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New Infections Rise In 31 U.S. States; Coronavirus Task Force To Resume; Resurgence Of COVID In Europe - From Risk To Reality; Crowds Overwhelm British Beach Town in Major Incident; White Supremacists Use App To Target BLM Protestors; More than 100,000 COVID-19 Deaths Across Latin America; Texas Slammed with Record-High Case Numbers; Trump Refuses to Wear Mask Despite COVID Threat; U.S. Economists Worried about Virus Resurgence; German Prosecutors Build Case against Murder Suspect; Liverpool Win First Ever English Premier League Title. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired June 26, 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: Welcome back, and thank you for joining us. This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
Was it just too fast, too soon? With most U.S. states reporting new cases of the coronavirus increasing, how did they get it so wrong?
It's not exactly the kind of defense Formula One may have wanted but the former F1 boss, Bernie Ecclestone, defends his sports record in his own way on diversity.
And the tragedy of Madeleine McCann. Thirteen years later, German police believe they know what happened. And what we're learning about the man they think did it.
The United States is once again in the midst of the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.
For weeks the rate of transmission has been accelerating and on Thursday Johns Hopkins University reported 37,000 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, the highest daily total since this pandemic began.
Chances are, though, it's much worse. The Centers for Disease Control says the actual number of infections is likely 10 times the official count. That would mean 23 million people.
Dr. Robert Redfield says now there's more testing, it's clear that a large percentage of the population either have mild or no symptoms that all. And younger people, 18 to 44 years old, are testing positive at a much higher rate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL: This virus causes so much asymptomatic infection. We probably recognized about 10 percent of the outbreak. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: New infections are now rising in 31 U.S. states.
Texas and Florida are reporting new daily records. Hospitalizations in California up more than 30 percent in the past two weeks.
And again, the head of the CDC says social distancing remains quote, "the most powerful tool we have to fight the virus."
In Chicago, they are deploying social distancing ambassadors, in parks and other public areas.
But in one British beach town, not so much a pandemic but pandemonium. Thousands of sun-seeking tourists crowded the shores of Bournemouth on Thursday with little regard for the virus.
The local council declared it a major incident, urging the public to stay away from the beach.
Well, the surge in the number of U.S. cases is prompting the White House to hold its first coronavirus task force briefing in nearly two months, expected Friday morning.
CNN's Erica hill has the day's other headlines from across the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT:
In the nation's three most populous states California, Florida and Texas things are going from bad to worse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. DAVID PERSSE, HEALTH AUTHORITY, HOUSTON HEALTH DEPARTMENT: I don't think history's going to look back forgivingly upon the United States and Americans for going down this road.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Los Angeles County now has more confirmed cases than any other county in the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CALIF.): We're still in the first wave of this pandemic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Texas pausing its reopening to quote, "corral" the spread of COVID-19. Also restricting elective surgeries in four counties.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're running out of that time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Texas Medical Center now using nearly all its regular capacity ICU beds in the greater Houston area.
Hospitals also are concerned in Florida, which just added more than 5,000 new cases.
Governor DeSantis resisting calls for a statewide mask mandate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's incredibly unfortunate that this has become so political.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: While in hard-hit Miami where masks are required, the mayor is now considering a fine for anyone who ignores his order.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR FRANCIS SUAREZ, MIAMI: If we don't want to go backwards, the only option that we have right now is to order masks in public.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: The CDC confirming more young people are contracting the virus. In Ohio, where cases have jumped in the last 24 hours, nearly 60 percent of the state's cases are people between the ages of 20 and 49.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OHIO): We have increased testing but no analyst that I have talked to believes that the total increase is due to that at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Hospitalizations and ICU admissions also up, especially in the Cincinnati area.
Across the country, for every person diagnosed, 10 more were likely infected. As many as 20 million people, according to new findings from the CDC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REDFIELD: That's about 10 times more people who have antibodies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: There is new concern for pregnant women. The CDC reporting Thursday they may be at higher risk for severe COVID-19 symptoms, especially black and Hispanic women.
Disneyland's reopening now delayed, California says it hasn't met the criteria.
Apple closing more stores in Florida because of the virus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BILL DIBLASIO, NEW YORK CITY: The data is telling us yes right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: While in New York City, plans are underway for phase three bringing back indoor dining, sports and dog runs on July 6th.
Erica Hill, CNN, New York.
VAUSE: Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider is an internal medicine physician at California-Pacific Medical Center and founder of endwellproject.org. And she is with us from San Francisco.
[01:05:00]
Doctor, thank you for being with us. We appreciate your time.
DR. SHOSHONA UNGERLEIDER, INTERNAL MEDICINE PHYSICIAN CALIFORNIA- PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER, FOUNDER OF END WELL PROJECT: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: OK. So much for that second wave towards the end of the year. Clearly, the virus never went away.
I want you to listen to the Governor of Arizona with a grim statement about the weeks ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. DOUG DUCEY (R-ARIZ): I don't want there to be any illusion or sugar-coated expectations. We expect that our numbers will be worse next week and the week following in terms of cases and hospitalizations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Okay. So bad times ahead. The reason why we had the national lockdown, it was to buy us some time so the health system wasn't overrun, so that hospitals could keep up with the people who were infected. Essentially, to get ahead of this.
