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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

COVID Models Predict Skyrocketing Number of Dead Americans; Trump Order Bans on TikTok and WeChat If Not Sold; Long and Uncertain Road for Thousands After Blast in Beirut; 66 Players Opt Out of NFL Season Over COVID-19 Concerns. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired August 07, 2020 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:24]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The number of dead Americans could double by December. The only way to prevent it, wear a mask.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And breaking overnight. The president following through with a ban on two Chinese apps. The consequences of the decision could go further than you think.

ROMANS: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world, this is EARLY START.

Welcome to Boris Sanchez.

I'm Christine Romans.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much for having me, Christine.

ROMANS: Yeah.

SANCHEZ: I'm here for Laura Jarrett. It is Friday, August 7th, 5:00 a.m. in New York, just 88 days left to the election.

Happy Friday, Christine.

ROMANS: Yes, it is Friday, but a lot to get to this morning before we move onto the weekend.

Coronavirus our top story, of course, forcing life or death choices across the country, but for 160,000 Americans, it's too late and the situation in the U.S. won't improve until at least September. The CDC projects 181,000 Americans will die by August 29th. That's still 1,000 people a day until then. More than 1,200 died yesterday.

Now, a separate influential model used by the White House projects the death rate gets even worse. Nearly 300,000 almost double the current total could die by December 1st, but this model also shows if nearly everyone wore a mask, 95 percent of Americans wore a mask, 66,000 lives would be spared. Easy comparison.

Kentucky mandated masks last month. Deaths are down. Tennessee has no mask requirement. Deaths are up. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS MURRAY, IHME DIRECTOR: If every individual is wearing a mask is putting the brakes on transmission by 40 percent, that starts to add up. That's why as we push the forecasts out to December, there's a huge benefit in mask wearing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Overnight, a surprise from the FDA, they loosen mask guidelines, making it easier for companies to obtain. Why? The FDA says there is a shortage of personal protective equipment even though the White House has said for months that supplies are adequate.

Do you remember this exchange?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOPHIA THOMAS, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS: I think it's sporadic. I talked to my colleagues around the country. Certainly there are pockets of areas where PPE is not ideal, but this is an unprecedented time.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Sporadic for you but not sporadic for a lot of other people.

THOMAS: Oh, no, I agree, Mr. President.

TRUMP: Because I've heard the opposite. I've heard they are loaded up with gowns now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Body language there.

Another big surprise overnight in Ohio. Hours after announcing a positive test, Governor Mike DeWine then said he tested negative for coronavirus later in the evening. The first test before a planned meeting with the president was a rapid antigen test. Remember, eight states have entered a pact to purchase antigen tests for faster results.

SANCHEZ: Yes, still a big concern, the rate of positive tests going up in 33 states. That's considered a reliable early indicator. Positive tests proceeding a surge in cases and then obviously hospitalizations and deaths.

Higher positivity is an especially big problem because the pandemic is spewing young, young people who tend to be asymptomatic and they spread the virus without realizing it.

In Georgia, one student was suspended after posting this photo of a very crowded hallway in her school and she paid homage to the late Congressman John Lewis and she explained why she did it to CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HANNAH WATTERS, SUSPENDED AFTER TAKING PHOTO OF CROWDED SCHOOL HALLWAY: I was concerned for the safety of everyone in that building and everyone in the county. Like to say this is some good and necessary trouble so I don't regret doing this because it's -- it needed to be said.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Suspended for taking that picture and showing the world how the conditions were in the hallway.

In that same spirit, dozens of Georgia teachers gathered outside the Gwinnett County schools building, honking horns, protesting against reopening in person classes, 263 Gwinnett school staff have either tested positive or are in quarantine right now. The state of Pennsylvania is recommending postponing youth sports until at least January.

Ron DeSantis, governor of hard hit Florida, is pushing for the return of school sports. He would not shut down a school's program even if athletes test positive for COVID. Democrats in the Florida Senate urging the governor not to rush reopening, saying now is not the time for another premature victory lap.

All right. Breaking overnight, president Trump escalating his battle with Beijing with an executive order banning TikTok from operating in the U.S. within 45 days if it's not sold by its Chinese parent company. The president is citing national security concerns. Critics of the popular app say it's possible user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese country.

[05:05:04]

But TikTok denies that and says it will pursue all remedies to ensure the company and users are treated fairly.

SANCHEZ: As you might expect, overnight, China reiterated its stance that national security is just an excuse to crush non-American business. Microsoft has been in talks to purchase the app. The status of those talks, though, not clear this morning.

