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Hospitals on Brink, ICU Beds Running Out in Several States; FDA to Authorize Booster Shots for Some Immunocompromised; Judge Says, Defamation Lawsuits Against Trump Allies Can Go Forward. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired August 12, 2021 - 07:00   ET

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

KILA POSEY, FILED FEDERAL COMPLAINT AFTER ATLANTA SCHOOL SEGREGATED CLASSES BY RACE: -- all of the white students have access to all six classrooms.

[07:00:05]

And I explained to her why it was wrong. You can't segregate classrooms, A, B, as a black parent, that puts me in a really bad position because white parents have access to all of the rooms as black parents should as well.

So it's disheartening to know that in 2020, after George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and we've done all the marching and I'm here in 2021, you know, having this conversation with someone that looks just like me.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEW DAY: What's the resolution?

POSEY: Well, first and foremost, the practice has to come to an end. All of our students should be able to be included in all of the classrooms. And there shouldn't be a designated black class, period.

The second thing is, it's concerning to me that in addition to this, we've had other issues with the local administration at the school that are concerning. Because we raised these concerns, it was an onslaught of retaliation from -- on my family.

And I feel as if there was -- from the local school, there was no -- from the principal specifically, there was no remorse. This was something that she wanted to do, her personal vendetta. And, unfortunately, that's not what APS is paying her to do. There are rules and there are policies and procedures that she has to follow.

And, unfortunately, that was not done and I think that because the administrative team, the assistant principal, the math coach and the lit coach were all aware of this practice and it was confirmed by the A.P. as well as top senior-level officials in the school district, that she did it, she admitted to it, they all need to be removed. They cannot make educational decisions for students.

BERMAN: And just to be clear, Kila, you pulled your kids out of this school?

POSEY: I have not. That is our school. This is our community. We should not have to leave because they cannot follow the rules.

BERMAN: And, Sharese, at this stage, we need to go, but where do you see the case right now? What has the school district promised you?

SHARESE SHIELDS, ATTORNEY FOR KILA POSEY: The school district hasn't promised us anything. We have a complaint that's pending in the office of civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education. So, it's pending right now.

BERMAN: All right. Well, listen, please keep us posted as to this case. And, Kila, we wish you the best and hope that the school year with everything that's going on is successful for you and your children.

POSEY: Thank you. I appreciate you for having me.

BERMAN: New Day continues right now.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world, I'm John Berman alongside Brianna Keilar.

The FDA is expected to announce that it is authorizing vaccine booster shots for Americans who are immunocompromised. That means a third of the current two-dose -- a third shot, I should say, of the current two-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be offered. The additional dose would be for immunocompromised people, as I said, who did not have a good initial response to the vaccination. CDC vaccine advisers will vote tomorrow on these additional shots.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN NEW DAY: This need for extra protection is urgent because, of course, the delta variant, we're keeping our eye on it and it's surging across the country. There are hospitalizations that continue to rise nationwide. They are nearly doubling every two weeks, bringing some hospitals to the brink of collapse.

Just take a look at the number of ICU beds currently available in parts of the south. There are zero right now, zero, in Mississippi. One medical director there warning the state's hospital system could fail by next week, a field hospital opening in the state tomorrow to handle the surge in patients.

Temporary COVID tents have also been set up outside LBJ hospital in Houston, ICU beds completely full there. Listen to the head of the medical group that runs the hospital testifying before Texas lawmakers this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ESMAEIL PORSA, PRESIDENT AND CEO, HARRIS HEALTH SYSTEM IN HOUSTON: If this continues, and I have no reason to believe that it will not, there is no way my hospital is going to be able to handle this. There is no way the region is going to be able to handle this.

[07:05:00]

I obviously see the silver lining, but I am frightened by what is coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Let's talk now with Dr. Esmaeil Porsa. He is the President and the CEO of Harris Health systems. Sir, thank you so much for being with us to tell us what you are facing right now. Can you just give us a sense of what it is like in your hospital system?

