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White House Scrambles To Contain Coronavirus Outbreaks; Coronavirus Issues Hit Joint Chiefs; Former White House Physician, Dr. William Lang, Discusses Coronavirus Entering The White House; Complications When One State Opens Fast And Its Neighboring State Opens Slow; South Dakota Sioux Tribe Defies Governor, Refuses To Take Down Checkpoints; Interview With Navajo Nation President, Jonathan Nez, On Shutdown Of Gallup & Sioux Tribe Checkpoints In South Dakota. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired May 11, 2020 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:00:14]

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John King in Washington. This is CNN continued coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

The global reopening experiment is expanding as we enter this new work week. Assembly lines are running again in Michigan. Coffee shops are open in Arizona.

But consider these blunt words from a top adviser to the president of the United States. Quote, "It is scary to go to work."

Scary to go to the most protected workplace in America because of two positive coronavirus tests at the White House this past week.

It is a messaging disaster for the president. He wants the economy switched back on and is mad, tweeting again today at governors who he thinks are going too slow.

But coronavirus found its way into his house and into his workplace. Three members of his virus response team now in quarantine. And there's an urgent White House effort to try to trace the source of these infections. Top White House aides have access to daily testing. Most of you don't.

But the president will be in the Rose Garden this afternoon to make the case that testing has now ramped up enough to make reopening safe.

The top-line numbers -- you see them on the screen there -- they continue to stun, 1.3 million cases in the United States now. And we are approaching 80,000 American dead.

The movement, though, is in the right direction, at least right now. Take a peek here. The rolling average of cases in the past two weeks does show a clearly downward trajectory. Deaths sunk to a recent low Sunday but they've been following in a familiar path with end-of-the- week dips and early week peaks. So we'll watch those.

The model the White House cited for months began revising its projected American death toll upward, citing an explosion in the number of people moving around and concerns not enough of them are wearing masks or social distancing as they do so.

Some doctors warn, between now and next year, seven in 10 Americans are likely to contract the virus.

Ohio's governor has been cautious but listen, today, he says there are no good choices left.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE DEWINE, (R), OHIO GOVERNOR: There's a risk if we do nothing, if we don't open up. There's a risk if we open up. We know that. If people don't have confidence, if they don't think they're safe at a restaurant, if they don't think they're safe in going to a jewelry store, then they're not going to go out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Our correspondents have the latest reporting, CNN'S John Harwood from the White House, Barbara Starr from the Pentagon.

John, let me start with you.

The White House is doing contact tracing, trying to figure out how the coronavirus got into the president's house and into his office. What's the latest?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they spent the weekend trying to figure out who Katie Miller had been in contact with, trying to figure out where she had gotten the virus. They were not successful this weekend. We'll see what they turn up today.

But it's left, as you indicated earlier, John, with the messaging disaster for the White House. The president is angry about these cases, but what he's angry about is reality because the virus is out there.

You have the public health officials of the administration have taken themselves into quarantine, fully or partially, Stephen Hahn at the FDA,, Anthony Fauci of the NIH, and Robert Redfield from the CDC.

On the other hand, you've got other people perhaps with less contact with Katie Miller. You've got to assume they're making wise judgments who are not quarantining. The Surgeon General Jerome Adams, Mike Pence is not quarantining as well.

So you have this mishmash. While the president of the United States, who has access to fine medical care, daily testing, Secret Service protection. He nor vice president Pence themselves are neither quarantining nor wearing masks in public. They're trying to keep public confidence up. But it's very difficult to do that, as you know, John, when you've got these cases in the White House, when you've got a Senate hearing tomorrow, when the chairman of the committee, Lamar Alexander, will be questioning witnesses from quarantine himself because a staffer tested positive. And he'll be asking questions of those three public health officials I mentioned earlier who are also in quarantine.

How can the public take any message from that other than it is pretty dicey to go out there? And that's going to tamp down the very economic recovery the president wants.

KING: And yet, John, the president in a way ignoring the issues in his own House, if you will, tweeting this morning about the reopening pace. "The great people of Pennsylvania want their freedom now. They're fully aware of what that entails. The Democrats are moving slowly across the USA for political purposes. They would wait until November 3rd if it were up to them. Don't play politics"

The president -- this is brazen but there are stronger words -- saying Democratic governors are going slow not because they're trying to protect their citizens but because they're trying to hurt him.

