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Crews Battle to Save Yosemite's Giant Sequoias from Wildfire; Push to Release 77-Minutes of Surveillance Video from Inside Uvalde School; Poll: 64% of Democrats Prefer 2024 Candidate Other Than Biden Despite Dem Bounce After Roe Overturned; New COVID Strain Surging Across Country; Study: Getting COVID More Than Once Could Have Serious Health Consequences. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired July 11, 2022 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:32:09]
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Some of the world's oldest trees rooted in, some believe, for more than 3000 years. Right now, a fast-moving wildfire is threatening to turn the Giant Sequoias in Yosemite National Park into firewood. Crews are battling to save these massive trees.
The tallest in the growth is 207 feet tall. That is taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa. More than the wingspan of a Boeing 777, just short of six telephone poles stacked one over the other.
CNN national correspondent, Nick Watt, is joining us live from Yosemite.
Nick, how close is this fire to these ancient giant trees? And what are firefighters doing to protect them?
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We were told the flames reach within a mile or two of Mariposa Grove, home to these 500 majestic Giant Sequoia trees.
The fire blew up over the weekend, more than doubled in size in the space of 24 hours. And that is what got people very afraid for the fate of those trees.
Right now, the firefighters are trying to basically give this fire nowhere else to go. There are air drops of retardant, from the air, from 737s, D.C.-10's.
There are hotshot crews on the ground digging trenches around the Mariposa Grove as fire lines. So, they are trying to get rid of as much fuel.
As well, they are doing controlled back burns to get rid of the fuel so the fire has nowhere else to go.
You mentioned Grizzly Giant, more than 200 feet high. Now Grizzly Giant has a sprinkler system around it, basically keeping the tree wet and also trying to keep the air around it very humid and moist so that the flames don't attack that tree.
Listen, these Giant Sequoias have been around 2,000 years. They have survived many fires in their time. But generally, they are smaller fires.
What has officials worried is just the intensity of the blazes we are seeing here in the Sierra Nevada these days, caused by extreme drought, and high temperatures that create the perfect conditions for a wildfire.
Create so much of this dry tender, if you will, that the fire can just sweep through. So, that is why there's grave concern for these trees.
Now, there are about 500 firefighters on the ground right now. So many because, thankfully, there are not that many other fires in California right now. That is a good thing.
They are also hoping the burn scars from previous fires will slow the spread.
As temperatures rise today, the fire will spread. There's cautious optimism that they will save those trees -- Ana?
CABRERA: Those trees, you can't replace them. You, literally, cannot replace them.
Nick Watt --
WATT: Yes.
CABRERA: -- thank you so much.
[13:34:58]
Today, in Austin, Texas, the state House committee investigating the shooting in Uvalde is hearing from the Uvalde sheriff for the first time now that he has agreed to cooperate.
This, as the chairman of the committee wants a 77-minute police video from inside the school to be included in the preliminary report.
And a reporter from the "Austin-American Statesman," has seen the video in its entirety. He tells CNN this the video is wrenching.
He says, "You actually see the gunmen entering the campus, entering the school, and even walking down the hallway, armed with his rifle."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY PLOHETSKI, REPORTER, "AUSTIN-AMERICAN STATESMAN": You see the police officers actually getting blown back. One of them actually touches his head. I think he believed that maybe he has been injured.
But then over the next more than hour, you see on the video police officers converging on this scene, arming themselves more and more, with helmets, with assault rifles, with ballistic shields, even with tear gas canisters.
But essentially, they stand there for an hour, as the minutes ticked by.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Let's get to Rosa Flores covering developments for us in Uvalde.
Rosa, families have been demanding answers. Is this video something we think they want to be released?
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ana, there's important nuance here because the families have been pushing for the video to be released. But they are talking about the hallway video, the video that shows the failed law enforcement response.
No one, here, not the families, not state officials, not DPS, not local officials, have been pushing for the video to be released, for the video of the massacre to be released. That is not true. That is not what the families want.
