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New Day Sunday

Federal Workers Must Receive Their Last Vaccine Dose By November 8; Merck: New Pill Cuts Risk Of COVID Hospitalization And Death By Half; U.S. Surpasses 700,000 COVID Deaths Since Start Of Pandemic; Thousands March In Washington In Defense Of Reproductive Rights; Speaker Pelosi Sets October 31 Deadline For Infrastructure Vote; Select Committee Subpoenas Organizers Of The 1/6 Rally; Trump Asks Federal Judge To Restore His Twitter Account. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired October 03, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:08]

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

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Boris. I'm Christi Paul. We're so glad to have you with us.

Listen, President Biden is urging Americans to get vaccinated as the U.S. hits that 700,000 mark of people who have died from COVID. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is taking us inside a hospital for a look at the impact that this is taking on health care workers now.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Plus, Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema slamming members of her own party for delaying a vote on President Biden's infrastructure bill. We'll bring you up to speed with where things stand now and tell you about a new deadline for getting it passed.

PAUL: And Brady is back. Patriots turned Buccaneer Tom Brady heading back to Gillette Stadium to square off against his former team. How Brady and Patriots' fans are preparing for this one.

SANCHEZ: We are so grateful to have you with us this Sunday, October 3rd. Thanks for getting up bright and early. Good morning, Christi. Great to see you as always.

PAUL: Good morning. You too, Boris. Look at you snappy in your orange. I love it.

SANCHEZ: Orange. Yes, I'm trying -- I'm trying to be, you know, festive like we talked about yesterday, spooky season, Halloween.

PAUL: I love the spooky season. I'm stealing that one.

SANCHEZ: So the Biden administration, right, they now have the green light to start enforcing the president's vaccine mandates for thousands of federal employees, that's according to a new memo from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Federal workers now have until November 8 to receive their last vaccine dose. PAUL: Yes. This push comes as COVID cases are declining across the country and drug maker Merck and Ridgeback say their new antiviral pill cuts the risk of hospitalization and death by 50 percent for COVID patients.

Now, the news also comes as the U.S. marks that, as we said, more than 700,000 number of people who have died from COVID. Yesterday President Biden issued a statement on those losses saying -- quote -- "The astonishing death toll is yet another reminder of just how important it is to get vaccinated."

SANCHEZ: Let's get straight to CNN's Polo Sandoval who has more on the fight to end the pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another somber milestone crossed in the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus has now killed more than 700,000 people in the United States. In a statement, Saturday, President Joe Biden marked a death toll saying -- quote -- "On this day, and every day, we remember all those we lost to this pandemic and we pray for their loved ones left behind who are missing a piece of their soul."

A sea of white on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., a flag for every life lost. Currently the U.S. has the highest COVID-19 death toll of any country in the world and the U.S. is still averaging about 1,900 COVID deaths every day. But there's good news. New cases and hospitalizations are dropping, suggesting that new deaths will also begin to decline.

And even more encouraging, drug makers Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics say their new antiviral pill cuts the risk of hospitalization and death by 50 percent for COVID patients. They'll request emergency use authorization from the FDA as soon as possible.

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: We'll be able to prescribe this to folks that will take a five-day course and hopefully be able to stay home, not come in for an intravenous infusion and keep folks out of the hospital. So, it's really very promising news.

SANDOVAL: Nearly 56 percent of the U.S. population now fully vaccinated, CDC data shows. Thirty-four states have fully vaccinated more than half of their residents.

President Biden reminding U.S. citizens, "If you haven't already, please get vaccinated. It can save your life and the lives of those you love. It will help us beat COVID-19 and move forward, together, as one nation."

Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Let's talk about all of this with public health physician Dr. Chris Pernell. She's a fellow at the American College of Preventive Medicine. Dr. Pernell, so good to see you again this morning. Thank you.

I wanted to ask you first of all about the Merck claims, this antiviral pill that it cuts hospitalizations and death by 50 percent. We know that we need -- I always feel like I need to put this disclaimer out. They're not saying that they can prevent the disease. They're just saying that they can treat it at a much higher level than what we've seen thus far.

And we know that there are claims they plan to apply to the FDA for an EAU as soon as possible. Is it likely, do you think at this point, the FDA would clear it and how comfortable would you be prescribing it?

