Return to Transcripts main page
New Day
Dr. Lee Savio Beers is Interviewed about COVID; Biden's Bleeding Support among Independents; Erin Burnett Shares her Conversation with Janet Yellen; Officer Saves Newborn from Chocking. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired October 08, 2021 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:30:40]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, for the first time in two months, the average of new coronavirus cases in the U.S. is below 100,000. Hospitalizations are also at their lowest point since the beginning of August. And the average of new coronavirus deaths also continues to decline.
Another positive development, children, ages five to 11, may be able to get vaccinated in time for the holidays. Which holidays? We'll be figuring that out. That's if all goes according to plan following Pfizer's request for Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA for their vaccine.
So, let's break this all down with Dr. Lee Savio Beers, who is the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Thank you, Dr. Beers, for being with us.
I think there's so many parents who have so many pressing questions. But the first one is, you know, why is it so important, in your view, for kids to get vaccinated?
DR. LEE SAVIO BEERS, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: Yes, absolutely. And thank you so much for asking that question.
I think, you know, this is actually a common misperception amongst folks that children are not affected by coronavirus. And, in fact, COVID can be a very serious illness in young children. Thankfully, it's -- it's -- thankfully children are at least risk for serious illness than older adults are, but it can be a very serious illness. They -- we've seen over 22,000 children hospitalized. Almost 6 million children infected. And children can have symptoms such as long COVID.
And -- and also it just can be very disruptive to their lives. They can be out of school for several weeks, you know, at a time when -- when really our kids need to be in school as much as possible
KEILAR: Yes, definitely. OK, let's talk timeline. And we know that this is different for kids
of different ages. But if we're talking timeline, when do you think kids five to 11 will start to be vaccinated?
BEERS: Well, so it's a great -- that's the question everybody wants to know, right? And, of course, first, we have to make sure, you know, we -- we know that -- that the FDA is going to be looking at the data. And this is assuming that -- that all goes as -- as we expect and -- and this is assuming that all -- all looks well.
But -- but we -- I would imagine that by early November we should be able to have the vaccine available for children ages five to 11, assuming that everything looks good with the data, assuming that everything moves forward as expected.
KEILAR: OK. So that -- I mean if we're talking logistics, people are trying to plan holiday travel, right?
BEERS: Yes.
KEILAR: So for kids that age, maybe Christmas. Maybe it's Christmas. Maybe it's not Thanksgiving.
Now, I have a five-year-old. I also have a three-year-old. And so I'm looking at Christmas and saying, maybe not Christmas.
BEERS: Yes.
KEILAR: Maybe we're in the new year for the three-year-old. Would you say that's right? Kind of a -- somewhere around the new year, after the holidays, for kids, what, two to four, would you think?
BEERS: Yes, absolutely. And I think you're exactly right because, remember, it takes time after a vaccine is given for -- for everything to kick in. And it is a two-dose series. And those two doses need to be given three weeks apart. So when you're -- when you're thinking about, you know, early to mid-November, that -- that -- that's when -- that's when the vaccine series can start. And so you do need a little bit of extra time before -- before children have full immunity.
And, yes, I think what we're hearing from the manufacturers is that they're hoping that -- that the data for the even younger kids will be available, you know, perhaps in the -- in the late winter, you know, late -- late -- late this year, early next year. But, of course, this is one of these things. We have to follow the data. We have to -- to take it step by step. But -- but so far everything's been going according to plan. I mean so far things have been going as we expect. So -- so hopefully that will continue to be the case.
KEILAR: If that continues, then maybe babies, toddlers in the spring, which would be amazing. And then, once children are vaccinated, is that essentially the end of the pandemic, in your view?
BEERS: Well, gosh, I hope so, but -- but I think, you know, this is one of those things where we, you know, this is the -- this virus has been a surprise to all of us. And so I think it's one of these things where we take it step by step, we take it with some caution, you know, and -- and move forward. I think it's absolutely a tremendous step forward to -- to getting us all back to feeling comfortable and safe and doing the things that -- that we all want to do, and especially our youngest kids, because right now we are worried -- you know, we want to make sure they're protected, just like our adults are.
KEILAR: Yes, I'm living that life with little kids who are unvaccinated.
BEERS: Absolutely. Absolutely.
KEILAR: It's a different life than having older kids, I'll tell you.
BEERS: It is. It is.
KEILAR: Dr. Lee -- Leann (ph) Savio Beers, appreciate it. Thank you.
BEERS: Thank you so much for having me.
KEILAR: An NHL player under investigation for allegedly using a fake vaccine card. We'll have the details coming up.
[06:35:02]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And what has Democrats the most nervous this morning as they head into a crucial election in just weeks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: President Biden's poll numbers are, to use the technical term, not good. And for Democrats, they are even more troubling numbers underneath the surface.
Joining me now, CNN senior data reporter, Harry Enten.
