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Coronavirus Cases Continue Rising in Texas, California, Georgia, and Florida; Some Schools Providing Parents with Options for Virtual and In-Person Classes; Over Dozen Cities Including Baltimore Listed by White House Coronavirus Task Force as Having Troubling Numbers of Increased Coronavirus Cases; Memorial Service to be Held in Alabama for Late Congressman John Lewis; Civil Rights Icon Xernona Clayton Interviewed about Congressman John Lewis; Arizona Department of Education Yet to Release Plans on School Reopening; Judge in Michigan Keeps Teen in Juvenile Detention for Not Doing Online Schoolwork; First Storm of Season Hurricane Hanna Forms in Atlantic. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired July 25, 2020 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:13]

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It is Saturday, July 25th, I'm Abby Phillip.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. You are in the CNN Newsroom.

Across the country this morning, new record-high coronavirus cases in some states. There are plateauing numbers in other states, but it all underscores the uncertainty around allowing kids to go back into classrooms in the fall.

PHILLIP: Yes, the World Health Organization says a record number of cases were reported in a 24-hour period just yesterday, 284,196 cases, and for the fourth-straight day the U.S. reported more than 1,000 daily coronavirus deaths. The CDC says reopening schools for in-person learning in most of the country is safe, but the agency is suggesting that schools in areas where more than five percent of coronavirus cases are coming back positive, they should consider staying closed.

BLACKWELL: The Food and Drug Administration says it's giving emergency use authorization to the first coronavirus test for cases without symptoms. The FDA calls this possibly a game changer in helping reopen schools and businesses and to keep them open.

PHILLIP: We've got this covered from all angles for you this morning. We're going to start with CNN's Polo Sandoval who is in New York, and Natasha Chen is tracking the numbers back in Georgia. Let's go first to Polo for the nationwide outlook. Are there any cases, any states rather, making progress in slowing the spread of infections, Polo?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Abby to that point, we have heard from health officials in the state of Texas who say in some of the larger cities they are seeing somewhat of a plateau. These numbers that are leveling out, even though they are relatively high. At the same time, there are other parts of Texas, including one particular region, where health officials there are having to make critical and potentially life and death situations right now.

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SANDOVAL: Six months into the pandemic and some of the nation's coronavirus stats are going from bad to worse. As the nation surpassed 4 million COVID cases and over 145,000 deaths this week, California beat out New York as the state with the most infections to date.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): When we began to reopen our economy, we focused so much on when. But we didn't focus enough on how to not only do it but to educate individuals.

SANDOVAL: On Friday, California recorded its highest number of COVID deaths in hard-hit L.A. County. Health officials are warning the virus may soon become a leading cause of death among residents. COVID cases seem to be plateauing in some of Texas's largest cities, but in one small south Texas border county, patients may be sent home to die if a hospital ethics and triage committee deems them too sick to recover. The local county judge says their hospital is at capacity.

That's also a common struggle for health facilities in Florida which saw a nearly 84 percent increase in COVID hospitalizations since July the 4th. As statistics hit record-breaking highs in the south and west, parts of the northeast are experiencing lows not seen since March. On Friday, New York recorded its lowest number of hospitalizations in nearly four months. And with the approaching school year just weeks away, parents and teachers facing uncertainty about when or if in-person classes will resume amid a push to open schools.

MAYOR LENNY CURRY (R-FL), JACKSONVILLE: Kids ought to have the option to learn in person and virtually. I believe they ought to have choices. If teachers have vulnerable immune systems, they ought to have options as well. But we have to get our kids back into a school in a safe way.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If you are going to bring the children back --

SANDOVAL: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, urging schools not to rush to any decisions.

FAUCI: There are a lot of people with underlying conditions out there, so I think when you talk about forcing teachers to come back to school, you better be careful about that and make sure you pay attention to, a, keeping them safe, and keeping them healthy.

SANDOVAL: Fauci not ruling out outdoor teaching as a way to get students back to school.

FAUCI: I wear this all the time.

