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New Day

Seven Variants in the U.S.; Criminal Probe into Overturning Georgia Election; Prince Harry and Meghan Expected Second Child; Michael McDowell Wins Daytona 500. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired February 15, 2021 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Positive news. Experts, though, caution this is not the time to let down your guard, especially as we're seeing new coronavirus strains circulating.

Overnight, we learned of seven new variants that have been identified in the U.S.

Joining us now, CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University.

Doctor, always good to see you. You know, bottom line, how concerned should we be about these seven variants identified here in the U.S.?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Hi, Erica.

I think we need to do what we've been doing now for the last year, which is masking up and social distancing.

There have always been these variants, we've just not been that good at detecting them. Countries like the United Kingdom have had a much more robust surveillance program to identify these genomic variants. But now they're on our radar screen. And now that we're looking for them, we're finding them.

So it seems that this virus tends to mutate in a way to change its spike protein, that's the protuberance that it uses to attach to its host. In humans, usually the respiratory cells, the lining of the respiratory cells. And it evolves in ways to make it more efficient in doing that. And that's what these variants seem to have done.

So the net effect of that is making these variants easier to transmit. And that's the concern. But masks work. And we need to continue to mask up and use the best mask you have.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Dr. Reiner, we know that certain states, Montana and others, are starting to lift their mask mandate.

REINER: Yes.

BERMAN: We know that there are cities and states around the country that are beginning to ease up on restaurant restrictions. What do you think of that?

REINER: Makes absolutely no sense. You know, things are so much better in the United States now, but they're so much better in the United States now because we finally have a consistent message coming from the White House about masks. More people now in the United States are wearing masks most of the time, or all the time, than ever before in this pandemic and it's made a tangible effect.

Now is the time to actually enhance that, to get more people to mask up. We're finally breaking into the lead. We do not want to slow down. Things do look better but we're being chased by this more transmissible variants, which can be blocked by masking. We know how to do this. Now is not the time to stop.

HILL: You know, as you point out, and it's in this research, and here comes the layman's question, but as we're looking at this, the fact that these variants, the mutations, I'm looking at my notes here to make sure I don't mess this up, seem to be on the same spike protein as you talked about.

How helpful is that when we look at the existing vaccines that we have, the fact that it seems to be mutating in the same way on that particular spike protein, does that mean that the vaccines will continue to be, you think, as effective?

REINER: What we know is that the predominant variant of concern in the United States is the U.K. B117 variant. And we have very strong data, both in vivo and in vitro data that does show that that variant is highly susceptible to both the available vaccines now and the vaccines that are on the way.

The Israelis just published real world data on this. The -- in -- the -- in the country of Israel, the predominant strain is the B117 variant and only about 4 to 5 percent of the people who have been vaccinated, and they have vaccinated huge swaths of their country, have actually been infected. And it shows that it works in the real world with that variant. So I would not be concerned about it at this time. But it's something to watch.

BERMAN: Very quickly, Dr. Reiner, you've been passionate that you think that teachers should be vaccinated. We heard from CDC Director Rochelle Walensky over the weekend again who says, well, she would like teachers to get vaccinated. She does not think it is a prerequisite for reopening schools that are not already open at this point.

Your view?

REINER: Look, the CDC plan makes sense except that there's so many components, it's really difficult for most schools to achieve it. In other words, opening schools in places where the incidence of the virus is low in the community, making sure that you can socially distance in the classroom, six feet between students, you know, universal mask wearing, enhanced ventilation, it sounds great, impossible to do in the 124,000 schools in the United States. I worked with a nurse who sends her kids to school in D.C. and she

says, in order to do that, in order to have the kind of separation in the classrooms in D.C., they would have to bring in fewer kids into the classroom. The other kids would have to remain home and distance learn.

The problem is, they don't have twice the number of teachers that do that. And that's the problem that every school is facing, a variation on each of these themes, either ventilation or the number of teachers or the kinds of classrooms. The solution is right in front of us and it's to vaccinate all the teachers in the United States.

[06:35:00]

There are 3.7 million teachers.

And the data that the CDC touts, to show the safety of opening schools, none of that data is with the emerging variants. So if you want to make the science base, you have to start by acknowledging that the variants of concern in the United States have never been tested. The environment to open schools have never been tested in an environment with these variants.

The solution is easy, vaccinate all of the teachers. We distribute 11 million vaccines per week in the United States. Let's spend a couple of weeks and vaccinate every teacher and then a month later reopen every school.

HILL: Dr. Jonathan Reiner, always good to have you with us. Thank you.

REINER: Thanks for having me.

HILL: On a lighter note, and one that John Berman is very, very excited about this morning, a little Valentine from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with the news that Archie is going to be a big brother. More details in a live report from London just ahead.

BERMAN: But this is the American branch of the royal family right here.

HILL: There you go, John Berman.

BERMAN: Yes.

HILL: Planting your --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Developing this morning, the Fulton County District Attorney has opened a criminal investigation into the former president.

[06:40:01]

According to a letter sent to multiple Georgia state election officials, the investigation will focus on the former president's attempts to influence the administration of the 2020 Georgia general election.

