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Don Lemon Tonight

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan Is Interviewed About How They're Dealing With The Huge Number Of People Being Affected By Coronavirus In Their District; President Trump Causes More Confusion To Europe's Travel Ban; Social Gatherings Being Canceled Simultaneously; NBA Suspends Season After Player Tests Positive For Coronavirus; Tom Hanks And Wife Have Tested Positive For Coronavirus; Colleges And Universities Are Closing Classrooms And Dormitories, Students Are To Study Online. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired March 11, 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]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon.

Our breaking news tonight, the president addressing the nation from the Oval Office tonight saying he is ordering a halt on travel to the U.S. from Europe and causing confusion when his own administration made it clear the restrictions aren't as extensive as the president made them out to be, that as the coronavirus is changing everyday life in this country in ways a lot of us couldn't have imagined even a few days ago.

The NBA suspending its season indefinitely after one of their all-time players tested positive for the coronavirus. The NCAA banning fans from its March madness tournament that begins next week.

We've learned tonight that actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson have both tested positive for coronavirus in Australia. The national cathedral in Washington is closing for two weeks.

All that as 1,258 people across this country have tested positive for the coronavirus. Thirty-eight have died. This as America -- this is America in the age of coronavirus.

I want to bring in White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins, CNN sports correspondent Carolyn Manno, our chief medical -- media correspondent, I should say, excuse me -- Brian Stelter, and Syra Madad, a special pathogen specialist. Also, Arthur Caplan of NYU, the NYU School of Medicine.

Good evening one and all. Thank you all for joining us here. It is really interesting times and it is a big night here.

Kaitlan, I want to come to you now at the White House. President Trump announces suspending, he's suspending some travel from Europe to the U.S. for 30 days. But in the two hours that followed, he's had to clarify quite a bit. KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we're getting the

fine print on what these travel restrictions that the president announced are going to look like. He said they're banning all travel coming from Europe for the next 30 days starting effective on Friday at midnight.

But the DHS secretary is now clarifying about what exactly that's going to look like, because, of course this is something that is going to generate a lot of attention. And they're saying it's going to suspend the entry of most foreign nationals who have been in certain European countries at any point during the two weeks before their arrival on the United States.

But they are care to say this doesn't apply to legal residents, generally, immediately family members -- immediate family members of the U.S. citizens, and others individuals who are identified in the proclamation.

So, there's a lot of leeway there, basically, a lot of room for exemptions in that. So that's really important for people who could be in airports right who are now planning travel.

The other thing that the president announced that we're talking about tonight is he seemed to say there was going to be this prohibition on goods, trade, and cargo coming to the United States.

The president has later has gone to a tweet and said, please note that trade will no way be affected by the 30-day restriction on travel from Europe. Now it's unclear how the president said that about cargo in the speech and is now clarifying on Twitter.

But this comes in the speech, Don, where the president announced other measures that he wants to get done as well that he hopes are going to blunt the economic impact of this. This is talking about small business loans. He wants tax payment deferrals. He's hoping that Capitol Hill will pass a payroll tax cut even though lawmakers had not been open to that so far.

But this is the president trying to really take the first step acknowledging that this is here, and this is real, and it's not really something that you can avoid.

LEMON: Kaitlan, can I ask you something? Because, I mean, it's -- you said it perfectly, the way you said it there. Why didn't the president -- has anyone explained to you at the White House why the president didn't say what you said? Why didn't he say foreign nationals? Why didn't he say this doesn't mean trade? Why didn't he say that in that speech from the Oval Office?

COLLINS: We haven't any clear on that yet. It was about an 11-minute speech. These are pretty brief. But still, you know, to say that all travel is being banned for the next 30 days when actually there are these exemptions, of course, is, you know, that needs clarification because it really -- it affects peoples' lives, people who are flying back and forth and what they're exactly they're going to be doing. And to you if you are an American, and there actually are airports you

can go to and get screened and then still return back to the United States during that period is really important as well as the trade issue, of course.

Because he was initially saying no cargo could come over. That is going to flash a lot of warning signs.

LEMON: Exactly.

COLLINS: You saw markets already starting to take note of that. So that is -- they're really important clarifications because it could potentially disrupt not only business but peoples' daily lives.

LEMON: I'm glad you said that because I had a very intense conversation with John Kasich. I was trying to explain that to him that --

COLLINS: I saw.

LEMON: -- it affects the markets when he said that. People started to react to it. We were talking about that among our producers here. And also all he had to say was, I'm talking about foreign nationals and it would have just been that simple.

