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IDF To Suspend Military Activity Daily In Rafah For Humanitarian Purposes; Texas Wildfires Burn More Than A Million Acres, Still Raging; Judge Weighing Whether to Remove Georgia DA from Trump Case; Federal Judge Delays Decision on Trial Date for Trump in Classified Documents Case. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired March 02, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

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[06:00:33]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to CNN This Morning. It is Saturday March 2nd. I'm Victor Blackwell.

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Kristin Fisher in for Amara Walker and Victor, are you in a brand new studio there?

BLACKWELL: You're giving it away? I was going to wait until we had a wider shot to show people the new digs. So that new studio smell. Look at this.

FISHER: Look at that. I was going to say I'm very jealous of where you're getting to broadcast from got that new car smell and everything, right?

BLACKWELL: Yeah, smells like (INAUDIBLE) fresh well so everybody everything in just a moment. Here's what we're working for you or working on for you this morning. The IDF say that they are now working towards suspending military activities for humanitarian purposes and parts of Gaza. The announcement comes a day after President Biden says the U.S. will begin dropping aid into the area. We're live in the region with new developments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really crazy. A lot of chaos, a lot of trauma. A lot of people displaced real sad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER: Destructive deadly wildfires raging across parts of Texas this morning. More than a million acres of land have already gone up in flames and today, conditions are only expected to get worse.

BLACKWELL: A Fulton County Georgia judge will decide any day now whether to disqualify Fani Willis from the election interference case against Donald Trump, the factors he's weighing and how his decision will impact the case.

FISHER: The CDC announces a big change to its COVID-19 guidelines why you no longer need to isolate even after testing positive.

BLACKWELL: Plus, a rare dangerous winter storm is hitting California with some places in line for as much as 10 feet of snow. We have your forecast coming up.

The IDF announced that they will suspend military activities for four hours every day in Rafah and Deir el-Balah for humanitarian purposes. Rafah once a key crossing area to get aids from Egypt into Gaza has been operating at a reduced rate as trucks are waiting in line to get in.

And while a lot of countries including the US are planning to airdrop aid in the next two days, aid groups say that not enough is coming in as Gaza draws closer to a full scale famine.

FISHER: And this suspension comes just after President Biden called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and announced that the U.S. will start air dropping supplies soon. CNN's Camila DeChalus joins us now from Washington, DC. So Camila, what more do we know about this air drop?

CAMILA DECHALUS, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, at this point in time, the White House has said that this air drop of humanitarian aid that is supposed to be delivered into the region is going to happen in the upcoming days. But there's not a specific date at this time yet. But what we do know at this time is that the White House has really emphasized how dire the situation is in Gaza. And they really understand that there is a drastic need for more humanitarian aid to be delivered in that region.

And so the White House has told us that they are still strategizing more ways to deliver that humanitarian aid, and that this air drop that's going to come in the upcoming days is just one step and a number of steps that they're going to take to ensure that the innocent civilians that are residing in that region are getting the necessary aid that they need.

BLACKWELL: Camila, what is President Biden doing to increase the flow of ground delivery aid into Gaza?

DECHALUS: Well, Victor, that is a huge concern for the President. And the White House has said at this time, that they're pushing multiple strategies. I mean, one is that they're pushing Israel to open up more routes and open more crossings in order to for humanitarian aid to get delivered into that region.

And another really big thing that they have emphasized and they are keep pushing Israel on is for them to broker a temporary ceasefire that would allow for more humanitarian aid to get into that region. And look, the bigger issue at hand is that what's playing out internationally is also has potential consequences for Biden, domestically here as months ahead of the election, Biden has been facing sharp criticism or his handling of the Israel and Hamas conflict.

And so they're really looking for Biden to see how he's handled like this.

[06:05:00]

And a temporary ceasefire that Biden's advocating for can really help him at home where voters are going out in the primaries and voting uncommitted just to kind of show their frustration for Biden. So this is playing out, as we see internationally, but could have real consequences for Biden, domestically while the election is just in the upcoming months. Victor.

FISHER: Absolutely. Camila Dechalus, thanks so much.

