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Trump and Allies Face Consequences; Mandates Fuel Counterfeit Vaccine Cards; Florida Teacher Encourages Vaccination; Tornado Touches Down in Illinois Overnight; Wildfires Burn in Greece; Lamar Jackson Noncommittal about Vaccine; Judge Slams DOJ over Riot Costs. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired August 10, 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: Fear for any reasons that there will be consequences there or if it's just, you know, another brick in the wall as Pink Floyd used to say.

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It's -- nicely done. It's a great -- look, it's a great question. Certainly around Trump, people, his advisers, have gotten used to knowing they're not going to know everything because Trump is often up to things that he doesn't tell his advisers. We saw that throughout the presidency. There were things his lawyers would be surprised by that they had no idea.

So if you put that caveat out there, that's not what they're really worried at. The reality is that -- that Congress' ability to chastise him or punish him or inflict some kind of, you know, punishment to him is pretty limited. And we saw that over and over again over the last four years.

Trump world is more worried about these prosecutions. They're more worried about Georgia and whatever is happening with that and they're worried about the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. The former president is far more concerned about that than anything related to Congress right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Accountability on his attempts and those of his loyalists to try to overturn the election could be a deterrent to someone in the future. I wonder how you see the prospect of accountability for Trump or not affecting not him but the country. Is it important to have something there?

HABERMAN: I do think it is important for people to understand and I don't think that -- I think this has faded from the public consciousness pretty extensively, the fact that you had somebody who was really stress testing the existing system that we have of -- it's not -- this isn't even checks and balances, this is just loyalists that are there, and what is supposed to happen after an election. And so you could have somebody -- Donald Trump is notoriously not very organized.

You could have somebody who was more organized, who did understand the levers of power and the levers of government and how to use them and who wanted to do some harm in the upcoming election, if not the next one in four years, you know, let's say eight years, let's say 12 years, they have a bit of a roadmap, right, on how you might try to do that now.

And so I think for that reason, that is why it is important to, if not in terms of accountability, in terms of like literal punishment, but at least to inform the public and make people understand what took place.

BERMAN: Maggie Haberman, great to see you. Thanks for coming in.

HABERMAN: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, demand for fake vaccine cards on the rise as more and more companies mandate vaccinations. Are officials doing enough to fight against the counterfeits?

KEILAR: Plus, we're going to introduce you to an Orlando PE teacher who survived a 72-day battle with coronavirus. His message for the unvaccinated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one's wife or husband needs to tell their kids that mom or dad may not come home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:36:54]

KEILAR: This morning, more than 50 percent of the country is fully vaccinated and the number is increasing. It's risen 10 percent just last week. But as more companies and cities are mandating vaccinations, the demand for counterfeit vaccine cards also on the rise.

Elizabeth Cohen is with us now.

So some people don't want to get vaccinated, but they need proof, I guess, that they are for certain things, so they're trying to get it.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, they're trying to get it and so there's all this counterfeit that is going on right now, all these people forging or stealing these vaccination cards that we all have in our -- or we should have -- many of us have in our wallets. They're -- that's relatively easy to do. It's just basically a piece of paper.

And it's interesting, Brianna, the Federal Trade Commission has actually said that these cards were never intended to prove your status. That was never what they were intended to do likely because they are so easy to forge.

Let's take a look at some folks who have actually been arrested for forging or for stealing, you know, vaccine cards. A naturopathic doctor, a county contract worker, a bar owner all arrested for either stealing vaccine cards or for forging cards.

Now, of course, you could ask the question, well, why don't they just make it harder? Why do they make it so easy to forge these? Why can't they do something like what Israel does, for example. This is a picture of an actual Israeli vaccine passport. And you can see it's got a QR code, it's got an ID number at the top of it. Could you forge this? Probably. But it would be a lot harder and you'd probably get caught a lot more easily.

But, Brianna, we all know that a certain section of the American public if we had these in the U.S., would say, oh, my goodness, the U.S. is trying to put a chip in me, my government is trying to spy on me, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. It probably wouldn't go down very well. And that's the big reason why we don't do the obvious, which is to have a vaccine passport like the one you just saw.

KEILAR: Some states -- some states do, though, right? Doesn't New York have some sort of Excelsior Pass or something, right?

BERMAN: Yes, there's an Excelsior Pass here in New York City. You know, you're going to need that to get into some places going forward.

KEILAR: Yes.

BERMAN: But that's what people, I imagine, will forge.

KEILAR: Yes, no, it sounds like they will try, but maybe it will be harder.

Elizabeth, thank you so much.

COHEN: Thanks.

BERMAN: You know, it's interesting, so many of the unvaccinated are so proud of their decision not to follow health guidelines. You know, odd that they would want to lie about it.

KEILAR: Well, right. They think that the rules are BS. So they're going to do whatever, right? They think that it's ridiculous and so they're also taking pride, not just in being unvaccinated, but in kind of rebuking --

BERMAN: Being dishonest?