Joining us now, CNN legal analyst Elie Honig. He's a former federal and state prosecutor.

Elie, what laws exactly are in play here?

ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, John, this is going to get really interesting.

So the Fulton County District Attorney, Fani Willis, has announced that her office is investigating efforts to interfere with the presidential election results down in Florida. The D.A. said an investigation is like an onion, you never know, you pull something back and then you find something else. I can tell you, based on my own experience as a prosecutor, that's absolutely correct.

Now, under Georgia law, it is a crime to solicit, meaning just to ask somebody else to engage in election fraud. And that can relate to the counting of votes or to the certification of the election results. So that's where the district attorney's going to be focusing.

HILL: So if that's where their focus is, what would this case actually look like, Elie?

HONIG: Yes, Erica, the building block of this case is going to be the now infamous phone call on December 23rd between then President Donald Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

Let's listen to some of the things they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: The people of Georgia are angry. The people of the country are angry. And there's nothing wrong with saying that, you know, that you've recalculated.

BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is the data you have is wrong.

TRUMP: All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HONIG: The key word there to a prosecutor is "find." That suggests President Trump doesn't just want Raffensperger to sort of recount all of the ballots, but only to find a specific number -- by the way, all of them for Donald Trump -- that will give him the state by one vote.

BERMAN: So the former president wasn't the only one making phone calls into Georgia, wasn't the only one pushing here. So who else might prosecutors be interested in?

HONIG: Yes, there's some other big names involved here as well. Senator Lindsey Graham, from a different state, by the way, from South Carolina, reportedly had a phone conversation with Raffensperger a few weeks before that when he asked Raffensperger if there's any way he could throw out mail-in ballots from certain counties? Now, Lindsey Graham denies that that's what was said. That's what subpoenas and investigations are for.

Governor Brian Kemp. The president called Brian Kemp and asked if he could convene a special session of the Georgia legislature to consider overturning the results. And then the Georgia state attorney general, Chris Carr, he got a call from the president as well asking if he would mind backing off and not opposing efforts to overturn the election results.

So those folks may be getting subpoenas, may be testifying as well.

HILL: What about Rudy Giuliani here, Elie, is he going to get pulled in?

HONIG: Yes, Erica, any time the president's in trouble, you can bet Rudy Giuliani is one step behind. The problem for Rudy is, he testified in front of multiple Georgia state legislative committees.

Here's some of the things that he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER PERSONAL LAWYER TO FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP: They look like they're passing out dope, not just ballots.

You had 10,315 people that we can determine from obituaries were dead when they voted. So right away that number you submitted to Washington is a lie. It's not true. It's false.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HONIG: In fact, some of the things Rudy Giuliani said are completely untrue, have been completely debunked. He said there was over 10,000 people -- dead people who voted. In fact, Georgia officials looked at that. the actual number was two.

The problem for Rudy is, it is a crime to lie to the Georgia state legislature. You can say whatever you want in the parking lot of the Four Seasons total (ph) landscaping, but it is a crime to lie when you're testifying in front of an official body.

BERMAN: Elie, if your second book was titled, the problem for Rudy dot, dot, dot, it would be a long, long book at this point.

HONIG: Yes, we've got to keep a lid on the number of pages. That -- that's too much.

BERMAN: All right, Elie Honig, thank you very much for helping us understand the specific legal challenges facing the former president. Appreciate it.

HONIG: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: So, new details this morning about what WHO investigators have uncovered about the origins of coronavirus. We have an exclusive CNN interview, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:47:58]

BERMAN: Developing this morning, investigators from the World Health Organization have discovered signs that the initial coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in China was larger than previously thought.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh spoke exclusively to the lead investigator.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice over): The leader of the WHO's mission to China investigating the origins of the coronavirus has told CNN the virus was likely much wider spread in China in December 2019 than was thought.

Peter Ben Embarek revealed the 174 positive cases found that first December, likely severe cases, meant there could actually have been an estimated thousand plus total cases in and around the city of Wuhan that month.

PETER BEN EMBAREK, HEAD OF WHO MISSION TO CHINA: The virus was circulating widely in Wuhan in December, which I think is a -- is a new -- is a new finding. And the 100 numbers were confirmed and the 74 clinically --

WALSH (on camera): Diagnosed?

EMBAREK: Confirmed.

WALSH: About 174 would suggest 1,000 or so plus even?

EMBAREK: Yes. Probably. Fairly likely, yes, because that's, again, that would fit with all the other parameters that -- that we have looked at.

WALSH (voice over): The team also established that in that first December there were as many as 13 slight variations of the virus from samples of all or bits of its genetic code circulating in and around Wuhan where this seafood market is thought to have played a role.

EMBAREK: We have 13 strains covering individuals in December. Some of them are from the market or into the market, some of them are not into the markets.

All this is something we found as part of our mission.

WALSH: That many variations so early on could suggest the virus had been circulating for some time some analysts told CNN, although precise timing is still unclear.

Their work, heavily scrutinized.

[06:50:00] Tense and frustrating conditions.

