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Parents Lose Son to Virus 4 Days after He Went to Urgent Care; Joe Biden, Kamala Harris Make Joint Remarks on Coronavirus; Professor Lindsey Leininger Discusses Biden/Harris Calls for Mask Mandates as COVID Deaths Rise; Trump's Vow on Payroll Tax Jeopardizes Social Security, Medicare. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired August 13, 2020 - 14:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:30:34]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: In Florida, a disturbing new trend in the battle against coronavirus. Statistics from Florida's Department of Health show COVID deaths among younger people are increasing.

If you look at this graph, you can see weekly deaths for two age groups. In yellow, deaths for people age 45 to 64. In red, age 25 to 44 since July. And you can see there's been a substantial rise in the red area. More deaths in that younger category.

Epidemiologists are studying why but they say race seems to be a factor.

In that younger age category, 25 to 44, African Americans makeup just 18 percent of Florida's population but they're accounting for 44 percent of coronavirus deaths.

One of those casualties was Herman Castro. He managed a McDonald's and was just 32 when COVID claimed his life last month.

Joining me now are his parents, Miriam Castro and Herman Castro Sr.

I'm so sorry to both of you. I'm so sorry. And I'm so glad you are here to talk about your son.

In that photo, we see he's lit from within. We see he's lit from within. He looks like a very fun person.

Miriam and Castrol, I was wondering if you could tell us about Herman Jr.

HERMAN CASTRO, FATHER OF HERMAN CASTRO JR, WHO DIED OF COVID: He was a friendly guy. Always smiling. Devoted to his church.

Everyone liked him. Good soon and devoted to his church and to his kids. He had two kids that he left behind because of his terrible -- like I say, he was charming to everybody. Everybody is knowing him. They have always said something good about him. That's how he was.

KEILAR: And, Miriam, I see you -- I see the sadness and I see the happiness at remembering how wonderful a person he is.

MIRIAM CASTRO, MOTHER OF HERMAN CASTRO JR, WHO DIED OF COVID: Yes, I remember my son. He loved me. He loved everybody. Good man, good friend. Good father. Responsibility for everything. My heart is broke because I miss my son. Forever.

KEILAR: Yes. I know he loved his mama.

And I think in his case, one of the really difficult things to understand, Herman, is just how quickly this escalated. Because I know that you spoke on the phone, that you guys spoke on the phone with him the day before he died. And he said he was feeling better.

You were caught by surprise. Tell us about that.

H. CASTRO: I was working a shift. I work morning shift. He called me up the day before he died saying he was feeling better. The next day, I had a phone call.

The next day he passed. He told me that he had breakfast that morning. And next day I got this phone call, so they had to rush me out of the shift I was on. And put me on a 14-hour flight to New York and then I fly home.

KEILAR: And I know, Herman, that's incredibly difficult for you, having not been able to be there with your son and with your family when this happened.

Miriam, we see in the photos of your son, we see some beautiful children. Will you tell us who he is leaving behind?

M. CASTRO: (INAUDIBLE)

[14:35:04]

H. CASTRO: He left behind two beautiful kids, Amy and Josiah --

M. CASTRO: Josiah --

H. CASTRO: Josiah. And they miss him. He was very, very close to them. Whenever you see him, they was with him. They miss him a lot.

KEILAR: And, Miriam, I know you couldn't be with him at that hospital. Could you tell me a little bit about the last conversations that you had with him?

M. CASTRO: He called for Facetime Wednesday and he tell me, Ma, I love you, Ma, I love you very much. Tell my sister be careful because this is no jokey. The COVID is no jokey, man. Tell everybody in my family take care of yourself. Please, I love you, Ma, I love you very much. I love you.

KEILAR: Herman and Miriam, I am so sorry he's gone. And I thank you for talking to us about Herman Jr.

And I hope you can take very good care of each other. I know you can't replace your son. And I hope you guys can take good care of each other.

H. CASTRO: Thank you.

M. CASTRO: Thank you.

H. CASTRO: Thank you for being with us.

KEILAR: We'll be back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:40:09]

JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: -- had experts on the call about a range of issues. We talked about school openings. We talked about the distribution of a vaccine, if and when one arrives, and what plans are being made for it.

We talked about the racial disparities that exist and how it is -- COVID-19 is affecting different races differently.

And we talked about the continued lack of PPE protective equipment and testing capacity and the like.

But -- and I put out a comprehensive plan over the last three months on each of these things.

But today, I want to talk about one thing, very straight forward. Doesn't have anything to do with Democrats, Republicans or Independents. It has to do with a simple proposition.

Every single American should be wearing a mask when they're outside for the next three months, at a minimum. Every governor should mandate, every governor should mandate mandatory mask wearing.

The estimates by the experts are it will save over 40,000 lives in the next three months, 40,000 lives, and people act responsibly.

