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Don Lemon Tonight

President Trump Wants To Lift Social Distancing; Tug Of War Between Lawmakers Amidst Global Health Crisis; Coronavirus Pandemic; Interview With Gov. John Bel Edwards (D-LA) About The Stay-At-Home Orders For Their State; More Than 42,700 Coronavirus Cases In United States, At Least 541 Deaths; President Trump: At Some Point Soon, We're Going To Open Up Our Country; Healthy 26-Year-Old With No Pre- Existing Conditions Admitted To Hospital With Coronavirus. Aired 10- 11p ET

Aired March 23, 2020 - 22:00   ET

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

[22:00:00]

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: He needs to be on the podium.

Thank you for watching. "CNN TONIGHT" with D. Lemon starts right now.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: You know, so you guys had on last week was a town hall. And on Friday you worked because I worked on Sunday. So, thank you for doing that.

Here is the thing. As I'm watching I kept saying why -- why are we even listening to the president. Why are we -- but he's the president, I understand that.

CUOMO: Yes.

LEMON: Why aren't we just listening to the experts. I kept watching your brother. And my mom kept calling and saying, wait, is Chris's brother the president now? He should be, because he is doing what the president should be doing.

And then she'll call me during the president, said why, why are we even listening to him. Nothing he is saying is factual. Why is he talking about the money he gave away, why is he doing this, I don't understand it? Why is he yelling at a reporter? What is going on, he's not acting presidential.

And all I can say to her is, mom, he is never going to. It's just that, and I'm not -- I'm not saying to -- because it is not my business or it is not my intention to say bad things about the president. I just don't think it's in him, Chris. And I'm not sure if we should look to him for that even though that's what we tend to look for president or it is just not in this man to do it.

So, I think we should look to the experts, yes, we should hold him accountable, but I think he should just play traffic cop at these conferences and say here is Dr. Fauci. I have a question for Dr. Fauci. This is what we've done today, this is what we're planning on doing. And now for the latest, let me turn it over to the vice president now.

So, the vice president take questions, and now let me turn it over to this doctor for this and let me turn over this. And just don't -- every time he opens his mouth the Dow goes down. Every time he tries to answer a question, he takes it personally instead of trying to help the American people. It's just -- it's not helping at all. He should take cues from your brother. I am just saying.

CUOMO: Well, look, one of the most dangerous things to say for Andrew's political well-being right now is that the president should take cues from him. He takes cues from nobody. And the president should do what he think is right and he will be judge for it.

My point is making Tony Fauci a foil to Trump and pushing Fauci. But he is not telling the truth about Canada -- China. The numbers don't match up, Dr. Fauci.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: That's not what Fauci is for.

CUOMO: You are putting Fauci in a horrible position --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Right. I agree.

CUOMO: -- that we don't want him in.

LEMON: I agree.

CUOMO: Because we know the answer to the question. You know the president isn't telling the truth, doesn't understand the numbers, he doesn't it, is overwhelmed.

Don't put Fauci in a position to have to be the check otherwise we may lose him.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: And that would be a disaster. I ask my brother. I ask anybody in the cabinet. You heard Kevin McAleenan, the former acting DHS head say Fauci is pivotal. Everybody says that. I'm not saying it's an unfair question. I'm saying it's and fair question in the context right now.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: We need Fauci. The president is not going to change, Don. He does what he thinks works for him. And that's the test that we'll be scored at the election, hopefully we have.

LEMON: I think we're saying the same thing. I'm just -- we need comfort, we need accurate information, we need someone to help us get through this and I'm not sure that is happening, at least on the president's part. CUOMO: Well, look, I mean --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Yes, I got -- I got to go.

CUOMO: Andrew is getting some attention because he's being clear, he's being consistent and New York matters. Right? Everybody is worried that New York could be --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: He's giving accurate information and he's being proactive. That's all. And he's not taking anything personally. And he is not berating reporters. He is just saying here is what we are doing. These are the issues that we have. This is what we need. This is how you can help. This is what we need from the government. This is what I need from you. And that it. Let's move on and the next day I'll have more information from you -- for you and that's all --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: I agree with one exception.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: Some of the things that, you know, Andrew is a tough guy, he knows the ups and downs of politics as well as anybody. It really moves me when people say that my father would be proud of him because I know that they're right. What Andrew is doing right now as family makes us so proud. But I must take exception. He has attacked me as a reporter and he has not been truthful every time that he has done it.

LEMON: Your brother?

CUOMO: Yes. He has never been right with anything that he has said that is negative about me.

