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New Breakthrough Cases Show Risk of Variant, Lag in Vaccines; Report: Milley Feared Trump Would Strike Iran to Stay in Power; McCarthy Shows Allegiance to Trump Despite Book Allegations. Aired 6- 6:30a ET

Aired July 16, 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, alongside John Berman on this NEW DAY. Baseball players and TV stars who are vaccinated say they've been infected with the coronavirus. So what is behind these breakthrough infections?

[05:59:33]

Plus, brand-new reporting that Pentagon officials feared Donald Trump would strike Iran to hang onto power after he lost the election.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave? Kevin McCarthy kissing the ring, or the equivalent, at Hotel Bedminster, despite revelations of fears that his leader would attempt a coup.

And liberals are livid this morning after Justice Stephen Breyer told CNN he's undecided on a possible retirement from the court. Breyer's former clerk joins us live to respond.

Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. It is Friday, July 16. And the Delta variant is tearing across the country. And this morning, we're tracking a number of significant pandemic developments.

Officials in Los Angeles County are reinstating their indoor mask mandate, even for the vaccinated, starting Saturday after recording more than 1,000 new cases a day for the past week.

And last night's Yankees/Red Sox game was postponed after six Yankee players tested positive. The status of tonight's game unclear at this point.

BERMAN: Tonight's Team USA men's basketball exhibition game against Australia, that has been cancelled. Starting American guard Bradley Beal is going to miss the Olympics due to COVID health and safety protocols.

Former E! News host Catt Sadler and NFL Network's Rich Eisen have announced they are battling COVID, despite both being vaccinated. And they're cautioning, though, that their condition could be a lot worse had they not received the vaccine.

And now the surgeon general is issuing a warning about the deadly consequences of vaccine misinformation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. VIVEK MURTHY, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: It's led them to turn down proven treatments and to choose not to get vaccinated. This has led to avoidable illnesses and death. Simply put, health information has cost us lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Will his message, though, reach the communities that need to hear it?

Joining us now is Dr. Jason Yaun. He's a pediatrician in Tennessee. Dr. Yaun, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

First, I just want to talk about these breakthrough infections that we're seeing. Why are we seeing these?

DR. JASON YAUN, PEDIATRICIAN: Well, hi. Good morning, Brianna and John. Thank you so much for having me on today. It's so great to be here with you.

And we are beginning to see some breakthrough infections. And while those are unfortunate, they're expected and really inevitable.

When we talk about these vaccines, we've been talking about 94 to 95 percent effectiveness, which is amazing, but it's not 100 percent. And reality is that no vaccine is 100 percent effective. So we are going to have some breakthrough cases.

Fortunately, these breakthrough cases are generally asymptomatic cases or mild cases. The vaccines do a tremendous job of protecting against severe infection and death. Even against the Delta variant that we are seeing across the nation.

And so, the reality is that most people in our country who are hospitalized or dying from COVID right now are unvaccinated. And so this has really become a vaccine-preventable illness, and it's important now, more than ever, that we continue our efforts to vaccinate.

Here in Tennessee, we've seen just about 1,000 breakthrough cases and 24 deaths. So really, breakthrough cases are generally very rare. And they're more likely to happen in older individuals or persons with immune-compromised conditions.

And so, we need to really follow the CDC and American Academy of Pediatric guidelines in vaccinating all children and adolescents who are eligible, who are 12 years of age and older, and all adults to protect themselves, their friends, their families and their communities.

BERMAN: Doctor, just one more question on breakthroughs, as we see New York Yankees who have been vaccinated, get reinfected; as Rich Eisen from the NFL getting infected. If you do receive an infection after being vaccinated, what do we know about whether or not you are contagious?

YAUN: Well, I think that's still a little bit of a question. We know that the likelihood is going to be higher that you were asymptomatic. So that probably means that you have lower levels of virus and that you may be very little risk of being contagious. Although we have to take those precautions, especially with professional athletes and being around others.

And so obviously, we are still going to quarantine and isolate, as needed, just out of an abundance of precaution.

KEILAR: OK. Look, it's certainly -- this is the question people want to know especially when many people, myself included, have small children who can't be vaccinated. So we are, you know, living with people who can't be vaccinated at this point, and we have to protect them as well.

I do want to ask you, as you are there in Tennessee. We see this growing outrage because of your state's health department saying that it's halting all adolescent vaccine outreach. We're not talking about just COVID vaccine outreach. This is all vaccine outreach.

[06:05:02]

The U.S. surgeon general called this counterproductive. You're a pediatrician. What do you think?

