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CDC Director Says, Virus is Greatest Public Health Crisis to Hit U.S. in 100 Years; Biden and Harris Vow to Lead U.S. out of Pandemic. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired August 13, 2020 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NEWSROOM: A good Thursday morning to you, I'm Jim Sciutto.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN NEWSROOM: And I'm Poppy Harlow.

The deadliest day this summer so far from coronavirus and a dire warning in terms of what is ahead for the fall. The head of the CDC, Robert Redfield, warned the virus combined with the coming flu season could cause catastrophe. He also says United States, and this is really important, he says we were underprepared for this crisis. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, CDC DIRECTOR: This is the greatest public health crisis that hit this nation in a century that we were underprepared. And we need to owe it to our children and grandchildren that this nation is never underprepared again for a public --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: He's right. It is also starkly different message than what the president keeps saying over and over again.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Well, just this morning, a new warning as the debate rages on the question whether to play college sports in the fall. A top health expert told the NCAA that some colleges are moving ahead with playing, they were moving into very troubled waters, his warning.

All this as one school district outside of Atlanta, Georgia, which fully reopened last week, now has more than 1,100 students, teachers and staff under quarantine. Goodness.

Well, let's discuss all this with Dr. Paul Offitt, he's the Director for the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Doctor, it's good to have you on.

Let's first start reiterating the CDC director's comments that this is a country that was unprepared to respond to this. He's an appointee of the Trump administration, right? Tell us the importance of that.

DR. PAUL OFFITT, DIRECTOR, VACCINE EDUCATION CENTER AT CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: Well, I mean, I can guarantee you this, this coming year, we will have an epidemic of influenza, as we have for every year. And last year, influenza caused about 780,000 people to be hospitalized, 60,000 people to die and 50 million people to be infected.

What happened with that epidemic, seasonal epidemic last year is that it started as it always starts, November, December, peaks in January, February starts to come down, March and April. March and April was when SARS-COV-2 came into this country and started killing people. So it was sequential. We had flu epidemic, then we had the SARS-COV-2 pandemic.

This year, what is most likely to happen is those two things are going to happen at the same time. We are woefully unprepared for that. And I think that the least we can do is not be passive players here. We make sure we social distance, make sure we wear masks and most importantly make sure we --

SCIUTTO: Yes, that's remarkable point, Poppy. He's basically saying, we were unprepared for the start of the outbreak, and now perhaps even worse, we're unprepared for the second wave.

OFFITT: Yes. And, Dr. Offitt, to exactly that point that you make, I just took my two-year-old into the doctor just for regular check and the doctor said make sure you bring both your kids back for the flu shot, I'm going to have it in early September. Can you just speak to any parents out there? Because I know the number of parents not getting regular MMR vaccines is way down now because they're scared to take their kids in?

For any parent listening, what do they need to know about getting the flu vaccine given what we're up against and the CDC director saying, quote, this could be the worst fall from a public health perspective that we've ever had?

OFFITT: No, Poppy, that's a great point. I mean, we know what happened over the last few months associated with the pandemic is people, parents have been scared to take their children to the doctor's office, scared to be around a collection of other children who may or may not be sick.

So, therefore, the immunization rates against measles, against whooping cough or pertussis, against influenza were down. And so you wonder going into this next winter season whether that's going to be even compound the problem further.

What will be interesting to see is, assuming that we do maintain some level of social distance and some level of wearing masks, that actually may work against influenza virus, meaning that the virus will be less easily transmitted as we do that, and also work against measles, work against pertussis. It will be interesting to see what happens to those -- the instances of those infection also as we head into the winter. [10:05:00]

SCIUTTO: Yes, the mask works for flu too. It's interesting, go to Asia, typically, in those seasons, you've seen that kind of mask- wearing behavior for years.

