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Coronavirus Hits Record Highs in 3 Most Populous States; Dozens of Secret Service Agents Self-Quarantining after Trump Rally; New Polls: Biden Leads in Six Key Battleground States. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired June 25, 2020 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): We cannot continue to do what we have done over the last number of weeks.

[05:59:20]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: California shattered daily highs, adding more than 7,000 new cases.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to get a grip on this virus, because right now it has a grip on Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to do something to halt community transmission right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we can get people to wear masks, we cannot only save lives, it can also save the economy.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): People coming in from states that have a high infection rate must quarantine for 14 days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been through hell, and we don't want to go through hell again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And we want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Thursday, June 25, 6 a.m. here in New York.

A public health train wreck in slow motion. That's how one expert describes the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. And here's why. The three most populous states, California, Texas, and Florida all reporting record increases this week.

Houston's mayor says the city's ICU beds are almost at capacity.

Disney delaying the reopening of its California parks because of a spike in cases there, and thousands of workers at Disney World in Florida now petitioning to postpone their reopening. JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Somehow it feels like we're right back where

we were in March.

And in the middle of all this, people are fighting about wearing masks. Literally fighting. This as a new model projects that, if 95 percent of Americans wore masks, 30,000 lives could be saved.

North Carolina and Nevada, the latest states to issue mandates for mask wearing.

And we learned overnight that dozens of Secret Service officers are being told to quarantine after working at President Trump's Tulsa rally, where as you can see, many, many people did not wear masks.

As for politics, brand-new poll numbers out this morning from key swing states, showing a huge trend toward Joe Biden. We'll break down those numbers for you in just a moment.

We're going to begin, though, with the coronavirus, the pandemic. Some sobering facts and figures there.

Stephanie Elam live in Los Angeles.

Stephanie, 7,000-plus new cases in California.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Alisyn, that's exactly it: 7,149 new cases in one day, just obliterating the previous day record, which was about 5,000 cases the day before.

Obviously, this is giving some pause to people and making people wonder if the United States is actually losing the battle against the coronavirus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM (voice-over): The first state to issue a stay-at-home order is now seeing skyrocketing coronavirus cases this morning. California reporting more than 7,000 new confirmed cases in one day.

Governor Gavin Newsom asking residents to be cautious, as they were at the start of the pandemic.

NEWSOM: We cannot continue to do what we have done over the last number of weeks. Many of us, understandably, developed a little cabin fever. Others have just, frankly, taken down their guard.

ELAM: California's one of the nation's three most populous states, experiencing record highs in new coronavirus cases. And Newsom says its hospitals are ready for an influx of patients, if needed.

NEWSOM: California did to lead on a statewide stay-at-home order save lives and bought us time to build out our infrastructure. And we have done just that. That's why today we're at roughly eight percent capacity in our hospitals.

ELAM: In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis once again said "no" to issuing a statewide mandatory mask order, despite the state health department recommending them.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Ultimately, we've got to trust people to make good decisions.

ELAM: This as one updated model suggests that universal mask wearing could help save more than 33,000 lives by October 1.

DR. CHRIS MURRAY, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH METRICS AND EVALUATION: If we can get people to wear masks, we can not only save lives, but I sort of think of it as we can also save the economy, because we can keep business going if we can convince people that this is the best strategy.

ELAM: In Arizona, only 12 percent of intensive care unit beds for adults are available. That's according to the state's public health agency.

And in Texas, more than 4,300 people are hospitalized with the disease. One health expert warns Houston could end up the hardest hit city in the country. And other big Texas cities like Dallas and Austin could be deeply impacted, too.

DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE: So our big metro areas seem to be rising very quickly. And -- and some of the models are, you know, on the verge of being apocalyptic.

ELAM: The New York tristate area is now seeing downward trends of new infections, and state leaders hope it stays that way, as phased reopening continues.

GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): And we've beaten this virus down to a pulp in New Jersey with an enormous loss of life. We've been through hell, and we don't want to go through hell again.

ELAM: To help, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut announced a travel advisory, requiring a 14-day quarantine for people arriving from eight states with high levels of coronavirus.

CUOMO: A lot of people come to New York and the tristate area from other places. We just want to make sure we don't import the virus, because we learned that lesson; been there, done that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: Now, I did talk and ask Governor Newsom about the spike and the perception that perhaps California has lost its way on this. And he says, Listen, when the stay-at-home order went into place, California was not ready. But he said, We did not have a spike here, and that also bought the state time for the inevitable, which he said was, we were going to see these numbers come back up as the state opened back up.

You've had, he said, Memorial Day. You also had the weather getting nicer. Businesses coming back online. People coming back out before that.

