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New Day Saturday

President Donald Trump Most Likely Will Get Tested For Coronavirus; More Than 2,200 Cases Of Coronavirus In U.S., 49 Deaths; President Trump Declares Emergency As Crisis Spreads; Donald Trump, Former Vice President Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders Shift Campaign Strategy Amid Outbreak; Charity Donates Food After Virus Fears Postpones Gala. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired March 14, 2020 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At New Rochelle New York a drive-through Coronavirus testing center just opened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have six lanes we can do about 200 cars per day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At least 15 million kids home from school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything we're doing is to try and save lives. We are doing things now and not waiting will in fact, save lives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY WEEKEND with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: There is a different reality in the United States now. Our typical regimen is on par. President Trump has declared a national emergency to fight the Coronavirus. One of the more important questions here, where are all the tests?

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: In early hours of the morning by the way the House passed a new bill it includes paid emergency leave and free Coronavirus testing.

BLACKWELL: There are more than 2,200 cases in the U.S. at least 49 people have died. This virus is impacting every region of our country. At midnight, this happened.

PAUL: The travel ban on 26 European countries went into effect. U.S. citizens still allowed flying home but they're going to have to go under go enhanced entry screenings when they do.

BLACKWELL: CNN is covering this story from every angle. We have got our reporters correspondents spread across the globe actually with the latest on the international headlines. We will get to those in a moment. But first, let's start here in the U.S. PAUL: Let's talk about the House finally passing that Coronavirus Relief Bill. It happened at 1:00 this morning. It came after a day of intense talks between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House. Now the President tweeted his support for the bill late last night but there were still 40 Republicans who voted against it.

BLACKWELL: The Relief Bill goes to the Senate next week. CNN White House Reporter Sarah Westwood joins us now. Sarah, what are we hearing from the White House about this bill?

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, good morning, Victor and Christi. President Trump this morning is applauding Republicans and Democrats for coming together late last night early this morning to get this legislation passed. The President writing on Twitter just now good teamwork between Republicans and Democrats people really pulled together. It is nice to see.

Now this bill is aiming to offer some support for workers who might be furloughed or might not be able to go into their places of work during the height of the Coronavirus outbreak. It crucially it is going to provide two weeks of paid sick leave for all workers. It will also provide up to three months of paid medical and family leave.

So for example, if workers have to miss work to take care of a family member who has fallen ill, that will help those people it will also ensure that people can get tested for COVID-19 for free even if they don't have health insurance. It will expand unemployment and food programs again to help those workers who are struggling if they are not making hourly wages or getting paid during their isolation period.

Now, the White House wanted to include a payroll tax in the bill. They did not ultimately get that into legislation. Democrats, meanwhile, wanted that paid leave provision that they have in the bill to be permanent. That is no longer the case either. So both sides getting denied a little bit of what they wanted. But the bill did get in the end zone late last night.

PAUL: So there was a moment yesterday, Sarah, where the President was asked if he plans to get tested for the virus. He has been exposed to at least we know three people now with confirmed case of the virus. How is the White House explaining what their plan is for him?

WESTWOOD: That's right. President Trump has been photographed even with people who have subsequently tested positive for Coronavirus as his own health experts are advising people who are potentially exposed to go get tested. President Trump has been resisting this.

But late last night, the White House physician released a memo explaining the rationale for not testing the President and not advising the President to isolate himself. I want to read you part of that memo.

These interactions would be categorized as low risk for transmission per CDC guidelines, and as such, there is no indication for home quarantine at this time. And then he goes on to say additionally, given the President himself remains without symptoms, testing for COVID-19 is not currently indicated.

Now, yesterday, as the President was in the Rose Garden declaring a national emergency, he also discouraged people from going out and getting tested if they haven't had a known exposure or if they are not showing symptoms. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We don't want people without symptoms to go and do the test. The test is not insignificant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WESTWOOD: Now, despite that later in that same press conference, the President said that he himself is likely to get tested at some point pending his schedule. Take a listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Doctors say you can have it even if you don't have symptoms. Are you being selfish by not getting tested and potentially --?

Trump: Well, I didn't say I wasn't going to be tested.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you going to be?

TRUMP: Most likely yes, not for that reason but because I think I will do it anyway. We're working on that. We are working out a schedule.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:05:00]

WESTWOOD: Now all this comes amid questions about the administration's ability to ramp up testing capacity across this country. Administration officials they really struggled to answer questions about the timeline for having those tests broadly available.