[23:05:01]

And also, Kaitlan, you bring, also bring up a very good point. People are in airports right now they are wondering what is going on. Also, I think it's important to point out, Kaitlan, the president's travel is cancelled too. Can you tell us about that?

COLLINS: Yes, we are really starting to see how this is affecting the White House on a pretty large scale here, not just the president of course. Also it's affecting his Democratic rivals who we've seen cancelling rallies.

We are now learning the president is no longer going to be traveling out west as he was scheduled this week to go to Denver, Colorado for a fund-raiser. He was also expected to be in Las Vegas to speak at the Republican Jewish coalition event. Something he goes to, I believe almost every year since he's been in office.

He was definitely there last year because I was there. They now say out of abundance of caution he is no longer going to be making that trip. And also, the Trump campaign just announced an event yesterday, a Catholics for Trump event in Milwaukee for next week. They now say they are postponing that. It is not going to be happening next week.

And all of this is related to these concerns over coronavirus. So, it's really something to keep an eye on. It's affecting the president's own schedule. And of course, something else, not even just travel, something here at home.

There's a reception tomorrow for St. Patrick's Day for Ireland here at the White House, and we are now learning that that reception has been cancelled. It's unclear if the visit entirely has been cancelled but that reception has been cancelled as well.

So, they don't even want those like large gatherings happening here at the White House. So, you're really starting to see this start to affect Washington even though the president said just on Saturday night when he was at Palm Beach, he did not think it was going to be a big deal and he wasn't concerned at all. That was his quote to reporters.

LEMON: It's very interesting. Listen, Kaitlan, before I let you go, I have other folks to bring in here, but I just want to say this. And I think from your perch at the White House that you can talk about this because you see the enormity of this. And I think the president felt the gravity of this as he was speaking from the Oval Office tonight.

Tonight, is really a defining moment for our country we can say. Travel from Europe, we have this ban. NBA, the season is called off for now. No fans allowed at March madness. The number of deaths and positive tests balloon, is ballooning here in this country.

This country won't be the same at least for the foreseeable future, at least for the next 30 to 60 days.

COLLINS: Yes, this is a big test for the president and his advisers around him are realizing this and they've been advising him, you know, for the last several weeks stop downplaying this.

We understand that you're doing it because you don't want the markets to panic, but you know, this is a time where you are going to have to do this because look at how much this is affecting.

Because not only what you just listed there. You know, the fact that this -- the basketball season is being postponed, like all of these parades are being cancelled, people don't know if they should go on spring break with their kids or not, things like that.

And so, it is really going to be a test for the president. And that's why, you know, he's laying out these measures tonight. It'll be really interesting -- you know, he said he was going to take emergency action about people who can't get their paychecks if they're not going to work.

It will be really interesting to see exactly what that's going to look like, whether or not that stimulus package on the hill, what that's going to entail entirely. But it does seem that it is, there's a shift and they are starting to take this seriously because it's really hard -- it's basically impossible not to at this point.

LEMON: I want to -- Stephen Miller was involved in prepping the speech. Do you think that was -- that had something to do with the toughness of the speech, the tough sounding speech that he gave?

COLLINS: It wasn't just Stephen Miller. We're also told Jared Kushner was playing a role in that. We know that Ivanka Trump also often weighs in on things like this as well as the president's speech writers who are not as well known to most viewers. But certainly, they had a lot to do with this and crafting this speech

today and spent hours on it. That's why it's so confusing about the clarification about trade and the cargo there because it seems like, you know, this is an 11-minute speech. It's incredibly important to this moment in Donald Trump's presidency, so you want to make sure that you get it right.

LEMON: All right. Kaitlan, thank you. Great reporting there from the White House. I really appreciate that. Carolyn, let's talk about what's happening in the sports world tonight. What's the latest changes coming? A lot.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This has been happening all day. The NBA suspending play. And say they're going to use this hiatus to determine what the next steps are.

Quite frankly, I don't think they know when or if play is going to be able to resume. A lot of times in sports we think that we're impervious to the politics and things that were happening in the outside world. A lot of people look to sports to escape a lot of what's happening in the world.

But this is a concrete unprecedented indication that we in fact are tied to this as human being. We're right in the middle of it.

And let me tell you something, Don. The NCAA, even though they are saying that fans can't attend March madness, they could easily follow suit on this in the coming days.

