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Worldwide COVID Deaths Top 500,000; Vice President Endorses Wearing Of Masks In Public; Reports Claim Russia Paid Taliban To Kill U.S. Forces In Afghanistan; California Governor Closes Bars in Seven Counties as Cases Spike; Trump Retweets then Deletes Video of "White Power" Chant; Iran to Mandate Masks in High-Risk Areas; China Expected to Approve Controversial Hong Kong Law; More Companies Join Facebook Advertising Boycott. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired June 29, 2020 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: A public health disaster with apparently no end in sight. Half a million now dead worldwide from the coronavirus.
Moscow accused. New claims of Russian offers of bounties to the Taliban resulted in the deaths of quote, several U.S. service members. According to intelligence assessments.
And the list of major advertisers boycotting Facebook over its hate speech policy continues to grow.
Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes.
Welcome, everyone. The new week is beginning with two staggering numbers that show just how big a threat the coronavirus still remains to people around the world.
Johns Hopkins University reporting more than 10 million cases have now being confirmed, more than half a million people have died.
The U.S. far and away leads in both new cases and in deaths, the virus on the rise in about two-thirds of the country. It's especially surging in the south and west.
Infectious disease specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN that even once a vaccine is developed, the U.S. probably won't reach the immunity levels needed to curb the virus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: That's one of the reasons why we have to make sure we engage the community, as we're doing now.
To get community people to help us, for people to understand that we are doing everything we can to show that it's safe and that it's effective. And it's for the good of them as individuals and in society, to take the vaccine. So we have a lot of work to do because as you well know -- we've
spoken about this intensively in the past. There is a general anti- science, anti-authority, anti-vaccine feeling among some people in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Some states are now walking back steps they had taken to reopen.
California, for example, closing bars in several counties, including Los Angeles, and the governor urging one county near the Mexican border to go back into lockdown.
In Texas, where cases are soaring as well, the U.S. vice president finally offering the same direct advice that health officials have been giving for months.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Wash your hands, avoid touching your face. And wear a mask, wherever it's indicated. Or wherever you're not able to practice the kind of social distancing that would prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Mike Pence was in Texas on Sunday attending what was a crowded campaign event as the state continues to be overwhelmed by the virus.
On Saturday, the state recording more than 4,700 new cases.
Alexandra Field with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Vice President Mike Pence touched down in the hard-hit state of Texas over the weekend. He got off the plane, wearing a mask and he was greeted by Texas governor Greg Abbott, also wearing a mask.
The event went on to a campaign event that put some 2,200 people inside a church. Masks were encouraged but a choir of about 100 people sang loudly throughout the rally, without their masks on.
Still, Vice President Pence took time while in Texas to reaffirm the importance of wearing masks, saying that they are effective into helping to stem the spread of this virus.
A particularly prescient (ph) message here in Texas where we have seen cases spike, day after day, where hospitalization rates have been going up for some two weeks now, and where local officials have warned that the hospitals could be overwhelmed in just a matter of weeks.
All of that said, there is not a statewide mandate that requires individuals in Texas to wear a mask.
Instead, the governor has recently agreed that local governments can require businesses to require their customers to wear masks. That's as far as the mask mandate goes here.
In Houston, Alexandra Field, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Dr. Deborah Birx from the White House coronavirus task force was also in Texas urging people to wear masks.
And she said that new scientific evidence shows that the masks are more beneficial than previously thought for the wearer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: I'm really appealing to every Texan to wear a mask.
I think we know now there's scientific evidence that masks both keep you from infecting others, but may also partially protect you from getting infected.
[01:05:00]
I think that's a new discovery and a new finding. It is very encouraging to Texans to know that you can protect one another.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, Florida is another state where the virus surges. Let's take a look at the seven-day average in that state. You can see how cases have shot up in just the past couple of weeks. On Saturday, cases hitting a new single day high, almost 10,000.
Now some bars and beaches that were open are closing again.
CNN's Natasha Chen reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With the rising number of COVID-19 cases across the state of Florida, many jurisdictions are taking matters into their own hands.
Some are creating mandates for people to wear masks in public, employees and patrons who go inside stores, other places are shutting down beaches before the July 4th holiday weekend.