At the moment they are not necessarily available in every part of this country to everyone who wants to get tested. That is something that the administration officials say they are working very hard to make a reality in the weeks ahead. The U.S. has not been able to test nearly as many people as some of the other countries that have experienced a Coronavirus outbreak, Christi and Victor.

PAUL: All right. I appreciate it so much Sarah. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: We've also just learned that a person who attended a Trump fund-raiser at Mar-a-Lago this was last Sunday has tested positive for the Coronavirus. All the participants were notified in an email yesterday. President Trump gave a speech at the event but we are told he did not have direct contact with the infected person.

PAUL: We do know a person who attended a Trump fund-raiser there had tested positive, as we said. And there are three people now. But I want to give you some of the numbers that we're looking at. More than 2,200 cases of Coronavirus right now here in the U.S. so life is changing as we know it here.

Dozens of schools, as you know, and universities across the country have closed, a lot of their parents may be packing up to pick up your kid who is at college. There may just sporting events that have been cancelled.

The question is what does that do to the economy, to the psyche of this country and to, you know, some of these people who really need to go to work on a daily basis, that need that income? The kids at schools need the food. They need the breakfast and lunches that schools provide. It's tough.

BLACKWELL: And I've said that they need the safety as well. Let's go to CNN's Natasha Chen because for some students, school is the safest place they have in their week.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.

BLACKWELL: How is this spreading across the country? We are getting the new reports and new numbers constantly.

CHEN: So like you said, more than 2,200 case right now. At least 49 people have died, most of who are in the State of Washington. You have been talking about these kids who are home from school. More than 8 million students are now doing distance learning of some kind online.

And so they're at home this is a question now for their parents and care takers trying to figure out and how they will be supervised? And some of those parents may well be working from home themselves. So there are a lot of folks at home together at the moment.

This as you mentioned is an issue for the children, especially who rely on students who rely on lunches served at schools. Now the USDA has issued a waiver for the states of California and Washington so that when those closed schools offer meals to students they can give them in it to go setting instead of requiring them to be served in a large group setting.

Typically the policy is that they have to be served in large groups to promote bonding of sorts, which doesn't work in this situation. So those kids hopefully, especially in the low-income neighborhoods, will still be getting their meals.

Again, this requires a lot of adjustment here. Of course the government and private businesses are all trying to figure this out. For the kids who are on spring break at the moment, a lot of them are not going on the trips that their families may have been planning.

I think you mentioned delta earlier this morning they announced the biggest flight capacity cuts ever. They said these are deeper cuts than they made after 9/11. So that is some context of where we are right now.

BLACKWELL: Natasha Chen, thank you so much. CHEN: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Thank you.

PAUL: So President Trump said 5 million more tests are going to be available in the next month. Some states, though, are starting to do some roadside testing. This is completely unconventional.

BLACKWELL: We're in a new place now let's go to CNN's Shimon Prokupecz. He is in New Rochelle New York that drive-through testing is happening. Shimon one of the first on the east coast to do this so how is it working? How is it going?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: It's going well. What I want to show you here behind me Victor to testing here in New Rochelle just getting underway. Several cars have pulled up early this morning wanting to go inside.

The police said that it was not open yet. They have now just opened and about 10 cars have just driven through on their way into the testing. This is the - one of the only sites on the east coast that is doing this, drive-through testing. It should take about 15 minutes. They are hoping that they can see up to about 200 people a day here where they can conduct this drive-through testing.

You can hear the police behind me here telling folks, asking them if they are here for testing to come through. If not, to turn around and go back. The Governor yesterday talked about how the testing is going to work? The purpose of the testing and here's what he said.

[08:10:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): What this drive-through does is, you can you make an appointment. You stay in your car, you drive in just like a drive-through the medical staff comes to you. We have six lanes. We can do about 200 cars per day. That can ramp up. You drive off and then we call you with the results so as a way to bring this testing up to scale safely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PROKUPECZ: So yesterday there was a pretty steady stream of vehicles that went through here. We likely will see the same today. This is going to go on for several hours the testing. And then you know people just have to wait for those results about 10 cars in already this morning. And we're likely to see many more as the day goes on here in New Rochelle.

