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WHO Warns of Second Peak; Crowds Pack Parks, Beaches for Holiday Weekend; U.S. Imposes Travel Ban from Brazil; Uproar in U.K., PM's Adviser Defends His Actions; Hong Kong Leader: Security Law Guarantees Civil Liberties; Hong Kong Leader: Security Law Guarantees Civil Liberties; Denmark to Begin Widespread Testing; Italy Requesting 'Civil Assistant' Volunteers; Delta & United Airlines Caught Up in U.S.-China Tensions; Trump Observes Memorial Day Amid Making Online Attacks; Crowds Pack Alabama's Beaches for Holiday Weekend; Connecting the Farms to the Food Banks. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired May 26, 2020 - 00:00   ET

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


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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause.

Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, crowd control. A long weekend in the U.S. while tens of thousands of beachgoers take a holiday from social distancing and wearing masks. But there was no Memorial Day off for the coronavirus.

They call him the Trump of the tropics. Now Jair Bolsonaro is rivaling the real Donald Trump as leader of the countries worst hit by the pandemic.

And don't do as I do. A senior adviser to the British prime minister keeps his job after admitting he defied national lockdown rules, visited relatives and was suspected of having the coronavirus.

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VAUSE: Around the world, as governments restart economies and relax and ignore social distancing guidelines, a stark warning from the World Health Organization: we are just months into the pandemic. It is not over, it's not even the beginning of the end, at best maybe it's the end of the beginning.

The head of the WHO emergency program says we are in the middle of the first wave of cases, meaning the outbreak is still on the way up. A second peak could come months from now through the normal flu season and all countries should remain on high alert.

The United States, which accounts of a third of all global cases, marked Memorial Day on Monday, a time to honor servicemen and women. This year many were marking the deaths of almost 100,000 people who have fallen to the coronavirus, a death toll higher than all the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan and both Iraq Wars combined.

The likely Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden appeared at a veterans' memorial wearing a mask. The U.S. president did not.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: As one nation, we mourned alongside every single family that has lost loved ones including the families of our great veterans. Together, we will vanquish the virus and America will rise from this crisis to new and even greater heights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Except the U.S. is nowhere near vanquishing the virus. The number of deaths continue to go up and cases are not going down in most of the 50 states. Across the U.S., at least 18 states, the rate of infection is on the rise.

It other parts, it has plateaued or started to fall. Regardless, it seems many Americans have decided to throw caution to the wind, ignoring social distancing guidelines and party like it's 2019. We begin with Kyung Lah, reporting in from Manhattan Beach.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On Memorial Day, we remember our father, William E. Cordero

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll always remember Gordon Hartley --

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Americans gathered in online forums to remember the fallen on this Memorial Day, many others met in person, willing to push boundaries on this weekend that marks the start of summer.

STACY RUTH, OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND: Everybody's going to come back and say you should have, could have, would have. But you know what, the reality of it is, at the end of the day, I think we're all responsible for our own actions.

LAH (voice-over): In Alabama, crowds pack the sand, many ignoring social distancing. In southern California, this beach sits mainly empty and visitors are wearing masks. But just a short drive away, California hikers packed this canyon shoulder to shoulder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is just not good. It's too many people in one little area.

LAH (voice-over): In response, Los Angeles County shut down the trail immediately. Crowds apparent as a cooped-up country reopens, from a giant pool party in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, to this one in Daytona Beach, Florida.

CARLOS DEL RIO, EPIDIMIOLOGIST, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: We are beginning to see an uptick in cases in Georgia and I think it's clearly a result of people relaxing social distancing.

LAH (voice-over): Data shows more states are heading in the wrong direction and the weekly average of new cases while 10 states here in green are down, 22 states in yellow hold steady, with 18 states in red and orange, showing an increase.

One of those states showing an increase in cases, Arkansas. The governor marking the holiday says his state is in the middle of a second peak, citing some relaxing of social distancing but also increased testing.

GOV. ASA HUTCHINSON (R-AR): Today we face another enemy. It is a deadly virus that cannot be seen. It silently attacks and kills.

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HUTCHINSON: Almost 100,000 Americans have lost their lives within 100 days as a result of this new enemy.

LAH (voice-over): And it is far from over, warns the World Health Organization.

DR. MICHAEL RYAN, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: We need to be also cognizant of the fact that the disease can jump up at any time. We cannot make assumptions that just because the disease is on the way down now, that it's going to keep going down and that we're going to get a number of months to get ready for a second wave. We may get a second peak in this wave.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So put away all of your fears, all of your fears.

LAH (voice-over): But patience runs short amongst some. North Carolina protesters demand that the state open faster even as the states numbers climb

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want all of North Carolina to be open. We want for us to be able to take care of our own health, all right? We don't want the government keeping us safe.

LAH (voice-over): The economy versus science clash weighing on local leaders, trying to contain the public health crisis.

GOV. DOUG BURGUM (R-ND): If someone is wearing a mask, they're not doing it to represent what political party they're in or what candidates they support. They might be doing it because they've got a 5-year-old child who has been going through cancer treatments.