And the numbers here, they tell a clear story.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: They do tell a clear story. You know, again, to use a technical term, not good. This is the trend in Joe Biden's job approval rating. You look at August 1st, you know, the approval was at 51, the disapproval was at 43. That was a net right there of plus eight.
But look at what happened, September 1, the net, minus two. The disapproval above the approval.
[06:40:00]
And now minus 5. So essentially going in the wrong direction. Not good.
BERMAN: Clearly under water at this point. So, who is driving this, Harry?
ENTEN: Well, this, I think, gives you the picture of who's driving it. So it's Biden's net approval by the party of the voters. And you can see, look, he's down among Democrats, he's down among Republicans, and he's down among independents. But among Democrats he's down 10. Among Republicans he's down 12.
But look at this, among independent, he is down 19 points. He was in positive territory on August 1st at plus 3. He's now at minus 16 points net approval rating with independents. It's those folks in the center of the electorate who are driving this.
BERMAN: They've moved a lot and they've moved pretty quickly. Why are independents particularly important for Joe Biden?
ENTEN: Because they are the reason that he won in the 2020 election. So this is comparing Joe Biden's 2020 margin to Hillary Clinton's 2016 party -- margin by a party of voter. And what do you see here? You see that among independents, look at that, Joe Biden won by 13 points. This was a group that Hillary Clinton lost by four. This was a massive change, 17 points, movement towards Joe Biden. It was those voters in the center of the electorate who helped win him the election and now that he is under water with them, a very bad sign.
BERMAN: What are they seeing or not seeing?
ENTEN: Yes. So, I think this right here, look at this, so how much has Biden accomplished in office so far? In late April, look at this, 51 percent, a fair majority, but a majority nonetheless, said he accomplished a great or fair deal.
Now, look at late August. Look at this, down to just 40 percent. Now, the clear majority of voters say, look at this, 58 percent say he accomplished only some or very little. Said they don't think that Joe Biden has gotten into office and done very much.
BERMAN: I think vaccinations, which is a real push for the administration, and they got a lot of people vaccinated, in late August, with delta, people might not have been feeling as good about that. That may be driving that.
And there's another thing that maybe the White House could do or lean on going forward that could help turn this around?
ENTEN: I think they could. So, look, if you're not doing anything, the real way to solve that is to do something. So look at popularity of Joe Biden versus his Build Back Better agenda. And what do we see here, look, Joe Biden's overall job performance, look, he's under water minus 5 points. But look at this, the $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan, a lot more people support that, 57 percent, than approve of Biden at 44. And even the $3.5 trillion social programs plan, look at that, 53 percent support. And you can see it here, look at this net, plus 30, plus 20 minus 5. Doing something, passing this legislation, could boost his approval rating because it actually shows he's doing something.
BERMAN: So, we'll see how much they talk about that in the next few days and weeks because they really needed to get (INAUDIBLE).
ENTEN: They've got to do something. BERMAN: All right, Harry, thank you very much.
ENTEN: Thank you, sir.
BERMAN: So a soccer player charged with attempted murder for something he did on the field. See what happened.
KEILAR: Plus, as Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell admit they ran with baseless claims without vetting them, we'll show you what they said. Remarks that have them in legal jeopardy.
And CNN's exclusive interview with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Her advice to Congress as they flirt with financial disaster.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:47:29]
KEILAR: Maybe no one was more relieved to hear about the debt ceiling deal than Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. She spoke at length with CNN's Erin Burnett ahead of last night's vote.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR, "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT": Good morning, John and Brianna.
I spoke with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on a key day for the debt ceiling negotiations. And you know what's interesting, we talked about that, as well as Biden's massive spending plan, and how to pay for it.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET YELLEN, TREASURY SECRETARY: December 3rd, it's a short time relative to the debt ceiling. So the uncertainty remains longer term.
I think it is damaging to confidence of consumers, of investors. Of course, everyone including me breathed a sigh of relief that we were able to reach an agreement that gets us to December 3rd.
We were staring at October 18th is a time when we would, you know, be -- run out of extraordinary measures and cash would be running down quickly. So it's important that we have met that deadline.
BURNETT: So, ultimately, the debt ceiling exists theoretically to force politicians to curb future spending, right, even though, obviously, raising the debt ceiling enables you to pay bills that come from past spending agreements.
YELLEN: That's right.
BURNETT: It has failed 100 percent of the time at curbing future spending and you have been categorical that you support eliminating the debt ceiling.
Do you see any chance that this happens? YELLEN: I think it's become increasingly damaging to America to have a
debt ceiling. It's led to a series of politically dangerous conflicts that have caused Americans and global markets to question whether or not America is serious about paying its bills. It's flirting with a self-inflicted crisis. And it really involves the government giving to their treasury secretary and their president conflicting sets of instructions.