Places like Broward County, Miami Dade County, Palm Beach County. But not everyone took kindly to that announcement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You should stay at home, celebrate with your families. Be grateful for the wonderful America that we have. We're all in this together now and we will get through it, if everyone cooperates and continues to social distance. Wear a mask, wash your hands and make sure we care for one another.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHEN: Governor Ron DeSantis visited Pensacola on Sunday afternoon describing the rising number of cases and the fact that, out of all the tests done now in Florida, about 12 percent are positive.
He says in large part because of young people who have been going out, and, he says, not being vigilant with social distancing. And, in some cases, not even knowing that they have the virus.
Natasha Chen, CNN. Pensacola Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Joining me now is Doctor Darragh O'Connell -- O'Carroll. He's an emergency physician from Honolulu in Hawaii. Good to see you again, Doctor.
There's some stunning increases in a lot of cases. I mean, really just a couple of places where it's stabilizing or dropping.
What are you seeing in the numbers and what should be the immediate priority in dealing with this?
DR. DARRAGH O'CARROLL, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, HONOLULU: Yes, it is definitely concerning. And knowing that the incubation time and the time that we really get to know what these numbers exactly are, it's lagging.
That these numbers are really kind of the tip of the iceberg and that so large of a percentage of people are actually asymptomatic.
You could estimate that these numbers we're seeing are only 10 to 20 percent of the actual numbers that will come to light in the next couple of weeks.
And so it's really concerning here in Hawaii. Our state is categorized as increasing numbers but we can't get much lower than the 10 to 15 that we've already for a week or two. A couple of weeks ago, we were having zero cases.
So Hawaii's managing thus far and we've implemented -- before anybody gets on a plane to get to Hawaii from the domestic continental United States, they need to get a negative PCR test within 72 hours.
So we're going to continue to manage and watch this very carefully.
HOLMES: Yes. The American Fourth of July weekend is just days away, traditionally -- it's not that far away, it's coming up. Do you -- fireworks, gatherings, a lot of those planned, gatherings are still planned including the official celebration in Washington.
Are you concerned about that when you're talking about gatherings?
O'CARROLL: Yes, absolutely. Hopefully, it's still going to happen, it's our nation's birthday. And there's still going to be a large amount of gatherings, even though people are going to try and detract from it.
Hopefully, the fact that most of these gatherings, if they do happen, are going be outdoors will help cull the virus.
Hopefully, the fact that most people will be wearing masks -- and I would actually argue that people do a BYO Everything, so bring your own everything. So don't share any utensils, don't share any drinks, don't share any food.
And maintain the physical distancing. Social distancing is sometimes a bit of misnomer but the physical distancing and the hand hygiene that we need to. To continue to combat the spread of this virus.
HOLMES: And what do you make about the messaging at the moment? The vice president unusually, sort of saying, "wear a mask." But at the same time, he was at a church gathering on Sunday and he was wearing a mask.
But you had dozens of people in a choir singing their hearts out with no masks. And, of course, choirs have literally been linked to spreading events.
What do you make of the messaging and the optics?
O'CARROLL: It's concerning in that -- I'm really happy that Vice President Pence was wearing a mask.
[01:10:00]
That's a change, I think, in a lot of things we've seen in the public and we do need to lead from the top.
All of our public health offices -- Dr. Fauci and the heads of the CDC, FDA, have been wearing masks in public.
And we do know that these work. We know that masks -- there's a study that came out of the National Academy of Sciences that just wearing masks alone prevented 66,000 infections in New York in the month of April to May. So we know they do work.
And so we need to continue to harp on our elected officials to lead from the top down. And I'm happy that Michael Pence was wearing it there.
But with regards to the choir. Here in Honolulu, our mayor has only just allowed singing inside of -- public singing. And to do so, you need to have a plexiglass in front of the artists. And so you need to maintain the exact amount of distance, the more distance that you have in between the artists, the better.
But those choir members were all within six feet of each other and all belting out. And, while it sounded beautiful, they're putting all of each other at risk --
HOLMES: Yes.
O'CARROLL: -- and their families that risk as well.
