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Don Lemon Tonight

Mayor London Breed (D) Was Interviewed About the Effort They're Doing to Contain the Spread of the Virus in Her Area; Twenty-eight States Now with Coronavirus Patients; President Trump Wants to Keep People on Board Grand Princess; Passengers Fear for the Unknown to Happen; Experts Calling the Government to Ramp Up Tests. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired March 06, 2020 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

CNN HOST:

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- is that the same elbow that everyone is supposed to cough and sneeze into? The Daily Show did a bit call watch those hands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been around the room here I can't tell you the number of you who put hands to your face in the last 20 minutes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOOS: Go ahead, lecture us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just be smart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOOS: Then rub it in.

Jeanne Moss, CNN, New York.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Thank you so much for joining us. CNN Tonight starts now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: This is CNN Tonight. I'm Laura Coates, in for Don Lemon.

The coronavirus toll is rising in this country, there are at least 333 cases tonight. Two people have died in Florida, pushing the death toll now to 17. Twenty-one people have tested positive for the virus on the Grand Princess cruise ship which is been in limbo off the California coast since Wednesday with thousands of people on board. Of the 21 who tested positive, 19 are crew members and two are

passengers. Incredibly, the passengers on that ship didn't know about the test result until they heard the news in Vice President Mike Pence's briefing today.

And we're learning tonight that a third senior care facility in Washington State has had a resident now test positive for coronavirus. While in San Francisco, an FBI employee has tested positive for the virus as well.

And across the country, thousands of people are self-quarantined. At least 4,000 under a precautionary quarantine in New York State alone. Where at least 44 people have tested positive for the virus.

Now two top infectious disease experts urging anyone age 60 and over to strongly consider avoiding crowds, staying away from movie theaters, family events, malls, and religious services. And in the face of all of that the president of the United States says this today during the -- to the CDC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: As of right now and yesterday, anybody that needs a test, that's the important thing, and the tests are all perfect, like the letter was perfect, the transcription was perfect. Right? This was not as perfect as that, but pretty good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: This is no time to be harping on his so-called perfect transcript of that infamous Ukraine phone call which he seems to be referring to here. This is the time for the president to give Americans the facts we all need to be safe.

This is the time for the president to mobilize all the resources of the federal government. This is the time for the president to put aside his grievances and focus on what's best for America. Instead, he slams the governor of Washington State where 14 people have already lost their lives to this virus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I told Mike not to be complimentary of the governor because that governor is a snake, OK? Inslee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: A snake? Really? I mean, it's no coincidence that Governor Jay Inslee who Mike Pence said just yesterday has inspired the country, has been harshly critical of President Trump in the past.

And listen to what the president says about the passengers aboard that cruise ship where 21 people have tested positive for the coronavirus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: I like the numbers being where they are. I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship. That wasn't our fault.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: I like the numbers being where they are. Well, the president says he would rather keep those passengers and crew confined on the ship because he doesn't really want the tally, the number of coronavirus cases to go up. You heard him say earlier the test for the virus are all perfect. He also said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Anybody that needs a test gets a test, they're there, they have the tests and the tests are beautiful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Mike Pence, who just yesterday said we don't have enough tests is dancing as fast as he seemed to be able to today making a lot of vague statements about testing and, well, eventually saying this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We trust in a matter of weeks the coronavirus tests will be broadly available to the public and available to any American that is symptomatic and has a concern about -- about the possibility of having contracted the coronavirus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: You heard the vice president. The man leading the coronavirus response, he says it will be a matter of weeks until the tests are broadly available. And with the number of cases rising, what does the White House say? Well, listen to this from Kellyanne Conway, just this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[23:04:59]

KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: What I am pleased to report is that the 14 deaths so far that are completely tragic, and very sad in this country shows that this has been contained because the president took action. And a lot of you criticized him for doing that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: The fact is, there were 231 cases of coronavirus reported in this country. When Kellyanne Conway said just that a little before 11 a.m. this morning. Now 12 hours later there are at least 333 cases. That is not contained. Not by any measure. The director of the CDC says that containment really is still the goal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT REDFIELD, DIRECTOR, CDC: I'm going to say we need to stay committed to containment, and I still believe containment and control is the goal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: We'll get more of the administration's contradictions in the show later on tonight. But I want to start with the growing number of coronavirus cases across this country right now.

