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Don Lemon Tonight

White House Imposed Guidelines To Stop Virus Spread; A Huge Nosedive For Dow Jones; President Trump Admits Coronavirus Is Uncontrolled; U.S. Hospitals Brace For Influx Of Coronavirus Cases; Ohio Governor Announces Polls Will Be Closed Tuesday Over Coronavirus; Portland Distillery Starts Making Their Own Hand Sanitizer And Giving It Away. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired March 16, 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]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

We have got a busy hour coming up, covering all the angles of the coronavirus pandemic, and here are tonight's big headlines.

The White House tightening the guidelines for all Americans as it seeks to stop the spread of the outbreak urging people to avoid groups of ten or more, to stay away from bars and restaurants and food courts. And saying schools and areas with community spread should close.

No end yet to the free fall on Wall Street. The Dow Jones plunging nearly 3,000 points today, its worse day, day point drop in history. As the pandemic spreads across the country hospitals are bracing for the worst. But are they prepared? Do they have enough equipment and staff members? Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has some answers for you.

We are learning tonight that polls will be closed in Ohio tomorrow as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. We're going to also see how states that are holding their primaries are planning to keep voters and poll workers safe.

And taking action to help others during the pandemic, an Oregon distillery using an alcohol byproduct to make hand sanitizer for its customers. We're going to meet the owners who came up with the idea.

But first, President Trump ramping up efforts by his administration to try and stop the spread of coronavirus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

We'd much rather be ahead of the curve than behind it and that's where we are. Therefore, my administration is recommending that all Americans including the young and healthy work to engage in schooling from home when possible. Avoid gathering in groups of more than 10 people. Avoid discretionary travel and avoid eating and drinking at bars, restaurants and public food courts. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Joining me now Dr. Celine Gounder, she is a clinical assistant professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at NYU and host of the epidemic podcast. Also, Juliette Kayyem, she is a former Department of Homeland Security official. Good to have both of you on. Thank you for joining. Good evening.

[23:04:57]

Dr. Gounder, I'm going to start with you. You just heard the president these new guidelines limit gatherings to no more than ten people, but yesterday the CDC said no more than 50 people. Will this change make a difference, you think?

CELINE GOUNDER, INFECTIOUS DISEASES SPECIALIST & EPIDEMIOLOGIST, NYU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Well, we've heard so many different cut offs, right? We've heard a thousand, 250, 50, now 10. I think that's really a reflection now of saying, you know we really need to tighten up to our -- our immediate families and maybe a couple of people inside that circle of trust, so to speak, that bubble that we want to keep unpenetrated by the virus.

LEMON: I mean, going from 50 to 10, that's pretty big.

GOUNDER: It's a pretty -- I think it's a recognition that this is really something we need to clamp down on and really need to be implementing social distancing.

LEMON: Yes. Juliette, when we finish the show on Friday, I mean, you were here. There were 2,210 cases of coronavirus in the U.S. and 49 deaths. Tonight, there are 4,462 cases, 86 deaths. What more needs done so that we don't have the same fate as Italy?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. So today was optimistic day in the range of optimism these days, which I really, which you saw the federal government align with where the states already were. And that is important. Because it was unsustainable to have different states at different levels.

They were all heading the same way, which is essentially, you know, lock down or social -- all sorts of isolation. Closing of things. This was the first time Donald Trump, the president sort of unequivocally made it clear that we can no longer sort of isolate the virus.

You can no longer just close our borders. And we had to look at isolation plans and social plans that made us change our behavior. That's important. Because about 40 percent of the American public was not getting it. They were not getting what a big deal this was.

Where I worry is of course that we always seem two or three weeks behind. The White House does. They were behind on the testing kits. They were behind as sort of having national standards for the state. We know what we need now. We have the deficiency of supplies.

We knew eight weeks ago that we would have that deficiency. And various tools that are allowed by the -- for the president and crises whether it's a national stockpile, whether it's the defense manufacturing act.

