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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
New Cities Under Scrutiny As Deaths Top 1,000 Again; Dangerous Fertilizer was in Beirut Port for Years; Major League Baseball Tightness COVID-19 Safety Protocols. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired August 06, 2020 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:17]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: It will continue to smolder and smolder and smolder.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No question in my mind it will go away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Only one of those things can be true, and this morning, new warnings for cities across the country as more than 1,000 people die from COVID in a single day again.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And it's being called a floating bomb. It was allowed to sit in Beirut for years despite warnings. New details about the blast that has changed Lebanon for the foreseeable future.
ROMANS : Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
And welcome to Boris Sanchez. Hi, Boris.
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, Christine. Great to see you.
I'm in for Laura Jarrett.
It is Thursday, August 6th. 5:00 a.m. in New York, 89 days until the election.
And we start sadly with the rising death toll from coronavirus.
ROMANS: That's right. Nearly one American per minute died of coronavirus yesterday, 1,388 families lost a loved one. Deaths were up in 15 states. At least 1,000 deaths per day has been a painful new normal for the last two weeks.
The U.S. has far outpaced other big countries death rates and Dr. Anthony Fauci says without everyone's cooperation, the human toll will just keep rising. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: As long as you have any member of society, any demographic group who's not seriously trying to get to the end game of suppressing this, it will continue to smolder and smolder and smolder.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And now the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force outlining new concerns. Dr. Deborah Birx warning nine U.S. cities in California's central valley about increasing positivity rates. South of the valley in Los Angeles, the mayor has okayed shutting off water and power to residences or businesses like this one that hosts large parties. The rate of positive tests is still rising in 33 states.
Dr. Fauci, who says his family is getting threats, is keeping his message simple.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: I mean, the numbers don't lie, and every country has suffered. We, the United States, has suffered as worse -- as much or worse than anyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: So what's the president's take?
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Absolutely. There's no question in my mind it will go away. Please, go ahead. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Still waiting for that plan the president promised, remarks like that do little to the soul. One person on the task force told CNN put simply, he still doesn't get it.
The president showing scant sympathy for many families in pain, like Michelle Gutierez, a Texas woman who prays every night below her husband's hospital window as he fights coronavirus. Or the family of Keith and Gwendolyn Robinson (ph), they were best friends and married for 25 years who died of COVID-19 just 11 days apart.
But even empathy or even a coordinated national response to this pandemic in short supply. But the president mostly offering rosy estimates for a vaccine that nearly all of the experts say is far out on the horizon.
Across the country, young people are still driving the spread, also driving it, people who do get tested but then have to wait a week or more for results. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: It's unaccepted, period. The gap between the time you get the test and the time you get the result in some respects only obviates the reason why you did the test.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: There is some good news. The U.S. case map has not shown this little red in a while. Only three states recording a rise in cases week over week. The seven-day moving average of new cases has not been this low since July 10th, but, of course, looks can be deceiving. The drop has been driven in part by steep declines in Florida where Hurricane Isaias shut down dozens of testing sites.
ROMANS: All right. More than 100 students are guaranteed by a Mississippi school district after several people tested positive. Four states have now seen cases since reopening the schools. One of them is North Carolina, which will keep bars, gyms and indoor entertainment closed another five weeks because of the start of school.
Even though the president keeps downplaying kids getting sick and keeps calling for schools to reopen, Boston public schools will either start with all online or a hybrid system. The district has ruled out fully in person teaching.
New York is one of the few big cities planning in person classes. The city is also setting up vehicle quarantine checkpoints for out of state drivers in bridges and tunnels coming into New York City.
[05:05:03]
Officials say 20 percent of all new COVID cases in New York City are linked to travelers from other states.
SANCHEZ: As the smoke clears in Beirut, the scale of destruction from this week's huge explosion is coming into focus. At least 137 people are dead, many more are missing, 5,000 injured. Authorities in Lebanon declaring the city a disaster and imposing a state of emergency with at least 300,000 displaced.
I want you to take a look at these satellite images of the Beirut port. This is it a week ago, and now, it is a hollow shale, a crater 405 feet in diameter. The explosion literally removing earth from that port.