LAH: Here is a live look at in person shopping will be allowed but with heavy restrictions and California into once again be allowed to worship in their places of worship but only at 25 percent of occupancy -- Kyung Lah, CNN, Manhattan Beach, California.

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VAUSE: Joining me now from Seattle is Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips

Good to see you.

DR. AMY COMPTON-PHILLIPS, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Good to see you, too.

VAUSE: Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer in the United States, here are some people explaining why they hit the beach.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I could get killed by COVID today or I could get to get hit by a bus or a car tomorrow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's splish splash, taking a bath. Enjoy life, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody going to get sick one day. Everybody, it's just life, man. You can die in a sudden car wreck. You can stay 6 feet apart, so be it. But we're going to be sliding down these slides. If we bump each other, we bump each other.

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VAUSE: Is that almost cavalier approach kind of to be accepted after so many weeks of restrictions?

Much like the virus, could this attitude could spread exponentially?

The more people go out, the more they act this way.

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: I think people are just tired of being inside. And they're seeing the sun come out and they are used to being able to enjoy themselves over Memorial Day, a big cook out, get together with family. So they are reacting.

But I have to say, I still think that is the exception, not the rule, that when I walk around the streets of Seattle, when I look at my neighbors, I see people very much taking this seriously.

So for the most part, I think people do recognize that, as we get back to life and we are getting back to life again, the lockdowns are easing in almost every community. But as we are doing that, most people are taking it seriously. Most people are observing social distancing.

And the few that aren't are not only risking themselves, they are risking their neighbors and their parents and their children and their loved ones. So I do hope that we are able to stick this through, even though it is hard.

VAUSE: It is hard, that's for sure. Christopher Murray with the U.S. Institute of Health Metrics believes the virus may ease up in the coming weeks and months. But then added this warning. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. CHRISTOPHER MURRAY, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH, METRICS AND EVALUATION: There is some seasonality and that's it, but it's not anywhere near as strong as strong as flu.

That does mean that we'll -- we may be lulled into a false sense of things not being as bad as they could be. But if it is seasonal, it means that, starting in September and then progressively going up, it could get progressively worse right through to January.

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VAUSE: So there is no vaccine widely available. Does that mean a return to a lockdowns and shelter in place would be the only way we have a break in the chain of transmission, should we emerge in a significant way?

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: It's certainly a risk, that's what happened in the 1918 flu pandemic, in the spring, people had initial lockdowns during the summer. As the flu goes away, it has seasonality, people relaxed their behaviors and they got out of the habit of staying six feet apart and wearing masks.

And then in the fall, it came roaring back. And it became much worse and they had to reenact lockdowns. So I do hope that won't happen but it's absolutely a possibility. And that's why we need to ingrain ourselves with some new behaviors and new habits and that is avoiding shaking hands.

That's wearing masks, much more handwashing. And that is sticking a little bit more to ourselves, taking vacations this summer that are closer to home and camping instead of going to a big resort with a million other people.

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COMPTON-PHILLIPS: So it really is thinking differently about how we behave this summer so that it does not come roaring back this fall.

VAUSE: Salad bar seems like a thing of the past.

With regards to the vaccine, researchers at Oxford University seem to be one of the leading candidates but they told a newspaper, we said earlier in the year there was an 80 percent chance of developing an effective vaccine by September. But at the moment there's a 50 percent chance that we get no result at all. We are in the bizarre position of wanting COVID to stay at least for a little while but cases are declining.

Explain what they are talking about here.

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: In order to understand if a vaccine is effective, you have to give it to people and then have enough exposure to see if the people who got the vaccine get the disease significantly less often than those that did not get it, which means you have to have enough people getting exposed to the virus in the community that you can get your answer. So if the virus circulates in a community in which it's eliminated, and most of us would say that is a good thing, you can't tell whether or not the vaccine works. Just because you have not had enough of a challenge to the vaccine, people who got the vaccine to see whether or not it is effective.

So it's easier to test the efficacy of a vaccine in a population where the disease itself is rampant.

VAUSE: It's a double edged sword. So let's finish up with face masks because we know now that it's important to wear these face masks and slow the spread of COVID-19. Listen to this.

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DR. DEBORAH BIRX, CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE: We now have excellent scientific evidence of how far droplets go when we speak or just simply talking to one another.

And we know that it is important for people to socially interact, but we also know it is important that we have to have masks on for less than six feet and that we have to maintain that six feet distance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The CDC bungled this at the beginning, because the messaging was so confusing. At first, there was no benefit and now it is changing. Still the president of the United States won't wear a mask because he thinks he looks silly. Again, that is not sending the right message.

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: It is not sending the right message. You know and did the CDC mess up?

I don't know. I think when a new disease comes around, you have to learn how the disease spreads. You have to learn how it behaves. And they were very clear that they did not know yet, they were researching it and as soon as it became clear, they issued the face mask guidance.

