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Joe Biden, Kamala Harris Receive COVID-19 Briefing; Anti- vaxxers Spread Lies, Conspiracies Ahead of Vaccine; Parents Sue California Governor for Restrictions on In-Person Learning. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired August 13, 2020 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We're going to talk today -- I've been doing these briefings with two of the four docs up there. Dr. Laurie and Dr. Smith are quoted in the briefings often but this is -- joining us today.

We'll get what I get four times a week, a briefing on the state of coronavirus here and around the world and should and shouldn't be doing.

And usually takes somewhere between an hour and hour and a half and so I just wanted to now -- the Senator will be with me getting it.

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESUMPTIVE VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm looking forward to it. These are some of the brightest minds not only in our country but internationally.

And as the vice president is saying since the beginning of this pandemic it should be the public health professionals that are leading policy in our country to address this lethal pandemic.

And so I'm very much looking forward to this briefing and to catch up with the vice president on the briefings he's been having so far.

(CROSSTALK)

BIDEN: Come on, guys.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: will -- tying to mail-in voting. What do you think about that?

BIDEN: Pure Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, guy, let's go. Let's go. Come.

(CROSSTALK)

BIDEN: -- election. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, let's go. You guys, come, come.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on, guys. Let's go. Let's go. You guys, let's go. Come on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: All right. Senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, is joining me now.

A couple of notes, Jeff. One, not a whole lot of questions from reporters there. We keep pressing the Biden campaign. There needs to be more questions from reporters. We know that.

But the other thing just interesting about the scene is that they're clearly trying to provide alternative and a choice to Americans about, hey, this is what our coronavirus briefing would look like.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, it's a stark contrast. Never mind the campaign rallies, set aside because of coronavirus. But the Biden campaign is clearly using this as a moment to show the serious nature of this. And they are having briefings.

And you heard the former vice president say there he is having the briefings some four times a week or so for more than an hour every morning. And now bringing in Senator Harris for a briefing and learning more this afternoon after the briefing and delivering remarks.

But this is a central theme of this campaign. No question. The contrast is real for voters and people to see what the president is saying at the White House and what Joe Biden is saying.

It is not exactly the Oval Office. Doesn't exactly have the power of incumbency but doing the best they can to replicate that.

And the question at the very end there, from our own Arlette Saenz, who's a pool reporter today, who asked the former vice president about the president's comments on the postal service, saying it's pure Trump, he doesn't want an election.

They should do more questions but that was one quick question there from our Arlette Saenz.

KEILAR: Certainly.

Go, Arlette! Let her ask the questions from Arlette. Let Arlette ask those questions.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Jeff, thank you so much.

ZELENY: You bet. KEILAR: She has good ones.

The U.S. government slow to respond as anti-vaxxers spread lies and conspiracies about the nonexistent COVID vaccine.

Plus, I'll speak live with two parents suing California for not allowing the children inside the classroom. Hear their argument.

And the U.S. officially calls for easing showerhead rules after the president complains about washing his hair.

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[13:38:12]

KEILAR: As the race to develop a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine continues, anti-vaxxers are flooding social media with lies that it contains monkey brains -- it doesn't -- or it's a CIA plot to take over the world -- it isn't.

And still, the government's multi-billion-dollar vaccine effort has yet to create a public education campaign to fight the disinformation.

CNN Senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is joining us now.

You know, Elizabeth, how important is it for Americans to have confidence in a vaccine?

DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, it is so important. If too many Americans don't have confidence and decline the vaccine, it will be very hard to get out of this pandemic.

So I sat down and talked about this with Chelsea Clinton. Not only does she have a public health degree and an adjunct professor at Columbia School of Public Health, but, in addition, she herself is the victim of anti-vaxxers and knows what they're capable of.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MONCEF SLAOUI, HEAD OF OPERATION WARP SPEED: I think it will be a very effective vaccine. That's my prediction.

COHEN (voice-over): Dr. Moncef Slaoui, head of Operation Warp Speed, the government's program to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, says the vaccine could be 90 percent effective or higher, and could be on the market as early as December for those at high risk.

But what if people refuse to get it? A recent CNN poll found that one- third of Americans said they would not try to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, even if the vaccine is widely available and low cost.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't need the vaccination.

COHEN: Some anti-vaccine advocates have been working hard, creating fear of a future coronavirus vaccine. And anti-vaccine lies are appearing online that the vaccine will leave

an invisible digital trackable tattoo. That Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leader in the vaccine effort is actually Satan. That the vaccine is part of a CIA-Illuminati conspiracy to control the world, and it will turn you into this.

