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Coronavirus Cases Worldwide Top Nine Million; Experts Sound The Alarm As Coronavirus Cases Rise In 23 States; Brazil And Mexico COVID- 19 Death Tolls; Germany And South Korea Experience Outbreaks; History Acknowledged Or History Erased: The Monument Wars In The U.S.; British Government Warns Of Lone Wolf Terrorist Attacks; Trump Criticized for Comments about Fewer COVID-19 Tests; Stocks Recover after Navarro's China Comments; NASCAR Supports Bubba Wallace in Pre- Race Show of Force. Global Artists Come Together for "I'm Standing with You". Aired 1-2a ET
Aired June 23, 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: The rapidly spreading coronavirus sweeping across the U.S. now like a forest fire, according to one official. And picking up pace globally as well affecting more than nine million people.
Ignorance, immaturity, and blatant racism. Flying above the pitch in England.
While at NASCAR in Alabama, race organizers, drivers, pit crews and fans rally around its only black driver after racists leave behind a symbol of hate from the past.
Also, this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Singing): I'm standing with you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The rallying cry we needed against the COVID-19 blues. A reminder to stand shoulder to shoulder, even as we socially distance.
Hello. Welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm John Vause, great to have you with us. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
There are now more than 9 million cases of the coronavirus around the world. The major hotspots are in the Americas.
Brazil reached more than a million confirmed cases, and 50,000 fatalities over the weekend. Mexico reported nearly 4,600 in a 24- hour period.
And alarming numbers in the U.S. where there are about two million cases. More than 120,000 people have died in the U.S., that's according to Johns Hopkins University. Twenty-three states, they say, in the south and west are seeing a rise in confirmed cases.
There are concerns Houston, Texas could be the next hotspot in North America. The city's health department reports 177 percent increase in COVID-19 patients since the end of May.
More than 35 percent of California's confirmed cases have been recorded in just the past two weeks. Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom announced residents were required to wear masks in high-risk settings including public transportation or while receiving medical care.
Miami followed suit on Monday, making wearing masks in public mandatory. In Phoenix, Arizona another city requiring masks to be worn in public.
And President Donald Trump will appear there at a campaign stop in the next few hours. So far the president and many of his supporters have not worn masks in public.
CNN's Athena Jones reports that's a major concern for public health officials.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. AILEEN MARTY, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST, MIAMI: People are not practicing social -- physical distancing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: With coronavirus cases on the rise in 23 states, compared to a week ago and more states moving to the next phase of reopening, experts are sounding the alarm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTY: They're not wearing their masks, they're not paying attention. And they're not believing that there's a problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: New confirmed cases nationwide topped 30,000 for two consecutive days, Friday and Saturday, with 10 states reporting their highest seven-day average of new infections. Including Florida, Texas and California where hospitalizations recently reached their highest levels since the pandemic began.
Florida today passing 100,000 cases. Many of those testing positive are in their twenties and thirties.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR DAN GELBER, MIAMI BEACH: We know exactly what's happening. Young people are going out because they do think they're invincible. They're getting the virus and they're spreading it into the community, and it's just harder to protect people when that happens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: And while the White House suggests the jump in cases due to more testing, experts say the high percentage of positive tests in Florida where the rate is past 10 percent, and in Arizona where it is around 20 percent, show the increase is real.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Trump ally, agrees.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FLA): Even with testing increasing or being flat, the number of people testing positive is accelerating faster than that. And so that's evidence that there's transmission within those communities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: The startling new figures from around the country leaving some to lament the swift reopening. Like Austin's mayor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR STEVE ADLER, AUSTIN: We're seeing the numbers really from the first phase, and they're shocking. The numbers are going up so rapidly. So, yes, I wish we had done this more slowly so we could have seen the data along the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: NFL players are now being advised to stop training together, and major league baseball is shutting down some training facilities in Florida and Arizona where cases have nearly doubled in two weeks.
Moving ahead with further reopening today. Georgia, where the Six Flags amusement park opens to all guests, Washington D.C. and New Jersey.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-N.J.): We're now going inside. Folks are going to have to be careful, obey the rules. And this is a big step for us today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: While New York, once the epicenter of the crisis in America, is taking the next step in what has been a slow, cautious approach.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO, (D-N.Y.): We had less than a one-percent transmission rate yesterday. We went from the highest transmission rate in the United States to the lowest transmission rate.
If we see any tick in those numbers, we will respond.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:05:00]
JONES: Now phase two here in New York City means offices can operate at 50 percent capacity, and you can now get a haircut or visit a playground. Outdoor dining is now allowed at restaurants and bars but they risk losing their license if they don't enforce proper social distancing protocols.
Athena Jones, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Dr. Joe Gerald is associate professor and program director of public health policy and management at the University of Arizona. And he is with us this hour from Tucson. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us, Doctor.
DR. JOE GERALD, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR & DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY AND MANAGEMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA: Yes. Thank you.
VAUSE: OK. So right now we have the President of the United States, he'll soon be heading into the epicenter of the epicenter of the pandemic, if you like.
