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CDC Moves To Block Most Evictions Through 2020; NIH Panel Contradicts FDA On Use Of Convalescent Plasma; Russian Teachers' Union Urges Members To Decline Sputnik V Coronavirus Vaccine. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired September 02, 2020 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:00]
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: In an extraordinary move the CDC, of all agencies, is temporarily halting most evictions through 2020 for Americans struggling to pay rent due to the pandemic. Now, the move applies to people making less than $99,000 a year or couples making under $198,000.
The White House taking a step Congress won't. With stimulus talks now at a standstill, senior administration officials say renters will eventually have to pay back any missed rent.
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Also this morning, a panel of experts convened by the National Institutes of Health is directly contradicting the FDA and the president on the use of convalescent plasma. The NIH panel calls the data that plasma from survivors can treat COVID-19 insufficient.
Just a week ago, the FDA granted emergency authorization to use plasma after a public push from the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ERIC TOPOL, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, SCRIPPS RESEARCH TRANSLATIONAL INSTITUTE: This is actually an extraordinary moment. Here you have different governmental agencies that are at odds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: The U.S. is still facing criticism for its lackluster testing effort. Of course, testing is the best way to isolate cases and contain this virus.
The federal official in charge of testing, though, says $5.00 rapid tests will start to go out to states starting in just a few weeks, but he's dramatically lowering expectations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADM. BRETT GIROIR, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF HEALTH: It's great to talk about this utopian kind of idea where everybody has a test every day and we can do that. I don't live in a utopian world. I live in the real world, and the real world had no tests for this new disease when this first started.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Which is true only as far as it goes. The admiral is pushing back against a straw man. No one is suggesting testing every American every day. And the CDC just relaxed testing guidance for no apparent reason.
A top Harvard doctor put it this way. "It's not Utopia to want to test teachers and kids to return to school, nursing home residents to stay alive, first responders, and other essential workers. That's what White House staff and Major League sports get now."
JARRETT: The United States is refusing to join over 170 countries that are investing in research, manufacturing, and distribution of a coronavirus vaccine because the World Health Organization is involved.
"The Washington Post" reports some members of the Trump administration were pushing for the U.S. to participate in this but the president has long been hostile to the WHO. He pulled the organization's U.S. funding back in April because of its praise for China's response early in the pandemic. Instead, the administration bet on the U.S. being first to develop a vaccine.
ROMANS: All right, so where are we? Coronavirus cases are now higher in 17 states.
The Midwest a major concern, especially Iowa, where cases there have risen nearly 80 percent in a week. A White House Coronavirus Task Force report sent to Iowa officials calls for more bar closures, comprehensive plans in college towns, and a mask mandate. Iowa is one of the few states that doesn't have a mask mandate.
JARRETT: Meantime, New York City is delaying the first day for in- person school from September 10th to the 21st. There will be some remote learning before then, though.
Nevada now added to the list of 37 states with cases at colleges. Twenty-five thousand cases have been reported on campuses and many more students and staff are now isolated. That includes almost 300 Utah State University students now quarantined after the virus was found in wastewater from four dorms.
ROMANS: The mayor of Philadelphia apologizing after he was spotted dining indoors in Maryland while restaurants in his city still cannot serve indoors.
And in Detroit, this park has been transformed into a temporary memorial for the more than 1,500 residents who have died during the pandemic. Hundreds of large portraits line the roadways so their families can mourn from the safety of their vehicles.
CNN is covering the pandemic coast-to-coast.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rosa Flores in Miami.
The Florida Department of Health severing ties with Quest Diagnostics. According to the state agency, the lab company failed to report nearly 75,000 COVID-19 test results dating back to April when the law requires that test results be reported to the Department of Health in a timely manner.
Quest Diagnostics issuing a statement apologizing, saying that they regretted the situation and that the delay was due to a technical issue.
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: I'm Jacqueline Howard in Atlanta.
A new study suggests that if you wear a face shield, then wear a plain cloth mask or surgical mask with it for more protection.
Researchers tested face shields and masks with valves on mannequins. They used a pump that released jets of air to emulate a cough or a sneeze. You see here the face shield appears to block the initial forward motion of the jet, but then over time that air can disperse, possibly under the opening of the shield.
Now, this is a visualization. More research is needed but the findings are getting attention.
[05:35:00]
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jean Casarez in New York.
The CDC of Maine is telling CNN that 134 cases of COVID-19 are, in fact, associated with a wedding that was held in the state in early August.
Here's how their investigation breaks down the numbers. They say that 56 people either attended the wedding or associated with someone after the wedding and all were diagnosed with COVID. One of those secondary contacts, they say, works at the Maplecrest Rehabilitation and Living Center. There are now 12 cases of COVID there.
