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Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) Discusses Biden Not Budging on Aug 31 Withdrawal, CIA Director Meeting with Taliban; Fauci: U.S. Could Return to Normal by Spring if Vaccinations Rise; CDC Study: Vaccines Less Protective Against Delta Variant But Still Drops Risk by Two-Thirds; Alabama ICU Bed Deficit Rises to 53 as COVID Surges; 21 Dead, Several Missing after Tennessee Floods. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired August 24, 2021 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Based on that and what you've learned in the last 24 hours or so, do you agree with the decision to stick with the deadline?

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): I respectfully submit we have to stay until we get our -- certainly our American citizens out, and as many of our Afghan allies out as possible.

The one thing that probably everybody knows now is that there's also a terrorist threat from ISIS-K, and we have to be mindful of that, but at the end of the day, we cannot leave Americans behind, who want to get out.

HILL: To that point, based on what you're learning, do you have a sense of how long that might take beyond the August 31st deadline?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I don't. And this is a piece of information that I understand is fluid.

But unfortunately, we don't have a lot of precision on the issue of the number of Americans left in Afghanistan who want to leave. We don't have a good understanding of the number of SIV people who are left who want to leave.

And so I think that the good news is that we're evacuating people at a rapid clip. But the more challenging news is I'm still unclear as to how long it's going to take to get everyone out at this point.

HILL: If you're still unclear on that, do you believe the administration is clear on what they would need in terms of timing?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: They may have better information. And, again, it changes hour by hour, given the number of flights that leave literally every 30 minutes or so.

At this point, I hope that they understand that this is going to be a game of math where, essentially, we have to increase the number of people we get out each day and divide it by the number of people who are left to evacuate. And, of course, we have to get our American troops, our brave personnel who are guarding the airport and carrying out this mission, out as well along with their equipment.

HILL: I want to get your take on this meeting we learned about between the CIA director, Bill Burns, and the Taliban at the president's direction.

Do you believe that was the right move?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I think so. I think it makes a lot of sense to have those very direct conversations between senior leaders.

And, of course, Bill Burns is a seasoned hand in this type of negotiation and this type of discussion. I hope that he was very direct and candid.

I'm sure that it was a discussion that got to the nuts and bolts of what's going on right now.

And the Taliban has to understand very clearly that the way that they conduct themselves in this crucial period will powerfully influence how lawmakers, like myself, and, of course, the Biden administration, and the world will view them and treat them going forward.

HILL: We know the G-7 is saying that they are -- their one stipulation is that the Taliban needs to allow for safe passage, right, out of Afghanistan after August 31st.

It's interesting you're saying the Taliban needs to understand certain things. A member of the Intel Committee telling CNN this morning that CIA Director Burns has, quote, "cards to play" when it comes to that deadline.

Does the U.S. have those cards to play? And do you think they're being used effectively at this point?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I do think that we have leverage. How it's being utilized, I'm not exactly sure, because I don't know the sum and substance of the conversation that Mr. Burns had with the Taliban yesterday.

But what I do know is that the Taliban has said that they are going to allow foreign nationals to leave the country after the 31st. But they pointedly leave out Afghan partners and allies of the United States, and that is very, very distressing.

Because as you know, there's about 20,000 SIV applicants, along with their families, who need to get out, and we need to get them out.

HILL: I know your office is working, I think, 20 or 30 people.

Before we let you go, the president is set to speak a short time from now. What do you think the American people need to hear?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I think a couple of things. I think the president needs to give us an update as to the status of operations in Kabul, and the American people need to understand what's happening there.

And then, secondly, what is our -- what is our goal from here on out in Afghanistan with regard to getting Americans out and our Afghan partners?

I think people need to receive a reassurance from the president that we're not going to leave people behind. That's really important, in my humble opinion.

[13:34:59]

HILL: Congressman Krishnamoorthi, we appreciate your joining us today. Thank you.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you so much.

HILL: What we know at this point, the Delta variant wreaking havoc, leading to increased number of cases and hospitalizations here in the U.S. Now we're learning more about just how effective the vaccines are against that variant. And we have those new details for you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:40:13]

HILL: Vaccines for 5 to 11-year-olds by Christmas? Perhaps control over COVID by spring? Two things to look forward to.

