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Trump Administration Manipulates Agencies in Middle of Crises; Nurse on Ventilator Survives Two-Month Coma Says, It Wasn't My Time; Guidance on Asymptomatic Testing Restored to CDC Website. Aired 1- 1:30p ET

Aired September 18, 2020 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

DOUGLAS MORTON, CHIEF OF BIOSPHERIC LABORATORY, NASA'S GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER: Landscapes are more vulnerable now to fires both small and large.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Douglas Morton, grateful for your insights and grateful for your work, sir. Thank you so much.

I hope to see you Sunday morning at 8:00 for Inside Politics. Brianna Keilar picks up our coverage right now. Have a good afternoon.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: John, thank you so much. I'm Brianna Keilar, and I want to welcome viewers here in the United States and around the world.

In the middle of a global pandemic crisis, the Trump administration is manipulating what you see and hear. Politics is superseding science and the good of the people, and it's backed up by evidence.

Just this week alone, CNN has confirmed what The New York Times first reported, that the Trump administration sent the CDC a document of controversial guidance that people without coronavirus symptoms don't need to get tested even if they have been exposed to someone with coronavirus. But we're now learning that CDC scientists objected to that but it was published anyway.

The president demeaned and dismissed the CDC director's testimony under oath that masks can be even more important than a vaccine and that a vaccine likely won't reach the general public until next summer.

And a former top aide to Vice President Pence on the task force, who had been there since the beginning has resigned and is accusing the president of a flat-out disregard for human life, saying the response was all about the election.

And we're learning the White House nixed a plan to send 650 million masks to Americans in April through the mai, because they say they didn't want to spark panic.

Also on the post office, a federal judge just rebuked the president and his postmaster general for, quote, a politically motivated attack to make changes to the service that could disrupt the 2020 election.

And after rebuking his own CDC director, the president, once again, defends Russia and Vladimir Putin, rebuking the FBI director he handpicked after Chris Wray testified that the Russians are, right now, interfering in the election trying to hurt Joe Biden.

It's become clear, the administration knows the solutions and the methods to manage these crises, they're just actively ignoring them in the service of politics instead of public health. There is no ignorance defense here. This is negligence and it's killing people and threatening the democratic process in the United States.

At the rate that the U.S. is going, it could be a day or so before the nation reaches 200,000 coronavirus deaths. It's a tragedy that doctors, scientists and health experts have been warning about for weeks because they say it was not inevitable but 100 percent preventable.

And it's happening as the number of cases are going up once again across the nation. The map there on the right, a lot of orange and red that you're seeing there shows the difference from just Monday.

30 states are now seeing an uptick with seven of them showing a jump of 50 percent or more new cases compared to last week.

Also for the first time this week, the new infections reported in a single day exceeded 40,000 with 870 deaths.

CNN's Tom Foreman is here with more on how the pandemic is impacting the country. Tell us, Tom, what you are learning.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you look, Brianna, at the seven-day moving average, you can see in this graphic how it had been going generally down. That trend has once again reversed and it is moving up to around just on the doorstep of 40,000 new cases a day. That is a 13 percent increase of where we were just a week ago.

And it is not just new cases. If you look at the number of deaths, you can see the same trend. It was headed down. Now it is turning back up. We're now at 838 new deaths per day from the COVID virus.

And it is not limited to one area. Look at this graphic that shows you the trend lines across the country. That blue one there high that's high over there on the left side of the screen, that was the northeast, that was when New York was just soaring in infections and deaths. And you see brought it way down.

But everywhere else, look what's happened, upturn, upturn, upturn, even though they try to bring it down for a while. The orange one on top, that's the south. That would include Texas, which now has become the second state to cross the 700,000 case line in this. So none of these trend lines look good.

And one thing I really want you to notice here is Wisconsin. Look at what happened to Wisconsin with the number of cases that have been happening up there in Wisconsin. Yesterday, they hit the highest number that they have had so far.

Yesterday, they produced the highest number of cases even as the president was at a rally there saying, look, we are doing amazing things with vaccines and therapeutics. And he specifically said, people just won't believe the numbers. It's not what he meant, Brianna, but look at these numbers, yes, they are hard to believe.

KEILAR: They certainly are. Tom, thank you for walking us through that.

Vice President Pence's former lead staffer on the White House coronavirus task force is pulling back the curtain on the administration's mismanagement of the pandemic and the president's callousness about the health of Americans.

[13:05:06]

Olivia Troye left the job in July and she is now appearing in a new video by the group, Republican Voters Against Trump and endorsing Joe Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLIVIA TROYE, FORMER AIDE TO MIKE PENCE: The truth is he doesn't actually care about anyone else but himself.

Towards the middle of February, we knew it wasn't a matter of if COVID would become a big pandemic here in the United States. It was a matter of when.

