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Trump Attempting to Portray Strength Following Coronavirus Infection Infuriates Some Medical Experts; Dr. Amy Cho Discusses Her Response to Trump: "We Are Afraid" of This Virus; Stakes Are High in Tonight's Vice-Presidential Debate; McSally Struggled with Question in Debate on Her Support for Trump; Michael Hayden Endorses Biden, Issues Warning Against Trump in Scathing Video; NC Teacher Dies Day after Testing Positive, Students Quarantined; Update on Coronavirus Responses from Around the World. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired October 07, 2020 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
DR. AMY CHO, EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: You know, I wanted to speak out to my fellow citizens, and my family members, my friends, to let them know that, while most people do recover from COVID, not everybody does.
And one of the benefits of working in the emergency department and being a physician, with the great privilege to care for people at some of the worst times in their lives.
That's also a really hard thing about working in the emergency department and caring for people. It gives you some insight into what is reality, what is actually happening.
And it lets you know that even with all of the best medicine, the best medical care, everything that we bring to bear to treat patients, we can't always fix them.
In those situations when we can't fix people, when we don't have magic bullet or a special cure or something to do to help people, we need to do what we can to prevent the illness from ever happening.
So I want people to have a bit of fear about this because it's important. Fear helps you to be careful. It helps to motivate the actions and behaviors that help to reduce risk. And it will actually help to save lives in the long run.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: I get the sense, talking to you, something that I get from a lot of doctors and medical professionals who have been around this, which is just how hard this is.
You guys have been going through this for months. I can't imagine how traumatic it is to see so many folks. It's wonderful the people who walk out of the hospital, but the numbers of people who don't.
What has it been like for you and your colleagues as you're still very much in the middle of this?
CHO: You know, it really scary. Most people who go into medicine show up every day and do the hard work because they want to help people. They want to cure people. They want to save lives.
Unfortunately, there's not a lot we can do right now. We don't -- we can't fix it all the time. That really weighs on you.
In the beginning of the pandemic, I was extremely fearful about going to work. I was really scared about my co-workers and my colleagues and losing the high-risk people I work with. I was afraid they were going to get COVID at work and they were going to die.
I was afraid that I was going bring it home and that I was going to kill my husband or lose my in-laws or parents from it. It was really scary.
But the good news is what we've been doing in hospitals has been really pretty effective. It's not super high tech. It's really worked.
If it works in hospitals, where we're at the highest risk from treating patients with COVID, then it can work in the community as well, and that all of us can actually be the people to save lives.
KEILAR: Dr. Cho, thank you so much for that incredible message.
CHO: Thank you.
KEILAR: Dr. Amy Cho joining us from Minneapolis.
We're just hours away from the first debate between Vice President Pence and Senator Kamala Harris. And it will all happen behind a wall of Plexiglas. We're going to break down what to watch for, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:37:36]
KEILAR: Just hours from now, Mike Pence and Kamala Harris will face off in the only vice-presidential debate this election year. They have both tested negative today for coronavirus.
And they will be sitting behind Plexiglas barriers after an initial objection to that safety precaution from Pence.
But now that the debate over the logistics have been settled, let's get to the content.
I'm joined now by CNN political director, David Chalian.
David, the stakes here are high. This is their one shot. They're both skilled debaters.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: It's their one and only shot. Both running for somebody who would be the oldest person to be elected as president. What I'm looking for is the coronavirus debate. Not only is the
Plexiglas going to play out visually and physically, but also, in the content of the debate and how that plays out will be very important.
Senator Harris' political mission is to put the handling or mishandling of the pandemic front and center for as much of the debate as possible.
Mike Pence, who heads the Coronavirus Task Force, he has a load of defending to do of the president's behavior this week.
The joyride, potentially putting Secret Service's health at risk, or ripping your mask off, or telling the country not to worry about it, "don't be afraid of the virus," and "don't let it dominate you."
All of that just in the last week the vice president is going to have to be put on the spot to defend in addition to the entirety of the administration's approach.
So that's my first item to watch for.
The second thing, of course, is Pence's approach to this debate.
Watch, Brianna, to see how he tries to take Kamala Harris and make her the key evidence in the case that the Biden/Harris ticket would bring a left-wing, Socialist, radical agenda to America.
Despite the fact that that's not actually true in the way in which Biden has laid out his plans.
But watch the vice president try and take Kamala Harris, being a co- sponsor of Bernie Sanders' Medicare For All bill, and sort of try to hang that around the ticket's neck as an example of wanting to push the country far left.