I think having a little bit of forgiveness -- because nobody knew how it spread, nobody knew what it did. That said, now we need leaders. Those leaders include presidents and include governors and include physicians and scientists.

And we need people to show the leadership that each one of us has in showing our neighbors that we care about them. Because that is what wearing a face mask is all about. It's about ensuring that, if you have the virus, you would not pass it on to anyone else. And it's not that much to ask.

We really need to do it to help protect the lives of the children and the parents and the grandparents and the people undergoing cancer treatment and the friend who just had a heart attack.

I mean they all need to be protected from this virus. So each and every one of us needs to wear a mask to make sure that happens.

VAUSE: We are out of time but I heard someone say, if you don't wear a mask, you're wearing a T-shirt that says I don't care about you. That sums it up. Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips, thank you.

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: Thank you.

VAUSE: The White House has set forth restrictions on travel from Brazil. Two days earlier than called for. With nearly 12,000 new infections reported on Monday alone, Brazil has now the second highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, second only to the U.S.

The city Manaus is located in the heart of the Amazon. And as Nick Paton Walsh reports, it is one of the many Brazilian cities overwhelmed by this pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Here in Manaus, the worst hit city in Brazil, the worst country in Latin America, the worst hit region in the world, We've seen some startling scenes today that show the gravity of the problem.

And frankly, the enormity of the challenge here in the heart of the Amazon to get people affected by this disease to medical treatment. We've seen flights landing, bringing people in from far-flung places. We've seen startling large cemeteries built in a record amount of time.

Fifteen hundred people buried in one plot that we saw, and troublingly too, about four-fifths of them were suspected COVID cases, not people who tested positive. And that cause to question frankly the official numbers the Brazilian government are giving out.

It varies between states but the full tally of 374,000 confirmed cases may not be the entire number because it doesn't always contain suspected cases as well.

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WALSH (voice-over): Eight hundred seven people have died in the last 24 hours, and that of course is a deeply troubling number for Brazil, but may have had some possible relation, these worsening numbers to why President Donald Trump's administration has moved up the travel ban against Brazil forward 48 hours to the end of Tuesday.

That may have some impact possibly on how Brazilians feel about their situation globally. They are now the second worst impacted country on the planet. But they are possibly a week to two weeks away from the peak.

Still, a much criticism level towards Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president. He called this a little flu initially, and as recently as the weekend we see him not wearing a mask in a rally of his supporters. A common place to see there's rallies, and common place to hear his messaging to be suggesting that it isn't as bad as everyone thinks. Then the economy is certainly a priority.

But it is quite clear in the city of Manaus, this disease has been utterly devastating. The city is so remote from the rest of the country. And having to fly and so much support to keep itself going.

The peak seems to be behind them, but even at the cemetery we were at, five bodies turned out for burials in coffins while we were there just this morning. So, startling scenes where we are here. And a sign possibly that the worst is certainly ahead for the rest of Brazil -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Manaus, Brazil.

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VAUSE: Peru is second to Brazil in cases in Latin America. More than 4,000 cases in 24 hours, more than 3,600 people have died. And unlike Brazil, Peru has enacted strict measures, including stay-at-home orders and closing its borders. Still, the poorest there cannot afford to stay home and must seek work.

One doctor there says, it's been a big factor in driving up those numbers.

In the U.K. while the public was told to shelter in place back in March under some of the toughest situations since World War II, Boris Johnson's chief advisor took a drive in the country, visited relatives, all while he was suspected of having the virus.

But Dominic Cummings will not resign. CNN's Bianca Nobilo reports he has the support of Prime Minister Johnson.

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BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In an unprecedented move, the prime minister's chief aide, Dominic Cummings, took to the garden behind 10 Downing Street today to defend his actions.

Cummings has been under fire in the British press and by the British public for violating the lockdown rules in the United Kingdom. He left his residence in London and then he traveled 260 miles to his parents' place in Darrow (ph). He said that he did so, because his wife had taken ill and he had a 4 year old son to look after.

Adding insult to injury in terms of coming to an account of events, he then stopped off at Barnard Castle, about 30 miles from his parents' place. He said he did so because he wanted to test his eyesight before journeying back to London.

He also said he had returned to work at 10 Downing Street after knowing that his wife had come down with coronavirus symptoms. Cummings defended his decision.

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DOMINIC CUMMINGS, CHIEF ADVISER TO PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON: I can understand that some people will argue that I should have stayed at my home in London throughout. I understand these views. I know the intense hardship and sacrifice that the entire country has had to go through.

However, I respectfully disagree. The legal rules inevitably do not cover all circumstances, including those that I found myself in. I thought and I think today that the rules, including those regarding small children in extreme circumstances, allowed me to exercise my judgment about the situation I found myself in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Cummings, often accused of holding the press in contempt, ignoring them or being rude, then took questions from journalists. He revealed that he hadn't offered his resignation to the prime minister nor had he considered it.

