Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Three Senators Test Positive for COVID Despite Vaccinations; Hurricane Watches Issued for Parts of Northeast, New England; Biden to Speak to Americans Today on Afghanistan Chaos. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired August 20, 2021 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you look at the actual numbers of the beds that are available. Look at this, Florida 468 beds, Louisiana 175, Texas 417 -- Texas 417. Look, Florida and Texas together, that's more than 50 million people. If you look at this, Oklahoma 111, Arkansas 17, Mississippi 60, Alabama 50, about give million people live in Alabama, just north of that zero ICU beds available.

Put this all together, and you're talking about maybe 1,200 beds, something like that, for all of these states down here at this time of crisis, and there is no sign of this point of this letting up at all.

JOHN AVLON, CNN ANCHOR: And that is a warning sign. Tom Foreman, thank you very much.

BRIANNA KEILAR: Three sitting U.S. senators announcing separately that they have tested positive for COVID-19 -- Angus King of Maine, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, and John Hickenlooper of Colorado, all of whom say that they have been vaccinated, so that is the good question here. But this prompts a question, are post vaccination breakthrough cases still pretty rare as we had thought that they were? Let's talk about this now with CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. What do you think about that, Sanjay?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT I don't think they're rare. I think that that's a term that has been used for some time, but even if you go back and look at the beginning of the clinical trials on these vaccines, they were always sort of designed to try and prevent illness.

So, the idea that people could still become infected, test positive even have mild symptoms, I think that the possibility has always been out there. We know these three senators, thankfully, sounds like have mild symptoms only. So hopefully, they will recover well.

But you know, we weren't testing very much people who were vaccinated. So, I don't think we still have a very clear idea of just how much the vaccine prevents infections, people testing positive.

Let me show you something. This has been a couple of studies that came out from the C.D.C. looking basically at the impact of delta. Just that the challenges in terms of the overall protection against infection, we know it waned against delta. Now, that's all infections. It could be people who had no symptoms at

all to people who had significant symptoms, but it's pretty clear that that's been waning a bit and that is why we heard so much about boosters this past week.

But let me show you something else, and I think this is a fundamental point. San Diego County, we've been tracking it for some time. As much as we talk about the vaccinated and possibility of boosters, that may be a good thing, not all experts agree on that, but this is still very much a story of the unvaccinated.

The red line is the unvaccinated. Yes, there has been an uptick in the white line, the vaccinated, but so much in places like San Diego County, which is reflective of other places around the country, the problem, the vaccinations, the new infections is still among the unvaccinated, and those hospitalizations that Tom Foreman was just talking about, John, primarily among the unvaccinated, 95 percent of those people that he was just talking about are unvaccinated and that is where the problem lies.

AVLON: And Sanjay, I mean, those two dynamics are setting up for a major collision, but that San Diego County graph is the ultimate reality check. This is still primarily a pandemic of the unvaccinated. That said, when people look at out of a hundred senators, three coming down on the same day with breakthrough cases, I mean, they are public people, but it does seem like a control group.

What's the science of the communicability of breakthrough cases? Are the people giving it to each other? Or are the unvaccinated still the prime drivers of these breakthrough cases?

GUPTA: I think the unvaccinated are still the primary drivers of transmission, but what has become clear and not surprising, again, if you just look at the original data, is that even vaccinated people can carry the virus in their nose and their mouth, and sometimes, they can carry it at the same levels of people who are unvaccinated.

Difference is the following: They are less likely to get infected, they are less likely to carry that amount of virus in their nose and mouth for as long, and as a result, their overall transmission is going to be lower.

So you know, yes, it can happen, and that's why indoor masking for the vaccinated has been advocated, but it's a totally different dynamic, John.

AVLON: Will, the boosters, when they kick in this fall start to cut down -- I mean, I know the primary problem is still vaccinating the unvaccinated, but given these breakthrough cases seem to be growing, are the boosters expected to stop that in its tracks more or less for a time.

GUPTA: John, this is a really good question. And I've got to tell you, I don't think we know the answer to that.

Let me paint a picture for you. The vast majority of the benefit of the vaccine occurs where on the body? It occurs around the lungs. It's to try and prevent the virus from getting into the lungs and causing severe illness.

