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Interview With Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY); Students Start Returning to Schools; Ohio Governor Tests Positive For COVID-19. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired August 06, 2020 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And be sure to check this out, "On the Trail: Inside the 2020 Primaries," which starts streaming today on HBO Max.

Our coverage continues now with Brooke Baldwin.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Hi there. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You are watching CNN. Thank you for being here.

We may not be able to get rid of the coronavirus, but it is up to us to control it, strong words today from Dr. Anthony Fauci, as his colleague on the White House Task Force, Dr. Deborah Birx, warns that nine U.S. cities, along with California's Central Valley, are seeing this uptick in their positivity rate.

Dr. Fauci says those numbers offer a warning about what's to come.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIAID DIRECTOR: It's a clear indication that you are getting an uptick in cases, which, inevitably, as Dr. Birx is saying, is, now is the time to accelerate the fundamental preventive measures that we will talk about, masks, social distancing, avoiding crowds, outdoors greater than indoors, washing hands, et cetera.

Those kind of simple things can actually prevent that uptick from becoming a surge.

So she was warning the states in the cities to be careful, because this is a predictor of trouble ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And for the second straight day, nearly 1,400 Americans have died from this virus.

The CDC is now increasing its projections for total U.S. deaths by the end of this month to 181,000, a jump of nearly 8,000 from a forecast just last week. And while you can see the cases are on the decline across the country, that is in part because testing is also down. Officials telling the Associated Press that Americans are frustrated

by the long lines just to get a test and the even longer wait for the results. And you can count Dr. Fauci as one of them.

(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.

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)

BALDWIN: And breaking this afternoon, for the second time in a matter of weeks, an elected official has tested positive for coronavirus just hours before he was set to meet with the president.

This time, it is the governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine. He was supposed to greet the president when he arrived in Cleveland today, but he tested positive. The governor says he's had no symptoms and is headed back to Columbus to quarantine.

Now, you may recall, late last month, Congressman Louie Gohmert tested positive before he was supposed to travel with the president to Texas. Also worth remembering, the president routinely blasts the need for expensive testing and likes to call testing overrated.

Ryan Nobles is traveling with the president. He is there in Cleveland.

And, Ryan, how did this all play out today?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, you mentioned the fact that the president often downplays testing, but the simple fact is that anyone who comes in close contact with the president of the United States is given a rapid coronavirus test.

And Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio was among those scheduled to meet the president on the tarmac in Cleveland today. He was given one of those tests and it came back positive. So, DeWine went back to Columbus. He's eventually going to quarantine at his home in Cedarville, Ohio.

He's also expected to get another test. And President Trump talked about DeWine testing positive earlier today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Very good friend of mine just tested positive. Do you know that? Our great governor. Governor of Ohio DeWine just tested positive just here.

And we want to wish him the best. He will be fine. I just said I look forward to seeing the governor. They said, sir, he just tested positive.

But he's a great guy. He's done a fantastic job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: Of course, Brooke, Mike DeWine has been one of the most aggressive governors in the country in responding to the coronavirus pandemic. He's thought of as a pragmatic person, somebody that's been guided by the science, and Ohio among those states that really put in strict modifications to social behavior in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

So, DeWine won't be here to greet the president at this Whirlpool factory in Clyde, Ohio, where we are now.

And, Brooke, I should also point out that this event is taking all the necessary precautions. Every one of us had to put on a mask when we came in. Our temperatures were checked. We had to answer a series of questions related to our potential exposure to coronavirus. And they have even set up the chairs here to be socially distant.

The president has arrived here at this Whirlpool factory and is expected to speak here in the next 10 minutes -- Brooke.

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BALDWIN: We will listen in for him, and we will take a bit of that live.

But let me also, Ryan, want to ask you about something else the president said. Let's all listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He's going to do things that nobody ever would ever think even possible, because he's following the radical left agenda, take away your guns, destroy your Second Amendment, no religion, no anything, hurt the Bible, hurt God. He's against God. He's against guns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: "He's against God." The "he" he's referring to is Joe Biden.

And we know Joe Biden is a devout, a practicing Catholic. Why would the president say that?

NOBLES: Well, it's difficult to explain that, Brooke, but we know that this is a pattern with President Trump.

This is the first time he's used this specific attack line on camera, but we have been tracking these tele-rallies that the president has been holding with supporters across the country. And these are via the phone where people can dial in and -- or listen on Facebook. And they're targeted towards specific states across the country designed to try and replicate those big rallies that the president was famous for four years ago. And he's actually said something along these exact lines before,

essentially reaching out to conservative voters, Christian conservatives, who support the president and trying to make them believe that Joe Biden would not be in their best interests.

And this also follows a more subtle line of attack, and also a subtle outreach to these conservative voters that the president has specifically honed in on. Of course, we saw Vice President Mike Pence just this week, in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, suggesting that John Roberts, the Supreme Court justice, has not been good for conservatives.

