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Jeff Bezos and Crew to Launch into Space; Number of COVID Cases Linked to Tokyo Olympics Rises to 71; Father of U.S. Olympic Gymnast Who Tested Positive Speaks Out; Divide Grows Across U.S. Over Students Wearing Masks in Schools; Outbreak at Florida Senior Community Where Most are Vaccinated. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired July 20, 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 Avlon --

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST/ANCHOR: Good morning.

[06:00:14]

KEILAR: -- on this NEW DAY. Good morning to you. From Amazon to Earth's orbit, billionaire Jeff Bezos about to take the wildest ride of his life. We are live at the launch site in West Texas.

Also, coronavirus cases rising quickly in Tokyo, just three days before the Olympic Games. The father of one U.S. athlete who just tested positive joins us live.

And COVID culture clash heads to the classroom with a dozen states banning masks. That's despite new guidance that all children and staff should wear them this fall.

Kevin McCarthy naming his five Republicans to investigate the Capitol insurrection. But will Nancy Pelosi let them stay?

KEILAR: Good morning to our viewers in the United States and around the world. It is Tuesday, July 20. Slowly but surely, we are getting there through the week, right?

AVLON: Yes. We're almost at hump day.

KEILAR: The world's richest man is about to launch himself on a supersonic joyride to the edge of space. It is all systems go for Jeff Bezos and his space flight crew mates.

The New Shepard rocket rolled out to the launch pad just a few hours ago, and it's three hours and counting until lift-off from that location there in West Texas.

The founder of Blue Origin and Amazon is about to become the second billionaire to ride, in his own rocket, along with his brother and an 18-year-old from the Netherlands, and our favorite. Right? Our favorite.

AVLON: Wally Funk.

KEILAR: That is right. An 82-year-old female aviation pioneer from Texas. The flight will feature the youngest and the oldest humans to ever leave the planet.

AVLON: It's the culmination of more than five years of test flights, with the entire excursion lasting just 11 minutes from takeoff to landing.

That will launch from Blue Origin's facilities in a remote location near Van Horn, Texas. It's about two hours from El Paso.

This maiden manned voyage will eventually pave the way for private space tourism. And if you're looking for symbolism, today also marks 52 years to the day since Apollo 11's moon landing.

Rachel Crane is live at Launch Site One -- Rachel.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John and Brianna, a very exciting day here at Launch Site One. Just behind me a few miles, the rocket is vertical on the launch pad, and just any moment now, they should begin the fueling process.

Now, Blue Origin likes to say that this rocket runs on water. That's because the propellant they use is liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. And we know that the astronauts should be on site in about an hour.

Jeff Bezos telling me that this morning, they'll go through a refresher bit of training at the training center before heading out to the launch pad 45 minutes before a scheduled 9 a.m. Eastern takeoff.

You know, the question on everyone's mind this morning is, is Jeff Bezos crazy? I mean, how safe is this vehicle? A reminder that this vehicle has never flown humans before. Yes, they have had 15 consecutive successful test launches, but no humans have ever been on board. So that's the historic first here today.

Now, I had the opportunity to speak with Gary Lai. He's one of the first employees at Blue Origin. He's been with the company for 17 years, a former NASA employee -- they call him the architect of New Shepard -- about the safety of this vehicle. And he told me that he thinks it is the safest capsule and vehicle ever made for manned space flight, that he would even fly his own children on board.

Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY LAI, SENIOR DIRECTOR, NEW SHEPARD DESIGN/BLUE ORIGIN: Every system on board that is needed for safety has a back-up. And in most cases, there is a back-up to the back-up. And I really mean every system. So I can give you a few examples.

The largest -- the biggest back-up system on board is the crew escape system. So if there is something that is detected that's wrong with the rocket, it will automatically ignite a solid rocket motor that will propel the capsule way from the propulsion module and land safely.

We have three parachutes on board. They open every time. We've never had a failure. But only one of them actually has to open to be safe, to land safely.

And that's just to start. Every computer on board, every battery, every sensor, every wire, every mechanism that we need for safety has one or two back-ups.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CRANE: So Brianna, just a few of the reasons why Jeff Bezos and the team at Blue Origin feel that they are ready to fly humans today, including their founder Jeff Bezos.

Now, I had the opportunity to get inside of the flight simulators that the astronauts have been doing their training the last few days, and even just on the ground here, Brianna and John, I've got to tell you, it was a really cool experience.

[06:05:06]

And the windows on this capsule, I mean, they are the largest windows that have ever flown into space. They take up a third of the capsule. So Wally Funk, Oliver Daemon, Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos, they are sure to get quite a beautiful view as they ascend here from West Texas and they get their astronaut wings -- Brianna, John.