I wonder, Dr. Offitt, if it is a mistake to constantly speak about this nationally, whether it comes to questions of schools or restaurants or whatever, that -- you know, that the CDC's guidelines are that if a community, district, city, state, is within certain benchmarks, that it is safe, for instance, to open schools with certain restrictions. I mean, is that the way folks who are listening right now should be looking at this?

OFFITT: Yes, I think that's exactly right. I mean, in areas that are on fire with this virus, like in Florida, Texas, Arizona, Southern California, it is -- I think it is harder to go back to school. But in areas where that is not true, we have gotten some control of this infection, it is important to go back to school. I think it is important for the economy to go back to school.

There're so many good things to come with going back to school, but do it in a safe way. And I think that's what should be up, frankly, to each of the school districts to determine how best to lessen the risk. You're not going to eliminate the risk but at least dramatically lessen the risk of the transmission of this virus.

HARLOW: Well, one just final question for you, Doctor. You're a member of the FDA's Vaccine Advisory Committee. I was reading a piece you were quoted in a few weeks ago in The New York Times, but I'm glad we have you on now to address it. Because you said, quote, there are a lot of people inside the process who are very nervous about whether the administration is going to reach their hand into the Warp Speed bucket, pull out one or two or three vaccines and say, we tested it on a few people, it is safe, and now we're going to roll it out.

Another source of mine at the FDA said that he has a similar concern. You're really worried, it sounds, like that politics is rushing this?

OFFITT: Sure. I mean, you can see how that would happen, coming up on election, November 3rd. And it would be great, I think, for -- you know, for at least the perception would be, look, we've tested this virus in a few thousand people, we get good immune responses, and to just roll it out. I mean, it's essentially just what Vladimir Putin said. He said he's going to rollout a vaccine that hasn't been tested yet. If we did that here, I think it would be a major hit, I think, on vaccine confidence in this country, which is already fragile.

But you can see the temptation for the administration, which has been willing to perturb science.

SCIUTTO: Did it on hydroxychloroquine, might almost want to expect it with the vaccine as well. Dr. Paul Offit, thanks very much.

OFFITT: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Now, CNN's Nick Valencia, he's in Atlanta, Georgia.

Nick, so three high schools, they've shut down due to positive cases after just reopening last week. I mean, do they have any sense of how this happened, right? And does this mean they're now closed for good?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, all sorts of challenges for those districts, Jim, that decided to open up. They're among the first in the nation to reopen for face-to-face learning. North Paulding High School, where we saw that viral photo of students in the hallway packed shoulder to shoulder, not following social distancing recommendations, a student suspended over leaking that photograph though.

Now, we're seeing administrators there at that school close the school for the rest of the week and pivot to hybrid learning starting on Monday, hoping that that will help stem the cases of coronavirus that we're seeing there.

Look, as we're seeing all sorts of fallout in these districts in Georgia, including north of Paulding, in Cherokee County, where Allison Webb, who was a teacher of Spanish and French at a local high school there until last week, when she resigned because she felt that the reopening plan put her life in danger. She said she brought this to the attention of the superintendent's office, who says that they emphasized happy talk and ignore the realities.

Take a listen to what Allison said.

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ALLISON WEBB, FORMER SEQUOYAH HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER: Unfortunately instead of listening to scientists and being a brave leader and truly making decisions based on the welfare of his staff, faculty, community and students, he chose to make decisions based on politics in this very red community.

I have 20 years under my belt. I am a Spanish and French teacher, and I am having to reinvent myself at the age of 44.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Allison Webb taking a stand not just for her own family, but for her colleagues, Jim and Poppy. She said she speaks to her colleagues on a daily basis, a lot of teachers, she says, in that county are afraid to speak up out of fear of reprisal or losing their jobs. Allison Webb saying she wants to be a megaphone for those educators whose lives are being put at risk now. Jim, Poppy?

SCIUTTO: Nick Valencia in Atlanta, thanks very much.

While the president praises schools in Florida for reopening, an entire elementary school class in that state is now under quarantine, just one day after the school re-opened.

