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CNN Live Event/Special
Chris Cuomo On His Wife's Battle Against Coronavirus; Joe Biden On The U.S. Battle Against Coronavirus; Mark Zuckerberg On How Facebook Is Battling Misinformation About Coronavirus. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired April 16, 2020 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[21:00:00]
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's what it means to have widespread testing available. Doesn't mean, as Dr. Birx said, Anderson that, you know, 325 million people are going to be tested. You can start to get an idea of what the country looks like.
But we're not close to actually being able to have enough testing to understand where is and how far a spread is Coronavirus in the United States. We got to be able to answer that question.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Yes. In this hour, we're going to talk to Mark Zuckerberg, his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, also former Vice President Joe Biden. Right now, let's go to Chris Cuomo.
Chris, how are you doing? How's your family? How's your wife?
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST, "CUOMO PRIME TIME": Better than I deserve. This was tough for Cristina to get it. And it's frustrating because it once again plays on like the name of this special tonight, Fact and Fear.
We have a lot of fear because we don't have a lot of facts. You know, last night, we were celebrating how "Oh, turns out that you're more contagious before you're symptomatic, oh."
GUPTA: Right.
CUOMO: Same night, my wife gets hit with Coronavirus 17 days into my case. We have completely different symptoms, thank God. She's stronger than I am. She has a stronger immune system. She's got a stronger constitution and stronger character.
But she lost her sense of smell and taste, but no fever, sinus pressure in her head, little bit of lethargy, and a little bit of residual frustration at me because I'm, you know, almost certainly how she got sick.
But here's the factor on our learning curve. And families are hitting with this, guys, as you know, all over the country. Now you got two sick parents, separately in quarantine.
The one silver lining I thought would be that she and I could be together, no. Why? Again, we don't know this BS about the antibodies, and whether or not I'm immune, OK? Whether it's Anthony Fauci or anyone on down, who does this, will tell
you they don't know that I have any immunity, even if I have the antibodies, and how it works, and how long it would be.
So, my wife and I have to be separated for another two weeks, which means our house is dependent on a 17-year-old, my daughter, Bella, who's stepping up. But you'll - you may hear them because this is now Lord of the Flies in my house. The kids are in control.
GUPTA: Chris, I got to ask, and I don't - I don't know the answer. But just - just based on what you're saying, I'm just working this through in my head. So, you and Cristina both have tested positive. You're both having symptoms.
So, and - and maybe I'm missing something. But you guys can't be together now? I mean I - I understand that you needed to be isolated. She would need to be isolated. But if you both have it, why can't you - why can't you interact now?
CUOMO: Well I'm not a doctor. But here's what I've learned.
COOPER: I mean we got a doctor around.
CUOMO: I'm just messing with you, Sanjay. You know I love you.
But I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night, and I had a couple of hallucinations that I was a brain surgeon.
So, here's what they say. They don't know. And in the abundance of caution, I could get re-infected. So, they want us to stay separated. We do have completely different symptoms, which is again part of the weirdness.
The kids, now anecdotally, Cristina believes that at least two of them have had it in the last few months. Why? Well we don't know, but atypically long-duration sinus, fever, lethargy.
I think we're going to learn that Coronavirus has been in this country since like October that there have been cases.
And, as you guys both know, and I hear all the time from all over the country, how many people do you hear saying "I think I had it. I had this and this. I lost my sense of smell and this and that and that. But I never got tested."
Those cases are like abounding all over the country. And I think that the frustration here is that we just don't know. I had a guy say to me today, Anderson, you'll find this very interesting, so I have this low-grade fever I can't beat.
This guy calls me today, and said, and he's a very big deal in this field. "Why do you keep complaining about the fever?" I said "Because I want to get past it." Well now I have the 72 hours of under-99 or so. So, by CDC guidelines, I'm fine. That's not my baseline temperature. My baseline temperature is 97, 96, or 98. He says "But you're going to have weeks of recovery from this where
you'll have residual inflammation, fevers, sweats, lung recovery, maybe a change in O2 volume." I never heard of this before.
I said, "Well what do you mean?" He goes, "Well the recovery of this virus can be two to five weeks. We saw it with Ebola. We saw it with this. We saw with that." No one told us that.
So now, even though I'm better, and if they test me, they want to re- test me now, I'll probably wait through the weekend to do it. And I am happy to do it. I'm happy to give my plasma. I'm happy to give my blood. I hope there're antibodies. I hope there's information for the clinicians in it.
But if I test negative twice in 24 hours, but I still feel like crap, for weeks, and I can't do normal work-outs, and I - I get sweaty if I'm under lights, or if I drink soup, he said "Yes, for weeks."
[21:05:00]
We don't know any of this, and that's scary.
COOPER: So - so Sanjay, in a case like that, would Chris, you know, if now Chris is living in a state where people are going back to work, would Chris be expected to go back to, hypothetical Chris, expected to go back to work, and would he still be, if he's having those, you know, residual effects, is he still shedding virus?