YAUN: I think it's very concerning. It's been a very interesting week here in Tennessee. And as a representative of the Tennessee chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, we stand behind the science and evidence of vaccines.

Vaccines are safe. Vaccines are effective. Vaccines save lives. And so do public health outreach and our public health experts, they save lives.

And so it's concerning, because we're coming into a time where we've seen drastic reductions in children receiving their routine childhood immunizations due to the pandemic. And now we're at a juncture where we're having children returning to sports, returning to camps. Here shortly in just a few weeks, they'll be returning to school. And not only that, we're also trying to get them vaccinated against COVID-19.

So, it's a critical juncture for children in our state right now. And we really need the health department to be a partner with us to provide education, provide outreach and do this hand-in-hand so that we can have a unified message that is strong and clear.

BERMAN: Dr. Yaun --

YAUN: Again, it's -- yes.

BERMAN: Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I just wanted -- we have about 30 seconds -- we have about 30 seconds left with you.

L.A. County reinstituting mask mandates. In about 30 seconds, for everybody, unvaccinated and vaccinated. For unvaccinated people, I get it. They should be wearing masks all along. But why masks for vaccinated people?

YAUN: I think again what we're seeing is the Delta variant, a large population of unvaccinated people, a large number of people in crowded conditions.

And although this doesn't follow the current CDC recommendations, it does follow the World Health Organization recommendations.

So I think it's an interesting conversation. I think it's one that will be ongoing and evolving as we continue to see these cases climb. And we may see this in other areas.

Obviously, in other parts of the country, such as Tennessee that may be difficult to implement. But it's a conversation that I think will continue in the coming weeks as we see the cases rise and we continue to see the effects of the Delta variant and lower rates of vaccination.

KEILAR: Yes. Thank you so much, Dr. Yaun, for being with us. Lots of concerns this morning, and it certainly helps to get your insights on them.

BERMAN: New this morning, it wasn't just a coup that General Mark Milley feared. It was the possibility that the former president would start a full-blown war with Iran in hopes of having it help him stay in power after losing the election.

That's according to brand-new reporting from our next guest, CNN global affairs analyst Susan Glasser. She's a staff writer at "The New Yorker."

And Susan, you are writing a book along with your husband, Peter Baker. And in the process of reporting your book, you discovered not only was General Mark Milley, who's been in the news a lot, concerned about the idea of this coup and stopping the president from sort of launching a coup after the election, but concern that he would -- he would somehow push it too far with Iran and start a war.

This is a quote from your upcoming book, your reporting here, an article you put in "The New Yorker." "Milley was worried that Trump might set in motion a full-scale conflict that was not justified. 'If you do this, you're going to have an F'ing war,' Milley would say."

So talk to us about these concerns with Iran.

SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, thank you so much, John. You know, Milley, from really June 1, which was that infamous Lafayette Square photo op, on was very concerned about what he called nightmare scenarios that could unfold after the election.

And one of them, as you said, was the possibility of Trump trying to use the military in a coup-like situation, trying to put -- (AUDIO GAP)

(VIDEO GAP)

BERMAN: Oh, no. We just lost Susan Glasser.

KEILAR: We just lost Susan. Let's try to get that back up. This is fascinating what she's written, isn't it?

BERMAN: It is fascinating. Let me read another quote from Susan's reporting here as we try to get her back up here.

She said, in addition to the reporting on Iran, she talked about meetings that Milley was regularly having with his staff about the former president. "[Milley] referred to these meetings with his staff as the 'land of plane' -- 'land the plane' calls, as in, both engines are out, the landing gear are stuck, and we're in an emergency situation. Our job is to land this plane and safely do a peaceful transfer of power on the 20th of January."

So this speaks to Mark Milley, who was deeply concerned about things going off the rails, both domestically and foreign policy-wise before inauguration day.

Susan Glasser back with us to talk specifically about Milley's concerns with Iran -- Susan.

GLASSER: Well, that's right, John. You know, again and again, this would come up in meetings in the Oval Office after the election. And I think this was something that, for Milley, it was one of those things he just couldn't beat back.

[06:10:07]

And he kept warning Trump that Trump was advocating a missile strike. He kept saying, if you launch a strike, it's going to escalate with the Iranians. And it was one of what Milley called two nightmare scenarios that he was worried about in the aftermath of the election.

KEILAR: It seems like this is a scenario, a nightmare scenario, Susan, that a number of officials had. You know, just sort of more broadly, the speaker, Nancy Pelosi, was concerned and had a conversation with Milley about the possibility of a nuclear weapon being used.

