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New Day Sunday
Florida Sets New Records Of Highest Coronavirus Cases In One Day; Trump Doubles Down On Divisive Messaging In July 4th Speech; Supreme Court Set To Rule On Major Cases Involving Trump's Finances; Baltimore Protesters Tear Down Columbus Statue; States Order Bars Closed As Coronavirus Cases Surge; Redskins Coach, Owner Working On New Nickname. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired July 05, 2020 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[07:01:01]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This Independence Day is like none other. The coronavirus pandemic forced much of the country to cancel the usual public celebrations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump this evening, for the second night in a row, focusing his Independence Day remarks on exploiting cultural divisions.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are now in the process of defeating the radical left.
PROTESTERS: What do we want? Justice!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Holiday celebrations were overshadowed by demands for social justice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A statue of Christopher Columbus in Baltimore, toppled and dumped in the harbor.
TRUMP: We will never allow an angry mob to tear down our statues, erase our history, indoctrinate our children or trample on our freedoms.
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CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: We're up early. We're glad for it. Good morning to you on this Sunday. It is July 5th. I'm Christi Paul.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Martin Savidge, in today for Victor Blackwell.
PAUL: So good to see you this morning. Thank you, Martin, for being here, too. So, we do want to tell you about some troubling reminders this morning
of why health experts don't want people to let their guard down this holiday weekend.
SAVIDGE: Florida is strengthening its case as the new epicenter of the virus in the U.S., as the state set a new single-day record of new cases that rivals New York's record earlier in the pandemic.
PAUL: CNN's Boris Sanchez is in Clearwater Beach, Florida.
So, it looked like it was starting to get busy when we talk to you yesterday as the sun was coming up. What does it look like today? What was it like yesterday? And when we're talking about numbers in Florida, this was a record setter, 11,000-plus in one day cases, yes?
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Good morning, Christi and Martin.
A record-setting day, no question. More than 11,400 cases for the Sunshine State in a 24-hour period. That means for the first three days of July, Florida got 30,000 new coronavirus cases. Keep in mind for the entire month of June, Florida saw about 100,000 cases or so.
So, the pandemic here hitting very serious levels. Despite that, Governor Ron DeSantis leaving local leaders to determine restrictions in their areas. And what that means is that while some beaches were closed this holiday weekend, others were open, like the beach in Clearwater, where we got a chance to speak with some of the locals who decided to visit the beach, to enjoy the sun and play sports and enjoy the day. There were signs asking them to be socially distant, to avoid congregating in large groups. Despite that, we saw a lot of people ignoring those rules.
I actually spoke to one woman named Kathy who moved from Alabama to Florida in the middle of this pandemic. She told me that she was taking precautions but she felt like she had to just live her life and enjoy Independence Day on the water.
Listen to more of what she shared with me
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KATHY SALGADO, BEACHGOER: If we're going to get it, we're going to get it. I'm happy to be here. I know the numbers are going up. And I hope that it drops. But it doesn't seem like it is. So, why stop enjoying life?
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SANCHEZ: Yeah. So, again, Governor Ron DeSantis effectively letting things go as they have been. He has not put in place a widespread mask mandate. The beach is closed today on the southeastern part of the state. They will be open again in Clearwater and other areas, specifically in the western part of the state.
No question that in a few weeks from now we will likely see a surge of cases just like we saw for Memorial Day weekend. A lot of folks ignoring the social distancing guidelines then. About 14 days later, we saw a huge rise in cases across the nation, it's that 14-day incubation period for the coronavirus -- Martin and Christi.
PAUL: Wow. All right. Boris Sanchez, thank you so much. Important information there.
[07:05:01]
And we know that you're trying to find the right balance. You want to stay safe during the pandemic and enjoy the holiday weekend. At some point you realize you want to enjoy life.
SAVIDGE: You do. But you got, with the rising cases, you've got increased hospitalization and health experts are now worried about the potential for this ongoing surge to just intensify and get worse.
