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New Day Sunday

CDC: Vaccinations Best Tool Against Delta Variant Surge; Vaccine Skepticism; Rampant Delta Variant Cause Cases To Surge; Moratorium Expires, Leaving Millions Facing Eviction; Unemployment Rate For Black And Latino Women On The Rise; Dominant Dressel Takes Home Five Gold Medals. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired August 01, 2021 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:06]

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: So, yes, this is going to be a concern, Christi and Boris, not only for the northern portion but any of these areas that are dealing with the fires.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Allison Chinchar, wow, thank you so much.

(MUSIC)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. And welcome to your NEW DAY. I'm Boris Sanchez.

PAUL: And I'm Christi Paul.

So, we are talking about coronavirus cases that are surging, and we're getting a fresh look at how effective vaccines have been in preventing serious illnesses. This is happening as health experts are working to bridge the confidence gap with the unvaccinated.

SANCHEZ: Plus, uncertain future. Millions of Americans who can't afford to pay rent are on edge this morning after the federal eviction moratorium expired hours ago. We are joined by a woman who is concerned that means she could soon lose her home.

PAUL: And change of heart. Maybe, they initially avoided getting vaccinated, but after ending up in the hospital for days, there's a couple, one couple in particular, who is urging everyone to get the shot. They're going to be with us live.

SANCHEZ: And gold standard. CNN sitting down with Olympic gold medal swimmer Katie Ledecky fresh off another big showing at this year's games.

NEW DAY starts right now.

(MUSIC)

SANCHEZ: Buenos dias. Good morning. It is Sunday, August 1st.

Thank you so much for waking us with up.

Christi, always great being with you. Even though I got to say, August 1st, where has the time gone?

PAUL: We are barreling through the summer. But that's okay because I'm about ready for fall right now.

SANCHEZ: It is hot.

PAUL: I know. And listen, we want to begin with a new month and new numbers that we're seeing. Numbers of COVID cases we haven't seen in months.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, it's because of that contagious delta variant that is erasing some of the progress made earlier this year in the United States.

Look all at the red on that map. The month of July ending with a daily rate of infections across the U.S. almost seven times what it was in late June. Hospitalizations and deaths also rising sharply. But it seems like people are paying attention because after weeks of dwindling numbers, vaccination rates are on the rice, especially across southern states where vaccination rates have lagged behind the rest of the country.

And now, more cities and states are reinstituting mask mandates, though politics could get in the way of those efforts.

PAUL: Let's talk about Florida because that state is emerging as one of the hardest hit in the new wave. It's approaching a record high number of daily COVID-19 cases, and with students returning to school shortly here in the next couple of weeks the number of new cases in children old enough to be vaccinated is at 22 percent.

So the state's Governor Ron DeSantis is going after communities implementing safety measures. He is threatening to cut state funding from any schools that compel students to mask up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR DAN GELBER (D), MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA: This governor has become a champion for people who to wear mask and don't want to follow the CDC. That's who is he feeding dogma and ideology to. He should be screaming for people to get vaccinated. He should be urging them to wear masks. He is like the pied piper leading everybody off a cliff right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Strong words from the mayor of Miami Beach.

Let's bring in CNN's Polo Sandoval.

Polo, good morning.

Setting the politics aside here, the data, the latest data from the CDC is crystal clear. The most effective way to be protected from this virus is simply to get vaccinated.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's what the data points to here. Good morning, Christi and Boris.

I know in Washington, D.C., you have seen it firsthand. You have seen how that the mask mandate is back in place, requiring anybody over the age of two regardless of vaccination status to put the mask back on in indoor public space.

Here in New York, I can tell you that Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to make an announcement regarding that very same topic of masks as early as tomorrow morning because, yes, the vaccination numbers continue to rise in New York state. But now, so is the number of positive COVID tests as well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL (voice-over): With COVID cases on rise across the country, the latest figures from the CDC reinforce the importance of getting vaccinated. New data shows that less than 0.004 percent of people who have gotten the vaccine have experienced a breakthrough case severe enough to warrant hospitalization and less than 0.001 percent of them have died from the disease.

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: The news is just phenomenal with these vaccines. Even with the super aggressive delta variant, our vaccines work and they work really well.

