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Hospitals On High Alert Ahead Of Total Solar Eclipse; Pivotal Week For Mike Johnson As Ukraine Aid Hangs In Balance; Trump Release Statement On Abortion, Says It Should Be Up To States. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired April 08, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So this morning, not sure you've heard but we are watching the tortoises very closely because the last eclipse in 2017 they inexplicably started mating. We're going to have more on that shortly.

This morning though hospitals in the path of totality are on high alert especially concerned about the millions of people, extra people who will be on the roads. CNN's Meg Tirrell is with us now. So how are those hospitals preparing?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, a lot of these hospitals have spent literally more than a year meeting to prepare for this event. A lot of hospitals in smaller communities especially are worried about getting overwhelmed and worried about traffic and being able to transport patients if they need to.

We've heard from a few different hospitals along the path of totality down in Waco, Texas airlift, Texas says they're going to have an additional medical helicopter just for that reason in case ground transport can't get through. And Ozarks Healthcare serving Missouri and Northern Arkansas, they're extending walk-in clinic hours. They're encouraging patients to use the walk-in clinic for non-life threatening emergencies and reserve the emergency department for actual emergencies.

In Reid Health in Indiana, they're expecting up to 150,000 people in their community, they are actually closing some specialty clinics and sort of more routine care clinics or abridging those hours in order. And they're keeping urgent cares open. In OhioHealth, they say that they're going to be providing first aid at eclipse viewing events. So they're going to be right there on site.

And up in Vermont, they're particularly concerned about traffic and they're asking folks to really to stay away from their campus if they do not actually need care. They are saying they're going to restrict some of the traffic patterns to ensure that their staff can get to work. But overall, guys, we're hearing hospitals are really stocking up on supplies. They're increasing staffing, because we know from the 2017 eclipse, their word increased traffic fatalities similar to a holiday weekend because of all of that travel. We've also heard from communities that were in the path of totality, there are an increase in emergency department visits. Luckily everything seemed pretty minor, minor injuries, heat related injuries, GI related illness, and of course there can be damaged from looking directly at the sun. So you don't want to do that.

John, it's not all serious, though. There are some hospitals that are doing some fun things. Cleveland Clinic for example, posted on social media that they've made onesies for the babies in their NICU. We've heard of other hospitals doing similar things to mark this day because of course for many, this is a once in a lifetime or at least once in several decades event. John?

[08:35:11]

BERMAN: I want an eclipse onesie. I mean, who doesn't want an eclipse onesie? You know, the thing with the traffic is pretty intuitive, which is, oh, look at that. OK, I really do want that. You know, people are going to where they're going to get to, to watch the eclipse over time. But they all leave at once. I mean, once the thing is done, everyone is going to flee wherever they are, which is why there's so many traffic incidents, at least there were last time, I can see why they're concerned. You talked briefly about viewing the eclipse safely. I don't think this can be stressed enough. Don't look directly at it correct?

TIRRELL: Yes, unfortunately, damage to your eye actually can happen within seconds. And this has been documented from the 2017 eclipse and previous eclipses. You may not notice symptoms if you do cause damage to your eyes for a few hours. But it can cause blurry vision, it can cause holes in your vision sort of altered colored vision, a lot of different things can happen.

And unfortunately, if you look at the sun for long enough that vision damage can be permanent. And so of course, what you want to do if you plan to look directly at the sun in any time, other than totality when the sun's light is completely blocked, you need safe eclipse viewing glasses, a lot of libraries are giving these out. You can go on the American Astronomical Society website to find retailers that might even still have these.

But these are 1,000 times darker than the darkest sunglasses. They allow in only a fraction of the sun's visible light. And you need to make sure that they are ISO certified. And really, if you're going to use these and you're not absolutely positive that you've got a good pair because counterfeits are out there, make sure that when you're looking through them at the brightest lights, you can only barely see the outline of them.

Looking at the sun should be comfortable. But don't do it even for more than a few seconds at a time if you're not absolutely positive they're completely safe. John?

