Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. COVID-19 Cases Rise To More Than Five Million; Trump Signs Executive Order After Stimulus Talks Break Down; Why Legalized Marijuana Is Paying Off In Illinois. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired August 09, 2020 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:02:08]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Hello, thanks for joining me. I'm Dana Bash, in for Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin this hour with the U.S. hitting another unthinkable milestone. Today, coronavirus cases in the United States surpassed five million, that's by far the most of any nation on Earth. More than 1,000 Americans are dying every day.

The death toll is now more than 162,000 and counting, yet despite that and the economic toll wrought by this disease, Congress failed to find a compromise on a new stimulus deal to help leaving millions of Americans with unanswered questions about their unemployment benefits, their food security, and possible evictions.

Now President Trump is sidestepping Congress in a series of executive actions. The President said Saturday that he was acting unilaterally after his team and congressional Democrats reached an impasse.

What he signed allows for up to $400.00 in enhanced unemployment benefits, but only if states ask for it, and only if they pay a quarter of it. It also includes a memorandum for a payroll tax holiday and suggests assistance for renters and homeowners facing eviction.

The President also issued a memorandum on deferring student loan payments. All in all, still very confusing for most Americans and unclear whether the President's executive actions are even legal.

This morning I asked the President's Chief Economic Adviser how the new unemployment benefit would be implemented. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KUDLOW, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: The state unemployment benefits continue. There's no effect on what they do. And yes, you are correct. For an extra hundred dollars, we will lever it up. We'll pay three quarters and the states will pay 25 percent, and I think the way this is going to work out, we have additional funds that we will repurpose for this. This is an essential item.

We've tried to get it through the Democratic House for, I don't know, two or three times, and it's going to be a form of economic assistance, probably you'll get $800.00 total Federal and state and if we get it going September 1st, which is what the deadline looks like, that would probably give the workforce an increase in wages. Basically, it's a wage increase after tax.

BASH: What do you mean, $800.00 total?

KUDLOW: $1,200.00. Well, at a minimum, we will put in 300 bucks, and the States will continue with their 400 bucks, but I think all they have to do is put up an extra dollar and we'll be able to throw in the extra hundred dollars.

So it should be a total -- it should be -- may not be in every case, because as you know we're talking averages. Some states higher, some states lower, but on average, Dana, it'll run to about $800.00. So about $1,200.00 wage increase.

BASH: But the executive action says $400.00, and that the state would pay 25 percent of this. You're talking about some other money that I don't know about.

KUDLOW: Well, you know, we will stand ready to repurpose if states put in a little bit more is all it amounts to.

BASH: Okay.

[15:05:26]

KUDLOW: I mean, right now, that number is going to run around $700.00, so, I think they'll get to $800.00. Some states can get above $800.00 with our Federal help.

And again, the key point here is that it's a wage increase, Dana, of about $1,200.00 for the last four months of the year. That's a big pay hike. And now, does that reward the heroes who have been working? I think it's an incentive to get more people who want to come into the workforce.

BASH: What makes you think that states have that $100.00 a week per person who is unemployed in their state to even put into this potential pot of money?

KUDLOW: Well, I think I think they'll be able to make room. Our estimates from the Treasury Department in terms of the CARES Act 1 was that the states have not spent all the money that was allocated to them, and that there's, you know, a considerable overflow that they could make use of.

We're going to operate on the same principle in the Executive Order. We will be repurposing funds from other areas. So, based on our estimates, the states will be able to provide the extra hundred dollars and that will gross up the whole benefit to something of about $800.00.

BASH: Have you checked with the states? How many of the 50 states and D.C. and other territories say that they are going to be able to pony up $100.00 a week per unemployed citizen? KUDLOW: Yes, good question. We'll probably find that out, you know,

today and tomorrow as we make our canvas. We've been in touch with them and we have very good records coming out of the Treasury Department, but we will be in touch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: I also spoke with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Here was her response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): ... back to school. What the President's adviser said really shows the weakness and the eagerness of what the President proposed. First of all, he is saying states have the money. No, they don't. They have expenses from the coronavirus. They have lost revenue. Because of that they may -- they are firing healthcare workers, first responders, teachers and the rest -- sanitation, transportation because they don't have the money.

