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New Day
Stimulus Talks Between President Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Ends Abruptly; U.S. Healthcare Workers Grapple with Constant Stress of Pandemic; Singer Johnny Nash Dies at Age 80. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired October 07, 2020 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:30:00]
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Millions of Americans are out of work and very worried about their future. But President Trump abruptly called off negotiations for a rescue package with Congress last night, saying Americans can wait until after election day for a new round of stimulus. Joining us now is Ian Lordi; he was a flight attendant up until last Thursday when American Airlines laid off 13,000 employees.
And Mattie Chisolm; she was the owner of Center Stage Beauty in Englewood, California, but after 12 successful years, she was forced to shut her doors last weekend. Great to see both of you, thank you very much for being here. Mattie, let me start with you. Your business, Center Stage Boutique. I was --
MATTIE CHISOLM, OWNER, CENTER STAGE BOUTIQUE: Yes --
CAMEROTA: So interested to read about it and read about your motivation. You'd worked in the corporate world, but your dream was to open this clothing store, this boutique for women of color --
(CLEARS THROAT)
Excuse me, primarily black women, and your clothing ranges from church to the club. And you loved the in-person shopping experience and catering directly to women. And so tell us about that experience this past weekend of having to shut your doors?
CHISOLM: Well, it was very hard. Because we've been in business for almost 15 years now. And for us to have to shut down because of this situation that we're all in right now, it's heartbreaking.
CAMEROTA: And why did you have to shut down this weekend?
CHISOLM: Well, we've been closed down and we couldn't open for three, four months, bills are still due. Everything is still coming in daily, that we have to do around the business. You know, purchasing merchandise and keep new merchandise every week. And we have to have the flow to sustain that. So with everything being shut down, customers are kind of scared to come inside of the boutique because of what's going on. And so we understand that. But at the same time, we still have to keep going, but -- so --
CAMEROTA: And why weren't you able, Mattie, to get the PPP that helped other businesses survive?
CHISOLM: I have no idea. We have received no funds from anyone. Not one single thing.
CAMEROTA: But did you try?
CHISOLM: I don't know why?
CAMEROTA: I mean, did you apply for it?
CHISOLM: Yes!
CAMEROTA: And no explanation --
CHISOLM: The only time we've got something back, they said, they'll come -- they'll get back to us, we haven't received anything yet.
CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh. Ian, let's talk about your situation. So, four days ago, you were furloughed. Tell us about when you got that word.
IAN LORDI, FORMER AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT ATTENDANT: It was -- yes, so I worked my last flight on October 2nd, and I walked off the plane and then as of midnight that night, I was done. No job to go back to. And so you just feel like it's a punch in the gut. You know, what are you supposed to do? It's horrible.
CAMEROTA: I know that you say that you are by nature an optimist. And throughout all of this, you had tried to retain your optimism. I mean, that's your job. You know, you have to be in a good mood on --
LORDI: Yes --
CAMEROTA: The flight. But now, today, how are you feeling?
[07:35:00]
LORDI: I don't feel good. I really do feel like I've just kind of lost that spark in me that feels like I think we're going to be OK, I think we're going to be OK. And now, I really just -- I feel like I've given up and it's a really awful place to be in, to be honest.
CAMEROTA: Yes, I can imagine that. And so Mattie, when President Trump tweeted yesterday to stop --
CHISOLM: Yes --
CAMEROTA: Negotiating and that any relief package would have to wait until after the election, what were your thoughts?
CHISOLM: I was stunned. Completely stunned. Like, what are we supposed to do? We're banking on and trying to get these funds so we can stay afloat and stay in business, especially through the holidays where a lot of us small businesses, that's our thing. We want that business during that time. And for us now not to be able to get those funds to stay afloat, we don't know what we're going to do.
CAMEROTA: So Mattie, what do you want President Trump to know about your life and your situation?
CHISOLM: That this -- these small businesses, we are -- we are hurting. We try to make it look good online and you know, put up the face for everyone. We have great customers, but at the same time, we're all hurting. Everyone of us is hurting.
CAMEROTA: And Mattie, if you don't get any PPP, if they don't ever respond to your application, what does happen? What does your life look like?
CHISOLM: I don't know. I keep pushing. I have faith and I believe, and I believe that we will -- we will sustain this. We'll be OK. It's just that we do need help. We do need help.
