[Sciutto:] Again, last week, nearly 1 million Americans filed first- time unemployment claims, it's the first time it's fallen below a million, but these weekly numbers just off the charts historically, not even matched during the 2008, 2009 financial crisis. CNN's chief business correspondent Christine Romans joins me now. Christine, you know, first put this into context here right
[Christine Romans, Cnn Chief Business Correspondent:] Sure
[Sciutto:] Historically, when you see numbers like this. Good that it's below a million, but I mean
[Romans:] It's a deep hole
[Sciutto:] Historically, it's a remarkably high number.
[Romans:] It's just a deep jobs holder here in and you know, Jim, it's interesting because the damage is so extensive that the Labor Department is actually tweaking how it seasonably adjusts these numbers so they can get sort of a better picture. I mean, even the math they use isn't suitable for how terrible this has been this Summer, this 24
[Sciutto:] They were tweaking it to get a number that looks better?
[Romans:] No, they're not trying to get it to look better, but they've changed
[Sciutto: Ok -- Romans:] The way that they seasonably adjust these numbers because it just the scope of the problem was so big, they're changing how and they're very clear about it on their news release if anybody who really wonky wants to get there And take a look at it. It's complicated, but, you know, 881,000 is a big number. It's below a million and I'm glad it's below a million, but it's a big number. When you put it all together, Jim, and all the different programs including these new emergency programs for gig workers and for part-time workers, right? You have 29 million Americans receiving some sort of jobless benefit, 29 million, that's a big number. There's nothing when we look at continuing claims, as people who have been on the state programs for at least two weeks in a row, that number fell. And that's a good sign, it's still a lot of people, Jim. Every one of those numbers is a person or a family who is wondering I think why Congress has gone away on recess and is not working on the
[Sciutto:] Yes
[Romans:] The next package here.
[Sciutto:] Yes, I mean, these payments have made a difference, right? I mean, they've made a difference for families
[Romans:] Yes
[Sciutto:] And for businesses, frankly. You see it in sales and so on. OK, let's talk about the deficit.
[Romans:] Sure.
[Sciutto:] Budget deficit, a record $3.3 trillion, I always remind people, that's a thousand, billion. I mean, these numbers are just like off the charts. A lot of this clearly from the stimulus in the wake of the pandemic
[Romans:] Sure.
[Sciutto:] But it was already coming from a very high point prior to that as well.
[Romans:] Right, and when we had corporate tax cuts, right? We had even in a really strong economy, we had we were running big deficits. We were spending a lot of money and now you had a crisis that hit, and now in an emergency, you're spending all this money. So now, by next year, the size of America's national debt will be as big as the size of the entire economy. That's something that hasn't happened since World War II. So, you think of this
[Sciutto:] Yes
[Romans:] Pandemic, we're spending money like we're fighting a world war. That's where we are.
[Sciutto:] Yes, it's a listen, folks had warned when the times were good, that's not the time for deficit spending because if a crisis were to hit and here we are, crisis hit.
[Romans:] Textbook I told you so.
[Sciutto:] Yes, Christine Romans, thanks very much.
[Romans:] Yes.
[Sciutto:] An alarming warning for meat packers hit by the pandemic. The National Farmers Union says meat processing workers are still at an elevated risk of exposure in Iowa. This as cases across that state surge, making it the latest U.S. hotspot. Joining me now is the mayor of Waterloo, Iowa, Quentin Hart. Mayor Hart, thanks so much for taking the time this morning.
[Mayor Quentin Hart, Waterloo, Iowa:] Thank you for having me.
[Sciutto:] There's a particular risk at meat packing plants because of the concentration of folks there as they're working and also their living conditions at home, et cetera. What's being done to address that issue? You know, to address the outbreaks we're seeing here because it's not a new thing, we've seen this for months.
[Hart:] Right. When you you know, we went through a lot of challenges several months ago within our meat packing plant locally in our community, but we have to make sure that every safety precaution is taken at our plants, on site testing needs to be done and immediate contact-tracing, dividers placed in workstations. There has to be a myriad of different changes that have to take place within our processing plants to make sure that people are safe, and that you could hold the spread to a minimal if it actually happens.
[Sciutto:] As you know, the president has gotten involved in this in recent weeks, in effect, forcing the plants, right, to reopen. Has that been helpful or hurtful in your view?
[Hart:] Well, it's been hurtful in one way that it may take away some of the accountability that some of the processing plants have to do to ensure overall safety. Where we did have the benefit, our local company reached out to our chamber, reached out to our Health Department, reached out to us within the city, and we were able to actually tour, take a look at the myriad of difference changes that were going to be done internally within the plant. That was something they did on their own. So it's a dangerous situation when you reduce the accountability and liability, but you don't hold them to the hold their feet to the fire with regards to putting in all of the safety mechanisms that we need to have to keep people safe. And when you have such outrageously have last time, it puts a strain on our local businesses, it hurts our ag economy because there's no one to produce the processing of meat.
[Sciutto:] No question. Where who's listening to your voice, right? I mean, you're very close to this, right? These people are your constituents, I mean, these businesses are in your town. When you issue those warnings up to the state level or the national level, do folks listen?
[Hart:] It seems like it goes on deaf ears some of the time. We've had a challenge around here being able to locally make decisions that impact our local community. There's no cookie-cutter solution for all of this, and we need the individual decision-making on the local level for us to be successful in controlling this virus.
[Sciutto:] Understood. As you know, your Senator Joni Ernst, she is facing some backlash after she appeared to call the pandemic death toll into question, which is which is something that starts on the dark corners of the web, and lo and behold, you have national political figures stating this. Just for you've lost constituents, right? And I'm sure you have a lot of families suffering through this. What's your answer to Senator Ernst and others who have who have questioned data like we have on the screen here which is, you know, comes directly from the CDC and Johns Hopkins?
[Hart:] I find it as being away from what reality really is. If you want to see it, come talk to some of my friends. Some of the relatives and people that I know in this local community that have lost their lives or dealing with long-term health issues. But that is the challenge we're having. Even talking about direct funding to local cities, we haven't seen that yet. We were a that is that is the challenge what happened. Even talking about direct funding to local cities, we haven't seen that yet. As we're a city over 500,000 people, maybe there will be some direct funding. But in her very own state, we are needing help, cities need help, and people need real officials that know what's really happening on the ground here.
[Sciutto:] Well, Mayor Quentin Hart, we wish you the best of luck. We know you got a lot on your plate going forward and the people who live in your town as well.
[Hart:] All right, thank you.
[Sciutto:] Well, the former Vice President Joe Biden is heading today to Kenosha, Wisconsin. He's going to meet with the family of Jacob Blake and others there, what can we expect from the trip? We're going to take you to Kenosha live. And we're just moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street, futures down slightly on the heels of that weekly jobless claims report. Tomorrow, we get the jobs report for the month of July, investors will be keeping a close eye on that figure as well. Please stay with us.