Second of all, everything is left out. Our assistance to the schools, feeding the hungry, helping people who are going to be evicted. The President's moratorium. He just did a study or look at a moratorium.

So again, something is wrong. Either the President doesn't know what he is talking about. Clearly, his aides don't know what he is talking about, and/or something is very wrong here about meeting the needs of the American people at this time.

BASH: Well, let's talk about what he did do or what he said he did with these executive actions. Are they legal? And if you don't think they are, are you going to sue to block them?

PELOSI: Well, the fact is, is that whether they're legal or not, it takes time to figure out. I associate my remarks with Senator Sasse who says they're unconstitutional slop.

BASH: But will you sue?

PELOSI: I think that's right. Well, right now, we want to address the needs of the American people as constitutional -- my constitutional advisors tell me they're absurdly unconstitutional.

But right now, our focus -- and that's a parallel thing. Right now, the focus and the priority has to be on again, meeting the needs of the American people, sufficiently allocating resources to send children to school, not threatening schools that if they don't have actual attendance, they won't get the Federal dollars.

BASH: So given that, are negotiations going to resume or are negotiations dead?

PELOSI: Well, I hope so. I hope so. Look, we have a big difference and here is why. For example, millions of children in America are food insecure, and their families as well. But I always like to focus on the children. In our bill, we have tens of billions of dollars to address the hunger

needs in our country, which are there normally, but exacerbated during the pandemic. We have tens of billions of dollars. They have $250,000.00.

So do they care? You know, I have a prayer that I say, let's pray for those who are hungry. Let's pray harder for those who will not feed them.

Then we go to the Princeton Lab, the Eviction Lab says that we need these resources. They're going to be this many millions of addictions, and the President is going to study it and look at it.

BASH: Right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:10:16]

BASH: The New York Governor is slamming the President's executive actions, calling them laughable. In a call today updating his state's battle with the pandemic, the Democratic Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo questioned the legality of the President's moves, criticizing the directives to force states to pay for more unemployment and not providing any funding for schools to reopen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): The concept of saying to states you pay 25 percent of the unemployment insurance is just laughable.

The issue here was getting states funding -- state and local funding. You can't now say to states who have no funding, and you have to pay 25 percent of the unemployment insurance cost. I mean, it's just -- there's no funding for schools that are now trying to reopen, and according to the White House, they want them to reopen.

So they need legislation. It is the only way to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: I want to bring in Wes Moore, who is an entrepreneur and the CEO of the antipoverty group, the Robin Hood Foundation. Thank you so much for joining me.

So I'm sure you've taken a look at the President's executive action. Theoretically, it would provide $300.00 in Federal benefits to each person, but that person has to live in a state where the state requests it and the state agrees to give $100.00 as well, so that the person would get an additional $400.00.

I mean, is there anything realistic in your view about this?

WES MOORE, CEO, ROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION: It's saying that this is the administration acting unilaterally, it is just disingenuous. It's essentially offering the states and unfunded cooption. You know, so I mean, we have to also be clear about wherever you are.

We have the highest rates of unemployment since the Great Depression, the worst economy we have had in a century and tens of millions of people whose livelihoods are at risk right now and a virus that is still wreaking havoc.

No, this is a very real crisis and we're still in the middle of, and when you look at the executive orders, they're not commencer and do not begin to address the magnitude of the crisis and a part of the problem is this caveat that it has a reliance on the state picking up a significant portion of it have.

I mean, New York alone, Governor Cuomo was talking about the inability for New York State, his state, projects a $30 billion budget shortfall over the next two years.

States cannot print money. There is no Maryland dollars. The Federal government is the only -- the Federal alone can increase liquidity into the markets. So to ask the states to take on this burden when the states are already going to have to spend the next 12 to 24 months just thinking about how to cut is unfair.