And I think at the time you heard a lot of people even close to the president saying, you know, don't worry too much about what he's doing with what turned out to be the big lie, really downplaying that. And you also get that sense, as well, with not worrying too much about what might happen with some sort of foreign engagement, and now we're getting this look at just how dire it was.

GLASSER: Well, again, I think what Milley was doing, in a way, he was taking the playbook in the final days of Richard Nixon's tenure. And remember that the defense secretary back then, James Schlesinger, very famously essentially said, "Don't follow any orders that might be problematic from the White House without checking with me or Kissinger first."

And I think, in a way, this is what Milley was doing. Not to disregard White House orders, but to put everybody on high alert that there might be something problematic. I mean, it speaks to, unfortunately, the very, very stressful moment and the fear of those surrounding President Trump that he might do anything at all.

I mean, it really was a very dangerous and volatile moment, but clearly, the leadership of the uniformed military was on what I would say was high alert, basically, for many months.

BERMAN: So, how did Milley's specific concerns about Iran resolve themselves?

GLASSER: Well, you know, the very last time that Mark Milley, the chairman of the joints chiefs of staff, spoke with Donald Trump, and I mean, period last time, was Sunday, January 3. That is two days before what would end up being the insurrection at the Capitol.

And in that meeting at the White House, Trump came back from Mar-a- Lago early from his Christmas vacation. They had this meeting. Trump was raising recent reports from the IAEA about Iran's nuclear capacity. In the end, not only did Milley once again argue against this, but in the account that he gave to others, both Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Robert O'Brien, the national security adviser, both of them Iran hawks, said in the end, It's too late, Mr. President, or some version of that. Essentially, your time in office has run out, and we can't do this now. And Trump agreed to it.

By the way, in that meeting, at the very end is when Trump did raise the forthcoming January 6 rally with Milley and with his acting defense secretary. And he said, basically, are you ready for it? It's going to be big.

BERMAN: Indeed. Indeed it was.

Susan Glasser, we appreciate your reporting on this, Susan Glasser. Thank you so much for sticking with us and joining us this morning.

GLASSER: Thank you.

KEILAR: And next, Kevin McCarthy and Donald Trump meet, despite their own actions during and after the insurrection being in question as the investigation into what happened on January 6 begins.

BERMAN: Plus, Porsches, Gucci rings, millions of dollars raised by impersonating the former president. A stunning CNN investigation.

And the investigation into New York Governor Andrew Cuomo about to take a dramatic turn. Here's what's happening in the next 24 hours.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:17:56]

BERMAN: So this morning new evidence about the true loyalties of House minority leader -- or should we call him follower -- Kevin McCarthy.

On the very day that there was this explosion of reporting over concerns that the former president would stage a coup after his election loss, the very day of that reporting, what does McCarthy do? He goes and meets with Donald Trump at his northern Mar-a-Lago in New Jersey.

CNN's Lauren Fox joins us now. Lauren, this is something. The timing here pretty remarkable.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, McCarthy showing here he just can't quit former President Donald Trump, and that's because he has his eyes on taking that speaker's gavel after the 2022 midterms. And to do that, he knows that he needs Trump's backing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOX (voice-over): In his latest move to show his alignment to the former president, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy travelled to New Jersey for a meeting with Donald Trump. McCarthy saying they discussed matters regarding the upcoming midterm elections, writing in a statement they, quote, "had a productive conversation regarding House Republicans' record fundraising, upcoming congressional special elections, and the latest work being carried out to target vulnerable Democrats."

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): These were some of the actual discussions I had with President Trump. Talking about the border. Talking about our success in the last election. Talking about our first six months in fundraising.

FOX: Some Republicans defending McCarthy's decision to meet with Trump, even as the former president publicly continues to push the big lie.

REP. TOM COLE (R-OK): I think it's perfectly appropriate for him to be visiting, you know, with the former president, or any other political figure that, you know, people that might be running. That's sort of his business.

FOX: McCarthy previously visited Trump at his Florida Mar-a-Lago residence at the end of January, just weeks after making this statement days after the Capitol insurrection.

MCCARTHY: The president bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters.

FOX: But the House minority leader quickly changed his stance and even downplayed his phone call with Trump on January 6.

MCCARTHY: Listen, my conversations with the president are my conversations with the president.

[06:20:02]

FOX: Thursday's meeting comes just one day after the January 6th Select Committee announced it will hold its first public hearing at the end of the month. McCarthy has yet to name his Republican members to the panel. And

according to GOP sources, it was not a topic in Thursday's discussion.

While sources say he's expected to announce his selection soon, McCarthy said it's possible he will decline House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's offer.

