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CDC Director Warns Fall Could Be "Worst" We've Seen; CDC Director: "We Were Underprepared" for Crisis; Dallas County Judge, Clay Jenkins, Discusses Rising Positivity Rate in Texas, Dallas Cowboys Owner Confident They'll Play Before Fans; Trump Press Briefing: Israel & UAE Agree to Historic Peace Deal. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired August 13, 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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[11:00:20]

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

If there was any doubt the United States does not have the coronavirus pandemic under control, the latest numbers put that to rest. The country just saw the deadliest day of the summer so far, with nearly 1,500 deaths reported just yesterday.

Nearly 1,500 Americans killed by the virus. That's the highest number since May and more than double the rate that we were seeing in early June.

Deaths are rising in 19 states right now. Five states seeing at least a 50 percent increase over the past week.

And while the situation looks bleak, CDC director, Dr. Robert Redfield, is now warning, as we look to the fall, it could get worse unless everyone gets serious and stays serious about the basic measures we all now know help prevent the spread of the virus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, CDC DIRECTOR: I'm asking you to do four simple things, wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands, and be smart about crowds.

If we don't do that, as I said back last April, this could be the worst fall, from a public health perspective, we ever had.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: He's reinforcing a warning that he first offered months ago when some folks thought -- and then some folks thought he was being something maybe a little bit alarmist. But you really cannot consider it alarmist now as we all -- as it all now -- as we see the numbers across the country.

Joining me now is Dr. Seema Yasmin, CNN medical analyst and former CDC disease detective.

Thanks for being here, Dr. Yasmin.

The worst number of deaths this summer, the worst since May. Why you to think that is? What has been going on?

DR. SEEMA YASMIN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: We just have seen these repeated failures, Kate, of the most basic pandemic response steps to be honest.

Right now you talk about the 19 states and five states with really high rates of infection. We only have eight states across the country that are doing the bare minimum level of testing for COVID-19. And that's such an important step in getting this virus under control.

What we're worried about now is that, earlier in the year, in April, of course, we saw those states in the east and the northeast have their crisis point. Then we saw the virus move south, and we saw hot spots in places like Florida, Arizona, here in California, as well.

Now we're seeing warning signs of increasing rates of infection in midwestern states. So we're keeping really close eye on places like Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, those places where infections are starting to rise and actually look higher in rural areas versus metro areas.

So because of these repeated failures in those most basic public health pandemic response steps, instead of seeing this really good pandemic response across the country, we have seen a failed response and, therefore, these kind of circulating hot spots, the northeast, and the south and the west, and now the Midwest.

And we're continuing to see that, if we don't get this under control. And of course, we're now headed into fall and the beginning of flu season.

BOLDUAN: Right. And that then you get the CDC director's warning that this could be the worst fall from a public health perspective that we have ever had. Redfield said before -- he said before, but he's now warning about it and fall is right now around the corner.

What does the worst fall ever look like from a public health perspective if that happens?

YASMIN: Let's think about a regular flu season, not a particularly bad one, even without COVID-19, a bad flu season can start to overwhelm the American healthcare system.

You see millions of people get sick with the flu each year, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands hospitalized and tens of thousands who died.

You know some, years with flu we see like 60,000 or 70,000 Americans die from that infection. Add to that mix COVID-19, which is already stretching resources in many states, you get this double whammy effect.

You can also get people who have COVID-19 either get infected with the flu while they're already sick with COVID-19, because the infection can leave you more vulnerable to other diseases, or they get COVID-19 and get the flu shortly after.

That's why the CDC is saying, you know, last year, just under half of all Americans got the flu vaccine. This year we need at least 6 5 percent of Americans over the age of 6 months to make sure they get their flu shots.

[11:04:59]

BOLDUAN: Redfield is also getting pretty candid about kind of the overall American response to coronavirus. Let me play something else that he said in this new interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REDFIELD: This is the greatest public health crisis that hit this nation in a century that we were underprepared.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: We were underprepared, he says.

He seems to be, I think, generally -- it does feel like Dr. Redfield is speaking out more and more, almost, like Dr. Anthony Fauci, with a message that is maybe in line with reality and facts, but not in line with the messaging coming from the president and the White House.

I'm curious, from your perch as a former CDC person, what do you make of that?

YASMIN: It feels like too little too late, to be honest, Kate. This is a generation-defining crisis, as he says, the worst public health crisis in a century. And yet, folks like him have almost been playing that kind of political card more than their public health card.

Dr. Fauci has overwhelmingly been that truth teller, really been speaking out.

We need more leadership, including folks like Dr. Redfield, to speak to us about the science, to not worry about their careers, and to not worry about the politics of this, to try and take that out as much as possible, speak clearly to Americans, give very clear messaging, not confusing, not mixed messaging.

We absolutely were underprepared. Scientists have been warning about that for years, actually, even specifically about coronaviruses.

We are here now. We need people like him to step up and be truth tellers about how bad this is and how bad it will continue to be if we don't get this under control. BOLDUAN: Yes, no kidding.

Dr. Yasmin, thank you.

YASMIN: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: One state in particular -- is of particular concern today, which is Texas. It reported 324 COVID-19 deaths yesterday.

The positivity rate there, which is one of the most useful indicators of the virus, also a leading indicator, it is flagging the problems that problems are coming before they actually set in. You really see them in the general population.

That state's positivity rate reached a record high of 24.5 percent yesterday. Yet, we are also seeing the testing in the state is declining.

And one health expert told CNN this morning that no matter how you look at it, the situation on the ground in Texas is not good.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. PETER HOTEZ, PROFESSOR & DEAN, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: The positivity rate is alarm alarmingly high and the number of tests dropped off. One possibility is that it is because we're testing more folk -- we're focusing testing on symptomatic individuals, which may -- which may help promote.

