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Inside an Overwhelmed U.S.-Mexico Border Hospital; CDC Standing by Guidance for Schools Reopening; Schools Prepare for Reopening; U.S. Supreme Court Rules Prosecutors Can Subpoena Trump's Taxes; Biden Unveils Build Back Better Plan; Former Wimbledon Finalist Describes Racism On and Off Court. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired July 10, 2020 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In California.

(on camera): Is it crazy to you that you are a physician working in a tent in America

DR. JORGE ROBLES, EL CENTRO REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: Yes, it's incredible, isn't it. Yes, will make it through.

LAH (voice-over): Inside the hospital --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is exhausting.

LAH: We visit the sickest patients in the ICU.

(on camera): These are your patients.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, these are transferred from the regular floor.

LAH (voice-over): Every single patient in this 12 bed ICU have COVID, 11 of them survive with ventilators.

(on camera): Can you explain what you're wearing?

AMBER MORES, NURSE: Well, it's a device that helps keep everything, you know, kind of like close so we're not exposed to anything.

LAH (voice-over): It's what nurse Amber Mores needs to wear to stay safe while helping her 40-year-old patient?

(on camera): How sick is he?

MORES: He's really sick and he's really young. So we're trying to do everything we can before we intubate him.

LAH: What is that suggesting to you as a nurse, that the age is dropping?

MORES: I think that a lot of people aren't honoring like the stay at home. You know, a lot of people aren't doing the social distancing. LAH (voice-over): That's what the El Centro Fire Department sees on

the street.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: El Centro Fire Department.

LAH: The battalion chief says in this town of 50,000 people every single hour it is this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a possible COVID patient on scene so at this point our personnel are gearing up for a COVID patient.

LAH: In a full hazmat suit Captain Chad Whitlock revives an unconscious patient. It's a stifling 110 degrees.

CAPTAIN CHAD WHITLOCK, EL CENTRO FIRE DEPARTMENT: You have to de-con on all of the equipment and remove all the uniforms and take a shower and put a different uniform on for the rest of the day.

LAH (on camera): You're dripping.

WHITLOCK: Yes, ma'am. We're inundated. Everybody's really tired and nobody's -- you can see it in my face. You know, we're frustrated.

LAH (voice-over): That patient Captain Whitlock saved arrives at El Centro medical's emergency room.

ANDREW LAFREE, MEDICAL DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT, EL CENTRO REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: We've hit capacity. We've transferred out two or three times the normal amount of patients that we're sending out. I think in the last two months we've sent out something like 500 patients.

LAH: Some to nearby San Diego, others as far away as northern California. This helicopter is here to pick up another patient.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get it started in there because they're here for him.

LAH: ER doctors and nurses intubate under this blue drape to limit particle exposure. Stabilized, the patient heads out.

(on camera): Why is it happening so badly here in Imperial County?

LAFREE: There are a lot of U.S. nationals that live in Mexicali. They had a really bad outbreak there. There's a lot of people that cross the border here for work that live in Mexicali and then come and work here.

LAH (voice-over): The fields in Imperial County send produce across the country. And even in a pandemic some 20,000 Mexican day workers enter legally every morning to provide the labor.

No work, no money for food says 65-year-old farmworker Jacinto Moreno. Four of his fellow farmworkers have died of COVID, he says.

LUIS OLMEDO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COMITE CIVICO DEL VALLE, INC: We cannot win a war on COVID in the emergency room. Look at the big picture. We need to fight the war on COVID where it's breeding, and that's in our neighborhoods.

LAH: In this by national County, COVID is not the disease, is the symptom.

OLMEDO: They experience social determinants of health, like putting food on the table. Like having to work in dangerous conditions, like not having a mask. We are the poster of those inequities and the reason why we are not able to control COVID.

LAH: The hospital here is bracing for what's yet to come. This empty tent is the future COVID ward.

(on camera): Is this tent a sign that this pandemic is here to stay?

