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States Take Aggressive Steps to Stop Community Spread; Trump Calls on Americans to Stop Hoarding Food, Supplies; School Closures Hit Millions of Students Nationwide; Interview with Governor Ned Lamont (D-CT) on Coronavirus Pandemic; Travel Suspension from U.K. and Ireland Starts Tonight; CDC: No More Gatherings of 50-Plus People for the Next 2 Months; Top Medical Experts Warn the Worst is Yet Ahead of the Coronavirus Pandemic; Dow Futures Plunge After Fed Cuts Interest Rate to Zero. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired March 16, 2020 - 09:00   ET

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


[09:00:14]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow. Thank you for being with us this morning.

It is a big week ahead. As we all wake up this morning we find this country at a critical moment, at a moment that will test all of us as cases of coronavirus surge by the hour across the United States. We have new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and they are set to drastically change the way that all of us live. They are telling us this morning, no groups of more than 50 people should gather for the next two months.

Next hour, we expect to hear more recommendations from the Coronavirus Task Force. We will bring you that live from the White House right here.

But here is what you need to know today. More than 30 million students are out of school across 33 states. My kids, your kids, all of us are trying to navigate this new reality that could persist for months, at least seven states have ordered all bars and restaurants to end service remaining open only for takeout and delivery.

In New York City, hospitals required to cancel all elective surgeries and the president is urging Americans to stop hoarding food as supplies at grocery stores are dwindling, and to change their hours to handle this panic buying.

The president over the weekend says the United States has, quote, "tremendous control," over the virus. That is in direct contradiction with top experts who say the worst is yet to come, and here is a fact. The number of coronavirus cases in the United States has more than doubled since Friday alone.

As for Wall Street this morning, we are all bracing for a precipitous drop at the open, after the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates to near zero, a move that has not taken place since the worst days of the global financial crisis more than a decade ago. So that's where we are this morning. We are covering every angle of

this story. Let's begin with our correspondent Omar Jimenez. He joins us in Chicago, yet another city that is essentially dark.

Good morning.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy. Yes, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announcing that all bars and restaurants would be closed throughout the state starting at 9:00 p.m. tonight with the exception of carryout and delivery for at least the next two weeks, which means this stretch of Chicago that I'm in right now will likely stay looking as empty as it does right now people wise through the prime time dinnertime, of course comes in stark contrast to what we usually would see.

Now Illinois is not the only state that is doing this. Other states like California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York City and Washington all putting into effect similar measures. New York City, for example, Mayor Bill de Blasio set to sign an order a little bit later this morning that would also not only include restaurants and bars, but also night clubs, movie theaters, other areas where people would congregate in large groups.

And out west in the state of Washington, where we have already seen more than 750 positive novel coronavirus cases and more than 40 deaths, they are expected to add some more of these measures that will include entertainment venues as well, and all of this comes as we are now getting new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, the CDC, to limit gatherings of 250 or less people in the midst of this coronavirus pandemic response.

And as we have seen this first wave of state closures, the question now is does this spark the next wave and define a new reality of the pandemic response in America.

HARLOW: Yes. And what does it mean for all of those people that rely on those jobs for income, what is the government going to do? We'll talk to one of the lead economists at the White House about that later this hour.

Omar, thank you.

President Trump is calling on Americans to stop hoarding at grocery stores. Our Vanessa Yurkevich again is in a grocery store in New York.

Talk to me about what you're seeing but actually a fact check on if they have enough food coming in. Do people need to be doing this?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Poppy. Well, as you can see, some empty shelves behind me. This is the meat section. But if we pull out a little bit we see that they are currently being restocked as we speak. There are no food shortages right now but the owner of this grocery store is asking people to buy just what you need for the next week. Don't overbuy, leave some for your neighbors. We also just saw that they restocked the milk section right here. This

just came in this morning. A few empty shelves here, but they did get most of their supply in this morning. The key items that grocery stores are still waiting for, this is toilet paper, this is hand sanitizer, paper towels, and this is where we find -- is this our shopper? Here we are. This is Julie right here.

We know that your husband is in line with your shopping cart so you don't lose your spot. Were you able to get everything that you needed this morning?

JULIE HORTON, SHOPPER: Almost.

YURKEVICH: Almost? What are you still missing? What do you really need?

[09:05:01]

HORTON: A couple of small spices. Flour, we couldn't find flour.

YURKEVICH: OK.

HORTON: But I didn't have a lot of needs. I just came to fill in some spots.

YURKEVICH: Fill in the blanks. Now, the CDC is warning that there should not be gatherings of more than 50 right now. Right? We're in a grocery store. There's not a lot of people in this aisle.

HORTON: We came early because of that. Because we're in that age group that we have to be careful.

YURKEVICH: So if there's a rush, you're not going to be coming to the grocery store?

