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U.S. Lawmakers Agree on $2 Trillion Stimulus Package; China Lifting Travel Restrictions on Hubei Province; Japan & IOC Postpone Tokyo Summer Games Until 2021. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired March 25, 2020 - 04:30   ET

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

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[04:30:37]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone.

Well, the White House and congressional leaders have agreed on a massive stimulus plan for the economy devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. Five days of negotiations ended with a $2 trillion package that allocates billions for distressed industries and expands unemployment benefits. The package also includes hundreds of billions for hospitals and health care workers, as well as loans for small businesses.

Democrats blocked the original Republican plan twice, arguing for more overnight of the $500 billion for big business. A vote is expected later Wednesday, and President Trump is expected to sign the bill.

Well, Thomas Gift is a lecturer in political science at University College London. He joins me now via Skype.

Thanks for being with us.

THOMAS GIFT, POLITICAL SCIENCE LECTURER, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE London: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And, of course, it took Republicans and Democrats longer than most wanted, about five days or so. But they got there in the end, agreeing to this $2 trillion stimulus plan. But why all the politics while people were dying? I mean, politics on both sides, we have to say.

GIFT: Well, I do think both sides ultimately recognize the urgency of the matter. But there was significant bipartisan turmoil in the last several days, as you know. So Democrats were basic live claiming that not enough attention was being given to everyday workers and families in the stimulus. And Republicans accused the other side of trying to deliver points amid this crisis.

You know, the fact that both sides were able to come together, though, I think is ultimately a positive sign. It will provide some degree of assurance to American workers and businesses that Washington is taking this fight seriously. It could have happened quicker, but we did get there.

But I think there is a lot of doubt amid the country still reeling from this economic crisis. Many businesses shut and just a lot of challenges ahead.

CHURCH: Yes. I wanted to look at that, what this stimulus package will mean for Americans ultimately and the businesses. And, of course, medical workers, hospitals -- now doctors and nurses have been screaming for personal protective gear and they haven't been getting it. Of course, it's very difficult when you look at what's been happening with Congress fighting over the details of this.

I mean, why not just go ahead, release funds specifically for the hospitals, get that moving because the big issue here is making sure that our doctors are protected while they are trying to save lives.

GIFT: I would agree with you, Rosemary. You know, it is a significant deal. $2 trillion would be the largest stimulus package ever issued by the U.S. government. And it is supposed to provide some degree of resources to these health providers.

I think it is important, though, to keep in mind the size of this package. It is really very significant. So legislation would essentially be larger than the annual discretionary budget that Congress typically takes a year to debate and sign off on. So, there are a lot of details here, a lot of I's to be dotted and T's to be crossed.

So I think maybe that was some of the challenge initially of getting these two sides to come together. Ultimately they did. As we talked about, it was a good sign. But it did take a little while.

CHURCH: Right. And now of course, once this is voted on and then President Trump signs off on it, it's going to take a little time before Americans get their checks and businesses get their money and hospitals get all of the money, the funds, the equipment that they need.

What sort of time frame do you think we're looking at here?

GIFT: Yes. That's a really good question. It could be weeks. It could be months.

You know, I do think the big question ultimately is not just the time frame, but will it be enough and really would anything be enough amid this crisis? You know, the good thing is we did see rallies in global markets in response to the agreement. That is fairly immediate.

But even those upticks represent only a small fraction of the last value in the market in recent days and weeks. And, of course, many experts are worried a relative live quick turnaround in the economy won't be possible.

So I think ultimately the real value of this deal is that it will give ordinary Americans some degree of relief, many of whom are facing specific prospects of laid off, losing their jobs or encountering other degrees of financial precarity.

[04:35:09]

So, for those individuals, you know, this is a good sign. But you're right, the question is, how quickly can this money get to Americans in the form of direct checks? And I think that's still at this point being debated.

CHURCH: Yes, and, of course, the process of getting that money to those Americans because you have to worry how that will be done and how swiftly, of course, talking about that.

So, this is a great -- great story because for a lot of these businesses, and we have seen the markets. They were looking with great anticipation, waiting for this stimulus package. How long do you think that hope will continue, that we will see that on the markets?

Because what we've got to see at the same time is some sort of change in the number of infections and the number of people dying as a result of this pandemic. And until we -- we see that, I mean, that's really what people want at this stage.

GIFT: Exactly. I mean, ultimately this is first and foremost a health crisis. And the economy is going to follow. And so, until we get these numbers under control and until we start to flatten the curve so to speak, I do think you're just going to get to see it continued volatility, ups and downs in the markets.

And a lot of economic anxiety amid both the U.S. economy, as well as general Americans in terms of their jobs and the day to day. So, it's a big challenge. This is a first step, I think it's a good step, but lots of work still to do.

CHURCH: Yes, absolutely. But as you say, this is the step that we are all waiting for and looking for, and we'll see what happens from here.

Thomas Gift, many thanks to you for joining us from London. Appreciate it.