All these tools to get private sector, to get the government to surge resources to the states. They're just not being moved fast enough. So that's going to be the story in the weeks to come as these hospitals that are just going to be hit and then that impacts almost everything around this.

LEMON: Is it, you know, we've been so focused on the testing kits now. But Dr. Gounder, is it --

GOUNDER: Yes.

LEMON: -- is it too late for that?

GOUNDER: Well, I think at this stage we really need to focus the testing kits on the people who need it most. So, they are the people who are in the hospital who are very sick. Where we as physicians need to know, OK, does this person have coronavirus or not so we can triage them appropriately and isolate appropriately and protect ourselves appropriately.

We're too late really to be doing the kind of testing that South Korea did to contain their epidemic, unfortunately. And I'm hopeful at least in the coming weeks that we will be able to expand testing.

But I don't think we're going to get it to the point where say you're worried, me or Don Lemon, you know, I think maybe I got it on the subway today. I don't think that's going to be available to you unless you are critically ill.

LEMON: Don't we still need to know how it spreads and how many people can get it and who's a carrier and who's not and on and on?

GOUNDER: We would like to know that. I think at this stage we've got to the point where the number one priority is really to contain it. And so, that just means that social distancing and really making use of the test kits at least until the supply expands really for the most critically ill.

LEMON: Yes. Juliette, as I was watching Governor Cuomo -- I almost called him president -- Governor Cuomo today I thought about you when you said we've never had, you know, sort of a pandemic or an emergency that's spread across the country like this. Usually it's state wide --

KAYYEM: Yes.

LEMON: -- or it's regional. You had a Katrina, or you know you had a Sandy that affects a couple states or a single state but nothing that spreads across the country like this. And you said we didn't know how to deal with it. So, it made me think that's exactly what you said on Friday night on this program.

KAYYEM: Yes. LEMON: But I want you to take a look at this. OK? If you can. These are pictures of the first shipment of masks and coronavirus test kits taking off from Shanghai to the U.S. What does it say that a country hit hardest is now helping the U.S.?

KAYYEM: Well, I mean, it is --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: This billionaire Jack Ma is helping with this.

KAYYEM: Yes. I mean, it is fantastic. I think people recognize the deficiencies in planning that we're under the testing is still going to be necessary not for figuring out, you know, which communities are hardest hit but also, just to think about how do we get out of this.

We need to have a sense of how many people still have it so we can contain and isolate and then let society reopen again. Because I'm always thinking ahead, you know, when does it end? That's the most important thing.

[23:09:55]

I do want to say today was a significant day not only because of Donald Trump. But I really do think Governor Cuomo did a tremendous job in sort soft saying to the public and those of us watching we, 50 states need a -- this is a United States. Right?

All 50 states are getting hit simultaneous. They cannot -- they cannot deal with the demands on their capacity in the weeks to come. That is why there is a federal government why we have to surge resources.

Look, generally you mention hurricane Katrina. You and I, I think first met at the B.P. oil spill. Normally, when something bad happens amongst states they can share. So, if Louisiana is hit it can, you know, ask Texas. You know, can you send us this or that or whatever because you don't have a big event like this.

In this case you can't ask for aide from other states. And so, I just thought between President Trump and Governor Cuomo was a significant day that our leadership was at least aligned. Now let's just move that stuff. We know what we need and the weeks ahead are going to be harder.

LEMON: Well, the reason I almost said President Cuomo, is because I was thinking what if the president had done what Governor Cuomo did two weeks ago. I'm just wondering --

KAYYEM: Yes.

LEMON: -- where we would be today. That's it. Just saying. Thank you both. I appreciate it.

I want to bring in now CNN White House Correspondent, Boris Sanchez and our resident fact-checker Daniel Dale. Good evening, gentlemen. Daniel, you fact-check every word from the president. How did Trump today compare to the Trump you usually see?

DANIEL DALE, CNN REPORTER: Don, this was a more factual Donald Trump. That's not to say he was a factual Donald Trump, but by his standards this was an improvement. Trump has been consistently dishonest until today in talking about the coronavirus pandemic. Repeatedly assuring these kinds of rose-colored proclamations that are sharply at odds with what actual experts are saying.