Here's how the U.S. compares to the E.U. over a seven-day average -- this is the new cases. The green line at the top there plateauing quite nicely, not going anywhere, in the U.S. The dramatically falling white line is the European Union.
And the reason why the national numbers in the U.S. are not coming down is because of states like Arizona. Over seven days there has been this big surge in the number of new cases. You can see it there.
So politics to one side, forget about the question of should he do the rally or not. Assuming there will 3,000-something people yelling and screaming and packed indoors at a venue, can you quantify how many cases of COVID-19 will be a result of this or is that just too difficult?
Or can you say with confidence that there will be an increase in the number of cases once the president leaves town?
GERALD: We can't say with any confidence how many cases are going to result from the rally.
However, as public health officials, when you put a bunch of people together in an indoor space, close them up tight and keep them together for a prolonged period, those are the perfect conditions to have a super spreader event. Where one individual would infect many individuals who then, basically, throw fuel onto the fire.
VAUSE: Is that a situation which the hospital facilities and health care facilities in Arizona can deal with at this point, with an increase in COVID-19? Like could be the result of this rally tomorrow night?
GERALD: Yes, we do, currently. We have the capacity to handle critically ill patients. We are looking at a smaller safety margin than we've had in quite some time, and so we're projecting somewhere in mid-July we're going to bump up against our capacity to care for critically ill patients. And so anything that adds to that is a problem.
VAUSE: In response to the surging numbers across the state, the mayor of Phoenix has said it's now required for everyone in the city to wear a face mask when in public. But not everyone will be treated the same. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR KATE GALLEGO, PHOENIX: Look, we're not going to cite the president of the United States, but we would ask all our elected officials and every other type of leader to lead by example, and to say we need to take this seriously. One of the reasons we have this growth in Arizona is complacency.
We've had elected officials say that the worst is over a month ago. That was not the case, and we are seeing records of the type we don't want to break.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It's all very well that some officials are being called on to lead by example but yet the leader of the country firstly, is expected to brazenly break the rules, and secondly, there'll be no attempt to hold him accountable.
GERALD: Well, I understand the challenge with doing that. But I would agree with the overall assessment that the communication or the appearance message is running counter to the public health messaging we're trying to get out.
For mask wearing to work, we have to have a high degree of adherence with that, upwards of 80 percent. And so every bit matters.
And if our elected officials are not indicating through their behaviors that this is an important issue, it does weaken the message.
VAUSE: And again, the president was asked directly on Monday to explain that remark he made over the weekend in Oklahoma, that he told his people to slow down the rate of testing. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just to clear up. There wasn't a direct order, if you will, to staff to stop the testing.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No. But I think it's --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. I just want to --
TRUMP: I think we put ourselves at a disadvantage. I told my people --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got you.
TRUMP: I said we've gotten so good at testing -- number one, we have the best tests, number two, we have the most tests. We test much more than any other nation.
So you hear about all these cases. So instead of 25 million tests, let's say we did 10 million tests, we'd look like we're doing much better because we'd have far fewer cases. You understand that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Clearly, the president does not understand what he's talking about.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but his position seems to be a bit like he's arguing that there would be -- fewer pregnancy tests would result in a lower birth rates. Tests just reveal reality, the reality will be there regardless of testing.
GERALD: That's correct. And so there might be some small effects from doing an additional number of tests but it's certainly not enough to account for the changes that we're seeing here.
And not testing doesn't make the problem magically go away. And so testing is an incredibly important component in the overall strategy against COVID-19.
VAUSE: Dr. Joe Gerald, thank you so much. Appreciate you being with us.
GERALD: Absolutely.
[01:10:00]
VAUSE: About half of all infections in Latin America are in just one country, Brazil. With a million confirmed cases and counting, the outbreak there is yet to peak. Health officials say almost 20 percent of all confirmed cases were recorded in the past week alone.
CNN's Shasta Darlington has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brazil reported more than 21,000 new cases of coronavirus on Monday, with the total now well over one million and rising.
The health ministry also reported 654 additional deaths. For the week ending on Sunday, Brazil averaged more than 1,000 deaths a day and over the weekend, the total death toll surpassed 50,000.
Nonetheless, several Brazilian cities have continued to relax quarantine measures. Rio de Janeiro is allowing residents to frequent beaches for physical activity, workers are back in offices, and shopping malls across the country have opened their doors.
Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, has repeatedly insisted Brazilians should go back to work or he says hunger and unemployment will kill more people than the virus itself.
On Monday, he warned that the government was running out of money and wouldn't be able to afford emergency unemployment benefits worth a little over $100 a month much longer.
Shasta Darlington, CNN, Sao Paulo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: For the second straight day, Mexico's death toll has exceeded Brazil's with more than 750 dead on Monday, and close to 5,000 infections.
With at least 185,000 cases, Mexico has the fourth highest infection rate in Latin America. And amid that surging outbreak, Mexico has continued with restarting its economy.
Workers concede the move is risky, but the alternative, they say, would see families going without food and basic necessities.