HORTON: Right. We've been avoiding. I did get Fresh Direct last weekend.

YURKEVICH: And so are you self-quarantining in some way right now?

HORTON: Yes, we're pretty much in social isolation except for right now, which I probably shouldn't be doing.

YURKEVICH: Yes. All right, we're heading out soon as I know to pay for your groceries.

Poppy, you know, a lot of people same thing, they're trying to get in and out really quickly. They're trying to -- we've noticed stay away from other people. Some still wearing face masks, some people here with gloves, just really trying to be as careful as they can, as they're try to get their grocery this morning -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Thank you for the reality check, again, no food shortages, don't panic, buy what you need for a week and think about your neighbors, think about everyone else.

Vanessa, good advice, thank you very much.

Let's talk about schools this morning, Brynn Gingras joins me in New York.

I mean, this was huge the fact that they are closing all New York public schools right now. What does it mean?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, this is the largest school district in the entire country. The mayor even said this was a painful decision that he had to make, because you have to keep in mind all these children, there are homeless children not just in New York City across the country that depends on going to the schools, just to have a place for shelter.

There's children all across the country who don't have food, and this is where they get their food, is at school, it's a primary meal for them. There's children who are kids of first responders, emergency workers, nurses, doctors, whose parents have to work in this crisis and now are needing child care.

So it's a major issue that, you know, mayors and governors all across this country are having to make really tough decisions, and having to dust off their emergency plans, plans they never actually thought they would have to do.

Thirty-three states across the country, 32.5 million children affected, Poppy, and there are school closures sometimes -- in some cases just for a couple weeks, in other cases like we're seeing in New York city a month and in other cases for the rest of the school year.

In response in New York City alone, they're having battlefield teaching sessions for teachers so that they can get the information to these kids while they are sitting at home. So there's just a lot of measures being all across the country -- Poppy.

HARLOW: OK, Brynn, thinking about all of those people you said, doctors, the nurses, the first responders, they have to go to work so help your neighbors as you can.

Thank you very much.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont making that very decision over the weekend to close all of the schools in his state.

Thank you for joining me, Governor. Let's begin with --

GOV. NED LAMONT (D), CONNECTICUT: Good morning, Poppy.

HARLOW: Let's begin with the decision you've made because I'd like you to listen to some others in other states and how long they think this could last. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R), OHIO: The odds are that, you know, this is going to go on a lot longer and it would not surprise me at all if schools did not open again this year.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK: My blunt fear is if the schools shut down, they will be done for the year, done for the school year, maybe even for the calendar year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: That was, first, Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio and then New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. I was stunned hearing that, closed possibly for the calendar year, until January? Is the same possible in Connecticut?

LAMONT: Look, we'll see. This thing is changing so fast. We're racing to stay ahead of it. Look, about 90 percent plus of our schools have already closed down on a voluntary basis. There were just a few school systems we had to urge the superintendents to close. They'll be closed.

As you heard from one of your previous briefings, that means we have to do a lot of follow-up or doing tele-education.

HARLOW: Yes.

LAMONT: We're doing daycare. Other programs we need to make sure that our first responders can still get to work when their kids aren't at school.

HARLOW: You know, Governor, I spent -- a few years ago I spent about a month reporting in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It's part of your state that is the most in need. You have 40 percent of children that live in poverty there and rely on the school system for not just lunch, but breakfast, and during the summer to take home their meals as well. What are you doing for all those kids?

LAMONT: We've got a federal waiver. We're keeping the cafeterias open in most of these schools. They're making the breakfast, they're making the lunch for those kids who really depend upon it, and it's going to be drive-by so that we can hand you the lunch, hand you the breakfast, and your child will be fed.

HARLOW: What if the parents don't have transportation to get there?

LAMONT: We're thinking about delivery mechanisms as well for some of those parents.

[09:10:02]

There's also pick-up in the school. I'm not encouraging that. We don't need everybody going back into the school, that's what we're trying to avoid.

HARLOW: Yes.

LAMONT: But you're absolutely right, these are the type of issues the governors have to deal with every day. HARLOW: Yes, I was just thinking about the school buses, and that's

what got, you know, those kids to school to get fed, to have shelter for the majority of the day.

Let's talk about testing. I know that you are -- you said at least very soon Connecticut would be able to have more drive-through testing? Where does that stand and do you have enough tests this morning?

LAMONT: Look, I don't know where the federal government was. We should have been doing this, you know, eight weeks ago, so we could have isolated people earlier on, when we found out that they are carriers. But that said, I think the governors have stepped up. We've got our public laboratory, we have a number of private hospitals now that are beginning to do the drive-through testing. We have a number of outside labs.

Are we close to where we ought to be? No. But we're catching up.

HARLOW: Right. Do you have enough tests?

LAMONT: No.

