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New Day

Warm Weather for East Coast; Reports on Coronavirus across the U.S.; NYSE Reopens After Shutdown; Hertz Files for Bankruptcy; Moderna Execs Cash in on Stock; U.S. Bans Travel from Brazil; Coronavirus Cases Rise in Mexico; Brooklyn Nets Resume Training. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired May 26, 2020 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Martin Savidge, thanks very much for your reporting on this.

So now that the Memorial Day weekend is over, warmer weather is on the way for most of the East Coast.

Chad Myers has the forecast.

Chad, where was this when we needed it?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it is the official start of summer, right? I mean, so it just -- it was a day late and a dollar short.

Yes, it will be warm today, in the 70s, across New York City. The rain will still be across parts of the Midwest. They'll take the rainfall, for sure.

This weather is brought to you by Tractor Supply Company, providing pet food, animal feed, and gardening supplies.

So here we go. An awful lot of rainfall across south Texas yesterday. Some -- and also south Florida. Many, many areas here picked up between four to six inches of rain because it was a tropical system here along the Bahamas. It's going to move to the north, maybe clip the Carolinas. Likely not a storm, but a lot more rainfall coming your way.

Here's the rain for today. Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia. Things are going to get heavy here across parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, even north Florida. Now, north Florida has been very, very dry. You heard about all of these wildfires down there. They will take the rainfall, just maybe not all at one time. Spread it out just a little bit.

Temperatures warming up in D.C. Look at Boston. Tomorrow, 86 degrees.

John, what are you going to do about that? You may have to get on the train, get up to your Boston!

BERMAN: Tank top. Tank top. That's what I'll do about that.

MYERS: Very good.

BERMAN: Tube top. Speedo. These are the things that you can do when it gets that hot.

MYERS: Well, no. No.

BERMAN: Chad Myers, thanks very much for being with us.

So, what should you expect the next time you go to your house of worship? California just announced new guidelines. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:36:08]

BERMAN: So this morning there is growing concern over coronavirus outbreaks at meat plants and California is announcing new plans for reopening religious institutions. We have reporters covering all of these stories from coast to coast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dianne Gallagher in Atlanta.

Two hundred and fifty-seven employees at the Tyson Foods poultry plant in Temperanceville, Virginia, have tested positive for Covid-19. That's just about 20 percent of the roughly 1,280 employees and contractors who were tested for the virus, according to Tyson. Now, most of those people who tested positive did so during a testing event on site the first week of May. Tyson says that it is continuing to screen its employees before they come to work for symptoms, as well as implement social distancing measures like barriers in the break room and work areas.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jason Carroll in New York.

The governor making a major announcement about benefits for first responders. Death benefits for families of first responders will now be provided by state and local governments. That will help the families of hundreds of police, firemen, and paramedics who died as a result of Covid-19. The governor called them frontline heroes and he said they deserve more than thanks. He also challenged the federal government to do the same.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Simon in San Francisco.

Under pressure from a petition of more than 1,200 pastors, as well as President Trump, California Governor Gavin Newsom says churches and other places of worship are now free to reopen, but there are a couple of key provisions. First, Newsom says individual counties can make the final call. Second, attendance must be at 25 percent of a building's capacity or 100 people, whichever is less. It's also recommended that both staff and guests wear face coverings and that staff be screened for temperature and symptoms at the beginning of their shifts.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ed Lavandera in Little Rock, Arkansas.

This is a state that has reported a little more than 6,000 coronavirus cases since the pandemic started. But a thousand of those cases, roughly, have come in just the last five days. And that is why the governor here is describing what they're seeing as a second peak. The first peak happened a little more than a month ago. But the governor says that he attributes this spike to better testing that's being done in this state and he says the silver lining is that there is a low hospitalization rate and a low positive infection rate. But when you walk around town here in Little Rock, most people seem completely unfazed by what is happening.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Our thanks to our correspondents around the country.

Well, the New York Stock Exchange is set to reopen their trading floor today, but it will look very different.

CNN's chief business correspondent Christine Romans joins us to explain.

So what are the changes they're making?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, wow, well there will only be about 25 percent of the floor staff will be allow there and there will be a very different looking New York Stock Exchange with signs on the floors showing social distancing, how far to stay apart, masks are required, temperature checks, Plexiglas barriers erected so that you can keep sort of security guards and traders away from each other. No eating on the trading floor, which is a big difference. I've spent years covering the floor of the stock exchange where, you know, the big lunch rush is always a big part of the day.

Liability waivers, we're told, have been required. Many media reporting that you're going to have to sign a waiver that says, you know, I'm not going to hold the New York Stock Exchange responsible if I get coronavirus here. And no public transportation and shaking hands on the trading floor. And, yes, this is usually a very chummy place. Of course people in close proximity who have known each other for years.

So fewer people, no media allowed to broadcast from there. We'll be reporting from outside of there. And just kind of a very different look.

CAMEROTA: It sounds like it.

OK, let's talk about Hertz. Hertz car rental is not going to survive this time.