PORSA: Good morning. Thank you for having me. Let me start, as always by thanking all of our healthcare staff, doctors, nurses, techs, everybody else in Harris Health System but also all other health systems here locally and also nationally. They are the true heroes and tired heroes after dealing with this pandemic for a year-and-a-half.

To answer your question, things are terrible. My hospitals are full. And it is really not so much that the hospitals are full. We're used to operating our hospitals, being the safety net for hospital for the area for our hospitals to be full. But what is concerning is the rate by which our COVID positive patients are increasing. You know, I testified just a couple days ago that this time around, this latest surge of COVID in my hospitals, when I look at my numbers, it took me about five weeks to get from the baseline of only 11 patients across my system to the peak that we achieved last winter during the previous surge. It took me five weeks to get there. During the winter surge, it took me three months to get from the baseline to that peak level.

And what I was trying to relay to folks is that this cannot continue. Five weeks from now if this continues to go at the rate it is right now and, again, I emphasize that I don't see any intervention, any mitigating interventions being put in place to try to slow this down, this will be a disaster.

KEILAR: That's alarming. You are saying that you are accelerating in case numbers at more than twice the rate than you did during the winter. I understand you're setting tents up. Is that right?

PORSA: That's correct. And let me be clear, we actually have the tents during the last surge but took them down because the numbers went down. So, this is the tent that we're just putting back up again. And the very specific reason for that, two weekends ago, LBJ hospital, the hospital that you referenced, at one point, had 130 people inside the waiting room and that waiting room is really not designed to hold more than 60 at most 70 people.

And the issue was that when people screen positive for COVID-19 and increasing number of people are screening positive for COVID-19, there was really no place for us to send them other than just the corner of the emergency room. So, the idea of the tent is as people screen positive for COVID-19, we can send them to the tent for them to continue their diagnostics and treatments until we figure out what to do with them.

KEILAR: We have heard from other health officials that these numbers are skewing younger. The patients are skewing younger, almost entirely unvaccinated. What are you seeing where you are? PORSA: Exactly that. And that is a really important point that I'm trying to make. Yesterday, I think the CDC came out again and announced that 99.99 percent of the people who are getting hospitalized are unvaccinated. I want to emphasize the reality that the factuality of that. My numbers, Harris Health System numbers since January 1 of this year, we have had more than 1,300 admissions to our hospital due to COVID-19 infections. More than 98 percent, to be exact, 98.3 percent of those patients were unvaccinated.

Among the 128 people who have lost their lives to COVID-19 infections in my hospital system, 128 deaths, not a single person was fully vaccinated. This is truly a pandemic of the unvaccinated. They are taking the brunt of this surge, but their actions, unfortunately, is really impacting everybody else around them.

And if I have a few seconds, I just want to really emphasize this fact that this is -- we don't live in isolation. This is not about personal freedom or individual choice. One person's personal freedom should not infringe on other people's freedom and rights to being healthy and out of the hospital. A person's freedom to drink and drive does not negate our laws against drunk driving. Your personal freedom to smoke does not negate our ban on public smoking. Your personal freedom to wear a seatbelt does not negate our seatbelt laws and does not prevent parents from having to apply seat belts to their children who are unable to do so.

[07:10:07]

So this is beyond a personal freedom and individual choice conversation. This is about us as a community doing the right thing.

KEILAR: That's such a good point and I'm so glad that you highlight all the contributions of the healthcare workers, what they are bearing right now after a year-and-a-half. It's really unfathomable what your folks are going through. Dr. Porsa, thanks for being with us.

PORSA: Absolutely. Thank you.