In the NHL, Commissioner Gary Bettman has ties to the NBA. He used to be the senior vice president and general counsel to the NBA. I don't see how you can play NHL games in arenas that are shared space with the NBA.

So, this is going to be a trickledown effect. We're going to see other leagues stepping in and saying, you know what, if the NBA is not doing it, we can't do it either, we need to protect the fans, we need to also now protect the players. And this could very well bring the sports world to a grinding halt that we've never seen before.

[23:10:00]

LEMON: Let's bring in the doctor now. Doctor, I mean, listen, people are scared, right? And let's just -- I mean, people are afraid. And we don't want to be hyperbolic about it, but we want to take this seriously.

We're seeing rapid changes in our communities, rapid changes in our world right now because this is a global pandemic. Am I correct?

SYRA MADAD, SPECIAL PATHOGENS SPECIALIST: That's right.

LEMON: It's a global pandemic. Many people are being encouraged to stay home, we've been talking about social distancing. I wonder if

it's effective, and what can people do to make sure they're safe and to sort of ease the fear here? MADAD: So, we need to empower the people. And what that means first is

that we need to speak with one voice. There's a lot of misinformation, I think both at the federal level. We need to make sure that people are understanding what they need to do.

So, when you're hearing public health officials talk about this everyday preventative steps that, you know, you should take -- washing your hands often, covering your cough -- these are very important, but we want to also make sure that we're educating them on what the true risks are and not just these everyday measures but also making sure that when we talk about social distancing they know what that means.

And so, in America, each locality is different in terms of how they're going to respond to the incident. So, you see what's unfolding here in the state of New York versus the state of Washington and Seattle and all these other areas that are obviously seeing more packets of outbreaks and the response is happening at the local scale.

So, we need to make sure that they understand that, you know, each response is dependent on the number of cases and the severity in that particular area. And then listening to the public health officials in that particular geographical location.

LEMON: Brian Stelter, I want to turn to you and I want to talk to talk about television and media in general because you're our senior media correspondent here.

When you look at what's going on, you have all these television shows, you have game shows that don't have audiences anymore. And listen, that's what many people do. Right? They watch these shows, they use it for entertainment value to relax.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: That's right, yes. To escape.

LEMON: To escape. And then you have what's happening in the sports world. How is this going to affect Americans?

STELTER: I think big picture today was the day that tens of millions of Americans felt the impact of the virus for the first time. Whether it's your favorite NBA team being affected or whether it The View not having a studio audience.

Tomorrow morning The Today show, the famed Today Show will not have audience members outside because it will be forbidden. Now I know you can't see it here on the CNN, but most of our staffers are working from home in New York now. And you're going to see that at companies all around the city.

I think in some ways, companies, corporations are leading the way, Don. They are ahead of the federal government. The president not reassuring the public tonight, labored in his breathing, struggling to get a coherent message out.

But corporations are leading the way in signaling that this is going to be an impact to our lives for the next month or two or three or more. And that's what we're seeing on television, in movies. You know, the suspension of movie that doesn't really matter in the small picture. But in the big picture it means that tens of millions of people are for the first time feeling this impact.

LEMON: Well, and I just want to talk to you a little bit -- Arthur, hang on one second -- just about this because what we do as journalists really has not changed. I mean, but the social distancing and all that because we've covered some really tough stories, let's be honest.

This is different in the sense that it is something that is right here on our shores. We've covered SARS. We've covered H1N1.

STELTER: Yes. Right.

LEMON: We've covered, you know, the monkey pox and all of those things. But when your president goes on television, every single word that comes out of his mouth you hang on it and you want it to be correct. You want credibility from your president.

When I heard John Kasich saying someone else wrote those words --

STELTER; Yes.

LEMON: -- to me, meaning that he's not responsible for those words.

STELTER; Right.

LEMON: Now, I can say one dumb thing on this set or someone can write something for me. But guess who takes responsibility. Guess who apologizes for it. Me. Do I blame anyone else that they write it and it's wrong? No, the buck stops with me. Why is it different for this president?

STELTER: All right. That's why the embarrassment about him getting it wrong about Europe tonight is on him, and not on his aides. He misspoke about Europe. He misspoke about the intensity of this ban and that's on him.

The errors he's made for several weeks now were on him. This country is behind for several weeks. It's on him. I'm sorry to say that, but it's true. Am I wrong, Doctor, that it's on him?

ARTHUR CAPLAN, PROFESSOR, NYU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: No.

STELTER: It's on the president.

CAPLAN: And in fact --

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: On his leadership.

