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FDA to Authorize Pfizer Vaccine for Adolescents by Next Week; Cheney Triples Down on Criticism of Trump as Party Blasts Her; Trump Pushes Lies Days Before Facebook Decision on His Fate; At Least 23 Killed, Dozens Hurt in Subway Overpass Disaster; CNN Goes Inside Hospital Where Oxygen, Staff, Hope Running Out. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired May 04, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Brianna Keilar in Washington, alongside John Berman in New York. On this NEW DAY, a significant turn in the race to vaccinate a nation. What the data is set to approve that could change the game.

[05:59:41]

Plus, Liz Cheney declares war on her own party, making it clear she's going down for criticizing Donald Trump and the big lie, she's going down swinging.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: D.C. apparently bans dancing at weddings in COVID restrictions. We'll speak with a bride to be who's holding out for a hero.

And Bill Gates could lose half his wealth in his divorce and still be rich enough to own, well, everything. We'll examine the billion-dollar breakup.

A very good morning to our viewers in the United States and around the world. It is Tuesday, May 4. And a potential game changer as America races to vaccinate and return to normal.

CNN has learned the FDA plans to authorize the Pfizer vaccine for children and teenagers between the ages of 12 and 15 by next week. Right now, Pfizer and Moderna are both testing their vaccines in children as young as 6 months. They expect to ask the FDA for emergency use authorization covering infants and younger children later this year.

BERMAN: This is a huge development for millions of American families, families like mine, as they prepare for the upcoming school year. I was driving with one of my sons when the news came out yesterday. His reaction was, "Awesome." I

t comes as the pace of vaccinations in the United States is slowing down, at just over 2 million shots a day.

CNN's Elizabeth Cohen joins us this morning. Elizabeth, you know, really, tell us everything. How safe do we know the Pfizer vaccine is for kids? How effective? When might they get it in their arms? ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: John, all I can really do

is quote your son, awesome. This is indeed an awesome move, not just for those children. He's very eloquent -- not just for those children but also for families. In our family, only our 14-year-old is unvaccinated. When the six of us go out, we have to rethink how to do things, because five of us are, and one of us isn't. So this is really a game changer.

So let's look at the data that is behind what is expected to be this authorization that's expected to happen soon.

Pfizer did a Phase 3 trial, clinical trial, with more than 2,200 children ages 12 to 15 and found it was 100 percent effective and well-tolerated. In other words, there were no safety issues.

Pfizer is still testing in children ages 6 months to 11 years. Now, when that comes, there's going to be -- that's a little bit -- that will take a little bit more work. With the older children, they didn't call in. The FDA didn't call in their outside experts. They just are going to authorize it without going to those experts. For the younger children, they will call in that advisory committee to look at that data -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.

Obviously, this is something that I care a ton about, Brianna. I've got two 14-year-olds at home, and it changes the way you think about things, right? If they're vaccinated along with my wife and me, it really does change things.

KEILAR: It does. Because, you know, the guidance is, if you are going to, say, see your neighbors, see your family, if you want to meet up and you're all vaccinated -- I have little kids, so I'll be waiting a little while longer. But it really does make you worry, as we have not worried about kids for a while. So it's huge news. Awesome, as your son said.

BERMAN: Awesome, eloquent, which he gets from his mother.

But no, but look, seriously, you know, we haven't been overly worried that they would get very sick, because the numbers don't bear that out, but you are concerned they could be vectors. Right?

KEILAR: Exactly.

BERMAN: You are concerned they could pass it on to other people. They've had to quarantine once because of soccer. Hopefully, that will never happen again. So a big, big deal, couldn't be more excited.

KEILAR: Yes. Back to normal, very exciting.

And now to the growing civil war within the Republican Party. A GOP source telling CNN that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is furious with Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who by the way, is chair of the House conference. She's the No. 3 Republican in House leadership.

On Monday, Cheney refused to back off from criticizing Donald Trump's election lies. She called it poison for the democratic system.

Joining us now is former Republican congressman and presidential candidate Joe Walsh.

Joe, this is very interesting, because Liz Cheney survived a recent purge attempt. She might not survive another one. If she is out, does it weaken her or does it weaken the House GOP?

JOE WALSH, FORMER GOP CONGRESSMAN: Hey, Brianna, great to be with you. And I haven't had the opportunity yet to congratulate you on your new gig here.