GUPTA: Yes, I mean, good question. We're all learning as we go along. But, and if Chris is having symptoms and, you know, some of these respiratory symptoms, or whatever they may be, then anytime anyone's having symptoms, they should not go back to work.
But I think what Chris is talking about, and a lot of people are asking themselves is "OK, now I'm isolated." We should all be staying at home, first and foremost. "But now, I'm isolated within my home. When could I possibly come out of that?"
72 hours, as Chris mentioned, without a fever, that's specific to that person. No more respiratory symptoms or certainly improving of those, and at least seven days since your symptoms started.
So unfortunately, Chris doesn't meet the - at least the - the last two criteria yet, so keeping our fingers crossed. But there's, you know, it can take a while, which is something we're learning about this, right? I mean Chris is experiencing, but we're all learning about it together.
CUOMO: Yes. I mean, look, they don't really know. They're figuring out the standards as they go. I was listening to Doctor Birx. And look, I - I think that she's in earnest and giving you good answers. She did not answer your guys' questions about the testing protocols.
COOPER: Yes.
CUOMO: Because they don't know how to do it. And if you don't have a cure, and I know they're going to start doing antibody testing in like a month or so, but if you can't tell people that if you get it, we can keep you from dying, and see that's another thing.
All of this is an academic exercise, and not important, until you hear about that case tomorrow about the guy who's my age, who was healthy, who died somewhere, or the mom who was fine, who died, or the 60-year- old who all the sudden crashed after a week of getting better.
Every time we hear about just one of those, it's enough to put possibilities in your head that are panicking. They don't know how to keep us safe prophylactically. I don't care how you phase it back in. There's no such thing as separate circles in this society. There's intercourse on all levels.
They open up Westchester, so those people aren't going to leave Westchester? You know, you open up a part of New York City, people aren't going to come in and out? We got to start answering more of these questions. The unknown is driving the fear.
COOPER: Yes. Chris, I'm so sorry about Cristina. I'm glad her symptoms that were not--
CUOMO: Me too, thank you.
COOPER: --what yours were. And, by the way, if you need a haircut--
CUOMO: It's OK.
COOPER: --I have a little experience now. And I'd be happy to come--
CUOMO: Well let me tell you about it.
GUPTA: Don't do it.
COOPER: --you know, when you're better, come by.
GUPTA: Don't do it.
CUOMO: As you can see, I'm working the Carol Brady look.
COOPER: Yes well, I don't know if you--
CUOMO: I know it's working for me.
COOPER: --I don't know if you have returned, Chris, but I gave myself a cut last night, and I gave myself a big bald spot right here. That's--
CUOMO: Anderson?
COOPER: Yes.
CUOMO: Now you will make that popular.
COOPER: Yes, I'm glad to.
CUOMO: And I will probably shave a hole in the side of my head--
COOPER: I'd like a - I have like a Peaky Blinder haircut now.
CUOMO: --and call it "The Coop."
COOPER: All right Chris, thanks very much.
GUPTA: Thanks, Chris.
COOPER: Our best to Cristina, all the family.
Joining us now--
CUOMO: Good to see you.
COOPER: --Democratic Presidential Candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden.
Mr. Vice President, thanks so much for being with us. How are you how? How's your family?
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, thank God, I'm doing well.
And I'm sorry about Cristina. I really am, Chris. You - you've been through a lot. But I'll tell you what. You got a 17-year-old who's going to be able to handle it, and she's going to be better for it. So, anyway, I wish you the best of luck, pal.
COOPER: Yes.
BIDEN: I'm - I'm doing fine, I think, I mean so far so good. Listening to Chris, I'm not sure anymore now.
But all kidding aside, I'm doing fine. My family is in good shape, the best we know. Now, I think I mentioned to you before. I have two grandchildren, from my deceased son, Beau, who live about, as the crow flies, about three quarters of a mile from me.
And they come every day, and stand out off the - off the back porch, and I bribe them with Haagen-Dazs ice cream, and throw down ice cream bars, and we talk for a half hour or so. But I'm not able to hug them yet.
And I've got a son and - and a new grandchild, out in California.
And I've got a daughter, who is a social worker, running a Boys & Girls Club project, down in Florida. And I got a son-in-law, who is separated from her, because she's down there and he's a - he's a surgeon up in Jefferson Hospital.
So, my kids are sort of all over.
COOPER: Yes. Looking at the President's new plan for reopening the country in phases, again, it's up to the - to the states, what do you think of what you heard today from - from the White House? BIDEN: Well I - I wouldn't call it a plan. I think what he's done, he's kind of punted. He's decided that he's not - he doesn't have the right to make the call for the country.
And he talks about phases that in a generic sense seem to me, from all I've learned, and all I've listened, in my morning briefs from the Docs I talk to, is not - is not a rational. But it doesn't give you any hard guidelines.