There was less of that today. His rhetoric was at least in the ballpark of what we're hearing from Dr. Anthony Fauci, for example. Now he still was inaccurate on occasion. He issues a false timeline of what people knew and thought about the crisis over the past month. He called the contagion record setting. That was the usual Trump hyperbole.

But again, by Trump's own standards, Don, I think this was better.

LEMON: Boris, on Friday the president was autographing a copy of the stock market rally. Today he was somber. Pretty realistic about the gravity of the pandemic. What's behind this huge change?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's really two aspects to this. And I'm glad you pointed out that he was signing copies of the stock market's performance on Friday because a big part of this is economic. The president is watching the stock market purge. It's no surprise this is a reelection year for him.

Going back to that James Carville line of if the economy is stupid. And the president is worried that this might hurt his chances to reelection. Some 90 percent of the gains made under his administration in the stock market have evaporated. And that consumes him.

Simultaneously, there are officials on this coronavirus task force that have tried to press the president to do more. Suggesting that the travel restrictions that the administration put into place going back to January and February have not been enough.

People like Dr. Anthony Fauci have been telling the president that more needs to be done to protect Americans in this outbreak. And that's part of the reason you see the president going out today and acknowledging for the first time that this virus is not under control.

LEMON: Daniel, Trump also tried to walk back his comment from yesterday that the coronavirus is under tremendous control. What's the fact check here?

DALE: So our Kaitlan Collins asked him if he wanted to amend that statement and he said that yesterday he had not been saying that the virus itself was under tremendous control. That he had been saying that given the constraints that they're working with they are doing a good job.

Now his comment yesterday was a bit vaguer than the usual. But he is consistently repeatedly in January, February and again in March said that the virus itself is under control. Listen to this compilation of clips that your team has put together. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We think we have it very well under control.

We have it so well under control.

It's a very contagious virus. It's incredible. But it's something that we have tremendous control over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DALE: So, he has been saying this over and over. It's clear that he has consistently misled the American public into thinking the virus itself is under control. Whatever he has to say about his comment yesterday that's the message he has consistently said.

LEMON: Here's the president, Daniel, his sound at the coronavirus pandemic today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have an invisible enemy. We have a problem that a month ago nobody ever thought about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK, give us the facts.

DALE: That's not even close to true. Experts and public health people like Bill Gates who is involved in public health and the U.S. intelligence community had been warning Trump and others for years that the U.S. was at risk of and unprepared --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Daniel, we've been reporting on this a month ago. I don't -- like I --

(CROSSTALK)

[23:14:59]

DALE: We've been, yes. So, he was wrong in general terms about the general warnings about a pandemic and wrong about this specific pandemic. The U.S. had its first confirmed case in January. That's well over a month ago and he keeps doing this. He keeps offering this time lines to suggest that no one could have known this was coming very recently. Well, we did know it was coming.

LEMON: Yes. He was at rallies saying that it was a Democrat and the media hoax and OK, all right.

DALE: Yes.

LEMON: So, Boris, we're hearing that Trump officials are pressuring GOP senators to approve the House coronavirus bill. So, what do you know? This is a very important bill, what can you tell us about it?

SANCHEZ: Yes, this is hugely important. There has been some very public resistance by a number of Republican senators. People like Tom Cotton who have come out and said that they believe that this bill doesn't go far enough to help small business and to do a number of other things that they are envisioning in a stimulus package to confront the economic ramifications of this coronavirus outbreak.

Steve Mnuchin, the treasury secretary is really leading this effort by a senior official in the Trump White House to push these Republican senators effectively to say that we have to act now. That something needs to be done now before it's too late.

Effectively saying that things like a payroll tax cut holiday could be pushed into the future. Some of the other ideas that they had could essentially be tabled because this needs to happen immediately.

Something to watch for tomorrow Mnuchin is set to brief some of these Republican senators on the details of this House bill, we'll see the response and how they feel about it moving forward tomorrow.

