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COVID Boosters; Interview With Trenton, New Jersey, Mayor Reed Gusciora; President Biden Tours Hurricane Ida Damage in Louisiana. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired September 03, 2021 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:04]

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

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

President Biden just touched down in Louisiana. I have got live pics here of the president there at the airport with several members of the administration there from the White House, also local leaders as well. He's getting a look at the enormous damage caused by Hurricane Ida today.

Local leaders will brief him at an emergency operations center, and then he will tour the hard-hit town of LaPlace. We also expect him to speak about the federal response to Hurricane Ida. And, of course, when that happens, we will bring it to you live.

CAMEROTA: The threat from Hurricane Ida and her aftermath is still not over.

In the Northeast, the storm left at least 48 people dead and nearly five million are still under flood warnings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM THIEL, PHILADELPHIA FIRE COMMISSIONER: Still dangerous conditions in a lot of places. At the same time, we're moving into a recovery mode and a cleanup mode. The recovery process for this is going to take months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: We now know that at least eight tornadoes hit multiple states. New Jersey was hit with its strongest tornado in 30 years.

In Louisiana and Mississippi, where 13 people were killed, hundreds of thousands of others still face fuel shortages, power outages, and sweltering temperatures.

The heat index in parts of Louisiana will top 105 degrees today.

BLACKWELL: All right, let's start there.

CNN Adrienne Broaddus is in New Orleans. CNN's Brian Todd is about 75 miles northwest of there in Independence

But, Adrienne, you're up first.

You have been talking to people and bringing us their stories, desperate for gas and food and some comfort, electricity. Describe what you're hearing that they want to hear, what they want to see from President Biden.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When President Biden comes, they want answers. These are people who are starving for hope.

You got to keep in mind this is a dark period in their lives right now. They're looking for any type of relief, even though...

CAMEROTA: OK, obviously, we're struggling a little bit there with Adrienne's audio. We will get her back to her as soon as possible.

Brian Todd, you have also been talking to a lot of residents. What are they telling you they need?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn and Victor, we are -- from every account that we are getting, what unfolded here behind me can be described only as a horrific and chaotic mess, tragic mess that unfolded this week.

I just spoke to the parish president of Tangipahoa Parish, Robby Miller. He is calling for an investigation into the owner of seven nursing homes from which some 850 people were brought to this facility, this warehouse ahead of the storm. And what we do know now is that the owner of those nursing homes, Bob Dean, is under a lot of pressure right now.

There are investigations being called for from both local and state authorities into what happened here. What we can tell you is that four people who were brought here -- they brought 850 some patients from those nursing facilities to this warehouse. And conditions just deteriorated rapidly.

They brought them here before the storm. They brought them here last Friday. And what we can tell you is, from everything that we have been told, after the storm, conditions deteriorated rapidly. Generators failed. The conditions inside were horrible. There were some people sleeping on mattresses on the floor. There were insects crawling all over those mattresses.

They were getting not very much food and stale food. Again, the heat was oppressive. The oxygen concentrators that a lot of these people needed to survive kept failing because the generators kept failing. And in the end, four people perished.

And what's extraordinary is that, by Tuesday, we were told state health officials came here to check on conditions. And they were basically kicked out. They were not allowed inside to look at the conditions here.

I can kind of take you back a little bit here. We can walk a little bit in. And you can see, this is -- these are some of the things that people use to get these people out of here. And they only got them out of here yesterday in wheelchairs and other -- and stretchers, and brought them out these entrances.

And they just kind of left everything behind there. So that's what occurred here. And some relatives are just horrified by what happened to their relatives. The police chief, Frank Edwards, has said that he understood initially that they were only going to have 350 people here. They ended up bringing 850 some people here.

Again, four people died. And the calls for investigations are really intensifying right now, Alisyn and Victor.

BLACKWELL: It's just so sad to hear that people were in that condition after the storm and, as you said, four lost their lives. Of course, that investigation is beginning.

Let's go back to Adrienne now, see if we can get her mic working there, Adrienne telling us the story of the folks in New Orleans and what they want the president to know.

BROADDUS: Yes, my bad, a little operator error there on my end.

[14:05:00]

But they want the president to know how much they are hurting. For example, in that short amount of time, you notice that blue crate over there. It was once filled with bags of ice. They gave away ice here today for free. And that's something small, but it's making a big difference in the lives of the people here.

