Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Trump Agrees to Wear Mask to Hospital After White House Aides Plead with Him; Daily Fatality Rate in Texas Tops 100 Mark; Louisiana Governor Says State Lost All Gains Made on Virus in June; Anthony Fauci: Reopening Too Soon Contributed to Spike in Cases in Arizona and Florida; Arizona Governor Limits Indoor Dining at Restaurants to 50 Percent; ICU Patients Up 86 Percent in Miami-Dade County. Aired 9- 9:30a ET

Aired July 10, 2020 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:28]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. 9:00 a.m. Eastern, 6:00 a.m. on the West Coast. I'm Poppy Harlow.

And this morning the nation hits a record breaking day of cases. More than 60,000 infections in a day. And minutes from now the president will head to one of the hardest hit areas in the country and that is Florida.

That state, along with California, Arizona, Texas, now accounting for just about 50 percent of new coronavirus cases across the country. Texas and California both reporting their highest number of coronavirus deaths in a single day since this pandemic. And Texas Governor Greg Abbott warning next week could look even worse.

That's a blunt warning. Even blunter words from the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, on our country's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: But as a country, when you compare us to other countries, I don't think you can say we're doing great. I mean, we're just not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: We're just not. Those words directly contradicting the president who said this week the U.S. is in a, quote, "good place." Well, this morning the president repeating threats to pull funding if schools do not physically reopen this fall.

Also new polling out just this morning shows approval of the president's handling of this pandemic is now at an all-time low. Just 33 percent of Americans approve of the way he is handling it.

We're covering all the angles this morning. Let's begin in Miami with our Rosa Flores.

Rosa, the president travels to Florida today, this as the state is seeing just once again staggering numbers.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right, Poppy. The reality here on the ground in Miami-Dade County is the following. Positivity rate is at 33.5 percent. The goal for the county is not to exceed 10 percent. Well, they've exceeded 18 percent for the past 14 days. When it comes to hospitalizations, those are up 76 percent in the past 13 days, 86 percent for ICUs. And when it comes to ventilators, 124 percent.

Now Miami-Dade County is the epicenter of this crisis here in the state of Florida but there are other hotspots across the state. The statewide positivity rate is at 18 percent. And just yesterday the state recorded nearly 9,000 cases, when it comes to death 120. Those are 120 families who today are mourning for their loved ones.

Now yesterday, Governor Ron DeSantis said that if Home Depot and Walmart and fast food restaurants are essential, then education is essential, too. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): If you can do Home Depot, if you can do Walmart, if you can do these things, we absolutely can do the schools. I want our kids to be able to minimize this education gap that I think has developed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Now, Governor Ron DeSantis also said during that press conference that no parent should be forced to send their child to a brick-and-mortar school, but, Poppy, you and I know, we've been talking about this, the state is requiring schools to reopen in the fall in brick-and-mortar style.

HARLOW: I'll be watching very closely to see if all the teachers go, Rosa. I mean, if they are forced to go and they don't feel safe, what is going to happen? Thank you very, very much.

The president says he will wear a mask when he visits sick veterans at Walter Reed Medical Center, but our reporting this morning is that it took a lot of pleading from White House aides to make it happen.

Let's get that reporting from our Joe Johns who is outside the White House this morning.

Good morning, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy. We've all witnessed the president's reluctance to wear a face covering in public and we now know that the president is apparently planning to wear a face covering when he visits Walter Reed Medical Center in nearby Bethesda, Maryland, on Saturday. And we're also hearing from my colleagues, Kevin Liptak as well as

Jeremy Diamond, that it took a great deal of negotiation with the president of the United States by aides to get him to wear a mask, going as far as begging and pleading the president to wear a mask. So now it appears that the president is going to do that. He's going to do it in fact before he flies up to New Hampshire for his campaign rally -- Poppy.

HARLOW: And also, Joe, before you go, really important update on the CDC and school guidelines that they issued for reopening schools that the president did not like, to say the least.

JOHNS: Right.

HARLOW: But they're sticking to their guns on this?

JOHNS: Right. Yes, well, we got a little bit more insight on that from the director of the CDC, Robert Redfield.

