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Containment Zone Ordered in New York; Biden Closes in on Nomination; Travel Industry Hit by Fears; Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) is Interviewed about Sanders' Path. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired March 11, 2020 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

DR. SHERLITA AMLER, ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, NY MEDICAL COLLEGE: But the goal is to prevent exposure because if there is no exposure, there is no risk. So if we can reduce people's exposure to individuals who are infected and could be contagious, we can prevent them from becoming ill.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This case or this outbreak in Westchester began with one guy. One guys. And now all these cases, dozens and dozens of cases.

We've learned from Boston there was this one meeting and now more than 70 cases linked to that one meeting.

What does that tell you about how this virus spreads?

AMLER: Well, I think it's obviously very infectious. Similar to what we see with influenza. It is spread by droplet and contact. So a person sneezes or coughs, the virus can't travel very far, but it can make it about a little less than six feet. And certainly individuals within that distance or surfaces can be exposed to the virus. So you can breathe it in or you can touch your surface and then touch your eyes, your nose, your mouth and introduce the virus into your body.

BERMAN: Now, I know this wasn't your decision, the containment zone. This came from the state. But, broadly speaking, when do you think decisions like this need to be made? I guess one question people have is, this may be too late in New Rochelle.

AMLER: Well, I think it's never too late because although we have over 100 cases, we don't have thousands of cases yet. And that's what you want to prevent. You want to prevent individuals who have not yet been exposed or not yet incubating from going on to develop the disease. So it's very important that people understand the risk.

And right now the risk is in large gatherings where there may be individuals who are infected, who are capable of spreading the disease. They may just becoming -- become symptomatic. We have a lot to learn about this disease, about when individuals first become symptomatic. But certainly if they're in a large group, that increases their risk of being exposed. BERMAN: What's your assumption as you sit here this morning about

where this is headed? Do you assume that there will be more communities that end up the same way as New Rochelle?

AMLER: Unfortunately, I believe that's probably true. And I think we are kind of moving this direction because trying to track individual cases, we're getting to a point that that's really not going to be very productive. We have to have a broader reach, a broader plan. And, you know, it's great to interview people who are infected to try to find who they might have exposed, but that takes a lot of manpower and it's not a fast-moving process.

So I think this is a much better way because, again, as I said before, if you are not exposed, you have no risk. So we need to reduce the exposure to the individuals in our population, especially in areas where we know there is active disease occurring.

BERMAN: So, broadly speaking, we can expect more closures, more restrictions coming?

AMLER: I would expect so.

BERMAN: All right, Doctor, thank you very much for being with us this morning. We appreciate the work you're doing. I appreciate the work you're doing in my home county. Thanks for being with us.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: That was really good information. I did not know some of the things that she just said about the six-foot transmission distance and we're going to be talking to the governor of New York coming up about what the plan is today.

BERMAN: Look, and I think the most important thing she said is something that everyone needs to come to terms with and what Dr. Anthony Fauci said last night, this is just the beginning. There are more restrictions that are going to happen, that have to happen and we have to accept that fact.

CAMEROTA: And people have warned us it's going to get worse before it gets better, as we're seeing.

BERMAN: Yes.

Dr. Anthony Fauci has. The president has not. The president told us there'd be 15 cases and it would go to zero. Dr. Anthony Fauci, who works in the administration, told us the opposite last night.

CAMEROTA: All right, meanwhile, Joe Biden is moving closer to the Democratic nomination. Harry Enten has the numbers as he sees it. And we see him, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:15]

CAMEROTA: Joe Biden has several commanding victories last night, drawing key groups away from Senator Bernie Sanders. How did he do that? Let's look at what the exit polls tell us with CNN's senior politics writer and analyst Harry Enten.

Good morning, Harry.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER AND ANALYST: Shalom, you two.

CAMEROTA: Great to see you. Though it's at a distance.

So tell us what you're seeing in the exit polls.

