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New Day

Key Model Projects Increased Deaths; Public School Enrollment Drops. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired December 04, 2020 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:32:22]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, developing this morning, Bangladesh is moving forward with the controversial relocation of tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal. Bangladeshi authorities ignoring opposition from human rights groups who liken the flood-prone island to a prison. The Bangladeshi government spent years constructing shelters on the island to house the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who fled a brutal crackdown in neighboring Myanmar. Bangladeshi authorities maintain the relocation is voluntary.

Joe Biden will face a number of major foreign policy challenges when he takes office. In CNN's exclusive interview with President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris, Biden says the U.S. relationship with China needs a reset.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT FOR THE UNITED STATES: The president's approach to China has been backwards. My concern from the beginning, I've spoke about it and I met with Xi more times than anybody had up until the time we left office, that I'm aware of, is to make it real clear to China, their international rules that if you want to play by, we'll play with you. If you don't, we're not going to play, number one. Number two, it's not about punishing them for COVID virus. It's about insisting that there be international norms that they establish that they play by.

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ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Biden also addressed the threat posed by Iran and his plan to have the U.S. rejoin the nuclear deal.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT FOR THE UNITED STATES: The bottom line is that we can't allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. And look how damaging this policy the president has gone for. He has pulled out to get something tougher. And what have they done? They've increased the ability for them to have nuclear material. They're moving closer to the ability to be able to have enough material for a nuclear weapon. There is the missile issues. All those things, I think, are going to be very difficult. But I know one thing, we cannot do this alone. And that's why we have to be part of a larger group dealing not only with Iran, but with Russia, with China, and a whole range of other issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: OK, we will play much more of Jake Tapper's exclusive sit- down with Biden and Harris throughout the program.

Meanwhile, California's governor instituting the strongest coronavirus restrictions since the spring. Millions of residents there likely to see outdoor dining, playgrounds, hair salons, well, all of those could close within days. So we'll discuss the latest on the pandemic, next.

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[06:38:51]

BERMAN: All right, breaking news.

Overnight, we learned the United States recorded the worst day of the coronavirus pandemic so far, setting records with every major metric. Now, 2,879 new deaths reported in the United States. I want to give you a sense of exactly what that means. That's 1,000 more people than who died in Hurricane Katrina. So when you're talking about 2,800 deaths in a single day, it's like having a Katrina and a half every single day.

CAMEROTA: It's 9/11.

BERMAN: Every single day. I mean that's what we're doing and that's going to go on for a month or more at this point.

More than 100,000 Americans are hospitalized this morning. That's another record. More than 217,000 new cases. Another all-time high.

And new this morning, the key model that the White House relies on is now projecting more than 530,000 Americans will be dead by April 1st. Just think of that.

Joining us now is Dr. Carlos Del Rio, executive associate dean at Emory University School of Medicine and a contributor to the NIH Moderna vaccine trial.

[06:40:00]

And Dr. Del Rio, one thing people need to know about this IHME model, it's conservative. It's a conservative estimate of where we're headed. They project an average of 3,000 deaths by mid-January. We may be a lot higher than that at the rate we're going.

DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Yes, John, unfortunately, at the rate we're going, we're approaching 3,000 deaths per day, right? So in the next, you know, hundred days, just do the math. And, you know, that's another 200,000, 300,000 deaths on top of the ones we already have.

So I do think the model is conservative. But it's also incredibly scary. And it's also, again, emphasizing two things in my mind. Number one, if we all started wearing masks and, you know, President-elect Biden is saying he's going to ask Americans to wear -- everybody wear a mask for a hundred days. If we all did that, the number of deaths could be decreased by about 66,000, according to the model.

And while we're all excited about the vaccine, the reality is the model says the vaccine, probably by April 1st, will only save about 10,000 or to 11,000 deaths. So we don't -- the vaccine is great, but it's not going to be immediate -- the solution to this problem.

CAMEROTA: But I don't understand, Dr. Del Rio. If 20 million people are going to get the vaccine, why is it only going to save 10,000 lives?

DEL RIO: Because, you know, 20 million, Alisyn, is a very small number. The reality is that the virus right now is just running pretty rampant. So you probably have a significant number of people already infected that are not going to benefit from the vaccine. And they're going to get six in the next, you know, two to three weeks and then they're going to be in the hospital and then they'll die.