So Israel's military says that it will suspend military activities into Gaza cities for several hours each day through next week and this decision comes after at least 112 Palestinians were killed while trying to access food aid in Gaza City.

BLACKWELL: Palestinian officials say Israel Defense Forces using live fire as hungry people were gathering around food aid trucks. CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now from Abu Dhabi. Paula, Israel says that this pause is for humanitarian purposes tell us more.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, what we're seeing is this could well be the result of immense pressure from many countries around the world on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid in NGOs, the United Nations have been warning of a humanitarian catastrophe for months now.

And what we saw on Thursday, with more than 100 people being killed at that humanitarian aid drop in eastern Gaza City, we are seeing the sheer desperation of people that simply do not have food or water or shelter.

Now we have heard that Gaza is the worst child malnutrition in the world, at this point. We've heard from the Hamas Iran health ministry in Gaza that 10 children have died of dehydration and malnutrition in just the past few days. And UNICEF for one, among other NGOs, are warning that this will only get worse because it is a drop in the ocean, what these air drops are able to achieve.

Now we have heard that there has been pressure on Israel, in fact that the Biden administration has said that they want to see more crossings between Israel and Gaza being opened up. As you mentioned, some of those crossings that are open are severely restricted. We know one crossing has been blocked by Israeli protesters calling for the release of hostages many days, and there are other crossings which could be opened by Israel.

The Biden administration believes in order to ease this this desperation that we are hearing alarming warning calls from the NGOs as we have been for many weeks.

FISHER: Paula Hancocks, thank you so much. So joining us now CNN political and national security analyst, David Sanger. David, good morning. Thank you so much for joining us. Now, I'd like to start by just getting your take on the news that the Biden administration is planning to begin these air drops of aid into Gaza soon.

You know, when you look at what experts say they believe this is really just going to be a drop in the bucket for what this region needs right now. But do you think it will help at all?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONA LSECURITY ANALYST: No one has to help hope that it will help on the margins, the administration considered this a number of weeks ago, really much earlier in the conflict. And it rejected the idea at the time, partly for the reason you suggested which was that they simply couldn't move enough food in.

Second, the concern that when you air drop the supplies, you can lead to the kind of scene that we saw the other day of free for all food, and then violence as people try to grab it, because they're obviously in such desperate shape, too. It's not the best way to organize the distribution of food. And it really is, in some ways, an act of desperation.

You know, I'm talking to you this morning from Berlin. And the more I've been listening to all of this, it reminds you in some ways of what the United States had to go do during the Berlin Airlift. So many years ago, we had to bring food in to keep the city from being starved because it was surrounded at the time by Soviet troops and all that. And in some ways, that's kind of what Gaza needs right now. A very organized every 45 minute, you know, arrival of food and medicine.

FISHER: You know, David in the fallout after that attacks at the food aid site in Gaza, we're seeing this suspension in fighting. Obviously, that's something that the Biden administration has pushed for something that the Palestinians in Gaza have wanted, but how much of an impact do you think that's really going to make on the ground there?

[06:10:00]

SANGER: Well, better not to have the fighting. The President said the other day on the way to his helicopter that he thought there could be a prisoner swap deal by Monday, he said that he thought that it was being told by his aides that that was possible. That was immediately rejected as highly unlikely by both the Israelis and by Hamas.

And I think if there was going to be a deal by Monday, we would probably know it now. As you said before, the effort now is to go focus on the beginning of Ramadan, a week from now. But the fact of the matter is that the more that President Biden has pressed the Israelis, the more they have gone about, basically, with the plan that they have had the U.S. influence here has been pretty minimal.

And I think what you're seeing with the airlift, and with these kinds of discussions is basically the U.S. saying to the Israelis, if you won't do this, we will and then the Israeli sort of backing up and now offering these four-hour windows, which is --

FISHER: Yes.

SANGER: -- certainly better than not having them.

FISHER: Is there anything else that the U.S. can do at this point in order in terms of getting more aid to Gaza, like these air drops?

