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New Day

U.S Averages 1,000+ Deaths a Day for Last Three Weeks; Trump Again Shows He'll Stop at Nothing to Win Reelection; Thousands Quarantined in Two Georgia Schools after Outbreak. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired August 14, 2020 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEW DAY: All right. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is New Day. Alisyn is off. Erica Hill with me again, great to have you here this morning.

ERICA HILL, CNN NEW DAY: Happy Friday.

BERMAN: So, you know, it's never a good thing when your doctor looks you in the eye and tells you, quote, I am not pleased with how things are going to. That is precisely what Dr. Anthony Fauci is telling all of us this morning, and this is why. More than 1,000 deaths in the United States a day again. That is what happened yesterday, and that's been the average for three weeks.

Today, California will become the first state to surpass 600,000 cases. Overnight, listen to this, the CDC director took the risk of breaking from President Trump on schools. He says, Dr. Redfield does, that schools should not be pressured into reopening. Dr. Fauci also expressed concern about the rising positivity rates that some states are seeing. Remember, Dr. Fauci told us on New Day that rising positivity is a sign of potential serious problems on the horizon.

HILL: Also this morning, it is clear that President Trump is trying to suppress your right to vote. Mr. Trump continues to spread lies about mail-in voting after admitting he's opposed to giving the postal service more money because it would actually help people vote by mail during a pandemic.

The USPS says, they can't handle the ballots. By the way, records show the president and first lady have requested their mail-in ballots for Florida's primary election, those requests happening this week.

And the president also spreading lies about Senator Kamala Harris. Barely 24 hours after Kamala Harris was announced as the Democratic V.P. pick, Trump was promoting false, racist, birther conspiracy theories about her, just as he did with President Obama.

BERMAN: All right. Joining us now is Dr. Aileen Marty, she is an Infectious Disease Professor at Florida International University in Miami, and Dr. Jodie Dionne-Odom, she is an Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

I want to play the sound from Dr. Fauci who told the America bluntly, bottom line, he's not happy. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Unless we all pull together to get that down and we don't have disparities in some states are doing this and some states are doing that, we're going to continue to have this up and down. So that's the thing that I'm concerned about, because I believe we can, we have it within our power, to be able to get that down. Bottom line is I'm not pleased with how things are going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: And it's not just what he said, Dr. Dionne, is the way he said it. He really did seem frustrated. And I'm curious why. Is it because we're averaging 1,000 deaths again in the country, is it the positivity rate that is rising in some localities? What are you seeing that would cause the frustration that we saw with Dr. Fauci?

DR. JODIE DIONNE-ODOM, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM: I think it's both, John. It's the fact that despite everything that we've done so far, we're still in the top ten in the number of cases worldwide and we're at 167,000 deaths.

And, yes, there is some improving in some states, but across the south, positivity rates are still 11 to 20 percent, which is really unacceptable.

HILL: We're also hearing from Dr. Redfield, and he seems to be breaking at this point with the president. I just want to play what he said to say, specifically about schools. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, CDC DIRECTOR: We don't want to pressure anybody. Our guidance is there to help them begin to open, as I said, safely and sensibly. And the timing of that is going to have to be decided one school at a time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Dr. Marty, in your state, there is a lot of pressure for schools to reopen, as you know, as we're looking at this. The fact that we are now hearing from Dr. Redfield so clearly that this needs to be district by district, that folks need to take into account the reality of the situation where they live, that's an important break. I'm wondering if you think that will help the message get through.

DR. AILEEN MARTY, INFECTIOUS DISEASE PROFESSOR, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY: Oh, I certainly hope so. I'm very encouraged that Dr. Redfield made those comments. Here in Miami-dade, we have successfully explained why we are delaying the opening of school and going totally virtually to the governor and the governor has accepted what we've decided to do based on our metrics. BERMAN: It is interesting, Dr. Fauci put a little more meat on the bones as to when he thinks schools should be reopening. We have the green, yellow and red categories. Green is a positivity rate less than 5 percent. In a case count, I think, it's fewer than 10 per 100,000. Yellow is up to 10 percent positivity rate, and red higher than that.

And, Dr. Dionne, it's interesting. Why? Because schools are beginning to open across the south in states where that positivity rate is so clearly in the red zone, I mean, crystal clear in the red zone, higher than 10 percent. Dr. Fauci, who, I think, is being careful not to flat out say it, but, clearly, the medical advice you're getting from people is that it's too high to open schools.