SANDOVAL: And recommending face coverings be wore to the classroom.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Back here in New York state the rates of hospitalizations, of deaths, also most recently ICU rates, those are some of the lowest that we've seen in a long time here. But what is concerning right now is what authorities here describing as a significant increase over a short period of time in COVID cases for some of those people in their 20s up to 30 years old. The concern here, Victor and Abby, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo, is that many of these younger people are gathering in crowds outside of restaurants and bars. So that's something that this weekend authorities are looking to crack down on.

[10:05:04]

BLACKWELL: Polo Sandoval for us there in New York. Polo, thanks.

PHILLIP: Let's go to Georgia where another coronavirus showdown is taking place. Parents in one county with one of the state's highest coronavirus rates are protesting to get their kids back into schools.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Natasha Chen is with us live from Atlanta with the details. Some big headlines coming out of Atlanta and different type of protest for some parents there.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Victor and Abby. This protest happened yesterday just as the state recorded its highest number of COVID cases since the pandemic began, breaking a record from just a week ago, more than 4,800 cases yesterday. Now, this district is no different from many of the districts around the Atlanta metro area, and frankly, around the country, trying to make a difficult decision here about what is the safest way to start educating the kids this fall.

This district, Gwinnett County, decided recently instead of giving parents the option of both in classroom and virtual to go all virtual starting August 12th. And that's why you had a couple hundred parents out there yesterday who really wanted a face-to-face type of instruction for their kids. This district back in June had done a survey with the parents, and that survey results showed that the parents, about 43 percent of them wanted to send their kids back into a classroom. The same survey showed, though, that just over half of the parents said they were either uncomfortable or very uncomfortable sending their kids back.

Here is a statement from the Gwinnett County schools communications person, saying that "Like those who are protesting, we had hoped and wanted to start the school year in person. We had planned to serve students in that manner as well as digitally. However, out of concern for our students, families, and employees, we had to make the very difficult decision to start entirely digitally. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation in Gwinnett County, using that information to determine when we can safely pivot to in-person instruction."

And when we checked with them on when that might happen, they said there's no set date right now to pivot. And so it really does depend on that health data. I actually spoke to special ed teacher in Gwinnett County who said that because it's very difficult to teach special ed students digitally she had hoped to return to the classroom. However, she does feel a lot more confident with the way they are doing virtual learning this fall compared to when it suddenly happened in the spring. She said there is a lot more structure involved in the schedule of the classes online, and the way they're taking attendance and giving grades. So she does feel like it is more of a traditional learning experience even though it is virtual. She did say that overwhelmingly as a group, the teachers do feel a sense of relief that this decision was made. Abby?

PHILLIP: Thank you, Natasha.

BLACKWELL: President Trump, he is talking about the progress on COVID- 19, but there's a top White House doctor who says that almost a dozen cities across the country are seeing some troubling numbers as it relates to infections. These are the cities that have been singled out by Dr. Deborah Birx. Baltimore is on the list.

PHILLIP: There are more than 10,000 cases confirmed there, but the health department says it was given no advance warning about being such a focus of concern. With us now is a Baltimore city health commissioner Dr. Letitia Dzirasa. Doctor, thank you for being with us today. You guys are on the list, according to Dr. Birx. What are you seeing on the ground? Are you seeing a sign that you guys could be on the verge of an alarming rise in cases that could lead to an increase in the outbreak?

DR. LETITIA DZIRASA, BALTIMORE HEALTH COMMISSIONER: Good morning. Thank you. Yes, on the ground we have seen an increase in our number of cases. When we look at the week of July 12th and then about a week later on July 19th, we did see some increase in that number of cases. But we weren't aware that we were on this list created by Dr. Birx.

BLACKWELL: So, let me ask you, do you know what is causing this increase? Is it the return of young people to potentially less socially distant events, or going into restaurants?

DZIRASA: Yes, in general, I think that when we lightened up restrictions, people wanted to go back to the normal way of life. We have specifically in the city seen some cases linked to restaurants and bars. And so we took the aggressive action this week to actually restrict indoor dining at restaurants and bars. We additionally implemented a mandatory facemask order effective yesterday evening.