We've got CNN's Lucy Kafanov who is in San Francisco monitoring the Grand Princess cruise ship ended up along the west coast. And we got Miguel Marquez here in New York where the mayor says there's evidence of community spread. And also joining me, Toluse Olorunnipa who was at today's task force briefing with Vice President Pence.

Lucy, let me begin with you. We've got 21 cases confirmed on board that cruise ship with thousands of passengers stranded off the California coast. So, what is the latest with this ship?

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Laura, passengers were hoping today would be the end of their ordeal. Instead, with the news it sounds like it's the start of a new one. The question now what happens to the 3,500 or so people on board that ship? The vice president said they will be taken to a non-commercial port. He said every single person on board will be tested.

Now the 1,100 or so crew members they are not going to be allowed to disembark. They will remain on quarantine on the ship. The rest of the passengers will be taken to various military bases, tested and quarantined as needed.

The news coming as a shock to many people on board, especially the fact that they found out about it by watching the television. Even the captain was caught off guard. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vice President Mike Pence announced that 21 people have tested positive for COVID-19. You may have heard this on the news on the media already. And we apologize but we were not given advance notice of this announcement by the U.S. federal government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAFANOV: And Laura, we are in touch with several people on board, one woman texting me a few moments ago saying, it feels like no one is in charge. We are comfortable, but we are stuck. Laura?

COATES: And of course, they don't have a lot of answers. Just getting it from hearing reports of the vice president's own press conference. That's just off the coast of California.

Miguel, there's dozens of cases in New York state, you got 11 new cases now, bringing in the total to 44. You can see the breakdown on the screen there. So, what can you tell us about this outbreak in New York?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, community spread, that the big thing that the mayor talked about today, that they're starting to see it essentially, people getting it, they don't know where the point of origin is.

That's the reason they want to test so much and so deeply. The New York City officials said they can do hundreds of tests right now today. They need to do thousands of tests every single day in order to figure out where this virus is, where it's headed.

Some 4,000 people across the state are now in quarantine because of concerns. Most of the cases, those that have tested positive are related to a single person in West Chester County, a lawyer, they're not sure where he got it.

Nassau County in Long Island, just east of the city. They reported tonight three new cases al related to a single individual who worked in a health care facility there. They're testing more broadly to figure out if anyone else related to these individuals but health officials then have to go person to person.

It is massive. Reams of data to get through to try to figure it out. They've tested 20 people so far. Those three they found were positive, nine were negative and they're waiting for eight other results right now.

COATES: I mean, coast-to-coast we're seeing this and all I'm hearing is the word test, knowing that there aren't enough tests. And thousands alone on a cruise ship.

You know, Toluse, lots of information here coming from the administration, you actually went to the vice president's briefing today and you heard him contradict the president about testing. I mean, does that undermine the confidence we should all have and how this government is effectively managing this crisis?

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. President Trump has actually been an impediment to clear and consistent message from his own government about this virus because every the professional, every time members of the task force come out and try to give a nuanced argument the president says something completely different. He contradicts the experts.

[23:09:56]

And Vice President Pence is very loyal to President Trump, but if he's going to be the fact, he's going to have to contradict President trump. And he's tried to do it sometimes, as you mentioned in a very vague way and sort of shade some of the language and some of the numbers that he's putting out in order to protect the president.

But if he's going to stick to the actual facts and help the American people be equipped with the facts that they need to protect themselves from this virus he's going to have to separate himself from the president who is speaking off the cuff, who is saying things in a very optimistic way, who is talking about numbers and sort of using numbers that are inaccurate and using ideas that are inaccurate about this virus, and talking about how he kept it out or how it's contained or how he shut it down when that, in fact, is not the case.

And the fact that we have not had widespread testing means that the numbers are probably much higher than what has been reported so far. Because people who have this virus may have not been tested yet.

But the overwhelming focus on numbers, on trying to project an air of control over this virus from this administration especially from the president makes it very difficult to get a clear and consistent message from the people who are -- or in charge and makes it harder for the public to know what to believe.

COATES: Well, just what we actually need, Toluse. And Miguel, I mean, he's talking about there being probably the numbers may not be as accurate. There are actually more cases popping up around the country. Now Hawaii and Utah are reporting their first cases now. What's going on?