So, in some ways now with the boosters, you're re-fortifying that very good protection around the lungs. That can be great. That can be important especially for people who are vulnerable.

Does it do as much for the upper airways where the virus can still reside and potentially transmit? I don't think we know the answer to that. So if the question you're asking is, will the boosters decrease the transmission that I was just describing among the vaccinated? I'm not sure. It may, for a period of time.

[07:35:15]

GUPTA: But understand what the purpose of the vaccines are and understand that picture I just drew for you in terms of how the vaccines work.

AVLON: Final question, I mean, schools obviously are underway. We've been talking to doctors and nurses and hospital administrators saying the cases among young people are spiking in their states and most heart breaking is the increase in pediatric hospitalizations.

What can you tell us about what these numbers actually look like? Everyone is a painful tragedy to see. But is it still something that is isolated relatively? Or is this something people are going to have to watch out for big time in the coming weeks and months as school kicks in?

GUPTA: I think we have to watch out for it, I don't want to, you know, cause unnecessary fear here. You know, we could say two things at the same time. One is that this disease thankfully does not affect children as much. You know, they don't get as sick, they're not as likely to become infected.

The problem, John is that if you start to increase the denominator, as significantly, as we are. Half the -- you know, 30 percent of the country still without even at least one shot of the vaccine, lots of that transmission still happening, delta being as contagious as it is. People are going to have a date with this virus at some point or another. Everybody. It's that contagious. It's hard to describe how contagious this is.

So if you really increase the overall denominator of people who are becoming exposed to this virus, you are going to have an absolute number increase in the overall number of children. They're not -- I mean, the numbers are higher in some places than they've ever been throughout this entire pandemic. So, it is a significant problem -- John.

AVLON: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you as always, and you've got to see Sanjay's new essay on cnn.com about how to coexist with the virus this fall.

All right, we've got more on our breaking news now. CNN's Clarissa Ward reporting live from the airport in Kabul where the chaos to evacuate is escalating. Then the White House joins us live as the President gets ready to address the nation.

Plus, we'll speak live with the crew that flew this packed U.S. cargo plane with hundreds of Afghan passengers. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:41:37]

AVLON: Breaking News. We've got hurricane watches in effect as parts of the northeast brace for Tropical Storm Henri, yes, with the French spelling and pronunciation. It could make landfall this weekend bringing heavy rain and flash flooding.

So, CNN meteorologist extraordinaire, Chad Myers is tracking Henri.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thanks, John. Yes, you look at the pink area here. This is the area now they just posted at 5:00 a.m., the hurricane watches in the yellow. Tropical storm watch is almost all the way to Queens.

So, we're talking from the Cape right here across most of Long Island. The storm did not get stronger overnight. It's exactly the same pressure as it was when I went to bed last night. That's the good news. But it is going to start to turn to the north and likely accelerate in speed and also in its strength itself, an 85 mile per hour storm on Sunday after midnight -- Saturday night after midnight, Sunday morning and then making a very close approach to the northeast coast and probably a landfall, but we still have to watch.

Watch what's going to happen here. It's going to come up, it's going to almost stop and then turn to the right. It is kind of a better way to see this on the computer models, call this the spaghetti plot. The storm coming up very close to the coast, going to the west a little bit, stopping and then turning to the right and moving off to the east.

I'd love to see that stop down here. I hate to see it stop up here. Still about 48 hours before we have to worry about too much yet. All day today, you can make some plans -- John.

AVLON: Well, Chad, thank you very much, I think.

All right, President Biden addressing the nation this afternoon on the situation in Afghanistan. The White House is joining us live.

KEILAR: And a programming note, join CNN for "We Love New York City: The Homecoming Concert" tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Eastern exclusively on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:46:32]

KEILAR: President Biden will speak to the American people this afternoon as he faces accusations that he has badly botched the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. This criticism is coming not only from his usual critics, but also from some of his most reliable allies, both here in America and abroad.

Let's talk about this now at the White House Communications Director, Kate Bedingfield. Kate, thank you so much for joining us this morning. I really do want to focus on the humans in this situation.