HOLMES: It was interesting. When they sat down, they all put on masks which is a bit like putting on your seatbelt only when you're in the driveway.
You had Republican Senator Lamar Alexander on Sunday, he said he thinks it would help if President Donald Trump wore a mask. Because it would lessen this sort of political stigma around wearing it that we've seen more and more. For whatever reason though, he does not do that.
Do you think the president's actions or inactions on this has an effect, a correlation, with the wearing of masks and cases?
O'CARROLL: I can't speak for all of his staunch supporters. But I think when every single one of our public health officials are recommending wearing masks and our -- the top leader in our country is not, I think it does trickle down to the people who are going to follow and not wear masks just because he isn't.
And so I'm concerned. And I really think that he should reconsider looking at the evidence and all the evidence is supporting that masks are going to prevent this virus from transferring to other people. And even possibly prevent you from wearing the -- from contracting the virus.
So it's something that he really needs to look at (inaudible).
HOLMES: And yes, Dr. Birx saying that there is now evidence that wearing one helps you not spread it but also there is evidence now that it helps you not catch it.
Dr. Darragh O'Carroll, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time.
O'CARROLL: Appreciate it. Thank you very much.
HOLMES: We're going to take a quick break.
When we come back, intelligence reports surfaced months ago warning Russia put bounties on coalition troops in Afghanistan.
Disturbing new details ahead, as President Trump reacts in typical fashion on Twitter.
We'll be right back.
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HOLMES: President Trump says he was not briefed about Russians allegedly attempting to pay the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
In a tweet, Mr. Trump said intel had told him they didn't find the information credible and so they didn't report it to him or the vice president.
The story was first reported by the New York Times. The Washington Post reporting the bounties are believed to have resulted in the deaths of several U.S. service members.
It's unclear how many and assessments are still ongoing.
Here's what the Washington Post reporter who broke the story had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELLEN NAKASHIMA, NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Well, according to forces -- they told us today (ph) that these Russian bounties offered to the Taliban-linked militias (ph) resulted in the deaths of several, maybe a handful, of U.S. service members in Afghanistan.
We're not sure exactly what years. We were told that the targeting took place in 2018 and 2019.
And they could have had -- there were a total of 10 deaths of American service members in 2018, and 16 in 2019. So it could have been in one or both years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: CNN has confirmed the report through European and U.S. sources.
Nick Paton Walsh with those details.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Well, a European intelligence official told me about this Russian military intelligence plot to pay Taliban fighters to attack American and other coalition soldiers in Afghanistan.
And the basis of that scheme has now been confirmed by a U.S. official with knowledge of the intelligence to my colleague, Barbara Starr, in Washington.
Essentially, both these officials agree on the original premise of this plot, that money seems to have been passed to the Taliban at some point.
The European official I spoke to was unclear as to precisely when the supposed casualties that occurred because of these payments actually happened. Their number or nationality or nature as well.
The U.S. official we've spoke to does appear to believe money did change hands although the precise verification of those payments is something that is a little unclear.
It appears that these reports began emerging earlier on this year.
Now, for their part, the Taliban have been clear they had nothing to do with this as has the Russian embassy in Washington, using the hashtag, #blamerussia.
The White House itself hasn't disputed the original intelligence reports in an earlier statement but have in fact suggested that the New York times who first reported this plot was wrong to suggest it had, in fact, had been part of a briefing given to President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
President Trump himself has cast doubt on the validity of the original New York Times report suggesting they should release their sources.
But it's a very confusing picture with one simple, very clear allegation at the heart of this.
That's Russian military intelligence, the GRU, did try or possibly succeed in paying money to the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers or coalition allies as well.
[01:20:00]
As I say, my European intelligence official I've spoken to is clear that harm was caused most likely because of these payments. But details are still unclear. And it is, frankly, another chilling moment for the U.S.'s longest
war, in Afghanistan.
And many are asking exactly why these Russian intelligence officials would be motivated to do this. The European intelligence official I spoke to said that the Russia motivation was quote, "bewildering." But described their actions as callous, reprehensible and shocking.
Much more detail needs to emerge on that, certainly.
