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Dr. Birx Warns 9 Cities, Parts of California about Increasing Positivity Rates; Dr. Fauci: Rising Positivity Rates a "Predictor of Trouble Ahead"; L.A. Mayor Says Residents Who Hold Parties in Their Houses Could Have Power, Water Shut Off; Dr. Jorge Rodriguez Discusses Fauci's Warnings on Virus Spread, Need for Rapid Testing; 250,000 Expected at South Dakota Motorcycle Rally Amid Pandemic; Dr. Benjamin Aaker Discusses Concerns over Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Amid Pandemic; Update on Coronavirus Responses from Around the Country. Aired 11- 11:30a ET
Aired August 06, 2020 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[11:00:09]
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. Thanks so much for joining us this hour.
"A predictor of trouble ahead" -- that's how Dr. Anthony Fauci is describing a new warning coming from the White House Coronavirus Task Force coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx.
Birx now singling out nine cities and California's entire Central Valley as a real problem, seeing danger in key indicators there. You see them all on the map.
You can also see these are cities are just about every region of the country, rural and urban, showing that nothing nowhere is immune to this virus, from this virus.
Dr. Birx warning this new phase of the virus is more extensive and far more widespread than the spring.
In a private phone call with state and local leaders, she pressed them to seriously step up efforts to stop the spread, which Dr. Fauci echoed this morning, saying, without real action, this uptick will quickly turn into a surge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If it's referred to as percent positive. It's a clear indication that you are getting an uptick in cases, which inevitably, as we've seen in the southern states, leads to surges, and then you get hospitalizations and then you get deaths.
What Dr. Birx is saying is now is the time to accelerate the fundamental preventive measures. She was warning the states and the cities to be careful because this
is a predictor of trouble ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Yes. This warning as the country marks a second day in a row with nearly 1,400 people dying from the virus. And the total number of deaths in this country is now creeping closer and closer to a staggering 200,000 people.
Let's focus in on California as Dr. Birx and Fauci are. In L.A. County, officials are saying young people are driving the spike in cases there. And in response, Los Angeles' Health Department is banning parties, banning gatherings, and threatening even more really unprecedented and drastic steps if people don't abide and people don't listen.
Let's bring in CNN's Stephanie Elam, joining me now from Los Angeles.
Stephanie, what exactly are officials saying and what exactly is happening there?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've seen it just in this last week, Kate, that people are feeling like they were not going to be touched by this virus, and that's just not the case.
We saw two parties that happened indoors. People also close together, looking like most of them not wearing basks.
And because of this, we're hearing from the mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, saying he's going to act. Take a listen to what he plans on doing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI (D), LOS ANGELES, CA: These large house parties have essentially become night clubs. I'm authorizing the city to shut off Los Angeles Department of Water and Power service in the egregious cases in which houses, businesses and other venues are hosting unpermitted large gatherings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELAM: That's going to begin tomorrow night, just to really drill down on how they want young people to stop gathering in these groups and spreading the virus.
You were talking about the Central Valley, Kate, just to put in perspective why Dr. Birx is so concerned about that region, Governor Gavin Newsom has talked about in the state the positivity rate has been at 7 percent or moving just below that in the last couple of days or so.
In the Central Valley, which is our agricultural hub, where so much food for the country is grown, the positivity rate in that region is 18 percent. I talked to the state and they already have people there on the
ground, these strike teams, support teams that get in there and get the messaging out to let people know what they need to do to stop spreading the virus. And giving them the resources to quarantine and isolate as necessary as they are busy catching up on all of the contact tracing that needs to be done there.
But very clear that young people are driving this virus here. And this is what they need young people to stop doing, getting together -- Kate?
BOLDUAN: I mean, cutting off water and power is one way of saying we're not joking here anymore if they were at all.
Stephanie, thank you.
Joining me right now is Dr. Jorge Rodriguez. He specializes in internal medicine.
Doctor, thank you for being here.
Dr. Fauci, on CNN this morning, he stressed yet again just the fact it's simple but it -- it drives everything, that we really are all in this together. Let me play this for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: Unless everybody pulls together and gets the level way down of a baseline, we're going to continue to see these kinds of increases that Dr. Birx was talking about in several of those cities. That's what I mean by smoldering. You've got to get that baseline down.
