CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) on Congressional Measures to Combat Economic Downturn Due to Coronavirus

Interview

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BLACKWELL: It's 18 minutes after the hour now. California was the first state to issue a stay-at-home order for nonessential workers. Right now the state has confirmed 1,077 cases of COVID-19, 24 people have died there in California of the disease. California Democratic Congresswoman Judy Chu has been very vocal. She's talked about the misinformation being spread about the virus and has held Facebook Live conversations with health experts as well. She also thinks President Trump incites fear and endangers Asian-Americans by calling this the Chinese virus. I want to talk about that in a moment. But first, let's welcome in Congresswoman Judy Chu. She sits on the House Ways and Means Committee and is the chairwoman of the Congressional Asian- Pacific American Caucus. Congresswoman, good morning to you.

REP. JUDY CHU (D-CA): Good morning to you.

BLACKWELL: So let's start here. We talked about the stay-at-home order for California, New York, Illinois, Connecticut followed. Should there be a national stay-at-home order?

CHU: Well, our example from California shows that it is important to have the stay-at-home order. This stay-at-home order for us affects 48 million people.

[10:20:05]

But what I think is that if there are those from other states that don't have that and they cross the border carrying coronavirus and are asymptomatic, we could just be just defeating ourselves by not having a nationwide stay-at-home order. So I think we are heading that way, actually. It certainly is a time of necessity for this nation.

BLACKWELL: We spoke this morning with the mayor of Miami-Dade County, and he supports, as does the governor of Florida, a domestic travel ban so that people who are from states like California, like New York, like Washington state that has a concentration of cases, the confirmed cases at least, they wouldn't be able to travel to their states and potentially spread the virus. Would you support a travel ban domestically as well?

CHU: I do think every alternative should be considered. I actually think a stay-at-home order might be more effective. People can do their daily essential needs, but we would then shutdown the nonessential needs where the virus can be spread so easily. So I actually think that would be more effective at this point in time. But then all considerations should be on the table at this point.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about the stimulus plan, the relief bill, I guess chapter three now being considered and negotiated in the Senate. Senator Majority Leader initially released this plan for $1,200 to each American, $2,400 for each couple, of course, with salary caps, or income caps, I should say. Leader Schumer, Speaker Pelosi have suggested that that's not enough. If that's not enough, what is? What earns your vote?

CHU: I would hope that we would have at least $2,000 per adult and at least $500 per child, if not more. People need this cash infusion, and it looks like we're going to have the stay-at-home orders for some time. This is going to probably be a matter of weeks, if not months. And what are people going to do if they're quarantined, if they're at home, if they're unemployed? They are going to need something in order to make sure that they survive. So yes, I do think we need a greater cash infusion.

I also think we need to have a stronger paid family leave. The paid family leave that we passed out of the second bill was good, but it did exempt companies over 500 and businesses under 50. So I do think that we need to make it universal.

BLACKWELL: I want you to listen to the vacillation from the president during this news conference over the Defense Production Act. Of course, that gives the president the authority to order companies to produce the medical equipment, the respirators, the masks, the ventilators that so many first responders and health care workers say they need. Here's where the president bounced back and forth yesterday.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You had a call with Senator Schumer. He says you have now agreed to invoke the Defense Production Act to actually make those medical supplies that hospitals say are in severe shortage. Two questions. Is that what you're doing now?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is. I did it yesterday. We invoked it, I think, the day before we signed it, the evening of the day before, and invoked it yesterday. We have a lot of people working very hard to do ventilators and various other things, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you're using it now --

TRUMP: We are using it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- to tell businesses to make ventilators, masks, respirators?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want to be clear. Are you saying that the administration is requiring these industries to create these products or just asking them?

TRUMP: So far we haven't had to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, I just want to get a clarification, because you just said that you haven't had to require companies to up their production of medical supplies, but you've said last night you invoked the DPA.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So the president kind of bouncing back and forth there. Would you like to see him force these companies to produce the materials needed? And is there enough bipartisan pressure in Congress to urge the president to do that?

CHU: I absolutely think he has to invoke the Defense Production Act. It's actually not clear whether he's actually invoked it, even though he passed the bill. But it is so clear that we are in dire need of personal protective equipment, as well as masks.

But even further than that, we need to have the production of the swabs and the reagents that allows the testing to be done. I have found out that there are actually labs and hospitals that are ready, willing, and able to increase the testing exponentially, but they don't have those chemicals, those reagents that would allow them to process the tests.

[10:25:09]

And yet there are so many people waiting to be tested and have so many anxiety because they are unable to get one.

BLACKWELL: Congresswoman, let me ask you before we let you go. You are the first Chinese-American woman elected to Congress, chair of the Congressional Asian-Pacific American Caucus. The impact of the president continuously calling COVID-19 the Chinese virus, practically for people in your community, Asian-American business owners I've read, what does that mean to people you represent?

CHU: It is dangerous for him to continue calling it the Chinese coronavirus. He is creating more xenophobia every single time he does that. And we can see the results in what's happening to Asian- Americans across this country. A woman was assaulted on the New York subway just for wearing a mask. A young boy out here in Los Angeles County was beaten up by bullies who yelled that he had coronavirus. And, of course, people have gotten all kind of dirty looks and insults. But just this week three Asian-Americans were stabbed in Texas by a man saying he wanted to kill Asian-Americans. So it is a very serious situation, especially in this time of heightened emotion.

BLACKWELL: Congresswoman Judy Chu of California, Congresswoman, thank you so much for being with us this morning. CHU: Thank you.

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