CAMEROTA: Wow, Ian, how about you? What are you looking at? What does your future look like?
LORDI: As of right now, I need to go jump into an unemployment line. We're stuck in that middle zone of you know, what if they do start something and we are recalled, if I go find employment right now and then I get recalled, I mean, what do I tell that employer?
I've just burned that bridge, that who knows if I would need, you know, them in the future. So, do I -- do I look for a job? Do interview? Do I touch, sit and wait and hope? I really don't know. I just don't know.
CAMEROTA: Yes, you're in limbo. What do you want President Trump to know about your situation?
LORDI: He is supposed to represent us, the entire American people. And I feel that he is forgetting who we are. I feel like that it's more important to them to push through a Supreme Court, you know, nominee right now, when you're forgetting about true American economic recovery and the people in our country and this stimulus bill needs to be front and center and dealt with as soon as possible in order for us to really grow our economy and get back to a place where, you know, everybody feels great again.
CAMEROTA: Yes, Ian Lordi, Mattie Chisolm, thank you both very much for your personal stories. We're thinking of you, we're pulling for you and we're really hoping that you get some relief. Obviously, we'll stay in touch with you guys. Thank you for being with us --
CHISOLM: Thank you very much!
LORDI: Thank you.
CHISOLM: Thank you.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We want to remember some of the nearly 211,000 Americans lost to coronavirus. Rick Longoria was a 35-year veteran of the U.S. Postal Service in Corpus Christi, Texas. His daughter says her father loved his family and sports is especially golf. He was just 63 years old. Julie Davis taught third grade at an elementary school in Stanly County, North Carolina, she was known for finding ways to inspire and support her students who we're told absolutely loved being taught by Mrs. Davis.
Fifty-year-old Marner Saw was a founder of an organization that helps members of Burma's Karen ethnic minority, helps them settle in Minnesota. The group said he helped hundreds of refugee families start new lives and become citizens. Friends say he was a fixture in the community, and that his death was a tragic loss. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:40:00]
BERMAN: This morning and every morning for so many months now, health care workers faced tremendous risk and tremendous stress. And in Los Angeles, one woman worries what might happen to her own family members as many of them work right on the frontlines with her. CNN's Miguel Marquez joins us now with a remarkable story. Miguel?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, look, other than family members who have lost loved ones, it is those frontline workers that have really borne the brunt of this pandemic. We spoke to one nurse who has lost family members, who knows just how tough it is to fight this pandemic, both at work and at home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Julia Jimenez, a frontline worker in the fight against the coronavirus.
JULIA JIMENEZ, FRONTLINE WORKER: Sometimes, I do go for a break where I take everything off and I just break down and I start crying. I do that a lot.
MARQUEZ: Jimenez is part of a family of health care workers. Her mother, cousins, aunts, all working as nurses or in hospital administration. She's lived mainly in hotels since March, isolated from her parents and son, worried about their health and economic well-being.
(on camera): What is the level of stress in your life?
JIMENEZ: I don't know. I don't sleep very well. It's -- I'm very stressed. It's not an easy time.
MARQUEZ: On a scale of one to ten, if ten's the worst?
JIMENEZ: I'm at 11.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Stressed at work, stressed at home, stressed seeing others not taking the pandemic seriously, hoping now that the president has it --
JIMENEZ: But I hope that he'll change his message to people, saying that they really do need to take it seriously and not make so many jokes about not wearing the mask. Like, now you see firsthand how serious it is.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's going to disappear one day, it's like a miracle, it will disappear.
[07:45:00]
MARQUEZ: The president --
TRUMP: I don't wear masks like him. Every time you see him, he's got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from many, he shows up with the biggest mask I've ever seen.
MARQUEZ: The number one driver of misinformation about the pandemic says a new study from Cornell University. In the report, mentions of Donald Trump made up nearly 38 percent of the misinformation conversation. What researchers call an infodemic.
(on camera): Where is this country right now?
JIMENEZ: I think we're in big trouble and that it's going to get worse -- a lot worse before it gets better.
MARQUEZ: She knows too well, part of a large Mexican-American family living across several states, 17 members of her own family have been sickened with the virus. Her aunt Lolley(ph), once the life of the party, she says, is on a ventilator for more than a month now.