What they want is accountability. They want to make sure that the officers that were in that hallway are in this video and that that is exposed so they can be held accountable.
In fact, there's so much outrage in Uvalde right now, they are asking for those officers that were in the hall, who waited, who didn't do anything, for them to step down.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BELINDA ARREOLA, GRANDMOTHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM AMERI JO GARZA: I challenge all you cowards that were in that hallway to step down, turn in your badge and resign.
(CHEERING)
ARREOLA: You do not deserve to wear a badge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLORES: I am here in Austin because the Texas House investigative committee is still holding hearings. We have been covering these for weeks. About 40 people have testified and --
CABRERA: OK, we had trouble there with Rosa's signal.
Thank you, Rosa Flores.
President Biden, at the White House a short time ago, marked the passage of the first gun safety legislation in decades. He was joined by victims and survivors of gun violence over the years.
At one point, today, the president's remarks were interrupted by this man, Emmanuel Oliver. He's the father of a Parkland shooting victim. And Oliver has been critical of the legislation, saying it does not do enough to address gun violence in America.
The president vowed to continue fighting for even stronger gun safety laws.
[13:38:23]
New polling shows Democrats are gaining ground after the Supreme Court's abortion ruling. But the nation's top Democrat is not exactly revving up voters for 2024. Why the disconnect?
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CABRERA: We are back with new polling which shows Democrats are getting a post-Roe bounce. But numbers also show President Biden is facing an uphill battle within his own party when it comes to 2024.
CNN senior data reporter, Harry Enten, is here to break down the numbers for us.
Harry, Democrats are worried about whether President Biden is their strongest candidate for 2024. What are the numbers showing?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: We can take a look at the national indicators. I think this gives us a clear understanding of why Democrats are so nervous.
These are national indicators, bad for Democrats. For this point in the first midterm, look at this. A 76 year low for presidential approval. A 68 year low for the University of Michigan consumer confidence. A 44 year low for the belief that the USA is on the right track.
When you put all this together, you can see why Democrats are going, oh, my goodness gracious, these are horrific numbers. They are bad for the president. And they are bad because folks just don't think the country is on the right track.
CABRERA: You haven't mentioned inflation there, but that has a lot to do with it, right?
ENTEN: It does. Whenever I think of inflation, I think of presidencies that went really awry. I think of Jimmy Carter.
And disapprove of the job on inflation at this point of the presidency. Right now, look at this, 71 percent disapprove of the job that Joe Biden is doing on inflation.
Jimmy Carter, at this point in 1978, look at that, 66 percent. Of course, that sunk the Carter presidency.
Joe Biden is worsening the inflation in American minds than Jimmy Carter. That is a no bueno comparison.
CABRERA: That disapprove of --
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[13:45:00]
ENTEN: Disapprove. Disapprove. Not approve. Disapprove.
CABRERA: OK. Let's discuss here. Because you are seeing Democrats get a bounce when it comes to Roe v. Wade being overturned. What are the implications?
ENTEN: Yes. So if you look right now at the choice for Congress, and you look essentially, OK, by when the Supreme Court overturned Roe, what we see right now in the generic congressional ballot is the Republicans are ahead but only up by a point.
If you compare that to pre-decision, Republicans were up by three points. Now, two points is maybe some movement. It's not necessarily a lot, but it is some movement. This is the after poll so I do think it's real.
But here is the reason why there have not been that much movement. The biggest concern facing your family right now, you might see something similar going on with these top four.
Number one being inflation at 33 percent. Gas prices are 15 percent. The economy more general at 9 percent. Everyday bills at 6 percent. The top four are all about the economy, and that people fear that they will not necessarily be able to pay for everything, right now.
Abortion is all the way down at the bottom at 5 percent. So we are seeing some movement on the generic congressional ballot.
But when it comes to midterm preferences, the reason why they are staying pretty stable is because abortion does not rank that high in the list of issues that are important in American minds.
