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Ohio Governor Tests Positive Hours before Scheduled to Greet Trump; Infected GOP Congressman says, He Tested Only after Slight Temperature Uptick; New York Sues to Dissolve NRA, Alleges Widespread Fraud. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 06, 2020 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:01]

ERRIN HAINES, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, THE 19TH: And there was a lot of excitement and enthusiasm among a lot of the Democratic voters that I talked to headed into 2020. And I think concerns around voter suppression in the middle of pandemic are why you have Democratic surrogates that I hear from saying that they're to front up the score in November.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: All right. I appreciate that. Errin and Jeff, I ran a little bit over. My apologies to Brianna Keilar. She picks up our coverage right now. Have a good day.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: I'm Brianna Keilar and I want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world.

We begin with breaking news. The governor of Ohio testing positive hours just before he was scheduled to greet President Trump. This was discovered in the rigorous testing system that everyone who comes into contacting with the president has to undergo.

I want to go to CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen to talk about this. What do we know here, Elizabeth?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, what we know is that he was tested, as you said, just like anyone who's going to come in contact with the president or be around the president is tested, and that he was asymptomatic. Apparently, he felt fine but he was positive for COVID-19.

And, Brianna, I think this teaches us a great lesson. Can you imagine if there was testing on a much more wide scale basis similar to what the president gets? Imagine how many more of these cases that we would find. It could be any of us. The problem with this virus is that so many people are asymptomatic and so they are walking around spreading this virus without knowing it.

We just happen to catch the Ohio governor because he was tested because he was going to be with the president, but imagine how many more people are like that out there.

KEILAR: That's right, because he is just another person who has tested positive after doing these White House tests. And at this point in time, even though it does not appear that it is true for his own White House, writ large, the president is calling testing overrated.

COHEN: Right. So this is -- you know, it is interesting that he's calling it overrated but he relies on it really to keep himself uninfected. So it's very odd to me that he thinks something is overrated, but for him, it's a good thing.

So what he's kind of saying is it's important for me, but for the rest of you, forget it. That's not very nice way to approach things. It really doesn't make any sense.

KEILAR: All right. Elizabeth, thank you so much for joining us.

The president is once again significantly minimizing the severity of the pandemic and he's doing it just hours after the nation reported for a second time in a row more than 1,300 deaths from coronavirus in a single day. Let's listen to the president in a radio interview that he gave today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But looking back on this awful plague that's now killed almost 160,000 Americans, there were some missteps. Don't you wish you had done some things differently?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I think that, first of all, the governors run the states. You understand that. That's the way it's set up. I mean, that's the way it's supposed to be. And whether you call it federalist or anything else, the governors run. We've had some great governors and we have some governors that didn't do as well.

But what I did with ventilators, what I did with getting people equipment, because the governors were not stocked, nobody has ever done a better job. We have done a great job and we haven't been rewarded with --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you don't need --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, he admits zero mistakes in the administration's handling of the crisis that despite nearly 160,000 deaths in five months, no national testing strategy, no tracing strategy and the rate of positive tests, hospitalizations and deaths rising and rising.

Instead, he blames governors and he gives false hope about a vaccine and pinpoints a specific date on the calendar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) to be ready around November 3rd. Are you optimistic that that will happen? And will that give you a boost to the election?

TRUMP: On the vaccine? REPORTER: Yes.

TRUMP: I am. I'm optimistic that it will be probably around that date. I believe we'll have the vaccine before the end of the year, certainly, but around that date, yes. I think so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: November 3rd is the presidential election and he gives this false hope because even the most optimistic scientists say that's not going to be the case, right? They say it's going to be late this year or early next year when a vaccine is ready and not widely available for many months after that. And just to be clear, that is the best case scenario. It could possibly, there may not be a vaccine or it could take even more time.

So all of this as two of his task force doctors warn of more trouble from nine cities and California's Central Valley.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: It is referred to as percent positive. It is a clear indication that you are getting an uptick in cases, which inevitably, as we have seen in the southern states, leads to surges and then you get hospitalizations and then you get deaths.

