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Discussing Heatwave Across the Country; House Votes on Contraception Bill; Also Discussion on Climate Change; President Biden Has Tested Positive for COVID; Rent Goes To A New High For the Month of June; Unemployment Rates Discussed; Robocalls Deemed Illegal to Be Made. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired July 21, 2022 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

ED LAVANADERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So what we have seen record temperatures popping up all over the country from Texas into the south and Alabama, 115 degrees in some places. It has been miserable and the -- when you look at just how widespread the heat here is really stunning to see, 270 million people across the country as you mentioned, experiencing temperatures over -- will be experiencing temperatures over 90 degrees. That's almost the entire country and that will be happening for the days to come. Sixty million people will be experiencing temperatures over 100 degrees and here in Dallas, once again, we have passed the 100-degree mark.

We've actually had a reprieve this morning. There was cloud cover. It kept temperatures below 90 degrees until about 11 o'clock in the morning and that's what passes as a reprieve right now and this is really causing problems, dangerous situations all across the country. These temperatures spreading into the east along the eastern seaboard and into the northeast as well and that's why you're seeing emergency officials really urging people to take the heat advisories serious. The -- the heat illnesses very seriously.

We were out with a homeless outreach group a little while ago here in Dallas, who said in the last week or so they've seen two people that they were dealing with in -- in homeless camps that have died because of heat related issues. So these are extreme situations and there is no end in sight right now. Victor and Alisyn.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: It is stifling but also dangerous. Ed Lavandera there for us in Dallas. Thank you, Ed.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: So the House just passed a bill trying to protect access to contraceptives. Is it possible that Americans could lose access to birth control? Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal has thoughts on this next.

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[15:35:10]

CAMEROTA: After the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade, House Democrats are trying to safeguard various other rights. Today, the House turned their attention to contraception. They passed legislation to protect access to birth control. Democrats unanimously voted in favor of this, only eight House Republicans did. Joining us now is Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal of Washington State. She's also the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Congresswoman, great to see you. Can you just give us a reality check here? Do you actually believe that Americans could lose access to contraception?

PRAMILA JAYAPAL, CONGRESSWOMAN FROM WASHINGTON STATE: Alisyn, I am so sorry to say that yes, that is what I believe and, you know, this is what I felt when I read the opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas in the Dobbs decision, the concurring opinion because it was very clear that he was putting at risk, Griswall. The subtle precedent around access to contraception, subtle precedent around same-sex marriage and a number of other things that we have taken to be clearly precedent that we didn't have to continue to fight for. Today what we saw is a 197 Republicans voting against codifying contraception, birth control. The way that people plan their families across the country. So yes, I think this is a serious emergency. It is why it is so essential that we codify these precedents into law before this extreme radical Republican party takes over or allows the Supreme Court to take away these subtle rights.

CAMEROTA: Well here's why one of your Republican colleagues says that she voted against it. This is Congresswoman Kat Cammack, and she basically says the Democrats are making up, kind of, a non-issue so here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAT CAMMACK, CONGRESSWOMAN: The liberal majority is clearly trying to stoke fears and mislead the American people once again, because in their minds stoking fear clearly is the only way that they can win. No state, not one, not one state across the country has banned access to contraceptives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: OK. What's your response to that?

JAYAPAL: My response is they voted against a bill to codify the right to contraceptives. Why would you do that if there's really no fear about state's banning contraceptives? If these Republican members of states across the country cannot say that they support codifying the right to contraception, then what does that tell us about Republicans in state legislatures across the country. What message does it send to them? And there's no question in my mind that we are going to see some of that behavior in states across the country, in fact Alisyn, I already saw the beginnings of it in Texas where there are real attempts to stop people from even accessing streams of funding that allow people to provide this information about contraception, about IUDs about other methods that people need for family planning.

CAMEROTA: So you're saying, it's already happening. You're already seeing evidence of it. Do you think that this legislation that just passed the House, is it going to pass in the Senate? JAYAPAL: Well I don't know. As you know, we have the filibuster in the

Senate. I've been on your show many times to talk about how wrong it is that 40 Senators who represent a minority of the population can hold up a bill from even being debated, much less voted upon. So we do have that problem with only 50 Democrats in the Senate. We need a couple more that are pro-choice, pro-contraception, that will overturn the filibuster so that we can codify this into law. I do think that there are some Republican women in the Senate who I hope understand --

[15:40:10]

JAYAPAL: -- that their constituents are not going to accept this idea that the Republican party has become a party that doesn't even support contraception. Maybe we can get some traction over there. I do have a bill as well that codifies the right to contraception in a slightly different way than the one we voted on today, and I know that there are some discussions with bipartisan Senators about potentially taking up that bill as well.