CNN's Matt Rivers has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Once he gears up, Juan Carlos Cruz Gonzalez (ph) doesn't take off his equipment. At the crematorium where he works, housed in a public cemetery, there's no downtime between bodies.
"Honestly this epidemic hasn't ended," he says. "It's still going on every day."
The ovens didn't stop firing in the hours that we were there but they couldn't keep up. Some families who had brought loved ones had to wait for hours for them to be cremated. It's a morbid illustration that Mexico's epidemic is far from over.
And the numbers back it up. This chart shows the daily trend of new cases of the coronavirus in Mexico. It's not hard to see that things are only getting worse.
"So is reopening the economy dangerous?" we ask. "Yes," Juan Carlos says. "It is still too early to go back to normal."
But Mexico's president disagrees. He says we have to go back out, little by little, carefully to exercise our freedom. Mexico's economy is in dire straits, and Lopez Obrador knows it. So he has backed a phased reopening plan that for most of the country started June 1st, sending hundreds of thousands back to work across different industries.
And he has plenty of support. At Mexico City's massive Central De Abasto's wholesale market, vendor Rodolfo Machoro's (ph) sales have dropped 70 percent since the outbreak began.
"We want everyone to go back to normal," he says. "Months of quarantine, it's too much."
It's a very common sentiment here and amongst the millions of Mexicans who've lost their jobs recently.
MACHORO (through translator): If I don't go out to work, who will feed my family? That's why we have to come here.
RIVERS: But the market itself reinforces the high cost of reopening. Officials say more than 600 people that work here have tested positive for the coronavirus since April.
"Thirty percent of me wants to reopen and 70 percent doesn't," says this vendor. "It's necessary, but people aren't being safe enough."
RIVERS: Mexico's death toll has more than doubled in just the last three weeks. A model from MIT predicts it could pass 50,000 by early August.
And back inside the crematorium that death toll becomes real. Of the five bodies we saw brought in, four were likely COVID-19 related deaths.
"Those that work here see it," he says. "We know this is not over."
RIVERS: In the end, the government's decision is both straightforward and painful. Reopen the economy and allow people to go out and earn a living, with the knowledge that, by doing so, there is every chance that cemeteries like this one will become more full.
Matt Rivers, CNN. Outside Mexico City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Great expectations in England, as Boris Johnson looks set to further ease coronavirus restrictions.
In the coming hours, the prime minister expected to announce a review of the two-meter distancing rule. After three months in lockdown, pubs, museums and galleries will be able to reopen in England from July 4th. There will, however, be strict safety guidelines.
[01:15:00]
And there is a spike of coronavirus cases in Germany linked to an explosion of cases, apparently, at a meat-processing plant in the country's west where more than 1,300 workers have tested positive.
Authorities are already struggling to impose local lockdowns. The increase in virus numbers could see new restrictions. According to Johns Hopkins University, Germany has had more than 190,000 cases, nearly 9,000 fatalities.
South Korea seeing a second wave of the coronavirus. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, there was a lull between the two outbreaks at the beginning of last month, adding that more regional outbreaks are also expected.
According to Johns Hopkins University, again, close to twelve and-a- half thousand people have been infected with the virus in South Korea.
Let's go live now to CNN's Paula Hancocks in Seoul this hour.
So how do they know this is a second wave and not just sort of a second peak in the first wave? And does it make any difference anyway?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a good question, John. In some ways, it's really a technicality, what you label it but the fact is there has been a resurgence of cases here in South Korea.
So what the Korea CDC is saying they believe that the first wave was from February to April and then we saw the cases decrease significantly. They were on a daily basis less than 10 or thereabouts for many days. And then during the May holiday, they believe, at the beginning of May, that's when the cases started to spike again.
So what the KCDC is labeling this as is the second wave from that particular point. And they say it's not a large-scale infection that we saw, for example, the first time around, there are lots of different regional infections.
There have been a number of clusters here in South Korea. The vast majority of them in Seoul itself; in churches, in warehouses, in call centers, in nightclubs.
So this is really what the KCDC's worried about at this point. So they said they were preparing for the second wave in autumn or in winter of this year which most countries appear to be doing. But they that they're still preparing for that, what they believe will be a large-scale infection at that point, and making sure there are enough hospital beds.
But it really is a technicality, the way that they label it. The fact is that cases are starting to rise and have been since May.
VAUSE: This must be very dispiriting for the South Koreans and for the health officials there who really looked as if they had a handle on this. As you say they got the cases way down. And now, suddenly, it's back?
HANCOCKS: Well, that's right. And it's a cautionary tale for countries around the world. We're seeing something similar in Beijing.
When I spoke to the Seoul mayor he said it can happen any time, any place. It takes one person to have this kind of cluster.
Now they were having an increased number of cases, of imported cases, coming in from different countries around the world.