SANDOVAL: Right now, 97 percent of the people in the hospital with COVID and nearly all of the COVID deaths being reported are among the unvaccinated. The past three weeks have seen more people getting vaccines, especially in states that have been lagging the most. Experts are pushing to get people to take the shots.

One Georgia county even offering $50 debit cards to those getting vaccinated on Saturday. And it seemed to help.

VINCENT JAY, DEKALB COUNTY RESIDENT: I have always thought, well, really they need to offer me some kind of incentive, you know, to get the vaccine. The money is what got me here. You know, just bottom line.

SANDOVAL: But other people say they simply don't trust the shot or the government offering it to them, and that as medical experts and political officials looking for ways to bridge the confidence gap.

LT. GOV. GEOFF DUNCAN (R), GEORGIA: Millions of folks are just a couple of questions being answered away from being vaccinated and that's ultimately the answer to the pandemic, is getting as many people vaccinated as we possibly can.

MICHAEL THURMOND, CEO, DEKALB COUNTY, GEORGIA: You have to give people hope. We are not going to throw up our hands and concede defeat to this deadly virus. It's one arm, one shot, one life, and we just got to keep pumping and grinding until we get -- until we reach herd immunity.

SANDOVAL: The fiance of one Nevada man who waited too long to get the shot to ensure there were no dangerous side effects is urging everyone to stop hesitating and do it now before it's too late.

JESSICA DUPREEZ, UNVACCINATED FIANCE DIED FROM COVID-19: Everybody can have a bad reaction to any vaccine throughout history. But I would take a bad reaction to the vaccine over having to bury my husband. I would take that any day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL (on camera): And I do want to take you back to Florida, and what is Governor DeSantis' executive order here that we discuss a little while ago, what it basically does, it restricts local Florida municipalities, governments and school districts from enacting any kind of emergency COVID order, including mask mandates.

So, we should be clear, it's not an all-out ban on any kind of mandates, but certainly will lead to some debate, especially, Christi, because you consider just that number alone, now 22 percent test positivity for Florida residents from 12 to 19 years old.

The frustrating part, Christi, they are eligible for the vaccine, yet this number continues to rise, specifically among some of the younger residents in that state.

PAUL: Oh, my goodness. Polo Sandoval, great point to make there. Thank you so much. And we have the man who can talk to that specifically with us now, Dr. Bernard Ashby. He's a vascular cardiologist and the Florida state lead for the committee to protect Medicare.

Dr. Ashby, thank you so much for everything that you do. I understand that you are working in clinics and in hospitals and the primary people you are seeing people who are unvaccinated.

Help us understand what you are hearing from them and how sick are they getting.

DR. BERNARD ASHBY, FLORIDA STATE LEAD, COMMITTEE TO PROTECT MEDICARE: Good morning, and thanks for having me.

So, basically, I tell folks before I was a cardiologist, I was an internist. I have never quit being an internist. So I treat everything, including critically ill patients.

Unfortunately, what we're seeing is a sharp rise in the number of folks coming in to the hospital and to my clinic with positive SARS- CoV-2 results when they get tested. And as we all know, the delta variant is highly transmissible and as a result a lot of these folks are ending up admitted to the hospital and there is a large portion of patients are getting admitted to the ICU, and the vast majority of them are unvaccinated.

PAUL: What do they tell you about their decision to remain unvaccinated? Do any of them have regrets?

ASHBY: Well, definitely. You know, to say it light lightly, to put it lightly. Many of them have different reasons for not getting the vaccine. They are individuals that simply don't trust the vaccine and believe some, you know, out of the world thoughts like it has magnets or a tracking device to individuals who are concerned that the vaccine came out too quickly and they were worried about the potential implications of that, and so they waited.

I would argue that there is a large portion of people on that spectrum, and in addition to the fact that a lot of individuals are still saying that it's not approved by the FDA and, therefore, they don't feel like they need to take it. So, again, it's heterogeneous group, but, you know, there is a large portion of patients who, if they would have had direct contact with me or other physicians, probably would have had their vaccine beforehand.

PAUL: We know that there were more than 21,000 new cases of COVID in a single day on Friday in Florida. That is the highest one-day total since the pandemic began. And Florida has now been dubbed by some the new national epicenter of this.