CAPLAN: -- I hear Stephen Miller in this foreign virus setting up travel bans for the outside invasion of the disease, that's not the way -- (CROSSTALK)

LEMON: The Chinese coronavirus that they've been calling.

CAPLAN: Yes. But that's not this disease and we're behind the eight ball because they didn't move fast enough. I'm going to say it. I'm not sure travel ban at this point makes any difference. This virus is all over the place.

STELTER: That's why I was wondering, are we too late on that anyway.

CAPLAN: We're probably too late anyway. You look at there and you think if we had the test kits, we would see infection rates, you know, the numbers we're listening to don't mean anything. They're probably 10 times, 20 times, 30 times bigger. And that leads, just by the math, to rapid spread.

So, I don't know. I guess you could ban travel from Europe if that's something you want to look like. I don't think it's going to do anything.

STELTER; It's not good.

CAPLAN: I really don't. And I think where is the president not just telling us about fortress America and, you know, we're going to keep the foreign viruses away from us.

[23:15:02]

What are we going to do about the hospitals that are facing surges and they're not ready to --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: We spoke to Dr. Gupta about that. He thinks that --

CAPLAN: Yes.

LEMON: -- we're going to -- possibly -- and I'm paraphrasing here and I don't want to put words in his mouth -- but the possibility of a crisis that we won't have beds and equipment.

CAPLAN: Correct. And so, here's what you need to do, a president might address this. So, here's our plan. We're going to have regional distribution. You might find yourself going to a different city if there's an overwhelming surge in let's say Philadelphia, you're going to wind up in Richmond, Virginia, you're going to see redistribution of -- don't worry about billing.

Don't worry about all the things that have to make this go as a facilitated regional approach. Our system doesn't do that. Let's see him step in there.

One other thing, Don, and I talked to Sanjay about this today too. You've got 19 million undocumented Americans here. You think they're going to run into the hospital if they're sick. Not if he doesn't say we're not going to deport you. Where's the amnesty? That doesn't sound Stephen Miller-like to me. It's the opposite. Right? It's sort of this home's people --

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: Just like the president address --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: I've got to --

STELTER: -- those personal feelings that people have today.

CAPLAN: Correct.

STELTER: Like should I send my child to school tomorrow? He wasn't addressing that. Should NBA teams play tomorrow.

CAPLAN: I've asked --

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: He wasn't addressing that.

LEMON: I'm not sure if I would want my president to address that. I would just -- think I would want accuracy from my president and at least some empathy. But local officials and I would want to hear that from the news --

(CROSSTALK)

CAPLAN: So, Don, should he have -- so here's the simple question. Should he have appeared with one of his top scientists. One of his top scientists.

LEMON: I don't know. Listen --

CAPLAN: I know what he was doing in the speech but --

LEMON: I can't speak for the White House and how he should have done it but I think that there should always be accuracy when it comes from -- especially coming from the Oval Office in a speech to the nation --

(CROSSTALK)

CAPLAN: I couldn't agree more.

LEMON: Thank you all. I appreciate it.

Washington State has been hardest hit so far and they're taking aggressive action to curve coronavirus there. I'm going to talk to Seattle's mayor and ask what it's like to live in that city right now. We'll be right back.

[23:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The governor of Washington State trying to stem the outbreak of coronavirus which has hit Washington really hard, banning events that will attract 250 people or more in the Seattle area.

A lot to discuss now with Seattle's Mayor, Jenny Durkan. Mayor, thank you so much. I really appreciate you being here. I know it's a very busy and frightening time for you.

This evening we heard from President Trump. He addressed the coronavirus in the U.S. I just want to play some of it for you and get your reaction. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, the president is calling this a foreign virus, but I mean this has really hit your city really hard. Is it a foreign virus?

MAYOR JENNY DURKAN (D), SEATTLE, WASHINGTON: Look, I don't think those kinds of descriptions help anyone, and we know that from the beginning we were really hampered in the Seattle area because of the lack of testing. And we still are.

We -- I got my cabinet together as soon as we saw China started planning in case it came to Seattle because we have such a connection with China and other countries. And because there weren't enough people tested, a couple of things happened.

Number one, people who needed the test didn't get it and didn't get the health care they needed. Two, we as leaders did not understand or appreciate how far this had spread in our community, and we still don't.

And so, let's give your viewers some honest numbers. Fortunately, we have amazing research scientists here in Seattle and they have actually been able to get the genome for this virus.

