Do you see the white one . Oh, yeah. The white one has a cnn font. I like it. Does it . I wonder if thats intentional. It has the cnn font. Black voices for trump. You see the one right in the middle . I like that. Isnt that in your office . Guess what, nobody says woke any more, so boy, theyre really woke. They need to wake up is what they need. Big tent. This is what weve been waiting for. This is the pivot. Hey, chris, guess what. You need to go to sleep now. Its past your bedtime. It will be welcome. Youve been woke for a long time now. Good night. Ill see you tomorrow. Have a good one. This is cnn tonight. Im don lemon. Ive got to tell you, these numbers really dont lie. Wall street is rattled by growing coronavirus outbreak. The dow jones dropping look at this 1200 points today. In the last six trading days, it has lost more than 3,000 points, erasing 2 trillion in value. Investors concerned about the impact coronavirus is already having on the u. S. Economy, especially in relation to doing business with china where the outbreak originated. Wall street is sending a very clear message to the Trump Administration. Get a handle on coronavirus before it gets out of control, if its really not out of control already, before it gets worse. But some of the early steps the administration has taken to combat the outbreak dont inspire tremendous confidence, really doesnt. A whistleblower at the department of health and Human Services revealing tonight that more than a dozen federal Health Workers who came in contact with the First Americans who were evacuated from wuhan, china, did not have the proper training or protective gear to deal with coronavirus. Much more on this developing story. Were going to have that in just a few moments for you right here on this program. Tonight, though, President Trump taking a victory lap for his administrations handling of the outbreak and incredibly predicting coronavirus will at some point just miraculously disappear. We have done an incredible job. Were going to continue its going to disappear one day. Its like a miracle, it will disappear. And from our shores, it could get worse before it gets better. It could maybe go away. Well see what happens. So you know this by now, right . You know in the public eye, really, really in the public eye, not just a reality tv person, you know, new york sort of figure. But as the president or person running for president for a while. Its never, ever his fault. Nothing is ever his fault. Its always somebody elses fault. So he then went on to he blamed the democrats, right. Then went on to blame the news media for overstating the outbreak which, on top of Health Officials, right, say its going to get worse before it gets better. The initial response from the white house to the outbreak was bumbling confusing contradictory. Vicepresident mike pence now in charge of the administrations Coronavirus Task force and point person on all messaging about the outbreak. The president has asked me to lead our administrations effort in response to the coronavirus. Are you leading the task force . Im leading the task force. Well continue to rely on the secretarys role as chairman of the task force and the leader of health and Human Services. But weve known each other many years and worked together very closely over the years. And the president has every confidence in the secretary as i do. There is still a lot of confusion here. If mike pence is leading the task force, why is secretary alex azar chairman . And if President Trump still has confidence in azar, why did he push him aside yesterday from leading the Coronavirus Response . Mike will be working with the professionals and doctors and everybody else thats working. The team is brilliant. I spent a lot of time with the team over the last couple of weeks, but they are totally brilliant, and were doing really well. Mike is going to be in charge, and mike will report back to me. At the end of the white house news conference, azar said this. Im still chairman of the task force. Mick mulvaney has been serving actually an invaluable role for me as acting chief of staff helping to coordinate across the government with my colleagues and the whole government approach. Having the Vice President gives me the biggest stick one could have in the government on this whole government approach. You dont feel like youre being replaced . Not in the least. When this was mentioned to me, i said i was delighted that i get to have the Vice President helping at this point. Okay. I want you to play that back. I want you dont just listen to him, but look at the body language of the president and the Vice President and look at how the president walks away when hes when alex azar is doing that. Play that back. Im still chairman of the task force. Mick mulvaney has been serving actually an invaluable role for me as acting chief of staff helping to coordinate across the government with my colleagues and the whole government approach. Having the Vice President gives me the biggest stick one could have in the government on this whole government approach. You dont feel like youre being replaced . Not in the least. When this was mentioned to me, i said i was delighted that i get to have the Vice President helping at this point. Umhmm, yeah. The president seemed to be frustrated with azars handling of the outbreak. The