There is that other study, the 22 percent of the people that Polo mentioned are between 12 and 19 years old. So they are old enough to get the vaccine.

How are you seeing this affect younger people as opposed to some of the older patients that you have?

[07:10:08]

ASHBY: Well, currently during this new surge, our peaks are higher than our winter surge and we're quickly approaching that of our first surge in terms of the numbers and actually the hospitalizations. I mean, we're over 10,000 hospitalizations currently in Florida, which is out of -- which is absolutely ridiculous.

But because so many individuals who are 50 and older got vaccinated, we are seeing a downshift in the number, in the average age of individuals coming into the hospital and to the ICU.

So the vaccine -- sorry, the virus, unfortunately, has a large pool of patients it can jump to and continue to spread, and as a result, we are seeing younger patients who are coming into the ICU and to the hospital with coronavirus.

PAUL: And how do those young people faring? Are they severely ill?

ASHBY: So it's a heterogeneous group. Overall, our ICU rates have been the highest that I have seen it personally. We do have a lot more younger individuals who are currently in the ICU, but I think that's related to the fact that the delta variant is a much higher viral load and there is a lot of things that indicate that it's potentially more pathogenic than previous strains.

And so -- previous variants. And so, I definitely think that it's a combination of things. But the fact that so many people are still unvaccinated is a large factor in what we're seeing.

PAUL: Sure. So, Governor Ron DeSantis, and we heard Polo talk about this, as well. Friday, he barred school districts from requiring students to wear masks. He has resisted vaccine requirements. He's limited local officials to what they can do to mitigate factors and impose restrictions.

If you could sit down with Governor DeSantis, what would you want him to know?

ASHBY: Where do I start? If I could actually have a word with Governor DeSantis, I would tell him that you and your family are vaccinated. Many Floridians aren't vaccinated. What can we do to work together to increase the rates? But currently, in the midst of the surge, let's do more to help physicians, health care professionals, nurses, respiratory therapists in dealing with this current surge.

So, really, we are not getting any backing from our leadership. Instead, we are hearing a lot of political discussion. I have come out and I have spoken loudly and forcibly to the leaders saying that we need help and this is, you know, over a week ago now.

Unfortunately, all that I have gotten from actually Governor DeSantis himself was more political rhetoric saying that he is against mask mandates, he is against lockdowns, and I'm not saying that we need to mandate anything, we need to lock down anything. What can we do now to decrease the amount of people hospitalized? What can we do now to decrease the amount of people that's dying?

And there is Atlanta of low-hanging fruit that we can address, but there is no proactive plan. There is no strategy whatsoever. All he is saying is what he is against, not what he is for. While he is doing that, people are literally getting sick, hospitalized and then died.

PAUL: Before I let you go, Doctor, I feel like when I ask you that question you had a big sigh. I can see that this is weighing on you.

Help us understand what you are feeling about all of this right now. How do you feel? How are you? Are you okay?

ASHBY: Well, I'm OK. I mean, I said it earlier in a previous interview that this is, you know, like Groundhog's Day. I mean, we have been through this before. We thought this was behind us, and the fact that it's occurring again and the fact that it's in this political climate where we feel like our leaders aren't behind us, they are not supporting us, is frustrating to say the least.

It's really concerning to me that, you know, rather than taking care of the health of the public, that we have politicians that care more about scoring political points. And to me, that to me is just reckless and it's inhumane and at the end of the day I treat patients as individuals like they are my family members and I would expect that our politicians would do the same because we are a community. You know, if we don't act as a community and work together, more people are going to die -- simple and plain.

PAUL: Dr. Bernard Ashby, we appreciate so much you taking time to be with us.

[07:15:03] The work you are doing is really important. Thank you to you and your teams and please take good care of yourselves.

ASHBY: Thank you so much.

PAUL: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Vaccine skepticism has been a big hurdle in convincing some people to get vaccinated. In a few moments, I'm going to speak with one family who says that misinformation stopped them from getting vaccinated. And after that they ended up in the hospital, they are now encouraging everyone to get vaccinated.

PAUL: So the country's federal eviction moratorium expired hours ago. What happens now to an estimated 11 million people who are struggling to pay their rent and what, if anything, can Congress do about it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: As the delta variant prompts a new surge in coronavirus cases across the country, one thing remains clear. Vaccines remain the single best protection from severe illness amid a deadly pandemic.

