[Burnett:] New tonight, one California county defying its Governor, Modoc County, which has a population of about 9,000 people is on the border with Oregon as you can see there on the north. Announcing it will no longer follow Gov. Newsom stay-at-home order. They are opening schools. They are opening churches and they are opening businesses and they are doing it tomorrow. OUTFRONT now, the chair of the Modoc County Board of Supervisors, Elizabeth Cavasso. And thank you very much, I appreciate your time Elizabeth. So look, you're standing up to your Governor, first county in the state to say you're not going to follow the stay-at-home order and you are opening up, as I said, schools, churches, businesses. It's a bold move. Why are you doing it?
[Elizabeth Cavasso, Chair, Board Of Supervisors For Modoc County, Ca:] I'd like to correct you, we're standing up for the people of Modoc County and we have been engaged in this incident for longer than a month now. We have been planning and working as an interagency group in the county with advice and counsel from our Modoc County Health Officer and the Office of Emergency Services as well as our Sheriff. We've been in daily communication and collaboration with partners, and businesses and entities in the community.
[Burnett:] Yes.
[Cavasso:] The facts are with our county is there are no cases of COVID-19 here. We have been testing all along and there are no cases. Yes, there are a few cases in surrounding counties, but those affected people have recovered. And at this point, we are moving forward not in defiance but in alliance with the State of California and the guidance. And we believe that we can continue with our safe actions and continue to keep the citizens of Modoc County healthy.
[Burnett:] So when you say it's an alliance with the State of California, the Governor today, Gov. Newsom was asked about your plan. He did not agree with that characterization. He said local communities cannot enact rules and conflict with his statewide order. He also said this and let me play it for you, Elizabeth.
[Newsom:] The only thing that will set us back is behavior that's not conducive with those guidelines that are currently in place in a spread of this virus. When you pull back too quickly, you literally put people's lives at risk.
[Burnett:] What's your response to the Governor?
[Cavasso:] My response is that our local decisions have proven well and that we have no cases. We have been testing. We have search capacity above the recommended amount that the state requests. We have been communicating in a transparent fashion with our community and the public. They're well aware of the actions that we're taking. They're informed and they are engaged in social distancing and proper hygiene practices. And all of those decisions at the local government level down to the individual level, are clearly proof that we are following the state's guidance and it's working effectively in our county.
[Burnett:] So in terms of when you reopen tomorrow for those schools, for those churches, are there rules in terms of masks or school desks six feet apart or are there any rules, and if so, will there be any enforcement or is it up to the judgment of the individual establishment?
[Cavasso:] First of all, there are no schools opening. That decision is delayed until May 15th. There is one school district within our area that has already decided not to open. The others are still on hold. The direction that has been given is completely in line with the state. It's continuing with proper distancing, with sanitation procedures. Those vulnerable populations are advised to stay home. People that are sick or not feeling well or advice to stay home. So we are continuing with the same actions that the rest of the state are doing. And again, we've been 100 percent successful with no cases of the coronavirus.
[Burnett:] All right. Elizabeth, I appreciate your time. Elizabeth Cavasso, as I said, the Chair of the Modoc County Board of Supervisors. And I want to go up from now to our Medical Analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner also was a medical adviser to the George W. Bush White House for eight years. So Dr. Reiner, you heard her explanation. They haven't had cases. Their nearby counties have, but she says that those people have recovered. But yet the Governor of California when talking about Modoc County today was saying when you pull back too quickly, you literally put people's lives at risk. So who's right?
[Jonathan Reiner, Cnn Medical Analyst:] Well, the supervisor's frustration is palpable and I certainly understand that people are hurting all over the country. There are 30 million people out of work. But the state of California has been incredibly successful in flattening the curve, really squashing the curve. California is a state with 10 million more people than New York State and they're projected to have about 2,000 deaths by the end of the summer, whereas New York State is projected to have a 10 times that amount. So what California has done has worked and we've seen around the world, instances in places like Singapore, in places like Japan, when social distancing and these kinds of very effective measures are eased to quickly prematurely, the virus comes back and it comes back with a vengeance, most recently in Hokkaido, Japan. So, I believe that states should have a coordinated response. And I think the Governor has it right.
[Burnett:] And does this concern you though that you're seeing this? And you're right, her frustration was palpable and I shared, I think, by many. But once you start to see this happening, once it starts to become a more broad phenomenon, which is already happening on a state level, does the risk really rise? I mean, right now it seems risk free to people making it about freedom, right?
[Reiner:] Right. So, we live in a country without walls, so despite the fact that her county has not encountered a positive patient, other counties nearby can and we're very mobile in this country. So people will come to her county whether she likes it or not who are infected. The other problem is that we've really only been testing the tip of the iceberg. We've only been testing really classically symptomatic people and I think that even in her county, if extensive antibody testing or even extensive testing for the virus have been done, I bet you would find people living in her county right now who have the virus. So if we're going to open up, we need to open up smart and we need to do it in a coordinated way. And I think the Governor of California has it right.
[Burnett:] All right. Dr. Reiner, thank you very much, as always.
[Reiner:] My pleasure.
[Burnett:] And next, an exclusive team of scientists and business titans say they have answers to the coronavirus pandemic. One of the group's leaders is my guest. Plus, President Trump says he's confident the virus originated in a lab in Wuhan China. So is there evidence?