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Fauci Says, Possible New Variants Could be More Problematic than Delta; Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) Top Aide Resigns as Governor Faces Possible Impeachment; Widow of Officer Who Died by Suicide Says, a Line-of-Duty Death. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired August 09, 2021 - 07:00   ET

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


[07:00:03]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN NEW DAY: And breaking overnight, a top aide to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo resigns after that bombshell sexual harassment report, as one of his accusers breaks her silence.

BERMAN: And a heartbreaking message from the widow of a D.C. Police officer who died by suicide following the Capitol attack, why she says his sacrifice is being overlooked.

KEILAR: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. It is Monday, August 9th. And new, more dangerous COVID variants could emerge across the country if more people don't get vaccinated. And the longer we allow this pandemic to continue, the better they could become at beating the vaccines.

Just listen to this warning from Dr. Fauci.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: There's a tenet that everybody knows in virology. A virus will not mutate unless you allow it to replicate. So if you allow the virus to freely circulate and not try and stop it, sooner or later, there's a likelihood that you will get another variant that could, I'm not saying it will, that could be more problematic than the delta.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, Dr. Fauci strongly supports vaccine mandates once the vaccines earns full approval from the FDA, which is something that could happen this month.

This morning cases are rising sharply in the United States driven by the delta variant. The average daily number of cases is now at more than 100,000 for the first time since February. Hospitalizations continue to rise as well to more than 66,000.

BERMAN: One out of every five people hospitalized in the U.S. is in Florida right now. Cases and hospitalizations there are setting new records daily. Even more troubling, the state is seeing an alarming number of sick children. One Florida doctor says that children's hospitals are overwhelmed while Republican Governor Ron DeSantis resists calls to allow schools that want to to require masks in their classrooms.

CNN has reporters covering all the pandemic developments this morning.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Natasha Chen in Orlando. The seven-day average of new cases in Florida increased 84 percent over the past two weeks. One church in Jacksonville is feeling this acutely. Six unvaccinated members of Impact Church died of COVID- 19 in the past couple of weeks. Four out of six were under the age of 35.

The church hosted a vaccination event over the weekend. The bishop, Reverend George Davis, said that God is the one giving wisdom to scientists to create the vaccine and that science and faith can work together. He said that he's tired of crying about and burying people he loves and to take the political and religious games somewhere else.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jim Bittermann in Paris at a long distance bus terminal, one of the many places now you have to show a health pass, which proves that you've either been vaccinated or tested negative for COVID-19. It applies to buses, trains, planes, also cafes, bars, restaurants, practically anything. In fact, they're calling this D-Day.

And the reason this pass is being imposed like this is because of the fact that cases here continue to rise. They're calling this the fourth wave of COVID.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Newton in Ottawa. And despite the rising level of infections in the United States, Canada has reopened its border to fully vaccinated Americans and U.S. residents. At this hour, Americans who are fully vaccinated can finally cross the land border.

Now, interesting here, the Biden administration has not reciprocated the entire pandemic Canadians have been able to fly into the United States, but they still cannot cross at the land border.

BERMAN: South Carolina is experiencing a rise in new cases because of the delta variant. One expert calls this situation the state's -- in the state's largest city a code red.

Joining me now is Michael Sweat, the team leader of Medical University of South Carolina's COVID-19 Epidemiology Intelligence Projects. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.

What's the current situation where you are?

DR. MICHAEL SWEAT, COVID-19 EPIDEMIOLOGY INTELLIGENCE PROJECT, MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA: Yes. We're seeing severely increasing rates day-to-day. In early July, we were down to the lowest we've been since the beginning. We were getting one or two cases per day. Within weeks, we are now -- just within a couple of weeks, we are getting close to the maximum number of cases we've had from the beginning. And just to mention that our laboratory system here sequences the variants and this correlated almost perfectly with the rapid increase in the delta variant.

BERMAN: It seems like it happened very, very fast there. So you see the rise in cases. Where are you in hospitalization?

SWEAT: We're also seeing an increase in hospitalizations.

[07:05:01]

You know, hospitalizations lag somewhat from the case load, but we've seen doubling of the number of hospitalizations in the past couple of weeks. We're still well capacitated to handle that but we're very worried. Because when we look at the neighboring states, we think we're on the path to what happened in Florida and Louisiana and Mississippi, Alabama. So we're in a very concerned state right now.

