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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Dr. Fauci Says Rushing To Reopen Could Have Devastating Effect; U.S. Declines Russia's Officer Of Help On 'Operation Warp Speed'; Israel To Pause Annexing West Bank In Deal With United Arab Emirates. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired August 14, 2020 - 05:30   ET

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


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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: The bottom line is I'm not pleased with how things are going.

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LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Dr. Anthony Fauci worried about more coronavirus surges and warning about reopening too soon.

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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Be a patriot. Protect your fellow citizens.

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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Joe Biden calls for mask mandates as he pushes his plan to combat coronavirus.

Good morning, everyone, this is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

JARRETT: And I'm Laura Jarrett, about 30 minutes past the hour here in New York.

This morning, a dire new warning from America's top coronavirus expert. Dr. Anthony Fauci says the U.S. must control COVID-19 and cautiously reopen schools and businesses or the consequences could be devastating.

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FAUCI: To think that you can ignore the biologic and get the economy back, it's not going to happen. It's just not going to happen. You've got to do both. You've got to get control of the biologic as you carefully open the country.

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JARRETT: Dr. Fauci's warning comes as the country reports yet another day with more than 1,000 deaths.

We get more now from CNN's Athena Jones in New York.

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FAUCI: The bottom line is I'm not pleased with how things are going.

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dr. Anthony Fauci raising concerns about disturbing trends in parts of the country.

FAUCI: This is the thing that's disturbing to me is that we're starting to see the inkling of the upticks in the percent of the tests that are positive, which we know now from sad past experience that that's a predictor that you're going to have more surges.

JONES (voice-over): This warning comes as the U.S. confronts the deadliest day of the summer -- 1,499 people lost to COVID-19 Wednesday, and as CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield makes this blunt admission.

DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: This is the greatest public health crisis to hit this nation in a century that we were underprepared. And we need to owe it to our children and grandchildren that this nation is never underprepared again for a public health crisis.

JONES (voice-over): Redfield warning that if at least 95 percent of Americans don't follow basic public health recommendations like masks- wearing, handwashing, and social distancing --

REDFIELD: This could be the worst fall, from a public health perspective, we've ever had. I'm not asking some of America to do it -- we've all got to do it.

JONES (voice-over): While new cases are steady or falling in 43 states, deaths have averaged more than 1,000 a day for 17 days now. And, COVID test positivity rates are on the rise in the 35 states, with Texas leading the nation at nearly 24 percent, even as the number of tests being conducted nationwide continues to decline.

Meanwhile, in Martin County, Florida, north of Palm Beach, an entire elementary school classroom and one bus route were placed under quarantine one day after the district reopened for in-person instruction and a student began exhibiting symptoms.

Nationally, more than 2,000 students, teachers, and staff members across five states are under quarantine due to COVID concerns.

DR. PETER HOTEZ, PROFESSOR AND DEAN OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: There is just no way, right now, where this epidemic is raging across the south -- in Florida, and Georgia, and Alabama, and Mississippi, Louisiana, and much of Texas -- that you could open up schools safely.

JONES (voice-over): Still, it's game-on in Utah, a state with a positivity rate of almost nine percent. Two high schools facing off in the first football match of the season.

DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, PROFESSOR OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: I feel like the Titanic. We have hit the iceberg and we're trying to make decisions of what time should we have the band play. And not having fall sports this year and controlling this virus, to me, would be the number one priority.

JONES (on camera): And we're getting more insight into the pandemic's impact on Americans. A new CDC survey finding that 41 percent of respondents are struggling with anxiety, depression, increased substance use, or suicidal thoughts.

Athena Jones, CNN, New York.

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ROMANS: All right, Athena. Thank you for that.

Kansas City, Missouri is extending its state of emergency. And even though Colorado's mask mandate was set to expire tomorrow, the state will now keep it in place until further notice.

CNN reporters are following all the latest developments.

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STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Stephanie Elam.

Kansas City, Missouri will be in a state of emergency due to the coronavirus until at least January 16th of next year. Mayor Quinton Lucas signed the extension which requires that people wear face coverings while in public and caps bars at 50 percent capacity. The mayor says it is evident that the virus is here to stay until there is a widely-available vaccine.

