There Are 50,000-Plus New COVID-19 Cases In U.S. For Third Straight Day; Experts Urge Caution During Holiday Weekend As COVID-19 Cases Rise; Airlines Anticipate A Fraction Of Usual July 4th Travelers This Year
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In some of the hardest hit areas are struggling to keep up.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's set up a perfect storm.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If people gather on Fourth of July, the same way they did in Memorial Day, it could lead once again to an increase in the number of people who lose their lives.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's nothing more American than making a sacrifice by staying home to keep a family member safe, a neighbor safe, or a stranger safe.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an administration that can't seem to come up with a plan.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The virus has breached the President's inner circle.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump, Jr. and the top fundraiser for the reelection campaign test positive in South Dakota.</s>CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning to you. I'm Christi Paul.</s>MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN HOST: And I'm Martin Savidge in for Victor Blackwell. Happy Fourth of July.</s>PAUL: That's right. Saturday, July 4th, we are glad to have you with us. Listen, we want to talk about the COVID and what's happening right now because there's some real concerns from health experts about the pandemic, particularly this weekend because this is a Fourth of July, like we have never seen in the middle of a pandemic. They're saying don't let your guard down. The concern, the big gatherings of course, the barbecues, beaches fireworks, that it could increase the infection rate even more. Events we know are being scaled back, safety measures are being enforced. At beaches from the West Coast to the East. There are some places closing them entirely in fact, such as Southern California.</s>SAVIDGE: The U.S. enters the holiday weekend after reporting more than 50,000. That's right, 50,000 new cases for a third straight day. 37 states are seeing an increased trend of new cases, only one per month is seeing a decline. And then, late last night we learned that the coronavirus has now breached the President's inner circle. Kimberly Guilfoyle is a top Trump campaign official, and the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr. And she's isolating after testing positive COVID-19.</s>PAUL: I want to go to CNN Sarah Westwood right now at the White House. Sarah, what are you learning about, about her? She's asymptomatic?</s>SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Oh, good morning Christi and Martin and yes, Kimberly Guilfoyle is asymptomatic according to a spokesperson for Trump victory finances, which she's the National Chairwoman. She's self-isolating after testing positive for coronavirus, and she was in South Dakota at the July 4th event that President Trump attended last night at Mount Rushmore. She had not had contact with the president, yet she tested positive, obviously left the event after receiving that diagnosis. And thankfully, her boyfriend, Donald Trump Jr. the President's son has tested net negative but he did -- he is also self-isolating after all of that. But despite that, and the fact that cases are surging in states around the country, we did not hear much about coronavirus in the President's July 4th address at Mount Rushmore last night. Instead, we heard a dark message of preservation of American heritage and history, the president railed against what he described as a merciless campaign to erase history.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, to fame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children. Our children are taught in school to hate their own country, and to believe that the men and women who built it were not heroes, but that were villains.</s>WESTWOOD: The President also went after cancel culture and double down on a message that we've heard from him before going after some of the destruction and other aspects of the protests that we've seen around this country. He also signed an executive order establishing an outdoor park that will be called the National Garden of American Heroes, which will contain monuments to American figures from history he did not specify exactly who would be represented in that outdoor park or where it will be located. But it shows that the President doubling down on this message so much that he is pushing for more statues and not less Martin and Christi.</s>PAUL: Sarah Westwood, always good to have you. Thank you.</s>SAVIDGE: You know, the Fourth of July always we want to get together with friends and family but the fear is that the impact of Independence Day celebrations could have an impact on the rising number of coronavirus cases. So, how cautious are people over this holiday weekend?</s>PAUL: Across the country, Fourth of July events, as we said are being scaled back. There beaches that are closed or they do have social distancing rules. More state and local leaders are rethinking their stance on mandating fake face coverings and health experts fear what will happen if too many people let their guard down. CNN's Polo Sandoval is at Coney Island in New York, usually packed there on the Fourth of July. First of all, Happy Fourth of July to you. Secondly, what are you seeing there this morning, Polo?