BASH: I want to talk to you about evictions. The moratorium on evictions that was put into place in the statute, and the CARES Act originally when Congress and the White House first did act when this pandemic started that expired. The President announced that he was putting a freeze on that, but we know in looking at it, it only suggests that his various Federal agencies looked into doing that. It doesn't put a freeze on it.

I know you're in New York, where the Governor has put a temporary freeze on, but what should Americans out there who are very concerned and there are a whole lot of them about being able to pay their rent and worried about being evicted know about the President's proposal?

MOORE: Dana, we don't we don't have time to look into this. We know what's going to happen. We don't need another study. That's going to take time.

We actually, very early on called on the moratorium on evictions and the moratorium on utility shut off, because we saw what was going to happen. And the truth is, is that there's about 23 million renters across the country right now who will not be able to pay next month's rent. Twenty three million people, close to 10 percent of our population.

And this is also going to happen by the way, when we're having schools getting ready to reopen. This is also going to happen at a time when we still have a virus that we're asking people to socially distance. But what we're also going to do is put it in this extraordinary pressure on shelters and other places that are going to have to help to house people. And we're also doing it at a time when we're going into the winter months.

And so, you know, this last round of Federal aid that we had long Federal and state eviction moratorium, that wasn't just something that was important, that literally kept people alive.

And so we don't need to study it. We don't need to understand what the impacts are going to be if this moratorium is not extended. No, there will 30 to 40 million people will be at risk of eviction in 2020, if we do not act and if we do not work on ways of extending that moratorium for families who are going to be most challenged from this point here.

[15:15:10]

BASH: And the irony is that the House Speaker actually wanted -- this is one area where she wanted the administration and the President to put a real moratorium. She thought he did have the legal ability to do a moratorium on evictions, and he didn't even go that far.

Wes Moore, thank you so much for your insight. I really appreciate you joining me this afternoon.

MOORE: Thank you so much.

BASH: Thank you.

And coming up, new concerns about coronavirus at a school in Georgia. Several people are now infected after a student posted this photo of a crowded hallway.

Plus his company struggled during the pandemic, one industry is actually booming. Why legalized marijuana is paying off in Illinois.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: At least six students and three teachers have tested positive for coronavirus after attending in person classes at the Georgia High School that went viral last week after a student shared this photo of a hallway packed with students in clear violation of C.D.C. recommendations for social distancing.

And want to talk about this and a whole lot more with Saskia Popescu, who is an infectious disease epidemiologist and infection preventionist.

Saskia, we have so many things to talk about. But first of all, just looking at that photo and understanding what happened in that high school in Georgia, is your professional opinion that is it that school can continue there, offering in-person classes, or do you think it needs to shut down based on what we know now?

SASKIA POPESCU, INFECTIOUS DISEASE EPIDEMIOLOGIST AND INFECTION PREVENTIONIST: Unfortunately, I think this is a good example of why we need community and school-based metrics, meaning that we're seeing a lot of community transmission in Georgia still. The percent positive rate is over 11 percent, which is quite high, but also can the schools really operationalize those infection control measures?

And if neither are met, is it really safe for the students, the families and the teachers to really be there? BASH: Yes. And it seems as though the answer is no there. You talked

about metrics. New York is one of the places that is trying to implement some metrics. Both the Governor there in the past couple of days announced that schools can reopen, but was very specific in how that should be done, and what metrics they should meet in terms of reopening and then if there's a positive case, shutting back down, that was I think, the mayor.

But in New York, several childcare centers stayed open during the pandemic for children of parents who can't work from home and are considered essential workers. One school welcome more than 130 children per day, from three-year-olds to 10th graders and they didn't have a single reported case of coronavirus the last time CNN checked.

All students and staff are required to wear masks, constantly reminded to social distance. Classrooms are limited to nine children only. They're cleaned once a day. Should something like this be a model for other schools?

POPESCU: I definitely think so. There's been a lot of guidance and recommendations for school reopenings that really amplify that messaging. Small classrooms, masking, hand hygiene, disinfection, ventilation, all of those pieces; however, those models that were used for essential workers were on a very small scale.

So the challenge is really putting that on a larger scale for all the schools, how do we operationalize that? And how to be successful? But also, we can't really do that if we're still seeing widespread community transmission.