[05:35:00]

The city has seen a dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases, hitting a new daily record number of cases this week.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Martin Savidge.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is withdrawing the lawsuit he filed against the mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance-Bottoms, over the issue of her citywide mask mandate.

But don't think that the governor is backing down. Instead, Kemp says he plans to issue a new executive order this weekend reaffirming his statewide authority that face masks are preferred but not mandated. He says he simply got tired of waiting on a court case that was going nowhere.

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Lucy Kafanov in Denver.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is extending the state's mask order, which was due to expire on August 15th. The order requires anyone 11 and older to wear a facial covering in public indoor spaces, including retail stores.

In a statement to CNN, the governor said masks and social distancing are protecting the lives of Coloradans during this pandemic.

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JARRETT: Thanks to all of our correspondents for those updates.

Russian officials tell CNN they have offered unprecedented cooperation to help the United States develop coronavirus vaccines and treatments. But according to those officials, the U.S. is not currently open to the offer.

Matthew Chance joins us live from Moscow now. Matthew, tell us more about this offer.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, it's hardly surprising, isn't it, that the Russians have been rebuffed on this offer of unprecedented cooperation. They've offered to share data with the U.S. as well, even suggesting that U.S. pharmaceutical companies could manufacture the Russian vaccine on American soil.

What Russian officials are telling me is that there is a general sense of mistrust about anything in terms of Russian technologies, they say, including the vaccine testing, technology, and the treatments they've developed here. And the vaccine, they say, is not being adopted because of that mistrust.

Well, there is, of course, good reason for the skepticism. The Russian vaccine, which they call 'Sputnik V' and was approved just a few days ago, is the first to be approved by any country in the world.

But it hasn't undergone crucial phase-three human trials and the clinical data that is normally kind of peer-reviewed before any vaccine is put to the public has not been made public. It's not been published. And so it's not clear whether the vaccine is effective or, indeed, whether it's safe.

One U.S. official made the objections quite clear. A public health official telling CNN there's no way in hell the U.S. would try this vaccine, even on monkeys, let alone humans.

And so that really underlines the extent of the, as the Russians would call it, mistrust of the Russian vaccine in the United States -- Laura.

JARRETT: Certainly a blunt assessment there from that U.S. official.

All right, Matthew, thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right. A new poll from Fox News shows Joe Biden leading Donald Trump nationally, 49 to 42 percent. Those numbers similar to July, indicating Biden's lead is holding steady. The survey was taken largely before Kamala Harris was picked as Biden's running mate.

The newly-minted Democratic ticket appearing together for a second day on Thursday, attending a coronavirus briefing with public health experts.

Jessica Dean has more.

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JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Laura and Christine, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris calling for a nationwide mask mandate on Thursday.

Now, Joe Biden had previously expressed that if he were elected president he would be open to using his executive power to put a mask mandate in place. But right now, he doesn't have any federal authority so he's really using the bully pulpit, of sorts, of being the presumptive Democratic nominee to turn up the heat on these governors across the country where there aren't mask mandates in place -- and also, on the Trump administration.

Take a listen.

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BIDEN: Every single American should be wearing a mask when they are outside for the next three months, at a minimum. Every governor should mandate -- every governor should mandate mandatory mask-wearing.

DEAN (on camera): Biden saying that if there were a mask mandate in place across the country for the next three months, that experts have told him that could save some 40,000 American lives.

We also heard from his newly-minted vice president pick, Kamala Harris. She said this is what leadership looks like.

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D), PRESUMPTIVE VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's what real leadership looks like. We just witnessed real leadership, which is Joe Biden said that as a nation, we should all be wearing a mask for the next three months because it will save lives.

And the thing about Joe that the American people know is that his role of leadership in our country has always been about doing what's best for the people of our country.

DEAN (on camera): Thursday's policy event, the first since the rollout of Harris as the V.P. pick. And we're learning from the campaign she's brought a lot of money to the campaign over Tuesday and Wednesday -- Christine and Laura.

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JARRETT: Jessica, thank you.

That's right, a Biden campaign official tells CNN they've raised $48 million in the 48 hours since Sen. Kamala Harris was announced as Joe Biden's running mate.

You're going to want to watch CNN's live special coverage of the 2020 Democratic National Convention for all the big moments, the most important speeches, and insight on what it all means for Joe Biden, the Democratic Party, and our country. Our coverage begins Monday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern.

