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Endless Black Deaths Provokes Outrage in the Streets; President Trump Looking at Police Reform; California Police Investigates an Allege Dual Suicide; Beijing Imposed Lockdown; WHO Raises Alarm Bells Over Rapid COVID Increase; North Korea Blew Up Kaesong Liaison Office; North Korean Military Says It Plans To Remilitarize Border; Explosion In Inter-Korean Liaison Office In North Korea; New App Provides Information For Travelers In Europe; Coronavirus Pandemic; Easyjet Resumes Flight For First Time Since March 30; Portugal Marketing Itself As A Safe Option For Tourists; Covid-19 Contributing To Rise Of Other Diseases; Latin America Faces Increasing Number Of Covid-19 Cases; Mexico's Confirmed Cases Surpass 150,000; Chile Extends State Of Emergency For Another 90 Days; Peruvian Archbishop Honors Covid-19 Victims With Mass; Measles, Polio Could Surge AS Covid-19 Takes Precedence; Covid-19 Impacting Vaccines For Preventable Diseases; English Premiere League Set To Return; WNBA To Begin Shortened 2020 Season In Late July. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired June 16, 2020 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers joining from all around the world. You're watching CNN Newsroom live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.
Ahead here this hour. Another American city, another devastated family but a tragedy that has become all too familiar. Politicians promise action after the police killing of Rayshard Brooks here in Atlanta as his widow makes an impassioned plea to protesters in the city.
Also.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: For the past two weeks, more than 100,000 new cases have been reported almost every single day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: As countries push ahead to reopen, the threat of the coronavirus is still very much palpable. Like in the virus birthplace of China where a new cluster of cases is emerging from a Beijing market. We'll have more details on that just ahead.
Three a.m. here in Atlanta. Georgia. Thank you again for joining us. Three weeks of anger and grief over police brutality and racism in
American and protesters are keeping up the pressure to demand change. Especially right here in Atlanta, protesters are filling the streets again Monday, calling for an end to systemic racism. It is the third straight day of demonstrations after police killed Rayshard Brooks, shooting him twice in the back as he was running away from officers on Friday.
Other protests against police violence continued in cities like New York, Washington, and Seattle.
President Trump said Monday he will be signing an executive order and holding a news conference on policing in the coming hours. Meanwhile, Republican leaders say it is unlikely the Senate will take up any police reform action until July.
We'll have more from the White House in just a moment. But first, CNN's Martin Savidge reports on the demonstrations in Atlanta, and the message for protesters from Rayshard Brooks widow. And a warning, this report contains graphic video. I
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The wife of Rayshard Brooks is calling for those protesting her husband's death to remain peaceful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOMIKA MILLER, RAYSHARD BROOKS' WIDOW: He was a sacrifice for people to see that black lives matter. I hate that it was my husband whose life was sacrificed. But we have to stand up for our people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: For a third straight day crowds take to the streets of Atlanta. This demonstration called March for Justice ended up at the state capital.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You say whoa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Friday night two white Atlanta police officers are called to reports of a car blocking a drive-through at a Wendy's restaurant. They find Brooks, a 27-year-old father of four seemingly asleep, this as police body camera video of the incident that for 20 minutes seems normal.
Officers suspect Brooks has been drinking. As a solution, Brooks offers to leave his car behind and walked to his sister's home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAYSHARD BROOKS, KILLED BY POLICE OFFICERS: I can just go home. I have my daughters there right now. My daughter's birthday was yesterday. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Mr. Brooks, will you take a breath test
for me? So yes or no?
BROOKS: I don't want to refuse anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's yes or no, it's completely up to you.
BROOKS: Yes, I will.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Brooks fails the test and as police attempt to arrest him. A struggle begins. Brooks manages to get a hold of one of the officer's tasers and runs. What happens next is seen by a surveillance video. Officer Garrett Rolfe gives chase, transfers his taser to his left hand, reaches for his gun. Brooks turns back towards the officer pointing the taser, firing it.
Officer Rolfe drops his taser draws his gun and fires three shots. An autopsy report reveals Brooks is shot two times in the back, and rules his death a homicide. In an interview with CNN, Tomika Miller said their daughter will always associate her birthday with her father's death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILLER: She'll forever remember this birthday as the day that my daddy was killed, the day that my daddy was murdered. Not just the day that my daddy died or passed away. Because he didn't just die of natural causes or passed away. It was a day that he was murdered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Protesters took to the streets Saturday they blocked the main highway through the downtown is shutting off traffic. Police in riot gear moved in to make arrests.
[03:05:02]
Then the Wendy's where the shooting occurred demonstrators began breaking windows. Fires broke out on the property before someone torched the inside. Police are searching for a suspect.