[13:05:07]

What Dr. Birx 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)

KEILAR: Now, for the states that are already undergoing a surge, new case rates are lower but they're still high. Florida is now joining California, reaching a grim milestone, each state reporting more than half a million total infections. So let's take a deeper dive now on the warning that a surge could be coming for nine cities and a region. I want to bring in CNN's Tom Foreman to talk about this.

Tom, just explain further why Dr. Birx is concerned about these areas.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Part of the issue is just the time of year, Brianna. This is a time of year when so many people still want to take some kind of vacation. They still want to see family members, especially now after the fatigue of months of trying to stay apart. You combine with the fact that she has noted this is truly a pandemic that is stretching across the countryside now.

It is not isolated to the cities. The rural areas, the suburban areas, the cities are all linked in this pandemic chain. So if you have spikes in the cities, as we're showing on this map, then you have to worry that those are going to migrate out with people trying to go places and then it's truly going to affect every place out there.

Now, the numbers are looking somewhat better. Look at the maps side by side. If you look at the cases on the left, that map looks pretty good. The number of new cases falling down there, not going as crazy as it has been in the past, maybe that's a measure of more people taking masking seriously, maybe more people taking precautions

So the new cases are down, deaths on the right still up. But, remember, that's a lagging indicator. If we can hold the course moving forward, all indications would be the map on the right in a few weeks might look more like the one on the left. But that's only if they can contain the spikes happening in the cities out there.

And, again, the overall rate, if you look at the overall trend right now, the trend line has been nudging in the right direction, nowhere near as low as it was in April, not yet, but at least it's headed that way. The question is can you contain these spikes that are happening in these cities, not let them spread like wildfire everywhere and keep that trend line headed down?

That's why she is worried about it, Brianna. You have got to make sure that every place it's flared up is tamped down or else the wildfire just runs free again.

KEILAR: All right. Tom, thank you for taking us through that.

And as the president is pushing for schools to reopen, he is falsely claiming that children are almost immune. We get a reminder today of the actual dangers. Just over a week after schools reopened if Corinth, Mississippi, six children and one staff member tested positive for the virus. Those positive tests triggered quarantine orders for more than 100 students.

Today, Dr. Fauci said again that it may not be prudent to send kids back to school in areas with significant viral activity. And while Mississippi cases surge, the state on track to surpass Florida in new cases per capita, Corinth is actually fairing pretty well.

And Lee Childress is the superintendent for the Corinth, Mississippi School District, and he's joining us now. Thank you so much for coming on to talk us through this. We really appreciate it.

LEE CHILDRESS, SUPERINTENDENT, CORINTH, MS SCHOOL DISTRICT: Thank you for having me today.

KEILAR: All right. So you are there on the ground, as so many teachers and administrators are, and just give us a sense of how quickly you were able to do the contact tracing to identify what was, what, 116 students who now must quarantine for two weeks.

CHILDRESS: We have been able to quickly accomplish the contact tracing because of the procedures that the district had in place. Our nurses, teachers and administrators have been able to take the seating charts and information from activities that we have had and conduct that contact tracing in a very expeditious manner. KEILAR: Okay. And so let's take a look, because, as you know, Florida has been one of the hardest hit states. But when we look at a quick comparison here, we can see that in cases where you have per 100,000 residents, Mississippi and Florida are running neck and neck there. And then when you look at deaths, which are per 100,000 residents, Mississippi is actually dealing with greater numbers than Florida.

Look, every county is not the same. You're aware of this. Right now, your county is doing better, significantly, than the rest of the state. But what is your plan if that changes?

CHILDRESS: Absolutely. We do recognize that we are doing better than the state but it is a serious statewide issue. We know that we proposed a variety of different models that we presented to our community and if we see an immediate surge or spike here within Corinth and all of Corinth County, then we could look at reverting to one or two of the proposed models that we have.

[13:10:04]

KEILAR: And so would that be more of reverting to a hybrid and/or completely virtual? What models would you revert to?