BLACKWELL: You called that aggressive action. Is that aggressive enough? There was a facemask order issued by the governor back in April. There's now one in Baltimore specifically. But will that do enough to, I guess, mitigate the cases that Dr. Birx is seeing?

[10:10:07]

DZIRASA: I think we'll have to continue to watch the data as we always do and see the difference that it makes. The difference between our order and the governor's order is that it really is mandated not for just specific locations but essentially any time you're outdoors, any time you're in a public place, and you could come within six feet of someone.

PHILLIP: In Baltimore, schools are supposed to open in September with virtual learning. Do you see, given the trends that you're seeing, the possibility of in-person learning for students at any point this year?

DZIRASA: I think we'll certainly have to pay close attention to the positivity rate. But what is interesting about Baltimore, and this is similar in other major cities, is that we have different positivity rates depending on the zip code and area of the city. So it's important for our school district and every school district to work very closely with their local health officials to understand what the trends and the data are in their particular city so they can make the decisions that are right for their students, teachers, and parents.

BLACKWELL: We just put the numbers up on the screen here, 10,000 confirmed cases in Baltimore city alone. Did the city move to phase two too soon?

DZIRASA: So, we actually stayed in phase one a lot longer than the rest of the state, and we tried to really think wisely and think carefully before transitioning into phase two. I think hindsight is always 2020. We wanted to make sure, though, that we were doing things safely. And so we presented very safe guidelines on how businesses can enter into phase two. It's our job to continue to monitor the data and, if necessary, bring back and roll back restrictions so that we can keep the public safe.

PHILLIP: You know, Doctor, we spent a lot of time talking about bars and restaurants, definitely a big area of concern, but interestingly this week, Ohio's Governor Mike DeWine said in his state, he's seeing a lot of transmission in people's homes. People are having house parties. They're hanging out with each other without masks on. In Florida, similar situation, a lot of household transmission of this virus. What are you seeing in Baltimore? Are you seeing those same trends? And what is the message to the public about how to conduct yourselves even when you are not in a, quote-unquote, public place?

DZIRASA: Sure, sure. So, we certainly are seeing large gatherings, but we had direct linkages to bars and restaurants which is what made us focus on those particular businesses. But I think the message to the public is that coronavirus is still very much present, and we have to make every effort to avoid the large gathering, to socially distance while we're out, and to always have our mask on just in case we can't socially distance.

PHILLIP: Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

DZIRASA: Absolutely.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Doctor.

Still to come, the debate over virtual learning -- we had a bit of the conversation with Dr. Dzirasa -- versus in-person instruction. Schools reopening, a lot of uncertainty. We'll talk to an Arizona school superintendent about how they are preparing to reopen.

PHILLIP: Plus, saying good-bye to a civil rights icon. Congressman John Lewis returns to Selma, Alabama, for one final visit and one final crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

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(SINGING)

CROWD: We shall overcome. We shall overcome some day.

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[10:17:53]

BLACKWELL: Today is the first of six days of events to celebrate the life of the late Congressman John Lewis. Memorial services will be held in his home state of Alabama.

PHILLIP: CNN's Martin Savidge joins us from outside the Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma where one of the services will be held. Martin, good morning.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Abby. As you point out -- good morning, Victor, I should say. This church here was so significant in the history of the Voting Rights Act and those monumental marches to Montgomery. And so, of course, Congressman Lewis will be here later today for a service and for people to pay their respects.

But currently he is in Troy, Alabama. And many people may not know that before he was an icon of the Civil Rights movement, before he was, of course, a representative for the state of Georgia, he is a son of Alabama. He was born on the outskirts of Troy to sharecropper parents, and very quickly growing up in the rural south came to know the injustice of segregation, which is why he fought against both of those all his life.

So, in essence, he's going home one last time today. And there is still a lot of family members that live in Troy, and so that community and his family want to embrace him, want to celebrate his life. So there's a service about to begin at the top of the hour, and there will of course be hymns and there will be readings and there will be family members who will be speaking.