They are desperate, they are hungry, and they are starving for hope and some relief. Listen in to some of the things that have been happening here in New Orleans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIFFANY PARKER, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: When we woke up this morning, somebody has stole our gas cans off the porch. And I was like -- I was happy they didn't take the generator.

But don't come back, is all I got to say. Don't try that again. That's all I want to tell them. But I just hope everything come on -- clear up in the city, so we can get things back rolling.

ABDULLAH HUMMAS, GAS STATON EMPLOYEE: There have been multiple incidents where people have pulled ones on us for very belligerent reasons, waiting in line too long, thinking we're ripping them off.

We're actually one of the only gas stations in the greater New Orleans area that's charging the exact same prices that we have been charging before the hurricane during the pandemic. And we have been giving out free ICE, free water multiple days. And we're trying our best to help the community in every aspect that we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BROADDUS: And the pumps are filled at this hour, as people fill up on fuel. They're getting gas, Victor and Alisyn, so they can step outside of their homes into the car and cool off, because, across the state, there's still more than 800,000 people without power -- back to you.

CAMEROTA: Adrienne Broaddus, Brian Todd, I mean, just completely different stories of distress, but really dramatic stories of distress there.

Thank you both very much.

OK, now to what's happening in the Northeast, which is still trying to recover from deadly tornadoes and catastrophic flooding.

BLACKWELL: At least 48 people across six states are dead. Six are missing. And for some, the threat is not over. Rivers are expected to rise throughout the weekend.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is in Manville, New Jersey.

What's the situation there today?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, guys, about 25 of those deaths were actually confirmed here in the state of New Jersey, the loved ones of those victims right now obviously dealing with some just unthinkable heartache.

Meanwhile, for the rest of the families that have been also deeply affected by this, they now have to pick up the pieces and see what, if anything, they can salvage. And, for some, perhaps the those that have really had it also extremely difficult, is losing their home altogether.

In fact, behind me is one home here in Manville, New Jersey, the fire chief here telling me -- or the fire marshal here telling me that there was this combination of electricity and also gas that combined to create an explosion, resulting in that just yesterday. In fact, right here where I'm standing, this was turned into a virtual river when a nearby river, it actually spilled over its banks.

And it created a lot of damage. We know of at least four structures here in this particular city that ended up damaged or destroyed in that way. Good news to report, there was nobody inside, that it actually evacuated.

But here's the thing. People in many of these towns that could live close to these rivers, these river basins, they are still concerned that the water levels in those rivers could continue to rise. That's exactly what a local fire marshal told me a little while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK A. RENALDI, MANVILLE, NEW JERSEY, FIRE SUPERINTENDENT: There's talking about there may be a rise again in the water. Again, I don't think it's going to be this bad. Again, it's definitely -- I could see it. It kind of went down a little bit. I don't think it's going to crest. So let's just cross our fingers it doesn't.

But, again, it's hard to predict these things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And Manville's fire marshal there telling me that they do believe that the worst could possibly be over.

But, look, Alisyn and Victor, this place knows all too well what happens with these massive storms. In fact, with Hurricane Floyd in the '90s, they also experienced this kind of flooding. They did also during Superstorm Sandy. But the consensus after speaking to both officials and locals, it has never been this bad.

And now these are the heartbreaking scenes that usually follow these kinds of natural disasters. There's obviously those homes that are just beyond repair. And then everywhere else you look too, Alisyn and Victor, there are people that are now hauling their belongings to the curb -- back to you.

BLACKWELL: Yes, trying to salvage what they can, and they know they have got a lot of work ahead.

Polo Sandoval for us there in Manville, thank you.

CAMEROTA: So, joining us now are Reed Gusciora. Hope I did that right. And he's the mayor of Trenton, New Jersey. And Robert Echavarria, he's the fire chief for Millburn, New Jersey.

Guys, thank you very much.

Chief, I want to start with you.

I understand that at the height of the storm, you had to make 100 rescues of stranded motorists and people stuck in businesses. And for your department, how dicey was that time?

ROBERT ECHAVARRIA, MILLBURN, NEW JERSEY FIRE CHIEF: That was really dicey.

But thank you to our local partners, the police department, fire, EMS, public works, and the 9/11 call takers as well. We all pulled together as a team. And we were able to rescue those 100 residents and business owners and occupants. And we transported them to a library, where we sheltered them for the entire night, until they found a ride home the next morning.

[14:10:16]

BLACKWELL: Wow.

Mr. Mayor, I understand that there was a meeting scheduled with your emergency management team for this afternoon. Has that happened? And if so, what have you learned?