One particular reason the numbers are so high today is that they have counted a Russian-flagged ship which has docked on the southeastern port of Busan on June 21st. Apparently, there's 16 out of 21 Russian crew coming from Vladivostok have tested positive. So now that's another cluster they're concerned about. Although the
crew haven't left that ship, there were at least 60 port workers who had gone onto the ship to take off cargo, et cetera. So now they are being quarantined and tested.
And they're trying to contact trace to stop that cluster from spreading any further -- John.
VAUSE: Yes. It did seem they had this great system work out with the contact tracing and the mobile phones and tracking everybody down. But I guess it works to a point.
Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks, live from Seoul.
Still to come here.
Tributes for three victims of a terror attack in an English park. We'll take you to the City of Reading, trying to cope with the shock and loss.
Also, ahead. Removing something offensive or erasing history or is just hate history? We take you inside the fight over controversial monuments in the United States.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:20:00]
VAUSE: Family and friends attended a public viewing for Rayshard Brooks at Atlanta's historic Ebenezer Baptist Church on Monday.
The daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Reverend Bernice King, will speak at Brooks' funeral service on Tuesday. Brooks was shot and killed by an Atlanta police officer just over a week ago.
During a physical struggle with the officers, Brooks grabbed one of the police tasers, ran away, and the former police officer, Garrett Rolfe, shot him twice in the back.
Meantime, in New York city, police officer suspended without pay for apparently using a chokehold has eight civilian complaint cases on his record. He was exonerated in seven and settled with no admission of liability in one.
In this video, which surfaced over the weekend, it appears the officer is using the controversial hold on the man he's trying to detain.
As part of police reform efforts, New York City Council banned chokeholds just last week.
Monday night in Washington, some protesters attempted to topple a statue of former president, Andrew Jackson.
In a tweet, the current president, Donald Trump, threatened they could get 10 years in jail.
This was the scene just a few hours ago. Demonstrators gathered in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, tried to bring the statue down. The police drove and pushed the -- drove in, rather, and pushed the protesters back.
In that tweet, Mr. Trump said, quote:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
"Numerous people arrested for the disgraceful vandalism of the magnificent statue."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The statue in Lafayette Park is one of many in the United States honoring questionable historic heroes.
CNN's Tom Foreman has more on the debate about these monuments, which is currently sweeping across the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Theodore Roosevelt, outdoorsman, conservationist, has ridden proudly in front of New York City's Museum of National History for 80 years.
Now, he's being unhorsed because of two flanking figures; one Black, the other Native American.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BILL DIBLASIO, N.Y.: The statue clearly presents a white man as superior to people of color. And that's just not acceptable in this day and age. And it never should have been acceptable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
President Trump's response?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
"Ridiculous, don't do it."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CROWD: Take it down. Take it down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: Statues honoring southern leaders of the Civil War are falling all over, driven by the movement to recognize injustices against black people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It like brings tears to my eyes. So. I'm excited for -- to not look at it anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: But the monument wars are rapidly expanding. In one community after another, statues of Christopher Columbus have come under fire. He's a hero to many.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So he's an Italian immigrant, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible) you are. So let him speak.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This, this here represents something for me. My Italian history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: But to others?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oversaw the genocide of three million people nobody talks about. That we don't discuss, that's not told in history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: In New Mexico, violence broke out over the removal of monuments to a Spanish conquistador who brutalized Native Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a monument to hatred, it's a monument to white supremacy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: In California, statues of a Spanish missionary were toppled. So was one to Union General and U.S. President Ulysses Grant who led the fight to defeat the Confederacy, but owned a slave for about a year.
And to Francis Scott Key, who wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner." He also enslaved people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we think slave owners should have statues?
CROWD: No, no.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: But so did Thomas Jefferson and George Washington whose statues have also been attacked. It has also raised a fierce debate over who deserves public honors.
And words of caution from historians such as Douglas Brinkley.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, HISTORIAN: We don't want to be like the old Soviet Union ripping down every monument to put new ones up for a new regime.
We just need to have the monumentation (ph) of America reflect true American history not just white male superiority history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: This is one proposed solution. Instead of focusing on tearing old statues down, focus on putting new statues up. Honoring people of other races, other cultures, other genders who played a big role in building this country as well.
Tom Foreman, CNN. Bethesda, Maryland.
[01:25:00]
VAUSE: Well, in Seattle, the mayor wants protesters to leave what has become a symbolic area in the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood.
But this follows a weekend with three night-time shootings in the area. And Mayor Jenny Durkan says the city will be working with community organizations to have demonstrators leave what's been called the Capitol Hill Organized Protest Zone or CHOP. And she wants that done without force.
The British government warns the U.K. is facing a growing risk from so-called lone wolf terrorists. This comes as police investigate Saturday's terror attack in an English park not far from London where three people were killed. Investigators say the suspect, a 25-year-old Libyan refugee, acted alone.
Meanwhile, CNN's Nic Robertson says the City of Reading is devastated by the attack.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Joe Richey Bennett (ph) from Philadelphia. James Furlong (ph), a teacher. And David Wales (ph). All dead in Reading's terror attack Saturday.
