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U.S. Sets Record with Over 50,000 Cases in One Day; Trump Says He Believes Virus Will "Just Disappear"; Texas Reports Record Highs in New Cases, Hospitalizations; Tougher Restrictions in California as Cases Hit Record High; Dr. David Rubin Discusses Latest PolicyLab Projection Showing 2nd Way Coming, Rethinking State-By-State Strategy, Concerns about College Towns; Trump Says He "Did a Great Job" Handling COVID-19 as U.S. Tops 50k Cases a Day; Trump Focuses on New Unemployment Numbers Showing 4.8 Million Jobs Added, Not Virus Cases Rising; Trump Says He's for Masks But Reluctant to Wear One. Aired 11- 11:30a ET

Aired July 02, 2020 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. Thanks so much for joining us for the next two hours.

An all-time record ever daily cases. Here's what 50,000 new coronavirus infections in one day means in comparison to the world. The United States now has had more cases reported in one day than many countries have reported in the entire pandemic. Seriously.

And this is what the nationwide spike looks like right now. Right now 37 states are heading in the wrong direction as the country heads into another holiday weekend, sparking this warning from an ICU nurse in Texas which, of course, is facing some of the worst of it right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM SAHYOUNI, COVID ICU NURSE MANAGER, SAN ANTONIO METHODIST HOSPITAL: I don't think I have seen anything like this ever. And I would say that if you want to see August 1st, then maybe you should stay indoors and isolate on July Fourth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: President Trump, though, has a very different view from the White House. Just this morning saying that "it", meaning the administration's response, is working out very well, literally saying that. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The crisis is being handled. There are some areas that are very hard hit are now doing well. Some were doing very well and we thought it may be gone and they flare up, and we are putting out the fires. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: The numbers are hard to deny.

Vice President Mike Pence is heading to Florida today, which the data shows is another state trending into the wrong direct. The governor continues to downplay the urgency of the crisis in his state right now.

Let's go there. CNN's Boris Sanchez is in Sarasota, Florida. He joins us now.

Boris, what are you seeing right there in Florida?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Kate, we're just getting the latest numbers from the state of Florida and they are unsettling to say the least. The state breaking a single-day record for new coronavirus cases, more than 10,100 new cases for the state just on -- within the last 24 hours.

That's an uptick of 4,000 cases from what we saw in the last day alone after a very difficult weekend where we saw a large spike and a large surge in the number of COVID cases.

Just to give you some idea, the state of Florida saw a rise in 100,000 new cases in the last month alone.

Here in Sarasota, the first two days of June saw only a total of nine new COVID cases. And in the last 24 hours, they have seen a rise of 220.

That's part of the reason why there's a new face mask mandate in this county. They're saying, if you're going to be out in public, you have to be wearing a face masks or you could face up to a $500 fine.

They're trying to say that to educate the public. Enforce something not as extreme as a $500 fine, but they want people to take this seriously.

Governor Ron DeSantis has effectively said he does not see reinstalling the statewide stay-at-home order that was put in place a few months ago. He wants to leave it up to local officials to enforce their own restrictions.

And we're seeing that in places like Sarasota. Miami-Dade County as well expanding their face mask mandate and installing a curfew on bars and restaurants and also closing down beaches for the holiday weekend.

But the situation here in Florida is worsening. And that's part of the reason why Vice President Mike Pence is visiting Tampa today to meet with Florida's governor -- Kate?

BOLDUAN: Boris, those are remarkable and unsettling numbers for sure. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Hospitalization rates are up in 15 states. That's people who are sick enough with COVID to require medical attention.

Let's go to Texas where they are seeing a real spike at this moment, especially in hospitals that are being hit by capacity issues.

CNN's Miguel Marquez is in San Antonio.

Miquel, take us inside the Texas hospital you were able to visit. What did you see?

MIQUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Texas is seeing spikes. What doctors at the hospital we were at -- we were at two hospitals, one in Houston, a small community hospital on the north end of town. And, a couple of days ago, we went into San Antonio's Methodist Hospital. Very big, the biggest hospital group or chain in south Texas.

They are overwhelmed. Doctor after doctor saying they are overwhelmed. And what they are watching is the percentage of people testing positive.