LEMON: Listen, I got to tell you, and I also have the governor of Louisiana coming on. Because Louisiana is now at the center of -- it's at the according to our CNN reporting, the fastest growing COVID infection rate in the world right now. It is a red state. It needs to be taken seriously and we're going to talk to the governor and see why that is happening.

I'll see you tomorrow. Be safe, OK, Chris. Thank you so much.

This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon.

Here is our breaking news. The coronavirus outbreak getting worse by the hour across the United States but President Trump appears to be wishing it away. And I'm going to explain it why, explain to you why.

Because it is abundantly clear that he is itching to ease up on social distancing restrictions when the 15-day period ends and that is a week from now. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[22:04:58]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Certainly, this is going to be bad and we are trying to make it so that it's much, much less bad. And that's what we are doing. And I think we are doing a very good job of it.

So, yes, it's bad and it's going to, obviously, the numbers are going to increase with time and then they are going to start to decrease. And we are going to be opening our country up for business because our country was meant to be open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, at that same press conference, his official expressed the importance of social distancing to prevent those numbers from increasing. And what are those numbers really? They're actually not numbers. They are people with coronavirus. Now more than 42,000 cases in the U.S. That is a jump of 10,000 cases, 10,000 cases from this time last night. And the surgeon general issuing this dire warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: I want America to understand. This week it's going to get bad. We really, really need everyone to stay at home.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't think people are taking it seriously?

ADAMS: I think that there are a lot of people who are doing the right things, but I think that unfortunately we're finding out a lot of people think this can't happen to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: As of tonight, the coronavirus has claimed the lives of at least 541 Americans. That is more than 100 deaths in this country in just the last 24 hours. When asked tonight if he agreed with the surgeon general's dire prognosis about the virus, the president brought up the flu and car accidents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Again, I say we have a very active flu season, more active than most. It's looking like it's heading to 50,000 or more deaths, deaths, not cases, 50,000 deaths which is -- that's a lot. You look at automobile accidents which are far greater than any numbers we are talking about. That doesn't mean we are going to tell everybody no more driving of cars. So, we have to do things to get our country open.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: So, we've gone full circle now. The president's own experts have repeatedly said this is not like the flu, this is not like the flu, it is deadlier than the flu, it is more contagious than the flue.

Last week it seems like the president -- it seemed like the president kind of got that concept. This week even though we are just at the beginning of dealing with the crisis here, the president saying he expects social distancing restrictions to be gone soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You said it's going to be likely weeks not months before you suggest easing this fund that you put out. Have any doctors on your team told you that's the right path to pursue?

TRUMP: We spoke to them today and I was telling them that we have two things to look forward. Don't forget the doctors if it were up to the doctors, they may say let's keep it shut down, let's shut down the entire world. Because again, you're up to almost 150 countries.

So, let's shut down the entire world. And when we shut it down that would be wonderful. And let's keep it shut for a couple of years. You know, you can't do that and you can't do that with a country especially the number one economy anywhere in the world by far. Number one economy in the world. You can't do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Worldwide there are more than 372,000 cases and more than 16,000 deaths. The director general of the World Health Organization warning today that the pandemic is accelerating, and points out that it took 67 days for that total number of cases to hit 100,000 cases, only 11 days to hit 200,000 and just four days to hit 300,000.

So, let's bring in the person you saw asking that last question right there. CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins. Kaitlan, good to see you. Thank you so much. I saw some big social distancing there at the --

COLLINS: Yes.

LEMON: -- in the briefing room. So I'm glad you guys are doing that. let's talk about what the president says. He says things might get worse in this country and yet he is itching to scale back social distancing. What is the latest here?

COLLINS: Yes, that's what's so interesting. He said he agreed to the surgeon general's assessment. It's going to get worse this week before it gets better. And of course, the deadline when they are going to be making this decision is a week from today. That's when they are going to be deciding whether or not they are going to move forward with these guidelines or they are going to reassess them.

The president made pretty clear repeatedly in that press conference that he is leaning towards easing them even though he may -- he also admitted that none of the doctors on his team have endorse that idea. He said they've discussed it, he thinks they are OK with it, but he made pretty clear that it's not something that they have pushed for. We know privately behind the scenes that it's not something that Dr. Fauci and others have said they feel is the right move.

LEMON: So, are there details yet on how the president would get the country back up and running again if the coronavirus is not contained?

COLLINS: Well, that's what so unsure about all of this. Because there are these guidelines from the White House. You know, they were actually more strict than a lot of the ones we've seen at the time where they said, you know, limit yourself to 10 people or fewer.