ENTEN: Yes, you know, I think the number one thing, right, Michigan was supposed to be the big contest where Bernie Sanders was making sort of a Custer's last stand, right? And remember last time, Michigan, whites without a college degree, he won those by 15 percentage points. That was what got him to beat his poll numbers.

But look at what happened last night in the state of Michigan. Among white voters without a college degree, a ten-point margin for Joe Biden. That matches what we've been seeing throughout the Democratic contest in the north outside of Vermont. That is Biden winning them by about ten points. That makes his train very, very difficult to stop.

BERMAN: You know, we've been talking a lot about what Joe Biden has done, Harry, but you've really taken a closer look at what Bernie Sanders has not managed to do over the last four years.

ENTEN: Yes. You know what, back in 2016, the big reason why he didn't win the Democratic nomination was African-American voters. Well, look at this, Bernie Sanders and the Democratic primaries last night, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, look at the 2016 numbers, 28, 11, 32.

Somehow, in 2020, he actually did worse in each of these states. One point worse in Michigan, one point worse in Mississippi, eight points worse in Missouri. He had four years to solve his problems with African-American voters and last night, John, he, simply put, didn't do it.

CAMEROTA: How about older voters, since those are the ones that seem to be turning out most?

[06:40:00]

ENTEN: Yes. So, look, there is a huge age divide in the Democratic primary so far. And, you know, we talk a lot about Bernie Sanders' edge with younger voters. And, indeed, last night in the median state that we had an exit poll, 18 to 44-year-olds, he won it by 31 percentage points. But look at those 45 and older. Joe Biden with this mammoth 47-point edge.

And it's not just that he's winning so much with these older voters, it's also, look at the percentage of the electorate. They are 68 percent. The fact is, Bernie Sanders can do well with younger voters, but Joe Biden is doing better with older voters and they're making up the vast majority of the electorate. It's a winning formula for him.

BERMAN: How early would it be -- I'm not saying it's over, but how early would it be historically speaking to have this be all but determined?

ENTEN: Yes, you know, I went back in time and basically I looked at the delegate leader at this point in the Democratic nomination since basically Super Tuesday was invented in 1988. And look at this. At this point in the Democratic nomination process, the person who was leading in delegates has won every single time. And so Joe Biden, we don't know if he's won yet, but you have to agree, based upon history, it's looking pretty good for him.

CAMEROTA: OK, what about the upcoming states?

ENTEN: Yes, you know, just -- first off, I'll just point out, Joe Biden is favored in every single one of the upcoming primaries, Arizona, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia and Florida. The rest of them in this primary month of March, Joe Biden is favored in all of them.

BERMAN: And, in fact, we have some polling in some of these states, right, that show just how much.

ENTEN: Yes. So I think this is so important. Why is it that I'm favoring Joe Biden so much? It's partially based off of the demographic. But look at this. Look at this. Our last national poll in the states that haven't yet voted among potential Democratic primary voters, Joe Biden with a 31-point margin. If anything, we should expect his delegate lead to grow over time.

He's in a very, very good position with a delegate lead. And the polling looking like it is. The fact of the matter is, Joe Biden is the overwhelming favorite 99 times out of 100, 99.5 times out of 100. He is going to be the Democratic nominee, John.

BERMAN: I think it's a really important point, Harry. I mean, numerically, is it possible that Bernie Sanders could turn this around? Yes. But there's nothing in the results to this date or in the last election which indicate that Bernie Sanders has the ability to reach the voters he would need to reach in order to turn this around.

ENTEN: That's exactly right.

And let me just point out one last thing. You know, in terms of this graphic, which I think is important. In order to catch up on the delegate count, Bernie Sanders would need to be leading by somewhere around say eight to 10 points. And right now, in the upcoming states, he's trailing by 31. The math, John, simply isn't there.

Look, if the math was there, I'd say it, but the math right now isn't there. Joe Biden, unless something ahistorical happens, is going to be the Democratic nominee.

