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Nurses, Hospital Staff Prepare for Influx of COVID Patients; Ghislaine Maxwell Jury Deliberations Underway for Fifth Day. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired December 28, 2021 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:30:03]
DAVID PEPPER, FORMER CHAIRMAN, OHIO DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Because of the gerrymandering of ten years ago, which rigged elections for a decade, we literally have a majority of these statehouses all over the country where the individual officeholders have generally been in power without any connection to democracy themselves. Their own elections have been rigged the entire time.
So, they themselves realize -- and that's made them more extreme, it's led to more corruption, it's made them way out of the mainstream even in their own states. And they know that if they don't keep rigging elections, most of them would lose their office. They wouldn't be able to survive in a world of real democracy. And, again, that's what the founders worried about.
So, beginning at the federal level we need voting rights protection right now and democracy protection. But I also lay out in my book all sorts of other ways that every single citizen can get involved. Pay attention to your statehouse races. Don't allow any of these districts to go unchallenged. These gerrymandered officeholders love when there's no opposition. They have a monopoly on the whole conversation.
A lot of states are seeing intense purging of voters. So, get yourself involved in registering voters. Every day they're purging voters. We need to be registering voters back on the rolls. I go through specific 30 steps that everyone can take to fight back. And if we don't fight back -- as you mentioned, Jim Crow is a parallel, if we don't fight back, relentless efforts to attack democracy succeed, so we have to fight back right now.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN NEWSROOM: David, what do you say to those who argue that there are a number of Democratic-controlled statehouses that are involved in their own partisan gerrymandering? They'll point to Maryland, they'll point to New Mexico, for example.
PEPPER: I say gerrymandering is bad wherever it happens. It erodes democracy. Now, it's happening more in Republican areas than Democratic areas. And this is one reason the federal legislation is so important. You're going to have a race to the bottom. If you watch what Texas is doing or Ohio, well, guess what, New York State or Illinois are going to do the same thing. It's bad for everybody. It leads to corruption. It leads to terrible outcomes.
The federal legislation, the Freedom to Vote Act in the Senate would do what we did in Ohio, which is create sort of boundaries to keep this extreme partisan gerrymandering from happening. Nowhere in life do we think that complete lack of accountability works. So, why would we think it would work in politics? It simply is a failed system.
HARLOW: There's one point you make as we end so important to highlight, and that is, as we have seen budgets constrained for local media, local newspapers going out of business, you have fewer local reporters inside statehouses doing this reporting who know it inside and out. And we know what happens to democracy in darkness.
PEPPER: Absolutely. So, the reason people are choosing to use statehouses to do all the nastiest stuff against democracy is they think that's where people are paying the least attention. So, those statehouses have a lot of power over elections, over even the Electoral College, but it's also the place where the media, because of cuts, covers the least.
So, one other step I put in my book that you'll like, people should not be going around pay walls. If there's a good local or state paper doing good statehouse coverage, subscribe to it. Reward that coverage. We need to reward the things that lift democracy, and that's a specific step everyone can take.
But, yes, the average statehouse right now in the country, one study found, has three reporters covering it. They're getting overwhelmed by the negative stuff, and we need to help these journalists lift up the conversation.
HARLOW: Well, David Pepper, thank you so much for coming on. And I'm sending your book to both of our favorite constitutional law teacher. I'm sure she's going to love it. Thanks, David.
PEPPER: Absolutely. Thanks for doing that. Take care.
HARLOW: Of course. Thanks so much.
I should note also we reached out to the Ohio Republican Party, the GOP, for their comment on this. We have not heard back.
Next, the CDC cuts the s recommended isolation time in half for people recovering from COVID-19. I'll speak to a nurses union who does not think that is the right call.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:35:00]
HARLOW: Welcome back. Amid the spike in COVID-19 cases, some nurses are concerned the new CDC guidance shortening isolation and quarantine times will add to their burden.
Let me bring in Jean Ross, a registered nurse and president of National Nurses United, the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States. Jean, thanks so much. Good morning.
JEAN ROSS, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL NURSES UNITED: Good morning.
HARLOW: Tell me why you think the CDC made the wrong call to cut the quarantine guidance in half.
ROSS: It's only going to lead to more illness, more cases. Right now, as of last week, we've had 476 registered nurses in this country die and 4,900, I believe, some odd numbers of health care workers infected and died. So, this is not the time during a surge of a new mutant variant. This is not the time to be lessening. Our staffing concerns have not been addressed. And measures like this will make it worse instead of better. This is when you should be tightening controls, not lessening it.