CHILDRESS: That would be correct. We would have a hybrid model that we could go to some type of A/B/A/B schedule where student with 50 percent of the students would in attendance every day or we could go to a virtual model, because we have given parents an opportunity to select between a traditional or a virtual model, and we have close to 20 percent that have selected the virtual model.

KEILAR: And what is the -- what really triggers that? You said if you see a spike. So is it the trajectory of student cases? Is it the trajectory of overall cases in your county? What is the threshold? And is there a number of cases that you have in mind?

CHILDRESS: I think that we would have to take both into consideration. I think that we would have to look at the metrics in terms of the number of cases that we have by individual school and also by the district. And we could look at either making a school level decision to close or a district level decision to close.

But at the same time, I think it's very important to look at the community and also to have consultation with the local healthcare officials, because if your hospitals are at capacity, those are things that have to take -- you have to take into consideration.

KEILAR: And if you can tell us, Lee, how do you navigate this when you consider it's not just the health of the student, it is also the health of their families as you work through this?

CHILDRESS: Absolutely. The health of families and the health of staff members is extremely important. And that's why it's very important for a school district to be mindful of what its community numbers are and that's why we look at our community numbers each day and we look at what is going on because we knew that we would see the summer surge when we started school on July 27th. And I expect that we perhaps will see another summer surge after the Labor Day holiday.

So you have to keep that in mind when making decisions and looking at what you're going to do in terms of schools.

KEILAR: All right. Lee Childress, superintendent, joining us from Corinth, Mississippi, we appreciate you telling us really your struggle. You're walking the walk as so many -- as we said, teachers and administrators are trying to figure it out and we thank you for pulling back the curtain for us.

CHILDRESS: Thank you for having us.

KEILAR: So, one of the biggest success stories right now is actually the NBA's bubble. Could the U.S. replicate the measures?

Plus, yet another congressman tests positive. And hear the symptom that inspired him to get tested.

And actress Alyssa Milano said she feels like she's dying after she tests positive for antibodies but negative, repeatedly, for coronavirus.

This is CNN's special live coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:15:00]

KEILAR: Maybe it really is a small world after all when it comes to combating coronavirus at least. The bubble confining NBA players at Disney World has found great success. After the first week of games, the league announced that for the third week, zero players tested positive for COVID-19.

Primary Care Physician Internist and Pediatrician Dr. Pritesh Gandhi is joining us now.

So, I mean, this is pretty amazing. The NBA appears to be getting it right. Is there though a way to replicate this on a larger scale, Doctor?

DR. PRITESH GANDHI, PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN, INTERNIST AND PEDIATRICIAN: Brianna, thanks for having me today.

Look, I'm thrilled that the NBA is back. I was a kid that watched the Rockets every day in the '90s. But I'll tell you what. Doc Rivers, the coach of the Clippers, said they're doing three things. They make us wear our masks, they get tested every day, and every day, they have to sign into an app where they talk about their vital signs and their temperature.

Now, if we could replicate this nationally, we would be able to get ahead of this pandemic. Many of us in public health believe that this is what we need to do to reopen schools safely.

KEILAR: Okay. So masks, I mean, people can do that. GANDHI: Sure.

KEILAR: The self screening, right, people can do that. I mean, that is an example of you go to work and you essentially answer a questionnaire, like a short questionnaire about your symptoms or lack of, right?

GANDHI: Yes. I mean, those two things are possible. The third one is the toughest one. Can you get tested every day, right? So when we talk about how to reopen schools safely or how to get back to normal activities this fall, one of the key concepts that many public health experts keep on returning to is can we do rapid testing at scale daily? What's the cost behind that and can we get that out?

And I think the answer is yes, right? We all should be able to wake up in the morning, and as many public health docs have said, spit on a piece of paper and know if you're positive or negative, and then go on with your day.

It seems like that's farfetched. But places like the NBA and others, they're able to achieve that. There's no reason why we can't do that nationally.

KEILAR: In sometime, it would appear. I mean, right now, we are just so far from it, right? There has to be a plan to get the country to that.