[11:04:57]

HARWOOD: Look, that is disconnect from reality. It is completely preposterous. The governors of the states are trying to protect their people, and by protecting their people, that's how you could reopen the country.

What they're asking for is a nationwide testing regime along the lines of what the president benefits from in the White House at this moment.

You do not have the capacity, as you indicated at the top of the hour, for Americans to be frequently tested to give them that confidence that the workplaces they go into, the shops they go into are going to be safe.

Until we get some semblance of that kind of testing regime or you get a vaccine or therapeutic that can wipe this thing out, we're going to have this problem.

KING: More than fair. Is this governor going too fast, is this governor too slow? What about dine-in services? To question the details is fine. To say the governors are doing this for politics is pretty shameless.

John Harwood, appreciate it.

Barbara Starr, let's get straight to the Pentagon.

The issue we see in the White House is also within the military brass.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: We do come to the question of protecting the U.S. military, the troops and the leadership now. Two members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have had the virus touch their orbit. This goes back to the meeting on Saturday at the White House with the

Joint Chiefs, the president and the entire national security team.

Two faces were notably absent. General Joseph Lengyel, head of the National Guard, which is so involved in trying to help around the country. He tested positive just before going into the meeting at the White House. He then went to Walter Reed, we are told, and he tested negative. At that time he is going to get a third test today to try to sort out what his situation is.

The chief of naval operations, Admiral Michael Gilday, was not at that meeting because a family member had coronavirus and he came in contact with that member. We're not being told who it is. Admiral Gilday is self-isolating for several days as a precaution.

But, look, these top officials are supposed to be following, and they say they are following the CDC guidelines, which require social distancing and face coverings when you are not able to socially distance. And none of that right now is, at least publicly, going on at the White House. A lot of concern about it.

Neither man has symptoms at this time. Everybody wants them, of course, to be well. But it all sets an example for the troops around the world, which are trying so hard to stay safe at this time -- John?

KING: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Very important. Continue your reporting and come back to us when we get more information.

Let's discuss this with the doctor who used to call the White House complex his workplace, Dr. William Lang, former White House physician who served under both Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. He's the medical director now at WorldClinic.

Doctor, it's good to see you.

I want your perspective at the place things you see happening at the place you called work. When you were in the administration, what there a pandemic playbook? Did you have a guidebook that said, if there's a virus like this, this is how we'll deal with this at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?

DR. WILLIAM LANG, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, WORLDCLINIC & FORMER WHITE HOUSE PHYSICIAN: That's a good question because it's not just about the playbook. It's about the planning process.

You probably heard the old adage that, in preparing for war, plans are everything. In conducting war, plans are meaningless.

So what we did was go through, what are the potential realities, any kind of biological instance that would come up, and we talked through those things. Because we knew whatever happened, it wasn't going to follow anybody's plan.

This disease is very different than pandemic flu, very different than SARS. So you have to think about, what are the general principles, and apply those principles. That's what we did then. That's what they're doing now.

KING: The president is going to be in the Rose Garden today saying, in his view, testing has ramped up nationally enough to go back to work. I just read one of his tweets complaining about the governor of Pennsylvania. He thinks he's going too slowly.

The president says reopen. But, listen here. This is one of his top economic advisers, Kevin Hassett, who recently returned to the White House, who says he's worried when he comes through the gate. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, CHAIRMAN, COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: It is scary to go to work. I wasn't part of the White House in March. I think I would be a lot safer if I was sitting at home than I would be going to the West Wing.

You've been to the West Wing. It's a small, crowded place. It's a little bit risky. But you have to do it because you have to serve your country, and there are a lot of things you can't do except there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: It is, as you know, Dr. Lang -- and I'm going to show a schematic to our viewers -- a very small place, and it's crowded. The hallways are narrow. This is the president's office. He'll go out and do an event in the Rose Garden. When he goes to the press briefing room, he goes this way, when he goes to the briefing room. He has meetings in the Rose Room. His vice president is here.

When Katie Miller and other aides come into the Eisenhower Executive Building, they come in this area here.

You know the space. It is incredibly crowded. There are surfaces we have to worry about now, in the age of coronavirus everywhere, to be touched, and multiple people touch them in going about their business.

[11:10:04]

If the top economic adviser to the president says it's scary to come to work, what's the message for Americans getting an e-mail saying, we're opening the restaurant tomorrow, or we'll have back in the office space next week?

LANG: This is all about risk management. The White House is a high- risk environment not just as it relates to this disease, as it relates to many things. So you have to apply risk managements techniques to that.