And by doing some modeling and looking at the tests, they calculate that if we didn't take the kind of actions that the governor and I and the executives announced today that by April 7th, we would have over 25,000 cases in the city of Seattle in this region.

LEMON: Wow.

DURKAN: And 400 deaths. So, if you look at those numbers and the trajectory, this virus is in community spread now and not just in Seattle.

I've been talking to mayors across the country, and I've been telling them act conservatively. Just because you don't have the numbers through testing, you have to assume it's there and act conservatively.

We have to protect our health care workers and our vulnerable community. And then we have to do what we have to do on the side to help vulnerable people in our economic community too. And if we don't build that kind of resiliency in, our communities are really going to suffer.

You know, Seattle is in for a really long haul and we know that. And it's going to be hard. Our way of life is going to change. We will know people that get sick. Our health care system is going to be tested. We will get through it. And we will come out, we will rebuild, we will be strong.

But I think it's important to speak with one voice and why it is so important --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: And get the accurate -- let me jump in here. And get the accurate information.

DURKAN: And get the accurate information.

LEMON: Your governor and you mentioned, Jay Inslee has ordered a ban on gathering of people in Seattle, 250 people or more, right? People in Seattle -- in the Seattle region.

This is going to affect countless events. So, tell me more about these restrictions. Because I believe you think that they're saving lives and keeping people from -- keeping the disease from spreading and people from getting sick.

DURKAN: Absolutely saving lives. And I really applaud the governor for doing it, and acting as one voice together. All of government giving the public accurate information and telling them why we have to take this step so that large groups can't gather and even smaller groups under 250 have to follow guidelines that will keep people safe.

We have to have some civic society. We are -- we are that by nature. We have to keep grocery stores and some businesses open. But we have to be smart because if we don't stem the tide of the growth, so many more people are in jeopardy.

So, I really applaud the governor for his actions today. I think it will drive down the spread of this virus. It will save lives. And it will help our first responders, our health care workers. I can't tell you how much they inspire me.

LEMON: But I want to ask you that because this is one of the strictest orders imposed on an American city so far. How are people reacting? That's where you were going with this.

[23:25:04]

DURKAN: I think people are reacting well. They had to know why we were doing it. But in Seattle and in Washington State, I think people have always had this sense of civic pride. And we will do what we need to do to get through really tough situations.

This is going to be one that tests everybody. It is going to be a transformative thing for all of America. And unfortunately, we're one of the first to go through it. People will learn from the lessons that we do here and hopefully the rest of the nation will be more prepared.

And that the CDC and others will be able to deliver the kind of help that you talked about that we as a nation deserve to have the kind of planning, the kind of reinforcements for our health care workers. That's what we need. We need a large-scale response.

Today, I was really hoping that the president would have declared an emergency so that FEMA could respond to communities like ours that are going to need that kind of help. That's what we need, a solid leadership. And I'm hoping that we will get that from the federal government partners. But I know we've got it here in Seattle in Washington State.

LEMON: I want to ask you about a moment that happened last hour with our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta in regards to testing. I want you to listen to this, and then we'll talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I just want to show you this because this is from the CDC site now. As of yesterday, Don, you can take a look. That's how many tests were done at the CDC --

LEMON: The middle one.

GUPTA: Right there. That number.

LEMON: Zero.

GUPTA: And this is how many tests were done at public health department yesterday.

LEMON: Eight.

GUPTA: Eight tests total.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: What is your response, Mayor?

DURKAN: You know, I think that we have got to have more testing here and across the nation. We fortunately have good partners here. The university of Washington has stood up a lab so we can add more capacity there. We have a state lab as well that is working around the clock.

But this is the exact kind of thing that we rely on our federal partners for. The Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation is working on a home test kit that can be distributed very easily. We are going to be very innovative in Seattle. Fortunately, we're home to a lot of really innovative companies. But

we shouldn't have to do that while we're already in the crisis. We will do it and it will help people stay alive.

But really across the nation, if there's any one thing I would say to people is make sure you've got broad scale testing and surveillance because that will help your health care system. They won't get as overwhelmed.

LEMON: Well, Mayor Jenny Durkan, thank you so much. Best of luck to you.

DURKAN: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Thank you.

A second NBA game cancelled tonight; the season being suspended indefinitely. That, as a Utah Jazz player preliminarily test positive for the coronavirus. How will all of this change the sports world? We'll discuss.

[23:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So we have some breaking news tonight. The NBA announcing they are suspending their season until further notice upon the completion of tonight's games. The decision was made after a player for the Utah Jazz preliminarily tested positive for coronavirus. Tonight's game between the Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder eventually postponed and fans were asked to leave the stadium.