The problem with all of these events that are planned over the next couple days is that there will be far more people who want to attend than can under the conditions of this pandemic. So, for instance, at the arena at Troy University, only about 800 people are going to be allowed to get in even though it is a really large facility. That's for safety reasons because of coronavirus. And everywhere the family is encouraging people to wear masks and social distance. So at the event here tonight that will be held at Selma at this church, they're again going to ask that people limit who can show up. So the family is pointing out that everywhere, all these events are

going to be streamed live. People can watch them online, but of course you can watch them on CNN. So he comes to Selma this afternoon, another service, another public viewing, and then tomorrow the remarkable day where he will make one last trip over the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the way to Montgomery, reliving a trip he has done so many times in his life. Abby and Victor?

[10:20:08]

BLACKWELL: Yes. And has taken so many members of Congress back to Selma to really help them understand that moment back in 1965. Martin Savidge for us there outside Brown Chapel. Thanks so much.

With us now to talk about the late congressman is civil rights -- it says activist, I should say icon, Ms. Xernona Clayton. She was a long- time friend of the congressman, also the founder and CEO of the Trumpet Awards and so many other things here at Turner for so long as well. Ms. Clayton, good morning to you. First, you met John Lewis more than 50 years ago, back in 1963. Tell me about the man you met then.

XERNONA CLAYTON, FOUNDER AND CEO, TRUMPET AWARDS: Well, first thing I can say is that the John Miles Lewis, John Miles is his son, but the John Lewis I met many, many years ago is the same John Lewis I know when I last saw him last week. He never changed. He was committed to bringing equity and justice in this country. And he was willing to lose his life, if necessary, to do it. He was relentless in fighting the dragons of prejudice. And I found him to be such a consistently wonderful person that I just enjoyed being around him. And I saw him almost every day for all those years.

PHILLIP: We are on the verge of six days of memorials and remembrances of him. In black culture we call it a homegoing, and it's a celebration of life in many ways. I wonder when you think about John Lewis and you think about the memories of him that bring a smile to your face, what is that?

CLAYTON: Well, right away when you're describing that he's home in Troy, I chuckle inside because he used to tell me with such joy how he used to preach to the chickens. And I have a picture of him just sitting there gathering those chickens on the back of their house and he's trying to preach to them. And I kind of wish I were there right now to see if he's doing that. Well, we know he's not.

But John Lewis had such a varied background and wonderful life. So there's so many facets to him, but there's one thing that was good about John is he was constant. He loved everybody every day. It did not matter who they were. And he truly practiced what he preached. He preached love and he practiced it.

BLACKWELL: As evidenced by so many cities in these next few days that want to honor him in Troy, in Selma, in Atlanta, in Washington as well, there is a connection that you have more personally to how he met his late wife. Tell me about that.

CLAYTON: Well, Lillian was my friend from Los Angeles, and I saw her every day. And she then joined me in all the marches and everything we were doing fighting the dragons of prejudice. And I looked at her and I looked at John, and I said, you know, they would be a good match. Well, Lillian was a well-traveled individual. She studied in Europe and had a great love and a penchant for art and literature. And I figured she could be conversant with John. She didn't have to talk about civil rights all the time, she had such a command of the language. Somehow I thought she would bring him a diversion to what he was accustom.

So I invited them to dinner, but she saw John all the time because as we moved around we were with John all the time. But I invited the two of them over for Christmas Eve dinner to see if I could make this match. And it didn't work at first. She enjoyed John, but she didn't see him as a mate for the future. And I talked him up and talked him up. I said he's such a nice person. He's better than some of these knuckleheads who are making approaches to you, because Lilian was very approachable. And I said I think I like John best of all.

And then I said, I better find out if he's got somebody. I said, John, do you have a woman in your life that you're especially attached to? He said, well, not really. I said, John, I need a better answer than that because I have some plans in mind.

[10:25:09]

Well, we kind of laughed it off. But we went to the hospital for a checkup. And I said, Lilian, what's going on? You're the Florence Nightingale, jam some flowers, and that will let him know you're interested in him. We got there to the hospital. There was a woman in there, and she was adjusting the pillows and his cover. And Lillian said, oh, gee, he's got somebody. When we left, she said, see, that woman looks like she's very close to him. I said, don't worry about competition. We can always fight off the competition. And John's worth waiting for and planning for. He may end up in Washington. Well, I didn't know at the time that he really did, plus I had the White House in mind. But I said, look, he's going places. And that was the beginning.