So this is an area where they believe that they have got a lot of area to grow, and they believe that this is an important part of their base. But Joe Biden, of course, a man of deep faith -- his campaign responded to this very quickly, saying that it was not a very fair attack on the vice president. And it's something that they plan to defend.

BALDWIN: As they should.

Ryan Nobles, thank you.

Most of the nation's biggest school districts are choosing to restart virtually, but the districts that are choosing to allow kids back into the classroom are already seeing problems. In Mississippi, for example, six students and one staff member have tested positive for coronavirus in a district that serves 2,700 students.

More than 100 other students have been sent home to quarantine. And then you have this troubling news out of Georgia, as it's also reopening schools. It's now the fifth state in the country to surpass 200,000 cases of coronavirus. The Cherokee County School System -- that's a bit out of Atlanta -- has now reported at least four cases of COVID-19. And that is just since Monday.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher is live in Atlanta.

And, Dianne, dozens of students have now been forced into quarantine. What are the schools saying to you?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and so we're talking 60-plus students that have now been sent home because they came in contact with those three students at one teacher in Cherokee County who tested positive for COVID-19 since school started back on Monday.

They're at home for 14 days. The district is likely going to see some additional cases just because of what we know about COVID, and having those positive cases in the classrooms on the first day of school.

Now, what they're doing to kind of handle this is, essentially, Cherokee County has said that they're doing contact tracing, having anybody who was in contact with those who've had positive cases go home and quarantine. And they're deep-cleaning classrooms. But it's not just Cherokee County, Brooke. I just got off the phone a few moments ago with the superintendent of Columbia County, Georgia. They also have four positive cases at three different high schools in their districts. And they talked about the fact that these were from first day of school cases, so they didn't catch it at school, but they brought it to school, and that they tried to do these mitigating things to try and do as much as they could, because they knew the risk factor in bringing kids back to school.

In Columbia County, for example, they're using these A/B schedules. So, only some of the students are in school each day to try and limit how many kids are there each day. In Columbia County, at the middle and high schools, they are requiring the students to wear masks in transition periods, in public areas and any time they can't social distance.

That's not the case in Cherokee County, though. In Cherokee County, the district has basically said, until there's a mask mandate at a statewide level, we're not going to have one at school.

And, of course, we have extensively covered the governor's position on mask mandates here in Georgia. And you mentioned, look, we have crossed 200,000 cases here, only the fifth state to do so. We're closing in on 4,000 deaths in Georgia. And, look, Dr. Deborah Birx has said that the Atlanta area is still one of high concern for her because of the rate of infection here when it comes to COVID-19.

And so none of the students who are in classes are forced to be there. This was a choice that their families made to send them back. All of these districts are doing some kind of hybrid teaching, Brooke.

[15:10:03]

But, still, for the kids who are in school, this is concerning. Their classmates are getting COVID. And if they weren't one of the ones contacted to go home, they're not sure what this means for the rest of their school year.

BALDWIN: Massively concerning. And for all the parents across the country wondering, my goodness, will this be a microcosm of what may happen in my kids' school?

GALLAGHER: Yes.

BALDWIN: Dianne, thank you out of Georgia.

And this whole question, is it safe to send my child to school, it's a critical topic right now. The president's own chief of staff, Mark Meadows, put it this way:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: And I think we can all transmit. Anybody who sent their kids to school know that a lot of times the kids come home and you catch whatever you got from your kids who were transferring it back and forth. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Dr. Rob Davidson is an emergency room physician.

And, Dr. Davidson, good to have you back.

And I want to start on what we just heard. Any parent knows, if you your kid gets sick, goes to school, picks something up, chances are you probably will too. But we're not talking about a common cold here. We're talking about a fatal virus.

What would you say to the chief of staff?

DR. ROB DAVIDSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COMMITTEE TO PROTECT MEDICARE: I would say he's absolutely correct.

Unfortunately, we're dealing with a virus for which most of us have no antibodies that we have never seen before and for which, for a certain subset of individuals, this is an extremely deadly virus.

And, remember, this isn't just a virus where you either die or you're just fine. Significant numbers of people have long term sequelae. We're talking months now, but we don't know what happens years down the road. People get blood clots and strokes and heart attacks related to COVID.

This isn't just a cold. And the chief of staff should know that when he's talking that way.

BALDWIN: The president is tripling down on his claim that children are immune. And we know that just not to be true.

The latest CDC data shows that nearly a quarter-of-a-million of kids from birth to age 17 have tested positive. So why is spreading this kind of false information dangerous?

DAVIDSON: I think it's dangerous because it gives everyone a false sense of safety.