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SAVIDGE (voice-over): As America celebrated her 244th birthday, public health officials pleaded with Americans to keep safe, noting the worst public health crisis in anyone's memory isn't going away. The numbers tell the story. Coronavirus infections are spreading like wildfire in 36 states with Arizona, Texas, Florida and California posting record infection rates, this past week alone.
Nationwide, the death toll is nearing 130,000, and almost 3 million people have been infected. So, for this weekend anyway, the hope was that Americans would be mindful and avoid large crowds to help prevent COVID spread.
Well, the results seem to be a mixed bag. On the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the Fourth of July crowd size appeared to be smaller than in years past. Even so, few of the spectators watching the grand fireworks show from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial were donning masks.
At the White House, the president and first lady hosted a Fourth of July event on the White House lawn. And there, too, little sign of social distancing and more masks in use.
In New York City, which was hard hit by the coronavirus spread early on, the show did go on.
MUSIC: New York, New York
SAVIDGE: But city officials were hopeful that many revelers would watch this particular fireworks show from home.
Meanwhile, video footage from the North Carolina's outer banks, Alabama's Orange Beach and California's Manhattan beach showed people putting safety to the side in favor of a little fun in the sun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not necessarily concerned. It's not more about the partying, it's about celebrating America.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm very afraid of coronavirus. I'm here far from all these people.
SAVIDGE: Health officials are quick to point out the current surge followed similar public behavior over the long Memorial Day weekend. The fear now is the surge may only get worse. Once again, we may see hospitals overwhelmed with patients.
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MARTIN: At least 12 states are experiencing a sharp rise in the number of daily hospitalizations and with more patients of course, comes the critical shortages of beds, ventilators and even ultimately medical staff.
President Trump doubles down on his divisive Independence Day message while accusing social justice protesters of trying to divide America.
PAUL: We're going to go to CNN's Sarah Westwood at the White House.
Sarah, talk to us about what else he said, and really the fact that this was a prepared speech. These weren't off the cuff remarks.
SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Christi. The president focusing last night on cultural division in his July 4th speech, and accusing opponents of trying to destroy America, of trying to erase history. It was a very similar message to what the president delivered the evening before in the shadow of Mt. Rushmore.
But it's really part of a calculated shift from the president on these protests. He's moving away from the law and order message from the early response that was focused just on the destructive fringe of the physical protests that we saw sprung up in the immediate aftermath of George Floyd's death and is moving toward sort of taking aim at the movement itself. That's not really something that he grappled with in a significant way before this weekend. He's taking aim at the goal of encouraging this reckoning with the American past.
Trump's also used words in this Independence Day speech like defeat to describe the claims that those aligned with them don't have a clue what they're doing.
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TRUMP: We are now in the process of defeating the radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters and people who in many instances have absolutely no clue what they are doing.
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WESTWOOD: The president also claims without evidence that 99 percent of coronavirus cases are harmless. Obviously, there is a high degree of asymptomatic spread. But nearly 130,000 Americans are dead from coronavirus at this hour.
There was little social distancing at the event last night as well. People were gathered in clusters, especially in the shade. It was a hot day. Very few guests seen wearing masks. Martin and Christi. PAUL: Sarah Westwood, always good to see you. Thank you.
SAVIDGE: President Trump also used his speech to claim a lot of progress on fighting coronavirus. And as Sarah pointed out, it's worth repeating here. He made a baseless claim that health experts say it a lie.
[07:10:05]
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TRUMP: Now we have tested almost 40 million people. By so doing, we show cases, 99 percent of which are totally harmless.
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PAUL: We want to get a reality check here from Erin Bromage. He's a CNN contributor, professor of biology specializing in immunology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
So, good to see you again, Erin.
I wanted to ask you first of all, about your reaction to the claims that the president made there. What is the medical, what is the scientific reality of this 99 percent he's talking about?
ERIN BROMAGE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I honestly can't find any reality to what he's talking about. I think he's saying that we've run so many tests and had so few deaths, which doesn't seem right. And we know that somebody that tests negative today can test positive tomorrow.
So how many tests we run is not a good indicator of what is currently happening in the country. So, I'm not really sure where he's coming from with that comment.
