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Multiple Georgia School Districts Report Positive Cases After Reopening; Russia Claims It Has Developed First Coronavirus Vaccine; Coronavirus Cases Surge Among U.S. Children as Schools Reopen; 12 Florida School Districts Reopening This Week. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired August 11, 2020 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:22]
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Sciutto.
This morning, we're learning about a surge of infections among children here in the United States. A new report shows a 90 percent increase in COVID-19 infections in kids just over the last four weeks. A small number but still alarming number. 90 children have died from the virus over several months.
Still, President Trump is downplaying the risk to children as he pushes for schools to reopen. Really demands they do. Again falsely claiming they don't get very sick from the virus, that they don't catch it easily and that they don't transmit it easily to other people.
That's just not true. Overnight here on CNN a top health expert had this warning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM HASELTINE, FORMER PROFESSOR AT HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: And there's every reason to suspect that this virus, even though it can kill you, behaves pretty much like a cold virus in terms of transmission. Who drives colds? Children drive colds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Wow. In one Georgia school district, more than 800 of the students and 42 employees are quarantined this morning. 50 students and staff have tested positive since schools reopened last week.
Also this morning in Russia, Vladimir Putin is claiming that Russia has the world's first coronavirus vaccine, dubbing it Sputnik V. A live report from Moscow is just ahead in a moment.
We'll cover all of the angles this morning. Let's get to CNN's Nick Valencia in Georgia.
Good morning, Nick. Hundreds, I mean, 800 students. NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
HARLOW: And dozens of staff in that one school or one district now quarantined?
VALENCIA: Yes. And you would think with numbers like that, Poppy, there would be more concern, but when we visited the county over the weekend, we found a general cavalier attitude towards the virus. We met up with local activist Jamie Chambers who's been very vocal about his concern of the virus spreading in schools and continuing to spread throughout the community. And when we met him up at the park, there were nearly a dozen children playing on the playground like any normal Sunday. Four to five sets of parents, none of them wearing masks. It's scenes like that, Chambers says, which keeps him up at night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE CHAMBERS, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST: I would think objectively anyone looking at this would see it as a disaster. You've got quarantines happening all in different schools all the time, which means entire classrooms or partial classrooms are suddenly vanishing. What's ultimately going to happen is it's going to spread out all throughout our area and there's going to be a lot of people who are in danger because of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA: And let's stick to the numbers just really quick. At the end of the week, first five days of classes there was 478 students and teachers in quarantine. By the start of classes today, that number had nearly doubled to over 800.
Now to be fair, we did reach out to the school's superintendent Brian Hightower for Cherokee County. They declined an interview. A spokeswoman for the district said that their communication efforts are focusing on communicating with the parents.
Chambers, though, who you just heard from there, is one of those parents. He's taken his kids out of school. Virtual learning is the course that they've decided on, partly of the attitude I mentioned earlier, of how people are treating the virus. People can be categorized to two categories, the believers and nonbelievers. That includes school administrators. One principal, a parent told me, told her that she's shielded by God so she doesn't need a mask -- Jim and Poppy.
SCIUTTO: God would have you wear a mask. I mean, it's in the science.
Nick Valencia, thanks very much.
HARLOW: Let's go to our Matthew Chance, he joins us in Moscow this morning.
Russia's president Vladimir Putin claiming the country has approved the world's first coronavirus vaccine.
Matthew, this is fascinating, calling it Sputnik V, and Putin is even saying his own daughter was part of the testing here. What do we know?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what other evidence do we need? That the Russian state has absolute confidence in this vaccine that is developed at break-neck speed in one of its so very secretive labs here in the Russian capital. Than -- you know, that Vladimir Putin who very rarely -- in fact, I can't remember when he last mentioned his daughter, you know, mentions his daughter, has had his own daughter, allowed his own daughter to be vaccinated with this medicine that's been developed here.
That despite the fact that third phase human trials have not been even started yet. They're not starting until tomorrow and that there's no scientific or clinical data that's been put out there which is conventional or peer reviewed to take place, to get a sense of whether this is actually -- actually an effective vaccine at all.
[09:05:06]
What Vladimir Putin has said is this, is that the vaccine has gone through all the necessary checks. He said this in a video conference where he was speaking to his ministers on national television a couple of hours ago. "I know it's effective, he said, "And that it forms a stable immunity. He gave as evidence for that, the fact that his own daughter had been vaccinated. He said that she had a slight temperature, but now she feels well.