A bride taking wedding photos, one of many people stopped in their tracks by the blast. Fortunately everyone that was involved in that video was okay.
Lebanese government admitting that roughly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate of volatile agricultural fertilizer had been left in the warehouse for six years despite warnings it was, quote, a floating bomb. The government is vowing to hold people accountable. The civic trust is low, with the reeling economy and the effects of the pandemic. CNN's Arwa Damon is live on the ground in Beirut this morning.
Arwa, what are you seeing there?
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, this has been so unspeakably crushing, Boris, for the population that managed to survive. There are, in fact, many people when you talk to them, they're unable to adequately string together the words to describe the depth of their shock, their trauma, their sorrow and now their rising anger, because even though we don't at this stage know what specifically caused that first explosion, what created the conditions that then led to the massive explosion of that stockpile of ammonium nitrate, all indications are that it was government negligence, inexplicable, criminal, in fact, some would even tell you.
What we have been able to uncover about this is it has been stockpiled since 2014. This was brought into the Beirut port on a Russian-owned ship that ended up being abandoned because of issues, in payments, problems that arose within the crew it would seem at this stage. Over the course of the years, port documents that CNN is seeing indicated show that the head of customs repeatedly warned consecutively Lebanese governments about the dangers of stockpiling this kind of a volatile material in this short of location, especially given its proximity to heavily populated areas in Beirut.
The director of the port also said that warnings is had been issued. He said he wasn't quite aware of the dangers that it posed. The bottom line is this material should never have been stored there.
This is just another aspect of everything that is transpiring in the country that is still, as you can see right now, going through regular power cuts. I mean, the infrastructure has been decimated for a very long time now. And the fact that an explosion of this magnitude came at this time is debilitating for this country and for its population because they're dealing with the severe economic consequences of the effective collapse of the economy here. They're dealing with a pandemic.
And now, they are dealing with the impact of this explosion that arguably could have been prevented.
SANCHEZ: Yeah, Arwa, nothing illustrates the issues with Lebanon's infrastructure better than lights going out in your live shot there. A difficult time of economic upheaval and political issues in Lebanon.
Arwa Damon, reporting from Beirut, thank you so much.
President Trump only adding to the confusion about the cause of the explosion in Beirut. So far, all indications point to what Arwa was just talking about, negligence, an avoidable accident.
The United States' own defense secretary, Mark Esper, agrees with that assessment, but the president called it an attack on Tuesday, possibly a bombing, and then followed it up with this yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: They don't really know what it is. Nobody knows yet. At this moment, they're looking. It could -- I mean, how can you say accident? Somebody was -- you know, left some terrible explosive-type devices and things around perhaps. Perhaps it was that. Perhaps it was an attack. I don't think anybody can say right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:10:01]
SANCHEZ: A lot of speculation from the president.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with Lebanon's prime minister, expressing his condolences and pledging U.S. assistance.
ROMANS: Help and support for Beirut from around the world.
Overnight, the Eiffel tower went dark to honor the victims. At least one French citizen was killed in the explosion and 24 hurt. France is sending military planes, mobile clinic and other aid to Lebanon.
Tel Aviv lit up a flag and Israel offered its help. That's no small gesture. Israel considers Lebanon an enemy state. But officials in Israel say humanity comes first.
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ROMANS: And amid the chaos and the rubble, a moment of peace. A 79- year-old grandmother played "Auld Lang Syne" in her favorite home. The piano was left unscathed.
Wow, that's something, Boris.
SANCHEZ: Quite an image of resilience there.
We are 10 minutes past the hour.
Facebook and Twitter taking action against the president and his campaign. What the president said that's forcing big tech's hand.
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[05:15:18]
ROMANS: All right. Recovery in the jobs market appears to be losing steam, folks. If economists are right, 1.6 million jobs were added in July. That would bring the unemployment rate down to about 10.5 percent. That's the forecast.
We'll know the forecast tomorrow morning. If that holds, the economy will still be down some 13 million jobs since February. The jobless rate still higher since the worst of the 2008, 2009 crisis.
In fact, the jobs crisis is far from over. Millions of out of work Americans have lost their benefits. Benefits down that extra $600 and the federal boost has expired. People are still getting state benefits but they're a lot less than what they've been getting this summer. In some cases, up to 86 percent less in their weekly payments, depending where they live.
