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U.K. Cases Mysteriously Plunge; Dame Karen Pierce is Interviewed about the U.K. Plunge in Cases; Midwest Bracing for Severe Storms; Ex-Cop Jailed After Buying Guns; Black and Latino Women Unemployment Rising. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 29, 2021 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This more openly. No question about that, Coy. And her statement that this has all made her realize she's more than just her accomplishments, lovely and sad all at the same time, right?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: It is. And, look, I think she's in a unique position because she doesn't have anything to prove, right? I think everyone knows she is the best. You just look at her record of these individual, all-around competitions now since 2013, she's the best. And that gives her this platform that hopefully benefits other people and also allows her to see her value beyond gymnastics.

BERMAN: Which -- which is -- which I'm -- I hope is now clear to her.

KEILAR: Yes. Definitely.

Coronavirus cases plunging in the U.K. after a big surge from the delta variant. So why is that happening?

BERMAN: Plus, Lollapalooza kicks off today despite a surge in cases in Chicago. Is it safe? Would that make it safe-a-palooza?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:09]

BERMAN: The morning, encouraging signs out of the U.K. New coronavirus cases there are plunging after the country experienced a spike because of the delta variant.

CNN's Phil Black live in London with much more on this.

Phil, the big question is, how? Why?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, John.

Last week, when England threw away the pandemic rule book and declared so-called freedom day, the expectation was things were going to get much worse. The scientific modelling showed the existing surge was only going to get bigger and stronger. But since then, this extraordinary thing has happened. Cases have fallen rapidly. And no one really knows why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLACK: In the first week of England's hands off, mostly unrestricted policy of living with the coronavirus, something extraordinary has happened. The U.K.'s growing wave of cases has suddenly, unexpectedly fallen away. The drop has been quick and dramatic. Compared to the previous week, the total number of confirmed cases is down 36 percent. Scientists admit, no one saw this coming.

DEEPTI GURDASANI, QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: It's not something that I expected or predicted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it surprised to a lot of people to see something that's -- that's come down this quickly, this much in synchrony.

BLACK: So they only have theories on why this is happening. The end of the European soccer championships means no more big, emotional crowds. A recent stretch of good weather encouraged people to stay outside. Schools are out for summer, closing what some scientists believe is a significant environment for transmission. Awareness of surging cases may have inspired more cautious behavior. And there's also the possibility vast numbers of people are still being infected, they're just not following up with tests because they don't want to cancel plans and stay at home.

LAWRENCE YOUNG, UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK: So the issue is, is what we're seeing in terms of a reduction in cases a true reflection of the community levels of infection?

BLACK: Scientists feel confident on one point, vaccines are helping but it's too soon to attribute the drop to herd immunity.

GURDASANI: We need to remember, only 55 percent of our population are fully vaccinated. The rest are either partially vaccinated or not vaccinated at all.

BLACK: The delay between infection and symptomatic illness means the figures don't yet reflect the consequences of England throwing away its pandemic rules on July 19th.

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It is very, very important that we don't allow ourselves to run away with premature conclusions about this.

BLACK: But the sudden changes are fueling hope the U.K. will not experience the grim, difficult summer many predicted.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACK: So, is this real? Is this a blip? Is it a new, sustained trend? Scientists say they will be studying hospital admissions figures in the coming weeks because if this is a real, significant drop in infections, then you should see reduced number of people falling seriously ill. And, at the moment, those numbers are still going up. John.

BERMAN: All right, well, we're watching, we're waiting and, frankly, Phil, we're hoping, based on where we are here in the United States, that we can follow that example, if it's really in the United Kingdom.

Phil Black, thank you very much.

KEILAR: And joining us now is Dame Karen Pierce, she is the U.K. ambassador to the United States.

Ambassador, thank you for being with us this morning.

DAME KAREN PIERCE, U.K. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Thank you for having me.

KEILAR: How are you viewing this phenomenon and how is the British government viewing it?

PIERCE: Well, we're cautiously optimistic. We're conscious we don't have all the data yet. We believe it has something to do with good messaging, people following sensible rules on behavior, like hand washing, and, of course, a high vaccination rate. But we need much more information before we can properly analyze this and work out what the future trend will be.

BERMAN: You know, one of the things we're trying to figure out here is, are you doing something different than we are? What's different about the U.K. than the United States? And one of the things you mentioned to us is, you know, you're a Brit living in the United States right now, so you have a unique perspective. In the United Kingdom there's not the anti-vax sentiment that there is here. Explain.

PIERCE: That's exactly right. There are some communities that resist getting the virus. And -- resist getting the vaccine. And we rely very much on local leadership and peer pressure and public messaging to bring those communities around. But on the whole, the numbers are very good. Seventy percent of adults have been fully vaccinated, 90 percent have got one dose and we continue to push out messaging about hand washing, good behavior, wearing masks in crowd. As the prime minister said, we're not dropping all the rules but we are being careful and cautious and opening up.