Dr. Anthony Fauci doubling down on those hopeful timelines today. But with an important caveat. That control of the virus is only possible if more people get vaccinated.

CNN senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, joining us now.

Elizabeth, control by the spring. What would that look like? What does control really mean and how many vaccinations would that require?

DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It would require quite a few vaccinations. Nearly a third of the U.S. who can get a vaccine still hasn't gotten even a single shot.

It means that life can go much more back to normal. We will not have to be so concerned about masks and social distancing. People can go back to work to a larger degree.

Let's look at the group that needs to be convinced. Dr. Fauci says an overall majority of them need to get vaccinated in order to go back to anything resembling anything normal.

And 82 million people, ages 12 and up, have not even had a single shot. That's 29 percent of the eligible population. Under 12 can't get vaccinated right now. Maybe by Christmas, as Dr. Fauci said.

Another thing, you know, something that might encourage people to get vaccinated, other than saving their lives and the economy going back to normal, but something that might encourage that is that Pfizer got full approval yesterday, and that might increase confidence in the vaccines.

Let's look at where Moderna and J&J are. Moderna applied or started to apply for full approval a month after Pfizer. It's possible Moderna could see full approval about a month from now.

Johnson & Johnson hasn't applied for full approval. So don't expect that any time soon -- Erica?

HILL: We'll look for that.

Elizabeth, thank you as always.

Oh, wait. I'm told we do have more time. I'm sorry.

A quick question about when it comes to efficacy. Yesterday, we heard the FDA talking about efficacy when they talked about the full approval for Pfizer's vaccine.

There's a new CDC study out today specifically looking at efficacy when it comes to the Delta variant. Where do we stand?

COHEN: These numbers explain, Erica, essentially why people need to get the third dose when they're eligible starting next month.

Let's take a look at the CDC study. This was just published minutes ago.

Before Delta, the vaccine was seen to be 91 percent effective. This is real world data from frontline health care workers and health care workers. And 91 percent effective before Delta.

After Delta became the predominant strain, only 66 percent effective.

There's some evidence showing that a third dose would increase that 66 percent. And we want that to happen.

Still, great that you got the vaccine. More people just get the first few doses. And 66 percent is good but not as good as 91 percent.

HILL: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

HILL: Just over a third of Alabama's population is now fully vaccinated. That is among the lowest rates in the nation.

Cases and hospitalizations in the state continue to rise. Right now, 84 percent of patients hospitalized with COVID are unvaccinated in the state.

Dr. Cynthia Crowder-Hicks is a pulmonologist at Infirmary Health in Mobile.

It's good to have you with us, Doctor.

We've heard from a number of hospitals that the cases are more severe. The patients they're seeing are younger.

Just last week, I was in Mississippi and an ICU nurse not far from you told me that seeing the younger patients really adds to the emotional toll on frontline workers.

I'm wondering if you're seeing the same thing in Mobile.

DR. CYNTHIA CROWDER-HICKS, PULMONOLOGIST, MOBILE INFIRMARY MEDICAL CENTER: Hi, Erica.

Yes, we are. Unfortunately, we are seeing such a swift rise in patients in the age range of 25 to 55. And some older, some younger. But we are seeing that the disease process and the acuity is higher as well.

That's much more challenging to the staff as well. We're working with the higher number of patients, and less available staff, to be honest with you, than we've had in any other surge.

And that is the difficulty, the acuity rise and it changes the landscape of how we practice and how we view traditional medicine versus medicine that it is now.

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: When you say it changes the way you practice, just give us a sense of what it means on a daily basis.

CROWDER-HICKS: You know, what you think of as a traditional ICU, patients are housed in a room. We have a line of sight on every patient. There's a patient-to-staff ratio that can exist with this population and the swiftness that it's come.

Right now, we have 33 ventilators. We have over 28 patients on bi-pap, plus or minus high flow. That adds it up to 50 patients. We have more than 30 patients on a breather. All of those patients would traditionally be in a traditional intensive care unit.

[13:45:11]

We are asking every nurse to step up and to be ICU nurses. And we're working with a team method, with ICU nurses, floor nurses to try to handle the acuity as it is spread throughout the hospital.