Washington Post reporting that azar was blindsided by the decision to give the leadership rome role to pence. Aside from internal confusion, budget cuts, Trump Administration has made the Nations Health care agencies such as the cdc, have left the Administration Short of funds to fight the coronavirus outbreak. Situation House Speaker pelosi addressed just today. Unfortunately, up until now the Trump Administration has offered an opaque and chaotic response to the outbreak. It called for slashing 700 million from the centers for disease control, and this was the budget which came out after we knew about the coronavirus threat. President trump never been one to put his own needs second, so heres a warning that hell likely Pay Attention to. Goldman sachs now saying the outbreak of coronavirus could negatively affect Economic Growth and the economy is key to this president s chances for reelection. And you know how he always touts the stock market. So, lets talk about the outbreak with chris meekins, who was assistant secretary at health and Human Services between 2017 and 2019. Chris, thank you so much for joining us. Good evening to you. Good evening. First, i want to get your response to this whistleblower complaint about workers assisting coronavirus evacuees without protective gear. How dangerous was this oversight . I think its making a lot of assumptions. As someone whos worked at the department, i can say there are policies and processes in place to ensure everyone who is responding to these types of crises are actually protected, and that theyre taken care of. I think that every whistleblower complaint should be taken seriously. But at the core you really need to look at what actually happened. So i assume that the department is having a conversation with everyone who is actually deployed and making sure that there was no threat. What ive been told is that no one at the department and no one who was deployed has been infected by this virus yet, and thats good news. Because ultimately this is all about protecting the American People whether they were overseas or bringing them home or at home here tonight. Those people have been interacting with the general public and they have not been tested. Is that a concern for you . As i understand it, that happened more than two weeks ago, which means these individuals would have shown symptoms at this point for the virus. So there wasnt a need. Additionally, theyre legitimate questions that need to be asked and answered about whether the individuals who were deployed were actually in a situation where they could have been infected. And thats a little bit in doubt based on conversation ive had with the department. So heres a quote from the report. I soon began to feel panic calls from my Leadership Team and deployed Staff Members expressing concerns with the lack of hhs communication and coordination, staff being sent into quarantine areas without personal protective equipment, training or experience in managing Public Health emergency safety protocols and potential danger to both themselves and members of the public. They come into contact, the whistleblower wrote. Not concerning . If it is true, it is concerning. But as i said, and my job is not to defend the administration. I worked previously in these areas of Public Health preparedness and response, and now i advise clients, raymond james, on whats going to happen in the markets. With that being said, i think that its important to look at the allegations of the whistleblower. There needs to be an investigation. There also needs to be an acknowledgment. No one has been sick. And the fact the whistleblower came forward after they were told that they were going to be transferred. What do you mean no ones been sick . None of the people that were deployed from the department of health and Human Services, as i understand it and whats been told to me, have actually come down with the illness. And those people were supposedly exposed more than two weeks ago, which is outside what scientists believe, dr. Fauci and the career professional at the cdc, believed to be the incubation period. You worked at hhs under President Trump. Your job was to imagine the worst case scenario. Is this administration equipped to handle a global Health Emergency . Congress has done a great job appropriating money for the area. I worked in as well as the cdc and other entities to make sure they can respond as necessary. What i will say, while i was there and i left more than a year ago, is that we took dramatic steps forward to prepare for example, the First Responders of hhs and the National Disaster medical system had stopped being trained for Infectious Diseases for taking care of people in these exact type of situations. And the assistant secretary for preparedness and response said, we need to change that, and he did. So these people have actually had training that are the First Responders deploying in this situation, which was not the case in the previous administration. So, theyve had training, but does that training include what is in this, the whistleblowers account, in your estimation, what you have been trained to do and what you experienced under when you were in this position, is that part of the training . The National Disaster medical system, which are the front line responders, emts, doctors, other type nurses, these