Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Harris' Childhood Friend on Historic Pick; Scotland Train Derailment; Schools Grapple with Infections Before Reopening; Effective Face Coverings and Masks. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired August 12, 2020 - 08:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:04]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Senator Kamala Harris achieving a lot of firsts as Joe Biden's choice for vice president. This morning we're learning more about her personal side from one of her first friends. Stacey Johnson-Batiste has known the senator since kindergarten, which wasn't, I guess, that long ago. She joins me now.

Listen, thank you so much for being with us.

We have some pictures of the two of you from a long time ago.

What's it like to get that call --

STACEY JOHNSON-BATISTE, LIFELONG FRIEND OF SEN. KAMALA HARRIS: Thank you for having me.

BERMAN: What's it like to hear that a friend of 50 years has just been put on the ticket?

JOHNSON-BATISTE: It is amazing. I mean it is fabulous. Absolutely wonderful. I was so excited yesterday and last night I could barely get to sleep. And then I woke up at like 3:40 and could not go back to bed. So it's very, very exciting.

BERMAN: What drew you to her as a friend in kindergarten?

JOHNSON-BATISTE: So our mothers became friends. And so that's how she and I, you know, became friends. So we were always around each other because of our mothers.

BERMAN: What drives her, do you think?

JOHNSON-BATISTE: Oh, gosh. Kamala, as far back as I can remember, she's always been a passionate person. She's always cared about people. She is -- you know, she's always been humble, very smart, very thoughtful about what she says and what she does.

I think she's driven by her -- her love and her caring for people, for her family, for her friends. BERMAN: She talks about being a biracial child. She talks about being

present at protests, at civil rights protests with her parents when she was in a stroller even.

JOHNSON-BATISTE: Right.

BERMAN: To what extent do you think that that affected her?

JOHNSON-BATISTE: I think a lot, you know? (INAUDIBLE) Berkeley, during the '70s, it was very common for us to see protests and demonstrations and it was a very multicultural city and small, but mighty. I mean, you know, we would walk all around Berkeley and there were street vendors, you know, festivals, live music. You know, so -- and we spent a lot of time walking through and all around UC-Berkeley and being on Shadic (ph) and Telegraph (ph) and university. So it was a -- a very special time of protests. And whatever was going on in our state or the country or around the world, we knew about it. So I think that exposure to the world and to, you know, to many different people, cultures, food, music, theater, all of that helped to shape the person she is today.

BERMAN: So what do you think Mike Pence, the vice president of the United States, needs to know about getting on a debate stage with your friend, Kamala Harris?

JOHNSON-BATISTE: Oh, boy. Kamala's fierce. She's fierce. She is phenomenal. She is a very thoughtful person. So thoughtful in terms of what she says. She -- you know, she cares very, very much about this country and all of the people in it. She is -- she's ready. She's ready. So everything that she has worked so hard for over the decades being a prosecutor, being a district attorney for San Francisco, you know, being California's attorney general and senator, it has groomed her, shaped her, got her ready. And I would say it really all started, that passion, in Berkeley.

BERMAN: When I first asked you the question you laughed in a way that indicated to me that maybe you were thinking something, you know, a little different, a little deeper than that there. Like you're looking forward to that moment when she walks on that stage with Mike Pence.

JOHNSON-BATISTE: I am, actually. I think it will be -- I mean since yesterday, there's been a lot of energy, a lot of excitement. I think Kamala is a perfect balance to Joe. I think it's going to be a great campaign. And when we see her on that stage, I mean, I -- you know, running for president, all of those campaigns and contests has gotten her ready.

[08:35:04]

BERMAN: How do you make her laugh? What's something that would embarrass Kamala Harris that we don't know about?

JOHNSON-BATISTE: Oh, boy, you know, she -- she's intuitive and we laugh at the -- just little things, silly things. I mean, we don't really have to -- I mean just common, every day, you know, people, places, things, memories. Our mothers and their laughs and some of the things that we did when, you know -- being -- being kids, going to Ferry Land (ph), going to parties, you name it, you know, just simple, everyday life.

BERMAN: I don't know if you've had a chance to talk to her yet and I have to let you go. But if you did have a chance to talk to her, what's the first thing you'd say?

JOHNSON-BATISTE: Oh, God, I am so proud of you. I'm so proud of you. And we need you now. Our country needs you now.

BERMAN: Stacey Johnson-Batiste, thanks for joining us this morning and sharing your memories and your thoughts about your friend who is now on the major party ticket and we are waiting to see her later on today. So, thank you very much.

JOHNSON-BATISTE: Thank you for having me. Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, we do have breaking news. A passenger train has just derailed in Scotland. And we are told now there are serious injuries. New information from a live report in Scotland, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:21]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news.

A passenger train has derailed on the east coast of Scotland. There are injuries. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying it is a very serious incident.