And just within the last 20 to 30 minutes or so, the NBA announcing that the games scheduled for tonight between the New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings has been cancelled. One of the referees scheduled to work the game had previously worked the game involving the Jazz player who tested positive for coronavirus.

Back with me now is CNN's Carolyn Manno and also I want to bring in Andy Larsen. He is on the phone. He is with the Utah Jazz. He is a Jazz -- the Utah Jazz beat reporter for the Salt Lake City Tribune. It is so good to have both of you here. So Carolyn, thank you for coming back. And Andy, I'm going to start with you. You were at the game that was postponed tonight --

ANDY LARSEN, UTAH JAZZ AND NBA WRITER, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE (via telephone): Yes.

LEMON: -- between the Jazz and the Thunder. Where are you now? What's going on?

LARSEN (via telephone): I'm currently standing on the Thunder's court, about half-court just, you know, a few feet from the logo. So, we're still waiting on more information on what we should do. Now, the team is currently still in the building. Last I heard they were in their locker room being basically quarantined. As far as the media members that travel with the team, we're here in the building, yeah, just awaiting more information.

LEMON: OK. So, listen. Let's talk about some of this if you can clarify some of the information for us. The NBA and the Jazz are also confirming reports that one of the Jazz players tested positive for COVID-19. They also have been reports that the Jazz and Thunder players are now quarantined in the Oklahoma City arena. Do you know anything about that?

LARSEN (via telephone): The Thunder has been allowed to go home. That was about 15 to 20 minutes ago from what I understand. The jazz, like, I said, are still in the locker room. But the way this unfolded was or at least as I know it was that the Jazz reported that Rudy Gobert was questionable due to an illness as far as his participation in tonight's game. This morning --

LEMON: I don't think -- hang on, Andy. You didn't explain exactly. Tell us about Rudy Gobert. He is the center. He is the one who is tested positive preliminarily.

LARSEN (via telephone): Right.

LEMON: Go on. Explain to our viewers.

LARSEN (via telephone): He's the Utah Jazz's all-star center, made the all-star game this year. He was the two-time defensive player of the year. He's a big player in the NBA. Anyway, he was listed as ill for today's game.

[23:35:00]

LARSEN (via telephone): He did not come to the arena at any point today from what I understand.

LEMON: Mm-hmm.

LARSEN (via telephone): And then the team basically got this test for him given that he was experiencing these symptoms. And right before tip-off, literally, probably one to two minutes before the game was scheduled to tip-off, they got the test result that it was positive. And at that point, the team told the officials and the players were pulled off of the court.

LEMON: Carolyn, you want to weigh in on this?

MANNO: I just want to clarify. So the vide that you're seeing from Rudy Gobert was from a press conference on Monday where basically he said that he didn't believe that COVID-19 coronavirus was as serious or as big of a deal as everybody was making it. So, he made a point of touching the microphone and kind of spreading his germs all over the press availability before he left.

That's not for me to, you know, dump on the guy who now is in the preliminary stage of dealing with the coronavirus. It's just to explain the video and also to just underscore the point that I think a lot of people in the sports world didn't think that this was that big of a deal and today was the first day that we are now figuring out just how impacted the sports world will be by this.

LEMON: Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is speaking out tonight too as well. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CUBAN, OWNER OF NBA'S DALLAS MAVERICKS: This is peoples' lives at stake. This isn't about basketball. This isn't about the Mavericks. This isn't about when do we start or do we start or how do we start. This is a pandemic, a global pandemic where peoples' lives are at stake. You know, I'm a lot more worried about my kids and my mom who is 82 years old, you know, and talking to her and telling her to stay in the house than I am about when we play our next game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He's got a very powerful voice in the league. But he is concerned. You can hear in there. He is concerned about much more than basketball.

MANNO: Everybody is concerned about this. This is why the diagnosis of Rudy Gobert is so important for a couple of reasons but primarily because this is a player in the league who is now dealing with this virus. And when you talk about all the revenue that's brought in with the NBA and the comments that Lebron James made that he walked back and said, hey, this is about health and public safety everybody, TV revenue was such an important part of this because the league brings in a lot of money on television.

So, I think it's an example of all these leagues waiting to the last possible second, trying to do everything they can to move forward to play these games, to have these games on television. Now, you have a player that has been primarily diagnosed and so you cannot justify playing these games at all. That's the significance of it, is that unfortunately, it is a massive financial hit across the board, across the sports landscape.

