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Report Finds Increased Numbers of COVID-Positive Children; Mrs. Nevada-America Pageant Disrupted Over COVID-19 Concerns; Trump's Press Briefing Most Dishonest to Date. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired August 11, 2020 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST, NEWSROOM: It is the top of the hour now, I'm Brianna Keilar.

And we are following two concerning reports on America's most vulnerable populations: the elderly and children. One report, showing a 90 percent increase in children testing positive for coronavirus over the last month. Many experts fear reopening schools could cause another spike. A second report, showing cases rising at an alarming rate inside of nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

And at this hour, the total case count in the U.S. is more than 5.1 million cases, nearly 164,000 Americans have died, several states across the southern U.S. are experiencing a downward trend, but this is far from over.

And as the global number of cases is crossing 20 million, Russian president Vladimir Putin says his country has approved the world's first vaccine, naming it Sputnik-V, a hat tip to the Soviet Union's first satellite launched during the space race.

But many are questioning the safety and the quality of this Russian vaccine. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX AZAR, HHS SECRETARY: The point is not to be first with a vaccine, the point is to have a vaccine that is safe and effective for the American people and the people of the world. We need transparent data and it's got to be phase three data that shows that a vaccine is safe and effective.

SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER (via telephone): I wouldn't take it, certainly not outside of a clinical trial right now. It appears that it's only been tested in several hundred patients at most. There's some reports that it's been in as few as 100 patients.

In a lot of these situations, you might only get one shot at taking a vaccine within a season, so if you put a vaccine on the market that's not efficacious, it's going to be hard to revaccinate the population. So you want to make sure it works. And you also want to make sure it's safe. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The U.S. timeline for a safe and effective vaccine is still the end of this year at the earliest.

And joining me now is Dr. Jake Deutsch. He's an emergency medicine physician, he's also the founder and clinical director of Cure Urgent Care. Dr. Deutsch, it's great to see you again.

And I want to start with this report that we're seeing from the American Academy of Pediatrics. What's behind this surge in kids testing positive for coronavirus?

JAKE DEUTSCH, FOUNDER AND CLINICAL DIRECTOR, CURE URGENT CARE: Yes, I mean, it's really scary information when you talk about the percentage of 90 percent increase. And clearly, the numbers are going up because we're testing more. So it's a good thing and a bad thing.

I mean, I'm actually kind of happy to see that we're testing more. That means that we're listening to the recommendations, we're monitoring the situation more closely. What I want to see happen next is that we see the numbers go down with the same number of testing, if not more testing. That should be our trajectory.

KEILAR: Because you want to be looking at the positivity rate? So you're seeing the number of tests go up, but also the positivity rate is concerning.

DEUTSCH: Yes, right. So if we see those numbers go down because we continue to test, that would be what I would hope to see. So that means we need to do things that are effective: make sure that we're implementing masks-wearing, make sure that we continue to (INAUDIBLE) opening.

But if we continue to see these numbers rise, we're definitely not headed in the right direction.

KEILAR: Do we know the long-term effects on children?

DEUTSCH: We don't. We certainly see less severe illness reported, which is making everybody a little less concerned. But we're seeing death rates increase to about the average for the typical flu season, so about 90 reported deaths in the United States, which is equivalent to the flu season. So if we start seeing those number jump up higher there, that's also alarming.

In terms of the long-term effects, unclear. We certainly don't see the number of severe illness that we typically see with adults, but everybody should be on edge. This is our nation's future, these are our children. Testing has to be implemented. We need a plan in place as we consider to open schools. We can't just say numbers are going up and not have a way to monitor, not have a way to react. There needs to be a universal plan that is implemented across the United States.

KEILAR: And there's one health expert that told CNN children may be able to spread the virus as easily as the common cold. Do we have a good grasp on how easily children spread this virus?

DEUTSCH: Yes, it's a highly contagious virus. Children are typically vectors with colds, it makes sense that they would be equally as easily transmitting COVID. And when we talk about children, you know, we talk about people up to 18, so we're not talking about just infants but we're talking about young adults who are out and about, maybe not practicing as good social distancing.

So you have all of these elements together: a highly contagious virus, you have the potential for increased number of spread as we consider putting kids back in the classroom.