BLACKWELL: Ms. Clayton, let me interrupt for just a second to tell people what they're seeing on the other side of their screen. We just lost that shot. But that was the arrival of the late congressman there at the Trojan Arena. This is just moments ago, as he is brought in there with the honors befitting the late congressman, brought in by members of the military. And this will be a celebration, the boy from Troy, where we're expecting to hear from several of his siblings. His sister Ethel Mae Tyner, Freddie Lewis, Henry Grant Lewis, Rosa Mae Tyner as well, expected to speak at this event. Live pictures now.

This is the first of several, as we discussed, and hopefully we'll clear up this stream of tributes to the late congressman. We are expecting that we're going to start to see the family as well. Our thanks to Ms. Clayton for being with us, and my apologies for having to interrupt. But as we see that members of the family -- and she's still with us, good. She's still with us. And members of the family are coming in, you were talking about how he met his wife. And I lived in his district when I first came here for four years. And I said this last week after we first got the news of his death is that he was a figure that you just always expected would be here. He would always be around, irrespective of age, he was just that much 17 terms a part of the Atlanta community.

CLAYTON: Yes. But you know, he enjoyed being around people. And after he and Lillian got married -- and by the way, they were married for 44 years. So that marriage was not all bad, I want you to know. But she didn't like politics. But it was his life, and she joined him as his partner and served so well, so effectively as his mate for many, many years.

BLACKWELL: Yes. I saw him write in the beginning of 2013, right after she died at the very end of December in 2012 at an event. And obviously it was a somber time after being with someone so long, but he was just as committed, just as powerful in speech and recommitting people to the work that had to be done even in his moment of grief. Ms. Xernona Clayton, thank you so much for being with us this morning and sharing some memories of your close friend.

CLAYTON: Thank you. I'll always value that friendship.

PHILLIP: Thank you so much.

Stay with CNN. We're going to have live coverage of these events throughout the day. At the moment, the casket of Congressman John Lewis being brought in to the memorial service. His family will spend some time with him today, and we will be right back.

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[10:33:41]

PHILLIP: This week the CDC released new guidelines on how to reopen schools safely, but this fall is nation's top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says it's not a good idea to force all teachers to come back and teach in person. This comes as over 100 of the country's largest school districts are set to reopen with either full, virtual learning, or a hybrid of in-person and virtual classes.

Joining me now to talk about all of this is Kristi Wilson. She is the president of the American Association of School Administrators and the superintendent of the Buckeye Elementary School District in the state of Arizona, one of the places we've been keeping our eye on over the last several weeks. Thanks for being with us today. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced that he had a plan to reopen schools in some in- person formats on August 17th. The Arizona Department of Education hasn't really released any specifics about what that will look like. What is your biggest concern with reopening?

KRISTI WILSON, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS: Well, thank you so much for, and happy Saturday. Yes, I think what is at stake right now is our individual community infection rate. And educators rely on medical experts to set these metrics in order to safely reopen schools before we open. And in Arizona, we are being asked to do this ourselves now.

[10:35:00]

And even just this week, as you mentioned, we're told we don't have to abide by these. To me, that's not keeping in line with our duty to keep students and staff safe. We appreciate the well-meaning politicians' flexibility, and we all agree there's no question we want to be back in person. And in-person learning is very important, but we have to do that in a safe manner. And we just aren't willing to take that risk without the defined metrics first.

PHILLIP: Which is a fair point considering all the uncertainty about what the risk actually is. We don't know very much about how the virus spreads among children, and there are some mixed messages coming from the administration about this. But take a listen to what the White House Coronavirus Task Force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said yesterday about this issue.