CAMEROTA: While I have you, and speaking of the Senate, I just want to ask you about what happened with President Biden's environmental agenda. He was hoping for, as you know, much more funding for some clean energy tools and Senator Joe Manchin has said, no to that because he has said he doesn't want to do anything that could increase inflation. Your thoughts.

JAYAPAL: Well the planet is burning. We passed a half a trillion- dollar investment into taking on climate change with tax credits that would help us to transition to a clean energy economy, because we know it's a crisis. The president supports it, 99 percent of Democrats in Congress support it. The vast majority of the American people support it but one Senator is going up against his own president, his own party and putting his interests before the interests of the country, and I think it's a travesty and we need a couple more Senators so that that one Senator no longer has the power that he has. In the meantime, Alisyn, the White House and the president needs to declare a national climate emergency and use all of their authorities on the regulatory front to do as much as we can, but recognize that we need the investments in Congress if we are really going to take on climate change.

CAMEROTA: It sounds like that might be next. I mean, yesterday, the president called an emergency, but I know what you're saying. That's different than declaring a national emergency but that might be next, we'll -- we'll be obviously watching to see. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, thank you for your time. Great to talk to you.

JAYAPAL: Thank you Alisyn.

BLACKWELL: President Biden has tested positive for corona virus. We just got an update on his symptoms. How he's doing and his treatment, we have details next.

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[15:45:10] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:46:51]

BLACKWELL: President Biden shared an update on how he's feeling after testing positive for COVID this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Hey folks. Guess you heard, this morning I tested positive for COVID. But I've been double vaccinated, double boosted, symptoms are mild and -- and I really appreciate your inquiries and concerns, but I'm doing well. Getting a lot of work done. Going to continue to get it done and -- and in the meantime, thanks for your concern and keep the faith. It's going to be OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: OK. So last hour, the White House gave an update on the president's condition. The COVID response coordinator explained how protected the president is despite concerns about its potential on people his age.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ASHISH JHA, WHITE HOUSE COVID RESPONSE COORDINATOR: And the bottom line is given how much immunity he has from vaccines, given that he was started on treatments right away, like, literally had symptoms this morning, got started on Paxlovid this morning. I think his -- all of those things, very dramatically reduce his risk of serious illness and that's really the goal here is to -- is to prevent serious illness, to keep that risk as low as possible. I think he's gotten that full set of protection.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Dr. Perry Wilson is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Yale University Medical School. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, is an epidemiologist and former Detroit Health Commissioner. Gentlemen, welcome back. Dr. El-Sayed, I'm going to start with you. Are you as optimistic about the president's prognosis as he and the -- the White House Staff are?

DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED, EPIDEMIOLOGIST AND FORMER DETROIT HEALTH COMMISSIONER: I -- I am quite optimistic. This is a 79-year-old man and so everything I say is with the caveat that a case can turn quickly and we've seen that with COVID. But this is also someone who's been quadruple vaccinated, he's on Paxlovid and if you look at him in that video, he's calm, collected. He's not struggling to breath in any way and so the high probability here is that he's going to have a mild case. He's going to feel better. He's going to be able to work through it and that he'll be back at his usual pace in no time. And that is good news, it speaks a lot to where we are in this pandemic and how far vaccinations and treatments have gotten us.

CAMEROTA: But Dr. Wilson, just so that we understand, being as -- as Dr. El-Sayed just said, quadruple vaccinated does not protect us anymore from symptoms. Yes, it may protect all of us, God willing, from hospitalization, but people are still catching this sub-variant. It's that transmissible and as the president is experiencing some symptoms.

DR. PERRY WILSON, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT YALE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Yes, absolutely. The vaccine ethicacy against infection, which means just, you know, totally not getting the virus has gone way down because this Omicron variant is immune evasive. It's good at getting around those defenses but the vaccine still provides substantial protection against serious illness, hospitalization and death. And, you know, I'll just point out that this is our second septuagenarian president who's been infected with COVID. The prior president was infected before vaccines were available and, you know, President Trump at that time, was it appears quite sick. There are reports that he was even close to being put on a ventilator. So we're in a very different world now thanks in large part to vaccines and, of course, to some of the treatments that have become available since October of 2020.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about one of those treatments. The president, Dr. El-Sayed has taken his first dose of Paxlovid. We know that the president will be --

[15:50:10] BLACKWELL: -- quarantining for several days. Will wait for a negative test, but Dr. Jha talked about this phenomenon the Paxlovid rebound, where after a person tests negative they then test positive again. I wonder once they get that negative test, should that quarantine be extended because potentially the president have one of these -- these rebounds.

