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U.S. Stock Futures Point to Rebound after Historic Losses; Soon: Passengers to Disembark from Virus-Stricken Cruise Ship; White House: Trump Not Tested for Coronavirus. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired March 10, 2020 - 06:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: An historic day on Wall Street. Measures were taken to halt trading for 15 minutes after the opening bell, as stocks fell too far, too fast.

[05:59:16]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: True carnage. This was a disastrous day on the market.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The virus now in more than 30 states.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Grand Princess arriving in California.

MIKE PENCE (R), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All the passengers will be tested and quarantined as appropriate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of Italy is now effectively a red zone.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The worsening situation across Europe is leading to a collapse in tourism.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY, with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, March 10, 6 a.m. here in New York.

Monday was the single worst day on Wall Street since the crash of 2018. But this morning, U.S. stock futures are pointing to a big bounce at the opening bell. Look at that number right now, up to more than a thousand points.

The markets are reacting to President Trump floating the idea of a payroll tax cut and other economic relief to offset the coronavirus.

Here are the current numbers. The death toll in the United States is now 26 people, with the number of cases rising overnight to 731. That's across 36 different states and Washington, D.C.

Worldwide, more than 4,000 people have died, and more than 113,000 confirmed cases.

This morning, all of Italy is locked down. The country's borders effectively closed. Sixty million people barred from traveling for weeks.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: In the United States, Santa Clara County in California has banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people. In the nation's capital, in the middle of a financial crisis, the SEC has told employees to work from home.

In Oakland, a second round of passengers will begin disembarking from the Grand Princess cruise ship this morning. Any passenger needing immediate medical attention was taken off the ship yesterday.

And now five Republican lawmakers, including President Trump's next chief of staff, they have announced they will self-quarantine or are in self-quarantine after coming in contact with an individual who has been diagnosed with coronavirus.

President Trump has recently, you know, interacted, as you can see there, with at least two of those lawmakers riding on Air Force One with Matt Gaetz, shaking hands with Doug Collins. Overnight, we were finally told that, despite this, the president has not been tested for coronavirus.

We're also standing by for the first polls to open in six states voting today in the next Super Tuesday: 352 delegates up for grabs.

Let's begin, though, with Christine Romans, our chief business correspondent, on the markets and how they're looking now. Yesterday was historic.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It was.

BERMAN: Today?

ROMANS: Today it looks like they're struggling to find a bounce-back. And you would expect that, especially with the number of new coronavirus cases actually declining in China and what we heard from the president yesterday.

Look, looking for a bounce this morning. Let me show you the markets. You saw Asian shares stabilize. You can see U.S. markets are up here, about a thousand points if this holds on the Dow. Asia markets up. European markets opened higher. They're actually building on their gains in Europe.

More than a year -- this is really the headline, guys. More than one year of stock market gains gone in the worst day on Wall Street since the Great Recession. Coronavirus fears, and an oil crash viciously taking down stocks around the world.

The Dow closed down more than 2,000 points, worst point drop on record, worst day percentagewise since October 2008. S&P 500, a whopping 7.6 percent lower. It is now a stunning 18 percent below its record high. That is almost a bear market, signaling the end of an 11- year bull.

Now, numbers plummeting so quickly they triggered circuit breakers put into place after Black Monday, the crash in '87. The pause designed to ease panic among investors. I mean, it did stall the selling, but it was a terrible day, leaving Wall Street on the brink of ending the decade-long bull run.

Now, President Trump needs the declines to stop. He has used the stock market as his personal barometer for success since he was sworn in. The White House has invited Wall Street executives to meet this week on the coronavirus. And the president, in a new, somber mood, outlining new economic measures he is considering.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm discussing a possible payroll tax cut or relief, substantial relief, very substantial relief. That's a big -- that's a big number. We're also going to be talking about hourly wage earners getting help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Trump is focusing on hourly employees, because they're most vulnerable. They ferry groceries, passengers, hot meals. They can't work from home. They are more likely to keep working if they don't feel well, and that can affect other people.