But now we are at the point where this is so important. It is so widespread that unfortunately the NBA has said we're not doing this at all. I would not be surprised if the NCAA followed suit, the NHL, and a lot of other leagues, too.

LEMON: Wow. Andy, the Jazz, that's your beat, right, you follow them?

LARSEN (via telephone): Yes.

LEMON: So you're pretty close. Rudy Gobert, did you have any personal contact?

LARSEN (via telephone): Yeah. I interviewed him on Monday. I was at the press conference that is in the video. My microphone was not one of the ones that he touched, but I interviewed him both in the pregame press conference as well as the postgame after the Jazz played that game. So --

LEMON: You were in the locker room?

LARSEN (via telephone): I was not in the locker room, no. The NBA did not allow us into the locker room starting on Monday.

LEMON: Mm-hmm. So, you have had contacts and other reporters have as well. Go on.

LARSEN (via telephone): We were six to eight feet away, basically was the limit where we were told to keep a safe distance from Rudy Gobert or anyone on the team. Then today, we were told to keep a safe distance from anyone traveling with the team, so that includes the team play-by-play announcers, the radio people, the coaches, trainers, all the people that do travel with the NBA team as well.

LEMON: Yeah. All right, Andy, Carolyn, thank you so much. We appreciate it. Tom Hanks is now announcing tonight that he and his wife Rita Wilson have tested positive for the coronavirus. The details are next.

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[23:40:00]

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LEMON: Tom Hanks, the actor, is announcing tonight that he and his wife, Rita Wilson, also an actress, have been diagnosed with coronavirus. They're both in Australia tonight. CNN's Stephanie Elam has the very latest for us. Stephanie, good evening to you. What a story. So, we have Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. What do you know?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Everyone was wondering when we are going to see somebody famous come down with coronavirus. And now, we have the answer. In fact, I want you to go ahead and take a listen to what Tom Hanks has posted on his Instagram. I'll read it to you.

In part, it says, "We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers, too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus, and were found to be positive. Well, now. What to do next? The medical officials have protocol that must be followed. We Hanks's will be tested, observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires."

It looks like Rita Wilson just posted it as well, but changed it a little bit to say keep us in your prayers at the end, but pretty much the same statement here coming from the couple while they are in Australia.

LEMON: Yeah. We certainly will keep them in our prayers. Stephanie, they were down in Australia. They are shooting a movie. It has to do with Elvis, correct?

ELAM: Yeah, that's exactly what we're learning from. This is coming from Warner Bros., which did confirm that one of their cast members did come down with coronavirus, has tested positive. They are in the gold coast in Queensland, Australia.

[23:44:58]

ELAM: Now, taking a look at where they are, they're saying that what they're going to go is go through, look at anyone who may have come in close contact with them, identify those people, and then also work with the Australian health officials to make sure that they are following the right protocols and making sure that everyone is as safe as possible while working on this Elvis Presley film.

LEMON: Any idea when they're going to come back?

ELAM: Well, if you take a look at that statement, they said that they're going to be isolated. So they are on lockdown, it would seem, for a while.

LEMON: At least 14 days, right?

ELAM: Yeah. They're not going anywhere for a while. What happens for the production? These are all questions that are all going to come out. But just learning this news and knowing that in Australia, that they have their own case, 112 confirmed cases and three deaths in all of Australia, think about that, 15 cases alone in Queensland.

So, I would imagine that they will be there for a good number of days. And who knows? We don't know. They may have been planning on being there much longer than this, anyway, but we do know that Tom Hanks is down there, I took a quick look at Twitter, lots of love out there for Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson.

LEMON: There should be. Thank you very much, Stephanie Elam. We appreciate it. Colleges and universities across the country are shutting down campus and telling students they will have to leave. But what happens to students now?

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[23:50:00]

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LEMON: The coronavirus pandemic is forcing many colleges and universities across the country to shut down classrooms and dormitories, forcing students off campus and to continue their studies online, from elsewhere. But that's leaving a lot of students scrambling.

Let's bring in one of them. Braeden Foldenauer is a student at Harvard who is vice president of Primus. It is the first-generation student union organization on campus that not only works with first-generation undergraduate students but also supports low-income and under- resourced students.

I had been reading your resume here, and you are an overachiever. You do a lot. So thank you for joining us. I understand you have a deadline to get out of there and we appreciate you joining us tonight. So, Braeden, you are still at Harvard tonight. What was it like when they said to you that you got to be out by Sunday?