BERMAN: Right. Get your eyewear, get your onesie, get in the zone. Meg Tirrell, thank you very much for all that. Kate? KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So one of the cities in the path of totality is Indianapolis, Indiana. It's the first time in over 800 years, that area is going to see a total solar eclipse. Nearly 50,000 people from over 25 countries are expected to watch this all play out today from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a wonderful place to celebrate. CNN's Mike Valerio is there in Indianapolis. He's joining us now. Mike, you spoke to some of NASA's top astronauts who are gathered there as well. What are they looking to do?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So there are top astronauts, Kate, and also top scientists who are milling around with the spectator. So they're going to be astronauts who are meeting and greeting. You know, the next generation of scientists, young people who are going to be here with families. But we had the chance a couple of hours ago to speak with Nikki Rayl. She's one of the leading scientists for NASA's Heliophysics division. So we're talking about the physics of the sun.

And, you know, when we hit totality, at 3:06 in the afternoon, it's going to be all of us. Up to 50,000 people, as you mentioned, Kate, looking up at the jumbotrons. And Nikki Rayl, the scientists from Heliophysics at NASA said that she's going to be looking at the structures emanating from the corona because the song and dance is known between the Earth, Moon and the Sun. It's been predicted since the time of the Babylonians millennia ago.

But we don't know what is happening with the Cronus. So much of it is still a mystery. Listen to how she described it to us earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLE RAYL, NASA HELIOPHYSICS DIVISION: I think of it as like a living beast, you know, it has these ejections that releases huge amounts of energy towards Earth, and it couples into this energy system. But that energy sometimes can impact spacecraft that we have on orbit, things like GPS and navigation, which I don't know, if you're like me, I rely on my GPS like to get around my neighborhood, otherwise, I get lost. And if those systems go down, because of activity going on in space, that's a big impact for us here on Earth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIO: So at the tail end of the conversation, she said, imagine 80 million school buses or millions of Indy cars being ejected from the Sun from the corona heading towards us and interfering with our satellites, impacting our electrical grid, you know, we need to better understand and predict the behavior of the corona and the plasma that comes out of it. That is what the data and what we'll see today from the eclipse is going to help NASA to do in the years ahead. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Mike, what else what -- how is it all going to play out? How is it all -- what is it all going to look like being at the motor speedway is a pretty great place to have this all happen, what are you going to see?

VALERIO: So the gates are going to open at the top of the hour. There are people who are ready to come in and we're going to have demonstrations, people riding around the 2.5 mile oval of the track here before the eclipse begins in the 1 o'clock hour. And as soon as that wraps up as we approach 2 o'clock, the Indy demonstrations are going to stop. The cars are going to clear off the tracks and then the people, Kate, are going to be able to go on to the pavement. They're going to be able to kiss the bricks, so to speak.

[08:40:01]

This is actually the start and finish line just over my right hand shoulder as it comes out of the famous pagoda, so people will be able to go onto the start and finish line and then look up, this moment when racing madness and this celestial crescendo all align. It's going to be amazing at 3:06 in the afternoon. Kate?

BOLDUAN: We all be watching it together. It's good to see you Mike. Thank you so much. Sara?

SIDNER: I can see nothing with these ones. I'm not sure where the camera is. But everyone keeps wanting us to wear the glasses, so, you know. Let's go to Allison Chinchar. Everyone wants to know if they are going to be in the path of totality or really, if they're in the path of totality, will they actually be able to see this? What's going to happen with the weather? You are the woman of the hour this morning? Give us a sense. It looks OK now.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Everybody -- yes. And we want to know is Mother Nature going to actually cooperate with all of these folks that have traveled places? And the answer is, yes, especially in some areas more than others. So let's take a look, we've got two separate areas where we're talking about pretty close to ideal conditions. That's going to be for areas of Southeastern Missouri, places like Cape Girardeau, Southern Illinois, Carbondale, for example, and then also Indiana. We're talking places like Evansville going to be very, very fantastic weather there for the viewing this afternoon.

We've also got another area that's going to be far north along the path. We're talking basically from Burlington, Vermont, all the way up through Caribou, Maine. Conditions are expected to be very sunny there in that spot as well. You are going to have a couple of spots where we are looking at a little bit more cloud cover. That does include places like Niagara Falls, maybe up to Rochester, New York. And also the big concern is going to be Texas.

