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Trump Falsely Claims Children are "Almost Immune" to Coronavirus; Trump "Still Doesn't Get" Pandemic Severity; Florida Governor Suggests Allowing Visitors with Antibodies At Nursing Homes; Makeshift Facilities Open to Take Pressure Off Texas Hospitals; Trump Campaign Sues Nevada Over Mail-In Ballot Expansion. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired August 05, 2020 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:33]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Very good Wednesday morning to you. I'm Jim Sciutto.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Poppy Harlow.

We do begin this morning with a new warning from the former Ebola czar. The warning is dire. He says that you are more likely to die from coronavirus in the United States than almost anywhere else in the world. That is alarming, but the proof is in the numbers. Ten times in the last two weeks the nation has seen more than 1,000 COVID deaths per day. 1400 dead in just the last 24 hours.

And new reporting this morning sources familiar with the president's Oval Office meeting with the Coronavirus Task Force say that despite all of this, all of these deaths and all of these numbers, the president still does not grasp the severity of this pandemic.

We'll have more on that reporting in a moment.

SCIUTTO: And no one in the world following the U.S. example. Also this morning, the president continuing the strong push to open schools despite many schools already seeing setbacks when they attempt to reopen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My view is the schools should open. This thing is going away. It will go away like things go away and my view is that schools should be open. If you look at children, children are almost -- and I would almost say definitely but almost immune from this disease.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: It's false. The science doesn't back him up, yet he repeats that falsehood. Children not immune to this virus. The state of Kentucky reporting 18 children under the age of 5 contracted the virus and a second grader in Georgia also recently diagnosed with coronavirus. We're going to speak with a doctor about the president's false claims,

what the science, what the medicine tells us. Let's begin with CNN's Dianne Gallagher, though, in Georgia.

Dianne, some schools there, they've already started to reopen. Of course parts of the country reopening have already begun. What are they finding? What kind of setbacks are they running into?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And much like across the rest of the country, in Georgia, we're seeing different ways that the school districts are trying to reopen. In nearby Cherokee County, they actually opened in-person teaching, in-person learning on Monday, the first day of school.

And look, a lot of the kids, you can see they're very excited. Sixes Elementary posting pictures from classrooms, from the school, on the first day of school Monday. And you can see most of the kids are wearing masks. Not a whole lot of social distancing in some of these photos, but look, a student who was there on the first day of school, a second grader, tested positive for COVID-19, the district announced on Wednesday.

Now, we don't know if that second grade classroom is in any of those photos that the school posted on its Facebook page. But that entire second grade classroom, 20 students and the teacher, now have to quarantine for 14 days. The teacher will be teaching virtually from their home.

Again, that student testing positive being announced in the school just two days after school started. That's been the concern of a lot of parents, a lot of the districts around the state. What if we go back to school in person and someone tests positive and people just have to go home?

In Marietta, Jim and Poppy, just since they started preplanning, they're doing virtual teaching but five of their employees have tested positive just since July 27th.

SCIUTTO: Dianne Gallagher, thanks very much.

Joining us now to discuss this and other facts, Dr. Anish Mahajan, chief medical officer at Harbor UCLA Medical School.

Doctor, tell us what we've learned about children and COVID-19? Because it is true they are far much -- less likely to die from this. But are we discovering that they're more vulnerable than we believed at the beginning as we see an increase in cases?

DR. ANISH MAHAJAN, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, HARBOR UCLA MEDICAL SCHOOL: It's a great question, Jim. What we are learning and we are really just in a learning phase is that children are carrying the virus. And as you say, they don't necessarily get sick at the rates that adults do. That said, of course, we all have heard the reports and seen the patients, a small number of pediatric patients do get a significant inflammatory disease that can be life threatening. But we also have seen in studies that have just come out from the

George Washington Medical Center in Washington, D.C., is that when they look at a -- you know, 1,000 children who have been tested for COVID, they're finding disproportionate rates of children of color particularly black and Latino children, and this is just a huge concern for reopening schools.

[09:05:11]

HARLOW: I just wonder your reaction to hearing the president of the United States say on television across the country that children are essentially immune to this. I mean, for any parent that believes that, the health implications potentially for their children.