</s>POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a fairly quiet morning at least for now. There's some preparations underway; some folks that are working on the beach right now and a few people strolling on the iconic Coney Island boardwalk but those crowds at least we are expecting to see a larger presence later today as New Yorkers do head to the beach. I'll be exercising those social distancing measures that authorities are recommending. Like what you mentioned is important here, there is a real concern not just here in New York, really across the country that the Fourth of July could mean possibly a perfect storm in terms of coronavirus here, that's according to one health expert that we heard from, from Boston. Multiple factors here, some people may feel more confident, maybe traveling across the country. There are, of course, states that do continue with their reopening so others are either pausing or scaling back. And then finally, of course those Fourth of July celebrations, potential gatherings that we are likely going to see across the country, which of course we've heard from authorities, there's certainly nothing wrong with families coming together, especially those who live together. But those social distancing measures wearing those masks, of course, going to be extremely critical because when you look at the map here, you're seeing way too much read, way too much orange. As you mentioned only Vermont right now showing a decrease in cases. So, across the country as a whole, COVID is still in remains a very real threat. So, there is a concern here that Fourth of July will potentially lead to yet another surge in cases more than what we're already seeing. What we are noticing the IBF authorities are there many fireworks show that are being canceled, parades are being canceled, the Mayor in Miami Beach closing beaches here, implementing a certain guideline, including a curfew. And say, look, there's going to be nothing more American than staying home and celebrating with your family, though. However, we are certainly going to expect families to still go out and do -- people that are going to at least try to enjoy the day and celebrate together, but of course the key is by taking those precautions. Here in New York, it is again relatively quiet right now on the boardwalk. We do expect people to come out to the beach later today. But Martin and Christi, as we get, get ready to send things back to you, of course, just consider what's happening, for example, in Florida, where that continues to be the state that leads the, the number of cases and then of course, Texas, Arizona, California -- four states that continue shattering their own records, in terms of COVID cases.</s>SAVIDGE: Well, Polo, have a good day out there. We'll keep checking back with you to see how things are. Thanks.</s>PAUL: Let's bring in Dr. Jennifer Caudle, she's a Family Physician, Associate Professor at Rowan University's Department of Family Medicine. Dr. Caudle, always good to have you with us. Thank you for being here.</s>DR. JENNIFER CAUDLE, FAMILY PHYSICIAN AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT ROWAN UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE: Thank you.</s>PAUL: I wanted to ask you, as we get started with this, what your main takeaway is from the numbers that we're seeing, the rising number of cases, yet the number of people who are dying is not rising. What is your takeaway from that? Those new statistics that have come in?</s>CAUDLE: Right, so the rising number of cases tells me just like it tells all of us that we are not done with this yet. We are still very much in the throes of this pandemic and it's prudent for us not to be naive, especially as we go into this holiday weekend. The deaths, we know that deaths can lag behind by a couple of weeks. So, what I'd really like to see is in the next couple of weeks how those numbers shift, if at all, because if anything we see deaths is lagging behind the actual cases.</s>SAVIDGE: Doctor, I wanted to bring in the Surgeon General because, you know, what he has to say obviously influences many Americans when it comes to their health. Listen to his comments just before the whole day.</s>JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: It's not a yes or no. Every single person has to make up their own mind. There are going to be people going to beaches, going to barbecues, going to different environments, and they have to look at their individual risks. As you mentioned, CDC says larger gatherings are a higher risk. You have to take that into account.</s>SAVIDGE: What are your thoughts on that doctor? Is it an individual decision, or do we have a national kind of responsibility?