PAUL: It is really interesting. Shimon Prokupecz, we appreciate it. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: At midnight, the U.S. travel ban went into effect essentially cutting off travel into the U.S. for 26 European countries. PAUL: Yes, the U.S. citizens, green card holders and family members they are exempt but everyone who does return is going to undergo enhanced entry screening. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is following the latest from London from London's Heathrow Airport in fact. Good morning to you. What are you seeing there?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: Good morning, Victor and Christi. Now there are limited flights taking off from Heathrow of course because of the confusion and people simply not wanting to travel and to fly. But what we are seeing is a number of American citizens who are here at the Heathrow airport of course - has not part of this travel.

They are here at Heathrow airport to try to make their way back home. We spoke to one of them. He was a history teacher from Texas. He was here on a field trip with his students. 30 students, high school students ages 16 to 18. They were in Paris when they found out about the new restrictions.

He scrambled to Heathrow airport because there are only a dozen airports that can carry out these enhanced screening tests. He had to split up his students just teenagers they're going to various airports in the U.S. as we speak and of course then they have to make their way back to Texas.

And his complaint and complaint we're hearing from a lot of Americans is the guidelines aren't clear rather. It is very difficult to know what to do next? Now beyond the American citizens, we also have Europeans who are still trying to travel around the region.

We just heard this hour, just to give you an idea how complicated this is, five flights taking off here from Heathrow going to Spain were turned around midair. Pilots had to fly back to Heathrow. That's because the Airliner Jet II decided effective immediately that no flights can go to Spain.

So just another example of how complicated this all gets, especially when you are talking about decisions being made in real time pilots having to turn around flights travelers having to figure out new restrictions that are changing by the hour Victor and Christi?

BLACKWELL: Salma Abdelaziz, for us there at Heathrow Airport thank you so much.

PAUL: So implementing travel bans can be an effective part of a containment strategy. Our next guest says the U.S. has to now shift to aggressive mitigation with measures such as social distancing to stop the spread before hospitals get overwhelmed.

BLACKWELL: Dr. Leana Wen joins us now as she is an emergency room physician and Former Baltimore City Health Commissioner. Doctor Wen, thank you so much for being with us. I want to put to you some of the questions that we are hearing on social media. Also some of the terms that we are using that we have not defined, I want to start with quarantine.

I have kind of surveyed people and asked what do you think quarantine is? We know social distancing. We've talked about that. Isolation is clear. But if I have got a husband and two kids at home, what does quarantine mean for me? Do I have to leave? Can we all live in the same house? What does that mean?

DR. LEANA WEN, EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: That's a great question. There is a difference between quarantine and isolation. Isolation is when you have already been diagnosed with a disease and you have to keep yourself isolated. Quarantine is if you have not yet been diagnosed but you may have some symptoms, maybe you also have been exposed to somebody who may have COVID-19.

And in any case, you want to keep yourself separated from others. Sometimes these terms get confused. But no matter if you're told that you need to stay inside and away from other people generally you want to stay in one room that is separated from others. That's if you have COVID-19.

If you are just told that you should self-quarantine, meaning that you shouldn't go outside and expose other people, but you should also look at who in your house may be the most vulnerable. If there are elderly adults, if there are people with chronic medical conditions, who are the most medically vulnerable and likely to get this disease, it's a good idea to stay away from them and to not share utensils, glasses of water and other things too. So keep yourself and your family members safe.

[08:15:00]

PAUL: Talk to us about the realistic nature of this though. I think it would be very hard for a parent to stay away from their child. I have had so many people ask me about my pets. The CDC says you should keep a distance from your pets. Realistically, that's probably not going to happen for people who love their pets. What really is most effective here without compromising those relationships?

WEN: I know. It's a really challenging time because we are telling people to do social distancing but we definitely don't want to be have social isolation and compromise our emotional well-being in this time. I think for parents with young children, I mean I have a two-and-a- half-year-old child. There is no way that I'm going to be not hugging him and touching him.

That is just part of what we need to be aware of. But right now I'm not ill. My child is not ill. Things would certainly change if there is somebody in the house who has COVID-19. And I would encourage everyone to make a plan now with their families. If there are two parents and multiple children, maybe there can be one parent who takes care of children who are ill and one who can take care of children who are well.

Think about these types of things proactively before they happen so that we can have a plan in place for what to do if our loved ones are either sick or have to be separated and quarantined in their house for some reason.

BLACKWELL: We have heard from the White House just overnight that the President is not self-quarantining and is not being tested for COVID- 19 in part because there was no prolonged exposure to anyone who has tested positive.

