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Potential Breakthrough For Coronavirus ICU Patients; Beijing's Race To Stop Coronavirus Spread; Oklahoma's Daily Coronavirus Infections Reach Daily High; North Korea Escalates Tensions With The South; England's Premier League Kicks Off First Game In Three Months; Trump Campaign To Be Sued For Tulsa Rally; Trump Defends Police While Ordering Modest Reforms; Ghana Courts African Americans to Come Home; Travel Standstill Hits Hilton; Suntory CEO: Japan Could Lose 20 percent of its Restaurants. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired June 17, 2020 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Potentially a breakthrough in treating the sickest of COVID-19 patients. But some are urging caution, warning this is science by press release.
Defending the capital, officials in China place Beijing neighborhoods on lockdown, begin mass testing. As the coronavirus reappears and threatens the legitimacy of the Communist government.
And with her influence growing and becoming increasing combative, Kim Jong Un's sister ramps up the tension on the Korean Peninsula, calling off talks with the South, threatening to send troops to the DMZ.
It might just be a glimmer of hope in this pandemic as the number of cases of coronavirus worldwide passes eight million.
Latest research has found a new treatment for the very sickest of patients. Researchers at Oxford University say the steroid, dexamethasone, can be a life saver for about a third of all patients on ventilators. Not only that, but it's cheap and widely available.
But there are warnings this may not yet pan out. A complete study has not been released nor have the findings been peer reviewed.
The outbreak though continues to spread with cases on the rise in 18 U.S. states, Texas alone reporting more than 2,600 cases on Tuesday. A new high for the Lone Star State.
And if you listen to the White House, though, there's absolutely no reason for concern.
The U.S. vice president not wearing a mask on Tuesday -- and he writes in the "Wall Street Journal," an op ed.
There's no second wave coming, and concerns about a spike are all just overblown. But a senior official with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control &
Prevention accuses the vice president of cherry-picking data to paint a better picture.
Back at the White House rose garden, almost no masks in sight. The president pushing ahead with his campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where masks will not be required. Despite fears it could turn into a super spreader event.
And in China, where all of this began, a new outbreak right in the capital, Beijing. A cluster, linked to a market, has infected more than 100 people in nearby neighborhoods on lockdown.
More now on dexamethasone, the cheap steroid that's been around for decades. But the WHO is now hailing it as the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in COVID patients on oxygen or ventilators.
Oxford researchers say the drug could save one in eight coronavirus patients in intensive care. Total price for all of that? About $50.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER HORNBY, PROFESSOR OF EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES & GLOBAL HEALTH, OXFORD UNIVERSITY: The drug itself is very widely available, it's on almost every pharmacy shelf in every hospital. It's available throughout the world and it's extremely cheap.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: We should note the study is yet to be peer reviewed. But Britain's prime minister, Boris Johnson, calls it a remarkable scientific achievement and says the steroid will be made available across the National Health Service.
CNN's Elizabeth Cohen takes a closer look now at the study and the results.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SNR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This British study of thousands of patients finding that what many doctors have been doing is the right way to go.
The study looked at COVID patients who were very ill. They were on ventilators, some of them on the verge of death.
And so they gave them steroids, steroids are commonly used in hospitals for similar kinds of infectious disease situations as well as for other diseases, the doctors have these drugs, they're used to using them. And so they tried them.
And they found that when people got the steroids versus a group that didn't, that the group that got the steroid were more than a third less likely to die. So obviously, that's a very strong number.
Doctors I talked to here in the U.S. who have been using these steroids say they sort of felt like this was true, and now they're glad to see this actual data.
It hasn't been published, it hasn't been peer reviewed, but many doctors saying that they tried this and they also found that it worked. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Elizabeth, thank you.
Now organizers with the Trump Campaign are being sued to try and prevent the president from holding a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma this weekend.
The lawsuit is targeting the venue for holding the rally demanding compliance with social distancing measures, claiming the event could be a coronavirus super spreader.
Thousands expected to attend. The state's health department is encouraging everyone to be tested for COVID-19 before and after the rally.
Meantime, Tulsa's mayor says he didn't even know an invitation for the event had been extended.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Saying, quote: "As someone who is cautious by nature, I don't like to be the first to try anything. I would have loved some other city to have proven the safety of such an event already."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
The Trump campaign will be utilizing safety precautions at the event.
Every attendee will have to pass a temperature check before they can actually enter the facility, and every attendee will be provided with a mask, every attendee will have access to hand sanitizers.
Now Beijing raising its emergency level, as the Chinese capital races to stop a spread of a fresh cluster of infections.
More than 100 new cases of COVID-19 have been traced back to a food market, one of the biggest in Asias (ph) -- Asia, I should say.
Now the Beijing residents are under what authorities are calling a soft lockdown. Schools are closed once again, outward travel is being tightened.
And CNN's Anna Coren is live for us this hour from Hong Kong with details.
So, explain here (ph). This is a sort of a response above and beyond what you would expect for a hundred or so cases.