CNN's Rosa Flores is in Miami. Rosa, as Fauci said at the very beginning, this virus goes by its own timeline, not by anybody else's. ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, you're absolutely right, and we were all expecting this. It was a matter of when it was going to happen, not if it would happen for a student to end up in school, display symptoms and then the school have to act. Well, I just learned from Martin Schools that the total number of children impacted is 24.

[10:10:03]

Jim, they were still trying to figure out how many children were impacted by this specific incident.

Now, here is what we know. One day after Martin County schools reopened for in-person instruction, there was a child that displayed COVID-like symptoms. They, of course, tried to figure out how many children were impacted. They know that nine children were inside a classroom and then a bus route was also impacted. They just figured out that 15 students were impacted by that bus route.

It is unclear exactly how or when this student displayed the symptoms and when the bus route was impacted, whether it was in the morning or in the afternoon. We're still trying to figure out all that.

But we do know that Martin County is one of 13 counties in this state that reopened for in-person instruction this week. This is according to Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran. He made this announcement from the White House yesterday. President Donald Trump praising Corcoran and the State of Florida for doing a great job for reopening schools, this is after Corcoran announced from the White House, Jim and Poppy, yesterday that by August 30th.

And this is when they're expecting for all the school districts to reopen, that 70 to 80 percent of Florida students will be in face-to- face instruction here in the State of Florida. But, that, of course, is assuming that the teacher's union are going to lose their legal bat until court. I told you last hour that that court hearing was happening. It was a lot of procedural thing. Here is the highlight tomorrow, there will be a motion to dismiss hearing at 11:00 A.M. Jim and Poppy?

HARLOW: We'll watch that very closely. Rosa, thanks for the reporting.

Let's go to California now, a state that saw more than 11,000 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. But I should note, and, Stephanie Elam, this is important, you can help explain that more than half of those were from this backlog caused by data processing errors?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, exactly, Poppy. And we knew that they had this issue, we knew that they fixed the issue, but we also knew that this week, we were going to see these numbers added into the cases here.

So of that 11,645 cases that they announced yesterday, 6,212 of those were a backlog, so more than half by far, the positivity at 6.2 percent over the last 14 days. We were hovering at about 7.5 percent for most of July. So that's good news there. Governor Newsom saying that this is an indication, we are turning a corner in the pandemic. He also said it is the most urgent economic recovery tool is to stabilize the virus and he says masks work.

Now, here in Los Angeles County, the numbers also looking better, also seeing 700 cases that are a backlog there. But listen to what Mayor Eric Garcetti said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI (D-LOS ANGELES, CA): We are making good progress, Los Angeles, together.

Our success over the last three weeks is real. It is tangible. And it is reflected in our numbers. The promising signs are evidence that our daily actions of wearing masks and washing our hands, of keeping our distance and staying home, that these things work, and they are working to drive down the curve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: Now, Hospitalizations have been trending lower here in Los Angeles County, which has been the hardest hit of all of the counties in California. And if you look at hospitalizations in the state, over the last 14 days on average, trending down about 19 percent. That is the good news.

But the point here that the governor was really trying to make is that people want the economy to open back up here in California, they could all do their part if they continue to wear the masks. Just because we're seeing numbers going down does not mean it is time to take the foot off of the accelerator and make sure that everyone is doing their part, Jim and Poppy.

SCIUTTO: It is a consistent lesson, we all got to do our part. Stephanie Elam, thanks very much.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are set to meet with health experts today on the coronavirus. This is to make the president's handling of the pandemic a major focus, a major issue for the 2020 race.

HARLOW: All right. All you parents out there with questions about schools, as school districts, some of them face rising infections, you're looking for alternatives, we have one teacher joining us, preschool teacher, with a program called Preschool on the Go. We're going to talk to her about that.

And also this, a believer of the baseless conspiracy theory QAnon, who also held some racist remarks is, this morning, one step closer to Congress and gaining enthusiastic support from the president.