MARQUEZ: Yes. So, Utah just now reported this case. Hawaii a little earlier tonight. Connecticut, just today. Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Nebraska, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.

These are into single digits but the need for testing to figure out where it is, where it's going, what the vector is and try to get it contained as the administration says. So far, 28 states have cases, most of those in the single digits.

Up until just a short time ago it was only Washington State and California that seen this, but now as you reported at the top of the show, Florida, two deaths there, and two more individuals testing positive in Florida.

COATES: All around the country. We're actually joined now on the phone by Neal Kran, who is actually a passenger who is currently stuck on that Grand Princess cruise ship when it's off the coast of San Francisco. Neal, thank you for joining us today. First of all, I have to ask, how are you feeling tonight?

NEAL KRAN, PASSENGER, GRAND PRINCESS CRUISE SHIP: Well, I'm a little nervous myself. Well, first of all, you know, we're mostly resign to (Inaudible) at the moment but the reason I say I'm a little bit worried about myself is because I've started to develop some symptoms, a fever and respiratory, things like that. Not severe, but it's been going on for all day, maybe a little longer.

And, you know, we're not getting much medical attention. I called for, you know, the medical center on the ship to try to get at least someone to check the level of my fever. And there has not been any response all day. I have to leave a message for them.

I realize they're probably terribly overwhelmed with the vast number of people who are trying to contact them in a very limited medical facility they have on the ship and medical personnel and equipment and protective gear and all of that.

So, you know, the reason I'm really worried is because the ship is being held only 50 miles off of San Francisco, just a couple hours sailing. And that's been done because of the order by the governor, Governor Gavin Newson who declared a state of emergency and said the ship will not be allowed to dock in San Francisco.

So now we have, you know, 21 confirmed cases of people with the coronavirus. And who knows how many more because they only did a very limited number of tests yesterday. And it's just --

COATES: And, in fact, Neal -- Neal, you weren't even one of the 45 people on this ship that was tested for coronavirus initially. Right? This has happened to you today, the symptoms have developed, is that right?

KRAN: That's right. It took 24 hours, you know, from the time the tests were off lifted from the ship by helicopter until any reports came out and then that first report came out by the news conference from the vice president. And you know, the ship captain came on the P.A. system and apologized that think we heard, for not having the first information.

So yes, there's a political game being played on who's in charge and who's giving out information. But the real issue is we have sick people who need to be floated and brought to hospital. And by being held offshore and not by in a dock (Inaudible) those sick people could become worse, they could die because somebody decided to make a decision to bar the ship from docking.

We certainly heard the nonsensical statements from the president and that's kind of what we expect by now of any topic. But I was really shocked that the governor did his own bit of grandstanding in blocking the ship. Now it could have been --

(CROSSTALK)

COATES: Now in the -- excuse me, sir, I didn't mean to interrupt you.

KRAN: Yes.

COATES: I'm sorry about that. But I wanted to ask you, you mentioned political game being played here.

[23:15:02]

Is that kind of the thought on the cruise ship that people are believing that this is a political discussion being had, that this is a political response as to one that is needed? Is that being held?

KRAN: You know, we've been -- we've been quarantined in the cabin since midday yesterday so there haven't been much discussion among passengers. So, I can't really answer that. You know, but I'm giving you my own -- my own sense of what I can tell you. (Inaudible) news article, newspaper articles and things that I've been able to download -- (CROSSTALK)

COATES: Well, one thing we are hearing, your sound is going in and out, but one thing we are hearing, Neal, is that we're told that 19 of the 21 people infected on the ship are crew members. Are you concerned that you came into contact with these people and that's why you now have the symptoms?

KRAN: Absolutely. You know, something my wife and I have discussed a lot. We feel really the most empathy for the crew members on board. In the couple of days leading up to being quarantined you could see their faces, some of people were extremely nervous about the situation.

Maybe they knew people who had symptoms, they certainly knew what happened with the other ship the Diamond Princess, this is their livelihood, you know. The crew member gets put off the ship because they're sick. It's a big deal for their career, their livelihood.

So, they were extremely worried about it. They are in most contact with passengers and everything that passengers handle. So yes, I mean, you know, we know passengers will probably get symptoms and test positive.

But I think something like 1,100 crew members on board and they were all on board from the previous cruise when passengers were determined to have the coronavirus. Yes, they're very much at risk and I think it's really dangerous for them for the ship not to be docked right now. We could have been docked midday Thursday.

