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American Academy of Pediatrics Reporting Nearly 100K Kids in U.S. Tested Positive in Last 2 Weeks, Georgia School, Seen in Viral Picture, Temporarily Closes after 9 Test Positive; Contradicting Trump on "Almost Immune"; State Rep. Beth Moore (D-Georgia) Discusses Setting Up Whistleblower E-mail for Schools Due to Her Concerns; Firefighters: Several People Trapped after Home Explosion in Baltimore; Protests and Violence in Several Major Cities; Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton (D-Illinois) Discusses Widespread Looting, Vandalism, Gunshots Overnight in Chicago, Chicago Mayor Shutting Down Montrose Beach Park Due to Large Gathering & Trump Executive Order on $400 Unemployment Requiring States to Pay 1st $100; Jon Steinbrecher, Mid- American Conference Commissioner, Discusses Cancelling The Season, College Football in Jeopardy Amid Pandemic. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired August 10, 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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[11:00:04]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. Thank you so much for joining us this hour.

The U.S. is passing a tragic milestone, a milestone that did not need to happen. The country now has more than five million confirmed cases of COVID-19. That is double the number of infections from late June. And it also means more than one million cases have been reported in the last 17 days -- 17 days.

The U.S. makes up about a quarter of all COVID cases in the world, despite making up less than 5 percent of the world's population. It's not going well.

Just look at this if you need to see more. The death toll in the United States is now approaching 163,000, with more than 500 deaths reported just yesterday.

Then there's this, a study from the American Academy of Pediatrics reporting that nearly 100,000 children in the U.S. tested positive for COVID in the last two weeks of July. Yes, children.

Thankfully, of course, make up a small fraction of the coronavirus related deaths. We do know that right now. But this is important, this number that you just heard.

It also flies in the face of President Trump's argument for why he thinks schools should reopen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (voice-over): 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, I don't know how you feel about it, but they have much stronger immune systems than we do somehow for this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Definitely virtually almost immune. It was untrue then. It's even more untrue now.

One state that knows all too well the complications of reopening schools in the midst of a pandemic is Georgia. Multiple districts in the state are already having to alter their school plans due to positive tests among students and teachers.

Natasha Chen is in Atlanta and has much more on this.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kate, students at North Paulding High School are staying home today and tomorrow for virtual learning after a superintendent wrote to families last night that the school campus will have to be disinfected and the district is consulting with the Health Department what to do next.

By tomorrow night, students will find out what happens next in the coming days, whether they stay virtual or go back to school.

They're not alone in this. Another middle school in the same district has one student testing positive. In Cherokee County, we're learning of at least 19 students and four staff members who have tested positive.

In Gwinnett County, the largest school district in Georgia, there are at least 260 employees during just the prep and training week -- classes haven't started there -- 260 employees who have either tested positive or had to quarantine.

Now, of course, North Paulding High School, though, did gain some notoriety last week when a student posted a picture of a very crowded hallway to social media and showed a lot of students not social distancing, a lot not wearing masks.

The superintendent made it clear that was a five-minute passing period when students were changing classes, something he said that may happen when there's a school of more than 2,000 students.

Of course, all educators are making some pretty tough decisions about how to start school right now like this. And a lot of that has to do with the COVID numbers around Georgia.

We're standing here where Governor Brian Kemp and the U.S. surgeon general are announcing today, expanded testing near the Atlanta airport after health and humans identified Atlanta as a hot spot.

These tests here will turn results in 48 to 72 hours, which is currently much faster than other test results are coming back in the rest of the state -- Kate?

BOLDUAN: Natasha, thank you so much. We'll see what we hear from that announcement.

One state representative in Georgia says she is so concerned about what is happening in schools that she's started a hotline to help. Teachers, staff, students, parents, they can use it to share what they are seeing in their schools. And she says the stories are alarming.

Joining me right now is Georgia State Representative Beth Moore.

State Rep., thank you so much for being here.

You've had this thing up and running for a few days now. What are you hearing so far?

REP. BETH MOORE (D-GA): Kate, I have over 200 e-mails over the course of less than 48 hours from teachers, students, parents, staff members at school, all with really the same message, that schools in Georgia are not prepared to go back to face-to-face instruction right now.

