tv Anderson Cooper 360 CNN August 4, 2021 5:00pm-6:00pm PDT
5:00 pm
of you. just overnight all you guys reached out and helped us. your encouraging words, it's just gave me a lot of hope and i just want to make sure i do the best i can to help the next person that is in my same situation. >> donations for the most part, 10 and $20. one, though, was $15,000 and it added up. she plans to put the money into savings accounts for each three girls, pay off the rest of her apartment lease and make sure to pay it forward to o others. thanks so much for joining us. ac 360 starts now. good evening. there's breaking news tonight on several fronts. new york's governor andrew cuomo facing the possibility of impeachment. one legislative source says it's
5:01 pm
possible they'll go through with impeachment proceedings unless he resigns. first, late today, we've learned defense secretary austin is seeking to make vaccination mandatory for all troops, perhaps even this week. global cases today crossed the 200 million mark. meantime, driven by the delta variant but also by growing pressure, more people are rolling up air sleeves, up 26% from three weeks ago. that's good news. while defiance on masking and other mitigation measures are burning hot in florida and texas, one state governor, arkansas'sationa hutchinson says
quote
he's working to change the law. our guest tonight, bill gates. his foundation has donated billions of dollars. bill gates joins us now. bill, thank you for being with us tomorrow. i really preach it. >> glad to talk to you. >> there's a lot to get to. since we last spoke there's been more reporting about permanent topics. i wanted to ask you a couple of questions about that. i know you feel some things have been misreported. i'll start that. obviously you and your wife melinda announced you were ending your marriage after 27 years on monday. on a personal level, how are you doing? >> it's a sad milestone. melinda's a great person and that partnership that we had coming to an end is a source of
5:02 pm
5:03 pm
5:04 pm
convicted of soliciting sex from a minor. when that contact with epstein became public, can you explain your relationship with epstein? dove any concerns? were there ever any concerns you had about it? >> well, certainly. you know, i had several dinners with him, you know, hoping that what he said about getting billions of philanthropy to global health through contacts that he had might emerge, when it looked like that wasn't a real thing, that relationship ended, but it was a huge mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility of, you know, being. there were lots of others in that same situation, but i made a mistake. >> there's been reporting about workplace behavior in the past. "the new york times" reported six women from microsoft, the company you created, your
5:05 pm
foundation, and the financial firm that manages your fortune that your behave sometimes created an unsafe workplace environment. there was an affair. do you have regrets? >> well, certainly, i think everyone does. but, you know, i'm a time of reflection and you know, i -- you know, at this point i need to go forward. you know, my work is very important to me, you know, but then the family will heal as best as we can and learn from what's happened. >> just on a personal level, m i'm sorry for what you and your family are going through. let's talk about your work. you've be involved in the fight against covid. let's talk about where we are now. this is how we've started our
5:06 pm
conversations over the entire pandemic wrchl do you see us in this pandemic? the delta variants is surging. only about half the country is fully vaccinated. is this where you thought we'd be on august 4th, 2021? >> no. things are better than i expected in terms of how effective the key vaccines are. including pfizer, moderna but also some that are ramping up now like johnson & johnson, so the good news is the ability of the vaccine to prevent severe disease and death, even against the latest variant, and they ramp-up of that manufacturing, that's going at an unprecedented pace. the bad news is that this delta variant is uniquely transmissive. the beta variant, which we saw in south africa with the foundation-funded study there, it had some ability to evade
5:07 pm
protection, but now, delta, even though it doesn't evade as much as beta, it is so transmissive that even countries that have been able to hold out infection like australia or china are now having a tough time maintaining that and we're seeing sadly a bump here that if we don't get the mask wearing back in the right places and don't get the vaccine levels up, we're going to have quite a wave in the fall and that's a disappointment. we wanted to be near the end than we are but delta's very bad news. >> a proffer was on our program a couple of nights ago and said something which i probably should have known but the way he said it really kind of woke me up and certainly made any start wearing a mask again. he said i can still visualize
5:08 pm