But we've also learned overnight, that a child who just got an autograph from a member of the Utah Jazz who tested positive has now been diagnosed with COVID-19. How long of an exchange is required for a person to be vulnerable to potentially contract this virus?

WEN: Look, the longer your exposure the more likely you are to contract COVID-19. But that said a public health emergency is a time when we should all be taking abundance of caution. It shouldn't matter what your position or your title is. If you have had any type of exposure, you should watch out for yourself as importantly, for the other people around you.

Because if you have the virus, you could be transmitting it to others and not even have symptoms yourself. So I think the President really should be not only quarantining but testing out of abundance of caution for himself and all those many people that he is interacting with on a daily basis. I mean that's what we would expect for anyone in this country at a time of a public health emergency.

PAUL: All right. Dr. Leana Wen, we are so grateful for your expertise. Thank you for being with us.

BLACKWELL: Yes. It's interesting that while we heard from federal officials to practice social distancing, there were a dozen of them crowded up on a stage. We saw the members of the media sitting elbow to elbow listening and answering and asking questions.

PAUL: And hands being shaken.

BLACKWELL: Hands being shaken so the virtue of an example. We'll see how that works. Interestingly enough, I'm a foot from you right now? How long can we do this?

PAUL: How long can he stand me? No, I know. But it's true. We're talking about what we are supposed to do and look at us.

BLACKWELL: And we're a foot from each other. So the impact of the Coronovirus pandemic stretches beyond those who have contracted the disease, obviously. Impact to a world has gathered waste to help feed the hungry, protect health professionals and supporting service workers. They especially need it now. For more information on how you can help, go to cnn.com/impact.

PAUL: And let's talk about what the spread of the Coronavirus is doing to the 2020 Presidential Candidates forced now to adopt a new way of campaigning. Former Vice President Joe Biden attempted to do his first virtual town hall. So how did it go? We'll talk about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:00]

BLACKWELL: Twenty-three minutes after the hour now we are days away from the next round of Democratic Primaries. Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Arizona. Voters there will head to the polls on Tuesday. But with the threat of Coronavirus, what will the turnout look like?

And as a precaution Louisiana has already postponed its primary from April into June. Meanwhile Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders are preparing to debate one-on-one tomorrow night with no live audience.

Joining me now is Former Presidential Candidate and Former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. He has now endorsed the Joe Biden Campaign. He is a surrogate for the campaign. Sir welcome back to "New Day".

DEVAL PATRICK (D), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR: Thank you, Victor. Thanks for having me. Good morning.

BLACKWELL: Good morning to you. Let's start here I want to talk about the impact of Coronavirus on the campaign, some proposals, and then we will move to the debate. Let's start here Senator Sanders says that all health care that is needed as a result of Coronavirus should be free.

The Vice President's website this plan includes "The elimination of all cost barriers to preventative care and treatment for COVID-19". What does that mean, the elimination of cost barriers? Should that be free or give us some details there?

PATRICK: Well, I think first of all, there are two kinds of access issues. And I think both Vice President Biden and Senator Sanders are trying to speak to those. One is the access that has to do with the expensive care and if you can't afford care, that should not be a barrier.

And generally would not be a barrier. But the other question is the capacity of health care to meet the need and that's a concern in all kinds of communities in rural communities and most especially where community hospitals and community health centers have been closing.

[08:25:00]

PATRICK: But also just in terms of the demand in urban communities so all of that has to be thought about and triaged. The President took I think a late step yesterday but a helpful one by bringing in people from outside government as well to help address that kind of need particularly around testing.

BLACKWELL: But on the specific, should there be an out-of-pocket cost to people who need health care in response to this virus outbreak?

PATRICK: For an awful lot of people that is a serious problem and for them there shouldn't be. For other people, it's not a very serious problem their coverage takes care of it their existing coverage take care of it. But people should not be making judgments about whether to seek care or have access based on whether they can or cannot afford it at a time like this. BLACKWELL: OK. So you were Governor of Massachusetts during the H1N1 response. 60 million people infected or diagnosed I should say. More than 12,000 people in the U.S.--

PATRICK: Nationwide.

