Hi there.
Welcome to my home away from my home away
from home, which is a long way of saying my home.
Happy Monday.
Is it Monday?
Yes.
It is Monday.
Happy Monday, everybody.
Also, in case you didn't know this,
today is the first day of American Beer Week.
Although I have a feeling a lot of you
were on your fifth or sixth week of American Beer Week.
A lot of people drinking.
If I know people, and I think I do.
I'm glad you could join me again for another hour together.
It's nice to have someone to talk to.
And it gives me a reason to vacuum.
Even though you're not seeing the rug,
know that it is vacuumed.
I hope you're enjoying the shows.
Obviously, it looks different for a lot of reasons.
For instance, I have my Executive Producer, Andy,
standing outside in my yard.
I love Andy.
I know it looks like he's wandering around aimlessly,
because that's what he's doing.
But he does a lot.
Basically, that's what he does on the show.
He just wanders around aimlessly.
But he does keep track on how long the interviews are going.
He tells me it's better to be too long than too short.
And I say, that's what she said.
It's a professional relationship, really.
Apparently not everyone who's watching
understands why I'm keeping Andy outside.
I'll explain it again.
Since we're in California, and the governor wants everyone
to observe social distancing, I thought
it would be safer with Andy outside.
Plus he spends most of the time tweeting,
so he should be with the birds.
Good one, Ellen, because tweeting is like birds.
Tweeting is like what birds do.
So that was the joke there.
It's a smart joke.
What I do is I say a joke, you explain it, I explain it,
everyone gets it.
And you like being out there, right, Andy?
I love it.
I love the fresh air.
I love that you and I cannot exchange droplets, as they say.
And it's just safe.
Right, and I but yet I get to see you every day,
which I love.
And I love it.
I'm so happy we did this.
I like to just set a good example.
But I'm sure you'd like to come inside at some point.
And lately, it seems like the rules are changing every day.
Some states are opening up now.
Some are loosening slowly.
Some are a little hesitant at first.
They've seen other people get hurt,
and they don't want to get hurt themselves.
But sometimes, you just have who say, what the heck?
And take a risk, because damn it, Pam,
you're too good to not put yourself out there,
and you said you don't want to stay single forever.
What was I talking about?
Oh, my God.
I don't know.
Actually, I want to know when it's the right time for Andy
to come inside.
I'm not a doctor or a medical expert.
I was raised Christian Science, which is why one of my legs
is shorter than the other.
I don't know what that means.
It's funny.
But I don't know if it's because of Christian Science, but it
one is an inch shorter.
I like it.
Since California's lockdown is supposed
to be ending this month, I want to know
what I'm supposed to do.
So I thought I would ask a real doctor.
Dr. Dre was not available, so I thought
I would ask someone who knows more
about this than me, which turns out to be literally anyone.
But I found someone who I think he can
answer all of the questions.
Please welcome the Chief Medical Correspondent
for CBS news, Jon LaPook.
Hi, Ellen.
Hi.
How are you?
I love this guy.
I'm good, Jon.
How are you?
Do I call you Doctor, Jon, Dr. Jon, or Jon, or Doctor,
or Mr. LaPook?
Jon.
Jon is fine.
Can I call you Ellen?
OK, Jon.
No.
I would prefer--
Dr. Ellen.
Yes.
I watch you all the time.
I'm very impressed by you.
And just in case people don't know who you are,
you are a real doctor.
You went to Yale and Columbia.
You were a resident at New York Presbyterian
Hospital, which is like the General
Hospital of the real world.
It's a good one.
And you follow me on Twitter, so you're doing everything right.
Tell me, first of all, what has this experience
been like for you?
Thank you for asking.
it's been bumpy.
It's a bumpy ride.
It's not easy, because I still have my medical practice.
I'm an internist and a gastroenterologist.
I love doing internal medicine.
And a bunch of my patients have gotten ill,
some of them quite ill.
And then, of course, I'm also the Chief Medical Correspondent
for CBS News.
So in general, you're always walking that line
between being a practicing doctor
and a medical correspondent, a TV doctor.
And so when I'm talking to somebody, whether it's
my one patient or millions of people,
I'm trying to think of them like you're my patient,
and how can I put this in the clearest way,
give it perspective, and not sugarcoat anything,
but say in a way that's not panicky and is embracing
science.