[13:40:08]

So now, former first daughter, Chelsea Clinton, is sounding the alarm.

COHEN (on camera): You know, polling has shown that many Americans say they won't get the COVID vaccine when it comes out. Does that worry you?

CHELSEA CLINTON, VACCINE ADVOCATE: Oh my gosh, it terrifies me.

COHEN (voice-over): Through the Clinton Foundation and through international speeches, Clinton has become a leading vaccine advocate.

(on camera): Have anti-vaxxers called you hateful names?

CLINTON: I've been, you know, called a murderer and a fear monger. I get quite a bit of hate.

COHEN (voice-over): Clinton knows personally how strongly anti-vaxxers feel. When she was pregnant with her first child, a woman approached her in a coffee shop.

CLINTON: She looked like it was like deep into my eyes and she just said like, please tell me you won't vaccinate your child. But please don't do that. And I was so taken aback. And I said, no, well of course I'm going to vaccinate my child. She said something along the lines of, their death or damage will be on your head.

COHEN: She says the government needs to act fast to combat this anti- vaccine sentiment.

(on camera): I mean, what do you think of the job that the CDC is doing in the area?

CLINTON: Well they're not doing a job. I mean, they're not doing a job. Nothing really is happening in our country on this front at a coordinated level, from our government, and, you know, from the CDC, who is one of the natural and the historic leader in these areas.

COHEN (voice-over): The CDC did not respond to requests from CNN for comment. Its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says their public health information campaign will soon focus on vaccine safety, efficacy and hesitancy.

Clinton says this should have been done months ago, and the message needs to be loud and clear.

CLINTON: It isn't like, you know, I like iced coffee and my husband likes iced tea like this is not a debate about opinions. This is literally a debate about life and death. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Now if anyone has doubt about the power of the anti-vax movement, think about the measles outbreak last year, the largest outbreak in more than 25 years largely that was largely because of anti-vaxxers -- Brianna?

KEILAR: Elizabeth, thank you so much.

More than a dozen parents are suing California's governor to reopen schools. I'll talk to two parents who say virtual learning is depriving their students.

Plus, lawyers and witnesses fear for their health inside one Philadelphia courtroom and it's because of what one judge refuses to do.

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[13:46:57]

KEILAR: More than 2,000 students, teachers and staff members across several states are in quarantine after at least 230 positive cases of COVID-19 were reported in school districts that resumed in-person learning.

In Georgia alone, nearly 1,500 students and staff are back home after multiple districts reported outbreaks.

And we find similar stories in Mississippi, Alabama, Indiana and Oklahoma, all reporting a spike in positive cases since classes began.

And as parents coast to coast weigh the risks of sending the children back into the classroom, some like my next guests don't have a choice.

As part of California Governor Gavin Newsom's mandate, public schools that are in counties with rising cases above a certain threshold cannot hold in-person classes and they have to meet strict criteria to reopen.

And that mandate prompted Christine Ruiz and Jesse Petrilla to file a lawsuit, along with some other parents, against the governor, with the first hearing on this scheduled for Monday.

Christine and Jesse are joining me now.

Thank you so much to both of you for being with us.

(CROSSTALK)

JESSE PETRILLA, FILED LAWSUIT AGAINST GOVERNOR NEWSOM: Thank you for having us.

KEILAR: So this lawsuit alleges that students will not receive equal access to education.

Tell us, Christine first, why you decided to move forward with this lawsuit.

CHRISTINE RUIZ, FILED LAWSUIT AGAINST GOVERNOR NEWSOM: Sure. I have three boys, two with a diagnosis of autism. My middle son has autism. My younger son has higher functioning autism. They're hands-on learnings. They work with a team, a highly educated educational teacher, professionals, behavioralist and occupational therapists.

And without that team to do that hands-on learning, they're just languishing at home. There's no type of education going on. They cannot sit in front of a computer screen and do Zoom meetings all day long.

It is just regression. It is profound and detrimental in our children.

My children are very cognitively behind and pushed them so much. We've pushed them so far.

And now with this type of regression and escalating behaviors, I'm very worried about how their outlook, their future will be, how will we ever catch up. What is this going to -- how much damage will this be doing in their lifetime?

KEILAR: Christine, I think that is a complaint we've been hearing from a lot of parents whose kids have IEPs and not being fulfilled, not getting that hem they need.

Jesse, tell us about your family situation and why you're moving forward with this lawsuit.

PETRILLA: Sure. I'd like to thank the Center for American Liberty who is backing the lawsuit.

