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Biden's Approval up after Midterms; Hospitals are Fullest Since Covid; Sinema Leaves Democratic Party. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired December 09, 2022 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:33:34]

KAITLAN COLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN THIS MORNING. We are live in Washington today. We have a lot coming up for you, including Democrats, you know, they won the midterms, but where does President Biden's approval stand after seeing what voters said at the polls. New CNN polling in just a moment.

Plus, hospitals in the U.S. are at the fullest they have been, actually, throughout the pandemic. It's not just because of coronavirus, though. We'll tell you why.

And also, Senator Kyrsten Sinema out with a big announcement this morning. How are her previous fellow Democrats - or pervious fellow Democrats going to react? Michael Smerconish is standing by.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this just in, brand new CNN polling on President Biden's job approval following the critical midterms. Forty-six percent of Americans say they like the way the president is handling his job, 54 percent disapprove.

Let's go to CNN's senior data reporter Harry Enten.

You feel so far, all the way in New York, yet so close.

Good morning, Harry.

Is this good for the president?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: I mean, look, it's not a great approval rating, right, 46 percent approve, 54 percent disapprove.

HARLOW: Yes.

ENTEN: But I want you to take a look at the trend line here. And this is better news for the president, right? So approve of President Biden's job approval rating, you can see right now, 46 percent, right? It was 41 percent in our last poll back in October, 44 percent, 38 percent, June and July, 41 percent April and May. So, the 46 percent is actually the highest number that we've recorded him having in a while. But, as you said, it's still not great. Why is it that his approval rating is up but still not awesome? So,

things in the country going today are going well, right? How are things going? We're at 35 percent who say things are going well in the country. That is up from where we were in October, right, when it was just 26 percent.

[06:35:03]

In fact, it's the highest rating that we have recorded on this measure since December of 2021 when it was 38 percent. So, again, 35 percent of Americans think -- saying that things are going well. It's not an awesome number, but it is better from where we were.

And if you look here on the economy, right, is the economy -- how's the economy doing? This gives you an understanding of why things are doing what they're doing. That is, why the approval rating for Joe Biden is low, but perhaps it's up. The economy, still in a downturn. Fifty-three percent of Americans say that the economy is still in a downturn. There's this 30 percent who say it's stabilized, not getting worse. Seventeen percent saying it's starting to recover. But, still, most Americans believe that the economy is still in a downturn.

Now, I want to dig a little bit deeper into the economy, right, and give you an understanding of why Americans think that things are still in a downturn. So, this is the change in financial situation over the past year. And what do we see here, right, are things worse off? Forty-nine percent say that things -- that their change in their financial situation, it's worse off. If you looked a year ago, it was just 33 percent. Again, about the same, better off, totaling about 50 percent, but 49 percent say things are still worse off. It's not great. So it's really the economy that is keeping Joe Biden's job approval ratings down.

HARLOW: It's all that matters really with the economy is how people feel, not whether there's a technical recession or not.

Harry, thank you, friend.

ENTEN: Thank you.

HARLOW: What is the White House going to think about this?

COLLINS: The approval number for Biden going from 41 percent in October to 46 is December is pretty good. That's going to be something they wanted to see. Especially because when we talk about the midterms, and I don't think we talk about this enough, that it was - it defied history how well Democrats did. They were expecting a completely different midterm night than what they got back in November. So that is something that (INAUDIBLE) White House. One thing to think also s, you know, how does that factor into Biden's decision making on 2024.

HARLOW: About running. But also the Griner -- I don't know if - I don't know if it would moves the polls, but the Griner -- bringing Brittney Griner home isn't in these numbers, right?

COLLINS: No. It's good news for them.

HARLOW: It's good news for them and America. OK.

COLLINS: Yes.

Up next, hospitals are the fullest that they have been since the Covid-19 pandemic. But it's not just the Covid - the coronavirus that is filling the beds. It's other respiratory viruses now too that are to blame.

Joining us is CNN's medical correspondent Dr. Tara Narula.

Doctor, this is kind of a surprising number because I think if you just generally ask people what they would see when it comes to these -- the capacity at these hospitals, they would have thought it would have been higher earlier on in the pandemic. But now with the confluence of all of this, we're seeing them at capacity.