And to prepare for, I guess, for this moment which we were expecting a little later. But are we prepared to deal with this now?
UNGERLEIDER: Gosh, John -- in some places yes, and other places no. I think hitting another record in the number of new cases just today in the U.S. is extremely distressing.
And points to the fact that maybe we're headed in the wrong direction here.
Young people are now the biggest sources of cases as was pointed out and hospital beds in places like Texas and Arizona are filling up.
There still isn't enough testing and contact tracing happening to find these new cases and isolate them from the general population.
So there's really no question about what's needed here. We need mask- wearing in public to be mandatory, we need more testing and contact tracing all over -- of cases -- to find their recent contacts.
And anyone with even a slightest COVID-19 symptom or with close contacts with a known case needs to get tested and self-isolate immediately.
And most of all, we need clear, consistent messaging from all of our government officials that support these efforts.
VAUSE: Yes. That is something which -- you can hope for that, it's just not going to happen, it seems. At least from the federal level.
The CDC dropped a few headlines on Thursday. Including this belief that the number of real cases in the U.S. could be 10 times the official number of 2.3 million. That's 23 million people.
On the one hand it's a staggering number considering, what, there's 10 million [sic] cases worldwide, 23 million would be in the U.S.
But isn't that in line with the expectations, isn't that a formula they do for countries which have inadequate testing?
UNGERLEIDER: Well, John, I think from looking at the blood samples across the country for the presence of antibodies to the virus which is what was done -- so for every confirmed case of COVID-19, as you pointed out, 10 more people had antibodies.
So these are the proteins in the blood that indicate whether a person's immune system has previously come in contact with coronavirus.
So estimating that around seven percent of the U.S. population or more like 23 million people are walking around either with active infection or recent infection is really significant.
I think looking at these numbers, taking them very seriously and then planning accordingly for an increased number that we're planning to see going forward, is really what we need to be doing right now.
VAUSE: Yes. This time round compared to the last time with the surge in cases, it seems to be coming with a twist.
I want you to listen again to the director of CDC. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REDFIELD: I think, obviously, that we're seeing right now, infections that are targeting younger individuals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It seems young people were spared for the most part. In Europe they sort of became vulnerable, they're as vulnerable as anybody else.
Here in the U.S., it seems that they're the ones who are bearing the burden of the infections. Is there a simple way to explain how that has transitioned?
UNGERLEIDER: Not really. I think that with wide spreads or community spread as it's happened here in the U.S., it makes sense that there are many more cases of young people that are turning up.
And the best possible way for young people, for older people, for everybody, to reduce the spread of infection is to stay away from other people. So this social distancing being so important.
And I understand it's summertime. People, young and old want to be outdoors, enjoy themselves, be with friends and family. People, I think, are tired of staying home.
But the stakes are just so high. We need people to know that, of course, this virus is invisible, it spreads so easily from person to person via droplets from talking or from breathing.
And when people congregate, even outdoors, much like what we saw at the beaches in the U.K. and they don't wear masks, this is a recipe for a disaster.
I think our behavior every moment matters. And our actions today can put the lives of the people that we love in danger.
VAUSE: I'm glad you mentioned --
UNGERLEIDER: So I think --
[01:10:00]
VAUSE: Sorry. I'm glad you mentioned beaches in the U.K. because here's kind of a report from CNN's Nic Robertson.
Sorry to interrupt. But listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Here in the U.K. authorities have declared a major incident at one of Britain seaside holiday towns.
Why? Because it's not holiday time but the beaches were absolutely crowded with thousands of people flocking out on what has been a very hot couple of days here.
The concern is that they're not social distancing and the people in that town are not ready for people from other parts of the country to come on vacation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You know what I find really incredible is that the number of young people I know who heard the -- the initial report that came from China that young people were sort of almost immune to all of this -- but they've heard nothing since.
UNGERLEIDER: Yes. I think seeing situations like this where probably, in about two weeks, as is the typical lag time between people congregating and seeing spikes of infections, if somebody -- if people who are on those beaches in fact do have COVID-19, that is the perfect storm. The perfect recipe for disaster.
People being close together despite their being outdoors but not wearing masks. Talking, laughing, spending many, many hours with one another. That is how this virus spreads.
And so we need to be talking about what everybody, including young people, should be doing to prevent the spread. Our behavior absolutely matters and we all have the power to save lives. If we listen and pay attention.
VAUSE: Yes. As you say, just looking at that beach, it's understandable why people want to be there but this is not 2019 anymore.
So, Shoshana, I'm going to leave you there. Thank you so much for being with us. Appreciate it.
And there are concerns, once again, the coronavirus could overwhelm healthcare systems in some parts of Europe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. HANS KLUGE, EUROPE REGIONAL DIRECTOR, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: In 11 of these countries, accelerated transmission has led to very significant resurgence that if left unchecked, will push health systems to the brink once again in Europe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: According to the World Health Organization, what was once a risk of resurgence in Europe is now a reality.