The CDC also says that someone who attended the wedding works at the York County Jail. There are now 66 cases associated with the jail, including inmates, staff, and family members of those staff.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JARRETT: All right. Thanks to all of our correspondents for those updates.
The police shooting of Jacob Blake is what first sparked protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, but it was clearly not the reason for President Trump's visit there Tuesday. The president went against the wishes of local officials, surveying areas damaged by the demonstrations, touring an emergency operations center, and then holding a public safety roundtable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: The problem of police violence has been described by you, including present, as just bad apples -- a few bad apples or people who choke occasionally. Some African-American community leaders and a lot of others, actually, have said it is systemic. Where do you stand on that?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't believe that. No, I don't believe that. I think the police do an incredible job.
And I think you do have some bad apples. I think you'd agree every once in a while you'll see something.
And you do have the other situation, too, where they're under this tremendous pressure and they don't handle it well. They call it choking and it happens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: No. Actually, choking is what happened to George Floyd.
The president did not meet with Jacob Blake's family. Blake's name didn't even come up until 30 minutes into the roundtable, and the name came up from a pastor for Jacob Blake's mother.
Blake's uncle reacted on CNN last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN BLAKE, JACOB BLAKE'S UNCLE: I'm not satisfied at all. He's been a lying president. He's been a racially discriminating president against minorities.
So at this point, we're taking the gloves off and still standing strong. We're still asking people to be peaceful. But let's put the facts on the table and let's address them as they are.
It would take Stevie Wonder to see the video and realize that policing was not done on the behalf of the Kenosha people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: President Trump's visit to the swing state marked another attempt to continue his campaign of linking Democratic-run cities and states to violence ahead of the November election.
Joe Biden could visit Wisconsin next week.
JARRETT: For the first time ever, a Kennedy has been defeated in a statewide primary in Massachusetts. Sen. Ed Markey fending off a challenge from Congressman Joe Kennedy to win the Democratic Senate primary last night. The power of the Kennedy name not enough to overcome Markey's incumbency advantage and progressive credentials.
Massachusetts Congressman Richard Neal, a more centrist Democrat, defeated his primary challenger, Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse. Neal's position as the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee gives him enormous influence in Congress.
ROMANS: All right.
America's factories are firing back up but the economy is still far from a full recovery. First, the Institute of Supply Management's August survey. Manufacturers reported their best activity in nearly two years, and the New Orders Index climbed to the highest level since January 2004.
It was exactly one year ago manufacturing in this country fell into a recession on the back of the U.S.-China trade war. The industry began to recover in January, then the pandemic hit and slammed growth.
But the economy is still far from back to normal here. The Federal Reserve has repeatedly warned that the path to recovery is tied to the path of the virus.
And with schools reopening and Congress unable to agree on another stimulus package, there's still a lot of unknowns going into the fall.
But we've seen evidence, Laura, that while you're seeing parts of the economy come back, not necessarily employment. The employment picture is still mixed. We're going to get a reading on the August jobs report on Friday. We'll know if there were more jobs created in the month.
JARRETT: Oh, we know you're going to be all on top of that one.
ROMANS: Yes.
JARRETT: All right.
So, Russia claims its coronavirus vaccine is safe, so why are most teachers refusing to get one?
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[05:43:36]
JARRETT: The infamous Russian troll farm that interfered in the U.S. election back in 2016 -- well, they're at it again. Facebook announcing it has taken down fake accounts and pages linked to Russian operatives who are trying to trick freelance journalists into writing stories on their behalf. The social media giant was acting on a tip from the FBI about this.
Facebook was caught off guard by Russian misinformation campaigns ahead of the 2016 election, trying to avoid that this time and be more proactive about weeding out foreign actors.
ROMANS: Schools in Russia reopened this week for the first time in six months. Teachers are supposed to be the first in line to receive that new Russian-approved vaccine but many teachers are passing.
Matthew Chance live from Moscow. It wasn't long ago the Russian president was taking a victory lap for having this vaccine available so quickly. Teachers aren't so sure. MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, they're not. And as we're reporting, we've been seeing that a lot of teachers -- speaking to teachers' unions, and they're advocating that their members don't take it on safety grounds.
Remember, it's the first day of school yesterday. Like many countries, Russia is struggling to make it safe for children to go back to their classrooms. That's happening as the country reaches a grim milestone -- a million confirmed COVID-19 infections in this country as from yesterday as well.
But as we've been seeing, there's still a great deal of mistrust about the vaccine and teachers is one group who are certainly not picking it up right yet -- right now, Christine.
