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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Food Banks in Crisis; North Korea's Explosive Message; Coronavirus and Young People; Statue Protest Turns Violent. Aired 4:30-5p ET

Aired June 16, 2020 - 16:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[16:31:47]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Continuing in our health lead, a new study in the "Nature" journal finds people under the age of 20 are half as likely to get coronavirus as someone over the age of 20, but are also more likely to be asymptomatic carriers of the virus.

Joining me now to discuss, former Obama White House health policy adviser and author of the new book "Which Country Has the World's Best Health Care?" Dr. Zeke Emanuel.

Zeke, thanks so much for joining us.

DR. EZEKIEL EMANUEL, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SPECIAL ADVISER: Nice to be here.

TAPPER: To be clear -- I just want to clarify this.

This study doesn't mean that young people cannot get coronavirus. People under age 20 could still get very sick or even die and should be following social distancing guidelines, right?

EMANUEL: They're much less likely.

First of all, it's a study based upon the epidemiology, and then it models the epidemiology and says they're less likely to get it. It's not a study that actually looked at children and said, wow, they don't seem to get it as often.

So it's mostly a model.

TAPPER: OK.

And the study also finds it almost 80 percent of people ages 10 to 19 who are infected are asymptomatic, no symptoms at all. What might that mean if schools reopen in the fall?

EMANUEL: Well, first of all, if they're much less likely to get infected, that's actually good news. And it does mean that they're not likely to be symptomatic.

So you -- it might be hard to pick out which students to keep home, and it might spread in schools. But on the other hand that, given the fact that they have a low infection rate, they get it less frequently, and they tend to be asymptomatic, and so it's not so problematic if they do get it, I think those are good signs.

And I think, in general, people are interpreting this as we probably can reopen schools with lots of things, physical distancing, hand hygiene, face mask wearing, and de-densification of the schools early.

So I think that's actually a positive signal.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: Well, it's -- I will take any good news that you got for me, Zeke.

EMANUEL: OK.

TAPPER: Vice President Pence is out with a new op-ed today saying that there is there is no coronavirus second wave, arguing that the -- quote -- "panic" is overblown, the cases are declining.

What do you make of that?

EMANUEL: Well, I haven't read it. So I have to rely on what you just said as an accurate representation, Jake. I have no reason to doubt that.

You know, I don't know what you call it. We have actually had pretty flat cases. The cases have moved. They were in New York, New Jersey. You had Governor Murphy on. And now they're in Florida, Mississippi, Texas, Arizona. And those places are seeing 150, 135 percent increases in daily cases.

So, yes, nationally, it's flat. It's not going down, really. But the cases are moving. That may not qualify as a second wave. On the other hand, we're not decreasing the way New York or Pennsylvania or Illinois are in the national level, and that is worrisome.

What I'm really worried about personally is the fall, when we move indoors and we move in October and November, when respiratory viruses like coronavirus really begin to explode. That's when we very well are likely to see a second wave.

[16:35:00]

So prematurely declaring no second wave seems to me exactly that, premature.

TAPPER: I want you to take a look at the picture of the White House Rose Garden today, where the president signed his executive order.

Members of the Trump administration, including the president, standing very close together, no masks in sight at all, no social distancing, handshakes. Is that concerning for you? I mean, you worked for the Obama White House. Is it important for individuals like the president, like his top Cabinet officials, like guests to the Rose Garden to be wearing masks the way that the CDC is telling us the rest of us to?

EMANUEL: Well, they violated almost every rule you could. I saw that presser.

It wasn't an enclosed space. That was the only other thing. There were crowds. They were there together for a long time and, as you point out, they were very close together, patting each other on the back, often shaking hands, no masks, and speaking into each other's faces.

This is not the way to model good public health measures for the American people. They were, in fact, violating most of the CDC recommendations. And I think it's a really bad form of leadership.

TAPPER: Dr. Zeke Emanuel, author of the new book "Which Country Has the World's Best Health Care?" thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

EMANUEL: Thank you.

TAPPER: Be sure to tune in Thursday for a new CNN global town hall with Anderson Cooper and our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta, "Coronavirus: Facts and Fears." That's Thursday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

Coming up: a protest over a statue turning violent, with one person shot and critically injured. New details just in about the incident.