The 11 countries which were mentioned stretch from Sweden in the north down to Albania in the south, Kazakhstan to the east.
And now for the mass invasion of an English beach by tens of thousands of tourists, there are now fears of a surge in COVID-19.
Adding to those concerns, plans to relax the lockdown there in England in two weeks.
ITV's Juliet Bremner explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIET BREMNER, CORRESPONDENT, "ITV NEWS": The plea was to stay away but nobody seemed to be listening.
Tens of thousands from across Southern England and the Midlands descended on Bournemouth today. It was impossible to keep a safe distance from strangers, and there was little or no awareness of any health risks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did you come to Bournemouth today?
SECOND UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why? I'm enjoying -- today's really nice weather, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a really hot day. I thought I'd take advantage of it, by the time the rain goes back. All of the rules on lockdown are just being kind of like eased on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
With the town overwhelmed and police apparently powerless to intervene by early afternoon, the council declared a major incident.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIKKI SLADE, COUNCIL LEADER, BOURNEMOUTH, CHRISTCHURCH & POOLE: What's fairly obvious is that people don't believe COVID is a problem anymore. That's fairly obvious from people's behavior.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BREMNER: The M3 was close to a standstill as sun-seekers drove from as far away as Birmingham and London.
The local Conservative MP told me police must be given more powers to deal with the deluge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT TOBIAS ELLWOOD, (CONSERVATIVE), BRITAIN: Dorset can't cope with this. If we need messaging at Waterloo Station or Birmingham International or, indeed, on the M3 -- there's big signs on the motorway to say Bournemouth is now closed, there is a major incidents in play, please turn around or go somewhere else.
If the police don't have the necessary powers, we should be operating very quickly in Westminster to give them those powers to deal with this enduring (ph) emergency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BREMNER: For people living close to beauty spots like Durdle Door in Dorset, it feels like an invasion.
One counselor trying to turn back vehicles was physically and verbally abused.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURA MILLER, DORSET COUNTY COUNCIL: Unfortunately, a gentleman spat at me through his car window. Fortunately, it landed at my feet.
I think the main problem is the aggression. People have traveled four, five hours in their car. They're hot, they're grumpy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BREMNER: Along the south coast, they're attempting to stop the crowds and a second wave of COVID. But it's a battle they fear they may be losing.
Juliet Bremner, "ITV News."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, was one of the first to warn about the dangers of a global pandemic. He did so years ago.
You can watch his interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta during CNN's "GLOBAL TOWN HALL: CORONAVIRUS FACTS AND FEARS" about 45 minutes from now, 7:00 am in London, 2:00 pm on Friday in Hong Kong.
You'll see it only here on CNN.
[01:15:00]
Well, with Formula One working to improve its record on diversity, the former boss may not be helping a whole lot. What Bernie Eccleston has to say about race, and why the sport isn't as diverse as it could be.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: In the wake of George Floyd's death, past cases of African Americans killed by police in the U.S. are being reassessed.
That includes the death of 23-year-old Elijah McClain last August. He was walking home from the mall when he was stopped by police in Aurora, Colorado.
Police body cam footage shows how this all began.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop. Stop.
SECOND UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have the right to (inaudible) where I'm going.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop. Stop. I have a right to stop you because you're being suspicious.
SECOND UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn around.
SECOND UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Actually, your hands (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Police used a chokehold and then the drug ketamine to sedate McClain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop tensing up.
VAUSE: He later suffered a heart attack and was declared brain dead three days after that.
No charges were filed at the time but the state governor has ordered a new investigation after more than two million people signed an online petition.
SECOND UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going home.
VAUSE: Nascar has released an image of that noose found in Bubba Wallace's garage. He's the sport's only African American driver. Officials say the noose was real, Wallace had reason for concern.
The FBI, though, determined that there had been no hate crime because the rope had been there since last year.
Nascar said every other garage had been checked but Walllace's was the only one with a rope tied into a noose.
Who put it there and why is still a mystery.
Formula One's delayed season resumes next month with the Austrian Grand Prix.
Along with the sports' return is a new initiative to try and prove inclusion and equality.
But the former Formula One boss, Bernie Eccleston, seems to have some unusual opinions on issues involving race.
Here's Amanda Davis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT CORRESPONDENT: Six-time Formula One world champion, Lewis Hamilton, is the sports' only Black driver in its 70-year history. He's often talked about the challenges he has faced in his career because of the color of his skin.
And in the wake of the death of George Floyd, he called out other members of the motorsport community for not speaking up against racial injustice. He's decided to take matters into his own hands launching the Hamilton
Commission, a research partnership aimed at making motorsports more diverse and multicultural.
And this week, when I spoke to the man in charge of Formula One until 2017, the man dubbed as "Mr. F1" because of his 40-year relationship with the sport, Bernie Eccleston, he did praise Hamilton for his actions and talked of its importance for the sport.
But he made, what I think it's fair to say, were some pretty controversial comments.
I began by asking him, why he thinks F1 hasn't done more to tackle the issue of diversity in the past.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNIE ECCLESTON, FMR. CHIEF EXECUTIVE, FORMULA ONE: I don't think anyone bothered about it before. They were too busy trying to win races, or find sponsors, or something. Really, other things, are of little, if any interest.
