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CDC Study: COVID Can Result in Prolonged Illness, Even Among Young Adults; Update on Coronavirus Responses Around the Country; Kim Gardner, St. Louis Circuit Attorney, Discusses and Sen. Josh Hawley Calling on DOJ to Investigate Handling of Case; Study: Just 3 Out of 10 British Residents Wear Masks; . Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired July 24, 2020 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:31:25]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The CDC has just released a new study showing just how much we still have to learn about the coronavirus. It found that it can cause prolonged illness even among young adults who have no chronic underlying conditions.
I want to bring in our health reporter, Jacqueline Howard, to talk about this.
Jacqueline, this kind of hues to the anecdotal things we have been hearing from young people who have been -- you know, long haulers, dealing with symptoms for months. Tell us more about this.
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Yes. This study done in patients not even hospitalized. This study was in outpatients with mild illness. So that adds to our understanding of this disease.
But overall, this study involved telephone interviews with more than 200 outpatient COVID-19 patients. They had mild illness. Researchers called them, asking them about the recovery and how they were doing two to three weeks after they tested positive for COVID.
And the study found that 35 percent of the patients were still on their path to recovery two to three weeks later. So they were still having some symptoms. And among the most common symptoms that they were experiencing is cough, fatigue and shortness of breath.
But what really stood out to me, Brianna, the age range here. So here's a breakdown of the age of these patients who were still having some symptoms. The study found that you will see here 26 percent of the patients for ages 18 to 24, 32 percent for 35 to 49, and 47 percent for ages 50 and older.
So, you know what really stood out here, among the younger patients, some them still had symptoms two to three weeks later. And this shows this is a persistent disease.
KEILAR: That's amazing. Seems to show you, if you're under 25, you have this one in four chance of having those continued symptoms. Under 50, looking at -- under 35. But under 50, it is one in two chance. It's pretty eye-opening.
Jacqueline, thank you for that, for spelling that out for us.
Texas is continuing its record-setting week for coronavirus deaths. The state just recorded the second-highest single-day death toll. And 173 people died from COVID complications in Texas Thursday. That follows 197 deaths on Wednesday.
The rising number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Texas are now forcing stay-at-home orders in some counties there.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has more on that, as we check in with COVID-19 headlines across the country.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ed Lavandera. There's another sign this morning that the Rio Grande Valley of Texas is a troubling hotspot here in Texas. Local leaders in Starr County issued a shelter- in-place order to get the coronavirus spread under control.
Remember, neighboring Hidalgo County issued a similar order. This is an area described as a tsunami of coronavirus cases.
But also remember, this is a point of contention between state and local officials. The governor said local authorities don't have the power to issue these kinds of orders.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Stephanie Elam, in Los Angeles, where more than half of the deaths in the state of California have happened here in this county. This, as California has hit a record number of deaths reported in one day of 157.
[13:35:03]
We also saw a very high number of cases reported in a day, 12,040. This is second-highest number behind yesterday's, which was a record high.
Also looking at the data here in Los Angeles County, for the fifth day in a row, we see hospitalizations above 2,200. But positivity has stabilized, though at a higher level than we like to see at 10 percent.
LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Leyla Santiago, in Washington, D.C., keeping an eye on an ICE detention in Virginia where 75 percent of detainees tested positive for COVID-19.
When you talk to advocates and lawyers, they tell that they believe it's stems from transfer of detainees from Arizona and Florida.
But when you ask ICE, they say they're not deliberately transferring those testing positive. In fact, they're adding more handwashing stations, providing masks. And recently, they say, they're beginning comprehensive testing. CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: I'm Chloe Melas, in New York.
Actor, Mel Gibson, was hospitalized for a week after testing positive for COVID-19. A representative for the actor tells CNN that this took place in April and he has since recovered.
Gibson was hospitalized in Los Angeles and treated with Remdesivir and he has since tested negative.