And it's not about your rights. It's about your responsibilities as an American. The fact is, as Americans are lining up to give blood, Americans volunteer all time for food banks and local charities and supporting neighbors in need. Well, this is no different. Well, this is no different.

Wearing a mask is less about you -- although it does help, depending on the mask. But it's about preventing other people from getting sick.

Wearing a mask will give life of a clerk in your local store or letter carrier, your child's teacher. It will increase their prospects of not contracting the virus.

Even though it's uncomfortable, we're not used to it, wearing a mask is going to get our kids back to school sooner and safer.

Wearing a mask, every American wearing masks outdoors is going to get our businesses back and we're going to get our country back on track.

But again, when I'm occasionally confronted with a person in public about wearing a mask, I say, look, this is America. Be a patriot, protect your fellow citizens. Protect your fellow citizens. Step up. Do the right thing. Do the right thing.

There's overwhelming evidence, overwhelming evidence that the mask, and depending on the type of mask you wear, increases, expanding the prospect that you, if you're a carrier and you don't know it, that you will not infect anyone when you cough, sneeze, sing, shout.

A lot of people are dying. We're up over 160,000 people dead so far. And

I'll end by saying as it goes back to the study months ago by Columbia University, saying that we didn't have to be this way. If the president had acted sooner, would have saved -- just one week earlier, would have saved some 30,000 lives.

I hope we've learned a lesson. I hope the president has learned a lesson.

But again, this is not about Democrat, Republican or independent. It's about saving American's lives.

So, let's institute mask mandate nationwide, starting immediately. And we will save lives. The estimates is we'll save over 40,000 lives over the next three months that is done.

Let me turn it over to my colleague and running mate. She has a few comments to make.

(CROSSTALK)

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESUMPTIVE VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Thanks, Joe.

That's what real leadership looks like. We just witnessed real leadership, which is Joe Biden said that, as a nation, we should all be wearing a mask for the next three months because it will save lives.

[14:45:01]

And the thing about Joe that the American people know is that his role of leadership in our country has always been about doing what's best for the people of our country, best for their health, wellbeing, and their families. That's what real leadership looks like.

And when Joe talks about his priorities, he knows and he cares about the fact that we have, as a nation, witnessed 165,000 people who, just in the last few months, have died in our country.

We know those individuals represent families, loved ones, grandparents, parents, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles. People mourning their loss every day. So, what real leadership looks like is Joe Biden. To speak up,

sometimes telling us the stuff we don't necessarily want to hear but we need to know.

And the need for this mandatory mask wearing will also be about what Joe has articulated and what a Biden/Harris administration will do in terms of creating a pandemic testing board to get tens of millions of testing kits where needed, to build a public health jobs corps, hiring at least 100,000 Americans, to lead us through contact tracing, as soon as we take office.

And to chart a clear path forward for a safe and effective vaccine. And guarantee every American, every American equal access to it by investing $25 billion, which is Joe's plan, $25 billion in manufacturing and distribution.

And when Joe talks about this, I think it's important that the American people looking at the election coming up, ask the current occupant of the White House: When am I going to get vaccinated? When am I actually going to get vaccinated?

Because there may be grand gestures offered about a vaccine, but it doesn't matter until you can answer the question, when am I going to get vaccinated.

So, again, Joe Biden is about real leadership in our country.

And I'm honored to be with you, Joe.

Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Senator Biden, what goal -- (INAUDIBLE)

KEILAR: I at least wanted you to hear the questions. We're not getting answers. We want to be able to ask more questions. This is an important part of the process of covering a candidate, right? I just want you to know we're asking the questions.

That is our Arlette Saenz today in the pool today.

Also, just to talk about what they're calling for a mask mandate and Harris trying to poke holes in the president's promises on a vaccine.

With me now, I want to talk to Lindsey Leininger, a public health educator, a clinical professor at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. She has experience in data-driven health policy.

Lindsey, I want talk to you because what we're seeing is today comes on the same day Dr. Fauci and the CDC Director Robert Redfield have contradicted the president's sunny outlook on the virus and they're giving some pretty dire warnings.

What are you taking to the bank?

LINDSEY LEININGER, PUBLIC HEALTH EDUCATOR AND CLINICAL PROFESSOR, DARTMOUTH'S TUCK SCHOOL OF BUSINESS: Thanks so much for having me. It's great to be here.

KEILAR: Of course.

LEININGER: So, I listen on the data and the science first. I don't opine on politics. I look at the data and the data has me worried. That said, I have a lot of hope that our actions over the coming months, will help make for a better outcome.

KEILAR: How essential is it when you consider a vaccine that's widely accessible to Americans, best case scenario, is maybe a year away, when we talk best-case scenario?

LEININGER: Best practices are crucially important. And they are in our control. We can all wash our hands, wear our mask, and keep our space. So, I think that's a hopeful message.