Martin Cooper (ph) knew them all. Friends in Reading's PRIDE Organization, Joe, the best of all.
MARTIN COOPER, CEO, READING PRIDE: Joe, now there's a character. Very bubbly, vibrant, flirty at times but a genuinely nice guy. Always will pick you up, if you're ever feeling down or low.
ROBERTSON: He is still processing the horror seen in videos posted online.
COOPER: I've literally witnessed my friends dying. And that's not going to get out of -- out of my mind now. It was horrific. So yes, I would say please don't share that sort of footage.
ROBERTSON: Joe had sent him a text message that morning.
COOPER: The text that I sent back was in the evening saying, "I hope this wasn't you, please tell me you're safe." And obviously, I didn't get a reply back. So it's a very poignant moment.
ROBERTSON: Was there a moment where you realized that could have been you there?
COOPER: Well, yes. And it could have been anybody. This appears to have been a random attack and --
ROBERTSON: Not targeted at the LGBTQ community?
COOPER: I just don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: At the high school gates were James taught, tributes pile up for a much loved teacher.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Walking into his class was like the best thing on a Monday morning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was really kind and really funny. He encouraged curiosity in all of his lessons to every pupil. And it was a privilege to be taught by him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He really made history fun. Because last year I had a rubbish teacher he did -- my grades improve this year and he did made it enjoyable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: At the scene of the attack, community leaders showed solidarity, bore witness to the grief of victims' families.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MATT RODDA, BRITISH MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, READING EAST: You cannot
imagine what they're going through. And I'd just like to offer my deepest condolences to them and the time -- and the whole town are thinking about them at this difficult time. This has been the most dreadful, awful incident.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: At a dark moment, the flowers a reminder of happier times and brighter days to come.
Nic Robertson CNN. Reading, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, despite multiple warnings from multiple health experts, Donald Trump is on the move again. Preparing for another large political gathering in one of the worst coronavirus hotspots in the U.S.
Also, a stark warning from the IMF. The recession facing the wealthiest nations said to be worse than first thought.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:07]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everybody.
I'm John Vause with an update on our top news this hour.
There are now more than nine million cases of coronavirus around the world and the number of people who have died is nearly half a million.
Mexico and Brazil are seeing significant spikes in the numbers cases. And cases are on the rise in nearly half of the U.S. states.
South Korea says a second wave of the coronavirus is now underway in that country. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there was a lull between the two outbreaks at the beginning of last month.
And there are concerns that Houston, Texas could be North Americas next hot spot. The city's Health Department reports a sharp increase in COVID-19 patients since the end of May. More than 35 percent of California's confirmed cases have been recorded in the past two weeks.
In the coming hours, U.S. President Donald Trump expected to travel to Arizona where the number of coronavirus cases have been surging as well.
This comes after he held a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma again where the cases have been surging. There he told supporters he had ordered a slowdown in COVID-19 testing.
As CNN's Boris Sanchez reports, the White House now says that was, you know, just a joke.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Did you ask to slow it down?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If it did slowdown, frankly I think we are ready way ahead of ourselves, if you want to know the truth. We've done too good a job.
SANCHEZ: The White House today insisting the President was joking Saturday night in Tulsa, upset about media coverage.
TRUMP: So I said to my people slow the testing down, please.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It was a comment that he made in jest.
SANCHEZ: The apparent joke coming as the U.S. surpasses 120,000 coronavirus deaths, and nearly half of U.S. States are reporting an increase in cases.
TRUMP: We saved millions of lives. And now it's time to open up, get back to work ok? Get back to work.
SANCHEZ: Administration officials also eager to quell concerns about a second wave of cases this fall.
LARRY KUDLOW, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC ADVISER: We know how to deal with the stuff now. We've come a long way since last winter. And there is no second wave coming. It's just, you know, hotspots, they send in CDC teams.
SANCHEZ: Though other administration officials admit that the White House is preparing for a second wave.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Are you preparing for a second wave in the fall?
PETER NAVARRO, WHITE HOUSE TRADE ADVISER: Of course, we're -- you prepare -- you prepare for what can possibly happen. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but of course, you prepare.
SANCHEZ: The President pushing forward with a planned event Tuesday in a state surging with coronavirus cases -- Arizona. Despite new rules requiring the use of masks in public, the mayor of Phoenix tells CNN Trump's speech will be an exception.
MAYOR KATE GALLEGO (D), PHOENIX, ARIZONA: We are not going to be focused on enforcement during the rally.
SANCHEZ: The speech coming after Trump's Tulsa rally failed to meet expectations drawing far fewer supporters than anticipated and leaving the White House to try and spin his latest racist remark.
TRUMP: Oh, it's COVID, it's this. By the way it is a disease without question has more names than any disease in history. I can name kung flu. I can name 19 different versions of it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why does he use racist phrases like the kung flu?
MCENANY: The President doesn't. What the President does do is point to the fact that the origin of the virus is China. It's a fair thing to point out as China tries to ridiculously rewrite history.