(CROSSTALK)

COATES: Yes. And yet you're still there waiting right now. And Neal Kran, I mean, we certainly wish you the best. We're watching images right now on screen of what's happening around the cruise ship. And we hear your concerns and we certainly wish you and all the other passengers the best. Please, please stay safe. Thank you.

Joining me now Mayor London Breed of San Francisco where that ship is actually right on the outside of. Thank you for joining us, Mayor. We appreciate your time. What is your reaction to all of this?

MAYOR LONDON BREED, (D) SAN FRANCISCO: Well, of course my heart goes out to the people who are on that cruise ship. We are working very closely with the governor and the Center for Disease Control and the federal government overall in order to determine exactly what will happen.

Ultimately, it's up to the federal government. And we have seen time and time again since we -- since the beginning of announcements around the coronavirus that there's been a lack of sufficient response, a lack of leadership, a lack of resources, to ensure that we not only have test kits, but the people who are public safety officials, the people who are on the front lines helping those who might have been affected have protective gear and the things that they need.

And so, only today there's $8.3 billion resources to cities in order to help deal with this. It's not enough. It didn't come fast enough. We need to act quickly. This is an emergency and we need to mitigate the impacts of this virus otherwise we are going to see it, of course, as we are seeing, continue to spread.

COATES: Now, Mayor, one of the passengers we just spoke to thinks that the reason this ship can't dock is not a federal issue but because the governor of California declared a state of emergency. Is that the reason? What's the hold-up?

BREED: I will say that my understanding of the hold-up is really trying to determine the best safest place for this ship to dock in order to help support the passengers and the crew who are not only infected, but more importantly ensuring that everyone is tested to address what we know is a ship that has a number of people who have the coronavirus.

And, again, this goes back to the fact that we -- the federal government has not taken this issue as seriously as they should have to make sure that we're prepared to deal with any situation that comes our way, especially a cruise ship or in any other event. This is what the biggest problem is.

COATES: Now, Mayor Breed, of course you are the mayor of San Francisco but the whole state of California is under a state of emergency. Tell us, what is it like in your town of San Francisco right now, are people panicking? What is the feeling there? Are people concerned knowing how close this ship is? Is it concerning to them? What's going on?

[23:19:58]

BREED: Well, I think it's not just about the ship. Last week I declared a state of emergency in San Francisco. There are a lot of people who didn't understand why. Because at that time we hadn't had any cases in San Francisco.

And yesterday we announced that we had two cases, and we just recently today had put out a press release to cancel all major events in our city. That is our strong recommendation because, again, we want to mitigate the impacts of the spread of this virus as much as possible from the very beginning.

And what's happening in our city is, you know, somewhat a lot of fear, a lot of concern, a lot of uncertainty and we are doing our very best to get the word out to the public. The things that they can do to stay at home if they're sick, to wash their hands. A number of things that have been talked about over the air waves by medical professionals.

But, you know, businesses are empty. Conventions have cancelled. And people aren't staying in our hotels. This is going to have, also, a significant impact on our economy.

But we all have to come together as a country because this is going to have a significant impact on public health as a whole and that has to be at the forefront of everything we deal with right now. Otherwise this thing will blow up bigger than what we are seeing right now. COATES: Mayor London Breed, thank you for your time and best of luck

to you and those on the front lines of this issue.

BREED: Thank you.

COATES: Up next, the doctor who treated the first coronavirus patient in this country. What worries her the most right now.

[23:25:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: The number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. jumping to at least 333. As 10 new states confirmed cases just today.

Here to discuss, Dr. Amy Compton- Phillips, chief clinical officer and executive vice president of Providence St. Joseph Health. That hospital system is treating coronavirus patients as we speak.

Dr. Compton-Phillips, I'm glad you're here today. And you're actually in Washington. In Washington State, it's been the hardest hit state, 80 cases, 14 deaths. Based on what you are seeing, what worries you the most?

AMY COMPTON-PHILLIPS, CHIEF CLINICAL OFFICER AND EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, PROVIDENCE ST. JOSEPH HEALTH: Well, what worries me the most is what you've been talking about on this segment, that we simply aren't able to identify where the cases are coming from yet. And the reason why that's really important is because we know it's still spreading.