[07:20:03]

Nearly all people who are hospitalized with COVID are unvaccinated, many of them, sadly, telling doctors they wish they could have gotten the vaccine.

Joining us now is one of those people, Kayasa Cobb. She was recently hospitalized for 13 days with COVID. She and her husband Jammie say they have changed their minds about vaccines. Neither of them were vaccinated before they got very sick with COVID.

Thank you both for joining us this morning. We appreciate you sharing your story.

Kayasa, I want to start with you. You were released from the hospital July 9th, about two weeks after you were first admitted with some severe COVID symptoms. Help us understand what that experience was like and how are you doing now?

KAYASA COBB, SURVIVED COVID-19 HOSPITALIZATION: Well, the experience was kind of grueling simply because I experienced a lot of pain from blood clots. So I actually ended up with blood clots in my lungs, which we all know could be very deadly. So, basically, I am doing better. I'm grateful for it. But it was a very scary moment at the time.

SANCHEZ: And you said that you regret your initial reluctance to get vaccinated. I'm curious about what was holding you back.

K. COBB: So I have -- I'm severely anemic, and once I heard the Johnson & Johnson case where it was causing the vaccines -- actually causing blood clots, I was a little concerned, although I am not a doctor. I didn't have the information first happened from a doctor. I became concerned and I was a little hesitant to get the vaccine.

So, you know, I was trying to wait it out to see the results, and ended up actually with COVID and with blood clots. So that was the ironic thing.

SANCHEZ: And, Jammie, you also wound up hospitalized with COVID-19. Your wife said that you previously believed some of the misinformation, some of the conspiracy theories out there. Where did you come across that information? What made you believe it?

JAMMIE COBB, SURVIVED COVID-19 HOSPITALIZATION: Over WhatsApp. I came across the information. Friends and co-workers was sending me information over the Internet about the different conspiracy theory reference of what it does to the body, you know, RNA, DNA, and that little -- and I wanted to wait it out. So that's why I didn't get the vaccine.

SANCHEZ: And now when you talk to those friends that were messaging on WhatsApp and those co-workers, what do you tell them? What do you share with them?

COBB: I told them that don't send me anymore -

(INAUDIBLE)

SANCHEZ: Let's see if we can get it back. Unfortunately, it sounds like we are having technical difficulties there and we couldn't hear what Jammie was saying. Really unfortunate. It's so important to get their message out there. So much misinformation and ultimately it's led to a lot of people being hurt. We're going to try to get them back after a quick break.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:27:49]

SANCHEZ: It is the first of the month, which means the rent is due. But millions of Americans who can't pay are facing possible eviction.

PAUL: Yeah, a federal ban on evictions expired at midnight last night. This is after Congress failed to extend the moratorium.

Now, Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush slept outside the Capitol steps Friday night to draw attention to the crisis. Listen to her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CORI BUSH (D-MO): When you sleep outside on the ground you are open and you are vulnerable to all of the elements however, whatever those elements are, it was cold last night, now it's super hot. We have been here.

I still have on the same clothes I had on last night. I'm dirty. I'm dirty. I'm sticky. I'm sweaty. I still have on what I had on last night. This is how people have to

live if we don't do something. Seven million people, 6 million, 11 million, however many it is, they deserve their human dignity and they deserve for the people that are paying to represent them to show up and do the work to make sure that they have their basic needs met today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: And the finger-pointing has begun, too, over this expired moratorium.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, it's been on the calendar for months. Lawmakers had to have known about it. So how did it happen and what happens next?

CNN congressional reporter Daniella Diaz joins us now live from Capitol Hill.

Daniella, update on us on where things stand now that the ban has expired.

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Boris, Christi, it's been a real blame game here. You know, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blamed Republicans for blocking a bill on Friday that would extend this eviction moratorium, but really the problem here was that Democrats didn't have enough votes in their own party, in the House, to pass this bill using a simple majority.

You know, Pelosi wrote in a tweet thread yesterday blaming Republicans. She said: In an act of pure cruelty, Republicans blocked this measure leaving children and families out on the streets. But really what happened was Democrats, moderate Democrats were eager to get out of town and begin their seven-week recess and, you know, didn't want to stay around for this vote.