BLACKWELL: Erin, you've done a good job for staying safe over the holiday. We've seen the crowds and the fireworks and how people celebrated the fourth. Do you think they followed the precautions? Are you encouraged by what you saw?
BROMAGE: Well, in some places people are doing the exact right thing. I do get encouraged by that. We cannot forget the people doing the right thing, because if we just focus on the people doing the wrong thing, I saw in your last piece people throwing their hands up in the air, saying, what can I do, I may just as well enjoy life.
So, we are as a nation doing the right thing in most places. But in some places where the message is not getting through, people assembling in large crowds, especially in large crowds indoors, we're just making this problem worse every day.
PAUL: So we've had these consistent directives about washing our hands, wearing the masks, social distancing. Beyond that, do you see any state, local federal guidance on policy that could actually make a difference here? BROMAGE: Yes. So none of us wants to go back to the lockdown. The way
that this virus moves between us is really based on what we do each. So, you go back to those simple things, the washing hands, wearing masks and physical distance will go a long way to reducing transmission.
If we can't do that, if that is a problem for some reason, then we need to do things like stopping people aggregating. That's when they stop closing -- start closing bars and restaurants. And, you know, those things keep cascading if we can't do our own social responsibility, physical distance and mask wearing.
SAVIDGE: The numbers going up and we've seen it primarily in states that were the first to reopen. When we look at it as nonmedical people, we see numbers that we worry about individuals. But this is data for all of you to study, and I'm wondering what stands out from the new numbers that you're seeing?
BROMAGE: Well, Florida is the most concerning at the moment. The testing is increasing a little bit, but the number of positive tests per day is increasing. So, they're getting more cases and of the tests they're doing, more of them are positive.
So, there are two indicators that the outbreak in Florida is actually getting worse. It's accelerating.
Talk to us about the long-term effects here. I think we have a list of some of the things that they discovered. I know this -- at the end of the day, it's a young virus in terms of gathering data and trying to determine what we know about it and where it's going. But when we look at long-term health consequences to this, the ongoing fatigue, the lung damage, the blood clotting, the damage to the heart and the kidneys, I mean, what do people have to understand about recovery and what that means for them?
BROMAGE: Yes. So, first, I am not a medical expert. I'm an immunologist. But I will say that the long-term effects of this are grossly unknown. They're misrepresented in the moment in the vast majority of the media. Everyone is just focusing on deaths.
These people that get infected and do survive that have lung damage have neurological damage, heart and kidney damage is incredibly troubling. We're also seeing some of the autopsies come out of the people that have past and the blood clotting that they're seeing right throughout their body is like most people have never seen before in that field.
It is worrying to say the least and because we are so early into it, there's really no risks that we should be taking with this. We need to avoid being exposed and being infected because these could have long- term serious consequences.
SAVIDGE: You know, one of the interesting arguments I've heard against people taking social distancing seriously is that they felt that, oh, in the summertime, this is only going to die out. It's like the flu. It's going to go away. I actually heard someone say that in a doctor's office while I was
getting my test for COVID-19. And, clearly, Florida is a prime example of it's really hot, it's not dying down because of warm weather.
BROMAGE: Yes. So pathogens definitely have seasonality. We see that quite regularly with the flu, with rhinovirus. Many different pathogens transmit more easily during different seasons.
And there was a reasonable expectation that this would do the same thing, just like the other human coronaviruses. But one thing that was unique about this it was brand new to the human species, and we had so many people were naive and had no defenses against this.
So, pretty early on when we looked at what was happening in Australia or what was happening in Singapore, in their summer when this first came out, we knew it was going to transmit, it was going to break those barriers of seasonality. So, it comes as no surprise to public health officials, to epidemiologist that this roared through that April, you know, disappear rhetoric that we heard and has kept going and just plowing through the American population right throughout summer.
SAVIDGE: And, now, of course, you worry of what will happen once we're back inside again in the fall. And that is a real concern.
Dr. Erin Bromage, thank you for joining us this morning. We do appreciate it.