But now if they go, they try to ease this, they want some businesses that have shuttered their doors to reopen. You know, how does that go with what the state guidelines are.

[22:10:00]

Because if the state guideline is pretty strict, and they are pretty strict in certain areas, not just New York and in California, but you saw them pretty strict in North Carolina and other states.

Today the question is, you know, what guidance do they offer under? Do they follow what the federal guidance is? Do they follow the state governor's guidance? And so, those are going to be the questions, and of course, you've seen so many schools have closed until the end of the school year. They are not reopening.

So, if the president does decide to send some people back to work, have some businesses reopen, how does that work for those families who their children are not going back to school for the rest of the year? So, there are a lot of unknowns about this as well.

LEMON: Yes. So, everyone was asking, you heard the conversation that Chris and I had. Noticeably from that task force briefing tonight Dr. Fauci. Do we know where he was?

COLLINS: The president said he was in the task forces meeting. He said he was simply doing other work. And we've seen Dr. Fauci missed some of the other briefings before. They say, you know, he's got a job to do and standing on the stage in the briefing room for two hours isn't always the most effective move. But that is the times when you don't see him there.

But of course, you cannot ignore, Don, that this comes as Dr. Fauci did that interview where he made pretty clear that sometimes he's got to contradict the president when he says things that aren't true or against what he has advised the president to do.

And Dr. Fauci more than anyone else has been the most confident in coming forward in contradicting the president even when they are sharing that stage in the briefing room together. So that's why it raises questions when he's not president.

And the president is the one commenting on, you know, potential drug solutions to coronavirus. People would rather hear they say from someone like an expert like Dr. Fauci than someone who isn't, you know, a doctor.

LEMON: Dr. Fauci not there but the attorney general was there to talk about price gouging and hoarding of supplies as well.

Thank you, Kaitlan. I appreciate that.

I want to turn not to CNN's Manu Raju on Capitol Hill for the latest on negotiations to pass a massive stimulus bill to keep the economy moving through the coronavirus outbreak. Manu, thank you so much. Where do things stand now?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are intense negotiations that have happening all day long into the late hours. It's actually been going on for several days really since this past Friday, every single night going late to the night.

And right now, in Chuck Schumer's office, the Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the top White House aide Eric Ueland are meeting with Schumer for the fifth time today. They've been going back and forth over proposals trying to narrow down their differences.

Ueland and Mnuchin have met multiple times with Mitch McConnell as well. They've been trying to sort out all of those differences and both sides are signaling that there could be a deal as soon as tonight. Mnuchin told reporters earlier this evening they were trying to close it out and Chuck Schumer said that they are pushing forward as well.

And this came, Don, on a day of high tension on Capitol Hill. There's -- both sides are pushing to get this done. But these handful of difference have left the two sides the Republicans and Democrats at war with each other.

A source with Mitch McConnell accusing the Democrats of acting recklessly in his view, and Democrats saying they are just simply trying to make the bill better. But nevertheless, there is an expectation that ultimately that this pass roughly $2 trillion, a sweeping bill that would touch a number of industries and companies and individuals that have been hurt by this economic crisis.

But the ultimately question is when does that happen and what would the final provisions look like, but we should have a better sense of that here later tonight and into the morning, Don.

LEMON: So, Manu, not to get too deep into the weeds here, what's been the hang-up in these talks?

RAJU: There have been several provisions that they fought about for days, but one of the things that really has been a part, a central part of the negotiations over the past day has been roughly $500 billion that will be provided to the government to essentially dole out to distressed industries, to states, localities, businesses, companies that need this money. How does that proven to get structured, how does that -- what is that oversight looked like? Those are the questions they have been fighting about for some time. So that's one of the big things that they've hanged up on, but it sounds like they are getting closer to resolution on that due, Don.

LEMON: You spoke to the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today. Correct?

RAJU: Yes.

LEMON: What did she say?

RAJU: You know she is open to moving this Senate bill which was news because she had not yet made that comment clear. But she said if the Senate bill is to her satisfaction of her and her numbers, they would be open to passing that bill, and essentially ending that -- the stalemate.

Now, House Democrats did move their own bill or propose their own bill today of $2.5 trillion. But she is not committed to moving that bill yet. She is using it almost as trying to use get leverage to move the House as move the Senate Republicans and Democrats closer to her direction.

We'll see ultimately what they do, but we don't expect Chuck Schumer to back a bill that the speaker doesn't support. So, we expect that they'll ultimately be on the same page and they vote. The question is, will the House members all return to Washington to vote or will do it by a voice vote so the members don't have to return. That's another question to watch here as they try to close it out, and yet out of or amid the concerns that the coronavirus has hit Capitol Hill, Don.