ADOLPHE EDWARD, CEO, EL CENTRO REGIONAL CENTER: Yes. So I keep telling folks, look, now it's a pandemic, eventually it will be an endemic. So is this really how we want to take care of our communities? And the answer is no.

LAH: And this tent already is not enough. That's why the hospital CEO wrote to California Senators Feinstein and Harris asking for more resources. That list includes 28 ICU nurses, 14 respiratory therapists and 20 ventilators. That is just a partial list of something this hospital needs by next week.

Kyung Lah, CNN, El Centro, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's truly surreal what so many hospitals are dealing with in this country.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says it will not revise its guidelines for reopening schools. This comes despite President Trump's strong insistence that they are too tough. The director of the CDC spoke about the dispute during the "CNN CORONAVIRUS TOWN HALL" with Anderson Cooper and Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you agree with the president that the guidelines that were published by the CDC that are up there now, are too tough and too -- in some cases too expensive and impractical.

[04:35:00]

ROBERT REDFIELD, CDC DIRECTOR: I think, Anderson, that's a sort of a mischar -- I mean, characterization. I mean the guidance is there.

COOPER: That's what the President said.

REDFIELD: Well, I'm saying the guidance are there and the guidance are there with a series of different strategies which then each local jurisdiction can decide how they want to use those strategies. COOPER: It's a mischaracterization by the President of the United

States that the guidelines are too tough?

REDFIELD: No. Not by the President.

COOPER: So who said the President -- by me?

REDFIELD: But I do think there are individuals that may say this needs to be done, this needs to be done, this needs to be done. In reality what we're saying is these are guidances, these are not requirements.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: With fall coming soon and coronavirus cases surging, there are a lot of concerns about how students and teachers will stay safe if they do return to school. Here's Sanjay with a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So I have three girls going into tenth grade, eighth grade and sixth grade. So as you might imagine what's going to happen this fall is topic number one in our household. What's going to happen with schools. The American Academy of Pediatrics, they've been very clear on this, they say kids physically in school is key to their development. But we also know that case numbers continue to rise across the country.

Still not entirely clear just how transmissible especially young kids are. We know they're less likely to get sick. But how likely are they to contribute to the spread? We know for sure that schools are going to have to do everything they can to try and keep kids safe. So it's going to look a lot different when you get to school this year.

Now if there's anything we know about this virus, it's that it doesn't like masks -- so those are going to be required in all schools -- and it doesn't like distance. So you see here how the desks and teachers' area all six feet apart. Well aware that a lot of school districts can't possibly do this. All of the desks facing the same direction. If there's any virus in the air you wanted going in one direction as opposed to mixing.

Also there's this idea of cohorting. That means that the same students would be together all day long. Less spread, less mixing that way. And also, if someone does get sick, it's easier to contact trace.

Another thing schools are going to have to think about, trying to reduce areas where children will congregate. Think about staggered start times, for example, rotating classrooms, one-way hallways and possibly getting even rid of common locker areas.

And another thing schools might start doing is having outdoor classrooms or at least opening the windows to improve the ventilation in indoor classrooms.

At the end of the day every family has to look at risks and the rewards of sending kids back to school. Also pay attention to what's happening in your community. Is the virus increasing or is it decreasing. That may play a factor in your decision. And finally, use the rest of the summer to get your kids used to wearing masks which they have to do and of course washing their hands as much as possible.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Next here, a split decision. America's top judges issue a long- awaited ruling. Ahead, why both Democrats and Mr. Trump each appear to have won something.