Meanwhile, the White House and Democrats are struggling to reach a deal on the next stimulus package. The Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the White House needs to see some compromise on some of the big issues the Democrats have to get a deal by tomorrow.
Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said negotiators say they are a trillion dollars apart. They will take action tomorrow on enhanced unemployment and eviction protections for people.
Now, programs to stop evictions either expired or ran out of money. As many as 23 million renters are at risk of losing their homes by fall.
SANCHEZ: And the impasse over stimulus bill in Congress is being complicated by a dispute over funding for the U.S. Postal Service. Democrats and voting rights groups say cutbacks by the postmaster general, a Trump appointee, are part of an effort to undermine the postal service and interfere with mail-in voting in a November election.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer met Postmaster General Louis DeJoy yesterday and described their discussion is heated. DeJoy was appointed by President Trump in June.
ROMANS: All right. Twitter confirmed it temporarily restricted Trump's ability to tweet on Wednesday because of false coronavirus claims. Twitter says a video of the president's interview with Fox News violated its rules because Mr. Trump said children are almost immune to the virus. They are not.
That falsehood, something that they stopped. Hours earlier, Facebook posted -- removed a post from the president's account for similar reasons.
SANCHEZ: After outbreaks on two teams, Major League Baseball trying to save its season with new protocols in place. We'll explain in the "Bleacher Report", just ahead.
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[05:22:06]
SANCHEZ: President Trump says he is done watching NBA games if players kneel during the national anthem.
The biggest name of the game says he's fine with that.
Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report".
Good morning, Andy. LeBron James using the occasion to encourage NBA fans to vote.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's exactly what he did, Boris. In that recent interview with Fox, President Trump said he thinks NBA players kneeling is disgraceful, not acceptable and he turns off the game when he sees it.
Well, that's prompting the media, of course, to ask LeBron James about what President Trump said last night after the Lakers game. And LeBron said, you know, he doesn't think anyone in the basketball community is sad about losing the president's viewership.
And LeBron then encouraged everyone who is fighting for change to vote this November.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEBRON JAMES, LOS ANGELES LAKES FORWARD: I hope everyone, you know, no matter the race, no matter the color, no matter the size will see what leadership that we have at the top in our country and understand that November is right around the corner and it's a big moment for us as Americans. If we continue to talk about what we want better, more change, we have an opportunity to do that. So let the games -- the game will go on without -- without his eyes on it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: All right. Major League Baseball, meanwhile, sending out a new memo obtained by CNN outlining several strict changes to its health and safety protocols. Among the changes, players and staff are being told to wear face coverings at all times, including in the dugout and clubhouse. The only exception is the players on the field.
Clubs are now required to reduce the size of their traveling parties to only those who are absolutely essential to playing games. Players and staff are strictly prohibited from gathering in any COVID areas, without permission from the team's compliance officer and repeated or flagrant violations of the protocols could lead to a suspension for the remainder of the season.
All right. In the meantime, more than 1,000 Big Ten college football players are expressing their concerns over the conferences' return to play plan amid the pandemic. They published a letter on the players' tribune yesterday saying the Big Ten's proposal falls short in certain areas and asks for the NCAA and conference for more safety protocols. Among their requests are mandated in season testing of three days per week, social distancing and mask-wearing requirements by coaches and staff, scholarship protection and coverage for all out-of-pocket medical expenses.
All right. The PGA championship starts later this morning. Christine, they're out in San Francisco. So, you're going to get to watch some night golf into the weekend.
Brooks Koepka looking to win his third in a row. He and Tiger Woods both tee off from the 11:00 Eastern hour.
ROMANS: All right. We'll look forward to that. Andy Scholes, thank you so much, Andy.
[05:25:01]
All right. Quick note for you: follow the fearless female CNN political reporters as they cover the 2020 presidential campaign. Watch this new documentary "On the Trail: Inside the 2020 Primaries" now streaming on HBO Max.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: It will continue to smolder and smolder and smolder.
TRUMP: No question in my mind it will go away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Only one of those things can be true, and this morning, new warnings for cities across the country as more than 1,000 people die from coronavirus.
END