LEMON: Boris, Daniel, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

The Dow plunges almost 3,000 points as the president says we may be headed for a recession. Millions of American jobs could be at risk but Mitt Romney has an idea he thinks might help. We'll discuss. That's next.

[23:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The markets continue to take a beating today as President Trump acknowledged that the coronavirus is not under control. It was a blood bath for the Dow which closed 3,000 points down. The S&P falling 500 points.

Senator Mitt Romney proposing a $1,000 payment to every adult American, an idea that will sound familiar to my guest --

ANDREW YANG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Andrew Yang. Yes.

LEMON: A Democratic presidential candidate. Also, Catherine Rampell, an opinion commentator with the Washington Post. Good evening to both of you. What did you say about Mitt Romney?

YANG: That he has joined the Yang gang. We're getting a lot of new members. Certainly, under the worst circumstances anyone can imagine.

LEMON: I'm going to talk to you about that, but I just want to talk about the markets real quick, Catherine.

CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure.

LEMON: If you -- both of you.

YANG: Please, please.

LEMON: The markets tanked after the Fed pumped how much, a billion dollars into the economy in the form of rate cuts? Cash injections. How much more -- you can't go down, what is it, like what, .25 now? What is it?

RAMPELL: Yes, the said fund rate is in the range of 0.25 percent.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Why it didn't work?

RAMPELL: Well, look, the Fed has shot virtually every bullet it could from squirt gun to bazooka and it really only has so many tools available at this point. We went into this crisis with interest rates already low. So, they were at a disadvantage. And there are tools that frankly just not that useful for dealing with a global recession caused by a pandemic.

So, they are doing what they can to make sure that there's liquidity in the market so that we don't have an eventual financial crisis. This is basically a crisis in the real economy not in the banking system at this point. But there's only so much they can do. Which is exactly why fiscal policy makers, i.e., Congress and the Senate need to get off their butts and pass a damn bill already.

LEMON: Yes. When people say now, I just don't have that kind of money. They mean just don't have that kind of money. Because listen, the president warned today that the U.S. maybe heading into a recession. I mean, where do you see this economic crisis going?

YANG: We're clearly already in a recession and we need to prevent it from becoming a full-scale depression. Because the real economy right now has been completely hobbled and then some --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: You said depression?

YANG: Yes. With a D. I mean, that's what's on the table right now. That's why senators like Mitt Romney are recommending dramatic solutions like putting $1,000 in the hand of every American adult immediately.

Because that's exactly the right move and that's going to help support demand and help millions of American families actually weathering this crisis that could stretch on for months. It should be $1,000 per month of the crisis. The CDC already said we should avoid gatherings for the next two months. So, it should be at least a thousand bucks for every American for the next two months.

LEMON: So, you believe -- you believe that we're already in a recession and need to prevent a depression you think --

(CROSSTALK) YANG: A recession is immediately baked in. And just look around. Like New York is a ghost town. Every bar and restaurant is close. And that's just the beginning of it. You can look at every sporting event, every conference. Like planes, trains empty. The entire economy is essentially become a ghost town. And so, we have to prevent this from becoming a crippling depression.

I just talked to Tom who runs all these restaurants.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Colicchio, yes.

YANG: Yes, Colicchio.

LEMON: He laid about 300 people today.

YANG: He laid off 300. Can you imagine that projected throughout the entire economy? Small businesses right now are firing people right and left.

RAMPELL: Yes. I mean, we are almost undoubtedly in a recession right now, possibly a global recession, a number of economists have said that. The real question is how long it lasts. And to be clear, with all due respect to Andrew for bringing greeter popularity to UBI, which is, you know, your proposal that we would have a $1,000 a month.

Regardless of whether the economy is good or bad. Actually, giving direct cash payments as a Keynesian former stimulus is precedented. We did it in 2008 through a partially refundable tax credit. I think they were called the recovery rebait or something under George W. Bush.

LEMON: I remember that.