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HARLOW: Big promises and stinging attacks as the newly formed presumptive Democratic ticket takes aim at the president's coronavirus response. Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, set to soon meet with their own team of public health experts as they push their plan for America.

SCIUTTO: It could be a key issue in this election. Arlette Saenz, she's in Delaware this morning. She has been covering the vice president.

Arlette, do they have specifics in this plan?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris has said that they are going to guided by science and by public health experts in relating to the coronavirus pandemic, and that's the task at hand today. The two of them will be meeting for a briefing on COVID-19 from a team of public health experts and then give some remarks a little bit later.

We're still working to find out who will be in that meeting, but Biden back in March formed his own health advisory council to focus on COVID-19.

And yesterday, as the two candidates made their debut as the Democratic ticket, we heard both Biden and Harris go after President Trump on the coronavirus, on the economy, and Biden also challenged and took on President Trump over some of those attacks that he's already made against Senator Harris.

Take a listen to a little bit of what both of them had to say.

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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESUMPTIVE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE: Donald Trump has already started his attacks, calling Kamala, quote, nasty, whining about how she's, quote, mean to his appointees.

[10:20:09]

It is no surprise because whining is what Donald Trump does best.

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D), PRESUMPTIVE VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The case against Donald Trump and Mike Pence is open and shut. Just look where they have gotten us. More than 16 million out of work, millions of kids who cannot go back to school, a crisis of poverty, of homelessness afflicting black, brown and indigenous people the most.

It didn't have to be this way.

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SAENZ: Now, coronavirus has drastically transformed what campaigning looks like this year. You saw them yesterday at that socially distanced event with no crowd of supporters. And I asked Biden if we should expect to see him and Harris together in person on the campaign trail. He told me, yes, but with a big caveat, if the science allows it. Jim and Poppy?

SCIUTTO: Arlette Saenz, thanks very much.

We're joined now by Alabama Congresswoman Terri Sewell. She's also a member of the Intelligence Committee and Vice Chair of the Ways and Means Committee. Congresswoman, thanks so much for taking the time this morning.

If you'll allow me, I'm going to set the politics aside just for a moment because there is so much history there for yourself and for the Harris choice. You're Alabama's first black congresswoman. You were the first black valedictorian of Selma High School. I don't have to tell you about the history of that. Tell us what it means to you personally to see the first black woman chosen as vice presidential candidate on a major ticket.

REP. TERRI SEWELL (D-AL): This is such a historic moment in time, but it is deeply personal for me. I've had the opportunity to work with Kamala over the years and she has actually traveled to Selma several times as part of the faith and politics pilgrimage that John Lewis used to lead. I most recently spoke to her during -- we both attended -- we're part of the delegation that Pelosi put together to go to the funeral.

But I have to tell you, she's not only a wonderful colleague, fighting for (INAUDIBLE) but she's also my sorority sister. I'm wearing pink in her honor today.

HARLOW: Right, the colors of your sorority.

To build on Jim's question, you know, when you talk about Selma, and you talk about the infamous Edmund Pettus Bridge in your district, you spoke to Senator Harris at the funeral for the late congressman, John Lewis. And one of the things -- one of the first things that she called for when she was named to the ticket is to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Let's listen to that for a moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Root out systemic racism in our justice system, and pass a new voting rights act, a John Lewis Voting Rights Act that will ensure every voice is heard and every voice is counted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: What would the late congressman, John Lewis, think about this moment? He was your friend.

SEWELL: He would be so excited to live to see the first African- American president of the United States, and now in the wake of his death, to see the progression, the march towards a more perfect union continuing in the United States by the selection of Kamala Harris, Senator Kamala Harris as the first African-American vice presidential nominee of a major party.

I think that this is exactly what John Lewis and those foot soldiers were fighting for. The courage and the temerity, the audacity they had, they knew that they would -- that their courage would be rewarded by a more perfect democracy for us and to see that they are standing on his shoulders, we're all standing on his shoulders is critically important.