KEILAR: I'm glad you mentioned the windows. Because, look, it's true. This is -- it's about the most expensive view that money can buy.

AVLON: Ever.

KEILAR: That's what we will be seeing. Rachel, very exciting morning ahead here. We'll be checking in with you.

AVLON: All right. But so how much money are these trips to the edge of space costing these space billionaires? Here to break down the numbers, our own Harry Enten, CNN senior data reporter.

OK. Harry, bear with me here. These space flights, not quite in the price range for the common man, are they?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: No, not really, Mr. Avlon. Look at this.

So look, the final seat on the inaugural Blue Origin -- this is the flight today -- look at this, 28 million, million with an "m." Now you might say to yourself, OK, I'm looking for a little bit of a more affordable seat.

Well, one of many seats in an upcoming Virgin flight -- that's the Branson company -- a meager 200,000 to 250,000.

Let me just remind you that the median household income in the United States is just 69,000. So this is a bit out of the price range of the common man. Hopefully, they might become more affordable down the line.

AVLON: One would imagine. Doing some quick math there. That's more than $2 million per minute for this flight.

All right. But it turns out many people don't really actually want to go to space, do they, which kind of blows my mind?

ENTEN: Yes, you know, I was a little bit surprised by this. So this was a recent poll from this year. Do you want to go to space in your lifetime? Among adults, just 45 percent said yes. Fifty-four percent said no.

So if you do not in fact, want to go to space -- you're watching, and you say what the heck are they doing -- you, in fact, Mr. Avlon, are in the majority.

AVLON: I am, in fact, with the minority on this one, but OK. But who does want to go to space besides me?

ENTEN: Yes. So there's some interesting demographic breakdowns on this. Interestingly, no partisan split. Look at this: Democrats, Republicans, each 43 percent.

It turns out that the two groups who really do want to go to space are those under the age of 45. Look at that, 62 percent.

Also, a large gender gap. Look at this. Men, 61 percent. Women just down at 30 percent.

So there's a large age gap and a large gender gap when it comes to this. Not much of a partisan gap, unlike a lot of things in our politics at this point.

AVLON: That's actually bizarrely heartening. And I can speak, as someone with small children at home, that 62 percent is definitely representative.

All right. But has this desire to go to space changed over the last few years where we've had this sort of space hiatus?

ENTEN: You know, interestingly, no. There's so much that changes in the polling over the last few decades. But look at this: over the last 40 years, look, we're at 45 percent now. Twenty-two years ago, we were at 41 percent. Look back in 1981, 42 percent.

The numbers, simply put, have not moved. Since 1981, look at this: a majority, in fact, have not wanted to gone to space in their lifetime. The minority, very, very consistent. This is all within the margin of error.

No matter how the years change, consistently, only a minority of folks actually want to go to space. Only a minority of folks actually want to jump on that rocket. That includes myself. I have no interest in going to space. I like it here, right here on terra firma.

AVLON: You are definitely a creature of terra firma. Harry Enten, thank you very much for breaking it down.

ENTEN: My pleasure, sir.

AVLON: All right. Blue Origin space launch just about three hours away. And we're going to have complete coverage with Anderson Cooper, live in Texas, coming up on NEW DAY.

KEILAR: Meanwhile, in Tokyo, coronavirus concerns are rising ahead of opening ceremonies at the Olympics. Organizers say 71 people have now tested positive. The games, of course, set to begin on Friday, just around the corner here.

CNN's Selina Wang live in Tokyo with more. It is an Olympics like no other, Selina.

SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Brianna, and today, Japan, Tokyo reported nearly 1,400 COVID-19 cases. That is the second highest daily tally in six months. So no surprise more anxiety rather than excitement here.

Tokyo is in a state of emergency. Alcohol is banned from being served in restaurants, and people here are concerned about those growing COVID-19 cases linked to these games, and are skeptical if those prevention measures are going to hold up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WANG (voice-over): Three days before the opening ceremony, Tokyo is trying to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as cases creep up among athletes and those connected to the Olympics.

That includes Kara Eaker, an alternate for the U.S. gymnastics team. Eaker will return to the U.S. after ten days isolation. Her unvaccinated teammate, 17-year-old Leanne Wong, is in isolation as a close contact, according to her coach.

[06:10:04]

The so-called bubble of the Olympic Village has also been punctured, with several positive COVID cases detected among the South Africa soccer team. Tokyo officials insist the village is still safe.

MASA TAKAYA, TOKYO 2020 SPOKESMAN: The IOC and Tokyo 2020 are obviously (ph) clear that the Olympic Village is a safe place to stay.

WANG: But health experts say the wider strategy of keeping foreign visitors away from locals is failing.

