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New Day Saturday

Stimulus Talks Break Down As Negotiators Walk Away Without A Deal; Trump Again Pushes False Claim That Pandemic Is "Disappearing" And Cases Are Up Because Of "Testing"; NYC Schools Cleared For In- Person Classes This Fall; Famed Biker Rally Expects 250K People, Masks Not Required; Children Hospitalized For COVID Need ICU Care At Same Rate As Adults; St. Louis Cardinals Postpone Another Series After Players Test Positive For COVID-19. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired August 08, 2020 - 08:00   ET

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


CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: In the air tonight. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL COLLINS, SINGER, SONGWRITER: It's no stranger to you and me. I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord. Well, I've been waiting

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:00:00]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Listen, that drum breakdown will get you every time. So I misspoke earlier. They're not teens. They're 21 years old. They also captured their reaction to Dolly Parton's "Jolene," another beautiful song. Bruce Springsteen's, "Dancing in the Dark." On iTunes right now the song has reached the top 20 list 40 years almost after it was released. It's the drums. The drums.

PAUL: It's the drums and it's their reaction. I'm telling you.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Next hour of your NEW DAY starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: It's not a question of they had a good bill, we have a good bill. No, they have a piecemeal bill.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If Democrats continue to hold this critical relief hostage, I will act under my authority to get Americans the relief they need.

LT. GOV. GEOFF DUNCAN (R-GA): To just stay at home and not be able to deliver education is not an option.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The countries that have opened schools successfully have been those where they have controlled the community spread.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: --actually have three jobs; a mom, a classroom teacher and an online teacher.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the most part, this virus is out of control.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One place not planning to follow CDC guidelines, Sturgis, South Dakota, where a motorcycle rally expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people, kicks off.

LAURA ARMSTRONG, PRESIDENT, RAPID CITY, SD COMMON COUNCIL: They're not going to be able to handle any kind of social distancing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care if it's closed down. I'm going. They can all kiss my (bleep). I'm going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY WEEKEND with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul.

PAUL: Don't worry LA the sun is going to be coming up soon enough. Beautiful shot there. We say good morning to you. Good morning to all of you wherever you might be waking up this morning. We are so grateful to have your company with us.

And this morning we want to let you know about the millions of people right now who are just desperate after these negotiations over new stimulus package ended with no deal. Last night Democrats and White House officials walked away. They didn't have anything to show for. President Trump now is laying out his plan for executive orders if there is no true breakthrough here.

BLACKWELL: There is this new report that says up to 40 million Americans could face eviction by the end of the year. Minorities make up the bulk of that. Dr. Anthony Fauci has said that COVID-19 has been - these are his words, "a double whammy against communities of color."

PAUL: And right now, as the U.S. approaches 5 million coronavirus cases, tens of thousands of motorcycle riders and enthusiasts are arriving in Sturgis, South Dakota where social distancing and mask wearing is not working required at the rally in the celebration.

We want to begin at the White House, though, with Sarah Westwood, who's there live. President Trump, we know, is at his New Jersey Golf Club this morning, Sarah, and he promised to do a lot yesterday via these executive actions. Does he have the right to do it? Does he have the authority to do so?

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, good morning, Victor and Christi. Yes. That's one of the outstanding questions about what we heard from the President yesterday, whether he does have the legal authority to take some of these actions through executive orders that he threatened to do at Bedminster last night.

And some officials thought that the President, the White House, that they were threatening to implement these executive actions just to gain leverage over Democrats as these talks were at a standstill. But after two weeks of nearly daily meetings between White House negotiators and congressional Democrats, there just remarkably little progress made. They could not even agree on a price tag for the deal, let alone the mechanics of what was in it.

But sources tell CNN that one of the biggest sticking points there was what Democrats wanted that $1 trillion, almost, in assistance for state and local governments. That was just a nonstarter with Republicans. And it was among the many reasons that the talks collapsed last night.