But the president didn't want to hear that because his biggest concern was that we were in an election year and how is this going to affect what he considered to be his record of success.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Pence's national security adviser, retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, said he was in those meetings and never heard anything like that from the president. And then in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, he attacked Troye's credibility, calling her disgruntled and no longer capable of keeping up with her day-to-day duties.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. KEITH KELLOGG (RET.), PENCE'S NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I think Olivia's comments are egregious. They're flat wrong. In fact, -- and I've got a copy of it now when she left the organization in the end of July, she talked how valiantly everybody was working and that we were an inspiration to her and everything we had done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now it is worth noting that other former administration officials, including former Secretary of Defense and retired General Jim Mattis, former National Security Adviser John Bolton and former White House Chief of Staff and retired General John Kelly, have also described Trump as a president consumed with his own reelection prospects over the wellbeing of Americans as well as the Constitution.

I want to talk about all of these developments on coronavirus with Dr. David Satcher. He served in two top posts. He was the U.S. surgeon general. He was also director of the CDC. And he is also the founder of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine. Doctor, thank you so much for being with us.

Let's start with sources saying that someone in the Department of Health and Human Services published that very confusing coronavirus testing guidance over the objection of CDC scientists. How significant is that for the CDC to be railroaded by political appointees in HHS like this?

DR. DAVID SATCHER, FORMER CDC DIRECTOR AND FORMER U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: I think it's quite significant. I think testing is one of the major weapons that we have in a pandemic. We need to know where we are at any given time. And the only way to know that is repeated testing. And you don't wait until people get symptoms before you do the kind of testing that we need to be doing all the time.

So I think one of the real struggles in this whole -- in fighting this pandemic is the fact that testing is not utilized appropriately.

KEILAR: I know when we look at some of these voices that adhere to science that are within the administration or they're on the task force, there's certainly an argument to be made for them that staying in their positions to act as a counterweight to the anti-science advocates in the administration is a service they can provide. Then this argument that, at some point, you know, they are just enabling the behavior and perhaps they need to sound the alarm and resign.

I ask you because you've headed up the CDC, where do you think the line should be for current Director Robert Redfield?

SATCHER: Well, I think, ultimately, the American people look to the scientists, and that includes the top scientists at the CDC and the NIH and other places. The American people look to them for honest, accurate reporting, even though that means putting the job at risk. And I always felt that you had a responsibility to the American people once you were sworn in to a position like this.

So I have to say there is a responsibility that you have to the American people that can't be compromised I think.

KEILAR: Is it becoming compromised right now, do you think, at the CDC? Or do you think he stops it from being compromised by staying?

SATCHER: Well, I think it's a little bit of a combination. What I heard from Dr. Redfield this past week suggests that he was trying to make sure that the American people receive the truth from the CDC. He is trying to do that without directly disputing President Trump. It's very hard to do. It's like the surgeon general said, that it's tough to fight a pandemic in the midst of a presidential election. And that's what's going on here now.

KEILAR: The White House nixed a plan to distribute 650 million face masks that would have gone out through the mail. And an official said the reason that happened is because they didn't want to panic or concern people.

[13:10:04]

What is your reaction to that revelation?

SATCHER: Well, I think it's sad. I think given all that we know about the role of masks and how the mask protects, I must say, it protects not only the person wearing the mask, but other people, as well, and not only other people but also to a certain extent the person wearing the mask. So I would disagree with that. I think we're missing a great opportunity.

Dr. Redfield said this week that the mask may be more effective than the vaccine. We don't know that but it just goes to show how much difference a mask can make in terms of fighting this pandemic.

KEILAR: There was a CDC report out earlier this week and it showed that 75 percent of COVID deaths for people who are under 21 years of age are minorities. So that's 75 percent but you compare that to the population, minorities only make up 41 percent of the population. You know, what needs to be done here even when we're talking about young people who are supposed to have a better shot at this?

SATCHER: Well, you know, for last 20 years or so, we have been fighting disparities in health. In 2000, we set goals. We set goals of eliminating disparities in health. We set the goal of improving quality of life for everyone.

Now, the only way that can happen is that we work at it all the time including when there's a pandemic. And what's happening in this pandemic, really, in my opinion, reflects the situation we're facing in terms of our health care system. African-Americans, Hispanics have suffered greatly in this health care system, tend to receive care later than others. And -- but also tend to be more at risk and to be exposed to more risk factors involved with the virus, especially.

So I think we are in a situation where we have got to put people's health first and I don't really think we're doing that.

KEILAR: Dr. Satcher, thank you so much for being with us.

SATCHER: You're quite welcome.

KEILAR: All right. We'll see you soon, sir.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says the U.S. may not have a double whammy of the coronavirus and the flu this year after all. Hear why that is.

Plus, a nurse wakes up after two months in a coma during a battle with the coronavirus will join me live.

And just a short time from now, the president will speak on vaccines, this is according to the White House, as he and Joe Biden hit the campaign trail tonight in the same state. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:15:00]

KEILAR: We have a miraculous story of survival out of San Antonio, Texas, where a nurse contracted coronavirus and ended up in a medically-induced coma. Justin Vine's told his wife, Anayuri, that they didn't think her husband would live.

When Justin first went to the hospital with shortness of breath back in June, he was almost immediately put on a ventilator. But after two months, Justin awoke from his coma and he and his wife are joining us right now from the hospital as you can see.

Justin, it is so wonderful to see you. I know you still have a little time before you get to go home. But you tell me, how are you doing?

