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Paralympian Withdraws from Tokyo Games When Mother is Not Allowed to Accompany Her as Personal Care Assistant; Delta Variant Spreading in U.S. Among Those Unvaccinated against Coronavirus; President Biden Criticizes Facebook for Allowing Disinformation about COVID Vaccines to Spread on Platform; Interview with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 21, 2021 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

BECCA MEYERS, SIX-TIME PARALYMPICS MEDALIST: So I know what would have happened if I had gone to Tokyo without my mom.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: How does that feel listening to your daughter talking about how just how this has been for her, to not be able to move forward with such an important life goal that she has been training for?

MARIA MEYERS, BECCA'S MOTHER AND PERSONAL CARE ASSISTANT: Right, she's -- this is her career. She's a professional swimmer. She's got a sponsor. This is her life. And they took that away from her. They took her moment to shine, and she was ready. She trained all by herself through the year of the pandemic. She had to struggle through that. And she went to trials, and she threw down the number one time in the world this year in the 400 free. She was going for very big things, and they took it away.

KEILAR: Becca, I'm so sorry you're not going to have your chance. I wonder if this is your chance to speak out on behalf of other athletes who need the assistance that you need just to do this amazing work that you do. What do you hope Olympic officials take away from this?

B. MEYERS: I hope that they take a really good look at the services that they are providing for the other athletes on their Paralympic swim team and other sports and realize that they need more resources, especially to the blind and vision impaired. I am standing up so that future generations never have to feel the pain that I felt, and that no one on Team USA should ever feel afraid.

KEILAR: Becca, no one is going to take that time away from you, that winning time you had at trials. Thank you so much for being with us. Maria, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

M. MEYERS: Thank you.

KEILAR: And NEW DAY continues right now.

Good morning to viewers here in the United States. Oh, no, they're seeing the magic of television. Who are those people? We know those people actually.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: We do.

KEILAR: But welcome to our viewers. It's Wednesday, July 21st. And tens of millions of Americans are in graver danger than ever as COVID is surging across the country. Cases and hospitalizations, they're spiking by an alarming case. And this is fueled by the Delta variant and a deadly determination by millions of Americans to not get vaccinated. This Delta variant now accounts for 83 percent of all U.S. COVID cases. Nearly 73 million Americans live in a county that is deemed to have high virus transmission. The states with the lowest vaccination rates are seeing the sharpest increase in new cases. Breakthrough cases on the rise, too. We are very concerned about that. We're going to talk about that a lot today. But CDC Director Rochelle Walensky says that the breakthrough cases prove actually that the vaccines work because they reduced the severity of the disease.

(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: Researchers say they have evidence that people who got single- dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine might benefit from a booster dose to better protect them from new variants. And get this. More than 23,000 children contracted COVID in America last week alone, nearly double the number reported at the end of June. 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. Athena Jones has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A dangerous summer coronavirus surge is here, fueled by the Delta variant, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director says represents an estimated 83 percent of new cases.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: In some parts of the country, the percentage is even higher, particularly in areas of low vaccination rates.

JONES: Less than half of the population is fully vaccinated, and about 73 million people -- or 22 percent of the country -- lives in a county with high COVID-19 transmission, according to CDC data.

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: The unvaccinated need to know that you can die from this virus. All the people in hospitals now essentially are unvaccinated around the country.

JONES: In Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas, local leaders passed a temporary mask mandate for employees at work. But in California, the governor says he is not ready to require masks statewide.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM, (D) CALIFORNIA: We don't have to do that if we just take advantage of these life-saving vaccines that the vast majority of the globe is desperate for.

JONES: Meantime at the White House, President Biden urging Americans to stay vigilant.

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Virtually all of the COVID deaths and hospitalizations are from unvaccinated people. Let me say it again. Virtually all are from unvaccinated people. And that means the safest thing to do is to get vaccinated.

[08:05:00]

JONES: Biden says his administration is now focusing on getting the unvaccinated vaccinated. But that may prove to be difficult. A new Axios-Ipsos poll suggests the majority of unvaccinated Americans say they are unlikely to ever get a shot at all.

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: We are at a very different point in the pandemic than we were a month ago.

JONES: Now the number of children getting infected with the coronavirus is on the rise. The American Academy of Pediatrics reporting more than 23,500 new cases in children just last week, nearly double the number in late June. While at least nine states have enacted legislation prohibiting districts from requiring masks in schools, others like New York and Connecticut are requiring them for students regardless of vaccination status.