A lot of the questions surrounded how he could justify his decisions when member of the front line services have stayed away from their families to try and protect them, hadn't visited grieving relatives or hadn't been allowed to go to hospital to see suffering loved ones with the coronavirus.

The prime minister was asked to address those same concerns and said he understood the British public sentiment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: It's absolutely true I didn't know about any of the arrangements in advance. What I think did happen was while ill and about to get a lot sicker, we had a brief conversation in which I think Dominic Cummings mentioned where he was.

But I have to tell you, at that particular stage, I had a lot on my plate and really didn't focus on the matter until these stories started to emerge in the last -- in the last few days.

So, my answer to your question is, you know, do I -- do I -- do I regret what has -- what has happened?

And yes, of course. I do regret the confusion and the anger and the pain that people feel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: So has the print prime minister and his chief aide who many credit with Boris Johnson's recent election victory done enough to quell the public anger and stop questions for now?

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NOBILO: Only one thing is really for sure after that incredible and unprecedented event in the garden behind Downing Street today and that is it may have placated some but it poured fuel on the fire for others -- Bianca Nobilo, CNN, outside London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Test and test and test and test some more, COVID-19 tests for anyone who wants one. For real in Denmark. Details later this hour.

Up next, why is Hong Kong's leader publicly supporting a Beijing- backed security law which most say would strip away even more of the territory's independence?

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VAUSE: With Beijing moving to impose new national security laws on Hong Kong, a growing number of demonstrators are now calling for all- out independence. In response to that Hong Kong's pro Beijing security secretary have supported the new laws on Monday warning of a growing threat from terrorism and said calls for independence could undermine national security.

The move by Beijing is widely seeing as an attempt to strip away another layer of Hong Kong's independence. Despite that, it has the enthusiastic support of chief executive Carrie Lam.

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CARRIE LAM, HONG KONG CHIEF EXECUTIVE (through translator): What is to be provided in this piece of legislation, is for all of us to see in order to be assured that Hong Kong's freedoms will be preserved and Hong Kong's vibrancy and core values in terms of the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, the various rights and freedoms enjoyed by people will continue to be there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: For more on this, CNN Steven Jiang is standing by live in Beijing.

Anna Coren also live from Hong Kong and we will begin with Anna.

You specifically asked Carrie Lam about guarantees that this law would not erode hg's independence. It seems that her answer was kind of squishy.

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's one way to put it, John, I asked her whether people would be allowed to continue to protest on the streets, freedom of speech, freedom of expression, something that Hong Kong has enjoyed for the last 23 years. She said that those rights will be preserved, there is no need to worry.

She said as long as these protests are legal. Well, I attended that protest on Sunday and that was an unlawful assembly. Police did not give a permit for that protest; hence, more than 190 people were arrested. It really didn't give us any sense that people would be allowed to

take to the streets and continue to demonstrate peacefully without being arrested.

The other interesting question, John, that was posed to the city's chief executive, was whether, under these national security law, Chinese law enforcement agencies will be the ones enforcing the law here in Hong Kong.

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COREN: She did not reject that notion whatsoever. All she said is, those agencies will have to abide by Hong Kong law. That would be an absolute game-changer. You have the Chinese police or the PLA arresting people in Hong Kong under that national security law.

That will just obliterate any illusion that there is a rule of law or that Hong Kong is semi autonomous. This is deeply troubling for the pro democracy movement here in Hong Kong. One of the loudest voices in that movement is Jimmy Lai. He is a media mogul here, the founder of Apple Daily and he fears for the future of Hong Kong. He believes that Donald Trump is the only one that can save the city. Take a listen.

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COREN (voice-over): Traitor, national scum, selling out his country and his conscience. This is how China describes Hong Kong's most famous media mogul. Jimmy Lai has been a thorn in the side of China's Communist Party for decades fighting for his city's freedoms. But now Beijing has this 72 year-old firmly in its sights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY LAI, APPLE DAILY: We are a dictatorship. Freedom is not free. And this is a price we have to be ready for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN (voice-over): Last month he was one of 15 activists to be arrested, along with the founding father of Hong Kong's democracy, 81 year-old Martin Lee (ph).

Lai owns the Apple Daily newspaper. He was charged in organizing and participating in an illegal assembly last August and intimidating a pro-Beijing reporter back in 2017. Rights groups call the arrest an attempt to silence the pro-democracy movement.

While he can't discuss the charges, this tycoon said he won't be scared or intimidated by the CCP nor should Hong Kong protesters. Despite China's plans to enforce a controversial national security law it says is needed for its sovereignty and to fight what it calls is terrorism.

LAI: I can't have fear. If I have the fear, I have a fear about the consequences of whatever I do.

COREN (voice-over): On Sunday, thousands of protesters poured onto the streets, the first real demonstration of 2020 since COVID-19.

Voicing their opposition to this proposed legislation, banning treason, secession, sedition and subversion, ultimately criminalizing the protests that roiled Hong Kong since June last year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What have you been arrested for?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know.