BERMAN: All right. Joining us now CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, first of all, I know you're moved along with all of us about what these doctors are going through right now and what they're facing in all these hospitals around the country. Beyond that, the CDC and the FDA are trying to figure out how do we address this surge right now in cases. And one of the things we learned is that there will be authorization in the next few hours at this point for a third dose of the vaccine for some people. For whom and what does this mean?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. First of all, the surge, it is a problem, as you've talked to doctors all morning. We're seeing that in Atlanta, where I live as well, where patients can't come in for other things. You know, if you get in a car accident, you get shot. I mean, they're having a hard time finding beds for acute trauma right now. So, everybody is affected by this, as you guys have heard. What this means now specifically for people who have weakened immune systems who are immunocompromised, there's about 9 or 10 million people in the country, people who have taken chemotherapy for cancer, people who have taken immunosuppressant drugs for organ transplants, HIV people who have low immunoglobulin levels, all these types of things, they are the types of patients we're talking about.

The issue is they were not mounting the same sort of antibody response to the vaccines in the first place. So third shot was a term you use, and that's probably the right term, because it's not so much a booster as a third shot.

Let me show you a study they paid attention to. This is in the New England Journal of Medicine. The left bar basically that red is what happened the antibodies they got after their first series of shots and they didn't generate a lot of antibodies. But look how much that improved after they got that third shot. They got a lot of neutralizing antibodies.

After that, compared to the placebo with the blue, that is the sort of data that really influenced, I think, the decision that we're about to hear from the FDA and subsequently by the CDC, which they will basically recommend this for people with weakened immune systems. Maybe even this weekend they could start seeing these third shots going out.

BERMAN: There are millions of people. It's like around 3 million people in the U.S. --

GUPTA: I think it's going to be closer to 9 or 10 million people, yes. They said 4 percent or so of the population falls into this category. They would have to define that though, to be clear, exactly what immunocompromised means, but, again, generally, cancer, organ transplants, HIV patients.

KEILAR: You talk about breakthrough infections, that term. You actually have a new essay that you've written. You don't agree with the term.

GUPTA: You know, it's interesting. I think this is a little bit of a trap, this term, because breakthrough infection makes it seem like something broke through the armor of vaccine protection. And that's not really what's happening here.

As you know, there are people who test positive and they are shocked to test positive because they feel fine, they have no symptoms. It's more that they had to be tested for travel or something like that. I got tested five, six times when I went to Tokyo, for example. I wouldn't have been shocked if one of those tests came back positive.

But here is the important point. When you look at how these vaccines work, I find this fascinating, the antibodies, specifically IDG, works more so at the level of the lung. So it's basically trying to keep this virus from getting into your lungs where it causes severe disease, illness, hospitalization and death. It doesn't work as well in the upper airway. Now, you can be carrying the virus in your upper airway, test positive, have no symptoms because that's not what the antibodies really necessarily are supposed to be doing. I don't think -- probably my fault as well but I don't think we ever explained that that well. This vaccine was to prevent that particular action in the body.

So, now you're going to have a lot of people who are testing positive who have been vaccinated and people are going to say, the vaccines aren't working. Not the case. Vaccines actually are working. This makes the case that they're working because those same people did not become severely ill.

I don't think if it explained it well there even but that's the point.

KEILAR: You did. It's like the Death Star. If you're not hitting the vulnerable area, the thing is not going down, right? I think it's a good Star Wars analogy here. You're maybe giving people a cold, it's true. But you're not taking them out of the game. You know what I mean? You're not taking it out of the game. You're just maybe kind of dealing with a little bit of a cold or some minor symptoms, right?

GUPTA: That's right.

BERMAN: The bottom line here is people are freaking out over things, like there's this new study which says that the Pfizer vaccine, the effectiveness of it goes way down over time. No. It's still over 90 percent effective at preventing hospitalizations and this study, 100 percent effective at preventing death.

GUPTA: Yes. And I think we have to pay attention to this even as we talk about these third shots.

[07:15:00]

What are we really trying to accomplish with those third shots? People mostly that they do get minor symptoms and things like that, is that worth now giving a third shot to those folks or is this better -- these shots better spent around the world.

BERMAN: All right. Sanjay, last hour, I spoke to Dr. Britt Maxwell, who is a doctor in Tennessee, who has been treating COVID patients for 16 months, and really is at wits end, I think, emotionally and physically dealing with the trauma that he has dealt with over the last 16 months.