And everybody on this group, everybody on the team of American citizens need to pull together because we're all in this together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:05:06]
BOLDUAN: With that in mind, what do you think of this strategy that we're now seeing in L.A., that the city is saying we're going to cut off power and water if people are violating social distancing rules. Do you think that's what's needed?
DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, INTERNAL MEDICINE SPECIALIST: I think something like that is needed to be quite honest. For a while I've been saying all of these recommendations need to have teeth behind them.
Come on, this is not a joke. Even though someone thinks that they may be not even immune but are not going to get a serious form of the disease, A, that's not true because we know that young people are getting very sick and also getting long-term complications.
But also, like Dr. Fauci said, we're in a slow sort of simmer that at any time could boil over. So once we start going down the slippery slope, it's very hard to put on the brakes. And, yes, I do believe something needs to be done. This is a public health issue. And with other public health infectious diseases like tuberculosis or syphilis, we actually do confine people or fine them.
This is no joke. And everyone, like Dr. Fauci said yesterday, needs to be rowing in the same direction, no ifs, ands or buts.
BOLDUAN: Yes. That's -- you could say that on the local level, on the state level, and you would hope on the national level, which that is not what we're seeing, Doctor.
RODRIGUEZ: No.
BOLDUAN: And Doctors Fauci and Birx, they are also focusing in on the test positivity rate that we've started -- we've all had to come to learn about as they call the existing and new areas of concern, California being one of them.
RODRIGUEZ: Right.
BOLDUAN: Why is -- just for folks to understand it, why is the test positivity rate such an important indicator?
RODRIGUEZ: Well, because you could test a lot of people and you could say, well, you know what, more people are becoming positive because we're testing more people.
The positivity rate is actually a percentage of the people that are being tested. So if your positivity rate is 2 percent of the people that are being tested that are actually positive, that's low.
But when the positivity rate starts going up, that means that even if you're testing more people, a larger percentage of those people are becoming positive, which means that it is increasing in the population.
And there's something we haven't talked about in a while, and it's maybe nerdism. There's something called R-naught. This virus infects three people from one person. Then those infect three and three and three. And then it just accelerates and balloons.
So we have to catch it very early when the positivity rate is increasing. Meaning that we already on that slippery slope. So that's key to try to prevent spread.
BOLDUAN: It's a small uptick in the positive rate, is the indicator that they are talking about. It's not going, from as you mentioned, 2 percent to 18 percent.
When it just starts to uptick, that is the red flag. And you're going to see that before you see the fallout of the more cases, more hospitalizations and more deaths. That's the thing about the spread of the virus.
RODRIGUEZ: That's correct.
BOLDUAN: This virus and really many viruses like it.
Let me play for you something that Dr. Fauci said about testing. And he was asked about people still having to wait five to seven days to get results. He was asked that by "Politico." Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: It is very difficult. It's been this way from the very beginning of the issue of defending things that have to do with testing when you're given an example like you just gave me about waiting five to seven days.
You know, I would be non-credible and I wouldn't be true to myself if I say oh, that's OK. It's not OK, period. And we need to do better. And I wish we had done better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: He wishes we had done better. But why didn't they do better, and what can be done about it now?
RODRIGUEZ: Well, the first thing is that, yes, if tests are taking five to seven days to come back -- ideally, if you take a test, you should know within a few minutes whether you're positive or not so that you can start isolating.
If you take seven days to get a response back, that's kind of worthless unless you take a test and isolate.
The reason why we're here, there are a myriad of reasons and a myriad of people that we can point to, starting off with the fact that, at the federal level, the task force, who was assigned to this preparedness, had been either shifted around or dismantled.
Secondly, we didn't take tests, supposedly from the World Health Organization, that had it ready. And -- and it really is incredible that in this country we cannot get this going immediately.
This is where the federal government should be putting much or most of its resources into getting us tested and having tests back within 30 minutes, an hour. That's where we could make a big difference.