[01:20:00]
DAVIES: So what impact do you think what Lewis has launched, the Hamilton Commission, what impact do you think that's going to have, in real terms, for Formula One?
ECCLESTON: I don't think it's going to do anything bad or good for Formula One. It'll just make people think, which is more important. I think that's the same for everybody.
People ought to think a little bit, and say, "What the hell, somebody's not the same, not the same as white people, they're black." And the black people should think the same thing about white people.
Because I think in lots of cases, black people are more racist than what white people are.
DAVIES: What makes you say that?
ECCLESTON: Well, things over the years I've noticed. And there's no need for it.
DAVIES: Is that not a case of fighting for equality and fighting against injustice for such a long time?
ECCLESTON: Well, against injustice, for anyone, whatever color they are. It's important to do something about that, for a start.
But as -- I mean, I don't think you're going to easy change people's attitude. I think they need to start being taught at school so they grow up to even think about these things.
And I think it's completely stupid taking all these statues down. They should have left them there, take the kids from school to look and say why they're there and what the people did. And wrong it was what they did.
DAVIES: As somebody who was so integral to making Formula One what it is today, do you not want to see it as a sport leading the way and changing attitudes and portraying society as it is?
ECCLESTON: Well, I suppose the people that need to do that are the viewers. For the number of people that are directly involved in the sport, such a small number of people, can do very little.
I'm surprised if anyone in Formula One, certainly the teams and people like the promoters, have any concern about this. I think it's the public at large that have to start thinking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIES: You wonder what the sports' current owners will make of those comments.
Ecclestone, of course, while still an influential figure in the F1 paddock, is no longer in charge. That's the Liberty Media Group run by Chase Carey.
They, in recent days, have launched a new initiative to tackle the issues around diversity and inclusion, the "We Race As One" campaign. Including a task force, to address the issues, both on and off the track.
But set against the backdrop of the issues that Bubba Wallace has faced in Nascar in recent weeks, now Bernie's comments, there's no doubt the scrutiny will be greater than ever on Formula One. When the delayed season hits the track in Austria, next weekend.
Amanda Davies, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, thousands of white supremacists are reportedly gathering online to target protesters with Black Lives Matter.
And as CNN's Nima Elbagir tells us, they're using the encrypted messenger app, Telegram."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONT: Once seen as the jihadi extremist social media platform of choice, now it appears to be that it's white supremacists who are exploiting laxity on the part of the encrypted messaging appear, Telegram.
For years, Telegram came under public and governmental pressure to tighten up their protocols when it came to beheadings and ISIS videos on public channels on their app. And they did. For a time. Now, though, a new report from the Institute of Strategic Dialog
shared exclusively with CNN has identify 200 white supremacist groups using the app to spread their message of hate.
And not just hate, but also to plan an act on their rhetoric.
One of the key authors of this report, Jakob Guhl told us this is incredibly, incredibly concerning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKOB GUHL, COORDINATOR OF POLICY & RESEARCH, INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC DIALOG: From our perspective, we're very concerned about these channels. We have identified 200 channels, with over -- some of the biggest with over 10,000 adherents.
There will be overlaps, almost certainly, but that's a large enough scale of content and followers that are part of this network that's sort of aimed towards creating violence.
And we therefore really think these channels, ideally, should be taken down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR: According to the report, these channels have thousands of members.
[01:25:00]
As CNN's own investigation unearthed an incident at the beginning of this month on June 5th in Knoxville, Tennessee, in which white supremacists planned and then filmed themselves using hateful rhetoric, attacking and abusing Black Lives Matter protestors and then uploading that abuse to Telegram.
Illustrating how the app really has become a convergence point for both rhetoric and real world action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUHL: They are very, very large if you take into account quite how egregious the content in there is. I mean, it's cults for violence, promotion of terrorist group, celebration of the attacks of lone-actor terrorists.
This is not exactly A-zone (ph)content.
So it's the combination of like a reasonable size of followers and the really extremely vile nature of the content within there that I think is concerning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR: Propaganda and hate speech. There are also practical and how-to manuals; how to sabotage infrastructure, how to put together a bomb that can go through airport security.
Apparently, according to the authors on those channels, how to target minorities. How to prepare for what they believe, what these white supremacists believe, is a coming race war.
Anti-hate campaigners say to us that they are very, very worried. And they hope that Telegram will act.
And if it doesn't act, they believe that it is the place of governments around the world to, once again, come together to force Telegram to act.
Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: CNN received a statement from Telegram.
Which reads:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
"Telegram is a neutral platform used both by Black Lives Matter and their opponents as well as by thousands of other political movements around the globe.
Telegram allows users to report public calls for violence. Our moderators routinely take down posts violating our terms of use and block channels that are made up entirely of such posts."
Whatever that means.
Just ahead. Donald Trump loves nothing more than high poll numbers.
Problem is those numbers are going to Joe Biden in the race for the White House right now. But how reliable are they?