BLACKWELL: Yes, nationwide I'm saying. Vice President Biden is promoting as part of his response to Coronavirus plan his work, leadership in the response to H1N1 item one of his plan to combat the Coronavirus is to stop the political theater and willful misinformation that has heighten confusion and discrimination but here is what the Vice President said this was back in 2009 about travel during that pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would tell members of my family and I have I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now. It's not that is going to Mexico during a confined air craft when one person sneezes that goes all the way through the air craft. That's me I would not be at this point if they had another way of transportation suggesting they ride the subway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Congressional Democrats slammed him for that comment. It conflicted CDC advice. The White House had to apologize. He was criticized by the travel industry. If he is saying his first item is to stop the willful misinformation is he the best candidate to confront this President who we know has offered misinformation as well?

PATRICK: It's one of the biggest challenges I think this President faces today. I will come back to Vice President Biden. It's the lack of credibility. He's had so little willingness to respect the facts and truth, in three years in office that when it comes time when we actually need to be able to trust our leadership, he and we are at a disadvantage.

I think that Vice President Biden surely learned from that previous experience not to kind of go off the clock and talk about the things that may spur unnecessary anxiety and fear. And that frankly is the struggle we all facing emergencies like this.

I remember when the bombs went off at the Marathon and I was in office here in Massachusetts. We are dealing with all kinds of speculation. We did not know what we now know. Today we look back and think there were two guys and two bombs. But at that time of course we didn't know whether it--

BLACKWELL: Understood.

PATRICK: --so just trying to keep calm but also be transparent about what we do know. I think is critical in a time like this.

BLACKWELL: Let's focus now on the debate before we go. What does the Vice President have to do tomorrow? The last debate it is amazing how much has happened since February 29th.

PATRICK: Isn't it?

BLACKWELL: --South Carolina win, the win sweeping across the south and Texas and Massachusetts, and all that we have seen in Virginia as well.

PATRICK: Yes.

BLACKWELL: That's all happened since the debate. Some of the concern, some of the anxieties about the Vice President's performance we have not seen him on the stage since then. What is he have to accomplish? Is it do no harm or does he have to do more?

PATRICK: I think certainly he has to continue to build. What we saw I think the evening after the results were announced in South Carolina was the Joe Biden I know composed and focused and statesperson-like. And he was magnanimous and generous and grateful.

And I think that's what we have seen since South Carolina. I have been so excited to see it. I want him to be serious I want him to be - I want him to engage with Senator Sanders because Senator Sanders emphasis on the importance of a progressive agenda I think is critical.

And I think that Vice President Biden will do that and also show that he understands the urgency that so many Americans feel about solving big problems with big ideas today.

BLACKWELL: Former Governor Deval Patrick, always good to have you sir.

PATRICK: Good to be with you Victor. Thanks for having me.

BLACKWELL: All right. Coming up the senior campaign adviser for the Bernie Sanders Campaign he will join us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00]

PAUL: President Trump has declared a national emergency. More than 2,200 cases of Coronavirus in the U.S. nearly 50 deaths right now. And this emergency declaration frees up billions of dollars to fight the disease and cuts through some of the government red tape to speed up a response.

With us "Washington Post's" Political Columnist Dana Milbank excuse me Dana, good to have you with us. I know that you have been watching this. You wrote in a piece for "The Washington Post" recently President Trump's efforts to slow the spread of the Coronavirus have been to coin a phrase, low energy. What do you mean by that?

DANA MILBANK, POLITICAL COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST: Well, it's been a work in progress I think as you guys have covered. Very clearly there was a very slow start. The President's usual instinct to say everything is fine. The virus will disappear. [08:35:00]

MILBANK: This will all go away, will miraculously go away. We're doing a great job. You are sort of seeing in slow motion how he has begun to catch up with the pandemic? Of course the idea is you want to be ahead of the pandemic. We have been worried at least I have been worried for some years that the President seems to like the idea of the strong man.

You know the danger is he might overreact to this sort of situations. So I thought it was you know he is doing the very opposite of the authoritarian. He is kind of stepping back at a time when the experts are calling for social distancing, for taking extreme measures to slow the spread of the pandemic so it doesn't overwhelm the health care system.

PAUL: Do you think that the proposal that he made about and the House of course passed this morning at 1:00 in the morning, this emergency declaration it gives paid emergency leave, free Coronavirus testing, two weeks paid sick leave, as I said some food and security relief. They are promising 5 million tests in a month. Is this enough?

