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FDA Confirms J&J Vaccine is Safe and Effective; Jobless Claims for Last Week; Lawmakers Debate Minimum Wage; Blacks and Latinos Lag Behind in Vaccinations. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired February 25, 2021 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Numbers. But basically I can talk you through it.

What they did was they give the vaccine and they're swabbing people as well and they swabbed, you know, over 2,000 people. They didn't swab everybody but over 2,000 people and they basically tried to figure out, OK, if you got the vaccine, how likely were you to be carrying the virus? These are people who have no symptoms. And if you got the placebo, how likely were you to be carrying the virus. Again, people with no symptoms. And what they found, which is good news, is that it was about 70 percent effective in terms of actually preventing people from getting infected.

Now, small -- small numbers here. So they've got to keep, you know, swabbing more people, figuring out if this is holding up in larger and larger numbers. But, look, this is the key. People know that the vaccines help prevent illness. An open question has long been, do the vaccines also prevent you from getting infected? Remember, we say, you've got to wear a mask still if you have been vaccinated because you could still be carrying the virus. If the data starts to show increasingly that it prevents you from getting infected, therefore prevents you from transmitting, that's big news. It's early still, so I want to be careful here, but these are the sorts of little clues I've been looking for, for some time.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This is the regular life that you so badly want.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: I know that. I'm not alone in wanting a regular life. I mean this is the get out of jail card that everybody is waiting for because, you know, as we've discussed, Sanjay, it doesn't make common sense for somebody who's doubly vaccinated, a grandparent, why can't they see their vaccinated daughter or son. Doesn't make sense that they would still have to wear a masks and be socially distant or not be able to see them.

So we are waiting for this data. And I know you guys, and Dr. Fauci, never want to get ahead of the science, and I understand and, of course, you don't, but that -- that is what Americans are waiting to hear. GUPTA: Yes. Look, I -- everyone deals with this on a very personal

level. I had the same conversation with my parents as well. They've been vaccinated. I got daughters. They'd love to see their grandkids. But, you know, we're trying to be careful because they're vaccinated so we feel really good about the idea they'll not going to get sick. And that is a huge relief, don't get me wrong. But the idea that they could still then carrying the virus, potentially transmit it to others, How long would they need to be quarantined? How do you deal with the masking? All of that -- those are -- you know, you want to err on the side of safety right now. You would hate for, in an era when we have vaccines that are widely rolling out, for people to still be getting sick and potentially requiring hospitalization and dying.

So that's it. I mean this is that period of time right now that in some ways is the most crucial because we have this really effective tool. It's kind of like if people die after the peace treaty is signed, those are the most tragic deaths of all. And I think that's why there's this real -- this real urge to err on the side of caution here.

BERMAN: Very quickly, we had Professor Michael Osterholm on a short while ago. And, you know, he's a proponent of, for now, because he's so concerned about the rise -- possible rise of variants, he is a proponent of giving just one dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine, holding back on giving the second dose so more people can get one dose.

Dr. Fauci and others have been asked about this directly, and they have an answer to why they don't think that is a great idea. And, Sanjay, what is that?

GUPTA: Well, the -- you know, the answer is, you know, you basically have data on one dose for three or four weeks, right, because these -- after that they -- depending on whether it's Pfizer or Moderna, you've got a second dose. So the science would say, hey, look, it's very reasonable that a single dose would offer you longstanding and strong protection, but we just don't know that for sure.

I think the thing that they're trying to avoid is that let's say somebody gets a single dose and then subsequently does get sick, it may really shake confidence overall in the vaccine. And at a time when you have vaccine hesitancy already of concern, that could worsen it. So, you know, they say follow the science.

I talk to Michael Osterholm about this all the time and he makes good points. You're starting to see increased data showing the benefits of one dose. And given that supply is still being outstripped by demand, you know, we may have to go in that direction. Or maybe even lower the amount of the Moderna dose because that gives more than enough protection.

But we're not there yet. I mean the CDC is not telegraphing that they're going to recommend that. Obviously, you heard what Dr. Fauci says about this. So we're not there yet. And this is a point of provocation right now in the scientific community.

CAMEROTA: Sanjay Gupta, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much. Really appreciate talking to you.

GUPTA: You got it. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: We have new information on America's unemployment crisis. So we have all the breaking details for you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:38:42]

CAMEROTA: Breaking news.

The Labor Department updating the number of first-time unemployment claims.

Chief business correspondent Christine Romans joins us now with more.

What are you seeing, Christine?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know, 730,000 people filed for the very first time for unemployment benefits last week. A little better than we had been expecting. But that number itself is so big, Alisyn. When you add in people applying for the pandemic programs, those special programs in COVID, it's something like 1.2 million Americans for the very first time filing for first- time unemployment benefits. These numbers far exceed the records set in the Great Recession and even earlier than that. So this still shows a lot of pain in the American job market.