There are two problems for rump, Republicans cool to economic stimulus proposals and, two, even with a strong economy, this administration has already done things reserved for down times. He's already cut taxes in 2017. The deficit is already well over a trillion dollars.

And this, guys, just a walk down the history books here. Remember in India two weeks ago? The president tweeted, "Stock market starting to look very good to me." Since then, stocks are down 14 percent.

BERMAN: Look, it's comments like that that struck me yesterday when the president walked out of the news conference very early. It seems that the White House made a decision that less is more when it comes to President Trump, that if he spoke more it would disturb the market.

ROMANS: The stock market decline really got their attention. And what you saw yesterday, a lot of market professionals say is what you should have seen two and a half weeks ago. A coordinated website with a plan of attack for stimulus, not just blaming the Fed and riffing.

CAMEROTA: And don't take stock tips from the president --

ROMANS: No.

CAMEROTA: -- based upon that tweet.

ROMANS: Larry Kudlow, as well. He has three times said to buy the stock market and he -- Larry losses, as they call them in the markets now, are down about 12 percent.

[06:05:02]

BERMAN: All right, Romans. Stand by. Keep us posted throughout the morning.

Meanwhile, a second wave of passengers will disembark from the Grand Princess cruise ship in the port of Oakland this morning. Twenty-one people on that ship have tested positive for the coronavirus.

CNN's Jason Carroll is live at the port with the very latest. More passengers due to come off soon, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. That second wave of passengers should begin disembarking at about 11 a.m. Eastern Time. That's about at 8 a.m. our time.

Spoke to two passengers very, very late last night, John. They were really hoping they were going to be in that first wave. Now they're hoping today will be the day they are finally back on dry land.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL (voice-over): The Grand Princess cruise ship carrying at least 21 people with coronavirus finally docking at the port of Oakland, California.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Priority disembarkations today will be given to guests with more urgent medical needs as directed by our onboard and shoreside medical team.

CARROLL: Overnight, some of the first passengers arriving at the Travis Air Force Base in California, one of four military facilities designated to hold passengers for a 14-day quarantine.

PENCE: All the passengers will be tested, isolated as appropriate, quarantined as appropriate. The remaining people on the ship, the crew itself, will -- will push off from the dock, and they will be quarantined and observed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breakfast tomorrow will be starting a bit early at 6 a.m., because we are going to start the next round of disembarkation at 8 a.m.

CARROLL: But many passengers eager to get off the ship will have to wait.

DEBBIE LOFTUS, GRAND PRINCESS PASSENGER: Well, we're all in our rooms still. We're out on our balconies. We have plenty of fresh air. We have to wear masks now when anybody knocks on the door. So -- and when we leave the ship, we'll all be wearing masks. So I think we're pretty safe going or getting to where we're going to be going.

CARROLL: There are more than 720 coronavirus cases in 36 states, plus the District of Columbia, according to the CDC, state and local governments. Including Washington, where one Seattle hospital is even using drive-through testing kits to screen its employees. In Kirkland, 31 of 35 residents left at a nursing home at the center

of the outbreak in that state have tested positive for the coronavirus. At least 16 people associated with the facility have died.

New York has the second highest number of coronavirus cases nationwide, where the governor announced prisoners are making hand sanitizer.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): Because you can't get it on the market, and when you get it, it's very, very expensive.

CARROLL: In New York City, the head of the Port Authority in New York and New Jersey also testing positive.

On Capitol Hill, five Republican congressmen are now under self- quarantine after coming into contact with a person with coronavirus at the Conservative Political Action Conference nearly two weeks ago.

One congressman, Doug Collins, shook President Trump's hand at a visit to the CDC Friday. Another, Congressman Matt Gaetz, flew with the president on Air Force One yesterday and even rode in the presidential limo with Trump.

