Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Los Angeles County Reports Highest Daily Death Toll in Two Months; New York Reopens Field Hospital on Staten Island as Cases Climb; Meghan Markle Reveals She Suffered a Miscarriage in July. Aired 11:30-12p ET

Aired November 25, 2020 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:01]

JIM MESSINA, FORMER OBAMA DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: You remember very well, losing Ted Kennedy's Senate seat after he passed. We barely held on to the Colorado seat with Ken Salazar. It created real problems in the administration.

The second thing is he has a very, very tightly controlled U.S. Senate. Whoever controls it will only control it by a seat. If you start getting rid of senior members that we're talking about here, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, other folks, you're really taking away major leaders at a time when he's going to need them for all of these close votes. I think he should just not touch the Senate and really look to other places, new leadership to get that representation.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I also want to ask you, you talked about in the show today, about it's just kind of have been a day -- it is a day of contrasts. You have the Dow hitting 30,000 for the first time but you also have the lines at food bank across the country, they are longer than ever in this moment.

You have an incoming president talking about uniting the country and delivering a Thanksgiving message today. At the same time, you have an outgoing president tweeting that the election isn't over and is fundraising still off of fighting the election.

What do these contrasts mean for the path forward, Jim?

MESSINA: Well, it shows how divided we are as a country. Just unseated, only the third incumbent in 100 years, and in that same election, the Republican Party picked up seats in the House and held on to the Senate. We are a divided country. And it's what Joe Biden has always promised to do, to try to bring us together. That's not going to be easy but he's taking the right steps, trying to lower the temperature, trying to put in perhaps some Republicans, really have a wide, diverse array of people to confront these challenges.

As you know, Kate, I now do world politics and I had a president of a major country text last night and say, it's great to have the U.S. back on the world stage, we've missed you. And at the same time, we have these huge challenges at home, Kate, economically, health care- wise, that are really going to impact us. So I think it's time to do what he promised to do, which is to lower the temperature and try to bring the country together. But it is a badly divided country.

BOLDUAN: It sure is, and not a Freudian slip right there, Jim, not a Freudian slip. It's good to see you again. I've got to stick it to you when I can. Good to see you, thank you very much

All right, coming up for us, Los Angeles shuts down outdoor dining to fight back the COVID surge there, cutting off a lifeline for restaurants and sparking a heated debate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:35:00]

BOLDUAN: In Los Angeles County, officials are taking new action as COVID deaths are jumping there. The county reported 51 new deaths yesterday, the highest number in more than two months. The number of people hospitalized has also nearly doubled in the past two weeks.

So, now, the county is shutting down outdoor dining starting tonight. As CNN's Stephanie Elam reports, some restaurants are pushing back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Outdoor dining, it's a year-round perk. Restaurants can usually offer their customers in Southern California. But during the pandemic, it's been crucial for eateries helping to keep many of them afloat while still complying with COVID-19 restrictions.

LORI AGUAYO, CASHIER, TOAST BAKERY AND CAFE: We have customers that come here almost three to four times a week.

ELAM: Yet, as COVID cases soar, hitting daily record numbers surpassing the highs of the summer surge, L.A. County is once again pausing outdoor dining, this time for at least three weeks.

BARBARA FERRER, DIRECTOR, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: We do, of course, like every other county have examples of people who become infected while they're dining at restaurants, just having a few thousand restaurants that are not in compliance, particularly on the distancing requirement, can create additional risks for exposures.

ELAM: In mid-March we visited Toast Bakery, just as they were forced to shut down. Clearly, this was even before masks were mandatory.

BILL RICKETT, HEAD SERVER, TOAST BAKERY AND CAFE: This is a ghost town compared to what generally we have business-wise in the early morning. Like this restaurant is pretty popping with people sitting outside and enjoying being able to come into a cafe, and right now we have nobody. ELAM: Over the summer, restaurants adapted new protocols, from face shields and digital menus to less tables and more space, as the county allowed outdoor dining again, helping some restaurants limp along in a painful year. And that pain is why some officials are against the renewed ban.

County Supervisor Kathryn Barger says restaurants are being punished for the recent surge they have done everything in their power to prevent. Restaurants like Toast will be forced to cut jobs again this year. Many on their team have been with the business since it opened nearly 18 years ago.

AGUAYO: We ended up losing probably more than half our staff. We had to hire new staff once we got back to outdoor dining.

ELAM: In L.A. County, do you feel like this is the right decision right now?

AGUAYO: I feel like we want to support, obviously, and be part of the solution. But because we have taken such precautions and we've done so much to try to keep our staff, our customers safe, I really feel like we're not so much the part that's making the numbers go up.