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DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: We know that children under 18 are less sick, but there are some that suffer terrible consequences if they have underlying conditions. What I can't tell you for sure, despite the South Korea study, is whether children under 10 in the United States don't spread the virus the same as children over 10. I think that is still an open question that needs to be studied in the United States. We certainly know from other studies that children under 10 do get infected. It's just unclear how rapidly they spread the virus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: So lots of question marks there. What could be the plan? What would be the plan if a student gets sick, if a teacher tests positive for coronavirus? Does the entire school quarantine? Does a class quarantine? Are there answers to those questions?

WILSON: Yes, I think there's a couple things. One is we just don't know. There's still so many things unknown about this. And one thing I would say is for longtime public-school administrators, folks, we've been tasked with being what I would call efficiency experts. And whether that be packing as many students as you in classrooms or as many student as you can in buses, the CDC guidance hasn't changed. Social distancing is still going to be required. And what's more concerning to me is this becomes a mathematical issue for all of us across many specters of education, whether you're in a rural setting, whether you're in -- doesn't matter where you are. We just do not have enough stuff staff and we do not have enough spacing in our public schools to meet the CDC suggestions of social distancing.

So your point is well taken. It's going to become logistically nearly impossible if parents show up in my district alone and want to be -- have that choice of in-person learning. For the longest time under the umbrella of efficiency we've been tasked in Arizona alone some of the highest student-to-staff classroom ratios. So it's going to be nearly impossible to meet that demand.

PHILLIP: Yes. In Arizona and really all across the country, these schools, especially public schools, are full. So Kristi Wilson, thank you very much for joining us. We'll be watching what's going on in your state.

WILSON: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: A judge in Michigan says that juvenile detention is the best place right now for a teen who didn't do her online schoolwork. We're going to speak with the girl's attorneys next.

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[10:42:30]

BLACKWELL: A judge in Michigan has refused to release a 15-year-old jailed for not doing her online schoolwork. According to Pro Publica, the girl, known as Grace, has been at this juvenile facility since May, and not doing her homework was a violation of her probation after an assault charge for a fight with her mother. During a hearing this week, the judge said that the teenager was a danger to her mother and that staying in the treatment facility was best.

With us now are the teenager's attorneys, Jonathan Biernat and Saima Khalil. We should mention that Saima Khalil is running for Macomb County prosecutor there in Michigan. Thank you both for being with us. And Saima, let me start with you. She was sent to Children's Village. This was mid-May for violating the probation. The prosecutor, according to Pro Publica, says that it was the girl's mother who reported the noncompliance to a caseworker, but now the mother wants her back home. Why the change of decision here?

SAIMA KHALIL, MACOMB COUNTY PROSECUTOR CANDIDATE: It is not uncommon in these types of situations for parents that have limited resources to reach out for assistance. So, when the mother is reaching out to the probation officer, she's reaching out for help. Her child suffers from mental health issues. Mom has a history of doing the best that she can to get assistance, so this was just another instance of mom saying, hey, can you help me out? There's no point at which mom is saying, yes, please take my child from me, throw her in handcuffs, detain her and place her and take her away from me.

BLACKWELL: So, Jonathan, Judge Brennan here, the Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Mary Ellen Brennan, she said that she told Grace that she would follow the letter of the order, the probation order, and that she was required to stay out of trouble and do the homework. For people who are listening here says this was the consequence of not doing that, you would tell those people what?

JONATHAN BIERNAT, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR "GRACE": Well, she was actually in touch with her teacher, working on completing all her online assignments. The issue was that the probation officer was not in touch with the teacher and she filed the violation prior to speaking to the teacher. We tried to get the teacher to testify on Monday. The judge wouldn't allow her to do that. She was there at the building. She wasn't allowed in.

[10:45:01] And the teacher was doing her best during COVID to provide services to Grace. And Grace was doing her best to get that work done. So it was really an issue of the school is closed. The teachers, the administration, the students are all having issues completing their work. Nobody was immune to this issue. As you well know, everybody has been scrambling to figure out what to do with schoolwork. And we're not even sure if we're going to go back in the fall. So the issue that she didn't do her work was just, I think, a red herring. And the judge should have found she did not violate her probation and should have left her in the home.