RAMPELL: Yes. So, this is not an entirely new thing.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: But it was like a 100 or 200, it wasn't that much.

[23:24:58]

RAMPELL: It was -- it was refund for up to $300 and if you had a bigger tax liability, I think you can get like $600 a person. But, yes, I mean, it was -- it was not huge. Maybe an inflation in adjusted terms it would be comparable to what's on the table today.

So, this is not a new thing. Putting cash in the pockets of Americans when they need it most. Not new. And it should be surprising frankly that we've seen Republican economists, Democratic economists, Republican lawmakers, Democratic lawmakers get on board with it now.

LEMON: OK. So here is what -- here is what conservatives usually say, that it doesn't offer people an incentive to do anything. That it's, you know, it doesn't make people feel worth. Right? You just sort of sit around and you get money for nothing. That's -- I'm just -- (CROSSTALK)

YANG: Yes, completely. And as Catherine said, people on both sides of the aisle see the common sense. Where they know that if you send tens of millions of Americans home their savings is going to evaporate pretty quickly. How are they going to meet their basic needs?

RAMPELL: How are they going to pay their rent?

YANG: How are they going to pay their rent or pay for food? So, we need to get money into their hands immediately. And this has nothing to do with your political leanings. This is the common sense. And I'm thrilled that it seems like Congress is getting its act together and doing the right thing sooner than later.

LEMON: But isn't this just of a, this is just layman's term -- listen, I'm not an economist. I don't -- I don't, you know, study the markets. I just, you know, I don't know. That sort of trickle-down economy. If wealthy people aren't putting money into the economy if they're not going to restaurants. That's when poor people suffer.

YANG: Well, this is the trickle up economy. And again, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle see that all their constituents are about to be cut off from their every day jobs, income, they don't know when it's going to come back. And there's really no replacement --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Because rich people still have money. They're just not spending it. They're just not going out to restaurants. It's the gig workers. It's the average every day American who is not going to have -- who doesn't have money, who is not getting a paycheck.

YANG: Well, unfortunately, that's the vast majority of Americans at this time.

LEMON: That's what I mean.

YANG: Seventy-eight percent are living paycheck to paycheck.

LEMON: Right.

YANG: Almost half said they couldn't afford an unexpected $400 bill before the crisis. That was before business went on a cliff and they all got sent home. So, you can imagine what it is going to be right now. Literally, every moment, every hour counts. And Congress needs to pass this bill right now.

RAMPELL: And I would add, you know, the House actually did pass a bill late Friday night early Saturday morning. And the Senate has been dragging its feet. Nitpicking. And look, it's not a perfect bill but it does a lot of good things including offering paid sick leave to more people expanding unemployment insurance.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: That's what Tom -- that's what Tom said, the guy who owns the restaurants in this service --

(CROSSTALK)

YANG: You know, but if you look at a set of restaurants that closed, you look at the range of people that get affected.

LEMON: Yes.

YANG: It's everyone from the people who work at the restaurant at the parking attendants.

LEMON: Yes.

YANG: The security guards.

RAMPELL: Yes.

YANG: Like, you know, in order to cover this vast array of people throughout the economy, you just have to give it to everyone. You really can't try and differentiate.

LEMON: Thank you both. I appreciate it. Healthcare stretched to the limit and other countries. Will the U.S. face the same challenges? Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look at how hospitals are preparing, next.

[23:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Coronavirus cases are spreading across the country. Are the U.S. hospitals at risk of being overwhelmed like some hospitals overseas and how are they preparing for dealing with this pandemic? Dr. Sanjay Gupta has that. Sanjay?

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, as you know, the number of patients now diagnosed with the coronavirus infection here in the United States is 4,000. But, you know, the number may be much larger. We're going to see those numbers as we start to test. The bigger question, I think, for a lot of people, especially in the medical establishment is do the hospitals have the capacity to be able to take care of all the patients who might need hospitalization.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: We are at a critical inflexion point. We have the same number of cases now that Italy had two weeks ago. We have a choice to make.