ROMANS: Yes.

CAMEROTA: And why are they failing when the others aren't?

[06:40:01]

ROMANS: Well, we'll see if the others can -- can hold on. You know, they started with an awful lot of debt. And then suddenly, when your -- when your customer disappears, you can't pay your debt. They couldn't make those debt payments.

You know, about two-thirds of rental car activity comes from airports. You know, flying traffic is down 94 percent the past couple of months. Other people who rent cars are people who are, you know, traveling for business. They're not doing that. Or a lot of people rent cars when they've had an accident. Well, people aren't driving and getting in accidents as much either. So just the demand has disappeared here.

And this is something that I think travel in particular is the epicenter of what's going to be kind of a remade landscape. I'm going to be looking for more -- for more bankruptcies for airlines a for car, travel agencies and the like in the coming days.

CAMEROTA: OK, that's sobering.

Let's talk about Moderna.

ROMANS: Yes.

CAMEROTA: So Moderna, as you know, met with all sorts of great fanfare when they announced last week or two weeks ago that they -- there was a potential they had made progress on a vaccine, a coronavirus vaccine.

ROMANS: Right.

CAMEROTA: And then, right after that announcement, there's now word that two top executives, their chief financial officer and their chief medical officer, dumped something like $30 million worth of stock.

What's that about?

ROMANS: The optics are pretty terrible. So rewind the tape. Last Monday the stock jumped 30 percent on very, very early optimism about a vaccine. An optimism that the company itself released in a press release. It wasn't a peer reviewed journal or anything, just the company gave a positive press release.

The stock jumped 30 percent. And as regular investors were rushing into the stock, these two executives were rushing out and selling stock. And here's why. They had an automated insider trading sales plan that was triggered by this big rally in the stock. Not illegal. Looks bad. Looks like they're profiting from very early news. But not illegal. And this is something that a lot of executives in biotech firms have. It's a plan that's already written out, right?

Here's what I think is interesting and the takeaway is that as we report and read about progress on the vaccine front, we need to be mindful that people who are giving us the news in many cases are profiting from the moves in the stock price as we are reporting and reading about what's happening. So just a reminder to individual investors of just how volatile this can be and how much incentive there is to really let the good news get out there because it pushes the stock price up.

CAMEROTA: That's a good reality check.

Thank you very much, Christine.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

CAMEROTA: John.

BERMAN: All right, so this story is getting a ton of attention. A white New York woman is apologizing after she called police and said an African-American man was threatening her life. Video of the incident has now gone viral.

Amy Cooper was walking her dog Monday in Central Park when she encountered Christian Cooper. Not related. Both tell CNN the dispute began because her dog was not on a leash in an area of the park where it was supposed to be on a leash.

Now, Amy can be heard asking him to stop recording her and him telling her not to come close to him. She then called police saying there was an African-American man filming her and threatening her and her dog and asking them to come immediately.

Now, when officers did respond, neither Amy Cooper nor Christian Cooper were there. The man, who says he was in the park bird watching, said he just wanted her to put her dog on a leash and he was very calm. Police say there were no arrests or summons. Amy told CNN she is not a racist and wants to publicly apologize to everyone. Asked if he would accept her apology, Christian told CNN he would, quote, if it's genuine and if she plans on keeping her dog on a leash going forward.

Amy Cooper has been placed on leave by her employer following this incident and she surrendered the dog to the animal shelter she adopted him from while the dispute is being investigated.

That's something. And the repercussions are something. It shows the power of video. Just to be clear, this is in a part of the park where it is clear that dogs are supposed to be on leashes. This guy says he's a bird watcher and bird watchers care a lot about this because the birds -- the dogs, when they're not on leashes, they go after the birds and it's a real issue.

CAMEROTA: I know you speak for bird watchers everywhere --

BERMAN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: But, I mean, based on that video, she -- he looks totally reasonable and rational and she looks irrational during that, but did she have to surrender the dog back to the shelter? I mean isn't that -- that seems like an awfully stringent repercussion of this little squabble.

We will follow the developments for you.

BERMAN: All right, Brazil and Mexico seeing major spikes in coronavirus cases. We have live reports from both countries, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:48:53]

BERMAN: Developing this morning, the White House shutting down travel from Brazil two days earlier than previously announced. This travel ban now goes into effect tonight at midnight. It comes as virus cases and deaths are soaring in Brazil.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh live in Sao Paulo with the latest from there.

Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes, it will be, at the end of today Eastern Time, that it's no longer possible to fly from Brazil into the United States or to enter the United States if you've been in Brazil in the last 14 days.

Quite why the White House brought it forward quite so quickly, unclear. I think we have seen globally a trend that when a ban is announced, there's a sudden surge of people rushing in to get their traveling done before it's impossible, possibly spreading the infection. So there might actually have been some wisdom in saying it's going to be one day, allowing people to travel plan, and then bringing it forward.