BERMAN: Who are the patients coming in right now being hospitalized with COVID?

SWEAT: Yes. Over 90 percent of them are unvaccinated. So, it's a real message about the need to get vaccinated. We're also seeing younger patients than we have seen in the past. Over 50 percent of our patients are below the age of 60, which is unique. And I believe this is largely because vaccination rates were quite high among people 60 and over. But we are seeing many teens. We're seeing some pediatric cases. So it is shifting from what we saw before.

BERMAN: I think what's so interesting about South Carolina is, to an extent, you've seen this coming. You could see it in Mississippi and Alabama and Louisiana and Florida. You saw it coming and still, in a way, couldn't stop it because of vaccination rates that aren't as high as they need to be.

So I'm wondering, Marjorie Taylor Greene, congresswoman went down to Alabama and spoke to a crowd there. And the crowd cheered her when she said that Alabama has the lowest vaccination rate in the country. There are people cheering the fact that there are still millions unvaccinated. How much damage does that do?

SWEAT: It does enormous damage. There's conspiracy theories out there that abound. Now, that's not the only reason people are not getting vaccinated. Many people have a difficult time taking off from work. Many people are in a wait mode to see what will happen.

I just want to say with the delta variant, being in this sort of wait and see mode, time is up. This delta variant is incredibly transmissible.

I also want to add, one thing we're hearing from quite a few people is the statement that, well, I've done okay with just using masks and washing hands as a way to prevent getting COVID, therefore, I don't really need to get the vaccine. But things have changed. With the delta variant, that's not going to work. I think people should realize you can't just rely on masks. Masks are important. They are very effective in many ways, but with this delta variant, it's really time to get vaccinated.

BERMAN: You can't wash it away. You can't wish it away. People need to get ready and need to get vaccinated. Michael Sweat, we appreciate the work you're doing and the message you're sending. Thanks so much for being with us.

SWEAT: Thank you, John. I appreciate it.

KEILAR: As students across the country prepare to return to in-person learning, the White House is pushing for students 12 and older to get vaccinated. But for some young adults, their parents may not agree to getting them vaccinated against COVID.

One teenager is helping her peers get informed about their rights and she is joining us now, Kelly Danielpour, who is the founder of VaxTeen, which is a website. Kelly, thank you so much for being with us.

You have this website and it allows teenagers to gone on and look at state-specific information about what they can and cannot do when it comes to their health if they don't have the consent of a person -- of a parent, I should say. So, explain this. How do young people, if they don't have consent, proceed? How do they do that?

KELLY DANIELPOUR, FOUNDER, VAXTEEN: Thank you so much for having me here. Yes. So, I actually, prior to the pandemic, started VaxTeen after discovering that many teenagers whose parents really didn't have very positive views about vaccinations were going online and trying to get vaccinating and seeking information.

So, if you are a teen whose parents perhaps doesn't hold such great view of vaccines, you, in certain states, do have rights related to the right to get vaccinated. And so, you in various states there are bills, laws, accepted practices which state that a minor can get vaccinated or receive specific healthcare services, including vaccines without the consent of a parent or guardian.

KEILAR: So you cite on your website different laws, you can go look state by state. I was surprised to find out that there are many states where as long as a doctor believes that the young person is informed and is doing this with proper information, that they can go ahead and proceed. What about a situation where like a family doctor might not want to override parents? What happens then?

DANIELPOUR: That's fair. And, yes, many of the bills and laws that do uphold this right depend on a judgment of maturity by a provider. So the provider has to say they believe that a young person is sufficiently mature to make this decision for themselves. And it is this gray area. And I think it is hard for a young person, for a parent, for a provider just to sort of determine what is right and what conversation should be had.

[07:10:00]

And so I think, yes, it is very fair that a provider may not want to uphold this and my hope is that there are providers available to every young person that will, but, really, just as well making sure that the young person is a part of this conversation, that they do have -- they have a say in their health. And I think we are talking so much about vaccines and this idea that we should all feel safe and healthy and protect our communities and I think young people have an incredibly important role to play in that.

And so while I think it is very difficult to navigate the situation for everyone involved, and I understand that a provider also has concerns and there are issues involved for them, I think the more important thing is this idea that someone has a right to be healthy and a young person's health shouldn't be at stake because of their age, really.

