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Number of Infected Children Doubles from Last Month; Tokyo Sees Highest Daily COVID Increase Since January; GOP to Turn Focus from Trump in January 6 Investigation; Trump Ally Jailed on Charges of Acting as Agent of a Foreign Government. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired July 21, 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 on this NEW DAY.

[05:59:59]

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

KEILAR: Good morning to you. And with vaccinated -- unvaccinated Americans in danger from the highly-transmissible Delta variant that is sweeping the country, some experts are now saying that it's actually time to put the masks back on.

Plus, with 48 hours to go until the Olympic opening ceremonies, Tokyo just reported its highest daily increase in COVID cases since January. We'll take you there.

AVLON: And join the club. Yet another close ally of Donald Trump's indicted and arrested. What Tom Barrack is accused of doing.

And President Biden's town hall tonight on CNN comes at a really critical time, and as White House officials admit, the clock is ticking fast on his agenda on Capitol Hill.

KEILAR: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. It is Wednesday, July 21. That means we are halfway there. That's an important mark, right?

AVLON: It's 48 hours from the Olympics, too.

KEILAR: Exactly. And COVID -- this is the bad news, though -- it's back with a vengeance. Because cases are rising across the country, and so are hospitalizations.

The resurgence of the virus is driven by this Delta variant that you have heard so much about and by a stubborn, deadly resistance to vaccinations.

The Delta variant is now accounting for 83 percent of all COVID cases in the U.S., and in some states, it is north of that. Nearly 73 million people in the U.S. live in a county that is considered to have high risk of high virus transmissions, and you can see the states with the lowest vaccination rates here, they are seeing the sharpest increase in new cases, which are up tenfold in the last month.

And despite reports of breakthrough cases on the rise, as well, health officials like CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky say this is actually proof that the vaccination works to reduce the severity of the disease for vaccinated people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: The message from CDC remains clear. The best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 variants is to prevent the spread of disease, and vaccination is the most powerful tool we have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: And researchers say they have evidence that people who got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine might benefit from a booster dose to better protect them from these new variants.

More than 23,000 children contracted COVID in the last week alone in America, nearly double the number reported the end of June. And experts are now urging universal masking for all children, teachers and staff as we enter the fall, since vaccines are not yet approved for kids under 12.

CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard is tracking the latest developments. Jacqueline, talk to us.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH CORRESPONDENT: John, you know, this rise in cases among young children, you're right. It is concerning.

And just to go back to that number you mentioned of more than 23,000, what exactly happened? We saw exactly 23,551 new cases among children between July 8 and July 15. That is a slight rise in cases compared with the week before. And it's nearly double what was reported at the end of June.

Now, this is all happening at the same time the Delta variant is circulating across the country. We also, in some places, see fewer people wearing masks, and it is the summer. So, possibly there's more travel and more interaction for kids at this time.

But, also, John, in just a few weeks, most students are going to head back to school, and there have been some discussions for those ages 12 and older, who are eligible to receive the vaccine. In the future, could the coronavirus vaccine be part of routine vaccinations required in schools?

Now, across all 50 states, we know that there are five vaccinations required for school and childcare. We have a list here: DTAP, MMR, polio, chickenpox. But in the future, could coronavirus vaccines be added to that list for children?

Dr. Anthony Fauci, he said that if we don't get transmission low enough, and if we continue to see alarming circulation, that could be a possibility. Have a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: What I am saying is that I would be not surprised that, in the future, this is something that would be seriously considered, depending upon how we handle the outbreak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: So John, the rising cases is something health officials are continuing to follow. And if things don't get better, vaccinations will be a part of larger discussions -- John.

AVLON: Such an important point. And there's a reason we don't have polio problems in public schools or America anymore. Jacqueline, thank you very much.

KEILAR: This morning, the first Olympic games are under way in Japan, just two days before opening ceremony. And now coronavirus infections associated with the games have risen to 79, with Tokyo reporting another new high.

[06:05:03]

CNN's Selina Wang is live in Tokyo with more. We are watching this so closely as things get going there in Tokyo, Selina. Where are we?

SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, these games are just so bizarre and surreal and heartbreaking for a growing number of athletes whose Olympic journeys have ended before they've even had a chance to compete.

But Brianna, preparations are fully under way. I'm outside of the Olympic National Stadium. Behind this fence over here, there's groups of volunteers, security. Members of Japan's self-defense forces getting ready for that opening ceremony. And the first event already kicking off in Fukushima today with no fans and no cheering.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WANG (voice-over): The first competitive pitch of an Olympics that has taken nothing but curveballs, and they just keep coming. The head of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee is not ruling out a last-minute cancellation of the entire games. That's despite the first competition of the Olympics already kicking off.

"We cannot predict what the epidemic will look like in the future. So as for what to do, should there be any surge of positive cases, we'll discuss accordingly if that happens," he says.

