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Interview with Co-Founder of Institute for Antiracism in Medicine Brittani James; QAnon Influence Continues to Grow; Interview with News Anchor Anne McCloy. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired December 16, 2020 - 10:30   ET

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

RICHARD FREEMAN, CHIEF CLINICAL OFFICER, LOYOLA MEDICINE: Because it will take several months to get all the frontline workers and the high-risk people vaccinated before the general population can receive the vaccine.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And before that happens, another thing to keep in mind: In order for us to get back to some sense of normal, 70 to 80 percent of the population must be vaccinated -- Poppy and Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Adrienne Broaddus, thanks so much.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right, now the focus is on getting vaccine to everyone who needs it, but some communities do not trust it. Distrust, running high among black Americans mainly due to a long history of medical mistreatment by the government. But some black doctors are working hard to rebuild that trust in their community and get people vaccinated.

Vice President-elect Senator Kamala Harris echoed that sentiment just this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBIN ROBERTS, ABC CO-ANCHOR: How do you go about doing that when you know there's so much mistrust, especially in the community of color?

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT: That means about listening to the people, it means about remembering history and why people feel the way they do, and then also reminding folks this vaccine is just about one thing and one thing only: saving lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: We are so glad to be joined this morning by Dr. Brittani James, she is a family physician in Chicago and co-founder of the Institute for Antiracism in Medicine -- good morning.

BRITTANI JAMES, CO-FOUNDER, INSTITUTE FOR ANTIRACISM IN MEDICINE: Good morning, happy to be here. HARLOW: We're so glad you're here. I should note, the population that

you serve is literally 100 percent black. And you had a tweet message for everyone yesterday. You wrote, "As a black woman, as a physician, HEAR ME. This is serious. It is life or death. Get. This. Vaccine."

We talk about -- I talk about, you know, the Tuskegee experiment a lot, but you say it goes way beyond that and people need to understand that to start building trust.

JAMES: Absolutely. It's so important. And even the name, just calling it "Tuskegee," neglects the central role of the U.S. government in participating in some of this.

But, you know, this dates back to slavery, before then. There's a long history of exploitation and then Black Codes, which preceded Jim Crow laws. We sort of have legislation that have literally treated black people as second-class citizens. And a lot of the justification for that comes from the scientific and medical communities, and we have to acknowledge that.

HARLOW: If you were in the Biden cabinet or advising them, what would you say, this is what you have to do, it's not just enough for you to tell us this is safe. What do you want to see in terms of action?

JAMES: Absolutely. And to that point, it's more about just messaging. We have to actually go into understanding why people are so hesitant. It's more than just the vaccine, it's a mistrust of the vaccine but it's a mistrust of the medical complex. And quite frankly, doctors and other health care leaders, who are predominantly white, are not the people to give the message.

So as an (INAUDIBLE), what I'm recommending is that we turn to the communities, we turn to community leaderships, black church leaders, activists, nonprofits, people, organizers who are already in the community, black and brown communities, and have been for some time. We need to convince them and then allow them to spread the message because they have that credibility.

HARLOW: Yes. I mean, you've noted only two percent of physicians in this country are black women like yourself, and so there's a real lack of representation across the board that is problematic, not to mention what you've spoken about, is at the beginning of the pandemic, the fight for PPE that you felt and experienced made you feel abandoned by the government.

Now we're in the worst part of the pandemic. Are you concerned about something like that again, even if not with PPE, with rationing care, with vaccine distribution?

JAMES: Absolutely. And I've said it before, but actually being a black woman in medicine has actually made me more concerned about the racism that's rampant in the field. And so you know, early on I worried about PPE, but that was a concern that was shared with my white colleagues, all physicians. And we saw a rapid response and a lot of interest in that, even in the public domain. But something like this, which is disproportionate death in race (ph),

in the black and brown community, you know, there's certainly attention to it but I don't see the same level -- now it's starting to get more attention, but I think, you know, that's been a challenge and a conflict for me as a physician and as a black woman.

HARLOW: If we could just end on this, I want to read a line from your blog post back in April that really, really struck me. You wrote, "Watching the destruction of black lives from inside of the ivory tower of medicine caused me a unique brand of trauma." And you talk about survivor's guilt.

As a black woman, as a physician, how has it shaped how you inform your patients and how are you dealing with that trauma?

JAMES: Absolutely. And it's such an odd existence. As you said, only two percent of physicians are black women. And you know, to simultaneously be trying to help other black people, other women and really feeling the weight of that systemic racism and sexism within my own field, it does something to your psyche.

[10:35:22]

And -- but it also allows me to see other things that my colleagues don't see as easily, mainly in the exam room. It allows me to really connect with my patients in a unique way.