BOLDUAN: If you haven't had a test, think about it, you go in for a strep test, you go it immediately. You go in for a flu test, you get it immediately. Think about -- I mean, that's the level of expectation that we have when it comes to getting test results.
[11:10:14]
RODRIGUEZ: Right. Yes.
BOLDUAN: So we can act very quickly.
Doctor, thank you for coming in. Appreciate.
RODRIGUEZ: My pleasure. BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, a small city in South Dakota about to host
the biggest event since the pandemic started, the biggest public event in the United States since the pandemic started. Tens of thousands, potentially hundreds of thousands of people expected. One of the state's top doctors joins me next.
Also, as Congress and the White House are really fighting over, discussing, negotiating, whatever you want to can a call it or not negotiating over the next stimulus package, millions are desperately needed for relief now. The Democratic House majority leader is going to join us. And we'll talk about how close they are to any deal.
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[11:15:12]
BOLDUAN: South Dakota is preparing for what is likely to be the biggest public gathering anywhere in the U.S. since the pandemic hit. Tens of thousands of bikers arriving in South Dakota for the huge annual gathering in Sturgis, the 80th City of Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
And 250,000 people, a quarter of a million people could be coming together for this week's-long event of festivities for motorcycle enthusiasts when many states are limiting all public gatherings to something like 25 or even 10 people or less, depending on the states that you're in. This is something else altogether.
The city's mayor says he can't stop people from coming.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK CARSTENSEN, STURGIS MAYOR: We cannot stop people from coming. South Dakota has been a free state through this whole process and we've had tremendous amount of visitors already.
All that being said, being prepared is what we put out as a priority for everybody, both for the community and for our visitors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: So what is going to happen?
Joining me right now, Dr. Benjamin Aaker. He's the president of the South Dakota State Medical Association.
Dr. Aker, thank you.
DR. BENJAMIN AAKER, PRESIDENT, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Thank you.
BOLDUAN: What is your level of concern with this?
AAKER: You know, anything where there's a lot of people coming together into one event is a risk. And the State Medical Association and myself are concerned that there's a risk of transmission that people can have if they don't take the proper precautions.
BOLDUAN: And even with South Dakota's case numbers being low, when you have 250,000 people potentially coming together in one place, do you have to assume that the virus will be attending this event as well, especially when you're talking about people coming from around the country?
AAKER: As a medical professional, I do. I mean, part of our training is to think about the worst things that could happen. And we do.
And we worry about if the virus does happen to come to South Dakota. And it's already here but is it going to get worse with an event such as this? And if we don't take those proper precautions, it will.
BOLDUAN: You heard the mayor say, we can't stop people from coming in. Is it your understanding that -- isn't there something that -- do you accept that, we can't stop from coming but you can prepare? Do you think that you wish that something had been done previously, prior to this event arriving that would have stopped this from happening, cancelling it out?
AAKER: Well, I think we've done very well in the state of South Dakota in limiting the spread. As you said, we are one of the lowest states in the nation in terms of the people that have been infected. But we also have a smaller population.
We're a rural state to a large degree. And we're able to self-isolate and we're able to keep that six-feet distance. The question is, is whether people are going to keep that six-feet distance if we recommend that to them.
And that's really the problem. That's the risk, is people don't listen to what the State Medical Association is telling them. They don't listen to what the CDC is telling them. And they come into that close contact. They don't wash hands. They don't wear masks, like we recommend. That is the real concern.
And we worry that we're not getting the word out enough so I'm so glad that you asked me to come on the show today to be able to talk about this.
BOLDUAN: Of course.
Now the major said that masks are encouraged but not required for event. I remember seeing that you, representing the State Medical Association, sent letters to every school district in the state, asking them to require masks for everyone in school. The governor disagreed with you.
But what is your reaction to the fact that masks are not required at this rally?
AAKER: Yes, so, that's a different thing. We're talking about students in schools, the young people who you -- you know, the parents and educators who need to be setting those guidelines for them and making those rules for them. And it's a different sort of an atmosphere than when you are an adult and able to make those decisions for yourself.