JIMENEZ: I look at my patients every day like, you know, I would hate it if that was my family member, and now it is.
MARQUEZ: The coronavirus does not discriminate, from a Mexican- American family to the first family.
JIMENEZ: I think our country is in bad shape right now and they're getting really bad advice.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): This frontline worker's hope, all Americans will now understand. COVID-19 is a killer and isn't going anywhere, anytime soon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Now, a little good news for Julia, her aunt, she is starting to wake up. Her eyes are open, she's starting to respond, so they're hopeful that, that ventilator will come off and she'll be able to recover as fully as she can.
You know, one other thing that these workers say is that they're not heartened by the president's behavior over the last couple of days. They fear now that as we move into Winter and cases rise, more lives will be lost, more families destroyed. Back to you guys.
CAMEROTA: Oh my gosh, Miguel, it is gut-wrenching to see that cell phone video of her aunt on the ventilator and her trying to just get, you know, her message of love through to her. It's horrible.
BERMAN: And also, Miguel, they want the country, I think, to feel for them and with them. And it's unfortunate that they're not feeling that they're getting that support from the highest levels.
MARQUEZ: This is the biggest concern, you know, I've done a few stories in different hospitals and I've talked to a lot of healthcare workers who are dealing with this at the very sharp edge of it. They have begged people all the way along to stay home, to mask up, to do what it needs to keep from spreading this thing. And right now, they are seeing -- it's all hands off, they are very concerned about the next couple of months.
CAMEROTA: Miguel, that's just horrible. I mean, as the head of the CDC told us, we have the power. It's in our hands. We have it right now to stop this --
MARQUEZ: Indeed --
CAMEROTA: And to stop other families from having to be on ventilators. Thank you very much, Miguel, as always for your great reporting.
MARQUEZ: You got it.
CAMEROTA: This morning, the music world paying tribute to legendary guitarist, Eddie Van Halen, who died after a long battle with throat cancer. Fellow musicians say Eddie Van Halen was a true genius who reinvented guitar playing. He anchored the rock band that bore his name through four turbulent decades, releasing more than a dozen albums. He was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll hall of fame in 2007. Eddie Van Halen was 65.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
JOHNNY NASH, AMERICAN SINGER-SONGWRITER: I can see clearly now the rain is gone, I can see all --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Do I have to talk? Can I just listen to him playing more?
CAMEROTA: You can listen. It's so great. God, it's such an optimistic, sunny song.
BERMAN: Indelible, isn't it? The signature hit for Johnny Nash who died Tuesday. One of the most popular songs of the '70s, probably ever. He passed away at his home in Houston from natural causes. Johnny Nash was 80 years old.
CAMEROTA: I mean, that is one of the most optimistic songs ever. It's impossible not to feel good when you hear it, and so we needed that today. OK, coming up, how Facebook will try to cut down on misinformation and conspiracies ahead of the election. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:50:00]
BERMAN: Developing this morning, "The New York Times" reports that top Justice Department officials were the driving force behind the zero tolerance policy that separated thousands of migrant children from their parents. "The Times" will either draft report from the Justice Department's internal watchdog, it details one incident focusing on a conference call between then Attorney General Jeff Sessions and a group of prosecutors, quote, "we need to take away children." Mr. Sessions told the prosecutor, that's according to "The New York Times".
Rod Rosenstein and then the deputy attorney general went even further in a second call, telling the five prosecutors that it did not matter how young the children were. So Sessions refused to be interviewed for the IG report.
Rosenstein defended his actions in a statement, saying, he never ordered anyone to prosecute a case and putting blame for migrant separations on individual prosecutors. One point to note here, that statement from Sessions contradicts what he subsequently said, saying that he was not the driving force or a driving force behind the separations.
CAMEROTA: Meanwhile, a St. Louis couple indicted on weapons charges stemming from that confrontation with protesters outside of their mansion. Patricia and Mark McCloskey were seen in a viral video back in June pointing guns at protesters walking on a private street outside of their home. Mark McCloskey told CNN, he felt their lives were in danger. A grand jury also charged the couple with evidence tampering.
BERMAN: So Facebook says it is now banning all QAnon accounts from its platform. The move comes three years after the far-right conspiracy theory began, and frankly, began posting on Facebook. CNN's Donie O'Sullivan live for us with the very latest on this.
