Mayor Muriel Bowser on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the nation's capital
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser joins Chris Wallace on 'Fox News Sunday.'
This is a rush transcript from "Fox News Sunday," April 12, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I'm Chris Wallace.
A grim milestone as the U.S. passes Italy as the country with the most coronavirus deaths. But there are glimmers of hope. How close are we to getting past the worst?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE COORDINATOR: It's really about the encouraging signs that we see, but as encouraging as they are, we have not reached the peak.
WALLACE: Signs that social distancing is working to slow the spread in New York's virus epicenter.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: That's the first time we've seen a negative number. So that's good.
WALLACE: But potential new hot spots emerge from coast-to-coast. So, where is the U.S. on the curve?
We're joined by Dr. Thomas Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, only on "FOX News Sunday".
Then, millions of Americans out of work and waiting for their government check. As businesses large and small shut their doors, we'll ask entrepreneur Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, what economic recovery will look like.
Plus, Washington, D.C., and the coronavirus crosshairs as leaders fight to enforce social distancing. We'll talk with Mayor Muriel Bowser about the impact on the nation's capital.
And --
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: While Bernie's campaign has ended, I know his leadership is going to continue.
WALLACE: Joe Biden tries to unite Democrats, reaching out to Bernie Sanders supporters. We'll ask our Sunday panel how Biden does lead without moving too far left.
And keeping the faith, as millions observe the holidays at home.
All, right now, on "FOX News Sunday".
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: And hello again from FOX News in Washington.
As millions of Americans celebrate Easter and Passover, the United States now leads the world in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths. But health officials say the worst could soon be over, predicting we'll hit a peak this weekend.
And President Trump says he'll launch a new task force this week focused on when to start reopening the country.
In a moment, we'll speak with a top public health expert, Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
But, first, let's bring in David Spunt reporting from the White House with the latest on the health battle the nation is still fighting.
DAVID SPUNT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Chris, for the first time in history, there was a presidential disaster declaration in every U.S. state. Today, Easter Sunday was the day the president hoped to open the economy, but the science shows, Chris, we are still weeks away.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SPUNT: On the front lines, it's race against time to flatten the curve.
JEFF EICHENLAUB, SINAI-GRACE HOSPITAL: Walked in and it was just -- there are patients everywhere, sick patients everywhere.
Helpless is a good word on, and sad is correct.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm about 10 to the hospital. I guess when I left my house today, I sort of had mixed feelings.
SPUNT: Friday marks the first time the United States crossed the 2,000 coronavirus death mark in one day. Workers lower the bodies of unclaimed coronavirus victims into the ground on New York's Hart Island. New York state alone has more cases than any other country in the world, but social distancing is helping.
CUOMO: What we're doing is working. Stay with it, even though it is a grind.
SPUNT: But more hot spots are beginning to appear in the Philadelphia, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., areas.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a strict executive order barring travel between residences.
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D), MICHIGAN: All public and private gatherings of any size are prohibited.
SPUNT: Millions of relief checks are on the way to the bank accounts of anxious Americans.
President Trump is considering opening the economy on May 1st, a day after dozens of stay-at-home orders expire across the country.
TRUMP: There's no happy talk, Jim, this is the real deal, and I've got to make the biggest decision of my life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SPUNT: "The New York Times" is reporting the president ignored early warning signs about the virus in January and February.
The White House released a statement to FOX News touting his accomplishments to help the American people. President Trump in two days, on Tuesday, will announce a bipartisan commission to help reopen the economy -- Chris.
WALLACE: David Spunt reporting from the White House -- David, thanks for that.
Joining us now from Baltimore, Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at John Hopkins -- Johns Hopkins University.
Doctor, let's start with that "New York Times" report that from January on, top public health officials were warning the president about the threat from the pandemic and that he did not take action until mid-March.
One, what's your reaction to the report? And how much did those lost weeks cost us?
DR. TOM INGLESBY, JOHNS HOPKINS BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: So, Chris, I can't say who in the administration knew what and when, but I would say that that article reinforces what we've heard along the way, which is that many in the administration were very worried about this as early as January and February. And that seems pretty clear now. And I'd also say that if we had acted on some of those mornings earlier, we would be in a much better position in terms of diagnostics and possibly masks and personal protective equipment and getting our hospitals ready.