[09:05:04]

As you know, the president tweeted just yesterday that in his view the guidelines are problematic and expensive among other things. He said he'd like to see them change or at least he wanted to talk to the CDC about it in a meeting. Now Robert Redfield says, look, those guidelines have been around for a long time, they're not changing. And he talked to CNN about it last night. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, CDC DIRECTOR: The guidance are there with a series of different strategies, which then each local jurisdiction can decide how they want to use those strategies. So we stand by our guidance. We think it's an important strategy for helping these schools reopen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: So they say they're going to put out a little bit more information about the guidelines, but they're not going to change them -- Poppy.

HARLOW: OK. Joe, thanks a lot. That's important.

Now to Texas where this state saw sadly its highest number of coronavirus deaths in a single day. Ed Lavandera is with me this morning again from Dallas.

The governor of Texas even says, Ed, this is not the worst of it.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, which is really stunning considering this is coming from Governor Greg Abbott here in Texas who is one of the first governors across the country to push for the reopening. This comes on the day that health officials here in Texas reported that 105 people were reported dead on Thursday because of coronavirus. It is the first time that the daily fatality rate has topped the 100 mark.

And we are now approaching 3,000 deaths overall here in the state of Texas. And that's just one of the few troubling numbers. Over the course of the last three days, nearly 30,000 new coronavirus cases being reported.

And more significantly is that positive infection rate, which was at 4.2 percent just at the end of May and it is now approaching 16 percent. And health officials here in the -- and the governor have been saying that they wanted to keep that number under 5 percent, and because it was under 5 percent, they were going to push the reopening of the economy.

This was back in May. But now all of that is on hold and the governor here says that next week -- well, take a listen to what he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): I think the numbers are going to look worse as we go into next week. And we need to make sure that there's going to be plenty of hospital beds available in the Houston area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: So, I mean, this is really a significant statement coming from this governor who had been talking in mid -- early to mid June about wanting the economy fully reopened by July 4th. That is now not happening and the future of the reopening of the economy here is very much in question. Exactly what's going to happen as the numbers here in Texas continue to get worse.

And one other thing. Poppy, those hospitalizations the number of people hospitalized in this state has roughly tripled in just the last three weeks -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Which again, Ed, is important evidence that it's not just about more tests showing positive cases. These are more people dying and more people hospitalized for this.

Thank you for the reporting from Dallas. A sobering outlook there.

In Louisiana the governor says the state has lost all the gains that it made on this virus in June.

Joining me now is Dr. Jennifer Avegno, director of the New Orleans Health Department.

Doctor, thank you so much for being here. For people who don't know obviously you are the leader in this crisis fight in New Orleans. You have 20 years of experience in emergency medicine and the governor saying that all of the gains that we made in June are now gone. Why? Why are they gone in New Orleans? What happened?

DR. JENNIFER AVEGNO, DIRECTOR, NEW ORLEANS HEALTH DEPARTMENT: Well, thank you for having me, Poppy, and yes, you know, statewide as you probably remember we were hit very early on, very hard, very fast. So we know exactly how bad it can get and, you know, listening to the other reporters talk about what's happening in Florida and Texas, it's really heartbreaking because all of this could have been predicted.

You know, in New Orleans, we have -- we have as the state of Louisiana seen a rise recently and it really corresponds with our reopening. Starting with our phase one on May 15th then further easing of restrictions in mid June. Orleans is actually relatively doing better compared to the rest of the state. Our positivity rates are still below 5 percent, whereas many, many other areas around the state is a lot higher than that.

And that's because I think when New Orleans in particular was hit very, very hard our residents, you know, are taking it seriously. I think there's a lot of parts of the state that, you know, didn't really see the first part of this epidemic and maybe thought that it might have been over, and so relaxed their guard a lot more than was warranted.

HARLOW: Yes.

[09:10:04]

AVEGNO: And now we're seeing it statewide.

HARLOW: OK. We're seeing it statewide. We're seeing it in New Orleans. You know, so much of your career has been spent on the poorest people that need help and that need aid. Low income, often chronically ill communities.

Could you speak, Doctor, to specifically what this resurgence and setback means for them?

AVEGNO: Well, COVID in New Orleans as well as across the country has exposed significant health inequities that have existed for a very long time. This is not news to any of us who either work in emergency medicine or public health, but it is plain for all to see, whether you're in New Orleans, New York, or anywhere in between.

And we continue to see that our highest positivity rates tend to be among either communities that are heavily poor, our Hispanic community has very high rates and our death rate continues to be disparately affecting black individuals, both in New Orleans and the state.

HARLOW: So one of the ways that you can work toward minimizing that, specifically for these hardest hit communities, is testing, early detection, et cetera.