PAUL: Thank you.
BROMAGE: Thank you, Martin. Thank you, Christi.
PAUL: Of course.
SAVIDGE: In other news breaking, overnight, new details about a deadly nightclub shooting in South Carolina. What local police are saying about the investigation. That's just ahead.
PAUL: Also, the Supreme Court set to rule on two major cases involving the president's finances, and whether they should ever be revealed to the public. We'll talk about what's ahead.
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PAUL: So, we're following breaking news in South Carolina this morning. Authorities in Greenville County are looking for at least two suspects following a deadly shooting in a nightclub.
SAVIDGE: The venue was packed for a band's performance overnight when a gunman or gunmen begun firing.
Last hour, we spoke with Greenville Sheriff Hobart Lewis. Here's what he has to say.
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SHERIFF HOBART LEWIS, GREENVILLE COUNTY (via telephone): Around 1:50 this morning, our deputies were traveling now here in Greenville County. They saw a large commotion and pulled in to check it out. And it was an actively involved shooting at that time.
So deputies made entry and started rendering aid. By this time all the shooters had left in various cars. Several hundred people were inside. EMS or first responders showed up and transported four people to the hospital. We have ten total that were injured and two have passed away as a result of the gunshots.
And we're working now in identifying suspects. We don't know really what started the shooting inside the club. We don't know who initiated it. There was a band or a group performing. And I think they had some involvement. I don't know if they initiated it. But they were involved at some point.
PAUL: So the band involved or band members, you suspect, were involved in this.
LEWIS: Band members, that's correct.
PAUL: But you say suspects. How many suspects are you looking for right now?
LEWIS: We know certainly of two. Again, there may be more. There was multiple shots fired. We don't have a round count yet of actually how many rounds were shot. But we do know for sure from video that was posted that there were at least two shooters.
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PAUL: And we'll keep you posted on that. Nightclubs do not have permission right now as I said, to be open in South Carolina. But the sheriff said he's working with the county to see if perhaps there was clarity on whether there was an exception granted or if there was a violation that it was open. So, we'll keep you posted.
This week also, as we look head, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on two major cases involving President Trump's finances, wrapping up what's been a major term for the nation's highest court.
SAVIDGE: CNN's Supreme Court Analyst, Joan Biskupic joins us now.
And good morning to you, Joan.
JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Good morning.
SAVIDGE: Usually, when we think of Supreme Court rulings, we think of, you know, broad consequences and implications. These seem to be potentially cases focused on one individual, the president of the United States and his finances.
So, what's at stake here? BISKUPIC: That's right. You remember since 2016, President Trump, then
candidate Trump has not wanted to release his tax returns. And his tax materials are at stake in one of the cases brought by a Manhattan D.A. and grand jury.
In the other one, it's the House of Representatives, the Democratic- led House of Representatives challenging reluctance for Trump to turn over financial documents.
[07:25:00]
Actually, it's Trump's longtime accountants and banks that have been blocked so far by -- from turning over these documents because President Trump has intervened. In both cases, there were subpoenas issued by investigators saying that these accountants and banks should turn these over.
So, big questions of separation of powers, big questions of whether the president can be investigated. In the New York case, the president's lawyers are saying that a president should have temporary immunity from any kind of criminal proceeding while he or she is sitting in office.
So, a major question in that one. And in the House of Representatives one, Martin, it really goes to the power of elected officials to investigate a separate branch of government, you know, the checks and balances that we have here in America. So, both of them are important for practical consequences for Donald Trump and for presidents and congresses down the road.
PAUL: I know that there are some other significant cases coming up. And they could be some, you know, thorny legal questions to resolve outside presidential power. Talk to us about what we're looking ahead to with health care and with the electoral -- the electoral process.
BISKUPIC: Exactly right, Christi. The one involving the Affordable Care Act which goes back almost a decade now tests the mandate for birth control coverage that's on employers. And, you know, churches and religious institutions were already exempt.