The president's executive order also accuses TikTok of spreading false claims about coronavirus, something the president knows a lot about since he does it almost every single day. The ban includes WeChat and its Chinese parent company Tencent. That would be very consequential because Tencent invests a lot -- invest in a lot of U.S. tech companies, including Epic Games, the maker of "Fortnite".

ROMANS: Yeah, Tencent shares are down here sharply here in overseas trading.

Critical data about the coronavirus recession due in just a few hours. Economists expect 1.6 million jobs were added in July. That would bring the unemployment rate down to 10 1/2 percent. Any jobs growth, of course, will be welcomed. But that's a slowdown from the 4.8 million jobs added in June. There's real worry that rising coronavirus cases across the country

will lead to a second wave of job loss. Jobless claims each week remains stubbornly high. Another nearly 1.2 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week.

Meanwhile, stimulus talks are on collapse as the White House and Democrats trade blame and get no closer to a deal. More than 25 million people lost $600 a week in extra jobless benefits. That means a cut of up to 86 percent in their weekly payments depending on what state you live in.

Twenty-three million renters are at risk of eviction. It's not clear if the two sides will meet again today. President Trump said he would take executive action today on a payroll tax cut, eviction protections and an unemployment extension. Not clear, though, if that's legal.

Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley seems skeptical, saying he doubts if the president is serious about taking that action.

SANCHEZ: Some election news. CNN projecting Bill Hagerty, President Trump's former ambassador to Japan, is the winner of Tennessee's Republican Senate primary. The president publicly endorsed Hagerty before he even announced he was running for the seat of retiring Senator Lamar Alexander. Hagerty will be favored to beat whichever Democrat he is going to face.

And it's a closer than expected that's playing between former Army -- Army helicopter pilot James Mackler and progressive political newcomer Marquita Bradshaw.

One other critical decision in Tennessee, the state Supreme Court vacating a ruling that would have allowed all registered voters in the state to vote absentee in 2020. The state currently requires an excuse to vote absentee.

ROMANS: All right. Seven minutes past the hour this Friday morning.

The streets of Beirut filled with cleanup and filled with rage. As teams searched for survivors, the grieving Lebanese are demanding accountability. CNN is live there next.

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[05:12:07]

ROMANS: Wow. That woman and her husband are lucky to be alive. The glass and debris from Tuesday's explosion in Beirut injured them both. They now lay in a local hospital room together recovering after surgeries. They are among the thousands across Beirut injured in that crash facing a long and uncertain road.

CNN's Arwa Damon live in Beirut with the very latest for us.

Good morning, Arwa. ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning,

Christine.

And there are now French teams on the ground who are joining in the search effort for any possible survivors as this country continues to try to figure out just how it is going to recover from this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON (voice-over): Could there be anyone left alive?

It's a hope dozens of family members of the missing cling to. Knowing that it's unlikely but not wanting to accept that their loved one could be gone.

Others are laid to rest. Lives utterly shattered in the trial of destruction by Tuesday's explosion in Lebanon's capital city. Those who survived are trying to pick up the pieces.

Glass and debris crunch below the feet of an army of volunteers, stepping in where the government is not, attempting to clear the rubble of billions of dollars of damage. They urge each other on, but for others, it's all just too much.

The intensity of the emotional roller coaster that is being Lebanese has left them hollow shells. What should we feel, asked one resident? You can't feel anything in Lebanon. There's nothing to feel sad about anymore, he says.

As the cleanup continues, a rage grows across the country at how a new disaster could happen. Still, without any clear explanation or apology.

As French President Emmanuel Macron toured the wreckage, the first foreign leader to step foot here, he was surrounded by hundreds of Lebanese calling for revolution, urging him, begging him, do something. He vowed that France would stand with the Lebanese people but cautioned its leaders.

EMMANUEL MACRON,L FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): The requirement of a friend in times of need is to rush to the scene when times are hard but not to hand out blank checks to a system not trusted by the people.

DAMON: From outside and inside the country, demands for answers grow louder as calls emerge for an independent probe into the explosion. This is not just about accountability or how the country is going to rebuild emotionally and physically. It's about how it's going to find its soul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: And, Christine, as Lebanon tries to recover from this and move forward, one of the many challenges facing it are going to be exactly how the people do try to come together in the aftermath of all of this. [05:15:10]

There is a lot right now that is in the hands of the Lebanese government and this country's political elite against whom rage has been increasing well before this actual explosion took place. The Lebanese government said that they did detain around 16 employees of the Beirut port yesterday. They said the investigation is still ongoing. But there are growing calls for an international investigation because at the end of the day, the Lebanese government is going to have to investigate itself and investigate its predecessors.