KEILAR: So, what are the stories that you're hearing from young people who want to use this resource? Is it just parents who are against the vaccine or are they against the vaccine for kids?

DANIELPOUR: It really -- it ranges. So, for some, it's parents who are hesitant and they want help convincing them. And I think that is such an incredible thing that a teenager could really have its belief, and even if they're parents or not and try and convince them. And there's sort of range on the spectrum, we have people whose parents are really deep in conspiracy theories and believe that a vaccine could have a microchip in it or ranging very out there views.

But, yes, sometimes it's just for a young person, sometimes it's just about a COVID vaccination or all vaccinations. It really depends. And there's a wide spectrum. But I think the uniting thing to recognize is even though a parent may hold this belief that their child does not, and it is something very incredible and awe-inspiring in that.

KEILAR: Kelly, thank you so much for talking to us about what you're doing with vaccine. Kelly Danielpour, I appreciate it.

DANIELPOUR: Thank you so much.

KEILAR: There's some fast-moving developments in the sexual harassment scandal that is involving New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. His top aide is stepping down as one of his accusers details her claims of assault.

BERMAN: Landmark report on climate change pointing to catastrophic consequences if we don't make any changes before it's too late.

Plus, dramatic turn in the attempted coup by Donald Trump and his minions, what his former acting attorney general testified that investigators call frightening.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:00]

BERMAN: New this morning, the top aide to New York governor Andrew Cuomo has resigned her position less than a week after the release of that damning sexual harassment investigation. Melissa De Rosa released a brief statement last night. It doesn't even mention the governor by name, but cites how emotionally and mentally trying the past two years have been.

We also heard from the woman in the report who was called executive assistant number one. This is the first time we have heard her explain what she says happened with the New York governor. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRITTANY COMMISSO, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO CUOMO WHO ACCUSES HIM OF GROPING HER: Then they started to be hugs with kisses on the cheek. And then there was at one point a hug and when he went to go kiss me on the cheek, he would quickly turn his head and he kissed me on the lips.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What did you say?

COMMISSO: I didn't say anything. I didn't say anything. I didn't say anything this whole time. People don't understand that this is the governor of the state of New York. There are troopers that are outside of the mansion and there are some mansion staff. Those troopers that are there, they are not there to protect me. They are there to protect him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Brittany Commisso, her attorney says that his client waited for the release of the attorney general's report before she publicly identified herself in the media. Cuomo's attorneys declined to comment on the interview but the governor has denied inappropriately touching Commisso.

Joining me now is Civil Rights Attorney and Advocate Nancy Erika Smith. Nancy, we have a lot of things to talk about.

I want to start -- we're going to get back to Brittany Commisso and that interview she did in a second, but, first, overnight, Melissa De Rosa, who is Governor Cuomo's closest aide, has stuck by him through everything, her name is all over this investigation. She resigns overnight. And in the resignation, nowhere does it say, it's been an honor to serve Governor Cuomo all these years at all. What did you read into this?

NANCY ERIKA SMITH, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY AND ADVOCATE: I read into that that now she's trying to distance herself but that's not going to work. She's mentioned 200 times in the report. She led the retaliation against Ms. Boylan. She can easily be sued civilly in New York for what is called aiding and abetting sexual harassment. She certainly allowed and enabled an environment of intimidation, and the idea that at some point she made the decision, let's keep young girls away from the governor to protect him. That's actually what she said in the report.

So, her alliance with him throughout this and participation and enabling, whether she mentions his name or not, she is in deep.

BERMAN: But what you read into this is self preservation.

SMITH: Absolutely. That's exactly what I read into it, trying to hopefully have another life some years forward.

BERMAN: All right. Brittany Commisso, who is listed in the report as executive assistant number one, what struck you about this first public interview that she gave?

SMITH: Again, I think it really shows the power dynamic. This is -- Cuomo describes her as flirty and describes himself as not wanting to embarrass her when she wanted to hug and kiss him. As if this man who knows power probably better than anybody on Earth doesn't understand the power dynamic.

[07:20:02]

It's not believable and neither he nor De Rosa, nor his female lawyer now can come up with a reason why would 11 women lie. Why? What do they have to gain? They have nothing to gain. They may sue civilly but that's because they've lost their careers. They've been dragged through the mud. They continue to be drag through the mud.