We've been seeing pictures out of Kabul, we've been seeing pictures from inside and outside the airport, and the first thing I want to ask you is we've heard from The Pentagon that they have the capacity to get 5,000 to 9,000 people out of the Kabul Airport a day. There were only 3,000 in the last 24 hours. That means empty seats or empty floor. What is the administration doing to get to that number that you do have the capacity for?

KATE BEDINGFIELD, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Everything within our power, Brianna. The President is laser focused on getting every American who wants to get out of Afghanistan out of Afghanistan and our Afghan allies as well.

So, he has directed the Department of Defense and the team working on this to use every possibility available to them to increase the number of people that we're getting out. Look, I would say, you know, overnight -- well, I would say overnight, we announced that we've evacuated 9,000 people since Kabul fell, and we're up to 14,000 people since July, so we are laser focused on getting people out.

KEILAR: So that 9,000 in six days, but Kate, I do want -- laser focus -- so where are the issues then? What issues are you addressing to get to that number?

BEDINGFIELD: We are working to move airplanes more quickly. We are working to ensure that we can get people into the airport. Obviously, look, this is an incredibly violent and chaotic scene on the ground. It's dangerous.

It's dangerous for our troops who are there working to get people out. So, we are trying to move quickly, as The Pentagon would say, speed is safety. And we're working to get people out as quickly as possible and working through all of the logistical challenges on the ground and problem solving in real time. Obviously, this is the President's laser focus right now.

KEILAR: Well, okay, let's talk about getting people into the airport. I know the U.S. government is talking to the Taliban. What strides have been made there in terms of getting people safely to the airport?

BEDINGFIELD: Well, you're right, we are working with the Taliban to facilitate safe passage to the airport. Obviously, as we see these numbers continue to go up each day, that's an encouraging sign. That's a good sign. We're working to move people quickly.

You know, I think the other thing that I would say about all this, Brianna, that is important not to lose is you know, this doesn't all happen. This is not something that all just happens. This is the result of planning.

I know there's been a lot of criticism of the efforts and of how things have played out over the last couple of days, but the truth is, the President prepared for this possibility. He pre-positioned troops in the Gulf who were able to rush in immediately 48 hours after --

KEILAR: All right, Kate, well, look, I want to focus on what we are seeing --

BEDINGFIELD: Can I just --

KEILAR: I know, what I --

BEDINGFIELD: Okay.

KEILAR: What I want to focus on is what's happening right now because we're seeing pictures of Afghans throwing babies over fences. So, I hear what you're saying about pre-positioning this or that, but let's focus on what it takes to get people safely through those walls.

What is going to be done? I'm not hearing anything about safety corridors. We know that the British and the French are actually going into Kabul for extractions of their citizens and the U.S. isn't considering doing that in the case of Americans or Afghans.

So, what concrete steps are being taken to deal with that bottleneck of getting people into the airport?

[07:50:10]

BEDINGFIELD: Well, those are on the ground logistical questions that the Department of Defense is better equipped to handle. But what I can tell you is, the President is driving his team for this. We are working every day to do everything that we can to ensure that we're able to get more people into the airport in an orderly manner.

Of course, the images that we're seeing are heartbreaking. They're appalling. It is a scary moment. It is unacceptable to the President.

He has directed his team to move as quickly as possible. The specific logistics of how our troops on the ground who are putting themselves in harm's way, putting themselves at risk to get people out, that's something The Pentagon is going to be able to speak to in more detail than I am.

But what I can tell you is that the President is laser focused on this that he put plans in place and that we are executing on them.

KEILAR: Kate, how many -- Kate, how many Americans still in Afghanistan? Do you guys have a number?

BEDINGFIELD: You know, we don't have a precise number, and there's a reason for that. It's because the number of people of Americans in Afghanistan includes people who may have left the country, who may have left over the course of the last six months. So, what we're doing is working to identify how many Americans are there. As of a few weeks ago, we had already -- we had begun reaching out to

all American citizens who were in Afghanistan via e-mail, via text, via messaging app.

KEILAR: Okay.

BEDINGFIELD: To hear from them, and to understand -- understand their plans, and work with them to get them out if they want to get out. And so that is a massive logistical operation underway.

KEILAR: Sure. Okay. But I just want to be -- okay, we don't know the number. So, I just -- I do -- I have a limited time with you, I just want to make sure.