HARLOW: What do you need --

LAMONT: But it's more than that, Poppy.

HARLOW: I know it is. I know it is at this point.

LAMONT: It's --

HARLOW: Yes. I was going to ask what you need most.

LAMONT: It's a question of people to administer the tests. We need people who are ready to administer those tests, making sure that we can get that information out to the labs. We turn that around, get the information to the local public health clinics so people know where people who are infected, where they are.

HARLOW: Absolutely.

Governor Ned Lamont, we wish you all the luck. I know you guys are up around the clock, working around the clock. Good luck.

LAMONT: Thanks for keeping people informed, Poppy.

HARLOW: Of course.

So passengers arriving from Europe over the weekend waiting in line sometimes up to eight hours, trying to be spaced and screened for coronavirus. New York City's JFK airport, one of the 13 airports approved to screen passengers. That's where my colleague Miguel Marquez is this morning.

What is the situation at JFK, Miguel? MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now it seems

to be getting better. But over the weekend we saw that chaos, confusion, uncertainty and extraordinarily long lines in airports. Not only at JFK but at airports around the country, where all these passengers, so last week, all those European flights, individuals coming in from Europe were meant to be banned by Friday and then the president announces that we're going to add the U.K. and Ireland to it as well.

So all those people who are in Paris and Germany and Italy, and everywhere else, they thought, oh, we'll come in through the U.K. or Ireland to the U.S., well, all that went out the window basically, and it took hours and hours and hours for not only passengers but for the government itself to figure out how they were going to screen these individuals as they came in to the country.

Obviously there was a lot of concern, because everybody was shoved into these lines right next to each other, breathing on each other, touching each other, and so if anyone was positive for the virus in that line it's likely that other people also then got it. So right now the way it seems to be working at least here at JFK is if you come in, you are on that plane, they do a questionnaire on the plane about where you've been and what you do.

If you show any symptoms they take you to a secondary screening area. Everybody else should get off the plane and in relatively normal time, an hour, hour and a half or so, people are getting through passport control, collecting their luggage and getting out of the airport.

But it is still unclear whether those individuals coming in from suspect countries that have an outbreak, if they are meant to quarantine. They are suggesting that they self-quarantine for two weeks, but it doesn't sound like it's mandatory right now, so there's some question as to whether or not it's mandatory or it's just self- quarantine, but a lot of confusion in this and hopefully now that flights are starting to come down and most people are getting in, things will get back to somewhat a level of normal here at JFK -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Well, let's hope so and let's hope for that clarity that is so needed right now.

Miguel, appreciate you being there.

MARQUEZ: Yes.

HARLOW: Still to come for us, the vice president promised more high speed coronavirus testing starting today. The big question this morning, are the states beginning to see that? And the Federal Reserve slashes interest rates to zero this morning. Market futures plunging again. We're moments away from the opening bell. I will speak to one of the president's top economists, top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, about what this all means for you, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As of Monday, we will have more than 2,000 labs coming online with a high-speed testing, and we are connecting states to those testing methods.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: That was Vice President Mike Pence. He's going to hold a briefing at the White House next hour. We'll see what he says and what it means for you. You'll see that live right here. Let's talk about what we know this morning with Dr. Celine Gounder; clinical assistant professor of Medicine and Infectious Disease at NYU, and Dr. Donald Yealy; professor and chair of Emergency Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Dr. Gounder, let me just begin with you and thank you both so much for joining us at such a busy time. Where are we this morning? Because the numbers tell us that in the U.S., the number of patients with coronavirus has more than doubled since Friday over the weekend.

CELINE GOUNDER, CLINICAL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE & INFECTIOUS DISEASE AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: Well, and that's just people we're testing.

HARLOW: Yes --

GOUNDER: So, you know, this may still be the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we're facing, and we still haven't ramped up testing. There's discussion a discussion now with the press conference yesterday that we were going to have community-based testing sites that are separate from health care facilities.

You have Roche that's now providing rapid testing, and then in about -- within the next two weeks, we expect to also see home-based testing where you have companies like Everlywell, Nurex and others that will provide telemedicine-based testing from the home.

[09:20:00]

HARLOW: Dr. Yealy, what is striking about what you guys have done at UPMC is that you developed a test for COVID-19. Can you tell us when it's available, whom it's available to? It's essentially still filling the gap where we haven't had the testing needed.

DONALD YEALY, PROFESSOR & CHAIR OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH MEDICAL CENTER: We'll begin using the test actually today in a controlled fashion --

HARLOW: OK --

YEALY: And beginning tomorrow, patients who want to be tested and have been evaluated by a physician, and then have a second screening by one of our healthcare professionals will be able to have access to the test. And we did that to help not only improve the access to testing in general, but to make the testing become much more quicker time turn around.