The President said yesterday that he was going to move forward with those executive actions and he accused Democrats of holding the stimulus talks hostage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If Democrats continue to hold this critical relief hostage, I will act under my authority as President to get Americans the relief they need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WESTWOOD: And the President listed a number of orders that he's considering implementing, one of them is a payroll tax deferment. That's something that he had pushed unsuccessfully to get included in multiple rounds of stimulus talks, also reviving the federal moratorium on evictions, and deferring student loan payments, and forgiving interest on them.

Also extending that enhanced unemployment benefit that was allowed to expire at the end of July. The President, though, did not commit to extending it at the level of $600 that was when it expired. That's what Democrats wanted. Republicans they were pushing for a lower number there.

But the Democrats have said that those executive actions are not going to be enough, and they did not want to do this piecemeal. They wanted a sweeping deal. As Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday that Congress may be missing its chance to help the American people right now.

[08:05:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: When you're having opportunity like this to do something for the American people, it's an opportunity. But we can't have it be a missed opportunity to do that by settling for something so low, so beneath the needs of American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WESTWOOD: Now just give you a sense of how far apart the two sides were at the end of the talks. There was a difference of nearly $1 trillion in the top line figure that each side wanted. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he did not think that anything less than $2 trillion could pass the House and the Senate. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans were saying that anything close to $2 trillion couldn't pass with Senate Republicans.

BLACKWELL: Sarah, let me ask you about this. I think the news conference was a bit bizarre there at Bedminster where you had folks in their pleated khaki shorts standing shoulder to shoulder there. What was going on?

WESTWOOD: That is an excellent question, Victor. It was sort of an impromptu press conference called after the White House had announced that we would no longer see the President for the rest of Friday, and it had the feel at times of a campaign speech.

The president ranging from COVID to the stimulus talks, and also attacking the media there, even evincing boos from the crowd there. He also referred to that event, Victor and Christi as a peaceful protest when defending the lack of social distancing measures that we saw last night.

PAUL: All right, then Sarah Westwood. Good to see you this morning. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: So with no federal help, the U.S. could face the most severe housing crisis in history, some say. There's this new report that warns up to 40 million Americans could be evicted by the end of this year if conditions don't change. And like most other impacts from the pandemic, Black and Latino Americans are especially at risk. They make up about 80 percent of those facing eviction.

PAUL: Now renters in the South, apparently, face the highest risk of being kicked out of their homes and some people have already run out of time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARISSA KIZER, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST: No warning, no concern with where she's going to go--

HUNTER DEMSTER, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST: Inappropriate, immoral, disgusting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Leslie Nelson from Memphis, Tennessee, there saying she's sick with COVID-19, was evicted over thousands of dollars in medical debt from her mother in law who passed away years ago. So, obviously, her story is - it's one of so many people's who are struggling right now and they're just trying to figure out where to go at this point.

BLACKWELL: Yes, a lot of people facing that.

Students in New York, they can choose to go back to school this fall with safety measures in place. CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro is in New York with the latest. Evan, good morning to you. So the deadline came for Governor Cuomo to make a decision. How did he reach it?

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to your both. Governor Andrew Cuomo looked at the numbers here in this state, the infection rate, the new cases, the hospitalizations, all of these figures that we've seen on the decline here in New York once the epicenter of the pandemic here in the United States.

And said, look, it's safe for schools to open, but that doesn't mean that New York schools will actually open, because of the complicated way that Governor Cuomo set out for that opening to happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice-over): All school districts across New York state are cleared to open for in-person classes, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced in a press conference Friday over the phone.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY) (via telephone): Today is the deadline to look at the infection rates and make a determination. By our infection rates, all school district can open everywhere in the state.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice-over): Each school district across New York was required to submit their proposed plans for reopening by this week. And the plans differ across the state. But all schools can open.

There are 749 school districts in New York State. All are required to submit plans. Governor Cuomo noted 127 of them still have yet to do show. Cuomo added that they will watch the infection rate between now and the date schools are scheduled to reopen. And if the rates spike, they'll revisit the plans.

DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST: Across the country we have varying conditions in the communities. For the most part, this virus is out of control. So I understand the anxiety of the parents, and we grandparents. We have a high schooler going back and someone going to college, we're worried about all that.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice-over): In the State of Georgia, at least 260 students and eight teachers from the Cherokee County School District quarantined after several individuals tested positive for COVID-19 during the first week of school. The district returned to in-person classes on August 3rd.

In statements posted on their website. The school district has reported positive cases in at least 11 students and two staff members. Students and staff who had possible exposure with a positive case had been told to quarantine for 14 days since their possible exposure.

[08:10:00]

Cherokee County families had a choice of in-person or digital learning. At North Paulding High School in Dallas, Georgia, a crowded High School hallway as students change classes. Sophomore Hannah Watters took this photo and posted it to Twitter. It went viral.

HANNAH WATTERS, NORTH PAULDING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: I was very concerned for everyone in that building and everyone in our county, because this is, obviously, nowhere near safe. And especially because there has been multiple people getting tested or multiple people testing positive inside the county from August 3rd when we opened back up.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice-over): Initially, Watters was suspended for taking and posting the photo. But, Friday, we learned, her suspension had been reversed.

While many schools in this country have or will have mandates for mask wearing, Watters's high school did not.

DR. JUDITH FEINBERG, FELLOW, INFECTIOUS DISEASES SOCIETY OF AMERICA: As an infectious diseases physician, I think that universal masking is the most effective tool we have right now in addition to social distancing to get any control over this terrible pandemic.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: COVID-19 cases are skyrocketing in children, teens and young adults according to health experts. The U.S. is nearing 5 million cases with more than 160,000 deaths, as coronavirus testing declines in 29 states compared to last week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: So what that piece is all about is how schools are trying to convince parents that it's safer for them to come back. It's a school by school conversation or school by school fight, and that's the story here in New York where I'm standing.

What Governor Cuomo did was say, look, I think it's safe for schools to open, but school district by school district across the entire state, they're the ones that are going to have to convince parents that it's OK to come back.

That they have to have the plans in place for testing, the plans in place for tracing, the plans in place for all the things that we need to keep school safe and socially distant. That's what Cuomo has put on the backs of school administrators rather than his own shoulders. So that's the story all across the country too. Schools are trying to convince people that it's safe to come back, but parents are still wary. Victor and Christi?

PAUL: Evan McMorris-Santoro, very good point. Parents have to trust who they're handing their kids over to before they're going to be comfortable with it. We appreciate it, Evan, thank you,

BLACKWELL: Got more now on that motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. The mayor there says there is no mask mandate, no travel restrictions. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected in town with a population of fewer than 7,000.

PAUL: CNN's Ryan Young has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Any other year and the Sturgis motorcycle rally is a novelty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything's cool. You guys should come out.

YOUNG (voice-over): A pilgrimage.

TED SMITH, OWNER, "THE RAT'S HOLE": We came 2,000 miles to work.

YOUNG (voice-over): A celebration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're just the happiest people in the world.

YOUNG (voice-over): But this year some fear could be deadly. 250,000 people are expected to crowd a town of 7,000, making it the largest public gathering since the start of the pandemic.

LAURA ARMSTRONG, PRESIDENT, RAPID CITY, SD COMMON COUNCIL: They're not going to be able to handle any kind of social distancing. There's a significant amount of alcohol involved. It's a huge party.

YOUNG (voice-over): Total coronavirus cases are low, but rising in South Dakota. The state's testing positivity rate is between 8 and 9 percent. The WHO recommends locations be at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days before opening. But South Dakota never closed, so the rally isn't breaking any laws.

ROD WOODRUFF, OWNER, BUFFALO CHIP CAMPGROUND: I always look at fear as being false evidence appearing real. And I think that's what has happened.

YOUNG (voice-over): Rod Woodruff owns the Buffalo Chip Campground with 600 acres. He says there's plenty of room for social distancing and common sense.

WOODRUFF: "Ride Free, Take Risks" that's our motto, right? That doesn't mean you don't calculate them. And these people calculate their risk every time they get on a motorcycle.

YOUNG (voice-over): A city survey of Sturgis residents found 60 percent wanted the rally canceled at this time, but the city leaders say bikers were coming anyway.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care if it's closed down. I'm going. They can all kiss my (bleep). I'm going.

