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Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) is Interviewed about Coronavirus; Jobless Claims for Last Week; Sturgis Motorcycle Rally This Weekend. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired August 06, 2020 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

REP. RODNEY DAVIS (R-IL): I thought were all the safety precautions during those days and, obviously, I didn't do enough. I picked it up somewhere.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, look, I mean, you can do all the right things and still get it, so I wouldn't necessarily blame yourself on this.

And, obviously, in Congress, there's not testing. There's not testing for Congress right now.

What do you think of that?

DAVIS: I think it's terrible. And, ironically, Kevin McCarthy, our leader, and I and Tom Cole have been trying to lead a charge to get the speaker of the House to identify where we can get testing modalities brought to Capitol Hill. It's not just about us members of Congress, it's about the staff, the essential workers that are there on Capitol Hill even when we're not there. It's about the media who are covering the stories that are important to the nation. They deserve a testing -- they deserve testing capabilities too. And right now on the House -- on the Capitol Hill, we don't have any. And it's a travesty.

BERMAN: Do you feel like, look, after Representative Gohmert got it, there were questions about whether members of your caucus were taking seriously enough in the halls. Gohmert, as you know, was someone who hadn't been wearing a mask all that regularly and then when he did he was, you know, all over it and everything. Do you think that people who are walking the halls need to do more there?

DAVIS: You know, I can tell you from my personal experience when we're out there, which we were for the last two weeks, almost -- almost every Republican and Democrat takes it very seriously. Look, it wasn't just -- it wasn't just Louie that got diagnosed. It was also Representative Raul Grijalva, who was following all the protocols he thought to follow.

So, like you said earlier, like I found out, you can do what you think is the best and try hard -- try the hardest to avoid it and sometimes it still affects you. BERMAN: If you need to get a drink of water, I -- you're probably just

hoarse from all the talk you do as a member. I don't know that this is symptom. But it is notable.

Look, you're the ranking member on the House Administration Committee, which oversees election issues around the country.

Illinois is, if I'm not mistaken, mailing out ballot applications to everyone in the state who's voted in the last few elections. You say, quote, I don't want voters in Illinois to think that when they get that application to vote by mail or vote absentee that it's not a safe process. It is, you say. Voting by mail, voting absentee, is a safe process?

DAVIS: In certain states it is. States that are ready for it. Illinois has been utilizing vote by mail for numerous election cycles. And I'm glad that the Illinois state legislature decided to mail applications for mail-in ballots, applications for absentee ballots, rather than mailing live ballots to registered voters like some other states do. That is a process when you mail live ballots that is rife for fraud. It's already happening.

As a matter of fact, one of my colleagues on the House Administration Committee, his staffer in the most recent election in the Washington, D.C., area, got three live ballots mailed his house under three different names. We've already seen fraud committed in Patterson, New Jersey, in the areas around Evansville, Indiana, with mail-in ballots, and even applications. We've got to make sure we limit the opportunity for fraudulent results.

But the real tragedy when it comes to mail-in ballots that doesn't get reported enough is so many are rejected when they get to the -- when they get to the polling place or get to the clerk's office to be counted.

In Los Angeles alone, 100,000 ballots were rejected. Mail-in ballots were rejected. New York recently, 84,000 mail-in ballots, rejected. That's disenfranchisement.

BERMAN: Sure.

DAVIS: We've got to do better.

BERMAN: That's a different issue, the fraud, completely. And that is a valid, legitimate issue.

I will note in both Patterson and Indiana, it was caught, which is also noticeable. In Patterson it was comically caught. I mean in some cases it's obviously. It's more often to catch voter fraud with mail- in than other places.

Look, the issue is, it can be done and it can be done well and safely. So shouldn't that be where the attention is to make it more available? Would you want to go vote? If you felt like you felt now, when we're symptomatic like you are now, do you think on November 3rd you should be going to the polls? DAVIS: Well, when you look at polling, 59 percent of all Americans

still want to go vote at their polling place. And I think what we have to do is make sure that every voter has a chance to cast their ballot in the manner that they see fit. That's why I and my colleagues have introduced the Ease Act (ph). It would provide hundreds of millions of dollars to our local election officials to be able to get the products necessary to clean and sanitize our polling places, be able to -- to be able to put in protocols for social distancing. But we have a major problem too in our country where polling places are being closed because our poll workers are an average of about 65 and over.

BERMAN: Yes.

DAVIS: They don't want to come to the polling places. And what happens is, then you have long lines on Election Day. You have people who are not going to cast their ballot and wait in line that long. In my bill, the Ease Act, will actually incentivize young Americans to get involved by helping to pay down their student debt.

[08:35:04]

BERMAN: Yes, look, again, and I know you're addressing this. This all calls for solutions rather than just saying it's all on fire.

Congressman Rodney Davis, are you sure that this voice isn't a new symptom that's popping up this morning?

DAVIS: Yes, you know, I -- I certainly hope so or hope not. But I'll be honest with you, yesterday, Illinois's weather has gone from 80 degrees in the morning to 54. And it was 50 degrees yesterday. I thought my scratchy throat was just normal until I got tested. It could be, but I -- I will be honest, I have no -- I have no symptoms that I feel whatsoever.