Chilean Taekwondo player Fernanda Aguirre and Dutch skateboarder Candy Jacobs are out of the games after testing positive. The first athletes to announce after arriving in Tokyo that they cannot participate because of COVID.

Just two days out from an opening ceremony, the first event started in what looked more like a dress rehearsal than the real thing. The USA women's soccer and softball teams competing in empty stadiums on Wednesday.

Softball, a beloved game in Japan, brought back to the Olympics for the first time since Beijing 2008, with the big win against Australia for the host team, who may still be able to lighten the mood of a nervous Japanese public, as athletes and officials continue to arrive in Tokyo from around the world.

No nerves for future Olympic host cities. Celebration in Brisbane, Australia, after the city was announced as the host of the 2032 event.

Closer to the age of COVID-19, the Winter Games set for Beijing start early next year.

JUAN ANTONIO SAMARANCH JR., HEAD OF IOC COORDINATION COMMISSION: We need very successful games in February next year in Beijing. We really need that success for the sake of everybody, for the sake as the president of the World Health Organization has said, for keeping that light of hope really bright and open.

WANG: But for now, athletes in Tokyo are grateful to get the chance to compete, as so many around the world prepare to count cases as well as medals.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WANG: Brianna, Jill Biden set to leave soon for her five-day trip to Tokyo. She's expected to meet with the prime minister, the emperor, as well as attending the opening ceremony.

Now, we still don't know how many dignitaries and VIPs will be allowed to be there, even though we know the broader public is banned, but either way, it's going to be striking to see that national stadium mostly empty; and it can seat 68,000 people -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. It does not look like the Olympics we're used to seeing. Selina, thank you so much. Live for us from Tokyo.

Let's talk about these breakthrough cases that we're seeing and also what this means for young children who cannot yet be vaccinated. Erin Bromage is a biology professor at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, with us now.

And look, I'm sure that you're hearing from your friends, people around you, this is the hot topic, right, for vaccinated people. Can we get it? Should we be worried? What do you say?

ERIN BROMAGE, BIOLOGY PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, DARTMOUTH: Well, good morning, Brianna.

Well, we know that there are breakthrough cases, and we knew that they were going to happen right from the start when they released the Phase 3 data that said that the vaccines were roughly 95 percent effective. So, basic math, at least five out of every 100 cases were going to be breakthrough cases. So, seeing them now is really not, you know, unsurprising in the

greatest scheme of the pandemic. It's just that people have been caught by surprise.

I'm fully vaccinated. I've changed my behavior. I'm out going to restaurants and bars and clubs. Oh, no, I've got infected. And these are -- we just knew it was going to happen. It's just sort of caught the public by surprise.

KEILAR: So let's talk about what this means operationally, if we can. The CDC lists a number of activities that it says is safe for vaccinated Americans to do. That are -- things that are considered the least safe for unvaccinated people to do.

Things like attending a full-capacity worship service; taking an indoor high-capacity exercise class; eating, as you mentioned, in an indoor restaurant or a bar. Are those still safe to do for vaccinated people?

BROMAGE: Yes. So -- yes, mean, what we're seeing with vaccinated -- I mean, we have to change from, Oh, I'm vaccinated, I've tested positive but I haven't gotten sick. That -- that's important.

What we're seeing is a really big shift from -- you know, my experience. It's a coin flip whether you develop symptoms or not when you're unvaccinated. And then we know 10 to 15 percent of those people developing symptoms end up having some pretty severe symptoms.

[06:10:05]

Whereas with the vaccinated people that are testing positive, it is very rare, especially the groups that I'm working with. I've only seen two out of the 64 breakthrough cases where we've actually detected the virus of people developing just very mild symptoms. So they are working superbly.

But what, you know, does this mean, just in general, for vaccinated and unvaccinated people? Well, it comes down to shared air. And we've heard this a lot of times.

If you're sharing -- if you're sharing air with other people, so if you're indoors in, you know, a church or in a restaurant, and it's not a big open space, the air is being shared by a lot of people around you, then you're actually putting yourself at higher risk for infection.

Now, higher risk for infection for a vaccinated person probably doesn't matter as much, because we know it doesn't lead to severe disease. But for an unvaccinated person, you're putting yourself at risk.

So, you know, you've got to adjust your sort of risk profile of what you're doing. I'm still avoiding crowded indoor spaces. And if I do find myself in one of those, I do have a mask to put on. But I'm fully vaccinated. I've made the choice that I can accept a little bit higher risk. But I still am avoiding -- I would not be in a bar, in a, you know, rock concert in a basement of a pub or something like that.

KEILAR: Yes.

BROMAGE: That's just not in my wheelhouse of risk at the moment.

KEILAR: It's interesting. It's sort of a sliding scale of risk that you were adjusting, which is very interesting.