To be clear, I think the media is trying to play games with the terminology of this virus where the focus should be on the fact that China let this out of their country. While the media wants to focus on nomenclature, the President is going to focus on action.
[01:34:50]
SANCHEZ: The press secretary also struggling to explain the surprise firing of Geoffrey Berman last week by Attorney General Bill Barr. The now-former U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York who was leading several investigations related to President Trump, initially refusing to resign, ultimately ousted through a letter published by Barr saying Trump wanted him gone. Though the President later claimed he wasn't involved.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why is the President saying he wasn't involved in the firing of Geoff Berman when the Attorney General said the President was the one who fired him?
MCENANY: Because the Attorney General was taking the lead on this matter. He did come to the President and report to him when Mr. Berman decided not to leave. And at that point is when the President agreed with the decision of the Attorney General to fire Mr. Berman and to promote Mr. Clayton.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So he was involved in it then?
MCENANY: He was involved in it as sign off capacity.
SANCHEZ: Amid the fallout from President Trump's campaign event in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday we are learning that two additional campaign staffers who were at that event tested positive for coronavirus. That's on top of six member of the President's advanced team that previously tested positive for coronavirus and two members of the Secret Service who we have recently learned also tested positive for coronavirus that were at that event.
Boris Sanchez, CNN -- at the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Dow futures are looking up right now. Let's take a look at the numbers. That is after being down by almost 400 points earlier and barely up at that. For more on the turbulence and what's behind it, let's go to Abu Dhabi, CNN's John Defterios is standing for us.
It seems that all the volatility is, you know, being linked to one thing or another. This time it's comments made by Peter Navarro, the White House economic adviser, about the U.S.-China trade deal. JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes, you cannot overlook
the fact that John -- when you have the number one and number two sides of economies clashing, it does matter. Many thought that the U.S. trade deal with China was dead and then it was revived on January 15th.
Then Peter Navarro on Fox Business no less said that the deal was off. And then turned about and said, look that was taken wildly out of context. We had a sell-off in the futures of about 1 percent. We even saw the renminbi, the Chinese currency offshore, go down about half percent.
Then Donald Trump came in and says the deal was on but will China live to the spirit of the deal. And John -- this is taking place in the context of John Bolton's book recent, the national security adviser who resigned suggesting that President Trump was asking President Xi Jinping of China for help in his reelection and that he needed him to order massive orders of goods or agricultural products and even energy to the tune of $200 billion.
Now, during this previous time -- John, what I find fascinating about it, is that Beijing is largely remaining silent. It's not saying what it ordered from the United States, will it live to the spirit of the deal. And in the context of the pandemic, which is undermining growth, it's extraordinary that we have this mixed messaging coming from the White House.
Peter Navarro as you know, John -- is a hawk on China. So he's trying to push President Trump in that direction. Trump is going for reelection and has to prove to his supporters that he has his support here of President Xi Jinping.
But we don't see it candidly and why the markets went through this shock. I wouldn't say it's a flash crash but just a shock of a down 1 percent. And in fact, we saw the recovery here, as we got clarity from the White House.
VAUSE: Yes. markets do not like uncertainty even at the best of times. And we are at the worst of times at the moment. So they especially do not like this kind of talk of deals on, deals off -- that kind o stuff.
So this adds to obviously the problems of the world economy. But what are the real challenges out there? I mean what is the outlook here from the IMF and others as far as what we're looking at in terms of recovery?
DEFTERIOS: Well, that's a good point. The International Monetary Fund will actually update its forecast in 24 hours. So we will watch closely what they were suggesting from their downgrade in April. It's like the had an interview with the managing director Kristalina Georgieva when she was here in February.
They were expecting back then at the early stages of the pandemic a V- shaped recovery. They're not talking about it right now. and in fact she went on with our colleague Christiane Amanpour and said we have to expect lower for longer and that we cannot lift our foot off the pedal when it comes to the stimulus which she said has reached nearly $11 trillion.
We've been talking about $8 trillion but with the emerging market contributions, it's even higher. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA, MANAGING DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND: What we are seeing, is that both advanced economies and emerging market economies are faring worse in this assessment, if you take out especially China that was first on the curve of the pandemic.
And therefore, what we are saying is we are not yet out of the woods. We have to concentrate on supportive measures for longer. And we need to think of a recovery that is going to bring forward our world., not slide it backwards.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:40:04]
DEFTERIOS: So stay the course is the message from the IMF managing director on CNN. They're forecasting at this stage -- John, a contraction of about 2.5 percent to 3 percent. Let's see what they say in 24 hours.
What is worrying, of course, is a snap back in the large economies of the world. The United States, all kind of Latin America, but particularly Brazil. And then we see cases rising sharply in India.
This will serve as a drag on growth in the second half of the year. No doubt about it.
VAUSE: Yes. $11 trillion-- I mean these numbers are just astronomical at the end of the day -- John. Anyway --
DEFTERIOS: Just, unbelievable.
VAUSE: I wonder where it's all coming from.
John Defterios there -- appreciate it in Abu Dhabi.