Speaking on CNN, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard says he is considering criminal charges against the two officers but he's waiting on more evidence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL HOWARD, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA: One of the things that we must attempt to finalize before we make a decision is to confirm the ballistics. We try to make sure that the projectiles in the body of Mr. Brooks, that we can expertly trace them to a firearm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Meanwhile, Tomika Miller wonders what the two officers may be thinking now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILLER: Do they sympathize with my family? Do they feel sorry for what they've taken away? That's what I want to know. You know? They had the chance to do it again, where they do the same way? Or would they do it different?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: The Atlanta chief of police resigned within 24 hours after the shooting. As for the two officers, the one that is believed to have fired the fatal shots, that Garrett Rolfe, he's been fired from the police force. The other officer is assigned to desk duty.
Meanwhile, Brooks family and the city awaits to hear if those officers will be brought up on charges.
Martin Savidge, CNN, Atlanta.
ALLEN: And now to Minneapolis, where a newly-released audio by the police department reveals a concerned 911 dispatcher apparently watching the arrest of George Floyd last month on a nearby surveillance camera. Here is a portion of her call.
(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't know. You can call me a snitch if you want to, but we have the cameras up for 320's call. I don't know if they had to use force or not, but they got something out of the back of the squad, all of them sat on this man.
(END VOICE CLIP)
ALLEN: President Trump is expected to unveil modest police reform measures over the coming hours. He's also focusing on his reelection campaign with an eye on his first rally in months to be held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, this weekend.
Kaitlan Collins has the latest.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Bowing to pressure, President Trump moved his campaign rally in Tulsa one day so it no longer falls on the holiday marking the end of slavery. But now a top Oklahoma health official is urging him to move it again. This time over growing health concerns.
Tulsa health department director Bruce Dart told Tulsa World "it's an honor for the president to visit, but not during a pandemic." Trump claimed on Twitter that the campaign has seen nearly a million ticket requests. Though the venue only holds 20,000 people.
Campaign officials say precautions will be taken, but masks won't be required as coronavirus cases have been on the rise in Tulsa.
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KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: They are doing temperature checks, giving everybody a face mask and hand sanitizer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: This comes as Trump is expected to sign an executive order on modest police reforms in the coming days, establishing a national database that would track excessive use of force, but largely leaving most of the heavy lifting to Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a better way to do policing. And we have great examples.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Instead of leading the way on police reform, Trump has focused more on stoking culture wars, including his belief that NFL players shouldn't kneel to protest police brutality. The only black official in his cabinet, Dr. Ben Carson suggested that he is trying to change that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN CARSON, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT: I think that we just continue to work with him. He'll get there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: One day after he turned 74, questions about the president's physical condition are also back at the forefront now that he is defending walking slowly and awkwardly down a ramp Saturday at West Point Military Academy.
Trump says the ramp was very long and steep, had no handrails, and most importantly, was very slippery. He made no mention of how he also appeared to have difficulty holding off a glass of water during his address.
ALLEN: CNN's Kaitlan Collins reporting there. China is seeing a resurgence of coronavirus cases after managing to suppress the outbreak. What the World Health Organization is saying about this new COVID-19 cluster. We'll have that for you next.
[03:10:00]
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ALLEN: Let's talk more now on the protests and calls for change with my guest Isaac Bryan. He is the director of public policy at UCLA's Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American studies, and he joins me now from Los Angeles. Isaac, thank you so much for coming on. ISAAC BRYAN, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC POLICY, UCLA'S RALPH J. BUNCHE CENTER
FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES: Thank you so much for having me. It's good to be here.
ALLEN: You gave an impassioned TED Talk two years ago about growing up in the foster care system, having siblings in juvenile detention, even prison. And your message is clear that the criminal justice system is a nightmare. You saw a broken system before the rest of the country realized it. So, let's start there with what's at the root?
BRYAN: I mean, the root cause of this is the creation of the system. Right? Our policing systems in this country are relics of slavery. The first law enforcement officers in this country were also slave catchers. And from that you had the 13th Amendment which abolish slavery, but also allowed for a person who were incarcerated to then still be use as slave.
You had many slaves. You had many instances or former slaves were then released back to their own plantations. Law enforcement was then used to enforce the black coats in the south that prevented black folks from expressing their First, Second, and third Amendment rights.
From then you had the war on drugs, the enforcement of Jim Crow, segregation, and we go to today where unarmed black people seem to be dying daily. These are not new things. These are things that have been going on for over 400 years. Now for black folks in this country, and it's definitely something that I have been paying close attention to, and I'd love to see change.
ALLEN: Right. And the reason that we're kind of awakened to it is thanks to videos, right, on our phones. So, I want to ask you what do you think about the overwhelming response by black and white citizens together on the streets here and around the world are demanding change following the death of George Floyd and now Rayshard Brooks?
BRYAN: I think it is a powerful global exclamation that we won't take this anymore. That folks are tired, and folks are hurting. And we demand better. Right? We demand accountability for our civic institutions to treat people like they matter. Right?
Like should not be able to go the way that Rayshard Brooks, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and countless others have gone. People deserve to live full lives. Black folks deserve to live full lives.
