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California Governor Orders Entire State to Stay Home; Unemployment Claims Soar Amid Coronavirus Layoffs. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired March 20, 2020 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): We direct a statewide order for people to stay at home. We are confident that the people in California will abide by it.

[05:59:22]

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We said stop. You can't work. We are paying a lot of money to stop things.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senate Republicans unveiled a $1 trillion proposal.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: The federal government has essentially two weeks to get us major resupply or the people of New York City are going to be in much greater danger.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): We are battling two things: a virus, and fear and panic. And I'm as afraid of the fear and the panic as I am of the virus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Friday, March 20. It's 6 a.m. here in New York.

And the breaking news this morning, the entire state of California is on lockdown. Overnight, Governor Gavin Newsom enacted the most sweeping measures we have seen anywhere in the country today, ordering 40 million people in his state to stay home indefinitely. The only exceptions: to get food, to go to a doctor, or to care for someone or perform an essential job.

The governor cited research showing that 56 percent of California residents -- that's 25 million people -- could become infected over the next eight weeks. That would crush hospitals in that state, putting them nearly 20,000 patients over capacity.

At this hour, the most recent count of confirmed cases in the United States tops 13,000. Again, it is certainly higher than that. That is only what we know from testing. Even with this, it's a 51 percent increase from yesterday. One hundred and ninety-five Americans have now died.

CAMEROTA: Governors across the country are sounding the alarm. And we've been hearing this alarm all week. But we're still not sure why there is not more progress.

Doctors need more medical and protective supplies. They say they are in desperate need of federal help. New York City's mayor warns that hospitals in this city are two to three weeks away from running out of much-needed masks, protective gear and other supplies like ventilators.

President Trump is trying to outsource this, for some reason. He's telling governors to get their own medical gear. He says the federal government is, quote, "not a shipping clerk."

The president also talked about getting new drugs to patients, but he gave out wrong information. He falsely claimed that the FDA has approved a treatment. That's not true.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans have introduced a trillion-dollar stimulus plan, but at this point it appears to be a nonstarter with Democrats who want other details.

So a lot to get to. Let's begin with CNN's Kyung Lah. She is live in Pasadena, California, with our breaking news. How are they going to handle this shutdown?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is the nation's most populous state, and this is the most drastic measure that any state has taken.

This is what it looks like in one commercial district. It's 3 in the morning here, but this scene isn't going to change throughout the day as the governor orders residents to stay at home. All non-essential businesses, just like this one, will be closed, shut down, putting up signs saying it's because of the coronavirus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEWSOM: This is not a permanent state. This is a moment in time.

LAH (voice-over): California's governor, Gavin Newsom, announcing the nation's first statewide, stay-at-home order, keeping roughly 40 million residents locked down until further notice. People will be allowed to venture out only for essential activities and to places like grocery stores, pharmacies, takeout and delivery restaurants, gas stations, banks and laundromats.

NEWSOM: I don't believe the people of California need to be told through law enforcement that it's appropriate, just to home isolate. You can still take your kids outside, practicing common sense and social distancing.

LAH: The statewide order comes after cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles already called for residents to stay at home.

MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI (D), LOS ANGELES: If we can slow the spread, we can buy days. And when we buy those days, that means that we can get ventilators, and we can get beds and kits and masks and tests; and this will save lives.

LAH: Giving medical personnel more time to prepare is crucial. California's governors projecting 56 percent of the state could be infected with the virus in eight weeks.

Newsom is asking President Trump to send the Navy's Mercy hospital ship to the port of Los Angeles to help keep some strain off an already overworked healthcare system.

In New York City, a future medical supply shortage is extremely worrisome, where more than 3,000 people have been diagnosed so far.

DE BLASIO: For the month of March, we have the supplies that we need. The federal government has, essentially, two weeks to get us major resupply or the people of New York City are going to be in much greater danger.

LAH: New York's governor asking the federal government to step in and have manufacturers like car companies assist in producing much-needed equipment like ventilators.

CUOMO: The supply chain issues are real, but it would take the federal government saying, We need to make these ventilators. You know, when the CDC starts putting out guidance you can use a scarf as a mask, you know, it's time to make more masks.

LAH: President Trump telling governors it's up to states to restock their own supplies.

TRUMP: Governors are supposed to be doing a lot of this work. The federal government is not supposed to be out there buying vast amounts of items and then shipping. You know, we're not a shipping clerk.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: Well, California's governor says he came to this drastic decision by doing basic simple math. At the rate of infection, he believes that the state would run out of hospital beds, exceeding beds by some 20,000.