HARLOW: So, the CDC said making this announcement yesterday their decision is, quote, motivated by science and they say that the majority of COVID transmissions occur early in the course of the illness, generally in the one to two days prior to the onset of symptoms and in the two to three days after.
[10:40:17]
Do you think they're wrong on the science?
ROSS: If you listen to that science, you heard a lot of the majority, generally. It's not based on the precautionary principle, which says if it looks like this is the way it goes, that's the way we should be behaving to ultimately protect nurses and other frontline workers and the public. So, our decisions are based on science, not on the market, not on profit, not on getting back to business. Our concern is for nurses' safety and the safety of the public. And that's what we base our decisions on.
HARLOW: So, what we have heard -- and I hear you, I also hear the hospitals that are saying they're getting to the breaking point where they can't operate without. And they've already cut out most elective surgeries. I mean, function with so few of their staff being able to come to work for ten days because of the guidelines. Is there something you suggest that would work better so that we don't see those hospitals driven beyond the breaking point and unable to function?
ROSS: Right now, this staff shortage, the conditions that nurses and other health care workers are forced to work under, have been engineered by those employers. So, that's where we find ourselves. And this would be an excellent time to start staffing up.
And there are nurses out there. There are certainly traveling nurses to help. I know the president at times has put in the military divisions of nurses and other health care workers to assist us. But the bottom line is you will get those nurses and keep them working when you have conditions that allow them to know they are safe and their patients are safe. Now is an excellent time to start doing that.
HARLOW: What do you mean specifically? ROSS: Well, I'll give you an example. We had an ETS, an emergency temporary standard, that we got finally after a lot of advocating from OSHA, temporary. It was allowed to lapse. Now, now is the time to make it permanent and to extend it not just to health care workers but to other frontline workers. Instead, they've let it lapse.
So, when it lapse, what are we going to go back to? We will go back to the way it was in the beginning, not being able to hold employers accountable for proper PPE, for proper staffing, for segregating non- COVID patients from possible COVID patients, from certain COVID patients. Those are the kinds of things nurses have been harping on since before this started. And the employers have not been willing to do it without the standard, we're going to be right back where we started.
And their reasoning always is we don't have enough or we fear we won't have enough. If you keep engineering conditions like this, you won't have enough. Nurses will stay. Nurses will continue to work if they're protected.
HARLOW: Jean Ross, thank you for joining us with your concerns. It's important to have your voice in this conversation. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:45:00]
HARLOW: Welcome back. Right now, jurors in the sex trafficking trial of Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell are back in court this morning for a fifth day of deliberations. Yesterday, the jury asked for more witness transcripts, including testimony from Epstein's former pilot. They also asked for the legal definition of enticement as it relates to some of the charges. Yesterday, the judge asked the jury to consider deliberating for an extra hour today. They haven't yet reached a verdict.
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to six federal counts for allegedly grooming underage girls for sex with Epstein, her longtime companion and a convicted pedophile. If convicted, she faces up to 70 years in prison.
Well, after 2020 and the pandemic essentially benched sports, 2021 saw athletes return to the field and to the courts, and a delayed summer Olympic Games finally opened in Tokyo and sports starts made stars on and off the playing field. Our Andy Scholes reviews the top ten sports stories of 2021.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Number ten in 2021, age proved to be just a number. 50-year-old Phil Mickelson becoming the oldest golfer ever to win a Major, earning his second PGA championship 16 years after his first. This was Phil's sixth major title first since 2013. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very possible this is the last tournament I ever win but there's no reason I or anybody else can't do it at a later age. It just takes a little more work.
SCHOLES: Number nine, Tom Brady meanwhile looks like he may never age.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: 43-year-old Tom Brady wins a historic seventh title in his first season with a new team.
SCHOLES: Brady leading the buccaneers to a convincing 31-9 win over the Chiefs. The Bucs the first team ever to win a Super Bowl in their home stadium.
[10:50:03]
Brady and the team celebrating with a boat parade that saw him completing yet another pass out on the water.
2021 was the year of the Bucks. Milwaukee also claiming their first NBA title since 1971. Giannis Antetokounmpo capping off an incredibly playoffs run, becoming the Finals MVP.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Major League Baseball is moving its all-star game out of Georgia because of the state's new law that critics say suppresses voting.
