hearing from JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo as well, and Johnson & Johnson as well. And S&P 500 companies are expected to show a 10 percent earnings decline for the entire earnings season. Already, we've seen warnings coming from companies. They're also not issuing forward-looking guidance because of all the uncertainty surrounding the impact of the coronavirus on the U.S. economy. So now we see this pivot ready to happen. We don't know which day this will happen, but a pivot from the unprecedented closing of the U.S. economy to the opening. And you mentioned the state-by-state approach and now we've got the federal approach. The White House announcing this council to focus on the reopening -- this council called Opening Our Country Council -- and they're going to be tasked with just how to go ahead and reopen the U.S. economy. It looks like there aren't going to be any business members in this -- anyone from companies in this. It looks like it's going to be filled with a lot of administrative -- administration officials led by Mark Meadows. He's the chief of staff. It will include Treasury Sec. Steve Mnuchin, Commerce Sec. Wilbur Ross, along with advisers Larry Kudlow, Peter Navarro -- even Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. They are expected to be part of this council as well. Now, there are questions, though, how this council's going to work with the Coronavirus Task Force. It's not clear how the two panels will wind up interacting. But one official said reopening -- the reopening council would likely focus more on economic measures to stimulate the economy and less on public health. That would be left to the Coronavirus Task Force. So we will get more word today from the White House -- we're expected to get, at least -- on who will fill up this council and what the next steps will be -- Robyn.</s>CURNOW: OK, thanks so much. Alison Kosik there. Have a lovely week.</s>KOSIK: Thank you.</s>CURNOW: So around the world, medical workers are facing new challenges as they fight the coronavirus. Dr. Matt Morgan has been describing what it's like on the front lines in the U.K. and has also got a message -- an open letter for the U.S. president saying quote, "Intensive care can save thousands of lives, yet the true power in this global health threat lies not with the doctors but with the people. Simply staying at home, socially distancing and reducing transmission will save far more. So, too, in politics. Giving your power to the people around you, the experts in truth, the experts in science, and the experts in health is how you, too, can save millions." Well, that's a powerful message there. Intensive care Dr. Matt Morgan joins me now from Cardiff. He's a consultant at the University Hospital in Wales. Powerful letter you wrote there to the U.S. president and you wrote it on behalf of patients, globally. But you also asked for time. Why?</s>DR. MATT MORGAN, INTENSIVE CARE DOCTOR, CONSULTANT IN INTENSIVE CARE MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL OF WALES CARDIFF (via Skype): Well, time is really the most important tool we have in the intensive care units. Yes, we've got machines and powerful drugs but especially in this COVID epidemic, the thing which helps people is time and their own body. And I hope the letter I've written aren't the words from me. They are the words from the founder of the NHS in the U.K. who was a coal miner's son who lived just an hour away from where I live -- Aneurin Bevan. And he really had three powerful phrases which I've used in this letter. This is my truth, tell me yours. The purpose of power is to give it away. And the final one, especially for America, is no society can call itself civilized if the sick are denied through lack of means.</s>CURNOW: OK. So, really quite foundational stuff, particularly for health care and as a doctor for you in the U.K. And I know that doctors across the world have all been facing these challenges. When you look at your day in the ICU and you talk about time, how difficult has it been for family members not having that connection with people in the ICU, particularly those that die -- not having the time to say goodbye?</s>MORGAN: I must say after all the changes over the last month or so, the things we can cope with are the changes in machines, the changes in area, the changes in workforce and in medicine. The things I've struggled with the most, and certainly families have struggled with is that time to be there when people are critically ill. That's something that's engrained normally in our practice and now we're having to work around new ways to support patients, especially those that don't make it. My last shift, for example, was with patients who despite all of the things we were doing were sadly going to die and in that time he could not be alone. And so I was there -- I was there with nursing staff, holding his hand, playing his favorite song, actually, on an iPad that his family asked us to do. So my plea to the people --</s>CURNOW: What was his family's favorite song?</s>MORGAN: I think I'd rather keep that to him, actually --</s>CURNOW: OK.</s>MORGAN: -- because that's something for him and his wife. But it was something which brought tears to all of our eyes. It was very poignant. But that's some of the small little gestures that we can do at that time. And it may not seem much but I think for that family member knowing somebody was holding his hand, knowing that he was listening to something that he loved, hopefully will bring some solace.</s>CURNOW: What has the death rate been and have you been overwhelmed by just the amount of saying goodbye that you and your nurses and the staff where you work have had to do in the past few weeks?</s>MORGAN: Well, certainly in intensive care, end-of-life care -- and that support is fundamental to what we do every day -- we are still coping with the results locally in Cardiff. So if people are at home feeling unwell we still have the ability to care for them and that's really important to know. We also have a psychological team locally that is there to help support families and to support staff, actually. But you're right, this is something new for us to go through as health care providers, being one step back from that family support.</s>CURNOW: Have you had to make difficult ethical choices? I know that a lot has been talked about -- you know, doctors have to make these hard choices about who to save and who not to. Has it come to that where you are?</s>MORGAN: We are not in a resource-limited setting at the minute, so the decision-making that we make -- shared decision-making with patients, families, and caregivers is the same as we do every day in intensive care. And I've written another letter, actually, to the elderly, the frail, and those with chronic health conditions to explain and frame some of that decision-making. But as of now, here where I work in Cardiff, that decision-making is exactly the same as it is every day.</s>CURNOW: You're a dad, as well. How are you managing? This is -- this is a life-changing experience for doctors in many ways. How do you balance all of this?</s>MORGAN: Yes, that's a great question. You're right, I'm a researcher, a scientist, a doctor, but I'm also a son, a dad, a husband. It was my wife's 40th birthday yesterday. And I think it's important to remember for viewers that even though things are tough, it's still important to find joy and to find happiness in the things you can. It's a lovely sunny day here. It's one of my off days today so in between these phone calls I'm going to sit in the garden, I'm going to talk to my children. I'm going to do those normal things and find joy in those things, and it's OK to do that.</s>CURNOW: Yes, I think we all need that space. Thanks so much. Dr. Matt Morgan there. Appreciate you and all of your staff. And thank you for sharing some of those moments with us -- appreciate it. Have a lovely day --</s>MORGAN: Thank you.</s>CURNOW: -- in the garden. So, you're watching CNN. Still to come, the pandemic has already forced dozens of countries to postpone upcoming elections, but South Korea refuses to be one of them. Take a look at these images. How the country plans to vote without spreading the virus, hopefully.