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Workers Struggle Amid Roll Back of Reopenings; Transcript of Floyd's Arrest Released; Supreme Court Rule on Trump's Taxes; Heath Experts Frustrated over Crisis. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 09, 2020 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:33:40]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news overnight. "Glee" actress Naya Rivera is missing at this hour. Authorities say she and her four- year-old son were seen heading out on a lake in southern California Wednesday afternoon. About three hours later, another boater discovered the boat drifting with the boy asleep onboard. Police say he had a life vest on. An adult life vest was found still onboard the boat. Authorities believe Rivera may have drowned. Divers say they will resume their search and rescue efforts as soon as the sun comes up. Rivera played Santana in the hit show "Glee" for six years.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So as of this morning, at least 24 states have announced measures either pausing or rolling back reopening plans. That means many people who thought they were returning to work are now forced to go back on unemployment. Bartenders, obviously, as more and more bars are being shut down, are being particularly hard hit.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich live in Dallas with much more on this.

Vanessa.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: John, bars here in Texas are completely shut down, and that has bartenders experiencing a little bit of a deja vu. The service industry here in the state was badly hit when things first shut down in March, shedding over 400,000 jobs. And just as people were starting to get their jobs back, they're now filing for unemployment for the second time.

[06:35:07]

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YURKEVICH (voice over): For over two weeks Warren Koguc battled Covid- 19, isolated in his apartment in Ft. Worth, Texas.

WARREN KOGUC, BAR MANAGER, FURLOUGHED TWICE: It was brutal. It was a constant beating on your body.

YURKEVICH: He believes he got the virus when he went back to work mid- May, when bars in the state reopened nearly two months after being shut down.

KOGUC: I really thought we should have waited a couple more weeks. You have to make that choice when you're -- when you're in this type of business between your health and safety and -- and working.

YURKEVICH: Now, bars in Texas are closed again and Koguc, who is symptom free, is out of a job again. He was one of 2 million Texans who applied for unemployment from mid-March to mid-May. Weekly claims started to drop when bars and restaurants reopened. But now, like Covid-19 cases in the state, unemployment claims are on the rise again.

KOGUC: I don't know if or when I'll be able to go back to work. I got about a month and a half, maybe two months, before it gets super tight.

YURKEVICH: It's also getting tight for bartender Randee Heitzmann. She bought a brand-new car in February and was just furloughed for a second time.

RANDEE HEITZMANN, BARTENDER, FURLOUGHED TWICE: Not what I would have done if I would have known I was going to go on unemployment and not have to work.

YURKEVICH: The extra $600 a week in enhanced unemployment expires at the end of this month, leaving her financial future in jeopardy.

HEITZMANN: If that $600 goes away, that is gone. Like I don't -- that doesn't even cover my rent. That's $200 to $300 a week. That's not -- that's not livable for anybody at all, let alone somebody that has bills that are for somebody that's used to making twice that in a day.

YURKEVICH: Omar Yeefoon reopened for just four days before closing Shoals Sound and Service.

OMAR YEEFOON, OWNER, SHOALS SOUND AND SERVICE: I knew that the flood was coming.

YURKEVICH: The risk of staying open as cases surged was too great, forcing him to lay off his employees for a second time.

YEEFOON: How do you turn around and -- and ask for someone -- you know, here we go again. Like, I swear we're going to make it this time. You know, it's -- it's -- it's really humbling.

YURKEVICH: Americans out of work have nothing but time. For Heitzmann, she's using it to watch how elected officials are responding to the health and unemployment crisis.

HEITZMANN: We're sitting at home. So the only thing that we have to do is to watch you. So the decisions that you're making might not have repercussions for you right now, but they will in November. And they will the next time we vote after that.

(END VIDEOTAPE) YURKEVICH: Several bars here in Texas have gotten together and filed lawsuits against the governor, essentially asking him to void his executive order that forces them to shut down. And, John, the bartenders we spoke to say they don't understand why wearing a mask has become such a political debate. One of the bartenders put it to me this way. He says, it's the simplest act of kindness that one can do. And he believes it's one of the only ways that he's going to be able to get his job back, John.

BERMAN: Yes, the sad thing is, it's too late for some of those bars in Texas and other states. Had people worn masks, had people been distanced, had they done it the right way the first time, they might still be open now.

Vanessa Yurkevich, such an important look inside some of these states. Thank you.

Newly released transcripts reveal the final words of George Floyd before he was killed. We have those details, next.

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[06:42:52]

BERMAN: Developing this morning, new transcripts detailing the final, desperate moments of George Floyd's life. They were taken word for word from the body cameras of two of the police officers -- former police officers -- who are charged in Floyd's death.

CNN's Omar Jimenez joins us now with the details.