DR. CHRIS PERNELL, PUBLIC HEALTH PHYSICIAN: Good morning, Christi. Look, this is encouraging news. Whenever we have more in our arsenal or toolkit to beat back this pandemic the better because of the astonishing devastation and loss that it has caused.

[06:05:09]

We don't want to celebrate prematurely. Right now we just have a press release. We want to see peer review data. The process of the FDA should necessarily unfold. And I want people to focus on what is available to us now.

We have very powerful vaccines to prevent coronavirus. So, is this good news? Yes. Is this the panacea, slam dunk? No, not quite.

PAUL: So let's talk to -- or let's listen here to Dr. Reiner. He's a CNN medical analyst and he was talking about this number that nobody wanted to hit, 700,000 people who have died from COVID just in the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REINER: We've lost 700,000 Americans now and fully 200,000 of those folks have died since vaccines have been available almost to everyone in this country, and every one of those deaths is unnecessary. So even though the news is great for this antiviral agent, really the message that people need to receive is, get vaccinated. No one needs to die from this virus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Is there anything different at this point that could be said to entice people who are hesitant about the vaccine to go ahead and do so, to get it?

PERNELL: I don't know that there are new words, new emotions, new stories, but I do know the power of continuing to speak the names, to continue to speak about the souls who have lost their lives. People are still on the decision front.

And as long as we, as health care providers, fellow Americans, can bring home the message that this is a national loss -- yes, I lost my dad but the nation also lost my dad. And that the more we lose the less beautiful, the less whole we are as a society. And the more we can combat misinformation and disinformation, I think, we can get people across that decision line.

PAUL: I wanted to ask you about the boosters here particularly -- we know the FDA independent vaccine advisory committee is holding three meetings mid-month here in just a couple weeks to talk about not just the boosters but about this vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. Does the fact that the Pfizer vaccine already serves the 12 to 17-year-old segment, does that make you more hopeful and more comfortable with treating 5 to 11-year-olds with the vaccine?

PERNELL: I am eagerly awaiting this news. As you know, I'm with the American College of Preventive Medicine. We have a vaccine confident campaign where we talk about the benefits of all vaccines, whether childhood immunizations or inoculations for adults.

So, this data has been long awaited. What we heard from primarily is that there have been no serious adverse or safety events. I believe that this is going to go ahead and get authorized and ultimately approved. Science is doing what science needs to do and we need to help families understand just how beneficial it will be to have every member of their household protected.

PAUL: Dr. Chris Pernell, we appreciate you getting up so early for us on a Sunday morning. Your expertise is something that we really care about. Thank you.

PERNELL: Thanks so much.

PAUL: Of course.

SANCHEZ: Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema is calling the voting delay on infrastructure inexcusable. Up next, the closer look at the freshman lawmaker who is one of the key votes that's keeping President Biden's agenda in limbo.

PAUL: And later, this scene played out in several cities across the country yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- democracy looks like.

PROTESTERS: This is what democracy looks like.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell me what democracy looks like.

PROTESTERS: This is what democracy looks like.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Pro-choice supporters in the streets pushing back against more restrictions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:13:16] PAUL: Thousands of protesters were marching to the steps of the Supreme Court in D.C. yesterday to protest that Texas law that almost completely bans abortion.

SANCHEZ: This was part of a nationwide protest to demand continued access to abortion. More than 600 marches were held in cities across the country including Pittsburgh, Boston, Austin and Cincinnati. The protests took place only two days before the Supreme Court is set to reconvene for its October term. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux filed this report on Saturday from the nation's capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Boris, we are at ground zero of this debate. In front of the Supreme Court you can see the officers protecting the building there. Counter protesters outside, out front, offering prayers and song for the justices here. Also, Capitol police right in front trying to make sure that the two groups stay separate.

One block over, if you swing over on East Capitol, this is where the women's march is concluding and there were thousands strong here in the nation's capital. The focus on reproductive rights, a sense of urgency, particularly on the Texas ban on abortion after six weeks.

The Supreme Court refusing to get involved in that case. Many people saying that they will be paying attention to what the next steps are with the Supreme Court and the possible overturn of Roe v. Wade.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm dressed up as the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And I'm here today for everything that women have fought for since 1973 when this law was first passed giving us the right to choose. And I'm just curious what has changed in that timeframe that makes our Supreme Court justices think that we have changed our minds about that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm dressed up as Lady Justice and I believe that it stands for the fact that justice should be blind.