So even Democrats are not able to collect all of the votes to be able to pass this bill, which is what Congresswoman Cori Bush is protesting to try to push the message to extend this eviction moratorium.

[07:30:04]

And the other problem is that the Senate also would have to pass a bill and Senate Democrats wouldn't have 60 votes to be able to break the filibuster to pass this bill. So, it's unclear whether it could even pass through Congress to extend this eviction moratorium.

Of course, this all came after the Supreme Court last month allowed the CDC order to stay in place until July 31st to extend the eviction moratorium, but said that for it to be extended again it would have to be Congress who took action.

So, now, the White House and Democratic leaders are calling on state and local governments to use, you know, emergency assistance, emergency rental assistance. It's $46.5 billion to help families be able to stay in their homes.

So blame game here continues, and right now nothing has happened on that front.

PAUL: Well, let me ask you about the other big story on Capitol Hill, is this $1 trillion infrastructure bill. Do we have any guidance, any clarity about the status of that bill at this point?

DIAZ: Well, Christi, we know that staffers are working hard to finalize the text of this bill. That's what's holding everything up, is that the bill has not been finished yet and the Senate can't proceed with a vote if the text is not finalized.

However, Senate Majority Leader Schumer updated the Senate floor a couple of times yesterday in a rare Saturday session, saying that the text is going to be completed possibly today.

So we'll wait to see how that proceeds today. Once that is finalized, then Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will substitute that bill in -- as an amendment and then senators can proceed to add additional amendments to the legislation and then possibly pass this bipartisan infrastructure proposal.

But, look, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is incredibly optimistic that they will pass this bill through the Senate because it's bipartisan. So they will break that 50 -- excuse me, that 60-vote threshold needed to pass this bill. So, lots of optimism on the Senate side on that front.

PAUL: All right. Daniella Diaz, so good to see you this morning. Thank you.

So, for a lot of people, you feel that the economy is rebounding, but there are families across the country still struggling. One of the hardest hit communities, in fact, has been black and Latino women.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, the unemployment rate for black women alone is nearly double what it was pre-pandemic, and for many it's not just about finding a job. It's about finding a job that can sustain their families.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Four generations and a 100-year-old family recipe is what got Nicole Route and her family through the toughest year of their lives.

NICOLE ROUTE, UNEMPLOYED: I never thought that we would be doing this for survival.

YURKEVICH: The Louisiana family's crawfish bisque recipe unexpectedly turned into a small business during the pandemic, helping to pay bills during a year of loss.

First, it was Nicole's job in the oil and gas industry --

ROUTE: This is my B.B. YURKEVICH: -- then she lost her grandfather to COVID.

ROUTE: You think what else could happen to you and then, boom, you lose your uncle too.

YURKEVICH: And now she's losing unemployment benefits. Louisiana is ending the extra $300 a week in federal unemployment benefits early at the end of this month.

And despite labor shortages, Nicole said she's applied to over 150 jobs since the winter, struggling to land one that pays enough to support her family.

ROUTE: You know, I get a lot of people talk about it is because everybody is on unemployment and nobody wants to work anymore, but reality is $8, $9, $10, $20 an hour just does not sustain life for a family.

YURKEVICH: Women are still struggling to recover out of the pandemic, facing issues like balancing work and child care. Unemployment rates for black women remain almost twice as high as before the pandemic.

Nicole is switching industries to tech hoping that will open new opportunities. Until one sticks, she's surviving off dwindling savings and unemployment.

ROUTE: I do think there are opportunities for people like myself to get a piece of that booming economy that everybody is talking about. It is just not booming for everybody.

YURKEVICH: Nicole is not the only one struggling to find a job. While the lines of people waiting for food here in New Orleans and around the country have slowed, Louisiana still has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

BETTY THOMAS, COO, GIVING HOPE FOOD PANTRY: I don't know if they think this is the new normal with people still being out of work, unemployed, in lines for food. Most of these women who come here are in the hospitality industry.

YURKEVICH: Andrea Jones is one of those women in line. She's worked in hospitality but says her hotel still doesn't have enough business in their banquet hall to bring her back.