No hospital can sustain that type of acuity. And so we need to react and just kind of spread out the level of care that we're providing. As you know, it is not optimal.

HILL: You say -- it sounds like the system you describe, no system could keep up.

We just heard from Dr. Fauci, maybe we can get this under control by next spring.

CROWDER-HICKS: For sure. HILL: When you hear that, there's the practical, how are you going to

care for your patients, the logistics of dealing with that after already 18 months, making it through to next spring.

As you point out, too, you have fewer staff. Everyone is emotionally taxed. How do you make it through to next spring?

CROWDER-HICKS: I mean, you take it one day at a time, to be honest with you. You try to make sure and encourage your staff. They're doing a great job. But it is limited.

And so it is difficult to be encouraging to the staff, to the patients and all. So we keep encouraging people to be responsible. To actually be proactive, go get vaccinated, and then we can try to stop this.

But we can only do what we can do right now.

HILL: Dr. Cynthia Crowder-Hicks, we appreciate everything you are doing and appreciate you sharing your message as well. It is so important. Thank you.

CROWDER-HICKS: Thank you.

HILL: Incredible stories of survival after deadly flooding swept through Tennessee. And now a community trying to pick up the pieces. Several people remain missing. We are live in Waverly, Tennessee, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:51:51]

HILL: Federal aid is on its way to Tennessee communities left traumatized by last weekend's devastating floods.

At least 21 people now confirmed dead, several missing. Survivors say the rushing waters swept their homes away in minutes.

We are seeing more video of some really incredible rescues, including this one with a woman pulled from her home on a jet ski.

CNN's Nadia Romero joining us from Waverly, Tennessee, one of the hardest-hit areas.

Nadia, we've seen some of the destruction but I'm sure it only begins to tell us part of the story.

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Erica. We hear stories of survival and great loss.

And a lot centers around this house. It was picked up off its foundation two blocks away, brought over here, slamming against a gas station before coming to its rest.

We met a woman today named Debra Ashton. She says this is the log she believes saved her life. She grabbed hold of this as she was being swept away in the floodwaters.

Listen to her story of survival.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBRA ASHTON, TENNESSEE FLOOD SURVIVOR: I mean, I was going at a force, but the pole took the brunt, you know, and, of course, it jarred me but I held on for dear life to that pole because I knew it was my anchor right now.

The current kept taking me under water, kept taking me under water, kept taking me under water. I went under about four times, and I just knew I was going to die.

I remember saying to God, my daughter, Anna, who is 35 years old, she is too young to lose her mama now. God, let me live not only to tell my story but so Anna will have her mother.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: And Anna does have her mother. Debra says she was able to call her daughter and let her know that she survived that storm.

She's got cuts and bruises all over her body, but she says, "I am alive."

This is the same house Debra ran up against. The woman who lives in this white house, she wasn't home at the time of the flood. She was staying with her daughter and grandchildren so she was OK.

Then you have the car inside. It is completely unrelated to the woman who actually owns the house.

The woman that was in there got swept away during the floodwaters. Her car came crashing into this house. First responders had to knock out the back window, pull her out, but she did not survive.

That's what we keep hearing from people, what happened on Saturday, how quickly the waters were rising.

Right now, we know that there are people who are still out there who are missing. We have at least 10 people who are missing right now. Search-and-rescue crews are actively looking for them.

Their biggest issue is -- well, this -- all of the debris. They have to try to move things like this gas pump out of the way so that they can get their crews and their trucks on roads.

We saw bridges that were completely wiped out or covered in debris, as they try to find so many people.

People tell me in this neighborhood, all throughout this county that they can't move on until they find out what happened to the missing -- Erica?

HILL: Yes, understandably. Good reporting. Nadia, thank you so much.

[13:54:59]

And thanks to all of you for joining me. I will see you back here tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

Just a reminder, we should be hearing from President Biden any moment now. Stay with CNN for that.

The news continues next with Alisyn and Victor.

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[13:59:57]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Alisyn Camerota. Welcome to NEWSROOM.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: I'm Victor Blackwell.

Soon, we're expecting the president to speak from the White House just a few minutes from now. He will explain his critical decision on Afghanistan.