DR. LEE BEERS, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: We all want our kids back in school, and we have a lot of tools at our disposal to do that. Universal masking in schools is a really important way for us to do that.

JONES: Health experts warn it could become dangerous for the nation's youngest who are not authorized to receive a COVID-19 shot.

DR. PETER HOTEZ, PROFESSOR AND DEAN OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: So many people are getting unvaccinated individuals who are getting Delta, that children are getting swept up along with it.

JONES: Athena Jones, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

AVLON: Joining us now is CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta live in Tokyo. Sanjay, I understand there is a delay, but folks here are very concerned in the United States given that nationwide, 83 percent of all COVID infections are the Delta variant. So help folks understand just what's happening specifically with regard to these breakthrough infections in the Delta variant.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was sort of anticipated. When you have a variant that is far more transmissible than the previous strains, it's going to essentially outrun those other strains and become a larger percentage of the overall cases. If you go back to May, I think we can show you what was happening. In the beginning of May, Delta was a very small percentage of what was happening in the United States. We weren't talking about it much at that point. Over time it was doubling or tripling every couple of weeks, and now we get to this point where it's the majority of infections. And that was sort of expected.

There's two things about this. One is that it is far more transmissible, far less forgiving overall. So things that maybe you got away with in the past, did not actually get an infection, you're going -- those infections are going to likely happen now. As we've been saying for some time, the country is sort of getting fractionated into either vaccinated or infected. People who are not vaccinated, they're likely to become infected with this variant. That's just the truth of the matter.

But also the other thing is that these breakthrough infections that we're talking about, they seem to be more likely with this Delta variant. It is causing a viral load that is much higher in the body, so people who do develop this infection are more likely to spread it to others. Again, that's sort of the biology of this virus, and to be expected. The vaccines do seem to work well, and that's an important point, I think an important bottom line for people.

KEILAR: You are, of course, in Tokyo, Sanjay. The Olympics has kind of already begun even here ahead of the opening ceremony. And I know that unfortunately, the U.S. women's soccer team just lost, a bit of a stunner, three-zip to Sweden. And that ends a 44-game unbeaten run. That's what we're talking about here. Tell us what this was like besides completely heartbreaking.

GUPTA: It was exciting in so many ways to just be at a competition, the Olympics. As you point out, the opening ceremonies are on Friday, but some of the competitions already started. It was exciting, it was weird. You go inside this stadium. It's designed to hold about 50,000 people. There were fewer than 100 people there. It was primarily just us, and there was really no spectators at all.

So you walk in. They've got these hand washing stations. They're still having you hand wash. Then they take your temperature with this camera, and then you're able to walk in. And it's quiet, mostly quiet. You do hear some music whenever a goal is scored. Those were all Sweden goals, as you point out, so the music was really loud then. And there was some piped in fan noise. It was pretty quiet, though, overall. So it was still a very energetic game.

I was wondering if the lack of spectators would take some of the energy of the players themselves. It didn't seem to, at least not with this game. But we'll see how this sort of translates going forward. But I've never seen anything quite like it, to walk into a major sporting event like that and essentially be the only people there.

KEILAR: Piped-in fan noise, that is something. Sanjay, thank you so much for joining us from Tokyo. Appreciate it. President Biden will be joining CNN tonight for a live town hall from

Cincinnati as bipartisan talks continue to -- as bipartisan talks continue in the effort to reach an infrastructure deal.

[08:10:08]

The president also is expected to address the growing threat of coronavirus variants in the U.S., what we've been talking about all morning here.

And joining us now ahead of tonight's town hall is Kate Bedingfield, White House communications director. Kate, great to see you. Thanks for coming on.

KATE BEDINGFIELD, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Thanks for having me. Good morning.

KEILAR: Good morning to you. So first things first here. There is a White House aide vaccinated who has contracted COVID. And does this mean the president is going to be taking more precautions now to avoid catching it himself, even though, of course, he is vaccinated?

BEDINGFIELD: This is a scenario we had planned for. We know that breakthrough cases are a possibility. We have a strict, stringent protocols here at the White House. We have a testing regiment. Folks who are unvaccinated wear masks. We follow CDC guidance. So I think what this case actually shows is that how effective the vaccines are. This person's case was mild. As we know, when you get vaccinated, you are protected from the most severe cases of COVID, protected from death. What we see is all the people in the hospital now with COVID, 97 percent of them are unvaccinated, and 99.5 percent of recent deaths from COVID are in people who were unvaccinated. So this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated, and breakthrough cases are going to happen, but they're going to be mild. And we have the protocols here to deal with them.