CABRERA: It's simple. It is the economy, stupid, right?
(LAUGHTER)
ENTEN: It's the economy, stupid. That is what it basically always is. And it is in this context as well.
CABRERA: Thank you, Harry Enten.
ENTEN: My pleasure.
All right. Are mask mandates about to make comeback? Health officials are sounding the alarm as a new COVID strain is surging across the country.
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CABRERA: The U.S. is facing a new COVID surge as a new Omicron variant proves to be highly infectious. We're talking about more than 100,000 new cases a day for the last two weeks. It's not the trend we want to hear about.
And neither is this. New CDC data shows one in seven COVID patients still have symptoms three months after testing positive. Symptoms like headache, runny nose, loss of smell or taste, even loss of hair.
Joining us now is Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a CNN medical analyst and professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University.
Doctor, it's nice to see you, although unfortunate news that we're discussing yet again.
Why are we seeing such an increase in infections right now? And how concerned are you?
DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, because BA.5 is probably the most transmissible variant we've seen. And it probably is the most immune evasive, meaning it can evade our vaccines as much as any variant we've seen in the past.
And although, as you very correctly say, right now, we're seeing about 100,000 cases per day reported, it's been estimated that maybe the true number is about seven times that since so many people now are testing with at-home rapid assays. So maybe 500,000, 700,000 cases per day.
And as you said, about one in seven people will have symptoms of long COVID. What that means, really, is that about 100,000 people per day can look forward to long COVID symptoMs. So this is a big problem.
CABRERA: Let's take a couple of pieces apart there. So, one, vaccines. Are they no longer effective against this new variant, BA.5? If I am vaccinated and boosted, am I still just a sitting duck?
REINER: Well, you're still quite susceptible to get infected, but you're very, very well protected against severe disease.
And although I managed to avoid this virus for almost two and a half years, about two weeks ago, I did contract COVID and the disease was mild. I'm obviously fully vaccinated, doubly boosted and the disease was quite mild.
For many people who are contracting the virus, that's what we can look forward to.
What you don't want to see is any sort of evidence of long COVID symptoms, which, in about 20 percent of people, it can occur for months after infection.
But the vaccines will protect you from severe disease.
CABRERA: But there's also this. Not just long COVID but we reported on a new study that suggests getting COVID more than once, a reinfection, could come with serious health consequences, even if the infection wasn't that bad to begin with.
The research shows people who have had two or more COVID infections are at higher risk for hospitalization and even death in the months following reinfection.
They're also at higher risk for lung and heart problems, fatigue, digestive and kidney disorders, diabetes, neurological problems.
I guess this is just a reminder, there's still a lot we don't know about this virus.
REINER: There's still a lot we don't know. And this is still a virus you don't want to contract. If you've had it once, you don't want it again.
Which is why this country really should be reinstituting mitigation strategies in places where this virus is surging. And it's surging all across the country.
So we've seen in the past couple of days that New York City is urging people to wear masks indoors and in crowded places. They're not mandating it.
But what we really need to understand is this virus is as active as it's ever been, whether we want that or not. We all want to basically move beyond COVID, but COVID is here and it is infecting a lot of people.
I would be surprised if anyone listening to this broadcast right now doesn't know someone who is currently infected. The virus is spiking across the country.
[13:55:02]
And what people need to do right now is actually to personally start to implement mitigation strategies. Maybe avoid crowded places. Wear a mask if you're going to the store. Keep some social distance.
Because you don't need to get this virus. And you don't want to get it, even if you've already had it.
CABRERA: OK, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, let's end there. Good advice. Mask up, avoid crowded places. And again, if you have to go inside where you might be near a crowd, put a mask on.
Thank you very much for being there for us, Doctor.
That does it for us today. Thank you for spending part of your day with us. You can always find me on Twitter, @AnaCabrera.
The news continues with Alisyn Camerota right after this.
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