Now we may get lucky. The bulk of the strong to severe thunderstorms are expected after the eclipse. So that will likely pose a bigger problem for people as they are leaving. The real question is before the storm start, you often get clouds that come in ahead of time. And so the real question is, how early do those clouds come in? Can they hold off at least until after the eclipse?

Now, once everybody is done, and they are starting to head home, they may encounter some issues in terms of very large hail. We're talking tennis ball size or even larger, some damaging winds and the potential for some tornadoes. And especially if you live east, say you were traveling west into the path of the eclipse, but you've got to head back east home, you may encounter some of those showers and thunderstorms.

But again, we are also going to have plenty of very nice spots to talk about. Dallas is going to have some increasing clouds. But it's not going to be completely overcast. So you will at least maybe fingers crossed, get at least a portion of that time where you will be able to see it. Indianapolis a different story, if you woke up this morning in Indianapolis looked up and saw some clouds, don't worry, they're actually going to be decreasing as we go through the rest of the day.

So you'll start to see even more sunshine by the time we get into the afternoon. And one of the other fantastic spots too is going to be Burlington, Vermont. Yes, a couple clouds here and there. But you're talking about 20 percent cloud coverage and absolute best. So again, in most of these areas, plenty of time to be able to view it. Here you can, again, see some of those clear spots right through there. That's where we're likely going to have some of the best viewing.

One thing to note too is the temperature drop. We don't often talk about this. But, yes, when totality takes place, and the moon fully covers the sun, temperatures will actually drop in several places including Carbondale and Indianapolis by several degrees. So it may even feel a little bit different not only that, you'll notice it with your eyes, but they do rebound very quickly back up as soon as the Moon starts to shift away.

SIDNER: And you've got the outfit ready and I'm sure you have your glasses most important to wear these because obviously you do not want to have permanent eye damage which can happen if you look directly at the sun during this. Thank you so much, Allison Chinchar. Appreciate it.

The U.S. job market on fire. Consumer spending strong. The economy going at a brisk pace. So why is one top economist flashing a warning sign?

[08:43:55]

And as the House returns to work, Speaker Mike Johnson may need to fight to hold on to his job.

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BOLDUAN: The House and Senate are headed back into session and back to work this week. The person likely with the most work ahead of them is the Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson. He is still facing down the threat of being ousted from his leadership posts just as he is considering moving ahead and what his options really are with the long stalled legislation to provide aid to Ukraine.

However, this shakes out, there is going to be real ripple effects coming from Capitol Hill very soon. CNN's Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill. She's got much more on this. So Mike Johnson keeping his speakership and Ukraine getting this long stalled military aid, can both of these things happen, Lauren? LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the question that we're going to see unfold over the course of the next several weeks on Capitol Hill, Kate. And we may not get the answers by the end of this week. Lawmakers in the House are going to return tomorrow. They will have their first vote series in the evening. But it may take a while for this to all unfurl. That is because Mike Johnson has yet to announce exactly what a Ukraine aid package would look like.

I'm told from sources that he has been consulting, having conversations with members with the administration trying to figure out what his best course of action is, but he hasn't made any concrete decisions. And that is because looming in the background is Marjorie Taylor Greene and her potential threat to try and oust Speaker Johnson. And one thing to keep an eye on, what does she do over the next several days. She already has threatened and introduced this resolution to oust him. She has not actually gotten the process started and forced it.

[08:50:11]