The bottom line is there's still a very aggressive COVID epidemic in Texas, even though, overall, the number of cases is plateaued, it plateaued at 100,000 miles an hour.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining me now is Dallas County judge, Clay Jenkins.

Judge, great to have you back on. Thank you so much for being here.

Let's start with the positivity rate, the rate of 24 percent statewide. You said you were seeing good trends in Dallas County, but what is going on in Texas at this moment?

(AUDIO PROBLEM)

JUDGE CLAY JENKINS (D-DALLAS COUNT-TX): One of your -- one of your people is talking to someone else.

BOLDUAN: Oh, let's see if we can -- I think we're having a problem with the Control Room. The Control Room is maybe cutting -- Judge, can you hear me? It is Kate.

JENKINS: I can hear you now, yes.

BOLDUAN: OK, perfect. Got to love this technology we're dealing with these days.

Let me ask you again about the positivity rate in the state. At 24 percent, that is not good. That's statewide. You have said you are seeing some good trends, though, in Dallas County.

But in general, Judge, what is going on in Texas?

JENKINS: We're still in a very precarious place. Our positivity rate in Dallas County is less than half of what it is in the state because we went to masking earlier and because we consistently messaged both from the government and from everyone else the importance of doing those things and keeping you safe here.

But we're still way too high. And we still have to, you know, improve our testing.

So last night. I changed the testing criteria for Dallas County, so that everyone without symptoms could go get tests here in Dallas County, if they are at an essential business under the SISA list, school teachers, construction workers, everybody whose business was opening, whether they were working or not, during the shelter-in-place orders.

And we'll see how it goes for three or four days and then we'll open it up to everybody here in Dallas County. If the capacity allows it.

[11:10:00]

We do struggle with capacity. We have been asking the state and feds for more capacity. But we have seen our testing go down, our demand go down. So that allowed us to open up the criteria. I'm hopeful that will help.

BOLDUAN: Judge, what is your theory on why you're seeing testing decreasing? I think you noted 40 percent decrease in testing at city and county run sites. What is your theory on that?

JENKINS: Well, according to our medical modelers, a lot of that is the masking and some of the things we're doing here is working. And we can see that because our "R" factor is below one. Our hospitalization numbers are going down.

But as you pointed out, Kate, early on, we're talking about going down to about four times where they were when the governors opened Texas, you know, plans started.

We're still at a place of high community spread and we can't let our guard down.

BOLDUAN: With that in mind, with what you're seeing, with the positivity rate the way it is across the state, what about schools? What about sports? Where are you on this, J Do you think schools can safely reopen at this point in your county?

JENKINS: So right now ,schools are not opening until September 8th. There's both the public health authority and doctors -- we pulled together of experts in pediatric infection, child psychology, et cetera, that are meeting to discuss that, we're working very collaboratively with our superintendents.

Here's what the parents need to know. You're going to have a lot more information in Texas before August 25th, which is when I'm going to need you to decide, should schools start, which is no guarantee, in early September, September 8th, whether you want to go virtual or whether you want to go back to school. You'll have a lot more information by then.

We are all working very hard to keep your children safe and get them well educated. Know that everyone is working very, very hard to do the very best they can do for you.

BOLDUAN: With all of this happening, Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, he spoke and says he is very confident, not only that the Cowboys will be playing this season, but also playing in front of fans.

Let me play a bit of what Jerry Jones said at the press conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERRY JONES, OWNER, DALLAS COWBOYS: I'm confident that we have got a very educated situation and that our fans can come and have a safe experience at our stadium.

It will be in pods, of possibly five, 10, 15 different people.

Our stadium is well suited to put together numbers of people that have elected to come and want to watch the Dallas Cowboys play.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Judge, what is your reaction to that? Are you OK with that?

BOLDUAN: Well, that's actually outside of my county. That's over in Tarrant County.

You know, it's -- I don't know about his seating arrangements. With the roof open, if you had people sitting well apart, maybe it is possible for people to sit in a stadium.

I still can't run my head around how you can play football at six-foot distance from one another, and not breathe on one another. So that's going to be a challenge.

I think we're going to see more and more information coming out from medical studies. We've got this new study out linking myocarditis to COVID.

My focus is on the high schools kids, where those possibilities are. I want to really look at those studies as they come out.

I don't want kids to be exposed to something that is going to end their athletic career and cause them problems for the rest of their lives.

BOLDUAN: I understand that, Judge.

Judge, thank you for coming on. Sorry for the technical glitches. Great to see you again. Thank you.

JENKINS: Great to see you. Take care.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much.

All right, we got some breaking news coming in right now. President Trump, from the White House saying that Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to open diplomatic ties in a deal halting the planned annexation of Palestinian land. They're calling it a historic agreement.

He says they will exchange embassies and ambassadors and, quote, "begin cooperation across the board." He said he expects other countries to follow the UAE's lead on this going forward.

We're going to have some more on this breaking news coming out of the White House right after this.

[11:10:48]

We'll be right back.

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[11:15:50]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- Benjamin Netanyahu, of Israel, and Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Zayed, of United Arab Emirates, where they degreed to finalize a historical peace agreement. Everybody said this would be impossible.

(TRUMP PRESS CONFERENCE FROM 11:16:07 TO 11:29:54)

[11:29:54]

TRUMP: We're talking to Israel about that right now.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

TRUMP: You know, you really know your stuff, don't you?

We're not going to talk to you about that. We're going to work something out and we'll talk after it is completed. But it will be very satisfactory.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Why now did they come to an agreement?