[21:10:00]
And one of the things that I think we should keep coming back to, and I've spent this morning, talking to the Docs that - that used to work with Sanjay in our last Administration and Heads of other entities that, you know, it gets down to testing. It's about testing, tracing, and treatment.
And - and so we're way behind on the testing piece. And I don't quite - I don't quite understand why we're taking so long to do the kinds of things that that have to be done.
You know, there is a - during World War II, you know, where Roosevelt came up with a thing that, you know, was totally different than a - than the - it's called - he called it the, you know, the World War II, he had the - the War Production Board.
I don't know why we don't set up something like a Pandemic Production Board where we open up, you know, things that oversee, you know, surging production to test kits and - and lab supplies, coordinating the distribution to states, identifying and testing sites, and sufficient, you know, trade personnel to staff these things - trained personnel, and ensuring adequate lab capacity, and clear guidance on who needs a test.
I mean I don't know where that is. I would have thought that would have been something that would have been decided how you deal with it because Doc, you've been saying all along, and I have great respect for you that, you know--
GUPTA: Yes.
BIDEN: --this ain't going to be over till we have a vaccine, and we're not going to be able to really make significant changes in the three phases the President's talking about or any phases until we're able to test much more broadly.
So, when someone is - comes back to work, they get tested, before they walk in the door, so they're in a position, you know, that all the folks you have, working in that plant, or working in that facility.
I mean I don't - and again, I'm not a scientist, I'm not a doc, but I've been paying an awful lot of attention, and it just seems to me that these are things the President would have done, had he taken responsibility early on.
But now, I think that Congress should pass a legislation and come up with something equivalent to creating a, you know, a Pandemic Testing Board, and give them the authority, and get out of the way.
GUPTA: One of the things that--
BIDEN: The President that is.
GUPTA: One of the things that, Mr. Vice President is - is people are starting to understand what at least normal could look like for a period of time until the vaccine, as you mentioned.
BIDEN: Yes, right.
GUPTA: Large gatherings limited, as you mentioned, temperature, even tests, before going into work, or a restaurant, people still wearing masks perhaps when they go out in public.
What do - what do you think the new normal should look like, Mr. Vice President?
BIDEN: Well, I think, the new normal should look like, until we have a vaccine that we take precautions, that we, in fact, continue to move in a direction, where we try to figure out everybody who's gathering in a place of employment, or in an area, even though they can have - still have social distancing, to test them whether or not they are, in fact, infected or have been infected, if you can find that out.
And based on my discussions today, you're able to do that, but we don't have - we don't have enough of all of the things that are needed, including, you know, the sourcing supplies, the - I mean whole range of things that need to be done.
I had a whole thing written down from my Docs, this morning, talking about showing me how the tests function, the machines that are needed to - to do the test.
We talk about - I heard earlier one of the Guvs saying, "We got plenty of machines." Well you don't have plenty of machines in a lot of places. You don't have plenty of machines to be able to go out and - and take even the swabs that can be done. And - and you don't have the protective gear for people taking those swabs.
I mean it seems to me there ought to be something that focuses on how do you get as many tests done as possible, to allow some elements of the economy, some elements of society, be able to get back to some sort of normal.
I'm not talking about, as the President said, the Alabama game with a 100,000 people or something. I'm talking about just being able to, you know, make sure that you're able to gather in relatively small groups, up to 30, 40 people in a restaurant that's separated and you're - you know, all your employees are tested et cetera.
I just - but I - testing seems to me to be a critical part of it.
GUPTA: And Mr. Vice President, you know, it seems to me that ultimately this balance, and I'm wondering how you think through this, just think through this issue, there's always going to be a balance between public health and wanting to get the - the country back up and running.
No matter what we're hearing, once you start opening things up, Mr. Vice President, people are going to get infected, more people are going to get infected, some may have to go to the hospital, and some may sadly die. That will happen at any point before the vaccine is actually available.
How, again, I don't - leaving aside specific numbers, how do you think through that in your own mind? How would you make those decisions?
[21:15:00]
BIDEN: The way I think through that is I err on the side of caution. Look, I think it's a false choice to say you have to choose between the economy and our health.
If you don't fix the health side, the economy is never going to get right. You're never going to be back in that place. You're never going to be at a place where you get to a remotely a new normal.
And we have to get back ultimately to normal, where people can gather. But that's going to take a while until you have the vaccine. In the meantime, there seems to me there are things you can do. There are certain jobs.
For example, we talk about being able to, you know, have - we want small businesses to be able to stay in business. Well guess what?
The really small mom-and-pop, until you can walk down Main Street, and see all those stores, or drive down, to see all those stores from before, from the coffee shop, to the hairdresser, to the barber shop, to the nail salon, to the hardware store, that's not - that's what I mean by small business.
I'm not talking about a five - small business, technically 500 people or less. Well we want them to do well too. But if these little guys go out of business, they're out of business. I mean they're not coming back likely.
And so, I think we should think about how we deal with the economy in a different way. For example, I think we should do a situation like we did in the Recovery Act, and that is that instead of employers, if they're able to stay open, instead of being able to shut - having to lay off employees, bring on everybody where - keep them working.