COREN (voice-over): While demonstrations were smaller than expected, police showed zero tolerance, arresting more than 180 people, mostly for unlawful assembly.

Having just set up his Twitter account on the weekend, Mr. Lai appealed to Hong Kongers and said "It is time to sacrifice. Are we prepared to sacrifice blood and tears for our future freedom? I am."

As one of the most prominent members of Hong Kong's pro democracy movement, Jimmy Lai has always had a target on his back. His arrest last month proof of that. But under China's new security law, he believes his media organization, the city's most vocal opposition newspaper, will be shut down. And he could be spending his future behind bars.

COREN (voice-over): With Hong Kong now at risk of losing its freedom, autonomy and rule of law, Mr. Lai issued an SOS to the U.S. president, printing his letter on the front page of his newspaper.

Despite America's strained relationship with China in the midst of COVID-19 and the tenuous trade deal, Mr. Lai believes that the CCP will listen to Donald Trump.

LAI: Mr. President, you're the only one who can save us. If you save us and stop China, stop (INAUDIBLE), you also save the world.

COREN (voice-over): He knows it's a long shot but one he is willing to take for his last crusade. And despite having British citizenship, Jimmy Lai said he isn't going anywhere.

LAI: I will not leave because I'm not a troublemaker. I can be trouble and go away. All my life would be waste if I do that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: And, John, we are outside and as you can see there are water barriers set up, right around the perimeter of this complex. The national anthem bill will be debated here tomorrow. If enforced, it will be a crime to mock or insult the Chinese national anthem. You'll be fined, thrown in jail.

Huge protests are expected here in Hong Kong, citywide strikes as well are expected and we are hearing there will be huge police turnout, 3,000 police will be deployed across the city and if the weekend is any indication, the police will be showing zero tolerance to any demonstrator.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Anna, thank you. Let's go quickly to Beijing. Steven Jiang is there for us.

[00:30:05]

You know, you heard the U.S. talking about sanctions on China. Beijing has ordered its own warning to Washington. In the past, though, you know, Beijing would quietly chip away at Hong Kong's autonomy. It seems they've now adopted this more of a sledgehammer approach.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: That's right. This is President Xi Jinping's China right now, actually. The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said China's ready to fight back if the U.S. actually imposes sanctions on China over this Hong Kong law.

But this, of course, is not surprising, because from Beijing's perspective, this law is long overdue because they've been losing patience for a while. Because after 23 years of China regain sovereignty over Hong Kong.

The local Hong Kong authority is still unable to pass this law. The last time they tried, of course, was in 2003, triggering huge protests on the streets, but the most recent protest movement in Hong Kong that began last year but is still ongoing, as Anna was referring to, that's really reinforced the notion of the urgency and the necessity of having this law in Hong Kong, in the minds of Beijing leadership, because they see Hong Kong increasingly becoming this bastion of anti- China forces, not only from pro-democracy activists but also from a growing pro-independence movement, not to mention what they call rampant foreign interference. That's why they decided to act now to take the matter into their own hands -- John.

VAUSE: Steven, thank you. Steven Jiang there for us in Beijing. Earlier, Anna Coren in Hong Kong. Thanks to you both.

We'll take a short break. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Back in a moment.

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VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.

The World Health Organization is warning of a possible second peak in the coronavirus pandemic. A senior official says it could coincide with the regular flu season, and that right now we're still in the middle of the first wave.

Meantime, the WHO has temporarily halted a hydroxychloroquine study as a potential treatment for the coronavirus because of safety concerns. This comes after a study showed seriously ill COVID-19 patients who were treated with chloroquine were more likely to die.

One of the British prime minister's most senior advisers, Dominic Cummings, says he will not resign after breaking the country's lockdown rules with a trip he took back in March.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is defending Cummings, saying he does not believe his decision to travel has undermined the government's message.

Denmark has fared better than many of its European neighbors. And when the outbreak began, a shortage of kits meant it did not carry out widespread testing. That's about to change in a very big way. Here's CNN's Fred Pleitgen.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): It was a big promise President Trump made in early March: coronavirus tests for anyone who wants them.

[00:35:04]

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Anybody that wants a test can get a test.

PLEITGEN: A promise the president has not fulfilled to this day.

But now tiny Denmark is making exactly that possible. People are flocking to tent centers in Copenhagen and other towns. Sarah Wiese lives in a shared apartment and says she wants to make sure she's not jeopardizing her flat mates.

SARAH WIESE, COPENHAGEN RESIDENT: To get certainty and also so we can, if I have it, that I can tell my friends, because we have been a little bit close, too close.

PLEITGEN: The process is simple: make an appointment by an app and head to the nearest testing facility. The average waiting time to get an appointment, Denmark's health ministry says, is less than a day. There's even a drive-in facility where motorists get tested in their cars.

HELLE HOSTRUP, TEST CENTER LEADER: Testing a lot of people in Denmark, just to be wiser, to learn about how the virus is spreading.

PLEITGEN: Denmark is seen as a role model for the way it's combatting the coronavirus in Europe. It shut down very early, and its death toll remains low.