So in New York, they've really been able to reduce transmission, and that's made a huge significance in terms of the success of these smaller schools.

BASH: Yes, it really is a success story as we're talking about it right now. And you're right, having nine children per classroom is a dream and in most scenarios, given how overcrowded a lot of schools are in normal times.

You wrote a piece along with two of your colleagues for "The New York Times" recently where you said schools can't reopen safely, when, as you just mentioned, community transmission is climbing, and your piece really dovetails on what we have seen and heard from the World Health Organization. Now, even the C.D.C., the test positivity rate can't be more than five percent.

But we are seeing school districts, Georgia is one example, but there are a lot of other ones where they are going back to school physically, despite the positivity rate being much, much higher.

I mean, when you see that, given your expertise, what goes through your mind?

POPESCU: I worry mostly because we're so dependent on community transmission to be low for this to be successful and for schools then to be able to safely implement those infection control measures. So when I see schools opening, I mean, I live in Arizona and I see

this and it's very worrisome where they're opening in states and counties with very high transmission still, and the schools aren't able to implement those control measures.

I worry that we're going to see exactly what happened in Georgia, crowded hallways with very little masks, and it's just going to lead to additional cases. And it's only going to get worse if we do this during the respiratory virus season.

So schools really need to have a process in place. What do you do if a single student or teacher tests positive? You have to quarantine that entire class for 14 days? I mean, how do we implement these things? And unfortunately, too many states are going this route without really pushing virtual, if possible.

I think we can all safely say we want students to be able to go back to school, but we need to do so safely.

BASH: I second that. I'm the parent of an almost fourth grader and boy, do I want him to go back to school, but I also want it to happen safely like most parents and teachers as well.

Saskia Popescu, thank you so much for joining me today.

And five states account for more than 40 percent of coronavirus infections in the United States, but cases are actually declining in other parts of the country. What can other states learn from Arizona?

Plus, President Trump is reportedly interested in having his face added to Mount Rushmore. I'm going to talk live with one of the reporters who broke that story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: As America surpasses five million coronavirus cases, we're now learning that five states together hold more than 40 percent of all U.S. infection. Texas being one of them.

Just yesterday, the state reported its highest seven-day positivity rate since the pandemic began at 19.4 percent.

[15:30:10]

BASH: I want to go straight to CNN's Miguel Marquez and Miguel, you are in Arizona, and Arizona was once -- it's kind of like Texas, it was a hotspot. That was just last month. But now cases are declining where you are. How did that state turn things around in such a short period of time and how can Arizona be a case study for other states?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, masks seems to be the most simple answer to all of that. For several months, the Governor here did not allow localities to put in some sort of mask order, and then in June -- mid-June, he reversed himself as he saw those cases climbing very rapidly. He then allowed localities and counties to put a percent of the -- the

state now does, many mayors would like to see him still issue a statewide mask order because people do travel from one part of the state to the other, but even at that, you have seen the numbers here in Arizona come down markedly.

A few weeks ago, Arizona was leading the country in that percent positivity rate, about 25 percent of those getting tested were testing positive for the virus. Now, it's down in the low double digits and declining.

All the numbers, the case numbers, the overall case numbers are coming down. That positivity rate is coming down.

The death numbers are finally starting to come down as well. That said, over 4,100 Arizonans have lost their lives to this pandemic so far, but they have a long way to go.

The flu season is coming. Snowbirds are returning. Universities are coming back into session here in Arizona. Some schools may start up again, all those things may add sort of vectors and add to that viral load.

So they are trying very hard right now to keep that mask order in place and move those numbers in the direction they're going. So that hopefully in the months ahead, they'll have control of it again -- Dana.

BASH: Miguel, as you said, they are not there yet. There are still way too many people who are getting sick and unfortunately lost their lives, but it is nice to hear some good news or some news that they are on the right track from a very important state.

Thank you so much for that report, Miguel.

And still ahead, as companies suffer and unemployment swells, there is one business that's booming -- weed. How legalized marijuana is thriving in the middle of a pandemic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:36:33]

BASH: Many industries are struggling as the coronavirus pandemic surges in the U.S., but an Illinois, one new business in the state is actually booming.