Well, he attended a meeting in Tennessee where he advised for mask wearing in schools and they called him a traitor there for that. And then other people he was with faced this after the meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No more masks. No more masks. No more masks. No more masks. God abusers, you are shot abusers. There's a bad place in hell and everybody is

taking notes, buddy. Keep that little smug.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Put it back on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put that mask back on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Put your mask on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you like that? We know who you are. We know who you are. No more masks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep it calm. Keep it calm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No more masks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: We know who you are, God abusers, traitor, as the doctor we spoke to said he was called.

GUPTA: You know, I've been reporting on this for a long time. I live in the south. I see some of this even before today. There's a lot of obviously a lot of emotion on this. That particular area in Franklin, Tennessee, you're dealing with a community that has less than 40 percent of the population vaccinated and high transmission rate of the virus. Those are just the facts. It's not going to be something that's going to last forever. Viral transmission, hopefully, will come down at some point.

But I think one of the things that comes up over and over again is that there's got to be criteria set. We are doing this because of X, because of low vaccination, high transmission. And when they get to a certain point, we may be able to lift some of those recommendations. Now is not the time. I mean, hospitals -- hospitalizations and hospitals becoming full are always going to be the biggest driving force of these types of recommendations. And, you know, I mean, that's scary to see for, frankly, myself, but my colleagues who are taking care of COVID patients. It's really frightening what's happening out there.

KEILAR: It's terrifying and they shouldn't have to deal with it. They're the heroes on the frontlines here. I do want to ask you on a completely different note, a lighter note, shall we, because you are a former guest host on Jeopardy. And they just announced it's two new hosts for the show, and I just wonder since I have you here, what do you think about this?

GUPTA: Well, first of all, it was never going to be me. So this was not a surprise here. I think two hosts is a little strange, I'll be honest with you. Two hosts --

BERMAN: That's the most negative thing I've ever heard you say, ever, about anything.

GUPTA: Two hosts is like no host, I think. There's an adage there. But I want to say this in all sincerity because I was asked when I did this who I thought the host should be and I said it should be John Berman. And I'm not lying. I'm not just saying --

KEILAR: Do not take him away from me, Sanjay.

GUPTA: I know. But John --

KEILAR: They don't want someone where it's just like their hobby. He would have to leave and he can't leave his day job. Why? Why?

GUPTA: No comment.

BERMAN: I think the message they were sending is they could have 100 hosts and one of them would not be me. I think they're trying to send me a subtle message there, Sanjay.

One of the hosts, we should note, is the executive producer of the show.

GUPTA: Yes. And I got to know Mike Richards really well. And, I mean, I think there's something to be said for someone who knows the game so well. There is a procedure to this game. You're doing 61 clues in 22 minutes. You have got to hit a clue every 15 seconds. It is the fastest game, thing, I've ever really been involved with.

They say you do television, therefore, you can do this. It's kind of like saying you're an ophthalmologist or an orthopedic surgeon, they're both doctors but you'd never go to the eye doctor for your broken leg. It's totally different television. So, you just have to really keep the pace of that going. He knows how to do that.

I was surprised because I didn't know that he -- I thought he was sort of helping move things along. I didn't know he was actually in the running for the job. But I think he'll do a great job, and certainly when he guest hosted, he was fantastic.

BERMAN: He never said to you, you're up against stiff competition, like say, me?

GUPTA: That was never mentioned to me. That was never mentioned. But, John --

BERMAN: I told you, 1,000. We actually have 1,000 people on our list. We're going to have a different host every night and you're not one of them.

GUPTA: But I'm saying it now on New Day, it should have been John Berman.

BERMAN: I appreciate that.

KEILAR: He is very good at Jeopardy. He is fantastic. Sanjay --

BERMAN: You're threatened by that, obviously.

KEILAR: I understand why. Sanjay, it's awesome to you here. Thank you so much.

There's been a lot of concern about student safety as students are heading back to school. [07:20:02]

But the pandemic is also having a serious economic impact on stores big and small.