SANGER: You know, at this moment, I think what they need to do is get the Israelis in some ways to try to go back to the strategy that the U.S. initially proposed, and that was don't do a wide scale war of a kind that that we did in Iraq and so forth, but try to go after the Hamas leadership in much more surgical ways.

The Israeli government decided, though, not to go through that was their right and responding to the awful October 7 terrorist attack. But I think at this point, the administration is basically going to have to decide whether it will go over the head of the Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, and speak directly to the Israeli people. And so far, the President has not been willing to go do that.

FISHER: Yes, I was going to say the Biden ministration really been pressuring Netanyahu since the beginning of all this and really has had minimal impact. David Sanger, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Straight ahead on CNN This Morning, fire and ice, high winds and dangerously dry conditions fanning the flames of the biggest wildfire in Texas history. Listen to this, it has already burned more than a million acres.

Plus, a massive storm expected to drop up to 10 feet of snow hits Northern California. It's already causing spinouts and high winds and blinding conditions shutting down part of a highway. Allison Chinchar is dragging it all for straight ahead, plus a major shift in COVID guidelines from the CDC, how long people who test positive will now have to stay home from work or school.

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[06:17:39]

FISHER: Texas Governor Greg Abbott and fire officials are warning residents to stay vigilant this weekend as dry and windy weather threatens to fuel the already devastating fires that are burning across the state's panhandle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R) TEXAS: No one can let down but down their guard. Everyone must remain very vigilant. Winds are going to pick back up the right elements for a fire will be around. And as much as everybody has gone through this, we -- all of us must remain vigilant to make sure that all the steps are taken so that we continue to prevent the loss of life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER: The wildfires have already killed two people, demolished hundreds of structures and burned over a million acres to become the largest wildfires in Texas history.

BLACKWELL: The Storm Prediction Center says that because of the high temperatures in the windy conditions, the areas from Western Texas to southeastern South Dakota are under elevated fire risk with a critical fire threat in the Texas panhandle. CNNs Ivan Rodriguez is in Fritch, Texas. What are the conditions like there now?

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, Kristin, good morning. We're learning a little bit more about the destruction that was caused by this fire. Governor Greg Abbott also saying that up to 500 structures were destroyed and it's possible that's not even the final numbers since they're still going through their assessment process.

Now, where we're standing this morning is on the Johnson family property. Behind me you can see their home is completely gone. I can see a set of dining table, chairs, a smoker and really just the foundation of their home. They lived on this property for two decades. And when they came back to look at their property for the first time they tried finding what was left behind. Listen to what they told CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN JOHNSON, LSOT HOME TO SMOKEHOUSE CREEK FIRE: Here's two pieces of my China (ph). We found that we're still together and a couple of Dutch ovens here out of my kitchen has survived there. There may be more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODRIGUEZ: This is just one example of the pain many families here in the Texas area are going through.

[06:20:05]

And you mentioned that we're expecting a lot drier conditions today, stronger winds as well. In fact, the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning. And we're told that the fire hasn't seen significant growth over the last two days, the fires still about 15 percent contained.

But if we remember to back when this fire started, how quickly it was burning, it was actually burning right around three acres per second to give you more perspective on that that's about 150 football fields every minute. So crews are very well aware of the danger that this fire has possessed and still the danger that remains.

BLACKWELL: Ivan Rodriguez, thank you for that report. And later this morning, we'll speak live with someone who lost their home in those fires. So stay with us for that. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is with us now. Allison, before the break, I said a million acres lost. And that's just one of the active fires.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's the thing. We've watching several different fires and all of them are going to be concerns as we go into the day to day. Now one thing to note is that two of them, we have seen those containment numbers kick back up a little bit. That's good. That means those firefighters are getting a bit better hold on those fires, but the smokehouse ones still sitting at 15 percent containment.

And today the forecast really is not going to cooperate with those folks. You can see it's not just Texas, but it stretches all the way up into the Dakotas, we've got the strong winds, the hot temperatures, and that very dry air this humidity levels extremely low.

And it's not just today, we fast forward into tomorrow. It's a lot of the same areas and exactly where all three of those fires are that we just showed you. And same conditions, you're looking at very strong gusty winds, in some cases 30, 40 or even higher wind gusts. And you're also looking at extremely hot temperatures and that dry air.