MAHAJAN: I would go as far as to say it's an irresponsible statement. Children are not immune to coronavirus. We know that children can contract the virus, they can carry it. They can transmit it and they can also get sick from it. So it is a misstatement at best and something that, you know, should be frankly ignored.

We need leadership that is honest about the risks that we face, the dishonest about what we don't know about the virus, so that we can take the necessary precautions.

SCIUTTO: We had CNN Ron Klain, he was the Ebola czar under President Obama in charge with the U.S. response to the Ebola outbreak. He spoke to our colleague Chris Cuomo last night. He made a remarkable statement about your ability to get and die from COVID in the U.S. in relation to other countries. Have a listen, I want to get your reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON KLAIN, FORMER EBOLA CZAR UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA: You are more likely as an American to die from COVID than you are in almost any other country. You know, there are more cases of new cases of COVID today in Paris, Texas, than in Paris, France.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Doctor, is that a product just of the vast number of cases in this country, that clearly the outbreak is not under control? But is it also how we are able to treat this? In other words, if you get it, do you have a higher chance of dying from it here?

MAHAJAN: Well, I think the issue really is that we are the most well- resourced nation in the world. We are less than 5 percent of the population of the world, yet we have over a quarter of the known COVID-19 cases in the world. And there is nothing special about how Americans experience COVID as compared to other countries, other citizens of other countries. We're all human beings and when you have a high case count, you're going to have a significant mortality rate.

That said, we as a nation have unfortunately failed in creating a national strategy to control the virus, to contain it, to test for it, and we've had really frankly mixed messages about how we protect ourselves, wearing masks and socially isolating. The end result is going to be what we are seeing. High case counts and high death rates in our country that was avoidable.

HARLOW: If we could talk about the disparity among children for a moment, I'm sure you saw that it just came out in the last 24 hours from the Journal of Pediatric that there is this big national testing site in Washington, D.C. and they had more than a thousand children tested and the results were startling. 30 percent of black children tested were positive for COVID. 46 percent of Hispanic children versus only 7.3 percent of white children.

When you see those numbers, it just -- it shows us what we have seen in adults as well, but among children how much more susceptible minority children are to this, whether it's that they're -- you know, exposure situations but what are the consequences of that?

MAHAJAN: It's a good question, Poppy. I think what we are seeing in that particular study as you say is not surprising when we look at the statistics in adults.

HARLOW: Yes.

MAHAJAN: People who are black and Latins or Latinx are in fact getting the virus like at greater rates and this really shines a light on something that we've all known is that COVID-19 It's exacerbating the existing systemic inequalities in our society. People who are of color and people in poverty track together. And it is in fact people of color who disproportionately are represented as essential workers.

They are the people working in the food processing plants. They're the people working in the grocery stores disproportionately and that results in the greater risk and they bring that risk home to they're children and then those children can bring it to the schools.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Agricultural communities as well.

Dr. Anish Mahajan, thanks very much.

MAHAJAN: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: We do have this breaking news this morning. New reporting in to CNN from sources inside the administration, that President Trump's Oval Office meeting with the White House Coronavirus Task Force, how it went.

[09:10:04]

Let's go live to the White House. CNN's chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta. so what happened inside that room?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim and Poppy, I talked to a source familiar with the president's meeting in the Oval Office yesterday with his Coronavirus Task Force. This was his first in depth, comprehensive meeting with members of that task force since April. And this source familiar with meeting said that the president is still not demonstrating that he has a firm grasp on what is happening with this pandemic in the U.S.

In the words of the source familiar with the meeting, quote, "He still doesn't get it. He does not get it." One thing we should also point out about what happened inside this meeting according to this source, officials on the task force continue to have trouble relaying to the president just how troubling this pandemic is right now in this country. As some members of the task force tried to stress to the president the severity of the outbreak in the U.S., according to this source familiar with the meeting the president was trying to change the subject throughout this meeting. He would start talking about something else according to this source familiar with the meeting.

The other thing we should point out is that the president's mood according to this source familiar with the meeting was less jovial as this person was describing it compared to past task force meetings with the president. This source said, quote, "His mood lately is not a happy mood." And one other difference this source noted is how the president and Vice President Pence respond to the information that they're receiving from members of the task force according to this source familiar with the meeting. Vice President Mike Pence, quote, "gets it."