And I'm glad that everyday citizens and others are concerned when they see interactions with law enforcement officers concerned enough to record them and to share them. Because without these stories, I don't think we would have the movement that we have right now.
ALLEN: Right. You know, we can talk about these problems all the time. I've done it for decades in this business. But unless you've got something for people that's tangible that they can see, you don't usually get a reaction.
I want to talk to you about some changes that we are seeing within policing. The New York Police Department underwent what it it's calling a seismic shift in its culture. Roughly 600 anti-crime unit plainclothes officers were reassigned to new roles which include community policing. What are your thoughts on police reform, people are calling for, and what we are beginning to see?
BRYAN: You know, we've been around long enough to see countless reforms and countless commissions, and countless studies, and it seems like no matter what we have tried to implement two things remain constant. One is that law enforcement budgets continue to grow. And the unarmed deaths, the unjust deaths of black people at the hands of state stationed officers is continuing.
And so, I question a lot of these reforms. They feel superficial. They don't seem to address the systemic and root causes that we need to be talking about. And I think those are better tied to the defunding police movement right now.
[03:15:02]
And the calls to move resources out of punitive law enforcement, mass incarceration, and the criminalization of communities of color, and instead into systems that we know provide opportunity for thriving communities.
ALLEN: Isaac Bryan, we really appreciate you joining us with your expertise. Thank you.
BRYAN: Natalie, thank you.
ALLEN: Hours ago, the FBI and the Justice Department announced that they are stepping in to review the cases of two black men found hanging from trees in Southern California these past few weeks. This comes after a community member demands a more thorough investigation into these shocking deaths.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux reports for us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DIANNA HARGRAVE, PALMDALE RESIDENT: They are lynching black children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Residents of Palmdale, California, say it is the site of a modern-day lynching. Twenty-four- year-old Robert Fuller was found hanging from a tree near city hall early Wednesday morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For a black man to be hung in a tree near city hall, that's a message.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't understand I'm (Inaudible).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Residents were outrage Friday when city officials announced their initial findings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON SHAFFER, COUNTY SHERIFF, L.A. PALMDALE STATION: It appears that Mr. Fuller has tragically died by suicide. A full autopsy --
(CROSSTALK)
DIAMOND ALEXANDER, ROBERT FULLER'S SISTER: My brother was not suicidal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now five days after Fuller was found, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department which oversees Palmdale says it's taking another look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN LUCAS, MEDICAL EXAMINER-CORONER, L.A. COUNTY: The initial reports appeared to be consistent with a suicide. But we felt it prudent to roll that back and to continue to look deeper.
KENT WEGENER, COUNTY SHERIFF, L.A. COUNTY HOMICIDE BUREAU: Regarding a chair or something similar found at the scene, there was nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: The sheriff's department announced it would begin reviewing seemingly basic evidence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WEGENER: Initially we are going to do forensics on the rope that was involved. We look to contact the witness who located him in the park and those who may have seen him in the past few days prior to his death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: But residents say, more should have been done.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it was another race, if it was a white boy, they'd be at it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Just 10 days ago, as black lives matter rallies continued nationwide, another black man Malcolm Harsh, was discovered hang from a tree less than 60 miles from where Fuller was found. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department says it found no indication of foul play. And that the 38-year-old hanged himself. Harsh's family like Fuller's says no way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NAJEE ALI, FAMILY SPOKESMAN: We believe that both these two young black men, where the victims of a possible hate crime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now the families of both men are calling for independent investigation according to a shared spokesman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALI: Both families have stated that both men were looking forward to enjoying their lives, and both hangings make no sense whatsoever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Los Angeles.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GHEBREYESUS: For the past two weeks more than 100,000 new cases have been reported almost every single day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: The World Health Organization there from 100,000 cases in the first two months to 100,000 new cases almost every single day. For the past two weeks we are seeing troubling new signs in the coronavirus pandemic which has changed the world as we knew it.
Right now, the total infections worldwide have topped eight million cases. And the pandemic is far from over with some countries like China now seeing a resurgence of infections.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL RYAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WHO HEALTH EMERGENCIES PROGRAMME: When you spend over 50 days without having any significant local transmission, a cluster like this is a concern.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Concerns as well here in the U.S. where there are now more than two million cases and counting. And despite President Trump's plan to pull funding and terminate the U.S. relationship with the World Health Organization, the organization's chief says the U.S. is still a member state. Republicans are now urging Mr. Trump to reconsider his decision. We'll have a report from the U.S. in just a few moments.
But first let's get the latest now from China.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They are throwing away food in Beijing's largest market. A purge triggered by a new outbreak of coronavirus in the Chinese capital. Since last Friday, authorities say they've detected scores of new locally transmitted cases.