REED GUSCIORA, MAYOR OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY: Absolutely. We have been meeting throughout the week. And Trenton is a city along

the Delaware River, which has had a history of flooding and neighborhoods along the river, along with the state highway. The water is receding now. So we are breathing a sigh of relief.

We have had to make over 25 border rescues of cars driving in flooded areas. We had displaced residents. We opened up a shelter in one of the school gymnasiums.

But things are slowly trying to get back to normal. We're not out of the woods yet. But we believe that the Delaware River is not going to crest above the embankment.

CAMEROTA: Chief, I am so struck by the frequency with which this seems to be happening now. Extreme weather is not going away. We're seeing more of these storms. And they seem to come up faster than we expected.

And so I'm wondering, Chief, what you can do next time for the people of Millburn? I mean, is there a way to better prepare them? What do you want them to know the next time this happens, so that 100 motorists don't get stuck in their cars?

ECHAVARRIA: Well, first and foremost, it's the motorists that create that issue.

They really need to heed that warning when a storm is coming of this magnitude. It's really to stay home, stay off the roads. It's similar to a snowstorm when they're out. They get stuck. That taxes our services here in the community.

We had over 20 firefighters on call that night. Police had, well, probably an equal amount of police officers out there. And we were all dealing with stranded motorists. If people would just stay home, we would be able to do different things.

BLACKWELL: Mr. Mayor, I understand that police officers there have been going door to door asking people to -- some people along the river to leave their homes because, as we heard from Polo Sandoval, where he is in Manville and across this area, these rivers are expected to crest over the weekend and more flooding could come.

Are people leaving?

GUSCIORA: People have left, but they're actually starting to go back because the Delaware is not expected to crest over the embankment.

We were really concerned that that was the case. We asked people to voluntarily evacuate. For the most part, they did cooperate. We turned off gas to the island neighborhood. That's along the Delaware. But we have taken every precaution we could. It is right. We're expecting more storms in the future. So this was very much a dry run for future Sandys that people are well aware of how it affected this area.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

Chief, I have seen video and reports of fires there where you are. Is that the same fire, or are there multiple fires after the storm?

ECHAVARRIA: We didn't have any fires in our community, but we have been helping out our mutual aid (AUDIO GAP) around us that had fires as a result to flooding issues or gas leaks. We are responding to a lot of gas, natural gas odors, also gasoline odors from chemicals spilled in basements or on the floodwaters as well.

BLACKWELL: OK.

CAMEROTA: Mr. Mayor, I mean, I hear what you're saying about that there will be more Superstorm Sandys.

As someone who lived through it, as I know you did, that's a very bitter pill to swallow. Is there any solution other than us all just having to accept that this is what our lives are going to be like for the foreseeable future?

GUSCIORA: Well, I think it's a matter of preparedness.

We had our police and fire and EMS doing extraordinary work, being out in the neighborhoods and working with the residents. But it's a fact of life, unfortunately, unless we can really control the river. And we can't. We hope that parts north don't release their reservoirs.

That would really affect our neighborhood and our quality of life. But we're a river town. And, at the end of the day, we got to protect our residents, and they have to make a decision whether to continue to live there or live on higher, drier ground.

CAMEROTA: Well, Mayor Gusciora, Chief Echavarria, thank you both very much for all you're doing and for your time.

ECHAVARRIA: Thank you, Alisyn and Victor.

GUSCIORA: Thank you.

[14:15:00]

BLACKWELL: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Well, the White House, it turns out, may have to scale back its ambitious vaccine booster plan.

We have new details on the confusing mixed messages.

BLACKWELL: And the president is blaming the Delta variant and unvaccinated Americans for the surprisingly weak jobs report. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Well, we have just learned that some top federal health officials now want the White House to slow down and scale back the rollout of coronavirus booster shots later this month.

But, just yesterday, Dr. Anthony Fauci said three doses could become the norm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: But I must say, from my own experience as an immunologist, I would not at all be surprised that the adequate full regimen for vaccination will likely be three doses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:20:12]

CAMEROTA: OK, joining us now to make sense of all of this, we have CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

So, Elizabeth at first, we were expecting the booster shots to be available some time around September 20. Now we're told they may not be coming. What's happening?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What's going on here is that actually the two things that Victor was just talking about could both be true.

On the one hand, this could become a three-dose vaccine. It's very possible. But it's also true that this rollout might have been introduced prematurely. Here's what's at issue.