But this goes to other kinds of employers who feel like they have religious or moral objections to providing contraceptive coverage to their employees. And the Trump administration is trying to expand those exceptions for religious or moral grounds. And that's what's being tested in a case that's known by the group of nuns that first brought it called Little Sisters.
And then the other one is salient for this election year. It has to do with when an elector for the Electoral College refuses to vote for the person who he or she pledged to, the person who got the popular vote in a state and instead wants to cast a vote for someone else. In 2016, this was an elector who said originally that he would pledge to candidate Hillary Clinton and in the end said, well, I don't want to do that. I want to write in John Kasich or someone else.
SAVIDGE: Joan, real quick, before we go, what surprised you the most so far out of the developments you've heard? I've got to ask about John Roberts. I mean, you wrote the book on the man, "The Chief". But how has he played in these developments?
BISKUPIC: He has been so at the center, Martin. You know, ever since Anthony Kennedy retired in 2018, John Roberts has not just been chief justice. He's been in the center of this ideologically divided court.
So, essentially, however he casts his vote as a fifth vote to either side is what the law of the land will be. We saw him for the first time ever in his 15 years as chief justice cast a vote to strike down an abortion restriction. He had never done that before.
But I think he did it because of the tumultuous time we're in, the precedent that was at stake here, and even though he hollowed out in some way the standard for accessing abortion regulations to come, he cast a very important vote with the liberal justices. And I think in these Trump cases, just to circle back what Christi was asking about too, Martin, I think he'll control those.
And the one thing he will not like but may get are very tight divided rulings, because he knows that his predecessor chief justices when he heard cases involving President Nixon and President Clinton, they were able to be unanimous.
And right now, John Roberts is presiding over a divided court, he's casting the fifth vote, but he doesn't want it to be the fifth vote. He would prefer to have not so -- he's like a little more of a lopsided vote if he can't get unanimity because a lot of it is at stake in this polarized times.
SAVIDGE: Yes. Well, that's why we love to get your insight. Joan Biskupic, thank you so much. So much knowledge there.
PAUL: It's so good, Joan, to see you. Thank you.
BISKUPIC: Thanks, Christi.
SAVIDGE: Next, another statue torn down, this time a statue of Christopher Columbus. It was in Baltimore. We'll tell you what happened once it was on the ground.
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[07:33:46]
SAVIDGE: Independence Day saw more protests across the country, including in Baltimore, where protesters tore down a statue of Christopher Columbus.
PAUL: Yes, witnesses say they saw about 300 people gathered in the downtown area before marching to that statue. And you see here what happened. It broke to pieces when it was toppled and protesters then dragged those pieces to the harbor and threw them in. The statue had stood in the little Italy area more than 30 years.
The city council president said he'd previously suggested it should be removed.
The country obviously, you've seen it play out for weeks, is so divided right now, and forced to reckon with some deep cultural shifts that need to be addressed. More and more Americans are re-examining U.S. history and its past with racial injustices.
SAVIDGE: And although American remains high this Fourth of July weekend, several polls show different opinions of what patriotism looks like.
Joining us now is enterprising reporter for "USA Today", Alia Dastagir.
You explore these issues in your most of recent article of mid protest and the pandemic, what does it mean to be American in 2020? Experts say the heart of the debate is whether being American depends on who you are or what you believe in.
[07:35:02]
And what have you found?
ALIA DASTAGIR, ENTERPRISE REPORTER, USA TODAY: Sure. Thank you so much for having me.
What we heard from historians, political scientists and the Americans we spoke to for the story was that there actually is broad agreement on sort of big ideas. Polls show that 90 percent of Americans believe that being a real American means treating others equally. There's a lot of agreement on aspects of good citizenship. People believe that good citizens vote, they pay taxes. They follow the law.
But dig a little deeper and there is a sort of crucial debate happening, which has been happening whether or not people are aware of it. But happening for a long time, which is whether being an American depends on who you are, so sort of characteristic like being white for example, being English speaking, being born in this country or whether being an American depends on what you believe. So those core values of freedom, equality and opportunity.