But the country only recently started mass corona tests, to test both the presence of the virus or the antibodies showing a previous infection.

Now, anyone, whether they have symptoms or not, can get tested. That's to make sure there's no pockets of the virus left, Denmark's health minister tells me.

MAGNUS HEUNICKE, DANISH HEALTH MINISTER: We are really chasing the last pockets, and it's important for us to -- to find them and then to -- to really stop the spread of the virus.

PLEITGEN: With a population of less than six million, Denmark says it easily has the capacity to test anyone who wants to be tested.

The health ministry says the broad testing scheme is part of a larger push to gradually open up the country after beating back the virus.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Copenhagen, Denmark.

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VAUSE: And to Spain now, where the pandemic has devastated the tourism industry. Now, the government is trying to reassure travelers, please, it's time to come back.

The foreign minister tweeted this: "The worst is behind us. In July, we will gradually open to international terrorists, lift the quarantine, ensure the highest standards of health and safety. We look forward to welcoming you."

Starting July 1 tourists will be allowed into Spain without a required stay in quarantine. As a reminder, Spain has one of the world's highest death rates from COVID-19.

The U.K.'s retail sector set to reopen in mid-June. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the move on Monday as part of the government's second phase of relaxing lockdown restrictions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Today, I want to give the retail sector notice of our intentions to reopen shops so they, too, can get ready. So I can announce that it is our intention to allow outdoor markets to reopen from June the 1st, subject to all premises being made COVID secure, as well as car showrooms, which often have significant outdoor space, and where it is generally easier to apply social distancing.

Then, from the 15th of June, we intend to allow all other non- essential retail, ranging from department stores to small, independent shops, to reopen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, part of that, main stores will have to complete a risk assessment, take necessary steps to be coronavirus secure. Business owners who fail to implement safety measures could face fines or even jail time, up to two years.

With coronavirus cases and deaths on the decline in Italy, the country is moving forward with its phased reopening. Gyms, pools, sports centers can all open this week. Next month, airports, cinemas and theaters will be up and running.

Now, though, there are concerns about Italy's nightlife and complaints about people not social distancing. So authorities are getting creative to try and help enforce those rules.

CNN's Delia Gallagher explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Italy has a new plan for those who are out in public and not observing social distancing regulations.

(voice-over): The Italian Civil Protection Authority, along with regional governments, is organizing 60,000 volunteers -- They're calling them civil assistants -- who will patrol streets, parks, and beaches to remind people to wear face masks and to maintain social distance.

The volunteers will be over 18. They will wear vests, identifying themselves, but they will not be able to issue fines or tickets.

The Civil Protection Agency says this is a response to verify complaints over the weekend throughout Italy of social activity and nightlife happening without observing social distancing.

Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Germany has finalized a nearly $10 billion bailout to help Lufthansa recover from this outbreak. The rescue package will give Berlin a 20 percent stake in the carrier. Lufthansa gets $6 billion in aid and a loan with more than $3 billion.

The airline has been losing money, more than a billion dollars in the first quarter. It does not expect to recover for a number of years.

[00:40:04]

Meantime, China is condemning the U.S. for imposing new restrictions on Chinese airlines. It comes after Washington accused Beijing of blocking American carriers from flying to and from China. As CNN's Clare Sebastian reports, two major airlines, Delta and United, are being caught in the crossfire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is complex situation, but it basically boils down to the fact that Delta and United Airlines had wanted to restart flights to China in early June. They had applied to the Chinese aviation regulator to do so, but according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, there had been no response.

Now, they can't, of course, go ahead and restart without approval. Currently, there's a rule in place in China that prohibits any airline from extending their flight schedules beyond what they had in the middle of March.

Now, in the middle of March, no U.S. airline was operating any passenger flights to or from China, while Chinese airlines, a number of them, were still operating a small number of flights to and from the U.S.

And this has now become political. The U.S. Department of Transportation has weighed in, accusing China of treating U.S. airlines unfairly, and violating an existing air transport agreement between the two countries. And it has implemented a new rule that now requires Chinese airlines to file their schedules with the U.S. government so that they can determine if those flights, quote, "may be contrary to applicable law" or adversely affect the public interest.

Now, this comes at a time of rapidly escalating tensions between the two countries. The U.S. has accused China of covering up the full extent of the coronavirus outbreak, and it has recently sharply criticized the new national security law in Hong Kong.

And this matters, of course, as well for the battered U.S. airlines. Amid a sharp drop in demand in the U.S. and around the world, any opportunity to restart flights, particularly to a key international market like China, is much needed.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Please join us on Tuesday for a closer look at how the pandemic has impacted the travel and tourism industries.

CNN's Richard Quest will speak to CEOs from major airlines and hotels. Also, tourism ministers from countries heavily reliant on visitors. Now "TOURISM IN CRISIS." It's Tuesday, 8 p.m. in London, 9 p.m. in Paris.