That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:41:15]

TAPPER: In our national lead today, we have some new information about a shooting at an Albuquerque protest. Police have arrested and charged a man for shooting and critically wounded a protester while at a rally to tear down a statue of Spanish conquistador Juan de Onate.

Members of a self-described vigilante group, the New Mexico Civil Guard, were there wanting to protect the statue, they said, which has now been removed by the city.

I want to bring in CNN security correspondent Josh Campbell.

And, Josh, we're just getting some new information about this chaotic situation in New Mexico. Tell us about it.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes, that's right, Jake, a violent confrontation last night in New Mexico between protesters and so-called counterprotesters.

As you mentioned, this was at site of a statue. These protests were calling for the end of police brutality. This is one of many of these protests that we have seen across the country in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

Now, at this incident, we saw on video, the social media video, these counterprotesters showed up in heavily armed tactical gear, the so- called vigilante group. The governor there calling it part of the Civil Guard. And they were there, as they say, to protect the statue. Now, it turned violent because one particular protester made his way

into the group. And it's not clear whether this individual was actually associated with this heavily armed militia type outfit. But the confrontation ensued. You saw a scuffle on a video.

The suspect then moved back and retreated and, according to a criminal complaint from police officers, actually sprayed pepper spray towards the demonstrators, and then opened fire during an encounter.

Now, according this criminal complaint, the suspect himself was assaulted by members of these protests, just a very violent confrontation here. And this has been the question, as we have covered so many of these protests, Jake, is, it's not just protesters and rioters vs. police.

But the question has been, are there other elements at play as well, people who are there to try to take the law into their own hands? It appears that was the case. You see on this video members of the Civil Guard then surrounding the person who fired the weapon.

He is now in custody, a 31-year-old charged with aggravated battery. One person is currently in the hospital in stable, but critical condition, Jake.

TAPPER: That's right. We have seen inappropriate violence, assault by police, by protesters, by counterprotesters. Tell us more about this group that the police say that this guy might have been a member of, the man who's been arrested.

CAMPBELL: Yes, so we have been trying to get comment from them about what transpired at this incident. Thus far, we have heard nothing from this group.

But we have seen members in different areas at different protests, again, showing up, people who disagree with those who are protesting against police violence. And, again, this incident there turning very violent. We're told by law enforcement sources that their focus now is to go through social media video, Facebook posts, videos that were online to try to identify every person that was there to try to determine whether they were associated with this violence and then seek further action.

That investigation very much remains ongoing right now, Jake, there in New Mexico.

TAPPER: All right, Josh Campbell, thank you so much.

An employee of Philadelphia family court was fired after a disturbing new video surfaced from the weekend. Michael Henkel is seen in the video tearing down Black Lives Matter posters that had been made by children near a local playground on Passyunk Avenue, telling a woman off-camera that his taxes pay for that place, he can do what he wants.

And then listen to this exchange he has just a little bit later with a woman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Black lives matter.

MICHAEL HENKEL, PHILADELPHIA: Not to me, they don't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: "Black lives matter," she says.

He says, "Not to me, they don't."

A spokesperson for the family court called Henkel's actions egregious and totally unacceptable. CNN has not been able to reach Henkel comment or to verify what led up to the incident in the recording or why he was tearing down signs made by children.

[16:45:12]

Coming up: a building normally used for peace talks blown up by North Korea.

We're live in the region with what prompted that explosion. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: A massive blow for peace talks between North Korea and South Korea.

North Korea destroying a liaison building the two countries used for negotiations just hours after threatening military action against South Korea if South Korea didn't punish defectors who had sent anti- regime leaflets into North Korea.

I want to bring in CNN's Will Ripley, who has been to North Korea 19 times.

Will, it was less than three years ago that both North and South Korea agreed to a new era of peace between them, and now this. And this move is such a huge symbolic move.

[16:50:08]

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. It's a devastating blow for President Moon and really President Trump, because this building is essentially a physical symbol of the diplomacy that they have been working towards with North Korea.

And the fact that it is now a pile of rubble is very symbolic of the diplomatic process itself, which is essentially dead in the water. In fact, that's the reason why North Korea is taking a measure such as this.

