[Lemon:] CNN learning tonight that the CDC is recommending communities be evaluated for four consecutive weeks before returning to some aspect of community life. It is unclear if the White House has approved those recommendations or when the evaluation period would start. Andy Slavitt is here. He's a former acting head of the health care for the Obama administration and the host of a new podcast In The Bubble and Dr. Mark McClellan, he is her as well the former FDA commissioner under President George W. Bush. Gentleman, thank you so much. I appreciate you joining us. Dr. McClellan, I'm going to start with you first, because you coauthored a report that provide a road map for getting the country back on its feet with phase one, slowing the spread, you said. Phase two, reopening state by state. Phase three, establishing protection, and lifting all restrictions. What is it going to take to get to phase three? And how long do we have until then?
[Dr. Mark Mcclellan, Former Fda Commissioner:] Don, we have a ways to go. We are in phase one now. In fact, the next few weeks are going to be really tough in many parts of the United States. So, to get past that, we need to keep doing all of the distancing measures, all the things that every one of us needs to do to help slow down the spread of this virus. We need to keep helping hospitals with the surge capacity they need. We need to keep increasing testing so we can identify cases earlier. After we bend the curve and have a sustained reduction in the number of new cases and the number of hospitalizations in an area, that's when you can think about moving on to the next phase. And that next phase is not back to normal. It's a new normal with considerable attention to the need for distancing. People can go back to work, can do more activities, but not big crowds, and respect for the fact that this virus could come back. Along with that is a need for what we'll call surveillance. So, a lot of testing to make sure if someone does have if there is a new outbreak for the condition, if someone does have coronavirus we're going to identify it quickly and can isolate and keep it under control. That along with enough hospital capacity, if there is another surge are the prerequisites for opening back up. But that could happen in matter of weeks. That all depends on what we do, all Americans and our policy leaders.
[Lemon:] OK. That was I was going to ask you within a matter of weeks but we don't know it. Or it could take longer depending on if we do.
[Mcclellan:] That's right. It depends on all of those markers. So we've got to go by results. We've got to make progress in bending down the curve, controlling the outbreaks, and we can take more steps.
[Lemon:] Got it. All right. Andy, you have outlined 20 points of the administration should pursue to fight the coronavirus. What are the most important ones and which ones will be will best help us get on to on track to reopening the country?
[Andy Slavitt, Former Acting Head Of The Health Care For The Obama Administration, Host, In The Bubble:] First of all the paper that mark co-authored is an outstanding paper and it's quite readable by anybody. So, I suggest people take a look at it. It is, I think, the best road map we have today of our path back. In the meantime, the 20 recommendations I spelled out are things we need to do to organize better and get things done because while all these things are happening, we have front line workers that need much more protection. We need to treat them as a special class. We have people that are going hungry, and we have people that are worried about their jobs. So, Congress and the administration have to do a lot more and are going to have to put more money in the pockets of states. I know $2 trillion sounds like a big number, but it's a lot less expensive than a full-fledged depression and losing people. So, I think these 20 points that I put forward are points that are going to help us drive the ship through the process of getting to the paper that Mark put out.
[Lemon:] Yes. But what happens if we backslide, and what does that mean for our economy? Could we go into a depression? We'll talk about that right after the break.