I do want to ask you because there's a congressman, Republican Congressman Rodney Davis, who has announced that he has tested positive for coronavirus. But I want you to listen to how he described it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RODNEY DAVIS (R-IL): I take my temp every night and every morning and I had usually a temperature around 97 with the thermometer I use. Yesterday, it was 99 because I had public events planned over the next couple of days, I went ahead and went up to a rapid scan testing facility we have in our district, got tested and, surprisingly, I tested positive.

[13:20:07]

And to be honest with you, if I wouldn't have tested yesterday morning, I came home -- I was home all day yesterday and tested again last night with the thermometer and it was 98 degrees.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Okay. So, what do you think about that? Because a lot of people, when they're testing themselves they're looking for something over 100. We have had people come on talking about the COVID experience, saying they tested, they had 103, 104. He is talking about a slight uptick from his normal 97-degree body temperature to 99 degrees. What can people take away from this, if anything? GANDHI: Sure. I mean, I think there are two key things. First is that he was able to go and get rapidly tested. Now, if I'm in Austin and if I want to go and get same-day test, I can hop into a pharmacy in West Austin and pay $150 cash and get the result. That kind of rapid testing and turnaround time is simply not available or accessible to the overwhelming majority of Americans. And so that's the first thing.

The second thing is that, look, he is right, we don't quite understand why many folks don't exhibit certain symptoms of this virus. There are a subset of people who may be overwhelmingly asymptomatic who perhaps spike a tiny fever, may not even be febrile to begin with and have this virus. I think that's what makes this so complicated.

And that's also why there is this raging debate on how to reopen and whether to reopen safely or not and what that looks like, it's because there is a large percentage of asymptomatic Americans walking around and the only way to get around that is to do rapid testing because these asymptomatic individuals can still transmit the virus.

KEILAR: It's a very good point. Doctor, thank you for being with us, Dr. Pritesh Gandhi, we appreciate it.

GANDHI: Happy to be here.

KEILAR: Friday or bust, the White House sets a deadline for a stimulus agreement but talks are getting even messier.

Plus, nearly 100 infected with coronavirus after one man attended a church service infected.

And Los Angeles cutting off power and water to people who are violating rules, especially rich people having large parties.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:25:00]

KEILAR: We have breaking news out of New York. The state is suing two dissolve the National Rifle Association, the announcement stemming from an 18-month investigation that uncovered widespread fraud.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LETITIA JAMES, NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: Just a few minutes ago, my office filed a lawsuit against the National Rifle Association to dissolve the organization in its entirety for years of self-dealing and illegal conduct that violate New York's charities law and undermine its own mission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Our Crime and Justice Correspondent, Shimon Prokupecz, is with us now.

Shimon, just walk us through this alleged fraud and tell us how the NRA is responding here. SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And this is a pretty big deal, Brianna, when you think about the NRA, which has been around since 1871. The attorney general here, the New York State attorney general, basically calling for it to no longer exist.

She says in her court papers and in press conference here just a short time ago that there's been widespread fraud throughout the organization.

As a none-for-profit, as a charity organization, they have to file documents with the attorney general here in New York State, which she says they have not done properly.

What they have found during their investigation that the leader of the NRA, Wayne LaPierre, used millions and millions of dollars, she said, as a way to line his own pockets. He used it on travel, personal expenses for travel and meals, creating this slush fund at the NRA to line his own pockets.

She also talked about how friends of the leader of the group were given lucrative positions, were given contracts. She went on to say that they didn't properly file documents, tax documents, so there is some concern about IRS violations. She is going to be sending information to the IRS

She also just and described that how, for years, this organization just did not file documents, just continued on fraud, and that is why they started their investigation and they started looking into the group.

The thing and one of the questions is criminal charges. She says, the attorney general, it's not for her to bring criminal charges but it is something that she can ultimately recommend to someone like the Manhattan district attorney.

The NRA, just a short time ago, released a statement and let me go ahead and read that to you. They're calling it a baseless sort of vendetta, a baseless, political attack, premeditated attack on our organization and the Second Amendment.

They say that this is all tied to the 2020 election cycle, that this is a political vendetta.

[13:30:03]

And, of course, they're going to fight this.