[06:15:04]

It should be without bias. And there's religious bias in the Supreme Court, extreme religious bias. And so -- and why I'm here today, the things that are going on in Texas really drove me here today.

MALVEAUX: The Supreme Court will be back in session on Monday and they will be taking the Mississippi case, that law banning abortion after 15 weeks, and so now many people saying they're going to shine a spotlight on that particular case, a decision very likely coming midyear next year. Boris, Christi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Suzanne Malveaux, thank you for filing that report.

Elsewhere in the nation's capital Speaker Nancy Pelosi has reset the clock on a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill as progressive and moderate Democrats hammer out details on a separate, massive spending measure.

PAUL: Yes. The speaker has scheduled a vote on infrastructure bill for the end of the month now. Remember, progressives refused to back the measure without a vote on a reconciliation bill that includes a number of President Biden's top economic priorities.

CNN congressional reporter Daniella Diaz is with us now. So, we have a new deadline which gives Democrats a little bit of give and take there. Do we have insight into a strategy on how they will get there?

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, it's only been a day, Christi, since this deadline was set, but the problem here is, that negotiations continue, but lawmakers aren't here. I'm at the Capitol right now. It's totally empty and the House is in committee work for two weeks so they might not even be back physically at the nation's capital to continue negotiating on this.

But, look, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi bought time, that's what matters here. They passed a 30-day funding bill for some surface transportation funding that was going to end Thursday, at midnight. Now the House and Senate have passed that. It's in effect.

So, now they have 30 more days to continue working on, first, this bipartisan infrastructure bill, and separate, the economic bill that's really the question here, really where all the tension is going because the bipartisan infrastructure bill has already passed the Senate. Now speaking of that, you know, Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a key negotiator here. She's a moderate Democrat from Arizona, who has not shared much details on where she stands on this separate economic bill.

All she said, she does not support this $3.5 trillion price tag. She wants to bring that price tag lower. She actually issued a really strong statement yesterday afternoon when the House did not vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the separate $1.2 trillion bill that would have thousands of jobs on -- that would improve roads, bridges, transportation here in the United States, of course, in the country.

She said in this statement, "The failure of the U.S. House to hold a vote on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is inexcusable, and deeply disappointing for our communities across the country." Then she said, "Democratic leaders have made conflicting promises that could not all be kept and have, at times, pretended that differences of opinion within our party did not exist, even when those disagreements were repeatedly made clear directly and publicly."

She is slamming Democratic leaders here for failing to put the vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill on the floor in the House this week so they could just go to President Biden's desk and be signed into law. She's also slamming progressives here. She says that they need to get behind this bill because it would improve roads, bridges, in this country. But, of course, progressives are upset with Sinema because she has not shared any details on where she stands with negotiations with Democratic leaders on this top line for the economic bill. That, of course, would be human infrastructure. It would have funding to combat climate change.

It would have paid family and medical leave. It would expand the child tax credit. These are issues progressives really want. So, two sides here of the Democratic Party that are battling each other to try to achieve Joe Biden's historic agenda.

SANCHEZ: A lot of details still to be figured out, a lot of conversations still to be had. Daniella Diaz, thank you so much.

And make sure you stay tuned to CNN because the conversation continues later this morning on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION." Senator Dick Durbin and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal joining CNN's Dana Bash. She's also going to be joined by Dr. Anthony Fauci to talk coronavirus as well. You can watch all of that at 9:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

PAUL: Well, the January 6 select committee is issuing a new wave of subpoenas. Who they're targeting and what it could mean for their investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:23:53]

SANCHEZ: Amid all of the debate over upcoming legislation the January 6th committee is continuing its work issuing a second round of subpoenas this week. This time targeting those who planned and organized that rally near the White House where former President Trump riled up the crowd, telling them to fight like hell.

They have now been asked to submit documents by October 13th followed by a closed-door deposition later this month. The deadline for the first Trump allies subpoena to submit documents is this week and so far the committee chairman says none have directly responded.

Let's bring in CNN legal analyst Ambassador Norm Eisen. He was special counsel for the House Judiciary Committee in former President Trump's first impeachment trial. Good morning, Ambassador. Great to see you as always.

