[Cabrera:] Will this holiday weekend become another super-spreader event? Health experts fear it could after what we saw following Memorial Day and the 4th of July. Right now, coronavirus cases are trending upward in 17 states in the U.S., deaths nearing 189,000 in the country. Joining us now, Dr. Ashish Jha, he is the Dean at Brown University School of Public Health. Doctor, always good to have you here. Are you concerned that the U.S. will see another big spike in cases after this weekend?
[Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean, Brown University School Of Public Health:] Yes. So, thank you for having me on. I am concerned. I think we saw, as you said, after Memorial Day a really big surge, after July 4th a moderate-size surge. And we go into Labor Day with 40,000 new cases a day, much higher than we were at Memorial Day. And so I'm worried that any new surges will be potentially quite catastrophic. We have to be very careful this weekend.
[Cabrera:] Let's talk about the race for a vaccine because we have this new CBSYouGov poll out today showing just 21 percent nationwide say they would get a vaccine as soon as possible if one was available this year without cost. Now, that's down from 32 percent who said the same thing in July. That number obviously low as well. But how do you make sure the public has confidence in a vaccine?
[Jha:] Yes. So there's only one way to make sure people have confidence in the vaccine, and that's to let the science drive the timeline for when the vaccine is ready. If the evidence is in and if we have a safe and effective vaccine based on the data, then I think the majority of Americans will end up being confident about taking the vaccine. If politicians drive the timeline, then, obviously, it's going to be much, much worse.
[Cabrera:] The Wall Street Journal reported three of the vaccine producers are joining together in a pledge not to seek approval for their vaccines until they have been proven safe and effective. One, what do you make of that? And, two, do you think that would help bring back some trust among the medical community and Americans?
[Jha:] Yes. So, first of all, it is a remarkable pledge. I love it. It's great. It's remarkable in that the pharmaceutical companies have to actually make the pledge. And I think that's because there is a lot of concerns about the politicization of the FDA and that instead of letting the great scientists at the FDA make the decision that we might have the political leaders make the decision. So I think it's good that the vaccine companies are doing this. I wish they didn't have to.
[Cabrera:] A new IHME model predicts another 200,000 deaths by January. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this because right now we're at almost 189,000, which is obviously a staggering number but we're averaging about 1,000 deaths per day right now, again, such a high number. But to get another 200,000 plus, that means we're going to be seeing 2,000, even 3,000 deaths per day. Do you really think that could happen?
[Jha:] So, first of all, I hope not. I mean, I think that's really on the high end of the estimates out there. I think we will do better than that. But even at 190,000 deaths where we are right now is so awful. I mean, it's so much worse than any other country in the world. But if we do a good job on mask wearing and avoiding indoor gatherings and if we can fix our testing infrastructure and make it better, we can certainly come in well under that 400,000 number. It's really up to us what number we come in at.
[Cabrera:] Dr. Ashish Jha, thank you so much for being with us.
[Jha:] Thank you for having me on.
[Cabrera:] Up next, with the massive increase in Americans voting by mail this year, could it be days, even weeks until we know who actually wins? Are we looking at a repeat of the infamous 2000 election? Cross-Exam with Elie Honig is next. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.