BRAEDEN FOLDENAUER, STUDENT, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Well, it was chaotic. I mean, we woke up yesterday to an e-mail that said that you've got until Sunday to get off campus, move out of your dorm, make arrangements for your stuff. There is a lot of uncertainty right now. People are trying to make last-minute arrangements.

LEMON: What's the mood like? How are people dealing with this on campus?

FOLDENAUER: I think that a lot of people, probably the vast majority, are upset, particularly seniors, who thought they had two months to say good-bye, they've got a few days. And, you know, one thing that we are experiencing right now is that it is disproportionately affecting our low-income and disadvantaged students. So I just think there is a lot of concern right now about cost and how to afford it.

LEMON: Yeah. Let's talk about that a little bit more because not only are you the VP of an organization that's aimed at supporting under- resourced students on campus, you are a low-income, out-of-state student yourself, correct me if I am wrong, right?

FOLDENAUER: Yes, sir.

LEMON: So what are students doing to help students who need it, students like you?

FOLDENAUER: So right now, the university is offering students a cash advance. And so basically, if I say, look, I've got no money, I can't get home, the university will, say I need $400, the university is charging $400 to your student account and then putting it into your checking account.

And they've asked to -- they've asked the faculty of arts and sciences to help cover the cost to reimburse students, but it's not clear that we're going to get that right now.

So, right now, it really seems like it's a zero-interest loan. So, a lot of low-income students are worried that they're going to have to pay back the university to make these last-minute arrangements. And one thing that we have done working with the Harvard alumni Association is trying to find alumni who are willing to donate and willing to help.

The student government has stepped in to try to offer some help. But I think my big concern is it seems like a lot of efforts to make this more affordable has been student led. And I think we're hoping for a stronger university response.

LEMON: So I'm just wondering if -- what that means. You said they've offered to help. That means computers and so on because -- listen, not everybody has Wi-Fi or computer access at home or internet access. What have they said about that?

FOLDENAUER: Yeah. Well, look, it's a big concern and there's still a lot of uncertainty around that. I was talking to a friend at a dinner today who said that he doesn't think he is going to be able to go home to his parents. He might stay with another relative because, you're absolutely right, he doesn't have internet access at home.

My roommate is from Mumbai, India. He said that, if I have to live stream (ph) in the class, I would be taking class from 12 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day. So --

LEMON: Yeah.

FOLDENAUER: - there is still a lot of concern around that. The alumni association has raised some money. People in the area have offered to host students, to store stuff over the summer. So we are trying to get students connected to alumni who are willing to help. But still, I think there is a lot of confusion about what's it look like going forward for me to complete my coursework. You know, for students who have term-time jobs and rely on that income, there is a lot of concern.

You know, summer stipends where we are still waiting to hear about that for students who have unpaid internships. So there are just a lot of questions that are unanswered.

LEMON: Yeah. Listen, I had to work in college. There are students who have to work on campus. They have summer jobs lined up and on and on and on. So it's tough. Listen, what are your major concerns right now, Braeden? What would you like to hear Harvard address?

FOLDENAUER: Number one, I think that we'd like to hear a confirmation that students are going to get reimbursed because, you know, like I said, essentially what students are getting right now is a zero- interest loan.

[23:55:00]

FOLDENAUER: I'm really appreciative of the Harvard employees who are working with students to make sure that travel arrangements are made. But it really seems like Harvard's number one priority right now is getting students off campus. And it seems like there's been a lack of concern or lack of response about what those repercussions look like and those consequences for low-income students.

So I think, number one, is just an affirmation that, look, this -- whatever cost you incur, if you're in financial aid, we'll make sure that will be covered. I think that's the number one thing that we're hoping for.

LEMON: Braeden, are you sure you're from Mississippi?

FOLDENAUER: I am sure.

LEMON: Where is your accent? That's people always ask me, where is my Louisiana accent, but where's your Mississippi accent?

FOLDENAUER: Yeah. So my parents are from the north.

(LAUGHTER) FOLDENAUER: I wasn't blessed with that deep southern drawl.

LEMON: He is taking me seriously.

FOLDENAUER: But I am very much identified as a Mississippian.

LEMON: I'm just messing with you, Braeden. I'm just messing with you. Listen, good luck to you and good luck to all of your students. We appreciate you joining us here on CNN, OK? Thanks a lot.

FOLDENAUER: Thank you so much for having me.

LEMON: Absolutely. And thank you for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues.

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