That's next on CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:29:42]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Latin America's pandemic death toll has surged past 100,000 according to Johns Hopkins University. Brazil, Peru, Chile and Mexico are the hardest hit countries by far.
To Brazil now and CNN's Shasta Darlington for the latest.
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN REPORTER: Brazil has reported more than 1.2 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 120,000 new cases in the past three days alone. The death toll is nearing 55,000 and no signs of peaking.
On Thursday, just the state of Sao Paulo surpassed Italy in total coronavirus cases -- 248,587. And yet several cities in Sao Paulo and across Brazil continue to relax restrictions. Reopening stores and shopping malls and heading back to officers egged on by the Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly insisted hunger and unemployment could kill more people than the virus itself.
Sao Paulo has even presented its plan for students to start returning to classrooms as of September 8th.
Shasta Darlington, CNN -- Sao Paulo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Thursday saw almost 6,000 new cases of the coronavirus in Texas -- a record for the Lone Star State and a warning shot says the former CDC director for other states which have failed to follow guidelines from health experts.
CNN's Lucy Kafanov reports now from Dallas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The coronavirus nearly killed Christopher Marshall.
CHRISTOPHER MARSHALL, COVID-19 SURVIVOR: I got so sick that it was acute respiratory distress syndrome with septic shock.
KAFANOV: The 37-year-old University of North Texas graduate student spent weeks at Dallas Area Hospital.
Do you think you would've died?
MARSHALL: I definitely would have died. It got that serious.
I'm going home.
KAFANOV: Though doctors saved him, Marshall now lives in fear of getting sick again due to the surge in infections across Texas. He is rarely leaving his home, struggling with survivor's guilt.
MARSHALL: The hardest part for me initially like in -- is seeing how many people died from COVID-19. Because it's like, why did I live and everyone else died?
KAFANOV: Texas, one of the first states to push an aggressive reopening, is now seeing new cases and hospitalization rates reaching record highs.
GOVERNOR GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS: There is a massive outbreak of COVID- 19 across the state of Texas.
KAFANOV: So many getting sick that in Houston, the Texas Children's Hospital is now admitting adult patients.
DR. PETER HOTEZ, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Our big metro areas seem to be rising very quickly, and some of the models are on the verge of being apocalyptic. KAFANOV: Minority communities are bearing the brunt of the pandemic.
In Dallas, Hispanics account for more than 60 percent of cases. Among them, is Dallas ISC police officer Vicente Remediz, in the hospital for 82 days.
VICENTE REMEDIZ, COVID-19 SURVIVOR: Take that COVID stuff serious. I wish I never caught it. I wish I never heard of it. But I tell everybody else, you know, take it seriously.
KAFANOV: The father of six was on a ventilator for more than a month. His brother says Vicente barely survived.
BROTHER OF VICENTE REMEDIZ: The family was worried about him passing away.
KAFANOV: Bishop Greg Kelly worries most about undocumented patients, many of whom are essential workers.
BISHOP GREG KELLY, CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF DALLAS, TEXAS: They don't have any access to any kind of support, any kind of stimulus support and so they have to work.
KAFANOV: And it's not just Latinos. Health officials say an increasing number of infections are among young adults like Chris Marshall.
MARSHALL: Stop thinking that you're so invincible. That you are young and that this cannot happen to you. It can happen. I'm 37. It happened.
KAFANOV: Meanwhile the governor announcing that Texas is going to hit pause on any further reopening of the economy for now. This an attempt to slow down the spread of this virus.
Lucy Kafanov, CNN -- Dallas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: What you just saw there in Texas, is the here and now reality of a pandemic which is only getting worse across much of this country. The virus seems to be on an unstoppable random killing spree -- the young and elderly, the healthy and ailing -- all have fallen victim.
And while the bodies pileup, it seems the 45th president of the United States is hoping that ignoring the crisis will make it all go away.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's like a child who can't believe this has happened to him. All his whining and self pity. Well, this pandemic didn't happen to him. It happened to all of us. And his job isn't to whine about it. His job is to do something about it, to lead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: But yet the President barely mentions the pandemic these days. And when he does, he often uses racial slurs to describe the virus, an attempt most likely to distract from reality.
Another reality is that until a vaccine is approved, the most effective way of controlling the outbreak and safely returning to some kind of normalcy is for everyone to wear a face mask in public.
[01:34:51]
VAUSE: And the sad reality is the U.S. President refuses to do that one simple act. The President did not wear a mask during a Fox News town hall on Thursday. No mask earlier in the day at an event to mark the end of the Korean War. And he grows cantankerous when asked why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then why aren't -- why aren't you further away. And why aren't you wearing a mask?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I can take a step back if you want.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But no. But you're away.
TRUMP: I mean you're not social distancing, based on the question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Larry Sabato is the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. He is with us from Charlottesville. And it's been awhile, Larry -- so it's good to see you.
LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you -- John.
VAUSE: This is a president who does not like to read. But he reads poll numbers excessively. It seems likely he would know this new Pew Research, which found among conservative Republicans, 49 percent had worn a mask -- all or most of last month, 60 percent for moderate Republicans, while 83 percent of liberal Democrats say they've done that, and 71 percent for moderate Democrats.
