White House Adviser Says May Unemployment Could Be "North Of 20 Percent
WHITFIELD: Around the country, we're witnessing scenes of crowded beaches with many people foregoing masks and social distancing. But this morning Whitehouse Coronavirus Taskforce coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx warned that just because we are reopening, it doesn't mean that people can stop taking precautions.</s>WHITFIELD: Kristen Holmes joins me now from the White House. So, Kristen, with all 50 states reopening, we're seeing some early signs of regional COVID-19 surges. Does the White House have a plan for that?</s>KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, not that we know of, and not really one that President Trump himself seems to know of. You know, we've heard from him as recently as this Thursday when he was at that Ford plant, he was asked if they were going to close down the economy again, close down the country if there was a resurgence, and he said, no. Now, this isn't surprising. This is the same storyline that we have heard from him or a narrative we've heard from him since the beginning of the pandemic. Remember, we were just talking over a month ago about how he wanted to reopen the economy and do it quickly. He wanted to override those governors and make sure that this happened very fast, and he doubled down on his own rhetoric this weekend himself in what he did. He went golfing this weekend. This is the first time he's really gone out. Definitely, the first time he's gone golfing since early March. So, clearly here, he is sending a message that we are back open and it feels as though the message is if you go off of what he said Thursday, that we're back open to stay. Now. Dr. Deborah Birx, it wasn't the only thing she said. She also expressed some concern that the country wasn't where it needed to be to prevent a resurgence. Take a listen.</s>BIRX: We have to do much better with proactive testing, not just count the number of tests we've done, that's great, but really ensure those tests are being applied in a way that we find the asymptomatic cases. It is much easier to find symptomatic cases because people are sick and when people are sick, they're often not out and about, particularly if they have a severe case of COVID with high fever. What I'm worried about is, what are we putting in place to find asymptomatic cases?</s>HOLMES: So, if there isn't anything in place to find asymptomatic cases, and we see weekends like this where there are people who are not social distancing, it is likely in at least some places that there will be some sort of resurgence. And you asked me, Fred about if there was a contingency plan for the White House. Well, I want to make very clear that what we've learned in this process is that it's not going to be up to the White House. Even if President Trump, as he has doubles down, and says he doesn't want to close the country, these states, these governors are going to be the ones who have to make that decision based on what they're seeing in their data in their communities.</s>WHITFIELD: Dr. Birx also addressed the question that came about the President. He wore a mask when visiting a Ford facility, but then he refused to allow the public to see him. What more can you tell us about -- you know what came of that?</s>HOLMES: Well, look, you know, Dr. Birx was asked, should President Trump be wearing a mask? Should everyone be wearing a mask? And she was very, very clear. Everyone should be wearing a mask. There is science behind the mask and the reason why I'm using the word science is one, she used it, but two, we've really started to see this sort of cultural and political battle erupt over wearing a mask. If you're on one side of the aisle, you think you should. If you're on the other, you shouldn't. And we've seen these fights breaking out. I mean, obviously, you've spoken to our own reporters who were kind of heckled on a beach for wearing a mask and her point was clear that everyone should wear one, and that the science is again behind it. But President Trump himself this weekend not listening to that. We saw him leave for golf, both yesterday and today, not wearing a mask. And while he was doing some social distancing, he was in a golf cart alone at one point, on that green, he looked very close to some of his partners -- Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: And, of course, you have now two Republican governors who have come out to say, wearing a mask should not be, you know, misconstrued that people are making a political statement. All right, Kristen Holmes, thank you so much. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett telling CNN today he thinks the country's bleak unemployment picture is going to get even worse and May's unemployment rate could be, quote, "north of 20 percent."</s>KEVIN HASSETT, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ECONOMIC ADVISER: My expectation is that since they're still innocent claim for unemployment insurance in May, that the unemployment rate will be higher in June, then in May, but then after that, it should start to trend down. So, I think we're very, very close to an inflection point in terms of business activity and probably about a month away in terms of employment.</s>DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You think unemployment is going to be even higher?</s>HASSETT: Yes, it's going to be quite a bit higher. And you know, there are some technical things they kind of messed up and on an economics lecture, we go into them, but it could be if they fix the numbers and fix the thing that they mischaracterized last time that you'll end up with a number north of 20 percent.</s>WHITFIELD: Hassett also said Americans could still see double digit unemployment in October and November as voters prepare To go to the polls. New Jersey could soon be forced to make some major budget cuts unless the Federal government comes to the rescue. Governor Phil Murphy estimating that his state will have a $10 billion revenue loss, which could force him to lay off some frontline workers.</s>GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): We announced the budget on Friday for the next four months. We had to cut or defer over $5 billion of expenditures and this includes potentially laying off educators, firefighters, police, EMS, healthcare workers. This is not abstract. This is real. It's not a blue state issue. It's an American issue.</s>WHITFIELD: So far, both the White House and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have resisted calls to provide Federal relief for states facing budget shortfalls. All right, coming up. Some parts of the country are seeing a rise in coronavirus cases with Arkansas reporting a new peak in cases. What are officials doing to prevent new infections and save lives? The Mayor of Little Rock joins me to discuss, next. And a reminder, join CNN's Fareed Zakaria as he investigates the moment a pandemic was born. CNN's special report "China's Deadly Secret" begins tonight at nine.