BOLDUAN: You told my producers that you think it's actually what you're hearing you think it's worse than people really know and understand. What do you mean by that?

MOORE: Well, Kate, if you don't mind, since I only have a few minutes on the air with you, the reason I am here is to be a voice for the people who feel like they cannot speak out for fear of retaliation.

[11:05:03]

The students are afraid to speak out for fear that they will be bullied by other students and, quite frankly, the teachers as well. The teachers who want to do the right thing are fearing retribution of the loss of their jobs and ridiculed higher ups.

So I would like to read some of their words because that's why we're here.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Yes, tell me one of their accounts. I would appreciate it.

MOORE: So the e-mails -- I have one that I received from a teacher in Fulton County, which is in Atlanta, Georgia.

This teacher writes, "I have a co-worker who has decided to report to the building today even though she had a positive COVID test last week. She says she feels better and our country -- and our county does not require a negative test before returning back to school. I am a type one diabetic and I am fearful and couldn't sleep last night because I feel as if I may be exposed today."

Those are the words from a Fulton County teacher.

BOLDUAN: Now, one thing you hit on -- that in and of itself is tragic to think about.

But one thing you hit on I have found really troubling as well is that these teachers are writing and asking to remain anonymous because of fear of retribution. And I find that almost as trouble as the problems they're reporting.

Why are they afraid of speaking up to school administrators? There shouldn't be a need for your effort at all. We are all in this together. It's not teacher versus parent. It's not teacher versus school. It's everyone.

MOORE: That's right. It's everyone versus the virus.

And our -- you know, my mission is not to shut down face-to-face instruction but call out bad practices so that we don't have to shut down face-to-face instruction.

I have a lot of parents out there who are not too pleased that I opened up this whistleblower e-mail account. But really I'm trying to help them.

They want their kids in face-to-face instruction but that will not be possible if we are not calling out bad practices from other students, teachers and administrators.

BOLDUAN: What should be done in light of --

(CROSSTALK)

MOORE: I would like to give you another --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Just real quick, what should be done in light of all of this? I would like to hear another account, but are you sharing the reports with school administrators? What do you do from receiving the account, what do you do then?

MOORE: Mostly, I've been posting them to Twitter. And in some cases, I will read them out loud. Just as I would like to read out loud to you an e-mail I received this morning from a teacher in Forsyth County, which is preparing to open up to face-to-face instruction very soon.

This teacher writes, "I just received my class rosters for the year. Every class -- this person teaches five classes -- every class has 30 or 31 students and one class has 33 students. Masks are not required. I am scared to death. We start on Thursday. There's no way we can socially distance with that many kids in one class."

BOLDUAN: Yes. No matter what -- no matter what you think, that's the thing about this virus. It's not about just that kids need to be back in school and kids often get -- have a better reaction, if you will, a less harsh reaction to coronavirus. It's all of the teachers and families. It's how the virus is transmitted that's so troubling.

We're going to check back in because I would like to know what happens with these reports that are coming up. It's not an isolated case in one district is what you're finding and from the reports that you're getting to your e-mail address.

So thank you so much, State Representative Beth Moore. We'll check back in and see what comes of this. These stories need to be told and shouldn't have to be anonymous. It's pretty ridiculous.

Thank you for coming on.

MOORE: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: We have to turn quickly, we're getting breaking news coming in out of Baltimore, Maryland. This is just been starting to come in and get more information that multiple people, including some children, are trapped right now after a massive explosion in what appears to be a residential neighborhood there in Baltimore, Maryland. It's in the northwest, just northwest part of the city.

Just as you see these aerial views from -- you can look at devastation that is taking place. Just these homes just eviscerated.

Fire crews, first responders are on the ground as you can see. Search- and-rescue efforts are under way. You can see them just trying to get in place and assess how safe it is to get in to look for what they believe are several people that are trapped. You can see them working right there on top of some of the rubble of these homes.

Let's get over to Alex Field. She's been trying to pick up a little bit more of what's going on.

Not a lot of details coming in, Alex, but what are you picking up?

[11:10:00]

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Baltimore Special Rescue Operations Unit is the one responding there. You can see there are firefighters that have responded, medical units as well.