HARLOW: Yes --

YEALY: It doesn't need -- it doesn't need to be sent far away to get a result back.

HARLOW: So what is the turn-around? Because for any parent who has taken their kid to the -- you know, to the pediatrician, a flu test and a strep test are -- you know, within 15 minutes or so. Is that what we're looking at here or hours or days with you guys?

YEALY: Well, we're not looking at tests quite that quick. And that's a very specific type of flu test that you're familiar with.

HARLOW: Yes --

YEALY: The test we're talking about right now take hours to process. And so, for the average patient, a test that's run by my facility, UPMC --

HARLOW: Yes --

YEALY: Will be available with a result within 24 hours.

HARLOW: OK --

YEALY: And that's in contrast to if you needed something through the government, or through one of the commercial vendors, it would take up to 24, 48, maybe even 72 hours to get a result back.

HARLOW: Well, I have a friend in Colorado, her mother, it's taken five days to get the test results. So, 24 hours sounds pretty good to me. Just finally, doctor, the follow-up on that. As I understand it, this test is for symptomatic people, right, what about asymptomatic individuals?

YEALY: We don't yet have the capacity to test everyone who is asymptomatic. We have to prioritize the tests that are available, not only the test developed here at our world class academic medical center, but those available from the government and from commercial vendors. So we have to prioritize. Eventually, describing the population without symptoms as well as those with symptoms is an important task.

But right now, the first priority is taking care of people who have symptoms and whose care would be the most altered by knowing the result of this test.

HARLOW: Absolutely. Dr. Gounder, the numbers in the U.S. right now, when you compare them in terms of the rate of growth of those diagnosed looks awfully similar to the day-by-day progression that we saw at the beginning stages of this in Italy. Is that right? Is America on track for an Italy-like outbreak?

GOUNDER: We are on track for that. We're about seven days now behind Italy in terms of what we're expecting. And so hospitals really need to be steeling themselves for this big influx of patients. I think it's also important to back up and say testing is not going to solve everything. Right now, it's being targeted at patients who are symptomatic.

We know that there are some patients who do not have symptoms who have similar levels of virus in their secretions, in their bodily fluids and so are likely to be just transmissible. And this is why the social-distancing is so important.

HARLOW: Yes, absolutely. So, I'd like you both to listen to the president, here he was over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a very contagious -- it's a very contagious virus, it's incredible, but it's something that we have tremendous control over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: The president says, doctors, that we have tremendous control over this. He was followed minutes later by Dr. Anthony Fauci leading the effort from a medical front who said quote, "it's going to get worse". Dr. Yealy, let me begin with you. What should Americans believe this morning?

YEALY: I think Americans should believe that there will be more and more people identified with the infection, and more identified with an illness. It is transmissible infection. What no one can predict yet is what the pattern will be weeks and months and even longer than that from now. And I can't predict that. There's lots of estimations. And my advice would be not to weigh too much thought on estimates like that. Focus on the practical matters --

HARLOW: Yes --

YEALY: That can help you be better.

HARLOW: Dr. Gounder, tremendous control or no?

GOUNDER: I think we need to expect things are going to get worse before they get better, and I'm especially concerned for my colleagues who work in hospitals --

HARLOW: Yes --

GOUNDER: Where we really are going to see a lot more patients come in. I think my message to people at home would be, if you're really sick, please come in. If your symptoms are relatively mild, try to stay home for the time --

HARLOW: OK --

GOUNDER: Being.

HARLOW: OK, doctors, thank you both so much. And good luck with that testing as you kick it off today, Dr. Yealy, appreciate it.

YEALY: Thank you very much.

HARLOW: Dow futures plunged as the Fed cuts interest rates to zero to try to prop up this economy. How it all impacts you at home, we're talking to the president's top trade adviser Peter Navarro from the White House, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:00]

HARLOW: Stocks set to plunge at the open here in just a few minutes. U.S. markets back in panic mode this morning, suffering heavy losses as the global crisis increases. This follows the Fed's drastic move overnight, slashing interest rates to zero, trying to cushion the blow -- I'm so glad Peter Navarro can be with us, the president's top trade adviser -- one of the top economists at the White House. Peter, thanks for the time.

PETER NAVARRO, TRADE ADVISER FOR THE WHITE HOUSE: Good morning, Poppy.

HARLOW: Good morning. Look, limit down for stock futures, Gary Kohn; your former colleague at the White House says we're already in a recession. Are we heading into a recession?

NAVARRO: Poppy, what I'm trying to do here at the White House is two things. One is to deal with mitigating the virus. The best way that we can control the harm to the American people and the economy is slow the spread.

So before I comment on the macro stuff, I'd like to tell you a little bit of what I've been doing the last couple of days. On Friday, I got a call that we had a million swabs stuck in Europe that we needed for the acceleration of the testing that's going to happen this week.