Just finally, you know, the guiding principle on this, because obviously, there are a lot of details that you're unable to share with us, how does the administration see its moral obligation to Afghans who helped the U.S.? And because of those Afghans there are American service members and civilians who are still alive. How does the administration see its moral obligation to those people?

BEDINGFIELD: Absolutely. The President does feel a moral obligation. He has spoken to this. He has said, we are going to work to help protect and get out those people who helped our servicemen and women over the last 20 years. He absolutely feels a moral obligation. So, that's why he has directed his team to move rapidly. It's why when he came into office, he worked to start --

KEILAR: But I hear you'll work to get them out --

BEDINGFIELD: Wait, can I say --

KEILAR: You'll your work to get them out --

BEDINGFIELD: Brianna, can I finish?

KEILAR: I do want to -- you'll work to get them out, but you know, this isn't horseshoes, right? Clothes doesn't matter. Will you get them out?

BEDINGFIELD: Absolutely. But look, the President has committed, we will get every American who wants to get out, out of Afghanistan, and we are working to move as many of our allies who helped us, who stood by us, who helped our servicemen and women get out as possible.

And I would note that when he came into office, he moved to condense the visa process for SIVs. This has been a priority for him to try to move people out of the country who helped us over the last 20 years. So, that's what he's focused on and that's what he is working on doing.

KEILAR: What I'm -- what you are not saying though, I'm hearing in there that you are prepared to leave people behind.

BEDINGFIELD: Look, we are doing everything we can to get as many people out who wants to get out before the August 31st deadline. That is the sole focus of the President of the United States and his team right now. They're doing everything operationally within their capacity to get out.

I do think it's important, though, to remember because there's been a lot of discussion about whether more of this should have happened before Kabul fell. And the one thing I would want your viewers to take on, Brianna, is whenever we began a mass evacuation like this, it was going to trigger chaos. It was going to signal that the Afghan government was on its final legs, it was going to bring people rushing into the airport.

So our aim was to try to stabilize the Afghan government as long as we could. When it was clear that was not possible, the President moved in quickly with the contingency plans that he had put in place.

KEILAR: All right, Kate Bedingfield with the White House. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.

BEDINGFIELD: Thank you for having me.

AVLON: We have new CNN reporting this morning on how Republicans are looking to use the Afghan crisis to their political advantage, viewing Afghanistan as their new Benghazi. CNN's Melanie Zanona joins us now. Melanie, what are you hearing?

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, multiple Republican sources tell me that if the G.O.P. wins back the House, they will almost certainly launch congressional investigations into Biden's botched withdrawal from Afghanistan possibly in the form of a select committee.

Now, with control of the House comes subpoena power. That means Republicans can haul in witnesses, demand documents, all in the run up to the 2024 election.

Now, up until this point, Republicans have really struggled to put a dent in Biden's popularity, but privately, many of them view this week as a turning point, and they do see this as politically advantageous for them.

It's not unlike the infamous Benghazi select committee that of course, the G.O.P. used to hammer Hillary Clinton when she was running for President in 2016. And some Republicans aren't even shying away from those comparisons.

[07:55:01]

ZANONA: I mean, just listen to what Mike Johnson, a Republican member who serves on the House Armed Services Committee and as a member of leadership told me an interview yesterday. He said, quote: "This makes Benghazi look like a much smaller issue. This may be one of the worst and most consequential foreign policy and national security disasters in our history. There will be a lot of answers to seek and questions to be answered, and I think it will be a top priority."

So look, this is just a view into how Republicans are viewing this on the House. On the Senate, though, I would say Republicans have been a lot more reluctant to look like they're politicizing the issue or look too forward.

Right now, they say the focus should be on getting these Americans and Afghan allies out of the country safely and quickly, and I suspect that that will be a big topic of discussion today when senators receive a briefing from some of these defense officials.

AVLON: Well, that's where the focus should be, but it sounds like the House is already making this the selling point for what to expect if they win back control next year.

KEILAR: Yes, I mean, the difference will be if Americans remain -- sorry, I think we have a phone going off here -- the difference will be if Americans remain safe. Right? Because I don't know really what type of political capital Republicans have, who have actually voted against Special Immigrant Visas, some of them in the House. We'll have to see. That leaves them vulnerable as well.