YOUNG (voice-over): So the city council allowed it with fewer official events, but no mask requirement. For those afraid to leave home this city will deliver supplies.

MAYOR MARK CARSTENSEN, STURGIS, SOUTH DAKOTA: We've been doing that the entire time. We're actually expanding the program during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally to include anything that can be bought in Sturgis basically.

GOV. KRISTI NOEM (R-SD): Our economy benefits when people come and visit us.

YOUNG (voice-over): South Dakota's Republican Governor Kristi Noem welcomes the crowd and says events like the Independence Day celebration at Mount Rushmore prove the state isn't drastically affected by large gatherings. NOEM: So we know we can have these events. Give people information, let them protect their health, but still enjoy their way of life.

[08:15:00]

YOUNG (voice-over): That's what vendors like Ted Smith want to hear. He came all the way from Florida when.

SMITH: We can't do any work in Florida. It's no shows, no bike shows. It all canceled now.

YOUNG (voice-over): But others worry that 250,000 people crowding bars and restaurants could spread the virus, then send it home to others.

ARMSTRONG: They can infect our Native American populations, our law enforcement, and potentially our bar staff.

YOUNG (on camera): And a lot of the bikers that we talked to say they believe some of the mask requirements are just political nonsense, and they plan not to really wear them throughout this weekend. They plan to social distance. They said there's a lot of space out here. They feel they're going to be safe. Ryan Young, CNN, Sturgis, South Dakota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Ryan, thank you. And by the way, according to data from John Hopkins University, Meade County, South Dakota, where Sturgis is located, has recorded 82 cases and there is one death there. Ryan Young, by the way, is going to join us live at 10:00 am from that area there with the very latest.

BLACKWELL: So the pandemic has stretched hospitals, to their limits with ICUs and some hotspots being overwhelmed. We're going to speak with the Chief Medical Officer at a hospital in the Los Angeles area. You're going to hear his message for people who are not taking this seriously. Those people also who are not wearing masks.

PAUL: Also, is the bubble, the best way to keep athletes safe? We're talking to the team doctor for the Washington Wizards. See what he has to say. By the way, they've had zero cases since the players went inside that bubble.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITNEY HOUSTON: Oh, I want to dance with somebody. I want to feel the heat with somebody. Yes, I want to dance with somebody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: That'll get your attention. So there's this survey that says that Whitney Houston's "I want to Dance with Somebody" is the number one dance track on pandemic playlist.

PAUL: Yes, later this hour, we're going to share our go to songs. I'm sure you're going to have something to say about them.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: But tweet us and let us know what your, say, top three are on your pandemic playlist.

BLACKWELL: This song is not on my list. Is not on my list.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:00]

PAUL: Want to tell you about a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It finds COVID-19 cases among children are not common as we thought. However, when they are hospitalized, they need intensive care treatment at the same rate as adults. So

BLACKWELL: So the report found that one in three hospitalized children needed to be treated in the ICU. Black and Hispanic children had the highest rates of hospitalizations. Most were under the age of two. Nearly 40 percent had some underlying condition.

Joining me now is Dr. Brad Spellberg, Chief Medical Officer at the Los Angeles County, University of Southern California Medical Center. Dr. Spellberg, good morning to you.

DR. BRAD SPELLBERG, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, LA COUNTY-USC MEDICAL CENTER: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: Let me start here with. We just had the report from Sturgis, South Dakota with this huge festival, 250,000 potentially bikers and friends hanging out. I want you to listen to what Rod Woodruff and then I want your reaction to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOODRUFF: I don't mean to make light of it. But I mean be damn serious about the freedom aspect and that means they're freedom-loving people, they're not going to give it up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Freedom loving people getting together and the freedom not to wear mask. To someone who says that, you say what?

SPELLBERG: Slapped forehead emoji, I guess. I - you don't want to be in our ICU. You really don't. And we don't want you to be.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about your ICU, because I understand it, at the height you had 120 COVID patients, 45 in the ICU. Where are you today?