Despite those potential exposures, the White House says the president has not been tested, "because he has neither the prolonged close contact with any known confirmed COVID-19 patients, nor does he have any symptoms."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: And as for the Grand Princess, a Florida couple still on board is suing the cruise line for $1 million, accusing officials of knowing that two previous passengers were infected and showing symptoms and not doing enough to stop what is happening now -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Thanks, Jason. We will speak to some of the folks on board there of how they're holding up this morning, as well. Thank you very much.

Stock futures pointing upward to an opening surge after yesterday's market meltdown. What you need to know next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:13:11]

BERMAN: A little bit later today, President Trump will meet with Senate and House Republicans to discuss a series of measures aimed at stemming the widening economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus. Dow futures at this moment point to a big opening, more than a thousand points, as U.S. stocks get very close -- Yesterday's epic decline put markets very close to bear market territory.

Christine Romans is back with us. Also joining us, CNN international anchors Julia Chatterley and Becky Anderson. Julia is live at the New York Stock Exchange. Becky is in Abu Dhabi.

Julia, I want to start with you down there. And just talk to me about this morning. We see futures up. What are you looking for?

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, if yesterday was Monday meltdown, as you guys were just describing it, then let's call today Tuesday Turnaround. We are seeing futures at this moment, at least, higher. We're taking back around half of the momentous losses that we saw in yesterday's plunge.

Part of the reason for that, I think, simply is that investors are shellshocked and got so beaten up yesterday and over the last few sessions that we do see a bit of stabilization here.

Also -- and I know you'll discuss this -- a bit of a bounce in oil prices, which really shook the markets yesterday.

But the crux of this, as you've described, the president suggesting that there's going to be further discussions, perhaps even further announcements of support for workers potentially impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. We are incredibly light on details. Payroll tax cuts, perhaps support for small businesses.

But I can tell you, after flirting with potential bear-market territory, so down some 20 percent from the highs, we are clinging to to hope here, I think, as far as the markets are concerned, that we get some details on support to sooth some of the big recession fears, because that's what's driving us right now.

CAMEROTA: We'll get to those oil prices in one second, but Christine, while you're here, I just want you to give us a context of where we are. We have a full-screen to show people.

[06:15:06]

The Dow is down 19.2 percent from its record high. S&P down basically 19 percent since its record high. NASDAQ down 19 percent. So you're saying that we are just on the cusp?

ROMANS: Look, trillions of dollars of market value wiped away. I mean, yesterday as an epic selloff. It really was. And it brought markets into the top, you know, 20th percentage declines in history. That really says something. You're talking about depression and market crashes. So this shows you just how serious we are here. You know, well over a trillion dollars lost yesterday, 5 trillion since this whole thing began.

And Julia's absolutely right that, you know, we're going to have a bounce-back taking maybe half of the losses back. But when you look over the last couple weeks, this has been a swift unraveling of confidence, a swift change in sentiment for a few reasons.

The bear -- this bull market, rather, is long in the tooth, but there's just not this sense that the U.S. government has a handle on the coronavirus or has even really taken it seriously from the highest level of the American government until yesterday. You know, yesterday the president did what a lot of people in the

markets wanted him to do a couple of weeks ago. Does he keep that tone? Does he keep that gravitas, and they actually pass these measures -- you know, paid sick leave, payroll tax cut? Julia's absolutely right, that they're very light on details.

BERMAN: They did what -- He did what they wanted him to do, which was walk off the stage, perhaps, early and let the experts answer questions.

Before we get to Becky, very quickly, Christine, I just want to talk about the interest rate cuts, which they can't do, because rates are so low. They don't have many weapons left. Payroll tax cuts may be the only thing they can do.

ROMANS: Yes. And paid sick leave. A lot of people think that's important, because you want people who are going to be talking -- you know, facing consumers, customers to be able to go home and not spread the virus there.