[01:05:00] Because Beijing, it's the capital, the communist government has made sort of a stand there saying we will defend the capital from being infected by the coronavirus. And this just goes back, essentially, to their legitimacy as a government.
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's 137 cases to date, 31 new cases today. So this is spreading, there's no doubt about that.
It's not a second wave, hasn't spread that wide, but there are certainly fears that it could, hence the restrictions that are now in place to get out of Beijing.
But, John, you're absolutely right. This is a huge embarrassment for China's Communist Party, and for Xi Jinping. This is a country that said it had shown its superiority by virtually eliminating coronavirus, and now you have 137 cases in the capital. It is very concerning.
But they're not taking it lightly. If anything, this is now number one priority for officials to contain this.
It started at the Xinfadi wholesale food market in the south of the city last week, and all the residential compounds within that vicinity and two other markets that it has spread to have been locked down. So those people cannot leave their homes.
But for the rest of Beijing, people are being super vigilant, working from home, still allowed to travel around the city. Who knows, that may change over the coming days.
They're obviously doing mass testing and contact tracing to some 200,000 people they think have visited this market. That market provides something like 80 percent of Beijing's fresh produce.
And there were reports that this came from imported salmon from Europe. Well, the government's own health experts have come out and said that there's no evidence of that, even though it has obviously dramatically affected salmon sales in the capital and across China.
But as far as trying to get out of Beijing, you have to explain why you want to leave, you have to have a negative test within seven days, and you have to come from an area that isn't high risk.
But it was only earlier this month, John, where the levels, the alert levels, were lowered because China thought it was in the clear. People were going back to work, children returning to school this month, and now schools are closed.
So, obviously, China working extremely hard to contain this so it doesn't spiral out of control like it did in Wuhan back in January, John.
VAUSE: Yes, absolutely. Anna, thank you. Anna Coren with the latest there on the situation in Beijing. Appreciate it.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: For more now, Dr. Esther Choo, an emergency medicine physician
and associate professor at the Oregon Health and Science is with us now from Portland, Oregon. Good to see you again.
DR. ESTHER CHOO, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY: Good to see you, John.
VAUSE: OK. I would like you to listen to the vice president talking about the coronavirus outbreak, specifically in Oklahoma. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oklahoma has really been in the forefront of our efforts to slow the spread, and in a very real sense, they flattened the curve. And today, their hospital capacity is abundant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: But the headline from the Oklahoma newspaper reads this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
"Coronavirus in Oklahoma. Oklahoma sets new daily record for COVID-19 infections."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And now the vice president and the newspaper can't both be right, one of them is wrong. And it seems that the vice president is the one who's got it wrong.
CHOO: Well, certainly it's true that as we increase tests we will detect more disease. But what we are seeing in many states across the United States is yes, we are increasing testing we are seeing more cases and detecting more, but hospitalizations are going up as well.
Really demonstrating that we were probably over eager in many places to reopen before we saw what is recommended. A decrease in cases for 14 days before we start to reopen.
So we've been talking about is there a second wave. In a lot of places, honestly, it's not a second wave, it's a continuation of a rise in cases. We never waited for a plateau, even, in some places before we started to reopen and re-gather.
And I think that's truly what we're seeing, unfortunately, in Oklahoma where this rally is planned.
VAUSE: So with that in mind. Again, Mike Pence writing an opinion piece, a little more from "The Wall Street Journal."
[01:10:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
"In recent days, the media has taken to sounding the alarm bells over a second wave of coronavirus infections. Such panic is overblown.
Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and the courage and compassion of the American people, our public health system is far stronger than it was four months ago. We're winning the fight against the invisible enemy."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Again, the president -- the vice president, rather, seems to be at odds with the fact-based world. The outbreak is getting worse in at least 19 states.
CHOO: I'm trying to get into the mindset of feeling celebratory or like something wonderful has been accomplished here when we've passed two million cases and 120,000 deaths about here. And we're on track to hit 200,000 deaths by the end of the summer.
It does not feel like a success here. It's hard to understand how one could overblow something like over 100,000 deaths in just a handful of months.
To me, we're not scared enough and that we've kind of gotten tired of being scared and of curtailing our activities. So I disagree.
And the numbers, I think, are on the side of sustained concern here.
VAUSE: And even according to the government's own website, the Food & Drug Administration, they admit that over the summer where we are right now:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
"Increased use of PPE may exceed the available supply of PPE," -- this is the personal protective equipment -- "resulting in shortages at some healthcare organizations. The FDA recommends conservation strategies for use by healthcare organizations and personnel."
And when they recommend conservation strategies, what they're saying is stuff like wear the same surgical mask over and over again, same thing for single-use gowns. Use the surgical mask long after the use- by date.
It would seem the health system in this country is anything but stronger compared to where it was four months ago. It's a whole lot weaker.
CHOO: It's so frustrating that this is still going on. Understand, we haven't really completely figured out how to mobilize supply chains around these things, and I think what we were hoping for was that there would be a pause.