Most of the new infections traced back to this place, the Xinfadi market in the south of Beijing. This sprawling wholesale distributes more than 80 percent of the fresh produce that feeds this massive city. The market is now closed due to coronavirus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:20:00]
PANG XINGHUO, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, BEIJING CENTER FOR DISEASE PREVENTION & CONTROL (through translator): These coronavirus cases have perhaps come in contact with the polluted environment in the market or have into contact with someone who was infected who then passed on the virus to them so they had it.
For this reason, shutting down Xinfadi agricultural trading market is necessary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Less than two weeks ago, Beijing was easing coronavirus alert levels, but now officials enforce a strict lockdown on residential compounds around the market. They've launched a huge coronavirus testing spree.
Beijing authorities said they've collected tens of thousands of samples in a matter of days. And denounced plans to contact trace an estimated 200,000 people estimated to have visited the market in the last two weeks. The Chinese government clearly doesn't want a repeat of what happened last winter when this new virus exploded in the city of Wuhan and then spread like wildfire around the world.
There is no way Beijing becomes Wuhan 2.0, the editor-in-chief of one party-controlled tabloid wrote, the world will see China's powerful capacity in controlling the epidemic. He added, we will win again.
China is now in a race to stop the outbreak. Officials say they've already tracked down several cases that spread from the market in Beijing to at least two neighboring provinces. But one important question experts haven't been able to answer yet, is how the virus was introduced to this market in the first place.
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's a lot of merriment in St. Marks place Manhattan over the weekend. The governor re-tweeted this video with the warning "don't make me come down there."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): If they don't enforce compliance you will see the numbers start to go up, and if the numbers start to go up, you are going to have to see that area take a step back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: Mayors down in the sunshine state also worried about scuff laws in our new-fangled normal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR FRANCIS SUAREZ, MIAMI, FLORIDA: That could mean our potential restriction that could be reverse and some of the things that we've done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: May 4th, the day Florida began to reopen, they reported 819 new cases. This past Saturday a new record high, 2,581.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: You are seeing all across the nation the virus is actually increasing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: New cases counts climbing in 18 states across much of the west, California seeing more than 3,000 new infections a day. Also, the south. Multiple Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans players have now tested positive according to the NFL network. And a record number of COVID-19 patients are now hospitalized across Texas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now, we're seeing that the spread is just too much for us to get a grip on.
UMAIR SHAH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS PUBLIC HEALTH: You have reopening, that's occurred starting with the state May 1st, in addition today you had events like graduations, and obviously people getting together and all sorts of other activities. And so, each of those layer on top of another, Mother's Day, Memorial Day weekend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: And Saturday night thousands will gather in neighboring Oklahoma to listen to the famous non-mask wearer in the country, President Donald Trump. COVID is here in Tulsa, it's transmitting very efficiently, says the director of the local health department, I wish we could postpone this. Confirmed cases in the country just climbed 30 percent in a week blamed by the health department on large indoor gatherings.
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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: People should be wearing masks to the Trump rally in Tulsa this Saturday.
LARRY KUDLOW, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: Well, OK. Probably so.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WATT: And we'll probably be wearing them a while. I would hope to get back to some degree of real normality within a year or so, Dr. Anthony Fauci just told the British newspaper, but I don't think it's this winter or fall.
And remember, hydroxychloroquine, the antimalarial drug much hype by the president. In fact, the drug he said he was taking for a couple of weeks to fend off the virus. Well, the FDA has now just them removed the emergency authorization. Doctors can no longer ruse it to treat COVID-19 patients. The FDA says that studies suggested that it probably wasn't going to do any good. In fact, some studies suggest that it might even cause some serious artifacts.
ALLEN: Dr. Darragh O'Carroll is an emergency room physician, and he joins me now from Hawaii to talk about these developments. Dr. O'Carroll, thank you so much for coming on.
DARRAGH O'CARROLL, EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: Thank you for having me.
ALLEN: First up, for the U.S. and any country to think they are out of the woods, let's look at what we are seeing in Beijing, a new cluster months after they're very strict lockdown. What does that say about the challenges brought by this virus for communities and countries that continue to open up?
[03:24:59]
O'CARROLL: Yes. It's a testament to how sneaky this virus is. We've known that for quite a while now. And it's different than the previous human pathological coronavirus I would call them SARS and MERS. And that we were quickly able to quarantine those patients simply because they were not transmitting this disease prior to having symptoms.
And so, your segment said it completely correctly in that, where -- where's this, where was the origin of this. We don't know how it got into Beijing, they have one of the strictest protocols, unique protocols around, and so where did it come in?
Is it a local community transmission, when they haven't had cases for around 50 days which is much longer than any doubling time or any incubation time in the community? It came in from somewhere, and so they are doing their due diligence it sounds like to find out where it is.
And the numbers are concerning in the short amount of time the new cases, but also the amount of people that have come through. They said 200,000 come through that market where it originated. So, it's a testament at how tricky all of this is.
