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CDC: Nearly 1,500 Cases Of Monkeypox Confirmed In U.S.; CDC: Over Half Of Americans Live In Areas With High Community Spread Of Covid; Indiana Ob/Gyn: I Reported 10-Year-Old's Abortion To State; Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) Discusses Bills To Protect Abortion Access, Manchin Not Onboard Economic Reconciliation Bill; Survey: NY-Area Airports Have Most Flight Cancellations In U.S. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired July 15, 2022 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:30:32]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: The U.S. has seen a big spike in monkeypox cases. The CDC now says there are close to 1,500 cases confirmed across the country. Consider the cases crossed the 1,000 mark just yesterday.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: CNN's senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, joins us.

Elizabeth, are health officials worried about this spike, and what are they doing about it?

DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This particular spike, the numbers that you just showed, Alisyn, that may be just because of the way it's being reported. But in a way, it doesn't matter. The numbers are going up and that is not good.

And of course, there's concern. So the U.S. government is responding in several ways, one of which is that they're doubling the amount of vaccine that's out there.

And also they're increasing testing capacity. We saw how important that was with COVID. They've had the capacity to do 6,000 tests per week and they're going to be able to do 70,000 tests per week. That's a lot, a big increase.

So let's take a look at some of the monkeypox numbers. Right now, in the U.S., as you mentioned, 1,470 cases. That's 414 cases just in New York state itself.

And Dr. Anthony Fauci says 1.1 million vaccine doses should be available shortly. So that's a big increase from where it was.

And if we look sort of more generally at monkeypox, what we see here is that worldwide we've got nearly 12,000 cases in 65 countries.

In the U.S., the cases we mentioned, that's in 42 states. The highest case count is New York, California and Illinois. Now, one of the other things that needs to happen to sort of hopefully

get this under control, because it's not really under control at the moment, is to educate patients and doctors what monkeypox looks like.

No doctor probably learned about this in medical school. This is relatively new to the United States -- Alisyn, Victor?

BLACKWELL: Elizabeth, speaking of spikes, let's talk about COVID. Community transmission high in more than half of the country now. Are some of these counties reinstating these mask requirements?

COHEN: Some of them are thinking about it. L.A. County is thinking about it. It will be interesting to see what they do.

When you take a look at this map, what you see is that 54 percent of the country is red. That means high transmission.

And the CDC says, in those circumstances, you should be masking indoors in public, and people who are at high risk of getting very sick from COVID should be considering, if there's an indoor activity that they don't have to go to, that they shouldn't go to it.

It's going to be hard, I think, to tell these places you haven't been wearing masks for a while, could you put them back on again. That, I think, feels unlikely to work very well.

Let's take a look at some other numbers, because, in a way, it's not the cases that matter. It's the hospitalizations and the deaths.

Deaths are past 400 a day for the first time in two months. Hospitalizations surpassed 2,000 for the first time in two months. Hospitalizations have doubled.

It's not just that a lot of people have COVID right now. It's that we're seeing more people dying and more people going to the hospital.

CAMEROTA: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you for explaining all of that.

COHEN: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: This is very important. Tomorrow, the U.S. will launch a new suicide prevention hotline. The goal is to make it easier to get help in a crisis.

BLACKWELL: The new number is 988, simplified from the previous 10- digit number. If you call, you'll be directed to a local call center to talk to someone who can help.

The nonprofit that operates this hotline plans to launch a pilot program specifically for the LGBTQ community.

CAMEROTA: So, again, if you need help, call 988. That is so much easier. I mean, how could people remember the 10-digit number? And 988 is what you need to know and you can always stay anonymous.

[14:34:17] BLACKWELL: House Democrats just passed two bills aimed at protecting access to abortion. The bills are on track to run into a brick wall in the Senate. I'm going to speak with the co-sponsor of one of those bills next.

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CAMEROTA: The Indiana doctor who performed an abortion on an 11-year- old rape victim from Ohio says she did nothing illegal. The case has galvanized people on both sides of the abortion debate.

The 10-year-old had to travel from Ohio to Indianapolis for the procedure after Roe v. Wade was overturned.

BLACKWELL: Now, Indiana's Attorney General Todd Rokita is threatening criminal charges against the doctor. The issue is whether the Ob-Gyn reported the abortion and child abuse within the required three days of the procedure.

CNN's Jean Casarez is joining us.

What is this doctor saying, if anything, about her role?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She's holding firm. She's saying I'm a mandatory reporter, I know that and I've done everything correct.

We went to the source. The Indiana State Department of Health holds public records of what medical abortions were done in their state. Of course, there are privacy concerns.

