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Concerns Grow for White House Staff as COVID Spreads; First Lady's Office Reveals COVID Safety Precautions; Mother Struggles to Feed Family After Losing Job; Delta Now Category 3 Hurricane as It Nears Yucatan Peninsula; Rock Legend Eddie Van Halen Dies. Aired 4:30- 5a ET

Aired October 07, 2020 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Well, returning to our top story now. The COVID-19 outbreak raging through the President's inner circle and its political fallout. Senior advisor Steven Miller is now one of at least a dozen of the President's close contacts who have tested positive.

Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence has agreed to plexiglass barriers at tonight's debate with Kamala Harris. Pence's team originally questioned the need for the barriers when the two would be socially distanced, but they relented as the White House cluster grows.

And Joe Biden is now questioning whether his second debate should even go ahead if President Trump is still infected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, I think if he still has COVID, we shouldn't have a debate, any debate. I think, by the way, I think we're going to have to follow very strict guidelines. Too many people have been infected and it's a very serious problem and so I'll be guided by the guidelines of The Cleveland Clinic and what the docs say is the right thing to do if and when he shows up for debate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And for his part, Donald Trump says he wants to debate and even return to the campaign trail, but for now Mr. Trump is at home in the White House. And that house is staffed by people now coming in close contact with the President and first lady, both infected with COVID-19.

The first lady's office has had to respond to claims employees are concerned for their safety. They say staff have worn masks since April and are tested regularly. Masks have been upgraded to full PPE recently. There's even a well-being consultant to help with mental health issues.

Joining me now is Kate Andersen Brower. She is a CNN contributor and the author of "The Residence," a book about the staff who work behind the scenes at the White House. Good to have you with us.

KATE ANDERSEN BROWER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: So President Trump returned to the White House Monday night still infected with the coronavirus and adding to an ever increasing list of those infected on his staff. But you've spent considerable time at the White House. Just how vulnerable are the various members of his staff, not the top aides but the cooks, the cleaners, the butlers? And are they even able to socially distance in that building?

BROWER: Well, it's a really interesting question because there are about 90 to 95 resident staffers. So as you say, these are florists, cooks, engineers. They make the White House run, but it's really the butlers on the second floor of the White House, which is where the first family lives, that's where their bedrooms are, and their living rooms. There's a little kitchen and a dining room. There's not a lot they can do to distance themselves because it's the butler who's serving the President and the first lady.

But the White House has come out and said there's a skeleton crew. Just several people, eight to ten people on rotating shifts. But to answer your question, there is going to be some exposure to the President and the first lady in the residence.

CHURCH: So how can the White House guarantee the safety of any of these people? And how can they work to ensure that they don't get infected? Because even with the skeleton staff, you need to be wearing masks, you need to be socially distancing, and they're working with someone -- two people at least directly with the first lady and the President who are actually infected.

BROWER: Well, you know, the White House staff is so loyal to the presidency. They work from one administration to the next, and they usually serve for decades. Many of whom that I interviewed, more than 50 of them for my book, they have been there for 20, 30 years. They love their jobs and they would do anything for their jobs, including sacrifice their -- sacrificing their own health potentially. But the White House does say that they wear PPE, so they're wearing masks. There is hospital grade cleaning equipment in use.

[04:35:00]

Just today Melania Trump's office came out with that statement because people are so concerned about the resident staff. Because these are not people who come from money. You know, they're making between 30 grand and 100 grand a year. They're not people who are doing this for the money. And so the fact that they're putting their lives at risk for the presidency I think is deeply troubling for people.

CHURCH: Yes, indeed, and when you're talking about people who have been there for up to 30 years, you're talking about a vulnerable group. They're probably in their 50s and 60s.

BROWER: Exactly. That's exactly right. Many of the butlers are African-American historically. It's been a very prestigious job in Washington, to have this job, and to work directly with the President of the United States. They're often very, very close with the President. I know that one of the butlers who was very close with Obama and Bush is also close with President Trump. So there's this sense of allegiance to the institution of the White House and not to the person.

They're very protective of the family. They do not speak to the press. It's incredibly hard to get them to talk. The current staff has been told not to ever talk to the press and we know two housekeepers tested positive for COVID several weeks ago. So you know, they're working in a bull's eye, is petri dish right now and everyone is very concerned about them.

CHURCH: So just finally, how would you rate the way the White House has dealt with the outbreak so far?

BROWER: I think it's been too little too late. I think that President Trump going back to the White House and exposing the staff to the virus is irresponsible and reckless. I think that it's surprising to see what's happening right now. I think making them make the kind of awful decision, they can't say no to coming to work. This is their paycheck. They have mortgages to pay, right? But -- so they're being forced really to do this. And I think it's a terrible position to be put in by the President of the United States.

CHURCH: Kate Andersen Brower, thank you so much for shining a spotlight on this. Appreciate it.

