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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Feeding Needy Students; Sean Penn Helping Expand Coronavirus Testing; California Wildfires. Aired 4:30-5p ET

Aired September 07, 2020 - 16:30   ET

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

[16:33:11]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: And breaking news in our national lead.

California is seeing its worst year ever for wildfires. More than two million acres have burned across the state. That's more than 10 times, 10 times the size of New York City. There are more than 20 active fires there right now.

We know that one of the fires, the one you see on your screen right now, it was started by a device at a gender reveal party.

CNN's Dan Simon joins me now.

Dan, U.S. Forest Service just announced it's shutting down national forests in Southern and Central California to the public tonight.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Pamela.

That just goes to show you how much of California is being impacted by these wildfires, particularly Central and Southern California. We are about an hour outside of Fresno, and you can see this checkpoint behind me, where police and firefighters are making evacuations. The fire is getting very close to some of these mountain communities.

We do know that some homes have burned. But, for the most part, this fire is burning in the Sierra National Forest, but that's very popular for campers. And what we saw over the weekend is, we saw those 200 or so people who are huddled at a boat launch, until they were successfully airlifted out.

You did have about 10 or so folks with moderate injuries, but, hopefully, everyone is OK.

The real unknown, Pamela, is the weather. Right now, we're dealing with triple-digit temperatures. It's supposed to be cooler tomorrow, but we will see what the weather looks like. Obviously, the unknown is the wind as well, if that continues to fan the flames.

And, of course, we're dealing with a lot of dry fuel -- Pamela.

BROWN: OK, Dan Simon live for us there in California. And on top of these devastating wildfires, parts of California are

seeing record-breaking temperatures. He just alluded to that, L.A. County hitting 121 degrees over the weekend.

Joining me now is CNN's Tom Sater from the CNN Weather Center.

[16:35:01]

So, Tom, as California sees these extraordinarily high temperatures, other parts of the country are expected to see potential snow this week. What is going on?

TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: 2020 is going on, Pamela.

BROWN: Right.

(LAUGHTER)

SATER: And -- right. Climate change. Sprinkle in humanity, growing population, extreme heat, the fires.

Three of the largest fires in California history are burning as we speak. Yesterday, we surpassed the greatest amount of acreage ever scorched, over two million acres. Firefighters are noticing now, as you take a look at the pictures and even the numbers here, 83 large fires.

Since the 1970s, the firefight -- fire season has grown up by weeks, but by two to three months, Saturday -- you can see the satellite imagery -- shrouded all in, of course, the smoke. This is not rainfall. We have talked about these pyroclastic billowing towers, of course, of smoke.

We're also noticing, firefighters, of course, the most experienced fighting force in the world, experienced, with knowledge, telling us that in the last seven years to 10 years, the number of fires that are larger are growing as well.

So again, when you look at the red flag warnings here, this is interesting. From border to border, 90 percent of California, red flag watches and warnings. But notice Colorado and Wyoming. The same areas, the same states with red flag warnings also have winter storm warnings, also have freeze warnings.

Take a look at this. Now, this is going to help firefighters in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, parts of Utah into Colorado. The -- this is going to be staggering, I mean, temperatures dropping on Saturday in Denver to 101. We will look at the high in the 30s tomorrow.

So this snowfall is going to be significant, not just three, six inches. Some areas of Southern Colorado could get 18 to 24. No doubt this is going to help the firefighters. Unfortunately, this pool of cold air that sliding down, which will break about 100 records for cold, it's not going to be making its way in toward California.

Unfortunately, the firefighters here we will have to continue to battle this heat, although they get a little bit of a break. Unfortunately, with this front comes some stronger winds, Pamela, but what a shock to the system for man and beast.

BROWN: I would say so. That is a good way to sum that up.

Tom Sater, thanks so much.

Well, how a nonprofit from California is helping people get coronavirus tests on the other side of the country. That story is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:41:47]

BROWN: In our health lead now: The U.S. has seen a recent jump in COVID testing, averaging more than 740,000 tests in the last seven days.