That we would recover enough over the summer that we could mobilize these resources and have them in place in every hospital so that we'd be ready in the fall for a second wave going into flu season.
Where we're just going to see a lot of patients who look very similar to COVID also coming in. And we'll have to have precautions as we care for all of them together.
Unfortunately, as we're experiencing the second wave or the ongoing first wave, we're continuing to use these resources.
States like Arizona operating at 75 to 80 percent of its intensive care unit beds, really in a state of emergency.
We're having to put a ton of resources in a sustained way right now.
We're not feeling that we're having a recovery period before we go into what would be a big second spike in the fall.
VAUSE: So because all these states opened early and they were unprepared, we're now seeing the spikes in, what, 19 cases. It could either be a spike or the first wave or the second wave, however you want to call it, the numbers are going up.
So basically, that means that the PPE which hopefully was being made now for use in the winter, is being used now.
CHOO: That's right, John.
VAUSE: And they haven't planned for that.
CHOO: Yes, that's right. And also, there are implications to reopening too.
When you reopen businesses and those businesses really want to be -- demonstrate that they have best practices, they are also using PPE.
And so you're seeing a lot of face mask wearing, maybe not the N95 masks, but certainly the surgical masks and gloves and things are being used in businesses to try to make their workplaces safer for their customers.
And that's reasonable, except that it is another tax on that resource.
So having businesses open and be safe, having hospitals be fully stocked, it's just a lot of supply that we need very quickly and all the time. And these are single-use items, ideally.
So you really need to have a robust supply chain to keep up with all of that demand.
VAUSE: Not according to the FDA. Very quickly, though, this new steroid. There's some concern that this is all about science by press release. It hasn't been peer reviewed, we don't know exactly know what the deal is.
CHOO: Yes, that's absolutely true. This is very promising, we're all excited. This is a commonly available drug, they're not using it in high doses, it's a very simple regimen that they have studied.
And it looks like it has impact on a valuable endpoint, which is mortality. But we have not even seen the study, it hasn't gone through peer
review, it hasn't been published so that we can see exactly what their methods are, what the study population was, who this applies to, whether it's applicable to all of our -- whether it's generalizable to the patients that we see.
And so a lot of questions. But certainly very promising and from an outstanding research team.
VAUSE: Dr. Esther Choo, thank you. Really appreciate having you with us. Thank you.
CHOO: Thank you, John.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Just hours left now before the world's most popular football league will be back in action. But the action won't be exactly as we know it. CNN's Alex Thomas explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX THOMAS, CNN WORLD SPORT CORRESPONDENT: After more than three months, England's globally famous Premier League is back.
[01:15:00]
Canceled back in March due to the coronavirus crisis on Friday the 13th, no less. And it's been a bit of a horror show for EPL officials since then.
Weeks of tense negotiations with clubs and players' unions, the prospect of losing hundreds of millions of dollars in TV money. And they had to wait until June before the U.K. government finally gave the go ahead for the season to resume with 92 games still to play.
One of the first teams back on the pitch will be the reigning premier league champions. Manchester City will face Arsenal here at the Etihad Stadium behind me on Wednesday evening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PEP GUARDIOLA, MANAGER, MANCHESTER CITY SOCCER TEAM: I think that we are ready to play one game. But three days after another one, and four days after another one, we are not ready. Not, I think, Man City, in all teams.
And in Germany or in Spain, that they work five or six weeks, all the teams in the primary, they have just maybe three weeks, three weeks and a half.
Of course, we know it's not enough, but it is what it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS: Guardiola understands as well as anyone why football's had to take a back seat in recent months. He actually lost his mother to the disease.
If City lose to Arsenal here on Wednesday evening then Liverpool can be crowned England's champions again for the first time in 30 years. If they win their next game against Everton on Sunday.
And while the idea of the title race being over within days might seem like something of an anti-climax, actually there's still great excitement about the resumption of the Premier League although, like other major football competitions, it will look and feel slightly different.
There'll be no fans inside the stadium. Normally, there would be tens of thousands milling around here on game day.
And also, strict new protocols put in place inside the venue to protect the health and safety of the players, the coaches and the match officials. Things like no handshakes no spitting on the pitch, social distance goal celebrations as well.
Now it'll be interested to see which those habits will be tough to break.
Alex Thomas, CNN, Manchester.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, still to come. Inching closer to catastrophe, North Korea warns that destruction of a joint liaison office in the DMZ is just the beginning. As relations with the South spiral downward.
Now what's being called a violent face-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers ends in a number of multiple deaths.
Details are coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: South Korea is pushing back against north Korea's military threats after the North blew up the joint liaison office in the DMZ.
Pyongyang now plans to redeploy troops near the border, at least that's what it says it will do.
Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo Jong, plans -- blames the South, rather, for relations, quote, inching close to the worst catastrophe.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is live for us in Hong Kong with details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
So, we've had a lot of back and forth between these two countries over the last couple of days. Threats, bluster, real-world explosions.