ALLEN: They have a lot of contact tracing to do to for these past two weeks. Well, we have seen spikes in new cases in some 18 or 19 states in the U.S. The administration will say that it is mainly due to more testing that is occurring. President Trump said Monday, if we stop testing right now, we'd have very few cases. Is that how you see it?
O'CARROLL: I don't think that's the right approach in that we need to test more, if that's possible. You could hear the testing numbers that China was doing a couple of, you know, tens of thousands in the few days.
We need to test as much as possible. Because the patients that we need to catch are those pre-symptomatic patients. So, the patients that have yet to develop systems or had the higher viral loads that will transmit this disease.
And so the more that we test them we're going to catch those and more that we'll be able to stay open longer in concurrence when we use our masks, when we continue to social distance it's going to keep us from sliding back into, you know, many say this is a continuation of the first wave, some say that it's now going to be a second wave. A lot of estimates are saying that the Washington epidemiologic studies and models are showing that we are going to have 100,000 more deaths by September if we continue on this trajectory.
So, I encourage everybody to continue to use the advice that we've been saying, wear masks and stay six feet away from people.
ALLEN: Yes. We just heard the governor there of New York angry at people that didn't seem to be doing that over the weekend. It seems like people are kind of letting their guard down now after weeks of this. And just quite frankly, some people think that it's over and somehow, you know, we've got to convince folks that it's not, and if you don't get the health back, then you don't really get the health of the economy back.
O'CARROLL: Correct. Yes. You know the more that we don't social distance and use those methods that we know can trans -- combat this virus. And quite simply if you use the R naught, the basic reproduction numbers, the average amount of people that if somebody was to be infected, they'll transfer to.
It's a very complex mathematical equation but you can simplify it into four different variables. And that's duration, opportunity, transmissibility, and susceptibility. And I'm just going to focus on two of them right now. The first one is opportunity.
The opportunity variable is basically the more that we come in contact with people, the more opportunity we're going to have to spread it. The more that we're around people, then you bring in the variable transmissibility. And so, if you're not wearing a mask, you are projecting those respiratory droplets all around you.
And so, the more that we up those two variables they're all multiplied together the more that that basic reproduction number is going to increase, and to the point of where if we have an indoor event, like the Diamond Princess, was a perfect example of this. The basic reproduction number was 14 or so before they started doing any sort of quarantine and isolation.
And so, for me, I think the Tulsa public health official who says that they'd rather push this event back that President Donald Trump is holding, is very good advice. I'd also say that if you do need to have it, and you do need to exercise your First Amendment right and public speaking and public speech is, have it outdoors. We know that indoor events are really going to transmit this virus like we have in the past.
ALLEN: Unfortunately, it is indoors and they even be growing at this point and making it larger. So that's something to watch carefully. We really appreciate your expertise. Thanks so much, Dr. Darragh O'Carroll for us. Thank you.
O'CARROLL: You're welcome.
ALLEN: We've just received some breaking news here to CNN, and it is regarding South Korea, saying that North Korea has blown up the inter- Korean liaison office into Kaesong industrial zone there in North Korea.
[03:30:05]
North Korea's military has been threatening to reach militarized the border area that was disarmed in the inter-Korean pact. Pyongyang claims defector groups in South Korea, were sending propaganda leaflets into the country.
We will have a live report on this in just a moment. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: More now on the breaking news, we just brought to you South Korea saying that North Korea, has now blown up the inter-Korean liaison office, in the Kaesong industrial zone in North Korea. Let's talk more about this, with Kristie Lu Stout, she is in Hong Kong, she is monitoring this story that has just broken. What do we know Kristie?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Natalie, it appears that North Korea, has carried out what it has threatened to do, according to South Korea's unification ministry, North Korea has blown up, the inter-Korean liaison office, located in Kaesong in North Korea.
According to the ministry, it says that this instance took place 2:49 p.m. in the afternoon. Just under an hour ago. We know that the inter- Korean liaison office, was set up in 2018 as a result of this landmark inter-Korean talks between the South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean Leader, Kim Jong-un.
It established, this four-storey steel and concrete office, which had South Korean workers and officials, there alongside North Korean officials. It was and had been a valuable channel of direct communication between these two nations. And according to the unification ministry, it has been blown up this inter=Korean liaison office is no more.
This is coming during a time of rising tensions between North and South Korea over what? Over the issue of the actions of North Korean defectors South Korea. We heard that warning that was delivered by the sister of Kim Jong-un over the weekend. Where she described South Korea as quote, the enemy. And she warned that decisively, that next action could be taken.
And after the warning, it appears this is that action. The destruction and blowing up, according to the unification ministry in South Korea of the inter-Korean liaison office. Now this is also taking place, despite action that South Korea has taken legal action against the North Korean defectors. North Korean defectors inside the country, we know that they have been using balloons to send over anti North Korean propaganda, and leaflets and sd cards across the border.