That's not the health care position of the Biden/Harris ticket. But she did take that position in the primary process, talked about no need for private insurance companies.
[14:39:58]
So she's going to have to work to defend that position while promoting the actual current health care position of the Biden plan, which is just to improve upon Obamacare, not get rid of it and a new system.
And finally, do not lose sight, Brianna of the historic moment of Harris up on that stage.
I think this is something we talked about when she was nominated, obviously, at the convention. This is something we talked about when Biden picked her.
But seeing for the first time, an African African-American woman, an Indian-American woman, on that stage, in that seat, what that representation means, the historic nature of her candidacy. And, by the way, how Vice President Pence has to negotiate that history in the way that he deals with Harris on the stage, I think, is something to watch for as well.
KEILAR: And we will be watching for all of that.
And I want to ask, David, about this moment that we saw in the Arizona Senate debate. Senator McSally struggling to answer one of the moderator's questions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBATE MODERATOR: Are you proud of your support for President Trump?
SEN. MARTHA MCSALLY (R-AZ): Well, I'm proud that I'm fighting for Arizonans on things like cutting your taxes.
UNIDENTIFIED DEBATE MODERATOR: Senator, the question was, are you proud of your support for President Trump?
MCSALLY: I'm proud to be fighting for Arizona every single day.
UNIDENTIFIED DEBATE MODERATOR: Is that a yes or no for President Trump?
MCSALLY: Putting legislation on President Trump's desk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: What did you think about that, David?
CHALIAN: Yes, that is the very embodiment of the rock meeting the hard place, right?
This is the situation that vulnerable Republican incumbent Senators find themselves in right now, Brianna, which is that the president is not popular, therefore, you don't want to do a full embrace.
Yet, you can't distance yourself from the president, because you need every one of president's supporters if you have any chance of being elected in Arizona for Martha McSally.
So it puts her in a bind. What you saw was her struggling, understanding that bind.
But it ends up, I think, showing the real problems she has had, why she's in the hole she's in. It's because the president is overhanging everything in this election right now.
KEILAR: David, thank you so much for coming on today. I know it's a busy day for you
CHALIAN: Sure.
KEILAR: We can't wait to see what's going to happen tonight.
Everyone, don't miss CNN's live coverage of the debate. That will start at 7:00 Eastern. You can watch the debate right here on CNN.
Joe Biden picking up a new endorsement in a scathing video that former CIA and NSA director, Michael Hayden, has put out in support of the former vice president. And he delivers this stark warning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN, FORMER NSA DIRECTOR & FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: Truth is really important, but especially in intelligence.
President Trump doesn't care about facts. President Trump doesn't care about the truth. He doesn't listen to his experts.
The FBI says white nationalism is a real problem. And the FBI wants to do something about it. But the president doesn't want to talk about that. He doesn't keep the country safe. It's unbelievable.
I absolutely disagree with some of the Biden's policies. But that's not important. What's important is the United States. And I'm supporting Joe Biden.
Biden is a good man. Donald Trump is not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Hayden served decades in military and intelligence. He served both Democratic and Republicans presidents.
The retired four-star general told CNN today that reelecting Trump would be very bad and that he fears for U.S. alliances in a second Trump term.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAYDEN (voice-over): Ten, 20, 30, 40, years I was with them and I would talk with our friends in Korea and in Europe and so on, OK?
And I talk with them now. People will say, what is going on? I thought this was America, but now I'm not sure.
If it's a second term, I think we will be alone. We will not have any friends at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now, Hayden was among over 70 former national security officials from multiple Republican administrations who signed a letter saying they would vote for Biden the day he officially accepted the Democratic nomination.
Next, the human cost of this pandemic. I'll be speaking with a friend and former colleague of a North Carolina teacher who died just days after getting diagnosed with COVID.
[14:44:34]
Plus, an alarming disregard for health guidelines in China as tourists swarm the Great Wall.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: It's really important that we not lose sight of the more than 211,000 lives lost to coronavirus in this country. We that number, it's not just a number.
And one of those people was 49-year-old Julie Davis, a third-grade teacher from North Carolina, who died just days after testing positive for COVID-19. Davis left behind a husband, a daughter, a son and a grandson who called her Lolly.
According to the Stanley County School District, none of her students have developed any symptoms or tested positive. And they are remembering her as an inspirational teacher.