They may have one person doing 50 percent of the job and another person doing another 50 percent. I think the federal government should just come in and make up the difference in the salaries, just make up the difference, to keep people employed.
The most devastating thing a man or woman has to do is make, what I call, that longest walk up a short flight of stairs, where the kids say, "Daddy doesn't have a job. We don't have any income. We don't know what's going to happen. Things are in trouble."
And so, keep people on the payrolls, and just have straight flat payment, a flat payment where the government pays half the salary of everybody on there, you can keep everybody doing half the work they were doing, but everybody stays employed.
But that requires you to be in a position where you know the people you have inside whatever that facility-building circumstance is that they, in fact, have protective gear, but they also are have been tested.
We know whether or not they are, they've had it or they are - or they have it. And I just think it's--
COOPER: Yes.
BIDEN: --I think you got to err on the side of health, not on the side of the commerce side. But you got to take care of the little guy. I mean the mom-and-pop operations.
COOPER: Yes.
BIDEN: They're the heart and soul of communities.
COOPER: I want to--
BIDEN: And when they go, they go.
COOPER: I want to bring in just some viewer questions, if we can. Evan in Fairbanks, Alaska--
BIDEN: Sure.
COOPER: --sent in - sent in a video question for you. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EVAN EADS, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: Despite your previous pledge to pick a woman in for Vice President, would you reconsider that for a qualified candidate who has performed admirably during this crisis, like Governor Cuomo?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I think Governor Cuomo is capable of being President. I think he's a great guy. But I think it's also important that - that to be a woman.
I think it's important that we - look, I want an Administration to look, and there's plenty of qualified, there's plenty of women with the experience and the capability of being President tomorrow.
And I think it's important that we begin to have, my Administration, God willing, is going to look like America.
And I really - I genuinely mean that, not just - not just Vice President, but making sure that we have a Supreme Court, we have a Cabinet, we have a White House that looks like the country, and I think it really matters. And so, I think it's really important that I - and there's plenty of qualified people, who have the experience and background, who are women, are ready to be President on Day One, and I'm just going to stick with that.
GUPTA: Mr. Vice President, let's get to one more viewer question. Again, Scott Owens, in Wisconsin, sent in this video. Please take a look.
BIDEN: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT OWENS, ENTREPRENEUR AND GAME DEVELOPER: The Coronavirus will have a profound impact on our lives for years to come.
Many people believe that very big New Deal type proposals will be needed in order to recover economically and to ensure the health and safety of all Americans.
Are you willing to consider Universal Healthcare, basic income, and other ideas that perhaps just a few months ago you would have thought to be too ambitious or unnecessary?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Well I didn't think they were too ambitious. I thought that Universal Healthcare can be accomplished by providing a public option for Obamacare, significantly increasing the subsidies for Obamacare.
It will cost a lot of money. It costs about $750 billion. But it would provide universal care for everyone and everyone with pre-existing conditions.
And I also do think there's going to be a need - look, you have a high - entire generation of young people be getting back in - in 2000 - when - when the attack occurred on 9/11 that in fact have been behind the eight ball from the time they got out of school, whether it's high school or college.
[21:20:00]
We ended up in a situation where we had the Great Recession, people who had opportunities that would have otherwise been available to them, or good-paying jobs, found themselves in real trouble.
They did not - weren't able to get those jobs. They weren't available to them. They also had significant student debt they found themselves. And now look what's happening.
You have a whole generation of people between the ages of 18 and 30, who are going to be further put behind the - the eight ball here because this is going to provide - look what's happening in terms of employment across the board.
And so, I think we have to look at it totally differently than we have before. And I think the way to get through this is we have to deal with stimulating the economy, but then we have to deal with recovery - recovery.
And the way you deal with recovery is you think much bigger than we have before. It's like the New Deal, think of every great - every great change that's taken place that's come out of a crisis - that's come out of a crisis.
Nobody - we worried about the elderly. We ended up with Social Security. We worried about labor. We ended up with more Labor Union. We worried about a whole range of things, and what we did? We expanded opportunity.
And I think we have an opportunity now to significantly change the mindset of the American people, things they weren't ready to do, you know, even two, three years ago.
COOPER: Right.
BIDEN: They're now going "Oh, my Lord! Look at all those people out there making minimum wage or saving their lives, look at all the people out there stocking the shelves, look at all the people who are making sure that they're sanitizing the - the areas you go into," these are people who deserve to be treated better.
I think you're going to see minimum wages going up. I think you're going to see the ability of us to provide for significant healthcare for every single American. I think you're going to see changes in education because the public realizes "Holy Mackerel! I didn't know this. It's like the Band-Aid's been ripped off."
The systemic, you know, the systemic racism exists, the systemic way in which we treat people who have not had the opportunity to get the education that they're entitled to, I think that's going to all change. And I think it's going to build the economy.