So for all of these areas, this is going to be a concern, not just today, but also tomorrow. Here you can see especially around Clear Creek, even going through the day Sunday, pretty much consistent winds there 15, 20 miles per hour, that may not sound like that much. But what that does is it takes those embers that already exists and can spread them very quickly.

And it can also spread them in different directions making it very difficult for the firefighters who think, OK, it's going to go this way, we'll plan for this and it changes directions and then they kind of have to regroup. So all of these things are factors for today going into it. We've also got those red flag warnings that were mentioned again for multiple states as well. Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right, Allison, thank you. Uncertain futures for two former President Trump's criminal trials. The key rulings up in the air they could impact the Georgia election subversion and Florida classified documents cases, straight ahead.

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[06:27:10]

FISHER: In Georgia a judge says that he will decide within two weeks if Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified, disqualified from Donald Trump's election subversion case.

BLACKWELL: A hearing over Willis's alleged misconduct wrapped up yesterday in Atlanta. Our Nick Valencia was there. Here's his report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people, Your Honor, is a systematic misconduct and they need to go.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One after another.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think you know what when you see it.

VALENCIA (voice-over): Defense attorneys pushed for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to be disqualified from former President Donald Trump's Georgia election subversion case. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If this court allows this kind of behavior to go on

the entire public confidence in the system will be shot.

VALENCIA (voice-over): Willis's arrival during a short break in the hearing, took the courtroom by surprise. She nodded and rocked back and forth in her chair as the state argued why she should stay on the racketeering case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A mere fishing expedition.

VALENCIA (voice-over): The defense claimed Willis and the case is special prosecutor Nathan Wade started dating before she hired him for the job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She put her boyfriend in the spot, paid him and then reap the benefits from it.

VALENCIA (voice-over): And that she benefited through meals and lavish trips he paid for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's received a personal financial benefit of over $9,200 in this case that she can't account for.

VALENCIA (voice-over): The lead attorney defending Willis said she paid way back in full, arguing this has been an effort to harass and embarrass Willis,

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An actual conflict has not been shown. And more importantly, in conjunction with that there's been absolutely no evidence that the district attorney has benefited financially at all.

VALENCIA (voice-over): Willis sitting at the prosecutor's table just feet from her attorney, as the judge questioned several of his arguments for why there's no grounds to disqualify the DA.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a relationship and that money has changed hands. There's maybe still an open question of where the ledger stands. But I think it was conceded that that balance could run in one way or another -- in the district attorney's favor. Is that contested?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. What's not contested is that a relationship did develop.

VALENCIA (voice-over): Last month, Willis testified she started dating Wade after she hired him and denied any impropriety.

FANI WILLIS, FULTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. I'm not on trial. No matter how hard you try to put me on trial.

VALENCIA (voice-over): Willis has asked multiple times to bring Trump's racketeering case to trial as soon as possible in the hopes of settling it before the presidential election. But for now, the wait continues.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope to have an answer for everyone within the next two weeks.

VALENCIA: So now we wait for Judge Scott McAfee to make his decision and you heard there he says he's going to give his order in the next two weeks he says he has some legal issues to work through as well as factual determinations to make.

[06:30:09]

Ultimately though, he's going to have to decide what the threshold for disqualification is. Is it an actual conflict of interests or simply the appearance of one? Victor, Kristin?

BLACKWELL: Nick Valencia, thanks so much. Here with me now is courts correspondent for Lawfare, Anna Bower. Anna, good morning to you, and I want to start right where Nick left off. This question of whether there is actual conflict that is required or just the appearance.

And let's listen to what John Merchant, one of the attorneys on the defense team said about conflict and the threshold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MERCHANT, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You asked me, you know, what's personal interest? I think frankly, as I was trying to figure this out, I think you know it when you see it. I think you know it when you see it. I think -- I think there's enough facts in front of you that you know it when you see it. And so, I think that the governing principle helps enlighten some of the facts here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Yes, it didn't seem to actually offer definition. Is there any tea leaf reading that can happen based on what we heard from the judge and the exchanges we watched there?