WALLACE: When you say be in a much better position, if we had imposed social distancing, stay-at-home, at the end of January, and early February, would there be a dramatic -- dramatically less number -- smaller number of cases and deaths?
INGLESBY: Yes, I'm not sure we would've been able to get the collective political will to do it as early as January and February because we didn't really know when we had cases, but if we had done a lot of diagnostic testing earlier, it's possible we would have seen enough disease to get the will to do that in February. And, yes, the earlier we put in place social distancing, the earlier we would have gotten to a peak and to a better place where we can start to think about responding.
WALLACE: Let's talk about where we are right now. The U.S. now has more than a half million coronavirus cases. And this week, we had 2,000 deaths in a single day.
So we keep talking about that curve. Are we at the peak of that curve or even on the downslope as some public health officials are now saying?
INGLESBY: It looks like in the last few days, if you look across the country and you average out the numbers, that we are near a plateau in the number of cases, which would be reaching a peak, and in some places like New York, which has had a terrible disease -- New York City, which has terrible, terrible impact with this epidemic, we have a few days of similar case counts day-to-day. And so, that is what we might call a peak.
It doesn't mean that the downslope of the peak is going to be fast. It could be that this plateau carries on for a while. And we've seen in other countries where they started to have lower case counts over time that it can take days and weeks for the numbers to even get cut in half.
So I think what we may be at a peak, we hope we are, it's still going to take time for us to start to bring the case numbers down, especially in places which are the biggest hot spots.
WALLACE: Well, let's talk about that. There are all kinds of models where talking about. First, there was a model that 100,000 to 200,000 people in the U.S. would die from the disease. Now the latest model is 60,000.
One, how reliable are these models? And what's your projection for how many deaths we're likely to see from the coronavirus here in the U.S.?
INGLESBY: So, all models are just approximations. They all have their strengths and limits. And so, it's useful to look at many models and trying to get a general sense of things. I think the model you're referring to has been one of the White House has been using, which has had lowered estimates of total number of people who might die from this, which is a model that really tries to fit the experience of Wuhan, China, onto the United States as a whole.
I think it's good for an overall, general estimate of what might happen, but in terms of specific days when things will happen or specific numbers, I'm not confident in any particular model. I think it's hard to see out beyond a couple of weeks. And I think one of the biggest factors is that it will depend on what we do as a country.
This isn't preordained what the final outcome will be in terms of overall numbers. It depends on our collective reaction, what we do with social distancing, whether or not we develop therapies over time that work. Our overall ability to track cases and to build public health capacity around the country, that's going to be crucial for us to try and get control of this over time.
WALLACE: Well, let me pick up on that, Doctor, because the big question right now is whether President Trump is going to lift his stay at guidelines on April 30th and begin urging leaders and businesses to reopen the country.
Here's the president talking about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to have to make a decision and I only hope to God that it's the right decision. But I would say without question it's the biggest decision I've ever had to make.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: The president says that he'll consult with public health experts, with business leaders. What's your recommendation?
INGLESBY: I think it will be too soon to reopen the country on May 1st. I think there may be parts of the country that have such good numbers and can build up such public health capacity and get diagnostic testing ability in place. Some perhaps in May but it seems like it may be May or June before the best places in the country -- the most ready places in the country are likely to have all those things in place.
I just think for perspective, it's important to know that the U.S. has more cases than any country in the world, and no country has reopened altogether in the way that I think is being considered. So, even when we do start to ease social distancing, it will need to be very careful, because if we don't -- if we're -- if we're not careful when we ease social distancing, we'll recreate the conditions that existed back in early March. We could have another peak the way that we have on this month.
So, we're going to have to be really be careful about it, think about keeping people at safe distances from each other whenever possible, wearing cloth masks, putting up physical barriers and work spaces if that's possible. We have to think about work differently.
So I think it's going to be too soon unfortunately by the end of this month. The numbers aren't going to be anywhere close in many places in the country to do that for the whole country.
WALLACE: Let me pick up on that, because your Center for Health Security, the center that you head, is saying that when -- before we open and then as we open, that there has to be much more testing. There has to be really a tremendous amount more because there's very little right now, of contact tracing and then for people who still have the disease, that there has to be quarantining.
The president was asked about more testing this week. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're going to see if we have it. Do you need it? No. Is it a nice thing to do? Yes. We're talking about 325 million people and that's not going to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Dr. Inglesby, the president says we've already conducted 2 million tests. How many more -- when you talk about random testing, how many more tests are you talking about? And your center is also talking about the need for 100,000 more contact tracers?