We'll take a short break. When we come back, NASCAR is rallying behind its only black driver after someone put an ugly symbol of racial violence in his team's garage. How a sport with an overwhelming white Southern fan base is taking a stand like never before.
Also shamed and embarrassed, an English Premier League club denounces an offensive displayed at a football match Monday night. More of the reaction -- that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Well, it may not have been the reaction, the person flying the banner over that stadium in the U.K. had expected but it was swift and unequivocal. Before the English Premier League match got underway, players from Manchester City and Burnley took a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter Movement. But above them was that message "white lives matter".
Burnley's captain, Ben Mee says he was disgusted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN MEE, CAPTAIN, BURNLEY: (INAUDIBLE) are embarrassed to, you know, see that. And it is not what we are about, that's all. And missed the point of the whole thing that we are trying to -- trying to achieve, trying to do. I think these people need to come in the 21st century and educate themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, fans and fellow drivers came out to support NASCAR'S Bubba Wallace on Monday after a noose was found hanging in his crew's garage.
Before the race began, Wallace drove on to the track surrounded by the other drivers. It was a powerful display of support for the only black driver in the top NASCAR circuit.
Here is CNN's Randi Kaye with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of NASCAR's drivers have --
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At Talladega today a show of force. NASCAR drivers walking in solidary with Bubba Wallace's Number 43 car. A source close to the investigation also saying today that Wallace never saw the noose hanging in his driver's stall saw.
STEVE PHELPS, PRESIDENT, NASCAR: There is no place for racism in NASCAR. And this act only strengthens our resolve to make the sport open and welcoming to all.
KAYE: Wallace has yet to speak about the incident, but tweeted last night he was incredibly saddened and called it a despicable act of racism and hatred and a painful reminder of how much further we have to go as a society and how persistent we must be in the fight against racism.
[01:45:00]
KAYE: He went on to say, "This will not break me. I will not give in, nor will I back down. I will continue to proudly stand for what I believe in."
Wallace's fellow drivers escorting his car today to the front of the grid and standing together for the national anthem.
Wallace tweeting this selfie writing, "Together". NASCAR also showed support, painting and "I stand with Bubba hashtag in the infield. As the race began, Bubba Wallace's team gave him a pep talk over the radio.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know I love you man. We all do. Take care yourself out there. Put us in a good spot, get yourself a deep breath. Get your mind right. We'll show these haters up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Our Thanks to Randi Kaye for that report.
And we should note Wallace finished 14th at Talladega after running low on fuel late in the race. But it seems he was the real winner of this day and the racists were the losers.
Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUBBA WALLACE, NASCAR RACER: All in all we WON the day. the pre-race deal -- the pre-race deal was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to witness my life. From all the supporters, from drivers and crew members, everybody here. The bad-ass fan base -- thank you guys for coming out there.
This is truly incredible. And I'm proud to be a part of the sport.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Major league baseball, one step closer to coming back. On Monday, teams voted unanimously to proceed with the 2020 season. This comes after months of negotiations. Key details still have not been ironed out but sources tell CNN the league is aiming for a 60-game season in order to move forward. The league is asking players to sign off on health and safety protocols so that now they can report to camp by July first.
We'll take a short break. When we come musicians coming together to do some good. An Oscar-nominated song gets a new life, helped help to raise money and awareness, and bring us together for COVID relief.
(MUSIC)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Opera is back in Barcelona, but there will be no calls of "bravo", no applause, no tears. Musicians at the opera house will perform for their plants. More than 2,000 potted plants each filling the red velvet seats. NO doubt they'll be eager to take in the sounds of the Puccini's elegy, "Chrysanthemum", which is what the string quartet has chosen to play for their special guests.
After the event, the opera will then donate those potted plants to health workers so show their appreciation or the work they've done during the pandemic. Lucky potted plants.
Beyond the devastating loss of life, this pandemic has not only exposed deep social and economic divisions around the world but in some ways it has exacerbated those divisions in turn, making the virus more deadly and so the cycle goes.
There's also the division between those who see this as a public health care crisis and those see an economic crisis caused by the viral outbreak. Those who wear mask for the public good, those who refuse because they say it infringes on their rights.
Making all of this so much worse in the U.S., this is unfolding in a presidential election year, which is already set to be one of the most divisive in living memory.
[01:49:52]
VAUSE: So now almost six months since the WHO declared a global pandemic, as patience wears thin, tempers fray and divisions widen, comes a rallying cry, a reminder even as we socially distance, we still must stand shoulder to shoulder.
(MUSIC)
VAUSE: "I'm Standing With You" brings together a global ensemble of 170 performs, artists and plus musicians, many are medical workers to perform the song originally written for the movie "Breakthrough" by Oscar nominated Diane Warren.
The new arrangement comes from the composer Sharon Farber and the spectacular music video directed by Gev Maron. And all three are with us now this hour from Los Angeles.
So Diane, Sharon and Gev -- thank you so much for taking the time.
SHARON FARBER, COMPOSER: Thank you so much.