His lawyers are basically calling her a liar. And she doesn't appear to be a liar. She didn't even want to come forward. She was afraid. And she describes really poignantly that she broke out in hives from anxiety of having to be alone with the governor and he admitted in the investigation that he saw her have hives.

BERMAN: I think we do have some sound from Cuomo's attorney, and they spoke extensively on Friday night. It was really interesting, I want your comment on that. But they commented on executive assistant number -- the executive assistant before she came out and named herself. Let's listen to what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RITA GLAVIN, ATTORNEY TO GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO: How is executive assistant one's account corroborated?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: It's corroborated because she saw the governor speaking and started crying when he said he didn't engage in inappropriate behavior. And so she told two other staffers at the time what happened and that was in the report.

And I didn't, by the way, say --

GLAVIN: This was five months after she alleged this happened.

BROEN: Okay. So, does that undermine her story, in your view? Does that undermine her story that she waited five months?

GLAVIN: What undermines her story is that there is absolutely no corroboration at the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: That's actually false. The governor the day that he rubbed her butt, he insisted on taking a selfie. And he told her to send it to Ms. McGrath, another victim. And he said, only send it to her. And the text that sent the picture said the governor was wild today. That is corroboration.

Also, again, why would she lie? There's this pattern of behavior, 11 women have gotten together and decided to lie? It's ridiculous to claim that all these women are lying for some reason, some political reason to get at the governor. And the evidence is in one another. She became visibly -- so visibly upset that people saw her when the governor said, I never touched anybody inappropriately. It's not unusual for victims of harassment, especially by very powerful men, to be afraid to come forward.

And, certainly, Ms. De Rosa and Ms. Mogul his attorney did not create an atmosphere where women felt that they could come forward. And when they did come forward to Ms. Mogul on behalf of executive assistant number one, Ms. Commisso, that was on Monday, March 8th. March 9th, the newspaper in Albany read -- got a leak, not from Ms. Commisso, about her allegations. They didn't report it to E.R., employee relations, until the 11th. This is clearly a cover up, enabling toxic, sexually harassing work environment.

BERMAN: Nancy Erika Smith, it's going to be an interesting few weeks as the assembly decides what to do with the impeachment investigation. Thanks so much for being with us.

SMITH: Thank you.

BERMAN: So, the country on the verge of a total catastrophe. That assessment from a top Democrat after hearing just how far then- President Trump went to try and overthrow the 2020 election.

KEILAR: And at least four police officers who responded to the Capitol attack have died by suicide. Why the widow of one of those heroes says his service is now being overlooked.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

KEILAR: The widow of D.C. Police Officer Jeffrey Smith is speaking out and fighting back after being told his death by suicide following the insurrection means he didn't die in the line of duty. Erin Smith says her husband dies protecting Congress, the Capitol and democracy itself. She writes in the USA Today op-ed, quote, my husband's suicide after the January 6th riots was a line of duty death. He deserves recognition.

CNN's Whitney Wild is joining us now. You know, she's not the only one who might feel this way, Whitney.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Brianna. This is a conversation that's been going on within law enforcement for several years now. All across the country, these men and women willingly, knowingly take on this incidental pain, this severe trauma associated with the job. Now, there's this question about whether that emotional pain actually constitutes a line of duty death. Erin Smith says it absolutely does. Her husband, Jeffrey Smith, is among four officers who responded to the Capitol on January 6th, and who eventually took hair own lives. D.C. Police Officer Gunther Hashida, also D.C. Police Officer Kyle Defreytag died in July. U.S. Capitol Police Officer Howard Liebengood took his own life just a few days after the riot.

Smith writes in her op-ed, we know that mental health can fail just like physical health, that knowledge should lead to changes in how police officer deaths and injuries are treated. My husband died protecting Congress, the Capitol and the people of this great country, as the president said Thursday in the Rose Garden, he died protecting democracy itself.

She also writes, these officers need to be recognized for the horrors they have seen and protected us from. Their service needs to be respected. Their families should receive the same support and assistance as every other fallen officer's family. Instead, we have been stigmatized, had our health insurance taken, denied even the courtesy of an official burial.

Brianna, interestingly, the Senate report into the security breakdowns that day lists Officer Smith, as well as Officer Liebengood, among those who ultimately lost their lives related to this riot.

[07:30:07]