Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Trump Signs Four Executive Orders, Including $400 In Enhanced Federal Unemployment Benefits; Trump Abruptly Ends Briefing After Reporter Asks Why He Falsely Claims To Have Passed Veterans' Choice; Around 250K Expected At Motorcycle Rally In SD As Nation Battles Pandemic; Schools Prepare To Reopen As Nation Nears Five Million COVID Cases. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired August 08, 2020 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In a few moments, I will sign a directive instructing the Treasury Department to allow employers to defer payment of the employee portion of certain payroll taxes from September 1s. And we're actually going to be making that, we just got the word, we're just getting some word from a lot of people. We didn't think we'd have to do this because we thought the Democrats would be reasonable, but they've been not only unreasonable, they've been ridiculous.

So we're going to make that August 1st, most likely, it'll be August 1st. We'll let you know the exact date but we're looking like August 1st. So by August 1st through the end of 2020. This will mean bigger paychecks for working families as we race to produce a vaccine and eradicate the China virus once and for all.

And we're doing very good with the numbers. You see it's going down in Arizona very, very substantially and rapidly, going down in California, going down in Texas, going down in Florida. Other areas are propping up a little bit, but we're watching them very closely. We understand the disease and we're watching them very closely, especially our senior citizens and our senior citizens residences.

If I'm victorious on November 3rd, I plan to forgive these taxes and make permanent cuts to the payroll tax, I'm going to make them all permanent. Now, Joe Biden, and the Democrats may not want that, they don't want that because they're adding $3 trillion in taxes. So they'll have the option of raising everybody's taxes and taking this away.

But if I win, I may extend and terminate. In other words, I'll extend it beyond the end of the year and terminate the tax. And so we'll see what happens. Biden probably won't be doing that. You'll have to ask him. I don't think he knows what he's doing.

Second, I'm signing an executive order directing the Department of Housing and Urban Development, HHS and CDC to make sure renters and homeowners can stay in their homes. So I'm protecting people from eviction, yet you've been hearing a lot about eviction. And the Democrats don't want to do anything having to do with

protecting people from eviction. I said, let's do that separately. That could be a totally separate thing from passing along money so people can live. And they didn't even want to protect people from eviction. So they would get evicted.

It's not their fault that this virus came into our country. It's China's fault and came into the world. By the way, a lot of the people, a lot of the states that were doing the best are having some problems. A lot of the states that we weren't thinking were doing the best or doing very well. You look at some of the countries involved, some of the countries that we're really standing out as examples are now exploding, but they'll get it down. They understand it.

We're dealing with them. We're dealing with a lot of countries. We're providing thousands and thousands of ventilators all over the world right now. We make a lot of ventilators. We've started off with very little that we're making a lot. And we have thousands in our stockpile, but we're making thousands a month. And we're providing many of them, thousands and thousands to other countries that would never be able to get them.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development will also provide financial assistance to struggling renters and homeowners and work with landlords and lenders to keep Americans safely in their home. So we don't want people being evicted. And the bill, the act that I'm signing will solve that problem largely, hopefully completely.

The third action I'm taking today will also provide additional support for Americans who are unemployed due to the China virus. Under the CARES Act, I proudly signed expanded unemployment benefits into law. Congressional Democrats have stonewalled our efforts to extend this relief. They even oppose measures that would give bonuses to workers returning to the job. They were totally opposed to that.

For this reason, I'm taking action to provide an additional or an extra $400 per week and expanded benefits, $400, OK? So that's generous, but we want to take care of our people. Again, it wasn't their fault, it was China's fault.

States will be asked to cover 25 percent of the cost using existing funding, such as the tens of billions of dollars available to them through the Coronavirus Relief Fund. Under this plan, states will be able to offer greater benefits if they so choose, and the federal government will cover 75 percent of the cost. So we're all set up, it's $400 per hour.

[17:05:01]

And we're doing that without the Democrats. We should have been able to do it very easily with them but they want all of these additional things that have nothing to do with helping people.