That we don't have to wallow in fear while we're waiting for a vaccine, but we can take action to improve our health and that of others.

KEILAR: Lindsey, I know you've been looking at lot of data when it comes to restaurants. If you look at where we are, 5.2 million confirmed cases. Talk about how indoor dining is contributing to the spread of the coronavirus.

LEININGER: So, it's heartbreaking to say but, unfortunately, indoor dining and indoor socializing of any kind with crowds is very risky activity in spreading the virus.

[14:50:06]

These are places we go to build and nurture community. And, as a person, I'm -- I'm really missing these places and spaces. And as someone who cares, as a Dartmouth grad, friends of local institutions, Lou's Restaurant and Bakery, I want to support him and his workers.

This is hard news. Unfortunately, as a scientist, I have a responsibility to look at the data and articulate clearly that indoor dining is dangerous. It is risky, and unfortunately it will make things worse.

KEILAR: What about outdoor dining?

I've seen so many places where I've gone that, here where I live in Washington, D.C., a lot of restaurants are taking their dining almost entirely outside. Some of them have parking lots that they're now converting to the restaurant. It's not functional in places where it's incredibly hot but a lot of patrons certainly are weathering the temperatures.

Is that safe? LEININGER: As a native Texan, I certainly understand the capacity to

continue eating outdoors at restaurants, even throughout the summer heat.

I think it is certainly safer than dining indoors, and unfortunately, public health scientists like me never really feel comfortable saying, oh, something's totally safe.

If we think of risk as a gradient. We can think of indoor dining as risky, eating at your House and not risky, and everything else lies in between. Outdoor dining is definitely safer than indoor dining.

KEILAR: Definitely safer than indoor dining.

Lindsey, thank you so much. I think everyone is trying to feel their way through this. And it's so helpful to have you come and tell us what the data says.

Lindsey Leininger, thanks.

LEININGER: Thank you.

KEILAR: I want to bring Jeff Zeleny back in to talk about what we just saw coming from one of the first events we saw from former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris.

The big headline, they seem to be calling for a national mask mandate as they are proposing an alternative to President Trump.

ZELENY: Right. We heard Joe Biden say, calling on governors to impose a national mask mandate. He said, for three months, the former vice president said for a three-month period of time, a national mandate saying it could save up to 40,000 lives. He's calling on governors to do this.

This comes after a briefing he and Senator Harris had for a little more than an hour or so. A briefing from, from several medical advisers as well as economic advisers, including Janet Yellen, former chair of the Federal Reserve, and a briefing on the state of coronavirus and the economy.

It was the headline, you said, a mask mandate for three months. At least three months.

Then, of course, Senator Harris said this is what real leadership looks like. This is politics. The Biden campaign trying to show a sharp contrast between what the White House is saying or not saying about this and what they would do.

It's unclear, of course, if a president could actually do a mandate but hung it on governors specifically to do that.

This raises a host of questions. Republicans governors, of course, filing lawsuits against Democratic mayors in Atlanta, Georgia, for instance. This is not about politics, Democrats or Republicans, Joe Biden said.

I believe, he said, it's patriotism. It's a patriotic act to try to save other people's lives. It's not about rights. It's about your responsibilities as an American.

Certainly, different language than we heard President Trump say from the White House.

KEILAR: All right, Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much for that.

ZELENY: Sure.

KEILAR: Next, a judge in Philadelphia refusing to wear a mask, even asking people in his courtroom to take off theirs. What is that about?

[14:54:03]

Plus, airlines changing rules on what kind of masks you can wear on a flight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Just in, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has withdrawn his lawsuit against Atlanta's Mayor Keisha Lance Bottom after she issued a city- wide mandate. Governor Kemp has not issued a state-wide mask mandate. He says he will address the issue in a new executive order this weekend.

Top White House economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, and White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, both saying that President Trump has no intention of eliminating the payroll tax, which is a main source for funding for Social Security.

Here's the thing. That's not at all what came out of the president's mouth.

Here's Christin Romans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, President Trump wants a permanent change to how Social Security is funded. He not only wants to defer how payroll taxes are collected, but he wants to eliminate them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The payroll tax, we'll be terminating the payroll tax after I hopefully get elected. We'll be terminating the payroll tax. That will mean anywhere from $5,000 to even more for family and even great for businesses and jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The president claims everyone wants a payroll tax cut. But a number of Republicans pushed back. Most Democrats don't support it. The CARES Act this spring deferred collecting payroll taxes. The White

House, in an executive order, extended that deferral throughout the rest of the year.

[14:59:55]

But the president goes further with a promise to terminate the tax entirely. The president grabbing onto that third rail of politics, proposing changes to Social Security right before an election.

Let's be clear. The payroll tax funds Social Security.