Look, before we get into the machinations of and what's going to happen to Liz Cheney, Brianna, think about what we're talking about. Liz Cheney is going to lose her position in leadership. That's clear. It's a matter of days or a week or two. She's going to be penalized for speaking the truth. I mean, think about that. Think about where the Republican Party is. Liz Cheney is going to be penalized for speaking the truth.

Now, her problem, Brianna, is every single one of those cowards in that Republican conference, they agree with Liz Cheney privately. They know the election wasn't stolen. They don't believe Donald Trump's big lie. But their problem is Liz Cheney's problem. And it's what I hear every day. All the Republicans back home in their district, they believe the lie. That's what this is all about.

[06:05:16]

BERMAN: So what you're saying, Joe, is that, basically the big lie is a necessary ticket for admission now into Republican leadership. She's being penalized, as you say, merely for speaking the truth, saying the least controversial thing on earth, which is the election was not stolen?

WALSH: John, yes. You're exactly right. Think how surreal this is, right?

If you -- to be viable in today's Republican Party, you have to lie. You have to commit to the big lie, the undemocratic lie that the 2020 election was stolen.

But again, John, here's the problem. It always comes down to Republican voters. I hear from thousands of Republican voters every day. It won't surprise you two, but they all believe the lie. That's what Trump wanted. He got it. He got his lie. And this is what Republican members are hearing every day.

I stand with Liz Cheney, and I respect the hell out of her, but there's no room in this Republican Party for her. It's sad.

KEILAR: So -- so Joe, where do people go, then? Where -- where do politicians like a Liz Cheney, or a Mitt Romney, or candidates who do not believe in the big lie, or TBL as I shorthand in my notes, because I have to use it so often, where do voters who don't believe in this go if they agree with traditional, conservative ideology? You know, they're not -- they're not going to flock, you would think, to the Democratic Party. Where do they go?

WALSH: Well, Brianna, that's the great question. And I wish -- I wish not you two, but I wish so many people in the media would stop talking about the divided Republican Party, the split in the Republican Party. It's not divided. It pains me to say this: there's no split. It's Trump's party. It's the big lie party.

So Liz Cheney, Mitt Romney, look, where do you go? There's -- they couldn't get elected to anything in this Republican Party. So they have to leave. They have to hang out as an independent, if they can, for a while. Maybe join the Democratic Party. Maybe, Brianna, there will be a movement to start a reasonable third party, because the Republican Party is a shrinking party.

I mean, most Americans believe in the truth and know that the election wasn't stolen, but it's reality. There -- it was a tough place for me to face a year ago. Liz Cheney's facing that same reality right now.

BERMAN: And let's be clear, this isn't a conservative/liberal thing. I mean, Liz Cheney is as conservative as they come. Her Republican credentials on policy, you know, couldn't be more solid. But just to be clear, Joe, you think she's gone. You think she's gone from leadership. You think she might even be gone from her seat in Wyoming.

WALSH: She's done. There's no way, John, she can hang onto her position in leadership. I've spoken to enough people privately to know that. And -- and I know what these Republicans are receiving every single day.

I think Liz Cheney, John, knows that her position in leadership is gone, which is why I give her so much respect. As Brianna said at the top, doggone it, she's going to go out swinging.

If Liz Cheney is up next year against a credible primary opponent, John, in today's climate, there's no way she can win a primary. Ninety percent of Republican Party voters are with Trump, and they believe the lie.

KEILAR: One of the things I just find so absurd and disturbing about what we see happening, especially in the House GOP, Joe, is that you know there are many Republicans who do not believe the big lie, even though they propagate the big lie.

So they're basing -- you know, they're living a lie, politically speaking. And I just wonder how sustainable that -- that really is, because they don't actually believe it.

WALSH: Brianna, they don't believe it. They're -- and again, I -- respectfully, they're cowards. They know -- damn near every Republican in the House knows that election wasn't stolen. But they cannot say that publicly.

And Liz Cheney, they want to be rid of Liz Cheney, because she's forcing them every day -- When she speaks the truth every day, she forces these cowards, her fellow colleagues, to look in the mirror every day and look at themselves. But, again, Kevin McCarthy, who I served with, he knows the drill, he

knows the deal. He wants to be speaker. And he knows where Republican voters are at. It's -- it's absurd, and -- but it's really tragic.

[06:10:10]

BERMAN: Joe Walsh, thank you so much for joining us this morning. Appreciate it.

WALSH: Thanks, guys.

BERMAN: So this is very much connected. Tomorrow Facebook will announce its decision on whether Donald Trump will remain suspended from the platform as he continues to push the big election lie. He did it just yesterday.