Fourth, I'm signing a directive providing relief to student loan borrowers. Early this year, we slashed student loan interest rates to zero. I don't know if people know that because the press doesn't ever report it. But maybe they're watching now. The press doesn't report a lot of good things that are good for the people and good for the country.

Earlier this year, we slashed student loans interest rates to zero percent and suspended student loan payments and Congress extended that policy through September 30th. Today, I'm extending this policy through the end of the year, and we'll extend it further than that most likely, right after December 1st.

So we look like we're going to be extending that to paying zero interest. And again, not their fault that their colleges are closed down and not their fault that they're unable to get what they bargained for.

Through these four actions, my administration will provide immediate and vital relief to Americans struggling in this difficult time. And the beautiful thing about this difficult time is we're now coming back and setting records. We'll also ensure that our economic comeback continues full speed ahead. And with the $400, and all of the other measures that we're talking about, we'll be signing it a little while. That will happen.

We're further looking at additional tax cuts, including income tax relief, income tax cuts and capital gains tax cuts. So we're going to be looking at that capital gains for the purpose of creating jobs and income tax is self-explanatory. And it'll be income tax for middle income and lower income people but middle income people because they pay a lot of income tax and you do have tax inequality. I'm saying that as a Republican, and you do have tax inequality.

So we're going to be looking at income tax and we're going to be looking at capital gains tax cuts on both and maybe substantial. And we'll be reporting back fairly shortly on that. That's big news. That's big news, but very important. We want to have our jobs flourish. We want to have our companies do great. We want to have the 401(k)s which are now at a level, if you look at the stock market, it's great.

If you have stocks in Nasdaq, you're higher than you ever were including even -- this is still during the pandemic, the stock market, because they see such incredible things happening, smart people. The stock market is at almost an all-time high. We're just short of it and Nasdaq is higher than it ever was. It's broken the record 14 times in the last couple of months.

So 401(k)s are doing fantastically. I hope you kept your socks. I hope you didn't sell. I hope you had confidence in your President and confidence that your President was going to be re-elected. And I will tell you this, that the biggest tailwind, the biggest problem that we have with respect to the stock market, which is not much of a problem, because it's doing so well, but it would be actually much higher is the possibility that these radical left Democrats --

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: You've been listening to there talking about these four executive orders that he signed. If you're just joining us, one would bring back that enhanced unemployment benefit that will be $400 a week, another $600 that we had seen which expired on July 31st. A payroll tax holiday for those making less than $100,000 and eviction moratorium and extension on that. Also talking about deferring student loans, student loan payments, the interest of course had been cut to zero.

Jeremy Diamond, something that's really sticking out here is on this $400 week enhanced unemployment, the President said the federal government is taking care of 75 percent of that, states will be responsible for the remaining 25 percent. Do we know how that's going to work where the money's coming from if the states can foot that bill?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, in many cases, it's not going to work actually, Erica, which is why as we've been listening to this, we've been talking about $400 per week, because that is what the President said. But really, I think we should be talking here about $300 per week, because that is all that the federal government is going to be providing here in terms of enhanced unemployment benefits. They're essentially saying we will put up the $300 per week, states can put up an additional $100 per week and that is the $400 per week.

But many of these states either cannot or will not provide that additional $100 dollars a week. Many of these states, again, as we've been talking about this one big issue that has prevented Democrats and Republicans in large part from reaching an agreement here is that many of these state and local governments do not have any more money. They are out of money because of how they have had to respond to this pandemic, and many of these state governments, some of them even have balanced budgets so they will literally be unable to provide that additional $100 a week.

[17:10:10]

And other states, perhaps some more red-leaning states who believe that, you know, $400 a week is perhaps too much money, perhaps may disincentivize people from going to work in their states, as we have heard Republicans talk about as it relates to the $600 per week, they may simply be unwilling to provide that additional money. So really, I think when the President's talking about $400 a week, that's misleading, and it's not true, because the federal government will only be putting three quarters of that which is $300 for week.