That's why they're doing the education of the staff. They're teaching the staff about maintaining separation. They're implementing various types of population density decreased, such as having telework.

So, yes, while the White House and the West Wing especially can be a fairly cramped place, they apply tools and techniques to reduce that. And they teach everybody what you need to do in the event of a pandemic situation.

This is exactly what was done during SARS, the teaching part. It never got to the point of being right there. That's exactly what was done with pandemic influenza.

What we know is that if you adequately apply these tools and techniques of social distancing and of decreasing population density, you can reduce the transmission of the virus.

And, remember, there are two risks we're looking at. We're looking at the risk of a transmission and we're looking at the risk of the disease if you get it. That's the second part that doesn't always get considered.

KING: And yet, there's coronavirus in the White House. A military aide, a valet that works with the president, often in the White House residence, tested positive.

The vice president's press secretary, who is deeply involved with the Coronavirus Task Force, who makes her way around the West Wing frequently, has tested positive.

Despite the precautions you outlined, coronavirus is in the West Wing. Now we see Dr. Fauci, Dr. Redfield, Dr. Hahn going into self- quarantine to varying degrees. But the vice president is not, the president is not, the surgeon general is not.

Should they? Should they take precautions since they have clearly will have potential of exposure?

LANG: Remember, the whole White House complex -- because people don't just work in the West Wing. They're working in the White House itself. They're working in the West Wing. They're working in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and the new executive office building. It's a large complex with thousands of people.

It would be really very surprising if no one in this complex got coronavirus, because these people are not bubbled in in the coronavirus where they are hermetically sealed. They're going home at night. They're having to go to food stores. They're going out.

So the fact someone got this virus, two people out of the thousands that work there, is not at all surprising. What you have to do then is apply the correct public health approaches to do the contact tracing, to do the isolation.

As far as the three aides are concerned, we have to remember, they're setting examples for the country. They're saying, be careful. That's what they're saying. They're saying be careful.

KING: But others in the White House are not being as careful.

I know the president is the most exceptional essential worker in the country, but do you think he's being careful enough? When you see pictures of him in proximity to people, they're not wearing masks, he's not wearing a mask. Are they being careful enough? LANG: You got to remember, what are we wearing masks for? We wear

masks to protect others from us. So from the president's standpoint, he is being tested regularly, he is having symptoms monitored regularly, he's having his temperature monitored regularly, as far as we know. So his risk of transmitting to others is low.

And then the people around him -- if we look at the pictures, and we know that from the stories we hear, the president is a little bit of a germophobe, so people are keeping their six-foot distance.

Remember, the data says that if you transmit through a cough or sneeze, it's mainly large particles, falls out of the air in three to six feet. In fact, the World Health Organization, they were saying one meter until recently. They recently extended to a 1.5-meter separation.

We're being more careful in saying six-foot separation. So he's staying separated.

KING: Dr. Lang, appreciate your insight. Good to see you, sir.

LANG: Good to see you again. Take care.

Senator Lamar Alexander, for example, will remotely lead the Senate Health Committee hearing on coronavirus. That hearing is tomorrow. The Senator entering self-quarantine over night after one of his staffers tested positive. A statement from Senator Alexander's office says he has no symptoms and has tested negative.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, CDC director, Dr. Robert Redfield, and others will also testify by video conference because of their quarantines.

[11:15:31]

Up next, reopening accelerates in some places and is slower in others. What happens if the state line splits your town?

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KING: More big reopening steps in the states today. In Arizona, South Carolina and Arkansas, restaurants can resume dine-in services, Indiana, too, along with nail salons and tattoo parlors. In New Hampshire, golf courses are now open. And manufacturing returns to Kentucky, Michigan and Vermont.

This 50-state experiment is complicated, especially when one state is moving to reopen and a neighboring state isn't ready yet.

CNN's Natasha Chen is in Bristol, Tennessee, which just happens to be as close as one can get to the Virginia state line.

Natasha, tell us about the difficulties there.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, I'm standing in Tennessee right now, but the camera I'm looking at is actually across the street in Virginia. Over here, Republican Governor Bill Lee has allowed restaurants to

accept dine-in customers since April 27. On the marque it says seating by reservation only, no walk ins. They are trying to maintain reduced capacity. Everyone, not matter what state they're in, seems to still be doing curbside pickup.