But we got the records and the records show that, on June 30th, that there was a medical abortion of a 10-year-old girl.

[14:40:04]

So it is confirmed. And it was reported within the three-day mandatory time period when you are speaking of a minor.

Also, Indiana University contacted us to say that Dr. Bernard is an obstetrician/gynecologist with Indiana University Health and she's an adjunct professor.

And they have privacy concerns and they have reporting procedures, and they do reviews. She has always followed everything that she is to do.

We do have a statement from her attorney responding to the allegations here.

And it says, "My client, Dr. Caitlin Bernard, took every proper and appropriate action in accordance with the law and her medical and ethical training as a physician."

"We are considering legal action against those who have smeared my client, including Indiana attorney general, Todd Rokita. And know that the facts will come out in due time. Kathleen DeLaney, attorney for Dr. Caitlin Bernard." And that's the story. That's what we have.

BLACKWELL: All right. Jean Casarez, thank you.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Last hour, the House passed a pair of bills aimed at protecting access to abortion.

If signed into law, the Women's Health Protection Act would codify federal access to abortion and the ensuring access to abortion act makes it illegal for states to penalize women to cross state lines to obtain an abortion.

But both bills are expected to fail in the Senate.

With me now is Democratic Congresswoman Judy Chu. She is co-sponsor of the Women's Health Protection Act.

Thank you so much for being with us.

First, let's start with what the bills change. Do they return access in the country to legal abortion, to what it was the day before the Dobbs decision, or does it do more than that?

REP. JUDY CHU (D-CA): The Women's Health Protection Act enshrines the protections of Roe v. Wade into law and ensures that all the subsequent court decisions are actually incorporated into the law so that every woman in every state can get an abortion and no state could erode those rights.

So women will be protected and will be able to make the decisions that they need in order to further their own lives. This personal, private decision, they will have the freedom to be able to make it.

BLACKWELL: So as I said, these bills are unlikely to pass in the Senate. What's next?

CHU: So we know that in the Senate so many bills, including the Women's Health Protection Act, have been held up by the filibuster. And they did have a vote on this bill previously. It was close, 49-51.

But the Senate had a 60-vote necessary in order to get anything passed. So a minority of 10 can hold anything up.

I know that what we need to do is eliminate the filibuster. And that is why the vote is so important for November. We need two Senators who will both eliminate the filibuster and also vote for the Women's Health Protection Act.

There are two candidates like this, John Fetterman in Pennsylvania and Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin. Once we get them in, we eliminate the filibuster and we can get this law passed.

BLACKWELL: OK, so you're looking ahead to November. But as Democrats say, this issue should motivate voters, there's a new

"New York Times" college poll that asked about the most important issues for voters. It's still the economy, inflation.

In fact, for Democrats and Independents, abortion rights doesn't surpass inflation. It's behind the economy and political divisions and gun policy.

Is there any evidence that abortion rights is a topic that is motivating the voters you need to show up in November?

CHU: Well, I have never seen such anger, outrage and terror amongst women in this country everywhere I go. Everybody is talking about this and talking about what we can do about it.

So women are very motivated, as well as the men who support them, to change things. And, in fact, there have been nonstop demonstrations and rallies around the country since the Dobbs decision three weeks ago.

So I think that women will be more motivated than ever, especially after state after state bans abortion. We know that 26 states will do that. That will affect 38 million women who live in those states.

[14:44:57]

BLACKWELL: Again, the polls show that the economy, inflation and the other list of items I just read there are what's really motivating voters more than abortion rights.

But let me switch gears here and talk about what we've learned from Senator Manchin, specifically on the reconciliation bill. He says that he's leaving the door open.

Our reporting is that he's a "no" on the climate clauses, raising taxes as well.

Your reaction to what we're hearing from Senator Manchin?

CHU: I'm very disappointed. I think we need to take action on climate. And actually, there are these tax incentives for green energy that I think are very reasonable.

On the other hand, he seems to be open to ensuring that we lower the cost of prescription drugs and that we have several health measures, which I hope is continuing the subsidy on the Affordable Care Act premiums.

Because if we don't do something about that, millions of Americans are going to see their health care premiums go up. And that is bad.

So we must make sure, first of all, that the health of all Americans is preserved. So at least we need to do that.

BLACKWELL: You'll pass whatever you can get out of the Senate?

CHU: Well, he seems to hold the key to this. So if we can move forward, if we can do it with 50 votes, I'm sure voting for it.

BLACKWELL: Congresswoman Judy Chu, thank you.