DR. KENJI SHIBUYA, PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERT: It's obvious that our system is kind of broken, as there does seem to be some sort of interaction between guests and visitors and those local people.

WANG: Tokyo officials insist they are containing the situation, with only a few dozen cases among some 22,000 foreigners who have arrived for the game so far. BRIAN MCCLOSKEY, HEALTH ADVISOR, OLYMPIC GAMES: If I thought all the

tests that we did were going to be negative, then I wouldn't bother doing the tests in the first place. And the numbers we're seeing are actually extremely low. They're probably lower than we expected to see, if anything.

WANG: And the advanced testing requirement is filtering out positive cases before people even fly into Japan, including 17-year-old American tennis star Coco Gauff, who tested positive in the U.S. before flying, and Katie Lou Samuelson from the U.S. women's basketball team, who tested positive despite being vaccinated.

Two players from Mexico's Olympic baseball team also tested positive and won't travel to Japan.

But with more transmissible variants like the Delta, and over 11,000 athletes descending on Japan from more than 200 countries, fears are growing about the risk to those visiting Tokyo and the local population.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WANG: And Brianna, public health expert Kenji Shibuya tells me he's worried about these COVID-19 cases among the Olympic community spilling over into the public here. Just 20 percent of the Japanese population has been fully vaccinated.

He says it's impossible to fully control these Olympic participants' movements and that vaccines are not mandatory for these participants, nor are they 100 percent effective -- Brianna, John.

KEILAR: Yes. A lot of public opinion against the Olympics taking place, even as they're just days away here.

Selina Wang, live for us in Tokyo. Thank you so much.

The Summer Games, as we said, are set to begin here in three days. But for one Olympic athlete, there has been an unfortunate turn of events.

Eighteen-year-old U.S. gymnast Kara Eaker, who was an alternate on the Olympic gymnastics team for Team USA, tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday. And according to her parents, Kara has been vaccinated, and she isn't showing any symptoms.

The International Olympic Committee's COVID-19 protocols say that any athlete who contracts the virus in Tokyo is required to immediately isolate. They will not be allowed to continue competing.

Let's talk now with Kara's father, Mark Eaker, who is with us.

Mark, we're so sorry. We know this must be an incredible disappointment for your daughter and for your family. Tell us how she's doing. Is she still asymptomatic?

MARK EAKER, FATHER OF KARA EAKER: Yes. Good morning, Brianna and John. Yes, we -- we talked with her last night, and she still feels great. No symptoms. You know, she's just isolated in her room, trying to keep herself busy and keep herself entertained.

KEILAR: This must have come as an incredible shock to her and to you.

EAKER: Yes. It was definitely a disappointment for her and heartbreaking for us. And I'm sure that, you know -- but she's kind of already, you know, picked herself up off the floor and started looking forward to getting off to college.

KEILAR: Did she -- And yes, I know that she's heading off to college, hoping to follow in your footsteps. Did she tell you anything about how she found out? Was she just going through the routine checks for COVID, and it just popped up positive? Tell us about it.

EAKER: Yes, so she -- she had, you know, a saliva test, I think, on like maybe Saturday. I'm not sure exactly the times. But she had a saliva test. It came back positive.

So then, later that afternoon, you know, or evening, they tested her with the nose swab. And the saliva test came back positive, but then the nose swab came back negative. So they thought it was a false positive.

And then the next day, they did another saliva test, and it came back positive. And then they did a -- later on, they did a nose swab, and that one came back positive. So two positives and you're done, pretty much.

KEILAR: It's just incredibly disappointing for how much time I know that she has put into this. I do want to ask you, has she heard from her teammates? How are they doing? Do you have any update on them?

EAKER: You know, I don't. I'm pretty sure that, from just the news reports and everything, everybody else is doing fine, and she's -- she's wishing all of them very well. She hopes that nobody else contracts, you know, the COVID.

And you know, we've all tested here at home negative, as well. So we just -- you know, it's just a kind of mystery as to how she wound up catching it.

KEILAR: Yes. Certainly it is. I wonder what, when you do see her back -- I know she has to go through this quarantine period. You probably want to have her home now.

[06:15:08]

EAKER: Yes.

KEILAR: But she has to go through this quarantine period, and then she's going to come home. What are you going to tell her when you see her in person, finally?

EAKER: Well, there's a lot of big hugs coming her way. So, you know, we've kind of already had our conversations. Like I said, I think she's come to terms with it already.

And you know, she's got a positive attitude. She's a strong girl.

KEILAR: Yes, and she is young. She may have another shot. We will see if she decides to take that on with her college obligations.

Mark, thank you so much for being with us.