Now, it is true that kids have not suffered the consequences as adults have. The deaths in kids have been significantly lower. But they are not immune. And they, in fact, spread the virus. Good studies out of South Korea, kids aged 10 to 19 spread it just as much or greater than adults spread it.

So my daughter's best friend's father has cancer and is getting chemotherapy every other week. I don't know if they will ever let their daughter go back to school until we have a vaccine, nor do I think they should.

And this is a concern that families have to face all across this country.

BALDWIN: But to the bit about going back to school, Dr. Fauci even this morning warned that it may not be a good idea for kids to go back to school in certain areas. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAUCI: There are some areas, like we have seen over the last couple of weeks to months, of very significant viral activity. Under those circumstances, you have got to use common sense.

You look at the CDC guidelines, and you look at the common sense that it may not be prudent to get the children back to school in those areas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Dr. Davidson, since the concentration of COVID cases vary so much around the country, who should be making the decision to send kids back to school? Is it at the federal level, the state or local officials, school superintendents?

DAVIDSON: Well, I certainly think, at the federal level, there is a role.

And their role is to mandate masks, so we can decrease the spread of virus in the communities and in schools. Just like you said, the governor of Georgia is not going to mandate it. Therefore, those school districts aren't going to mandate it. So the president could do that today.

But we also need to get rapid turnaround testing at a higher level, significantly higher level. And the president has said numerous times he thinks it's overrated, even though anyone who comes into contact with him gets tested with rapid turnaround testing.

So, I think those things can be done by the federal government. Beyond that, I do think it comes down to local districts to look at what's going on in their communities, talk with their parents, talk with their staff and figure out what works for them.

But the federal government has to lead on the parts of this that can decrease the transmission of virus.

BALDWIN: Dr. Rob Davidson, thank you so much. Good to see you again.

DAVIDSON: Thanks, Brooke. You too.

BALDWIN: A million more Americans just filed for unemployment. And lawmakers are still very far apart on reaching a deal to help ease the pain for so many of you.

What are they waiting for? Let's talk to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

And a California mayor's fight with COVID gets very personal, after the virus has taken his own mother, and his stepfather is currently on a ventilator. Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia will join me live.

And Michelle Obama making a big personal revelation, saying the coronavirus and racial inequality in the United States has given her -- quote -- "low-grade depression." Hear her words ahead.

You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

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BALDWIN: On Capitol Hill, the Senate will not go on recess, as planned today, as the White House and congressional leadership try to find common ground on a stimulus deal that is, to quote the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, in need of a breakthrough moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I see a light at the end of the tunnel. We just don't know how long the tunnel is. But we have to move quickly, more quickly, because the light at the end of the tunnel may be the freight train of the virus coming at us.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): There are a lot of struggling Americans who could tell Speaker Pelosi exactly how long this tunnel has been.

And that will continue to be endless, unless the Democrats let us provide more relief to the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: With me now, Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

Senator Gillibrand, welcome back.

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): Hi, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Another 1.2 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits just this last week. And so the $600 boost that the federal government was providing ran out last week.

There is zero certainty on when or if that money will be back. And that's a matter of whether someone can pay their rent or buy groceries or diapers or get medication.

[15:20:10]

And I know Speaker Pelosi told CNN today that a short-term extension is not acceptable. Do you agree, or would you accept one?

GILLIBRAND: No, I think it's really important to stay at the table and continue to negotiate for the benefit of the people we represent.

People are struggling.

BALDWIN: But why not agree to something short-term, if I may, I mean, because Americans are struggling and this issue is so imminent?

GILLIBRAND: Because what we have seen from Mitch McConnell, he's had a proposal from the House for two months, commonsense proposals to get money for food stamps, money for rental relief, money for doctors and nurses and health care providers, money for testing and tracing, all the things we desperately need, money for cities and states.

And Mitch McConnell has sat on that bill. So, I think any short-term relief is not actually negotiating good faith. They have no intention of helping the American people.

BALDWIN: Would you be willing to accept no deal, if Republicans insist, let's say, on dropping the rate of the enhanced unemployment benefits below $600?

GILLIBRAND: I think it's better to stay here and keep negotiating and not give up.

I mean, the truth is, $600 is needed. If you don't get that added $600, you won't have enough money to pay your rent, or put food on the table or pay your bills. And so that's the minimum that families need to just stay above water.

So, I don't think we should be nickel-and-diming the American people. I think we should give them the relief they need. We should give it to them now.

And Mitch McConnell has sat on his hands for two months, and it's an outrage. So, nobody should be going home until we have a deal. And we should keep working until we have a deal to help people. People are struggling.

BALDWIN: But what if both sides end up at loggerheads? You heard what Mark Meadows said, that if no deal is reached, that the president will then just issue an executive action.

I mean, do you take that seriously? And can he even do that?

GILLIBRAND: President Trump does not have the authority to issue executive action on these issues.