BURNETT: There doesn't seem to be any check on spending anymore. Both parties see spending on their priorities as just and as revenge against the oppose party's transgressions. Why does everyone in Washington see this as a political thing when it isn't, when it is an economic reality?
[06:50:06]
YELLEN: Well, look, I think you shouldn't assume that all deficits are bad. We have incurred deficits to this -- this was true in the Trump administration, the CARES Act --
BURNETT: Yes.
YELLEN: The consolidated appropriations act, the rescue plan under Biden. This was deficit spending that -- look how wealthy the U.S. economy is doing in recovering from a devastating pandemic.
Now, President Biden wants to do more. He has proposed a Build Back Better plan that's been translated into an infrastructure bill that has cleared the Senate and is sitting in the House. A reconciliation process that will attend to proposals to do education, childcare, paid leave, environmental investments. And all of that is paid for. That's not deficit spending, that's a package where revenues will be raised that will fully cover the cost of that spending.
So, you know, people can have different opinions about the value of the package and whether they support it. I am -- I am strongly in support because I think it's what this economy needs to be more productive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It was a rare and wide-ranging interview with the Treasury secretary.
Yu know, but what's so interesting about this, guys, is that while Congress, obviously, stopped the U.S. from defaulting this month, it's clear we're going to be right back here in just a few weeks. And the Treasury secretary finds that incredibly frustrating because it takes such a toll on the economy and on the confidence people around the world have in the United States.
John and Brianna, back to you.
KEILAR: Erin, thank you.
Yes, and a very unfortunate deja vu. So, if the Senate struck a deal here to overt potential economic
disaster, at least for a little while, why was Senator Manchin shaking his head last night?
BERMAN: Plus, President Trump trying to stonewall the insurrection investigation. What's the consequence to those who defy these subpoenas?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:57:16]
BERMAN: A rookie police officer in Arkansas putting his training and instincts as an officer and father to the test to save a choking newborn baby.
CNN's Ryan Young has the story this this week's "Beyond the Call."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OFFICER CODY HUBBARD, POTTSVILLE, ARKANSAS, POLICE: I don't like to look at myself as a hero. I did what any other officer would do that day.
DISPATCH: 911, where is your emergency?
HUBBARD: There wasn't a whole lot going on. And then, within seconds, you know, like this job does, it just went to chaos.
CALLER: I need an ambulance. It's for an infant who's not breathing.
DISPATCH: Not at all?
CALLER: He's about three weeks old.
RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Pottsville, Arkansas, police officer Cody Hubbard was doing traffic control when he received the urgent call from dispatch.
Three week old Grady was choking and not moving at all.
HUBBARD: The whole way that I was heading there, you know, I was, you know, saying a prayer because I didn't want the worst that was going through my mind to happen.
HUBBARD: What's going on?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's been catching his breath but he's -- he's laboring. He's breathing --
HUBBARD: Is he breathing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But it's like he's holding his breath.
YOUNG (on camera): What was that like to see their distress when you got there? HUBBARD: It didn't make the call any easier. When I got there, the
grandmother, I remember it just as if it happened. The grandmother was holding the child. And the mother and dad, you know, they were crying, as expected. And the mother just was freaking out. And the child wasn't moving.
I like to say my dad instincts kicked in. And, you know, I didn't look at Grady as a baby, I looked at him as if it was my child.
YOUNG (voice over): The 23-year-old rookie officer immediately began life-saving efforts.
YOUNG (on camera): Tell me your emotions when you got there. It was 24 pats on the back
HUBBARD: To hear that it was only 24 pats is really surprising. To me, it seemed like I was doing 1,000 pats a second.
YOUNG (voice over): Recalling training that he had recently attended, Officer Hubbard began the Heimlich maneuver for infants.
HUBBARD: There we go. There we go. Come on. You're OK. You're OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did that, but he didn't cry for me.
HUBBARD: OK. Come on, buddy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure did.
HUBBARD: There's them eyes. Are you OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We didn't know what to do. He just quit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But that sounds good right there.
HUBBARD: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That sounds really good.
HUBBARD: Yes, I'm glad -- I'm glad to hear he's crying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, thank you so much.
HUBBARD: When I got back into my car, you know, I could feel that feeling in my stomach that I was just fixing to, you know, cry my eyes out.
EMS has checked out the baby and it's doing OK.
HUBBARD: So, as a cop, you don't like to seem weak. And so I was like, you know, I can't cry on camera. So I turned the camera off as quick as I could. And once I saw that it was off, you know, I just -- I bawled like a baby.
YOUNG: Ryan Young, CNN, Pottsville, Arkansas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Wow, thanks goodness for those dad instincts.
[07:00:02]
All those taps. And then, finally, to hear the cry. What a wonderful story that is.
KEILAR: Yes, love it.
BERMAN: NEW DAY continues right now.