SCHOLES: In April, Major League Baseball pulled the all-star game from Atlanta. In October, Atlanta hosted the World Series and pulled off one of the most unexpected runs in baseball history, beating the Astros to win their first World Series title in 26 years, the team's unlikely championship coming in the same year that the world Braves Legend Hank Aaron, who passed away at 86 years old.
Number seven --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: NCAA March Madness, the biggest tournament in college basketball for women. This is our weight room. Let me show you all the men's weight room.
SCHOLES: -- the NCAA admitted failing the women in providing facilities for the NCAA tournament last March and vowed to do better. After being canceled in 2020, March Madness was back in 2021, but it wasn't the same with limited fans. The men's tournament taking place solely in Indiana, the women's in Texas.
JON GRUDEN, FORMER HEAD COACH, LAS VEGAS RAIDERS: I'm not a racist. I can't tell you how sick I am.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, Jon Gruden stepping down as head coach of the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders hours after The New York Times reported on homophobic, misogynistic and racist remarks that he made in emails over a seven-year period.
SCHOLES: The emails discovered during a probe into workplace misconduct within the Washington Football Organization. After resigning, Gruden filing a lawsuit against the NFL accusing the league of selectively leaking his emails to ruin his reputation.
Number five, vaccinations in sports were a polarizing topic.
AARON RODGERS, GREEN BAY PACKERS QUARTERBACK: Yes, I've been immunized.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Superstar Quarterback Aaron Rodgers defending his controversial comments where he raised doubts about the COVID vaccine after he tested positive for COVID. He also addressed when he lied and claimed he was immunized.
RODGERS: I misled people about my status, which I take full responsibility.
SCHOLES: Rodgers missed one game for the Packers while battling COVID.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Golf Legend Tiger Woods hospitalized right now after a very serious rollover car crash.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Golf Legend Tiger Woods is in the hospital right now after having to be cut out of his vehicle.
TIGER WOODS, GOLF LEGEND: I'm lucky to be alive but also still have the limb. Those are two crucial things.
SCHOLES: Nearly ten months after the crash, Tiger hosted his golf tournament in the Bahamas and said he continues to make progress in his recovery. And in December, he surprised many by in competing in a tournament with his 12-year-old son, Charlie.
Number three, despite the pandemic and calls to cancel the games, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics taking place without spectators in most venues. And it was another historic games for Team USA.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The most decorated U.S. track and field Olympian ever, Allyson Felix secured that title at the Tokyo Summer Games.
ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: It's a historic moment for USA, Suni Lee wins gold.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Team USA's former Katie Ledecky is basking in the glory of having made Olympic history, like again and again and again.
SCHOLES: Number two, a big theme in 2021 with athletes continuing to campaign for mental health awareness.
REPORTER: Sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, you're super good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. I think we're just going to take a quick break. Just -- we'll be back in one moment. SCHOLES: Naomi Osaka revealing that press conferences give her anxiety and she had dealt with depression since winning her first U.S. Open title in 2018. The four-time Grand Slam winner pulling out of both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to work on her mental health.
And number one --
BERMAN: Major breaking news out of the Olympics. We just learned that Simone Biles has pulled out of the team competition.
SIMONE BILES, SEVEN-TIME OLYMPIC MEDALIST: At the end of the day, we're not just entertainment. We're humans. And there are things going on behind the scenes that we're also try to juggle with as well.
WIRE: The way Biles put a spotlight on mental health showing the world that no matter who you are, even if you're superwoman, it's okay to not feel okay. She's going to go down as one of the greatest Olympians ever for the impact she's had.
SCHOLES: Biles would return to competition to take the bronze medal on the balance beam.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: Andy, thank you so much.
A quick programming note this Sunday, be sure to catch a new CNN film, Just Call Out My Name.
[10:55:01]
It highlights the special relationship between James Taylor and Carole King. It airs Sunday night 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
Thank you so much for being with me today. I'll see you right back here tomorrow morning. I'm Poppy Harlow.
At This Hour with Amara Walker is after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
AMARA WALKER, CNN AT THIS HOUR: Hi, everyone. I'm Amara Walker in for Kate Bolduan.
Here is what we're watching at this hour.
[11:00:01]
Alarming increase, new fears about the danger the omicron variant poses to children as hospitalizations among kids soar.