Marijuana became legal there back in January and now sales in the state have surpassed expectations as Americans look for ways to cope with the pandemic. CNN's Polo Sandoval has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In Illinois, pot is paying off. Eight months after the state legalized recreational marijuana, business is booming in part because of the global pandemic. Welcome inside Sunnyside at the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg. After

its opening last week, the store became the state's largest licensed dispensary. Lately, customers like Lisa Morath has been stopping by for a little help in dealing with the stress and anxiety felt by many Americans due to COVID-19.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISA MORATH, STORE GOER: It kind of puts me into a meditative state, actually.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's $25.00 even. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: For Joshua Simao, the occasional joint can help him ease his concerns about the pandemic and the economic crisis hitting families like his.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSHUA SIMAO, CUSTOMER: Right when the pandemic hit, you know, everybody started losing their jobs and stuff like that. You know, I was a victim of that.

So, I really do think that this has helped me deal with some of that.

SANDOVAL (on camera): So you have had economic issues due to COVID?

SIMAO: Yes.

SANDOVAL: And this has helped you at least take a moment to just --

SIMAO: To relax and just, you know, just know everything is going to be all right. You know, we're going to get through this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL (voice over): Medical experts do warn that smoking marijuana even occasionally can increase the risk for severe COVID-19 complications. Still, demand is unlike anything, Illinois pot retailers predict it says, Jason Erkes with CRESCO Labs, that's Sunnyside's parent company.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON ERKES, CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, CRESCO LABS: They may have lost their job and they're suffering. They have symptoms of anxiety. They have symptoms of depression. They're having trouble sleeping, and cannabis has been known to be a great alternative for that.

So, they're looking to cannabis to help with those symptoms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL (voice over): His company trying to normalize pot products and it seems to be working with a constant stream of socially distant customers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERKES: If someone wants something that's not smokable and they're looking to take the edge off, take the anxiety off, something like this, a low dose gummy, two milligrams is a great place to start.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL (voice over): The high is temporary, but the financial benefits for the state and city can be long lasting. Just look at this year's soaring pot profits.

According to state statistics, legal cannabis sales have been steadily rising. In July, Illinois dispensary sold about $61 million worth of product. Record sales for the state, while other retail sectors took a financial hit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERKES: Right now, those municipalities that stood up and said we want a cannabis retailer in our community are thankful they did. They're generating a lot of tax revenue, both locally and for the state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL (voice over): The state's tax revenue from pot sales already exceeded $52 million. About 35 percent of that is supposed to go back into local governments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERKES: I think municipalities across the state are first of all seeing stores like this and realizing they made an okay decision to allow a cannabis store in their community and the tax benefit as an ancillary benefit.

The residents aren't unhappy, the sky isn't falling, and you know, they're getting a nice tax benefit to be able to help with some of the issues they're having.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL (voice over): It may be too soon to tell exactly how much the pandemic is affecting marijuana sales in Illinois, after all sales just became legal in January.

But what many here are hoping for is that pot will be the big grain life preserver that will help keep local economies afloat amid the COVID-19 crisis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL (on camera): Also important to mention that this uptick in pot sales, not just directly tied to current COVID anxiety that we're experiencing not just here, but across the country. Jason, who you just heard from in the piece while ago, Dana, says that you also have more dispensaries that are opening up across the state. You also have more product availability. So those are also key factors.

But look, the other people we spoke to on the ground here suggesting that these pot profits are the ultimate solution for any kind of economic issue that may be on the horizon for the state, but they did say that it could at least keep the state's financial head afloat, at least for now, especially if you look at those numbers -- Dana.

[15:40:29]

BASH: So fascinating. Thank you so much, Polo for that report. Appreciate it.

And more news in a moment, but first, this year marks the 100th Anniversary of American women getting their right to vote.

Our series "Represented" celebrates the suffragette spirit by highlighting modern change makers.

