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Fauci: U.S. Has Suffered "As Much or Worse Than Anyone"; Trump Falsely Claims Virus "Going Away" in Push to Reopen Schools; NYC to Set Up "Quarantine Checkpoints" for Out-of-State Drivers; Former Mask Skeptic Issues Warning After Month-Long COVID Battle. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired August 05, 2020 - 14:00   ET

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

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Hi there. I'm Brianna Keilar. Thank you so much for joining me.

Moments ago, the nation's leading infectious disease authority urged the nation to unite in controlling the spread of coronavirus. And this comes as the U.S. reported nearly 1,400 deaths in a single day. It's the 10th time in two weeks that the U.S. has surpassed a daily death toll of more than a thousand people.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is saying that he's confident states can work together to reduce the outbreaks without a nationwide lockdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE: Every country has suffered. We, the United States, have suffered as worst or, you know, as much or worse than anyone. I mean, when you look at the number of infections and the number of deaths, it really is quite concerning.

As long as you have any member of society, any demographic group who's not seriously trying to get to the end game of suppressing this, it will continue to smolder and smolder and smolder. And that will be the reason why in a non-unified way, we've plateaued at an unacceptable level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: In this conversation that Dr. Fauci had with Dr. Gupta, he said that wearing a mask should not be a political issue.

I want to bring in internal medicine and viral specialist Dr. Jorge Rodriguez to talk about this. OK, first, let's kind of go through -- I thought, if we could touch upon this, just sort of in what would be normally the perfunctory small talk that one might have at the top of something like this. Dr. Gupta was talking to Dr. Fauci about how things have been going. And we learned a little more about death threats that Dr. Fauci has gotten and that his grown children have been harassed. What did you think about that?

DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, INTERNAL MEDICINE AND VIRAL SPECIALIST: I think it's sad, and it's unfortunate, but it's the heated political atmosphere that's going on. I haven't gotten death threats but I have been told by -- I've got an e-mail saying that blood is in my hands because I have not advocated hydroxychloroquine. So that is, unfortunately, the politicization of this pandemic that is not only potentially harmful because there are a lot of people out there that may take that next crazy step and hopefully not do any harm. But I think that's part of the greater problem, Brianna.

KEILAR: And so, OK, these -- that aside, let's talk about some of the broad things that they discuss when it came to public health. And one of the big things has to do with kids because you heard Dr. Fauci there saying that -- I mean, essentially -- and we knew this but it's always interesting to hear him emphasize something that we have little idea of really what happens how coronavirus affects children that actually even as he spelled out some of the new things doctors are learning about how coronavirus effects adults, there's very little when it comes to children.

RODRIGUEZ: That's correct. Which is why in my opinion, it's a little premature to start opening schools at this time until we know more. A, we don't know if this is something that's going to affect children three months from now or three years from now. B, we don't know if children are going to be a very strong vector, in other words, a cause of spread of the disease. So until that is known, it just makes sense to me that we should pull back, you know, and put the brakes on a little bit before we expose not just children but teenagers to this, and indeed, the greater public.

So we don't know and it's something that we need to accept that this is a new virus to humans and a lot, if not, most of the stuff we just don't know.

KEILAR: He also was talking about -- he was likening how as a community we deal with a public health crisis like this. He said, it's like everyone is in a boat rowing together and you need to be rowing in unison. He was essentially saying that we're only as good as our weakest link. I mean, we see this right when folks refuse to wear masks, how they increase the susceptibility of catching the coronavirus for people who even themselves are wearing masks. But what did you think about him saying that and how he stressed that the atmosphere we're in right now isn't really conducive to an effective public health approach here.

RODRIGUEZ: Well, I think that that's a theme that he was alluding to and sort of dancing around a little bit because he said it himself. I don't want to say something that becomes a sound bite but you know what, I will.

[14:05:07]

I think that the majority of the problem is the fact that we have not had clear leadership that actually motivates people to row together. I really believe that if we had an FDR doing a fireside chat or Ronald Reagan doing a television state of the union and told all Americans, listen, it doesn't matter where you're in the bayous of Louisiana, the skyscrapers of New York, or the beautiful valleys of Yosemite, we are here together and what we need to do is fight this as one. Man, if you do that and you motivate people, I think that goes a long way, you know. So we need a team captain to make everybody realize that it doesn't matter where you are, we have to do the same thing.

And by the same token, that person should unite all the governors and assist financially so the stakes do the same thing. That's just a theme that kept on recurring that we do not have one big plan.

KEILAR: No, there is not one big plan. And I want to switch topics and ask you about a new case report that is in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and it suggests that a skin rash might be associated with blood clotting in sicker coronavirus patients. I mean, look, to have an external marker would be fantastic but explain to us what this correlation might be.

RODRIGUEZ: I think it's becoming clearer and clearer that this virus creates what is called a vasculitis. Itis meaning an inflammation, vascu meaning of the blood vessels. So whether it is of large blood vessels, right, so the blood vessels like this as it gets swollen, it gets smaller and the blood doesn't pass so it clots. But we have blood vessels also on our skin, and as those get swollen, they will look like a rash. So basically it is one extreme of the same disease.

