Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

California Official: Some Hospitals Need To Prepare For Crisis Care; GOP Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) Says He Will Object To Electoral College Certification; School Superintendent: We're Over-Quarantining Kids Like Crazy. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired December 30, 2020 - 11:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:30:00]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: A viral tsunami, that's how one epidemiologist is describing the surge of COVID cases in Los Angeles County. The situation in California is so dire that state officials there say it's time for hospitals to prepare for, quote, crisis care, which means hospitals across the region could be asked to pull their resources in order to pull through this moment.

Here is CNN's Correspondent, Nick Valencia, on how California landed in this position.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): L.A. County Emergency Room Nurse Toni Katano says her hospital is running out of oxygen tanks and space in the morgue.

TONI KATANO, E.R. NURSE: Our morgue is full. It's only a matter of time before they start breaking out the butcher trucks.

VALENCIA: Throughout the pandemic, she's used her social media to warn residents of what's to come if the current trend of COVID cases continues.

KATANO: Ten hours later, there's still just as many ambulances. They don't stop coming. They don't stop coming.

VALENCIA: Cases in the state have surged in spite of strict COVID-19 protocols, including a stay-at-home order, while California's governor, Gavin Newsom, pushed for a lockdown in parts of the state, shutting down theme parks, limiting dining at restaurants and shuttering movie theaters to flatten the curve.

Meantime in Florida, a state that's been wide open for months, things are still faring better for rate of new COVID cases. Why? Public health officials say Los Angeles was uniquely susceptible to an infectious disease outbreak.

JESSICA MALATY RIVERA, SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LEAD, COVID TRACKING PROJECT: Los Angeles County, I think, is home to some of the most overcrowded housing setups in the country. And because of that, you're seeing a lot of household transmission of the virus. There are high rates of poverty and high rates of homelessness.

VALENCIA: California's large population means many are suffering from poverty or homelessness. The widening gap of COVID cases present in California is also a stark reminder many essential workers there are people of color. The rate at which people are getting sick, especially Latino residents, is most alarming.

California's Department of Health said 47 percent of the COVID-related deaths are Latino, despite Latinos making up just 38.9 percent of California's population.

Since the Thanksgiving holiday, California has continued to set daily record highs in hospitalizations and COVID-related deaths. As of Tuesday, the seven-day rolling average of new cases is up by more than 37,000. That's more than a 13 percent increase in new positive cases in the past week. Since the start of the pandemic, more than 24,000 people have died in California. And now with hospitals flooded and airports packed, California is becoming the next epicenter of the pandemic.

RIVERA: I think that January and February are going to be really dark.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we're all pretty tired.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Our thanks to Nick Valencia for that.

Joining us now to talk more about what is happening in California is CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Jorge Rodriguez.

Dr. Rodriguez, thanks so much for joining us.

You're there in Los Angeles County. Does viral tsunami -- is that characterization appropriate? Does it accurately depict the situation on the ground there right now?

DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, it does. If you go to E.R.s here, there are lines of ambulances and many hospitals to get in. The staff is worn to their fringes, and even some hospitals, there is not enough infrastructure to deliver oxygen, right, at the rate necessary to all of the people that require it. So California is going through a very tough time right now.

GOLODRYGA: And this is happening in California as we're learning about an even more contagious strain of the coronavirus officially arriving in the United States. A Colorado man in his 20s is now in isolation. What can you tell us about this strain?

[11:35:00]

And do you think that this is at least one reason why we continue to see such a surge in cases? RODRIGUEZ: Well, you know, that's an interesting question because I've asked that to people that are much more knowledgeable than I. And, so far, that hasn't been shown. It's very possible the United States has not checked for what is called genome viruses here and it only makes sense that that mutation is going to spread.

The mutation, unfortunately, occurred in an area of the virus that makes the virus a lot more infectious but not deadlier, it seems, which for some -- at first glance, you would think, hey, that's not so bad. The truth is that the more infections there are, the sicker people there will be and the more people will be going to hospitals.

And as was mentioned earlier, this is adversely affecting especially the communities of color and Hispanic, which we're seeing sort of the injustice that has been going on for generations and access to medical care among the communities of color.