INGLESBY: So, first on diagnostic testing, we have done a lot of testing. But the ultimate number, the overall number is less important than when we have the ability to trust anyone who has symptoms that might be COVID. Right now, we can't do that in most places in the country, there's just not enough capacity. We need to be able to have the capacity.
So, if someone says, I feel like I'm getting a flu or pneumonia, they can walk into a clinic or a hospital or a testing center and get that test that day and get the results hopefully that day, so that they can be in isolation, that we can identify their contacts. So, that number is going to differ from state to state depending on population and how they're organized, but it's going to need to be a lot more than it is now because in many places in the country, we can't get testing for mild or moderate cases.
In terms of tracking cases and contacts, that's the strategy that countries have had that have had most success have used to bring the numbers down. So, for example, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Iceland, they're all using very, very active case finding and contact-tracing and getting people in quarantine who are exposed to COVID cases. And using that strategy, they've been able to get their numbers way down.
We don't have that capacity in the country, and so, it's going to take a lot of people to get that built.
WALLACE: I've got one big question left. I got a little bit more than a minute left to -- for you to answer it.
President Trump is saying that he may take action this week against the World Health Organization, and he and the head of the WHO, Dr. Tedros, have gotten in the real war of words over the past week.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They called it wrong. They called it wrong. They really -- they missed the call.
DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it.
TRUMP: I can't believe he is talking about politics when you look at the relationship they have to China.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Has the WHO mishandled the crisis? Do they side with China? And what you think of the idea that the president seems to be raising of cutting the U.S.'s contribution of $450 million a year to the WHO?
INGLESBY: So, the U.S. needs the World Health Organization to function properly. It is an organization that helps the world get prepared and respond to this. We're going to need the world to recover from COVID and we're going to get normalcy back around the world.
We need the WHO. I don't think that they have been favoring one country over another, it's a really difficult situation.
But overall, I think the U.S. should continue to do what it's been doing overtime, which is work very closely with the World Health Organization and support its work.
WALLACE: Dr. Inglesby, thank you. Thanks for joining us today. Please come back, sir.
INGLESBY: Thanks, Chris.
WALLACE: Up next, businesses large and small are struggling to weather the storm. Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban joins us to discuss what it will take to restart the economy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: The coronavirus pandemic has closed countless businesses and put millions of Americans out of work.
Earlier, I sat down with billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban to discuss what kind of an economic recovery we should expect and when.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: Mark, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said this week he thinks the economy will be back open for business in May. Do you think it will be that soon? And how will you decide when to send your people back to work? MARK CUBAN, OWNER, NBA DALLAS MAVERICKS: I mean, it's semantics. Will it be open 24 hours a day? No. Will we open some doors and take some baby steps? Yes. How will I decide? It's very simple. When the scientists say it's safe for my employees to come back to work, that's when I'll feel confident enough to let them go back to work.
WALLACE: The U.S. economy, I don't have to tell you, is taking a huge hit -- 17 million people filing for unemployment benefits over the last three weeks. Goldman Sachs predicts that the GDP in the second quarter, instead of going up 2 percent or 3 percent, is going to go down about 30 percent, contrast by about a third. President Trump says that when we do get a recovery, it's going to be a fast one, a V-shape, sharp down, sharp up. Here he is talking about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think we can get more than back to normal from an economic standpoint, actually be better. But more than back to normal.
I think we're going to go like a rocket ship once we get back to business. There's a lot of pent up energy and demand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Do you see a quick recovery? Or do you think it's going to be a little bit slower than that?
CUBAN: I wish he was right, but he's not. I think it's going to be slower. I think there's going to be so many different ways we have to adapt to this new abnormal. People aren't going to just venture outside.
They're not going to go to large gatherings. They're not going to feel confident right off the bat. There's going to be a lot of trepidation.
And that concern is going to lead to people holding back on spending money. You know, there's been -- we're not going to know if the virus is coming back.
And on top of that, when it comes to hiring people back, companies aren't going to just immediately bring everybody back. So there are a lot of people who were hoping they'd go back to work, but just won't be able to. And I think that's going to create problems.
WALLACE: But you do talk about a transition, and if it's not a quick recovery, an eventual recovery, and you keep talking about America 2.0. What does that mean?
