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Health Experts Sound Alarm on Possible Fourth Wave; Air Travel Hits Pandemic-Era Record Over Easter Weekend; Biden Administration Could Push Through Infrastructure Plan Without GOP Support; Soon: Prosecution to Call More Witnesses in Chauvin Trial. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired April 05, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Experts warn the U.S. may be on the cusp of another surge.

[05:59:44]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We really are in a Category 5 hurricane status with regard to the rest of the world. In terms of the United States, we're just at the beginning of this surge.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE: The more people on a daily basis who get vaccinated, the better chance you have of blunting or preventing that surge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE; A record-setting weekend for air travel during the pandemic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They get the vaccine. People are starting to feel a little like they can go back out again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Top U.S. health officials say vaccination is the solution to COVID-19 fatigue.

FAUCI: Every day, three to four million people are getting vaccinated. That is going to be the solution.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Monday, April 5. It's 6 a.m. here in New York. And we are in the eye of a Category 5 hurricane. That's what one infectious disease expert says about the pandemic, now warning about a surge in cases at the beginning of a fourth wave, warned other scientists.

But it's not unanimous. Some experts argue things will remain contained. There are numbers on both sides of this debate. A clear rise in cases and hospitalizations in some states, but vaccinations continue at a breakneck pace. On Saturday for the first time, more than 4 million vaccine doses were administered. Sunday, more than 3 million -- I was one of them.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Congratulations.

BERMAN: Thank you very much. Almost 19 percent of Americans now fully vaccinated. Thirty-two percent have received at least one dose.

I have to say, the place was packed.

CAMEROTA: Really?

BERMAN: I wanted to cheer. I mean, you walk in there, and there was a line of people, all spaced, waiting to get vaccinated.

CAMEROTA: Was it a pharmacy? Where did you --

BERMAN: It was the Westchester Community Center, an armory. It was big, you know, federal vaccination site. It was just packed with people. And you feel so elated. You, like, want to cheer. Like, Yay us. It's like the moon landing.

CAMEROTA: You'll be happy to know I got my two 16-year-old daughters vaccinated.

BERMAN: Oh, really?

CAMEROTA: Yes. So, like, it's happening in our family. Everybody's getting vaccinated.

BERMAN: I didn't even know -- I guess that's now the lower end limit, right?

CAMEROTA: Yes, yes.

BERMAN: Good for you.

CAMEROTA: OK. So also this. In just a few hours the prosecution will call more witnesses in the Derek Chauvin murder trial. We expect to hear from the Minneapolis police chief, who has already called George Floyd's death a murder. The chief fired Chauvin and the other officers involved in that deadly encounter.

Another witness we could hear from, an emergency doctor at the hospital where George Floyd was taken. So we will have much more on the trial coming up.

But we begin with CNN's Polo Sandoval. He is live at a vaccination site in Detroit with our top story. What's the situation there, Polo?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, vaccinations are certainly growing at a promising rate across the country, but even with that increase, as you and John both noted just a little while ago, there are many parts of the country that are still experiencing an increase in infections and also in hospitalizations. When you hear from experts, many believe that we are on the brink of another wave. You talk to some experts here in Michigan, they'll say that wave is already here.

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DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIRECTOR, THE CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH AND POLICE, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN: We'll see in the next two weeks the highest cases reported globally since the beginning of the pandemic.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): The United States passing a huge milestone, this weekend averaging more than 3 million coronavirus shots in arms per day.

But even as the country's vaccination efforts persist, some health expert worry the increase of COVID-19 variants puts the country on the cusp of a surge in cases.

OSTERHOLM: There isn't a country in the world right now that is seeing a big increase in its B.1.1.7 that is not locking down. We're the exception. Now I understand the absolute resistance in this country even to consider that. And, you know, it's kind of like trying to drink barbed wire. But the bottom-line message is the virus is going to do what it's going to do, and we're going to have to respond somehow.