BERMAN: So, new overnight, a scare aboard a cross-country flight when a passenger pulls out a lighter.

And a judge's stern warning for some of former President Trump's allies who are now being sued for billions in defamation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right. This is a big deal. A Trump appointed federal judge will allow three major defamation lawsuits to go forward against Trump loyalists. Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, all three are being sued for billions of dollars in damages by Dominion Voting Systems, the company they falsely accused of election fraud.

[07:25:02]

Joining us now, Jeffrey Toobin, former federal prosecutor and CNN Chief Legal Analyst. This is a big deal.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: This is huge. I mean, you know, ever since the 1960s, it's been very hard for public figures, public companies, like Dominion to win lawsuits. However, the facts of this circumstance are almost perfectly lined up for Dominion to win this case. In order to win the case, you have to show that a statement was false and that it was made either with knowledge of falsity that the person who said it knew it was false or reckless disregard for the truth.

What these three have shown is almost textbook reckless disregard for the truth. That's what the judge said the accusation showed. And I don't know what even the defense is in this case because that what they said is so obviously false. And Dominion has been damaged in a very big way by these accusations. So the damages, if this case goes to a jury and if the jury rules for the plaintiffs -- the plaintiff, there could be billions of dollars in judgment, no question.

KEILAR: And, look, we've seen some odd defenses when it comes to these things. But what could the defense be? Could it be an ignorance defense, could it be a siloed off from information, I mean, an echo chamber? What could it be?

TOOBIN: What the three defendants tried at this stage of the case was sort of a First Amendment defense, which is, you know, this was an area of public dispute. We should be allowed to speak freely. The problem with that is, you know, there are limits to that, especially when it specifically damages an individual.

This isn't -- another case is, well, this was just my opinion. Opinion is protected. If you said Dominion was a terrible company, that would be protected under the First Amendment. But these specific accusations they made about being owned by foreign countries, all that stuff is factually wrong and that's the basis of a libel suit.

BERMAN: And, look, it may had been the best chance that these people had to get this case thrown out from a Trump-appointed judge, it didn't happen. This will be worth watching.

On another not unrelated note, the Washington Post received a transcript of an FBI interview that was done with Giuliani in 2018. This had to do with whether he knew that Comey was going to go back and reopen the investigation into Hillary Clinton.

TOOBIN: Right.

BERMAN: As part of this interview, Giuliani basically admitted that he lies in public sometimes, right? He says he throws fakes to the media.

TOOBIN: It's highly relevant to the lawsuit. Because as his lawyer points out in that interview with the FBI, he says it's no crime to lie to the press, and that's true. It's not like lying to an FBI agent or lying to a grand jury. You two probably get lied to pretty frequently on this program by people who have an interesting case. It's not a crime.

However, if you are lying in public about a company, about damaging somebody's reputation, that can be libel. That's a civil matter. And I am certain that the plaintiff -- the Dominion lawyers are very interested in that statement because he's acknowledging that he lies to the press, which is what this case is all about.

BERMAN: Well, I just want to give everyone one update on Rudy Giuliani, who is now on cameo selling customized videos. His rate has gone up to $375 which puts him in Dolph Lundgren territory, who played even Drago in Rocky 4. So a Soviet fighter gets $350, Rudy Giuliani, someone known to meet with known Russian agents, goes for 375.

TOOBIN: Dolph has a cooler accent though.

KEILAR: He does.

TOOBIN: He has that cool accent.

BERMAN: He does. He does.

KEILAR: Yes. But, look, as you point out, he is still nowhere near the kid who plays -- well now a man who plays Draco Malfoy.

BERMAN: $600 for Draco Malfoy.

KEILAR: Very expensive.

BERMAN: All right. President Biden celebrating a rare bipartisan victory in Congress. Will this do anything to quiet some of his harshest critics?

KEILAR: Prominent Republicans along with right-wing media are spinning a new lie when it comes to this new coronavirus surge, and, sadly, we have heard it before. We'll fact check it, next.

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[07:30:00]