[04:40:00]

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ALLEN: Donald Trump is lashing out at the Supreme Court for what he called a political prosecution after it ruled even a U.S. President is not above the law when it comes to finances. In a 7-2 vote the court cleared the way for New York prosecutors to subpoena Trump's tax returns and personal financial records. However, in a separate ruling they blocked Congress from obtaining many of the same documents, at least for now. The President had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: From a certain point I'm satisfied. From another point I'm not satisfied. This is a political witch hunt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: We learned more about it from CNN's Jessica Schneider.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The bottom line from the Supreme Court, the President is not absolutely immune from criminal subpoenas while in office and Congress also has the right to subpoena the President for financial documents. That was the bottom line, but the Supreme Court says there are limits and there is a heightened standard. Meaning that these cases will go back to the lower courts and no documents and no tax returns will be released likely before the election less than four months away.

These are two separate cases, one of them coming out of Manhattan, the district attorney there trying to subpoena eight years of the President's personal and business tax returns for a criminal investigation into those hush money payments that Michael Cohen made to Stormy Daniels in the lead up to the election after she alleged an affair with Donald Trump. The court is saying that the President is not absolutely immune but that the President does have some recourse and that the lower court should determine whether or not the subpoena from the Manhattan prosecutor should move forward.

Then on the Congressional side. Three committees have subpoenaed the President's banks as well as his accounting firm for financial records for a broad swath of investigations. The court is saying today that Congress needs to tailor their requests and that the lower courts need to look at four different factors to determine whether or not those subpoenas can move forward.

The Chief Justice writing in both opinions in a 7-2 decision joined by some conservatives. And in the Congressional case the Chief Justice putting it this way saying --

But burdens imposed by a Congressional subpoena should be carefully scrutinized for they stem from a rival branch that has an ongoing relationship with the President and incentives to use subpoenas for institutional advantage.

So really, they are pointing to the politics at play here. The fact that Democrats control the House and they have been in a very adversarial position against the Trump White House throughout the administration.

So course, all of this remains to be seen. Will Congress, will the prosecutors in New York see the President's tax returns or his financial documents? That is something that lower courts will determine. The Supreme Court saying that they can but they have to meet heightened standards here.

Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Meantime, the President's former lawyer, Michael Cohen -- who as we mentioned made those hush money payments -- is back in federal custody. The bureau of prisons says Cohen refused the conditions of his home arrest which was granted after growing concerns over COVID- 19.

[04:45:00]

His lawyer claims that one of the conditions would have prohibited Cohen from speaking with the media and publishing a tell-all book Cohen is working to release.

President Trump's Democratic opponent Joe Biden has unveiled part of what his campaign calls a build back better agenda. It is a plan to spend hundreds of billions of dollars over four years to rebuild and reset the world's largest economy, which we know is struggling now in this pandemic.

CNN's John Defterios joins us with the details of it. Hello to you, John. Yes, Biden has kept what some would say is a low profile. Is this industrial policy he launched centrist in its approach?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: That's a good way to put it or framing it I think, Natalie. It's difficult to straddle the middle of the road. But I think that's with Joe Biden is aiming for here. Nothing too radical, something very practical and not in the ilk of say Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders, those two Senators that he ran against here for the Democratic nomination. He's focused on three key areas here on the rebuild of America. One is

energy. He's moving away from coal, which is highly polluting, and into clean energy, renewable energy, like solar and wind, court. Infrastructure. This is something that Donald Trump has talked about what he had delivered a bill for it. Road, rails, bridges, the power systems of America. They have been under invested in for the last three or four decades, absolutely.

And then help care. A combination to try to make it more affordable. But because of the coronavirus, he's saying, look, we have to do better on research and development and can you do both.

And then finally, he's framing himself as a man of the people from a swing state originally born in Pennsylvania but living in Delaware, of course, saying I'm a man of the middle class and the working classes of the people, not Donald Trump, who was a developer billionaire that has now engaged with main street, if you will. And he also believes that you can actually please main street and Wall Street at the same time. It was something Bill Clinton was able to pull off, Barack Obama. You can invest in the heartland of America and still please the corporations and investors by saying, we have right economic policies. This is where he's positioning himself for the election.

ALLEN: Well let's talk about an unrelated business story, and that is Disney, which will be opening Disney World in Florida this weekend. John, is this a big risk for the company with a spike in cases in that state?