[06:05:10]

And also, he's saying that the protests, seeing some of that, even though -- well, I can tell you. I was out there. Most everyone did have on a mask. It's still about whether or not people are social distancing. And he says this is part of the reason why we're seeing this number go up.

And John, just one other point I asked the governor, as well, is he felt that part of the reason people may not be wearing masks religiously is because of President Trump's reluctance to wear one. He said -- his response to that was for Californians to follow the lead of Dr. Fauci, John.

BERMAN: Stephanie Elam for us in California.

Record cases in California. Record cases in Texas, and record cases in Florida. More than 5,000 new cases in just one day. And this is particularly alarming. The positivity rate, the percent of people testing positive for coronavirus, now nearing 20 percent. That is a dangerous number.

CNN's Rosa Flores live in Miami, the hardest-hit county in the state -- Rosa.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right. As you mentioned, Florida shattering its own record, reporting more than 5,500 cases yesterday alone.

I talked to an expert who put it like this. He said, you know, there are a lot of young people who are out partying. Not social distancing, not wearing masks, and then going home and interacting with their parents and their grandparents.

As for the number of individuals, young people who are ending up in the hospital, most of them are obese and have other chronic conditions.

Now I checked the numbers this morning here in Miami-Dade. The positivity rate yesterday was 27 percent. According to the county, their goal is to stay under 10 percent. Well, they have exceeded that number for the past ten days straight.

Now, as for hospitalizations here, Jackson Health reporting 108 percent increase in the number of COVID-19 patients in the past 16 days. With all that said, Gov. Ron DeSantis doubling down, saying he is not requiring masks statewide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): There's an enforcement that has to follow in that, and we have a lot of places in Florida where that would not be a good use of resources. So I think the approach where it's more tailored to the circumstances make more sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FLORES: The governor there saying, of course, that there are no signs that he's going to be rolling back any of those restrictions in his reopening plan, but Disneyland in California is postponing its reopening. Disney World here in Florida is not. It is still scheduled to reopen on July 11 -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Rosa, thank you very much for the update.

Meanwhile, dozens -- this happened just overnight. CNN has learned dozens of Secret Service agents are being told to quarantine after working at President Trump's rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where a huge swath of people did not wear masks, as you can see on your screen.

CNN's Joe Johns is live at the White House with more.

So what does this mean, Joe?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Alisyn, this really highlights the risk for the people who work behind the scenes to protect the president, especially when he's on the road, as you noted.

We are being told that dozens of United States Secret Service agents will have to be quarantined as a result of the president's trip over the weekend out to Tulsa, Oklahoma. A source described that number as on the low side of dozens.

There's also a new procedure being instituted over here at the White House, where any Secret Service agent traveling with the president will have to be tested within 24 to 48 hours before the trip. The service does not like to put out a lot of information on stuff like this for security reasons.

The president, for his part, seemed to be ignoring the current realities of the pandemic. Really not talking about those surging numbers and a number of states around the country, choosing to suggest, in his view, there's good news ahead on the vaccine front. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is the first after COVID, after the start of the plague, as I call it. And it's an honor to have you here.

As far as the joining with us on the vaccines and therapeutics, by the way. Because the therapeutics to me, if you gave me a choice right now, probably therapeutically, maybe I'd -- I'd like that even better, but we're working very well on both. I think we're coming up with some great answers. I think you're going to have a big surprise, a beautiful surprise sooner than anybody would think.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: The president back on the road again today, out to the important swing state of Wisconsin. He's going to tour a ship builder and then attend a town hall in Green Bay.

Alisyn, back to you.

CAMEROTA: Joe, thank you very much.

So a new model projects that more than 30,000 American lives could be saved over the next weeks if everyone wore masks. But wait until you hear what one politician in Arizona said about having to wear one. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:13:59]

CAMEROTA: This morning, growing concern over how the U.S. will contain this worsening pandemic. The three-most populous states in the country -- California, Texas, and Florida -- are reporting record increases in new cases. In Florida, the positivity rate is now nearing 20 percent.

Joining us now is Dr. Andrew Pastewski. He's the medical director of the intensive care unit at Jackson South Medical Center in Miami. Also with us, U.S. CNN national security analyst -- guess I don't need to say "U.S." there -- Juliette Kayyem.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: She's a former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security. Great to see both of you.

Dr. Pastewski. Let's look at what's happening in Florida. It's seeing, as we said, its highest increase since this began, since we started charting this in March. So tell us what the situation is on the ground in your hospital.

DR. ANDREW PASTEWSKI, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, INTENSIVE CARE UNIT, JACKSON SOUTH MEDICAL CENTER: Well, our number that we focus on is 38. We have 38 COVID beds in between two units. And if we can keep that number below 38, you know, matching discharges with admissions, we feel like we're in a good spot.