And in Bexar County, for instance, they have gone in the last month, the weekly average -- so that rounds down the numbers because it's a weekly average -- but in the last four weeks, they have gone from 3.6 percent to over 20 percent of the people being tested, testing positive.

They know that there are more people coming, there are more sick patients coming their way. They don't know how many or how long it's going to last.

And it's not just sick people. What we also discovered there, there are moms, expectant mothers who are about to give birth, who have the coronavirus. And they have now cleared out one section of their NICU just for those moms and their newborns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[11:05:10]

(CRYING)

MARQUEZ: So many infections, increasingly, moms to be infected with the coronavirus. Methodist Hospital now has a dedicated unit in its NICU for babies born to mothers who have it.

(on camera): That picture of every mom wants of the baby being born and holding the baby, does that happen with patients with COVID?

MEAGAN VANDEWARK, NICU CHARGE NURSE, SAN ANTONIO METHODIST HOSPITAL: Unfortunately, no. As soon as the baby is born, they do bring them right to us outside of the door so it's just a very brief moment that the mom might get a glimpse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: So Methodist Hospital here in San Antonio has three COVID units, and an E.R. All three COVID units are full up. The one where, if you are the sickest of the sick, it's a unit that has 14 beds, all 14 beds are taken up.

One thing they have learned from the early days in New York and other places is they don't want to put people on a ventilator. They try not to do that at all costs. They do something called ECMO where they oxygenate the blood.

It's a brutal procedure to watch. They put big tubes from your groin and up to your heart, basically. And on the other side, they circulate the blood out and oxygenate it and then it back in. But that relieves the lungs from having to work so hard and gets oxygenated blood to all the body. They are having better success with that, but it is brutal.

There are probably dozens of people that they are getting calls about in other parts of Texas looking for that procedure, and the doctors there have to weigh who gets, it who doesn't, who is likely to survive and who is likely to benefit the most. It is a brutal process -- Kate?

BOLDUAN: And an unimaginable decision that these doctors are having to face, and in moments having to make these decisions, who gets a bed and who doesn't, who gets the ECMO and who doesn't.

Miguel, it's so important though to bring it to light as hard as it is to watch. Thanks, buddy. Really appreciate it.

California is among the states hitting new highs today, pushing the governor there to enact more restrictions in many parts of the state heading into the holiday weekend.

And then there's this. USC, the University of Southern California is now changing course, announcing that they will be holding most classes online in the fall. This is after announcing last month that it was going to be pushing forward with in-person classes. That just shows you how much things are changing quickly.

Dan Simon is in Brentwood, California, right now and joining us now.

What's happening there today, Dan?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Kate. It's a little early for most of the restaurants to open in Los Angeles but, when they do open, it will be outdoor seating only, like the restaurant you see behind me.

Governor Newsom said he had a toggle switch and he flipped it back in a very significant way yesterday, imposing restrictions across a whole bunch of different sectors impacting 19 counties.

Let's talk about some of the indoor operations that are now suspended, bars, wineries, museums, zoos, movie theaters, and anything that is considered family-entertainment.

This is an order that will last three weeks. And it impacts 19 counties, 72 percent of the state's population. So this will have a huge economic impact once again for people who work across those industries.

And, of course, California is seeing a surge of cases. Hospitalizations way up, 56 percent in the past couple of weeks, a very sobering number.

In terms of the Fourth of July holiday, I can tell you, Kate, that some counties have already said that they will close their beaches, Los Angeles counties included. State beaches will close their parking lots. All of this to try to prevent large gatherings from taking place -- Kate?

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

Dan, thank you.

Joining me now for more perspective on this is Dr. David Rubin, the director of the PolicyLab at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

It's great to see you, David. Thanks for coming back in.

Your team just put out the latest coronavirus projection model, which is a fascinating one, as it goes county by county and paints another sobering picture for where much of the country is headed.

You say in your latest analysis that it's fair to say that we're witnessing a second wave. That terrifies me.

What are you seeing? How would you describe it?

DR. DAVID RUBIN, DIRECTOR, POLICYLAB, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: Well, for weeks, we've been watching patchy outbreaks in different locations that then converge into states. As we saw Arizona, Florida and Texas really be consumed by what is clearly epidemic growth and widespread community transmission.