[06:05:12]

How long will this last, John? The governor says it is indefinite. And if you're wondering why we are out here and able to work, it's because essential staff like journalists, emergency personnel, food delivery people, grocers are still going to try to keep this country running -- John.

BERMAN: It was just you and the police car that drove behind you moments ago. That's all we see on the streets in Pasadena.

LAH: Yes.

BERMAN: Kyung Lah, thank you for being there and helping us get this story out to the people. Appreciate it.

Joining me now is Taryn Luna. She is a politics reporter for "The Los Angeles Times". She joins me from Sacramento.

And Taryn, I'm sure you've been up all night. I know it's early there. But then again, this has been a night like no other. No one has seen anything like this.

The governor, Gavin Newsom, issued this new stay-at-home order. What's different about this? Because pretty much everyone in America has been told to stay home already. So what is different that the governor has done?

TARYN LUNA, POLITICS REPORTER, "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES": In the state of California so far, the governor has only issued recommendations. It didn't carry the weight of law behind it. He's left that to counties to decide what's best for their communities.

And we believe as he saw this escalating, and we're now in some thousand cases, 19 deaths in California -- We know our testing capabilities aren't great, so those numbers are likely much higher -- that he recognized the need to take statewide action.

BERMAN: And it is now or could be, what, a misdemeanor if you are found out on the streets or not obeying this? What exactly would get you in trouble?

LUNA: It could be a misdemeanor if you're disobeying it, but the governor has been very careful with his messaging as so not to create any panic and not to freak people out about this.

He's often talked about peer pressure and social pressures and people, you know, learning on each other to do the right thing and thinking Californians are going to do the right thing. So I'm not sure that we're going to see a level of enforcement from law enforcement yet, but obviously, that -- we'll see that coming in what happens the next few days.

BERMAN: The first question we hear from people around the country, certainly here in New York and, I'm sure, in a state where it's as beautiful as California, is what can people do about going outside? What is the governor saying there?

LUNA: He's advised people that you can take your kids outside. You can go on a walk. You can go on a jog. You can take your dog out and things like that.

The idea is that when you do -- doing that, you're still creating social distancing. Staying six feet from other people. You're going out with your significant other, or people you live with, as opposed to meeting up with others in any kind of gatherings or groups.

BERMAN: Don't expand the circle of people that you see. Keep it tight. That's how this will be kept from spreading. And it's the numbers that he was looking at that were overwhelming, Taryn. Explain. LUNA: Right. So in California, you know, we only have a certain

capacity for hospital beds. He expects that the state's going to need an additional 20,000 beds.

He's asked the government if they can deploy a Navy ship off the coast of L.A. to bring in additional beds. They're doing things like mobile hospitals and such.

But the real concern is that so many are going to become sick and seriously sick that our healthcare system will not be able to meet that demand. In your -- I mean, and I think in a worst-case scenario you could see things like you're seeing in Italy, where doctors are having to choose, basically, between which patients to treat.

BERMAN: No one wants that.

The rest of the country depends on California. We depend on you for our food. You grow everything out there. How will that be provided for?

LUNA: You know, the information we've gotten so far is none of that is going to continue to change. And I think, if borders remained open that won't be very much of a concern.

Grocery stores are seeing things, you know, off the shelves, toilet paper, onions at my grocery store the other day. But the thing we keep hearing from the government is that it's not a supply chain issue. It's a concern of people hoarding and people being very concerned about this and really stocking up.

So, you know, we think that as this progresses, we're going to be in an OK place in terms of food.

BERMAN: All right. Taryn Luna from "The Los Angeles Times." Get some sleep, if you can. Thank you very much for being with us this morning -- Alisyn.

LUNA: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: All right, John. President Trump says he's prepared to invoke a wartime act that gives him the power to get hospitals the supplies and equipment they desperately need. So why has he not done that? We discuss next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:13:24]

CAMEROTA: We have breaking news. California's governor has ordered all 40 million people in that state to stay home to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Being on the street for a non-essential reason will be a misdemeanor. This is the most extreme measure so far in the United States.

Joining us now is CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem. She's a former assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. And Dr. Damian Caraballo. He is an emergency room physician who has treated coronavirus patients. Great to see both of you.

Juliette, I want to start with you with this California news. Forty million people ordered to stay home, but they can leave for food, for medicine, if they need to care for someone. I mean, there are exceptions, obviously.

But this is where -- the part I don't understand. Despite that, the governor says he expects 25 million people will become infected in the next eight weeks. If everybody is staying home, why will 25 million become infected?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think once he saw that number, the 25 million number, that's when, about four hours later, he put the stricter rules on.