ANNA BOWER, COURTS CORRESPONDENT, LAWFARE: Right, well, I think Judge McAfee played it pretty close to the vest. He had some pointed questions for both the defense and the prosecution team here.

But there were a few questions that he asked, especially of the defense that seemed to suggest that he is not too convinced that the defense has proof that there is a conflict of interest that relates to District Attorney Fani Willis' relationship with Nathan Wade.

At one point, he -- when questioning Steve Sadow; Trump's attorney, he mentioned that the mere suggestion of wrongdoing, it may not be enough to establish a conflict of interest. And as we've just heard, some of the responses from the defense counsel saying things like, you know it when you see it, that doesn't seem to meet the burden of proof here, which is that they need to show more likely than not, that there is an actual conflict of interest.

However, there's also been some debate here about the legal standard, which legal standard applies, and that's where this really could come down to. You know, which standard Judge McAfee applies, could it be the dispositive factor in all of this? In Georgia, some appellate courts have said that you need to show that

there's some kind of palpable or tangible conflict of interest. So, they would need to show, for example, that Fani Willis financially benefited through, you know, sharing assets with Nathan Wade that she had some kind of significant material benefit from the vacations that they went on together --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

BOWER: Something like that. However, there's a few other cases that seem to suggest that maybe an appearance of impropriety would be enough, you know, the perception that there was some wrongdoing --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

BOWER: And so, I think that there could be a little bit of trouble here for the District Attorney's office. Judge McAfee said he still was deciding some of these legal issues, if he decides to go with this less exacting appearance of impropriety standard, then it could very well be that it's a much closer call for him.

BLACKWELL: All right, let's turn now to the classified documents case out of Fort Pierce, Florida. I believe you were there in that courtroom if I have that right. And the question of this 60-day rule, and I put that in air quotes, "unwritten, and it is guidance that the Department of Justice does nothing or investigative efforts within 60 days in an election that might influence voters.

And we heard from the special prosecutor that he believes that does not apply here. Tell us more about what you heard in the courtroom about maybe efforts to shift and move the date of the start of this trial.

BOWER: Right, so this discussion arose within the context of a scheduling conference in Judge Aileen Cannon's courtroom. The topic of discussion was whether to move the trial date, it was originally scheduled for May in Florida, however, there's been a number of delays in that case for a variety of reasons.

The Justice Department special counsel's office has said that they want a July date, Trump said he would like to not be tried before the election, but if he really has to be tried and propose a trial date, they'd like August.

[06:35:00]

BLACKWELL: Yes --

BOWER: And in the course of having this discussion, Judge Cannon asked the special counsel's office about this DOJ internal policy, which is not a law, it is just an internal agency policy. As you said, they tried to avoid taking investigative steps within 60 days before an election when the subject of investigation is the person running for office.

And what -- it was kind of remarkable because it was the first time that the special counsel's office has explicitly taken the position in court on the record that they do not think that, that policy applies to --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

BOWER: Already charged conduct. So, if you think about how all of these different trial schedules are kind of working against each other, because it's very complicated with Trump having four ongoing active cases. In the D.C. case, for example, which SCOTUS has just taken up his immunity appeal --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

BOWER: If that case ends up getting sent back to Judge Chutkan, who is the presiding judge in that case in say, August or September. That means that DOJ could go ahead and ask the trial judge to proceed with that case, even though it's very close to the election, so it was the --

BLACKWELL: And it was supposed to start on Monday. I mean, we were actually -- if -- on -- except for the immunity element of this, and the argument the Supreme Court, that was supposed to start right before Super Tuesday. The only case right now that's moving forward, that is scheduled on the calendar is the New York case as it relates to hush money.

So, we'll see where all these goes. We've got to wrap it here. Anna Bower, thanks so much for the reporting from there inside the courtroom. Kristin?

FISHER: Well, the CDC is rolling out some new COVID-19 guidelines. How long people now have to spend in isolation after testing positive? That's ahead on CNN this morning.