CNN's Max Foster is live in Scotland with the breaking details.

The sheer number of ambulances and vehicles we can see there and that smoke tells us a lot, Max.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And the first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has declared a major incident and she's getting briefings all the time on this from the emergency services in place.

We're not getting much information. We think that's because communications in that area aren't particularly effective. But what we do know is that there was flooding overnight in that area. There were some pretty major storms in Aberdeenshire at the time. And the Network Rail tweeted this video which shows the extent of the flooding on that particular part of the line and there was land slip in the area as well. So we think the two incidents are linked.

We're just trying to get more information on these injuries, the extend of the injuries. How many carriages were on this train and actually how many passengers were on the train. Lots of local media reports suggesting it was a train leaving Aberdeen early in the morning, but it seems that it took a long -- a long time, hours possibly, for the incident actually to be reported into the authorities. It happened about 9:40 local time. At least that's when it was reported to the authorities. And we only heard about it a couple of hours later. So we're just standing by to get more information, but the smoke billowing from the scene doesn't bode well.

Back to you, John.

BERMAN: All right, Max, thank you very much. Please keep us posted. Obviously, we're watching this scene very, very closely.

In the meantime, nearly three dozen workers in one Oklahoma district have tested positive for coronavirus just weeks before class is set to begin. And in New Jersey, hundreds of teachers are refusing to return to work, forcing a district there to go all virtual.

CNN's Bianna Golodryga with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST (voice over): After more than a dozen positive Covid-19 cases were reported at a Georgia high school, the Cherokee County School District announced that all in-person learning at Etowah High School would be temporarily suspended. It's the latest school in the state to close its doors just days into the school year.

This morning, students at North Paulding High School, the site of this now infamous photo of a crowded hallway, are starting their third day of virtual learning after nine reported cases of Covid-19 forced it to close. Yet despite hundreds of students and dozens of teachers quarantined after exposure to positive cases, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp refuses to issue a mask mandate.

GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): There's definitely going to be issues when you open anything.

GOLODRYGA: Teachers in Omaha, Nebraska, hoping to avoid the same fate for their school, lined up in a silent protest on Monday as the Papillion-La Vista school board met just feet away. Their signs conveyed their concerns about in-person classes scheduled to resume this morning. The superintendent stressed that following guidelines, such as wearing masks, will be crucial.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The science is very clear about that. Social distancing and masking are the two most powerful practices we can do as educators to protect our kids, and we're going to do as much of both as we can.

GOLODRYGA: In Florida, the Pinellas School District, which includes St. Petersburg, is scheduled to move forward with an August 24th in- person start date, though online classes are offered as well. Despite Florida's coronavirus cases in children sky rocketing 137 percent in the past month. Experts say the best chance for schools to succeed in the face of Covid-19 is a detailed and implemented plan.

EMILY OSTER, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS: The more specific the plan, the better. This is now an opportunity to make a good decision not in a place of fear which you can then implement where people will say, OK, I understood it was going to happen and now that thing has happened.

GOLODRYGA: Ohio's Governor Mike DeWine, who recently unveiled a partnership with FEMA to provide school districts with masks, announced that nearly 600,000 public school students will be returning to in-person learning when the school year begins. At least one Ohio teacher has already gone the extra mile for her students, literally. Preschool teacher Marea Janae Hodge has launched a school on the go where she travels to her students' homes.

MAREA JANAE HODGE, PRESCHOOL TEACHER: It just makes it easier for the parents to be able to -- to do what they need to do and I know that they're getting an education that they need.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: How much do we love Marea, John?

I have to tell you that the governor of Rhode Island is expected to announce today that she will be delaying the start of the school year by at least a few weeks.

[08:45:05]

She said in an interview earlier this week that the state just needs more time to make sure that it's safe to get kids back to school.

The state has a positivity rate of 5.6 percent. Just to put that into perspective, as we're seeing schools open in Georgia, they have a positivity rate of 11 percent. We're also expected to hear from the governor of New Jersey, who may announce whether in-person classes can resume. And they have a positivity rate of below 1 percent right now. So, clearly, a lot of these governors erring on the side of caution.

BERMAN: We're going to learn a lot. We're going to learn a lot. I mean kids are, in a way, the subject -- experiments. And that's dangerous in and of itself. But we will learn.

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

BERMAN: Bianna Golodryga, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.

GOLODRYGA: Sure.

BERMAN: A lot of questions this morning over which type of mask is most effective at stopping the spread of coronavirus. A lot of people wearing those neck wraps like that. Well, what do they do? We'll tell you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:17]

HILL: In this morning "Here's To Your Health," your most important accessory -- a mask. And we know these days there are plenty of options, but which is the most effective at protecting you and others from coronavirus? Joining us with the answers, one of the co-authors of a new study on masks, Warren S. Warren. He's a professor at Duke University. And back with us, CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

So you and some of the researchers at Duke, Professor Warren, you created this simple test so that you could analyze how effective the different mask options out there are.