AVEGNO: Right.

HARLOW: But from the reporting that I read, what you're facing now is a real reduction if not an inability to continue the free testing because of a lack of supplies. Is that right?

AVEGNO: Right. Our testing has really been a success story and it has been a deliberate focus on bringing testing to neighborhoods with the least access and the highest potential for severe outcomes. And we're very proud of that and that's really helped us to get a handle and suppressed the virus for so long. But just recently because of increased demand nationwide we're having real supply shortages with a lot of the supplies we need to run the tests on machines.

You know, we've elevated this as high as the White House Task Force but I'm concerned that we're going to, you know, erase our testing gains if we don't get some help there.

HARLOW: Once again, people who can't afford it that need the free testing may not be able to get it.

Doctor, thank you so much for the work you do and the team that you lead.

AVEGNO: Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

HARLOW: Still to come for us, these hospitals that are reaching capacity, doctors and nurses stretched to their limits. I will speak with the lead ICU physician from an epicenter of this pandemic. What he's seeing.

Also this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED BASTIAN, DELTA AIRLINES CEO: This will be the crisis that will define Delta.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: The CEO of Delta calling for a federal mask mandate on all commercial planes and insists keeping middle seats empty is what keeps people safe in the skies.

Plus, President Trump implying he's ready to grant clemency to Roger Stone, his friend and ally, who is set to go to prison on Tuesday. What might the president do?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: The guidelines and the recommendations to open up carefully and prudently, some states skipped over those and just opened up too quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. Do you think that Florida and Arizona opened up too quickly?

FAUCI: You know, I think in some respects, in some cases they did, not always. But I think that, that certainly is contributing to that.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARLOW: Well, you heard it right there from Dr. Anthony Fauci. He

says reopening too soon is a big reason it contributed to the spike in cases in both Arizona and in Florida. Let's go to Arizona. CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro joins me this morning from Scottsdale. An important change I think in the state, Evan, that the governor said, OK, we'll limit indoor dining at restaurants to 50 percent capacity. But other people wanted a lot more done there.

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Poppy. I mean, we've been out here for a few days, but for weeks before we got here, local officials and public health officials here in Arizona have been asking the governor to really restrict things more as the cases start to rise here. Indoor dining opened in Arizona on May 11th with some restrictions.

Yesterday, the governor gave a press conference and what he gave those officials who have been asking for these new changes was a slight tweak to the existing regulations. The May 11th rules said you could open with 6 feet of distance between tables, some reduced capacity, but according the governor's office, it wasn't really enforced. It was kind of an honor system.

The new rule is 50 percent of capacity set by the fire marshal, and the governor's office says that will be strictly enforced. Now, that's not the kind of change that the local officials here in like Phoenix while in Scottsdale. But in Phoenix nearby -- and in Tucson have been asking for. And it's -- but it is something that's going to be embraced by the restaurant industry who is happy with this change. I spoke to one restaurant owner who said that dining in is safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN STIDHAM, OWNER, THE ORIGINAL BREAKFAST HOUSE: It could be dangerous in the right circumstance. But in comparison to 95 percent of other things you do, we're a good safe -- it's a good choice. It's a good choice. We're safer than going to the grocery store. We're safer than 90 percent of the functions you do.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Got it. And so if the rules keep changing, you're going to keep changing with them. That's the plan?

STIDHAM: I'm here for the long haul, so the answer is yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: So it's early in the morning here in Scottsdale, it's about 6:20 a.m. But, you know, this is a breakfast restaurant behind me. You could see it's already started to open. You may not be able to see in, but there are people who are dining inside, and that is what the governor says is OK to do right now, despite the rising case-load. And those calls from other people in this state to close things like indoor dining down, Poppy.

[09:20:00]

HARLOW: OK, Evan, thank you very much. I know they're trying to balance, you know, the economics of all of it and the health implications. We appreciate it. Let's go to Florida now, back to Florida, south Florida particularly hit hard. Dire situation there, hospitalizations up 76 percent at Miami-Dade County, ICU patients up 86 percent, ventilator use up 124 percent.

With me now, Dr. David De La Zerda; he is lead ICU physician at Jacksonville Memorial Hospital in Miami. Thank you very much of course for being here, but for what you're doing and leading every single day. When you hear those numbers about what's happening in Miami-Dade County, what is happening in your hospital, right? How much ICU capacity do you have? How many available ventilators do you have?