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[06:40:00]

BLACKWELL: Headlines this morning. Fashion icon Iris Apfel has died at the age of 102. You probably know her from those large, black rimmed glasses, she's a style legend and an influential interior designer and textile expert. She put a stamp on the fashion and design industry for decades.

Lifelong New Yorker, Apfel and her husband founded Old World Weavers, it specializes in decor and restoration projects, and she worked for the White House under nine different presidents, they were clients also, Estee Lauder and Greta Garbo.

FISHER: Wow, nine presidents. Well, family and friends gathered Friday in Georgia to remember Laken Riley; that's the young nursing student killed while jogging on the University of Georgia campus last week. She was laid to rest in her hometown of Woodstock. The suspect in the case is an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela.

Leaders in the Hispanic community in Georgia say they've seen a dangerous surge in anti-immigrant rhetoric since the suspect's arrest. The Georgia state just passed a bill requiring local police to help detain illegal immigrants, and it's now in the state Senate for debate.

All right, now, a powerful storm is pounding parts of California, bringing some really rare blizzard conditions, gusty winds, and that record-setting amount of snow in the mountains. Travel extremely tough right now, if not impossible, many people have even been stranded in their homes.

BLACKWELL: And while that massive snowfall is creating significant danger in parts of the region, it's also a huge boost for California's water supply and tourism industry. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is back with us -- ten feet in some areas. How long will this last?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, METEOROLOGIST: Yes, at least, through the weekend. I mean, that's going to be the key here. And again, keep in mind, this snow is not going to melt right away. So, for a lot of these roadways, it may be days before they can clear some of these roads.

Here's a look at the Winter storm impacts again, this is a large swath of purple, that is the highest category you can get on here, extreme. We are talking significant impacts from this storm, impossible travel, whiteout conditions, even if you're going very short distances, very damaging winds, we already know of at least nearly 50,000 people without power, most of them kind of right around the Sierras there.

And then, the extremely heavy snowfall rates, in some cases, you're talking 2 to 4 inches an hour, and then for multiple hours. So that's why we're going to look at not only Winter storm warnings, but several areas looking at blizzard warnings, it's that combination of the snow, but also the extremely low visibility, making it very impossible to travel.

Here's a look at the radar right now, you can see the rain along the coastline, and very heavy rainfall along the high elevations of the Sierras. And that's going to continue to spread, Victor, into areas farther to the east.

FISHER: Well, Allison, you know, like skiers and snowboarders have to be excited about this. But then even then, you've got to worry about some pretty serious avalanche concerns as well --

CHINCHAR: I get it, to the ski resorts --

FISHER: Yes, no kidding. Allison Chinchar, thanks so much. Well, the biggest wildfire in Texas history has already scorched more than a million acres, and now weather conditions could make it even worse. Still ahead, the latest on fire crews' efforts to try to get the upper hand.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:00]

BLACKWELL: The CDC now says that people who test positive for COVID-19 may not have to self-isolate for five days. Now, under the new agencies or the agency's new guidelines, people who have COVID should stay home until they are fever-free without medication for at least 24 hours.

And after that, experts say it's fine to resume regular activities, but they do recommend taking added precautions for the next five days, like masking and limiting close contact with others. Joining me now to discuss it all, Dr. Jayne Morgan; a cardiologist and the former executive director of Piedmont Healthcare's COVID Task Force. Good to have you back. I remember we talked about this when California and Oregon did it first.

JAYNE MORGAN, CARDIOLOGIST: That's right --

BLACKWELL: And now the federal guidelines have changed. Has the science changed? Have we learned more about COVID, herd-immunity. What explains the change?

[06:50:00]

MORGAN: So, the science has not changed --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

MORGAN: But what has changed is the evolution of this virus. These last few variants have been relatively mild, it caused mild disease. And we see the number of deaths and number of hospitalizations has greatly decreased from 2020 and 2021 to 2024.

And so, we're starting to look at these more as our respiratory viruses that we will have seasonally. And how is it that we're going to manage those?

BLACKWELL: OK, so some of the guidance here, as we said that people who test positive do not need to stay home if they're fever free for 24 hours without medication --

MORGAN: Correct --

BLACKWELL: That's mandatory --

MORGAN: Correct.