I do want to ask you this. Can vaccinated people who contract COVID, so they are a breakthrough case, and they are symptomatic, either mild or moderate, can they spread it to other vaccinated people?

BROMAGE: Yes. So, I mean, can it happen? Yes. I mean, undoubtedly, it can happen. But I think there really needs to be very specific circumstances, like you are symptomatic, you are sharing a very small space.

And the one that jumps to mind is sharing a car with other people. If you've got the windows up, because it's hot, you've got the air- conditioning on recycle to, you know, make it as cool as possible, you are just recycling air. And in that particular situation, you can infect the people that are around you.

It would be much, much easier to infect unvaccinated people around you than vaccinated people.

My experience with the companies that I'm working with, we've seen vaccinated people test positive, but we have yet to see a vaccinated person test positive and infect another person to date.

KEILAR: That is very interesting. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. Erin, great to see you.

BROMAGE: Great to see you, too.

KEILAR: Coming up, the first hearing into the January 6th insurrection is just days away now. We have new reporting on what the Democrats and Republicans are planning.

AVLON: Plus, the one-time chair of President Trump's inaugural committee becomes the latest Trump ally facing a federal indictment.

KEILAR: And how Ted Cruz is slamming the brakes on President Biden's agenda in one key department.

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[06:17:34]

KEILAR: It is less than one week until the first hearing of the January 6th Select Committee, and Nancy Pelosi is yet to approve the five Republicans selected by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, but the GOP is already preparing here, with Republican sources making it clear that they plan on pushing the investigation into areas that Democrats will not want to go with it.

Lauren Fox is with us now on this. OK, what is the Republican strategy, Lauren?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, I mean, it's just been a couple of days since Kevin McCarthy named these five members that he wants to serve on the select committee.

But already, you're starting to hear from them a little bit about where they want this investigation to go. One of the areas that they're looking at is why wasn't the Capitol secure on January 6th? And Democrats want to know the answer to that, too, of course.

But they're already sort of insinuating that they want to look at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and what her role was. Jim Jordan said there's really one question here, which is why wasn't the Capitol ready for what occurred on January 6th? So that's giving you some indication.

You're also hearing already from Jim Banks, who's the top Republican on the committee. He released a statement, essentially saying there's only one reason that this committee exists, and that's because Democrats are trying to malign conservatives. Now, that doesn't really sound like someone who's looking to dig in and get into the information as to why this attack happened.

But you're also hearing from sources that they are going to have a strategy session, Republicans are, in the next couple of days, either over the weekend or early next week, to try to sort out their lines of questioning to make sure that they're ensuring that they don't do anything to attack the Capitol Police officers who are going to be testifying.

That's part of the tough balance here, right? You want to go after some of the lines of attack that Democrats have, but you also can't lean too heavily where you're dismissive of law enforcement. They're going to be leaning on Troy Nehls, who is a Republican that they hope is going to be serving on this committee, who's a prior sheriff and someone who is in the military, to kind of help guide them as to what those lines of questioning should be.

We should also note, Pelosi has not approved these five members that McCarthy wants to serve on this select committee. We're still waiting to see whether she does that. Of course, she has veto power. It's unclear if she would use it.

KEILAR: I don't know if Republicans can un- -- unring the bell when it comes to not standing by Capitol Police. So we'll see. That's going to be really interesting to watch them navigate that.

Democrats, of course, have a strategy here. What are they thinking?

FOX: Well, Democrats have had multiple meetings with the speaker to try to talk about where they want to move this investigation.

[06:20:04]

We also know behind closed doors they're talking with Daniel Goldman, who is a top person that they leaned on during the first impeachment. They rely on him as sort of helping guide where they move in this investigation.

We also know that Democrats are going to be looking at what led up to this moment on January 6th and what was Trump's role. They've made clear that they may want to hear from some Republicans on the Hill who were talking to Trump that day. They made clear that they may want to hear from the former president, as well. They haven't made those decisions.

Right now, they're focused on staffing up, because that's a key part of whether or not this investigation is successful.

But, look, they have been holding discussions with witnesses that they want to hear from next week. They are making sure that they're ready to go.

But they're also cognizant of the fact that, given the personalities they have on the other side, they're going to need to do everything that they can to ensure that this doesn't get out of control, that this doesn't become a circus. Whether they can be successful, as we've said before, Brianna, is another question entirely.

KEILAR: Yes. And a congressional subpoena doesn't carry the weight it used to.

FOX: Right.

KEILAR: So we'll see how all of this plays out. Lauren Fox, thank you so much for your reporting.

AVLON: As some Republicans on Capitol Hill strain to keep the focus off of Donald Trump, another member of the ex-president's orbit seems to be doing the exact opposite.

California businessman and former chairman of Trump's inaugural committee, Tom Barrack, is now in jail and under federal indictment, accused of trying to influence the foreign policy positions of Trump's 2016 campaign and his White House administration.