How does that test work? What were you looking for?

WARREN S. WARREN, CHEMISTRY PROFESSOR, DUKE UNIVERSITY: So, thank you for having me on.

The basic idea was to use a simple, easily available laser and spread out that laser beam into a sheet of light and then have people, under real circumstances, real people wearing masks, speak into the beam. And the small droplets that they emit, too small to see, are still quite visible because of the light that they scatter from a laser. It's the same reason why the sky is blue from earth, but the sky is dark if you look from the moon.

And doing that, we were able to figure out, with multiple users and multiple mask types, how many droplets were actually getting through the masks. And I would say that the bottom line is actually in many ways very good. We found that a standard cotton masks that many people are wearing really do a pretty good job with almost every design that we could look at. But we found that certain designs that people might be wearing, and they are good people, they're trying to protect others, they're trying to do what's right, really weren't as effective in blocking out the droplets that naturally come out.

BERMAN: So the works well category, the N-95s, the three layer surgical masks, cotton masks. Not working as well, neck fleeces, which some people call gaiters), bandanas and knitted masks.

Sanjay, you've also looked at some studies on this. Some sort of spit test, or how far coughs travels. And what do those studies say?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean it was -- it was very similar to what the professor is talking about. I mean, you know, in general, you know, wearing some kind of covering was better than nothing at all. But -- and, you know, it's funny because we've been making these in our household for some time and typically I have four layers of these things, which is something my daughter made. And they work really well. This is the surgical mask that the professor was talking about and, obviously, it works well.

There was two things that sort of jumped out. One is that even when you look at things like neck gaiters, they could be made of very different materials. And some of these neck gaiters are designed to be breathable, so they're more coverings than they are actually supposed to be impenetrable. So you really want to look at the material.

But also, you know, the idea that you've got to wear it properly. It's amazing to me that so many people still don't wear these properly or they're potentially constantly touching the outside of the mask, getting their hands contaminated and then potentially infecting themselves by touching their eyes, their nose and their mouth. So, you know, you've got to wear something. You want to wear the right material and make sure you're doing it properly.

And then -- and then just finally, you know, wearing it indoors. Unless you're with your own family that you've been with, if you're going to be indoors with other people at a workplace, school, whatever, you need to have a mask on. You know, in our state here in Georgia, there is no mask mandate, as Bianna was just talking about, which is just -- it's amazing to me at this point in the pandemic that that basic thing is still not being followed.

HILL: Professor, I'm just curious, you know, I see so many people out and about, especially when I'm walking my dog, who do have the neck gaiters on. What's the reaction -- in fact, because as Sanjay pointed out, it depends on the material, but I think there was a lot of initial, oh, no, I don't have the right thing on.

WARREN: Well, of course it does depend on the material. This is the neck gaiter that we actually used in the studies. And I think earlier you put up a picture of one of the co-authors wearing this.

If I shine a light through this, I see that light just fine. But this isn't particularly transparent. It's a little bit stretchy. It's polyester. And it's spandex.

My rule of thumb would be, if you can see a light through the fabric stretched out the way you're normally wearing it, it probably isn't doing a very good job protecting you.

Now, of course, there are many possible designs of gaiters. And a key point of this paper is that the apparatus we propose is very simple, very cheap. Somebody with a bachelor's degree in science or engineering could put this together and use it and a whole lot of people who are street smart without those credentials could do it.

And so I think it's time for the gaiter manufacturers to up their game.

[08:55:01]

Their incentives right now are to make something that looks very attractive and that is comfortable to wear, which means thin, and maybe something they can manufacture less expensively. They didn't have -- or didn't have, until Friday, an easy way to test whether they're actually working well. And this gives them that.

BERMAN: You know, Sanjay, you always show off the masks your daughters make. This is the mask my wife makes, two-ply with an insert you can put a filter inside there. Some kind of a -- either a paper towel or something like that. So these work pretty well.

The important thing, though, as you point out, is to wear them. You've got to wear them. GUPTA: Right.

WARREN: Absolutely, John.

GUPTA: Kudos to your wife, first of all. I'm sure she's watching.

But, yes, you know, you've got to -- you've got to wear these masks.

I just have to say, I'm sure the professor would agree with me, because we're dealing with this right now, even in our -- in Georgia, in kids' schools, where these -- there's a lack of sort of importance of these masks. And, you know, they obviously can make a huge difference.

BERMAN: All right. Dr. Gupta, Professor Warren, thank you very much for being with us. Really appreciate it.

Senator Kamala Harris just tweeted out a brand-new Biden/Harris campaign video. And we're just a short time from them making their first appearance as running mates. Our coverage continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:00:00]