LEMON: Manu Raju on capitol Hill. Manu, thank you very much.

The president says he wants social distancing measures to end in weeks, not months. But what are doctors saying about that. We're going to hear from Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He's next.

[22:15:01]

LEMON: So President Trump indicating he wants to ease the federal guidelines meant to slow the spread of coronavirus. He's insisting the economy must re -- be reopen even while admitting there's opposition to that move.

Here to discuss, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, our chief medical correspondent. Doctor, thank you so much. I appreciate you joining us. So, listen, President Trump is saying that he is looking to ending measures in a matter of weeks, not months but doctors are saying that we haven't even hit our peak ye. Is that a good idea?

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, I mean, I thnk there's a couple things that immediately come to mind that you and I have talked about this time. Not only have we not hit our peak yet, but what we're seeing is sort of the picture from 10 to 14 days ago. Right? Because the time interval between the time someone is exposed to the time, they developed symptoms to the time they get tested, it takes a while.

[22:19:56]

So, during these last 10 to 14 days I think the question is, what does happen in the country? Do we think that the spread has gone down for some reason or do we think it has continued to go up? And I think it's pretty clear that it continues to go up.

Yes, the numbers are going up because we are doing increased testing, but it's pretty clear the numbers are also going up because there is more spread.

And look, Don, you know, Hong Kong was a place that I talk about, maybe a week and a half ago and I hold that up as a shining example of how things can be done right, they still done a good job, but as soon as they let their guard down, you saw the numbers double within a few days over there.

So, you know, it's painful to do what we're doing. It's tough for the entire country, but if you don't do it, absolutely the numbers are going to go up. I think any public health official who says otherwise is probably not being completely honest about it.

LEMON: Yes. You know, you're right about that, it is painful. Americans are sacrificing a lot to, you know, with the social distancing. And yet, it has clearly hurt the economy. Everyone is worried about that too. But if we -- if we stop the social distancing as well, and we do it, if we stop it too soon and the virus spreads like crazy again, will this all have been for naught? Is it just going to go right back up and what we did was just an exercise in futility?

GUPTA: Yes. I mean, that is the -- that is the concern. And look, it's not just -- you know, we know that younger people now are also needing to be hospitalized. Twenty percent of those that are in the hospital are younger people.

Don, you know, this term has been used for several weeks now, flattening the curve. I think there is this belief that over time, you know, maybe not entirely this season but over the next year or so, most of the people, you know, 40 to 60 percent of the people in this country will likely get exposed to this virus. OK? It is -- that's how it's spreading. It's far more contagious than the flu.

The flu spreads to 1.2 people. This spread to more like 2.5 people. So, it's more contagious. The question is how fast does that spread going to occur? That's what this is about right now. If you slow it down and not all of those people are rushing into the hospital, you are going to save a lot more lives. You are going to be able to get these people out of the hospital and recovered. And hopefully, when they are recovered, they're immunized or at least protected against this virus for a while.

That's the sort of goal here. If you don't do that, then a lot of people are going to access the health care system very quickly and that's, I mean, that is the worst-case scenario. LEMON: Yes. Listen, some have said that this is a health emergency,

some said it's an economic emergency, some say it's both. The president address the balance between public health and the economy. Listen to this, Sanjay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Our country has learned a lot. We've learned about social distancing; we've learned about the hands. We've learned about staying away. You look at Nebraska, you look at Idaho, you look at Iowa, you look at many -- I can name many countries that are handling very, very well and that are not affected to the same extent, or frankly, not even nearly to the extent of New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: But Dr. Birx said herself only two few places in the world have moved through their curve, China and South Korea and there's a lag time. So, how do we know places like Iowa won't have a surge in cases down the road. I mean, listen, those places were big cities. I mean, people travel to big cities more and more people live, eventually it will get to smaller towns and smaller places.

GUPTA: yes, absolutely, Don. I think, look, I mean, we are talking about a little virus here. You know, it doesn't respect borders or boundaries. And once it starts to take foothold in a community then it will start to spread because it is a contagious virus. Maybe because the density in main public transport.

There's all these different factor, maybe it doesn't become, you know, as widespread as in New York City, but I think it's pretty clear that over the next couple of weeks, we are going to see all these communities around the country who are going to have more and more cases.

I mean, sustained community spread is something that is happening in the United States. Again, luckily, there may be measures in place to sort of slow down how quickly people need medical care if they need medical care.