Gibson joins a growing list of high-profile people who have shared their own battles with the virus, including Tom Hanks, Pink, and many others.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Thank you so much to my colleagues for the updates there.
A judge ruling the Trump administration retaliated against Michael Cohen, a move that sent him back to prison.
Plus, Homeland Security officials admit telling falsehood about a move that expel New York residents.
In the case of the armed couple in Missouri, I'll be speaking live with a prosecutor who is getting death threats since the president intervened in the case. She is next.
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[13:41:44]
KEILAR: The self-declared law-and-order president has explaining to do over the interpretation of the law. Trump's former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, is being released from federal custody today. He will return to home confinement.
This comes after a federal judge found the government sent Cohen back to prison in retaliation for a tell-all book he's writing about the president.
Then there's Trump's businesses. This week, we learned a government watchdog investigating allegations against Trump had put pressure on his own ambassador to the U.K to bring the lucrative British Open golf tournament to Trump's Turnberry resort in Scotland. It is a claim that the president denies.
Finally, there's the Department of Homeland Security admitting to making false claims in court documents. The department has disclosed an inaccurate and misleading statement to defend the decision to block New York residents from participating in Trusted Traveler Programs, including the Global Entry Program.
The ban was in response to a New York law protecting the information of undocumented immigrants applying for driver's licenses. The DHS made the admission on the same day it announced its rescinding the ban on New Yorker.
Governor Andrew Cuomo blasted the department and called for a congressional investigation.
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GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): You cannot use government for political exploitation. News flash! It's called government. You can't play politics with government.
You can't use the Department of Justice as a political tool. You can't use the Department of Homeland Security as a political tool. It doesn't work that way.
And it is not just right and unethical and immoral. It is illegal. It's illegal!
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KEILAR: The St. Louis prosecutor who filed felony weapons charges against a couple caught on tape waving their guns at peaceful protests outside their mansion last month says she is being targeted by her governor and President Trump.
Both Governor Mike Parson and the president have criticized Kim Gardner pursuing the case against Mark and Patricia McCloskey. The political interference has prompted more than 60 state and federal prosecutors to issue a statement defending Gardner and condemning the political attacks.
But Gardner says, ever since the president got involved, she has been the victim of racist attacks and death threats.
And Kim Gardner is joining us for an exclusive interview.
Thank you so much for being with us, Kim.
Please tell us how things changed once the president involved himself in this case. Tell us about the threats.
KIM GARDNER (D), ST. LOUIS CIRCUIT ATTORNEY: It's been disheartening. And it's been a racial-motivated sexist attack on myself as the local elected prosecutor.
I have had people leave messages on my car. Say I should be strung up on a tree and hung by the KKK. And others say they can't wait to see a bullet in my head.
And it's disturbing that the president and the Senator in my state and the attorney general and the governor seek to stroke the rhetoric of fear and racial decide in our country as well as the state of Missouri.
[13:45:00]
KEILAR: And now you are investigating. But there was obviously a question of whether you would. And I wonder if things have -- did you see things escalate when the president got involved. GARDNER: Of course, it escalated, because it was a political pandering
to distract from the failed attempts of addressing the real issue and the COVID-19 pandemic that the president and others in the state, like the governor and the attorney general, have failed to address.
So it's political pandering to distract from the real issues of what's going on, COVID-19 pandemic.
KEILAR: And how does this impact the case?
GARDNER: Well, this case is treated like every other case. You know? I cannot speak to an open case. But what it does is it brings into question the powerful few what want to chime in on facts and circumstances. They have no inter-workings of the day-to-day investigation of this case.
And of course, I can't comment on that. But we never -- my office never brings any charges on a case we're not confident to prove at trial.
KEILAR: Governor Parson, your state's governor, asked this week if he would pardon the couple, and this is what he said.