One last thing, look, Anderson, you and I've talked about this. We have an opportunity now to take in a Recovery Act, a real recovery, we can fundamentally change the science relating to global warming.
And we can create, seriously create, 10 million good-paying jobs. We can do it. It's within our power to do it. We can put in 550,000 charging stations along our highways. We can own the - the electric vehicle market.
We can set up a transmission system across the country were we invest billions of dollars and do it, so we can transfer, across the country, to every - every other country, wind and solar energy, new battery technologies, all the things that are out there that are going to be able to provide people in organized labor, people who we are educating in terms of science and technology, I mean there's so many opportunities.
COOPER: Right.
BIDEN: And I think the country is going to be ready for it, and are going to need it.
COOPER: Vice President Biden, we appreciate your time.
GUPTA: Thank you, Sir.
COOPER: Thank you.
BIDEN: I'm optimistic about this. I really am guys. We're going to come out of this stronger. It's going to be hell getting out of it though.
COOPER: Yes. Let's take a break. Thank you very much, Vice President Biden.
When we return, Mark Zuckerberg, his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, they're going to join us next.
[21:25:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Welcome back to the CNN Global Town Hall.
Before the break, we spoke to Democratic Candidate for President, Joe Biden, about the role of the public sector, and providing aid during the pandemic.
We now want to turn to what the private sector can do. Joining us now are the Founders of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Dr. Priscilla Chan, a Pediatrician, and her husband, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg.
Their Initiative has provided millions to help facilitate the development of treatments, free testing, and education efforts to aid poor students most affected by - by school closures.
Thanks so much for - for being with us. Mark and Priscilla, I'm wondering just how are your lives changed in this pandemic. I assume, like everyone else, you're - you're doing most things remotely.
MARK ZUCKERBERG, FOUNDER AND CEO, FACEBOOK: Yes.
DR. PRISCILLA CHAN, CO-CEO, CHAN ZUCKERBERG INITIATIVE: Yes.
ZUCKERBERG: We're working from home. You know, it's--
CHAN: Kids are at home.
ZUCKERBERG: It's a new experience just being right down the hall working from Priscilla, it's nice.
CHAN: Yes. But--
COOPER: I--
CHAN: --we definitely miss - miss our normal lives just like everyone else. COOPER: I Zoomed with you yesterday which, by the way, it was my first time ever Zooming. But I'd - Mark had - Priscilla, you told me Mark had just come in from gardening. And right before we went on air now, Mark said that you actually cut his hair.
CHAN: That's - that's right.
ZUCKERBERG: It is true.
CHAN: Yes.
ZUCKERBERG: That's true.
COOPER: You're quite - you did a good job because I - I was telling people, I cut my hair last night, and - and gave myself a giant bald spot over here, so.
ZUCKERBERG: Well thank you, Anderson. I think you might be the only person who's ever complimented my hair.
GUPTA: You got - you're both parents to your young children. I have - I have children as well.
Millions of Americans are trying to balance right now, the working from home, and parenting, and you want to spend more time with your family, but it can be challenging.
How is - how's that part of things going? How do you - how are you navigating that part of your life?
CHAN: Yes, look, at CZI, we're - the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, we're doing everything remotely. And children, dogs, family members walk into meetings all the time. That's just a normal part of that.
But sometimes, you do need to take a quiet meeting. And Mark and I have been known to hide in corners to make sure that we can have the peace and quiet that we need to get some work done.
COOPER: So, obviously, right now, look all states, all companies, are trying to figure out how to move forward, you know, until there's a vaccine. I'm wondering, I know you have already announced some stuff.
For you, Mark, what does working at Facebook look like, you know, in the next year or two?
ZUCKERBERG: Well, you know, I think it's clear that the return to work, when it happens, will have to be a - be done in a staggered way. And we're fortunate enough to be able to work productively from home, where software engineers can do that.
[21:30:00]
And as society begins to reopen, you know, we think it's important that we give right-of-way to other types of businesses and people who - who may not have the flexibility to work from home productively, for their livelihoods, make sure they can get back to work first. So, just today, we announced that the vast majority of Facebook employees should expect that they're going to be required to work from home through at least the end of May, and likely longer, in order to make sure that - that other people in our local communities can be the first to access the shared public resources, and be - can be the first to get back to work.
And I think we'll likely continue that philosophy. I don't know how long this will take for - for society to reopen. But I would imagine that we will be among the last, back to work, in order to make sure - last, back to the offices, in order to make sure that others can get back first.
GUPTA: And Priscilla, your Foundation focuses a lot on education. You have kids, as we just said. What about schools? Do you think they'll still be online this fall? And do you think there's any merit to that?
I mean, you know, the idea of bricks-and-mortar education is something that we're very familiar with. But, as we've gone to online, had there been some merits to that, do you think?
CHAN: Yes. I think getting kids into a supportive educational environment is incredibly important. And, right now, a lot of families are struggling with that.
What we're doing, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, through our investments in education, is really thinking about that whole child. For us, quality education has always been thinking about a kid's holistic needs, not just reading and math.