CUBAN: So there will be a lot of change; there will be a lot of uncertainty. But out of that uncertainty will come new great businesses.
If there's one thing that sets this country apart from any other country in the world, it's the fact that we're a country of entrepreneurs. We're creative, we're innovative. We like to take risks and chances to create new businesses. And that's exactly what we'll do. And I have no doubt in my mind that in five years or 10 years, we'll look back and there will be 25 or 50 companies that started out of the pandemic of 2020 that are just amazing and world changing. But that said, it's going to take us time for all those companies to have their impact. So I don't see a V-shape recovery, but I have no doubt in my mind that we'll come back and be stronger than ever. But it's not going to happen immediately. WALLACE: All right. Well, let's talk about the recovery as it comes in stages.
You're best known as being the owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA basketball team. President Trump talks about the hunger to get back to life as normal, including life in people supporting and going to games.
Take a look. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: They want to sit next to each other like normal at a football game, baseball game, basketball game, hockey game. We want to go back to life. (END VIDEO CLIP) WALLACE: But you know, you were talking about people not immediately going, embracing the idea of big crowds, 20,000 people in an arena sitting right next to a stranger.
So, do you think the NBA returns this season? How do you do that with social distancing? And could you envision a situation where everybody who comes in has to have their temperature taken? CUBAN: Well, a couple questions there, Chris. Do I see us getting back to a season? I don't want to make any predictions, but I'm hopeful that we will.
But I don't think we'll play in front of fans. I think initially we'll play just for the T.V. cameras with essential personnel and players. And I think that's a great thing, because I think we need things to cheer for. We need things to get excited about. We want a communal experience so we can all root for our favorite teams.
That's going to be a big step, and I think the NBA recognizes that that's a responsibility we have and that we'll undertake it as soon as it's safe, because we won't do anything to jeopardize the safety of our players or employees.
Now, part two to that, in terms of when do we get back to that sense of normalcy, where we can all crowd into a stadium or an arena. Once we have confidence in a medicine, then I think that's when it happens.
When -- you know, again, American exceptionalism is outstanding. You know, we -- the scientists are going to come up with solutions, and when they do and when we have that confidence, people will go back. We're already taking the precautions and already going through the process at the American Airlines Center to say, OK, what do we need to do in terms of sterilization, sanitization, repeat cleaning, in terms of informing people that, you know, the seat that they're in has been cleaned, you know, two hours ago or three hours ago, whatever it may be. And so, we'll take those necessary steps. So, once -- once the science is in place and we start to feel confident, then the facilities and the arenas and stadiums, et cetera will take the steps to make sure that it's clean. And then once we start going through, confidence will build. WALLACE: You have also invested in about 150 small businesses as part of your work on Shark Tank. I know that you support the $2 trillion program, bailout, whatever you want to call it, a big chunk of which is for small businesses. But I also know you think it would work better, instead of the Payroll Protection Plan, where small businesses have to apply for loans, if instead they just got overdraft protection. How would that work?
CUBAN: Very simply. So with your bank where you already have a checking account, you would work with the banks to designate, here's my rent, here's my landlord that I write checks to, here's my utilities that I write checks to, here's what I do for payroll. And for those checks, they won't bounce. And the reason you do it that way is you reduce all the friction. Right now, we're seeing all the friction from the banks, but the distribute loans or approve loans and then distribute the PPC loans and how it's slowing everything down, and that's leading to companies being laid off -- I mean, employees being laid off and companies closing. With an overdraft protection program, companies could just continue as usual, pay their payrolls, pay their insurance, pay the utilities, rent, et cetera, and they wouldn't have that fear that they wouldn't be able to make those payments. And so, I always just felt that the overdraft protection program would work a whole lot better. WALLACE: You also say that the government should take a hard line when dealing with big corporations, for instance, the airlines, which the president is talking to this weekend -- don't let the CEOs do anything to set the terms for how they're going to be bailed out. CUBAN: Yes, without question. I mean look, they're coming for money for a reason. And this is taxpayer money. So I'm not saying don't give them money, but there needs to be terms and conditions that really put the taxpayer first. If we're going to give them a loan, that's great. But let's ask for equity. Let's ask for equity kickers.