And I think simultaneously, there's also a debate kind of going on about, as you say, patriotism and what does it mean to love this country, to express devotion to this country and historians that I spoke with for this story would say that American patriots criticized the country when they feel it's not living up to those core foundational values.
PAUL: So, I want to look at that number again, citing the Grinnell College national poll that finds 90 percent of Americans feel being American is the leading and treating people equally. Can you reconcile that with what we've been seeing the last couple of months?
DASTAGIR: Sure. I think that part of this is that we -- there are things that we profess to believe in and then there are ways that we behave. And you could say that this is true of the country, right? That a lot of people feel that the country is not living up to those sort of core foundational stated values.
And people, experts I spoke with for this story say some part of that could be unconscious bias. So, again, some people, particularly white Americans, have an idea in their minds of what an American looks like. And this can cause us to maybe ask questions of an Asian-American, for example, where are you from when that person may have been born in this country, their parents born in this country, their grandparents born in this country.
And then there are also people in the country who explicitly define being American in a narrow way. Because of these sort of slow-moving demographic changes we are on track to become a majority nonwhite nation, a lot of people left out of the definition are saying, again, the country is not living up to its values.
SAVIDGE: There are elements, I believe you found that we do agree on, or sort of in general agree on. What are they?
DASTAGIR: Sure. Yes, I think that that is really important to note that we do agree on a lot. In terms of what makes a good citizen and even across party lines, Republicans and Democrats agree, much more than we would expect, they agree on, again, the importance of voting, paying taxes, following the law. But also things like serving on juries, the census, respecting the opinions of those with whom we disagree.
Where you start to see divergence is things around Republicans, for example, believe that knowing the pledge of allegiance, displaying the American flag. Those are things that are very important. While Democrats will say that protesting when the government does something wrong is very important.
And so, yes, I think it's important to note in this moment when people feel conflicted and have complicated feelings about what it means to be an American, pride is still high and people feel most pride when their fellow Americans are sort of looking out for one another, thinking about the collective good.
PAUL: Alia Dastagir, that's such a great conversation. And I think we all learned an awful lot listening to you. Thank you for being here. Appreciate it.
SAVIDGE: Thank you.
DASTAGIR: Thank you so much for having me.
PAUL: Absolutely.
So, when we come back, sounding the alarm on the dangers of spreading the coronavirus in bars specifically. Is the pandemic threatening to kill the traditional drinking scene? We got that story next.
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[07:44:28]
SAVIDGE: New warnings this holiday weekend from the nation's top medical minds about the risk of venturing into indoor bars.
PAUL: Yes. Infectious disease experts say bars carry risks of infection that other places don't.
Here's CNN's Brian Todd.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A carefree crowd at a bar in Austin, Texas, many inside not wearing face masks. In Jersey City, this bar was cited twice in one weekend for overcrowding. Police say hundreds of people were inside not wearing masks or social distancing.
[07:45:00]
At this club in Houston an owner says they required patrons to show they had a mask in order to get in and had the tables spaced out. But he says customers ignored the rules.
BRET HIGHTOWER, CO-OWNER, SPIRE NIGHTCLUB: As much as distance we try to put everyone based on the guidelines, it's not the facility, it's the people.
TODD: These scenes from recent days have prompted America's top voice on the coronavirus outbreak to issue a stern warning about bars.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Bars, really not good. Really not good. Congregation at a bar inside is bad news. We've really got to stop that.
TODD: In Texas, where a coronavirus spike has surged to alarmingly dangerous levels, Governor Greg Abbott admitted he made a mistake with his state's reopening.
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS: If I could go back and redo anything, it probably would have been to slow down the opening of bars, now seeing in the aftermath of how quickly the coronavirus spread in the bar setting. And how a bar setting in reality, just doesn't work with a pandemic.
TODD: But Abbott and his state are certainly not alone. Texas is among seven states, some of them experiencing massive spikes in cases, which have either shut down bars completely or have partially shut them or paused re-openings. Experts say crowded bars alone don't account for the recent spikes, but they say the natural social atmosphere in bars is especially dangerous.