KEILAR: Yes, these breakthrough cases, they do speak to the importance of getting vaccinated, not the fact that it's pointless. That very important.

BEDINGFIELD: They absolutely do.

KEILAR: But mild case or not, you don't want the president to get it. So is he going to start wearing a mask indoors again?

BEDINGFIELD: He's going to follow CDC guidance as he has from the start. We have been guided by science in our response to this pandemic, even going back to the campaign. You remember from covering the campaign, Brianna, we were vigilant about following all of the CDC guidance and making sure that we were listening to science. And we're going to continue to do that here at the White House.

KEILAR: He's been more careful than CDC guidance at time, though, out of an abundance of caution, because he is the president. That makes sense. So you're saying he's still going to be unmasked indoors, he's not going to take that precaution? BEDINGFIELD: We have protocols in place now that keep him safe, that

keep us safe, just like every other workplace in America who is working on managing this virus.

But you raised, I think, the right point here, which is the most important thing about this is that it shows that you need to get vaccinated. If you get vaccinated, you are protected from the most severe cases of COVID. It's why we have spent so much time and energy as an administration getting our vaccination program set up. If you take a step back and look at where we were when President Biden came into office six months ago yesterday, in fact, thousands of people a day were dying of COVID. And what we've done is we've been able to get 160 million Americans fully vaccinated. We've made the vaccine available and free to every person in this country, and we're working very hard, and the president is continuing to encourage every person out there to get the shot. He has been relentless on it and he's going to continue to be, because it's the single most important thing we can do to put this pandemic behind us once and for all.

KEILAR: A lot of people aren't getting the shot because they believe incorrect stuff about it. And the president initially said of Facebook that they're killing people. He's since clarified that. He said it's those 12 people who are amazingly responsible for spreading the vast majority of dis-info about COVID on Facebook. But Facebook is the vehicle here. Why is he backing off his criticism of Facebook when these folks cannot do what they're doing without Facebook?

BEDINGFIELD: Well, he's making an important point, which is that this is a complicated ecosystem, and there are a lot of pieces responsible for conveying this information. There are the people, of course, who are creating the content. There are platforms like Facebook, but not just Facebook, other social media companies. There are news outlets, media outlets who put forward irresponsible and incorrect and dangerous misinformation. And everybody in that ecosystem has a responsibility, because at the end of the day, the most important thing that we can do to save lives, to keep people healthy, to protect people in this country is for people to get vaccinated.

And so for misinformation to be shared about the vaccine, that's incredibly dangerous. The president is going to continue to call it out. He's going to work to use every tool available to him in the government to put forward good, accurate information, to make sure people are hearing from doctors, from scientists, and that they have all the information they need to make a decision.

And he's going to continue to encourage people to talk to their own doctors, to talk to their friends, to talk to their families, talk to people who they know and trust in their community who have gotten vaccinated, because that actually, what we see is that's actually the most influential way that people get information about the virus, from their friends, from their family -- I'm sorry, about the vaccine, from their friends, from their family, from people they know. So we're going to continue to make sure that we're putting good information out there so people can make a good decision and hopefully go get the shot.

[08:15:01]

KEILAR: Yeah, a lot of their friends and their family are using Facebook to spread disinformation, and people are trusting that. I mean, that is really what we're seeing.

And I wonder, you know, if you don't -- if the president isn't clear about the role of Facebook in this, isn't that akin to saying guns don't kill people, people kill people? I mean, can't both things be true here?

BEDINGFIELD: I think he's been quite clear about it. He has been very clear about the role that Facebook and other social media companies play in this ecosystem. They're not the only ones, but they are a big piece of how people -- you're absolutely right, how people get their information.

It's why he has said they have a responsibility not to share misinformation, information that is giving people -- that is inaccurate about the vaccine. He has been, I think, very forceful about that and will continue to be.

But he's also going to call out other people who are part of this process who play a role, and that includes the people who are creating the content, and that includes media companies as well.

KEILAR: Big event tonight, town hall here on CNN with President Biden. And it really comes at a pivotal time when we're talking about where this infrastructure agreement may or may not be. It's in jeopardy right now, the bipartisan infrastructure agreement.