This is according to the COVID Tracking Project, but that is still far short of the peak from July. Last week, the CDC changed its testing guidance to encourage fewer people to get tested, after pressure from the -- quote -- "top down," according to an official.

Well, the move sparked massive backlash, with health officials saying, we need more, not less testing.

And one actor is hoping to help do just that with his nonprofit.

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has a look at how Sean Penn is changing the testing landscape.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What you're looking at is testing, something any public health expert in the world will tell you is the key to controlling a pandemic like COVID-19.

And here in Fulton County, Georgia, where I live, that need, which has been slow to be met, has finally found some help from the nonprofit organization CORE and this familiar face, Sean Penn.

SEAN PENN, ACTOR/ACTIVIST: This partnership sets an example, not only for the state of Georgia, but for the rest of the nation.

GUPTA (on camera): When was the moment you realized that this county or at least Atlanta was in over its head on this?

ROBB PITTS, CHAIRMAN, FULTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS: When Georgia got in the spotlight, that's when it started to hit home.

GUPTA (voice-over): For Fulton County Board Chairman Robb Pitts, that spotlight came when Georgia became one of the first states to reopen on April 24. Today, there's no statewide mask mandate.

GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): I'm confident that Georgians don't need a mandate to do the right thing.

GUPTA: And average daily cases in Georgia are more than doubled since that last week in April.

PITTS: When we started following the advice of the scientists and the medical professionals, we focused on testing.

GUPTA: It's part of the reason Chairman Pitts funded a $3 million contract with CORE to help fill the gaps.

(on camera): I would think that's going to be Georgia Department of Health.

JONATHAN GOLDEN, CORE: Right.

GUPTA: And, instead, it's this nonprofit from the other side of the country doing this work.

GOLDEN: The Department of Public Health, the counties can have these ideas and know the implementation of the action. They don't necessarily have the personnel to carry it out. But we're the feet on the ground. We can bring the personnel, add surge capacity.

GUPTA (voice-over): The numbers seem to show that, so far, the strategy is working. If you look at Fulton County's positivity rate over the past two weeks, it's around 6 percent. Georgia is around 10 percent.

But, still, as the most populous county with the most cases, it is like Fulton County is a blue petri dish in the middle of a red state.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was not experiencing any symptoms. I just came to get tested because one of my friends tested positive.

GUPTA: And this is important, who to test. Finding asymptomatic cases, that's been a priority for CORE since they first came here in May.

PENN: Every essential worker, symptomatic or asymptomatic, is invited, encouraged to come here, and we will test you.

GUPTA: Remember, according to the CDC, 40 percent of people who carry the virus have no symptoms, and yet they are responsible for around 50 percent of the spread.

And now, as the number of tests and cases are moving in the right direction, Fulton County Board of Health Director Dr. Lynn Paxton says it's time to think about the next steps.

[16:45:02]

DR. LYNN PAXTON, FULTON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH DIRECTOR: Contact tracing becomes even more crucial as the numbers start to fall. Think about it almost as if you're trying to stamp out embers from a fire. You put the fire out, but, if you have little embers, they can catch fire again. GUPTA: And CORE is helping to do that as well. That means going door

to door to try and reach those who have tested positive, but couldn't be contacted any other way.

And that's because every test, every contact informed, every step we can possibly take is what's going to help us win this battle.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: Now, Pamela, I do want to point out that even the chairman of Fulton County, Chairman Pitts there, he was confused when there was these news reports from the CDC coming out saying asymptomatic people no longer need to be tested.

He had to verify that with the scientists and understand that, in fact, as we pointed out, asymptomatic people can actually be significant spreaders of this disease, and they definitely need to be tested, which is why CORE is so focused on that.

Just had Labor Day weekend, coming off of that, Pamela. So they are actually planning to do a lot more testing. If it was anything like after Memorial Day or after July 4 weekend, it is likely that the numbers will go up. Many people may not know it. You test those asymptomatic people, and hopefully they can isolate and keep the numbers down.

That's the whole goal -- Pamela.

BROWN: That is.

All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.

And let's turn now to our national lead.