You know, Poppy, I get a chance as a lead Democrat on the HR-4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, I've sponsored it now for three successive congresses since that bill was -- since the Voting Rights Act was gutted by the Supreme Court in 2013. And I spoke with John many times in Selma and in Washington fighting for the restoration of the Voting Rights Act.

We need that more than ever as the president continues to talk about fraud and to denigrate mail-in voting. We need to ensure full protections of the American people are there for voting for prosperity.

SCIUTTO: The sad fact is that that Voting Rights Act, that's an issue for the next term after the election. As you say, we have an election 80 some odd days away. And the president is very transparently, it seems, attempting to restrict the vote. This morning, he said, I oppose more funding for the post office and they need that funding to process more mail-in votes. I mean, it's playing out before our eyes very publicly.

[10:25:02]

Do you believe the president is trying to suppress the vote in this election? And what should folks at home do as a result of that to make sure their vote is counted?

SEWELL: I absolutely think that this president, he has been very transparent in his feelings about voting by mail and voting in general. I mean, he started off by talking about how much fraud there is in our elections, which is just simply not true. The reality is that while we no longer have to count how many marbles are in a jar, we still -- old battles have become new again. We still have voter suppression. It is far greater that we would have voter suppression than voter fraud.

And what I urge all Americans to do, as I do my constituents, we have to have a voting plan for this November election. Now more than ever, we must decide how we're going to vote, make sure that we meet the deadlines for the absentee ballots, we need to be voting if we're going to vote by mail, turn it in early. We know that there have been threats to the postal service.

And so I think that the legacy of John Lewis is a legacy that we all can continue to promote by voting in every election, state and local, in fact. And we have to do what we can in Congress to ensure that.

HARLOW: Congresswoman, I do have one question for you on what's happening or not happening right now in Congress when it comes to the more than 30 million unemployed Americans since the beginning of this pandemic.

When it comes to the lack of an agreement in Congress on a new stimulus bill, J.P. Morgan out with a pretty dire warning this week, saying that if this is all we get for fiscal policy for the rest of the year, it would represent a significant downside risk to our growth outlook. I mean, that's a huge warning about the U.S. economy that's already in peril.

I just wonder what you say to Democratic leadership, right, that's who listens to you on this, in terms of where maybe should they come down a little bit more, come off this $600 a month a week unemployment number, for example, in terms of assistance in cash, bring it to 400. Where should they give, in your opinion, to get a deal?

SEWELL: I think that Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Schumer have really given a lot in the negotiations. We have to get back to the negotiating table. And, in fact, we in our Democratic caucus had a call with Speaker Pelosi recently in which we all expressed our concern about the Republicans not coming back to the table. We know that the relief for the American people will come from our efforts.

You know, the paltry solution that the president announced at his country club does not nearly cover the kind of relief that the American people need. I think that it is critically important that we know that we have already come down from our 3 trillion effort that we passed over 90 days ago, the HEROES Act. Speaker Pelosi asked that we meet in the middle, that they come down -- they come up a trillion, we go down a trillion, let's meet in the middle, let's get something done for the American people. We deserve that.

I think that it is -- I see the unemployment lines just soar in Alabama. And I am trying to do my very best because my district is one of the poorest districts in the State of Alabama. I'm seeing my constituents struggle to make ends meet. It is unacceptable that this administration came to the table with a paltry $250,000 nutrition assistance. Clearly, we need more.

We came to the table with $60 billion. We need to meet in the middle for the American people and I do believe that we will.

SCIUTTO: Congresswoman Terri Sewell, thanks so much for joining the broadcast.

SEWELL: Thank you.

HARLOW: Well, CNN is exploring the past, the present and the future of women's rights and voting rights in the U.S. and around the world. For more, go to cnn.com/represented. We'll be right back.

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