They're also talking about help for the cruise industry and the airline industry. But you know, are they going to get that through skeptical Republicans? You know, it's unclear here.

The Fed can't cut -- it's expected to cut rates two more times to essentially zero.

BERMAN: Which is practically --

ROMANS: But there's just no ammunition left in the Fed. And the Fed has been holding up the -- the economy for ten years now.

One thing I will say is the president very recently said this is the best economy in history of the world. Well, if it is, then why do you need all of this extra stuff to keep it going? So there are a lot of questions here about -- The economy has been strong coming in here, but the president can't rely on just the Fed to fix it. You're going to need to see a coordinated response from government, and confidence from government, not -- you know, realism, not riffing is what I've been saying.

CAMEROTA: Becky, explain to us what's happening with oil prices and what was so dramatic yesterday.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Let me give it a go.

Jumping off a cliff is how one trader described the Russian and Saudi action.

Look, after what was the biggest one-day rout in oil prices since the 1991 Gulf War, we are seeing a bump in futures contracts this morning. But let's be very, very clear: this is likely to be short-lived unless we see calmer heads prevail, at a time of such uncertainty for the global economy.

President Putin's decision to play Russian roulette with the oil markets could have grave consequences.

From the Russian point of view, this is no fool's game. They say what was a three-year deal with OPEC plus to stabilize prices by fixing supplies just meant that the U.S. shale producers have mopped up market share. They say at Russia's expense. Lower prices, Russia believes, will fix that.

And there may be some logic to the Russian argument. They reckon they can cope with lower prices for, as I'm told, six to ten years. I think the jury is out on that. The Russian ruble slumping to its lowest level since 2016 on Monday's.

But look, let's take a look at the winners and the losers here. And there are a lot of losers.

The Saudis have come out swinging, just announcing in the last hour they are tapping inventories to flood the market. They are furious that the Russians have broken the bond, as it were. Shock and awe, then, by the Saudis, but it's going to hurt the kingdom and its OPEC partners. They need a price of around $80 a barrel to balance their budgets, compared to 30 or 40 for the Russians.

Let me just make this very important point. For U.S. shale oil drillers, this is nothing short of a disaster. The industry has been largely unprofitable to date. Companies are heavily indebted, to the tune of hundreds of billions of debt due over the next few years. Capital markets have all but turned off the spigot. It's the oil and gas workers in the state and U.S. investors who have an awful lot to lose.

What they -- what the oil markets need is to either see U.S. producers cutting output or some sort of coordinated action, again, by OPEC plus. But I'm going to tell you, do not hold your breath on that one just yet.

CAMEROTA: Becky, thank you. Becky, Julia, Christine, you've made us all smarter this morning. Thank you very much for watching all of this. We'll check back with you through the program.

[06:20:09]

President Trump has interacted with at least two lawmakers who were exposed to someone with coronavirus. So what does that mean for the president?

Well, the White House says he has not been tested for the virus. Why not? We'll discuss all of this with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Developing overnight, President Trump has not been tested for coronavirus, even though he was in close contact with lawmakers who are now self-quarantining, meaning those lawmakers voluntarily isolated themselves after coming into close contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus.

What does all of this mean for the rest of us? Let's bring in our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Sanjay, the president doesn't have any symptoms and these lawmakers who are self-quarantining don't have any symptoms. Are we supposed to be worried about this right now?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that the idea that the president hasn't been tested, we should have known whether or not he was tested yesterday, but the fact that he hasn't been tested -- that's what we found out last night -- is not that surprising to me.

[06:25:04]

He's sort of potentially a second generation, meaning there was a person who was known to be infected. That person had contact with these other congressmen, and then those congressmen who have not tested positive, don't have symptoms, then had contact with the president.

I think that, you know, most medical professionals would say, look, if someone develops symptoms, you know, we certainly -- that would be of concern. Even at that point, they would be more likely to test for flu first and rule out a common cold, because those things are still more common. If those things come back negative in somebody with symptoms, then you test.