Much more detail, Omar, than we had before.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John, this transcript comes as the defense attorney for former Officer Thomas Lane files a motion to dismiss the case against his client. Now, it gives new insight as to what exactly happened leading up to George Floyd's final moments, starting with officers, or I should say including officers trying to get Floyd into a police car. Remember, they were responding to a call over a fraudulent $20 bill being used. Floyd said he was claustrophobic. There seems to be a bit of a struggle. And then from there Floyd says, OK, OK, I want to lay on the ground, I want to lay on the ground, I want to lay on the ground. Lane says, you're getting in the squad car. Floyd, I want to lay on the ground. I'm going down, I'm going down, I'm going down.

Then they go to the ground. Floyd says, I'm through, I'm through. I'm claustrophobic. My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts. I need some water or something. Please, please, I can't breathe, officer.

Then Officer Derek Chauvin says, then stop talking, stop yelling.

Floyd, you're going to kill me, man.

Chauvin, then stop talking, stop yelling. It takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk.

Floyd, come on, man, I cannot breathe, I cannot breathe. They'll kill me. They'll kill me. I can't breathe, I can't breathe.

At one point the transcript shows that Lane asked if Floyd should be moved to his side, to which Officer Derek Chauvin said, no, he's staying put. And that's part of what Lane's attorneys are arguing in their motion to dismiss, that Lane deferred to a senior officer on the scene. They argue that Lane had no reason to believe a crime was being committed. And I'm quoting the attorney from the motion here saying, Chauvin was calmly positioned near Floyd's neck and back area.

Chauvin's attorney officially has no comment at this time.

And it's important to note, we haven't seen the video itself to corroborate the transcript, but so far a lot of new details, again, giving this, in some cases, horrifying insight.

[06:45:08]

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Omar Jimenez, thank you very much for taking us through that.

Joining us now is CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.

Yes, I think that Omar said it right, I mean it's just as horrifying as when we watched the cell phone video. It's horrifying to hear how long George Floyd pleaded to be able to breathe and for a little bit of help from the officers there. But, legally, what do you hear, Jeffrey?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it's -- it's actually worse, I think, because, you know, the key fact, which somehow I don't think gets mentioned often enough, is that Floyd is handcuffed throughout this whole process. So there is no conceivable way he is a threat to the officers. He is simply trying to survive the experience of being arrested and warning the officers of -- of -- in how -- in how much peril he is.

Look, I think, you know, the other three officers, other than Chauvin, other than the -- you know, the officer who had this knee on his neck, you know, they are going to have an argument. And there is an argument here that a jury can accept or reject. I don't see any basis where this could be used to dismiss the case before trial. But, I mean, this does seem like an appropriate argument for the other officers to say, I was not involved, I was deferring to a senior officer and a jury can address that. But just the overall horror of the picture of what happened is, as you say, only worse now that we have this transcript.

CAMEROTA: Jeffrey, let's move on to what's happening today at the Supreme Court. It's a very big day. Today, will we learn, finally, whether or not we are going to see Donald Trump's tax returns and financial records? TOOBIN: Well, let me give you a ringing maybe on that because there

are two cases before the court. One is a subpoena from a grand jury in Manhattan, the New York City district attorney, for financial records, including the tax returns, and the other is a subpoena from Congress. If the grand jury case goes in favor of the prosecutors, that information will only go to the grand jury and will not be made public and may never be made public. The congressional subpoena is much more likely to be made public, the results of it.

It's also possible that Trump could lose, but the Supreme Court would send the case back to a lower court to resolve certain details, which might eat up several months and give Donald Trump a win of keeping it all secret before the election. So this case, unfortunately, like a lot of legal matters, is a little more complicated than will we see them or will we not.

CAMEROTA: So it doesn't really go the way it does on TV, all the crime -- the -- like "Law & Order" shows that I watch in terms of I won't know within the space of one hour. But what will you be watching --

TOOBIN: No, actually, true (ph). "Law & Order" is completely true. That's exactly (INAUDIBLE).

CAMEROTA: Yes.

TOOBIN: They make that cool noise, badom (ph). You know, that happens. It (INAUDIBLE).

CAMEROTA: Good.

What is the argument in favor of revealing Donald Trump's taxes and financial records? And what justices will you be watching or what clues are you listening for?

TOOBIN: Well, the -- the -- the straightforward argument here is no one is above the law. I mean the grand juries have broad powers to subpoena evidence in criminal investigations. Congress has broad oversight powers. And the president is a citizen like everyone else.

The -- the president's argument is, this is simply harassment. This is only because he's president and it will distract him from his duties.

The key figure, again, is John Roberts, the chief justice. He, as I think many people know at this point, voted with the liberals in three big cases already this term. A big surprise to many people, including me. The question is, will he go against Donald Trump's party and Donald Trump personally in this case, as he did in those other three cases? So -- so John Roberts is very much the focus of attention today. And we'll know shortly after 10:00 a.m. this morning Eastern Time.

CAMEROTA: OK. OK. That's very exciting. That's a great tease.