The Russian authorities and the Health minister in particular has been speaking out on this, saying that this vaccine which is of course it becomes the first vaccine to be approved for public -- you know, public consumption as it were in the world. Says it's a huge contribution to the victory over coronavirus. Of course a lot of people around the world have serious, serious doubts -- Jim.
SCIUTTO: Matthew, just quickly, you have covered Russia for a long time. Does it have any credible track record with its government's -- you know, the support for or success in reliable vaccines or other treatments? Is there any track record here that gives us reason to take this seriously and credibly?
CHANCE: Well, I mean, there is. I mean, Russia has a long history, particularly during the Soviet Union days, a long history in being at the forefront of vaccine development, and so it does have a track record. It's got a really deep scientific, you know, kind of infrastructure which it's utilized to try and manufacture this vaccine and to get there first. The big problem of course is it's cut so many corners.
It passed the law a couple of months ago, meaning that third phase human trials are unnecessary for the vaccine to be approved for public use. And that's of course the third phase trials are crucial because it's in those trials, usually with thousands of people, that you determine how safe the vaccine is.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
CHANCE: And how really effective it is. They've simply cut that out of the equation. So it's on that basis that there are serious doubts that this vaccine works.
SCIUTTO: OK. Matthew Chance there in Moscow. Thanks very much.
Joining us now to discuss this and other issues, infectious disease expert, Dr. Colleen Kraft.
Doctor, it's interesting because it's not only Vladimir Putin that is speaking about a rushed process or a faster process for a vaccine. Of course the president has raised this idea of having one by the election, which all the health experts including Dr. Fauci say won't be ready by then.
Just so our viewers understand why is it important to go to large numbers of people, test the vaccine out, make sure it works, make sure there are no side effects, et cetera, why is that important to have time and numbers?
DR. COLLEEN KRAFT, INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT: Thanks, Jim. So I think one of the things to realize that we are actually at the same stage as Russia right now in America. We have vaccines that have gone through phase one and are in phase two studies right now. And so what we proposed to do and what our typical vaccine structure and evaluation is in the United States is to then, after demonstrating safety in phase one and a level of immune efficacy in phase two, we really want to see that it actually prevents transmission and prevents disease.
And that's really what the large-scale phase three, although they are expensive, although they require a lot of participants, is the standard here in how we choose, you know, sort of what our frontrunner vaccine is. So again we're sort of at the same phase, but we are -- we need to have those phase three to make sure it actually prevents transmission.
SCIUTTO: Yes. OK. Let's talk about data on children. So 90 percent jump in coronavirus cases in kids in the last four weeks. And that even before they went back to school. What is this teaching us about how this virus is transmitted among kids, but also crucially from kids to others?
KRAFT: Right. So in general, I know it was already stated that in some of the sound bites that children tend to be the vectors of virus, right? So this ranges anywhere from respiratory viruses such as influenza to gastrointestinal viruses such as roto virus. Children tend to be the vectors. They carry a very high viral load. They don't have the best hygiene practices all the time. And they also are around adults and don't -- aren't using those hygiene practices around adults.
And so they not only, you know, have -- maybe asymptomatic which will lead to then, you know, more interaction with more people but they tend to be more infectious.
SCIUTTO: When the president says yesterday children don't transfer COVID to others, true or false?
KRAFT: So that's false. And I think one of the things that we always -- it seems like we're getting kind of mixed up in this pandemic is we're really looking at some of this like it's a statistical public health view. And we're not -- we're not remembering that the steps -- statistics are not 100 percent, right?
[09:10:03]
And so even if 90 percent are asymptomatic, that's still 10 percent that could be symptomatic. That could be a large number of people.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
KRAFT: We sort of look at these numbers and we forget about the individuals.
SCIUTTO: Final question, if I can. Is there -- there's a lot of talk and some conflicting research about age difference among children. Younger children less of a risk, but by the time you get to adolescents, more so. Can you explain the difference there and do we actually know?
KRAFT: I don't think we know. We haven't studied this enough. We're going to see a lot more of this as it transmits with schools reopening. And you know, it just really depends on the individual themselves and really, you know, their burden of disease. I think unfortunately we're going to see a lot more pediatric illness as this progresses.
SCIUTTO: That's sad to hear.
Colleen Kraft, Dr. Kraft, thanks so much for helping us understand it all.
KRAFT: Happy to help.