[07:05:00]

DIONNE-ODOM: Yes. So I think this is the continuing of some of the magical thinking that everybody really wants school to restart. And I'm a parent of two. I want school to restart also. I get it. It's really important to have kids in school and learn with their friends in a safe environment. But a high positivity rate is not a safe environment. In Alabama, we're at 13 percent.

So, like you said, John, we're way above the 5 percent threshold where we want to be right now opening this week for schools.

HILL: One of the things from the beginning that we were told should be in place for states to reopen even before we were talking about schools was adequate testing. And we heard from Admiral Giroir yesterday, who was really a little put out. He said he's going to take things personally because there is just pushback on the fact that testing does not appear to be going as smoothly as he would make it seem.

Dr. Marty, he said, it's really not an issue too, in terms turnaround time, that we're not really seeing some of those long turnaround times that we had heard about. Where do we stand on testing right now? Is there still cause for concern?

MARTY: Yes, there is still cause for concern. Even though, for example, in my state, we are doing better with the turnaround time for testing. There is still many, many, many individuals, almost 40 percent, that do not see their turnaround time in less than four days. And what we are looking for to be able to open schools is within 24 hours.

And, actually, we had a major meeting with the mayor of Miami-Dade yesterday, and we are going to be looking into a new platform for doing our PCR testing to see if we can validate it as a very good test that would provide us the information within that 24-hour timeframe. It's rated at as being within 15 minutes.

And I'm not sure that that's accurate, but we're going to be testing it to see what we can do, because testing turnaround allows for rapid -- assuming you have the adequate number of people -- having contact tracers, which is absolutely critical any time that there is a new cluster to get it down. Just look what's happening in New Zealand. BERMAN: I mean, testing turnaround is a big deal, and one part of it, the number of tests is also a huge deal. And it's shocking or should be shocking that in certain states where there has been a large outbreak, the number of tests is actually going down. I mean, look at Texas. The testing rate is going down. That's not what should be happening, it's the opposite of what should be happening.

Dr. Dionne, I do want to ask you about one other thing. I was reading in The Washington Post this morning. The Post was reporting that there have been studies, and they've been into this, that in areas where there have been increased case counts, rising positivity, they're now seeing higher instances of cases inside nursing homes.

And I know that seems logical and maybe intuitive, but it's important, right? Because for two months, the last two months since the cases are rising again, we've been hearing from the administration, oh, it's among younger people, it's among younger people, this isn't about the community that we're most concerned about, but now it is.

DIONNE-ODOM: Yes, John. And we know in our state, 40 percent of the deaths are in residents of nursing homes. And we know that people who work there and come and go from there are at very high risk. So this is another point about testing. We need to test all the residents in the nursing homes. We need to test people who are in prisons. We need to test very frequently these high, prevalent settings to look for infection.

Testing is the way out of this. It's the way other countries did it, it's the way we need to do it, and there is a real frame shift right now in getting everyone -- wanting to get everyone access to these rapid turnaround tests that don't take seven days, where you can act on the result the day the test is taken.

So, let's all push for that. It's critical.

BERMAN: I'll thank them. I'll thank them.

HILL: You do the thanks, John.

BERMAN: We're both racing to thank you. Dr. Dionne, we appreciate it. Dr. Marty, thank you for being with us. We appreciate it.

So this morning, growing concerns about the Trump administration's efforts to suppress voting rights. I mean, explicit, explicit stated efforts by the president of the United States. The president is continuing to spread lies about mail-in voting. And, again, listen to what he says out loud.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: They want $25 billion, billion, for the post office. Now, they need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all these millions and millions of ballots.

Now, in the meantime, they aren't getting there. By the way, those are just two items. But if they don't get those two items, that means you can't have universal mail-in voting, because they're not equipped to have it.

If we don't make a deal, that means they don't get the money. That means they can't have universal mail-in voting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. And in an irony alert, Palm Beach County records reveal the president and first lady were sent in mail-in ballots for next week's Florida primary election.

CNN's Joe Johns live at the White House.

[07:10:01]

There's really not ambiguity at all about what the president is trying to do here.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely not. You've heard a rock a vote. Well, this is block. It is voter suppression, plain and simple. It's an attempt to discourage participation in an election.

The president is explicit about it. He admits it on the record in front of the cameras. He admits that he wants to limit the number of people who can vote by mail. He wants to cut off money to the states and the postal service to help with the election. And by the way, that does not apply to the president or the first lady. They have both asked for mail-in ballots from Palm Beach County, Florida.