But one of the original conclusions is much, I think, confusion amongst analysts as to exactly why Donald Trump was not briefed about this as the White House in fact claims, given it's such a severe allegation.
But another troubling departure from the U.S. objective at this point, to get out of Afghanistan. The Trump Administration have been absolutely clear about that.
They're involved in peace talks that seem, even as we speak, to be trying to keep the momentum alive, stalled briefly over prisoner exchange.
The real question being, if Moscow did order this, were they trying to expedite the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan or is this some smaller level unit operating on its own?
The European official I spoke to said, in fact, it was the same unit that was accused of being behind the poisoning of the Skripal father and daughter in Salisbury in the U.K. in early 2018 that were behind this.
A lot of detail here, a lot of detail missing as well.
But, as I say, at the heart of this, a stark and chilling allegation about a Russian bid to pay Taliban to kill and target Americans and their allies in Afghanistan.
Nick Paton Walsh. CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: CNN National Security Analyst, Samantha Vinograd, joins me now. Lots to talk about as always. Good to see you, Sam.
So you've got European sources saying the plot did result in harm to coalition troops in Afghanistan -- New York Times, Washington Post says the same. Yet the president says he wasn't briefed.
Now the thing is, whichever way you look at it, it's not a good look.
Either he was briefed and he's saying he wasn't or he wasn't briefed which raises the question of why? On something like this.
SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, exactly. The question of "who knew what when" is only one piece of the puzzle. It is implausible to me, as someone who served at the White House for
four years, that the president wouldn't be briefed. That intelligence officials and policymakers wouldn't make reliable intelligence on threats to American forces accessible to the president.
In my experience, this kind of reporting is kind of rush-delivered to the Oval Office so that the president is aware of dangers to American citizens.
Concurrently, we also have reporting that there was a White House meeting on this intelligence and that various force protection measures were taken to defend our troops against this threat.
So it looks like this reporting was credible.
Which means that, most likely, this reporting was included or provided to the president in some form. That could be the presidential daily briefing, that could be memos ahead of his calls with President Putin and our allies, it could be NSC meetings and more.
But the larger question is, even if it was provided to him, Michael, based on his track record, does anyone have certainty that he digested the intelligence? He has a track record of not getting intelligence briefings and, frankly, trashing intelligence throughout his tenure.
So saying that he wasn't briefed on this intelligence doesn't answer the question about whether the intelligence was or was not available to him.
HOLMES: And during this whole time he then announces a drawdown in U.S. troops in Germany which helps Vladimir Putin, suggests that Putin comes back into the G7, which helps Putin. All while this was known to the U.S.
Now, as you say, you deal in -- you dealt in national security in the White House. We all saw the Republican reaction to Benghazi, never- ending investigations.
When Iranian militias killed one contractor, Donald Trump took out Soleimani, the leader of the Quds force. In any other administration this would be a major event warranting action, would it not?
VINOGRAD: Oh, most certainly. And under any other administration, there would be immediate congressional inquiries.
In one, why congress wasn't briefed on this intelligence if, for example, our European intelligence partners were, so why wasn't congress kept in the loop? And two, more importantly, why wasn't something done about it?
If we'd had reliable intelligence, intelligence with a relative degree of confidence, for weeks, months, in fact, why hasn't the administration taken steps to protect American citizens?
And frankly, the only answer that I can come up with is that the administration wanted to contain this information. By providing intelligence to congress, an administration does two things. One, it meets its statutory obligation to keep congress fully and currently informed. And two, it allows congress to make moves on its own.
So keeping this intel kind of close hold (ph), within a close circle, really signals to me that there was an effort to drag U.S. feet when it comes to protecting Americans. And that really opens up American troops to current threats right now.
If we haven't imposed costs, why would Putin slow down? He has no reason to take his foot off the gas when it comes to targeting Americans. And that means that there may be a live threat to U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
And, frankly, anywhere else that Putin can pay proxies to target us.
HOLMES: What would be Russia's motivation, especially with Donald Trump openly running to the Afghan exit door?
And what does it say about Putin's long term goal when it comes to the U.S?
VINOGRAD: Well, Putin has reportedly been providing arms and other support to the Taliban for a longer period of time than this intelligence reporting may cover. The intelligence reporting is an escalation in terms of Putin support for the Taliban.