I'm the father of two boys, including a 6-year-old starting kindergarten last year when this all began.

And I noticed a significant decline in engagement and motivation and just overall getting restless around the house. That age, social interactions are such a crucial part of learning.

And the wife and I are lucky that she can stay home with him. But a lot of the working parents are not so fortunate.

[13:50:02]

And this creates such an inequality of the working class and affluent parents with private schools or tutors or childcare.

And keeping out -- keeping the schools closed will affect everyone, especially the lower working class, lower-income families and rural student, who will have far less access of high-speed Internet and needed technology.

Hospitals are reporting higher cases of child abuse. And that's just what's being reported. There's so many cases not being reported where a teacher would notice bruises or ask a kid how he's doing and find out something's going on in the home. And another issue is students who rely on school meals are being left

without proper nutrition.

We believe the negative effects far outweigh the risks.

KEILAR: And so, I want to go through what California is doing here, so our viewers understand, especially those not in California or don't have kids there.

California is going county by county. They look at a county and the rate cannot be over 100 in 100,000 for infections for schools to open.

And so if you're in that category, in that bracket, schools can't be opened and schools have to go past that threshold to have a lower rate than that for a certain period of time before they can reopen. So, strict criteria they have meet.

Christine, you are in Los Angeles County, correct?

RUIZ: Correct.

KEILAR: So, you're at 324.8. So, you're well over it.

And, Jesse, you're in my beloved Orange County, right?

PETRILLA: Right.

KEILAR: So, you're at 197. You're at almost 200 per 100,000. So, you are as well considerably above that threshold.

How do you negotiate that knowing the state have saying, look, we don't think this is a safe threshold. You're in areas that are in hot spots.

Are there other possibilities, maybe seeking out special consideration for students, Christine, who need that additional help? And I think no one is arguing your kids do not need that. I take you with your word with that.

RUIZ: Sure. L.A. County is one -- probably the second-largest county in the United States. We have 88 cities, 140 unincorporated towns. It should not be a blanket all statement for all our schools.

The city I live in has low COVID numbers. Our school district was prepared to open August 11th. They had to decrease the student population by 50 percent. And especially for our special needs children, who have a smaller class size.

So, I think the governor should have maybe let the local cities-- , local school districts see are we prepare and are we following the local county guidelines, protocols and procedures. So, we should have been allowed to open.

My special needs children should not be lumped in with the general education students because that's not to how they learn and that's exactly what's happened. KEILAR: I want to say what the state is saying here. They responded to

your lawsuit. They argue you're relying on inaccurate and outdated beliefs that school-age children do not spread COVID-19.

You responded, "The public has no interest in keeping the schools closed this fall because in-person learning does not meaningfully increase the risk of spreading COVID-19."

Jesse, let me ask you about that. Because there's evidence that they do meaningfully spread that.

We've seen, in Georgia, where places have had to roll back. Even as you make this case that they're very sympathetic to the case, and you're saying you need be on the micro scale about how you're going to approach closing or opening schools.

What do you say to that when you say that in-person learning does not meaningfully increase the risk of spreading COVID-19?

PETRILLA: Brianna, I think you hit another point you're right on. We need a micro approach to this. This should be a local decision. There are districts that have no cases. There are districts that have very few cases that wouldn't meet that threshold.

But having grown up in Orange County, you have to realize there's a vast difference in the demographics, the density between north and south county. This is three million people we're talking about with nearly 30 school districts.

So, for the governor to take this away from the local authority is really unfortunate because, I can tell you, our district came up with mitigated efforts to bring down the risk. Fifty slides in the last schoolboard meeting that talks about temperature checks at the doors, different issues, face masks for teachers. All kinds of things. These are smart people.

[13:54:59]

Look, we have robots driving around on Mars. I think we can figure out how open the school safely.

This is a midday show. A lot of people watching are working from home and some are parents and some are looking for work, some are single parents.

And it is realistic to potentially ask you to watch your kids and do distance learning and play teacher for the next year or should the government do their job and find a way to safely open the schools?

KEILAR: I hear you. If you're alleging this does not increase the risk of spreading, you're going to have to deal with that in court, so I know you'll be prepared for that.

Christine, Jesse, I appreciate this conversation. It's on the minds of so many parents and teachers. Thank you.

PETRILLA: Thank you.

RUIZ: Thank you so much.

KEILAR: Just in, Dr. Anthony Fauci speaking moments ago, saying he's not happy with where the U.S. is in the pandemic fight, becoming the second of the president's task force members to contradict him today.

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