covid as droplets in the air and i was thinking about that six feet idea. he was saying, look, if you are in a room where somebody is smoking and you're 20 feet away and you smell smoke, that's -- it's in the air. it's aerosolized and that's what covid is. if you can smell smoke 20 feet away, it's possible that you would be breathing in somebody's covid. >> that's right. particularly if people are talking loudly. there's a big contrast. infection on planes has been quite limited. infections in bars or parties or events where the sound level is high so people talk above that, you've had some stunning super infection events, even say choirs where people are vocalizing. so yes, it -- to our surprise, you can aerosolize at quite a distance and the mask is very
5:09 pm
effective, both preventing the person that's infected from spreading out those particles but also for the uninfected person not to draw those particles into their lungs. >> if 80% of the country was fully vaccinated right now, would the delta variant have just petered out? would covid sort of -- obviously viruses don't just disappear but would it not have transmitted to the point it was just sort of out there but not a danger? >> it looks like we would have had to gotten to 90%. you know, the vaccination does block transmission but not nearly as well as it blocks viewer disease and death. so you can have vaccinated people be part of a transmission chain that just underscores that protecting those people at risk, who are old or sick and super
5:10 pm
super important, but also we can make it less likely just by driving those percentages. so 70% is clearly not enough. israel's done a better jonathan a u.s. at getting their vaccine levels up. they've had a few break-through cases but it's a percentage of the population, nothing like what we're seeing in the hot spots right now. the administration is repeatedly saying this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated, trying to stress to those who are unvaccinated to get vaccinated. children under 12 are getting swept into this new wave of infections. what should be done now? >> well, the statistics i wish people would have to stare at every day is the number of deaths and the percentage of those deaths among unvaccinated people, which today is over 95%. we're running at two to 300
5:11 pm
deaths now. the model shows that unless we get mask wearing back, as we move into the winter that could go up as high as 1500 a day, so not the highest peak, which was over 3500 but still very high. the two parameters that will determine how bad this fall is are the mask wearing behaviors in the right places and the percentage of people what we get vaccinated. >> a new poll found that more than half of unvaccinated americans still believe the vaccine is more vaccine than the coronavirus. last month a surgeon general released a paper. you're wrapped up in -- me, too, are wrapped up in misinformation.
5:12 pm
>> well, every day hopefully we're thinking as creatively as we can, listening to the unvaccinated explain, ok, what is their hesitation, and seeing, you know, who would they trust, what would change their mind in order to help them take that step. i do think seeing the statistics of how much the deaths are overwhelmingly in the unvaccinated would be a key thing that you just read about, you know, day in and day out. you know, the hesitancy toward vaccine before it was administered, almost 60% of people are hesitant. now numbers have gone down, everybody's heard about friends getting the vaccine and of course whooverwhelming through being besign and protecting them from severe disease. so this is a communications challenge like none we've ever
quote
faced, but it's a matter of life and death. what measures you can use and which ones actually get you more vaccination versus create more resistance, you know, each context, we need experts who really can sympathize with what the thinking is, because you know, particularly amongst the elderly, it does surprise me that we're not at like 95% of people over 60. >> obviously corporations increasingly are saying you have to be vaccinated to work at our corporation. does that something you support or do you think the federal government or state governments or the federal government should mandate if you want on an airplane you have to be vaccinated, if you want to get social security, you need to get vaccinated, you need to get whatever benefits they give, you need to be vaccinated for. is that something that the u.s. can and should do? >> well, certainly, if you take
5:13 pm
5:14 pm
5:15 pm
people are seeing the numbers and when people see bad numbers when they see deaths, they ought to be open minded to what tactics can help get people protected. >> i need to take a short break. i want to pick up this conversation after the break, so please stick around. later also a live report as the lawmakers who once sported the governor, lining up in support of impeachment. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ oh! are you using liberty mutual's coverage customizer tool? sorry? well, since you asked. it finds discounts and policy recommendations, so you only pay for what you need. limu, you're an animal! who's got the bird legs now? only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪
5:16 pm
priceline will partner with even more vegas hotels to turn their unsold rooms into amazing deals. delegates, how do you vote? (cheering) ♪ yes, y-y-y-yes, yes... ♪ that is freaky. (applause) you've been taking mental health meds, and your mind is finally in a better place. except now you have uncontrollable body movements called tardive dyskinesia - td. and it can seem like that's all people see.