When this pandemic started six months ago, Margaret Norris, a teacher in Montgomery County, Maryland, knew that one of the biggest hardships would be getting food to her students. So she set out to provide meals to the most vulnerable members of her community, packing and delivering up to 150 bags of food per week to families for the past six months.

And Margaret Norris joins me now.

Thanks so much for coming on, Margaret.

First of all, how have you been able to accomplish this?

MARGARET NORRIS, KINDERGARTEN TEACHER, MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Thank you, Pamela, for having me.

It's been a community effort. When we were told on Thursday, March 12, that Maryland schools were going home, our immediate first thought was the children would have to eat.

And a group of teachers on Friday, March 13, we went shopping, and we bought what we could buy. And we sent home 100 bags of food. The next week, a community center that we work with had a request for more. And my principal asked me, how long can you do this?

I put that question to my social media. And so far, the answer has been six months.

BROWN: So, how have you been successful and people donating money and so forth? Because you're suddenly now, initially, with your teacher salary, buying food for all these students.

NORRIS: Yes, donations have come in from the community. They have fallen off. It's getting harder for everybody.

We have seen that in our neighborhoods, but the donations coming in, they're coming in strongly still, and I have learned how to shop differently. I shop at restaurant supply stores. I'm able to provide rice at 30 cents a pound, beans at 30 cents a pound.

I have an army of volunteers that take 50 pound bags of beans and rebag them all for me into quart-sized containers.

BROWN: I think we could all learn from you on that.

Tell us what you have seen, Margaret, in terms of the struggle for some of these families to get food on the table, and how that struggle has increased during this pandemic.

NORRIS: It's so hard. It's just all so hard.

I have one mom who has three sons, and they're 8 and 9 and 11. And she had a job, but she couldn't keep it because she couldn't leave the children home alone all day. And I text with her often, and I take food to her home.

And weeks ago, she texted me, and she said: "I don't want you to do this anymore, because I'm so ashamed. I'm so ashamed that you're spending your money to feed my children."

Sorry.

"Feeding my children is my job."

And I did not coin this. I wish I had, but I read by then the phrase solidarity, not charity. So, I assured her that she's blessing all of us by letting us help her.

Children have to eat. One thing about children is, they're hungry again tomorrow. So, we have to get this food out there.

BROWN: There is absolutely no shame in that mother going through what she's going through right now. I mean, this is so difficult on so many families, parents, single parents losing their jobs. Then they're having to stay home to teach their kids. It's just such a difficult time.

From what you have seen on the front lines, Margaret, what more needs to be done to help families out across this country? What more can we do to help? NORRIS: I think an important thing for people to do is to educate

themselves.

When you walk out of a grocery store with 120 cans of spaghetti sauce or crushed tomatoes and pasta, you get a lot of comments about, you must be having a spaghetti dinner. And when I have told people in our community that, no, I'm doing this for people who are hungry a mile away, I have been met with disbelief, people saying, that's not a problem here.

We're a wealthy suburb outside of Washington, D.C. So I think people need to educate themselves. And I also think people need to know and realize that you can do small things.

[16:50:03]

One dollar can put two pounds of beans into 25 households; $5 can do milk and eggs; $100 can provide 10 of the bags that I'm providing that have three or four days' worth of food in them.

So we don't have to have necessarily grand gestures. And I think people need to know that. We can do little things.

BROWN: That's such an important point. Just every day, if we all did something small, that could add up to so much for these families who are in need right now. And it's a way for us to really come together in a positive way.

And you are teaching kindergarten virtually right now. How has adjusting to this learning style been for you as a teacher and for your young students?

NORRIS: It's interesting. It's funny how much they're still kindergartners. There's still -- the personalities come through.

We're so grateful to all of our parents, because, without the parents, I couldn't be doing this. It's hard for them to get 5- and 6-year-olds on the Zoom three times a day. But we're all being patient with each other. And we still laugh a lot.

And it's so important that the children get a chance to talk to each other. There's no lunch, there's no recess, there's no soccer team. So, focusing on that interaction and that communication between them, I think, is the most important thing to do.