So in that first round of subpoenas there were a lot of familiar faces, Steve Bannon and Mark Meadows, but in this subpoena list, not quite household names. You say that shouldn't fool anyone. What's significant to you about these subpoenas?

NORM EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Boris, thanks for having me back. Always wonderful to see you.

[06:25:01]

In building any investigation it's important to identify those who -- because every investigation is different -- played the central role. They're not always big names, but this round of 11 subpoenas includes some familiar ones like Katrina Pierson and some less familiar ones who occupied critical conduit roles, Boris.

These are folks who worked in the Republican fundraising and political apparatus in the Trump campaign and also who are listed as organizers on the papers for the January 6th rally which became incitement of insurrection.

So, I think that just as in Watergate the key phrase was follow the money. These were people who were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by the Trump campaign, the RNC, or other Republican political arms. They know where the bodies are buried. Let's get that information into the public realm.

SANCHEZ: Norm, former President Trump, as he often has done, has threatened to sue to try to block the committee himself by using executive privilege, but he's not the executive anymore. So, does he have grounds to claim the ability to call these documents privilege?

EISEN: Boris, I don't think he does have the ability to exert executive privilege. The cases -- there hasn't been a ton of litigation on this. But the cases that do exist make clear, the privilege belongs to the country. Well, our country only has one president at a time and it's Joe Biden, not Donald Trump.

So, while we've never had a case where a current and a former president clashed in court and disagreed about the information relating to the former president, I think, the law is clear here. And in the end of the day, the courts are not going to allow Donald Trump to block the production of this information if Joe Biden says it should be produced, and it should be.

SANCHEZ: So, during the Trump administration often it took years for Congress to access information related to the former president. There were a lot of cases. And in others, like the battle to obtain Trump's tax documents, the matter is still in court.

Obviously, you're no stranger to long legal fights with the former president, so even if you think that this committee lands a winning case, how do you know it wouldn't take months, potentially even years, before they get all the documents, all the evidence they need?

EISEN: That is the toughest question here because the information is important, executive privilege ultimately is not going to apply, but how long will it take? I'm optimistic that building on the lessons of prior fights with Trump, including some of the court battles that I was involved in relating to impeachment, Congress can move quickly here. They've already shown that they're doing it.

They haven't wasted months with letters. They've gone right to subpoenas. They've set extremely aggressive dates with the first date October 7th falling this week and the additional dates to produce documents for the 15 individuals who have been subpoenaed falling through the month, and the depositions, the requirement to show up shortly after that, all by the beginning of November. So if that doesn't work, they need to go to court. And, Boris, they need to push the ball up the court fast. They need a red zone offense, a hurry up offense, where they give no quarter, they don't ask for delays, and they take no quarter. And they insist that the courts move quickly. In Watergate it took less than four months to get from the subpoena for Nixon's tapes to a Supreme Court decision in having the tapes in hand.

The courts can move quickly if that's demanded and if they're willing to. And every effort should be made to do that so the clock is not run out.

SANCHEZ: We have to leave the conversation there, but I think one of the open-ended questions is ultimately, what happens if these requests for subpoena aren't fulfilled, if these folks don't turn over what they're supposed to? Really quick, Norm, do you think that the Department of Justice would go after them aggressively?

EISEN: Yes. This is not your father's Department of Justice, this is not Bill Barr. It's Merrick Garland. There's a role for DOJ to play including criminal contempt. Let these scofflaws, if they turn out to be that, get a taste of the criminal contempt measures.

[06:30:02]

Those penalties are severe. So, I do believe DOJ will get involved.

SANCHEZ: All right, we have to let you go now. Norm Eisen, thank you so much for the time. Much appreciated.

EISEN: Thanks, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

PAUL: Well, former President Trump wants to get back on Twitter, and he's asking the court to step in and help restore his account.