5:17 pm
some meds for mental health can cause abnormal dopamine signaling in the brain. while how it works is not fully understood, ingrezza is thought to reduce that signaling. ingrezza is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with td movements in the face and body. people taking ingrezza can stay on their current dose of most mental health meds. don't take ingrezza if you're allergic to any of its ingredients. ingrezza may cause serious side effects, including sleepiness. don't drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how ingrezza affects you. other serious side effects include potential heart rhythm problems and abnormal movements. shift the focus more on you. ask your doctor about ingrezza. it's simple. one pill, once-daily. #1 prescribed for td. learn how you could pay as little as $0 at ingrezza.com [relaxed summer themed music playing] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
5:18 pm
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ summer is a state of mind, you can visit anytime. savor your summer with lincoln. we're back with bill gates. so bill, dr. fauci today warned that if more americans don't get vaccinated there is what we called a massive chance that a variant more invasive that the delta variant can emerge. i assume you agree with that.
5:19 pm
could that already have formed? variants are -- there's nothing to stop there from being a new variant that goes after children more aggressively, right? there's no way to dikt r predict what a variant is going to do. >> sadly, there could be a worse variant. if you took the invasion of the body's capability beta and combined it with delta's transmissiveness, you would have an even worse variant. there may be biological reasons why those features can't combine and still be transmissive in the lungs, but we don't know and you know, we were caught unawares again. the amount of sequencing of the virus that was going on was too little. you know, some of this was caught because the uk did good sequencing. some of it was caught, beta, in
5:20 pm
fact, by the trials funded in south africa, but the -- you cannot assume that there won't be a worse variant. >> literally, the biden administration is developing a plan to require all foreign visitors to be vaccinated. that would consider whether other countries have access to vaccines. which areas of the world are you most focused on? >> well, it's tragedy that we weren't able to make enough vaccines for the whole world so that time difference between the first person getting access to the vaccine to the last person could be as much as two years. in the future we should have so much manufacturing capacity that we can do that in less than six months. there are countries that have had horrific epidemics of covid without much vaccine, you know. india, because of a partnership
5:21 pm
that our operation funded with serum has had 400 million of those vaccines so far and a billion by the end of the year, that's the second sourced as tra ze astrazeneca. that same thing is happening with johnson & johnson and novovax. we though that over the next six to nine months the supply issue gets solved. in the meantime, you know, whenever you have an elderly person in south america or in africa who dies of covid, you know, it's an injustice because other people who are far -- at farless risk got the vaccine before they did. >> along the same lines, what do you think the right answer on booster shots. israel's started administering third doses to people over 60.
5:22 pm
the world health organization asked that boosters be halted. officials in the u.s. haven't made the decision on boosters yet. what is the right thing to do? >> in the next few months, the boosters should be reserved for people who clearly have antibody waning, people with weak immune systems, people living with hiv, but it's a pretty modest part of the population. the beauty of that is we'll be able to get a lot of supply out to the world and understand the benefits of a booster. there's different forms of boosters that we could use. i any over the next two or three months we study boosters if we can't get the overall vaccine coverage up, there's a good chance that sometime in the fall countries, including the u.s., could decide to make that third shot in some form broadly
5:23 pm
available and encourage people to get it. we have seen some waning of coverage, for example, elderly people who got vaccinated in january, there's both u.s. and israeli data that shows a reduction in antibodies and a slight increase in risk. although it's not urgent now for the broad population, we may get there. >> yesterday president biden made a play to some republican governors. he says i say to them please help, but if you aren't going to help get out of the way for people to do the right thing. the governor there signed an skiff order threatened to pull funding from schools and implement mask mandates. does that make sense to you, especially for children under 12 years old? >> i've never understood being against masks as strongly as some people are, because if you look at all the measures where there's a certain cost to every
5:24 pm
one of these measures, and there's a certain benefit in terms of saving lives and preventing diseases. i think wearing masks is one of the lowest cost and highest benefit things in this whole picture. you know, no one wants schools to be closed in the fall. and i think if we get vaccine levels up and wear masks, in a lot of indoor situations where you have a meaningful amount of covid, i think we will be able to run schools and have most distances open and i think the value to that is incredible, so we're caught, you know, where in some cases it's the states that have the loosest mandates will pay the highest price. >> in new york, mayor de blasio's requiring one dose of the vaccine for the mandate into restaurants and gyms and entertainment. is that better than nothing? should they require full
5:25 pm