If we can't figure out where the cases are coming from, we can't isolate and stop that spread.

COATES: So, is knowing the person and whoever patient zero may be, so to speak, will that actually contain it or will that just be an indication of how much farther it would spread?

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: It would -- it would help us contain it currently. And the reason why this is really important, some of the stats with COVID-19, that right now they say the (Inaudible) or the infectiousness of this particular germ, that one person can infect about two and a half people and that the doubling speed is about every seven to nine days.

And so, just with some quick calculations and in Washington, patient one would have been here around six weeks ago, they said as of well. So that patient one could have infected 244 people. At eight weeks that would grow to 1,500 people and at 12 weeks that would grow to 60,000 people.

So, if we can't find these people who have gotten the germ and ensure that they don't pass it on to others we end up with a massive problem.

COATES: Well, one of the problems people are dealing with, too, Dr. Compton-Phillips, is that there's a lot of frustration over even testing people if you could find that person.

I mean, are you concerned about having enough tests for health care workers, for first responders or people who may have come into contact with whoever that person is?

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: Absolutely. In South Korea they've been able to test now over -- it's almost 150,000 people and they're actually doing screening tests so they can find if people are carrying the infection and not even realizing it if they're carriers and not symptomatic.

And here in the U.S. we're just looking at doing 2,000 tests so far. And I know it's growing up and we're ramping up rapidly but just the slow start we got and the ability to test has really hampered our ability to interrupt transmission.

COATES: But why are we so far behind? Can we catch up? I mean, there's -- I mean, you have people testing thousands upon thousands and we are in the 2,000s, why are we so behind on a testing kit, let alone a screening kit?

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: It's tough to say but we do know that initially the CDC thought that they had the test that was going to be usable everywhere. And then we found that it just wasn't the way we needed to go. We needed to build up significantly more capacity.

And so, it was on February 29th that we got the emergency use authorization that we could start developing our own tests and now we have several organizations, both universities, as well as private companies as well as our organization, developing their own lab test but it takes a while to ramp that up.

COATES: That was just last Saturday at this point in time. Well, the New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is saying, doctor, that today that the vast majority of the people with the coronavirus don't even have symptoms. But those people, although they're asymptomatic can still transmit the

virus. Right? Does that make this even harder for everyone to try to contain?

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: Absolutely. Because, again, you don't -- you don't know that you have it. And that's why South Korea is doing this screening testing.

So, up until a couple days ago here in the states we had to really advocate to be able to get testing on anybody, unless they had, you know, severe fever, cough, shortness of breath, were negative for flu and negative for other pathogens that might cause the kind of pneumonia that they had. And so, we had a very tight screening criteria.

And meanwhile, you know, again, other countries are testing everybody, all comers who want the test. And so, we need to be able to do that same thing here.

COATES: And learn from each other and not repeat the same mistakes from other nations and flatten that learning curve. [23:30:01]

Dr. Compton-Phillips, thank you for your time.

You know, two people who we know how to handle a national crisis have some strong opinions on how this president is responding to the coronavirus. I will speak with the director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University and also a former Department of Homeland Security official. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: Coronavirus is spreading in the United States. As of tonight, the CDC, along with state and local governments, is reporting 333 cases and at least 17 deaths.

[23:35:00]

COATES: Joining me now, Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, and Juliette Kayyem, a CNN national security analyst and former official of the Department of Homeland Security.

Dr. Redlener, let me start with you because you heard the president contradict the vice president, you heard -- and his own health care experts, by the way -- I mean, does this administration have a real credibility crisis now?

IRWIN REDLENER, DIRECTOR FOR NATIONAL CENTER FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Well, it didn't start now. He's had a credibility crisis since he took office. And this is a major problem now. You know, sometimes, when we makes up stuff and twitters about it, you know, it's sort of irrelevant. It's kind of annoying and he shouldn't be doing it.

But this is a situation where his lack of credibility, his lack of transparency, and frankly dishonesty about what the reality is undermines his credibility and by turn also undermines the credibility of officials and political leaders in general.

I mean, we saw a press conference last week where the president just reassured everybody that everything is under control, which is clearly a fabrication. Five minutes later, his chief public health officials are saying no, it's just a matter of when, not if, we're going to have a major explosion of this disease.

And then Dr. Fauci said, you know, we're 12 to 18 months away from creating a vaccine. And the president has just said it's around the corner, in essence.