They were using bottles to put food and rice, by sea to send it across the border into North Korea. That legal action by South Korea was not enough. North Korea is livid. Was angry. It already had cancelled and severed the lines of communications between North and South. It threatened to shut down the liaison office, but within the last hour we've learned again, according to the South Korean unification ministry, that inter-Korean liaison office inside North Korea has been blown up.
[03:35:22]
And also the timing is very significant. This week marks the 20th anniversary of the first inter-Korean talks. And this were talks that pledged cooperation that pledge dialog, and yet 20 years on, we have these two countries, North and South Korea no longer talking to one another.
North Korea making threat after threat, and now as we've just learned, carrying out this threat by destroying the inter-Korean liaison office. We know North Korea has used rhetoric, by calling South Korea the enemy, but by carrying out its threat, it is definitely spoiling for a fight right now. Natalie.
ALLEN: Right. We will continue to explore the ramifications, and wait to see what the international response to the story is as well. Thank you so much for your analysis of the story. Kristie Lu Stout for us there in Hong Kong. Thanks Kristie.
A new app and website will help travelers in your navigate in this time of coronavirus. It is call reopen E.U. The platform will provide details on things like which airports are open, and whether you will need to quarantine, or take a test. According to the E.U., tourism contributes as much as 10 percent of Europe's GDP, and the app is right on time. Internal European borders, have now begun reopening. External borders will start opening July 1.
As far as air travel, or Easyjet planes are back in the air for the first time since March 30th. The British carrier is flying mainly domestic routes, Easyjet CEO says the airline will operate at about 30 percent of its usual capacity for the busy July to September season. Let's talk more about it with CNN's John Defterios. He is live for us in Abu Dhabi. How are you doing John, good to see you?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Hi, Natalie thanks.
ALLEN: All right. Well, people in airplanes are starting to move about, this is a marker that life is getting back to some sort of normal, but for the low cost carriers like Easyjet, is it a long runway back?
DEFTERIOS: Yes. I would put it in a way that they have to start somewhere, in their starting in their home market of the United Kingdom. And then as that European bubble that you're talking about here expands, particularly in July 1, when they open to the outside world with their external borders.
Easyjet wants to be ready, but these low cost carriers depend on volume, and then quick turnaround. Both of those as you know are very difficult during covid-19 environment, and to give you a sense of the volume of fights, they're just doing 300 this week. In April before they had to put the cancellation in place, there were scheduled to handle 11,000 flights a week. Here's the CEO Johan Lundgren on what we can expect by the end of the summer season on (inaudible).
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHAN LUNDGREN, EASYJET CEO: By July we are hoping that we basically going to be covered 50 percent of the whole of network. But mind you, when look at it from a capacity point of view, throughout July, August and September, it's only about 30 percent, we estimate what will be operating compare to what was originally planned. But it's a great first step.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS: So it is a reset for Easyjet, but it is going to be painful for employees. And this is the kind of the standard around the world. There are going to be cutting 30 percent of their staff or about 4,500. And its rival, Ryanair, is going to cut 15 percent. And nobody is talking yet about profitability, Natalie.
ALLEN: Yes, that is to come. Well Easyjet is based out of the U.K., and has been quite vocal about the 14-day quarantine recently imposed on all visitors arriving. It doesn't seem to be workable for tourists. Are they looking for a reversal of that policy?
DEFTERIOS: Yes they are, and they're not alone. They are going to be teaming up here with British airways, and again its low-cost competitor Ryanair. They've taken to court and challenging it, and I can't even imagine how this works. Because you are asking tourist to come into your country, and quarantine themselves for 14 days. London was saying this is one of the top 10 destinations in the world, and we have to come up with a different solution.
ALLEN: John Defterios for us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUNDGREN: -- wish we put in place. You know, down and the side- effect. And we also saw that the first stage of the virus when quarantines were in place, that it actually kill off very much of the man that s out there. So, it's crucial for us to make sure that those quarantines are lifted or replaced with something that makes better sense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[03:40:00]
DEFTERIOS: It is a difficult times for Easyjet and any other U.K. carriers ahead. Brexit in 2019 undermine the earnings this year covid, and the reality is Natalie, they are going to have both in 2021.
ALLEN: Absolutely. All right John Defterios, I always appreciate it. Thanks, John.
What they notably lower coronavirus death toll and infection rate that many countries in Europe, Portugal is now trying to market itself as the safe option for tourists. Its new campaign includes hygiene seals for businesses serving tourist and the idea of the so-called green corridor to the U.K. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more in this exclusive report from Lisbon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Even in these times of pandemic, Lisbon's most famous bakery, (Inaudible) is still churning out cream cakes. But owner Miguel Clarinha says his business has been hit hard by the lack of tourists. And he doesn't think that will change soon.
MIGUEL CLARINHA, BAKERY OWNER: We are hopeful of course but we also know that this year is going to be a very, very slow year. Even with the borders opening up.