JUSTIN VINE, COVID-19 SURVIVOR, SPENT TWO MONTHS IN MEDICALLY-INDUCED COMA: I'm doing pretty good. I'm on the rehab floor right now, just moved me. I'm making strides every single day, getting better and better.

KEILAR: You have a smile on your face. Anayuri, you have one yours. Tell me how are you doing. This is amazing.

ANAYURI VINE, JUSTIN VINE'S: I'm just very happy to see his progress and after all the bad news and the lost hope, it's -- I'm just very happy.

KEILAR: And tell me about that? Because we're here with you in what is a high moment, but I know for you here in the last almost three months, there have been some low moments. Doctors had told you that Justin wouldn't survive. So tell us about the last three months. How did it go?

A. VINE: Well, it's been a little hard just after the first week that's when the first time I hear that he wasn't going to make it and to be prepared for the worst. And just -- I think just hanging in there and, you know, praying that everything continue well and Justin took a little while to get to where he is right now. But we've just been highly positive and praying God for the best. And after two months, he finally came out of the vent and he's been doing great.

KEILAR: What was that like when you found out? Was that a complete surprise? Were you expecting he might get off the ventilator? What was it like, Anayuri?

A. VINE: It was a surprise because we knew or I knew that the hardest thing for him was going to be to get out of the vent because a lot of people have trouble just breathing on their own and being on the vent for so long, almost two months, it was going to be complicated.

[13:20:06]

But when the hospital finally allowed me to come see him and just be close to him and talk to him, that's when he started to improve. I guess the touch of a family and hearing a familiar voice helps a lot for the recovery.

KEILAR: I mean, it must have been some good medicine, Justin, to have that.

And tell me a little bit about that and also just so the viewers know, you have a baby at home, right? You have missed out on the last few months here of your eight month olds' life. So you must be so excited to be in recovery and working toward that to get home to see her and to see your daughter, your older daughter.

J. VINE: Absolutely. She's eight months. She actually turned eight months yesterday. So I did miss a few milestones while I was down. Our anniversary was August 3rd too. We were married.

But, yes, I just -- it keeps me going to get to see my wife at home, my baby. I haven't seen her in almost three months. Lots have changed from five months to eight months.

And, yes, my 16-year-old daughter will come back eventually too. She's got COVID too but did better than I did going through the process.

But, yes, I can't wait to get home to see them, interact with them and just kind of be out of the hospital. I'm excited about that.

KEILAR: And, Justin, as a nurse, you have been on the frontlines before you contracted COVID. You have seen the damage that it can do to other people and now you have experienced it firsthand. So I wonder when you first heard that you needed to go on a ventilator. What was your first thought.

J. VINE: Well, it was really -- I was really feeling so bad at the time, I just wanted to breathe, and that was the hardest part. It was just like -- it was hard to keep that -- my medical side, you know, knowledge and really kick in and all because it was -- I just felt so horrible. And so I was just -- I just want to be better.

So I was pretty agreeable to whatever they wanted to do at the time. But it really wasn't until I started getting some calls when I told some people about a ventilator that I was realizing how serious this was. And I definitely had seen a lot of people either, you know, have bad outcomes or just -- it was just real tough for them to be on a ventilator.

KEILAR: You've said, Justin, that you're here because it wasn't your time. And, certainly, I know as a nurse, you know how lucky you are. How are you reflecting especially after waking up after two months on a ventilator? How are you reflecting on just the human toll that this pandemic has taken?

J. VINE: It definitely changed my perspective on life and (INAUDIBLE). Now, I see this in a more real way. I knew it was serious before but this is a real -- like it hits everybody pretty differently. But (INAUDIBLE) for my life, it's just -- the time we have is precious. Time is the most valuable thing we have and just that time wasn't my time and God is good and he just -- urge, that's the only reason I made that 56 total days on the ventilator. And that's just -- I was just -- I had no concept of how long I had been actually I woke up but it was just amazing, just that he filled in all the details when I eventually woken up.

KEILAR: Justin, it is amazing to see you. It is a miracle. Anayuri, we are so happy for your family. I am so excited for you, Justin, to get to see you baby daughter. A lot will have changed and I know that's going to be an amazing moment. Thank you guys for joining us.

J. VINE: My pleasure. Thank you.

KEILAR: We're seven weeks from the election and the mystery health care plan the president has been promising for a year is still not here. We're going to look back at his empty promises on that.

Plus, the creator of the 1619 Project about slavery will join me to respond to the president calling it ideological poison.

And podcast host Joe Rogan pushing a debunked conspiracy about the wildfires out west. Hear why it's B.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:25:00]

KEILAR: Breaking news, the CDC has just changed that guidance for coronavirus testing on their website. I want to bring in Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen to talk about this.

This has been quite a back and forth. It seems like, right now, it is more on the side of science. But just explain to us what's happened here, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is. It is more on the side of science, Brianna. And it is basically back where it was before. It says if you have had a close contact, a close exposure to someone with COVID, you should be tested even if you don't have symptoms.

[13:30:01]

This is very basic, very basic science. If you have had close contact, been within six feet of someone for 15 minutes or more.