So, if we start seeing the beginnings of, the outward manifestations of a vasculitis or a rash, that could be a harbinger of worst things to come. And you're right, that may be, you know, the red flag that a doctor needs to say, whoa, this make it serious, maybe we need to follow this patient more closely. Maybe we need to put them on anticoagulants. So again, we are learning as we go, but a rash could be symptoms of something that might be a little bit more ominous to come.

KEILAR: All right, Dr. Rodriguez, it's great to see you. Thank you for joining us.

RODRIGUEZ: Thank you, Brianna. Stay safe.

KEILAR: President Trump making his case again today for why he thinks that school should be open with kids in the classroom, physically in the classroom. But he falsely says that it's because kids are almost immune.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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. So few, they've got stronger, hard to believe that or not you feel about it, but they have much stronger immune systems than we do somehow for this and they do it -- they don't have a problem. They just don't have a problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: Well, they do have a problem. Children do get infected and they infect others. This is according to the surgeon general, one of the president's own health experts. And we also know from a recent study that kids under five have a higher viral load in their noses between 10 and a hundred times more than older children or adults. And that means that they have more virus to spread. That's a big concern.

Travis Johnson is a high school teacher in Omaha, Nebraska. Travis, thank you so much for being with us. We really appreciate it.

TRAVIS JOHNSON, HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER: You're welcome. Thank you.

KEILAR: Look, you're not only a teacher, you're a single father with three children of your own. The president says that children are almost immune while experts are saying the opposite. What is your reaction to that?

JOHNSON: My reaction is anxiety. And I don't appreciate, you know, statements being made by leadership where there's not scientific data that's backing that up. And I think it encourages plans like the one that we're implementing right now. We're about to open up not on an entire basis but on a limited basis. And I think it gives -- when the president says those kind of things, I think it gives people a false sense of security about schools opening and that's not the case.

KEILAR: OK. And so look, you are -- you're back at school ready ahead of kids coming, is that right?

JOHNSON: Yes. Our staff were required to show up at the school. Starting yesterday and Tuesday, we are going to start getting students back.

KEILAR: OK, and do you feel safe?

JOHNSON: No, I don't feel safe. The general climate at our school is one of anxiety. Because our building is doing the best that they can with what they're given, but no one really feels like we have the safety measures that we would need to do this, especially with a rise in cases like we've been seeing.

[14:10:15]

KEILAR: Now -- so take us through what your classroom is like. Are there windows? Can you open windows? Can you do anything outside? What are the preparations of precautions that are happening?

JOHNSON: Well, the preparation precautions that we're going through, we have sanitizing wipes, we have hand sanitizer, we have gloves, we're requiring masks. And that's fine for the classroom and we're trying to distance because we've gone to a system where half of the kids show up on one day and half of the kids show up on the other. But that's still leading to class sizes around 16 and sometimes smaller classes and it's very difficult to get that social distance that's required.

And then you get around to a time like lunch, and the plan right now is that 200 kids are going to be in a cafeteria not wearing masks, eating lunch each day. So it's kind of like we take these precautions in a classroom trying to maintain a certain level of safety, but then you get to lunch and safety is out the window. So, I don't really -- I don't think that there's enough being done to protect not only our students but the teachers and then our students' families because I really worry for those families if those students were to contract something at school and then bring it home to families like that.

KEILAR: And how are you feeling about your own kids possibly going back to school?

JOHNSON: I am nervous. Really apprehensive about that. I honestly thought that we would -- our leadership would have a plan set in place to start remotely. And we received a lot of professional development training at the end of the spring and over the summer to prepare us to teach on a remote basis. And we received all of that training and now we're opening up again. Even though it's on a limited basis, we're still opening up and we could be teaching remotely. But we're -- our leadership is not making that decision.

KEILAR: Travis, look, I can -- your anxiety is palpable and it is shared by so many parents and teachers. And we just really appreciate you joining us from Omaha to talk about what you and other parents and students and teachers are going through. Thank you so much.

JOHNSON: You're welcome. Thank you.

KEILAR: I'm going to be speaking live with a former mask skeptic who is now warning people after her experience with COVID.

Plus, I'll speak with a mother whose child was inside those crowded Georgia schools for their first day and scenes that went viral.

And Joe Biden cancels his convention speech in Milwaukee as the president floats the idea of doing his from the White House.

This is CNN special live coverage.

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KEILAR: Starting today, New York City is setting up quarantine checkpoints at major points of entry into the city in an effort to identify drivers coming in from states that are on the quarantine list there. We have more now from CNN's Brynn Gingras.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, these checkpoints will be a major bridge and tunnel crossings into New York City and they'll have officers who will remind drivers coming from states on that quarantine list that they must quarantine for 14 days. That's mandatory and they could face penalties if they don't. Thirty-four states are on that tri-state quarantine list as of today. New York City officials say one in five new COVID-19 cases can be linked to travelers coming from out-of-state. Still, the city's positivity rate is low at two percent. Brianna?

KEILAR: All right. Brynn, thank you.