But it's become more and more distressing every week that now areas that had been quiet and doing relatively well, we're seeing the epidemic spread really lake a wave across the country.

And our team has been fairly conservative in trying not a overestimate risk in areas, but we have to call it like it is right now. This is a substantial wave.

[11:10:08]

And while we're talking about the south and southwest and the Pacific Coast, we're already starting to see signs that the epidemic is creeping back into areas like the northeast and the Midwest. And people are not talking about that but I can assure you their leaders are.

BOLDUAN: What's your reaction -- I guess you aren't likely surprised then when you just heard the latest one-day numbers from Florida, from my colleague who is in Florida, and it's jumped now to over 10,000 new infections in Florida, a new one-day record for that state. RUBIN: I think about Dr. Fauci's statement the other day that we would

grow to 100,000 cases a day. It just kind of came and went. People were sort of -- it was a shock and awe, but I think was being conservative.

Our estimates, our forecasts are very distressing. And very quickly, if we don't have bold action -- and I'm not just talking about mayors and governors. It's the time to really rethink whether the state- specific strategy can work, particularly for other states that are trying that are being conferred risk from travelers.

I think it's time to rethink, you know, what's possibly coming. If not, we'll be reduced to spectators in a very large second wave. And I worry about health care capacity in many regions.

BOLDUAN: I mean, do you think -- are you in a place where you can say at this moment -- you're looking at another wave already coming right now. And this is well before when it was feared, which was the fall, if this really is what we were looking at, which is a second wave, David.

Are you in a place where you're ready to say that the state-by-state strategy has failed?

RUBIN: I think it could have worked but I think we needed some national standards. But I think, at this point, it's hard not to look at the data and think that a state-by-state strategy is going to succeed.

You're seeing very bold action from certain governors, particularly in the northeast, to try to prevent the risk from spreading north again. But, you know, short of putting up checkpoints at state borders, I don't know how that is enforceable.

BOLDUAN: Right.

RUBIN: And states like Georgia are how starting to really be consumed by the risk in the south.

You know, I think, at this point, the time for national action is pretty undebatable.

BOLDUAN: Let me ask you. It's very interesting to dive into your model. And your blog posts about it are easy to divest, which is helpful for all of us who are not scientists and not physicians. So I appreciate it.

Your model is seeing real areas of concerns in college towns around the country, which I was really interested in.

You highlight - and we can put this up for everyone. You're highlighting Knox County, like Knoxville, Tennessee. What's going on around that area? What does it mean for the fall? What have you seen that concerns you that makes you highlight this?

RUBIN: I don't know whether students are starting to return or campuses are starting to repopulate. I've never spoken to folks in Knox County. They did not see the risk early on that they were seeing now in Nashville and Memphis.

And they attributed that to a fair amount of vigilance, the fact that colleges had shut down but now college towns are very much a part of this next wave.

We see significant increase in Lancing, Michigan. We see it in Philadelphia. We see it already in Pittsburgh, which had a significant outbreak this week.

And, you know, everything we've done -- and I'm a pediatrician -- has been focused on getting kids back to school in the fall and getting college students back to college. But that was always predicated on us driving our case counts down sufficiently so that it could be safe.

When I hear about USC's decision, I totally understand it this morning. And I think we have to kind of revisit our school reopenings. There's no way that anyone in their right mind should be reopening schools if places like Florida at the end of August.

Now is the time for bold action so we can get back to a place where we can have serious-minded discussions, about getting all of our schools back into some resumption of normal activity.

BOLDUAN: I have to tell you, Doctor, often leaning on smart folks like you, I'm getting a real sense that we're at a moment of reckoning. It's not entirely clear how many people are -- that are in positions to make big decisions and -- and take this bold action, that they are even at a place of ready to face and accept at this moment, which is a terrifying thought.

RUBIN: Well, I will say that I am encouraged by some of the bolder action of some of our governors. I think, when you see Governor Cuomo talking about a gathering storm in New York or gathering clouds --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

RUBIN: -- and bold action in places that don't look like they are having a lot of activity.

What these governors are recognizing is the time for action is not when you've already achieved epidemic proportions, it's when you first start to see an increase in your transmission rates.

[11:15:08]

And that's what we need to see more of nationally, not being reactive to the point at which your health care facilities have already been overtaxed.