Our number yesterday was 33, down from 40 a few days ago, so we were in a good spot yesterday, regarding the number of patients that we had.

BERMAN: That is good news, although it does fluctuate day-to-day. And the overall trends in Florida, in Texas, in California, not great.

Just Juliette, look at Texas, for instance, where you can see the number of hospitalizations continuing to rise, doubling in some cases over the last few weeks. I think we have a graphic that illustrates this. In Houston, we're being told they're running out of ICU beds.

And the question is, what do you do about it? I mean, Apple is closing stores in the Houston area. You have Disney announcing they're not going to open Disneyland when scheduled. Changes are being made, but what else needs to happen? KAYYEM: Well, you know, ideally, obviously, we would have a national

plan. And what you're seeing now is the failure to have that. Right? To have sort of instituted a much more aggressive plan in March, is that now, every state is sort of on its own.

So California is trying to assess whether it should open up Disneyland.

In Texas, you have a governor who for months is, Everyone go out and about, and now I think is seeing the writing on the wall. Governor Abbott is, you know -- hasn't mandatory mask, but he is recommending masks. He's telling people to stay inside.

Reality is hitting these governors one by one, about what is happening in their states. And the sort of -- you know, I don't know if I have a happy answer for you, because the disconcerting aspect of what this incline is, we don't have a strong social distancing sort of framework or policies in these states to stop the spread.

And so you're going to just see these increases until you get either hospitals crashing or greater surge capacity or an American public that just can't tolerate this anymore.

All I know is those who wanted us out and about for the economy look at what is happening. I mean, things are just going to close down again.

CAMEROTA: Juliet, I want to stick with you for one second about this war on masks. It's incredible that masks have somehow become this political football.

KAYYEM: Right.

CAMEROTA: The only way for the virus to spread is if people are close together and if they're not wearing a mask. Humans are the carriers. That's the only way that it can spread. Can it be on a surface? Yes, for a couple of hours, but the way it spreads through the community is through its human carriers.

And the idea that there's this councilman in Arizona who held this rally -- I mean, it was maybe up to a hundred people. We have some video of it, because he's so outraged that he would have to wear a mask, and he finds it so antithetical to his, you know, personal freedom. And let me just play for you what he said during the course of this rally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUY PHILLIPS (R), SCOTTSDALE CITY COUNCILMAN: I can't breathe! I can't breathe!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: He, of course, was quoting George Floyd and what started all of the protests. I should say that the mayor has condemned him. The governor has

condemned him. Senator Martha McSally has condemned all of that. But how did we get to this point?

KAYYEM: Well, I mean, look, there's just disgusting people in the world. But we got to this point, because -- because the president got us here.

At the beginning, about eight weeks ago when the president started to question, I don't know it was the masculinity of wearing masks or even the effectiveness of it, which was advice that was inconsistent with every sort of, you know, person with a brain at this stage. And let me tell you why.

Even if masks are not perfect, we are in the stage of risk mitigation. We're not going to eliminate the virus. We're going to have to learn to live with it.

We don't have strong social distancing in most of these states. We don't have a great treatment. We certainly don't have a vaccine. And so what you just want to do is do a whole bunch of different things that, combined, can help stop the spread.

And masks is a key part of that. So is, also, you know, being outside a lot, avoiding lots of people.

And so, you know, basically, we just are dependent on individuals behaving well. And we certainly know, with a president who is questioning sort of basic science and actually putting people in harm, you're going to just see behavior like this throughout the United States.

There's just no question in my mind, in anyone's mind who looks at this, without a strong masking policy, I see no way out of stopping the spread at this stage.

BERMAN: You can see the real-time implications of some of this, too.

KAYYEM: Yes.

BERMAN: Dozens of Secret Service officials --

KAYYEM: Exactly.

BERMAN: -- have been quarantined for two weeks since the president's Tulsa rally Saturday night, where, of course, there were thousands of people, many if not most of whom were not wearing masks. So it is having a direct one-for-one impact, the decisions that are made.

Doc, to you, look, we are seeing younger people being the ones who are now reporting as new cases. The numbers are skewing younger. What impact is that having? What are you most concerned about in Florida right now, in terms of the spread?

[06:20:11] Obviously, you want to keep the beds empty in your hospital. So what's your message to the people in Florida about the best way for them to do that?

PASTEWSKI: Well, you know, ironically, an old friend reached out to me regarding having her honeymoon here in Miami and wanted to know whether or not the news was real and what was going on down here.