vacci vaccinations, and could it be dangerous if you don't follow through and get a second dose? >> you need a second dose. that is very, very clear. i'm not sure how many people stop after one. i think once they get one they'll realize, ok, might as well get the second thing. we should be constantly looking at the data to make sure that people are following through. france is talking about checking for full vaccination in order to get into restaurants. i don't think we'll do that for restaurants but certainly for health care workers and elderly care, some educational context. i think local officials should be looking at that, because we want the economy to be largely open and schools, you know, the deficit we have been learning, which are way more in the upper city, those who can least afford to have that educational
5:26 pm
interruption, it's a horrific thing. it's hard to dimensionalize but it's almost a year of learning in many cases. >> in may, president biden asked the intelligence community to come to a conclusion of the origins of covid. how important do you think it is to understand how this happened, how it started, i mean, is that critical in terms of preventing it in the future? >> no. the source isn't going to change, you know, the need for masks and vaccines and the need to have a very different regimen so that you know, all countries could get on top of the cases very quickly and be more like australia than europe or the united states ended up being, and so i'm involved in a lot of discussion about break-throughs in diagnostics and they are the putics, the scaling of vaccine factories in less than six
5:27 pm
months, eradicating flu. we need to resource the preparedness for the next pandemic and we can get a lot of benefits out of that. people don't like flu and the common cold. we can build tools that over time will get rid of those as well. >> from a justice standpoint or just a moral standpoint, do you wane to know how this started? >> yeah, it's -- you know, i would -- i continue that investigation. the last paper i saw showed evidence against the lab leak, but you know, yes, we should investigate these things. but it's not directly tied to the particularly actions to save lives at this point. >> yeah. bill gates, i really appreciate your time. it's always a pleasure. always learn something. so thank you. >> thank you. >> up next, breaking news on new york city governor andrew comeau.
5:28 pm
(burke) deep-sea driving, i see... (customer) something like that... (burke) well, here's something else: with your farmer's policy perk, new car replacement, you can get a new one. (customer) that is something else. (burke) get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ - oh...oh. - what's going on? - oh, darn! - let me help. lift and push and push! there... it's up there. hey joshie... wrinkles send the wrong message. help prevent them with downy wrinkleguard. feel the difference with downy. new customers get our best deals on all smartphones. that's right. but what if i'm already a customer? oh, no problem. hey, cam...? ah, same deal! yeah, it's kind of our thing. huh, that's a great deal... what if i'm new to at&t?
5:29 pm
cam, can you...? hey...but what about for existing customers? same deal (breathless) it's the same deal is he ok? it's not complicated. with at&t, everyone can ace back to school with our best deals on every smartphone - like the samsung galaxy s21 5g for free. i was drowning in student loan debt. then i discovered sofi. lower interest rate. my principal is going down. sofi is a place where you can start to tackle those money goals today.
5:31 pm
5:32 pm
needed. this is more democrats calling for him to step down after the explosive 165-page report from the state attorney general that he had sexually harassed 11 women. he denies it. they're calling on the governor to resign saying the findings were extremely damning and upsetting. local district attorneys are requesting material from the attorney general's office. this is a bring lewd to litigation. what more do you know about the waning support in the state legislature? >> it's waning. the shared number of assembly members who have said to cnn that they would stroet to impeach, 850 of the 150 represent difficulties. he's the chair of the state democrat eric party. he said in a statement it was tough for him. he in that statement said he had dauld governor and intimated
5:33 pm
that he, too, had urged the governor to resign but it sounded like that fell on deaf ears. that's why he put out this statement, calling on the governor to resign. in fact, he said specifically he's lost his ability to govern both practically and morally. we know there are a loft of this happening publicly. it's our understanding that there is urging privately as well, but as of tonight, the governor standing strong and determined to remain in that job. >> what happened possible criminal investigations at the county level? >> so as you mentioned, there are four deas in the state in the counties of nassau, albany, westchester and here in manhattan where the district attorneys have reached outs to the new york attorney general based on the finding in this investigative report and they're asking for some of those materials. i can tell you in manhattan, the da asking for the contact information as well as investigative materials related to both trooper number one, who
5:34 pm
of course had been on the governor's service detail on his protective service detail and also the woman who's referred to as executive assistant number one. they were both rechsed by the manhattan da and all of them are saying they want this information because they need to determine if some of these events that were outsidelined in the report, whether there was any criminal activity. >> all right. i appreciate i would. thank you very much. more on this, no doubt. up next, fresh evidence of how thoroughly the former president tried to disrupt the justice department. who went to the matt to stop them. 50 it's a whole new world out there. let's not keep it waiting.
