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New York City Enters Phase 3 of Its Re-Opening; New York City Puts Indoor Dining on Hold; Restaurant Owners Struggle to Survive Pandemic Shutdowns; New York City Couple Helping Homeless During Pandemic; Senior Pentagon Leaders Reviewing Plan to Ban Confederate Flag on Bases; Broadway Actor Nick Cordero Dies at 41 of COVID. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired July 06, 2020 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

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GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): The numbers show you that we are right where we want to be. New York City goes into phase three today. No indoor dining but there are rules on phase three, right. It doesn't mean go out and have a party.

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BROOKE BALDWIN CNN HOST: That was New York Governor Andrew Cuomo just this morning telling New Yorkers to remain cautious as they enter phase three of its reopening plan today.

So, what does that mean? Nail salons, massage parlors, spas, tanning salons, tattoo shops, they can all welcome customers again at reduced capacity. What was supposed to happen today but is now on hold indefinitely is indoor dining at restaurants. So, with me now chef Lawrence Edelman, he is co-owner and the chef at "Left Bank." A restaurant in New York City's West Village neighborhoods. So, Lawrence, nice to have you on, welcome.

LAWRENCE EDELMAN, CHEF/CO-OWNER OF LEFT BANK AND POULET SANS TETE: Hi, Brooke, thanks for having me.

BALDWIN: So we have just started, what now, month five of "Left Bank" not being fully functioning and also know you have this great, you know, rotisserie chicken delivery business that's helped keep you going in the meantime. But what are the biggest challenges just as a restaurant owner during COVID?

EDELMAN: Well that's right. "Left Bank" has been closed for five months. And we've gotten a lot of help from the city and from the state, which has been great. It's really fortunate for us that we have this delivery concept that had been up and running. We designed it specifically to do online deliveries and we didn't know

at the time it would be our lifeline, especially toward the beginning of this pause.

I think moving forward the city is going to have to pull all the way through with the outdoor dining. I know that they were really great about letting us open things, and it is absolutely critical that restaurants be able to have seating outside for the time being.

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And I'm a little nervous that the city could start to pull back. It could be a good revenue source for the city as well to fine restaurants and I'm hoping they don't choose to do that.

BALDWIN: Just so people understand who aren't -- let me jump in, who aren't in New York City, you know basically, restaurants like yours are setting up these, you know, tables and parking lanes safely, bright colored just to try to make some money. And also, Lawrence, for people outside of New York just to try to wrap their heads around how hard it is to survive, and you just ballpark -- I'm not going to put you on the spot on yours specifically but ballpark -- what is a typical rent for a New York City restaurant for a month?

EDELMAN: I would say -- I mean that's a -- there is a big jump in numbers there but I would think between $8,000 and $50,000 for a place in the West Village, a 50-seat dining room could be anywhere from 15 to $30,000 a month and that's just rent.

BALDWIN: So, let people sit on that number for a second. Which you then have to cover. Then all of you all, right, all of you restaurant owners are stuck because you're not able to make ends meet because you can't be a fully functioning dining room.

I mean thank goodness for your chicken delivery business. You know, you've actually been able to cover some of that rent in the beginning. But are landlords being sympathetic, Lawrence? You know, the whole we're in it together or not at all?

EDELMAN: I mean, I haven't heard any good stories and I've been talking to a lot of my, you know, chef friends and my restaurant owner friends and I'm not hearing any good stories and I don't have a good story to tell.

We've been trying to contact our landlord for months now. Just to get into some kind of a conversation about like this is happening and there will come a time when we will not be paying rent and to hopefully negotiate.

And what I think is happening is that the landlords are waiting for some kind of legislation to come down which is going to compel, you know, the business -- the property owners to exercise rent relief, rent reduction, rent renegotiation, lease renegotiation, it's critical.

Because, you know, all of these agreements were made in a normal world. And the world that we're in now can't sustain the rent that we agreed to.