SANDOVAL: Nineteen states have seen an increase in cases over the last week, including parts of the Northeast and Midwest. Cases are up 19 percent from two weeks ago, with young people making up a growing number of new cases. But health experts say that more vaccinations can keep a surge in check.

DR. SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: I don't think it's going to be a true fourth wave. But I think the Biden administration can allocate to parts of the country that look hot right now. But if we could just get two or three more weeks of around 3 million vaccines a day, that's going to be a pretty big backstop against a true fourth surge.

SANDOVAL: Here in Michigan, cases have risen substantially over the past few weeks. On Saturday alone, the state reported more than 9,000 new infections.

At an Easter church service in Detroit, Pastor Ken Flowers encouraging his congregation to get vaccinated.

PASTOR KENNETH J. FLOWERS, GREATER NEW MT. MORIAH MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: You must have your faith, but you must also use the doctor, so get the vaccination.

I've been letting the people know that, follow the science.

SANDOVAL: Shana Norfolk highlighting the importance of the pastor's message, particular to a black community that she described as having the history of apprehensions to vaccines.

SHANA NORFOLK, DETROIT RESIDENT: I am concerned about that, but we have to keep hammering that vaccinations is our pathway out. I am very concerned for the children and the youth and the young adults, because sometimes they think they're invincible.

We want to continue to stress that the only way we're going to get out of this is the vaccine, because we don't have a cure yet.

SANDOVAL: And in his Easter message to the nation, President Biden encouraging Americans to get vaccinated.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Getting vaccinated is a moral obligation, one that can save your life and the lives of others.

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[06:05:07]

SANDOVAL: Back here in Detroit, Ford Field you see behind me serving as a mass vaccination site starting today, Alisyn. It's only going to get even busier as Michigan will expand vaccine eligibility to all Michiganders ages 16 and up, and that can't come soon enough.

We heard from Pastor Flowers a little while ago in our piece. His wife, Terri, telling me that they're struggling to get that message, to get vaccinated, to their younger congregants. It's not necessarily vaccine hesitancy. It's, as you heard, that feeling that they can't get sick. And when you look at the numbers, especially here in Michigan, it's simply not true.

CAMEROTA: Yes. This vaccine -- I mean, this virus doesn't discriminate. Thank you, Polo, very, very much.

So air travel hit new pandemic highs over the holiday weekend. CNN's Pete Muntean is live at Reagan National Airport with more.

What's the situation there?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, these travel numbers are huge for the pandemic. The TSA screened 1.58 million people at airports across the country on Friday. That is the new record at the pandemic. Number dipped slightly on Saturday. We should get new numbers for Sunday later on today.

But just to put this in the context, three of the last seven days, we've seen more than 1.5 million people passing through security at America's airports. Compare that to the numbers from this time last year. These new numbers are about 800 percent greater, but still only two-thirds of numbers from 2019, pre-pandemic. So still a long way to go.

But the numbers are big enough that Delta had to actually fill some middle seats on board its flights over the weekend to keep up with demand. It says that it had to cancel about a hundred flights because of staffing issues.

Delta's the airline that's been capping capacity on board its flights since the start of the pandemic. And it says it will stop doing that May 1, but it just had do this a little bit early over the weekend. Numbers only go up from here, most likely. The CDC says fully-

vaccinated Americans can travel with low risk to themselves, but the CDC is still advising against travel, and it says if you do travel, be smart, wear a federally-mandated mask in a terminal and on a plane -- John.

BERMAN: Pete Muntean, you're modeling right now wearing the mask at the terminal. Thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.

Joining us now, Dr. Peter Hotez. He's the co-director for the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital.

Dr. Hotez, thanks so much. Just so people know what we're talking about, what people like Professor Osterholm are seeing, where they are concerned about being already in this new wave. Just look at Michigan where the charts are crystal-clear, the cases clearly rising in Michigan. You can see there on that graph.

And hospitalizations clearly rising, as well. If you look at the hospitalizations, they're headed up nearly to where they were at the worst of the fall surge. So is this is the fourth wave, Professor?