SPELLBERG: Well, we're in the 70s total and in the mid-30s in the ICU, so it's better. But not where it needs to be for us to be able to reopen all of our normal services. I do want to emphasize our emergency department remains open and if you need critical help - if you have an emergency, we definitely are open for business and come see us. But we do need people to stay physically distanced and where their

mask and wash their hands, because this has not gone away. And it's going to keep having periodic surges until the public really starts to take this seriously.

BLACKWELL: Has there been a change in the profile of the typical patient that you see in your ICU versus March and April to what you're seeing today?

SPELLBERG: There really hasn't and I know that this has been a common theme that you've heard about that people are younger now. People getting it - the average age has fallen. We're a public hospital. Public people at baseline. So we have not seen a substantive change in the age of our patients.

We've had young people all along. We've had deaths in their 20s and 30s. We have lots of people in their 20s and 30s, get intubated, put on a mechanical breathing machine. And just keep in mind when you're on that machine, you're on it for weeks and you have tubes in every orifice. This is not a happy existence and we don't want people to have to live like that.

BLACKWELL: Yes. You told our producers that in the effort to free up ICU beds, and the discussion of capacity, it's not so much the physical bed, it's the nurse. Explain that.

SPELLBERG: Yes, that's a great point. People have a misunderstanding about this. We have lots of physical space. I mean, if worse came to worse, we could go out in the parking lot and create an emergency field hospital. We actually have in the hospital, the ability to create physically 50 extra ICU beds, but we don't have nurses to staff those beds, experts in people on breathing machines to take care of people those - resources, not physical space. It's expertise of staff.

[08:25:00]

And what you don't want is a situation that's occurred in other parts of the world that have been overwhelmed, or wholly unqualified people are managing the sickest patients on these events and making mistakes.

BLACKWELL: Yes. I've read that in California, you've got this program. I don't know if it's exclusive to California. But to free up general beds at your facility you send patients home with oxygen. How is that working? How is it working?

SPELLBERG: Yes, this is a really innovative program that we've implemented in the public hospital system in LA County. I'm not sure many other hospitals have this. But we realized very early, we were going to be the system that got overwhelmed first as the public hospital system and we needed to become much more efficient.

So what we do is, we have instructions. We have an instructional video. We have an educational handout. We give people in the emergency department. Or if they're already in the hospital upstairs, they go home with an oxygen tank that we give them. And their oxygen vendor meets them the next day and keeps replenishing their oxygen. And we get them telehealth visits daily until we know they're safe. And it's been working remarkably well. It's helped us avoid hundreds and hundreds of hospital admissions, and it's saved thousands and thousands of hospital days, helping us stay within our capacity.

BLACKWELL: After the shortage earlier this - in the spring, I should say. The administration confirmed or tried to convince people that there was enough PPE to go around for all the medical professionals. And just this week the FDA has loosened guidelines related to PPE because of reported shortages in some hotspots. Are you experiencing there in LA County shortages of PPE availability?

SPELLBERG: We have not had throughout the pandemic in our system a shortage of PPE. There were - our supply chain fought hard to make sure we had access. So I'm not saying this was easy. And it wasn't like the supply chain was steady or reliable. But our system has not had gaps or shortages. And right now we're sitting fairly comfortable with our PPE supply.

BLACKWELL: Last question. And quickly if you can, what's your concern as we head into, I guess, six to eight weeks out from the start of flu season?

SPELLBERG: Yes, so people need to remember that the problem is not just the COVID patients, our other patients need healthcare too. And the winner is when the hospitals are always the fullest, because flu knocks people out and causes problems. And so it's - the fear is the convergence of two problems at once could very rapidly overwhelm health systems.

BLACKWELL: Dr. Brad Spellberg, thank you so much for what you do and thank you for your time this morning.

SPELLBERG: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right. Be well. Christi?

PAUL: Wow, I learned a lot from that one. OK, thanks. Jerry Falwell, Jr., one of the President's evangelical allies is taking a leave of absence indefinitely from Liberty University in Virginia. This is after he posted a picture of himself and a woman that some are saying is questionable.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00]

PAUL: 32 minutes past the hour, we're grateful to have you with us here. Jerry Falwell, Jr is taking an indefinite leave of absence from his role as President and Chancellor of Liberty University no.