DR. JOHN SWARTZBERG, PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE, U.S. BERKELEY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Bars are places where people are not wearing masks, places where people aren't social distancing and after some drinks, of course, you lose your inhibitions and you even are less cautious.
TODD: The doctors we spoke to say there's almost no way to make an indoor bar setting safe during this pandemic. Indoors, they say, especially in there's loud music playing at a bar, it's like a Petri dish for the spread of the virus. SWARTZBERG: Inside in the bar, if it's noisy, if there's music playing, the ambient noise is going to make you talk louder. When you talk louder, you expel more droplets from your mouth. Those droplets, of course, can contain the virus and infect other people.
TODD: Another part of this so-called perfect storm of infection, experts say, is the average age of many people who go to bars.
DR. JAMES PHILLIPS, PROFESSOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: They feel invincible because they're young. And, quite frankly, throughout the beginning of this pandemic it's mostly been messaging about older folks and people with preexisting health conditions as being vulnerable.
TODD (on camera): So has this pandemic killed the bar scene completely?
The medical experts we spoke to don't believe it has. They believe traditional crowded bars will make a comeback. But they say that can't be until we have proven vaccines and herd immunity. And they say that could take another year or so.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: Thank you, Brian.
Well, we are moving closer to the Washington Redskins changing their name. Hear what the team's coach had to say about that, next.
PAUL: First, though, we hope you celebrated safely with your family and friends. We know you were trying to work it in there, but we hope that you made some good memories.
And in case you missed it, you want to give one to hear the musicians from the U.S. Marine Corps performing its fireworks light up the sky. Take a look.
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[07:52:55]
PAUL: The Washington Redskins coach says he's been working with the owner on a name change and hopes it can be done by the start of the new season.
SAVIDGE: Andy Scholes has more on "The Bleacher Report".
Good morning to you, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Martin and Christi.
You know, it certainly would be quick if they're able to get a new name before the start of the season. You know, teams are going to go to training camp at the end of this month. This is going to be the first season for Ron Rivera as the head coach of the team in Washington. He actually grew up in the D.C. area and said he loved the team's name a kid but his opinion of that team name has certainly changed.
Rivera says he and owner Daniel Schneider have been talking about a new name for more than a month now.
Rivera telling "The Washington Post" that they have two names that he really likes, and the most important criteria of the name is that it is respectful of Native American cultures and traditions, and also is a tribute to the military.
Now, Rivera is the son of an Army officer. He's the only Hispanic head coach in the NFL right now.
Now, owners, Daniel Schneider once said that he would never change the team name. But on Friday, the team announced it would undergo a thorough review of the name after facing mounting pressure from corporate sponsors like FedEx and Nike.
And, Martin and Christi, there are actually odds of what the new name will be. Sportsbetting.ag says presidents, generals and Lincolns are the top three favorites right now for the new team name there for the NFL team in Washington.
SAVIDGE: OK.
PAUL: Yeah. All right. Baseball? Are we talking baseball?
SCHOLES: Oh, we got time -- we got time for some baseball? OK. There was a frightening moment yesterday, Yankees stadium. I did want to show it to you guys.
Luckily everything turned out okay for Masahiro Tanaka, but not after just some terrible moments there. Watch as Giancarlo Stanton hits a line drive right off Tanaka's head. He was on the ground for quite a while, before he was able to actually get off with some help, ended up going up to the hospital. A CT scan came back negative.
Tanaka later tweeted: I appreciate all the support.
[07:55:00]
I feel it a bit right now, but I'm all good. Going to try to get back on the mound ASAP.
He says I feel it a bit right now. I can only imagine, line drive. Giancarlo Stanton, one of the most powerful hitters in all of baseball. So, that was a scary moment, luckily it turned out the way it did.
SAVIDGE: Yes, absolutely.
Andy Scholes, thanks very much.
PAUL: Thanks, Andy.
SCHOLES: All right.
PAUL: And thank you so much for starting your morning with us. We hope you make good memories today.
SAVIDGE: "INSIDE POLITICS" with Phil Mattingly is coming your way, next.