GOLODRYGA: And both Dr. Fauci and President-elect Biden have said that the worse is yet to come, that January could very well be worse than December.

But this moment is reminiscent of the past spring when we restricted travel to the U.K. because the virus was already here. This Colorado man infected, he had no recent travel history. That's led many to believe we already could be seeing community spread. Should we be rethinking our travel restrictions at this point?

RODRIGUEZ: Well, in my opinion, yes, but there's so much more to this than just travel restrictions. Here we are supposedly the most advanced, richest country in the world, and we still don't have good leadership, first of all, from the top. We don't have contact tracing. We can't even easily check which type of virus is floating around in the community. Hell, we can't even give adequate care to many of our citizens.

So there's so much to do. And, yes, I think that mutation is already in the United States. So we need to do all that we can and perhaps one of them is to decrease travel.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, you're absolutely right, the richest country in the world, yet we've got so many that are food insecure and we're not even up to speed in terms of testing for COVID as well, a lot of catch-up. Go ahead.

RODRIGUEZ: Yes. And this pandemic has definitely shown the holes and the inequality that we have in our health care system. And, hopefully, in the next four years, we can start correcting that. We need to believe in science, and more than that, we need to believe and trust in each other.

GOLODRYGA: Amen. Well said, Dr. Jorge rodriguez. Thank you so much. Happy New Year to you. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:40:00] GOLODRYGA: Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley says that he will object when Congress counts the Electoral College votes next Wednesday. His objection will not change the result of the election but it will only force lawmakers in both the House and Senate to vote on whether they accept the results of the presidential election and President-elect Joe Biden's victory, in other words, a delay.

CNN Political Director David Chalian joins me now. David, Josh Hawley is the first senator to announce his plans to object, clearly defying what Mitch McConnell had wanted. He wanted desperately to avoid just this. But what happens if more do follow him?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, as you said, Bianna, it is all about making a point and delaying. It's not going to actually change the results. Joe Biden is still going to become president of the United States on January 20th.

But we saw something similar play out back in 2005 after the 2004 Bush versus Kerry election, there was a Democratic congresswoman from Ohio, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, she was joined by Barbara Boxer, a Democratic senator from California, they objected to Ohio's electoral count, making a point about voting there and voter disenfranchisement and paper ballots.

And what you said is exactly what's going to happen, the joint session breaks up. The House debates the challenge separately. The Senate debates the challenge. So they each go to their own chamber. There's debate. There's a vote on it. It is unlikely that there is going to be a vote that passes, that actually somehow upends the electoral count. That doesn't seem really within the realm of possibility.

So it's all about protestation, making a point. And what Josh Hawley is really doing here is laying down the fist marker for perhaps a presidential run in 2024. He wants to make sure that all those Trump supporters know that he's an ally of President Trump, who still holds so much power inside the Republican Party.

GOLODRYGA: And aside from really questioning and embarrassment for the democratic process here, it does raise a question of voter integrity, right? And Josh Hawley said, at the very least, Congress should investigate allegations of voter fraud and adopt measures to secure the integrity of our election but Congress has so far failed to act.

In terms of what we have upcoming in Georgia, these two Senate election runoffs, this is the last thing that these two Republican senators need to have worried about is how people question the integrity of their vote.

[11:45:10]

So how does this square?

CHALIAN: Well, the president of the United States is the person who is questioning the integrity of the Georgia votes. He's been doing so nonstop since November 3rd. Today, he called for the resignation of the governor. This is -- let's just be clear, what is different about this time around with Josh Hawley is doing than what we saw in the past is, remember, in the past, John Kerry had already conceded the election. Donald Trump has not conceded the election. He had 50-something lawsuits.

And to your point about voter integrity, every single challenge that the Trump team brought containing voter fraud was thrown out of court or dismissed or ruled against. Because, just as Attorney General Barr has said, former Attorney General Barr now, I guess, Bianna, but he said there's no widespread voter fraud here. It's not been found anywhere.

So to stand up and make a point about something that has already gone through 50 court cases and everyone that looked at and said it didn't exist seems to me is just a pure political play to court favor with the base.