But it becomes a key issue for Johnson, if he begins to move on Ukraine, if he makes an announcement, is that when she decides to move forward, or perhaps he will wait until he understands precisely what her threat is? Now, they were supposed to talk on Friday. It's unclear if that conversation actually happened or not. But I will tell you, Kate, that there are a lot of Republican members who are deeply frustrated about the fact that they view Marjorie Taylor Greene and her threat against the Speaker as a potential distraction in an election year where they argue they cannot get the House back into the tumult, back into the chaos that they saw in the fall when Kevin McCarthy was ousted. That is not a chapter that many Republicans want to repeat, but because the margins are so narrow right now in the House of Representatives, it may be unavoidable if Marjorie Taylor Greene decides to move forward. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Lauren, keep us updated. It's good to see you. Thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: All right, with us now former White House spokesman for President George W. Bush, Pete Seat, and Democratic strategist and co- founder of Lift Up Your Voices, Julie Roginsky. Friends, I want to ask you both about the statement from Donald Trump just a short time ago where he weighed in on his stance on abortion. People had been waiting for this. He had been suggesting he would make some kind of big policy pronouncement. In private, he'd been saying he would support a 15 or 16-week federal ban on abortion. But the statement this morning, all he said is he thinks that should be left up to the states. And he does support some exceptions. So Julie, I want your reaction to that. Is that some middle ground?

JULIE ROGINSKY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, it was quite a word salad, John. So it was a little hard to parse. But from what I can tell he patted himself on the back for abolishing Roe versus Wade. Congratulated the justices he appointed to make that happen, and supported all the states that are banning abortion virtually at conception at this point. So I don't think there's much change from what's going on now in some of the states that are leading to horrific outcomes for women are what Donald Trump proposes to do if you were to get back into the White House.

BERMAN: Pete, on the other side, though, there are some anti-abortion groups that are disappointed with what Donald Trump said about this. Literally, the Susan B. Anthony pro-life statement was this, we are deeply disappointed in President Trump's position saying the issue is back to the States' cedes, the national debate to the Democrats who are working relentlessly to enact legislation mandating abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy. Does this have any effect with complaints for the right, Pete?

PETE SEAT, VICE PRESIDENT, BOSE PUBLIC AFFAIRS GROUP: We'll leave it to Donald Trump to not be eclipsed by anything, including a once in a lifetime celestial event, to put this statement out this morning. What really struck me John, though, in this transcript is the hard pivot he made to politics and to this election cycle. It really sounds to me like he understands there's really no middle ground here.

There is no way to make both sides happy. So he's trying to do something to energize Republicans in the states where we're going to see referendums on abortion, and he has a chance to potentially lose if a lot of Democrats show up to vote. So that's what I got out of this. It wasn't about the policy, but so much about the politics.

BERMAN: I mean, but I guess, Pete, is there anyone on the right less likely to vote for him because he didn't support a federal ban on abortion?

SEAT: No, I mean, the Susan B. Anthony group needs -- they need to do what they have to do, right? This is what the group is all about. It's about pro-life. It's about opposing abortion. So they're going to put this statement out, it's unsurprising to me that they are not happy with what he had to say. I think at the end, they're going to vote for him because they know Donald Trump is the best candidate for the issue they care about most.

BERMAN: And Julie, I'm so sorry that I stepped on what you were saying there. The flip side of that is, you know, is there any Democratic or pro-choice voter who's going to say, oh, I'm going to think twice about Donald Trump because he doesn't support a federal ban?

ROGINSKY: Look, anybody who's a pro-choice voter has been seeing what's been going on in places like Alabama and Texas, and now Florida and other states that have moved very quickly ban abortion for rape survivors, for women who are desperate to have children but literally are dying from their pregnancies. And so when you see that kind of behavior already taking place, you remember what made that possible. What made that possible was a Trump presidency that appointed Supreme Court justices that enabled this kind of action.

So there's not one pro-choice voters going to read what Trump said today and then say, oh, wait a second, now I think -- now this all makes sense to me now I've seen the light. I just -- it's -- he has not made any either side happy which, you know, in typical Donald Trump fashion, you know, his followers will follow him over the cliff wherever he goes but for anybody who's undecided I just don't see that the statement today makes either side happy.

[08:55:11]

BERMAN: So Julie, why -- what does he get out of it then? I mean, that's I guess, you know, you guys have gone back and forth on this, neither side likely will be satisfied. He doesn't win anyone here. So what does he get?