BERMAN: All right, Congressman Davis, listen, take care of yourself. We're glad you got tested. We're glad you caught this. The next 12 to 14 days, we wish you the best. Thank you.

DAVIS: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, we're just getting the latest numbers on new jobless claims in the United States. The breaking news, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We do have some breaking news right now because the new unemployment figures have just come in. And nearly 1.2 million Americans have filed for unemployment for the first time last week.

[08:40:04]

Let's get the response from CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans. So this is better/worse than expected?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's a little bit better, but just the sheer volume of this job crisis, it's just hard to find any silver linings here. And 1.2 million people for the very first time filed for unemployment benefits last week. We are now on a 20-week trend where more than 55 million people have filed for the first time for unemployment benefits.

When you look into these numbers, you can just see the volume of the pandemic recession job crisis. There are right now 32 -- more than 32 million people receiving some sort of benefit, jobless benefit from the government. That number is just unprecedented. And it really shines a light on those negotiations happening in Washington because just last week the $600 a week extra in unemployment benefits disappeared for people and you can see the jobs have not been coming back yet.

So this is a really big, long-term problem that we have here that is an emergency, quite frankly, a jobs emergency that Congress is going to have to tackle soon.

CAMEROTA: Fifty-five million people. I mean, Christine, since this began. What -- what percentage of the workforce is --

ROMANS: That's more than a third of the labor market. If you think of everyone you knew who was working at the beginning of March, a third of those people at one point over the summer, over the past 20 weeks have lost their job.

Now, certainly some of those have gone back. We've seen in the monthly jobs numbers some people have been hired back, but there's real worry right now that this smoldering of the virus in so many parts of the country, the widespread nature of the virus in so many parts of the country, is going to lead to a second wave of job loss and that might be what we're seeing right now.

CAMEROTA: OK, let's also bring in CNN anchor and correspondent Julia Chatterley for more information.

So tomorrow, Julia, is the month -- those monthly job numbers. President Trump seems quite confident that they will be good in comparison.

What are you seeing?

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: This is a difficult one. And you have to remember with this payrolls number it's backward looking, it doesn't reflect the reality of the economy today.

And the expectations are that this number's a wildcard, quite frankly. Some are saying we could see a net 1.5 million jobs added. There are others out there that say actually they don't believe that the recovery here in the jobs market has stalled. They think we're going in reverse and actually we could see job losses -- net job losses tomorrow. Just based on the data that we're looking at here, I'll pull out just very quickly a minor silver lining, and that is, when you look at the continuing claims, so those people that are getting their hands on these specific benefits, that did drop two weeks ago by 800,000 people. It is a drop in the ocean, but I will pull that it of it.

And I think the big risk here over the two days, Alisyn, is that actually lawmakers looking at this see the numbers today and say, actually it's a little better than expected. If we see jobs added tomorrow, they say the same thing and that builds their resistance to allowing the continuation of the $600 a week bump up. There's no reason in these numbers not to continue to provide that support. And that's the message that we have to take, whatever these numbers are, quite frankly.

CAMEROTA: Well, Christine, we just spoke to Senator Dick Durbin to get a status report and he said that he doesn't foresee any resolution happening today. Maybe tomorrow. But they're still really far apart. Obviously there's still finger point on both sides.

And so what's happening out in the real world while they're haggling over this?

ROMANS: Well, look, outside of the beltway, and outside of Wall Street, there is a main street crisis happening right now. This is a pandemic recession and you have a brick wall that most people just ran into with the loss of that $600 a week in unemployment benefits. That's essentially $18 billion a week out of the pockets of jobless people and out of the economy. That's going to hurt. So the more that Congress dallies here -- dilly dallies, it could actually endanger the recovery.

The shape of the recovery depends on what Congress is doing here right now. And this is not about Wall Street. Wall Street's doing fine. The Nasdaq's up 20 percent this year and the S&P 500's up on the year too. The Dow's down a little bit. But, still, I mean, Wall Street is fine. Real people are really hurting.

CAMEROTA: Julia, final thoughts?

CHATTERLEY: Yes, just really quickly. For some people it's depression style.

ROMANS: Yes.

CHATTERLEY: When you take 90 percent of the cash that they've been receiving out of their pockets, you are talking depression style conditions for many families in this country. It's unacceptable. This support is desperately required and we have to remember the aggregate here is not what's reflected for the poorest families in this country.

CAMEROTA: Julia Chatterley, Christine Romans, thank you both very much for helping us with all that breaking news.

Well, the legendary Sturgis motorcycle rally is this week. What is the plans to keep coronavirus at bay? We ask the mayor of Sturgis, South Dakota, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:49:06]

BERMAN: As we speak, tens of thousands of bikers on their way to Sturgis, South Dakota. One of the largest motorcycle rallies in the world begins there this weekend. Roughly a quarter of a million people are expected, prompting concerns it could turn into a breeding ground for coronavirus.

Joining us now is the mayor of Sturgis, South Dakota, Mark Carstensen.

And, Mr. Mayor, thanks so much for being with us.