EAKER: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: The nation's leading pediatricians are urging universal masking in schools this fall, but what does that mean in states where masks are banned?

AVLON: And speaking of bans, why Marjorie Taylor Greene could soon find herself kicked off Twitter for good.

KEILAR: And why Israeli leaders are blasting Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:20:25]

KEILAR: Coronavirus cases are rising across the country as the highly- transmissible Delta variant spreads. The U.S. is now averaging 35,000 new cases each day.

This as new guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics urges everyone 2 years and older to wear a mask in school, even if they are fully vaccinated. Some states do require students to wear masks in school, but others have banned school mask mandates all together.

CNN's Jacqueline Howard has more on this guidance and also on the differences in what state laws say, which have a lot of parents very confused, Jacqueline. Tell us what you're seeing.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brianna. We're seeing different policies across various states.

We're seeing that there are differences between what the AAP, the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommends, versus the CDC. So you're right, this is confusing.

But what we do know, most states leave it up to the local school district to decide what rules should be put in place when it comes to wearing masks in schools.

However, there are some states that have enacted legislation prohibiting schools from making mask requirements.

In a recent CNN analysis, we've identified at least nine states that have such policies: Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Oklahoma. There's South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Vermont.

Now, this list is constantly updating and changing, but Brianna, like you said, these policies go against what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends, which is that staff and students who are 2 years old and older should wear masks, regardless of their vaccination status.

Now, the CDC says that if you're vaccinated, you don't have to wear a mask. So there is that difference.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, he described the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation as being made out of an abundance of caution. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: You can understand why the American Academy of Pediatrics might want to do that. They just want to be extra safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: So you see there, he said they're being extra safe. And Brianna, with students heading back to school, most of them next month, you can imagine there are a lot of questions among parents and students about how to stay safe -- Brianna.

KEILAR: There certainly are. I certainly can attest to that. Jacqueline Howard, thank you so much.

AVLON: All right. There's been an outbreak of coronavirus cases at a Florida senior citizens community, despite the fact that nearly all the residents there are fully vaccinated.

The management is now trying to figure out when, where and how these infections happened.

Joining me now is Bill Pickhardt. He's the COO of John Knox Village.

Bill, it's good to see you, sir. What can you tell us about these July 4th festivities where these folks may have gotten infected?

BILL PICKHARDT, COO, JOHN KNOX VILLAGE: Good morning, John.

What I can share with you is that there's activities constantly throughout our community, and there is no way of knowing what event caused the spread amongst our residents.

AVLON: So were they all vaccinated? And what symptoms did they display?

PICKHARDT: Sure. The -- the majority of the residents are vaccinated, and the symptoms ranged, but predominantly, they're very mild systems: ache, runny nose, headache, the typical COVID symptoms that we've seen throughout all the publications throughout the pandemic.

AVLON: Is there any evidence that there was perhaps somebody who was not vaccinated that might have been shedding a lot of virus that infected these folks who were vaccinated? Or don't you know at this point?

PICKHARDT: We -- we don't know. We're certainly collaborating with the Department of Health. The reality is identifying infections amongst those that have been vaccinated, there's not a lot of history on that. So we are learning along with the Department of Health and collaborating with them in order to get those answers.

AVLON: Well, that's exactly right. You say the vast majority of the residents there are fully vaccinated. But the CDC says, if you are fully vaccinated, you can resume activities that you did prior to the pandemic, and resume activities without wearing a mask or staying six feet apart. So what is the protocol where you are for your gatherings? Do you require proof of vaccination, or is it just all the honor system?

PICKHARDT: We do not require proof. The reality is this is -- the majority of our campus is independent living, and so we follow the standard protocols of CDC.

Now, I will share with you that currently, and for the immediate time forward, we are requiring our staff to wear masks, and we've strongly encouraged residents, visitors, and vendors to wear masks while on campus during this current period.

[06:25:14]

AVLON: Understandably given these current events. Bill Pickhardt, thank you very much for joining us on NEW DAY.

KEILAR: Twitter on Monday temporarily suspended Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene's account after she shared misinformation about COVID vaccines.

The social media platform labeled Greene's two tweets as misleading, and she's now shut out of the platform for 12 hours.

This isn't the first time that Greene's account has been temporarily booted. She received the same suspension earlier this year for sharing false claims of election fraud.

Her temporary ban coming as the White House has urged social media platforms to do more to combat the spread of vaccine misinformation.

Five House Republicans just named to the January 6th Select Committee, so why is one prominent Democrat calling the decision an insult to the country?

AVLON: And the first felony sentence handed down for one of the Capitol rioters. Only a few months in prison, though. So what does this mean for the hundreds of other cases still in the works?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)