KEILAR: Am -- 90 percent with -- almost 90 percent, depending on the country wherever you are, but that's huge when you compare what we're dealing with in the U.S.

[06:40:04]

And one of the issues right now is that Britain is now allowing Americans and Europeans who are fully vaccinated to come into Britain and not have to quarantine. And I know that Britain is looking to the United States to do the same thing.

Do you expect that the U.S. will reciprocate? PIERCE: Well, we were very pleased to make the announcement yesterday.

And as you say, we will allow Americans who are fully vaccinated into the U.K. without restrictions. They will need to show proof of living in America. They will need to show their CDC card. And they will need to take a test before they leave and a test when they've been there for two days.

And if I could just say, so that no one gets confused by the rules, anyone who wants to know can go on to www.gov.uk.

We do hope the Americans will be able to lift the travel restrictions on the U.K. and other Europeans soon. We have a task force working on this with the administration, set up after the president visited the United Kingdom in June. We know you're not ready to lift that order yet, that executive order, partly because of vaccination rates, but we continue to look at all the detail, all the technicalities and try to work out, with our American colleagues, how we could get a travel corridor of some sort going. We really want to open up to business and international travel.

BERMAN: One of the requirements is proof of vaccination, which is something that I think there's more of a willingness for in the United Kingdom than again here in the United States. You have these COVID passports in a way. What rights, you know, what does this get you into? What doors does it open when you have proof of vaccination in the United Kingdom? How does that work?

PIERCE: At the moment it's a document whose use is being developed over the next few weeks. From September there will be venues, like nightclubs, you have a shot of that. Nightclubs will require people to be fully vaccinated. And so that passport will be useful for that. But at the moment we're working out what venues, what large events, what large crowded events a passport might be useful for.

KEILAR: It is like a different world in a way from the country that we are living in with the different factors here. It's very interesting to hear from you.

Ambassador, thank you for being with us.

PIERCE: Thank you for having me.

KEILAR: A Capitol rioter is back behind bars after buying an arsenal of guns online.

BERMAN: Plus, a councilwoman who was the target of a racial slur by one of her colleagues is speaking out. She joins us live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:47:00]

KEILAR: Cities across the Midwest and the mid-Atlantic are bracing for severe storms that could bring damaging winds and possible tornadoes.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar has the forecast. All right, what are you looking at here on the map?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right, Brianna.

So this is the same system that brought damaging winds and even some hail to the upper Midwest yesterday. Now we're starting to see it shift a little bit farther to the east. But the threats remain the same, damaging winds, large hail and cannot rule out some isolated tornadoes.

The best chance area is really going to be from Philadelphia down towards Washington, D.C., where you have a level three out of five threat for severe weather.

And that forecast is brought to you by Carvana, the new way to buy a car.

Now, the forecast itself is all about the timing. You'll see you've got that first wave that kind of comes through the Midwest, especially around Indianapolis around dinner time tonight.

But the eastern portion, this is likely to start hitting areas of Philadelphia about the same time Indianapolis will likely get hammered by some strong winds and heavy rain. Washington, D.C., New York, you're looking at a little bit closer to around 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. local time.

The good news is, once we get into the overnight timeframe, a lot of these storms really begin to fizzing back out.

Down to the south and west, the main story here is really going to be the heat. Take a look at this, Brianna. You've got widespread heat advisories out where that feels-like temperature could range from 110 to 115 across many of these states.

KEILAR: Wow, that is something.

Allison, thank you so much.

BERMAN: A Virginia police officer who was fired for storming the Capitol on January 6th has been re-arrested and jailed. Investigators say Thomas Robertson recently purchased 37 guns on the Internet and posted online that violence is better than peaceful protests.

Josh Campbell here with that.

That seems to be a pretty good road map to a problem for that guy.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I mean there have been hundreds of defendants who were arrested after that Capitol insurrection. So why is this one important? It's important because it shows that the threat that we all saw for ourselves on screen lingers to this day and prosecutors were concerned enough with this case, Thomas Robertson, this Virginia police officers, former U.S. Army Reservist. He was arrested in January and then released pending his trial. But federal agents just re-arrested him, they say, after they found bomb-making material in his home, a rifle, as you mentioned, they say that he purchased nearly 40 firearms.

And just to show what they consider to be very, very dangerous, I'll read you a portion of what he allegedly wrote online. The only voice these people will now listen to is violence. Buckle armor or just stay at home. That a reference to suiting up for some kind of battle.

Now his attorney says this was all a big misunderstanding. He said his client is a, quote, anti-gun lover. The judge wasn't buying any of that, writing very tersely the record shows otherwise. Again, the judge giving that order to re-arrest him. I'll read a portion of what this federal judge says. He said, there's probable cause to believe that Robertson committed a felony, willfully shipped or transporting firearms and ammunition despite being under felony indictment.