KEILAR: And let's turn to nursing homes now because the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living put out this report this morning, calling the spike that we're seeing alarming. We saw a spike in these care facilities early on in the pandemic, it did decline early this summer. Why are we seeing this, what's really a big step backwards?

[14:05:08]

DEUTSCH: Right. So our most vulnerable population, the elderly, who are in nursing homes, are once again seeing an uptick in the number of positive cases. Again, highly concerning to me as a physician. We're talking about people that really don't have the best chance in fighting this virus.

What possibly could be causing these numbers is laxity on the precautions that we've been taking. Again, people are gathering more, we're seeing people start to travel. What precautions are being made for people who are working in the nursing facilities?

In New York, we were testing twice a week, that seems to have fallen to the wayside. And in other states, there certainly is a very haphazard organization in how we're protecting our elderly in nursing homes with the staff who are probably the most potential source.

So we need, again, a plan in place. We can't allow these numbers to increase. We need to have testing options, which makes sense in nursing homes, whether it's rapid testing or a way that we're testing people sporadically, just getting samples to monitor this more closely.

And there's some positive news, some testing going on with antibody testing. Lilly (ph) is actually putting antibodies infused into nursing home patients to see if we can actually reduce infection and have a potential cure.

So some of these highlights are also (INAUDIBLE) with some research that might be potentially positive.

KEILAR: And I know that you heard this news about Russian president Vladimir Putin claiming to have the world's first vaccine, I think we're all watching this race for the vaccine very carefully. He says that he even has his own daughter having been vaccinated. Do you have concerns about the safety of the vaccine? DEUTSCH: Yes. I mean, clearly, we need to have a method that is

proven to be effective, that gives information that is scientifically accurate, data that we can share within the scientific community. That's what phase three trials are all about: We vaccinate large populations, 30,000 patients perhaps, and that's done in a controlled setting where half may get the vaccine and half get a placebo. If we're skipping those steps, we are potentially causing harm. We may eliminate the effectiveness of other vaccines.

So it definitely is not what is recommended. It certainly is concerning, but it's not a big surprise. If you think back to the '50s in Russia, scientists actually vaccinated their own children with the polio vaccine, which was highly -- thought to be effective, and actually did end up being an effective vaccine. So that might be the reasoning for skipping what we consider traditional steps.

Certainly we want to make sure that we have, in the U.S., a very effective vaccine. We also don't want people to lose confidence in the potential of a vaccine from certain, you know, elements that are happening in other parts of the world.

KEILAR: Yes. And also re-vaccination could be very difficult in situations like we're seeing in Russia, if it isn't as effective as they're hoping it to be. Thank you so much --

DEUTSCH: Yes.

KEILAR: -- sorry, Doctor Deutsch, yes, go ahead?

DEUTSCH: I was just going to add, if you recall, Sputnik ran out of batteries. And, you know, ironically, that's what they're calling this vaccine. So we'll see what happens here. We need to monitor this closely. Hopefully, you know, we do have some positive vaccination schedule soon, but we need to be, you know, keeping a very objective eye on this.

KEILAR: Very interesting Sputnik point there, Dr. Deutsch. Thank you so much.

DEUTSCH: Thank you.

KEILAR: CNN goes to a food bank planning to feed 3,000 people today as they face an unprecedented demand.

And actress Alyssa Milano is sharing her struggles with long-haul symptoms as she reveals that she's lost her hair now, months after battling COVID-19. Why might that be?

[14:08:48]

And a Nevada pageant is stopped for violating social gathering restrictions. I'm going to speak live with the director who says they're being picked on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KEILAR: With close to 57,000 coronavirus cases and almost a thousand deaths, the governor of Nevada has implemented strict measures to stop the spread. City officials are enforcing mandates that require masks and social distancing guidelines in Las Vegas, which was apparent over the weekend.

The Las Vegas Police broke up the Mrs. Nevada-America Pageant for its crowd side. It was the second time in a week that an event at that same hotel was cited for overcrowding. The pageant did take place eventually, but without an audience.

And Jackie McKenna is the state director of the pageant. Jackie, thanks so much for coming on to talk about this. Tell us what happened here.

JACKIE MCKENNA, STATE DIRECTOR, MRS. NEVADA-AMERICA PAGEANT: Thank you, thank you for having me. We had planned on this event for several months, and it was postponed several times because of the guidelines. And we wanted to make sure that we practiced every guideline.