Joining us now to discuss, CNN political analyst and Washington correspondent for "The New York Times," Maggie Haberman.

Maggie, good to see you.

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.

AVLON: So what do you think about this indictment? It comes on the back of a lot of reporting that you did that there are investigations into Tom Barrack. How serious do you think these charges are?

HABERMAN: The charges themselves, John, I think are very serious, and certainly, the fact that he is kept in jail until Monday. The prosecutors described him as a flight risk, that he was described by prosecutors as engaged in activity, alleged activity, that they describe as striking at the heart of democracy. So certainly, these are serious charges.

Barrack's lawyer said he will plead not guilty and that he is innocent. And it's what they have said throughout this investigation.

This investigation is something we first reported on, my colleagues and I did, back in December of 2018. And there were two investigations going on.

One is the Eastern District of New York, which is in Brooklyn. That is the investigation that resulted in this indictment.

And this indictment relates to allegations that Tom Barrack was essentially lobbying former President Trump on matters that were important to the UAE and that he was basically acting as an unregistered foreign agent.

They also say -- and this is notable -- that he lied to investigators in interviews in 2019. And a number of the charges relate to that.

The other investigation is a Southern District of New York, related to the inaugural committee, which Barrack led. Barrack is very close to Trump, has been close to him for decades. That investigation so far has led to no criminal charges. And my colleagues report today that various efforts to look into that entity, the inaugural committee, have petered out in terms of criminal charges. So we'll see where that goes.

KEILAR: There hasn't been -- you say, close friends and very much so. Tom Barrack was in charge of the inaugural committee, obviously a choice spot when it comes to being close to Donald Trump. But Trump hasn't said anything, Maggie. What do you think about that?

HABERMAN: So their relationship had been somewhat strained because of all of the attention on the inaugural committee; because of the amount of money that was spent; because of the way in which it was spent and the attention that it brought during the Trump presidency. So there had been problems between the two of them for a while.

It is notable, as you say, that Trump has not issued one of his, This is a witch hunt, Tom is a great guy statements. That may still come, but I think that some is that Trump is, A, not totally aware or fully cognizant of the actions that -- that Barrack is alleged to have engaged in.

Some of this was just done in public view. Some of it was not. But some of it relates very specifically to policy actions that the former president took in the first six months of his administration, particularly with relation to Qatar and a blockade by Qatar against -- by other Arab nations. Barrack is alleged to have been involved in trying to influence Trump's position on that.

So I think that Trump is probably not eager to jump into another legal problem, given his own legal problems.

AVLON: Yes, specially from someone who essentially served as a character witness for Trump during the convention. It's stunning stuff.

All right. HABERMAN: It is.

AVLON: Maggie, I want to get your reaction to this moment at the White House yesterday during a ceremony honoring Super Bowl champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tom Brady joining President Biden to crack an election joke about denying the real winner of the contest. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM BRADY, QUARTERBACK, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS: Not a lot of people, you know, think that we could have won. And, in fact, I think about 40 percent of the people still don't think we won.

[06:25:02]

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I understand that.

BRADY: You understand that, Mr. President?

BIDEN: I understand that.

BRADY: We had a game in Chicago where I forgot what down it was. I lost track of one down in 21 years of playing. And they started calling me Sleepy Tom. Why would they do that to me?

BIDEN: I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: Now, kind of a question whether this is grade-A trolling or mocking the idea of election conspiracies, but what do you think might be the reaction in Trump world over this by proposed some might see betrayal by Tom Brady, playing around with President Biden?

HABERMAN: If it reached the former president, it's not just playing around with President Biden. It's -- it is mocking former President Trump with President Biden. And so if it reached former President Trump, I can't imagine he would be thrilled by it.

This is somebody who has spent years telling almost anyone who would listen that his daughter could have married Tom Brady, which is not true, based on historical fact. But that is how, I think, he imagined it and how he -- he envisioned life for her at one point or another. So it became some kind of a family joke. So I can't imagine that that thrilled him.

AVLON: I can't imagine he hasn't heard of it.

KEILAR: Yes, right? Trump really likes Tom Brady. I mean, he is --

HABERMAN: You know, yes. Yes. Yes, he does. If it's not airing on FOX News or OANN, I'm not sure he saw it, but -- but he may have.

AVLON: I have a feeling it will filter through the grapevine, one way or the other.

Maggie, thank you very much, as always, for all your reporting and insights.

HABERMAN: Thank you.

AVLON: All right. The U.S. economy has been coming back to life. Yet, there is still uncertainty amid a worker shortage and inflation concerns. What to expect when President Biden addresses those issues at tonight's CNN town hall.

KEILAR: Plus, heart-pounding video of the moment that a New York police officer saves a family from a burning home.

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