So, surely the President knows that his actions are one of the reasons why so many of those conservative Republicans are face masks truthers?
SABATO: You think so. Certainly part of it is that Trump is really encouraging Republicans not to wear a mask, particularly by the way, male Republicans. Female Republicans, and women generally, are much more inclined to wear masks.
It's become for him a sign of strength, projecting strength, protecting masculinity, which has absolutely nothing to do with proper behavior during a pandemic. But this is Donald Trump we're talking about.
VAUSE: Well, the other polls which Donald Trump has no doubt seen, comes from "The New York Times", which gives Joe Biden, the Democratic presumptive nominee a very give lead nationally over the President. That actually would be good, if we had one big national election in
November but, you know, it doesn't mean anything because we have 50 elections. But in those key swing states, Biden has a comfortable lead in Arizona, a big lead in Wisconsin, not so much a big lead in Ohio but ahead nonetheless. It's probably within the margin of error.
So can these polls be trusted? Are there secret Trump voters out there who, you know, are unwilling to show their support for the President because maybe they are a little embarrassed or whatever, they just won't tell anyone but come election day, they will vote for him?
SABATO: Look, there might be. Most of the studies of that particular question have indicated that, in fact, there aren't many people who are lying about it. Some people won't express an opinion. They'll claim to be undecided even though they are very decided, and I think disproportionately, they would lean toward Trump. So that part is true.
What is important to say though is that the electoral college, only becomes critical and can override the popular vote when the popular vote is very close -- a couple of points one way or the other.
The polls have better tighten from Trump's perspective, or he won't need to worry about the electoral college, or slow mail-in ballot counting. It's going to be pretty obvious on election night if this continues. Well, it's June. Loads of things could happen between now and November.
VAUSE: Lots of things are happening. We keep hearing from the conservative side, at least, sort of mixed messages, if you like, about masks. Last month we heard Rush Limbaugh when all those health experts were urging people to wear face masks, he told his conservative audience on the radio show that that the call from the health experts was in fact made by mask-wearing freaks. Democrats who hope to turn the face covers into a symbol of fear.
But then on Thursday, we saw Vice President Pence actually -- look, there he is -- wearing a face mask on a public trip to Ohio.
Contrast that to Joe Biden, the Democrat nominee -- he's been wearing a face mask in public since this pandemic began. It's not a big deal but it sends a big message.
SABATO: I don't endorse candidates, but I certainly will endorse healthy behavior. And what Joe Biden does is the appropriate thing to do, obviously. If you listen to the public health experts, if you listen to the scientists -- and there is the difference. Because throughout the Trump administration scientists and public health experts have, for the most part, been denigrated.
Democrats still put a lot of stock in what they say. Who knows where that is going, but clearly there are spikes in places where mask- wearing is not very popular like Texas? The governor there, who is a very conservative Republican, has come around to the view that mask- wearing is essential. Now, he's being criticized by the right wing of his own party in Texas for giving in to those mask-wearing freaks. Gee, I wonder where that came from?
VAUSE: Good question. Well, the President was not wearing a face mask, as I said, during that town hall on Fox News. But what was interesting is there was a recent study which actually looked at Sean Hannity, who was the emcee for this town hall. And his misleading statements, his half truths, his lies about the impact -- and how that impacted the pandemic.
[01:39:51]
VAUSE: They found greater exposure to Hannity relative to another Fox News show an hour earlier called "Tucker Carlson Tonight" leads to a greater number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. It's very complicated the way they did the math.
But in other words, there's parts of the country which were slow to act in this case because Sean Hannity was telling them that it was not as bad as the flu or Democrats were using it as a political point scorer. And they've seen most of the outbreak and a greater rate of death.
If Sean Hannity can have that sort of impact, it's incredible to think, you know, how different this all might be if the President had decided to set a better example from the very beginning.
SABATO: Of course, that is true. And this would be a very different situation if the President had acted quicker, and listened to his own experts about the pandemic, and what needed to be done.
But it is what it is. Donald Trump is not going to change personality and he's not going to change his basic characteristics. So this is what we've got and the voters will have to determine whether they are happy with that, or whether they want a mask-wearing president in Joe Biden. It's one or the other.
VAUSE: And they also have -- very quickly, this sort of feedback loop between Hannity and Trump in the White House.
SABATO: Yes. Well, they talk all the time. Both have admitted that publicly. Actually, Trump also talks to Tucker Carlson a lot. So, you know, it is a feedback loop. And that is part of the problem.
VAUSE: Yes.
Ok. Larry -- we'll leave it there, we're out of time, but thank you so much. Good to see you.
SABATO: Thank you -- John.
VAUSE: Please join us for a CNN special report, "TRUMP AND THE LAW AFTER IMPEACHMENT". CNN's Jake Tapper looks at President Trump's experience with the legal system before and during his presidency, as well as his words and actions on legal norms and the rule of law. That is Sunday night 10:00 p.m. in New York; Monday morning, 10:00 a.m. in Hong Kong.
Well, the coronavirus resurgence in the U.S. has economists worried. 1.5 million Americans filled new unemployment claims last week, slightly more than expected. That brings the total to 47 million since the pandemic began in the U.S.