Joining me now CNN's senior media reporter Oliver Darcy.

So Oliver, explain to me how Facebook will make this decision, this board. And also, you know, are they going to consider just over the last 24 hours he has put out stuff that's just blatantly false, the same type of stuff he did that got him suspended in the first place?

OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, to be clear, John, Facebook is not making this decision, right? Before the PR person, the oversight board calls me, I'll -- I'll let you know that the oversight board, which is funded by Facebook, but they would say they're very independent of Facebook, they're reviewing Facebook's decision, and they're going to issue a decision as to whether Facebook was right to remove Trump from the platform. So, they're the ones that are -- that are coming out with this decision tomorrow morning.

Whether they're taking into consideration his most recent marks I'm not sure. Because they did announce yesterday that they were making this decision on Wednesday or announcing their decision. So I'm assuming it's already been made at that point, probably.

But he has made, you know, similar comments over the last few weeks, and I'm sure that they've probably looked into that, as well. They've been doing a very thorough review of -- of this case. And so it wouldn't surprise me at all if they take into account his recent comments.

BERMAN: What got him suspended in the first place was after the insurrection, the statement that he put out which basically said, "I love you" to all the people saying that this election was stolen. We'd never see anything like it.

And then yesterday, he puts out a statement on paper. He's not on Twitter or Facebook, so it has to be a release. That basically said the exact same thing, that said -- you know, that said this election was stolen and we've never seen anything like it. So if that was their justification on January 7 or whatever it was, I don't know how they let him back in.

DARCY: And it shows the stakes of this decision, right? Because if he is allowed on Facebook, you can -- you can guarantee he's going to be making those decision -- or those statements on Facebook. He's going to be posting those on Facebook. I don't know how often he'll use the platform. I'm assuming he's going to be using it quite a bit. Right now he's emailing statements to reporters, and then he really relies on them getting his word out.

But as you know, he always -- he always enjoyed the fact that he could just post directly and -- and bypass that media filter. And I'm sure he would love to do so, especially right now, given he has really no other platform.

BERMAN: Look, I'm not saying should or shouldn't. I'll see what Facebook does there. I'm just saying if their justification before was one thing and the same thing still exists, you know, they're going to have to figure out how they justify changing it.

Let's talk about Paul Ryan, who did this interview at some retreat yesterday with Liz Cheney. And on the one hand, people -- people are all like, oh look, former House Speaker Paul Ryan, he's letting Liz Cheney speak her mind. He's giving Liz Cheney this platform to sort of hold a mirror up to the Republican Party.

Well, if Paul Ryan really wanted to effect change within the Republican Party or within the conservative movement, what avenue does he have at his disposal, Oliver?

DARCY: Sure. Paul Ryan sits on the board of FOX Corporation. And as you know, FOX has been really one of the main driving forces in pumping this poison, this poison of the big lie, of sanitizing what happened on January 6. They've been responsible for pumping that poison into American politics.

And Paul Ryan, Paul Ryan wears that FOX jersey; and he stood by silently as FOX has done this. You know, in the past, we've asked Paul Ryan about Tucker Carlson's anti-immigrant remarks. He stood by silent. He's standing by silent right now. I'm not sure he said anything at this GOP retreat. But make no mistake, Paul Ryan is collecting a paycheck from FOX, effectively profiting off of this rhetoric that everyone assumes he detests.

BERMAN: Oliver Darcy, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

KEILAR: We do have some breaking news. At least 23 people have been killed, dozens are hurt as an overpass carrying a subway train collapses. We're going to take you live to the scene of this horrific tragedy.

BERMAN: Plus, CNN is live in India, where the COVID explosion is getting worse by the day. Clarissa Ward goes inside a hospital experiencing what they call the apocalypse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:18:35]

KEILAR: Breaking overnight, at least 23 have died, dozens more have been injured because of an elevated section of the Mexico City subway that has collapsed, and a train plummeted to the street below.

I want to bring in CNN's Matt Rivers, who is live there at the scene of this disaster. And that really is the word for it, Matt. Tell us how this happened.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it happened around 10:30 p.m. last night, Brianna, local time here in Mexico City, and it really came as a shock, obviously.

I want to show you what the scene looks like now. You can see that there are people. It's hard to really tell, Brianna, but that is the underside of a -- one of the cars of the train that fell to the ground after that -- after that overpass collapsed.

Initially, you know, hundreds of first responders came here to try and get to the people who were inside that train. Ultimately, 23 people so far have lost their lives. Sixty-five people were transferred to the hospital. We're told no one is left trapped inside that debris there, so that is a good thing at this point.