They're using the propaganda leaflets as their excuse. But what the real reason is, is that North Korea is upset that sanctions haven't been lifted and that these more than two years of diplomacy with Kim Jong-un and President Trump have yielded no results in terms of economic relief for them.

Of course, North Korea also has not handed over a single nuclear weapon.

Interestingly, Jake, Kim Jong-un has been largely absent over the last three months. He's only made three public appearances that we have been able to count, and only one of them when he was actually out with people. The other were carefully controlled government meetings, which raises the question, what's going on with Kim?

But, also, his younger sister Kim Yo-jong has actually been the one who's been propped up in North Korean propaganda, making the order to demolish this building, threatening to possibly move armed troops back to the demilitarized zone. So she is being set up as somebody who's very powerful inside the North Korean government, as Kim appears to be keeping a low profile, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Will Ripley, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Coming up next: food banks struggling to keep food on the shelves, as the need for help surges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY THREATT, FOOD PANTRY RECIPIENT: By the time I get the assistance that is needed, I may be found somewhere dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:56:23]

TAPPER: In our national lead: Since coronavirus came to the United States, more than 44 million Americans have for the first time filed unemployment claims, and many are now struggling to feed their families.

And some are turning to food banks just to survive.

And, as CNN's Sunlen Serfaty reports for us now, those food banks are facing a crisis of their own.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a striking contrast.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have had the greatest economy we have ever had.

SERFATY: As the White House declares that the economy is starting to pick back up...

TRUMP: The greatest comeback in American history.

SERFATY: ... millions of Americans are still struggling to afford the most basic of human needs: food.

THREATT: By the time I get the assistance that is needed, I may be found somewhere dead.

SERFATY: This woman in Maryland lost her retail job in April due to COVID and is trying to feed a family of six. CNN agreed not to use her name because of privacy concerns.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every time you look at your refrigerator, you don't have that much food or you are missing milk. It's -- you know, it's hard.

It's not like when I was working. If I don't have anything, I just go to the supermarket. Right now, no, if I don't have, then I come here to get the help that I need.

SERFATY: Food banks are overwhelmed, feeding 60 percent more people than they did this time last year, including four in 10 people who have never been to a food bank before the pandemic hit.

The Capital Area Food Bank in Washington, D.C., has seen a 400 percent an increase, according to CEO Radha Muthiah.

RADHA MUTHIAH, CEO, CAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK: It's a whole new group of individuals who've been affected by this. People have lost their jobs within a matter of a week or two after the pandemic hitting.

SERFATY: And this food bank could be facing a potential crisis moment of its own due to the enormity of the demand.

(on camera): The need is so immediate that it's just not sitting on the shelf.

MUTHIAH: Oh, it's not. I mean, you can see the empty shelves and the racks here that we have.

SERFATY: Yes.

MUTHIAH: It's food coming in, and then it will go out almost -- almost immediately. So, our inventory is at the lowest levels that it has been in, gosh, decades.

SERFATY (voice-over): Seventy-five percent of the food donations from retailers have stopped. That amounts to about 60 percent of its food now gone.

Muthiah says they have had to purchase hundreds of truckloads of food themselves.

MUTHIAH: In April alone, we purchased about three times what we purchased the entire last year to be able to provide to individuals in our region. SERFATY: The coronavirus relief bills passed by Congress in March set

aside $850 million specifically to help food banks, but, so far, the USDA says only $377 million of that has been given out.

A USDA spokesperson admits to CNN that the rollout of funds has been slower than expected, in part because vendors had been low on supplies. But additional food is expected to start arriving at food banks this month.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY: And food banks say that this is just not sustainable for them, especially as they see that this need will increase well into next year.

They are calling on Congress to increase food stamp benefits, or SNAP, by 15 percent. But that is something that many Republicans on Capitol Hill, Jake, have been unwilling to do.

TAPPER: All right, Sunlen Serfaty, thanks.

And for more on how you can help during this pandemic, visit CNN.com/impact, a guide for helping and getting help during the coronavirus crisis.

Our coverage on CNN continues right now. I will see you here tomorrow.

Thanks for watching.

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