I use Warren Buffet as an example. When he helped bailout Bank of America in the early 2010 timeframe, he gave them $5 billion as a loan, but he also got warrants and options and other things that he then turned into a $12 billion profit. We should be able to do that for American citizens. And part two to that, Chris, is you know, it also can show other benefits for the airlines. The government buys a lot of commercial air travel. So, it's not inconceivable that we -- as part of this deal, we can pre-pay for commercial travel and work out programs with the airlines to have federal employees travel to build confidence in the airlines again. So have the government pre-pay however many hundreds of millions of dollars that we typically spend with those airlines; work on a sanitation program to make sure that the insides of those airlines are safe when we go to fly them. Have federal employees fly in those newly safe airlines and develop confidence so that that then can be (ph) conveyed to the general public. Then they're going to be more likely to travel. That will lead to the airlines coming back sooner. WALLACE: Finally, you talked back in 2019 about running for president before and you finally decided not to do so, and the other day you said you were reconsidering. Now I don't have to tell you, I suspect you know this already, but the deadline for filing as an independent candidate has already passed in some states and is about to in other states. So I know Mark Cuban likes publicity as much as the next person, maybe more than the next person. You're not really serious about this, are you? CUBAN: Hey, (ph) unique circumstances, you just never know, Chris. I never would have considered it prior to a month ago. But now things are changing rapidly and dramatically.
So there's different ways to get through those issues you mentioned, so I'm not saying no, but it's not certain something that I'm actively pursuing. I'm just keeping the door open. WALLACE: Then are you saying that this is something that is serious? CUBAN: As it is today, I'd say probably not, that it's not going to happen.
But again, so much can change. You just never know. This is not something we've seen before. This is obviously a unique set of circumstances, and so I'm just not going to say no. It's just -- you just don't know what can happen between now and November. WALLACE: Mark Cuban, you're always interesting and you're always provocative. Thanks so much for sharing part of your Easter weekend with us. CUBAN: Great, thanks for having me, Chris, and stay safe.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: Coming up, the nation's capital emerging as one of the next potential hot spots in the coronavirus pandemic. Mayor Muriel Bowser joins us to discuss where Washington, D.C., is on the virus curve and the economic toll on the city.
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX HOST: Coming up, the nation's capital braces for a surge in coronavirus cases.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER (D), WASHINGTON D.C.: If you consider New York City the first wave, D.C. could be in the second wave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: We'll ask Washington's mayor, Muriel Bowser, about her plan for keeping residents safe next on FOX NEWS SUNDAY.
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WALLACE: While national attention has focused on the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in New York, health officials are tracking the next potential cities to get hit hard, including the nation's capital.
So far, Washington has seen more than 1,700 cases and 47 deaths.
And joining us now, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Mayor, national public health officials keep talking about Washington as the next potential hot spot. And you've said that you worry that Washington could be in the second wave of virus outbreaks.
So what is it that you're seeing that worries you?
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER (D), WASHINGTON D.C.: Well, certainly, Chris, we are getting prepared and we, like all cities and states around the country, are looking at various models to see what they tell us about when our medical surge will happen. And we expect that that could happen in Washington, D.C., in June.
Our residents are doing everything that we ask so that we can push down the number of peak cases and push out when that surge would happen in D.C.
WALLACE: I want to pick up on what you just said because you are working off a model that says that Washington is going to hit its peak, not an April, as New York is now, or even May, but in late June.
Why so late in Washington?
BOWSER: Well, we think that all of the interventions that we put in place very aggressively in the early part of March, closing our schools, shutting down our bars and restaurants, closing essential businesses in Washington, D.C., has pushed out when the peak might occur. And we --- we just know. We see that in a number that there are cities who are experiencing a surge in cases and hospitalizations now and we know and we see from what we see on the ground in testing that show that our peak will come later.
WALLACE: Meanwhile, it's not just a health crisis for you. D.C. is getting hammered economically. And I want to put up some numbers.
Almost 60,000 residents have filed for unemployment claims since March 13th. That's more than double the 27,000 who filed for unemployment in D.C. all of last year.
Mayor Bowser, how serious is the economic situation in Washington right now?
BOWSER: Well, it's -- it's very serious, as it is in cities and states around the country. We don't think that we're any different except we went into this pandemic in a very strong position, Chris. You showed our unemployment filings for 2019. And we have exceeded that just in five weeks going into this.
So we went into this pandemic fiscally strong, strong employment, growing business space and, of course, growing hospitality and tourism. And it was our hospitality and tourism sector that was struck first with closing our convention center, shutting down mass gatherings, even shutting down our cherry blossom festival. So all of those things are hitting our hotels, restaurants and bars and our workers very significantly.