BLACKWELL: Couple of days ago he posted vacation photo that had a lot of people asking some questions. Here is CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERRY FALWELL, JR., PRESIDENT, LIBERTY UNIVERSITY (voice-over): She's pregnant, so she couldn't get her - she couldn't get her pants zipped.

(LAUGHTER)

FALWELL (voice-over): And I was like - trying to like - I had on a pair of jeans that I haven't worn in a long time, so I couldn't get mine zipped either.

(LAUGHTER)

FALWELL (voice-over): And so I just put my belly - I just put my belly out like hers.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The picture of Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr. with a woman he says is his wife's assistant caused instant outrage for some tied to the staunchly conservative school. And while he expressed regret for posting the image on Instagram, his explanation didn't help.

REP. MARK WALKER (R-NC): I just think that there is a code that leaders have to live by, especially when you are leading the largest Christian evangelical university in the country.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Earlier this year, Falwell posted an image of a person wearing blackface standing next to another wearing a Ku Klux Clan hood and robe. He apologized then to, but it triggered another outcry.

Now, the school board of trustees has asked them to take in indefinite leave of absence, and they say Falwell has agreed.

(APPLAUSE)

FOREMAN (voice-over): Falwell has been a chief cheerleader for President Donald Trump among white evangelicals, just as his father, Jerry Falwell, Sr., was for Ronald Reagan decades ago when he founded the Moral Majority.

FALWELL, JR.: We must unite behind Donald Trump and Mike Pence.

FOREMAN (voice-over): But in recent years, Falwell, Jr. has drawn sharp criticism over how deeply he has dabbled in politics--

FALWELL, JR.: My boys always have guns in their hands.

FOREMAN (voice-over): --over his management of university business. Despite the critics, Falwell has never backed down, especially over his support of Trump.

FALWELL, JR.: We are not electing a pastor-in-chief, we are electing a commander-in-chief.

FOREMAN (on camera): CNN reached out to Mr. Falwell to see if he has anything else to say about these latest actions. No reply yet. But I will say that he has said numerous times over the years, look, I am not a minister like my father was, but he has now lost a very powerful pulpit. Tom Foreman, CNN, Bethesda, Maryland. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Major League Baseball is suffering another setback after more players tested positive for coronavirus. This three game series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs has been postponed, because two players and a staff member tested positive.

[08:35:00]

PAUL: Let's talk about the NBA, because they're having really good results with its coronavirus safety protocols.

BLACKWELL: Yes, inside the National Basketball Association's bubble in Orlando, no players have tested positive for COVID-19 for the third consecutive week since they started testing.

PAUL: So Dr. Bryan Murtaugh is with us. He's Head Primary Care Physician for the Washington Wizards. Doctor, thank you for taking the time to be with us and you are in the bubble with them. I do want to say so. With that said, what can - what do you think is contributing to the NBA success here? Are there daily protocols - safety protocols that you see working particularly well?

DR. BRYAN MURTAUGH, HEAD PRIMARY CARE TEAM PHYSICIAN, WASHINGTON WIZARDS: Yes, there are so the NBA has come up with probably the most comprehensive plan from a medical perspective to get the sport back.

So, everyone had to do testing leading up to coming to Orlando. And then once arrival in Orlando, everyone had to do at least a two-day hotel room quarantine. And then after you get through that period, we have to open up an application on your phone every morning and take our temperature, take your oxygen saturation, fill out a symptom questionnaire. And all that information gets uploaded to a database and onto a magic band on our wrist.

We have this magic band with us. And then we scan that at different access points. So we can't leave our hotels or access practice facilities or the arenas unless we do those things every day. And so in addition to those things, we also have KINEXON sensors on our credentials to make sure we're doing our social distancing.

We do daily coronavirus testing. Everyone wears masks, of course, and we have hand sanitizer stations pretty much every 15 to 20 within the facilities here. So it's really amazing what the NBA has put together here.