Also, SNL kicks off a new season and let's just say, comedians did not hold back when it came to roasting lawmakers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know what the average American wants. They want to be put on hold when they call 911. They want bridges that just stop and a car falls down. They want water so thick you can eat it with a fork. And I will fight for that no matter what. Unless my foot hurts, then I'll go back to Arizona.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:00]

PAUL: Good morning to you. 35 minutes past the hour. And Donald Trump is making a federal case out of his ban from Twitter, asking a federal judge now to restore that Twitter account. In court documents, his lawyers argue, Twitter has too much control over the country's political discourse. SANCHEZ: Let's bring in CNN Chief Media Correspondent Brian Stelter,

the host of "RELIABLE SOURCES." Brian, the news moves so fast nowadays. Some people may have forgotten why Trump was banned from Twitter in the first place. Help us remember.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And that was in the very -- immediate aftermath of the January 6 Riot when he was accused of inciting that riot. And when he was posting tweets, that Twitter said violated its policies. Facebook, of course, made a very similar decision.

And then in July, Facebook and Twitter are both sued by Trump. Trump is now dragging these companies into court saying that his rights are being violated. He's citing both the First Amendment and also a Florida law against unfair trade practices. And he's also bringing up Section 230. He's really bringing up the kind of the animating principles of the conservative movement right now which are about alleged censorship by big tech companies.

And this latest development is a preliminary injunction where he's making the argument, why is the Taliban allowed on Twitter, but I'm not allowed. Of course, Twitter is a private company. It can do it at once. And so, this is going to be a very, very challenging case for Trump to win. But maybe he just wants to fight. Sometimes he just wants to fight, I think.

PAUL: But what about freedom of speech? I mean, what about Amendment One? I mean, there's an expectation that is certainly going to come into play here.

STELTER: Right. When he cites the First Amendment specifically, of course, you know, that's about the government's relationship with a person, not a private companies relationship. And so, what Twitter would say in response is, you know, we're a private company, we follow the government laws, rules of the road, but we can allow whoever we want into our party, we can kick out whoever we want.

So, I think he certainly is citing those values. Those values are critical, and they are about government's relationship to the -- to the to the public. But it's going to be hard for I think for Trump to win in court with those arguments.

Look, you know, he has a really interesting case, though. And there are other interesting cases about people who are banned by Twitter or fact-checked by Facebook. And these are pretty new cases. This is a really interesting area of the law that's now trickling through the court system.

But most experts I've spoken with say it's going to be very hard for Trump to legally fight his way back onto Twitter. I think what's most important here is he sees the value of Twitter. He wants his megaphone back as he looks ahead to 2024.

PAUL: Yes, good point.

SANCHEZ: Yes. And no question he's surely felt the pain when it comes to fundraising. So, let's pivot now. Saturday Night Live coming back for its 47th season last night. A new cast member James Austin Johnson taking on the role of President Biden. Great comedic fodder. The standoff between Democrats, really good material for SNL. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On one side, we have the moderate Democrats, Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do I want from this bill? I'll never tell because I didn't come to Congress to make friends. And so far, mission accomplished.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it just me or does she look like a character from Scooby-Doo at the same time?

In another premium, like, he's the de facto President of the United States, Joe Manchin from West Virginia.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, that's right. I'm a Democrat from West Virginia. If I vote for electric cars, they're going to kill me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go through this agenda together because we're going to realize, hey, we're on the same page. We're saying the same damn thing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right. I'm saying we need at least 300 billion in clean energy tax credits.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I'm saying zero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See, same page. So, like a lot of good stuff in this bill, like 12 weeks of paid family leave.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Six days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six whole days of paid --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, unpaid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unpaid six whole days.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six nights of unpaid family happy -- it's not a bad compromise, right? Let's get real basic. Roads, everyone OK with roads?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like roads.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Me too. Roads are where trucks live.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kyrsten?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want no roads.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No roads? Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chaos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: A lot for them to work with, Brian. What do you think?

STELTER: And I feel like it's not really fall. It's not really autumn until SNL comes back. So, this is a sign of the season. It's a changing season. And it's changing cast. As you mentioned, this new actor playing Joe Biden, you know, Biden was not really satirized last spring. It was strange that we had this new president and SNL basically ignored him.

Now, thankfully, they are not. They are going right at the Democrats, and right at Biden. And I'm really curious to see how people feel about the new -- as you mention, James Austin Johnson playing Biden. We'll see if people like him or not. Sometimes you know, you got to give it a few weeks to see how somebody sells into the role. But it was interesting that SNL in the season premiere went straight at Biden last night.