DAVID DE LA ZERDA, LEAD ICU PHYSICIAN, JACKSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: Thank you for having me. So, yes, the situation is really concerning here in south Florida as you just mentioned. So in the last wave, we see a -- we saw an impressive amount of cases coming to our ICUs, so the way we're dealing with that here in Jacksonville Memorial is we are slowly getting more ICU beds. Meaning we have a huge capacity for ICU. Last week, we decided to stop the surgery, so we have more capacity right now.

So, today, we have enough capacity, ICU and ventilators, but if we continue to see these spike of cases, we are going to win, but --

HARLOW: You know, it's just a few weeks from now that schools in Florida are supposed to open while Disney World opening to pass holders today. You're a parent, you have a 5 and a 7 -year-old, and I know from experience that it's really hard to have kids out of school, but I also know we want kids and their teachers to be safe. The governor in Florida says if Home Depot and Wal-Mart can open, so can schools. What do you think seeing what you see every day? Can the schools reopen in Florida in a few weeks?

DE LA ZERDA: I mean, I want to echo what the commissioner say, I mean, the schools here, the district. I think we have to ensure it's safe to open. I think is -- we need to follow the situation the next week or so. If the schools decided to open, there needs to be a very clear guidance on how to do it. But we have to follow, you know, things are changing so rapidly here that of course, has a --

HARLOW: What about today, doctor? If it were today and, you know, with the numbers that you're seeing and treating in your hospital, would you be comfortable with schools opening physically full capacity for children?

DE LA ZERDA: I think full capacity like operation as usual, probably, I will not feel comfortable. We have like a protocol to follow, probably I would feel more comfortable. But right through, probably no.

HARLOW: I want you to listen to what an ICU nurse who works in Arizona said to my colleague, Chris Cuomo last night about what she's seeing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LAUREN LEANDER, ICU NURSE IN PHOENIX: We are stretched so thin, we

are at the point of compromising patient safety. You know, we're working with ventilators left with single digits of ventilators left. We have triple patient assignments now. We have three COVID ICUs that are completely full.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: That's a dire situation for her. Are your ICU teams facing the same?

DE LA ZERDA: You know, yes. I think all the health workers have a huge burden out right now. We have the first wave a week, and then with second wave. Our nurses are working really hard, we've got some new nurses coming in this week. We have 33 nurses, ICU nurses that are going to help out. But yes, the answer to you is yes, we are really burned out, we have a lot of patients. We can keep up for now, but hopefully we'll get more help soon. But yes, we are all burned out here.

HARLOW: You're all burned -- what more help do you need? Meaning, you know, for anyone who is listening in the state, government, the federal government, in terms of what you need. Is it -- is it supplies? Is it more bodies to give you guys a break to help? What can people do?

DE LA ZERDA: You know, I think that what is happening this week by having a 100 nurses coming -- that the state is bringing, that is going to help quite a lot. So only here in our ICU, we've got 3 -- 33 new nurses and that is going to bring a lot of help. We as an ICU, working with our colleagues in surgery and medicine will help some planning, similar will happen in New York, how we're going to stock our units. So we're working on developing a plan for us and other groups of physicians are also helping us right now.

HARLOW: We wish you so much luck, Dr. David De La Zerda, thank you again for your time and for what you and your entire team are doing every day.

DE LA ZERDA: Thank you very much for having me. Thank you.

HARLOW: Of course. All right, next, you'll hear our exclusive interview with the CEO of Delta who says customers who refuse to wear a mask, they will lose their right to fly on his planes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED BASTIAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DELTA AIRLINES: I'm frustrated. I think I can speak for, you know, corporate America. We're all frustrated with the politicization of safeguarding the health and well-being of our employees as well as our customers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:25:00] HARLOW: Welcome back. So as you know, coronavirus has been hammering

the travel industry, and just as airlines were starting to see a pickup in flyers, this latest surge of the virus is upending all of it. Even as Delta continues to lose $30 million a day, the company's CEO Ed Bastian says he will not compromise on safety and will not sell more seats. I sat down with him for a CNN exclusive interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: What is the state of the airline industry today?

BASTIAN: In the post-July 4th period, there's no question that the spread of the virus as well as all the quarantine measures that have gone into place have started to pull back the demand expectations. So --

HARLOW: Yes --

BASTIAN: I'd say we're in -- we're in a kind of a cautious pause right now in terms of any additional growth.