[07:55:00]
This is, Donie -- let me put it in a question, how significant of a move is this from Facebook?
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER: Yes, John, I mean, this is a big move from Facebook. Obviously, they are taking this action just a few weeks before the presidential election. And, look, as you mentioned, this is a dangerous far-right conspiracy theory, it actually spawned out a pizza-gate which was another false conspiracy theory that baselessly claimed that senior Democrats were tied to a pedophile ring that was connected to a pizza parlor in Washington D.C. And you know, those false claims resulted in a man showing up with a gun to that pizza parlor in 2016.
So Facebook taking this action is good to try and stop exposing more of its users to these conspiracy theories, but in many ways, the horse has bolted, QAnon has been spreading as you mentioned for three years.
There are now Republicans who are running for Congress that have expressed support for QAnon. And even President Trump, he's refused to disavow the conspiracy theory, saying he appreciates its followers because they like him. So, John, companies like Facebook and Twitter could definitely have done a lot more up onto this point to stop the spread of this conspiracy.
BERMAN: So, Donie, you actually spoke to some Trump supporters about QAnon at a rally in Minnesota, just so people know about the timing of this. This was before we learned of the president's coronavirus diagnosis.
O'SULLIVAN: That's right. Just a week ago, obviously, a lot has happened since the morning after the first presidential debate. I spoke to some Trump supporters -- and, you know, it's important, you know, what happens on Facebook does not happen in online vacuum. It's playing out in the real world, and I've been to a few Trump rallies and quite a few people I have spoken to there have expressed support or sympathy for QAnon. Have a listen to some of these supporters who were in Minnesota last week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): Do you follow QAnon at all?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I do. Yes, I love QAnon.
O'SULLIVAN: So if I am describing QAnon, I say, it is a conspiracy theory that believes that there is this cabal of pedophiles linked to the Democratic Party that are eating children and the FBI has said that it's a dangerous conspiracy that could inspire domestic terrorism. How would you describe it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say absolutely not. I would describe it as a global awakening.
O'SULLIVAN: Can you believe some are QAnon and not all of us?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
O'SULLIVAN: What for you is the stuff for QAnon that you don't believe?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a whole lot of different rabbit holes that it gets -- it goes down, but, yes, the backbone of it is just patriots from all over the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cedar Rapids, Iowa --
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): This vendor who sells Trump hats and T- shirts outside the president's rallies says more and more people have been asking for QAnon merchandise. When did people start asking for QAnon? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since July, people have been asking us heavily for
QAnon. People started to wake up. People started to see it, and then it became a movement, now it's almost turned into some sort of cult- like figure, you know, and that's just what happens in America.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'SULLIVAN: And that vendor is saying that he has ordered QAnon merchandise to sell at Trump rallies, and you know, he says he's seen a surge in popularity among Trump supporters 4Q over the Summer, and that reflects what I spoke to some other people at that rally.
You know, one woman saying, really it's been since the pandemic hit, since the lockdowns hit in various parts of the country in March. She said she's had a lot more time to be online, be on social media, be on Facebook. And she said to research what's really going on, and now she's a pretty ardent believer in QAnon.
So, again, John, it highlights -- you know, we've all spent a lot of time on the internet this year, it would have been a lot better had Facebook taken this action against QAnon sooner.
BERMAN: Donie, it's a significant move, what they're doing, but you talking to those people there, it shows the effect of letting it linger for three years without taking action. Donie O'Sullivan, as always, thank you so much for your reporting. It is illuminating to say the least. NEW DAY continues right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The White House has turned into the epicenter of what is clearly a major outbreak.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stephen Miller, he has been self-quarantining for five days, but nevertheless tested positive. We're taking all necessary precautions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president put out this tweet that surprised everybody on Capitol Hill and makes it clear that there will not be a stimulus deal before the November elections.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is so irresponsible when millions are suffering.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the president has mishandled the coronavirus pandemic from the get-go, and I think now, that's the only thing on the president's mind.
JOE BIDEN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR 2020: We can't undo what has been done. We can't go back. We can do so much better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: And good morning, everyone, welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. The White House is a growing coronavirus hot spot this morning. Dr. Anthony Fauci says that the outbreak did not have to happen.