EMBAREK: Here, remember, we had the entire planet on our shoulders 24 hours a day for months, which doesn't make the work among scientists easier because in a way we all -- as always with -- between passionate scientists, you get -- you get heated discussion and argumentation about this and that.

WALSH: They hope to return to access biological samples they say China has yet to share, especially hundreds of thousands of blood bank samples from Wuhan dating back two years. China's pledged transparency with the investigation.

EMBAREK: There is about 200,000 samples in -- available there that are now secured and could be useful for new similar (ph) studies.

WALSH (on camera): And you want to look at that urgently?

EMBAREK: Yes, that would be -- that would be fantastic if we could look (ph) at that.

WALSH: Is it not amazing that they haven't already looked through those samples?

EMBAREK: You could say that. But we understand that these samples are extremely small samples and only used for authentication purpose.

WALSH (voice over): So many more questions still to answer. First, if China would let them back in.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, making a big announcement on Valentine's Day. They are expecting their second child.

CNN's Max Foster live in London for us now with more.

Max, good morning.

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erica, particularly a joyful moment really when you consider that Diana also announced Sir Harry's -- the pregnancy of Harry around Valentine's Day as well.

A photo accompanied this news. We're told it was taken remotely by a friend of the couple on a tablet. And, obviously, a very powerful story when you consider how the duchess wrote in November last year in "the New York Times" about her miscarriage over the summer and how she felt it was very important to talk about that because it's a taboo subject and miscarriage isn't spoken enough about.

But now we have this wonderful news that Archie indeed will have a younger sibling. We don't know whether or not it will be a boy or a girl. We know that both sides of the family have been informed. The queen and Prince Charles are said to be delighted, as are the entire family.

An interesting constitutional question arising, though, today. Historians looking at this because young Archie's younger sibling will be a U.S. citizen if born in the U.S. So could potentially, in theory, go on to become U.S. president. But this baby will also be eighth in line to the British throne. So you could have someone who is both a president and a U.K. king or queen at the same time. I realize I'm getting ahead of myself, but it is a constitutional question some people are asking today.

It's a joyful story and a pretty miserable news agenda. I think you'll agree, Erica.

HILL: Yes, it certainly is and it really changes the question when you ask a little kid, so what do you want to be when you grow up, when you have so many options in front of you.

Really quickly, no due date though. We don't know when the baby is expected?

FOSTER: No. Waiting to hear on that. They are -- I think they're going to tell us afterwards. That's their normal form.

HILL: Probably. Well, we'll just plan this kid's future in the meantime. We're on it.

Max, thank you.

BERMAN: Look, I think anything that grows the American branch of the royal family is a good thing. I think the more --

HILL: This is all part of John Berman's master plan.

BERMAN: It is. It is.

And to say -- to choose between the possibility of being a U.S. president and an inherited royal, which would you chose? Which has -- which is inherently more noble? And I choose that word carefully.

HILL: Wow.

BERMAN: Yes.

HILL: Well, I think John Berman would say the more noble choice would be to earn it --

BERMAN: Yes.

HILL: And try to earn the votes of the American people to earn that position.

BERMAN: That's right. That's why we had the revolution.

HILL: Let me get to a --

BERMAN: It's why we had the whole thing to begin with. HILL: Let me get you a cup of tea in this next break.

BERMAN: No. I drink coffee.

HILL: Oh. Oh. Snap. I'm drinking hot water.

In all seriousness, we are keeping a very close eye on a lot of other things happening.

Also in sports, a massive pileup in the final lap of the Daytona 500, leading to a stunning upset. That's next in "Bleacher Report."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:58:26]

BERMAN: So a fiery wreck on the last lap of the Daytona 500 led to a dramatic finish.

Andy Scholes with all that in the "Bleacher Report."

And this happened way late, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Very late, John.

Yes, for the drivers and the 30,000 fans, I mean it was a very long day at the Daytona 500. The race didn't end until after midnight because of a rain delay that lasted nearly six hours. But if you stuck with it, we had some high drama on that final lap.

Brad Keselowski trying to pass his teammate, Joey Logano. They bumped, leading to a fiery crash. Journeyman (ph) driver Michael McDowell then able to storm through the chaos to take the checkered flag. McDowell had never won a race going zero for 357 in his Nascar career. He started the Daytona 500 as a 100 to 1 underdog and he seemed in disbelief in victory lane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, 2021 DAYTONA 500 WINNER: I'm so thankful. Such a great way to get a first victory. Daytona 500! Are you kidding me?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: McDowell pumped up. Nearly half the field wiped out of the race in this 16-car wreck early on. It came less than five minutes before the race was stopped due to lightning.

Now, Bubba Wallace, meanwhile, making his debut as the driver for Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin's team. Wallace meeting Jordan for the first time this weekend. And Wallace making some history, being the first black driver to lead at the Daytona 500. He finished 17th after being involved in the last-lap crash.

And finally, check this out, John, driver Chase Briscoe got hungry during that extended rain delay, so he drove to a nearby Panda Express still wearing his fire suit.

[07:00:05]

His wife tweeted out that pic. I guess if you're in the mood for orange chicken, you know.