ELAM: Customer Kenn Viselman agrees.

[11:40:00]

He says he's eaten at Toast just about every day for 15 years.

KENN VISELMAN, CUSTOMER, TOAST BAKERY AND CAFE: You're going to put all of these places out of business. They're barely surviving now. You're basically saying if you're going to socialize, do it inside, do it in your house. I think that's just going to raise this infection rate instead of lowering it.

ELAM: As for Toast, it will rely on to-go and delivery orders to get by, as well as what has made them such a popular eatery.

AGUAYO: I think we give one of the best customer services in town and our food is delicious.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM (on camera): Now, it's worth noting that the Los Angeles County City Council decided overwhelmingly that they wanted to keep these restaurants open. However, the county board of supervisors narrowly defeated that idea, and going along with what health officials are saying that any time you have people close together without their mask on for a prolonged time, that is the danger, even though there isn't really clear data that shows people are getting sick from eating outside.

Nevertheless, a lot of people are very concerned that these tables and these people eating outside won't be here for the rest of the year at least, Kate.

BOLUDAN: It's such a hard call. Stephanie, thank you so much for bringing us that story. I really appreciate it.

Coming up, Dr. Anthony Fauci asking a question that many American families need to consider, what Thanksgiving could mean for their elderly relatives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:45:00]

BOLUDAN: It is an unsettling feeling of deja vu in New York right now. The state is now reopening an emergency facility on New York's Staten Island to help with the rising number of coronavirus cases. This facility was last set up in the spring during the height of the first surge in New York. New York is now seeing more daily cases than at any time since that point. You can see there.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is on Staten Island outside this emergency facility and he's joining us now. Shimon, what are you hearing about why this is needed and what could it mean in the coming weeks?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, for Staten Island, certainly, they are seeing a surge in cases that is very alarming for the governor. They're seeing hospitalization triple in the last three weeks. And they have not seen these number of people in the hospital because of COVID in six months.

So the hospital has asked for some extra help and they have opened a facility here behind me where they're already getting patients. People are already being admitted. These are less critical patients, but nonetheless, it is significant that they are already getting patients, all in an effort to lessen the burden of hospitals here on Staten Island are seeing because the number of cases continue to rise.

The governor just finishing up -- still actually having his press conference, again, talking about Staten Island and the concern that he has about the burden and the number of the cases is placing on the hospitals.

But as we go forward here in the days, tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and the days after Thanksgiving, and the Christmas holiday, there is growing concern that hospitals all across New York City are going to see a rise in cases and they are going to have to open up more facilities like this behind me, Kate.

BOLUDAN: More field hospitals that are going to need to be opened up again. Talk about some terrible deja vu of what you and I talked about for so many hours during the spring. Let's hope not. Shimon, thank you very much, I appreciate it.

So, ahead of Thanksgiving, Dr. Anthony Fauci poses a question every family across the country should consider.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If you have a person who is elderly, who has an underlying condition, that makes them more susceptible to the serious consequences of infection, do you really want to have that gathering or should you say, I know it hurts not to do it because this is such a beautiful, traditional season, but hang in there with us because there will be future times when you could do it. So maybe a sacrifice now of something that you really like would pay off in the protection of the health and safety of a loved one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLUDAN: A tough question, especially for millions of families whose elderly relatives have been isolated for months at this point, months and months, and even more so for those in long-term care facilities, as cases are rising once again among the most vulnerable populations.

Joining me right now is Mark Parkinson. He is the President and CEO of the American Health Care Association, which represents over 14,000 long-term care facilities across the country.

Mark, we hear Dr. Fauci's concern about family gatherings this holiday. You have a very specific perspective on this. How concerned are you about this holiday?

MARK PARKINSON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ASSOCIATION: Well, we are extremely concerned. I mean, unfortunately, our worst nightmare has come true, that the rapid increase in cases across the country has led to a rapid increase of cases in nursing homes. We had a high of 10,000 a week back in the spring.

We worked really hard, we got the PPE that we needed, we cut those rates in half. Well, last week we had 12,500 people in nursing homes diagnosed with COVID. And the tragedy of that is that we know that 25 percent will die, 2,500 of those people.

So the decisions we all collectively make over the next four days will determine whether thousands of more people die or whether we will make the small sacrifices that we need to make to keep them alive, and as Dr. Fauci has said, in just a few more months, once we have the vaccine, to get together and celebrate then. It's really up to us.

BOLUDAN: These numbers just kill me. I mean, 20 percent of them will die.

[11:50:00]

I mean, the numbers, you cannot deny. You have been shouting from the roof top from the beginning that you have to follow the science and the numbers and these numbers are devastating, that you're talking about.