Is the president in favor of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer moving forward with this vote today even though a deal is not set in stone?

BEDINGFIELD: He is. He is extremely supportive of this strategy. The American people have waited a long time for these investments. And the president has put forward plans that are going to rebuild our roads and bridges and create jobs and replace lead pipes so that we have clean drinking water. These are investments that people on both sides of the aisle want to see, and that people all across the country are clamoring for.

So yes, the president is very supportive of Senator Schumer's plan to move forward today. I think it's important to remember, as Senator Schumer has himself said, this is a vote on a motion to proceed. That's a technical procedural question, but this is a vote on a motion to proceed. Not on the final package.

So, there is still plenty of opportunity for people to make amendments and to make sure that the final details of the bill are lined up with the agreement that President Biden struck with the group of Republicans and Democrats when they were here at the White House in June.

So yes, we are very supportive of moving forward today. The American people can't wait for these investments. These are plans that are going to create jobs and make a difference in people's lives. And we're very, very hopeful that we're going to be able to get over the finish line and President Biden is very grateful for the good faith effort of members from both sides of the aisle on this.

KEILAR: Motion-to-proceed vote is important. Sometimes more important than the final vote, oftentimes they are. I just want to say that.

But before I let you go here, I want to ask about this House Select Committee on investigating the insurrection, because that's -- I mean, that's the only show in town since there isn't going to be a commission. And I wonder if the president thinks that a Republican lawmaker or multiple who voted to overturn the results of the election can act in good faith on that committee.

BEDINGFIELD: Well, he's not going to make a presumption about that. I think he's been very clear about what a tragedy, what a horror January 6th was. He has said many times that it was an assault on our democracy.

KEILAR: But why -- Kate, why won't he make a presumption on that?

BEDINGFIELD: Well, that's the work the Congress is going to do. He has said many times that Congress needs to get to the bottom of this and that those who were involved need to be held accountable, and that this was an incredibly damaging moment for our country and for our democracy around the world.

You know, he talks a lot about when he travels overseas, he hears from other -- from foreign leaders about the impact that this had on their perception of our democracy.

So he has said many times that Congress needs to get to the bottom of this. He is supportive of that. And they are going to work through this process.

KEILAR: So you're just leaving this to the speaker, is that what you're saying? He's deferring to the speaker on this? I'm assuming he has an opinion, though, about whether someone who thinks he didn't win the election is someone who can act in good faith, looking at what happened on January 6th.

BEDINGFIELD: He has the utmost faith in the speaker. She is going to run this process as she sees fit and she is going to get to the bottom of it.

KEILAR: All right, Kate, thank you so much. Kate Bedingfield with us, White House communications director, joining us there from the North Lawn.

BEDINGFIELD: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: And tonight, President Biden is going to join our Don Lemon for this exclusive CNN presidential town hall coming at a very pivotal time for the nation. That is going to be live tonight at 8:00 Eastern.

Ad just in to CNN, new COVID rules for health care workers in New York City and Mayor Bill de Blasio will join us live, next.

JOHN AVLON, CNN ANCHOR: COVID concerns as some kids get ready to head back to school. We have the top doctor in Arkansas joining us live.

And 82-year-old Wally Funk fulfills her lifelong dream of getting to space. We're going to talk to her friend who shared that same dream.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:23:44]

AVLON: Just in to CNN, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is now requiring health workers to show proof of vaccination status or take a weekly coronavirus test as a condition of showing up to work. The new policy will affect employees at 11 public city-run hospitals as well as nursing homes and clinics. Just as COVID cases rise across the state and the nation.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio joins me now.

Mayor, it's good to see you.

One of the stunning things about this, it's estimated that only 70 percent of New York health care workers have been vaccinated today. And given all they've been through, from the earliest days of the pandemic, why do you think that number is still so relatively low?

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: Well, what it's even more stunning, John, it's about 50 percent we estimate for the whole country.

AVLON: Yes.

DE BLASIO: We have 22 million health care workers in the United States, and by the information we have, only about 50 percent are vaccinated. This is unacceptable.

I feel for people, of course, who have gone through the pain of this tragedy who are feeling fearful. I understand why a lot of people are hearing misinformation and being affected by it. But enough is enough. We need our health care workers to be vaccinated and it's getting dangerous with the delta variant.