DR. TARA NARULA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Kaitlan. And, you know, hospitals were required to begin reporting capacity back in the mid part of 2020 to help track the Covid pandemic. And, in fact, over the past two years, in general they've been operating with about 70 percent of beds full. That number this past week is up to 80 percent. In fact, it jumped about 8 percent in the past two weeks.

The only other time where we saw beds about 80 percent full was last January at the height of omicron. There are many states where the number is even higher. For example, Rhode Island, we're talking over 90 percent. There's about eight states, including Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts, where the numbers are over 85 percent.

Now, we've been clearly talking about this in terms of pediatric hospitals as well. Those numbers, we're talking three quarters of capacity versus typically about two-thirds.

And when you look at the breakdown, only 6 percent of the patients are Covid patients. That's compared to about 25 percent last January. So, as you mentioned, clearly more going on.

HARLOW: Is it because of what they're calling the triple-demic, which is Covid, plus RSV, plus flu and the last of immunity because of masks we've worn for, you know, three years?

NARULA: Exactly. You know, that's definitely a huge part of this. Our new favorite word, triple-demic. And so certainly it seems that RSV numbers are peaking in many parts of the country and hospitalizations are slowing down. But when you look at the flu, those numbers are still high. In fact, the CDC director this week saying that hospitalizations are at an all-time high for this time of year compared to the prior decade. And almost all but six states are really reporting high levels or very high levels of circulating respiratory viruses.

So, that is definitely a big part of this. Seventy-eight thousand hospitalizations this year already for flu, 4,500 deaths.

But, Poppy, there's also the issue of workforce shortages.

HARLOW: Right.

NARULA: We know that that contributes to problems both in hospitals and, we don't think about this often, but how do you get patients out of the hospital? You have to discharge them somewhere. To nursing facilities, to rehabs. And when you don't have staff there, that can be a problem.

And then, finally, I would say, a lot of people delayed care over the past two years, their own care, for other issues. Those are now taking up hospital beds. So, it's a confluence of all of these issues at the same time.

HARLOW: A lot to deal with.

Dr. Tara Narula, thank you.

[06:40:01]

Have a good weekend.

NARULA: Thank you. You, too.

COLLINS: We have more on our breaking news this morning. Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema, she's no longer a Democrat. We'll get reaction from CNN's Michael Smerconish on what that means for the structure of the Senate. That's next.

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COLLINS: Over 7 million people are under winter weather advisories this morning as heavy snow and ice are expected to make traveling incredibly difficult across several states, from the Rockies to the Great Lakes and beyond. Over a foot of snow is expected in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

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Back to back to back storm systems are going to be making their way across the country over the weekend with the largest bringing the threat of more rain, possible tornadoes, maybe even those blizzard- like conditions that we've seen.

HARLOW: All right, more on our breaking news this morning.

Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema tells CNN in an exclusive TV interview with our Jake Tapper she is leaving the Democratic Party. She is registered as an independent. This announcement comes just days after Senate Democrats gained a clear 51-49 majority after the re-election of Senator Raphael Warnock in Georgia.

CNN political commentator and fierce independent Michael Smerconish joins us now.

I'm so glad you could be with us on a day like this. What do you think?

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's huge news. And she's got lots of company. Forty-two percent of the country, according to Gallup, self-identify as i's not as r's or d's. that's the plurality of the country.

I just looked at the latest data as of November 4th, Arizona, there are more others, that's what they're called in Arizona, than there are Democrats, and nearly as many others as they are Republicans.

So, the point is, there are a hell of a lot of us in the country who regard ourselves as independents. There really is not a leader, you know, for that constituency. And -- and I think she assumes that mantle. I think she is that individual.

COLLINS: Michael, one thing that has been noted to me by Democratic sources that we're talking with this morning, she votes with Biden a lot of the time.

HARLOW: Yes.

COLLINS: She gets criticism, you may not think that, but she actually does vote with the Biden agenda a lot.

Do you think all of this has to do with her re-election? She hasn't said whether or not she's running, but does this all have to do with her potentially running for re-election as they have promised to primary her in the Democratic Party?

SMERCONISH: It might. There's a group called Common Ground that just released data within the last few days showing that bridge builders, for lack of a better description, did extremely well in competitive congressional races in this cycle. So, is it a smart play politically? I think that it is. But I also think, notwithstanding that she votes with the administration far more than she votes against it.