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GOV. MIKE PARSON (R-MO): Without a doubt, Sean. I'll do everything within the Constitution of the state of Missouri to protect law- abiding citizens. And those people are exactly that. They're law- abiding citizens. And they're being attacked, frankly, by a political process that's really unfortunate. It is a sad day for us here in Missouri.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: What's your reaction to that?
GARDNER: It's a sad day that a governor to use political pandering to inject himself in the elected officials' prosecutors elected duty to investigate criminal activity in the jurisdiction.
So it's disheartening and a dangerous proposition that the state is going into and the president and people that support this type of usurping the will of the people for that elected official and to do his or her job.
KEILAR: The Republican Senator of your state, Josh Hawley, is calling on the Justice Department to investigate how you have handled this case. He says that the couple were simply exercising Second Amendment rights.
Are you concerned about a possible investigation?
GARDNER: First of all, I'm concerned that the Senator, who has a law license, would actually call for an investigation when this is not about a Second Amendment right. This is about an elected prosecutor doing their job, what they do
every day without fanfare or political pandering and evaluate criminal activity in the jurisdiction. And prosecutors have that discretion.
And it is unfortunate that the Senator needs to weigh in on the COVID- 19 response to the state of Missouri and bring resources so we can have adequate testing as well as adequate response to help the people that are losing their lives every day.
The governor the same thing. He should be worried about how the response of lack of testing, contact tracing in our state, as well as resources to help support the essential workers fighting every day, and people in the state of Missouri who are dying at an alarming rate.
And that response needs to have the attention as they want to political pander and distract from the real attention. The failed leadership on every level of government in terms of that response to this deadly virus.
KEILAR: As we go through this, the Senator, the governor, the president, we realize, you know, just how many officials are weighing in on this case in Missouri. And you know, that's a lot.
I wonder, you know, how concerned are you for your safety?
GARDNER: I'm concerned for not just my safety but for the safety of the community.
When you stroke the fears of racial divisiveness that we know exists in not just the state but the country, you have many people saying enough is enough. Enough is enough to the systemic racism that we know exists in the criminal justice system.
But to have people who want to use political pandering to stroke that fear, to stroke the divide, when we should be coming together to address the issues of the COVID-19 pandemic, it calls into question whether they're competent for the job they have.
And it calls into question, do they have the will to do what's right. And that means to stand up for right, regardless of what political party you are associated with.
It's to stop the divide and to bring people together at the time of the greatest need that we see around this country, as well as in a state of Missouri.
KEILAR: Kim, thank you for being with us. St. Louis circuit attorney. We appreciate your, Kim Gardner.
GARDNER: I appreciate you. Thank you.
KEILAR: Next, why only three out of 10 in the U.K. say they wear masks. And that's who actually admits to doing it.
[13:50:05] Plus, as we get closer to the U.S. election, more and more health experts are calling for vote-by-mail options as the president pushes back.
And a teacher gives a rare and emotional look at how schools that are reopening are preparing.
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UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Because I love teaching. I miss my classroom. I miss my kids. But I can't show them love that way.
I really, truly feel like this is something that people need to hear so they can make an informed decision.
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[13:55:00]
KEILAR: Wearing a mask is now mandatory for all shoppers in the U.K. While the new rule has widespread support, most British residents say they don't wear masks.
Anna Stewart has the story.
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ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From today, it has become mandatory in England to wear a face covering in shops, airports, train stations and post offices. Failure will result in a fine of 100 pounds. That's around $125.
Enforcement is expected to be lax. Some retailers have said they will not be policing this themselves. And police forces in the country, including London's met police, have said they will not be on face-mask patrol. They will only intervene as a matter of last resort.
The recent poll shows nine out of 10 Brits do support the new rule, but only three out of 10 currently wear face masks.
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KEILAR: A heartbreaking situation developing in Texas. Doctors are now deciding who gets treatment and who is sent home to die. We'll have that story ahead.
Plus, Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes us to ground zero inside the place that cameras are not allowed to go, the hospital.
This is CNN's special live coverage.
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