And, Don, that's an important point as well. You know, most of the people in the United States if you look at the studies, most of the people who are getting infected don't need to be hospitalized. It's around 12 to 13 percent need to be hospitalized.

So, most of the people can recover from this at home. And that's the good news. But for those 12 to 13 percent which ends up being, you know, I mean, you can do the math, but you know, 30 or 40 million people, you need to make sure that they're not all accessing the health care system at the same time.

And that's what this is all about right now because we don't have the resources in these hospitals as you are hearing about, those hospitals are already starting to run low on some of these supplies.

LEMON: Right. And also testing. Some that there may be cases, more cases in places, but they just have not been tested.

GUPTA: Right.

LEMON: They may be there and they don't even know about them.

GUPTA: That's right.

LEMON: Let's talk about the possible drug, right, that the president has been touting and talking about.

[22:25:03]

GUPTA: Yes.

LEMON: Does it sound like they are hoping that they can do enough testing in the next week, doctor, that they thing that it may have a possible drug to let young people go back, back to work or people in less hard hit areas to go back to work? Are they right about those things?

GUPTA: I mean, again, I don't think it will happen that quickly. You know, look, everyone is hopeful that there is going to be some sort of therapeutic like this. It does take time. Here's the advantage the drug has. It's an existing drug. The chloroquine it's been around for 86 years as an anti-malarial drug. It does have some side effects, but those side effects are pretty well-known and described.

The only study that's really been done on it in human beings is a study of 26 people, Don. And six of those people were actually excluded from the study. But when we looked to see what happened to those six people why do the researchers take them out of the study, we found that one person left the hospital on their own.

One person could not tolerate the medicine because of the side effects. Three people out of the 26 went to the intensive care unit and one person died. If you do the math on that, that means that was 11 percent of the patients went to the critical to the ICU and about 4 percent died.

Really small study. So hard to read into that. But my point is this. That you wouldn't look at that on first blush and say that's going to be it necessarily. Maybe it is. Maybe in larger populations it actually ends up working really well and I think everybody would love that. LEMON: Right.

GUPTA: And I think now you are going to see those trials take place. You get I think what Governor Cuomo talked about today and the president reinforce was some 10,000, I think, treatments that are going to be going into New York City hopefully going to be given as part of a clinical trial, follow these patients, see what worked and what didn't. Compare them to similar patients that did not get the treatment and see if in fact there is a benefit. But, Don, that process takes time. We're talking, you know, months, not days or weeks.

LEMON: Always with the facts and the science. Thank you, doctor. I appreciate your time.

As the president signals he wants to scale back social distancing, governors across the country are building up the restrictions in their states including Louisiana. I'll going to speak to the governor there. He's next.

[22:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I want everyone to pay attention to me, especially young folks and some folks down south in red states or just all over. This is very important. Tonight the governor of Washington State has ordered residents to stay at home for two weeks effective immediately. Same order from the governor of Hawaii effective Wednesday. So, now at 15 states have stay at home orders in place representing more than one in three Americans.

Louisiana's order also took effect this evening. And I want to bring in now the governor of my home state of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards, Governor, thank you so much. I spent the entire day talking to my --

GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS (D-LA): Thank you very much.

LEMON: Absolutely. Talking to my family, talking to my friends, my college buddies, everyone from the state. And they are surprised by what I am going to say to you right now and wondering what the heck is going on. A week ago you're state had just over 130 cases. It has now skyrocketed to 1100 cases. You say Louisiana has the fastest growth rate of coronavirus cases in the world. Why is that?

EDWARDS: Well, I can't tell you why, but we are quite certain that it's true and that's is very unfortunate. We know that two weeks ago today we had one case. Today we have 1172 and 34 deaths sadly. We know that we have the third highest case count in the country by state on a per capita basis. We know that the trajectory of the growth in cases has us right where Spain and Italy were, for example.

So, we know in -- Dr. Gupta did a great job a while ago explaining this. We have to start flattening the curve soon here. So that we have extended the duration of this event over a longer period of time and don't have too many people infected all at the same time presenting at the hospital where we will overwhelm our capacity to deliver health care. So we're -- we're working hard to flatten the curve, we are surging medical capacity.

But that's why we did the shelter at home order that was effective at 5:00 tonight. Because we've got to minimize contact and slow the spread and we don't have a long time to get that done.