5:36 pm
5:37 pm
-great idea. [gasps] look at the little cutie. -he's coming for a visit. -hi. [chuckles] aww! oh! he's leaving! -nice work, guys! -introducing togo's new cheese steak melt, featuring fresh artisan bread, layered with tender seasoned steak, sautéed mushrooms, roasted red peppers, and smothered with melty american cheese. the new cheese steak melt, now at togo's.
5:38 pm
. there's more breaking news. more evidence of how few people stood before the former president and his desire to use the power of the federal government to remain in office. two stories in the space of 24 hours. one on the senior justice department official jeffrey clark, acting assistant attorney general, he drafted a letter which amounted to instructions for overturning the will of georgia voters. it's remarkable. the other draft letter, this one, threatening to resign over precisely that type of coup-like behavior. talk about this draft resignation letter. >> it was prepared by patrick,
5:39 pm
who was a -- the chief of staff to the then acting attorney general jeffrey rosen. rosen was essentially facing firing by the president because the justice department kept telling the president, kept telling the white house that they could not find evidence to support his claims that the election was fraudulent. and so this letter was written on january 3rd as he knew that rosen was possibly going to be fired that day by the president. i'll read you just a part of the letter in which he said acting attorney general over the course of the last week repeatedly refused the president's direct instructions to utilize the department of justice law enforcement powers for improper end. and what was happening at that point, anderson, was he and other officials were facing the prospect that if the president fired rosen, that they would then also resign.
5:40 pm
he along with a number of other officials were planning to all walk out, which is something, frankly, that would recall the 1970s, the nixon era. saturday night massacre. of course, the letter never got sent because trump never fired rosen. >> essentially he was resisting a coup. >> he was. that's what the president was trying to do. he wanted the justice department to essentially encourage, as you mentioned, that letter from jeffrey clark. jeffrey clark wanted to send the letter to georgia to get them to compete in the special session to look into irregularities. that's what he said. the letter never got sent, obviously, because there was no proof of that. >> so the meeting at the white house that prompted him to write his resignation letter out of fear that rosen would be fired, do we know actually what happened there at the sneegt. >> yeah. i mean, look, it was like a scene from one of the former
5:41 pm
president's reality tv shows. you had jeffrey clark, who was another official at justice department, also who the president was talking to behind the scenes, and jeffrey rosen. both went up to the white house where the president essentially had these men vie for the job of attorney general. the president was looking for someone who was going to do his bidding. rosen was not willing to do that and eventually rosen and other officials talked the president out of firing rosen, keeping him on the job, but it's an unreal -- just an extraordinary episode to happen inside the white house. again, just a couple of days before the attack on the u.s. capitol, which was carried out by people who were believing the president's lies about the election. >> right. and if they had found some henchman at the department of justice to go along with that, that would -- >> course of history would have been changed. >> it's incredible. thank you. just to ambler both the factual
5:42 pm
absurdity but also the danger of that letter which was drafted but never sent to georgia. this draft included the following passage, quoting now. very longing various irregular disin the to 20 election for president of the united states. at the time of writing of it general barr had already publicly stated nearly a month earlier that the department had not and i'm quoting here seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election. the senior department of justice official who frankly none of us could pick out of a lineup was, you know, he -- by the way, he was the one the former president was considering to replace the acting attorney general. this guy was flat-out lying. joining is democratic house chairman adam schiff. appreciate you being with us. it is stunning. as he said, the course of history, it could have very easily -- our democracy could
5:43 pm
have crumbled here. >> that's absolutely true. we find again and again just how close we came to losing our democracy. here you have bill barr, who, you know, during his long tenure in the department, did so much to tear down the independence of the justice department to use to the president's ends. he got to a point where he said i can't manufacture claims of fraud where none exists. there were ones, including jeffrey clark, who were apparently willing to do so. he was the head of the civil division of the justice department and here he is asking the acting attorney general to urge georgia to convene a special session basically to try to appoint a slate of electors who don't represent how georgians voted and on the basis of bogus claims of fraud. it's really breath taking and it shows how very close we came