</s>CAUDLE: Yes, so, so it's so interesting that you play that clip because I actually tweeted the Surgeon General yesterday after I saw that clip, clip. And I tweeted directly to him, you know, publicly that, you know, I -- with all due respect, I would have said to avoid large gatherings. And I literally put that in a tweet because I feel that way. I mean, yes, the bottom line is, is it an individual decision? Of course, it is. No one can literally make you stay home at this point, that they can't handcuff you and keep you in your house if you choose to leave. And also, yes, as you mentioned, we do have a responsibility not only to ours to ourselves, but to the country into other people. But the bottom line is in the middle of this pandemic, we're seeing cases that are rising in Texas, Arizona, Florida, other places. We know we are far from done with this. The CDC has recommended against large gatherings. It's prudent, I think, for medical physicians for physicians, health care workers and the rest of us to say, hey, look, you know, look, you do have a choice, but you should stay home and avoid large gatherings. So, I actually tweeted that out yesterday that I actually say, avoid large gatherings. That's what needs to be done at this point.</s>PAUL: I want to ask you to about this new report that that there's been a mutation and that mutation shows that the virus is more infectious. But the, the -- it's no, it's no more virulent, it's not going to totally cause more deaths based on what they found. It sounds like good news on the surface to some degree, more people might get sick, but they may not -- more people might not die. Help us understand, is this or is this not less dangerous?</s>CAUDLE: So, that's a really good question. I think time is really going to tell us really how we can think about this mutation, but let's put mutations in perspective. You know, viruses mutate, that's actually one of the things they just do. It's not entirely surprising that we've come across a mutation with this virus. And, and you're right, this particular mutation seems to be that it's more infectious, meaning that it can spread easier, faster, quicker, more readily, but it's not necessarily more virulent, which means it's not necessarily any more deadly than what we have seen, which in that respect, is good news, right? It's good news that it's not more deadly or that it doesn't seem to be. You know, I think that time is going to tell you -- the coronavirus and COVID, this is a very new condition. A new, new virus for us. It's an it's a new disease state, every single day, we're learning more and more. So, you know, to be honest with you, I think the verdict is still out about how this is going to play into our total landscape of infections and cases and things like that. But at least at this point, it doesn't seem to be more virulent, which that is a good thing.</s>SAVIDGE: What do you make doctor of the age of those who are impacted going down? It's gone down significantly from those that we saw, you know, with elderly patients to now very young. Is that a change of the disease? Or is that a change of practices by people?</s>CAUDLE: That's a really good question. You know, once again, I can't say for sure, because, you know, there's likely multiple factors playing a role here. And, you know, when we get months away from this, I think we'll have a better idea of what's going on but that that the thought seems to be, and I have to say I agree with this, that we are seeing younger people having this condition and it may be due in part at least to change in, changes in behavior. Younger people may be more willing, or more readily going out, the beaches, the clubs, the bars, etc. You know, the swimming pools, the Memorial Day events and things of that nature. Look, you know, this is I've said this before, and I'll say this again, you know, young people are not necessarily immune. We know that young people can get the disease. I think that there's this myth or this feeling that, oh, if I get it, and I'm a young person, it won't be so bad, I'll be just fine. Well, the truth of the matter is that yes, complications tend to be lower and less in younger people, but they're not necessarily benign. I've said this before, I've had patients and I've known people that have gotten COVID that are young and healthy, that have had strokes, that have had loss of sense of taste and smell that have lasted for weeks and weeks. The fatigue, the shortness of breath, even after they've recovered technically from COVID, they've still remained symptomatic. So, I don't want any young person or anyone out there for that matter thinking, oh, if I get it, it's going to be a walk in the park. We hope it will be, and likely for young people it will be. But it's not necessarily like that for everyone. And of course, we know young people, just as other people can spread it to those who are higher risk. So, so, you know, we need to stop sort of thinking that this is not such a big deal, because we know it can be and we really got to take that into consideration.</s>SAVIDGE: A great point, Dr. Jennifer Caudle, thank you very much for joining us. Great to have you on the program.</s>PAUL: Thank you so much, Doctor.</s>CAUDLE: Thank you.</s>PAUL: Look, we know usually, you have some travel plans most likely for this weekend. And everything looks so different this year, Americans are still determined to get away though. How changes to air and ground travel are working to try to keep you safe in the process?</s>SAVIDGE: Plus, protesters flooded the streets of Aurora, Colorado last night over the death of Elijah McClain after a selfie taken by officers at McClain's memorial site sparked immediate outrage. We'll have more on that next.