LEMON: Yes. A couple of questions. And I put up the graph. Yu just mentioned this. OK. This was provided by your office, showing what you just mentioned. The steep growth rate in Louisiana similar to hard hit Italy and Spain. You are worried that your state could be Italy. That could be next for you, right? EDWARDS: Well, there is no reason that we can't be. So, we have to

take that seriously. And we have a challenge and Louisianans, as we always do, we are going to respond, we are going to come together and we are going to do what is necessary. Every single Louisianan has a role to play. And we have to be good neighbors and we could be good neighbors and we can love one another by staying away from one another. By not having that contact. By staying at home if it's not essential that you are out working from one of the essential businesses for example.

And when you go out, get what you need and then go back home. That's what we have to do and we have to do it and we have to do it now. We don't have any time to wait. We have to bend that curve. Otherwise we are going to be in rea trouble when it comes to delivering health care around the state of Louisiana and first and foremost down in the New Orleans area.

LEMON: You did the stay at home. It went into effect a few hours ago.

EDWARDS: It was 5:00 tonight, yes.

LEMON: Do you wish you had done it sooner?

EDWARDS: Well, the facts didn't warrant doing it sooner. You know, we had already implemented mitigation measures by executive order. I will tell you, we were quite frankly, surprised by the growth rate. But once it became obvious, what our growth rate was consulting the CDC guidance, I had plenty of opportunities to be able to talk to Dr. Brett Gerald (ph) for example, about testing.

[22:35:02]

I've been able to talk directly to the Surgeon General Jerome Adams, Dr. Adams, he came down to Louisiana. And I've been able to visit with him, talking to Tony Fauci, Dr. Fauci, we were just able to make a decision that this just had to be done.

And so, you know, I can't go back and change what did or didn't happen yesterday, but I can started today. And that's what I am asking everybody to do in Louisiana, by the way. Start now and practice social distancing and engage in this mitigation measures as if your life depends on, because somebody's life does depend on it.

LEMON: I've got to ask you about this, there is a Louisiana pastor who is directly defying the CDC guidance to a recommendations of social distancing in crowds. He had held his service on Sunday with more than 1800 attendees. Pastor Tony Spell, he said if anyone in his congregation, there's a picture there, contracts covid-19 that he was going to heal them through God. I want you to listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PASTOR TONY SPELL, THE LIFE TABERNACLE CHURCH: I will address that by laying hands on him and praying for him and leave it to God to heal their bodies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: What is your message to Pastor Spell and his congregant?

EDWARDS: Well, first of all. I am a person of faith. I absolutely believe in the power of prayer. But I also believe in science. And in this case, I choose to do what science tells me while I pray for the best possible outcome. We are working and preparing for the worst and trying to avoid the worst. And I am encouraging all leaders, whether they are business leaders, political leaders and certainly faith leaders, to do what they can to assist me.

And it is irresponsible for leaders to encourage their people to engage in activities that violates this mitigation measures that now have been implemented by executive order. So, but I do want to say this, the overwhelming majority of leaders, faith leaders included had been extremely responsive and they have found new and innovative ways to engage their congregation in prayer through online messaging and Facebook, and you know, just doing what they can do to make sure that they are still ministering to their congregations, but absorbing this executive order as difficult as it is. And I am going to encourage him all to continue to do that and I'm asking Pastor Spell to do that as well.

LEMON: Listen, we have a young lady, just quickly, because I'm up against the clock of you will. I know it's important though, but where the young lady who is on, who didn't sort of believe that this was real, right. And then she came down with it. You heard the governor of New York tell people, you know, you have to get out of the parks, right? There were too many people in the parks, there are people in D.C. And New York is blue. There are people in D.C. with cherry blossoms, blue, right?

Red state, Louisiana, people out, you know, they were out for -- I think there was a parade, people out on Bourbon Street or what have you in the French quarter and then you got to go on the church. Listen, this is -- this should not be a partisan thing. I said, I want people in red states and the blue states, so listen. This is not a partisan thing. We are all in this together. And even the pastor of the church. This is not --we've got to stop this, we've got to believe in science and get a handle on this thing. What is your message to folks?

EDWARDS: Well, I mean, that's precisely it. I am encouraging people in Louisiana and elsewhere around the country by the way, to do what you can. Be responsible. Be a good neighbor. You know, I will quote Luke chapter 10.

He was the Samaritan who was a neighbor to the robbers victim left of for dead on the road between Jericho and Jerusalem. Now, it's time for all of us to be good neighbors to one another and you can do that by keeping a distance and making sure you are not infecting them unnecessarily.

LEMON: Yes. The lord helps those. Thank you, governor. I appreciate you joining us,

EDWARDS: Thank you very much, Don. I appreciate you.