GUPTA (voice-over): This is the era of coronavirus. Hospitals are overcrowded in places like China and Italy, stretching resources thin and putting patients at risk. And the concern is that in matter of weeks that could become the United States.

IRWIN REDLENER, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL CENTER FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS: We are so incredible underprepared for a major onslaught to hospitals, which is basically now inevitable. I think we have to look at Italy and see what happened to them. I think we're actually in worse shape. We don't have enough hospital beds. We don't have enough ICU beds.

GUPTA (voice-over): According to the most recent estimates, even in a moderate outbreak, health officials estimate that 200,000 Americans will need intensive care and 64,000 will need breathing machines or ventilators. But the problem is the United States has less than 100,000 ICU beds and only about 62,000 full-featured ventilators on hand with an additional 8,900 in the national stockpile. But since we're still in flu season, many of those are already in use.

REDLENER: And by the way, even if we had the 100,000 plus --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Yeah.

REDLENER: -- ventilators that we actually need, we don't have the staff to operate them.

GUPTA (voice-over): So hospitals are bracing for a rush of patients trying to free up as much as space as possible. That means getting patients who are well enough out of the ICU and cancelling all elective operations.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: We just have to make this a standard across the board.

GUPTA (voice-over): In some cases, hospitals are now trying to prevent patients who are well enough from coming to the emergency room in the first place like building tents to triage and treat potential coronavirus patients, using telehealth so the people can call in from home, and building up their testing capacity in some cases without people even having to step out of their cars.

[23:35:03]

GUPTA (voice-over): But all of this hinges on having enough supplies, which means hospitals are now rationing what they do have.

(On camera): My hospital -- I mean, you had masks, gloves that were just sitting out. You could use what you needed to use. That has changed.

THERESA MADALINE, HEALTHCARE EPIDEMIOLOGIST, MONTEFIORE HEALTH SYSTEM: That's right. We've had to remove many of these items from the shelves.

GUPTA (voice-over): To be clear, most people who get infected with the nova-coronavirus won't need to be hospitalized. But for a small percentage of patients, the virus can be deadly.

MADALINE: We have had everyone ranging from just needing some supplemental oxygen through their nose all the way through people who are in shock and needing to be on 100 percent oxygen on a ventilator in the ICU.

GUPTA (voice-over): When that happens, hospitals can quickly run out of space and supplies. If staff doesn't have the protective gear, they may run out of doctors and nurses as well. (On camera): But if this is really affecting an entire community, an entire state, an entire country, the world, are we ready? Do we have what we need?

MADALINE: Well, I think we are as ready as we can be, but without knowing what the future holds, it's hard to say whether or not we have enough equipment and we have what we need. I think that there are concerns, legitimate concerns about -- as a nation if we are ready to handle such an enormous pandemic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: And Don, I can tell you this came up at the president's press conference today. It was the first time, I think, he really addressed the question. He specifically said, look, I can't give you an exact number when it comes to ICU beds and ventilators that we have right now, but says that they've ordered a lot.

He also says that -- you know, he admitted that, look, we may not have enough and everyone is hopeful that, you know, we're not going to need them. But it's all been about this preparation, the last six weeks. Have we done enough to prepare for what could be coming? Don?

LEMON: All right. Sanjay, thank you so much. Join Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta for a CNN Global Town Hall: "Coronavirus: Facts and Fears" live Thursday night at 10:00.

Our breaking news tonight, Ohio's governor is announcing polls in the state's primary will be closed because of the coronavirus. The three other states are set to vote. What you need to know before going to the polls, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is announcing tonight that the state's health director will be ordering the polls closed as "a health emergency." The news brings a last minute halt to tomorrow's primary in the state. The voters will still go to the polls tomorrow in Arizona, Illinois, and in Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis said this earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): We're not going to panic. The fact of the matter is these things can be done in ways where you're not going to have large crowds because it's one vote. For most counties, it's literally one oval (ph) that you're going to do. Probably, most of the votes have already been cast between mail-in and that. And so I think you can do it in a way that protects people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Let's discuss now. Juan Penalosa, the executive director of Florida Democratic Party, joins us. Juan, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.