So where do things actually stand right now?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Tension is spiking even after the explosion that took place, the destruction of the inter- Korean liaison office in Kaesong in North Korea.
[01:20:00]
We have been monitoring a flurry of announcements coming from KCNA, that's North Korea's state-run news agency, in which we learn that it plans to re-deploy North Korean military to Kaesong, to Mount Kumgang, to other DMZ areas. Effectively unraveling what was achieved in the 2018 historic inter-Korean talks.
We've also learned that North Korea flatly rejects South Korea's offer to send envoys into North Korea to help defuse tensions.
And there was also this long, lengthy statement issued by Kim Yo Jong, the sister of Kim Jong-un, in which she slams the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in.
She says she, quote, despises him, she calls him a two-faced liar. Kim Jong-un, meanwhile, conspicuously absent from all these
announcements.
Now in the last couple of hours, we have heard from the office of the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in.
Take a listen to what his spokesperson had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOON DO-HAN, PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN, SOUTH KOREA (through translator): Not only are the North's recent words and actions of no help to the North themselves, but they will also result in the North taking sole responsibility for all consequences derived from such actions.
We especially hope the North keeps basic manners in the future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: Keeping basic manners in the future. Now we also have received an additional statement from the Blue House. Let's bring it up for you. It says this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Quote: "This harms the trust that the two Korean leaders have built in its roots and we clearly warn that we will no longer endure North Korea's senseless comments and actions like these."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Now, John, all of this is a real slap in the face to the administration of the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, who has actively campaigned for and pushed for engagement.
Remember, it was only two years ago, in 2018, when the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, along with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong- un, made that that symbolic walk across the border together, holding hands -- John. VAUSE: Yes. The North Koreans are big on blowing stuff up. But
blowing up to joint liaison office sends a different message from when you blow up the nuclear cooling tower. Like they did in 2008.
STOUT: Yes, very different message. And since the news broke yesterday of this incident, we have new video from North Korea in which we see the incident itself.
The explosion, the destruction, of the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong which happened at 2:49 pm local time yesterday.
And this is what we can see in the video.
This is a four-story steel and glass structure, it completely topples to the ground, and you see the clouds of smoke and debris rising up.
But again, this took place inside North Korea. This is the North Koreans demolishing an empty office building. It was empty because no workers were inside, no officials inside, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
And yet, this explosion of an empty office building in which no human lives were taken sends a very strong message. It is a symbol, it's a symbol of the downward spiral of relations between North and South Korea -- John.
VAUSE: Absolutely. Kristie, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout there in Hong Kong. Appreciate it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Stephan Haggard is the director of the Korea-Pacific Program at the University of California in San Diego.
Good to have you with us, Stephan. Thank you so much.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHAN HAGGARD, DIRECTOR, KOREA-PACIFIC PROGRAM: Thanks, John.
VAUSE: OK. Now we now have this warning from the South Koreans to Pyongyang, not to move forward with its earlier threats.
The joint chiefs of staff issued a written statement which said, in part:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
"Various military action plans [stated by the North] are not only a direct violation of the September military agreement, the 2018 Panmunjom declaration and other previous inter-Korean agreements, but are also a nullification of all inter-Korean efforts from both sides over the past 20 years."
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: That is a pretty big statement. And, if memory serves, the South Koreans rarely get mixed up in a sort of back and forth with the North.
So how do you see this response? Also, the fact that it's coming from the head of military and not the president.
HAGGARD: Right. Well, I think it's a pretty standard attempt to issue a statement about the willingness of the South Korean military to deter. But remember, at the same time, President Moon himself is trying to
lower the temperature.
He offered to send envoys earlier in the week which would signal an attempt to do something on the economic front. He's lifted, effectively lifted, sanctions that South Korea had unilaterally imposed back in 2010.
So I think they're trying to dance between showing the strength of the military deterrent but also at least keeping the olive branch out.
VAUSE: That offer from the South Korean president was rejected by Kim Jong-un's sister, who obviously seems to have a far more prominent role at the moment.
So what did you make of the fact that it was - the rejection came from her and not (INAUDIBLE)
HAGGARD: Well, it's clear that this whole episode which goes back now over two weeks and started with these leaflets has been designed, I think -- and I mean that seriously, designed to showcase her presence as the figure who'll be dealing with North-South relations going forward.
[01:25:00]
And the language of the three or four statements that she's made over the last two weeks have really been very, very strong.
VAUSE: I guess the question is, why now? We know the diplomacy between North and South and the U.S., it's all sort of been on hold or in the freezer for over a year now.
So why did it happen at this point? Was there a trigger, was there any particular reason?
HAGGARD: Well, some put an emphasis on anniversaries, we're coming up or just past two years since the Singapore summit. So I think this is partly aimed at the United States. But, basically, I think this has been brewing since December.