PLEITGEN: Even as maybe European companies are lifting travel warnings, only a few tourists can be seen in Lisbon's historic old town.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not very dangerous, only in small spaces and you know in rooms or something. And so, we are not scared about that.
PLEITGEN: Among European nations, Portugal is one of the most dependent on tourism. The country is now launching a campaign to win travelers back. I caught up with the Prime Minister, just as he unveiled the program.
What is Portugal strategy to try to bring tourism back to this country in a safe way?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We have created protocols, between the health authorities and all the hotels to create a special seal, clean and safe to give everyone guarantees that they can come and they'll be safe.
PLEITGEN: Portugal is viewed as having dealt successfully with the pandemic so far. Having shut down early, the covid-19 death toll here remains low. And anti-coronavirus measures, remain on prominent display. Like temperature checks at the airports for all those arriving. The Prime Minister says he believes that Portugal's crack record will help the country beat out other nations and the quest to lure wary tourists. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We are one of the countries
that tested the most, one of the countries that better knows the real spread of the virus. Where the numbers are the safest and where people can come with confidence. Confidence will be one of the differentiating factors at the moment of choosing were to go on holidays. There I think Portugal is a good destination.
PLEITGEN: Portugal's economy has been hit extremely hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Now the country is battling to come back, making reviving its tourism sector a top national priority. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Lisbon, Portugal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Still to come here, millions are at risk of contracting preventable diseases at the coronavirus pandemic, disrupts routine back to nation programs. We will have live report from Africa, after this.
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[03:45:00]
ALLEN: Global cases of the coronavirus have now topped 8 million, with the U.S. still leading the world when it comes to the number of infections and deaths from covid-19. Latin America also seeing a growing number of cases across the region, CNN's Matt Rivers has more from Mexico City.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as this outbreak continues around the world countries here in Latin America are a big part of the reason why. We know that Brazil has the worst outbreak in this part of the world, but its countries, like Mexico and Chile and Peru, that are also playing major roles.
Start here in Mexico where wit was just late last week that the country's deputy health secretary said the peak of these epidemic could last up until July. And that's if people continue to follow the recommended social distancing guidelines. That said parts of the economy here in Mexico are beginning to reopen. And as the president, President Lopez Obrador has recently said that the worst of this epidemic is behind us. And that people should safely, and hygienically go back out into the streets. But him saying the worst of the epidemic is behind us, seemingly contradicts what his own health ministry is saying.
Meanwhile down in Chile, the outbreak there is so bad still, that authorities have deemed it necessary to extend a state of emergency for another 90 days. That gives authorities there, really remarkable powers to restrict the movements of people in that country. As we've already seen with a lockdown that has been put in place in the capital city of Santiago.
And finally in Peru, there were moments of reflection over the lives lost during this outbreak there. The archbishop of Lima, on Sunday held a special mass honoring covid-19 victims. The mass took place behind closed doors. And the basilica was filled with more than 5,000 photographs of those reported to have lost their lives due to the coronavirus there.
And we should get some further guidance from the WHO in terms of where they think this epidemic is going and where it is right now in the Americas when the Pan-American health organization gives an update later on this morning on the situation in this part of the world. But safe to say what we are likely not to hear from officials, is that things are getting substantively better. Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Efforts being taken to slow the spread of coronavirus in Africa are having an unintended effect. Escalating the threat of other preventable diseases. For example, more than 100 million children could be missing out on measles vaccine according to one estimate. David McKenzie, has been looking into the story. He joins me now live from Johannesburg. Hello to you, David.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Natalie. Yes, to be clear this issues is across the globe, but developing countries could see the worst impact. And as you say, and another startling facts, the UNICEF, the children's agency of the U.N. says, you know, up to 18 million children under the age of one, could be at risk because of these disruptions on routine immunizations.
Now, you are talking about diseases like measles, polio. Put it in perspective, Natalie, the Democratic Republic of Congo, just last year alone saw more than 6,000 people die of measles. There's been an overall resurgence of that disease, because of the lack of vaccinations. Now when covid started appearing across the globe, it did stop these vaccine programs, because often you have scenes of many children gathering together with their families to get this vaccine. And that was seen as a risk for spreading covid-19.
But the problem is, this unintended consequence say, some health officials could even be worse than the pandemic itself. As you see a shortfall of vaccinations. This is because of that fear of spread, but also because vaccines are difficult to come by because of the general closing of borders and the lack of supply of the vaccines.
Now, U.N. agencies, Natalie and other groups are trying to figure out a safe ways to maintain vaccine rates, but it is certainly an incredibly worrying side effects or unintended consequence of the public health measures to stop the covid-19 pandemic.
ALLEN: It certainly is, and we know you will be following it for us, David McKenzie for us in Johannesburg. David, thank you.
Next here after a three month break, one of the biggest football leagues in the world is set to return. We will tell you what to expect when the English Premier League, resumes it season.