So we know that how we slowly turn on the economy and we're looking to national experts and the CDC to tell us what things can slowly come back on so we can get people back to work.
WALLACE: Well, let me pick up on that because, as I was just discussing earlier, President Trump is considering, and in fact is going to set up a counsel -- a reopening the country counsel this week, is considering lifting his stay-at-home guidelines as early as the end of this month, and beginning to reopen the economy.
If the president goes ahead and does that, will you listen to him?
BOWSER: Well, we know, Chris, that the most optimistic models demonstrate the -- and the ones that the White House task force has pointed to repeatedly, are based on keeping stay-at-home directive in place through the end of May. So we are -- what we're looking for is a staying periods of decreasing infection, sustained periods of decreasing hospitalizations. And that will be a signal to us in Washington that we see the containment of this virus and also that our medical system can withhold growing hospitalizations.
And I think that's going to be key, not only for us in Washington, D.C., but for the entire nation. But keep in mind that the most optimistic modeling points to interventions remaining in place through the end of May.
WALLACE: You say the end of May. As I -- as I pointed out, the president's talking about maybe the end of April, May 1st. So you're saying if -- if he starts saying we're going to start relaxing those guidelines, which aren't an order, you're the mayor, you're in charge in D.C., are you saying you won't necessarily follow his direction?
BOWSER: I'm saying that we're going to follow what the data on the ground tells us. As we have her directly, the president hasn't issued any stay-at- home orders for any jurisdiction in the United States of America. And we are looking to our own experience in Washington, D.C. Are levels of infection decreasing? Are hospitalizations decreasing? Do we see the number of lives lost in our city decreasing? And we know when we see sustained level of those numbers, just for -- for -- for a few examples, then that is a trigger to us to tell us how we can start to get our economy going again.
But we're also looking to examples around the world. We know we can't just flip a switch and have everything go back to normal, because if we do that, we could suffer a rebound and lose all of the gains that we've made by strict social distancing in our town.
WALLACE: Finally, Mayor, I don't have to tell you, African-Americans are getting hit much harder by this virus than any other group. I want to put up some -- some numbers. A CDC study found that 33 percent of hospitalized patients in this study were black, although they made up only 18 percent of the population in those areas.
Mayor Bowser, how do you explain that?
BOWSER: Well, we know, Chris, and this virus has put a spotlight on the disproportionate number of African-Americans who suffer from chronic disease. And it's also put a spotlight on the health disparities that have plagued African-Americans for generations. And you can trace slavery, racism, Jim Crow rules and laws in our country. You can also look to how many African-Americans are living in substandard housing conditions, which we know impact the levels of asthma. But diabetes and heart disease, this virus is violently attacking.
So while this is not new during the Covid-19 response, it certainly calls for national and local actions that are going to change the trajectory for African-Americans health outcomes in our nation.
WALLACE: Mayor Bowser, thank you.
BOWSER: Thank you.
WALLACE: Thanks for your time during these busy days. And we'll be watching as you work to protect our nation's capital.
Thanks, Mayor.
BOWSER: Thank you, Chris. Thank you.
WALLACE: Up next, we'll bring in our Sunday group to discuss the 2020 race, now that Bernie Sanders has suspended his campaign and Joe Biden is the presumptive Democratic nominee.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have never been just a campaign. We are a grassroots, multiracial, multigenerational movement.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me say especially to the young voters who have been inspired by Senator Sanders, I hear you. I know what's at stake. I know what we have to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Bernie Sanders addressing his supporters after suspending his campaign for president, and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden reaching out to those voters.
And it's time now for our Sunday group.
Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, Fox News correspondent Gillian Turner, and Fox News political analyst Juan Williams.
Ari, how does Biden pull this off, move far enough to the left to win not just the backing but the strong backing of -- of Sanders supporters, while not moving so far to the left that he turns off the independents and moderates he's going to need in the fall to beat Donald Trump?
ARI FLEISCHER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Chris, the first thing you have to recognize is the Democratic Party as a whole has moved sharply to the left. There was -- there was a Gallup poll that came out a couple months ago that said 24 percent of the Democrats consider themselves liberal when Bill Clinton was president. Today, 51 percent consider themselves liberal. So the party's shifted.