CHU: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: It's been a summer of travel headaches. Up next, we're going to show you which airports are the worst offenders.

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[14:50:51]

BLACKWELL: Flight delays and cancellations and staff shortages are causing some big problems for airlines and, of course, travelers.

CAMEROTA: One of the worst airports is Newark Liberty International, just outside New York City. Why am I not surprised?

That's where we find Pete Muntean.

Pete, why are there so many delays in Newark?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, a big hub and a big hotspot for cancellations. Newark is number one for flight cancellations since Memorial Day.

Now the federal government blames the airlines. But airlines but some of the blame back on the federal government. Really, a combination of factors and its passengers who are caught in the middle.

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MUNTEAN (voice-over): The summer of travel pain keeps growing with struggling airlines canceling 30,000 flights since Memorial Day.

Now new data shows where issues are the worst. A FlightAware analysis for CNN shows New York airports leading the nation for flight cancellations.

And 8 percent of all flights leaving Newark have been canceled since Memorial Day.

KATHLEEN BANGS, FLIGHTAWARE: The pain is not spread out evenly. Some airports have much bigger problems than others.

MUNTEAN: Florida airports take three of the top 10 spots for flight delays. A third of all flights from Orlando had been delayed this summer.

This new breakdown comes as passengers are packing planes and levels not seen since before the pandemic.

But short-staffed airlines say the federal government is also short staffed at air traffic control facilities.

SCOTT KIRBY, CEO, UNITED AIRLINES: New York, Newark and Florida really are air traffic control challenges. They're different issues. So at some other airlines but those two places are really struggling.

MUNTEAN: The FAA puts blame back on airlines staffing issues, as well as bad weather and heavy air traffic.

JOHN LUCIA, FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: We may have to slow this stuff coming out of Florida.

MUNTEAN: At its around-the-clock Command Center in Virginia, the FAA showed us how Florida airspace can become clogged with flights like a traffic jam on a highway.

LUCIA: If you have a couple of thunderstorms right over the center of the state, now you got limitations on where you can go, especially in the summertime.

If you want to get there on time, try to get there before lunch.

MUNTEAN: Airlines argued $50 billion in pandemic aid would make them ready for this rebound.

BILL MCGEE, SENIOR FELLOW, AMERICAN ECONOMIC LIBERTIES PROJECT: The airline industry is broken right now. And it's failing every taxpayer.

MUNTEAN: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tells CNN he is seeing improvements, but still expects airlines to do better.

PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We are counting on airlines to deliver for passengers and to be able to service the tickets that they sell.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MUNTEAN: United Airlines says Newark is bad because there are simply too many flights scheduled here for the airport to handle. In fact, United is scaling back some of its summer flying schedule here.

The issue goes beyond Newark. Rounding out the top for cancellations since Memorial Day, Lagarde in the number-two spot, followed by Reagan National in D.C., Raleigh, North Carolina, and then Cleveland, Ohio -- Victor and Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Good to know.

Pete Muntean, thank you very much for that.

[14:53:50]

So today the Buffalo supermarket, the scene of that mass shooting that killed 10 people, it has reopened, and not everyone there's OK with that.

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[14:58:42]

CAMEROTA: OK, you're going to have to see this. A distressed elephant fainted at the site of her baby tumbling into a storm drain. The small calf fell into the drain after heavy rain at a park in Thailand.

BLACKWELL: Oh.

CAMEROTA: Uh-oh, now I'm getting sad. I might faint here.

Uh-oh, the mother tried to get the baby out, but then she got trapped, headfirst.

BLACKWELL: Rescuers say she moved toward her baby, hit her head, and then fainted from the stress.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh.

BLACKWELL: She had to be lifted out by a crane. They got the baby out, too. Rescuers revived the mother by jumping on her.

CAMEROTA: So that's basically elephant CPR?

BLACKWELL: I guess. I've seen the video online of the woman, like -- this is the video I've seen, of them just kneeing and jumping on this elephant.

CAMEROTA: That's elephant CPR right there.

OK, they survived. Look at this. They're going back to their home, thank goodness.

That's crazy.

BLACKWELL: Wow, that is amazing.

CAMEROTA: Elephants, they're just like us. That's the message that I take from this. She was really distressed about her baby. And, look, she's trying to rescue her.

Oh, my gosh. That is scary, isn't that?

BLACKWELL: Well, they made it out.

CAMEROTA: I know you are a fan of animal stories.

[14:59:56]

One story got me. But, you know, I'm happy for the elephants, you know.

CAMEROTA: I think we all are.

And it's the top of the hour on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Alisyn Camerota.