BLACKWELL: Yes, hundreds of tests, not a single positive result. We know what's happening with Major League Baseball, postponement after postponement, positive after positive. NFL, the season is going to start with the second week of September. Can major league sports professional sports move forward without this bubble? Or do you think that this has to be in place in order to get this type of success?

MURTAUGH: Well, I think Time will tell but from all indications so far, it looks like the best way to do it is through the bubble. And with that, you have a safe, contained environment, you have a contained population, and it allows you to keep track of people and it allows you to do daily testing. So those are the keys to success of it. You know, when you have people outside of that bubble it's a much more uncontrolled environment and so that increases the risk.

PAUL: And when you have that bubble, you also have players and employees like yourself, who are kind of cut off from your families. Are you seeing any mental stress from the players or anybody that's been holed up in the bubble?

MURTAUGH: I think most people have adjusted to it just fine. We've done extensive education to the players, staff, leading up to coming to Orlando to really have them understand what to expect. But we do have mental health resources here on campus. So we have psychologists available, whether it be a phone call or telehealth or in-person appointment, and they're also online resources for all the players and staff. So we have those things taken care of here.

BLACKWELL: So Major League Baseball and Players Association, they announced that any player who violates protocols will face disciplinary action, including possibly being banned from the 2020 season.

What happens if there is an NBA player who violates these rules? I mean we saw Clippers player Lou Williams who was allowed to go to a funeral. But while he out, decided to stop by Atlanta's famed Magic City Nightclub, which is also a strip club. Is there a consequence for breaking these rules and what is it?

MURTAUGH: Yes, there definitely is, and that depends on the risk of what actually occurred. So you take Lou Williams case, he did something that was unapproved, and therefore the NBA made him do a 10- day quarantine. So that is a really a testament of how serious the NBA is taking this. They are not kind of that kind of sweeping things under the rug, they are taking every case seriously, and that's really just a testament to what they're doing here.

BLACKWELL: I don't know if it was appropriate to call Magic City, a nightclub and then a strip club. I think it's primarily a strip club, but that's neither here nor there.

PAUL: Good to clarify. Good to clarify.

BLACKWELL: Dr. Bryan Murtaugh, thanks so much for your time this morning. Good luck.

PAUL: Thanks doctor.

MURTAUGH: OK. Thanks.

PAUL: Sure. So listen up next. It's one thing putting food on the table during the pandemic. What about school supplies? On top of that, we're going to take you to a drive-thru in Los Angeles where parents are lined up for food and backpacks for their kids.

[08:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: There was a back-to-school drive-thru event in Los Angeles, gave away hundreds of backpacks. Yes, they were filled with supplies for all of those kids that are going back to school.

BLACKWELL: So this is nonprofit organization, Access Books, distributed 100 tote bags filled with three children's books, and 500 families got bags of foods as well. CNN's Paul Vercammen has more from Los Angeles.

[08:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, Christi behind me the signs of severe economic hardship within the bounds of the massive LA Unified School District. You can see behind me, the cars lined up, 1,500 of them, expected at this giveaway of both book bags and backpacks and a box of produce, trying to address the needs of the students.

Even though we have a situation here where LA Unified School District is starting online. They say it's important that they have those critical supplies. It's also important that they get fed, because so many students in the district are on some sort of meal plan.

We ran into Henry, he's unemployed, and he is grateful.

HENRY HERRERA, UNEMPLOYED PARENT DUE TO COVID-19: Backpacks for the kids, food, that's really helped out a lot.

VERCAMMEN: This event put on by L.A. CARE, Blue Cross, other partners. They're just trying to stop gap for these parents who lack the money right now to buy the school supplies, as well as put food on the table. Reporting from Los Angeles, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you, Victor, Christi.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Paul. Brooks Koepka is looking for his third straight PGA Championship, coming up why he says he has an advantage over every other golfer are on the course this weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:00]

BLACKWELL: There's a mystery happening at the first golf major of the year.