Again, President Trump makes up the rules as he goes along. He has no clue as to what his abilities are and his -- what he's legally able to do. And so, as a result, he sat on his hands for two months, going golfing and doing whatever he does, but not actually coming to the table to talk to Leader Schumer and Speaker Pelosi, to talk about, what does the American people need right now?

And so we stand ready to provide that relief. We need money for cities and states. All that Mitch McConnell has asked for is liability relief. He's doing the bidding of his corporate donors, who all they want is to make sure they can't be sued, even if they're terrible employers and put their employees at risk.

It's absurd. And so I think Democrats stand ready to make these negotiations happen and to provide the relief that our cities and our states need and the people need.

People are really struggling. I have constituents who are living in their cars. I have constituents who don't have a home because they live with an abuser and they can't go home or they will be killed or they will be harmed. Our homeless shelters are overfilled. Our -- the lines outside of food banks are long.

I mean, the truth is...

BALDWIN: I hear you on all of this, Senator. But, again, I'm going back to -- I can't let go of your first point, that you wouldn't be OK with just a temporary short-term deal.

Like, for all of the reasons you just outlined, just to give some people some temporary relief until a bigger solution is met, why not be willing to do that from the Democrats' side?

GILLIBRAND: Because it won't work.

If you say, OK, one more week, that -- they're not even going to get the check by the time the negotiation has ended. Like, we have to get to the table, agree to a package that actually meets the moment.

Just one check, one more unemployment insurance check isn't enough. One more relief payment isn't enough.

BALDWIN: OK.

GILLIBRAND: People don't have enough food to feed their families.

So, unless you're willing to talk about all the needs, you're not even going to begin to scratch the surface.

And I don't think it's fair -- what Mitch McConnell will offer is what he's offered. He will offer an unemployment check, but he wants to make sure there's unlimited liability protection for companies. He wants to make sure that corporations get a tax credit, tax deduction for lunches.

BALDWIN: I understand. I understand. I understand.

GILLIBRAND: That is not acceptable.

(CROSSTALK)

GILLIBRAND: If you give him the one thing, then he will go away and not come back to the table at all.

BALDWIN: As we watch to see how that plays out, I do want to get you on this, because I do know how passionate you are, as I am, honestly, just about women.

I saw this Axios headline earlier this week that read, the coronavirus could set back an entire generation of women. Since this pandemic began, women in the U.S. have been leaving the work force way more than men.

That's according to this report I read in "The Wall Street Journal." They are disproportionately represented in work sectors that have really been hit the most. And many of them have been forced to, at least temporarily, quit their jobs because they are taking care of their children.

For you, as a senator, as a mother, as a woman, what are you going to do about this?

[15:25:00]

GILLIBRAND: Well, let me start as a mother.

It's been very hard for moms across America, because schools have been closed. And if you are a woman who works outside the home, you're managing your children's education, you're managing feeding your children breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and you're managing your full- time job, all trying to do that at one time.

And a lot of studies have been published saying a woman gets about one hour a day of uninterrupted time, maybe less than an hour, whereas the man in the same household gets three hours. So, you can see the disproportionate impact.

But the real concern I have is that critical workers, these essential workers, are disproportionately women. They are disproportionately women of color. And so they are bearing the burden of this epidemic doubly, because not only are they showing up to work every day, doing the most essential work, like going to a grocery store, being at a pharmacy, working at the front lines of a hospital.

These are our critical workers. But they're disproportionately women of color. And so they are not only bearing the burden of the work, but also COVID. Disproportionately, they're being exposed. Disproportionately, they're getting sick.

So, this burden is extreme in many aspects. And so the fear really is, is that until we start looking at work in a more holistic way, the critical work should be compensated at a higher rate, that these workers should be given time-and-a-half, that we have to restructure the workplace to recognize how valuable they are with universal sick days, making sure every worker has at least two weeks off, with national paid leave.

We're the only industrialized country in the world that doesn't have paid leave. And it's a disadvantage. It's a drag on our economy. And if we had had paid leave before this epidemic, then people could have stayed home for up to three months while their kids were home from school, or to deal with a sick child or sick loved one, or if you were sick yourself.

BALDWIN: Yes.

GILLIBRAND: It would have been easy to fund, much easier than haggling about what are the unemployment payments going to be, and what are the one-time relief checks going to be? Everyone could have received a portion of their salary for up to three months because we had paid leave. So, the real challenge is, how do we rebuild this economy so that it's

fair for everyone and doesn't leave generations of women, and particularly women of color, behind?

BALDWIN: We can't. We can't. And we shouldn't. And we won't.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, thank you very much.

GILLIBRAND: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up, he lost his own mother to coronavirus, and his stepfather is now on a ventilator.

And if that wasn't enough, he also happens to run a city in Southern California. Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia joins me live on his story next.

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