Mark, I spoke to the Kentucky governor yesterday, Andy Beshear, and one of his greatest concerns right now is long-term care facilities in his state. I want to play for you how he describes what he is seeing in his state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): Take our long-term care facilities. We are testing our workers there three times a week but we still can't keep COVID out of those facilities because the community spread is so high.

One of the most heartbreaking examples is we have a veterans home in Wilmore, Kentucky. We kept COVID out until the middle of October. And since then, we have lost 27 veterans to COVID-19.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLUDAN: 27 veterans have died in that facility in just the last month. If even more testing can't slow this down, Mark, what is happening here?

PARKINSON: Well, Governor Beshear is exactly. Even in facilities like those veterans homes in Kentucky, where they're doing everything that can be done, testing three times a week, wearing PPE all the time, this virus is so contagious that even under the best of infection control, we are not able to keep it out.

The answer is socially distancing in the general public, celebrate Thanksgiving but celebrate it at home with people that you live with. If we do those things, we know that we can stop it. And the reason that we know that is all we have to do is look at other countries. If you look at China, we have twice as many new COVID cases every day that China has had during the entire pandemic.

Now, they're not a free society and we are, and I'm not suggesting that we become authoritarian, but if we just do the right thing, wear a mask, socially distance, make a few sacrifices, we can bring these numbers down. But we don't, there's going to be more tragedies, like the ones that the governor has outlined.

BOLUDAN: Oh God. I want to ask you quickly about a vaccine. The CDC this week, the advisory board, it actually debated whether residents of long-term facilities should receive some of the first doses of a vaccine. They haven't made a decision. But I'm just curious what you would say if the residents of long-term care facilities were not at the top of the priority list.

PARKINSON: It would be the worst public policy decision in the history of the country. It would be so foolish. If we take 4 or 5 million of the initial vaccines and vaccinate all of the residents of long-term care facilities and all of the employees, we know that we will, overnight, cut deaths 30 or 40 percent, because 30 or 40 percent of the deaths are occurring in those facilities.

So I know that there are a ton of people that deserve to have the vaccine very early on and I'm sympathetic with those people and we'll do everything we can to fight for them. But for goodness' sake, let's not debate who should get it first. It obviously should go into long- term care facilities.

BOLUDAN: Mark, thank you for coming on. Unfortunately, this conversation will be necessary after this holiday. I'll check back in. Thank you. PARKINSON: Thank you.

BOLUDAN: Coming for us, Meghan Markle opens up in an emotional essay revealing her family has been dealing with what she calls unbearable grief after a miscarriage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:55:00]

BOLUDAN: An almost unbearable grief, those are the words from Meghan Markle, the duchess of Sussex, revealing for the first time in an op- ed in The New York Times that she suffered a miscarriage in July, writing about how it began while she was holding her firstborn in her arms, writing this, quote, after changing his diaper, I felt a sharp cramp. I dropped to the floor with him in my arms humming a lullaby to keep us both calm. The cheerful tune a stark contrast to my sense that something was not right. I knew as I clutched my firstborn child that I was losing my second.

Let me bring in CNN's Max Foster. Max, it's really beautifully written essay. What's behind it? What are you hearing? Why did she want to open up in this way?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is a genesis to it while she was sitting hospital after that event you just described there with Prince Harry. And she looked to him, I wanted to say something, she asked him if he was okay. She feels now that that is the first step in any sort of healing and she writes this.

We have learned that when people ask how any of us are doing and when they really listen to the answer with an open heart and mind, the load of grief often becomes lighter for all of us. And being invited to share our pain together we take the first step towards healing.

In reference to miscarriage, she says these are conversations that aren't held enough. Too many people suffer grief in isolation. You need to ask people how they are. Are they okay? She even broadens it out in this piece to the pandemic, to Black Lives Matter, talking about in the run-up to Thanksgiving, many people feeling lonely and many people feeling isolated.

You need to go out there. You need ask them if they're okay, not just to be a kind person but also to help that person in their own healing. This is a first step. This is a new belief for her, it seems and something that's developed over the course of the year, and since that tragedy in July.

BOLUDAN: And speaking out in the way that she is, speaking out with her voice like that, especially about a miscarriage, even if you just take that in isolation. Speaking out in that way is very powerful. We know that. Women and men and families suffer in silence when it comes to miscarriages or infertility, or many things like that.

[12:00:01]

And her speaking out, it is powerful. Max, thank you so much for bringing it, I really appreciate it.

And thank you all so much for joining us this hour. I'm Kate Bolduan.