BERMAN: Yes, I think the other thing we have to keep -- take into consideration is, people aren't going to get the first dose for at least another week, the second dose a month after that. So five weeks. And then it doesn't become effective right away. I mean you have five or six weeks before even those doses make a dent in this. And if we're losing 3,000 lives a day until then, I think that's a real issue as well.

Dr. Del Rio, I mean how much worse can it get?

DEL RIO: I mean, John, that's a question we all ask ourselves, right? We thought we -- had seen the worst in the summer and right now the summer looks almost mild. I think it can get a lot worse. I mean I really worry about our hospital systems. I think our hospital systems are going to get overwhelmed. And there's an issue also with, you know, the biggest challenge is staffing. At some point in time you simply don't have enough staff to take care of patients.

And that only not only impacts people with COVID, it impacts everybody, right? So if you have cancer, if you have a stroke, if you have a heart attack, you will also have trouble getting care and getting into hospitals. So that increases the mortality, not only from COVID, but for many other diseases that need acute care and simply cannot get it.

CAMEROTA: Dr. Del Rio, why does this new model, this new projection just out, why does it top off at 3,000 daily deaths, since we're a hundred people away from that? Why aren't they showing a higher plateau?

DEL RIO: You know, I think -- I'm not an expert in their modeling of what they did. I think probably when they constructed the model, 3,000 looked like a reach. Now 3,000 looks like a reality, right? I suspect they're going to probably update their models based on what's happening right now. I mean we are seeing numbers that none of us believe it was possible to see with this pandemic right now.

BERMAN: So what we're seeing out of California now, it may be a sign of what's to come around the country. The California governor, Gavin Newsom, said that he is going to institute stay-at-home orders by region when these regions reach 85 percent capacity in their ICUs. They're not there yet, but it looks like they will be there soon.

Now, the types of restrictions he's talking about are telling people to stay home. Schools will still be open. Elementary schools that are open now will still be open, but he's going to tell people in their -- most workplaces not to go to work. Restaurants are going to be closed, indoor and outdoor.

Are -- is this enough? Is it consistent? Do the restrictions that he's talking about make sense to you?

DEL RIO: Well, I think his restrictions make sense, but, you know, you able to -- to do a modified form. I do like the idea of trying to keep schools open. I think it's really important to keep schools open. I do think we need to close indoor dining. I'm not sure about outdoor dining. But I will tell you, many places now with the cold weather, they've build enough walls around the outdoor dining that it looks a lot like indoor dining, right? So if it's outdoor, truly outdoor, I think it's (INAUDIBLE) really is (INAUDIBLE). And, yes, I think (INAUDIBLE).

And I think really important, John, we need to limit gatherings of people in homes. We need to limit the number of people that can gather because what I'm seeing is people saying, well, I can't go to a restaurant, but let's have a party at my house, have a dinner in my house, invite 15, 20 people.

And the problem is, you think that somebody you know, your neighbor, is safe, right? We all (INAUDIBLE) trust you, I've know you, you're safe, and we don't realize that they could be infected and this could lead to transmission. So if you've going to have people in your house, you know, have them, but social distance, wear a mask, figure out ways to not have a lot of people indoors, because that's where a lot of transmission is happening right now.

[06:45:09]

CAMEROTA: Dr. Del Rio, thank you very much and thank you for looking through this new projection for us and helping us understand everything that it contains.

DEL RIO: A good day.

CAMEROTA: You, too.

BERMAN: All right, Dr. Anthony Fauci joins Anderson Cooper and Sanjay in a new coronavirus town hall focused on vaccines. That will be fascinating. That's tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN. We learned that Dr. Fauci's staying on. How did we learn that? It came to light in Jake Tapper's exclusive interview with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. We're going to talk much more about that, including how Biden responded to scrutiny over his family's business interests.

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BERMAN: This morning, new perspective from Jake Tapper's exclusive interview with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Jake asked Biden about his pledge that his family will not be involved in any foreign businesses while he's president.

[06:50:05]

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JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Will your brothers, will your son take leave from any business interests, not just foreign, but any business interests that might create any even appearance of impropriety?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT FOR THE UNITED STATES: My son, my family will not be involved in any business, any enterprise that is in conflict with or appears to be in conflict, where there's appropriate distance from the presidency and government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Can you imagine what President Trump's supporters and media allies would have said today if Biden said, oh, he's going to be my counselor in the White House, just like Ivanka. I'm going to use that model. He's going to do -- he's going to just be my Ivanka.

BERMAN: Look, clearly that's not going to happen inside the White House.