[05:45:05]
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE (voice-over): Starting school can be daunting even without a pandemic, but Russia is putting on a brave show. It says it has a vaccine, after all, approved for use on this COVID front line.
CHANCE (on camera): Well, it's the first day of school here -- the first time since March that Russian classrooms have reopened amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It's very exciting for the kids.
Their teachers were meant to be among the first to benefit from Russia's new coronavirus vaccine. But what we're learning is that few, if any, have taken up the offer to be vaccinated.
CHANCE (voice-over): We were given access to one of Moscow's top schools where some measures, like testing and teachers in face masks, have been implemented.
CHANCE (on camera): And I'm seeing that they're not using face masks, they're not --
CHANCE (voice-over): But no one we spoke to here had taken the Russian vaccine even though teachers, along with doctors, are meant to have been given first access after the vaccine was fast-tracked to approval before completing phase-three human trials.
CHANCE (on camera): There's some concern that it might not be safe, it might not be effective. Have you heard that concern amongst your colleagues -- amongst teachers -- that they're worried about the vaccine?
MARIA ZATOLOKINA, DEPUTY HEAD, SCHOOL 1363: Actually, we haven't discussed it here but I think that every teacher understands how important to be safe and to create a safe environment for our students to be healthy. That's why I hope that we are responsible people and we should -- we should be vaccinated.
CHANCE (on camera): Are you going to have the vaccine?
ZATOLOKINA: Yes, of course.
CHANCE (on camera): Definitely?
ZATOLOKINA: Definitely.
CHANCE (voice-over): But there are others who say they're definitely not. One Russian teachers' union has started an online petition calling on members to reject the vaccine outright on safety grounds and expressing concern that vaccination, currently voluntary, should not be made mandatory unless clinical trials are complete.
YURI VARLAMOV, TEACHER, JCHITEL UNION MEMBER: Before the end of all testing, they cannot make it mandatory. But I know that in some schools in some state bodies people are talking about mandatory status of this vaccine in the end of this year.
CHANCE (on camera): Do you think that's a sort of political decision? Do you think it's important for the Russian authorities to make sure everybody has this vaccine whether or not it works, whether or not it's safe?
VARLAMOV: Yes, sure. That's a very political decision because skills of government to make the life of people safe is a very important point in Russia.
CHANCE (voice-over): And so is showing Russia's widely criticized vaccine to be a success. Teachers can refuse it now but not, perhaps, for much longer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE: Well, Christine, the real problem here is fast-tracking a vaccine like this -- cutting short human trials and not making clinical data public. It has created a sense of mistrust in the vaccine and that's why there's been so little pickup of it in this country, so far.
ROMANS: Yes, trust so important.
Thank you so much, Matthew Chance, for that great report for us. Thank you.
The University of California must stop using ACT and SAT tests for admissions. A judge siding with attorneys for students with disabilities. They argue they were unable to access the tests amid the pandemic.
The ruling affects six of U.C.'s undergraduate campuses that have gone test-optional. Three campuses already stopped using tests so now, none of the system's 226,000 undergraduates would face admissions testing. The U.C. system says it is considering further legal action.
JARRETT: Attorneys for the family of Breonna Taylor are livid after a draft plea deal for her ex-boyfriend would have implicated her for his alleged crimes. Jamarcus Glover was the target of an investigation that led officers to execute a no-knock search warrant at Breonna Taylor's home in March when she was gunned down by police.
Now, according to documents shared with Glover's attorney, Taylor is listed as a member of an organized crime syndicate. There's no evidence of that whatsoever. The date of the plea deal, July 13th, was four months after she was killed.
ROMANS: Wow -- all right.
Elvis Presley's iconic Graceland Estate in Memphis vandalized. The outer walls surrounding Graceland were spray-painted with messages of support for Black Lives Matter and for defunding the Memphis police.
Memphis has seen weeks of protests in response to police shootings.
JARRETT: An unusual call here this week at Los Angeles International Airport -- a man flying a jetpack over the airport. An American Airlines flight was the first to report a guy in a jetpack flying at an altitude of 3,000 feet on Sunday. The pilot said he was about 30 yards from the aircraft.
[05:50:06]
Ten minutes later, another plane spotted the man flying, by the way. The FBI is investigating.
ROMANS: A California lawmaker bringing her newborn daughter onto the assembly floor after her request to vote by proxy was denied. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon rejected the request from Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks.
She then drove from her Oakland area home to Sacramento to push for a housing bill, holding the crying newborn on the assembly floor. The bill was defeated and the speaker later apologized, saying he never meant to be inconsiderate.