The most pressing thing is to get into that rubble. You can see them starting to sift through it to try to find anyone who is trapped in there. The reports were there were at least several people, including some children.

It's not clear how many houses were affected there. Look at the scope, the breath of the destruction. This was described as a major explosion involving at least several homes.

We're waiting to find out what could have caused this and waiting to find out exactly how many people and children are believed to still be trapped inside.

We are learning that first responders have found three individuals who were inside, it seems, at the time. No word on their conditions. We're going to work to learn a little more about that.

You can see just dozens and dozens of first responders. At this point, they'll be listening to see what they can hear and try to carefully get in and see if they're able to find anyone inside. Incredibly difficult and certainly time sensitive work here Kate?

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

Look, just by hand, they're trying to get some of this rubble out of the way to really get started and get things going. Time is of the essence.

We'll stick with this. Alex is here. She'll will bring us updates as we get it. We'll stick close to this out of Baltimore, Maryland.

Coming up for us still, a dangerous night in Chicago. Widespread looting and vandalism. Illinois's lieutenant governor joins us next.

Plus, the entire college football season could be in jeopardy as the first of the top-tier conferences just canceled the season.

We'll be back.

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[11:15:55]

BOLDUAN: Protests and violence in several U.S. cities this weekend. In Ferguson, Missouri, demonstrators gathered peacefully to mark the sixth anniversary of the police killing of Michael Brown. But violence then erupted after dark after a crowd gathered outside police headquarters.

In Portland, Oregon, police declared a riot after some 200 marched on a police union building there. Fireworks erupted between the two sides as police were trying to push a crowd back.

The most violence was seen in Chicago, overnight into this morning. Widespread looting -- you can see right there -- seen along Michigan Avenue, and also reports of gunfire. Police say more than 100 people were arrested.

This is all happening against the backdrop of -- in Chicago and Illinois -- of the state trying to combat another -- a new spike in coronavirus infections.

So what is going on there?

Joining me right now is Illinois' lieutenant governor, Juliana Stratton.

Lieutenant Governor, thank you for your time.

I know you have seen these pictures of this looting and the violence overnight in Chicago. What's happening in Chicago right now? What happened?

LT. GOV. JULIANA STRATTON, (D-IL): Well, first and foremost, let me just say that, as a lifelong Chicagoan and now serving as lieutenant governor, I am saddened by the news I woke up to this morning as I saw the levels of looting throughout the city of Chicago, and particularly concentrated in some of our downtown areas.

We know that because of COVID-19 many of these businesses were just starting to reopen and to get back to business. And so it's certainly devastating to see.

It is not reflective of our city. It is certainly a situation that many people that I know have talked about just being devastating to wake up to.

BOLDUAN: Yes. There's another startling image of a different kind, I guess you could say, getting back to coronavirus. Montrose Beach in Chicago, on Saturday, the mayor of Chicago appears to have shut down the park where this happened. We can probably put up the picture when we can. But a big gathering that was found.

What do you think when you see pictures like this?

STRATTON: What I think of is, first and foremost, people need to recognize this COVID-19 pandemic is still going on. It is not gone anywhere. And people need to take it very seriously.

The governor has made it very clear that we would always follow the data and the science here in Illinois, that's what we have done. We were able to get our positivity rate down to sort of a steady 2.7 percent, but that has increased by more than a percentage point over the last few weeks and certainly over this last week as we have seen a spike in cases.

We are going to continue to follow the data. But as our governor has indicated, in the event that we do find that the numbers have gotten to a place where it's dangerous for people to continue engaging in the activity that we have now have at phase four, then we will have to put those restrictions back in place.

That, of course, will not only be devastating for all of our communities and residents, it would be devastating to our economy and business owners.

So we need people to wear their masks. We have had a mask mandate for a number of months now and weeks and we need people to follow those guidelines, to wear a mask, to maintain their physical distancing, and to make sure they continue to wash their hands.

BOLDUAN: And the governor is pushing for a new mask mandate, which would allow businesses to face fines if they don't enforce face covering rules.

Are you to a place concerned enough that you think that individuals need to be fined if they're seen not to be wearing masks? Is that what is driving this spike?