DR. PETER HOTEZ, CO-DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR VACCINE DEVELOPMENT, TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: Well -- well, it is, but we're dealing with two Americas, John. We've got this massive increase now in Michigan and other states in the upper Midwest and to some extent in the Northeast. And then we have the rest of the country that seems to be staying at that -- still at a high level, but not going up, presumably because we're vaccinating.

So the big question is which way is this going to turn? And it all depends on how quickly we can vaccinate.

But there's a couple of alarming trends. Let me explain. So we've got this B.1.1.7 variant, which is accounting for most of the rise in Michigan, Minnesota. We're seeing young people getting hospitalized.

But you have a state like Florida, where we're just starting to see the -- the increase beginning to happen. And we know the B.1.1.7 variant is dominant, more than 50 percent of the virus isolates. So we're looking at -- it's almost like watching the election. We're looking at states like Florida. Will Florida flip and start accelerating. And other parts of the country where the B.1.1.7 variant is widespread also starting to accelerate. And that's where we are right now.

CAMEROTA: Dr. Hotez, I don't mean to spring a new variant on you, but I've been reading a lot about the so-called California variant, the B.1.4.2.7. And that one has my attention, because supposedly, it has increased transmissibility, more hospitalizations, more deaths, and a, quote, "significant reduction in the ability of antibodies to fight it." And it doesn't seem as responsive to vaccines. Why aren't we talking more about the California variant?

HOTEZ: Well, there's about four or five a variants like that, where we know the vaccines don't work as well. So let's take a step back. So the B.1.1.7 variant, all of the vaccines work really well against that. And that's the dominant one right now.

So we do have other ones. The one -- the P-1 out of Brazil. We have the -- the B.1.3.5.1 out of South Africa. We have the California one you mentioned, and a couple of other -- a new one in San Francisco that we're talking about. But those don't seem to be picking up as quickly as the B.1.1.7 variant.

So right now, I think the key is to vaccinate, and all of those vaccinations work really well against the B.1.1.7 variant. But here's -- later on, I think, towards the end of the year, early next year, we're going to have to give a boost which is specifically tailored towards some of these newer variants. But it's not our most pressing issue right now.

[06:10:18]

BERMAN: Doctor, you know, we -- I set this up as a debate between people who saying we're in a fourth wave and people who say this is going to be contained. There is a place where I'm not sure it actually is a debate, where everybody including you and Professor Osterholm think we're vaccinating at a really optimistic rate right now, and it's wonderful.

What we're talking about here is that by May, there will be a lot of people vaccinated. June, July, obviously, even more. It's just that a lot of people are going to get sick and potentially die that didn't have to in the month of April. Is that the situation we're dealing with right now?

HOTEZ: Yes. Yes, you hit it perfectly. It's -- the next six weeks now are the crunch time where a lot of people can get very sick with long- haul COVID. A number of younger people are going to get -- get extremely sick, be in the ICU, maybe losing their lives. So it's a matter of keeping focus, keeping discipline now for the next six weeks until we can fully vaccinate the American people.

And then, once we get to the other side, we're going to be in a really good place. But right now, there are many parts of the country right now, half the country, mostly in the northern states, that -- that are really worrisome right now. And now I'm looking at Florida and a couple of other places where the B.1.1.7 variant is dominant.

CAMEROTA: Are we seeing half-vaccinated people going -- getting hospitalized?

HOTEZ: Not a lot. I think it's -- you know, unless they're getting exposed right around the time they're first getting vaccinated.

I think it's mostly those unvaccinated individuals, a lot of people who are even defiant of getting vaccines that worries me. And so we're - we're trying to do a lot of outreach now to convince everybody that the vaccines are here. You can get vaccinated. This is the time to do it. And unfortunately, we've got a whole segment of the country now that

sees not getting vaccinated as part of their -- their badge of honor of political defiance, and it's really tragic.

BERMAN: There are still a lot of people who aren't getting vaccinated because they're too young. I was interested to hear that your girls got vaccinated this week, and they're 16, which is terrific. That's the bottom end of who can get the Pfizer vaccine.