Investors on Wall Street though weren't fazed it seems. The Dow finished up almost 300 points, the Nasdaq and S&P gained more than 1 percentage.
CNN's John Defterios is live for us this hour in Abu Dhabi.
So John -- you know, the rate of jobless filing, much like the coronavirus, it seems to have as plateaued if you like. It's high, but Wall Street doesn't really seem to care.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: It's really high. In fact, John -- if you go to nearly one and a half million, it's six times the old normal, if you will, pre-COVID. Of course, and we are very likely to cross 50 million, which nobody could dream of four months ago in the month of July.
There was a specific reason behind the rally yesterday on Wall Street. And that was because the financial regulations that were put into place during the great financial crisis 10 years ago are being eased to again liquefy the markets, if you will. So that's where we saw the 1 percent gains on Wall Street. And we have to remember, we had a terrible Wednesday on Wall Street because of the cases spiking.
Asia is taking some solace though from the Wall Street rally to the four major markets higher. That would be Tokyo and Seoul with gains of nearly 1.25 percent. And the U.S. futures are about as flat as they can be right now, just above the line for all three of the other major indices. You can see the Nasdaq composite still holding on to 10,000.
But there is still a lot of churning in the economy, for example. More layoffs -- Macy's department stores laying off 4,000 employees, many have been furloughed for months. And at the same time said that its quarterly results probably show a loss of nearly a billion dollars.
And John -- the overarching theme, the same thing you were talking about with Larry has to be the spike up here and the second wave that is hitting. And most concerning for those of us that follow the economy it's the major engines of growth in the United States that are taking the hardest hit.
That spike in Texas? Alarming. Florida's had a similar case. Californians are facing a spike earlier this week. And we don't see an end to it.
So this is a huge challenge. So you that the rate of the jobless is starting to flatten or plateau. That will not be the case if we have the cases continue to spike here in the second half.
VAUSE: Yes. Interesting parallel between those two indicators.
The other thing which we're looking at in terms of job losses is in the airline sector. We had Qantas just the day other talking about 6,000 job losses and thousands more furloughed. So what more can we expect I guess, you know, in the coming days?
DEFTERIOS: Right. Well, if you want to talk about the front lines of COVID, this is the sector that is hit the hardest. We're going to have quite a bit of discussion out of Capitol Hill today and at the White House. Five American airline CEOs will be meeting at the White House Mike Pence, perhaps Donald Trump will join this parade of CEOs looking for more support.
Let's remember, they were given $50 billion to tap into because of the crisis. At the same time, we had six labor unions go to Capitol Hill and say because of the furloughs, we need another $32 billion through the end of March 2021 for our membership because rehiring is not taking place.
[01:44:55]
DEFTERIOS: And a couple of specific items there, the E.U. policy that's taking shape against how the U.S. travelers go into Europe. I know there's a state decision that has to come from the individual countries in Europe.
But the American airlines are looking to see if they can get White House support to kind of resist that or push back against Brussels in that effort. Also, testing in the United States -- do temperature checks and have a unified policy. Not having a policy is leading to the spike up in cases.
And finally, a bail out in Germany. It took a few months to take shape and there was a lot of resistance to it. But it's $10 billion for Lufthansa, the largest carrier in Germany. And the CEO was very blunt about it. This is a quote from him, "We cannot continue on our own. Bluntly, we need state aid."
And that's what they got. Although there was a lot of resistance in Germany to continue to funnel money into the former state carrier -- John.
VAUSE: They are doing quite well with the cargo trade but I guess it wasn't enough to make up for the loss of passenger traffic.
John -- as always, thanks for being with us. Appreciate it.
DEFTERIOS: Absolutely. Yes.
VAUSE: So how about a little bit of good news on the pandemic front? Not the coronavirus front, unfortunately but ebola. The Democratic Republic of Congo has declared ebola's second deadliest outbreak is now officially. Even with two vaccines, the outbreak claimed more 2,200 lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MATSHIDISO MOETI, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR AFRICA: It wasn't easy. At times, it seemed like a mission impossible. Ending this ebola outbreak is a sign of hope for the region and for the world that the solidarity and science, and courage and commitment, even the most challenging epidemics can be controlled.
Working together, we leave an enduring legacy which is now supporting the fight against COVID-19 and the other outbreaks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: UNICEF says while this battle may be won, the larger fight against ebola is far from over.
Coming up in CNN NEWSROOM, the case against the man who police believe killed three-year-old Madeleine McCann and why they think her death may not be his only crime.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The heartbreaking case of Madeleine McCann is taking another unexpected turn 13 years after she disappeared while on a family holiday in Portugal. The investigation is with German prosecutors who believe they have a credible suspect.
Our man in Portugal is CNN's Fred Pleitgen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Praia de Luz, the Portuguese resort from where the then three-year-old Madeleine McCann vanished in 2007.
Investigators believe the man they now think murdered her, 43-year-old German Christian B lived in this house less than a mile away at the time.