But what's happened to Joe Biden is he's renounced previous positions he used to hold. On abortion, for example, the overwhelming bipartisan position was opposition to federally funded abortions. He's now opposed to that. He wants federally funded abortions. He's changed his position on -- from Obamacare, where he was against government controlled healthcare, the public option. Now he's for it. He's for a green new deal. He's for free college, even if you don't have -- and you don't have to pay for it. A host of issues he's shifted left because the Democratic Party has shifted left.
WALLACE: So, Juan, you just heard Ari make what will undoubtedly be the Trump White House case, which is it's too late, that Biden is already too far to the left.
Do you agree with that, and how do you see him playing this where, yes, he reaches out to the Biden -- the Sanders supporters, because there still are some significant differences between Biden and Sanders --
JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.
WALLACE: On Medicare for all and the green new deal, how does he win them over but still not be seen as a socialist, at least in a credible sense, as the president will try to portray him?
WILLIAMS: Well, I think we're in a -- Chris, we're in a politically difficult moment for Joe Biden in that, you know, usually when a candidate has the nomination in hand, that candidate, looking towards the general election, moves to the center, not to the left or the right.
But in this case, I think you see Biden saying, I've got to move to the left somewhat to build a bridge to the Bernie Bros, to the people who were alienated in 2016 by Hillary Clinton, think the establishment Democrats that rigged the whole election against them. And I think what he's doing is by reaching out, lowering the age of eligibility for Medicare to 60 and making college education more affordable, I don't think that, thanks to Bernie Sanders, those are any longer seen as socialist, radical, left-wing ideas.
At a time of rising income inequality in the country, those -- those ideas are pretty mainstream.
WALLACE: Right.
WILLIAMS: And, politically, I don't think that the president will be able to say this is socialism. Most people will say it's pragmatic.
WALLACE: Then, there is Barack Obama's continued silence about his own former vice president. And President Trump had some fun with that this week.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It does amaze me that President Obama hasn't supported sleepy Joe. It just hasn't happened. When's it going to happen? When is it going to happen? When isn't he? He knows something that you don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Gillian, what do you think is taking Barack Obama so long to come out in endorsing and in strong support for his former vice president?
GILLIAN TURNER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we do know is that his team, for the last year and a half, has said he's planning to stay out of the campaign fray because he feels that's with the appropriate role for a former president is, and he's going to get in once the Democrats have coalesced around a single candidate.
So I would anticipate, based on that, that any day now he's going to throw his full weight behind Biden. And when he does, it's going to be a huge boost for Biden. I think President Obama's ratings among the Democrats are still astronomically high, somewhere in the 90th percentile, and I think those very same Americans are super eager to hear from President Obama on the coronavirus pandemic, something else he's not really spoken out about a lot. So everyone's going to be tuned in wherever he does this, whether it's online or in front of crowds, touting Vice President Biden.
I would say, Chris, quickly, that the big risk for Biden with support from President Obama is that he's likely to outshine him on the trail. He's a great orator and I think that's something that Biden is probably thinking long and hard about, you know, if he wants to be following at all -- after, you know, President Obama introduces him at rally after rally, if we have rallies.
WALLACE: Gillian, I want to stay with you and ask you about this really stunning report in "The New York Times" this morning I talked about with Dr. Dr. Inglesby, that top health officials within the administrations were warning the president from mid-January on about the real threat of this pandemic and that it took weeks, in a sense really more than a month, for President Trump to respond.
How damaging do you think that is to the president?
TURNER: Well, President Trump and the rest of the White House comms team have been pushing back on that report really hard the last two days. Whoever ends up being right or wrong in this scenario, I think the one thing, Chris, that everybody, all Americans, can really agree on is the role that China has played. China's government, as separate and distinct from the Chinese people, China's communist party, the government. We now know, thanks to leaked U.S. intelligence reports and other studies, that they spent weeks and months under reporting the real case numbers in Wuhan during the early days of the outbreak.
I talk -- I spoke to Peter Navarro, the trade advisor, last week. He said he thinks one of the reasons China hedged and delayed and delayed reporting for so long was because they were trying to hoard PPE and medical equipment. So I think the real shoe that's still to drop here is the American people really learning in depth about the role that China's government played in covering this up, as opposed to, I think, we can give our own government the benefit of the doubt that they didn't willfully ignore warnings that hundreds of thousands of Americans were going to die.