So, you know, perhaps the president should be treated differently, because he is the president. But in terms of medical rationale, it does make sense that he wasn't tested so far.

BERMAN: Sanjay, it seems to me that we've reached a turning point, maybe even overnight on mitigation. Santa Clara County, California, announced they're banning gatherings of more than a thousand people. Ohio State University, in Ohio -- we're not talking about Washington state, we're not talking about, you know, cruise ships of California, Ohio -- Ohio State just canceled classes. The SEC in Washington is telling employees to work from home. We're seeing social distancing overnight.

GUPTA: Yes.

BERMAN: This will have a societal impact. And I'm just wondering why you think these decisions were made and when is the right time for this type of decision?

GUPTA: Yes, no, it's a really -- it's a really interesting point, and history does teach us some lessons here. Tom Bossert wrote an interesting article in "The Washington Post" today, former homeland security director.

First of all, these -- what are called non-pharmaceutical interventions -- social distancing, school closings, closing of mass gatherings working from home, all those sorts of things -- they have been shown to have some impact if they are done early enough. And typically, early enough means before 1 percent of the population becomes infected. After that, the assumption is that it's sort of too late. You know, it's going to be very hard even with these -- these types of social distancing measures, to have an impact.

And a lot of people point to what's happening in Italy right now. You know, you go back and look at Italy on February 20. They had three infections, no deaths. The next day, 20 infections, one death. The next day, 63 infections. A week later, 2,000 infections and 52 deaths.

These things really start to grow exponentially. And the point is that, if you can start to break the cycle of transmission by canceling or reducing at least the amount of time people come together, it can make a difference. And history has certainly taught us that through previous outbreaks.

BERMAN: But are we there, Sanjay? I mean, are we going to see more schools closing? Are we going to see states, counties, organizations banning gatherings?

GUPTA: My guess is we will. I don't think it's going to be something that's done at the national level. But as you point out, John, we're already seeing it. You know, and I think if for no other reason, if not in a sort of proactive way, then the situation may be that, in a particular school district, a person tests positive, a faculty member, a student or a teacher tests positive, in which case the school will react by shutting down the school for some period of time.

So for one reason or another, either for that proactive or reactive reason, I think we will see school closings. Again, not uniformly across the country but in certain places.

CAMEROTA: Well, the not uniformly is what, I think, is so confusing to people. And this morning, Sanjay, I'm just looking for a little bit of honesty and a little bit of clarity about what you're supposed to do if you have some symptoms.

And the reason that I ask is because the "Atlantic" magazine did their own investigation about how easy it is to be tested, how many people are being tested. What they found -- I mean, this is only one source, but in the absence of government sources with actual numbers, we're looking to "The Atlantic."

They say that they have been able to confirm only 4,384 tests. OK? So we've been promised that there are a million available. Only 4,000 tests have been done according to "The Atlantic."

Add to that an op-ed that you probably read this morning in the "New York Times," this journalist named Robyn Schulman, she had symptoms. She came down with symptoms after she traveled out the country. And when she came back she was held in a processing -- a passport processing area with a hundred passengers from Shanghai.

It was virtually impossible for her to get tested. She went to her primary care physician. She went to the emergency room three times. Every time she was told a different answer. She was given the runaround. The numbers that she was told to call didn't work. Doctors sometimes approached her with bare hands and shook her hand. Sometimes they were in full masks. There is no uniformity. There is no protocol, it seems. GUPTA: To be clear, I was talk about uniformity with regard to --

CAMEROTA: I know. I was talking about all of this.

GUPTA: This is a different issue. Let's talk about a different issue which are raising, which has to do with testing. And the testing, clearly, I mean, there's no -- there's no question. I mean, we've been talking about this for six weeks now. The United States has been way behind on testing.

END