BLACKWELL: From what I read the teacher says that it wasn't as if she was any further behind than any other student. And now she says that she has been given a packet and not really helped while at Children's Village to get the work done, the reason that she's been put there in the first place.

Saima, to you, the protesters across Michigan and those on social media, those in Detroit as well, believe that race is a factor here. Is that what you believe?

KHALIL: Statistically speaking when we look at the number of people that are in detention, in custody, in jail, what have you, it's disproportionately minorities that are in custody. I'm not going to say that race played a role in the judge's decision. I think that the judge acted in haste. The petition to violate her on the probation, it's literally that simple. It says that the child didn't do her schoolwork and used social media. The public can draw the conclusion it wants to from this.

BLACKWELL: From what I'm reading is that this is five stages of a program. She's in the second stage. And if she's not allowed to come out, even considering some of the governor's orders to take into consideration because of COVID, she could be there for another three- and-a-half months. Our interview time was truncated because of the breaking news with John Lewis arriving there in Troy, Alabama, so unfortunately, I have to wrap it here. But Jonathan Biernat, Saima Khalil, thank you both for your time.

BIERNAT: Thank you, sir.

KHALIL: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: OK. Abby?

PHILLIP: And the first hurricane of the Atlantic season is here. Hurricane Hanna is now a category one storm. It is headed for the Texas coast and expected to make landfall later today.

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PAUL: In this week's "Food as Fuel," CNN's Lisa Drayer tells us all about non-dairy ice cream.

[10:50:05] LISA DRAYER, CNN HEALTH CONTRIBUTOR: If you love ice cream but can't have dairy, good news. You have plenty of options these days. Frozen desserts made from soy, almonds, cashew, and coconut milk have gone mainstream and can taste as delicious as the real thing. If you're watching your weight or concerned about heart health, you can find options that fit within your daily calorie and fat budgets. For instance, this soy milk dessert has only 120 calories and zero grams of saturated fat per serving.

But not all non-dairy treats are created equal, and they may not be any healthier than the traditional version. Take coconut-milk based desserts. Generally speaking, they're higher in saturated fat, which raises bad cholesterol. So pay attention to labels. Look for those with less than 200 calories, 16 grams of sugar, and three grams of saturated fat per serving. And keep an eye on portion sizes. They're typically only a half cup, or about the size of a lightbulb.

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BLACKWELL: The first Atlantic hurricane of the season could land in Texas today. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking the path of hurricane Hanna. Allison?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it is now a hurricane. And again, we're already starting to see some of the impacts from this. Take a look at this video coming out of Texas. This you're looking at is the White Cap Beach. What you're going to see is the storm surge coming in. And the unfortunate part is it's now passed over the sand dunes and now crossing over on to the highway that is right there. And even though that's happening just here, this is around the Corpus Christi area, you're also seeing that elsewhere as the storm surge continues to push that water inland.

Now overall for the storm, hurricane Hanna still looking at winds now have increased just at the top of the hour big news, we are now at 80 miles per hour. So those winds have jumped up about an additional five miles per hour from where they were just the last hour. Forward movement is starting to slow at about seven miles per hour. But look at those wind gusts, 100 miles per hour. So you are definitely going to have some areas dealing with some power outages today. We have got the hurricane warnings and tropical storm warnings in place for a lot of these areas for that very reason, dealing with the gusty winds. But rain is also going to be a concern. Those outer bands starting to push in. And it's going to continue to get heavier as we go throughout the day, and that landfall becomes much more imminent.

Widespread, you're looking at about three to five inches of rain in most places, but there will be a few spots that could pick up eight, nine, even 10 inches of rain before this system finally moves out. And we showed you that video earlier of the storm surge, again, around Corpus Christi and Rock Port, three to five feet of storm surge is expected. But the surrounding areas, Victor and Abby, likely about one, two, maybe three feet of storm surge.

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BLACKWELL: All right, everybody in that area be careful. Allison Chinchar, thank you so much.

PHILLIP: And thank you for spending your morning with us. Be sure to watch CNN for continuing coverage of Congressman John Lewis' memorial service.

CNN Newsroom continues after the break with Fredricka Whitfield. She's up next.

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