If it turns out to be an intelligence oversight or bad guidance given to the president, we'll have to grapple with that in the fallout from that over the coming years for sure.
WALLACE: Juan, I -- we're running out of time, so I need a quick answer for you on this. Your reaction to "The New York Times" report today about the president getting all these reports, including at least two in January from his secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary Azar?
WILLIAMS: Well, I don't think it's any great revelation that we had a slow response as a country. I'll leave all the finger-pointing and backbiting to others. As Gillian was just saying, I mean they'll -- we'll have reviews.
But -- and -- but, you know, the key here is moving forward. And I think moving forward, I think, we have to look at how the president's conducting himself. Are we getting the tests right now quickly? Are we moving towards understanding how people who have had the virus can act possibly on an immune basis to help us? All of that.
I don't think these briefings the president's been holding are any help. Even the conservative "Wall Street Journal" editorial page has said he's turned it into the Trump show. So I think we need trust, credibility, like Dr. Inglesby at the top of this show, Chris. We need those voices, Dr. Fauci, less so than the president attacking the WHO and the reporters.
WALLACE: Yes, I want to pick up on the briefings with you as a communications professional, Ari, because the president did get high marks for his White House briefings, at least originally. But in more recent days, certainly this week you saw him getting into fights with governors he did not think were sufficiently appreciative, or reporters.
Here's one case where he was asked about deputy inspector general who had criticized the administration. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: You asked him (pH) when she was appointed --
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, look -- look --
QUESTION: I told you when she was appointed by your administration --
TRUMP: You're a third-rate reporter and what you just said is a disgrace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Ari, if you were advising the president, what would you tell him about these briefings?
FLEISCHER: Well, I've been saying this for weeks, Chris, I think the briefings are extremely helpful. It is proper and wise for the president of the United States, in a crisis, to be regularly accessible. But the briefings should be no longer than 30 minutes' worth of Q&As. The longer it goes on like that, reporters run out of good questions and it just becomes the old war of one truculent side against another.
I also think the president needs to remind everybody, we're one country. And these little battles don't really help. The best thing that helps is unity and I wish that was the tone the president was setting. It's not his style.
WALLACE: Ari Fleischer, panel, thank you all. See you next Sunday. Happy Easter and Happy Passover.
Up next, our "Power Players" on this weekend of religious holidays, the millions of worshipers keeping the faith while keeping away from each other.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: There's no denying this is a different time for those celebrating Easter and Passover. Instead of filling churches and synagogues, the faithful are finding new ways to worship and to reach out.
Here are our "Power Players of the Week."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Happy Palm Sunday.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And to you.
WALLACE (voice over): Holy Week kicked off behind the wheel in Virginia. In Rome, Palm Sunday services echoing through St. Peter's Basilica.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thank you Lord for healing us inwardly and outwardly.
WALLACE: The faithful around the world getting used to virtual services.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): Sing it one more time. I hear the --
RICK WARREN, SADDLEBACK CHURCH FOUNDER: This may be bad weather, but we're still together. Easter is not a location, it's a celebration.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Bless the Lord, oh, my soul
CROWD (singing): That's the way we bring you Seder virtually.
WALLACE: People finding different ways to keep the faith and their sense of humor.
CROWD (singing): Till there ain't coronavirus 2020.
WALLACE: In Lebanon, a priest bestowing blessings from a distance.
In Jerusalem's old city, Franciscan monks in masks handing out olive branches.
And as Israel locked down for the virus, leaders tied this year's Passover to its origin.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: This has got to be a first. Perhaps with the exception of the first Passover, because we were sitting ensconced in the holes (ph) in Egypt and we hope that the pestilence would pass over our homes.
WALLACE: Here in the U.S., some Jewish communities are maintaining tradition.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you want to pop your trunk and I'll put them in the car.
WALLACE: Offering Seder meals to go.
Even the Easter bunny has had to adapt.
JACINDA ARDERN, NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER: You will be pleased to know that we do consider both the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny to be essential workers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have three girls, four boys.
WALLACE: In Arizona, a rescue mission, try to ensure the goodies arrive on time.
And, on this Easter morning, Pope Francis spreading a message of hope, the world will start up life again in the days to come.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: Even in these times, maybe especially in these times, we hope you'll have a meaningful Easter and Passover.
And that's it for today. Have a great week and we'll see you next FOX NEWS SUNDAY.
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