JUAN PENALOSA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Thanks for having me.

LEMON: I'm sure you're ready for tomorrow. Ohio's decision to cancel its primary is huge. Should Florida be holding its election tomorrow?

PENALOSA: Yeah. So, Don, Florida has a lot of unique characteristics. Florida elections are certainly one of them. There are a few differences that we have in our state. So unlike places like Kentucky and Puerto Rico that postponed elections today, Florida voters have actually been casting ballots for more than a month. More than two million votes have already been casted in the state.

And unlike places like Nevada and Iowa where the state party runs the election, in Florida, the state bears the burden of the responsibility. So the governor had multiple press conferences this week outlining measures that he's taking to ensure that voters, workers and at risk populations are safe, and so elections are moving forward as planned.

LEMON: Listen, you know -- I mean we're just talking a little bit about this. A lot of fears, a lot of worry, fear about --

PENALOSA: Sure.

LEMON: -- social distancing. What is Florida doing to protect voters and -- volunteers and voters tomorrow?

PENALOSA: Yeah. So the governor outlined a number of measures. One is that they're going to implement social distancing in lines. They are wiping down voting booths after every single voter. There's hand sanitizer. I voted on Sunday. There was a hand sanitize when I walked in. I actually walked past it. They sent me back to the end of the line to put it on my hands before I grab the ballot from the worker. So they have measures in place.

But I think you question raises a larger and actually more important issue which is that the confluence of crisis and unknown is becoming more and more common in the world that we live in. If we truly believe that our democracy is founded on the principle of one person, one vote, we need to update our voting systems to keep up with the times. We need to modernize them.

And it's not radical. We can look at things like expanding vote by mail, for example, as a way to do that. And in this crisis, voting from the comfort and safety of your own home would give a lot of people access to the vote that maybe worried to come out and vote on Election Day tomorrow.

[23:45:00]

PENALOSA: So just to give you an example, in 2018, Florida Democrats wanted to expand the electorate. We enrolled 500,000 Democrats into vote by mail programs. It's not a surprise that it worked. In fact, one in four people that voted by mail in 2018 had never voted in a midterm before.

But instead of celebrating that, expanding it to address crisis like the one we are going through right now, Republicans went to the state legislature two months later and passed laws which are limiting the enrolment window to vote by mail in the state. So we need to be looking at other measures to protect our democracy.

LEMON: OK. Speaking of that then, you said limiting --

PENALOSA: Sure.

LEMON: -- what do you -- what are you expecting for turnout tomorrow? Do you think there is going to be a decreased turnout considering what's happening with this coronavirus?

PENALOSA: Yeah. We already have record turnout so far through early vote and vote by mail. I expect that -- and coronavirus was happening this weekend. We did not see depressed turnout in early vote sites across the state this weekend. I expect that voters in the state of Florida want to cast their ballot, they're going to turn out to vote, and that they are relying on the governor and the state to ensure that that is a safe experience for them.

LEMON: Juan Penalosa, thank you.

PENALOSA: Yeah. Thank you so much.

LEMON: Stores sold out of hand sanitizer. My next guest thought that they could help fill the gap. How a local distillery is taking care of their community, next.

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[23:50:00]

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LEMON: We are hearing the stories of more and more Americans taking care of their neighbors in the face of the coronavirus like a local distillery in Portland, Oregon. Shine Distillery & Grill is making their own hand sanitizer and giving it away to any customers who need it. Joining me now is Ryan Ruelos and Jon Poteet, co-owners of Shine Distillery & Grill. Hi, Jon.

JON POTEET, CO-OWNER, SHINE DISTILLERY & GRILL: Hi, Don. How are you doing that?

LEMON: I'm doing great. How are you doing is the question. Hi, Ryan.

RYAN RUELOS, CO-OWNER, SHINE DISTILLERY & GRILL: Hello. Good evening.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Thank you, guys, so much for doing this.

POTEET: We're tired.