Still to come in the U.S., Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer, and nothing will keep the crowds away from the beach, not even a pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAILEY (PH) CARR, BEACHGOER: Everybody's got to go somehow. You know what I mean?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You mean die?

CARR: Yes. But in a way, like, I don't want to die, but I mean, if that's what God has in store for my life, that's OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, if he's not wearing a mask, I'm not going to wear a mask. If he's not worried, I'm not worried.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: The Memorial Day weekend in the United States saw a somber moment on Monday from President Trump as he honored Americans who died during war.

[00:45:00] But he also spent this weekend attacking political opponents online, promoting conspiracy theories, and threatening North Carolina's Democratic governor over the crowd size allowed at the upcoming Republican National Convention.

Kaitlan Collins has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the United States nears 100,000 coronavirus deaths, President Trump laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery on this Memorial Day to honor those who have sacrificed their lives. And he vowed to fight coronavirus during a speech at Fort McHenry in Baltimore.

TRUMP: In recent months, our nation and the world have been engaged in a new form of battle against an invisible enemy.

COLLINS: Trump didn't wear a mask at either event, unlike Joe Biden, who made his first public appearance in months as he visited a veterans memorial in Delaware.

Earlier today, President Trump threatened to move the Republican National Convention from North Carolina if the state's governor doesn't commit to allowing a full attendance.

The convention has been planned for months, and is scheduled for late August, but the coronavirus pandemic has threatened to upend both it and the Democratic National Convention the week before.

On Twitter, Trump complained that North Carolina's Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, "is still in shutdown mood and unable to guarantee that by August we will be allowed to hold a full convention."

Vice President Mike Pence said they may move it to a state that's further along in reopening.

MIKE PENCE (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We all want to be in Charlotte. We love North Carolina, but having a sense now is essential because of the immense preparations that are involved.

COLLINS: Last week, Governor Cooper told CNN it wasn't a political decision.

GOV. ROY COOPER (NC-D): This is not political. This is not emotional. This is based on health experts.

COLLINS: Trump spent the weekend dedicated to fallen troops on Twitter, where he aired his grievances, posted insults, promoted a baseless murder claim, and amplified disparaging remarks.

As the death toll from coronavirus nears six digits, Trump complained about the media's coverage of him playing golf twice at his club this weekend. Though he often criticized Barack Obama for golfing while in office, Trump said he was only exercising and accused the press of portraying it as a mortal sin.

Though he once predicted the death toll in the U.S. would never come close to 100,000, Dr. Deborah Birx said the White House is still operating under the idea that it could range from there to 240,000 people.

DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE COORDINATOR: With any pandemic, at any time when people are fighting to save other people's lives, it's difficult to count at the early part of the epidemic.

COLLINS: On Sunday, the U.S. added Brazil to the list of countries from which travel is banned, because cases there have skyrocketed.

ROBERT O'BRIEN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: Because of the situation in Brazil, we're going to take every step necessary to protect the American people.

COLLINS (on camera): Now, back to the president's threat about pulling that convention out of Charlotte, North Carolina, despite the money and planning that's already gone into it, we are told by Charlotte officials that they do expect to put out some kind of guidance in June about how they're hoping big events like that are going to look like, because they're also juggling several major sports events, concerts things of that nature, not just the Republican National Convention.

And there are conversations happening between the Republican National Committee and the state of North Carolina about, you know, would they test every delegate who came in the door -- temperature checks, things like that -- to make sure that the people who do attend that convention are safe, though it still seems to be determined whether or not it's actually going to go forward and in the way that the president himself has envisioned it.

Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: It seems the U.S. death toll approaching 100,000 from COVID-19 was not enough to keep tens of thousands of people away from the beach this past long weekend, many willing to throw caution to the wind, it seems.

CNN's Gary Tuchman reports now from Gulf Shores, Alabama.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Coronavirus cases in Alabama are going the wrong way. They are trending up, but the state is now wide open for business.

Social distancing is the state's rule, but that effort has often been an exercise in futility at restaurants and bars in the beach towns of Alabama this Memorial Day weekend, as people come back to party.

At this restaurant and bar in Gulf Shores, Alabama, many wonder why it took this long to open.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just here just to have fun and meet everybody, and just be cool, you know.

TUCHMAN: Across the street, the beach is jammed. Groups are supposed to be six feet away from each other. Police work to enforce that. The groups are also ordered to only consist of people who live in the same household. There is no active effort to enforce that.

Bailey (ph) Carr is 21. She just graduated from college.

CARR: I mean, everybody has got to go somehow. You know what I mean?

TUCHMAN (on camera): Do you mean die?

CARR: Yes. But in a way, like -- I mean, I don't want to die, but I mean, if that's what God has in store for my life, that's OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My family has the same mindset as me, and we kind of just agreed that if we get it, we get it. We're going to handle it as a family and just get over it, because that's what a family does.

[00:50:11]

TUCHMAN: When it comes to coronavirus, medical experts will tell you they're very concerned about the immediate future here in Alabama. On this beach, though, your eyes and ears will tell you something different.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just like the flu, right?