There was a very important Politburo meeting at that time where, if you recall, the news then that the North Koreans were going to give the U.S. an ultimatum to do something by the end of the year. Or else. That lapsed. Nothing has transpired. President Trump basically said
he wasn't going to do anything on this until the election. And in the meantime, the sanctions basically continue multilaterally, compounded by COVID.
So I see this driven in no small measure by economic distress in North Korea.
VAUSE: That's the other side of the coin here. What's happening domestically with regard to pressure on Kim Jong-un with the COVID virus and pressure from the military within North Korea to take these moves?
HAGGARD: Well, I'm not sure the pressure necessarily coming from the military, I think the pressure's coming from economic circumstances.
When North Korea relies on China for about 90 percent of its trade, and when it shut the country down, which it did quite aggressively in response to COVID, it immediately cut ties with its major supplier and customer for virtually every sector in the economy.
So, naturally, there's going to be some distress there.
And wagging the dog seems like a piece of the story which is he's turning to the external front, he's blaming the South Koreans, he's blaming the international circumstance for whatever hardship the north Korean people are experiencing.
VAUSE: So at the end of the day it seems -- obviously, there's always something else happening under the surface when it comes to the North Koreans.
But should we just read this at face value, that the North Koreans are -- obviously, they've blown the joint liaison office -- that they are now prepared just to simply walk away from any further diplomacy, any talks about denuclearization, reconciliation with the south.
That's just off the table for what -- the foreseeable future?
HAGGARD: Well, I think what they're trying to do, though, is in part, to extract concessions. Obviously, President Moon is going to try to move forward to try to get back to some kind of North-South channel.
But what's interesting about this provocation is blowing up a building in North Korea is very different than crossing the border.
And now I think the North Koreans have actually boxed themselves in a little bit because they're now promising military action. And if that happened, I think it's possible there would a response not only from the South Koreans, but jointly by the United States.
VAUSE: And what would that response look like?
HAGGARD: Well, it depends on what the provocation is. But if there's something that actually crosses the border that's not just a test of a missile then it's game on. VAUSE: Stephan, thank you. Stephan Haggard there with some insight
and maybe some predictions, I guess, what we could see in the coming weeks. Appreciate it. Stephan, thank you.
HAGGARD: Thanks very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The Trump Administration has taken legal action to prevent the publication of a new book by the former National Security Advisor, John Bolton.
"The Room Where It Happened," due out next week, details Bolton's tenure at the White House. It's billed as an insider's rebuke of President Trump's foreign policy.
The lawsuit claims Bolton breached non-disclosure agreements and in the book is rife with classified information. Bolton's attorney says the White House wants to block the release purely for political reasons.
Still to come. The U.S. president signing an executive order on police reform. But critics say at best, it's an empty gesture.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:31]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: For three weeks of nationwide protests demanding an end to police brutality, the U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order on police reforms which critics are calling lukewarm at best, basically an empty gesture.
His order does ban chokehold, except when a police officer's life is at risk. However only the departments that have certified have to obey this ban.
The order also says financial incentives for departments be followed best practices. And it creates a national database of officers with a history of using excessive force.
The reforms are meant to make police more accountable but the President's remarks sounded more like a tribute to all of the men and women in blue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I strongly oppose the radical and dangerous efforts to defund, dismantle, and dissolve our police departments. Without police, there is chaos. Law and order must be further restored nationwide. And your federal government is ready, willing and able to help. In many cases, local law enforcement is underfunded, understaffed, and under supported.
Americans want law and order. They demand law and order. They may not say it, they may not be talking about it, but that's what they want. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Joining us now Ike McKinnon, the chief of police from the city of Detroit. Chief McKinnon -- thank you for being with us.
ISAIAH MCKINNON, FORMER DETROIT CHIEF OF POLICE: Thank you for inviting me today.
VAUSE: just heard a public statement I guess on police reform from the President that could I guess be seen as progress because a week ago it didn't seem likely
The executive order which he announced though, it seems very police- friendly, some may say. Seems to fall way short of what protesters have been demanding.
Here's a little more from the President. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: That is why today I'm signing an executive order encouraging police departments nationwide to adopt the highest professional standards to serve their communities. The standards will be as high and as strong as there is on earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: There's a lot of recommendations, a lot of encouragement, nothing really mandatory in the executive order. But I guess that's what because policy for police is made at a local level. Trump's plan tends to focus on leveraging federal spending, to encourage those reforms. Is that about as good as can be expected from the White House?
MCKINNON: Well, let me say this. As a person that has been involved in law enforcement for 50 some years and as an educator and so forth -- there are so many things that we have to do but we have to look at people who are serious about what they should be doing.
To me it was a step but it's not enough to stop some of the things that we've seen here in the United States over the x number of years.
VAUSE: Well, it's (INAUDIBLE) that the President again, you know, avoided any significant talk about the victims of police brutality. It seems to be because "Politico" explains it this way.
"Maintaining the political support of police and appearing like a law and order president has been a leading imperative for Trump's top aides and political advisers as some liberal actors push to defund police departments and devote money to community programs."