HARLOW: Let's go to Florida now where 12 school districts are welcoming back students to the classroom this week. Our Rosa Flores joins us this morning in Miami.
And Rosa, the big concern, at least nine of the 12 county public school systems in Florida reopening in areas that, as I was reading this morning, have a positivity rate of over 5 percent. Is that right?
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, you're absolutely right, Poppy. And that is just the schools that are reopening this week.
HARLOW: Right.
FLORES: According to the education commissioner who we said during a press conference yesterday, he says that all of the schools that are in phase two here in the state of Florida are actually complying except for Hillsborough County. And we know that there is a tussle there between the district and the state, with the state telling Hillsborough that they must offer in-person instruction.
But, Poppy, we're also learning this morning that the number of COVID- 19 cases in children here in the state of Florida has increased by 137 percent in the past month. Here are the numbers. On July 9th, there were more than 16,000 infections in children in this state. By August 9th, that number jumped to more than 39,000 and keep this in mind. There was no school in July and right now officials are pushing further reopening of schools. Let's look at hospitalizations because those increased by 105 percent during that same time period from 213 to 436.
The number of deaths in children jumped from four to seven. Again, during that same time period. And all of this is according to data released by the Florida Department of Health. Now, during a press conference yesterday, Governor Ron DeSantis still pushing for the reopening of schools, and here is his rationale. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): The fact is, in terms of the risk to school kids this is lower risk than seasonal influenza. In terms of their ability to spread it, they're less likely to spread it than they are for that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLORES: Now, Poppy, it's important to note that top experts disagree. The vice chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics on Infectious Disease told CNN's Anderson Cooper yesterday that experts do worry about influenza in children. That influenza kills about 100 children a year. And COVID so far in just a few months has killed 90 children -- Poppy.
HARLOW: Rosa, thank you. Those are the numbers that I think every parent needs to pay attention to. It's rare, but it is happening to children with COVID. Thank you very much.
In a new attempt to potentially tighten the U.S.-Mexico border crossings the Trump administration is considering a plan that could turn away even some American citizens and lawful residents from crossing back over because of COVID-19.
SCIUTTO: Plus, another conference -- college football conference says games will not happen this season. Could others join them? Will we see college football in the fall?
And the question on many people's minds today, who will Joe Biden choose to be his running mate? We could find out as soon as today. We're going to bring you the latest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:15:00]
SCIUTTO: Listen to this news. The Trump administration is considering imposing new restrictions on travel at the U.S.-Mexico border because of coronavirus concerns, but restrictions for U.S. citizens. The proposed rule could prevent U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, that is people with legal right to reside and live here from coming in to the country. HARLOW: Well, let's find out more about the details, Jessica
Schneider is with us. Good morning, Jess. The U.S. has ten times the number of recorded COVID cases as Mexico. Can you explain sort of the impetus behind this, and then for any American citizen who is there right now, if they're hearing this, you know, is there like a period of time for them to get back before this might be implemented?
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, important to note, Poppy, this is still in draft form --
HARLOW: Yes --
SCHNEIDER: So there's a little bit of leeway here. But you know, an administration official tells us that this is all in the name of pandemic control. But as you point out, Poppy and Jim, you know, the U.S. far outpaces Mexico and even Canada when it comes to coronavirus cases. You can see the stats right there. And while this proposal to limit the entry of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, it is only in draft form.
But really, if this was enacted, this would be the latest immigration restriction by the Trump administration in the wake of the coronavirus. It was just earlier this Summer that the president actually signed an order that restricted employment-related visas. That had a practical effect of preventing more than 500,000 workers from coming into this country.
It was a move that was slammed by industry, including the tech industry. But this proposal would really take things to a whole new level, effectively sealing off the U.S.-Mexico border for U.S. citizens and law permanent residents. This raises huge constitutional questions. Now "The New York Times" did obtain a draft memo of this, and that memo said that this would only be used in the rarest of circumstances.
[09:20:00]
But still, the ACLU is already coming out, slamming this as unconstitutional. And Jim and Poppy, it really does raise a number of questions here. This would be U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents that the administration would be trying to restrict from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. You know, we've seen that the Canadian-U.S. border has been sealed off for a number of months here, but that is restricted to non-essential travel and U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents are allowed in.
So this would be on a whole new level, and again, it would raise extreme constitutional concerns if in fact the Trump administration tried to implement it. Guys?