Melanie, great reporting. Thank you so much.

AVLON: Thank you. All right, we are on the road this morning at the Iowa State Fair after being cancelled by COVID in 2020, the Fair is back with its familiar corn dogs, deep fried Twinkies, buttered cow, and a new offering this year. Vaccine on a stick.

CNN's Donie O'Sullivan live in Des Moines. Donie, what are you seeing out there, buddy?

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John. Yes, Marjorie Taylor Greene bringing her anti-science, anti-vaccine message to the fair here in Iowa. But there is some good news, there is a vaccine tent here and they are seeing people who were vaccine hesitant now ready to get their shots. Have a watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you guys have for lunch?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Corndog.

O'SULLIVAN: You wanted corndogs.

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: No, I had ribs.

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): This year at the Iowa State Fair, corndogs, cheese curds, and a 1,300-pound boar named Irish Cowboy.

O'SULLIVAN (on camera): Any idea why they named this hog, the Irish Cowboy?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it an Irish breed?

O'SULLIVAN: I hope not.

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): And here as well this year, a vaccine center and two controversial members of Congress.

O'SULLIVAN (on camera): I don't know if you've heard of Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz.

PAULA SALAZAR, IOWA STATE FAIR ATTENDEE: Oh God, don't get me started on her either.

O'SULLIVAN: They're coming here tomorrow.

SALAZAR: Oh, thank God, I won't be here.

O'SULLIVAN: Not a fan?

SALAZAR: No. Can't stand that woman. She needs to keep her mouth shut.

O'SULLIVAN: What is it you don't like about her?

SALAZAR: She just needs to keep her mouth shut because most that comes out of it is stupidity, idiotic phrases. She doesn't back up.

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): Greene brought her anti-science message to Iowa repeating false claims about masks and vaccines.

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): I am completely against masks. They don't work. They're not stopping the spread of COVID. I'm also completely against forced vaccines. The vaccines are failing.

O'SULLIVAN (on camera): What do you think of Greene showing up here for the State Fair?

DENNIS BELIEU, MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE SUPPORTER: I think it's great. I think it's a great way to get in touch with the people of Iowa.

O'SULLIVAN: Can I ask, have you been vaccinated?

BELIEU: I have not been vaccinated.

O'SULLIVAN: Would you consider getting the vaccine if more businesses -- there's parts of the country now where you can only go into a restaurant if you have proof of a vaccine?

BELIEU: No. No. No. I'm not -- I'm not for that. This is America and we are a free country, a free people. We have the right to decide what goes on with our bodies.

STEPHEN PALMER, MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE SUPPORTER: I'm not vaccinated, and I'm not going to get vaccinated. Our days are numbered. It don't matter whether it's COVID or I get in that truck and go down the highway get hit by a semi, T-bone and killed. It don't matter. You know, life is what it is. You know, we take it if God gives it to us.

O'SULLIVAN (on camera): But you wear a seatbelt, right?

PALMER: Of course. But there is 50/50 chance that it will save you or it won't save you. O'SULLIVAN: But isn't that sort of like taking a vaccine? You take

the steps to protect yourself when you can.

PALMER: No.

O'SULLIVAN: No?

PALMER: No. I'm not taking the jab.

O'SULLIVAN: What would it take to convince you to get the vaccine?

BELIEU: I'm not sure that I could be convinced, but you know, I'm open to looking at scientific evidence, real scientific evidence, not just something we're spoon feeding everyone.

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): He may be unable to be convinced, but these men got their COVID shots at the fair.

O'SULLIVAN (on camera): Today was your first shot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is my first shot.

O'SULLIVAN: And why did you decide to get it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I felt that when I'm traveling and around other people and things like that, it wouldn't be very good decision that we are making them that way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've had a lot of people stop and just talk to us. Some we've encouraged and after the conversation. They've been willing to come in and get their vaccine.

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): Chuck Morgenstern and Vernon Hoover, man the Magic Maze and Rock and Roll funhouse here. They say their decision to get the shot was in part because the next fair they are going to require staff to be vaccinated and in part, because they realized it was the safer thing to do.

[08:00:14]