[06:40:27]

PAUL: And he had the inflection. I mean, you're right, it might take a few weeks, but there were moments where you went, all right, that was pretty good. Brian Stelter, it's always good to have you here. Thank you.

STELTER: Thanks,

SANCHEZ: Thanks, Brian.

PAUL: We know you like Brian too. Well, you know that you can watch him again. Brian Stelter on "RELIABLE SOURCES: today at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:00]

SANCHEZ: As hospitals struggle under the weight of unvaccinated COVID- 19 patients, some are having to go on what's called a diversion protocol. That's where ambulances might be diverted away from hospitals that are at capacity.

PAUL: CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores the trickle-down effect of beds full of unvaccinated COVID patients and what that does to everyone from other patients to the staff at his very own hospital Grady Memorial in Atlanta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: How unusual is what we're experiencing right now?

DR. ROBERT JANSEN, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, GRADY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: So, this is very unusual.

GUPTA: Grady Memorial Hospital. This is the hospital where I work, where I've been a neurosurgeon now for more than 20 years. It's a level one trauma center. And I can tell you, there's almost nothing a hospital like this can't handle.

JANSEN: There was one Sunday evening, there were 27 gunshot victims brought to Grady in the span of a couple of hours. 27, we didn't go on diversion then.

GUPTA: But take a pandemic and a bunch of unvaccinated people, right?

JANSEN: Right. We can't do it now.

GUPTA: Diversion is just what it sounds like. You have to divert patients away. It's something Chief Medical Officer Dr. Robert Jansen never wants to happen. But the thing is, COVID-19 has changed everything here.

JANSEN: So, 20 bed unit. This morning, we had 14 COVID patients just on this unit alone.

GUPTA: Up in the intensive care unit, it's almost eerily quiet. There's no indication of the tremendous suffering that's happening behind closed doors. These yellow bags are full of PPE. And everyone knows those are the rooms with COVID patients.

How much of what you're seeing is truly due to the unvaccinated?

JANSEN: 95 percent of our patients are unvaccinated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's more challenging than the first COVID wave we had because it seemed like they're going more quick. This variant is quick.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the board we use in the GCC to help coordinate ambulances.

GUPTA: We're now in the Georgia Coordinating Center. This is where they work moment to moment trying to decide where ambulances can actually take patients.

JANSEN: Oh, if it's red, that means they're full, basically. And so, there are occasions when they're made to wait without taking the patient inside. It's called, on the wall, where they're actually kept outside of the emergency room with the patient back at the ambulance waiting to be able to go inside. We don't allow that here.

GUPTA: Even if you're vaccinated, you've done all the right things, because of this pandemic now on the unvaccinated, it affects you?

JANSEN: Well, it is. We talked delaying surgery because we don't have a place to put you after the operation. That is a consequence of this pandemic and related directly to the lack of vaccination.

GUPTA: And it's when hospitals around diversion that the toughest decisions of all need to be made. Who gets treated? Who doesn't?

What's the practical impact on me as if I -- as I was driving here, I got in a car accident?

JANSEN: You know, we do still take care of anybody who comes. So, what we've had to do is cancel patients who would require hospitalization following surgery. And even now, we've canceled other patients and wouldn't require hospitalization. The downstream effect that has on patients is devastating at time.

Every morning, I come in and go through every COVID patient, determine who's on ventilators. I have to report the deaths.

GUPTA: Even as we're talking, we learned that someone passed away around the corner.

JANSEN: Yes. You know, unfortunately, it's a -- it's a daily event.

GUPTA: How frustrating is all this for you?

JANSEN: Well, personally, it's frustrating. But what I worry about is our staff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the natural humanistic part of you that says, how much more can you take? But when it's in your heart to care, you keep coming. You keep coming.

GUPTA: You keep coming, because that's exactly what the virus will do. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: And thank you Sanjay there.

CNN Heroes marks its 15th anniversary. One of our top 10 heroes from 2018 explained how being part of that group helped grow a cause.

[06:50:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was 14 when I started building means. I was 23 when we were honored. And to get this award and to have our work and shown in its full breadth was just so incredible. And it really changed the narrative that we'd been up against that we were just kids, this was just a club, that now our entire hearts and souls were poured into what we were doing at means and that we were having this large-scale national impact.