Today, we meet an Olympic fencer whose religious devotion and athleticism are breaking barriers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IBTIHAJ MUHAMMAD, OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDALIST: To be the first Muslim woman to represent the United States at the Olympics in hijab, I knew that my journey was bigger than me.

I have early memories of being bullied, people referring to my hijab in derogatory terms or even using racial epithets towards me.

I discovered fencing at 12 years old. My mom and I were driving past the local high school, and we saw fencers and we're fully covered. It was the first time in my life where I didn't have to adjust the uniform and my parents didn't have to run to a sporting goods store and buy a long sleeve or buy spandex to go underneath team shorts. I really thrived.

I qualified for my first Olympic team in 2016.

There is a lot of talk about a proposed Muslim ban, and I never shied away from using my platform to change the narrative for my community.

For Mattel to create a Barbie in my likeness was probably the highlight of my career, and I know what it means to little girls who are brown, who wear hijab, who fence. If I wanted Team U.S.A. to look different, I had to be the change.

ANNOUNCER: "Represented" 100 years of women's suffrage is presented by Northwestern Mutual. Here for what's most important today and tomorrow. Go to cnn.com/representative for more stories celebrating women's achievements globally.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:46:54]

BASH: President Trump made a point of traveling during the pandemic to see Mount Rushmore. Remember, it was just about a month ago he gave a divisive speech there on the Fourth of July that picture was taken.

He urged the protection of monuments like Mount Rushmore and statues, and there's a new report from "The New York Times" that says White House aides actually reached out to the Republican Governor of South Dakota last year about adding Trump's face to that historic monument.

You want to hear this reporting. I want to go straight to Jonathan Martin, who is joining me now. Jonathan, you and Maggie Haberman broke the story.

There are two parts of it. First is Mount Rushmore and the other is the question about whether or not there's discussions of dropping Mike Pence from the ticket and putting in the Republican Governor of South Dakota. Let's start with Mount Rushmore.

I mean, there's no reality here, right?

JONATHAN MARTIN, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": The President has been telling, Kristi Noem who is the Governor of South Dakota for the last three years, Dana, that he wants to be added to Mount Rushmore.

Now, she tells the story that she first thought he was kidding when she brought it up to him in 2017. But she realized pretty fast, he was serious about it.

So you fast forward to last year, the White House reaches out to Noem's office and says, what is the procedure for adding new images to Mount Rushmore? So, this is a serious thing.

And the Governor to her credit, seeing opportunity realized that the President really cares about Rushmore and what a great tourism opportunity it could be for my state to have the President come for July 4th to Rushmore and when he does get out there last month, Dana, she presents him with a four-foot likeness of Mount Rushmore with a fifth face on the mountain. You're right, Donald Trump.

BASH: I mean, there's so many ways to go with this. She was doing it because she understands her audience. Right? But then that begs the next question as to why? I mean, she is a good Republican. She used to be a House Member. We got to know her there. She's now Governor of South Dakota, but she's also somebody who is seen as a rising star in the party.

And the question that you looked into is whether or not either she was angling to be on the ticket with Trump, or more importantly, Mike Pence's office was worried that she might be considered. What did you hear?

MARTIN: So the President's speech got a lot of attention, obviously, at Mount Rushmore last month. What got less attention, but what we've been hearing about for the last couple of weeks is that the Governor, Kristi Noem after the President's speech, joined the President on Air Force One with her new political adviser, Corey Lewandowski, who's the President's longtime political adviser, and she flew back late at night with the President and Corey Lewandowski to Washington, leaving her own state after that July 4th speech.

Long story short, Mike Pence's office gets wind of this. Hears about Lewandowski and Kristi Noem, flying back talking to the President on Air Force One, and you know, they're very much alerted to this.

A couple of weeks later, the Governor again comes to Washington this time not on Air Force One, this time on her own dime, goes to the White House, Dana, not to see President Trump, but goes to see Mike Pence. Yes.

And in so many words basically makes clear to Mike Pence that she wants to be a team player this fall.

[15:50:34]

MARTIN: So the sort of upshot to all of this, Dana is that there's constant palace intrigue. There's constant maneuvering, constant jockeying, mistrust, suspicion with this White House, it just never ends and this is a vivid illustration of that.