STRATTON: We are really focusing on the fact that we have seen businesses after we have loosened some of the restrictions, allowed for indoor dining, allowed for some smaller gatherings. [11:20:03]

But we have seen business owners that have allowed people to come in without their face masks, where people have been crowded into some of these facilities.

And our focus is to make sure that business owners continue to be responsible in what we need to do to stop this pandemic.

Remember what has been driving us from the very beginning is to save as many lives as possible.

We have done a good job through Governor Pritzker's leadership of getting in there and making sure we got testing, making sure we were one of the first states to issue a stay-at-home order. We don't want to lose the progress we have made over the last several months.

This has been a very difficult time for the entire nation. But right now, without the guidance from the federal government, we have to follow what the governors are doing. And Governor Pritzker's leadership has brought us to a good place. We don't want to go back and that's what this is about.

BOLDUAN: President Trump signed a group of executive orders that would give unemployed Americans $400 in unemployment benefits. But it turns out that is only if the states agree to pay the first $100.

Is Illinois prepared to take on that expense? Can you afford it?

STRATTON: Look, at every single level of government, we see just an incredible financial crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Something that none of us expected that we would have to deal with.

Here we are, we see record numbers of people have filed for unemployment. We see every level of government really struggling from what they thought their budgets would be and not being able to maintain that and we need assistance from the federal government.

We need assistance to help our business owners. We need assistance to help with the residents of our state. That's something that we will continue to advocate for.

We know that these executive orders did not do anything to really help the people that need the most help. That's what we have to be focused on.

Today, we are offering emergency rental assistance here in Illinois because people need help being able to pay their rent for the remainder of this year. We are going to kick off a similar program for mortgage assistance. People are hungry. There are so many issues that have come up.

We need leadership from the federal government to step up and make sure that states and local units of government have the kind of support they need. BOLDUAN: And it's all -- you know, it's all together. The Republican

governor of Ohio didn't know if his state could afford the $100 we're talking about here.

Do you know if Illinois can?

STRATTON: Look, we've been advocating from the beginning for assistance to do what we need to do at the state of Illinois. In passing our budget, it was -- part of that budget was focused on the fact that we need support from the federal government to take care of the people of our state.

We're going to do everything we can to make the best decisions we can to meet the needs of our residents. But certainly we need additional assistance. And that's what the governor has advocated for. And we will keep pushing for that to meet their needs.

BOLDUAN: Lieutenant Governor, thank you for your time.

STRATTON: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, the fate of college football hanging in the balance right now as at least one top tier, the first top-tier conference has announced it is postponing fall sports. The commissioner of the MAC joins me next.

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[11:28:23]

BOLDUAN: There's more doubt than ever that anyone is going to see college football in the fall. Games are scheduled to start in a matter of weeks. But according to new reports, there's a very serious chance they won't happen at all.

Leaders from the power-five conferences reportedly met over the weekend discussing postponing the season due to safety concerns with the pandemic.

And possibly, a sign of things to come, this weekend, the Mid-American Conference, the MAC, announced it's canceling the fall season becoming the first top-tier league to make the call.

Joining me is the commissioner of the Mid-American Conference, Jon Steinbrecher.

Thank you for being here, Commissioner. I appreciate it.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: How difficult was the decision for you?

JON STEINBRECHER, COMMISSIONER, MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE: Oh, Kate, this was a crushing decision to be made by our membership. And I applaud the courage of our athletic directors and presidents and all involved. It was not a decision that was made lightly, it was not a decision

that was made quickly, and it was a decision that was made based on the advice of our medical experts.

BOLDUAN: This impacts, I think it's 2,500 student athletes. So many kids. This is everything. I mean, as an athlete, I remember.

How likely is it you think you can pull off a spring season for these sports?

STEINBRECHER: That's a good question. We've spent the past six months and continue to say I don't know a lot. And that's simply going to be the case until we're able to knock down this virus.

What I can say is we've put in place a process to study and plan and prepare for the ability to provide competitive opportunities for our fall sports student athletes in the spring.

[11:30:01]

It will include bringing together administrators, coaches, student athletes, faculty and medical advisers to lay out essentially a 12- month calendar from January to December.