Jeffrey Toobin, thank you very much.

TOOBIN: All right. CAMEROTA: With the pandemic worsening and the White House appearing to be in denial, are front line workers and public health experts at risk of burning out? We keep hearing these stories of how demoralized they are, how they don't have enough PPE. We look into that, next.

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[06:54:02]

BERMAN: This morning, coronavirus cases in the U.S. are climbing at an alarming rate. Multiple states hitting record increases in hospitalizations. And this is taking a toll on public health experts.

Joining me now is Ed Yong, he's a staff writer for "The Atlantic." He just wrote a new piece entitled, "The Pandemic Experts are Not OK."

And, Ed, it's great to have you on.

We have been noticing this. We speak to public health experts every day. And, increasingly, they look exhausted, exasperated, like this is taking a physical toll on them.

Let me read one quote from your article because I think it's indicative of what you found. This is from one public health expert at Georgetown. Quote, it feels like writing bad things are about to happen on a napkin and then setting the napkin on fire.

What does that quote mean to you?

ED YONG, STAFF WRITER, "THE ATLANTIC": I think these are folks who are trying to help us all. They're trying to pass a very complicated situation off of science-based advice to people on shows like this, to policy makers.

[06:55:01]

And what they're seeing is that their advice is being ignored and that their predictions about the worst-case scenarios are coming to pass, these surges in cases that you've already talked about. And that is incredibly demoralizing to be trying to help your country at a time of need and to just have your expertise be devalued. And to see the nation walk down a path that you had warned about, that is dark and that could have been avoided. It's really dispiriting for them.

BERMAN: What direction do they think we are heading in this morning?

YONG: I think a -- I think it's a bad one. I think it's self-evidently a bad one. We've warned that there is a long data lag between people making risky choices, the policy makers allowing people to make risky choices by reopening too early without testing and tracing in place. There's a long lag between that and cases and hospitalizations spiking to a degree that you can see in the stats. And that's what we're seeing now, which means that the next few weeks are kind of baked in. We're going to see this get worse before it gets better. And while places are now starting to shut down, it's going to take a lot of time for that to start to kick in. BERMAN: What kind of toll is this taking on these scientists

personally? And you found that it's particularly hard on women.

YONG: Absolutely. So people are getting harassment, they're getting huge amount of vitriol. As is always the case, women and women of color in particular are getting much worse. This is incredibly demoralizing. People are -- have been working non-stop since January. They've had very little sleep. They're physically tired. They're emotionally tired.

And I really want to make clear that expertise, which we need so much right now, is not a renewable resource. It comes in these people who are being burnt out. And if we don't protect them, if we don't start listening to their advice, we're going to lose that expertise at a time when we most need it because this pandemic is not going away anytime soon.

BERMAN: Yes, what is happening to the science here? What you're suggesting is the science itself is at risk in some ways?

YONG: Yes, the science is not just an abstract concept that floats out in the air. It's not like this thing that we can just grab when we need it. It exists in the minds of people. People whose expertise has been devalued, people who have been running on fumes for months now. And, you know, if you -- if we don't start thinking about them, if we don't start empathizing with them and actually listening to that advice and using it to inform our decisions in our daily lives, I think it's a huge problem. I think we're going to use a lot of the folks who we need, not just in this disaster, but in all the pandemics to come. Hurricane season is upon us. Like, we -- we need to be ready.

BERMAN: Who do they blame for this happening? Who do they blame for the politicization of science?

YONG: It's such a complicated question. I think with this -- I don't think the people I spoke to really blame anyone. They're not really that type of people. But I -- you know, I'm putting the blame on the federal government. I think that we all, including these experts, spent a huge amount of our own, you know, emotional (INAUDIBLE) staying at home, you know, changing our lives in order to buy the country time so that it could steel itself for what's to come by ramping up testing and tracing, by putting all these measures in place. And no plan was put in place by this administration. That time that we all bought the country was wasted. And that's why we're seeing these surges now. That's why the people who I've spoken to say, this was predictable and preventable. And that's why everyone is so frustrated.

BERMAN: They were warned. They didn't listen. And now we're seeing the consequences.

Ed Yong, I think it's a terrific piece, an important piece in "The Atlantic." Thanks so much for being with us this morning, as always.

YONG: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

BERMAN: NEW DAY continues right now.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The CDC director on defense after President Trump publicly attacked his agency's guidance on reopening schools.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president said, we just don't want the guidance to be too tough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The purpose of CDC's guidance is to facilitate the reopening and the keeping open the schools in this country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president wants to be reckless, even if it hurts kids and hurts teachers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To all of the Americans out there, not only use the face coverings, but really not gathering in homes either.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The extraordinary humanitarian tragedy unfolded. We're doing it without the government of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

CAMEROTA: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY.

And this morning, Dr. Anthony Fauci has a new warning for states experiencing alarming outbreaks of coronavirus.

[07:00:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I think any state.

END