ROMANS: All right, 40 minutes past the hour.

With millions of Americans out of work right now and anxiety sky-high over stalled stimulus talks, the vice president is declaring mission accomplished on jobs.

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MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've already created more jobs in the last three months than Joe Biden and Barack Obama created in their eight years in office.

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ROMANS: All right, fact-check. Pence's last three-months' timeframe is absurd. He is boasting about 9.3 million jobs added in May, June, and July. That is a record jobs gain right after a record crash of about 22.2 million jobs in March and April.

The economy is still down nearly 13 million jobs because of the pandemic. He is clearly cherry-picking and it's false -- his comparison. There were about 11.6 million jobs added under Obama and Biden from February 2009 -- their first full month in office -- through January 2017 when Trump took office.

Now, many of the jobs added back in the last three months were people returning to their previous jobs after temporary layoffs.

The job crisis is far from over. The unemployment rate fell from an awful 11.1 percent to 10.2 percent. Ten percent unemployment is nothing to be bragging about. And that's still higher than the worst of the Great Recession. And the government has noted that misclassification errors could mean the jobless rate is actually even higher -- one percentage point higher than that.

Economists worry that the growing number of coronavirus cases could reverse the recovery in August.

JARRETT: Israel has a new diplomatic agreement this morning, but it's not with the Palestinians. The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says President Trump asked him to temporarily postpone annexation of the West Bank as part of normalizing relations with the United Arab Emirates. Trump and Netanyahu both are calling the deal historic, but Palestinian leaders are calling it a betrayal by their Arab allies.

CNN's Sam Kiley is standing by in Beirut with the latest -- Sam.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So this deal came almost out of the blue, although Israel and the Emirates have been playing footsie from some time. They had already started to talk about doing joint research, for example, in pursuit of a vaccine for the COVID virus. But this is being seen by the Emirates, the Israelis, and the Americans -- but certainly not the Palestinians -- as a very significant breakthrough.

What it does, essentially -- in terms of the so-called peace process, which is now pretty moribund anyway between Israel and the Palestinians -- is set the table back to the dispensation before the Donald Trump-Jared Kushner so-called deal of the century, which gave rise to a threat -- a commitment, indeed, from Benjamin Netanyahu that he would unilaterally annex large areas of the West Bank of the Jordan River, which would make the foundation of a Palestinian state impossible.

But the Palestinians have said it's a betrayal.

JARRETT: All right, Sam Kiley in Beirut for us. Thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right. President Trump keeps raising the prospect of a rigged election, he says, here in the U.S. with zero evidence. Up next, we'll take you to a country in crisis with widespread allegations of election fraud.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are being beaten up, tortured.

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JARRETT: Welcome back.

While President Trump claims without any evidence at all that the November election is going to be rigged, Belarus is dealing with widespread accusations of real election rigging and a violent crackdown on those protesting against it.

This morning, CNN goes inside Belarus to examine how its longtime leader, often dubbed Europe's last dictator, is handing himself a sixth term amid widespread fraud.

Frederik Pleitgen joins us live from Minsk this morning -- Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Laura. And when you talk about real-time election rigging, we're talking

about things like no international observers at all being allowed, no domestic observers being -- not being allowed. And even election workers seen going out of buildings on ladders with sacks full of ballots.

That's the thing that the folks you see behind me are protesting against. And despite the repression, they are still coming out in full force and saying they are not going to back down.

Here's what we're seeing.

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PLEITGEN (voice-over): The Belarusian opposition is coming out in full force. Thousands of people lining the streets of the capital, Minsk, peacefully calling for change while hoping things don't take a turn for the worse.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He should go away. Otherwise, it will be civil war in our country. And it's very scary because Belarusians are very peaceful people.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): The protesters' answer to a recent government crackdown, holding up flowers as motorists honk in support.

PLEITGEN (on camera): Despite the repression and despite the use of stun grenades, tear gas, the mass arrests, and the beatings, the opposition is still coming out. Their action now is more decentralized with marches like this one seemingly popping up out of nowhere to avoid the security forces.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Belarusian police and army units beat down crowds protesting the recent contested presidential election, detaining thousands. State T.V. parading and humiliating some of those arrested on air.