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[03:50:00]
ALLEN: In the U.K., the English Premier League is about to make its long awaited return. The first match is set for Wednesday. John Vause, spoke with our Don Riddell about it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's world sport, Don Riddell is with now for more. Don, the Premiere League, it's the world's biggest event a football league, the most famous, it's been misses around the world to say the least. So, what can we look forward to now that is coming back?
DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, good to see, 100 days can you believe that, 100 days since we last saw a ball kicked in the premier league. Hopefully it's all going to be worth the wait. Now that is coming back this week. Liverpool, are obviously the biggest storyline. The most dominant team in the country, he raced into an extraordinary 25 point lead who were right on the brink of clinching their first league title in exactly 30 years.
It is surely now inevitable, that they will do it. And it would've been incredibly cruel if they had been denied it. Here's what you need to know, they only need two wins from their last nine games. And is Man City lose to Arsenal, in their first game back on Wednesday, then actually Liverpool would only need one win. And that could be in their home city, against (inaudible) on Sunday.
VAUSE: Just wondering, was there a point -- was there any serious talk, about the lead just so giving everything up and walking away and never coming back -- back on like it is now?
RIDDELL: Well, there was never a guarantee that it was going to be finished, I mean, just look around Europe, the Scottish League, Dutch League and Liga in France, never returned, and there was a great deal of concern about the premier league. Especially given that the U.K. has one of the highest death totals from coronavirus in the world and pact stadiums are super spreader events.
But there is so much money at stake that nobody seemed to really want to council it. And the return of the Bundesliga last month in Germany showed how it can be done safely. Obviously there won't be any fans in these games, the option of fake crowd noise will be piped in through your television speakers, but it's a whole lot better for sports fan then the alternative.
VAUSE: Where there is money, there is always a way I guess. Well one of the first games will feature Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, so he is a survivor if you like.
RIDDELL: Yes. How fitting that he is involved in the first game, one of the most prominent people in European football to actually contract the coronavirus back in March, and it was a news of that which prompted the Premier League to a screech to a halt. If it wasn't that, at least one more round of games would surely had been played in England. And tens of thousands of fans would've been packed into stadiums spreading the virus around, so I guess unwittingly Mikel Arteta, may well have saved a lot of lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKEL ARTETA, ARSENAL MANAGER: I have think about it and I sort of deny that I started to have some symptoms, how serious that was and it was a matter that I could not make a decision, that I had to be reported because I could put in risk in our people when I was willing to the (inaudible). I love this game but we have bigger responsibilities than to do that and I think we made the right call and the right decision (inaudible) arsenal and the Premier League as well. I am really strong on that, and I think I agree with you that it could've been much worse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Mikel Arteta looking well at least. So much has change -- like the last game, March 9th -- that was a world away, you know those Asian history. You know, as much as we are talking about, you know, the world in a pandemic and the covid-19, it's been a global awakening, as well on racial issues and a lot of players in the United States, a lot of professional sports around the world in the U.K. are making their voices heard as well.
[03:55:00]
RIDDELL: Yes. And we've seen that in recent weeks with players in Germany, Italy, and Spain, have demonstrably come out and support of the black lives matter movement. Several players had displayed slogans and messages of support over the weekend. Actually Real Madrid's defender Marcelo knelt on one knee. And prominently raise his fist. I'm pretty sure that we are going to see something similar across these games when the Premier League returns.
Players in England were already pretty vocal about racial abuse and social injustice. One of the most prominent actually, is Manchester team striker Marcus Rashford. Now you may recall at the start of the coronavirus, the U.K. government picked on overpaid premier league football players, and try to make an example of them for not doing enough to help in times of hardship.
Well, many of them ended up being very charitable and now the shoe is on the other foot so to speak. Rashford has already raised $25 million for a food distribution charity and he has just written an open letter to politicians in Britain, urging them to keep the school meal voucher program going throughout the summer holiday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCUS RASHFORD, MANCHESTER UNITED FORWARD: I'm just hoping to do it as soon as possible, they usually do this, you know, this time of year, summer holidays but because of covid the situation has been completely different for everyone in the world and you know, my mom was a single parent. She's got five kids that was all living in the same house. And that moment was the most difficult moment. She's working very hard to put food on the table, and then it's the stress on the shoulders that affected her after we eat our dinner.
RIDDELL: An old wise head-on from some very young shoulders there. Marcus Rashford, he's done incredible good throughout this coronavirus episodes. Now of course, he's looking for it again and back in the field. John, back to you.
VAUSE: Good point. Thanks, I appreciate it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: More sports coming back for you, we have now learned women's basketball, will soon resume play in the United States. The Woman's National Basketball Association, the WNBA said it plans to kick off a shortened 2020 season late next month. Each of the league's 12 teams will play 22 regular season games followed by a traditional post- season. All WNBA games will be played in Florida. I am Natalie Allen, in Atlanta, I want to invite you to follow me on Instagram or Twitter and stay with me, for another hour of CNN Newsroom. We've got breaking news for you just ahead.
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