BLACKWELL: The other element here is that if symptoms are mild and improving -- I am a baby when I get a cold or a flu --

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: So what defines mild? Is there a clinical definition or is it subjective?

MORGAN: So, this is subjective. How are you feeling? And really the key is if your symptoms are improving. And so, that's the caveat. That's the key to that. If your symptoms are improving, then you can go out -- we are being -- the recommendations are for you to mask, limit your contact with others, try to be in a ventilated space. But if you are fever-free and your symptoms are improving, then you can now go back out into society.

BLACKWELL: There are still the seniors and the vulnerable among us. How do we take this guidance? Do we treat them differently? Do we stay away from them for those five days? Should anything change there?

MORGAN: And so, there's that guidance on staying away from them, but there's guidance and making certain that you are aware of who is in your environment, and make certain if you are, if you are COVID positive, and are around grandma, granddad or someone in a hospital or someone with cancer or taking any type of cancer therapies, that you make certain that you mask, you make certain that you're in a ventilated area, and you try to maintain distance with that person in as much as you possibly can.

BLACKWELL: In the early years during the emergency era of the pandemic, there were politicians who were saying it's the flu, treat it like the flu. The medical experts said no, it is not like the flu. Have we reached a point where we treat this like the flu?

MORGAN: And let's be clear, it's still not the flu.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

MORGAN: So, when you look at 2023, the number of deaths from COVID, 75,000, and while that's greatly reduced from 450,000 in 2021. When we look at the number of flu deaths, flu deaths are 21,000. So, almost at about 25 percent of what COVID deaths are.

So, even though COVID has greatly improved, flu still causes fewer deaths. So, I want to be clear. This is not the flu, and certainly if variants were to change, we may have to go back and rethink some of that. But where we are currently with the landscape, we can certainly begin to enjoy a modicum of freedom with the herd immunity that we have won, a hard won.

Shall we say herd immunity by hook or crook? So, we've gotten thereby sort of vaccinations, sort of infections, sort of some combination of things.

BLACKWELL: Yes --

MORGAN: But here we are, and society now has been exposed to this, and we are not as vulnerable as we were when this virus first came out.

BLACKWELL: Well, that certainly is good news. Dr. Jayne Morgan, thanks so much.

MORGAN: Yes, other good news to look, to think about is that --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

MORGAN: Dating apps --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

MORGAN: Have decreased and marriage proposals have increased. So, they are the two things that we see from COVID disappearing.

BLACKWELL: All right! I think there are a lot of benefits from few dating apps saying that marriage proposals. Dr. Morgan, thanks so much.

MORGAN: Oh, thanks.

BLACKWELL: Kristin.

FISHER: Major developments overnight in the Israel-Hamas war. And what we're learning about the daily pauses in fighting to allow some of that much-needed aid into southern Gaza. That's ahead on the next hour of CNN this morning, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:00]

BLACKWELL: The new CNN original series, "VEGAS: THE STORY OF SIN CITY" takes us on an incredible journey from the city's origins as a dusty desert town to the entertainment mecca it is today. CNN's Sara Sidner sat down with Mr. Las Vegas himself, Wayne Newton, to talk about the city's history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Was this the life you ever imagined and the career? The length of your career is longer than anyone I know.

WAYNE NEWTON, LAS VEGAS ICON: Well, actually we will be celebrating our 65th year of performing in Las Vegas this coming, I think May. And I don't think about it. I think that it's the fact that I enjoy what I do. I love to see the people's faces, and I love to see the smiles on their faces, and maybe the fact that we can bring them a little bit of happiness and forget all the nonsense going on in the world.

SIDNER: OK, 65th year. So, I've got to ask you, you knew the Rat Pack by name, you performed with them with Elvis. These are also icons, right? So, who partied --

NEWTON: Yes --

SIDNER: Hardest in Vegas. I know you have secrets. Who of them partied the hardest in Vegas?

NEWTON: Actually the whole group partied free party, it was free. It was pretty interesting to watch because Frank's wife told me later on -- because I really didn't understand why Frank became my friend because it was a major age difference, obviously.