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Many remain missing, possibly incarcerated here -- the central detention facility where hundreds have been waiting outside hoping for any information about the fate of their loved ones.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to understand that people are being beaten up, tortured from the moment when they are detained in the streets. Then they are taken to the local police station. They're beaten -- they're being beaten there. And then they bring them either to here after maybe a day or two, and the beatings and tortures, they continue.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Strongman Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for around 26 years, claimed he won last Sunday's election, garnering 80 percent of the vote. His opponent, opposition icon Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, has since had to flee the country.

The U.S. and E.U. have heavily criticized the election and at night, in Minsk, many people are coming out and also saying they believe the vote was rigged and they won't take it.

We want to be heard. When we -- nobody hears us, nobody sees us, everybody will just realize to not exist here because we want changes. We want to just try to live another week not being afraid of the police.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): The opposition is demanding talks and a new transparent election. And, they say, the demonstrations won't stop until change happens.

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PLEITGEN: So, guys, that's been the state of politics here in Belarus for 26 years -- the state of elections in this country for 26 years. And that's why you're seeing all these people behind me coming out saying they're willing to risk everything to somehow bring about change, Laura.

JARRETT: Thanks so much, Fred -- a great piece.

ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on CNN Business this Friday morning. Taking a look at markets around the world, a narrowly mixed performance, really, for Asian shares, which have now closed for the week. And, European shares have opened lower.

On Wall Street, futures have been leaning lower all morning, looking like a triple-digit loss at the open if this holds.

Stocks finished mixed Thursday. The Dow fell 80 points. The Nasdaq managed a small gain. The S&P 500 missed hitting a record high again, falling just a little bit.

First-time jobless claims dropped below one million for the first time since March. Continued claims -- those people who filed for benefits for at least two weeks in a row -- they fell to 15 1/2 million.

Investors will watch for July's retail sales report. That's out in just a few hours. Over the past few months, sales have rebounded as businesses reopened, but a spike in coronavirus has hurt consumer confidence. Economists expect retail sales rose just 1.7 percent last month.

The maker of Fortnite is suing Apple and Google after they blocked the popular game from their app stores. The tech giant said they removed Fortnite because Epic Games violated their guidelines by announcing a way players could buy endgame currency without using Apple or Google's payment systems.

Epic released a video with the hashtag "Free Fortnite," parodying Apple's 1984 and casting Apple as the villain.

Apple said it will work with a developer to resolve the violations so Fortnite can return to the app store.

All right, time for today's "Represented," CNN's look at gender equality in America. Thursday was Equal Pay Day for black women. Data showed black women

had to work an additional 7 1/2 months this year on top of the 12 months they worked last year to make as much money as their white male counterparts did for 2019.

The National Women's Law Center estimates that black women lose out on roughly $1 million of income over their career.

The pay gap for black women is not even the worst out there. Equal Pay Day for Hispanic women isn't until October 29th.

CNN is exploring the past, the present, and the future of women's rights in the U.S. and around the world. For more of this reporting, go to cnn.com/representative.

JARRETT: You know, Christine, I think it's so important that we keep hammering those facts because it was just a few months ago corporations were putting out all of those glowing --

ROMANS: That's right.

JARRETT: -- nice statements. But unless they put the money to back up those nice words, you have to wonder what is the real change going to mean?

ROMANS: Absolutely. You have to have transparency, I think, on who makes how much money in your organization and make sure that you really are looking at the fairness of that.

JARRETT: Absolutely.

Well, thanks for joining us, everyone. Have a great weekend. I'm Laura Jarrett.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. "NEW DAY" is next.

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JONES: Dr. Anthony Fauci raising concerns about disturbing trends in parts of the country.

FAUCI: We're going to continue to have this up-and-down. The bottom line is I'm not pleased with how things are going.

REDFIELD: This is the greatest public health crisis to hit this nation in a century. We owe it to our children and grandchildren that this nation is never underprepared again.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: With more people than ever expected to vote by mail, President Trump has spent months making false claims about widespread fraud. DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have to have an honest election, and if it's not going to be an honest election, I guess people have to sit down and think really long and hard about it.

BIDEN: True to Trump, he doesn't want an election.

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Friday, August 14th, 6:00 in New York.

Alisyn is off. Erica Hill joins me. You got me all the way to Friday, so thank you.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: We made it -- we made it to 6:00 a.m. --

BERMAN: Yes.

HILL: -- but we've got three hours.

END