Now, we have to take a step back, as the State Medical Association, and to say that, you know, we're the physicians of the state. We are the physicians to the state of South Dakota, much like the physician is to the person who comes in to see him or her.
And we make recommendations on what they should do. If their blood pressure is high, we night tell them to start a new medication or to exercise more. And that's a recommendation and we're advisers to them.
And that's the same way that we are right now. We are advising the people who are coming here or thinking of coming to the rally to think about it. Do they have those underly conditions that you hear so much about on the news, cardiovascular disease or lung disease, that makes it more likely to get more sick when you get the coronavirus?
And maybe those people should talk to their doctor. They definitely should talk to their doctor. And maybe they should consider not attending.
(CROSSTALK)
AAKER: But those who do decide to attend --
BOLDUAN: Go ahead.
AAKER: -- they should be wearing those masks and hand-washing.
# Look, the pandemic has been going on for months and people are desperate for activity or for some normalcy, whatever you want to call it.
[11:20:06]
Do you think there's a way to pull off the event of this scale safely, or is it, from your standpoint, is it just not possible with the virus and where the country is right now with it?
AAKER: I think, if we can convince the people who are going to attend that they need to follow the proper guidelines -- and, again those are the hand-washing, the masking and social distancing, and you can find those on the CDC Web site and on our own at the State Medical Association. If everyone were to follow that, then I think that we could have a safe event.
BOLDUAN: Doctor, thank you for coming in. We'll definitely be checking in how things are looking, you know, a few weeks from now I guess.
Appreciate it.
AAKER: Absolutely. Thank you so much for allowing me to be on your show.
BOLDUAN: Thank you. Schools are starting to reopen and we're already seeing more cases --
more COVID cases among students and staff popping up. So what does this mean for the school year? That is next.
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[11:25:57]
BOLDUAN: Nearly seven million students will be starting their school year online in the United States. The majority of the largest school districts in the country have chosen to stick with at-home learning, with Chicago Public Schools becoming the latest big district to make that call.
Others, like New York City schools and Boston and Dallas schools, have still not announced their final decisions.
For more coronavirus headlines let's check in with our reporters stationed across the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dianne Gallagher, in Atlanta. The first week of in-person classes in Cherokee County, Georgia, isn't even over yet, and already the district says that they have at least four positive cases of COVID-19. More than 60 students have been sent home to quarantine for at least 14 days because of possible exposure.
In Mississippi, the current school district, which has been having in- person classes since July 27th, says that at least six students and one teacher have tested positive. And more than 115 students are now quarantining at home because of possible exposure.
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: I'm Pete Muntean, in Washington. No mask, no travel, no exceptions. That's the edict from more major airlines.
JetBlue and Alaska Airlines say passengers cannot claim health exceptions so they don't have to wear a mask while flying. United Airlines is now banning a mask with vents or openings around the nose or mouth.
Airlines are making these rules without any mandate from federal regulators.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: I'm Andy Scholes, in Milton, Georgia. Major League Baseball sending out a new memo, obtained by CNN, outlining several strict changes to its health and safety protocols.
Among the changes, players and staff are being told to wear face coverings at all times, including in the dugout and clubhouse. The only exception is the players on the field.
Clubs are now required to reduce the size of their traveling parties to only those who are absolutely essential to playing games. And players and staff are now strictly prohibited from gathering in
any public areas without permission from the team's compliance officer.
A repeated or flagrant violation of the new protocols could result in a player being suspended for the remainder of the season.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Christine Romans, in New York. New evidence of a jobs crisis in the pandemic recession.
Another nearly 1.2 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week. The weekly number down slightly from the previous week, but it still brings the total to more than 55 million claims since the start of the pandemic.
And 20 straight weeks of million-plus layoffs or furloughs. In that time, more than a third of the labor market have filed for jobless benefits. Some of the jobs have come back. But there's real worry right now rising cases across the country will lead to a second wave of job loss.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Guys, thanks so much for that.
Coming up still for us, stimulus talks at a standstill in Washington. So where are things headed? Is there a deadline? Are they ever going to get a deal? I'm going to talk to the House majority leader, next.
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