ROGINSKY: Well, I think he's probably trying to make it clear that he doesn't support the IVF actions that are really extreme. And that's what you saw on that statement, a lot of it focused on that a lot of a focus on congratulating himself and appointing these justices who banned Roe versus Wade or overturn Roe versus Wade. And so I think a lot of it was just self-congratulatory, and then trying to get out of this whole IVF debacle that that overturn of Roe versus Wade has now led to in places like Alabama, and so it's not artful. It's not skillful. And actually, it's not very Trump-like in the sense that he didn't really take any declaratory action on either side, it was kind of squishy, which seemed a little out of character just shows me that he's very uncomfortable with this issue. He understands its potency, even in places like Ohio and Kansas that are typically Republican but voted overwhelmingly to support abortion rights.

BERMAN: And, Pete, will this keep questions from being asked going forward? Is this now settled?

SEAT: Well, I think a position is better than no position. Donald Trump has been hitting fellow Republicans for being what he said is inarticulate on the topic of abortion. Democrats have been able to paint Republicans as extremists because there hasn't been a clear position. This might not be the right position. It might not make everyone happy. But at least it's something to stand on moving forward.

BERMAN: And very quickly, Julie, the White House President Biden's coming out with a plan for some kind of student debt relief, student loan debt relief, the Supreme Court struck down the last attempt. To what extent do you think young voters give him any credit for trying? Does he need to actually come through with the relief for it to matter?

ROGINSKY: You know, every focus group I've seen over the last few years is really I call it the Janet Jackson model. What have you done for me lately? And so a lot of these proposals sound very, very nice. But I think a lot of young voters will probably want to see some real results before taking it to the bank, literally taking it to the bank.

BERMAN: Literally taking it to the bank. That is interesting. All right, Julie Roginsky, Pete Seat, thank you both very much. Sara?

SIDNER: New this morning, pain once again, at the pump. Surging oil prices mean you will pay more at the gas station. A top economist is warning, rising oil prices, he thinks is the number one threat to the U.S. economy. CNN's Matt Egan is joining us now. Matt, you know, when you take a look at this, the economy is doing so well. And then to hear this, why does he does Moody's believe that oil prices are such a huge risk right now?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Sara, you're right. There are so many positives out there. The jobs market is on fire, consumers are spending. The economy is growing at a healthy pace. But oil prices they do pose a growing threat to the economy, one that could really undo a lot of those positive. So you can see that chart shows that U.S. oil prices, they topped at $7 a barrel last week for the first time since October. And this is up from around $70 a barrel to start the year.

Now Moody's chief economist Mark Zandi, he told me that, look, we can kind of live with 85 to $90 a barrel, the economy can handle that. But once you get closer to $100, that's really the danger zone because that's going to hurt consumer spending, especially low income families. As Andy said, quote, it's the most serious threat to the economy. Nothing does more damage to the economy more quickly than higher oil prices.

Now, remember, the higher oil prices go, the more all of us have to pay for gas at the pump. The national average today is up to 360 a gallon that is a fresh five-month high, that's up six cents in a week, 20 cents over the past month. And if gas prices go too high, that could also unwind some of the progress on the inflation front. And that could delay when the Fed can start cutting interest rates or even by how much the Fed cuts rates.

There also could be significant political consequences here. Moody's has a model out there, a forecasting model that finds gas prices are a key variable in the November election. How key? Well, Moody said that if gas prices hit $4 a gallon and stay above there, that alone could be enough for Donald Trump to win the White House. Sara?

BERMAN: That's really interesting. I wanted to give you -- get an idea of why this is happening. I'm assuming there's the issues that have going on in the Middle East.

EGAN: Yes, so that's definitely part of it. I mean, part of it is seasonal, right? Whenever winter ends, demand goes up. And so that's an issue. Part of it is intentional. OPEC Plus, the producer alliances led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, they're holding back supply. They want to lift prices and it's working. And then you have the war factor. Drone attacks on Russian refineries by Ukraine, that was the issue last month. And now, there are all these concerns about the Middle East.

[09:00:05]

And you have to keep in mind, the U.S. is producing more oil than any country ever has before. And so that is cautioning some of the blow here. But there are concerns about the Middle East. And so Sara, what happens next on the oil price front is going to be big for the economy, for the market, and maybe even the election.

SIDNER: Presidential candidates will be watching that very closely, I'm sure. Matt Egan, thank you so much. Another hour of CNN News Central starts right now.