But what about the idea that there are younger people now getting sick and heading to the hospital and the victims of what might be this fourth wave. What does this mean? We know that young people don't get as sick and aren't as asymptomatic, but how might they suffer?

HOTEZ: Yes, this is the modus operandi of the B.1.1.7 variant. Remember, it's more transmissible, higher hospitalization rates and higher mortality. And, you know, we're about almost three-quarters of -- of older Americans have been vaccinated now, so this is an opportunistic virus.

And so what we're seeing is a lot of younger adults who are not yet vaccinated getting sick, and -- and that's probably because of the B.1.1.7 variant.

And even those who are not being hospitalized, we're seeing about a third of them get long haul-haul COVID symptoms, and that includes brain fog, and depression, and shortness of breath, and palpitations. And we want to protect those individuals. So it's a matter of keeping everybody focused, not being reckless at this point, and getting everybody vaccinated.

BERMAN: Dr. Peter Hotez, as always, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

HOTEZ: Thanks so much.

BERMAN: All right. We have brand-new reporting on where the American jobs plan, this huge infrastructure idea from President Biden, is heading. What are Republicans saying about it? Does it have unanimous Democratic support? What does it mean for you? That's next.

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JENNIFER GRANHOLM, ENERGY SECRETARY: If the vast majority of Americans, Democrats and Republicans, across the country support spending on our country and not allowing us to lose the race globally, then he's going to do that. However, his sincere preference, his -- his open hand is to Republicans to come to the table and say, If you don't like this, how would you pay for it? If you don't like this, what would you include?

(END VIDEO CLIP) CAMEROTA: That was Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, hinting that

the Biden administration may push through President Biden's massive infrastructure plan without any GOP support. And some Republicans are mobilizing against Biden's plan.

Joining us now, CNN political analysts Rachael Bade and Margaret Talev. Rachael is a Politico reporter and the co-author of "The Politico Playbook." Margaret is the managing editor of Axios. Great to see both of you.

Margaret, I think she's more than hinting that they might go it alone without Republican support. I mean, that is -- that's what they want to do.

And what Republicans keep saying -- and I want you to tell us if this is legitimate and has a chance, they're like, Let's do this in a bipartisan way. I mean, that's what you hear some of them saying. You aren't even giving us a chance to be bipartisan.

Let's boil it down. Let's cut the big, you know, aspirational plan down, and you could get Republicans onboard.

MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. I don't think that Biden is putting all of his eggs in the "we'll bring Republicans onboard" basket of the argument. You know, but this is what they're looking at doing.

The main task is to make sure that he can hold Democrats together, right? If -- if it looks like there's any chance he could get any Republican votes, the way that they can handle this is by breaking the infrastructure legislation up into a few different packages, if that helps make it easier to get 51-vote coalitions for each of these.

[06:20:02]

But they're looking at using budget reconciliations so they can do this with 21 [SIC] -- 51 votes instead of 60-vote increments. And the challenge at this point has been keeping enough of the moderate Democrats who don't want as much -- quite as much spending on quite as much stuff onboard as they also try to convince the progressive wing, AOC, and other folks, you know, that 3 or $4 trillion over a decade is actually quite a lot of money.

BERMAN: So Rachael, I -- you know, I took a week off.

CAMEROTA: You did?

BERMAN: I did.

CAMEROTA: I barely noticed.

BERMAN: You needed a break. It was -- you needed some space. It was a trial.

CAMEROTA: And you look very refreshed. BERMAN: And I was surprised to come back from this week and find out,

Rachael, that Matt Gaetz is still a member of Congress in good standing. What is he charged with? I mean, not charged with yet. He's being investigated for what now, exactly?

CAMEROTA: I guess trafficking. Sex crimes and trafficking against an underaged girl and other things that involved drugs and money.

BERMAN: So that sounds bad to me, again, coming back from vacation, Rachael. Yet I understand that Kevin McCarthy and the Republicans are like, Yes, we're cool with this for now. Why? What's the calculation here?