BERMAN: You talk about the math. You sound like Andrew Yang, who endorsed --

ENTEN: I -- you know what, Andrew Yang, good guy to have company (ph) with.

BERMAN: Who endorsed Joe Biden last night on our air. ENTEN: There you go.

CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, obviously, Bernie Sanders had been hoping that the upcoming debate would turn those numbers around, but we will soon be speaking to someone from his campaign about what they're thinking today.

Harry, thank you very much.

ENTEN: Bye-bye.

BERMAN: All right, we have new information coming in this morning about the economic impact of coronavirus. A live look at the markets and a new plan from the White House, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:47:20]

BERMAN: All right, breaking news, Dow futures down big again this morning. Swinging wildly back and forth. One major economic concern is the travel industry. So many travelers canceling plans because of coronavirus, which has led many airlines to cut capacity.

CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans joins us now with the latest on this.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: So --

BERMAN: I mean every airline.

ROMANS: Yes. And you're seeing your 401(k) gyrating and you're also seeing big changes in the travel industry. Major companies are, of course, taking the lead here. They're canceling events. They're limiting, you know, international travel. They're limiting nonessential domestic travel. So you're seeing a lot of event that are just -- are not going to happen, concerts, conferences.

This means there's less demand for air travel in the United States. And you're seeing a lot of disruption in the economy. On Monday the president outlined stimulus he would like to do considering like deferring taxes for airlines and cruises. But sources tell us there's simply no consensus with Senate Republicans. That's one reason why you're seeing stocks down here today.

Here's what the president said after he met with Senate Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The consumer is so powerful in our country with what we've done with tax cuts and regulation cuts and all of those things, the consumer has never been in a better position than they are right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: You're hearing that again and again from the administration, thanking the president for making the economy strong before a crisis.

OK, meanwhile, long lines are a thing of the past at airports. You're seeing empty airports in many cases. American Airlines cutting 7.5 percent of its domestic flights next month, slashing its international capacity by 10 percent. Delta trimming domestic flights by up to 15 percent.

Delta is now using, get this, a fogging technique with an EPA registered disinfectant om its planes.

United said new bookings to Asia and Europe have essentially been wiped out by the cancellations of reservations there. Its president said the airline is preparing for a dire scenario where revenue craters 70 percent in April and May.

JetBlue, United, a lot of others are waiving cancellation fees. But I want you to check the fine print. There are different time constraints for these waiving of cancellation fees.

All of this means turbulence for airline stocks down devastatingly over the past couple of weeks. They rallied Tuesday after carriers announced those schedule cuts.

In the cruise industry, the State Department and the CDC, very important here, urging Americans to avoid cruise ships, especially passengers with underlying health conditions. Many cruise lines adjusting their itineraries. They're letting customers delay your trips, allowing you to cancel it within days of the trip. But I haven't seen disruption like this since the days after 9/11.

CAMEROTA: We've been wondering.

Christine, thank you very much for all of that reporting.

[06:50:00]

All right, what is Bernie Sanders' path forward this morning? We will ask the national co-chair of his campaign, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Senator Bernie Sanders did not hit the number of delegates he wanted on Super Tuesday 2. Joe Biden extended his delegate lead over Sanders. Biden now stands at 787. Sanders at 647.

Sanders' advisers tell CNN that he did not expect a crushing defeat in Michigan. But Joe Biden beat him there by more than 15 points.

Joining us now is the national co-chair of Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign, Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna.

Good morning, Congressman.

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Were you surprised by the numbers that came in last night? KHANNA: Well, it's undoubtable that Vice President Biden had a very

strong night. And I congratulate him for that.

The point now is to move forward and for the issues that Senator Sanders has been fighting for, Medicare for all, free public college, helping young folks with their student loans, tackling climate change, to be acknowledged.

[06:55:09]

For those issues to move forward.

CAMEROTA: And so what does that mean in terms of how the issues live on? What's happening with the campaign today?