And when it comes to the vaccine, I'm able to say I understand your fear, and you know, I was raised to have the same fears and mistrust. But I'm able to use my own body, essentially, to say, I'm taking the vaccine, I believe it's safe, I personally reviewed the evidence and I know that it is safe. And that's what I can offer, and that's what I do. But it's certainly stressful and it's certainly traumatic at times.

HARLOW: Wow, wow. Thank you for fighting through all of that to continue to bring this message and this care. Dr. Brittani James, thank you.

JAMES: Thank you.

HARLOW: All right, join CNN this Friday night. We are taking a deep look into the skepticism over the COVID vaccine within the minority community. Dr. Anthony Fauci and Surgeon General Jerome Adams will join our Don Lemon and Dr. Sanjay Gupta. It's a new CNN town hall, "THE COLOR OF COVID: THE VACCCINES," Friday night, 10:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:46]

SCIUTTO: Misinformation, lies, there's a lot of it out there. And a new report tracking it across social media channels sheds new light, in particular on the conspiracy group QAnon. HARLOW: Our Drew Griffin investigates how, with the help of the

president's Twitter feed, QAnon's lies are hijacking the national conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new report released first to CNN shows what researchers claim is a frighteningly quick pipeline of lies initially pushed by QAnon communities that have become part of the mainstream with help from one big supporter.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've heard these are people that love our country.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Donald Trump has retweeted QAnon influencers and followers dozens of times in his presidency, an amplification that brings the deluded and dangerous collection of bizarre conspiracy theories into the highest levels of government.

Researchers at the Network Contagion Research Institute, which investigates deception and hate in social media, found QAnon's disinformation operations attack specific pillars of democracy at strategic moments and hijack the national conversation.

JOEL FINKELSTEIN, DIRECTOR, NETWORK CONTAGION RESEARCH INSTITUTE: It's my opinion that QAnon is amongst the most dangerous groups we study, if not the most dangerous.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Joel Finkelstein, who directed the research, says the capacity for violence in some of its followers is a public threat. Extremism expert Cynthia Miller-Idriss, who collaborated on the study says much of the alarming spread of QAnon is tied to President Trump.

CYNTHIA MILLER-IDRISS, DIRECTOR, POLARIZATION AND EXTREMISM RESEARCH AND INNOVATION LAB, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: For many of them, they do believe that Trump is the messianic figure. A lot of people start to believe in some components that are promoted by QAnon in disinformation networks without believing the entire conspiracy theory.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Among the beliefs? Trump is fighting a cabal of Satan-worshipping elites that practice pedophilia and child sacrifice, that George Floyd's death was staged, that the pandemic is fake, created solely to inject us with vaccines containing radio frequency identification chips. And perhaps most damaging of all, that the election was stolen.

FINKELSTEIN: QAnon as a disinformation network has grown like a virus.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): QAnon conspirators have also learned how to influence the president's thinking: Conspiracy theories started by or pushed by QAnon and its hashtags have been retweeted by the president including Dominion voting, that somehow millions of votes got switched; Obamagate, that the Obama administration spied on the Trump campaign.

Then there is #SubpoenaObama. On May 13th, a tweet from @FollowThe 17, as in Q, the 17th letter of the alphabet, shows just how quickly a conspiracy can go from the dark corner of the internet to the White House.

FINKELSTEIN: If we all put out #SubpoenaObama as a hashtag, he essentially said good things will happen if we do this.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): "Use the hashtag everywhere," the tweet said, and they did. #SubpoenaObama went viral, at times tweeting 4,000 times an hour. Right-wing media picks it up. One day later, Donald Trump weighed in, in a tweet to Senator Lindsey Graham, saying, "The first person I would call to testify about the biggest political crime-- is former President Obama."

TEXT: Donald J. Trump: If I were a senator or congressman, the first person I would call to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA, by FAR, is former President Obama. He knew EVERYTHING. Do it @LindseyGrahamSC, just do it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more talk!

GRIFFIN (voice-over): In other words, #SubpoenaObama. Success for the QAnon crowd. @FollowThe 17 would retweet Trump's post with a wink. Trump then tweeted, "Thank you to all of my great Keyboard Warriors. You are better and far more brilliant than anyone on Madison Avenue."

REP. DENVER RIGGLEMAN (R-VA): I think the technical term is batshit crazy, but that's what it is. But people are starting to believe this.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Outgoing Republican Congressman Denver Riggleman is planning to read the NCRI report findings into the congressional record. He's in the minority of Republicans willing to stand up to Trump and QAnon, and says most of his fellow Republicans say nothing because of money.

RIGGLEMAN: They're willing to do it. If they want to get re-elected, I think some of them think we have to say that this election was fraudulent, we have to go along with President Trump based on the fundraising.