LEMON: Absolutely. Good luck down there. The president says the cure can't be worse than the problem itself, but does it need to be a choice between the health of the public and the health of the economy, we are going to discuss what we can do about both, next.

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[22:40:00]

LEMON: Markets plunging again today as Congress fails to agree on an economic stimulus bill. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin telling CNN about an hour ago that they're still trying to close a deal tonight. That is President Trump makes his concerns for the economy clear at a press briefing this evening saying that he wants to reopen the country in a period of weeks, not months.

Let's discuss now with Richard Quest, CNN's business editor-at-large and senior political analyst Ron Brownstein. Good evening to both of you. Ron, I love your piece in the Atlantic, I thought it was very, very eye opening, very well done. Thank you so much. So, let's talk about this. Ron, you first. We all want this crisis to be over fast, as fast as possible. But how do our leaders balance the health of citizens versus the health of the economy?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, AND SENIOR EDITOR OF THE ATLANTIC: Well, I mean, obviously you want an economy that works, but one in which hospitals are over flowing, the health care system is breaking down isn't that place. I mean, ultimately, public health officials would be unanimous in believing that the best way to get the economy back on track is to get the virus under control.

And so you got the virus under control, you'll never really have the economy back on track. The cost in the long run of letting up on the social distancing could be much greater, the economic cost to be much greater than playing it through until you get this under control.

LEMON: Richard, you know, lifting restrictions on travel and just focusing on the hot zones, put the economy at further risk if the virus continues to spread faster and overwhelms the hospital systems?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN'S BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: All we can look at is the evidence of other countries as the WHO continually reminds us. And if you look at the little charts that shows the little dots moving out from China, from Wuhan and then Hubei province and then through Shanghai and then they went to Europe and then further afield. And we are seeing it again here now in the United States, that the spread you were just talking to the governor there in Louisiana.

[22:45:05]

What may have started in the coast has now moved further in. So, the evidence would suggest that if you lift the travel and restrictions too soon, that's exactly what you are going to get. And that's why tonight in the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has tightened the restrictions even though it is a couple weeks in. They've got tighter, a lockdown. Because as he said, if they do not do that, they are left facing a total collapse of the health service.

LEMON: Speaking of doing a 180 right, Boris Johnson there. Listen, this is -- listening to the president today, this is a significant change, Richard, from what we heard, you know, in the past couple of weeks, right? That this could go into the summer. What do you think is driving this change?

QUEST: I think concern about the overall economy. The Latin phrase is that aegrescit medendo, which literally means the remedy is worse than the disease. And that's what the president is concerned about. He just sees I think and it is a valid, legitimate concern, that long-term -- you know, here is a statistic to put this into context. I was adding it up earlier. If you add up all of those states that have got full scale restrictions, restaurants closed, stay at home policies in place. You are talking about 45 percent of the U.S. economy at the moment.

So, nearly half and I'm guessing it will be over half by the time in the middle of next week. He is obviously rightly concerned when he hears prognosis that the jobless rate could go to 30 percent. He literally has the true definition of the word dilemma, a choice of two unappealing options. And at the moment, the evidence would suggest that he is better off sticking with the lockdown rather than opening up the economy.

LEMON: Ron, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was on with Chris. He is just saying that coming up with a plant to restart the economy, very important obviously, that pitting it against the public health is a false choice. Lives are more important. Clearly all these leaders are feeling the weight of the impact of the economy too, right?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, first the reason we are in this dilemma, the reason we had to go to this so kind of blunder bus mass social distancing so heavily is a large part, because we failed the test. The failure of testing, you know, defeated the -- eliminated the option of a more targeted approach focus on the people who are actually were diagnosed with the disease and following their contacts. But there is a political relation to this as well.

Which is that, if you look, there is still a big gap between how red states and blue states are responding to this. You know, even in red states like Louisiana, it seems to be concentrated so far in the biggest metro. There's still a big gap in polling, in the share of Republican and Democrats are taking believe you know, this is a serious threat. An incredible number today, Don, New York Times their map, using GPS technology from a private company showing how much people have reduced their personal travel in response to this, 23 of the 25 states --

LEMON: We have that map. Can we put that up? What he is talking about, go on.

BROWNSTEIN: I was just saying, 23 of the 25 states where there has been the smallest reduction in personal travel were won by Donald Trump, 15 of the 20 where own by Hillary Clinton. If you look at the governors who issued the most strict (inaudible) on staying (inaudible) orders. I think all but three of those orders are in states with Democratic governors. And one of the three Republicans used to be a Democrats.