But the source added that Pence appears to be, quote, "conflicted" when he is having his interactions with the task force. He is sending indications to members of the task force, according to this source familiar with the meeting, that he understands their concerns, understands the severity of the pandemic, but he's tempering his comments, according to this source familiar with the meeting, to make sure that he remains in lockstep with the president.

One other thing we should point out the source said that there was a little tension between President Trump and Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the Coronavirus Task Force. Obviously we know in recent days the president has been highly critical of Dr. Birx, but according to this source familiar with the meeting, there was little of that tension left over between the two. You know, when this all played out in the Oval Office yesterday.

And so, Jim and Poppy, it does not get more serious than when you have a source familiar with this very high level meeting, rare meeting inside the Oval Office with the president, and this source saying that the president, quote, "still does not get it," quote, "He does not get it," according to this source -- Jim and Poppy.

SCIUTTO: Either he doesn't get it or doesn't want to get it, right? I mean, no desire to grasp the extend of it.

ACOSTA: Exactly. That's right.

HARLOW: Thank you --

ACOSTA: And, you know, that is consistent with what we've heard for months now, Jim and Poppy, and that is, you know, the president appears to be in denial when it comes to the severity of this pandemic. And, you know, I think that was demonstrated in his interview with "FOX & Friends." SCIUTTO: Yes.

ACOSTA: He continues to downplay the severity of this pandemic in this country -- Jim and Poppy.

HARLOW: Thanks for the important reporting, Jim, very much.

ACOSTA: You bet.

HARLOW: Negotiators resume talks soon, hoping to reach a deal on a stimulus package by the end of this week, let's hope. But every day that goes by without a deal, millions of unemployed Americans continue to suffer. We'll have a live update ahead on where things stand.

SCIUTTO: So get this. The Trump campaign suing to stop Nevada from expanding mail-in voting but the president encouraging the very same mail-in voting in Florida. One's got a Democratic governor, one a Republican one. Guess which one?

And what caused the massive explosion that rocked Beirut? We're going to take you there live for just a view of the devastation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:00]

HARLOW: Welcome back. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is floating the possibility of reopening nursing homes to visitors who have tested positive for coronavirus antibodies. Let's go to Rosa Flores, she joins us in Miami with more. Obviously, you've got the most vulnerable population in nursing homes, the elderly, and we don't know everything about antibodies and how much immunity it produces. Are health experts on board with this?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Poppy, the CDC does not recommend the practice, and it's important to know that Governor Ron DeSantis has talked about various scenarios of allowing visitors back into nursing homes, but nothing has materialized until now. And it's also important to note that when it comes to his response to COVID-19, that is the one thing that he touts about, just at about every press conference that he has.

The fact that he stopped visitations early, and that, that decision he made saved lives. Here's the reality. We know that 43 percent of the now more than 7,400 deaths in this state are linked to nursing homes. If you look at the number of deaths overall per day, those are trending upward in the state of Florida. When you look at the number of daily cases in the state, those are trending downward.

But the state of Florida is on the brink of hitting 500,000 cases total, and the hospital system in this state continues to be tested. This morning, there are 52 ICU hospitals across the state that are at capacity. This as we learned that five individuals who attended an event that was also attended by Governor Ron DeSantis tested positive for COVID-19. Poppy, now, we asked the governor's office about this and they said the governor has no indication that the governor had any contact with these individuals who tested positive for COVID-19, and also that the governor is tested regular -- regularly for the coronavirus and that he has no symptoms at this time. Jim.

SCIUTTO: Rosa Flores, he's getting tested. Thanks very much. CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Dallas. Coronavirus patients in south Texas now being treated at makeshift medical facilities to help take pressure off of local hospitals.

[09:20:00]

Ed, tell us how overwhelmed the hospital system is there because that's a real measure, of course, not just how far the outbreak has spread, but how many people are getting sick.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, we've spent a lot of our reporting time over the last few weeks talking about that hot spot in south Texas, the Rio Grande Valley and what a crush of patients the hospital systems are experiencing down there, and because of that, the McAllen Convention Center has been turned into this makeshift hospital with room for about 250 patients.