MILBANK: Well, look, I mean, nothing is really going to be enough. We're past the point of being able to contain this. This is the sort of thing people thought the President was going to be talking about when he gave his Oval Office address. So in a way the Democrats seem to have badgered him into taking a position that will relax the markets, do some good for the economy.

I think and more importantly, give some peace of mind to all of those parents who will need to stay home with their kids who aren't in school or sick themselves and fear that they won't have a job if they don't go to work.

So it is certainly taking a lot of steps in the right direction. At this point we don't know what the future will bring? But it is certainly giving peace of mind to people to see at least the President has ended this period of denial and is doing major things or at the very least, not getting in the way of states and localities who are trying to do major things.

PAUL: I think a lot of people are watching too as to whether the President will get tested because we know that he has been either in contact or in direct contact with someone around him who has tested positive three different people who tested positive for Coronavirus he has been still shaking hands.

As far as we know, he still has some sort of travel schedule. What is the import, what is the effect of the example the President sets?

MILBANK: Right. Well, there are two things there. One, on the matter of the testing, you know there is an argument to be said if he comes out and says, hey, I got tested. A lot of people would say how come you can get a test and I can't get a test. So I suspect that even if the White House is testing him that is not something they would want to advertise right now. On the other hand what you need and what you want a President to be doing is modeling the kind of behavior of staying six feet away from people, of canceling his mass rallies, which apparently he is inching towards doing, of not shaking hands.

You know he has spoken occasionally of bailing out, as he said, when somebody is sneezing or the great difficulty of not touching his face. You know look, I think the best the President can do, as I said earlier, is kind of get out of the way. But if he can at least provide a positive example.

You particularly see it among his supporters. The Republicans are much less inclined in opinion polls to think this is a serious matter to say they're washing their hands more to be taking these kinds of things seriously. So if the President sets that example himself, it will have an actual effect.

PAUL: Dana Milbank, it is very interesting out of them in "The Washington Post". Thanks for taking time for us this morning.

MILBANK: Thanks Christi.

BLACKWELL: Japan's Prime Minister says the Tokyo Summer Olympics will go on as planned in July. Shinzo Abe spoke to reporters this morning he said there is no need for a state of emergency in Japan, although the country should stay vigilant.

There are more than 700 confirmed Coronavirus cases in Japan, a little more than 20 deaths. Abe says Japan will be able to test 8,000 people a day by the end of this month.

PAUL: So Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders shifting their campaign strategies in the midst of this virus outbreak. Sanders' Senior Campaign Adviser is with us next talking about how they are getting out the vote for Tuesday's primaries.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:00]

BLACKWELL: Just getting this into CNN, Senator Bernie Sanders has won the Northern Mariana Island's Democratic Caucuses. He won with 84 votes. Former Vice President Joe Biden received 48 votes.

Now let's talk about the shift their campaigns and strategies that they have to change now amid the Coronavirus outbreak. They're advising staffs to work from home, closing some field offices. But with primaries in four states coming up on Tuesday, how are they managing to get out the vote?

With me is Senior Adviser to the Bernie Sanders Campaign, Phillip Agnew. Phillip thanks for waking up being with us this morning.

PHILLIP AGNEW, SENIOR ADVISER, BERNIE SANDERS CAMPAIGN: No thank you. I think we confirmed that this is my first time on CNN I'm glad is with you. Thank you. BLACKWELL: And we are happy to have you here on "New Day" Saturday. Let me start here on Coronavirus impact and then we'll branch off to other topics. One of the remarkable elements, the strengths of the Sanders Campaign has been the campaign and the candidates' ability to gather these huge crowds, tens of thousands of people.

[08:45:00]

BLACKWELL: In this new environment, that is no longer possible or advised. What is the impact of his ability not to have that image, that spectacle of the thousands of people there?

AGNEW: Well, you know, I've been in those rallies. They are amazing to be there and feel the spirit and energy. But right now in abundance of caution, we have decided to really bring people home.

One of the other strengths of the campaign is our digital, our field, our phone, our video program, our online infrastructure that allows for people to organize from the comfort at their own home and away from Corona.

And so we had a call last night with over 400 black folk from around the country who were doing phone shifts from today all the way until Tuesday doing the debate watch party from their home and prepare to engage. These are black people calling other black people in Florida, in Ohio, in Illinois, in Georgia.

And that infrastructure that we built is also a testament to some campaign that puts investment in the communities and really the technology that we're going to need to be able to engage in this moment where everybody is scrambling to figure out what to do and how to have human interaction?