MCCARTHY: I haven't made a decision yet even to appoint. I'm discussing it with my members. I have a real concern the scope of what we're looking at.

FOX: But McCarthy's continued loyalty to Trump doesn't come as a surprise to some Democrats.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): I expect he'll do whatever Donald Trump wants him to do. That's really his sole reason for being, is to serve the former president. And that, I think, explains why he opposed the commission to begin with.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOX: And Democrats haven't ruled out calling McCarthy as one of their witnesses before that select committee. So it's not just McCarthy's role to potentially pick members who will serve on that committee, but he could potentially be a key witness for Democrats -- John.

BERMAN: Lauren Fox, thank you very much for that reporting.

FOX: And joining me now is CNN presidential historian and co-author of "Impeachment: An American History." Jeffrey Engel with us now. And he also signed a letter after the insurrection calling Trump, quote, "a clear and present danger to American democracy and the national security of the United States."

Thank you so much for being with us. We really appreciate getting your perspective here. I wonder first just what your reaction is to learning repeatedly through these new Trump books about real fears that the country's top military officials reportedly had about Trump staging a coup or launching a military strike to stay in office.

JEFFREY ENGEL, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, thank you for having me. And I think that you really hit upon the central theme in your question, that this is no surprise.

It's not that we're learning that Donald Trump was interested in fomenting some form of insurrection or trying to hold onto power in any way possible.

It's that we're getting confirming evidence of it. Time and time again, the reporting that we have at the times seems to be being increasingly confirmed that the president was interested in holding onto power, obviously. Was interested in perpetrating whatever he needed to do in terms of a big guy in order to keep power.

But more importantly, was particularly worrisome to those around him, who were concerned with not just the evolution, the continuation of the government but the continuation of democracy itself.

So really, all the reporting that we're getting from these new books is actually just confirming what we already knew, which is troubling, to say the least.

KEILAR: Unprecedented?

ENGEL: Oh, there's no doubt it's unprecedented. You know, throughout American history we've had instances where presidents have been concerned about the military particularly taking over. That's one of the reasons, in fact, why the military was largely kept small during the early 19th Century, because of a fundamental fear that the military would be necessary for any form of coup or for any form of change of government.

It's really unprecedented in American history to have a case where the military is standing up against the civilian authority to say, no, we're going to have a continuation of transfer of power, just like we've always done for more than two centuries.

KEILAR: Jeffrey, the former president did respond to this. He denied these conversations about a coup. "Sorry to inform you, but an election is my form of coup. And if I was going to do a coup, one of the last people I would want to do it with is General Mark Milley."

What do you say to that?

ENGEL: You know, one of the things that's been really fascinating as the reporting has come out is that there doesn't seem to have been an end game, or at least a strategic plan to get to the end game, for Donald Trump.

I mean, I teach strategy to my students, and actually, we study coups. One of the first things you have to establish is what exactly is your path to power? What are the steps you're going to take?

I don't think we've seen any really good reporting or evidence thus far about what it was that Donald Trump actually expected to do, other than have the vice president not certify the results of the Electoral College vote.

And to be honest, that's not sufficient in order to take power. You need to have elements of the military. You'd have elements of a police force and the Justice Department traditionally throughout in coups.

In fact, General Milley was very prescient in recognizing that, as long as the president was not able to control those elements of genuine power, he would not be able to subvert the constitutional process.

So, I think what's astounding to me about Donald Trump's actions this time is he wanted to stay in power but didn't seem to know what to do in order to actually keep power.

KEILAR: Yes. Look what someone without a plan did. What would have happened if someone did have a plan? Jeffrey, thank you so much for being with us this morning, Jeffrey

Engel.

ENGEL: Thank you.

KEILAR: Liberals are angry this morning after Justice Stephen Breyer told CNN that he's undecided on a possible retirement from the court. Breyer's former

Plus, investigation into New York governor Andrew Cuomo is about to take a big turn.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:29:16]

BERMAN: New this morning, CNN has learned that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to face questions Saturday from members of the New York state attorney general's office related to their investigation into sexual harassment allegations against him.

CNN's Brynn Gingras, who I was just talking to extensively during the break, joins me now with all of this. And this is a key phase of this investigation.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really is. Listen, I talked to some of those accusers, who spent hours with those investigators. So we'll see how long they sit down with the governor.

But yes, a source familiar with the investigation confirms to CNN that interview will happen sometime tomorrow. "The New York Times," the first to report this, adding that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will sit down with the two lawyers leading this investigation, Joon Kim and Anne Clark, in Albany.

And this is really signaling that the now more than five-month-long investigation could be nearing its final stages.

Remember, Tish James opened this inquiry.