And now, more than other - ever, we need social emotional supports, we need abilities for kids to sort of explore their curiosity, their focus, their grit, and a lot's happening.
Not every household is the same. And they're - they're seeing a lot of challenges in their community, their families, and some kids are seeing loss. And so, that's going to be a lot for kids in schools to process over time.
And whether or not we go back to school in September, I'm not the right person to guess at that, but what I do know is that kids will always need that mentor, that teacher, in their life, to help guide, work, decisions, exploring.
And that can look a lot of different ways, and we've always known it as a school. And we, as a society, we're going to have to think about this create - creatively, as we get through the next, you know, few months of Coronavirus.
Mark, I saw something, I think that Face - that you're going to do at Facebook that I think you made an announcement that you're not going to have any meetings of - of more than a certain number of people until 2021. Is that right?
ZUCKERBERG: Yes, that's right. So, as part of the staggered reopening of society, it's - it's not just going to be that some locations open before others.
It's going to need to be that, you know, some functions and - and some jobs can get done, and others, we just wait longer to bring back online. And I think large events are probably going to be the last thing, at least one of the last things that comes back online.
So, we've gone ahead and made the policy call now that through June of 2021, so next year, we're not going to - we're not going to host any internal or external physical events that have 50 or more people in them.
A lot of the events that we need to hold will just shift to be virtual online events. But some of them, you know, we'll - we'll find other ways to do them, or we'll just cancel them.
But I think that that doesn't mean that we won't be productive until then. But I do think that large events, you know, people going to sports events, movie theaters, things like that, are probably going to be one of the last things that - that comes online as part of this reopening.
GUPTA: I'm curious, when you think about providing accurate knowledge to - to people helping do that, or at least not letting them get bad knowledge, this - this is a story where we've learned a lot along the way.
I mean the knowledge has sort of changed, you know, we - how - just how communicable it is, how lethal it is, how it's spreading, should you wear a mask, should you not wear masks, all these types of things.
When there's a lot of information out there, sometimes, you know, there's a lot of bad information as well. Just how do you - how do you approach thinking about that to make sure the - the right knowledge, at least what we know at the time, is what's getting out there?
ZUCKERBERG: Yes. So, I think one of the most important functions that Facebook and - and our apps can do right now is help connect people with authoritative health information and experts, and at the same time, to limit the spread of misinformation.
So, on the work that we're doing to connect people with authoritative health information, we've actually directed more than 2 billion people to this COVID-19 Information Center that we built that we put at the top of the Facebook app for everyone, and through these educational pop-ups that we've put throughout the product, if you go search for information, or - or if you show up in a group, for example.
[21:35:00]
And of the 2 billion people that we've shown that to, more than 350 million people have clicked through and - and spent some time on the - on the COVID Information Center.
So, that is - is valuable. It's showing information from health experts, from local government officials. It's - just it's high- quality content. Equally important is making sure that we limit the spread of
misinformation. And there, there are two basic policies that we have.
One is if information - if someone's spreading something that puts people at imminent risk of physical harm, then we take that down. We don't allow that on Facebook at all.
So, you know, for example, some people are trying to spread these complete hoaxes like, you know, if you want to cure Coronavirus, drink bleach, right?
Obviously, that's - that's a disaster. That's false and that's dangerous. So, you know, someone tries to share that, we'll just take that down. And - and there have been a lot of pieces of content like that that we've taken down.
There are also other misinformation that may not lead to physical - imminent risk of physical harm, but still isn't the type of stuff we want to be spreading through our system. And there, we work with independent fact-checkers.
And so far, during this crisis, those fact-checkers have marked 4,000 pieces of content, individual articles false, which has led to us showing warning labels to more than 40 million times across our products when people come across something that's false, and the warning labels work.
We know that because 95 percent of the time, when someone sees a piece of information that - that has a fact-check on it, they don't go through and consume that information.
So, I think that overall, both of these sides of the equation, the showing authoritative information, and limiting the spread of misinformation, are incredibly important, especially so during a health crisis.
And - and, you know, a lot of work has gone into this. We've gotten a lot better at this over the last few years, as a company. And I'm - I'm really proud of the way that the team is - is working on this.
COOPER: You're also working on building disease prevention maps. And can you just explain using all the data that you have access to, can you - can you explain how that works? And - and what it might be able to show and help people with?
ZUCKERBERG: Sure. I think that this is going to be potentially a very important tool for - for governments and - and public health officials.
What we're doing is we're - we're running a widespread survey, across Facebook, asking people what kind of symptoms they're feeling. Do you feel a fever? Do you have a cough, shortness of breath? Have you lost your - your sense of smell?
And by asking those questions, and - and basically we're working with academics, Carnegie Mellon University, to start, so - so all the information goes to them. We're not collecting health information about people.
But through the survey, we're then able to produce a county-by-county map, across the country, of the prevalence of - of disease, and people with symptoms.