BROWER: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well, many Americans were already living paycheck to paycheck before the pandemic hit, and they have been hurt the most by job losses. Now that President Trump has halted negotiations, there's no hope for a stimulus check any time soon. CNN's Kyung Lah met a single mother who's struggling to feed her family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mommy, wake up, mama, we have got to go to school.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The morning routine for Rose Rodriguez and her three girls.

ROSE RODRIGUEZ, SINGLE MOTHER WHO IS STRUGGLING TO FEED HER FAMILY: You're going to play in school. You're going to feed you too.

LAH: Three-year-old Alexandra --

RODRIGUEZ: Come on, get up.

LAH: -- and 12-year-old Terry sleep in one bed. 13-year-old Elista, sleeps on the couch. Breakfast --

RODRIGUEZ: Alexandra you want this one?

LAH: -- is what she has scrounged from the day before.

RODRIGUEZ: It's good? Yeah?

I eat whatever is left over.

LAH: Everything has changed since coronavirus.

RODRIGUEZ: Thank you, mom. In the pantry, that's all I have.

LAH (on camera): Before, coronavirus was this full?

RODRIGUEZ: Everything was full.

LAH (voice-over): This was Rodriguez at her full-time job at LAX Airport. She worked for Qantas Airline cargo making more than $20 an hour.

RODRIGUEZ: I thought everything would be good. I thought you know what, I have money for my rent. I have money for the food. I don't have to worry about the girl's health.

I never thought that on Wednesday, I would show up to work, but no, it was not that way, you could lose your job at any time.

LAH (on camera): How about the food? I mean, how much --

RODRIGUEZ: With the food, that's what we struggle with.

LAH: Tell me about that struggle.

RODRIGUEZ: The struggle is sometimes we eat and sometimes we don't.

LAH (voice-over): What she manages, is cheap unhealthy food. Rodriguez says, she has applied for 50 jobs, 30 interviews later, still nothing. Her unemployment applications stalled, part of the more than 1 million stuck in a logjam in California system. Her car and most of her furniture, repossessed. She is months behind on rent.

RODRIGUEZ: When we go to the laundromat, we see homeless washing themselves. And one day, if I don't go back to work, I'm going to be one of them.

We only live check by check, but now it's not a check, it's a box. A box that I have to stretch out for seven days.

LAH: That weekly box is donated food from the L.A. Food bank and Salvation Army.

While her older daughters learn virtually on public school laptops --

RODRIGUEZ: Who's ready for lunch?

LAH: Alexandra gets free childcare and lunch at the Salvation Army.

[04:40:00]

Too young to understand a virus's impact on her family.

RODRIGUEZ: I don't think she wants what she sees. But I tell her, mommy, I can't. I have to tell her tomorrow so she could forget.

LAH (on camera): And every day it's tomorrow?

RODRIGUEZ: Yes, everything is tomorrow.

LAH (voice-over): Food banks across the country have seen hour's long lines, as record unemployment devastate working families.

MORTIMER JONES, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SALVATION ARMY SIEMON CENTER: So we do have all our peas.

LAH: At Salvation Army food bank in Los Angeles, they fed 10 times the number of people, as last year.

JONES: It's not like it happen for a week, or two weeks. It's been happening for months. And even though we're trying our best to help, we know that we barely scratching the surface, because we can only do so much with a limited resources that we have.

LAH: Today, fresh food bank supplies mean their shelves are more full.

RODRIGUEZ: Mac and cheese.

LAH: But the joy, is short lived. Counting down the days, to the next food box has begun.

RODRIGUEZ: They shouldn't go through this. They don't have to worry like how can they eat the next day, like my mom has to go look for food or is mom eating. And they should not be worried about that, because I would be working and they should be just worry about school and their futures. I just hurts.

LAH: Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well, one of the strongest storms to form in the Atlantic this year is barreling towards Mexico and has the U.S. in sight. We'll tell you where it's headed. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:45:00]

CHURCH: An extremely dangerous storm is now setting its sights on Mexico. Hurricane Delta has weakened slightly but is still a powerful category 3 storm as it nears the Yucatan peninsula. People in Cancun and Cozumel evacuated ahead of the storm's expected landfall in the coming hours.

And CNN's Matt Rivers is in Playa del Carmen, Mexico for us ahead of the storm. So, Matt, what is the situation there on the ground?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, little by little, Rosemary, we've been on scene here now for hours, and we've been waiting for this storm to arrive. Really over the last half an hour or so we've started to see this pick up a little bit. We know just looking at the radar that this storm is getting closer and closer. As you mentioned, a high level category three that really poses quite a risk for this area, of course, from Cancun which is a little bit north of where we are here, to where Playa del Carmen.

This is one of the most famous who are zones of the world. People that live in this region are dependent on this industry. So there's a lot of concern about the damage that this particular storm will do.

A big concern and big focus of what we're going to be watching over the next few hours is exactly where this storm makes landfall. And I say that because this storm, while very intense, and it's going to bring winds north of 120 miles an hour, it's also relatively small when you are talking about its area. And so, where it hits along this coast is going to be key. If you're where the landfall is, that's going to be where the worst damage is. If you go 40 miles, 50 miles south, not that far south, the damage will be significantly less.