And, you know, just to be clear, every state will head this way. I mean, we've seen this ratcheting. We started with, you know, prohibitions of more than 500 people. Within five days we were down to you could only be with ten people.

People need to prepare themselves that this gets harder before it gets easier, because you're just trying to buy time while the federal government figures out how to deliver, right, testing kits. That's the only way you're going to be able to identify the pool of people sick. And then the resources that the hospitals need so that they don't crash under the burden of all these patients.

[06:15:15]

That we are still waiting for this surge is incomprehensible from, you know, just a logistics standard. We make it too difficult, Alisyn, when we talk about, like, vaccines and everything. This is just logistics. Let's just get stuff from point A to point B. And the states are still waiting. So they're just buying time at this stage.

BERMAN: Let's talk about that, Dr. Caraballo. Because I think that's the other major story today. One angle is this lockdown in California.

The other major story, Doc, is where are the masks? Where are the masks, Doctor? What are you seeing? What message would you like to send to the federal government? Because Mike Pence and the president stood on the stage yesterday at the White House and said, you know, We have these 35 million masks that have just been produced.

Are they getting where they need to go, as far as you can tell?

DR. DAMIAN CARABALLO, EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: From what I'm hearing from my colleagues in Seattle and northern California, we're not getting the masks. We've had a plea from some doctors we've heard online who have been asking for masks on California. They've run out of respirators, and now they're begging for surgical masks.

One of my neighbors came by the other day and gave me a bunch of respirators he uses for carpentry. That's where we're at right now. And, you know, we really need the government to get these masks out as soon as possible to the providers who are on the front line. Because if we can't protect our providers, we have no shot against this.

CAMEROTA: I don't understand, Juliette. I just don't understand what's happening.

KAYYEM: I know.

CAMEROTA: The president can invoke the Defense Production Act. He has talked about how he has the power to invoke the Defense Production Act. But he's resisting doing so. He's waiting to see what happens. That's the act that could churn the machinery of government into producing. What is the hold-up?

KAYYEM: It's incomprehensible. He has the power. It's a 1950 act that allows two things. It is part of the tool box that a president has in disaster management. He can either acquire things from the private sector. They get paid for it. It's not like stealing. They get paid for it. Or he can direct manufacturing.

Look, manufacturing does not turn on a dime. A month ago, you and I could have had a conversation that we're going to run out of respirators, ventilators, masks, everything. That's when you invoke it.

The delay in it is an unbelievably, I think, sort of negligent attitude that the states can handle it on their own. One, they can't. And two, you know, the United States has never faced a 50-state disaster. The states cannot look to each other, because each governor is going to be under the same burden. This is exactly when you need to have planned ahead. Incomprehensible, inexcusable. And I try to get my head around it.

It's -- for a person who says or a president says this is a war, this is literally the statute that gives you the authority to just move stuff. That's all -- it's just logistics at this stage, and they're failing.

BERMAN: Let me read you what New York Mayor Bill de Blasio says he needs by April. Three million N95 masks; 50 million surgical masks; 15,000 ventilators; 45 million surgical gowns, coveralls, gloves, face shields.

Even if he's off by a factor of 50 percent, huge numbers of supplies.

So Doctor, I think we also undersold your current situation. You are currently in a self-quarantine situation, because you have treated people who do have COVID-19. You treated people early on there.

Just tell us what you saw in terms of the numbers of patients coming in and the type of patients and how sick people have been.

CARABALLO: Well, it's been a pretty surreal week for me. About a week ago, over a week ago, I saw my first COVID patient. I can't go into the specifics of it, given patient privacy. I can tell you, from what I've seen and what I'm seeing from colleagues and what I've heard from colleagues, we're seeing a whole gamut of symptoms, from diarrhea to nausea to light-headedness, body aches, night sweats, to flu-like illness, which is what it's been sold as before we -- we saw it here.

My personal situation was around Monday, I started displaying symptoms, and I was tested for it. Here in Tampa, we have the Hillsboro County Health Department, which has a quick test which takes 24 hours, that's the quick test we currently have here in Tampa, Florida, a population of 3 million people.

And they rejected it, even though both me and the nurse practitioner who worked with me were exposed to COVID. They did not run that test for us. So instead it was sent to California, where I'm still waiting day five. I joked it was like the Schrodinger patient. I don't know if I have coronavirus or I don't. I have both, I guess.

But my whole family has been here with me in the house. We've been under like Swiss Family Robinson in the house, you know, trying to do activities and things like that. And that's where we're at right now. You know, three days ago, I celebrated my anniversary with my wife under quarantine. That's about a description of what's going on now in the United States.