CAMEROTA: It's --

BERMAN: In terms of the business connections, though, we'll have to wait and see exactly what is done and how -- to what extent the separation and divestment is because Trump made sort of promises like that and then clearly just broke them all over the place.

CAMEROTA: Never divested.

BERMAN: Right.

CAMEROTA: Yes. All right, we have much more of that to show you coming up.

BERMAN: There is new fallout from the pandemic this morning. Children dropping out of public school at an alarming rate. What's going on here? That's next.

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[06:55:28]

CAMEROTA: As coronavirus rages, public schools across the country are seeing a huge drop in enrollment. CNN's Bianna Golodryga has more.

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BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST (voice over): Ryan and Elizabeth Newhart are grateful that as of three weeks ago their two youngest children are able to attend school in person five days a week.

ELIZABETH NEWHART, MOTHER: We absolutely take school for granted, until your children are home and you're responsible for schooling them yourselves.

GOLODRYGA: Eight-year-old Ronan and six-year-old Ila began the semester virtually at a public elementary school in Oak Park, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. Right away, there were signs of trouble.

E. NEWHART: They were, you know, having tantrums toward their teachers, which would never have happened in person. And really just, you know, losing control.

GOLODRYGA: Balancing Zoom classes and their jobs, Ryan works in marketing, Elizabeth in HR, was becoming equally untenable for the middle class couple.

RYAN NEWHART, FATHER: At times both of us may be on conference calls, you know, and not having our full attention with the kids and not being professionally trained teachers, either.

GOLODRYGA: So after making some tough cuts to the family budget, they took Ronan and Ila out of public school and enrolled them at St. Giles, a nearby catholic school. Virtual learning is less of a challenge for 15-year-old Liam, who remains in public school.

E. NEWHART: We had to do a lot of number crunching, but we felt like it was something that we had to do.

GOLODRYGA: They're not alone. An increasing number of parents are looking for alternatives to virtual learning, leading to an alarming drop in public school enrollment nationwide.

DENNIS E. GOODWIN, SUPERINTENDENT, MURPHY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT, ARIZONA: Right now people are in survival mode, my personal perspective.

GOLODRYGA: Dennis Goodwin, superintendent of the Murphy Elementary School District in Phoenix, understands why parents are making the move.

GOODWIN: Going to a charter or another school that is open to them, I completely respect and understand that and the situations they're in.

GOLODRYGA: But that doesn't make his job any easier, having just taken his district, one of Arizona's poorest, out of bankruptcy, he now faces another crisis, an 8 percent drop in enrollment this year.

GOODWIN: Some went to charters. We know some just have moved out of the area. We can't find them. And we're not alone in that.

GOLODRYGA: Fall enrollment in Chicago's Public Schools is at a 20-year low. Massachusetts has seen a nearly 4 percent drop. Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia shows enrollment this school year is down nearly 5 percent. Miami, Los Angeles, Charlotte and New York all reporting declines. Revenue is based on student enrollment. Fewer students means fewer resources allocated to school districts.

GOODWIN: You still have to provide all the same services that you've had before, but just having less dollars to be able to accomplish that.

GOLODRYGA (on camera): What are the longer-term consequences of students and teachers not being able to get the resources they need because of budget cuts?

GOODWIN: Well, the kids fall behind.

GOLODRYGA (voice over): Fewer students in public schools also contributes to a growing socioeconomic divide. Millions of families depend on schools for child care and meals, in addition to education.

GOODWIN: It just makes things a lot more difficult when you lose students.

GOLODRYGA: Bianna Golodryga, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: We thank Bianna for capturing the frustration of parents everywhere.

We also have an exclusive new interview with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

And NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our numbers are at alarming rates. We sure could use some leadership in the White House.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT FOR THE UNITED STATES: On the first day I'm inaugurated, I'm going to ask the public for 100 days to mask.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More than 100,000 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bottom line is, if we don't act now, we'll continue to see a death rate climb, more lives lost.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so terrified and very anxious about what's going to happen in the weeks ahead. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: States already preparing to distribute the

vaccine, which, if approved, could ship in less than two weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want to make sure that the people who need to get it first are going to be there.

BIDEN: Once it's declared to be safe, and it's important to communicate to the American people, it's safe. Safe to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

CAMEROTA: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY.

And we begin with CNN's exclusive interview with President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. It will give us all a real feel for what Biden's leadership will look like in 2021, especially on the pandemic.

[07:00:05]

President-elect Biden tells CNN his first plan will be to ask all Americans.