5:44 pm
through the use of this fraudulent but purportedly lawful process losing our gem si. >> the report from abc news, that's the guy, this report from abc news detailing the contents of a draft, he mentioned he was the high ranking justice department official who was apparently more on board than the acting attorney general jeff rosen. the dennis hastert urges the georgia legislature to go into special session over the results. it's completely over theline. you look at these events individually and you look at them in totality. the attempts to interfere with the results, the big lie, the insurrection, they are all part of a piece. >> well, they are. look, in terms of all of the former president's conduct, among the most egregious and frankly among the most worthy of investigation with an eye to potential prosecution is what the former president tried to do in georgia. there he was on the phone in a
5:45 pm
recorded conversation asking the secretary of state to find 11,870 votes that don't exist. anyone else doing that would have been prosecuted already. the evidence that you're referring to tonight, these internal letters and other discussions going on by clark, no doubt at the urging of donald trump, to try to give the georgia legislature a reason to convene and overturn the results would be more evidence in that case out of georgia. so i certainly hope that the u.s. justice department as well as georgia officials are studying the president's conduct, because it seems to cross the line into illegality and it is very much deserving of investigation. >> what's also so concerning about this is it is not just this -- again, this official who nobody recognizes who as you said, was running the civil wing
5:46 pm
of the justice department, so he had an important position, but there are millions of americans out there and were out there and who still are out there who would backed the justice department deciding to go into illegality and to basically start a coup. there's a lot of americans who to this day would have backed what that giep wanted to do. >> you know, it's tragedy but it's true. because they believe that the big lie that the president was pushing out and not just the president but a lot of people who i serve with in congress were pushing the same lie and what jeffrey clark was trying to do was push the same lie on georgia. had the justice department issued that letter, it would have been part of the big lie, and given it more credibility with millions of americans. as it is, what they did already has done such damage to our democracy, it has gotten us to a place where very significant
5:47 pm
number of the american people believe that if they lose in an election, if it doesn't go their way, that it's somehow illegitimate, fraudulent just because they didn't win? we saw on january 6th, all too many are willing to use violence. >> are there any legal consequences for trying to get the justice department to interfere with an election outcome? i know everybody is desensitized to what the president does and will do, but you got to ask, is there any accountability? and if so, what would that look like? >> i think the strongest case just on the public record involves the former president and in particularly that recorded conversation. but there are also others that may very well be at risk. you know, this acting head of the civil division, if he knew what he was doing, was an attempt to fraudulently overturn the election, then there is
5:48 pm
certainly risk to him, and you know, this whole sorry chapter really needs to be fleshed out and made public. it's one of the things that the january 6th complete we're intent on doing and providing a comprehensive report but it's also important as far as oversight. >> congressman, i appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you. >> i'm randy kaye with cnn. can i ask you a couple of questions? >> no. >> india kaye talk -- >> one doctor calls them the biggest spreader of covid information. we'll hear from him ahead. will have you jumping for joy. now, get new lower auto rates with allstate. because better protection costs a whole lot less. you're in good hands with allstate. click or call for a lower auto rate today. [relaxed summer themed music playing]
5:49 pm
5:50 pm
to 3-on 3s... 2-on-2s... and 1-on-1s. at aspen dental, we see all the moments that make us smile so we make it easy to share your smile with convenient, total care - all in one place. and flexible hours that work with your life. right now, new patients get a complete exam and x-rays — free without insurance, and everyone saves 20% on their treatment plan. welcome back to life's best moments. call 1-800-aspendental or book online today.
5:51 pm
team usa is ready for the olympic games... ...and so is sharon! she got xfinity internet and mobile together... so she has fast and reliable wifi at home... wow! ...and nationwide 5g on the most reliable wireless network... oh my gosh! ...plus up to 400 dollars off her wireless bill! wow! cheer on team usa with xfinity internet. and ask how to save up to $400 a year on your wireless bill when you add xfinity mobile. get started today.