The governor of Texas toured that facility yesterday, and also announced that a second similar facility will be opened up in the neighboring town of Harlingen, Texas, as well to continue alleviating the number of cases and patients that are really putting a lot of pressure on the hospitals throughout that Rio Grande Valley. This comes as the state of Texas reported another high day of coronavirus cases.

More than 9,100 cases being reported yesterday. But overall, the trend has started to look a little bit more encouraging over the last seven days. This is the first day we've been over 9,000 cases in -- I think more than a week or so. So overall, things were starting to trend downward, but it has plateaued at a very high level, Jim and Poppy.

HARLOW: Yes, it certainly has, at least, we are seeing some of those positive indicators. Ed, thank you very much for the reporting.

SCIUTTO: Negotiators will be back at the table today to discuss a new hope for stimulus package. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says they are making some progress.

HARLOW: This is after top Democrats and senior members of the administration met for two hours yesterday. Let's go to our congressional reporter Lauren Fox, she's on Capitol Hill. What is some progress mean because I think the last headline I saw was Nancy Pelosi saying my deal is, you know, 3.4 trillion.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, there are still significant sticking points here. And you know, one thing to keep in mind is that yes, they came out of this meeting yesterday, they said that they had progressed. One big sign of what is going on behind the scenes is they are actually trading proposals at this point. That is significant. They also agreed that everybody needs a deal. Here's what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): We have all agreed that we need to have an agreement. And we will have an agreement. But we're not going to do it at the expense of America's working families. We are making some progress. We are understanding each other better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: And of course, the deadline that they set for themselves is the end of this week. That's just a couple of days when you consider that the Senate usually leaves town on Thursday afternoons. But there are significant sticking points. Yesterday, what we're learning is that the White House offered a few concessions including extending that federal moratorium on evictions through mid-December.

We also know that Republicans offered to give Democrats a $400 a week extension of those federal unemployment benefits. Now, Democrats have argued they want that number to stay at $600, but that shows a little bit of progress. And look, these negotiations despite the fact that everyone has been meeting for the last week and a half really have gone nowhere.

So yesterday was a pretty significant step that they're moving somewhere. Still a lot of work to do though.

SCIUTTO: Yes, why the focus on the Post Office? There are genuine concerns about deliberately undermining the Post Office to keep absentee ballots from being counted. Lauren Fox, we know you're going to stay on top of it, thanks very much. The Trump campaign is suing Nevada over an expansion of mail-in voting there, but for Florida, which is run by a friend of the president, Republican governor encouraging it. What's the difference, politics?

We're going to ask the governor of Kentucky next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:00]

SCIUTTO: All right. So try to keep up with this. Overnight, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit against the state of Nevada after the state approved a plan to send absentee ballots to all active voters for the upcoming election.

This as the president takes issue with mail-in voting except in the home state -- his own home state of Florida. Why? Because in his words, Florida has quote, "a great Republican governor". Joining me now to discuss this and more Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. Governor, thanks for taking the time this morning.

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): Thanks for having me.

SCIUTTO: So governor, president as you know approves a mail-in float voting in Florida where his Republican governor is suing to block it in Nevada where there's a Democratic governor. Is this about seeing political advantages carrying the election in your view.

BESHEAR: Well, I don't know the intentions of the president. But what I can tell you is that here in Kentucky, we had the second largest turnout ever in our primary election. We did it through no excuse, absentee ballots, the ability to vote by mail. We did it through having early voting. And our agreement, how we came to that was a bipartisan agreement between a Republican secretary of state and myself, Democratic governor.

These things shouldn't be political.

SCIUTTO: Yes --

BESHEAR: Voting is one of the bedrocks if not the bedrock of our democracy, and we need to make it easier, not harder to vote, especially during a worldwide health pandemic. So I think we showed that through --

SCIUTTO: Yes --

BESHEAR: No excuse absentee ballots we can do it safely and we can have a great turnout without fraud.

SCIUTTO: The -- as you mentioned, Republican Secretary of State in Kentucky, he called the primary elections a nationally recognized success. Did you see evidence of widespread fraud?

BESHEAR: Oh, we did not see any evidence of widespread fraud, and it's because we did it right. We did it through a secure method.