KEILAR: Yes, and rebuking the regulations about being vaccinated.

BERMAN: All right, this year back to school is a milestone for a Florida schoolteacher. He is returning to class this morning after spending 72 days in the hospital. He nearly died of COVID and he has a message for the unvaccinated.

CNN's Rosa Flores live in Orlando with this remarkable story.

Rosa.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, good morning.

On the first day of school, this PE teacher here in Orlando, Florida, has a very simple message, get vaccinated and avoid the pain and agony that he and his family went through.

[06:40:11]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES (voice over): Meet Terry Greear, an athletic Orlando elementary school PE teacher who loves the students who nicknamed him Coach Beard, his two boys and his wife Stephanie.

TERRY GREEAR, SURVIVED COVID-19: I am extremely lucky. I'm extremely blessed.

FLORES: Blessed to be alive after surviving a 72-day battle with COVID-19 that started in mid-January, when vaccines in Florida were not available for people in their 40s. Greear says he went from being healthy, taking precautions to prevent COVID, to in a matter of days developing a fever, his fingers turning blue, passing out and getting rushed to the emergency room.

STEPHANIE GREEAR, HER HUSBAND SURVIVED COVID-19: And I do remember, as we sat in the ER, I kept thinking, oh, my God, what if this is the last time they saw their dad? Like, what if that was it?

FLORES: Greear took this selfie from his hospital bed on day one, knowing he had no preexisting conditions and yet there he was with COVID and pneumonia.

T. GREEAR: I was extremely scared. I'm like, what's going on? This does not happen to me.

FLORES: He doesn't remember many details because his condition deteriorated quickly, but Stephanie says he was moved to the intensive care unit, was intubated and placed in a medically-induced coma.

S. GREEAR: It was the worst phone call I've ever received in my life. I couldn't believe it happened. I asked the doctors and nurses if he could hear me. And she said, go talk to him, he may be able to hear you, we don't know. I talked to him. I prayed over him, I asked God to please save him.

FLORES: Students decorated his office. PE teachers designed these Coach Beard t-shirts. And his wife filled his hospital room with pictures of friends and family.

T. GREEAR: So whenever I was coming to or awake, I would see pictures. And the first picture I would see was this heart that says, we love you. FLORES: This is what Coach Beard looked like. His iconic beard was

gone. He lost 50 pounds. His lungs collapsed twice. He was placed on a ventilator, a feeding tube and a lung bypass machine.

S. GREEAR: The worst part was telling my children that their father may not come home and thinking that they didn't even really get to say good-bye to him. It was hard. And he's my partner in life. It was -- it was unimaginable for me to think about going through life without him.

T. GREEAR: My wife, you know, told me, like, you've got to do this. Just something kicked in where I had to start fighting and I fought hard.

S. GREEAR: Because once we got him in the fight, he likes to win.

FLORES: After two months he turned a corner, entering intensive rehabilitation, having to relearn how to do basic tasks.

T. GREEAR: Trying to put a sock on with two hands was impossible. My brain is saying, this is what you're supposed to do, but my body is saying, no, you can't.

FLORES: Coach Beard still can't run like he used to, but he starts teaching today for the first time in months and he has a lesson for everyone, get vaccinated, just like he did after beating COVID.

T. GREEAR: I don't want anybody else's family to have to go through what my family went through. No one's wife or husband needs to tell their kids that mom or dad may not come home.

FLORES: Wise words from a man with a big beard and a big heart.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: You know, John, when Coach Beard got COVID, the vaccine was not available to people in his age group. That's why his message is very simple, that now people don't have an excuse. It's very easy to get this vaccine and it's effective. So his message, again, is get vaccinated.

John.

BERMAN: Wow. We are too happy for Coach Beard, as you call him. Today's going to be such an important day for him to get back to school. I sure hope that the kids and the other faculty members and parents there do everything to keep themselves and the other teachers and the other students safe. What a story. What a story, Rosa.

KEILAR: Yes, that was beautiful. Rosa, thank you for that.

BERMAN: He's so lucky, too.

KEILAR: He is. But you know what kills me is that watching his wife, you -- there will be other wives and husbands who are saying that, that they hope that their kids get -- don't have to say good-bye or that they may lose their dad or their mom without saying good-bye.

[06:45:03]

And the truth is, there are going to be more people like that, but there don't have to be.

BERMAN: Yes.

KEILAR: Almost entirely there don't have to be.

BERMAN: It's a choice.

The mother of a disabled child is now suing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over his mask rules. What she says put her son in danger. We will speak with her, next.

KEILAR: Plus, anger is growing among vaccinated Americans as the country moves backward in its coronavirus fight. A CNN special report coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Severe weather overnight in the Midwest. A tornado touched down just outside Sycamore, Illinois.

Let's get to meteorologist Chad Myers, tracking this weather, and also the latest new threat in the tropics.

[06:50:04]

Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you bet. Tropical Storm 6 maybe. It's a potential now. It could be Fred later on today.