Well, travel restrictions are being lifted in China's Hubei province, but in Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, that will remain under lockdown until April 8th. It's being cut off from the world for months now.

And CNN senior producer Steven Jiang is with us now from being to talk more about this.

And, Steven, it has to be said that of course we're all very encouraged by this news of travel restrictions being lifted in Hubei province. But the epicenter, we mentioned, Wuhan, that is still under lockdown for another two weeks or so.

So what do you know about what's happening inside Wuhan, what they are waiting for at this juncture?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Well, Rosemary, millions of Wuhan residents are eagerly counting down to that date two weeks from now. But even so, within the city limits, you are seeing growing signs of the authority's preparation for that prospect.

Now, starting today, they are resuming bus services on 117 routes, and they are also going to partially reopen the city's subway system next week after a deep cleaning and disinfecting all the trains and stations. And they have already cautiously reopened some supermarkets and some neighborhoods. And more and more workers in Wuhan are already returning to their jobs as well in major auto plants like Honda.

This is worth noting because Wuhan, as well as the rest of Hubei, is an important industrial hub, not only for China but also in the global supply chain. Now, I think for many Wuhan residents, they have a pretty good guess in what's to be expected by looking at what's happening today in the rest of the province. Overnight, workers removed many road blocks that have been set up on highways and expressways. Now, traffic has been flowing in and out of the province, intercity, inter-provincial rail and bus services have been restored as well.

But, of course, all of this is preconditioned on one thing. That is you have to have this very important green QR code on your mobile phones. That's the only indication that a government has deemed you healthy and low risk that allows you to move about within the province, as well as in and out of region.

So, Rosemary, a very delicate balance trying to strike here between getting the economy back on line, as well as to ensure there's no second wave of infections at the epicenter of this outbreak -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes. We are all looking to our future in China of course because it started there. It gives us an idea of the trajectory of all of this.

CNN's Steven Jiang bringing us the very latest there from Beijing. Appreciate it.

Well, the Summer Games in Tokyo are now postponed. But it's not the first time Japan has experienced what one lawmaker calls the Olympic curse. That's next on CNN NEWSROOM.

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[04:42:55]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

The 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo are moving to 2021. The International Olympic Committee and Japan's prime minister agree to postpone the Olympics until next year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

CNN's Will Ripley joins us live from Tokyo.

Good to see you, Will. So, Japan's prime minister had been resisting the inevitability of

this for a little bit there, hadn't he? Now it's reality. How is this going to work for 2021? And what about all those folks who already have their tickets?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the big question, Rosemary. Now that they have made this, I guess, unofficial announcement, because it's going to be the IOC that says this is the date and whatnot. But we all presume it will be the summer of 2021 when 2020 Olympics will be held, because they're still going to call it 2020 Olympics. They don't have to take down the signs that are everywhere in the city.

But they have a huge logistical nightmare ahead of them in terms of figuring out what to do with people who spent a thousand or $2,000 for tickets to get refunds. Do tickets transfer over? What happens to the athletes' village? A lot of those units are already being presold. People are supposed to be living in them by next year.

But this also has a really historical aspect to all of this because in the history of the modern Olympics during World War I and World War II, the games have been canceled three times. They have never been postponed until now.

One of the cancellations was the 1940 games, which ironically were supposed to be held right here in Tokyo, leading some to believe there might be a bit of an Olympic curse going on.

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RIPLEY (voice-over): The signs are all over Tokyo, symbols of what was supposed to be a Japanese revival, a comeback, crushed, at least for now.

Tokyo 2020 organizers and the International Olympic Committee bowing to global pressure, pressure brought on by the novel coronavirus catastrophe.

Memories of another disaster, nine years ago, still fresh on many Japanese minds. 2011's megaquake, tsunami, and Fukushima triple meltdown.

[04:45:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tokyo!

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RIPLEY: Winning the Olympic bid in 2013 brought a surge of national pride, and badly needed jobs. Japan invested tens of billions of dollars, new infrastructure, new technology. 2020 was supposed to be a banner year, a year now defined by a once in a century global pandemic.

We've overcome natural disaster, war, but things are different now. This will be the biggest challenge we ever face, says Shigeru Ishiba, one of Japan's most powerful lawmakers.

He says Japan's aging population and shrinking workforce makes it much harder to bounce back.

The Olympics are a cornerstone of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plan to transform Japan into a global destination, a plan to jump start the Japanese economy.

Analyst Keith Henry says even a delay has serious financial implications.

KEITH HENRY, FOUNDER, ASIA STRATEGY: This is a service sector economy obviously, the railroads, the hotels, the regions of Japan that were counting on people spending a few days in Tokyo and then wondering about and through the beaches of the hinterlands of Japan. The damage, the economic damage will be widespread all across Japan.

RIPLEY: The finance minister Taro Aso even went so far as to call coronavirus proof of an Olympic curse. Aso was born in 1940, when World War II extinguished Japan's Olympic flame. Tokyo was supposed to host the canceled 1940 Games. It would end up waiting 24 years.