So what we have here is what -- a president walking a political line on an issue where there really isn't a lot nuance. There isn't much of a line when to comes to what the public is demanding.
[01:34:50] MCKINNON: I've seen the public saying look, you are policing but who
are you policing, and what are you policing, and what are you doing there? Are you there to serve and protect us? Are you doing the proper job for us? Are you being clear and square with us?
And most of the people who are protesting is certainly, in my years, most people are saying no, you guys aren't doing exactly what we want you to do. And so as a person who has done this for a long time, I would look at number one, study (ph) the people that we recruited for this field and make sure they are there to serve and protect.
And number two, I would look at having them go through a serious series of mental health checkups to see that they're doing the right job and using this as (INAUDIBLE).
And you know, if you look at -- starting with recruiting and the mental health aspect of it, we've done a great job. But there are so many other things that we have to do to make sure that these officers who were brought in to do the job are there for the right reason and not to do what some of the people still done.
VAUSE: And just to pick up on that list, because you started it and you outlined a lot of that in your op-ed for the "USA Today". So just speak up on the point -- the third point which you believe needs to be addressed -- a nationwide database to prevent bad officers from what is called department jumping. They get fired from one department, move on to another so that they don't have a, you know, blotch on their record.
End senior promotions for officers who have multiple disciplinary complaints.
And then this is the big one, rehabilitating police unions.
We'll get to some of this in a moment. But out of all these points, is there one which is more important than all the rest?
MCKINNON: To me, they're equally important because if we take one without the other, I think that we are not doing a true service. For instance, if we don't look at the officers jumping from department to department -- I had an officer when I was chief who had come from another community in another state who had been charged with rape. And the charges were dropped, but it was so serious that he left the department. And the officers who did the review of him did not turn this up until later. I had to terminate this man because just imagine someone like that.
Then we had other officers who had beaten people up in other departments and it turns out there's been two or three series like that. And this becomes a horrible situation for everyone that's involved.
And so we as police people have to make sure, certainly as leaders, we have to make that that does not happen within our department.
VAUSE: In that same op-ed, you wrote your background and your motivation for becoming a policeman. And you recalled a moment, you were 14 years old I think when a group of police officers pulled you to one side began beating you because you were an African-American kid, I guess, and you wrote this. "The more I screamed, the more they beat me. I saw the anger on their faces, the horror on the faces of black people who gathered around us yelling for the police to stop. I was scared, angry and confused. Why did they hurt me? That day I promised myself that I will become a Detroit police officer and change the Detroit police force from the inside."
So you are someone who has lived both sides of this divide. Why is it so difficult to get reform here? And why is it so hard to get police to stop shooting and killing African-Americans?
MCKINNON: Because of the dehumanization of people. Those people who beat me up, they didn't see me as a human being, I don't think. And later on when I was an officer, I had two years as an officer, I was shot at by federal officers.
And I've seen these kinds of things, the beatings of people and the language that they use, is just atrocious (ph). So if you don't see someone as a human being, you dehumanize them, and you don't think of them as being someone that's equal to you certainly or someone who's just a human being. And that's why they do this things exactly.
VAUSE: Chief McKinnon -- you are someone who has served your country, your community, you know, for a very long time and a very senior role. So thank you very much for being with us. We appreciate your time.
MCKINNON: Thank you so much.
VAUSE: Thank you sir.
Well, the death of George Floyd has reverberated in cities and countries around the world, including the African nation of Ghana. But the country's tourism minister is inviting black Americans to quote, "Leave where you are not wanted and come home".
Here is Stephanie Busari.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN PRODUCER: One African nation is sending a message to African-Americans in the wake of George Floyd's death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We continue to open our arms and invite all our brothers and sisters home. Ghana is your home. Africa is your home.
BUSARI: Ghana recently unveiled a monument to Floyd and is openly calling for black Americans to move there.
The country has courted the black dollar for some time. Last year, the president launched the year of return initiative, marking 400 years since the first documented arrival of west African slaves to America.
Young and old flocked to the country for a number of cultural events, such as Accra Fashion Week and a music festival Afrochella. [01:39:59]
BUSARI: Ghana's finance minister hailed the scheme a massive success, saying it recorded as much as $3 billion in added GDP. The government of Accra is now building on that momentum, with another initiative called, "Beyond the Return", which aims to encourage investment in Ghana.
AKWASI AGYEMANG, GHANA TOURISM CEO: The clarion call now for the "Back to Africa" to be reignited is really something that is natural. Africa is home and we are hoping to open our arms to our kith and kin to come back home.
BUSARI: One African-American man who came for a business trip in February says he chose to stay and see the pandemic through there. And he urges others to follow in his footsteps.
RASHAD MCCROREY, FOUNDER, AFRICA CROSS-CULTURE: Really consider moving to Africa. Really consider moving to Ghana. This land, the resources, the riches -- everything is here for you to succeed.
BUSARI: A country once central to the transatlantic slave trade now offering a safe haven for those looking to restart their lives.