ANDREA JONES, RELIES ON FOOD PANTRY: The central for being here today is to make sure I still eat. It gives me a little hope because I don't have to go out -- I don't have money that I could go spend to get the food.

YURKEVICH: Food kept the Route family afloat during COVID. But now, Nicole is hoping studying for a new tech certification will give her a leg up in the job market. That test is next month, the same time her $300 a week in unemployment benefits run out.

Is there a point when the money is gone altogether? ROUTE: The point is not to ever get to that point. If I have to work at night and during the day, then I'll do it. Whatever it is, I will do it to feed my family, period.

YURKEVICH: Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, New Orleans, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Thanks for that report, Vanessa.

After the break, we're going to speak with that Florida couple who were hesitant to get vaccinated but after a tough hospital stay with COVID-19, they are now putting the word out, telling people to get vaccinated.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: I want to turn back to Kayasa and Jammie Cobb. After they got were hospitalized, they are urging others to get their shots.

Kayasa and Jammie, thanks for rolling with the punches with us.

We were listening to Jammie.

You were describing what you were telling your friends after they sent you some misinformation on WhatsApp and your voice cut out. I could see you both laughing. I am wondering what it was that you were saying about, what you were communicating to those folks.

J. COBB: Yeah. I was telling them not to send me any more misinformation. I told them, look, I'm getting the vaccine in 90 days, and that is just what it's going to be.

And one of my friends, he chuckled. The other friend, he told me that he is not getting it. And he hoped that I don't be sorry. So that was the topic at the time. It was like a couple days ago. I think two days ago.

SANCHEZ: And they know that you wound up getting hospitalized. So they know that you went through this horrible experience. Did they not realize that the same thing could happen to them?

J. COBB: Well, I'm not going to give you the detail of what one of the friends said. It was shocking. I don't want to go into detail.

But he think it's a joke. In my mind, I'm like I wouldn't wish that on anybody, not even my worst enemy. The virus is deadly.

It's a number of things that it does to you. One being it disrupts your whole pH balance. I wouldn't want to wish that on anybody.

SANCHEZ: And, Kayasa, I am sure when you were having conversations about COVID early on and you heard some of the things that Jammie was hearing, misinformation and conspiracy theories, there was something in you that I'm sure you felt unsettled by whether you should trust it or not. Ultimately, what was that process like for you, hearing what he was

hearing?

K. COBB: Yeah, it was a little unsettling, simply because I do know that vaccines are very important. Like I have told other people before, it wasn't that, you know, that our family is anti-vax family. Our children have been vaccinated. We received vaccination before.

It's like a toil in your mind. Do I get vaccinated or don't I? You know, it's like, do I take my risk of just taking vitamins, my mask, you know, and you kind of get comfortable with when you have done it like for a year and a half of keeping your family safe, you know.

But I think somewhere along the line, you know, of course, one of us let our guards down. We'll never know who. But at this time it's just, you know, your mind is just playing tricks on you. Like do you take your family and get vaccinated or don't you? You know, with all of the information, the misinformation that you are hearing.

And now we know that it's misinformation because we know that we experienced firsthand, especially myself having blood clots after hearing about blood clots. That was the weirdest thing to me.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. So, you folks are in Pembroke Pines, Florida. It's in South Florida. I'm actually from Hialeah not far down the road from you guys. I wanted to ask specifically what you want the community in Florida to know because that state is seeing a rise in COVID rates unlike what we've seen for months, and in some situations the rate of hospitalizations is rising in ways it hasn't since the beginning of the pandemic.

So what's your message to the community?

K. COBB: Well, actually, I'm going to tell you we, actually began with our own family. A lot of my family members have now received the first shot, you know, my sisters, my nieces and nephews, my daughter, who actually escaped COVID, although she lives in the house with us. She is 18, getting ready to go to college. She received her first shot, as well.

[07:45:03]

So, our message is to go out and get vaccinated. If it can keep you out of the hospital, if it can keep you from being seriously hurt or injured or hospitalized, go and get it. I'd rather experience it less than to experience what I experienced in the hospital and my mother, who is elderly, who is 69 years old, just turned 69, and my husband and his mom.

J. COBB: My mom, yes. My mom. She is an active lady and doing recovery she did a number of things to get well. She went out in the sun. She walked.