HILL: One of these executive orders, Daniel Dale, also was a -- an extension of the moratorium on evictions, that is something that we've heard a lot about, and we've actually heard a lot about it from Democrats. The President saying there Democrats didn't want to protect people from eviction. Fact check that for us, if you will.

DANIEL DALE, CNN REPORTER: It's just not true. It's just another up is down, you know, the opposite of reality false claim. Democrats have proposed not only extending that moratorium on evictions, but providing substantial rental assistance to tenants. So they have wanted to provide significant help, and Trump is just wrong.

Another thing I'd like to mention is that Trump claimed when he was told that he expects legal challenges on these orders, he said, I didn't say that. He said that yesterday. He said, I think we'll probably get sued. And this is a long-standing pattern of the President denying he said things that he said in public on camera.

HILL: Yes, things that we have on tape that we can all go back to and see over and over again. You're right, Daniel.

When we -- one of these other executive orders is a payroll tax holiday. There's some back and forth on the language there even the President seems to be interchanging cuts and holidays, but a payroll tax holiday this would be, Christine for, those making under $100,000.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

HILL: He seemed to be saying there would be retroactive to August 1, that it goes through December 31st. He also said everybody wanted this, which is not true. We know both Democrats and Republicans were opposed to this, because that money also funds important programs. And also if you're not getting a paycheck, it's really not doing you much good.

ROMANS: Well, it funds important programs that have actually taken a hit because the coronavirus recession has meant less money coming into the coffers to pay for Social Security and Medicare. So look, I mean, this is a really big deal.

And he does have the authority with Treasury to defer to have a deferral, but he's saying there in his comments that then if he's elected, he's going to make it permanent, which makes me wonder how exactly you would fund Medicare and Social Security if you're not collecting those taxes anymore.

I mean, we have a CNN politics headline from yesterday that basically says that, you know, the coronavirus has already dealt a really bad blow to Social Security. Trump's payroll tax holiday would only make it worse. The other question is, to make it permanent, that's something that Congress has to do. In fact --

HILL: Right.

ROMANS: -- most of this stuff, the power of the purse belongs to Congress. So the President not showing much leadership in the arguments between the House Democrats and the Senate Republicans in terms of hammering this out and closing that $2 trillion gap and a stimulus bill.

Instead, he's going in front of the cameras and he's going it alone here and trying to show a main street that he's got their back and we want to take care of our people is what the President keeps saying, but he's, you know -- this has to happen in Congress. This should be happening in Congress where they should be making these decisions. So they're not going to let end up in court, and so people really can't get their money quickly.

HILL: Yes. Well, then President also said earlier this afternoon that he said, these bills -- their executive actions, of course, are not bills -- will take care of the entire situation, which we know is not true. There's a lot more to the situation. There is funding for schools, for example, there's this issue of state funding, which we know the President is not going to support.

Dr. Reiner, when we look at these executive orders, the President also saying here that he is doing what he claims Congress will not do when it comes to the economic disaster caused by COVID. I noticed testing is not addressed here, contact tracing, things that we know that we need.

As a physician, what would you like to see him sign as an executive order that could perhaps address, I mean, in his words, dealing with all of it, but that could help a broader address -- a broader portion of what we're dealing with in this country because of the coronavirus?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Yes, I would like to see an executive order mandating universal mask wearing all over the United States when people go out in public. I would like to see an executive order invoking the Defense Production Act to produce more PPE. There's still a dramatic shortage of PPE and things like N95 masks all over the United States.

I would like to see an executive order facilitating the creation of the rapid antigen tests. I would like to see an executive order setting a goal of 30 million tests done per week in the United States. I'd like to see a lot of that, but we see none of that. The other thing which we didn't hear at all during this presser, we didn't hear a single word about the people who are dying in the United States.