PAUL: Yes, Coy Wire is with us. China's first player to ever hold the lead at the end of a round at a major like this. He, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you. Haotong Li turned pro at 16. He's now 25 years old. He's got this bubbly personality. He said afterwards. I had no idea I could play this well. This is a guy who just four years ago, Victor and Christi, he was learning how to drive a car while on tour, and he was asked what his favorite part of driving is. He said speeding. He's off to a fast start already parked there, leading away heading into the weekend of the PGA Championship.

Somehow he hit just four fairways on the round, and he's still shot a 65. He's an eight under. But bright behind him tied for second two time defending champion Brooks Koepka. He's won more majors, four, than any regular PGA Tour events. When most golfers seem to get stymied by the big stage, he gets stronger. I caught up with him earlier this year and asked him how.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKS KOEPKA, WON LAST TWO PGA CHAMPIONSHIPS: And that's what I figured out mentally that I'm a lot stronger than other guys. So I feel like I've got that one up on a lot of people. And you just have that confidence, you have that swagger that if you walk in there almost believing you're going to do it, then most of the time you will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Koepka on a mission to become the first player to win three straight PGA championships in nearly a century. And this.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

WIRE: Upsets all over the NHL's qualifying round. 11 seed Arizona, is celebrating their first playoff series win in over 3,000 days, beating the sixth seeded Predators. 35-year-old Brad Richardson only scored six goals all season, but tucks the game winning goal in over in time. The last time they advanced to the Stanley Cup playoff, they were still known as the Phoenix Coyotes.

And 12 seed Chicago pulling a stunner over the Oilers led by Captain Jonathan Toews, who notched two assist, including the one setting up the series clincher to Dominik Kubalik. And I think, I believe it after winning three Stanley Cups in five years, the Blackhawks hadn't won a playoff series since their last title in 2015. Not much gets better than playoff hockey, Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: All right. Coy Wire thanks so much. Stay with us Coy.

PAUL: Wait, wait, wait. Yes.

BLACKWELL: Stay with us. Stay with us Coy.

PAUL: Coy, because we have a question for you. And let me just say this. Earlier we told everybody, "I want to Dance with Somebody," Whitney Houston is the top lockdown dance track, as we know it, followed by "Billie Jean" and "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees. This is - look and picture is going, no it's not. Not on his. What is the top on yours, Coy? WIRE: Right now it is Moana, "How Far I'll Go", because our two-year-

old baby girl (inaudible) made me listen to it about a million times. I can recite every word.

PAUL: As a dad.

WIRE: And I will not - I will not hurt your ears.

PAUL: As a dad.

BLACKWELL: That's cute, OK. All right. All right, Christi, what are yours?

PAUL: Alrighty, so Tina Turner and Bryan Adams, people. It's right there. "It's Only Love." I don't know what that is that they make me look like I'm dancing, because I don't look that good anyway. Do we have that - do we have those sounds?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TINA TURNER: When your heart has been broken. Hard words have been spoken. It ain't easy but it's only love.

BLACKWELL: I do love Tina Turner.

PAUL: Oh my gosh, yes. I know. And then, of course, I went with Classic 80s.

DEF LEPPARD: Pour some sugar on me. Ooh, in the name of love. Pour some sugar on me

BLACKWELL: This is good one. So I heard a conversation the other day that you guys were telling me that Def Leppard - you were saying talking about Def Leppard is on all the time?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: That it what?

BLACKWELL: That Def Leppard is on all of the time now.

PAUL: I've seen this - we hear it all of the time. I don't know why? I love it.

BLACKWELL: So these are my top songs. And to be clear, these aren't the top-top. It's the ones that are TVC.

PAUL: Look at that.

BLACKWELL: So "Lose My Breath" by Destiny's Child. Listen to this and tell me you can stand still.

[08:55:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DESTINY'S CHILD: lose my breath, can you keep up Babyboy. Make me lose my breath. Bring the noise. Make me lose my breath--

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Michelle Williams has the best line in this song. If you can't make me say, ooo, like the beat of this drum. I'll let you go with the rest of the lyrics.

All right, so thanks so much for joining us.

PAUL: So glad to having you with us. We're back in one hour. SMERCONISH is next.