Sixteen tornadoes yesterday throughout the Midwest, though, mainly west of Chicago. And there will be more weather like that today.

This weather is brought to you by Servpro, helping make fire and water damage like it never even happened.

So where is the weather going to be today? Pretty much the same area. All the way down even toward maybe St. Louis.

But look at what the radar is going to do here with these storms. Could make 75 mile per hour winds with some of these storms as they gust in what we call a squall line. A big line of weather, all the way from Green Bay, rolling through Milwaukee, into Chicago. Even some storms down around St. Louis.

There could be a few thunderstorms across parts of the eastern part of the country. Not really severe weather, but certainly there will be lightning.

Now, here, PTC, potential tropical storm number six. Here we go. It's going to be Tropical Storm Fred later on today likely. It's a very potential big storm. Probably not a hurricane yet. The forecast is, though, for it to make its way into maybe the Florida Keys, maybe East Coast, maybe West Coast and into the Gulf of Mexico. But, still, a 60 mile per hour event could even be stronger. This is very warm water. We're in the middle part of hurricane season right now. Warnings are already posted for Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and parts of the DR.

John.

BERMAN: Something to keep our eye on there.

Chad, thanks very much.

KEILAR: This morning, Greece is face a natural disaster of unprecedented proportions as nearly 600 wildfires burn in all corners of the country. Sixty-three organized evacuations have taken place here over the last few days as firefighters do their jobs under extreme heat and drought conditions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: I'm Eleni Giokos in Evia, Grease.

And firefighters are still trying to put out fires across the island. Now, the hope was this morning that most had been put under control but many have reignited. This is what is left now of a fire that burned out of control this morning and literally just incinerated an entire forest.

Now, officials tell us that almost half of Evia has been burned, homes have been destroyed, thousands of people evacuated.

We have seen a lot of international assistance. What you see behind me is a firefighter from Slovakia. They arrived this morning, bringing fire engines with them as well. It has been an incredible task to see the Greek firefighters and authorities working together with international crew.

Locals tell us that the assistance is too little, too late. The prime minister has, in the meantime, apologized for the weakness in some of the response.

Here in Evia, we're now seeing eight days of wildfires on the go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: And developing overnight, dozens of officers turning their backs literally on Chicago's mayor during her visit to a hospital there. Hear why.

BERMAN: Plus why are taxpayers and not the Capitol rioters footing the majority of the bill for the insurrection?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:57:20]

BERMAN: Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson says he is still unsure about getting the COVID-19 vaccine despite testing positive twice.

Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report."

Great to see you, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, John.

You know, Lamar Jackson, one of the few players on the Ravens that is not vaccinated. Jackson first tested positive for COVID back in November, missed a game last season because of it. He contracted the virus again last month and missed ten days of training camp and practice while recovering.

Now the former league MVP is healthy again and he's back with his team but Jackson says he isn't sold on whether he should get vaccinated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAMAR JACKSON, BALTIMORE RAVENS QUARTERBACK: We'll see. We'll see. Talking to the doctors. We'll see.

I feel it's a personal decision. You know, I'm just going -- (INAUDIBLE) about my family, you know, keeping my feelings to my family and myself. I'm focused on getting better right now.

I just got off the COVID list. You know, I've -- so, you know, I've got to talk to my team doctors and, you know, try to see how they feel about it, you know, keep learning as much as I can about it and we'll go from there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Ole Miss Head Coach Lane Kiffin, meanwhile, says his team is 100 percent vaccinated. Kiffin made that number a priority after SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey announced last month that the conference would not reschedule games due to COVID outbreaks. And Kiffin says everyone should get the vaccine and says he's ready for any criticism that comes from fans in Mississippi where only 35 percent of people are vaccinated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANE KIFFIN, HEAD COACH, OLE MISS: I don't want to get into, you know, a big argument about what's right and wrong, but I think it's irresponsible not to do so. And I know I'll be criticized for that, but (INAUDIBLE). So, this is not a normal job where you can just stay at home and Zoom in on Saturday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And Ole Miss opens its season on Labor Day, September 6th, against Louisville in Atlanta. And you know what, John, props to Lane Kiffin for setting an example there in the SEC and his state. BERMAN: Imagine anticipating criticism for getting your entire

football team vaccinated. Bracing yourself for the inevitable barbs from fans upset that these players are getting themselves vaccinated, making themselves safe from the pandemic, Andy.

SCHOLES: Yes. Yes. Yes, it's amazing he had to say something like that, but I guess that's the reality that it is.

BERMAN: All right, thank you so much for that report.

SCHOLES: All right.

KEILAR: A federal judge slamming the Department of Justice for having Capitol riot defendants paying just a fraction of the cost that American taxpayers are footing the bill for, for the January 6th attack.

CNN's Whitney Wild is with us now on this.

It is a big bill and they are not paying much.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: No, not at all. They're paying just a tiny little bit of what the overall impact was. American taxpayers are going to be paying 300 times more for the damage done and the impact of that damage from January 6th from then the rioters who actually caused it.

[07:00:05]