[17:15:01]

There were 1,300 people who died yesterday and the same the day before and the day before that. That's eight 730's worth of Americans dying every single day. He seemed to suggest that, it's just as bad all over the world. Two people died in Germany yesterday. Thirty-one people died in the United States. And all we hear about is how great the stock market is and 401(k)s. How insulting to the healthcare workers and the families of the thousands of people who are dying every day in the United States.

HILL: It's a really important point. 162,000, more than 162,000 lives have now been lost in this country. We are quickly approaching 5 million confirmed cases. As we know though, it is estimated by the head of the CDC that there could be 10 times, may have been 10 times the number of cases here in the United States.

Dr. Jonathan Reiner, Christine Romans, Daniel Dale, Jeremy Diamond, thank you all for being with us for your expertise. Not the last time we will tackle this one.

We are following the kickoff to a major event in South Dakota. An annual event and estimated 250,000 bikers from across the country are now in Sturgis, South Dakota. It's the 80th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. You just heard Dr. Reiner talk about -- he'd like to see an executive order for masks in this country. Not seeing a lot of masks there. Very little social distancing is what we're hearing from our team on the ground. We will take you there live next year here in the CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:20:34]

HILL: As the pandemic continues to rage across the country, an estimated 250,000 bikers from all across this country coast to coast descending on South Dakota for the 80th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

CNN's Ryan Young is in Sturgis and joins us now. We know that masks are not required, the mayor said that very clearly, although he's encouraging folks follow the CDC guidelines. You've been talking to a lot of the people there on the ground who've made their way to Sturgis for this annual event.

How concerned are they about the potential health risk of being so close to so many people? The mayor said he's most concerned about what happens at night in the bars.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I wish you could see the smile that's behind this mask here. We just had someone run by and scream, the coronavirus is a hoax. You do understand that people here do not necessarily believe in all the words about the pandemic. A lot of them want to exercise their rights and be here.

Look, it's a part of the -- it's sort of culture they say, they want to be outside. They weren't going to let someone take away this event. They love the fact that they're able to come to South Dakota and go to the mountains on their bikes, and they say their bikes are the social distancing is all they need.

But when you look at this crowd, look back this direction, look at the sea of bikes going all the way back and you see people just muddling around. You can pretty much count the number of masks on one hand when it comes to people wearing them at this point. Take a look from above and you can see all the way down. This stretches on for more than a mile. They're expecting 250,000 people to come this direction. They are passionate about their bikes.

There are so many Harleys here, you can't even count them all. There's a bunch of American flags too. There is a little bit of politics involved in this as well, because there are several people who definitely want to support the President. There is a stand, like the one that you see just over there. There's probably about seven or eight of those.

We did see one COVID tent that is here where they were handing out some free mask and hand sanitizer. That one, e a lot of people weren't going to. The bars have been packed as well. We keep hearing over and over again that economically, for some of these businesses, they really needed this weekend. It's a shot in the arm, they desperately want it because all these sort of festivals have been canceled from across the country.

But listen to one of people that we talked to just a little earlier. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROD WOODRUFF, OWNER OF STURGIS BUFFALO CHIP: We got a First Amendment, we got a bill of rights, we love it, right? And we're here to live it. Tell people what the odds are, tell people what the risks and the dangers are and let them decide and expect them to be responsible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Look, you know how this is at this point. People have been cooped up for several months. And there are people who are tired of it. We've had several people come over to us and express, they believe that we're making too big of a deal about the pandemic.

When you look at the numbers here in South Dakota, 106 new positive cases for the entire state that's just today. So the numbers here are low. And then you think about the fact that they had that Mount Rushmore event with the President on the Fourth of July, and they didn't have a lot of issues. People are clinging on to that as well. And of course, they're riding the Mount Rushmore, they're going to all the mountains, they're going through the Black Hills. They believe that that's enough social distancing, and that is the case.

In the hotels, though, that we've seen around town, they do require you to wear a mask. A lot of the restaurants do as well. But when they're out here, they're like, hey, we don't have to wear them, so we're not.