5:52 pm
as we mentioned in our conversation with bill gates, the survey found that half of unvaccinated americans think the vaccine is more dangerous than covid. but florida doctor has gone to great lengths to perpetuate this. >> it's an unproved vaccine. that's just been accelerated, eliminated in virtually every safety study. >> reporter: he's the ultimate
5:53 pm
superspreader of misinformation about covid-19. he's joseph mercola. >> the vast majority of people in america have seen misinformation that has originated with this superspreader of lies and misinformation. >> reporter: that's why a nonprofit tracking misinformation online put dr. mercola at the top of its disinformation dozen. a list of 12 people who are the source of 65% of all anti-vaccine messaging on facebook and twitter. >> misinformation has a cost that is paid in lives. >> reporter: we tried to track down dr. mercola to ask about the misinformation he is posting. like masks could be dangerous,
5:54 pm
and vitamins can treat the coronavirus. we first tried at his office outside ft. myers. we're looking for dr. mercola? >> he's not here. >> reporter: will he be here tomorrow? >> no, he's normally not here. >> reporter: so even though his office is listed here, he doesn't work out of here? >> no. >> reporter: okay, thank you. next stop, more than 220 miles away in ormond beach, florida. where he calls home. we tried making contact through the security access pad. later we spotted him riding his bicycle. once he stopped, we thought this was our opening to get some answers. how are you? >> good. >> reporter: i'm randi kaye with cnn. can we ask you a couple
5:55 pm
questions? >> no. >> reporter: we just want to talk to you about vaccines and what you've been saying about them. do you feel responsible for people who got sick and died possibly because of what you told them about the vaccine? what do you say to families who lost loved ones? are you spreading misinformation? >> nope. >> reporter: why won't you speak to us? here's your opportunity to speak with us and answer questions. so despite all his bravado online, he suddenly had nothing to say. though after we emailed him questions, he responded saying, i encourage everyone to fully educate themselves to make decisions about medical risk taking. >> i wanted to go back to the reason why the mask may not work. >> reporter: in his email to us, he challenged any suggestion that he belongs on a disinformation list. still, by fueling the narrative
5:56 pm
that vaccines are dangerous, who knows how many of his followers chose to skip the vaccine. this was him on a podcast in april last year. saying vaccines are -- >> being fast-tracked, abandoning all safety precautions to the wind. i'm sure it will cause enormous disabilities and premature deaths. >> reporter: what he hasn't made clear to his followers is that according to the cdc, the vaccines are safe and effective. of the more than 345 million doses administered, there have been an infinitesimal amount that have caused adverse events. to be clear, the fda has not established a causal link to
5:57 pm
these deaths. earlier this year, he said vaccines alter your genetic coating. the cdc has said vaccines don't interact with your dna. he also posted an article that states aerosolized hydrogen peroxide can be used to treat covid-19. he said, this is an approach that many clinicians have found provided significant improvement to patients. his misinformation has reach. he still has 14 accounts on mainstream social media with more than 14 million followers. >> he wants to replace those
5:58 pm
doctors as the source of health information for people. then he can recommend his cures. >> reporter: his cures apparently include vitamins c and d. in a since-removed article, the fda told him to take immediate action to cease the sale. he said he immediately responded, asking to meet with them. just today, he said he's removing all articles from his website within the next 48 hours. >> the last week has brought a tremendous amount of reflections and unacceptable threats. so the course of action i'm now forced to take is to remove my entire archive of articles.
5:59 pm
25 years' worth of blood, sweat, and tears coming down. >> so randi, does that mean he's shutting down his website, and all the misinformation, or information he puts out there? >> reporter: no, that will stay up. he said he will continue to post articles. but they will only stay up for 48 hours and then they'll be removed. he didn't say if he will share those on his social media platforms, facebook, youtube, twitter. we reached out to those platforms and asked what they will do. twitter says they've removed tweets and applied misleading information labels to some of them. facebook says they've removed pages and banned some of his pages. youtube says they've removed some videos, but there are still not enough strikes to remove him fully. just to give you an idea of how many people follow this guy and
6:00 pm
believe his misinformation, his new book, which i won't even tell you the name of, is now number one on amazon's best seller list. experts say that book, they've looked at it, is full of nonsense, anderson. >> randy, thanks. let's go to chris for "cuomo prime time." we have an exclusive tonight. it's not about covid. but our guest and her message is as powerful as any remedy i know. night bird is here with us tonight, for her first interview since announcing she's out of america's got talent to focus on her fight against cancer. of course, we're focused on covid. and we have news. first, there is concern about a new variant, and we'll get into it with our first guest in a moment. the word comes as we're getting
1,019 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
CNN (San Francisco) Television Archive Television Archive News Search Service The Chin Grimes TV News ArchiveUploaded by TV Archive on