But if you follow me, I'll take you into another state. Checking for cars and now I'm crossing into Virginia where the situation is very different. Democratic Governor Ralph Northam has yet to do phase one of reopening. He said that may start on Friday.

[11:20:12]

Here's the local Chamber of Commerce here talking about trying to appeal to his office for a more regional approach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: It doesn't sound like there's any luck in letting one section of their state open first?

BETH RHINEHART, PRESIDENT & CEO, BRISTOL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: That's true. We've been told he's not really interested in a regional approach for a number of different reasons.

But for us here, when it impacts you at face value -- you know, you have a restaurant who can look out the window and 30 yards across the street there are people walking into businesses, dining, shopping. So that's a challenge.

JOE DEEL, OWNER, BURGER BAR: It's tough because I can see the Tennessee side. I can see them. So if there's a virus over there, it's over here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: The Chamber of Commerce says they're on a call right now with Democratic Senator Tim Kaine trying to appeal to him on behalf of these business owners on this side of the street. We'll check in with them to see how that goes -- John?

KING: It's a unique experiment everywhere, but, wow, as unique as it gets right there on the Tennessee/Virginia state line.

Natasha Chen, really appreciate that important insight.

Up next for us, a Sioux tribe stays firm despite a governor's demand, refusing to take down checkpoints meant to stop the spread of coronavirus.

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[11:26:20]

KING: Today, in South Dakota, a standoff continues between Native American tribes and the governor over how to best battle the coronavirus. Governor Kristi Noem rejects the checkpoints put up by the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe and the Oglala Sioux tribe. Some state legislators wrote the governor urging her to negotiate a compromise. She says checkpoints on federal and state highways that run through tribal lands are illegal.

CNN national correspondent, Sara Sidner, is there on the scene in Timber Lake, South Dakota.

Sara, what's the latest?

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It might look like we're in the middle of wide-open big-sky Indian country, but quite a few people do come back and forth here. The tribe says, look, the reason they put up these checkpoints is simply for the safety of their people.

Here's why they're so concerned. They have about 12,000 residents but only eight hospital beds at their local hospital. They do not have an ICU. The closest ICU, the closest hospital with an ICU is about three hours away. So if COVID-19 does appear here and explodes, they know they will be overrun.

So what they're doing is, every time a car drives up -- and we'll walk around so you can kind of see how this works -- they simply stop people and they ask them a bunch of questions.

And one of the most important things they're trying to do here really, John, is contact tracing. They get your information, they get your phone number, they find out where you came from, if you have any symptoms, whether or not you've been in a COVID-19 hot spot.

And depending on what you say, if you're just coming here for recreation, for example, they may turn you around. But for the majority of folks, they either have a permit or they have a reason to be here and they will let you through as long as you give that information. They did that to us when we came up, and they've done it to every single car.

Basically, what they're telling the governor is, these are our sovereign land. We're going to continue to do this to safeguard our people, no matter what you do.

She's saying she's going to take them to federal court if they don't comply and get rid of these checkpoints -- John?

KING: Sara Sidner on the ground for us. We'll see if there's a compromise but the tribe taking matters into their own hands.

Sara, thank you very much.

On to New Mexico, where the town of Gallup is reopened after a lockdown on Sunday. Gallup is a gateway to the Navajo nation, the largest Native American tribe, with confirmed cases of over 3,000 with 100 deaths.

A nine-person Doctors Without Borders team is now helping the Navajo. They arrived last month and are expected to stay through June. With me now is the president of the Navajo nation, Jonathan Nez.

Mr. President, thank you for being with us.

You just heard Sara Sidner talking about the Sioux issues with the governor in South Dakota. You had a deal. You agreed when the governor of New Mexico shutdown Gallup. Where are you now that the lockdown has been lifted? Is there agreement with the governor and political leadership or do you have issues?

JONATHAN NEZ, PRESIDENT, NAVAJO NATION: Thanks for having us on the show, John.

We totally support the South Dakota Oglala Sioux Nation and the Cheyenne Sioux Nation. Chairman Harold Frazier, with his strong support for his citizens and to help take care of his people there.

I appreciate all the 574 tribal leaders throughout the country that are standing on their sovereign ability to help govern themselves and help keep their people safe.

We also appreciate other governmental entities, like the city mayors of Gallup and Farmington, border towns around our nation. We are in three states, John.

[11:29:03]

One, I want to say thank you to our governor in Arizona for, you know, assisting, and also the governor of New Mexico and the governor of Utah.