Scientists, doctors, and research studies all say the same thing. Masks work, they reduce the transmission of COVID-19 by as much as 50 percent. And if 95 percent of Americans wore them, 33,000 lives, American lives could be saved by October a study shows. Despite this, many Americans remain skeptical and that included my next guest until she herself caught the coronavirus.

Ta'Marsh Pope fell ill in June, she experienced the full range of common COVID symptoms, headache, fever, difficulty breathing. At one point, her pain was so acute and her breathing is so constricted that she was in and out of the hospital not just once but four separate times. Now she's making it her mission to get the word out on masks, participating in a PSA with Ohio's "Masks On" campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TA'MARSH POPE, COVID SURVIVOR: I want you all to know to just please put your mask on for you. Put your mask on for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And Ta'Marsh is joining me now. Ta'Marsh, thank you for being with us.

POPE: Thank you. I appreciate this.

KEILAR: Well, we appreciate your insight here. Can you just tell us about your experience fighting coronavirus and COVID?

POPE: Yes. My experience when I -- when it first started, it was the week of Father's Day in June. It started on a Wednesday where I was having a really bad headache. And it continued onto Thursday with a bad headache. I had -- was taking Advil to see if the headache will go away and it didn't.

[14:20:03]

When I tried to take another different medicine on Thursday which was Excedrin thinking that it would just go away because Excedrin usually just clears everything for me. And that didn't work. And into Friday, I'm in the middle of the night, I would say -- well, I would say (INAUDIBLE) probably about maybe about three or 4:00 in the morning, I was having sweats, colds, my whole entire body was aching, and I could barely move. I could barely move.

At that time on Saturday, I had -- when my boyfriend had took me to one of the COVID sites here in Cincinnati, Ohio in Bond Hill and I had did a test. And during that test, they had asked was anyone (INAUDIBLE) and I said yes I was. So that time they took my temperature. And when they took my temperature, they did, you know, the swabbing, and they had -- when my temperature was like 104. At that time, they had told him that he needs to either get me to the emergency room at the hospital or he needs to get me to an urgent care. I chose the urgent care. The reason why I chose urgent care is because I was afraid. I knew I was in a lot of pain, from the headache to the body ache. But I just did not want to go to the hospital because of all the death that I was hearing.

KEILAR: And Ta'Marsh, there's a lot of people who have that fear. In the end, you tell us how many days were you battling symptoms.

POPE: It started on that Wednesday before Father's Day and it stopped in somewhere in July. I did my testing on -- my third testing on July 15th and I will say the pain probably stopped a little bit before the 15th. I was -- I couldn't walk. For some reason I couldn't walk so I was in my bed for three days. And I lost my voice also. I'm just now getting it back to where kind of where it should be. I still have a cough.

But like I said, I was afraid to go to the hospital. Because -- I'm sorry.

KEILAR: No, I was going to say, and that makes sense but in the end, you are forced to try to go, right. You got to the point where you tried to go multiple times. Tell us about that. And also tell us about your message now as a former mask skeptic. Tell us about your message for people.

POPE: OK. So, yes, I was afraid to go. And -- I kind of (INAUDIBLE). I'm sorry about that.

KEILAR: No, that's OK.

POPE: I'm sorry. I was (INAUDIBLE).

KEILAR: No. You were saying that you were afraid to go to the hospital but in the end, we know you had to go. And also what your messages for mask skeptics as you were one.

POPE: My -- I was scared and like I said, my thing to everybody is you don't know what may go on when you get into the hospital. I didn't know, I had to keep going. I had vomiting, I had real sharp pains in my back, so it was unbearable. To where I had to go, there was no -- people were telling, Ta'Marsh, go to the hospital, go to the hospital. I was afraid, I was scared. I didn't want to get put on a ventilator and that was my worst fear.

But as I kept going back and forth to the hospital with different things going on because my oxygen level wasn't under 90, they said they couldn't keep me. So pretty much I had to take care of myself at home which is was a very scary feeling. And I thank God for people on Facebook. I thank God for my family that prayed and helped me through this.

You know, it was one morning I woke up, and I was having problems breathing. And I instantly called, her name is Carol Wade (ph), I instantly called her and I asked her, I said, I am in so much pain, can you please pray for me. At that moment, she prayed and she said, Ta'Marsh, you need to tell God that I will live, I will not die. I prayed to God every night and said, Lord, please, just let me get some rest and wake me up in the morning.

[14:25:03]

I wanted to be able to see my son. I wanted to be able to see my son graduate one day or get married one day. This virus is not a joke. This is real. It happens to me and it can happen to you.

So the best thing for everyone to do is put their mask on. You're not only saving you, you're saving us.

KEILAR: Ta'Marsh, thank you so much. And we know you have a 14-year- old son, it's good to see you recovering. And you will be there for all those events. So, thank you so much.

POPE: Thank you.

KEILAR: Yes. The prayer works. Ta'Marsh Pope, thank you so much for being with us.

POPE: Thank you.

KEILAR: Now, the president and his supporters continue to make false claims about mail and voting including the claim that people in Nevada can vote days after the election. Not true. Will fact check that.

Plus, students in one Georgia county head back to school amid scenes like this one. I'll speak to one parent about her concerns and why even though she wants to keep her child home she can't.

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