BALDWIN: I know. And here you are, you know, this great guy who in the beginning when, you know, everyone's totally shut down you're helping take, you know, some money from everyone buying the rotisserie chickens and giving, you know, meals to frontline workers with Poulet San Tete which is your chicken delivery business.

Listen. I wish you the best of luck, you and all of your chef and restaurant co-owner friends. It is a tough, tough gig right now. And heart goes out to you. So, thank you so much, chef Lawrence Edelman. "Left Bank" in New York. Thank you.

EDELMAN: Thanks.

BALDWIN: Helping the homeless. It is more challenging than ever. We'll talk to one couple making a real difference despite the pandemic.

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BALDWIN: New York City is making major breakthroughs in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic as it enters phase three of reopening today as we just mentioned but one group remains especially vulnerable, the homeless population.

Since the outbreak, the virus has spread quickly through shelters and among those living on the street. Jason Connor and Jeffrey Newman cofounded Backpacks for the Streets, a nonprofit organization that provides essential supplies to the city's homeless.

And in the months since the pandemic hit, they have handed almost 5,000 backpacks filled with these key supplies to help stop the spread of the infection. Jason and Jeffrey are with me now.

So, gentlemen, thank you both so much for being with me and what an amazing thing you're doing. So Jason, just first to you, I know that in reading about you, you know, this comes from a personal place, you were homeless for two years. So I imagine you're thinking this could have been you. This could have been one's mother, a brother. How did that factor into, you know, you starting this program?

JASON CONNOR, EXECUTIVE VP AND CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER, BACKPACKS FOR THE STREET: It hit me really hard because I know that if I was on the streets I don't what I would do because the way I got off the streets is because him.

And I was lucky because he reached out his hand and let me, you know, he helped me get off the streets. And I just don't know -- nobody is helping out anybody on the streets right now. They look at people that are on the streets like they're lepers or they have the worst disease in the world. And I just don't know, you know, I don't even know how to explain my feelings --

JEFFREY NEWMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, BACKPACKS FOR THE STREET: It is hard because so many people right now feel invisible and they feel like nobody cares. And now with COVID people are treating the homeless even worse than they did before. Before, you know, everybody felt invisible and unwanted but now it's like they're diseased and even less wanted.

BALDWIN: It's magnified.

NEWMAN: You know. Yes, it is. And to hear the emotions from people, you know, when I see the people, sometimes I think about if this was him, you know, 16 years ago, I would hope somebody would help him out there.

CONNOR: I wouldn't have made it.

NEWMAN: So really, you know, and there just aren't there people doing as much as they can to try to help the people out there.

BALDWIN: So, in terms of how you're helping. Talk about the backpacks and what is in the backpacks?

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CONNOR: Each backpack has 45 to 50 items in it. Ranging from toiletries like razors, shaving cream, deodorant, there's hand sanitizer in every single one. There's anti-bacterial wipes. There is regular baby wipes when they need to able to take a shower and they can't. Peanut butter and jelly, tuna fish, there's also little snacks like Slim Jims because if you don't have teeth you can suck on it for protein. There's tuna fish.

NEWMAN: First aid kit, sewing kit, pen, pad, flashlight, things that we took for granted. People think, you know, pad and pen, but someone's homeless, and they've got nothing to do, pen and pad actually makes a lot -- a big difference to them.

CONNOR: Eye drops.

NEWMAN: Eye drops.

CONNOR: We just added eye drops lately because Mt. Sinai donated them. And they love them. I don't know. Every single --- excuse me, every single person that we hand out eye drops to, they love them. I mean I don't know. It's like the key ingredient --

BALDWIN: These backpacks, no, it sounds like you've really thought through, been very intentional about, you know, what the needs of these men and women on the streets is and are helping them out.

For people who are watching you too and are thinking, how can I help them give back, how can people get involved?