There is some data for Pfizer. The FDA is looking at it. FDA advisers are meeting on September 17. So it's very possible that there could be a rollout of a Pfizer booster on September 20.

But take a look at this chart. Not every American has received Pfizer. Most Americans who are vaccinated did get Pfizer; 54 percent did. But, still, 38 percent got Moderna and 8 percent got Johnson & Johnson. So the issue is, what are we going to tell the people who got Moderna and Johnson & Johnson?

The other big issue here is that the messaging on this is really getting confusing. And the problem isn't the people who've already been vaccinated. The problem is the people who haven't been vaccinated. They don't trust the government. And when you hear this back and forth, they will say, oh, all the more reason not to even get one shot.

And take a look at this number. More than a quarter of eligible Americans have not gotten even one shot yet. All of this back and forth about boosters was unnecessary and is probably telling these people, see, I told you that everything here was all messed up.

So it's unfortunate that that message has gotten out. Now, the bottom line for those of us who have been vaccinated is boosters will be coming. It really is just a matter of when. And it might depend on what kind of vaccine you got in the first place -- Victor, Alisyn.

BLACKWELL: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

CAMEROTA: Joining us now to discuss this, we have CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner.

Dr. Reiner great to see you, as always.

So should Americans expect a booster shot this fall or not?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Yes, they should expect a booster shot.

We have seen a pretty clear-cut decline in the efficacy of our vaccines in terms of preventing infection. The efficacy in terms of preventing severe infection seems to be holding, but there is some data from outside the United States, particularly Israel, that suggests that, with time, that too will occur, which has really prompted this move to try and boost, or, as Dr. Fauci said, administer a third shot to most of the country.

The problem is that most of the data comes out of Israel. We don't have any of this data in the United States. So we're relying on the Israeli data. And "The New York Times" has reported that the FDA is still waiting to get some of the raw data from Israel. So, that's number one.

The second problem is that most of the data is with the Pfizer vaccine. But yet about half the country has received either the Moderna vaccine and about 15 percent of the country has received the J&J vaccine, where there's the least amount of data in terms of both waning efficacy or need for booster.

But yet there was a joint statement made earlier in August from the CDC director, Rochelle Walensky, and the acting FDA commissioner, Janet Woodcock, suggesting that, come September 20, we would see boosters for the entire country.

The problem is the authorities in the FDA, the Office for Vaccine Research and Review, had not done their research and review of this issue. And this is what prompted the two officials, the director and the deputy director of that office, to resign, and now this chaos. It's really unwelcome at this time.

BLACKWELL: So is this a case of politics getting ahead of the science, because when Rochelle Walensky was named by this administration as being -- the administration -- being the next administrator of or director of CDC, that was supposed to be a mark of, we're not going to do that, where the White House dictates what the science will be.

And now we have this. Am I overstating that, or is that what happened here?

REINER: I have enormous respect for Dr. Walensky. She has a very difficult draw job, because there is a relentless political pressure to put this pandemic down, not just for politics, for all of the real personal, tragic consequences of this virus and also for the economic costs of this virus.

[14:25:04] So she has a lot to deal with. And there is this very compelling data coming out of Israel that suggests that the way actually to extinguish the Delta surge is to boost people. Israel was seeing a doubling of serious illnesses, hospitalizations every 10 days for 45 days this summer. Two weeks after they started boosting everyone in that country over the age of 12, that exponential growth ceased.

And this is what has fueled the administration's interest in doing that. And you heard the president last week, when the prime minister of Israel was visiting, mentioning that the U.S. might even move the eligibility back to people who had been vaccinated five to six months ago.

And this comes out really robust data coming out of Israel. The problem is that we have a very professional group of people in the FDA and the CDC who can't be rushed. Now, some people might say that they take too much time, but there is a process here to ensure that the vaccine boost, first of all, is needed, and secondly, that it is effective and maybe most importantly safe.

And this process has to be respected. And the people who do this have been with the FDA for sometimes decades. So -- and that process looks like it was skirted.

BLACKWELL: All right, we will see when we get that data from Moderna, but it looks like they have enough to move forward for certain people who have the Pfizer vaccine.

Dr. Jonathan Reiner, thank you for helping us understand that.

CAMEROTA: Thanks, Doc.

REINER: My pleasure. Thanks.

CAMEROTA: OK, now to more politics. Senator Joe Manchin is getting pushback from his own party after his comment about putting the budget package on pause, pumping the brakes on this.

The battle over President Biden's agenda heating up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:30:00]