ROMANS: Certainly a national tragedy.

All right. Arwa Damon, thank you so much for bringing that to us.

Boris?

SANCHEZ: The Commission on Presidential Debates is pushing back against the Trump's campaign for a fourth debate this fall. The campaign has officially agreed to three face-offs but is pushing Biden to agree to add or move one debate before early voting begins in North Carolina on September 4th. The Trump campaign says that increased early and mail-in voting because of the pandemic are grounds for an earlier debate, but the commission rejected that argument Thursday, though it did say that it would consider a change if both campaigns requested it.

ROMANS: All right. Big tech still facing scrutiny, even after Facebook and Twitter took action against President Trump for making false claims about coronavirus and child immunity. It turned out the DNC was temporarily unable to post from the war room after trying to call out the president. Twitter's systems unable to tell the information between misinformation and someone calling out that misinformation.

And a bug in the algorithm for Facebook owned Instagram systematically shielded President Trump from negative hashtags but didn't do the same for Joe Biden. Both issues highlight inconsistent rules ahead of the November election.

SANCHEZ: If the abridged baseball season is any indication, the football season could be a problem, and dozens of players now say it's not worth taking the field. They are opting out. We'll explain in the "Bleacher Report", next.

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[05:21:40]

SANCHEZ: Nearly 70 NFL players opting out of the upcoming football season over concerns about COVID-19.

Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report".

Good morning, Andy. No major stars opting out, but a lot of key players. Some teams

affected more than others.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's very true, Boris.

We didn't see the big name quarterbacks or anyone like that opting out of the season. All players had until yesterday afternoon to make this decision. A spokesperson telling CNN saying of the more than 2,800 players, 66 of them have chose to opt out of this upcoming season, and the majority of them linemen, 20 on offense, 11 on defense.

Now, New England Patriots had the most players opt out with eight. Only three teams had no one opting out of this season, that was Steelers, Falcons, and Chargers. Players considered high risk will be paid $350,000 stipend and players without risk receive $150,000 for an advance against future salaries for a season set to kick off Thursday, September 10th.

Now, Packers fans won't be allowed at least for the first two games at Lambeau Field. Team officials still say they're helpful fans will be able to go to games later in the season. Green Bay's third home game of the year is not going to be until November 3rd. That's against the Vikings.

In the meantime, Penn State team will not allow any fans at the football games this season. School officials did leave he possibility open later in the season if things improve. Penn state has the second biggest stadium in the country with capacity of over 106,000. Pennsylvania currently limits capacity to 250 people for outdoor events right now.

All right. Major League Baseball announcing changes to its schedule after many games postponed because of COVID-19 outbreak. The Marlins, Phillies, Cardinals all have multiple series to make up over the next two months. The solution is Major League Baseball is adding 14 double headers involving ten teams. The double headers now seven inning games.

In the meantime, Braves outfielder Nick Markakis reversed his decision to opt out, rejoining the team for last night's game against the Blue Jays. Well, what a return. Markakis with a walk off home run in the ninth.

I want you to check out the celebrations. You can't mob them. No high- fives, so you just have to dance around and socially distance to celebrate a walk off home run. What a sight that was.

All right. Tiger Woods had his best first round at a Majors since 2012 yesterday at the PGA championship. Tiger's driving up the tee but a short game saved him at one point making three birdies in four holes. Two under three off the lead held by Jason Day and Brendon Todd.

And we had a funny moment on course yesterday. Bryson DeChambeau is so strong he broke his driver. After hitting his shot on the seventh, DeChambeau then bent over to grab the tee and his driver head snapped right off. DeChambeau, he's really bulked up 40 pounds since he started on the tour. He bulked up 20 pounds during the shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU, 5-TIME PGA TOUR WINNER: You know, me, I'm in the moment trying to hit the shot and, you know, definitely the ball did not react proper. I hit it out to the right.

[05:25:00]

Felt like I drew it and the ball went to the right and spun up. Like that's not normal. And so, it was surprising. I went over to pick up my tee and leaned a little on it and the thing, see you later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: DeChambeau was allowed to replace his club, Christine. And, you've got Brooks Koepka trying to win as well. He's in contention.

I'll tell you what, you have basketball, baseball, golf on this weekend. Sports is back, Christine.

ROMANS: All right. All right. It sure is.

OK, thanks, Andy. Andy Scholes.

SCHOLES: All right.

ROMANS: All right. Sports is back, but millions of Americans are now working several jobs in the new gig economy. This week, Kamau Bell goes to Texas to find out how it works and how it doesn't in all new episode of "THE UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA" Sunday night at 10:00 on CNN.

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