NEWMAN: Go to our website bfts.org, Backpacks for The Street. Donate. You know, a lot of what -- you know, we started this two and a half years ago and originally, you know, we started this because the whole idea of the program is that gives hope to people.

This isn't going to cure homelessness. You know, we have other programs that we are launching that will be the solution -- that are solution oriented. We will sit down with people and meet with them and get them help and get food stamps, get them shelter, get them housing, get them whatever they're, you know, if they have HIV positive, if they're pregnant and what the case may be, we'll help them find programs suited for them.

But this is about getting hope, this is about saying, hey, we see you, we care and somebody's out there trying to help people. And one of the great things is we got a grant from the T.J. Maxx Foundation and that allows us now to and give refills on every backpack, every say, two weeks we will go and refill all the supplies, whether it's, you know, three pairs of socks, or the food or it's the other items, we go out there --

BALDWIN: That's wonderful. We just wanted to make sure we were highlighting exactly what you two need. I just want to say it again. Bfts.org.

NEWMAN: -- Amazon wish list.

BALDWIN: I got you.

NEWMAN: Amazon wish list.

BALDWIN: I got you. I got you. Jason and Jeffrey, thank you. Bless you. Thank you so much.

CONNOR: Thank you very much

BALDWIN: Coming up, remembering the Broadway star who lost his battle with COVID.

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BALDWIN: News just into CNN. The Pentagon is drafting a plan that will 100 percent anger the President. Senior military leaders are now reviewing a proposal to ban the Confederate flag at all military bases. Let's go to CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. And Barbara, do we expect this to get formal approval?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, this has been brewing for quite a while and now it does appear to be coming to some kind of final decision.

Here's what we know. for the last week, since early last week, a draft policy to ban the Confederate flag at military bases has been circulating at the highest levels of the Pentagon. What it would do is there could be no Confederate flags, bumper stickers, depictions of the Confederate flags brought by people onto a military base.

If it's some part of historical painting or something that's part of a display, that might be something different. But you cannot bring the Confederate flag into public spaces at military installations. That's the idea. The Marines have already done it, U.S. forces in Korea have already done it. The services were working on it but it got put on hold when Defense Secretary Esper wanted to have a broader look at racial equality issues. Now we know that this policy to ban the flag has been circulating for the last several days. What we don't know is whether the President is going to step in and have anything to say about it.

This is brewing of course, Brooke, as we are seeing the White House not able to make a public statement repudiating the Confederate flag. The White House, President Trump, very much against -- publicly against renaming of military bases that bear the names of Confederate generals.

Why is the military so sensitive to all of this? That might be really the thing to understand here. Because, for military commanders, they believe that Confederate flag can and is a symbol of divisiveness in the country. And they don't want that inside the military. The military fights and wins as a unified force. They don't want these symbols there. Look for action on this in the coming days, not at all clear what President Trump will have to say, if anything, about all of it -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: We'll follow it right along with you. Barbara Starr, thank you very much for that.

Speaking of President Trump, he continues to push for in-person events despite the rise in coronavirus cases. What we know about his plans for another rally this weekend.

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BALDWIN: Finally, an outpouring of emotional tributes today to Nick Cordero after the Broadway actor whose battle with COVID-19 drew all kinds of support from people throughout the world, died Sunday morning.

His wife announcing the news on Instagram where she has been documenting the ugly toll this virus has taken on her husband over three months including the amputation of his right leg.

Cordero was known for his roles in several productions including "A Bronx Tale." He performed a song from that musical during this 2017 edition of Broadway Unplugged.

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NICK CODERO, BROADWAY ACTOR (singing): This girl could be one of the great ones, this one could be one of the ones on who you bet --

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BALDWIN: Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda tweeting, Cordero was a light and that his death is devastating. And Oscar award winner Viola Davis saying her heart is with Cordero's

wife and the little one. That little one is Elvis, the couple's son who was born just last year. Nick Cordero was 41.