But of course, the questions now will go to, while the focus remains on the people as they recover, the people that have lost their lives, but in the next days, weeks, Brianna, the question will be how did this spectacular failure of infrastructure here actually happen?

We can show you the CCTV video of this overpass collapsing. It is striking to see how quickly it just utterly collapses to the ground. And there are people here in Mexico City, you know, who are saying, how did this happen? And if it can happen here on this part of the subway line, why wouldn't it happen somewhere else in the city?

[06:20:17]

This is a city that relies heavily on the subway system, many of it -- many of it having tracks like the ones behind me, using this overpass system. So there's some fear here in the city, Brianna, about if this could happen here, could it happen somewhere else?

KEILAR: That's right. The roads traveling underneath these overpasses, and obviously, this is just a devastating report out of Mexico City, Matt. Thank you so much for bringing that to us.

COVID ripping through India at a desperate, overwhelming pace. Crowded hospitals overrun with patients struggling to breathe. We will take you there, next.

BERMAN: And a billionaire breakup. Bill and Melinda Gates announcing their divorce after 27 years. So what happens to the $130 billion fortune?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:25:16]

BERMAN: The coronavirus crisis in India is getting worse by the day. Hospitals struggling to cope with the surging number of patients, with the country's most popular state, home to more than 200 million people, among the hardest hit.

CNN's Clarissa Ward went inside an overwhelmed hospital where the scenes were just profoundly horrific. She joins us now with images that I know are difficult to see.

Clarissa, I can't even imagine what you saw.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. I mean, this was really, you know, I've covered some terrible things, but this is right up there in terms of just absolutely harrowing scenes.

Uttar Pradesh, this state that we went to, neighboring state, one of the hardest hit in the country. And I do want to warn our viewers, again, as you already have, that this is really tough to watch, but the families that we spoke to, they want the world to see their agony.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (CRYING AND SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WARD (voice-over): A man wails in anguish. But no one is listening. His cry just one of many at this hospital in Uttar Pradesh state.

"Oh, my child," he says. "Oh my God, my baby."

Inside the entrance, his son Deepak (ph) is fighting for his life, gasping for air, his body convulsing. There are no doctors attending to him. The handful of medical staff working in this ward are stretched thin to breaking point.

(on camera): This hospital is completely overwhelmed. The doctors say that they have about 55 beds. And currently, they're treating more than 100 patients.

And you can see people are literally just lying on the floor, desperately hoping to get some medical attention.

(voice-over): Thirty-two-year-old Kavita (ph) says she's been here for four days, begging for oxygen that has not come.

"I'm getting anxious," she says. "No one is listening to me here."

WARD (on camera): Are you struggling to breathe?

(voice-over): "I'm unable to breathe freely," she tells us. "No one is taking care of me."

In the next room, more than 20 patients are packed in tightly. This is what now passes for the intensive care unit. Family members have taken on the role of primary carers, where medical staff are simply unavailable.

This man complains no one will change his wife's soiled bedding.

Suddenly, there is a commotion. "Will someone please call the doctor?" this man shouts. His mother, 55-year-old Rajbala (ph), appears to be slipping away. Her sons work furiously to revive her.

A doctor comes in and tells them to stop crowding her. But the family is inconsolable.

"We've been here for six days, and only today we got the ventilator for my mother," he tells us. "The oxygen is out. We had to bring an oxygen cylinder cylinder."

It's a story we hear again and again. One man approaches us, pleading -- his wife can't get a bed. "No one's listening to me. I've tried everything," he says. "Please help me or she will die."

(on camera): I'm not a doctor. I'm so sorry. I can't help you.

(voice-over): Another man tells us his wife is struggling to breathe outside. They won't let her in.

We spot the hospital administrator and ask him what's going on.

DR. GYANENDRA KUMAR, ADMINISTRATOR, LLRM MEDICAL COLLEGE: Yes.

WARD (on camera): This man says his wife is dying outside and needs oxygen.

KUMAR: No, there's a central line of oxygen.

WARD (voice-over): He insists that oxygen isn't the problem but says they are desperately short of staff.

Those who do work here risk becoming patients themselves. These men tell us they move a dozen bodies a day.

(on camera): Have you ever seen anything like this before? Are you not worried to be working here? You're not wearing protective gear.

(voice-over): "We should be wearing proper PPE," they say, "but even the doctors don't have it, so how can we?"

We hear screams coming from the ICU.