And I told her, Don't come. I told her, Stay away from Florida in general. It's not a good time for us right now.

It is scary here. Younger people are getting sick. My own brother tested positive last week. He's 40. I brought him down from New York to keep him safe months ago, and he's been living in the house. He's been fine, but he got sick. He's OK. He's got a mild case, but even staying safe, this virus can get you.

And I just told her, I'd skip Florida for the honeymoon at this time.

CAMEROTA: We're really sorry to hear that about your brother. That is scary. I mean, just -- you brought him there to be safe from New York, and you are a doctor and, you know, he obviously went out at some point and then he got sick. And I mean, that's just a cautionary tale on every level. We hope that he's doing OK.

And Dr. Pastewski, we'll check back with you. Thank you very much for all the information.

Juliette, as always, thank you for all of your expertise, as well.

PASTEWSKI: Thanks.

CAMEROTA: Up next, brand-new polls on the 2020 race in key battleground states. A very big headline for you to see. So Harry Enten is going to break down the numbers for us, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:26:06]

BERMAN: New this morning, "The New York Times" just published polls from six key battleground states, the states that could very well decide the 2020 election.

Joining us now to break down these numbers, CNN Politics senior writer and analyst, Harry Enten.

Harry, I have to say, there's a huge wow factor to looking at these polls. Now, I know it should be surprising if you've been looking at the national polls. Still, I can't remember seeing margins this big in these key swing states.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICS SENIOR WRITER AND ANALYST: No, I mean, I don't really, either, to be perfectly honest with you. And this is really the first clear indication that we have that the national lead that Joe Biden has taken is really getting into those key swing states. So let's take a look at them, right?

The six key swing states, the closest states that Donald Trump won in 2016, what do we see right now? We see Joe Biden opening up a wide lead. The smallest of which is in Florida, where he's only up six points.

But look at the key three Midwestern states that Donald Trump won, those Great Lakes battlegrounds. Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, double-digit leads for Joe Biden in all of them.

And keep in mind, back in 2016, these were all states that Trump won, won by an average of about two points, those three key Midwestern Great Lakes states, he won by a little bit less than a point. And right now, he's up by double digits in all those key Great Lakes states. And he's up by six, seven, and nine in Florida, Arizona and North Carolina. These, simply put, John, are huge, huge leads. This is a huge story.

BERMAN: Yes. It's a blowout. I mean, it's a blowout when you look like this today. And I know it's just today. But you look at Arizona, you look at North Carolina, which are traditionally more reddish states. To see the margins there, plus 7 and plus 9, those are big.

Now, Harry, one of the things you're going to hear, no doubt, as the Trump campaign wakes up, is, Oh, it's just one poll. This doesn't mean anything.

ENTEN: Yes. And truth be told, that will be a B.S. line.

Take a look at Wisconsin, right, where we've actually had three polls, three polls taken since late May into June. These are after the anti- racist protests started.

And what we see from FOX News, "New York Times"/Siena, and Marquette University Law School poll, all top-notch polls, is we see the average there has Biden up by ten.

And what's so important here is compare that to the prior poll, right? For all of three of these pollsters, we see a significant movement towards Biden. The prior polls, on average, only had Biden up by four points.

We're seeing more than a doubling of Biden's advantage in Wisconsin. Of course, Wisconsin was the keyest of the swing states in 2016. It was what we called a tipping point state. The median Electoral College vote was in those states. So the fact that Wisconsin has moved all the way into Biden's column like this, that is very significant news and suggests he has a true Electoral College advantage at this point.

BERMAN: And it's the movement that matters here, Harry. We always say this. Polls are just a snapshot in time. No one is saying the election is today. We know there are still four months to go.

But what this does show and the consistency over the polls, including the CNN national poll, "The New York Times" poll, the FOX poll, is you're seeing clear movement here. And we don't have a slide for this, but it's broad-based movement, too, among different voting groups, racially, demographically, age-wise, education-wise.

ENTEN: That's exactly right. I mean, here are a few things I'll just note.

You know, Wisconsin, right, which I really wanted to get into, is a state that has a lot of white working-class voters. That is white voters without a college degree. So the fact that Wisconsin is moving so much is an indication that Biden is really making inroads into that group.

He, in fact, in the national polls has been improving by about ten points among that group, compared to where he was just a few months ago. And especially compared to Hillary Clinton back in 2016.

And whites with a college degree, as well. That, I think, is the big story here. Is that white voters, who I think Donald Trump is trying to get after with this law and order politics, right? They are not buying it at this point. They are shifting in to Joe Biden's column. And that's the big story.

Biden is winning where there are a lot of white folks, as well as winning in those more diverse states in the Sun Belt.

END