I want to bring in Troy Kryzalka, who worked with Julie Davis for nearly a decade.
Troy, thank you so much for talking to us about her.
It's so important that we don't forget the people affected and lost by this.
Tell us how you're holding up and how the community is holding up.
[14:50:02]
TROY KRYZALKA, COLLEAGUE OF JULIE DAVIS, WHO DIED DAYS AFTER TESTING POSITIVE FOR COVID-19: Well, thanks for having me, Brianna.
Hey, all you have to do is go through the social media feed and just scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll and you see the impact that she's had and to read articles and things like that. I'm learning things I didn't know.
She was an incredible lady. It was a privilege to be able to have worked with her for around the 10 years I got to work with her.
KEILAR: So when you think about the time where you guys worked together, what are some of the favorite memories you have of her as a fellow teacher? What was she like?
KRYZALKA: I had the privilege of teaching with her my first year of teaching. And right out of the gate, she was meant to be a teacher.
As the years went on, one thing that stands out the most is she was teaching during the day and getting her master's in the evening.
On top of that she's raising her family. As you mentioned, she's got two children and her son is special needs, too. So that takes even more.
When she would come to school each day, her face did not show all the things that she, you know, faced each day. Most of us, we're tired and it's easy -- we wear it on our face. But
she always had that joy. She brought that to the classroom every day, all those experiences.
And what can you say? She was an inspiring teacher.
KEILAR: Your state, North Carolina, right now has the seventh highest number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S.
As a former educator, do you think teachers and students should be back in the classroom at this point?
KRYZALKA: Well, I mean, that's a question -- everybody has their perspective on that.
I guess the best way I can answer that is we're in this position, we're in this situation, and what teachers are facing every day, what they need is that love, respect, support as they go through this.
Because everybody's situation, some teachers are different. Some teachers, they have -- they're vulnerable. They have family that's vulnerable.
And then, hey, these teachers know that their students that are at home that are in a worse situation as bad as COVID. So they're trying to figure that out.
And so, you know, it's a tough question -- there's no plain answer.
KEILAR: I'm the sister of an elementary schoolteacher. And I think about what a difficult choice it is.
Because, on one hand, you have families who need this assistance. I know we've heard from a lot of them that distance learning isn't working.
Then on the other hand, it's the difference between asking 30 families, right, in a classroom to kind of take on the role of assistant teacher or one teacher to take on the germs of maybe 30 families.
It's a really difficult decision to make. And I wonder what you think about how you kind of come out on the other side of that.
KRYZALKA: Well, it's tough. I have a child with special needs. We're in that group. But the way I look at it is we're kind of --all of us on this journey together. And I think we have to show each other a little more grace.
When your child's teacher is trying to connect and nothing connects quite right, it's OK. Some of these things we're experiencing, the frustrations.
Hopefully, six months from now or so, they'll all be insignificant.
To Julie Davis' daughter and son and grandchild and husband and all her friends, this doesn't end here. And that's the same for all these people who have experienced this. It's tough.
KEILAR: Tony (sic), so well put.
Thank you so much for joining us and talking about your colleague, Julie Davis. We appreciate it.
KRYZALKA: Appreciate it, Brianna. Thanks for having me.
KEILAR: Thank you.
[14:54:06]
Next, the U.K.'s prime minister explains how he's changed his life since getting coronavirus.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Just in, an NFL doctor won't rule out pausing the season as cases around the league are growing. The league has already postponed two games this season. And today, a second New England Patriots' player tested positive.
Here are more headlines from around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SELENA WANG, CNN: I'm Selena Wang, in Hong Kong. The scenes at the Great Wall of China are inconceivable in most parts of the world. Massive crowds crammed along the wall.
Even though the site has capped capacity and reminded tourists to wear their masks, many people were seen barefaced and jammed together in tight quarters.
It's China's Golden Week holiday right now, one of the country's busiest travel periods.
It's also a major test for China as it gets past the coronavirus pandemic with close to zero local transmissions. In fact --
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Scott McLean, in London, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson is one of the few people who can understand what it's like to be in President Trump's shoes right now, a world leader battling the coronavirus in full public view.
Johnson has been pretty blunt about his own experience with the virus this spring, and the fact that it almost killed him.
This week, in a speech to his own Conservative Party, he said that the reason he had such a difficult time with the virus is because he was overweight.
[15:00:04]
Since then, he's lost 26 pounds and is using his own recovery from the virus as a metaphor for the country, promising that things will come back stronger than before.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