RACHAEL BADE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I mean, this is -- I often talk to House Republicans whenever one of these scandals come up, and one of the top things I hear is, We really miss the John Boehner days. I mean, the former speaker had no tolerance for this type of -- this type of scandal. And we'd tell people, you need to resign and put the weight of the office, of being the Republican leader behind that push and shove toward the door.

Kevin McCarthy is a very different type of leader. He doesn't like to be confrontational. And Matt Gaetz, as you know, is a very close ally of the former president, Donald Trump. He's very close with Trump.

McCarthy, you see him doing this sort of very delicate tap dance right now. Well, you can't really call it that anymore. He has aligned himself with the former president, even after January 6. Right?

And so he's in this position where he doesn't -- he's not going to come out and call for Gaetz to resign until Gaetz is actually charged with something, because he doesn't want to upset the former president.

But yes, I mean, Gaetz clearly has a reputation on Capitol Hill, even before these reports came out. And in subsequent reports, we saw some stories that he's -- he is regularly bragging about his relationships with other -- and showing even nude photos of women to other congressmen. I mean, let's just say this is a scandal that Boehner would never tolerate. Kevin McCarthy is not John Boehner.

CAMEROTA: We are so far from the Boehner days, it feels like, Margaret. What are your thoughts on what happens next with Matt Gaetz?

TALEV: I think that there's so much tension inside the Republican Party over Gaetz to begin with that, you know, that when we get to the next phase, assuming there is a next phase, that that's probably going to be the tipping point.

The issue is complicated by a few things. There are sex scandals and then there are sex scandals. Anything involving a person who is under the age of 18 and anything that is -- could have a potential impact on the midterm elections, not to be crass about it, but we're talking about politicians here and politics, these are really serious concerns.

And again, from a purely political perspective, the -- the district that Congressman Gaetz represents is heavily conservative, which means that, No. 1, this is a problem for many constituents in the district.

But also, No. 2, this is a simple district for the Republicans to hold, but basically, whoever they put in the seat. And so McCarthy and other Republicans are going to be looking to insulate the idea that that controversy, that scandal could be painted with a broad brush across the rest of the party.

So Gaetz is in a lot of political trouble. His legal troubles right now remain much bigger than his political troubles, though.

BERMAN: Margaret Talev, a veteran --

BADE: One additional thing -- I was just going to say, one additional thing I just thought of. I mean, Gaetz has also been leading the charge for Trump on the inside of the House Republican conference to take out Republicans who voted to impeach the president. So it will be interesting to sort of watch how this affects people like Liz Cheney, who he went out to Wyoming and stirred up a lot of trouble, people talking about how they wanted to primary her and get her out of office. What does this mean for those ten Republicans, now that they don't have him hounding them?

BERMAN: Rachael Bade, Margaret Talev, thank you both very much.

CAMEROTA: So testimony in the Derek Chauvin murder trial will begin again in a matter of hours, and we'll break down what to expect today, next.

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[06:28:57]

BERMAN: In just a few hours, testimony will resume in the Derek Chauvin murder trial. The former Minneapolis police officer is charged with killing George Floyd.

Prosecutors will call more witnesses this week, including the city's police chief. CNN's Josh Campbell is live at the courthouse in Minneapolis with a preview.

Good morning, Josh.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you, John.

Again, week two is about to start. Last week, the first week was very gripping. We heard testimony from a number of witnesses including the girlfriend of George Floyd, who really humanized him, talked about him as a person.

But it was really two key witnesses from the prosecution, two senior officers with the Minneapolis police department that were the most devastating for the defense. Both of these officers rejecting the notion that Derek Chauvin was somehow operating within policy whenever he placed his knee on George Floyd's neck for over nine minutes. Now what we're expecting again this week, the court has not

telegraphed specifically when witnesses will be called. But we expect to hear from the police chief here in Minneapolis, as well as a supervising physician that was on duty that night as medical experts tried to saving George Floyd's life.

Now, for his part, the chief, we've heard from him publicly.