are the people who go out when theres a disaster and try to care for folks. They have other day jobs. Theyre doctors in hospitals. But when their country calls on them, when theres a disaster, they step forward and they go out as federal employees to do this. Those individuals have been trained. There is a question about whether separate staff, who deal more with the social services side, have received the training they needed and there is an open dispute about whether that was the case there, and we really need to get to the bottom of it. Thats my question. Im sure congress will, too. I want to make sure people who are out there, whether theyre volunteers or whatever they are, are they being trained properly, and are they being kept safe, whether theyre volunteer, alternate staff or whoever they are, are they being kept safe. Are they safe while theyre doing that job . As i said, i can only speak to what i did in my area at the department of Human Services which were really the frontline responders. They were not being trained before we got there. They were trained when we were there. Theyre now capable of executing this mission. With regards to other parts of the department, we had policies in place for it, but youve got to make sure theyre followed. What do you think needs to be done to improve what needs to be done to what needs to be done to make sure that the coronavirus is not spread beyond what is happening now . How can the department be improved in this situation, in your estimation . Thats a really good question, don, and i think thats the core question most people are worried about right now. And the answer is, first, the cdc had to make a change in who was allowed to be tested. They did that late today. Ive been critical and said they should have done that weeks ago to allow people in other areas that were impacted and infected to actually be tested when they come back to the United States and we probably wouldnt have the issue we have now in china. They need to make sure screenings are occurring at the airports and they need to really engage with the local Public Health professionals who are on the frontline of what we need here in the country. What we have funded and congress decided to, in a notable level that they have the tools they need to track people who come back with illnesses. And there are basic steps as we, all americans need to do, make sure you wash your hands for 20 seconds, not ten. Make sure you dont touch your face. Ive been paying attention not to touch my face. Its amazing how many times you do it, to scratch something here or there. Its important to take those activities. If people do that, well be payable to navigate that as a potential threat and we can move on. All right, chris, thank you. Appreciate it. Thanks, don. Count down to the democratic primary in South Carolina, candidates vying for the important africanamerican vote. Up next, mayor Pete Buttigieg joins me live from the campaign trail. Oh, hi, samantha. You look more like a heather. Do you ever get that . Its nice to finally meet you in person. Youre pete nocchio . Oh, the pic . That was actually a professional headshot. Im sure thats it, yeah. I, uh, i think ive lost a few pounds recently too. Im actually doing a juice cleanse. Wait you dont. glass breaking gasp ah oh. with geico, the savings keep on going. Just like this sequel. 15 minutes could save you 15 or more on car insurance. I spend a lot of time sin my truck. Y . Its my livelihood. Rock music man so im not taking any chances when something happens to it. So when my windshield cracked. My friend recommended safelite autoglass. 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Now for the state of the race, with the pressure mounting, Democratic Candidates are making their last push to persuade South Carolina voters before saturdays primary. While senator Bernie Sanders leads the race so far, South Carolina in the upcoming super tuesday races are critical contests for the rest of the candidates looking to jump out ahead. Joining me is former mayor of south bend, pete buttiegieg. Thank you for joining me. Appreciate it. Good to see you again. You were mayor of south bend while vicepresident pence was the governor of indiana when he was criticized for his controversial handling of the hiv crisis there. Hes now spearheading the task force on coronavirus. I want you to listen to what he said on hannity a few moments ago. We did have a small town in indiana a rise in incidence of hiv aids. It was all directly coming from people sharing needles and intravenous drug use. We worked the problem early in the year from a Law Enforcement standpoint, from a health standpoint. I dont believe in Needle Exchanges as a way to combat drug abuse, but in this case we came to the conclusion that we had a Public Health emergency, and so i took executive action to make a limited Needle Exchange available. So he sounds like hes taking credit for taking action. What is the truth here . What do you think . You know, that small town hes talking about is in scott county where my mother grew up. Ive been to the Needle Exchange where it was authorized. He was dragged kicking and screaming. Had he acted earlier, i believe the worst parts of the hiv epidemic could have been avoided. The resistance was completely ideological. This is a time we have to put science fir