So, this is a really big problem. And like I said, because we're dealing with the public health crisis, the impact of the credibility problem in the White House is very serious and it's actually going to undermine our ability to get the public to do what it needs to do while we're trying to deal with this big public health crisis that we're having.

COATES: So they don't know who to listen to. They don't know whose instructions to actually follow.

REDLENER: Exactly.

COATES: I want to bring in Juliette here because you say this sort of health crises unfold in a very predictable manner and that the next thing we're going to have is mass social disruption. Was does that mean for you?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, FORMER DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL, PROFESSOR AT HARVARD'S KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT: It's to prepare everyone what is the next phase. We try to contain or trying to try to contain it. We knew that would buy us some time. We squandered it here in the United States. We now seem unprepared.

And now, there are lots of cases and there are more than the 300 plus cases that are being announced. We certainly know that. And so this next two-week period is going to be the disruption period. Now, I just want to remind everyone, disruption is the plan, right?

I mean, in other words, the only way we are going to be able to stop this from spreading is the social distancing, the school closings, stay home at work, announcements from employers, the universities and colleges, like what I'm doing about travel where I am -- like travel and spring breaks and big forums, sports events being cancelled, south by southwest.

This is what disruption looks like. It is also what we knew would come. And so it's going to be very panicky for people. I certainly feel it personally amongst my peer group. I think we just need to keep our heads on as what the doctor said.

You know, we can spend a lot of time hoping for the president we need right now. We will not get him. This is Donald Trump. This is the president we have. And so I think we need to find ways in which we either, you know, it's not that it's good, it's not that it's not harmful, it's just simply we are at such a deadly serious stage right now, so to speak, that we need to look to other people who we can get guidance from.

In terms of local officials, you just had a wonderful mayor from San Francisco on, governors and other, you know, leaders and doctors that can help guide us. In the end, it really, you know, all of us can be a hero right now. We can, you know, we can shelter in place when told to, we can protect ourselves, stay home if we're sick.

We have the capacity to fill the gap that Donald Trump is just simply incapable, even in this crisis, of filling, which is someone who cares about the American public more than he does about whether he's the smartest guy in the room.

COATES: Look, both of you stay with me. I've got a lot more questions for each of you. We've got to talk about the precautions that people should be taking, even while they're at home. As a mother of school- age children, I've got a lot more questions about children as well here. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: Dr. Irwin Redlener and Juliette Kayyem are back with me. It must be calling you constantly, asking you what they should do if they should travel, if they should stay home, what happens if the school is closed. I mean, how can Americans really prepare? All we're really hearing is wash your hands thoroughly. Is that it?

REDLENER: No, it's not. By the way, I'm getting these questions all day long, all the time. And a lot of it, unfortunately, we don't know the right answer to. But the basics, you know, good sanitation, hand washing, use of hand sanitizers, don't make physical contact that you don't have to, try to keep your hands off your face, and try to stay out of crowds are something we are all trying to pay attention to.

The question is when is the shoe going to drop and we get to much more severe public health methods like, are we going to close schools, when do we close schools, what are triggers to close schools, are we going to stop sporting events. Italy has closed all of its schools basically, and we are on the verge of doing that now. Juliette was talking about the disruption that is coming and it is coming.

[23:45:02]

REDLENER: The question is when and when does the mayor, for example, the city of New York decide, hey, we're shutting 60,000 classrooms in New York City that involve 1.1 million children. And most of those working parents cannot afford to take off time to stay home with their children. So we don't even understand the cascading consequences of these kinds of measures.

COATES: And there's no paid sick leave either. Juliette, according to the new legislation, Juliette, you have thoughts on this as well. Weigh in here.

KAYYEM: Yeah. So I call this the pandemic paradox. We know it's here. It is coming, it is coming. And then boom. It is going -- these decisions are going to be made at 11:00 p.m. at night and the next day your kids are home. So people need to prepare who can prepare for that potential.

There's not going to be any lead time. These decisions are going to be made and to be made immediate. So in terms of you kids, obviously, if they're home, that's going to have an impact, in terms of what your planning is.