JARRETT: Well, a Rembrandt painting believed to be a fake and stashed in a basement for decades may actually be real.
The head of a bearded man was bequeathed to the University of Oxford's museum back in 1951, but the Rembrandt Research Project determined it was a fake in 1982. Now, one expert has determined that the wood panel it was painted on came from the same tree that was used for another work by Rembrandt back in the early 1600s.
The painting will be analyzed further to determine its exact origin.
ROMANS: All right.
The next time you order an Uber you may be asked to send a selfie first to prove you're wearing a mask. The company says passengers who have previously been reported by a driver for not wearing a mask, they will have to verify they are wearing one by the end of the month. Uber drivers have been required to take selfies to verify they are wearing a face-covering since mid-May.
JARRETT: Old Navy is gearing up for November, planning to pay its employees for a full eight-hour day to serve as poll workers on Election Day. The retailer is partnering with Civic Alliance and Power to the Polls to recruit 250,000 new poll workers to ensure polling sites stay open and operate efficiently across the country.
Old Navy's parent company, Gap, is among more than 600 companies giving employees Election Day off to vote.
That's interesting, Christine.
ROMANS: Yes.
JARRETT: I wonder whether other companies are going to follow suit on this.
ROMANS: There is a lot of pressure. And, bravo to those companies who want to make sure -- some companies are saying look, you can -- you can take four hours off that day --
JARRETT: Sure.
ROMANS: -- half a day off, or we're not going to have any meetings on that day, so you can try to sneak away or come in a little late to try to vote. So I think that's really important -- really important for companies to support democracy that way.
Let's get a check on CNN Business this morning. Looking at markets around the world, Asia closed mixed. Europe has opened strongly higher here.
Now, Wall Street, futures are up as well. You know, the remarkable summer rally continues. Super v-shaped recovery in the stock market, as the president puts it.
The Dow closed up 215 points. It's now less than 1,000 points away from its February record high. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit record highs.
Investors will be watching for Macy's quarterly results today as retailers struggle to get back to work.
And a reminder that Wall Street is not Main Street. There are millions of people still out of work and every week we're getting about almost a million new layoffs and jobless claims. So, still a real slog here.
Walmart unveiled a new subscription service, Walmart Plus. It's going to go head-to-head with Amazon Prime. All right, it costs $98 a year, so it's cheaper than Prime. It includes same-day deliveries on certain items, discounts on cash -- gas, rather -- and the ability to pay without waiting in line.
Even though Walmart Plus doesn't include many benefits its rivals -- its rival has, like streaming movies and T.V., the main attraction here may be that its stores -- about 90 percent of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart -- so that same-day delivery.
Walmart said 2,700 stores will ship items the same day. That may help it beat Amazon's delivery speeds.
Nike is finally getting into the maternity wear game. The brand will launch its first maternity active-wear collection called Nike M, next week. It includes products designed to meet the changing needs of women's bodies before, during, and after pregnancy.
Retail analysts note that more people are working out at home during the pandemic but active-wear is not available in maternity.
The collection comes after Nike faced heavy criticism from several female Olympic athletes over its maternity policies.
I could have used some maternity yoga pants a few times.
JARRETT: At the very least, you need some stretchy pants. Everyone needs some stretchy pants.
OK, this next story is Christine Romans' worst nightmare.
ROMANS: Oh.
JARRETT: Two huge snakes falling through a man's kitchen ceiling in Australia. The snake catcher who removed them says the two carpet pythons -- one measuring 9 1/2 feet, the other just over eight feet -- were likely fighting over a female during breeding season -- classic. And he calls -- he tells CNN they were the first -- that they were the two fattest snakes he's seen and very well fed.
ROMANS: I hate snakes -- small snakes. Every now and then on my grandma's farm a snake would find its way into the -- ooh.
All right.
A Massachusetts -- oh, I guess we're not doing that story.
Thanks for joining us this morning, everyone. Leaving you with snakes, I'm Christine Romans.
JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:59:20]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A National Institutes of Health panel says doctors should not use convalescent plasma for COVID-19.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The data around that didn't really reflect the reality of what those trials showed.
GIROIR: It's great to talk about this utopian kind of idea where everybody has a test every day and we can do that. I don't live in a utopian world.
REPORTER: Do you believe systemic racism is a problem in this country?
TRUMP: We should talk about the kind of violence that we've seen in Portland and here and other places.
JACOB BLAKE SR., FATHER OF JACOB BLAKE: We're not talking politics. My son is an actual human being. So if you don't know his name, it's Jacob Blake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Wednesday, September second, 6:00 here in New York.