TUCHMAN: Well, it's not just like the flu. It's far more contagious.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I know, but people die from the flu also.

TUCHMAN: They do die from the flu.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So to me that's -- that's just the way I look at it.

TUCHMAN: Do you have any concerns about being at the beach with so many people, with your children?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not at all. Not at all.

TUCHMAN: How come you're not worried at all that someone could be sick and walk by and get you sick?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because it's -- There's enough wind and air that it's going to clear it all out of here.

TUCHMAN: The wind and the air don't clear it away.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

TUCHMAN: There's no proof of anything like that. There's wind and air everywhere in this world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. No, I'm not worried about it at all.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): And then there is the issue of masks. We saw a grand total of zero being worn on the beach.

(on camera): Do you ever wear a mask?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. My wife and kids do. I don't.

TUCHMAN: How come you don't?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just feel comfortable I'm going to be OK.

TUCHMAN: But the mask isn't to keep you OK. It's to keep your wife and kids OK. To protect them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I get it. I get it. The survival rate is so high, I think --

TUCHMAN: You're not worried about them getting sick, because they're going to live?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I -- we're all going to get with sick with something eventually.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): President Trump is part of this conversation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, if he's not wearing a mask, I'm not going to wear a mask. If he's not worried, I'm not worried.

TUCHMAN (on camera): The president?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes sir.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Speaking of masks, Alabama has mandated them for restaurant and bar workers. Some restaurants have them, but at others, where we arrived unannounced and shot cell phone video, employees were not wearing masks.

The manager here telling us after our visit he has now given masks to his employees with instructions to wear them.

At this other restaurant bar here we also saw no employees wearing masks, the manager told us they will continue not wearing them, because she wants it that way, despite it violating the state order.

Traffic very heavy in Alabama's beach towns. All nearby hotels sold out as the holiday weekend began. Alabama is back in business, COVID surge or not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When it's my time to go, it's just my time to go, I guess.

TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Gulf Shores, Alabama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: While food banks have been running empty, farmers have been destroying surplus crops and livestock. Up next, what many would say is bleeding obvious. One state bringing both together, a win-win in the midst of a pandemic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Well, it's been a source of unending frustration, a surplus of crops and livestock, while at the same time, so many of the millions of newly unemployed are desperately in need of food.

While the supply chain has been disrupted, CNN's Brynn Gingras reports one state is stepping in, connecting farms to food banks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The coronavirus continues to test the food supply chain in America. Farmers are facing agonizing decisions, from euthanizing livestock to tossing crops. No different at Marshman Farms in upstate New York.

SHEILA MARSHMAN, OWNER, MARSHMAN FARMS: I remember my husband was in the house, and his brother actually had called and said, Hey, there's no place for this milk to go. It has to get dumped. And it created a bit of a silence, because never had that happened.

[00:55:06]

GINGRAS: Never, in several generations on this dairy farms. About 7,000 gallons of milk down the drain, with restaurants, schools and businesses closed, the supply chain severed.

MARSHMAN: We have a responsibility to feed the world. And you know that things are bad when you can't do that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this for one family?

GINGRAS: This at a time with the need for food assistance is exploding across the country.

RANDI SHUBIN DRESNER, ISLAND HARVEST: We know that the farmers didn't want to dump all that milk, so it was really -- it was really upsetting for everybody. And to get the phone calls from individuals who could use that milk.

GINGRAS: This Long Island food bank served 3,600 families in one day. Shubin Dresner says it was the largest single food drive in the state. Many waited hours to get a week's worth of groceries. Some families were even turned away. A humbling moment for Sandra Marcial. It's her first time here.

SANDRA MARCIAL, SCHOOL BUS DRIVER: I drive a school bus, so I've been affected since March 13. I have not been working.

GINGRAS (on camera): It's been a struggle. MARCIAL: I have three kids at home, myself, and I'm taking care of my aunt, too. So it's a struggle.

GINGRAS (voice-over): In her 25-pound bag of groceries, cheese and milk, made with milk from Marshman Farm.

MARCIAL: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

GINGRAS: The link between farmer to food bank to families is slowly reconnecting. A federal bill introduced in the House this month would give states more money to pay farmers for their surpluses and streamline those goods to food assistance programs.

That's already happening in New York. The state diverted $25 million of its emergency health money to connect the dots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to buy additional milk to help the dairy farmers. I think if we all did our part, I think collectively, we can really help humanity.

GINGRAS: It's a short-term solution as the country's unemployment numbers skyrocket. This food bank alone estimates it will feed two million more families this year than last year.

SHUBIN DRESNER: This is the new phase of how we will be distributing for quite some time.

GINGRAS (on camera): We met a woman who lost her job. She was a school bus driver. She took home food that day. Some of that food came from milk from this farm. How does that make you feel?

MARSHMAN: Accomplished! Accomplished!

GINGRAS (voice-over): Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with me. I'll be back after a short break. A lot more news. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END