Altogether, some 19 million Americans -- I just want you to think about how big that is, 19 million Americans are receiving some form of check from the government for lost wages, for jobless benefits. That shows the depth of the jobs crisis.

We have the Treasury chief this morning with letters to all of her G- 20 colleagues urging them to go big on stimulus -- fiscal stimulus in their own countries, even as she is urging our Congress to go big here to try to help these millions of people who have been sidelined by the COVID recession and the COVID job loss here. It's really a chronic problem when you look at these numbers.

[08:40:00]

Even as the stock market's at record highs, the housing market is strong, working people are suffering.

Now a word here about the minimum wage debate raging in Washington as part of a COVID relief. I've been hearing more people talk about the minimum wage, jobs as sort of starter jobs or saying, now is not the right time to raise the wage on small businesses. Really important here. That's a provision that's in the COVID relief. Who is the minimum wage worker?

Alisyn and John, it's not teenagers or brand-new immigrants to this country anymore. That was the 1980s when it was a starter wage, a starter job. Minimum wage workers are parents. They are more often than not women. Forty-three percent of them have some college. And only one of them in every 10 is a teenager here.

So these are families surviving on two minimum wage jobs and often the taxpayer supplementing that with food stamps and other programs to make them whole. So that's a really important backdrop, I think, you guys, to the minimum wage debate in Washington right now.

BERMAN: Yes, indeed it is and this is something that will be discussed and probably debated starting today. They're waiting to hear from the Senate parliamentarian.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: Christine Romans, thanks so much.

So lawmakers must weigh the benefits and consequences of raising the minimum wage.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich live in Washington with more on that.

Vanessa.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Well, this is the longest stretch of time that the federal minimum wage has not been raised since it went into effect just after the Great Depression. As Christine was saying there, many of the workers who rely on the minimum wage are the ones that are being affected most during this pandemic. So Congress is debating this $15 federal minimum wage.

But right here in the city of D.C., they've actually voted to raise it on their own.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NISHAD SAYEM, EMPLOYEE, WELL-PAID MAIDS: I used to work two jobs a day. I had to support my family.

YURKEVICH (voice over): Nishad Sayem used to make $10 an hour working from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. to scrape by. Now he makes $18 an hour cleaning homes. That allows him to not only cover his bills but take time to care for his disabled father.

SAYEM: I work only 35 to 40 hours a week, and I'm making more than two jobs, and now I can give some time to my family. I can help my dad when he wakes up.

YURKEVICH: The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 for over a decade. But 29 states and Washington, D.C., pay more than that. D.C., where Sayem works, is the highest at $15. The same city where Congress is currently debating raising the federal wage to that same level.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No one should work 40 hours a week and live in poverty.

YURKEVICH: President Biden wants that sweeping move to be part of his COVID-19 relief plan.

DELVONE MICHAEL, ACTIVIST, FIGHT FOR 15: We did it here in D.C. We were like the first major jurisdiction to get it done. Federal (ph) is the way to go about it and do it the quietest to the most people.

YURKEVICH: A $15 minimum wage by 2025 would lift nearly 1 million people out of poverty, but could also cost 1.4 million jobs according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

ANGELA FRANCO, INTERN PRESIDENT AND CEO, D.C. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Small businesses, and especially the ones that have the hourly rate, sometimes they handle like lower margins. And at the end, they have to transfer that cost. So they have either to cut hours, right, or cut employees or increase prices.

YURKEVICH: But some small businesses, like Little Sesame in D.C., have made the math work. The restaurant paid employees $13.25 an hour when it opened in 2018, but quickly pivoted to the new $15 minimum when it took effect this past summer.

NICK WISEMAN, CO-FOUNDER, LITTLE SESAME: We knew that this $15 mark was coming and we made sure that the model supported it. But that was an integral part of our business. It was, you know, it was the right thing to do and it was a good thing for us as a business.

YURKEVICH: But during the pandemic, more than 400,000 small businesses had closed by September. At the same time, support for workers has grown. And 67 percent of Americans back raising the minimum wage.

MICHAEL: Just under a year ago we decided to declare these people to be essential. And I think the right thing to do is to pay them $15 an hour, a living wage.

YURKEVICH: A living wage means a world of difference for Sayem. He's saving money for the first time. He has plans to go back to school for a career in IT and for a reunion from Bangladesh a year in the making.

SAYEM: I'm saving because of our future and I just got married one year ago. So --

YURKEVICH (on camera): Congratulations.

SAYEM: Thank you. And my wife is coming soon. Hopefully by 2022 she will be here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YURKEVICH: Now, President Biden is open to scaling up that federal minimum wage over the next couple of years in order to give small businesses the time they need in order to rework their business plans, in order to accommodate that $15. But Republicans are saying, no, that's still too much. They are proposing a $10 federal minimum wage.

[08:45:00]

But, John, remember that states can actually do this on their own, just like they did here in D.C.