So, there is still a big gap here and I think that may in affect -- that maybe contributing to the president's argument that you know, we are shutting -- we are imposing too much risk, we are imposing too much cost on people who aren't at risk in his view to reduce the danger to those who are at the maximum risk, primarily at this point in deep blue, metropolitan areas.

LEMON: And you can read Ron's piece in the Atlantic, it's called red and blue America aren't experiencing the same pandemic. Thank you both for joining us. That's all we have time for us, see you both soon.

New data shows younger people are more susceptible to coronavirus than previously thought. And my next guest is a prime example of that. She is otherwise healthy 26-year-old who was been hospitalized because of coronavirus. And she has a message tonight. She wants you to hear it.

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[22:50:00]

LEMON: Well, the risk of dying from the coronavirus is significantly higher in older people that doesn't mean young adults in their 20s and 30s aren't in danger. As is the case for a 26 year-old, Fiona Lowenstein. Who was admitted to the hospital last week and tested positive for coronavirus. Despite being young and having no preexisting medical conditions.

Well, Fiona is now using her experience to warn other young adults to take this public health crisis seriously, to stay home. Practice social distancing. Fiona Lowenstein joins me now. Fiona, thank you so much for joining us.

FIONA LOWENSTEIN, 26-YEAR-OLD, TESTED POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS: Hi, Don.

LEMON: We are glad you're here. How are you feeling? Any symptoms?

LOWENSTEIN: I'm feeling OK. I'm feeling better every day. But there are still some lingering symptoms that will probably be a while before I'm back up to my normal self.

LEMON: Yes. So, how long were you in the hospital again?

LOWENSTEIN: I spent two nights in the hospital. Went in on Monday night and left Wednesday night.

LEMON: OK. So, tell us how and when this all started for you, Fiona.

LOWENSTEIN: Sure, so I got a fever on Friday, March 13. That evening and the fever persisted through the next day when I started to experience a cough. Fever continued.

[22:55:00] By Sunday I was feeling better I actually thought I was on the mend

and that I would be fine. I started planning, you know, to take a shower on Monday. Get back to some of my household tasks and then Sunday night into Monday morning I developed vomiting, woke up in the night with shivers. And developed what I now recognize was shortness of breath.

At that time, I was a little confused as to what the symptom was exactly, but it exacerbated throughout Monday to the point where I had to go to the E.R. because I couldn't speak, couldn't walk, couldn't eat. The breath was just too difficult. So luckily talked to a doctor who convinced me it was time to go in and they gave me oxygen.

LEMON: How long did it take to test you at the hospital? Did you notice other young people there as well?

LOWENSTEIN: I was quickly ushered into a room by myself. So, I didn't personally see other young people. But I was told, once I was admitted that there was a 30 year-old in the next room. That they had been increasingly seeing younger patients and it took them 12 hours to test me.

And I was told repeatedly initially that I didn't qualify for a test, because I hadn't interacted with someone else who was known to be covid positive or traveled to China and Japan, Italy and Korea. So, I'm not really sure why I got tested when I did. But it did eventually happen early in the morning on Tuesday.

LEMON: So, you were in the hospital since you have been out since Wednesday. You have to be quarantined for how much longer? Do you know?

LOWENSTEIN: I've been told that I need to stay isolated until I test negative. So, I'm waiting for a call from the Department of Health. If they don't reach me by tomorrow, I'm supposed to call them and inquire about somehow setting up a test to see if I'm over this thing.

LEMON: OK. So you -- but you believed you didn't think this was a hoax. You just thought that young people, you know, were less susceptible at getting it, right.

LOWENSTEIN: Yes, I mean, I work at the intersections of wellness and social justice. So, I took this very seriously as an ally. But I thought that would be my role. You know, protecting the elderly, the autoimmune suppressed. I definitely thought that if I got it, I would ride it out at home.

And that's why I think I was so reluctant to go to the hospital. As long as I did, I really feel like that I want it at the last possible moment and I'm very thankful to my partner and my parents who are texting with me and keeping in touch with me for convincing me eventually to go and talking to doctors on my behalf, but I definitely even I was in some denial about how serious it could get.

LEMON: Well, Fiona, again, we're glad you're OK. Keep us updated, OK. Thank you so much and get well soon. LOWENSTEIN: Thank you, Don. Have a good night.

LEMON: Thank you. You as well. There are now more than 42,000 cases of coronavirus in the U.S. more than 100 people have died within 24 hours. What's the president saying tonight? That's next.

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