So she is doing pretty good. So, you know, you know what? I forgot. It's because of God and because of members of the church praying for this family that we was able to recover. I remember being conscious during the recovery period. I was able to call an individual in the church to pray. And here we are now.

SANCHEZ: Well, we are glad that you are both well and improving and, obviously, that you are getting the word out about the importance of the COVID vaccine. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us this Sunday. We appreciate your time.

Kayasa and Jammie Cobb, thank you.

K. COBB: You're welcome.

SANCHEZ: Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:51:27]

PAUL: So, Team USA is flexing its muscle in the pool at the Tokyo Olympics.

SANCHEZ: Let's get straight to Coy Wire who is live from Tokyo -- Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good to see you both.

We have seen great swimming here especially from Caeleb Dressel, an Olympic legend blossoming right before our very eyes. Dressel dominating, dashing out of the gate in the 50-meter free, crowns the fastest man in the pool on the planet, Caeleb crushing the competition. An Olympic record 21.07 seconds. And then got income pool to swim the butterfly leg of the 4x100 meter medley relay. And that was a new world record.

U.S. and Caeleb winning yet another gold. Dressel winning his fifth gold medal, three of them in individual events here in Tokyo. The only other swimmers to do that, Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps.

So, Dressel adding to his Olympic gold medal count in addition to the two he won in Rio. Right now, he's the gold standard of men swimming.

The GOAT of women's swimming? Katie Ledecky. She brings two golds and two silvers back home, giving her a grand total of 10 Olympic medals in her career. I talked to Katie earlier today, asked her about her reflections, even found out her celebratory meal was and it wasn't sushi. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATIE LEDECKY, 10-TIME OLYMPIC MEDALIST: It's an amazing feeling to be bringing home two golds and two silvers here and to compete in my third Olympics. It's something I never imagined when I first started swimming.

WIRE: What do GOATs eat?

LEDECKY: Healthy.

WIRE: Healthy. LEDECKY: Yeah.

WIRE: But after years of sacrifice and discipline, a celebratory meal. And how are you just going to relax now that this is over?

LEDECKY: I did have a hamburger after I was done. It tasted good. But, yeah, I'm just going to enjoy spending time with family and friends and telling them all the stories. I can't wait to get back to the U.S. and just give them the big hug.

WIRE: Simone Biles has made an incredible impact on these games, and I think we're seeing how powerful mind is.

There's not many people in the world who say they have navigated what you have in your career. When you've felt those moments, what got you through them? How did you navigate the situations?

LEDECKY: I try to just stay focused on my own goals and try not to let external expectations get to me too much. Swimming is not the only thing that I enjoy doing. I'm passionate about other things, as well.

So, I'm really happy that I just finished my degree at Stanford and just had a great time there, as well. So there's so much more to life than swimming and the Olympics and the people around me remind me of that.

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WIRE: Passionate about philanthropy, making this world a better place, incorrigible work ethic. One of the most humble super stars I've ever met.

Congratulations, Katie Ledecky.

PAUL: Definitely.

Coy Wire, thank you so much. Take good care of yourself there.

SANCHEZ: Thanks, Coy.

We have a quick programming note for you. Tonight, on an all-new episode of "JERUSALEM", you'll learn how the battles between Christians and Muslims changed the city forever. Here is a preview.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As the crusaders set out, Solomon is well-prepared. He has a huge army. He has a lot of water. He has a lot of military supplies. And he also takes the precaution of spoiling the wells that are on the route.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was July. So very hot north of Palestinian. Very dry. He ordered his men to burn (INAUDIBLE), and the wind was blowing westward. So, all the smoke and the heat went the direction.

[07:55:01] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thus, causing them to choke, to swelter, and to suffer even more, to add and to compound to the chaos of beating their drums really loudly.

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SANCHEZ: A powerful history lesson on an all new episode of "JERUSALEM: CIT OF FAITH AND FURY", tonight at 10:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

PAUL: We hope you have a great week. Thank you so much for spending time with us this morning. And make good memories this week.

SANCHEZ: Christi, great to be with you. Hope you have a good rest of your weekend.

You are in good hands. Manu Raju is in for Abby Philip on "INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY" next. Have a great Sunday.