BOLDUAN: A very important reminder today.

Doctor, thank you.

Coming up for us, on the same day that the United States hit a new record of daily reported cases of coronavirus, the president says his administration is doing a great job. His words.

Plus, a new -- as new cases rise, could the high demand for testing overwhelm the system once again? A new warning coming from the testing history.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[11:19:58]

TRUMP: I did a lot of things right. I think we did it all right. We did a great job. We're credited with doing a great job. But we had to turn off our country or we would have lost millions of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: "A great job. We did it all right." That's how President Trump describes his response to the coronavirus pandemic, despite the fact that the data shows the outbreak today is getting worse, not better. Just listen to Dr. Rubin, who we just talked to in the last segment.

Yet, the president sits in denial. Just today, saying it's all working out very well. It's being handled, he said. And yesterday, defiantly optimistic that the virus will simply go away. He said this on the same day that the United States hit a record-high number of new cases on a single day topping 50,000.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And I think we're going to be very good with the coronavirus. I think that, at some point, that's going to sort of just disappear, I hope.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: You still believe so? Disappear?

TRUMP: Well, I do. I do, yes, sure, at some point. And I think we'll have a vaccine very soon, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: This isn't the first time that you've heard that line from the president. In fact, it's a pretty consistent message from him over the entire course of the pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Looks like, by April in, theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.

Just stay calm. It will go away.

It's going to go away. This is going to go away.

Eventually, it's going to be gone. It's going to be gone. It's going away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: This virus has done anything but go away. Cases are spiking at dangerous levels across the country. And still, you have not just the president but even the administration downplaying the severity of the pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We see embers around the country. We always knew that would come with reopening.

We're aware that there's embers that need to be put out.

LARRY KUDLOW, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC ADVISOR: The growth rate is only up a little bit.

We're going to have hot spots, no question.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The truth is we did slow the spread. We flattened the curve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN White House correspondent, John Harwood, joining us me now.

It's good to see you again, John.

What are you hearing about the internal debate going on over the president's handling of this right now?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's pretty well shut down today, Kate, by those new unemployment numbers showing 4.8 million jobs added. The unemployment rate is coming down. Unequivocally, good news for the economy. And that put the president right where we want to talk about.

He came out and had a brief appearance in the White House briefing room, did not take any questions. Boasted about economic progress and did not subject himself to scrutiny from those of us in the room about what exactly he's doing about the brush fire in multiple states, especially the Sunbelt, that threatens all the economic progress.

That's one of the problems about data. The jobless rate that the president was touting today was derived in mid-June before the virus resurged. That now threatens to throw into reverse a lot of economic gains that he was talking about.

But economic gains are what he wants to discuss. He was there with his treasury secretary and his economic adviser, Larry Kudlow. You haven't seen the Coronavirus Task Force there recently.

The president is on the topic today that he wants to be on. And he is willing to let the coronavirus be handled by governors and not be put front and center by him.

And it's notable that neither the president, nor Kudlow, nor Steve Mnuchin were wearing a mask when they came out today.

BOLDUAN: Let's talk about that. During the interview that the president did give, he talked about face coverings. Let's play that for folks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm all for masks. I think masks are good. I would wear -- if I were in a group of people and I was close -- I mean, people have seen me wearing one.

I sort of liked the way I looked, OK. I thought it was OK. It was a dark black mask and I thought it looked OK. It looked like the Lone Ranger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: What do you do with that, John?

HARWOOD: Well, Kate, you're too young to know this, but the Lone Ranger wore a mask over his eyes, not over his nose and mouth. And that is what President Trump has been beseeched to do by politicians across the spectrum. He's not willing to do it.

He made a cursory reference to people following the guidance of local officials, best practices, face coverings and social distancing.

But given the scale of the crisis, we are experiencing right now, you have a lot of people who are waiting for the president to come out and wear one in public, urge his supporters to wear one, and maybe even mandate them.

But he's not listened to the admonitions of members of his task force, like the surgeon general who, the other day, said, please, please, please wear a mask.

BOLDUAN: Good to see you, John. Thank you.

[11:25:00]

Coming up, lines that stretch for miles. Test results taking days to come back. Now months into the pandemic, why are testing facilities across the country struggling again to keep up with demand?

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