DIANE WARREN, SONGWRITER: Our pleasure.
VAUSE: Diane -- I want to start with you. This song was already sort of an inspirational standout long before the pandemic. It was your 11th Oscar nomination. But now it's gone on to become so much more. It's a reminder, it's a rallying cry, it's inspirational.
Did you think it would have a life like this beyond that movie?
WARREN: You know, I always thought it would have a life beyond the movie. In fact, during the year the song was in the movie, all these different things happened with the song like you know, and then Sharon came to me and told me about the idea. And I was like this could have even a bigger life than I ever imagined, and now it does.
I never, you know, I thought the message of the song would resonate. But I never could have imagined that, you know, singers from every continent on the planet would be singing and playing on it, so it's just -- it's mind-blowing.
VAUSE: Yes. It just seems like the perfect song for the perfect time.
WARREN: Yes, I mean it just has that message -- that message of unity that works in such divisive, divided times -- like what you're talking about. And here's a message of I'm standing with you no matter, you know what you go through, who you are, you know. Like I'm there for you. And it's powerful message.
VAUSE: It really is. And Sharon when you started to put together the musicians and the performers, suddenly you and what dozens of volunteers in the form of musicians who are also medical workers. And knowing that, seems there's just something extra to all of this.
I don't know really how to describe it. How do you sort of describe what they brought to this project?
FARBER: Well, Gev Maron called me one day and he can talk about it a little but he's always like, you know, let's do something for corona, and of course, I was game and because I wanted to do something as well.
And we wanted to do a song in the best person to call when it comes to songs is, of course, Diane, who got excited about it.
And at the beginning, we thought it's going to be something small for the music community here in Los Angeles. But at one point, we realized that this really needs to be a global thing.
So the arrangement that I originally did for a small ensemble. I had to make it for a full orchestra and choir.
(MUSIC)
VAUSE: I want the video because it's very reflective of this sort of pandemic world we now live in. The performers are on computer screens or seeing these images of buildings. Here we have Australia's Tina Arena who I have met -- remember growing up watching on television, projected on the white sails of the iconic Sydney Opera House.
And then there's this really unexpected moment in the (INAUDIBLE) Israeli pop singer Rita who just kind of takes it up a notch. And here she is. Listen to this.
(MUSIC)
VAUSE: Explain just how complicated and difficult the shooting and then editing and bringing everything together when it was done remotely.
GEV MARON, AWARD-WINNING DIRECTOR: From the get-go, I told Sharon, and we all agreed with Diane that it shouldn't be just another zoom video because we realized that, you know, there's -- we're all sitting at home, right, and we are all sort of experiencing this pandemic all around the world. And when I first saw the footage that, you know, came on every news channel, of the abandoned city centers and cities around the world look like, you know, post-apocalyptic scenes from a movie, I immediately thought that this needs to be somehow part of the video.
And so we approached cinematographer all around the world, and we sent them safely, I should say, to their cities and captured some footage. [01:54:50]
MARON: And then we realized that there is another very important component to it, which is the experience. So as viewers were used to -- or audience were used to go to concerts and see artists, but now when we are all at home, there is this sense of disconnect.
So we thought well, we should put the singers and the artists on the screens in the cities and give people that sense that they are just standing there and watching.
VAUSE: Diane -- very quickly, because back in 1984, you know, Bob Geldof, who co-wrote, "Do they know it's Christmas?" And here's a reminder.
(MUSIC)
VAUSE: It was released by Band Aid to help end famine in Ethiopia which a year later became Live Aid and "We are the World". And because it's a great tune, here's another reminder.
(MUSIC)
VAUSE: And Diane -- you know, like me, you remember back then there was no argument over what needed to be done. But it seemed there was sort of a lack of global leadership of making it happen. So are we in sort of a similar moment -- there's been no short of selfless acts during this pandemic on a personal level. But at the very top, there's sort of no standout leader. Once again, it's up to the artists, the music community to unite us all and hopefully fill that void.
WARREN: What you get out of that by seeing, you know, both those songs, and this song too -- there's nothing like the power of music. Nothing can go across borders and go right into your heart. You know, you don't have -- there's nothing that can keep it out, you know. You know it just goes right to you, makes you feel and music changes the world. It touches the world and it always will.
The power of music is really the most powerful thing, I believe.
VAUSE: Well you guys have done an incredible job and an incredible thing for all of us. So thank you.
And thank you for being here.
MARON: Thank you so much.
FARBER: Thank you so much.
WARREN: Thanks for having us.
FARBER: Thank you. Thank you so much.
VAUSE: Very quickly -- if you click on the YouTube video, you actually see a donate button, and you've raised about $6 million so far and counting and there's still a few more days to go. So hopefully you get up to the $7.5 million and then a little bit extra. So good luck. Thanks guys.
MARON: Thank you.
WARREN: Thank you. Thank you so much.
VAUSE: And thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm John Vause. Stay with us. My colleague and friend Anna Coren takes over for me right after a very short break.
You're watching CNN.
[01:57:21]
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