So we went to a private facility, a privately owned hotel that was a convention center as well. I was assured from the very beginning that we having only 200 members in the audience would be way below the compliance because of capacity, because there were room for 1,600 people in the room.

We made sure that the tables were set 16 feet apart, no more than six people at a 10-top table, all family members. Everybody had masks, everybody followed the guidelines. And this is very, very important to me. The safety of these women are more important to me than any kind of hoopla, any kind of celebration.

[14:15:01]

But we don't want to take away their hard work, their recognition for everything they've done and all they do in this community, for somebody who is going to change the rules at the very last moment without proper notice.

KEILAR: So you know, Jackie, I was reading ahead of time what you were talking about with the seating and the precautions. And my first instinct was to say, you know, maybe she's right here.

But I have to tell you, I look at the photos from the pageant, which I think are photos that were taken even after the audience was gone. But you're talking about wanting to preserve the health of these women --

MCKENNA: Yes.

KEILAR: -- and I see a lot of people without masks within inches. I mean, they are embracing each other. You have the former Mrs. Nevada crowning the new Mrs. Nevada. That's of course a normal part of a pageant, but these are not normal times.

MCKENNA: Yes.

KEILAR: What do you say to folks who look at those contestants and say that is breaking all kinds of public health recommendations?

MCKENNA: Actually, if you do look at those photos, the women crowning the other women have clear visors on. They were produced for them for this very purpose.

If in the course of the evening somebody embraces somebody in a joyous moment, in an exciting moment, that is due these ladies. They have practiced everything from hand sanitizers to social distancing. We do not go out rogue and try and create a problem, we wanted to make sure that we were following the guidelines.

But apparently, five minutes before the pageant started, the police came in, the city came in and they called me to the lobby and said that they were -- they had a cease and desist order. And I asked to see it, and they wouldn't show it to me.

And the general manager of the hotel was there, George (ph) Harris (ph), he was there, the CEO. He looked at it and got on the phone immediately with his attorneys and the owner of the hotel, Don Ahern. And he wanted to know what's going on, what have we done that is different than two days ago, when 800 people were there? And that wasn't broken up. They were given a warning.

But 800 people in a 1,600-capacity room versus 200 family and friends, private event? The tickets were not available for sale publicly. These were family and friends who had quarantined, gotten together for the one night of the year to celebrate the wives and mothers who have fought so hard, are doing so much in the community.

We have women who are doctors and airline pilots and ministers and dentists and homemakers, people who have given so much to their community throughout the year. We felt as though with every safety precaution being handled, that we could present these women in the light they deserve and award them their night to shine.

We had three out of our five judges who were doctors, they all had masks on.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Jackie, look -- Jackie, I'm not disagreeing with you that these are folks who are doing good things. I will mention the other group was fined.

Look, I know that you and a number of other people look and they feel like they're being treated unfairly, and I think that's totally a discussion worth having because there is sometimes inconsistency --

MCKENNA: Sure.

KEILAR: -- between different places or what appear to be different --

MCKENNA: Right.

KEILAR: -- priorities with how cities and states or counties are approaching things. But I guess I just go back to you know, the photos of all of those

contestants. I know what you're saying, but they're not actually practicing all safety precautions. I hear you saying that it's due these women, it's the one night, it's a big event for them. The virus --

MCKENNA: Sure.

KEILAR: -- doesn't care though. The virus doesn't care, Jackie.

MCKENNA: I know. The virus doesn't care down the street, where thousands of people are either in casinos gambling, not following any of the mandates, nobody closes them down. You have to kind of wonder --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: I will -- look, I will say --

MCKENNA: -- what's going on.

KEILAR: -- I understand you're raising concerns about that. I think they're at 50 percent capacity in the casinos right now, and that's --

MCKENNA: Right.

KEILAR: -- certainly worth a discussion. But that doesn't make you any safer, having these women closer together even if you are upset or even if you raise concerns, and if someone were to go into say a specific casino and look and see if they felt like they were actually doing things that were bad for people's health.

That doesn't make what we're seeing in some of these photos safer though?

MCKENNA: Yes. I think those probably two or three photos that you're seeing, the women together was a moment of celebratory times that they felt that they were safe because of the hand sanitizers and having gone through the equipment there, at the Ahern Hotel, that destroys any kind of viruses and germs as you walk through it.