[06:50:01]

Robertson's procurement of these dangerous weapons, under the surrounding circumstances, heightens the risk to public safety.

Now, one of the officers who testified this week, Officer Harry Dunn, spoke with our colleague Don Lemon last night. He was asked about this development. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER HARRY DUNN, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE: As long as people are emboldened by people in power, then there's still a threat for things to happen. That's why we need to make sure we're prepared. And we continue to shoot down all rhetoric that could possibly lead to violence.

But the riots and the violence and the damage this summer is -- they were wrong. They were wrong. And that's the exact same thing that happened at the Capitol. But their goal was to overthrow democracy, which is a bigger threat to America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, this is, obviously, one case but it shows you this continued threat from the big lie, that January 6th was not a one-day event. You see that lingering threat. People who believe the election was stolen, people who the prosecutors say are gathering weaponry. And, of course, in this case, this is one of many that we've seen where you have people that could be prone, or at least according to their writing, predisposed to violence on full display.

BERMAN: According to the writing, what seems to be an explicit embrace of violence.

CAMPBELL: That's right.

BERMAN: All right, Josh.

Josh Campbell, really appreciate it. Thank you very much.

CAMPBELL: Thanks. BERMAN: So, corporate America taking action as coronavirus cases surge. Should you expect to see a vaccine requirement at your workplace?

KEILAR: Plus, how Donald Trump is trying to sabotage the infrastructure deal between President Biden and Republicans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:50]

KEILAR: The unemployment rate for black and Latino women is on the rise again. It's a troubling sign, especially as some states are preparing to end federal unemployment benefits early.

Vanessa Yurkevich has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Four generations and a 100-year-old family recipe is what got Nicole Route and her family through the toughest year of their lives.

NICOLE ROUTE, UNEMPLOYED: I never thought that we would be doing this for survival.

YURKEVICH: The Louisiana's family's crawfish bisque recipe unexpectedly turned into a small business during the pandemic.

ROUTE: Looks good to me.

YURKEVICH: Helping to pay bills during a year of loss. First it was Nicole's job in the oil and gas industry.

ROUTE: This is my bb (ph).

YURKEVICH: Then she lost her grandfather to COVID.

ROUTE: You think what else could happen to you. And then, boom, you lose your uncle, too.

YURKEVICH: And now she's losing unemployment benefit. Louisiana is ending the extra $300 a week in federal unemployment benefits early at the end of this month. And despite labor shortages, Nicole says she's applied to over 150 jobs since the winter, struggling to land one that pays enough to support her family.

ROUTE: You know, I get a lot of people talk about it's because everybody's on unemployment. Nobody wants to work anymore. But reality is eight, nine, ten, $20 an hour just does not sustain life for a family.

YURKEVICH: Women are still struggling to recover out of the pandemic, facing issues like balancing work and childcare. Unemployment rates for black women remain almost twice as high as before the pandemic. Nicole is switching industries to tech, hoping that will open new

opportunities. Until one sticks, she's surviving off dwindling savings and unemployment.

ROUTE: I do think there are opportunities for people like myself to get a piece of that booming economy that everybody is talking about, it's just not booming for everybody.

YURKEVICH: Nicole is not the only one struggling to find a job. While the lines of people waiting for food here in New Orleans and around the country have slowed, Louisiana still has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

BETTY THOMAS, COO, GIVING HOPE FOOD PANTRY: I don't know if they think this is the new normal with people still being out of work, unemployed, in line for food. Most of these women who come here are in the hospitality industry.

YURKEVICH: Andrea Jones is one of those women in line.

ANDREA JONES, RELIES ON FOOD PANTRY: Thank you.

YURKEVICH: She's worked in hospitality but says her hotel still doesn't have enough business in their banquet hall to bring her back.

JONES: The central (ph) for being here today is to make sure I still eat. It gives me a little hope because I don't have to go out -- I don't have money that I can actually go spend to get the food.

YURKEVICH: Food kept the Route family afloat during COVID.

But now Nicole is hoping studying for a new tech certification will give her a leg up in the job market. That test is next month, the same time her $300 a week in unemployment benefits run out.

YURKEVICH (on camera): Is there a point when the money is gone all together?

ROUTE: The point is not to ever get to that point. If I have to work at night and during the day, then I'll do it. Whatever it is, I will do it to feed my family. Period.

YURKEVICH (voice over): Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, New Orleans, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Vanessa, thank you.

NEW DAY continues now.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman, alongside Brianna Keilar, on this NEW DAY.

Corporate America taking action, requiring vaccines as the pandemic worsens for the unvaccinated.

KEILAR: And what is driving vaccine hesitancy? There are two former vaccine skeptics here to explain why they decided to get the shot.

BERMAN: President Biden on the verge of an historic victory on infrastructure. The deal that's being called the largest federal investment in public transit and bridges ever.

[06:59:59]

KEILAR: And an Alabama city councilwoman targeted by a racial slur in her workplace. She'll join us live.