German prosecutors are asking members of the public to come forward with any sort of tips they might have. They believe that even 13 years later, there might be people out there who could have valuable information about anything suspicious. Not just that happened outside of this house, but that might have happened inside as well.
[01:49:56]
PLEITGEN: Authorities released these pictures and are calling on anyone who may remember having been inside around the year 2007, to come forward. But as German prosecutors trace Christian B's movement, we get to the village Foral around 30 miles to the east.
It was out of this house that a friend of Christian B's was running an agency taking care of children from Germany at the time, the owner of the property tells CNN.
When one of the kids ran away, Christian B appeared and camped outside the house living in his distinctive camper van for more than two months until he brought the child back according to the house's owner. Portuguese authorities are refusing to comment on the case.
CNN has learned, the Volkswagen camper man about which the authorities are also seeking further information, was found only a few miles away. Christian B later moved to Germany where he ran a kiosk. One of the workers there recalls him getting tense when the McCann investigation came up.
LENTA JOHLITZ, WORKED WITH GERMAN SUSPECT CHRISTIAN B. (through translator): At some point, he just said, "People need to stop. The child is long dead." And I asked, "How would you know? The child might just have run away or been kidnapped." But he said, "After so many years, the child must be dead. And a dead body can be hidden easily."
PLEITGEN: Prosecutors say Christian B also bought this abandoned factory about a hundred miles away. Police conducted several searches here in the past years.
As you can see, there's still a lot of stuff laying around here, but the authorities say that it wasn't until they started digging on this property that they found several data carriers with lots of pornographic material including child porn on them.
The local prosecutor also says that children's bathing suits were found on the premises. This, as authorities say they believe Christian B may be responsible for other crimes.
HANS CHRISTIAN WOLTERS, BRAUNSCWEIG, GERMANY STATE PROSECUTOR: We are pursuing two goals. One is, of course, to solve the murder of Maddy McCann in such a way that we ultimately get a judgment by a court in which the accused is also convicted.
However, it is at least as important for us to find possible further victims of our accused in Portugal and perhaps elsewhere.
PLEITGEN: Currently jailed for another crime, Christian B's lawyer says his client is not talking to authorities. But that hasn't stopped German prosecutors who continue to put together their case, hoping to finally solve the mystery of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN -- Praia de Luz, Portugal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And we will be back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Well, amid global demands for racial justice and equality, it seems it's time to get both (ph) for the music industry. The all- female country band, the Dixie Chicks announced a name change on Thursday. Now, they are just The Chicks. They released a new music video with the new name. The song is called "March, March" -- part of their upcoming album "Gaslighter". Who's that about? They say it is a tribute to protesters for social issues.
This comes after the Lady Antebellum band's name change to Lady A due to antebellum's association with slavery.
It has been a long 30 years for Liverpool fans but finally the football club has won its first ever English Premier League title. And for the most loyal of fans, coronavirus be damned as they took to the streets of Liverpool to celebrate.
CNN World Sport's Alex Thomas reports now from a joyous Anfield Stadium.
[01:55:01]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX THOMAS, CNN WORLD SPORT: Liverpool's footballers celebrating a moment of history. The club's first Premier League title. Social media videos shows them gathered to watch together as their closest challengers, Manchester City lost to Chelsea. If they were happy, the fans were ecstatic.
More than an hour after clinching the title without kicking a ball, the party is in full swing here in the stadium. We've heard car horns beeping, flares and fireworks being set off.
You can see how much it means to these Liverpool fans to be champions of England after an agonizing wait of 30 years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Long, long wait.
(CROSSTALK).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean obviously, it is real. It's amazing. The circumstances aren't the best given the (INAUDIBLE) coronavirus. Hopefully we might get to see (INAUDIBLE). It doesn't matter, we're champions. And no one's taking that away from us. Now Premier League champions.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now, it's the icing on the cake and (INAUDIBLE) is the man of the moment. (INAUDIBLE)
THOMAS: Manchester City had to beat Chelsea to take the Premier League title race into next week. But it fell behind to a goal from U.S. star Christian Pulisic. City collides with a stunning free kick from Kevin de Bruyne, regaining the momentum.
But Chelsea refused to give in, winning a penalty when Fernandinho was sent off the handball. William (ph) scoring from the spot to seal a two-one victory that ended City's reign and gave Liverpool their 19th English championship title, but their first in the Premier League era.
Boss Jurgen Klopp told Sky Sports he did it for the supporters.
JURGEN KLOPP, LIVERPOOL MANAGER: It's for you out there. It's for you. It is incredible. I hope you stay at home. Go in front of your house if you want but not -- do no more and celebrate it. It's all here. And it's all here. We can do it together in this moment. And it is a joy to do it for you, I can tell you.
THOMAS: The local authorities did warn fans to try to stay away from here because of the threat of coronavirus. So you can understand why they wanted a party after waiting so long to be champions of England once again. The team that dominated European and English football throughout the 1970s and 1980s are back where they feel they belong -- The best team in this country.
Alex Thomas, CNN -- Liverpool.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: I'm John Vause.
"CNN GLOBAL TOWN HALL: CORONAVIRUS FACTS AND FEARS" is up next.
[01:57:50]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