[14:20:07]

It's the only hotel in the country that has it and it's one thing that has never been addressed. It's the only hotel who has it.

KEILAR: It doesn't destroy virus that is inside people's bodies. I have to wrap up this interview, Jackie. And, look, I sympathize with you, this thing is wreaking havoc on everyone's lives. I know you put a lot into this event --

MCKENNA: Yes.

KEILAR: -- but you know, we also have to be really honest about --

MCKENNA: I'd like to just celebrate -- I'd like to celebrate the women who won that evening. That's Ashley Tesoro, Dianna Klein, and Paris Regan. They will go on to Mrs. America and they will prevail. Safety first.

KEILAR: All right. We will see. OK, Jackie, thanks for the discussion.

MCKENNA: You are sure welcome.

KEILAR: Thank you for coming on.

And next, we will fact-check President Trump's comments from just the last 24 hours and the false claims that he's made on everything from mail-in voting to coronavirus to election interference.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:25:43]

KEILAR: My CNN colleague Daniel Dale's job is to fact-check all of the president's speeches, events and sessions with the press. So when he says the president's most recent briefing was one of his most dishonest, well, he knows what he's talking about. And this is part of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: China wants us to lose very badly. And you know who else is not happy with us winning? Russia, the (INAUDIBLE) --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Not so. In fact, the president's own intelligence officials including his top intel officials dedicated to election security, told Congress that it's not possible for foreign powers to interfere on a mass scale with fake ballots like that.

Now, that doesn't mean that foreign powers aren't trying to influence the election, they certainly are. But he says Russia doesn't want him to win: wasn't true in 2016, isn't true now. The president's own election official says Russia is actively working to hurt Joe Biden. China's efforts to influence the election are not in the same category as Russia's sweeping disinformation efforts.

And as many states try to help voters cast their ballots safely during a pandemic, Trump is also trying to raise doubts about mail-in voting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'll tell you who's meddling in our elections, the Democrats are meddling by wanting and insisting on sending mail-in ballots where there's corruption all over the place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: There is not corruption all over the place. Before the pandemic, five states were using universal mail-in voting with success; others are now following suit because of coronavirus. The president is trying to cast doubt about the outcome of the election. And you can tell by how he talked about recent New York primary race results that were delayed for weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: What happened in New York, a small -- relatively small -- race with Carolyn Maloney. And they called her the winner the other day because I was mentioning it at conferences, and getting a lot of action on that statement. So they called her, they declared her the winner. And they have no idea who won, and the person -- her opponent -- is very angry. But they had mail-in voting, and they had hundreds -- and I think even thousands of ballots that are missing, that were fraudulent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: No. They lacked postmarks or they arrived late or they lacked a signature. So they weren't counted, which is actually what conservatives argue in other cases should happen. Eventually, a judge ordered a thousand thrown out ballots be counted, but the margin of the race is more than three times that.

In New York, there were administrative problems? Yes. Outdated technology? Yes. A lot of absentee ballots? Yes. Proving that New York and other states need to adjust to be ready for more mail-in ballots. But there's zero evidence of fraudulent voting in the New York primaries.

The president also said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The Obama campaign spied on our campaign, and they've been caught, all right? And now let's see what happens to them. But they have been caught, they've been caught red-handed. It's probably treason. It's a horrible thing they did that probably never happened before, at least nobody got caught doing it. But they used the intelligence agencies of our country to spy on my campaign, and they have been caught.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Wrong. The FBI was probing the Trump campaign but there is not evidence that it was at Obama's direction. They did it because they had a justification to do so. That is what the Justice Department inspector general found last year, even as he found that the FBI made mistakes in its probe, but those mistakes were not due to political motives, the I.G. found.

Remember, though, this kind of claim isn't new for Trump. During the election, he claimed the Obama administration tapped his phones at Trump Tower, you'll probably remember that one. Well they didn't, it was a bald-faced lie.

On coronavirus testing, the president again made this claim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: -- countries in every continent are seeing increases in cases. We have a rapid increase only in cases where -- it's very interesting, because we're so far ahead of testing, we have more cases.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, that one's a lie and it's nonsensical. Many other countries have more tests per capita and they see less virus. Cancer, for instance, would still exist if there were no tests for cancer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We've tested I guess close to 65 million people right now, and nobody's even close to that number. No other country is close. India would be second at 11 million, and they have 1.5 billion people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:30:00]