Hassett says that a lot of the unemployment insurance claims occurred after they were included in the survey for official unemployment data, and so "the really bad news that we've been seeing in initial claims will be spread over a couple of months."

He then said that he expects the unemployment rate will be around 16% - 17%, and that the Q2 GDP number will be the "biggest negative number that we've seen since the great depression," which could be in the -20% to -30% range.

"The question is what happens next," Hassett concluded.