And that's not the only tactic the president is resurrecting. He's also essentially bringing back his bogus birtherism approach. As you remember, businessman Donald Trump made his name in politics by claiming that Barack Obama, falsely, was not born in the United States.

Now, the president appears to be promoting the very same racist tactic against Kamala Harris, claiming that there may be a problem with her eligibility to run as vice president simply because her parents are immigrants. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Can you definitively say whether or not Kamala Harris is eligible, meets the legal requirements to run as vice president?

TRUMP: So I just heard it today that she doesn't meet the requirements, and, by the way, the lawyer that brought that piece is a very highly qualified, very talented lawyer. I have no idea if that's right. I would have assumed the Democrats would have checked that out before she gets chosen to run for vice president. But that's very serious. They're saying she doesn't qualified because she wasn't born in this country.

REPORTER: No. She was born in this country but her parents did not -- the claim says that her parents did not seek their permanent residence. TRUMP: Yes. I don't know about it. I just heard about it. I'll take a look.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Of course, the Constitution says if you're born in the United States, you're a United States citizen. The legal scholars say, by now, the president should know that. John?

BERMAN: Yes. What the president says is wrong. What the president says is racist and that's all there is to it. Joe Johns, thank you very much.

More than 1,000 students quarantined this morning as two Georgia high schools are forced to shut doors. The mother of one of those students joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:00]

HILL: This morning, over 1,000 students and staff from two Georgia high schools are under quarantine following a coronavirus outbreak, which forced the schools to shut their doors. The schools are in the Cherokee County School District. It's about 30 minutes north of Atlanta. Cases in the area have been steadily rising.

Joining me is Hilary Porterfield. Her daughter, Kylie (ph), is a sophomore at Woodstock High School. She is one of the students under quarantine. Hilary, good to have you with us this morning.

I know that you did have some initial concerns sending Kylie (ph) back to school. You were a little worried but you said that you made the decision to send her, anyway. When you got that call that she may have been exposed, what were your initial thoughts?

HILARY PORTERFIELD, PARENT OF GEORGIA QUARANTINED STUDENT: It was terrifying. It was my worst fears had come true. It was, you know, immediately just millions of thoughts running through my head of who do I call, who has she been in contact with, especially since they told me her last date of exposure was August 5th and I received the phone call on August 11th, which was six days past that date.

HILL: So it was six days after the person who they believe your daughter may have had contact with, right, six days after that person was taken out of school. And you also said that heir plan for contact tracing sort of fell short in your eyes. Why?

PORTERFIELD: Yes. Once I got the phone call, I contacted my daughter and she pointed out a couple of flaws and she has stated that the girl sitting behind her and the girl sitting to the left of that girl had actually been at school Thursday and Friday and that they hadn't been quarantined yet. And as she pointed out that the seating chart that the teacher actually used for roll call was not, in fact, where the children were actually sitting.

HILL: So they weren't in their assigned seats even though they were supposed to be?

PORTERFIELD: Correct. My daughter had said the teacher had told them to sit where they wanted, but there was a seating chart and they did not have to follow it.

HILL: So that makes it tough to know, to your point, whether she was actually near this person or not.

Initially, I know you said you were hopeful that the district was following the CDC guidelines, no mask mandate. How do you feel now at this point that the schools had to close down? You've moved your daughter to virtual learning. Are you confident though for the staff and the students who could eventually be back inside those halls that measures are going to be taken to keep them safe?

PORTERFIELD: Absolutely not. It's like I told my daughter, I moved her to the Apex Program, which isn't the best option out there. She actually had to drop three of her courses to do the Apex. And I told her in two weeks, if the students return, if the same protocols are in place, they're just going to have the same issue all over again, maybe even worse, depending on where the students went for those two weeks that they were at home.

HILL: So are you thinking that maybe they're not quarantined like they should be?

PORTERFIELD: Correct. You know, with the contact tracing not being effective, they don't really know who actually was in close contact to all the students.

[07:20:00]

And there are so many cases that are still pending. So, just the guessing, if you're going to send the kids home for two weeks for the schools to reopen in two weeks, those students should probably be at home, should be quarantining, should be keep their distance, should not be around all the other kids because they just don't know at this point who really has been in close contact and who hasn't.

PORTERFIELD: I should point out, we did ask the Cherokee School Systems' superintendent, Dr. Brian Hightower, for an interview to join us on the program. He declined.