And to your point about Georgia, I mean, the runoff happens January 5th. These antics are going to happen on January 6th in the House of Representatives. Let's see if we have all of the counted in Georgia. It took a while after the November 3rd general election. We may not even have a result in Georgia as this is happening.

GOLODRYGA: Well, it is just ridiculous. And I have to say it's shameful as well. Josh Hawley knows better.

David Chalian, thank you so much. I really appreciate.

CHALIAN: We will see if anybody else joins him, Bianna. Will he have any colleagues join him in this effort? That's the really big question.

GOLODRYGA: And I know you will be following that closely for us, thank you.

CHALIAN: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: And coming up, virtual learning, missed games and social isolation. That's been the new reality for kids across the country. One superintendent says, quarantine rules, well, they've gone just too far. He's joining me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:50:00]

GOLODRYGA: President-elect Joe Biden says reopening schools will be a priority of his for the first 100 days in office, but the way forward is still unclear, as coronavirus consumes the country. One big question posed by educators, how long should kids stay away from school if exposed to the virus. Well, one superintendent rethinking his school's quarantine policy says, quote, we're overquarantining kids like crazy. And that superintendent joins me now. Jonathan Cooper is Superintendent of schools in Mason, Ohio. Jonathan, welcome.

You say schools are overreaching when it comes to quarantining kids. Tell us why.

JONATHAN COOPER, SUPREINTENDENT, MASON CITY SCHOOLS: Well, thanks for having me. You know, when I say that, what I'm specifically referring to is, in our classrooms, we follow a safety bundle, and that safety bundle means that, basically, kids are wearing mask 100 percent of the time. And within that three-foot distance of each other, we have not seen any network of spread or any community spread within that zone.

And so, if we're following those specific safety protocols that health experts have placed out there for us as schools, then our argument would be to let's take a closer look at the science behind that, and that's where we've partnered up with Governor DeWine and the state, to look specifically at the science behind how safe are classrooms. And what we have found over time is that we have not seen that community spread within schools. So, schools have been a safe place for our kids to be.

So quarantining kids, putting them out for 14 days at a time when they're healthy is a big stress on the system. It's a stress for families, it's a stress for our teachers and it's a stress for our students who are really struggling with that mental health component.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, there's a debate as to whether 10 days or 14 days is appropriate, and the CDC has gone back and forth on that in terms of quarantining. But, look, I have been covering this beat for months now and I agree with you, the data does seem to show that spread does not occur in schools where the kids are distanced and they are wearing masks.

Can you talk about how the students are affected by these quarantine periods, however, when they're at home, when they're away from school for 10 or 14 days?

COOPER: Great question. You know, here at Mason City Schools, one of the things that we've experienced is that our students feel disconnected when they're at home. 80 percent of our students chose to come back in person. And they have a deep connection with their teachers. And that relationship with our teachers and the job that our teachers do each and every day in our classrooms keeps our kids connected. It helps them to learn and they connect socially as well with their friends and with others.

What we have noticed over time is that if we continue to quarantine, it's hard for other schools to open up. And superintendents across the state and across the nation worked really hard on the logistics in keeping our schools safe for students and for staff. Our teachers have done a great job as well. When students are separated out and they're at home, it's hard for our teachers to connect with them while they're trying to teach in-person students.

It's hard for our students that are at home to find that sense of belonging. They feel disconnected. That social isolation is the piece that they're experiencing. We've seen an uptick in the concerns over our mental health with our students because of this. And so we want to take a closer look at the science and say, could we shorten that time? Could we rethink that? The larger issue here, and you probably know this, Bianna, because you've been looking at this, is that it's creating an equity gap across the United States where schools are having a hard time opening up because of some of these rules.

[11:55:02]

And these rules hold schools back from opening.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, no, of course. And, look, technology is wonderful, but it only gets you so far. We need kids in classrooms. And it's only highlighting the inequities that we have in this country right now. Jonathan Cooper, thank you so much for flagging this for us. We appreciate it.

COOPER: My pleasure.

GOLODRYGA: And coming up, the U.K. coronavirus variant has surfaced in Colorado. We'll get a live update from Denver as Brooke Baldwin continues our coverage right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:00:00]