BROWN: OK, really quick, before we let you go, how can we help you, donate? What do we need to know to help out with this effort?

NORRIS: Well, my school is Arcola Elementary School. We're in Silver Spring, Maryland.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Sorry. Say the elementary school again?

NORRIS: Arcola. BROWN: OK.

NORRIS: A-R-C-O-L-A, Arcola Elementary School.

And we work with the Montgomery Housing Partnership. And they're both on Facebook. You can find us there. And -- but do this in your own communities.

BROWN: Yes.

NORRIS: Do this at home.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Exactly.

NORRIS: Buy a bag of extra groceries. Call your local Title I school. And if you don't know what that means, that's the first step you could educate yourself on.

BROWN: Yes.

NORRIS: Find a Title I school in your neighborhood, call them and ask what you can do.

BROWN: Yes, it's not just Montgomery County.

Margaret Norris, thank you so much. And keep up that great work helping with so many families.

Meantime, President Trump is attacking another city's mayor. That mayor just fired back.

We will be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:56:52]

BROWN: One hundred and one consecutive days of protests in Portland, Oregon. Overnight, there 15 arrests, and protesters lighting mattresses on fire.

But, across the country, in Rochester, we have seen mostly peaceful protests, calling for justice in the death of Daniel Prude after an encounter with police.

CNN's Polo Sandoval joins me now from Rochester.

So, Polo, the president said the city had a bad night. What did you see there?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Pamela, that characterization made by the president that last night was a bad night here in Rochester certainly not accurate, especially when you look at multiple accounts here, including from the Rochester Police Department that said that things remained peaceful listen night.

We did not see the repeat of some of those violent clashes that we did see during the first four days of demonstrations here in the city of Rochester. And I have to tell you, much of that is that -- much of the credit there goes to some of the community leaders here, many of the faith leaders that literally put themselves between protesters and police, acting as a sort of peacekeeping buffer, if you will.

The mayor here, Mayor Lovely Warren, applauding those efforts, as well as also the police department here, saying that last night they certainly came forward with a smaller, a more restrained posture.

But, at the same time, the mayor also firing back at the commander in chief earlier today with a statement of her own, saying -- Mayor Warren writing: "I ask that all involved in last night's protest ignore the commentary from the president."

She writes: "It is clear that his only desire is to bait people to act with hate and incite violence that he believes will benefit him politically. We will not give him what he wants."

So, really, what you're getting here from top city officials here in Rochester, Pamela, is a message to the president to leave this city out of that -- we continue to hear this law and order agenda item that we hear from the president.

In the meantime, we do expect more potential protests tonight, those church leaders that will be in that protest, again, as that investigation by New York's attorney general presses on -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Polo Sandoval, thanks so much live for us in Rochester, New York.

And, tonight, CNN is presenting a special look at the long, strange trip of the Trump presidency, including a look at the president's confusing response to the COVID pandemic, hosted by our very own Jake Tapper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Governors were left to fend for their states.

GOV. LARRY HOGAN (R-MD): It was just mass pandemonium.

TAPPER: Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan.

HOGAN: It was a 50-state strategy, some states doing better than others, and, really, a mad scramble to try to find these things.

TAPPER: Hogan secretly sourced half-a-million tests for his state from South Korea.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I asked the president about that at a briefing we had.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Could have saved a lot of money, but that's OK.

COLLINS: (OFF-MIKE) to go to South Korea--

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: No, I don't think he needed to go to South Korea. I think he needed to get a little knowledge, would have been helpful.

COLLINS: He had been assuring that testing was amazing in the United States. And the question was, well, if that's true, then why is the governor of Maryland having to go to another country?

TAPPER: Testing was lagging far behind, despite the president's spin.

TRUMP: Anybody that wants a test can get a test. That's what the bottom line is.

TAPPER: That was a lie. Experts agree one of the singular reasons that we still have so many cases and so many deaths is because the U.S. lagged in its ability to identify the virus through testing and isolate it

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Don't miss it tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, the "CNN SPECIAL REPORT: Donald Trump's Presidency."

And our coverage on CNN continues right now.