That's one of my favorite lines these days.
It's just embrace science.
It's so important to do that.
See?
And it's exactly the opposite of how
I was raised is to ignore science
and to think that we aren't really our bodies.
We aren't really our physical being.
So It's really-- I'm so lost in all of this stuff.
So obviously, I'm listening to everybody.
And I know what's going on.
And I'm socially distancing and all that.
But tell me, is there something today that we have learned,
is there anything as we're talking today that's changed?
Or is it still--
because everyone is now so over it.
You can see on the news, people are like,
they just want to go out and do things.
And is this really OK?
Yeah, I love that question, because we are at an inflection
point right now.
People are getting fed up with staying home.
And I get it.
It's really tough.
We all want to hug.
We want to leave our homes.
But this is a moment where we really
have to think about society and what's safe for everybody.
It's also a moment when I think our defense mechanism is
starting to crumble.
And I think about my dad.
My mom died in 2009, and my parents
had been married for 66 years.
And after a couple of months, my dad said to me,
is it OK I'm pretending she's still at the hairdresser?
And what was happening there was his defense mechanism,
denial, was crumbling.
And he was starting to realize she's not coming back.
And I think that's happening to us right now.
We're realizing our lives are changed.
We're in this for the long run.
But the long run includes great scientists
all over the world who are working on this,
people like Tony Fauci.
And so I don't want to be like a goody two shoes and Pollyanna
and saying everything's perfect.
But right now, we have a big challenge in front of us.
There are still lots of challenges.
But we've we're embracing that well.
There's been a lot of good progress.
We saw remdesivir as a drug.
That looks like it may have a role.
And it's a time when we just have to have faith in science.
So that being said, at what point
can people have someone over at the house.
If you know you've been quarantined,
they've been quarantining, can you have--
and when-- bottom line, when can Andy come inside?
Because he's been out there since we've been shooting.
And I'd like to have him come in at some point,
just to help clean.
Think about this.
When Andy comes into the house, he's
bringing with him everybody he's been in contact
with for the last two weeks.
So seriously, the incubation period of the is 2 to 14 days.
So if 10 days ago, for example, he was in contact with somebody
who had COVID-19 and didn't realize it,
because people can walk around asymptotically,
no symptoms have still shedded, infects somebody else,
he could be incubating it himself.
So when he came in, even though he felt fine,
he could be shedding it.
He could be starting to get COVID-19.
And it could be a couple of days before he had symptoms.
So imagine if you're somebody deciding
whether to be in close contact with somebody else.
Are you a vulnerable population?
Are you over a certain age?
Do you have an underlying medical condition?
I think the bottom line here as people
are looking to open up the country is this,
that one size doesn't fit all.
So there are certain parts of the country,
for example, Vermont, Montana, Alaska, where
there are relatively few cases, and people
can start very cautiously thinking about opening up.
But I think that's so important.
People shouldn't be intimidated to go online.
And literally, if you Google wherever you are in the country
right now, Google coronavirus and then
the name of your state, or the name of your county,
or whatever, there will be, likely, a map that
tells you in your neighborhood, in your area of the country,
what's going on.
So the devil is in the details.
We have to be really careful to not just open it up
all at once.
The problem with opening up all at once
is-- and a lot of the country still
has places where the cases are increasing.
But if we open it up all at once,
and it's the wrong time, Ellen, it could take a couple of weeks
before we realize it was the wrong time.
And by that time, people are going into the hospital
and getting sick.
So we have to think about everybody right now.
Long story short, it sounds like I'm not coming in today.
Yeah.
That's what it sounds like.
It sounds like you're not coming in today or anytime soon.
Thanks, Ellen.
No, thanks, Jon.
Yes, thank you.
It's better to be cautious than unhappy.
It absolutely is.
The expression is an abundance of caution.
And so I would say you're outside for a while.
Yes, out of an abundance.
Thank you, doctor.
Thank you, Jon.
Thank you so much, great talking to you.
And I'll check in with you again at some point
and ask you other questions, why one leg is shorter.
The other leg might be longer.
That could be the reason.
You've got material.
Thank you very much for inviting me, and stay safe and sound.
Thank you, Doctor.