Since then, our budget has more than quadrupled. We were able to -- thanks to our pretty great grants, invest more than $4.1 million in small restaurants across nine U.S. cities. And I'm so grateful for all the opportunities that Heroes opened up for all of us. So, thank you, and congratulations on 15 incredible years.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PAUL: To learn more, you can go to CNNHeroes.com. And thank you for doing so.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:00]

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. We are just about 55 minutes past the hour on an all-new season of this is life. Lisa Ling is exploring historical events that changed America but are rarely found in history books. It's a hard truth that America is still confronts today. You can catch the season premiere of This Is Life with Lisa Ling next Sunday at 10:00 p.m. only on CNN.

A lot of eyes are going to be focused on a huge NFL game tonight. I don't remember an NFL regular season game with more hype than this one, Christi.

PAUL: Yes. Tom Brady is leaving the Tampa Bay Bucs back to New England to take on the New England Patriots where he won six Super Bowls with his former head coach and mentor Bill Belichick. Coy Wire with us now.

Coy, you know what this feels like to go home like that. It's got to be weird.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: It is very weird. As an Atlanta Falcon, I played against my former team the Buffalo Bills. But that was in Atlanta. Tom Brady, totally different level, totally different situation.

One Boston radio host described this, Boris and Christi, as the high school reunion where you have to go and see the ex who broke your heart. That's how some Pats fans might feel tonight, but that's how Tom Brady might feel about the breakup with the organization after 20 years when he walks into Gillette Stadium to play his former team for the first time.

Physically, Brady is going to prepare the same way he always does for every game. But mentally, there's no way to prepare for this. It'll be surreal for Brady to face his mentor, Bill Belichick, against his former team. He posted a powerful video taking a trip down memory lane, highlighting the six Super Bowls he won for New England.

Then his title in Tampa last season, all along to the famous Jay Z lyrics, allow me to reintroduce myself. Some Pats fans say there will be boos for Brady, others will be cheering for him over their own team, somehow they prayed for the greatest of all time, marching goats in Pats jerseys through downtown Boston yesterday.

And as fate would have it, Boris and Christi, Brady will likely break another record tonight in Foxborough, 80,000 plus passing yards in his 22 seasons. And it turns out, he needs just 68 to pass Drew Brees for the most in NFL history. What are the chances? Game time, 8:20 Eastern.

Now, to college football. Shocker in Silicon Valley. Birthplace of Facebook, Pay Pal, Intel, Apple, and my Stanford University down seven to number three. Oregon having to go 94 yards in a minute 51. Stanford with no time remaining, has Elijah Higgins Pac-12 all academic honor roll psych, major use in mind and body to elevate for the game time touchdown.

Let's go to overtime where Stanford has the ball 13-11. Quarterback Tanner McKee puts big trust in his big body receiver John Humphreys debut in his way to the end zone. Oregon gets a chance to tie it or top it. But Stanford defense doesn't give a duck a thing.

Oregon falls 31-24 for a college football playoff ranking shake up. Intellectual brutality as head coach David Shaw says. Stanford has now won four straight games over AP top three teams, the longest active streak in the FBS.

The Ducks' downfall might be the Bearcat's big break. Seventh rank Cincinnati rolling into South Bend and taken down number nine Notre Dame. Senior quarterback Desmond Ritter thrown two touchdown passes in this run late in the game sealing it. 24-13, the final. No team from outside the power five conferences has reached the playoff in its seven seasons. Maybe this is the year. Go Bearcats.

You won't be seeing number 10 Florida in the playoffs. They got upset at Kentucky. Look at the crowd in Lexington. Fans celebrating like they hadn't beaten Florida at home since 1986 because they hadn't. Finally. Purdue's cheerleaders didn't let the rain get them down. Look at his belly flop right into a puddle on the sidelines. That is what it's all about. Despite Purdue's loss of Minnesota, this is our play of the day, Boris and Christi. Look at the effort. Look at the precision, the technique. That is focused. That's determination. That's how you get your Sunday funday started off

SANCHEZ: 10 of 10, 10 of 10 on that one, Coy.

PAUL: It's very nice.

WIRE: That's good stuff.

PAUL: Coy Wire, thank you.

SANCHEZ: Coy Wire, thank you so much. Always great to see you. The next hour of NEW DAY starts right now.

PAUL: Well, good morning to you. If you are just joining us, it is your new day.