Also, we talk a lot about kids talk. If you're my age, talk to your parents. They're in the prime group of those who are more likely to get the disease and get either die or get severely sick from it. Make sure they are limiting travel. Stay at home. Follow the CDC guidance of those -- for those over 60. But this will, you know -- I say this simply just to brace people for the inevitable. The next two or three weeks are not going to look like the last week. They are going to be very disruptive to a lot of us with economic and social, and even political impact. And the best we can do right now, because the science isn't clear, as Irwin said, we don't know how this unfolds is simply not be surprised.

I think that's one way to curb the panic that I think people like me and others in the field have been feeling from our community in the last couple days.

COATES: Bottom line, prepare.

REDLENER: If I could just add, I think --

COATES: Yeah.

REDLENER: -- we also need to prepare for the possibility that we're going to have to stay in our homes, that some people will be quarantined, in which case, you know, you need theoretically two weeks of whatever it is that you need to stay comfortably and safe in your house, which include not only the food and water, but if you have a baby, it includes diapers, it includes baby food, it includes your medications if you're on a chronic medication.

COATES: Yeah.

REDLENER: All this needs to be in place and ready but in a non-panic version. Get yourself ready because I completely agree with what Juliette is saying, it's going to happen right away.

COATES: It's going to happen. Be prepared. We will be right back. Next, the state of the race, by the way, and hundreds of delegates are at stake. Just on Tuesday alone, people are going to be voting soon again. Will Joe Biden ride his momentum to a bigger lead or can Bernie Sanders get back on top? We'll talk.

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[23:50:00]

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COATES: Let us turn to the state of the race, by the way. Voters in six states are heading to the polls next week. All eyes are on Michigan where Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are battling for a win that could propel one of them to the nomination.

Joining me now to discuss is CNN political commentator Catherine Rampell. It is always great to have you here. Catherine, before we even get to that, there is another breaking news tonight. We know there is a new chief of staff in the White House.

CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: There is. Mick Mulvaney, he had been the acting chief of staff, never formally elevated to the official position despite that position not actually needing Senate confirmation, so not needed the acting prefix, he had been in the job for something like 400 plus days.

He had been rumoured to be on the ousted with Trump for quite a while. There have been a number of reports dating back to when Mulvaney gave that notorious press conference saying --

COATES: Get over it.

RAMPELL: -- get over it. Quid pro quo is what we do all the time effectively. And now, he's finally out and Mark Meadows is replacing him, another close ally of Trump.

COATES: We're hearing he's been that acting capacity for a few weeks now, Mark Meadows has been. Why just now are we hearing about it?

RAMPELL: You know, there's been a lot of chaos in the -- not that that's unusual state of being, of course, for this White House. But you can imagine that they have other things on their mind. Mulvaney looked like he had been sidelined at some recent events and this hadn't been announced, so maybe they were looking for the right moment for it, but it's hard to say.

COATES: Let me talk Michigan with you.

RAMPELL: Yeah.

COATES: It is important coming up. We got endorsements from two former governors.

RAMPELL: Big state.

COATES: We are going to go with that direction, but we have to wait and see on Tuesday. Of course, you got to wonder what the impact of this coronavirus is going to be on the polls, Catherine.

RAMPELL: Yes. Not only in Michigan but, of course, in Washington State where they are dealing with a major epidemic crisis right now. Are people actually going to show up at the polls? Michigan will be a major prize in this primary, not only because it has a lot of delegates, but because it is symbolically important, right?

Bernie had carried it in 2016. Trump won it in the general in 2016. And part of Bernie's argument for why he should get the head of the ticket is that he can beat Trump in these core states that had been historically democratic and are no longer. It will be interesting to see whether he actually best fight -- at least one poll has suggested that Biden may be ahead of him.

COATES: We'll be right back. We want to wait and see. Be right back.

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[23:55:00]

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COATES: Tonight, we introduce you to the first CNN hero of 2020. Growing up in Maine, Lynda Doughty developed a passion for the array of marine mammals living along its beautiful coast. So when state and government funding vanished and local organizations working to protect these animals closed their doors, she dove in to fill the gap in care. Meet the seal rescuer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNDA DOUGHTY, CNN HERO: Releasing a seal is really bittersweet. And as much as I am excited to see that animal being released, it is also hard in the sense of seeing the animal now gone.

I know that you're going back to the ocean.

So any seal that we rescue, the ultimate goal is for that animal to be released back into the ocean.

I feel this intense responsibility to help these animals and really this is what I was put on this earth to do.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)