Stephanie Busari, CNN -- Lagos.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, in the coming hours, the U.S. will slap Syria with new sanctions which will target the central bank and allies of President Bashar Al-Assad. Doing business with the Assad regime especially in the banking and construction industry as well as oil could be impacted. They'll face travel bans, be denied capital, even face arrests.
Still to come, Brazil doubling down on an unproven drug for treating COVID-19. Now, it's pushing Hydroxychloroquine for pregnant women and children who have the virus.
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VAUSE: Brazil is closing in on a million confirmed cases of the coronavirus as it breaks another daily record. Latin America's largest country reported nearly 35,000 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to more than 923,000. The staggering numbers came on the very same day government officials claimed to have the outbreak under control.
Brazil is now recommending hydroxychloroquine for more COVID-19 patients. That comes even after the U.S. FDA and Drug Administration withdrew it for emergency use. The U.S., remember, sent 2 million doses of chloroquine to Brazil just last month.
Shasta Darlington has the very latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SHASTA DARLINGTON: Brazil has expanded the use of hydroxychloroquine, just as the FDA revoked its emergency use authorization for the drug for treatment of COVID-19.
Brazilian officials criticized the FDA decision and announced they would expand recommended use of the drug to include children and pregnant women in early treat.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been a huge proponent of using malaria drug during the entire coronavirus prices. Clashing with doctors and even his own health and ministers over regulations.
[01:44:55]
DARLINGTON: He ended up firing his first health minister and the second quit a month later. For the last month, an army general has taken the post on an interim basis.
On Tuesday, Brazil registered a record number of new cases, almost 35,000 in 24 hours. While the death toll rose by more than 1,200, topping 45,000.
Shasta Darlington, CNN -- Sao Paulo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And Mexico reporting more than 4,500 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total there to almost 155,000. Yet, even as infections rise, the government says it's ready to welcome back tourists.
The U.S. ambassador to Mexico isn't so sure.
Matt Rivers has the story now from Mexico City.
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Two things are happening at the same time right now here, in Mexico.
On the one hand we are in the worst days of this outbreak so far. But on the other the government has started to reopen slowly, parts of the economy and in some places, that means tourism, right?
For example, on the Yucatan Peninsula -- that is where there are famous resort towns like Cancun, like Playa del Carmen. And in those places, some resorts have already reopened under strict capacity limits and with added sanitation measures.
Now, the majority of tourists -- foreigners that come here to Mexico are Americans. The U.S. Mexico land border at the moment remains closed to all nonessential travel, but Americans can still fly to Mexico and they can go to those resorts that have reopened.
The Mexican government says it is safe for those Americans to traveled to those resorts, obviously trying to jumpstart an industry worth billions of dollars each year to the Mexican economy. But the American government disagrees. In a video message posted on Tuesday by the United States ambassador here in Mexico City, he said now is not the time to take a trip to Mexico because community transmission rates are still too high.
CHRISTOPHER LANDAU, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO MEXICO: Mexico has many wonderful places to visit. From beaches, to mountain, from deserts to jungles. But now is not the time for tourism even if you're getting a great deal.
RIVERS: And when you look at the numbers, it's hard to argue with what he's saying. I mean since June 1st the number of confirmed cases in Mexico has gone up by least 60 percent. That is clearly the reasoning behind the ambassador's message there. But that may not be enough to dissuade some Americans who are stir crazy at this point, who want to go on a vacation, and Mexico, at least in some places says it is ready to receive them.
Matt Rivers, CNN -- Mexico City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: We'll take a short break but we'll have more on the travel industry which is struggling during the pandemic. The Hilton Hotel chain announcing major cutbacks.
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VAUSE: The U.S. Federal Reserve chairman has given lawmakers a very blunt warning. Full economic recovery will not happen until Americans are sure the pandemic is under control. In his congressional testimony, Jerome Powell said about 25 million people are unemployed. Minority communities have been hit the hardest.
CNN's John Defterios is live in Abu Dhabi with more.
And, you know, the Federals Reserve chairman who's outlook seems very much at odds with the President and so too this push for help for of chairman has seemed at odds with the President, and so to this push for help for the unemployed, especially minorities very much at odds with the Republican Party in general.
DEFTERIOS: Well, he did the silver voice to kind of representing Main Street, I have to say -- John. And you know, there is quite an intense debate on Capitol Hill. It's the first day of two-day testimony about the recovery in the state at play right now.
[01:50:01]
DEFTERIOS: But also about the role of the Federal Reserve when it comes to minority policy, particularly in the employment of the black community because of the protests and the movement we see right now.
Sherrod Brown, for example, of Ohio was suggesting is the Federal Reserve one of the institutions that is actually worsening the scenario? So Powell's response -- and again, this is not usually the purview of the Federal Reserve board -- said that economics is not an exact science but clearly we could do better.