[06:20:11]

CAMEROTA: That's a remarkable new normal that you're describing. And also why five days? Why? Why are doctors having to wait five, at least five days for the results? Why are patients having to? We'll explore that in the program also.

Dr. Caraballo, Juliette, thank you both very much.

BERMAN: So this morning we're getting word that unemployment claims are skyrocketing here in the United States. I mean skyrocketing. What Congress is doing to help. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, FORMER CHAIRMAN OF COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISORS: I think that people are really sure that there are going to be numbers in sort of two million range by the April month.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: A month. Two million job losses a month this spring.

HASSETT: A month. That's correct. April, you're going to see the worst jobs number you ever saw. And that's like a virtual certainty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:25:06]

BERMAN: The worst jobs number you ever saw. That was Kevin Hassett, President Trump's former chief economic adviser, warning that the pandemic could result in two million people without jobs by April.

Goldman Sachs estimates the U.S. could see around 2.5 million layoffs this week alone.

Joining us now is CNN anchor Julia Chatterley, host of "FIRST MOVE WITH JULIA CHATTERLEY" on CNN International.

The scope of job losses, I think, is staggering. People are just now coming to terms with it. People know that they've lost their job or the situation in their job, but they're just beginning to realize how many millions are in the same situation.

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: You are exactly right. And we at this stage, I don't think, still have a sense of scale of how many jobs are going to be lost. I can give you comparisons going back in terms of unemployment rate to World War II.

But the difference, I think, here is that people were working then, and they're not today. We are systematically shutting down the U.S. economy state by state. And it's happening at record speed.

If I take a step back, I can tell you what I'm seeing here, guys, and this is that we are trying to save 2 million people as a result of this health crisis. And we are creating an economic crisis that's going to put at risk millions and millions and millions more if we don't do something.

And if I just take a step back, 27 million people work for small to medium-size enterprises that are on the absolute front lines. Restaurants. Bars. The tourism sector. These are people that don't have any backstop financially. They're working paycheck to paycheck. They're paid a wage.

So if a small to medium enterprise owner goes, You know what? I have to pay my rent. I have to feed my family. There is a health crisis. I want to protect my employees, but I can't. I'm going to let them go.

And this is what we're going to see on a daily basis right now. So when you see these alarmist calls for doing something to protect workers, the most vulnerable in society, they are absolutely right. This is what we're going to see. That's the first layer.

Then you have big corporations that also are drawing down on cash reserves. They're going to their banks, and they're saying, Our business has stopped overnight. We need more money.

They also employ people, but they're not the bulk of employees. But it's really important, because every company at this moment, you've seen it playing out in the financial markets, they're hoarding money. And they're saying, I don't trust anyone else. We're seeing indiscriminate selling of good companies and bad.

So you've got a layered effect here that is shaking the foundations of the financial sector.

CAMEROTA: And so -- so --

CHATTERLEY: It's all happening at once, and it's all happening globally, Alisyn, which is why I'm -- I can't give you numbers for how staggering the economic crisis is that we're creating here to try and fix a health crisis.

CAMEROTA: And historically speaking, if there is any precedent, what fixes this? What -- what should they do today?

CHATTERLEY: So this is a great question. In the space of three weeks, I've gone from asking questions like how do we pay for certain policies to retweeting tweets from the likes of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

We need to protect people, the most vulnerable people in society; and we need to do it in size, and we need to do it at speed. So these cash handouts that people are talking about, exactly right. The problem is we've done this in the past, and those checks took an average of two months to get to people.

We need a massive, massive fund to support small and medium-size enterprises, perhaps interest-free. Let them borrow money so that they don't fire their employees, even if they're not doing anything.

At the corporation level, we need something to stabilize them so that they can't fire employees. We are freezing the economy for an estimated two to three months so we can come out the other side of this. But we almost have to freeze everything in the interim.

So I look at New Hampshire. This governor gets it. He's saying no payment of utility bills. No foreclosures. He gets it. Freeze everything. People have to be using money, ultimately, to buy food and to buy the health products that they require at this stage. I'm thinking big.

BERMAN: Is a trillion dollars -- is the trillion dollars they're talking about enough?

CHATTERLEY: No. Nowhere near enough. We have a trillion -- $20 trillion economy. We are freezing it for an estimated quarter of the year. A quarter of $23 trillion, John, is $5 trillion. Assume that is half employee costs, $2.5 trillion. We need massive scale.

And on a bigger scale here, what we need, I think, is for Congress to give powers to the central bank to buy anything. Corporate bonds. Equities. We need to bring confidence back to the system.

I'll give you a comparison.

END