BLACKWELL: And Phillip let me ask you about, I was going to ask about this that later. But you brought it up. You had this black people for Bernie national call last night.

AGNEW: Yes.

BLACKWELL: And I was in Mississippi covering that primary. And the numbers out of Mississippi were horrible for the Sanders Campaign. Two-thirds of the voters in the primary were black voters. The Vice President won 87 percent of black voters, Bernie Sanders 10 percent 76 percent of black voters under the age of 30.

So mathematics aside, how is it possible that the Democratic Nominee can leave this party if those are the types of numbers we're seeing with black voters?

AGNEW: Well, listen no movement, including ours, is going to be successful without young people and without black people. We are still around the country doing very well with young black people. But let's be clear, we have got work to do.

The efforts that we put in over the last few months to engage folks, engage young black people in our campaign, engage older black folks in our campaign is still growing, right and developing.

The one thing I will say, though, is we were - I was also in Mississippi and that's where we saw each other. There were a number of black colleges who were on spring break during Election Day. So we are up against rampant voter suppression efforts that are pushing young black folks out of the booth and not allowing them access to the franchise.

So I think across the board the Democratic Party has a lot of work to do to make sure that young black folks, that older black folks have access to the ballot box. And our campaign is proud to actually been a part of that. It is an uphill battle. It is not just our campaign I think across the board we have got a lot of work to do.

BLACKWELL: Phillip let me ask you before we let you go here, the tone - I've noticed, and I want your input on this a tonal change from Senator Sanders. I want to play a bit of the speech we heard in Philly from the Vice President on Tuesday after his wins and then what we heard from Senator Sanders on Wednesday about moving forward and see if the - you in the viewer here can point out the differences. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: To all those who have been knocked down, to all those who have been counted out, left behind, this is your campaign. We need you, we want you, and there's a place in our campaign for each of you.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A strong majority of the American people support our progressive agenda. I say to the Democratic establishment, in order to win in the future, you need to win the voters who represent the future of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Valid points but the Vice President was speaking to voters. The Senator was speaking to the Democratic establishment about the voter in the third person. He put seven questions to Joe Biden. If he's trying to win over voters, he's speaking to the media, to the party, to his opponent. Why that shift from speaking to voters?

AGNEW: Well, you know, we spent the better part of four or five years talking directly to voters and listening to voters. I want to say one thing because I think it's getting lost here. This campaign is not about Sanders' ideas, presenting it to the American people. These are uniquely black ideas that we are representing to America.

Health care as a human right was championed by black folks in the early 1900s. This is a black idea that speaks directly to voters. Education as a human right was championed by black folks who were just been loosened from the chains of slavery.

[08:50:00]

AGNEW: These are black ideas that we're bringing to the American public. Our ideas are crowd sourced directly from voters. And so when we're engaging, when we're talking to them for the past four or five years, they have been hearing the things that they have been saying for generations, particularly black movement folk.

So this isn't a change in tone, right? This is an opportunity for people who have not heard their voices heard in the President's office, to hear them.

BLACKWELL: Phillip, let me quickly it's a yes or no question. Will Senator Sanders actively campaign for this nomination until either he or the Vice President reaches the number of delegates required for the nomination?

AGNEW: What he said is he's in the race and he is not conceding the race right now. We are in the race. There were 400 black folks on that call yesterday are ready to push it.

BLACKWELL: All right, Phillip Agnew that was a yes or no but I didn't get one. But I appreciate you. Thank so much. We'll see you again here on CNN

AGNEW: Okay, thank you.

BLACKWELL: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELE HALL-DUNCAN ENCOURAGE KIDS FOUNDATION: We are so excited that we have the opportunity to make something good out of something, you know, a little frustrating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:55:00]

PAUL: A charity event postponed over Coronavirus fears turned into an opportunity as you heard there the "enCourage Kids Foundation" in New York donated 500 meals that were intended for the 35th Anniversary Gala to a nonprofit serving the homeless and hungry.

They are working to replace the income that they lost. Money raised at the gala would have gone towards $1.5 million goal. They do plan to reschedule that event. Thank you for that example that they are sharing.

BLACKWELL: I was so excited to be part of that because it is such a great thing my apologies for jumping in.

PAUL: That's okay.

BLACKWELL: We'll see you again in an hour.

PAUL: "SMERCONISH" is coming right after.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)