The 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Japan's reintroduction to the world, showcasing a miracle recovery, rising from the ashes of war.

Today, a new war, against a deadly virus. Putting Japan's Olympic dreams on hold yet again.

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RIPLEY: The cost of putting those Olympic dreams on hold, economists are telling us, upwards of $5 billion on top of the $20 billion that Japan was already on track to already spend. If there is something we can all look forward to in 2021, the Summer Olympics here in Tokyo, and then, Rosemary, just months later, the Winter Olympics in Beijing. It is certainly something the world is ready for after what we have endured this year in 2020.

CHURCH: Yes, something we don't need is another ride, right? We've just had quite the go of it. Will Ripley joining us live from Tokyo. Many thanks to you. Appreciate it.

Well, as hospitals struggle to keep up with the coronavirus cases, they are having to be extra vigilant about pregnant women. In New York, where cases number well over 25,000, hospitals are taking extra precautions to keep soon-to-be mothers safe.

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JESSE POUMARAS, LABOR AND POSTPARTUM DOULA: Everyone is just kind of devastated right now. The world looks very different today than it did even just two weeks ago when the expectations were beginning to shift. Hospitals had begun the ban doulas, additional support people and now in the last 48 hours, New York Presbyterian and Mt. Sinai Hospitals have banned partners, spouses, wives, mothers and people are really scared and devastated. I mean, right now, we are making plans and making contingency plans.

Some of my clients are planning on leaving the city altogether. Some are going as far as Indiana or Rhode Island to seek medical services elsewhere where they know their partners will be able to be included. Some people are choosing to do home birth now. And many of my clients are just hunkering down.

We are planning on setting them up with computers and iPads and other devices that can allow them to Facetime me and their partner throughout the laboring process so that they do have at least some essential plans of continuous support like they would if we were there.

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CHURCH: Well, doctors office or drive-through? A growing number of people across the United States are getting tested for coronavirus. How do you know if you need a test? We have some answers.

That's ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

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CHURCH: There are near 53,000 coronavirus cases in the United States. And more than 700 people have died. For those who think they might be sick, the key question is how and where do I get tested?

CNN's Brian Todd has our report.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Arlington, Virginia, a well-protected technician approaches a car at a drive through coronavirus test site, gives instructions on a bullhorn to a patient on the other side of a closed window. The patient then pulls behind a building to another checkpoint to get tested.

Officials at Virginia Hospital Center which runs this facility say they're doing about 50 to 60 tests a day.

Millions of people in the United States and around the world are asking critical questions about getting tested.

To start, how do you know if you need a coronavirus test?

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, DIVISION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: Upper respiratory symptoms might start this with runny nose, sore throat. It generally then leads to cough and shortness of breath.

TODD: Then, when you have a strong indication that you need a test, who should you call first? Officials say, don't just show up, call ahead. MELODY DICKERSON, CHIEF NURSING OFFICER, VIRGINIA HOSPITAL CENTER:

You would first notify your family doctor, and that physician will do a screening to see if you meet criteria to be tested. We don't want to test well individuals. Once the physician's assessed you, he or she will determine if you need an order. They would write that order. Then you would call the scheduling line and make an appointment.

TODD: At this facility in Arlington, when patients arrive they need to keep their windows up until it's time for the test. Here, the test takes about 10 minutes and results are given back in 5 to 7 days. But many remote sites are under more strain than this one.

[04:55:00]

Some localities like New York City are running so low on masks and gowns, they want to limit testing to those so hard hit, they are hospitalized.

DEANNE CRISWELL, COMMISSIONER, NYC EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT: Every test we give takes up valuable personal protective equipment that can be used when we're treating those that are in the hospital.

TODD: The Department of Health and Human Services is prioritizing for coronavirus tests patients already hospitalized, health workers with symptoms, elderly people over 65 with symptoms and those with compromised immune symptoms and underlying conditions with symptoms.

If you do take the test, be ready for some discomfort. At the Arlington facility, they insert a swab at the back of the throat but it varies.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The test was very quick but it goes a fair amount up into your sinuses and it's not comfortable.

TODD: The nursing officer that we spoke to at the Arlington site addressed crucial reasons why drive thru and other remote test sites have been set up.

MELODY DICKERSON, CHIEF NURSING OFFICER, VIRGINIA HOSPITAL CENTER: We are trying to prevent unnecessary trips to our emergency department for individuals who are seeking this testing, so we're giving them the means to do that. Secondly, it also saves a lot of personal protective equipment to do it this way.

TODD (on camera): Another commonly asked question regarding places like this is can more than one person in a car be tested? The people who run this facility say anyone in the car can be tested as long as they have an appointment and have been referred to this place my their doctor.

As far as how long this place is going to remain open, the people who run this facility say as long as they have the personal protective equipment that the workers here need.

Brian Todd, CNN, Arlington, Virginia. (END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And thanks for your company. Let's help our medical workers by staying home and staying safe. I'm Rosemary Church.

"NEW DAY" is next. You're watching CNN. Have yourselves a great day.

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