BASH: This is not House of Cards, folks. This is actual life. Jonathan Martin ...

MARTIN: 2020 America.

BASH: ... proving once again why you're one of the best reporters in the business and obviously also, a terrific guy. Thanks so much, my friend.

MARTIN: Thanks, Dana. Appreciate it.

BASH: Thank you, and a school superintendent threatened after canceling in-person classes because of the coronavirus, coming up live, he will join me to talk about some really ugly texts and e-mails he was getting. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:55:57]

BASH: Tonight, W. Kamau Bell is back with a new episode of "The United Shades of America." Even before the pandemic and the economic crash, it caused more people returning to second jobs, extra gigs and side hustles to make ends meet.

And this week, Kamau takes us to Austin to meet people who have taken on two, three, even more gigs and finds out it is not always enough to pay the bills. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) W. KAMAU BELL, CNN HOST, THE UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA (voice over):

And of course, most of the people whose primary source of income comes from the gig economy are people of color.

See, the apps can rely heavily on these workers, because the apps know that they have fewer job choices, because -- racism.

BELL (on camera): Well, let's convene the meeting of black middle classes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay.

BELL: All right, here you go. So yes, I'm talking to people about life in the gig economy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I work a full time job and I do Uber, UberEat and Lyft.

BELL: That's a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is.

BELL: That's a lot of facts.

BELL (voice over): Jason Stefan both earn a large portion of their income from gig work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And joining me now is W. Kamau Bell. Thank you so much for joining me. You, of course, are the host of "United Shades of America." So my question for you is when you shot the episode, we just saw a snippet of, a lot of people were working in the gig economy. What kind of jobs were they doing then?

BELL: I mean, it's a lot of the jobs we've now redefined as essential work in some way. It's grocery delivery. It's, you know, it's dog walking. It's -- you know, it's any number of things that we've now sort of understand that if you don't want to do it, and you want somebody to do it now during COVID, it's essential work.

BASH: Yes, that's so interesting that those are some of the jobs that still exist. I mean, so many jobs, unfortunately, have gone away and a lot of those jobs, as you talk about, were those that people took on the side. Are those now becoming those people's main gig?

BELL: I mean, these are the jobs that are hiring. And you know, even before the COVID pandemic, a lot of those jobs were people's main gigs. I mean, we talked to people in the episode who worked fulltime jobs, as we saw in that piece, and then also worked 40 hours in the gig economy.

So I think a lot of people now are turning to these jobs, because they're the ones that are hiring, but they're not necessarily -- they don't cover worker protections. They don't come with breaks. They don't come with with benefits. So you know, these are the lowest jobs on the rung.

BASH: That's right. They are low. They're uncertain wages and that's why they make the gig economy challenging, which is what I know that you were trying to illustrate and bring home to people with this episode.

So for people who are doing that, and don't have the protections, the benefits of full time jobs, of salary jobs, what kind of impact does that have on these workers?

BELL: Well, you know, I talked to Vanessa Minten and we did -- we met with -- we talked to her. We didn't meet with her, but we talked to her. She is in the episode. We talked to her since, and she talked about the trouble of getting PPE as a gig worker.

It is sort of like, also the trouble with the apps sort of benefit the people are using them, not the people who are used by them. So it's really quite a complicated and hard situation for people to work with, and we need to really focus on it and provide more protections for these people.

BASH: Well, we very much look forward to seeing this episode as we do every episode that you bring to CNN. Really, really important stuff.

W. Kamau Bell, thank you so much for joining me.

And you can watch "United Shades of America" tonight, right here on CNN at 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.

Hello, thanks for joining me. I'm Dana Bash, in for Fredricka Whitfield and we begin this hour again with the U.S. hitting another unthinkable milestone. Today, coronavirus cases in the United States surpassed five million. That's by far more than any other nation on the planet. More than 1,000 Americans are dying every day.

The death toll is now more than 162,000 and counting it, yet despite that and the economic toll rocked by the disease, Congress failed to find compromise.

[16:00:10]