HILL: Yes, very interesting to see too, a lot of folks are wondering as we see this event. When people go home, is there a chance if they -- if something happened in Sturgis, are they bringing something back with them? As we've said, people from all around the country. Ryan, appreciate it. Thank you.

We have much more ahead on the pandemic including a critic decision for parents across the country. Send your kids to school, keep them home. We'll discuss next.

[17:28:33]

HILL: As some students returned to school, many parents and teachers and staff in the schools are worried about the spread of coronavirus. And some older students are now facing the reality of their lives being put on hold.

Joining us now, CNN Medical Analyst, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, she's the Chief of the Infectious Diseases Division at Massachusetts General Hospital. Great to have you with us as always. You know, I think so much what we talked about, it's important that we cover the science and the medical part of this, right, because that should influence our decisions. But, you know, we're a couple of moms dealing with this too. And that has a broad impact.

You know, I know you've got a couple of I think high school aged kids but also a college student. And when we're learning about more school, some that had even said initially what we're going to be in-person. Now we're hearing about more campuses saying we're going to go online. The fact that these lives of kids in their late teens and early 20s are being put on hold, that's a lot to deal with.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Good afternoon, Erica. Yes, it's been one -- you know, we haven't had tragic losses, but we have had life losses. Just in terms of life experience losses in our household, I have a rising junior in high school, senior in high school who just graduated and missed his graduation and prom and then, you know, two kids heading to college who are not heading to college because they are, you know, now closed and going virtual.

[17:30:00]

We've looked at this. I've conducted analysis with David at Yale University as to what we need to do to keep our campuses safe.

I think the ticket to this is rapid testing. And the question is, why is it August and we don't have the rapid testing that's available at our fingertips to allow these schools to open and to keep these campuses and their surrounding communities safe.

HILL: And that is -- to your point, that's a question that's not being addressed and we were talking about the president's executive orders. And as Dr. Reiner said, there was nothing in there that addressed the medical issues. To get back to work, we need to get back to school.

To get back to school, we need that testing. We talk so much about the rapid testing. We also talk about pool testing. In general, there's concern about the result, though, of, let's say, the rapid test after we saw what happened with Governor DeWine this week in Ohio.

Are you concerned about how that might influence the discussion?

WALENSKY: I think the big problem here is that all tests are not used for the same reason in the same population. You need something that's super accurate when you're talking about diagnosing somebody in a hospital.

And whether you're going to use PPE, whether you're going to cohort that patient with another patient, you need something that's quite accurate when somebody presents with symptoMs.

But when you're doing surveillance testing on a college campus and you're going to be doing it every two days, every three days, and those tests cost a dollar or two each, and they can give you an answer immediately, you don't need the same level of accuracy as you would in a hospital.

And so I think we need to really understand what the tests are being used for in their surveillance purposes. They're being used to see if somebody is infectious and if the question is, are you infectious or not, those rapid tests are quite good.

HILL: And as we look at this, quickly, before we let you go, I mean, are there enough tests out there? Let's say that budgets were not an issue, even though they're only about a dollar each, do you think there's the ability to get these tests into schools so they can test students every two days?

WALENSKY: There are several at the FDA that are really -- we are really trying to encourage the FDA to approve so that we can get these rapid testings.

People are very worried at the FDA that they're not accurate enough and they may not be accurate enough to diagnose somebody in the intensive care unit but they would work great if you were using them for surveillance.

I want to comment, the countries which a patient right now is hemorrhaging and the executive order gave us a Band-Aid but didn't give us a way to stop the hemorrhaging. There are places out there in this country that have over 100 cases per hundred thousand people.

Most countries that have opened schools successfully have done so when disease levels are at one case per 100,000 people.

HILL: Yes. Numbers that we should probably let sink in for a minute. There's still so much work to be done and part of that work is acknowledging that there's a problem.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, always appreciate your insight. thank you.