We do have a statement though from the school district and they said, we anticipate, as we have communicated throughout this process, there will be additional quarantines and school closures as we operate during this pandemic.

We need our entire community to work together, stay home when you're sick, get tested if you're symptomatic, report that positive test at the school. And if you're directed to quarantine, follow the instructions and limit interaction with non-family members, social distance when you can, and wear a mask when you can.

Speaking of masks, there were some pictures that were posted of seniors that raised some concerns. And I want to put those pictures up now and I just want to be clear. We blurred their faces because they're minors, but we can confirm for you that masks were not being worn in that picture.

The school board, in response, said that it did raise some concerns that students may not be aware of the importance of masks. But upon investigation, they learned that many actually wear masks routinely but they want to remind people of that importance.

What was the messaging before school opened, and even since this outbreak in terms of masks from the district, from the school board?

PORTERFIELD: It's pretty much been the same. Masks aren't mandated. We strongly encourage or recommend, but they're not mandated at this point. Teachers are to wear masks as long as they're not able to social distance.

And then recently, there was even an email from the superintendent that we received that stated that he knows that scientific research shows that masks help stop the spread and wearing masks is really the only way that we're going to keep these schools open. However, he still has yet to mandate that mask requirement.

HILL: Really quickly, why do you think he won't mandate it?

PORTERFIELD: I think he just doesn't want to admit that he was wrong, that he opened the schools with unsafe of measures. And I think at this point, he wants to just keep trekking for it no matter what happens.

HILL: Hilary, we appreciate you being here this morning. I know this is tough on Kylie (ph). It's why you mentioned she had to drop some of her higher level classes because they're not offered through distance learning program in the district. Good luck to the both of you as you continue on this school year. I really appreciate it. Thanks.

PORTERFIELD: Thank you.

BERMAN: So we want to remember some of the more than 167,000 Americans lost to coronavirus.

65-year-old Russ Broman started as a prosecutor in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in 1986. Friends and colleagues told the Tribune Review he was known for his dry sense of humor, his eagerness to mentor and his passion for keeping the community safe.

Mac Hodges was mayor of North Carolina, population 9,500. First elected in 2013, he was known as the ultimate cheerleader for the City of Washington. His daughter says her father also loved the East Carolina University Pirates and the beach. Mac Hodges was 69.

Dan Manrique was the night nurse at the jail in Marion County, Florida. After Army service in Vietnam, he became an orderly at a Tampa hospital working his way up to R.N. The Ocala Star-Banner reports that Manrique self-published an autobiographical novel. He bred quarter horses and was still working at age 71 to put one of his sons through engineering school. Sounds like a wonderful father. Our hearts go out to all of their families.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BERMAN: This morning, the United States accounts for nearly one- quarter of the world's coronavirus cases and deaths despite only making up 4 percent of the global population. With more than 5 million cases, 167,000 Americans killed so far, where did the U.S. response go wrong?

Joining me now is CNN Contributor Erin Bromage. He's an expert on Infectious Disease and Immunology at U Mass Dartmouth. Professor, always a pleasure to have you with us. Thanks so much for being with us.

We want to sort of tick through the top five reasons you see or places where we went wrong. So, let's just go through them one by one. Number one, poor messaging on masks, what do you mean?

ERIN BROMAGE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, right at the start of the pandemic, there was a really strong push from the government, from CDC to say that masks should only be worn by healthcare professionals. And we know from what we saw in other countries that masks certainly help stop the spread of the virus in places like Hong Kong and Vietnam. So what it was really about was they were trying to preserve the very few masks that we had available rather than the fact that they didn't work.

So when the data came out and said that, yes, they really do work and we had enough masks, it was really hard to change the public opinion back to masks work, and we were just fighting misinformation right from the start there.

BERMAN: Yes, too many people have the element of doubt still in their minds. It's unfortunate. Problems with testing, now, the word problem there might be an understatement.

BROMAGE: Yes, so we actually have two problems with testing. So we had the debacle that happened at the beginning of the year with the failed tests. And then we did not deploy the tests that worked rapidly enough. So, February and March were really the lost months of testing that allowed the pandemic to get out of control.

But we're in that same situation again now with testing. There have been tests that have been developed, 15-minute tests that you can do in your home for like $1 to $2 that will tell you if you are infectious.

Now, they're not as good as the in-lab PCR tests, but they still do capture a lot of people that are infectious.

[07:30:03] And if we could deploy those into workplaces, into schools, we could possibly capture half.

END