Let's take a listen to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEROME POWELL, CHAIRMAN, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE: The economic discipline like every other aspect of our society does have a troubled history when it comes to issues of race inequality. There's a lot of work left to do, both in the economics profession on these issues. And I hope recent events are pushing all of us to try to do more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS: You know, to try to do more. But all you have to do it is look at the unemployment rate -- John. It came down overall as you know, in May. It's about 13 percent but black unemployment surged to nearly 18 percent. That was three times the level that we saw in February before the COVID-19 crisis.
And also we saw a surge in retail sales yesterday -- John, an extraordinary number of nearly 18 percent trying to make up for the lost ground, the two months prior to that.
Of course, Powell said I'm not comfortable to say that we have to green shoots of recovery and this can be sustainable until we see the jobless claims fall much further, because we've had 44 million filed. You can have a quarter of the actual workforce needing those claims and say this job is done. That's for sure.
VAUSE: A lot of pent up demand there, nonetheless. Adding to this list of unemployed is the hotel chain Hilton -- what 21,000 corporate lays off, it's what -- 20 percent of the corporate workforce. Pay cuts will continue for everyone else. They've been in business for 100 years. They said they've never seen it this bad.
DEFTERIOS: Yes. John -- if you think about it, who is on the front line of COVID-19? This is a conversation we've even had with regards to Easy Jet trying to come back into the market as a low cost carrier, whether you're an airline or a cruise liner or a hospitality company, you really are going to struggle trying to adapt to the new normal.
So they are shrinking down the workforce to say 2021, '22 and '23 -- clearly it's going be a struggle to recover. So as you suggested -- 2,100 workers. Chris Nassetta, the CEO of Hilton was saying in that century-long history of Hilton, we've never seen something so global where you have travel come to a virtual standstill. You usually have one pocket of the world struggling and then you counterbalance with growth elsewhere.
This is right across the bow. And this is the challenge we see. And again these mixed messages -- manufacturing output was up nearly 4 percent, yesterday -- John. That's a very strong number but compared to what you saw in March and April, it's not that impressive.
So this is going to be a long road back. And as Jerome Powell was saying, because of COVID-19, you have to worry about the snap back and how consumers respond to that, particularly in the fourth quarter of this year.
VAUSE: John -- thank you. John Defterios there for us in Abu Dhabi.
Well, the boss of the Japanese giant Suntory warns as many as a fifth of all restaurants in Japan may not survive the coronavirus pandemic.
We have details now from Kaori Enjoji in Tokyo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAORI ENJOJI, JOURNALIST: From Michelin star to Street Food like this Japan's food scene is known the world over. But people are still afraid to go out despite being told that it's safe.
I asked the CEO of Suntory Holdings, one of the country's largest beverage makers, how many of these are going to survive.
TAKESH NINAMI, CEO, SUNTORY HOLDINGS: I don't think it will come back to 100 percent. 80 percent, even 80 percent is optimistic. Because the people feel so anxious about the future and that they can't move any at all. And reactivate their businesses.
So definitely, the government has to increase the number of testing, both PCR and antigen. So this is a must for us to reactivate our economy.
ENJOJI: It's a sobering reality that has forced Suntory to rethink its supply chain and reconsider ways to bring production back home.
NINAMI: Supply chain is very much famous for just in time. But we have to now change our policy toward just in case. That means we have the over-reliance on certain countries, so we are shifting to some other countries to produce and plus, we are bringing production facilities or supply chain or ingredients to produce in Japan. Produced in Japan may be a good option now. We're just talking about only going abroad to produce products.
[01:54:56]
ENJOJI: Ninami says he's faced with falling gross margins as people stay in and economize. And while other CEOs may be talking about a post-corona world, he says that is still three, if not four years, away.
In Tokyo -- I'm Kaori Enjoji.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Right now, about 200,000 workers are stuck at sea and going nowhere because of the pandemic. They are seafarers who work under contract for each journey and now they're unable to return home until they are replaced with another crew.
CNN's Ivan Watson has more now from Hong Kong.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the port of Hong Kong. It's one of the busiest shipping terminals in the world. We are looking at enormous container ships that move in and out of here every day, carrying thousands of containers full of cargo. You can compare this to the arteries of the global economy.
But they have been under strain as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. And now that strain is likely to get even worse because one of the world's largest transport workers' federations has now called on the people who work on these ships to stop working.
At any given time, there are hundreds of thousands of professional mariners, known as seafarers, out on the world's oceans operating cargo vessels like this.
But when the coronavirus pandemic struck, it virtually stopped the seafarers abilities to go home at the end of their months'-long work contract because of travel restrictions and canceled flights and new visa regulations.
Now, the International Transport Workers Federation is calling on its members to stop extending their contracts. And it's calling on its members to engage in work stoppage to now demand to be sent home.
Executives in the shipping industry that I've spoken with say they have never heard a work stoppage order like this in their entire careers. And it remains to be seen what kind of an impact this new motion could have on the world's global supply chains.
Ivan Watson, CNN-- in the Lamma Channel off the coast of Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause.
After the break, we'll hand it over to Hong Kong and Anna Coren for a lot more news after a very short break.
[01:57:27]
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