A quarter of a million people from all over the country coming your way during a pandemic. Is this really a good idea?

MAYOR MARK CARSTENSEN, STURGIS, SOUTH DAKOTA: Well, it's been a difficult decision and a process that started last -- in the month of March. It's been apparent that what the city of Sturgis can do, we -- we cannot stop people from coming. South Dakota's been a free state through this whole process and we've had a tremendous amount of visitors already.

All that being said, being prepared is what we put out as a priority for everybody, both for the community and for our visitors.

[08:50:03]

So we prepare for rallies every year but this one takes a little bit more and we want to stress personal responsibility to our visitors and our residents as this gathering moves forward.

BERMAN: In other words, they were coming anyway, so you guys just had to accept that and try to deal with it. So I guess my question to you is, there are some states in some cities that have quarantine restrictions in place. What measures are you taking for the bikers coming from hot spots in Texas, in California, in Arizona, in Florida? Any quarantine restrictions for those bikers?

CARSTENSEN: No -- no restrictions in place from the state or from the city of Sturgis. Like I mentioned, lots of visitors have coming through the Black Hills and the entire state over the last few months. It's a difficult situation. We certainly do have CDC recommendations. We spoke with our temporary venders, our permanent businesses. We're going to have plenty of signage, plenty of sanitation stations. We're cleaning our streets and doing our garbage different than we've ever done and trying to keep things as clean as possible. But being prepared, being -- having the personal responsibility message and hoping people make the right choices.

BERMAN: I get it, that cases have been low in South Dakota, and they have, lower than -- than most of the country. But the question is, where are the people coming from that are coming to Sturgis now? And I know that there are residents who are scared. Cnn.com spoke to a person who said, quote, my grandma is absolutely terrified because she has diabetes and is in her 80s and has lupus. If she gets it, it's a death sentence.

So what about the residents of Sturgis who are now going to sit there as all these people come in?

CARSTENSEN: We have what's called the Sturgis Good Deeds Program, which has been in effect since the beginning of the pandemic. What we do is we actually contactlessly deliver supplies to people's residence in Sturgis. We've been doing that the entire time. We're actually expanding the program during the Sturgis motorcycle rally to including anything that can be bought in Sturgis basically. We want to encourage people to stay home and we want people that are definitely susceptible and have pre-existing conditions to stay home because we feel that's a very important step. And as a city we want to do everything we can to make sure that those people are able to do so.

BERMAN: What --

CARSTENSEN: After the rally we've been working on mass testing and we're going to have mass testing for employees, for residents, for businesses that are available to help post rally try to keep things in check as we move forward in time.

BERMAN: So kind of a mitigation after the fact. Test everyone after the fact just to see what happened?

What kind of mask requirements do you have in place?

CARSTENSEN: No masks (INAUDIBLE) encouraged. We'll have a lot of personal protective equipment out there available for people. There's a lot of foundations and charities in our neck of the woods that have donated cloth masks. Again, back to personal responsibility. We encourage people to stay, you know, social distance as much as possible. Stay with your pods of people that you're already interacting with. And just be respectful of others.

BERMAN: Do you personally feel safe?

CARSTENSEN: I do. I've -- I've worked through this entire time, both my regular job and my mayor job. Obviously there's -- you need to wash your hands. You need to be cognizant of people. You need to be respectful of yourself, personal space and others. But, yes, I feel safe.

BERMAN: All right, Mark Carstensen, mayor of Sturgis, South Dakota, listen, thanks for being with us. We wish you the best of luck. Stay as safe as you can throughout this.

CARSTENSEN: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, John, it's time for "The Good Stuff."

Eight-year-old Grayson Winfield of Conway, South Carolina, is determined to make the world a better place. In the midst of the pandemic, he is mowing lawns for first responders and he's collecting donations to buy gift cards to feed area families. Grayson says he wants to join the Navy, like his hero, John F. Kennedy. The fourth grader has started an organization called Helping Footprints to advance his effort. And so far he's delivered gift cards to six families and with his brother's help, John, he has mowed nine lawns.

BERMAN: Look how long that grass is. You see how long that grass is. That's not easy.

CAMEROTA: First responders are busy.

BERMAN: Look, it's a wonderful thing he's doing. And, you know, kids want to help. Kids see what's going on right now. Kids want to do something. So it's great that they get out and do that.

CAMEROTA: Good for him.

All right, meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci tells CNN how the U.S. can reopen the economy and keep coronavirus cases down.

CNN's coverage continues, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:59:12]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Sciutto.

A warning this morning from the nation's top infectious disease doctor, Anthony Fauci. There is trouble ahead, he says. This as White House Task Force Coordinate Dr. Deborah Birx says that positivity rates, that is the rates of people -- a percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus are rising in nine U.S. cities, as well as California's Central Valley. It's a key measure. Arguably more important than the total number of new infections.

Here's Dr. Fauci on CNN's NEW DAY backing up those concerns saying take action now or risk catastrophe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: It's a clear indication that you are getting an uptick in cases, which inevitably, as we've seen in the southern states, leads to surges and then you get hospitalizations and then you get death.

[09:00:07]