So I think it's time to do something different, and New York City is ready to lead the way.

[08:25:03]

We're saying, get vaccinated or get tested weekly. And that's fair.

And I think what it's going to do, John, is ultimately a lot of people have been on the fence. This will be the moment, okay, okay, I'll get vaccinated. Or after they get tested week after week after week, I think a lot of health care workers are going to say, hey, this is a hassle. Let's just go ahead and get vaccinated.

AVLON: Yeah.

DE BLASIO: We've got to put more -- we've tried good incentives and they've worked. We've got 9.7 million vaccination doses have been given in New York City, outreach incentives, lots of things that have worked. But it's time to do something else because delta is nothing to fool around with.

AVLON: Not at all. But just so folks understand, why not just mandate vaccines for front line health care workers?

DE BLASIO: Look, this is a step, John. We're going to look at all the factors of how you move things. And previously the approach was purely voluntary, and that did get us a substantial distance. But now it's time to up the ante, say no longer a choice, you have to do one or the other.

I think that's going to have a big impact. And again, I'd like to see this happen all over the country, private hospitals and public hospitals.

AVLON: Do you think you might extend it to cops and teachers and firefighters?

DE BLASIO: Look, we're going to look at different options. I think this is the most obvious one, right? The people who are the most vulnerable are health care workers and who serve the most vulnerable people who go to the hospital or a clinic -- I do think it makes sense to then go look at other possibilities and to keep going up the ladder because the disinformation, the lies have poisoned this country.

You know, in the previous segment, the conversation about Facebook, this is a tragedy. I think President Biden said it right the first time. You know, people are dying because of disinformation, and Facebook has to take responsibility and the people spreading the lies have to take responsibility.

They're doing it in so many cases tragically for their own political gain. That's inhumane. That's horrible.

So if this level of disinformation and fear is causing people to hold back from the thing that would save their lives, we've got to be more aggressive, then.

AVLON: It's a profound statement about the power of that kind of disinformation tactics that it can be deadly, as you say.

But I want to talk about the rational reasons for concern, which is this delta variant and these breakthrough cases, specifically as they are showing an increased risk of COVID for kids. Are you concerned that the school opening in New York City could be in jeopardy?

DE BLASIO: No. We are looking very carefully at the data and the science always, John. And I talked to my health care team constantly.

I'm a parent. My kids went to New York City public schools. I want to protect every child, but I also know deeply our kids have been through trauma, real trauma.

Our kids have seen so much pain and loss in their own families. They've been disconnected from their friends and their teachers. A lot of them have not gotten as much health care, physical and mental or nutrition as they would have if they were in school.

What our health care team says is it's actually profoundly bad for kids' health to be out of school. And so we intend all our kids to be back in school. We are able to keep them very, very safe even when we didn't have vaccinations.

So, now, we have almost 10 million vaccination doses in the city. We know we can keep them safe. We're going to do a big blitz before school opens to get the kids who do qualify vaccinated.

But, no, I think it would be a horrible shame if another year in the lives of our children were lost. And I think it would cause a lot of problems and pain for our kids.

AVLON: No question about it.

L.A. County, I mean, look, across the country we're seeing a spike in cases. L.A. County announced the return of indoor mask mandates to combat the rise of the delta variant. Is that something you would consider if things hit a certain level in New York City?

DE BLASIO: Look, I respect the importance of masks, but if we want to make a comparison -- you know, the mask say pea shooter, the vaccine is a cannon. You know, let's be clear -- the thing that will make a difference is the vaccine. The thing that stops the delta variant, the thing that turns the tide and saves lives is the vaccine.

The mask helps, but it's no guarantee with a mask. So, what our doctors say is, let's go for the main event here, not the sideshow. Let's really double down on vaccination.

We'll continue to look at every option, but depending on what happens. But what I don't want is to give people a false sense of security. I'm wearing a mask so I'm okay even though I'm unvaccinated. That's just not true.

AVLON: Right.

DE BLASIO: That's not true.

AVLON: Mayor de Blasio -- school will remain open, health front line health care workers will be getting vaccines or tests on a regular basis -- thank you very much for joining us on NEW DAY.

DE BLASIO: Thank you, John.

AVLON: All right. Up next, the western wildfires, so huge even the East Coast can see the effects.

KEILAR: And Wally Funk --

AVLON: Wally Funk.

[08:30:00]