I also think she has proven her independence, much like Joe Manchin has. I mean it's funny because if you caught me cold and you said, hey, we've got a story today, someone has formally joined the ranks of independents, who do you think it is, I probably would have said Manchin, followed by Sinema.

HARLOW: Right.

SMERCONISH: But, you know, the two of them, they exhibit such control in the Senate because everyone needs to come to them to cut a deal. So, I think it's wise politically and I also think it's wise for her constituents because it places great power in her hands.

HARLOW: I was asking Kaitlan this morning what she thought, and I wonder what you think about this. This feels, from someone who's not a D.C. insider, very different than Bernie Sanders and Angus King, who caucus with the Democrats and are pretty reliable. Do you think it's different?

SMERCONISH: Totally different. I think that most Americans don't even regard Senator Sanders as an independent because we're so used to seeing him run for president as a Democrat.

You'll both remember that in the recent election, Evan McMullen ran as an independent in Utah, put up a pretty good showing, ultimately was unsuccessful. But there is a wonky question in all of this, and I asked it of Evan McMullen, and the question is, OK, you're going to be an independent, but will you caucus with either party because, if you don't, won't you lose any committee standing? And he cited for me on CNN a Senate rule, I think it was 25 but don't hold me to it, but he said that there's a Senate rule that applies that guarantees that a sitting senator has at least two committee assignments.

HARLOW: Oh.

SMERCONISH: That will be very interesting to see how that gets handled because I don't think Democrats will want to punish her because ultimately they're going to need her given the close margin that exists in the U.S. Senate.

One other observation, if I might, and the two of you made reference to this in a prior segment this morning, one wonders whether she would have had this coming out as an independent if the election had gone in a different direction. In other words, the d's can afford to lose one, right? I don't know if she would have made this move if say Herschel Walker and maybe one other race had gone differently.

COLLINS: That's a good point.

HARLOW: That's a - that's a great point. I feel like she knows rule 25 or whatever you just said because she said to Jake that she's confident she'll have committee assignments.

COLLINS: She'll keep those committee assignments, yes.

HARLOW: Thank you fierce independent Michael Smerconish. We appreciate you.

SMERCONISH: I love that. Love that. Thank you.

HARLOW: That is - yes, we'll like banner you like that every time you're on.

Everyone, I'm sure you already watch, but you can catch Michael's show at 9:00 a.m. Eastern every Saturday right here.

COLLINS: All right, next time you get a crisp new dollar bill at the store, or the ATM, something is going to look different on it. We'll tell you what to look for and why it is a pretty big deal, actually. That's next.

HARLOW: it's great.

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[06:53:45]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: History in the making, everyone.

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COLLINS: History in the making. You can hear that money coming off the presses as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Treasurer Lynn Malerba mark a new milestone in the U.S. For the first time, two women now have their signatures on our nation's currency. That's not all. Yellen is also the first female Treasury secretary to sign a bank note. And Malerba became the first Native American to do the same. Yellen delivered remarks after her tour of the Ft. Worth Bureau of Engraving and Printing facility. She said she's truly honored by this. But she also made this clear, that the fight for equity and inclusion is not over yet.

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JANET YELLEN, TREASURY SECRETARY: We've made progress in providing greater economic opportunity for women at Treasury and in the economics profession, but we still know that much more needs to be done. And I hope that today is a reminder of the road we have traveled on equity and inclusion. And I hope it motivates us to continue to move forward.

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HARLOW: Me too. Great to see.

COLLINS: Great moment for her.

HARLOW: All right, we have two major breaking stories this morning.

Brittney Griner, and WNBA star, back on U.S. soil after her release from a Russian prison.

[06:55:03]

And this.

COLLINS: Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema is leaving the Democratic Party. We'll tell you, what does that mean for what actually happens on Capitol Hill?

Stay with us.

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HARLOW: In sports this morning, Army/Navy may be brothers on the battlefield, but they are definitely not on the football field, as Kaitlan will find out this weekend. The cadets and midshipmen will face off for the 123rd time in Philadelphia tomorrow afternoon, renewing one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports.

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KEN NIUMATALOLO, NAVY HEAD COACH: Both schools want to win in the worst way. The players want to win in the worst way. They're going to give everything they have.

[07:00:01]

But when they graduate, they'll be one - on one team, and they'll be protecting our freedoms as a country.

MARQUEL BROUGHTON, ARMY DEFENSIVE BACK: It's amazing that this one game can represent so many people.