SCIUTTO: Yes, and why the particular focus on Mexico, right? Given the disparity in rates, and keep in mind that this is an administration that has used the COVID crisis to pursue and expand other anti-immigration policies already. Jessica Schneider, thanks very much. HARLOW: So, the president is now weighing in on the fate of college
football during this pandemic. A major question this morning, will the entire college football season be postponed?
SCIUTTO: We're just moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street, stocks set to rise when trading begins. Investors still hoping for a comprehensive stimulus deal between the White House and Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Economists at JPMorgan say the president's executive actions on jobless benefits and a payroll tax holiday are not enough to sustain a strong recovery.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:25:00]
SCIUTTO: This is remarkable. California blaming a technical glitch for underreporting some 250,000 coronavirus cases in that state. I mean, this would be remarkable, Poppy, because the reported cases are about 500,000, and that's a 50 percent jump.
HARLOW: Wow, you know, that's a great point. Let's go to Stephanie Elam, she joins us in Los Angeles. How did this happen and what is the governor saying about it this morning?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, well, let's put those numbers into perspective, Poppy and Jim because what you're talking about, that 250,000 to 300,000 cases is all of the reports that had gone into the state's disease reporting electronic system. So all of those cases are not going to be positive. All of those cases are not necessarily even COVID. And that's what they spent the weekend going through, looking through those numbers, getting those cases back to the counties where the counties could then make sure that they sign off on all of the data and then get that information back to the state.
And at which point, what we're understanding is that those data points would then be added to the correct dates that they should be -- on the dates that those tests actually happened. The governor yesterday speaking to this point saying this really has to do with an I.T. infrastructure system that is decades and decades old. That's what they said, but they've said they've filled out all of that backlog, they've gone through all of those numbers that they've looked into the data here, and they've also gone ahead and created a new system and fixed the errors.
And so the numbers that we see now coming out are the correct information for that day based on what the cases they were given. Now, with that in mind, yesterday, California itself announced 7,700 new cases, Johns Hopkins is today saying that there are new cases of 14,485 here in California. But a lot of that is going to have to do with that backlog. So while it sounds like a large number and it would be, I can tell you that looking at other data points here in California, things are starting to look better because something that wasn't affected by this data issue is hospitalizations.
Those numbers are showing that hospitalizations are trending lower, down about 18 percent from this exact period last week. So that shows you that things are looking better, same thing --
SCIUTTO: Right --
ELAM: That they're seeing here in Los Angeles County, but this week, we're going to have to get through that data and we'll see those numbers looking scary once again. Jim and Poppy?
SCIUTTO: So Stephanie, to be clear, these are not 250,000 coronavirus cases or infections that were under reported, it's just people who were tested. I mean, that's a key difference there.
ELAM: That's exactly what it is. Also some of those people are positive, some are negative and some of those --
SCIUTTO: Right --
ELAM: Are not even COVID. The disease --
SCIUTTO: All right --
ELAM: Electronic reporting system, that's why they had to go through it.
SCIUTTO: Big difference. Big difference. Glad we cleared that up.
HARLOW: Yes --
ELAM: Yes --
HARLOW: Thanks for the --
ELAM: Yes --
HARLOW: Reporting Stephanie, we appreciate it.
SCIUTTO: There's a push by some top college football coaches and players to attempt to keep the 2020 college football season alive.
HARLOW: Andy Scholes joins us to explain this morning. I don't know, Andy, it looks not so -- not so likely this morning.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS REPORTER: Well, you know, Poppy, you know, I would say that it's actually looking more likely this morning --
HARLOW: OK --
SCHOLES: That we are going to have a college football season --
HARLOW: All right --
SCHOLES: So, you know --
HARLOW: I'll take it.
SCHOLES: If we're talking yesterday, you know, it certainly seemed like the momentum was the big ten was going to announce they were postponing their season to this Spring, and big ten and PAC-12 having more meanings to discuss that today. You know, but throughout the day yesterday, you had players, big time coaches, other conference commissioners coming out and saying, you know what? We want to play football this Fall?
And President Trump even chiming in on the situation, tweeting the student athletes have been working too hard for their season to be canceled. Clemson superstar quarterback Trevor Lawrence, he really led the campaign by the players saying, you know, they want universal health and safety protocols across the sport, but he added, they definitely want to play football this Fall because being together on campus is what will be safest for everyone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TREVOR LAWRENCE, QUARTERBACK, CLEMSON: We feel safe here, we feel safer here than anywhere else, honestly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[09:30:00]