WALENSKY: Thanks for having me.

HILL: Just a few moments ago, President Trump said he expects a vaccine, quote, "very soon." So, is that realistic? And just because there's a vaccine, does that mean everyone can get it? We'll speak with the director of the Vaccine Education Center, next, in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:37:21]

HILL: Just a few moments ago, President Trump said he expects a vaccine, quote, very soon. A few days ago the president said he expected one well before the end of the year.

These predictions come as nearly 400 health experts call on the FDA to conduct full safety and efficacy reviews of any potential coronavirus vaccine before making the products widely available to the public. They want the FDA to gain the public's trust. They want to make sure it's safe for you.

Dr. Paul Offit signed the letter. He's the director of the Vaccine Education Center and pediatrics professor at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He's also the co-inventor of the rona virus vaccine.

And you serve on an FDA advisory panel for a vaccine. It's not the first time you've raised concerns about the process that is happening here in terms of a vaccine. In June, you questioned whether President Trump could release a vaccine that hadn't been proven safe as an election stunt.

How concerned are you at this point that an unsafe vaccine could, in fact, make its way to the public?

DR. PAUL OFFIT, DIRECTOR, VACCINE EDUCATION CENTER & PEDIATRICS PROFESSOR, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: Well, it worries me when people say, like President Trump, that he's confident that we can have a vaccine, say, by Election Day.

I mean, if you think -- think about this for a second. Whether it's Johnson & Johnson's vaccine or Moderna or Pfizer or AstraZeneca, roughly 20,000 people get a vaccine, 10,000 people get placebo, you would have to recruit 30,000 people.

Let's say you recruit 30,000 people in the month of August, which is not possible. Then you have to wait a month to give them a second dose. Then you have to wait two weeks after the second dose before you have a full immune response, already in mid-October.

Then you have to hope that at least 50 people to 250 people in your placebo group get sick, not just get infected, get sick. That happens in only about 20 percent of people who are infected.

Then remember, you're encouraging all these people to still maintain hygienic measures, wear a mask, wash hands. You're not asking them to go to Sturgis, South Dakota, and hang out with the biker rally so the chance that this could be done by the end of the year is infinitesimally small.

It has to be finished. You have to finish these trials and make sure that you can have data that you show to the American public that this vaccine is safe and effective when it's been in a 30,000-person trial.

HILL: All of this makes sense, what you're laying out.

I don't know why anybody wouldn't want a vaccine, to go through a full process to make sure it is both effective and safe, and that you can see all of the data.

But what well stands out to me, too, is the fact that you're on this advisory panel for a vaccine. I mean, are you getting any pushback from the FDA, the fact that you're -- you are raising all of these concerns, publicly?

[17:40:03]

OFFIT: No, not at all. I mean, I think the FDA also wants these vaccines to be safe and effective. Certainly, everybody on the FDA vaccine advisory panel wants that.

And I think Dr. Steven Hahn, who recently wrote an op-ed piece, they said they want this to be -- these vaccines to be shown to be safe and effective. They want these vaccines to be put in front of the FDA vaccine advisory panel.

So I'm choosing to believe that the FDA wants to do the right thing here.

HILL: I think we would all like to believe that. But you did tell the "New York Times" in response to this letter that

you were concerned that the administration bent or imposed its will on the FDA when it came to Hydroxychloroquine and that you have the same concerns for a vaccine.

So, while they may have those intentions, you know, the fact that you're saying, I'm worried the administration could push them to do something that's not safe, are you confident that they will be able to stop that, to say, no, it's not ready, we can't do this yet?

OFFIT: Well, I mean, it's true. The administration had shown the ability to impose its will on science-based agencies, like the Environmental Protection Agency where the term "climate change" is now off their Web site or the National Weather Service where they tried to sort of fudge exactly where that hurricane hit.

And hydroxychloroquine, I think, was not the FDA at its best. I think they gave in, frankly, not administration, approved the use of the drug through emergency use authorization, that should have never been approved.