[10:45:00]

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Republicans are raising hundreds of millions of dollars since the election, but Riggleman says at a cost: a rapidly spreading movement based on dangerous lies.

RIGGLEMAN: I just can't seem to get people to understand that this is the language of radicalization.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Drew, thank you for that reporting. Up next, you'll want to hear this. A TV news anchor stepped up when

the system failed, and now she's helping thousands get the unemployment benefits they deserve. She joins us, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Well for months, Congress failed to get more help to millions of Americans on the brink of eviction, struggling to feed their families and even when there was money, states had difficulty delivering it. The fact is, people need help. And in Albany, New York, Anne McCloy took the initiative to stand up.

[10:50:14]

McCloy, a local news anchor, has a mission: help people simply get the unemployment benefits they're entitled to. And it all began with a 71- year-old man crying, clutching papers in the parking lot of the station where she works.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNE MCCLOY, HELPED THOUSANDS WITH UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS: Why did you drive your papers here?

GABOR RADNAI, STRUGGLED TO GET UNEMPLOYMENT: Maybe you can help me, nobody else can.

MCCLOY: This is desperation?

RADNAI: Yes, yes. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Well, McCloy helped him. And since then, she's helped nearly 4,000 others. Her work, so striking, it sparked this "Atlantic" piece. Quote, "When a News Anchor Does the Government's Job." We're so glad that Anne McCloy can be with us now.

I -- you know, I speak for Jim and myself and I think our whole team, that we're so struck by and in awe of what you've done. So thank you, thank you for doing it, for being here. Tell us about meeting Gabor. I mean, you meet that man and he was clearly desperate.

MCCLOY: Well, thank you for having me, Poppy and Jim. Yes, it was awful. He showed up in the station parking lot, and this was during the shutdown so our news station was even shut down. The front lobby was closed, the New York State Capitol was closed, businesses were closed.

And this man had nowhere to go to try and get help with his unemployment claim, and so he came here, hoping that he could find someone. And he wandered into the parking lot and found one of our weathermen in the parking lot, and said, can you please help me with my unemployment claim? And that's how we connected, and I was able to start helping him. SCIUTTO: I mean, he was not alone is the sad fact here. I mean, you

encountered thousands of folks in the same situation. This is about system failure here, right? The state was not delivering aid that these people were entitled to. I just wonder how you saw that play out and what you did about it.

MCCLOY: Well, Jim, I did dozens of stories on this, and so this started all the way back in March, when the shutdown happened and people started applying for unemployment.

Eight million calls went into the Department of Labor the first week of the shutdown. So just in one week, they had millions of calls and the computer system crashed. And with all those calls coming in, they just weren't able to answer all of them. And so thousands of people across the state were not able to get their claims filed and they weren't getting money.

And people don't realize this, but this actually went on all the way into the summer. And I'm still hearing from some people who haven't gotten any money from the Department of Labor.

HARLOW: What were you able to do, Anne? Because you were on vacation, you hear the governor's going to have a news conference. You leave vacation -- which is more than a lot of us would do -- go to press the governor on this, and then what action -- like, what physically did you do to get these people the money?

MCCLOY: Well, I was covering Governor Cuomo every day, he was doing daily briefings. And so yes, I was trying to take a break from work and I was in a little lake town with my fiance, and I found out he would be at the capitol, and so we jumped in the car and he raced me down to the capitol. And I just knew that I had to get this in front of him.

I had just talked to Gabor in the parking lot, and so it was really weighing on me and I couldn't sleep, thinking about the people that needed this money. For them, it meant that they didn't have any money to pay their bills, they didn't have money to put food on their table for their families.

I heard from a woman from Queens around the same time, she called the newsroom and she knew I was covering the governor, so she was hoping I could help. And she said, I feel like the state has turned its back on me because I can't get this money. And her business was destroyed from the shutdown.

So all of that was weighing on me, and I just felt like I had to be their voice. And so I brought this in front of the governor. And his -- basically his chief of staff, Melissa DeRosa, the secretary to the governor, she ended up reaching out to me and saying, anyone who contacts you about unemployment, send their names our way and we're going to help them out.

SCIUTTO: Listen, it's remarkable. Credit to you, right? Because a lot of us might have tried to help one person, right? And said that's enough. You kept going, 4,000 times. And I'm sure that people in New York State appreciate it, we appreciate it too, Anne.

HARLOW: Kudos to you from all of us, Anne McCloy, what a Christmas gift you've given so many. Thank you, thank you.

[10:55:00]

MCCLOY: Oh, thank you.

HARLOW: There are angels among us, Jim, she's one of them.

Thanks for joining us, we'll see you tomorrow. I'm Poppy Harlow.

SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto, NEWSROOM with Kate Bolduan starts right after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm Kate Bolduan. Thank you so much for joining us this hour.