And I know this is just going to be quite valuable for local governments and - and health officials to get a sense of what's happening in their area, and what's about to happen, because people report feeling symptoms, days before they would actually feel like they need to go get tested, or would show up in the hospital, or develop some of the more severe side effects of - of COVID.
So, this can help give people a leading indicator of what's happening, which can help plan the near-term public health response, help allocate scarce resources, whether it's masks or ventilators.
But then over the coming weeks and months, it'll also help local governments figure out how they should be opening up their - when it's going to be safe to - to start opening and having people come back into society, or if something starts going wrong, and there's a recurrence, when they might need to restrict things further again, until it gets back under control.
COOPER: And Priscilla, through the - the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, you're also redirecting a lot of efforts to Coronavirus.
CHAN: Yes. So, you know, Mark's - the study that Mark's talking about through Facebook is an awesome example of Sentinel testing, where you get the early signs.
But also important is the ability for individual patients to know that they actually have Coronavirus, and if they've been infected with Coronavirus, in the past. And policymakers are also going to want to know how - what's the incidence, how many cases of Coronavirus are in my area now.
And those are all questions that were - the scientific community is trying to figure out.
But, at CZI, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, we've been working on science for about four years now with the aim of building great infrastructure for scientists, so that we can cure, prevent, and manage all disease by the end of century.
[21:40:00]
Obviously, Coronavirus is an awful hit to us globally. And so, what we've done is actually reorient a number of resources, including the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, where we invested $600 million for over 10 years for research.
And, in March, when we realized that testing, and the first step being individual testing, was necessary, we turned that lab around, equipment, leaders, grad students, volunteers, faculty members, into a certified laboratory to test for Coronavirus. And within eight days, we got - we got up to a capacity of a 1,000 tests a day. COOPER: Wow!
CHAN: So, that was really awesome to be able to serve our community that way. And when we realized that we had more capacity, we've now, as of today, made testing free to all departments of public health in California.
GUPTA: That's great.
COOPER: That's awesome.
ZUCKERBERG: Yes.
CHAN: There's also an interesting launch there.
COOPER: Yes.
CHAN: Around - because they are a established scientific lab, in addition to a testing center, they are both testing whether or not an individual has Coronavirus.
And then, they're taking the - the positives, and then doing a full genome sequence of the Coronavirus-positive test, and they look for tiny mutations in the Coronavirus sequence that allows the scientists to sort of back-calculate how many other unknown cases there are in a community.
And so, there's - that's just the tip of sort of what these amazing scientists, Joe DeRisi, Steve Quake, and others at the Biohub, and then many more, across UCSF-Stanford are trying to - to get to that question that we all need to know, how many cases are there out there, so that we can go back to work as a society.
COOPER: Yes.
ZUCKERBERG: Yes. So, the team over there has done really--
CHAN: Yes.
ZUCKERBERG: --impressive work. I mean it's basically and we built up all this technology to use for a long-term research.
And like Priscilla said, within days, or weeks, I mean basically the team repurposed it, and said, "Hey, yes, that long-term research is really important. But - but, right now, we need to make sure that we can use all this equipment to help with testing and - and to help out with the acute response to the health crisis in the Bay area."
So, it's - I mean I've been really proud of them.
COOPER: Yes. I mean testing obviously is at the heart of moving forward from - from where we're at right now. Mark Zuckerberg, and Dr. Priscilla Chan, thank you so much, really appreciate you--
GUPTA: Thank you.
COOPER: --you being with us. It's fascinating what you're doing.
CHAN: Thank you.
ZUCKERBERG: Thanks for having us.
COOPER: Yes, appreciate all your efforts.
GUPTA: You too.
COOPER: Up next, we're going to take a look at the psychological impact of the pandemic, questions and some answers from psychiatrist, be right back.
[21:45:00]
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COOPER: The CNN's Global Town Hall, we'll get answers to more of your Coronavirus questions ahead.
A reminder, at the bottom of your screen, you'll see our social media scroll that it shows the questions that a lot of people are asking. You can tweet us your questions with #CNNTownHall. You can also leave a comment on the CNN Facebook page.
It's really no question that the psychological impact of physical distancing, the anxiety that all of us are experiencing, for a variety of reasons, is a key part of the ongoing pandemic. So, we want to bring back in Doctor - Psychiatrist, Dr. Christine Moutier.
It's good to see you. Thanks for being with us. You know, obviously, the headlines, the stories behind the headlines, continue to be devastating. So many, you know, lives lost.
What do you think - what's your advice for people just sort of, I don't know what the word is, just dealing with the - the trauma, the grief, you know, especially when - when isolated physically?
DR. CHRISTINE MOUTIER, PSYCHIATRIST: Yes. Right now, there is a wave of grief that so many of us are experiencing. And there are different types of losses.
And - and I would just - I think it helps all of us when we know how to set our course a little bit, like how to set expectations. And - and it's also really important to not minimize your loss because it doesn't seem as - as huge as somebody else's. Loss is loss. And - and grief is a real and very painful experience,
and it's really important to acknowledge that, to understand that it's not a linear experience, and that's OK.