LEMON: What? Wait, why are you tired?

POTEET: We're tired. We're exhausted.

RUELOS: We've been making hand sanitizer for a week.

(LAUGHTER)

POTEET: Giving it away to not only the customers but we've been giving it away to anybody who walks in the front door and needs it. We are trying to keep our neighborhood healthy and happy. Like I have been telling people, we're just two guys with a crew of 15, 20 people stepping up and do what we think is the right thing to do in this moment of need.

LEMON: Oh, good for you guys. Why did you do it? How did you decide to do it?

RUELOS: Well, we used the -- there is some runoff we use to clean surfaces. It's not safe for use on skin but it's really a great degreaser and cleans any bacteria on hard surfaces throughout our restaurant. We have a full restaurant and bar, so -- and we make our own liquor and so we use that as a cleaning agent.

And one of our guests saw Jon cleaning off a surface and asked if she can have some and we didn't know because of the legality of, you know, selling in or giving away alcohol. So that weekend, we looked into it and our distiller who is amazing, who has been tirelessly (INAUDIBLE) hand sanitizer said, well, I can make hand sanitizer. So she and Jon decided to go down that road and --

POTEET: We have been using the runoff as a surface cleaner, but we decided to switch over and started using our neutral grain spirits, which is an ethanol-based product, which is the base that you find in all the hand sanitizers. So we basically took that product that we have in house and decided to convert it, adding a thickening agent called xantham gum, which is in everything, including toothpaste.

LEMON: Wow.

POTEET: So we did that, made a few bottles, kind of asked some of the customers there at the bar and said, what do you think? Is this weird? And everybody went, I want one, so I stopped and picked up more bottles.

LEMON: So what is the demand then?

POTEET: And everybody said I want one. The demand is insane.

RUELOS: We have given out about 500 bottles a day. This is what they look like. They're just little travel bottles. Since last Monday, we have given out about 4,000 bottles.

LEMON: Are you going to sell it after this?

POTEET: We are getting calls. No. By the time we can get through all the paperwork and make it, quote/unquote 100 percent legal, I am sure that the large companies like Johnson & Johnson and Purell will have dropped the train car on every condo in New York.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: I mean this is probably costing you, right?

POTEET: There has been some cost but the folks around the neighborhood and the community have definitely stepped up. We put a donation jar out front and it's -- it's definitely covering the cost and helping some of the labor, too.

RUELOS: We have to -- we have to source the bottles and we have to source the NGS now --

POTEET: We're buying more in.

RUELOS: -- in order to continue with the demand. You know, it just -- there's such a need for it. People -- we're getting calls from hospice care. Everyone -- there's so many people in need. We're starting to work with another distillery down the street to do more bulk donations for larger groups in need. But right now, what we can do is kind of just keep the people right around us taken care of as best as we can.

POTEET: One of the other things, speaking of working with our neighboring distillery called Freeland, we're -- we've reached out to or been contacted by distilleries all over the United States.

[23:55:00]

RUELOS: And world, actually. Nigeria.

POTEET: So we are basically handing out the recipe and the formula to anybody and everybody that wants it.

LEMON: Oh, wow. So you guys are really doing a good -- a good deal.

POTEET: As a small distillery -- as a small distillery, there's no way we could keep up with all the demand. We have been suggesting that other folks step in. This is where, in my opinion, small American industry has an opportunity to really, -- I'll say it -- shine.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: How is your distillery doing? How is your business doing now?

POTEET: Our distillery is -- well --

RUELOS: Everything is about to change for us tomorrow. We just got notification today that --

LEMON: I got 10 seconds. Quick. POTEET: We just got notified that we are going to be shutting down internal service in the restaurant. It's all going to be to-go foods, so we are hoping we can figure out a way to make it through this.

LEMON: OK. Listen. Good job, guys. Come back if you can. When I come to Portland, I'll come visit.

POTEET: Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you. We appreciate it.

RUELOS: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: All right. Good to see you, guys. Doing a good deed. And thanks for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues.

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