KHANNA: Well, I think Senator Sanders will debate Vice President Biden. He understands that he is the underdog. I think as many people have acknowledged, I mean he's reasonable, he understands where the delegates are. But he also understands that less than half the delegates have been counted, that debates can change the conversation and he's committed to going forward with the debate and laying out his vision.

CAMEROTA: Have you spoken to Senator Sanders in the past 24 hours?

KHANNA: I've not spoken directly to him. But I've certainly spoken to the people close to him. And my understanding is that he is very committed to making his case in the debate on Sunday.

CAMEROTA: So as far as you know, in terms of any recalibration that the campaign is doing, he is still going to the debate against Joe Biden on Sunday, nothing has changed with that?

KHANNA: Absolutely. I mean the -- it's a long primary process. I think it's important to let the process play out. I think it's important to acknowledge that there are many candidates in past who have allowed the process to play out. And the senator ultimately is -- his campaign is all about us, not me. He cares about a lot of the issues.

I mean one of the things that he wants to see is, with the coronavirus, for us to extend Medicare to those who need to go to a primary physician or an emergency or even on a temporary basis. So there are a lot of things that he is passionate about in his vision for America and he feels he owes it to the millions of working class people who have supported him to continue to raise those issues and share his vision.

CAMEROTA: I mean of course he could join with Joe Biden. He could still work on those issues if he supported Joe Biden. I mean he doesn't just have to do it by running a presidential campaign.

KHANNA: And he has made it very, very clear, unambiguously clear, that he and most of his supporters, certainly people like me will be 110 percent in for the nominee. But he believes, and I believe, that the way to get the buy-in of folks to support whoever the nominee may be is to let a democratic process play out and to make sure, actually, that when you're talking about unity, that it's unity around certain platform policy positions.

CAMEROTA: Just show me the path in terms of the numbers. Just do the math with me. Here's the map, I'll put it up, of the upcoming states at the moment in terms of polling.

KHANNA: Sure.

CAMEROTA: They're all sort of leaning decisively Biden. Which one do you think Bernie Sanders could win?

KHANNA: Well, there's no doubt that the polling and momentum right now is with Vice President Biden and Senator Sanders acknowledges that. He's pragmatic. He's reasonable. And he will look at the data.

But he does believe that debates in the past have changed dramatically the race. You know, for example, Amy Klobuchar was at a few percent in New Hampshire. She had an extraordinary debate performance and she almost won New Hampshire. And he believes this is the first time that there's been a debate, one-on-one, with Vice President Biden. He wants to lay out his vision. He wants to make the case why an outsider candidate like him is still best position to defeat Donald Trump.

We saw in 2004 an early coalition around John Kerry. And Jake Tapper, last night, pointed out that the George W. Bush campaign actually feared Howard Dean more.

So he's, I think, earned the right to make his case at the debate on Sunday.

CAMEROTA: Will he go to "The Tonight Show" tonight? He's scheduled to appear on "The Tonight Show." Will that be happening?

KHANNA: You know, I'm not sure about that. I think that depends on travel. Of course the issues of the coronavirus. But I don't want to give an answer that I'm not 100 percent sure of.

CAMEROTA: And what about the public? We he -- we didn't hear from Senator Sanders last night. Will he speak to the public today?

KHANNA: Absolutely. He will speak with the public. I think we were waiting for results. My understanding is he has a very slight lead in Washington that we're waiting for some of the other results in North Dakota. And he's done, as you know, very, very well in the west. And so he wanted to see all the results, I think, before making a statement.

CAMEROTA: Congressman Ro Khanna, we really appreciate you giving us a snapshot and a window into where the Bernie Sanders campaign is this morning. Great to talk to you.

KHANNA: It's always great being on.

CAMEROTA: John.

BERMAN: All right, major developments in the campaign. Major developments with the coronavirus outbreak. [07:00:00]

NEW DAY continues right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BERMAN: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world.