But that may also be a reflection, too, frankly, of the fast-rising numbers here. Yesterday's not so awful, 807 dead. That's pretty staggering. But it isn't the worst they've had. And 11,000 new cases, about half, frankly, is the worst daily rise they had about over the weekend or so, but they've brought them up to over 370,000 cases in total.

[06:50:06]

This is not the full picture, though, because it's all about how many people you can test. And so while Brazil is number two in the world, behind the United States, it clearly doesn't have the ability to measure with the same universality that you guys have been doing in the U.S. But deep concerns here, still, about President Jair Bolsonaro's message. He was seen over the weekend not wearing a facemask. They're mandatory here in Sao Paulo and Rio and in the city of Manaus, where we were just earlier on today. Startling. That is, frankly, the place hit hardest per capita in the country. Large numbers of graves dug there.

And just to give you a sense, guys, about what we're talking in terms of the use of testing. In the graveyard we were in, about a fifth of it was positive tested deaths that were certainly coronavirus and about four-fifths were people who they think may have died from coronavirus. That lets you know really how not entirely adequate the testing is in some areas, how hard it is to know who's got it and who's not got it, and quite how bad it might get in the days ahead, the week -- two weeks ahead here in Sao Paulo when the peak begins to come in. This, a country that, frankly, hasn't had the governmental guidance from a presidential level telling people to lock down and prepare. It's been left to local administrations to do that, often being scorned by the president as they try to put those measures in. And we'll see the impacts of that in the weeks ahead.

John. Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Those images are still so dramatic that you show us. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you very much, from Brazil.

Coronavirus is also on the rise in Mexico and causing spikes in border communities.

CNN's Matt Rivers is live in Mexico City with more.

What's the situation there, Matt?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Alisyn, there's no question that at this point we are in the worst days of this outbreak that Mexico has seen so far. The current death toll now just over 7,600. The current case total, just over 71,000.

But to put this in a little bit more perspective, take the death toll, for example. Of the 7,600 or so deaths at this point that have been registered, more than one-half of them have come in just the last two weeks alone. When it comes to the confirmed case total, that number has jumped by nearly 40 percent in just the last week. So pretty, you know, we can tell that things are absolutely at their worst at this point in Mexico.

And it's important to note that those numbers, they might seem relatively low, right, 71,000 cases compared to the U.S., you know, 7,600 deaths. They're relatively low, and they are, but that is because Mexico does not test at the same rate. This country has one of the lowest testing rates in the entire world. They've only tested around a quarter million people at this point. And that is why health officials will tell us and have told us that the actual number of cases here in this country could be well into the millions. The actual death toll could be double, if not higher the officially reported total.

But, Alisyn, despite all of that, Mexican officials say they do plan to start to reopen certain parts slowly of their economy as soon as next week.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Matt, thank you for all of that context. Really helpful.

So the first sign of hope for New York sports, the Brooklyn Nets returning to practice. Details in the "Bleacher Report," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:57:38]

BERMAN: The Brooklyn Nets getting back to work today. They will be among the first New York-based sports team to resume training in the city.

Andy Scholes has more in the "Bleacher Report."

Andy, you know, I suppose when the Knicks come back, people are so sports starved, they might even watch the Knicks.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: We'll take anything at this point, right, John? But I'll tell you what, momentum is certainly building for the NBA to resume its season. The league is in talks to play at Disney World, targeting a mid-July return. But as of right now, about a third of the team still haven't reopened their training facilities.

The Brooklyn Nets, though, will open today. This comes after Governor Andrew Cuomo said pro teams in New York could return for their facilities for training purposes. The Nets will conduct voluntary workouts. These will not be those big, normal practices. Only four players are going to be allowed to work out at a time and it's going to be on their own.

You might remember, the Nets had four players test positive for Covid- 19, including superstar Kevin Durant, shortly after their season was suspended back in mid-March.

All right, in the meantime, the National Women's Soccer League could be the first American pro-sports league to return to action. The league's 19 (ph) opened their facilities yesterday for small individual group training. Full team practices are expected to start on Saturday. The NWSL is reportedly considering a centralized tournament-style start to their season at the end of June. The league officials telling CNN that they would share information when available.

And, finally, the numbers are in, "The Match: Championships for Charity" averaged 5.8 billion viewers across Warner Media Networks. The most-watched golf telecast in cable TV history, John. And I was going to ask you, how nervous were you for Tom Brady in those -- during those first six holes, because he was fuming at the way he was performing.

BERMAN: Look, he -- you know, he came through, as he always does. All I can say is 28-3. That's what Atlanta was leading the Patriots by. He doesn't care if he's down. Now, the comeback wasn't quite what it needed to be, and the pants, that's a whole separate issue, but it went pretty well, Andy.

SCHOLES: It was a great match.

BERMAN: All right, NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All countries need to remain on high alert here. All countries need to be ready to rapidly detect cases.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the United States, at least 18 states are showing an upward trend in Covid-19 cases.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You wouldn't know a pandemic was going on by looking at the beach.

[07:00:01]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to pump the brakes. People are pretending as though this virus no longer exists.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems like the younger generation doesn't have any fear here.

END