I mean, we know now that it didn't work to either treat or prevent disease. And we know that it had a harmful side effect of heart arrhythmias, which can be fatal. So that was not the FDA at its best.

But I believe the FDA sees how important this is and will make the right decisions.

HILL: Real quickly, we have about 30 seconds left. A vaccine is incredibly important. Of course, you also need to be vaccinated with it for it to work.

Do you think there's enough focus and discussion about treatment?

OFFIT: I think the most interesting thing are the monoclonal antibodies. We have a new technology with monoclonal antibodies where they can be longer lived.

You inoculate the person with antibodies directed against the surface protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that will prevent the virus from binding. It'll probably provide protection for about six months.

I think that is an exciting new technology. We'll see how that plays out.

HILL: Dr. Paul Offit, great to have you with us today. Thank you.

OFFIT: Thank you.

HILL: One of the largest college football conferences in the country says it cannot play a season this year. The first conference to call it quits. Of course, the question now: Will they be the last? We'll talk through it all with ESPN's Mike Golic, next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:47:19]

HILL: Every day, college football is seeming like more and more of a pipe dream in 2020. Today, a massive decision by the Mid-American Conference announcing it's postponing its fall football season. It's one of 10 conferences that compete in the NCAA's highest level of football, Division I.

So will others follow its lead?

Here now to talk about that, Mike Golic, ESPN analyst, who, of course, played pro football for a decade.

As we look at this, you know, the mid-American conference's decision, what does your gut tell you? Is this just the first one? Will there be college football this year?

MIKE GOLIC, ESPN ANALYST: Well, I think it could be the first in a domino. I know today, the Big 10 presidents are meeting at their schools to decide what they want to do.

They're supposed to start practicing in pads, I think, in the next couple of days in the Big 10 and they've halted that. They said, just helmets now.

So, I think they're kind of going in a holding pattern after the mac made their decision about what they're going to do and we'll see what the other power fives are going to do.

I do think the power fives are going to want to try and play their season. I think by going conference only schedules, as a lot of them have done, they've given themselves a bit more of a runway before they have to decide.

HILL: It gives them a little bit more wiggle room to confine it in that way. There's also at least one report that some conferences could postpone the season until the spring.

I mean, you know, talk about punting there. I mean, you think there's a chance for that?

GOLIC: Well, well done.

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: Thank you. My kids will be impressed with that one.

(LAUGHTER)

GOLIC: You did very well.

HILL: Thank you.

GOLIC: The problem -- listen, I'll watch football. Listen, played football all my life. I'll watch football any time. If they play it in the spring, that's fine.

But then what you get into then, like the Mac said, they may want to play in spring, Ivy League. When that season would end, it would probably be April or May.

And if you're going to go into the next season, the next season, the players are already meeting in June and July for off season work, and then starting to put the pads on again in August to play in September of the following year if everything ran according to plan.

So, you'd be talking about college athletes, football players playing two seasons within a few months of each other. That might be a little tough on the body.

HILL: Yes.

GOLIC: So, I'm sure they would have to have some kind of a plan for that to back off a little bit before the following season.

And also, Erica, if you get some of the power five conferences playing in the spring, you're not going to see some of the top players. Trevor Lawrence's of the world, from Clemson, Justin Fields, from Ohio State.

If those conferences, the ACC or Big 10 played in the spring, those guys aren't going to play because they're going to go into the draft for the NFL at the end of April, unless the NFL moves their draft, which I don't know if they're going to do.

[17:50:09]

So a lot of the top players if they had to play in the spring, they won't play in the spring. They'll just get ready for the NFL.

HILL: There's so much that goes into these decisions. But there are some PAC-12 players who have accused their conference of not taking their concerns seriously.

We have to be realistic. College sports, especially football, this is a massive influx of money for the school. And it's one thing as we look at what the MLB, NBA, NHL are doing.