DEFTERIOS: It is a big risk, Natalie, but something I've been hearing more and more lately by CEOs and even a place like Dubai, who is reopening now to international travelers. A calculated risk. Bob Chapek is the chief executive officer of Disney, the company who is saying that they're not going to rush to fly open the doors here of Disney World in Florida, but something that's very measured. Because they have to take a very calculated risk here because of visitors and the some 75,000 members of the total staff. They will not go back to full staff if they ease open Disney World here.

But the other thing that stands out for me, and somebody who follows business a of course, is how much Disney World means to the Disney empire itself. This is a group that has entertainment, right. They own sports teams, and sports networks and cartoons and the rest, movies, all across the board. But this Disney World represents better than $11 billion or 16 percent of revenues. They have to get it right. More difficult of course in Florida because of the spike up in cases that you're talking about. Well over 200,000 now.

ALLEN: Yes, something to watch closely. John Defterios in Abu Dhabi, always appreciate you. Thanks, John.

DEFTERIOS: Thanks.

ALLEN: Still to come here, a well-known symbol next to high end real estate. Find out where this Black Lives Matter mural is going up and what the U.S. President thinks about it.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: New York City has painted Black Lives Matter across Fifth Avenue right in front of Trump Tower. Mayor Bill de Blasio approved the mural and helped city employees paint it. President Trump called it a symbol of hate denigrating New York's greatest street. This is the second such mural outside of Trump's residence after Washington DC painted Black Lives Matter near the White House. One Black Lives Matter organizer called that a distraction from real policy change.

It is difficult for any tennis star to reach a grand slam final no matter how much talent and skill they have, but it's even harder for Black men and women. MaliVai Washington spoke with our Christina Macfarlane about it and how he's trying to improve the odds for a younger generation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALIVAI WASHINGTON, FOUR-TIME ATP WINNER: I'm the last, you know, Black American to reach a final and I'm a little surprised we don't have more Americans, period, on the men's side but more Black men.

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN SPORT: Why else do you think tennis hasn't progressed in that way in the men's game?

WASHINGTON: If you have tens of millions of young men playing football and basketball and then you have, you know, maybe hundreds of thousands or maybe a million young men playing tennis, well, where is it going to excel?

A young Black boy who's 5 years old, 10 years old, he can turn on any Saturday or Sunday during the college football or pro football season he can see a ton of players that look a lot like him. And guess what, that's his guy and that's who he wants to be. That's not necessarily the case at all with tennis.

[04:55:00]

There are times, you know, growing up, you'd play a junior tournament, a junior tennis tournament and I mean, multiple age groups, and you're playing at four or five clubs around the city. There were times when we just kind of knew or we were told, yes, you weren't going to play at that particular club. They didn't allow it. They didn't allow Black players at that particular club. This is something I think every Black player has kind of experienced are seen on some level in their tennis career.

We'll see a draw of 32 players, let's say, and three of the players are Black. And there were times where it was just kind of uncanny how two of the Black players played each other in the first round, and then if you won you were going to play the third Black person in the second round. And you were just thinking, all right, it could have just been the luck of the draw, but then when it happens a few times it kind of makes you wonder, OK, are they fixing the draw just to eliminate the Black players from the draw? I would argue that every Black tennis player at some point has seen that and said, is there something foul going on here or is that just the luck of the draw?

My goal for every single person that hears this message, is that they feel inspired.

You come into that zip code and you see our tennis courts and you'll see a group of kids on the court playing tennis, playing competitive tennis and just getting after it. I think it expands your mind into different possibilities. How can we impact the life in a better way which is what we morphed into after school homework assistance, and scholarships, and helping students go to college and helping students with job skills and internships. So we want to try to create real world opportunities for them that are going to benefit them long term.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen. I'll see you this time tomorrow. Thanks for watching. "EARLY START" is next.

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