It will come in waves of intensity, it will kind of circle back around, at times. There are triggers for memories. And - and all of that is a normal part of the grieving process. And, in fact, grief is a universal human experience.
The one other thing I would say about it is that if you were someone who knows somebody, who's experienced a loss, and you feel like you don't really have a way to support them, or relate to them, the main thing is don't avoid them.
Reach out to them, and with expressions of love, and caring, and support, just like you would at any other time, we can do that remotely.
And don't assume that just because you're not going through the same thing that, you know, that you can't do that. We all have a role to play with supporting each other right now.
GUPTA: Dr. Moutier, you know, it seems like there's a lot of whiplash right now. And people are hearing the conversation about the country reopening, as soon as possible, everybody wants that obviously.
At the same time, there was a study that was - got a lot of attention, saying we might have to do some intermittent social distancing, at least until 2022.
I mean those are very, and for a lot of people, that's just conflicting messages. That's what people are hearing. How do you suggest they deal with that?
MOUTIER: To me, it still taps into the same issue that we've been challenged with, this whole time, which is being faced with uncertainty. And it just feels uncomfortable. Again, we like to set our course, and have a sense of power and control.
Now, the truth is, even during our normal lives, outside of this COVID moment, there are lots of things that are uncertain, and many things that are well outside of our control.
And so, there are things within our control, right now, and it's a time when I think just reflecting on what can we control, and what is outside our control. And so, let's just move towards those things that we can start planning for, and to help ourselves, you know, take action, and feel present in this moment.
Those are the strategies that we can do and that we do have control over.
[21:50:00]
COOPER: We've got a lot of viewer interest, obviously a lot of questions. There's a question that came in via Twitter. It's there on the social media scroll. It reads "What medical advice is suggested for addict/alcoholics and relapses during isolation?"
MOUTIER: Right. Well the first thing to realize about addiction is that it is a disease of the brain.
It's a health condition, like any other health conditions. So, the main thing is try to get out of the seat of judgment, and assuming that you're just weak or making bad choices.
It is an illness. There is treatment available, even during this moment. And I would urge people to look for virtual ways to connect with a support group, 12-Step group, a sponsor.
And on the SAMHSA web page, there is a Treatment Finder, where you can learn more about where treatment services are available for substance use problems.
GUPTA: I - I read a report, I think, came out today that says anti- anxiety medication prescriptions are up 34 percent between February and March. And - and that - that is nearly twice as high for women as compared to men.
Have you ever seen a spike like that?
MOUTIER: Yes. There are - there have been times, as we know, in our society, when we've been faced with tremendously stressful natural disasters, wartime, many - many sort of assaults to our life as usual, and this is certainly one of them.
So, it doesn't surprise me in the sense that we know that stress and anxiety, sense of isolation, for some people, depression, all of those things are natural human struggles, and they're part of our mental health. And it is a good thing to seek treatment for all of those kinds of issues.
I think the gender difference, you can think about the fact that there are some gender differences between anxiety disorders and - and also for depression between, you know, the prevalence for women being greater than men.
But it's also true that women tend to be the healthcare brokers of the family, meaning we will advocate for our own, and our loved ones' health needs. And so, it's - it's not necessarily indicative of men not feeling every bit as stressed and anxious right now.
GUPTA: Dr. Moutier, yes, thank you very much, appreciate it, always - always great to hear from you.
MOUTIER: Thank you.
COOPER: Great to have you, thanks.
MOUTIER: Yes.
GUPTA: And beyond the resources, just mentioned, CNN also has a page of Resources as well. You can see that web address right there on your screen.
COOPER: We'll be right back.
[21:55:00]
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GUPTA: A lot of you have asked about how you can help those affected by Coronavirus.
You can do that now by going to CNN.com/CoronavirusHowToHelp. There are categories there to search for suggestions of organizations that you can contribute to, and how you can even get help for yourself. You can also go to CNN.com/Impact.
COOPER: Sanjay, thanks so much, our 7th Town Hall.
GUPTA: Yes.
COOPER: Really appreciate it. Also--
GUPTA: Thanks for the smile tonight, Anderson, by showing me your--
COOPER: Oh my - my--
GUPTA: Yes. Appreciate that.
COOPER: My - my bald spot.
GUPTA: I needed that.
COOPER: Yes, so.
GUPTA: Yes.
COOPER: Did it to myself, nobody but - nobody but myself to blame.
We want to thank Dr. Deborah Birx, Mark Zuckerberg, Dr. Priscilla Chan, and Democratic Presidential Candidate, Joe Biden. Also thanks to all those of you who wrote in with your questions.
To everyone else who joined us tonight, if you didn't get your question answered, I know there's lot of questions that don't get answered. The conversation continues at CNN.com/CoronavirusAnswers. We are all in this together.
The news continues after a quick break with Don Lemon and CNN TONIGHT.
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