Many states have already voted to increase their minimum wage to $15 over the next couple of years, including the red state of Florida which will hit $15 by 2026.

John.

BERMAN: Vanessa Yurkevich, thanks so much for that report. Really important discussion to be having.

Here's what else to watch today.

ON SCREEN TEXT: 10:00 a.m. ET, House committee hearing on Capitol riot.

12:00 p.m. ET, White House press briefing.

2:30 p.m. ET, Biden and Harris vaccine event.

BERMAN: Just minutes from now we'll see Vice President Kamala Harris making a push, a new push, for Americans to get vaccinated. More, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:12]

CAMEROTA: Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to a Washington, D.C., pharmacy right now to push more Americans to get vaccinated. But polls show that people of color continue to distrust vaccines. Only 6.4 percent of blacks and 8.7 percent of Latinos have received one or more doses of the vaccine. Yet blacks and Latinos are disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

Joining us now to talk about this and more is Jemar Tisby. He's the author of the new book "How to Fight Racism: Courageous Christianity and the Journey Towards Racial Justice."

Jemar, great to see you.

JEMAR TISBY, AUTHOR, "HOW TO FIGHT RACISM": Good morning, Alisyn. Thanks for having me.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about people of color and the vaccine.

So there's the problem of access. We just showed those polls that fewer are able to get the vaccine. And then there's the problem of hesitancy and mistrust. And here's this poll. Adults who will, quote, wait and see whether to get a COVID vaccine, black, 43 percent of black adults, 37 percent of Hispanic adults, 26 percent of white adults.

So where do you begin with this?

TISBY: Well, there is certainly a level of distrust to overcome with certain people in the black community. And that distrust is well earned. Probably the most notorious 20th century example is the Tuskegee experiment where a group of black men were promised treatment for a disease and they did not get it just so officials could see what would happen. And, historically, the government-run programs can either be an ally or a hindrance to black people and our quest for equity and justice. And so the distrust is well earned.

But I would also be cautious, there are plenty of black folks who want the vaccine and it is again more of a problem of access than attitude.

CAMEROTA: And what do you think Kamala Harris, Vice President Harris, needs to say today?

TISBY: I think repeating the messaging that we can have confidence in these vaccines, that they are -- that they have data that is scientifically backed, that can sort of rally folks to commit to getting the vaccine, especially for folks who are on the edge. They're somewhat skeptical but persuadable. And what the administration needs to do from the very top levels on down is to continue to reinforce the message that getting a vaccine is helpful, that the side effects, so far, are minimal. That it can be trusted. And that this is the swiftest way to open life back up in the United States and try to move forward beyond this pandemic.

CAMEROTA: Let's move on to what's going on in Georgia with voting rights.

So this week Georgia's state senate, which is Republican led, just passed a voter ID law. And in it voters will have to submit a driver's license or state ID card to vote absentee. The sponsor of this bill, a Republican, says that this is not about, you know, denying access to voting. This is about voting security. And he points out that this will not affect 97 percent of voters in Georgia.

So explain why opponents of this would see it as inherently racist and discriminatory.

TISBY: So this is Black History Month. And this is a great time to review some of U.S. racial history. Voting rights is a constant struggle to secure the franchise especially for black people and people of color. This was one of the major aims of the civil rights movement and culminated in the Voting Rights Act. But as we know in 2013, a key provision of that act was repealed. It's called the Preclearance Act where states like Georgia, which had a history of discrimination in terms of voting rights, had to get preclearance if they were going to change anything. That is a provision that would have perhaps curtailed bills like this.

And what ends up happening, we've got to be savvy about it. So they're not trying necessarily to strip the vote away from people completely, but they're making these tweaks that make it harder and harder for people to vote, adding more restrictions. And those consequences disproportionately and negatively fall on black people and people of color, which is why so many have criticized these bills.

CAMEROTA: So your book is called "How to Fight Racism." And I know it's hard to sum that up in one minute, but can you just give us, what's the top line message you want people to take away?

TISBY: It's not enough to have good intentions. We have to have good actions when it comes to fighting racism.

[08:55:00]

So we are still in the penumbra of historic uprising for racial justice in 2020. It was a great time to raise awareness, but what's next? It's Black History Month. Great time to learn about black history. But what's next? As we've seen, we have voting rights still under attack. So what is your plan to make sure that everybody who can vote is able to vote?

We have instances, continuing instances of anti-black police brutality. What is your plan to get involved in that battle for justice?

And so what I'm encouraging in "How to Fight Racism" is not just suggestions for how to fight racism, but an entire model called the arc of racial justice which stands for awareness, relationships, commitment and I think you need these three components at least to have a holistic approach to racial justice.

CAMEROTA: Jemar Tisby, the book again is "How to Fight Racism."

Thank you very much for giving us your perspective this morning.

TISBY: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: And CNN's coverage continues next.

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[09:00:00]