EL-SAYED: Yes, that is a hypothetical situation to worry about. That only happens though in two to seven percent of patients who take Paxlovid. In the vast majority of patients, Paxlovid, the anti-viral helps to knock down the viral load and they feel much better and stay feeling much better after their course. He has the best possible care you could have. There is a whole suite at Walter Reed waiting for him. The truth is though, that they're going to be monitoring him quite regularly. He'll be getting regular tests and they'll know if he's experiencing a rebound and I think from what I understand, they actually go beyond the CDC protocol and they don't just return to normal activity after five days. But instead, they return after a negative test and my sense is they're going to look for a negative test and repeat negative test which should then catch the rebound if it were to happen to the president.

CAMEROTA: Dr. Wilson, how about long COVID? Does being doubly vaccinated and boosted protect us from long COVID or once you catch this sub-variant is it still possible to get the, so called, long COVID?

WILSON: Yes. I mean, it is still possible, and to be fair the data's still coming in here. One of the challenges of long COVID is that you need a lot of time to detect how long the symptoms are going to last. We do see long COVID in people that are fully vaccinated if they become infected. It does appear the data does suggest the risk is substantially reduced by vaccination and so not terribly worried here. Symptoms are mild. I would expect a full recovery.

CAMEROTA: OK. Dr. Perry Wilson, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, great to talk to both of you. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Financial pressures continue to pile up for so many Americans, among them the cost of rent which just hit another record high. Details ahead.

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[15:55:09]

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[15:57:04]

CAMEROTA: The cost of rent just hit another record high last month. In the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, the national median rent overall is now $1,876.

BLACKWELL: Not much cheaper for a one bedroom, $1,738. CNN's Rahel Solomon joins us now. Rent is still a better deal in -- in some cities.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes and it really says a lot more about just how expensive it is to buy a home right now. So realtor.com crunched the numbers. We're going to show you on the screen, sort of, how they calculated this but essentially they assumed about a seven percent down payment. They added some expenses that typically come with buying a home and they looked at the average 30 year fixed rate and found that in about 76 percent of the 50 largest cities still make sense to rent, even as we see historic rents month after month. So renting over buying, that's the case in cities where it's very expensive to buy a home. Think Austin, Texas, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, an area we know very well and San Jose. On the other side, areas where it actually might make more sense to buy rather than rent, Pittsburgh, Birmingham, St. Louis, Cleveland and Baltimore. And guys, this is really about mortgage rates, I mean, mortgage rates at some point had doubled from the beginning of this year. But the very least, they're up about two percentage points and so that has really made the cost of buying a home very expensive and that's what you see reflected here.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about the job market. So unemployment is I think at 3.6 percent still, but you say that some employers are getting nervous.

SOLOMON: Some employers are getting nervous and actually we got some new data today. We got weekly jobless claims which essentially is how many people are filing for unemployment. So it's a much more real time indicator of what's happening in the labor market. Still not at levels that are concerning, but certainly at levels that people are starting to pay attention because directionally it is moving up every week we're seeing claims for unemployment rise. So we're starting to hear anecdotally from companies who are starting to say that they're thinking about layoffs or they are announcing layoffs. This tends to be more so for tech companies, for bank companies,

companies who have already been hit hard by rising rates. We've also heard from some companies not in those industries but companies are, sort of, in the same situation that we are all in, right. Trying to figure out how are we going to get out of this high-inflation environment, this rise in rate environment and they don't have a crystal ball just like we don't, by the way the Fed doesn't. So we're all, sort of, trying to see how this is going to play out. And so now we're starting to hear business leaders, start to get a little more cautious, start to get a little bit more careful. I should say however, after the last few years of working really hard to get employees. They're going to be a little hesitant about letting them go.

BLACKWELL: All right. Rahel Solomon, thank you. You want some good news. I got some good news for you. The FCC is finally cracking down on auto warranty robocalls. U.S. Telecom providers now required to block these annoying calls, you know the ones, they start with, we've been trying to reach you concerning your car's extended warranty.