So the big question now is exactly where this storm is going to make landfall. That should happen in the next few hours or so bringing with it some serious winds, some serious rain threatening people on the coast of Mexico here. The next few hours, Rosemary, going to be crucial for the path of this storm.

CHURCH: Absolutely. And Matt Rivers, stay safe there as you wait for this. Appreciate that report.

Let's turn to our meteorologist, Pedram Javaheri. He's tracking this system for us. So, Pedram, what are you seeing?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we're seeing a storm system here that still has potential, Rosemary, to strengthen further as it approaches land. The National Hurricane Center latest guidance says this could easily go right back up to category 4. But at this point, of course there's minor variations in its intensity, really not going to make a significant difference.

We know the system has already tripled -- more than tripled in strength from just Monday morning to Tuesday afternoon getting it to 145 miles per hour. At this point that has dropped down to about 120 miles per hour which is a very strong high end category 3.

Just about two hours away prior to landfall here we think it will skirt right past Cozumel. Potentially make one fall in Cozumel and then in an area just south of Cancun near Playa del Carmen. That's the second area of landfall potential there sometime around 7 to 8 a.m. local time across that region.

Again, we could see a potential here that this increases back up to a category 4 within the next update here in the next 20 minutes from the National Hurricane Center. But regardless, the impact is going to be significant on the immediate coast as Matt kind of eluded to there. When it comes to a storm of this magnitude, we're looking at the eye wall there, about a 10 mile area where the eye wall is where there was 120-mile-per-hour winds are going to be expected. And really rare to see a storm of such magnitude. When it comes to major hurricanes for this portion of Mexico, only six

in the past 100 years have come within a 100 mile radius of the Yucatan Peninsula and around Cancun. So you kind of look at this region, Delta would be the seventh such storm to make land fall here in the coming couple of hours.

And rainfall, going to see as much as say four to six inches, some areas certainly can see as much as eight to ten inches. But it is a quick moving system. The within 12 hours it is back over the Gulf of Mexico. And then you notice here, its strongest landfall on record. Delta certainly could compete with that as well.

Devastating category. Category 3 to 4 typically leave behind significant damage. Concern moving forward, Rosemary, is where does this storm end up. At this point models suggest state of Louisiana has the highest likelihood for landfall. Again, this would be the tenth storm of the season to make landfall across the continental U.S. and that is a record for most in one season -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: It is just extraordinary, isn't it? Pedram Javaheri, many thanks to you for bringing us up to date on that situation.

And the music world has lost a legend. Guitarist Eddie Van Halen has died at the age of 65. More on the legacy he leaves behind when we return.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Eddie Van Halen on a guitar solo during a performance in the 80s. The legendary guitarist for the rock group Van Halen has died at the age of 65. His son Wolfgang shared the news on social media that his father had lost his battle with cancer.

CNN's Stephanie Elam looks at the life and career of the rock and roll superstar.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eddie Van Halen was hailed as one of the greatest guitarist of all-time. His riffing rhythm branded him a guitar God and raise the musical bar for future generations.

Born to a musical family, Van Halen bought his first guitar at Teisco Del Ray at age 12. He then taught himself how to play.

EDDIE VAN HALEN, GUITARIST: If you take lessons, then you go and buy a book. Which is based on theory whereas the facts are again, we hit 12 notes to which you want one. Everything I do is based on tone and sound.

ELAM: By high school, he was the lead guitarist in the ban that would go on to bear his last name, Van Halen. In the span of four decades, Van Halen released over a dozen albums. [04:55:00]

They're 1978 self-titled debut sold over 10 million copies and was certified diamond. Its second track, Eruption, featured an Eddie Van Halen guitar solo that forever redefined the instrument. Van Halen signature two-handed tapping technique allowed him to reach otherwise impossible notes.

The sound was intensified by a custom guitar, Van Halen design and build himself. He called it the "Frankenstrat" or "Frankenstein." Part Gibson, part Fender, the Frankenstein became its own trademark.

VAN HALEN, GUITARIST: The guitar is a pretty basic instrument. It's a piece of wood, it's has strings on it, tuning pegs, tail piece, pickups, blah, blah, blah. It reminds more of a Formula One race car.

ELAM: Van Halen's design, eventually evolve into his own guitar line. But even with a replica guitar, there is no replicating of Van Halen guitar solo.

From the bands 1984 hit "Panama," to his "Eruption" sequel, "Spanish fly." To his collaboration with Michael Jackson's "Beat It." Van Halen's fast shredding speed solos will reverberate for all-times.

VAN HALEN: My whole life has been music. I could not imagine anything else.

ELAM: Eddie Van Halen, a musical genius, who push life strings to their limit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And what a life and what a legacy there.

And thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. "EARLY START" is up next. Do stay with us here at CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)