It's one thing for paid athletes when it's your job to ask them to play. These are kids who are going to school. Yes, some of them may be there on a scholarship, but they're not getting paid.

They're bringing in a ton of money, though. And they may be being asked to put their health on the line. That really sets up a different conversation, I think.

GOLIC: The bottom line is, if there wasn't so much money to be had in college football, we wouldn't even be talking about a season right now. That's the only reason we're talking about a season. Everybody knows it, some are just afraid to say it. But it is about the money.

You're right, the NFL has a union. Baseball has a union. The NBA has a union. The college players do not have a union. I know in the PAC-12 they're trying to get a group together, but they

need representation for that. And they actually wanted to bring in their next phone call with the PAC-12 commissioner, Larry Scott.

They said they wanted to bring a lawyer on the phone call. And Larry Scott, the commissioner, said if you do that, they're going to be talking to a PAC-12 lawyer as well. So that's not going to solve a whole lot. They just want testing protocols. And these are massive numbers we're talking about.

Remember, it's not just football. If you're playing fall sports -- that's football, that's men's and women's soccer, women's volleyball, field hockey -- you have to test everybody. You can't just test the revenue-making sport of football. You have to have the health and safety of all of your athletes in mind. So that's a lot of tests.

The PAC-12 is basically saying they don't have a protocol right now to test every day or the protocols that the players are looking for, so that's where they're butting heads right now. And I can understand that.

HILL: Mike Golic, really great to have you with us today. Thank you.

GOLIC: Thank you.

HILL: Joe Biden has a huge decision to make, who will be his running mate on the Democratic ticket. There's a new name getting a lot of attention today. Why? Stay with us. We'll tell you on the other side of this.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:57:09]

HILL: Former Vice President Joe Biden now in the final stages of selecting his running mate for his own 2020 White House bid. CNN has learned Biden met with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer making her one of the possible finalists.

Joining us now, CNN's Arlette Saenz.

Arlette, what are you hearing about that meeting?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's certainly decision weekend for Joe Biden as this running mate search continues.

But sources have told us that Joe Biden recently met with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. She actually traveled from Michigan to Delaware to meet with the former vice president recently to talk about that running mate job.

Now, she's the national co-chair of Biden's campaign. And she also is someone that he has checked in with from time to time to discuss the coronavirus pandemic in her state and her handling of that.

And while we know that Biden recently met with Whitmer, she is not the only one he has met with. We are told that he has had meetings with other possible contenders, but we don't just know exactly yet who has gotten one of those meetings with Joe Biden.

Now, some of the women that are under serious consideration include California Senator Kamala Harris, who was a rival of Joe Biden's during the Democratic primary.

There's also national -- former national security advisor Susan Rice, who served with Joe Biden during the Obama administration, so they have had that type of working relationship together.

Others considered to be in the mix are Congresswoman Karen Bass, of California, Elizabeth Warren, also a former rival of Joe Biden, and Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth.

So Biden is now getting into those final days of making this decision. It's been a months-long process as he's done -- conducted the vetting of many of these candidates.

And he is going to be deliberating with his aides and his wife, Jill Biden, who is always a close counselor to her husband with that announcement expected to come later this week.

HILL: Arlette, how is Joe Biden's relationship with former President Barack Obama influencing his decision at this point?

SAENZ: Biden is obviously in a very unique position because he has been vice president before, so he has an idea of the type of qualities that he's looking for as he. in some ways. is looking for his own Biden.

Now, President Obama and Joe Biden were not necessarily close at the beginning of their partnership, but that was a working relationship that they really built up over the years. It was a strong relationship of trust and loyalty between the two of them.

And that's something that Biden is looking to replicate himself, someone that he could be a strong governing partner with him.

So while he may not have close relationships with some of these women right now, that is something he's looking at the long-term potential of how they could grow that relationship as they would be working together.

[18:00:02]

And one thing to note, Joe Biden was part of a historic ticket in the administration, serving with the first black president. If he's elected, he would be serving with the first female vice president. Erica?