But most likely, his motivation is to inflict harm on the United States. He's doing that in cyberspace and the information warfare attacks and now we have conventional attacks to add to that Putin to- do list.
So it's to inflict harm on the United States and to push the Americans out of Afghanistan.
The unfortunate thing is that the administration is continuing to draw down in Afghanistan, despite the fact that the Taliban has not lived up to their commitments -- the Taliban, which I just mentioned Putin has been accused of supporting -- the Taliban hasn't lived up to their commitments.
And we know that, clearly, Putin doesn't want us around in Afghanistan. It's a geopolitical win for him if we are seemingly forced into a retreat.
HOLMES: Samantha, great to see you. Samantha Vinograd, I appreciate it.
VINOGRAD: Thanks.
HOLMES: A family in California speaking out urging others to stay safe after their father died from the virus and it spread to 28 members of their family.
Also, still to come, the president, Donald Trump, retweets a racist message, leaves it up for hours. And then deletes it.
We'll look at the fall out after the break.
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DWIGHT HOWARD, NBA PLAYER, LOS ANGELES LAKERS: I want to win a championship so bad. Going to L.A. for me has been the best thing in my life. And I'm very appreciative of just being on that team, playing with LeBron, playing with A.D. Just representing the Lakers again, that has meant the world to me.
I just, personally, have seen so much pain from our people. And I just feel like our people, we need attention. We don't need to get distracted by anything. I would definitely want to play, win a championship but I don't want anything to distract us from really what's going on in our world. It's hurting. It's hurting me, it's hurting my family, it's hurting all our families and everybody is feeling it right now. And you know I just think that we need to focus on this - what's going on.
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[01:30:47]
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes.
The U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar says, in his words, the window is closing to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control. This, as Johns Hopkins reports more than 10 million cases now confirmed worldwide. More than half a million people have lost their lives.
Here's another look at where things stand in the U.S. At the moment. Much of the nation appears to be moving in the wrong direction with a number of new cases rising, the red and orange, not what you want to see. Just two states are seeing declines -- try to find them on that map in green.
Now for millions of Americans places like bars that had started to reopen, well they are closing down again. This is happening in California where the governor has ordered bars to close in seven counties. The state has now reported more than 215,000 infections.
And after losing their father to the virus, dozens of people in one California family have tested positive. Paul Vercammen with their story.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A heart wrenching story out of south Los Angeles. 27-year-old Richard Garay (ph) says that 28 of his family members contracted COVID-19. And that includes his best friend and father, 60-year-old Vidal who did have some pre-existing conditions but he died the day before Father's Day.
Richard says the family was cautious. They socially distanced. They washed their hands. They used hand sanitizer. They wore their masks. They don't know quite how anyone in the family got it but he wants everyone to pay attention to their ordeal because there's a lesson to be learned.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD GARAY, FATHER DIED FROM CORONAVIRUS: If we want to be out of this then we need to do everything within our power, within your power to follow those guidelines and help stop the spread of coronavirus. And that's our message.
That is what my father would have wanted. That is the type of person that my father was. And I just want people to understand, that and I just want people to grieve with us because we know that we are not the only ones.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERCAMMEN: There is a lot to unpack here. For a time, they thought that Richard's wife did not have COVID-19. Now they suspect she does. She is quarantined within the family home. Richard only talking to her via cell phone. He's now watching out for their two-year-old son and five-year-old daughter who have recovered.
Just a harrowing ordeal for this family in south Los Angeles.
I'm Paul Vercammen reporting from Los Angeles. Now, back to you.
HOLMES: President Trump retweeted a video on Sunday showing a supporter chanting "white power". Critics immediately, of course, lashed out. The President eventually took down the tweet, it was out for hours though. The uproar hasn't subsided. That tweet out went out to the President's more than 80 million followers.
Jeremy Diamond picks up the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump on Sunday amplifying a video in which one of his supporters can be heard saying "white power, white power".
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: White power. White power.
DIAMOND: The President posting a retweet of that video and also adding this comment saying, "thank you to the great people of The Villages." That is a location in Florida where this video was reportedly shot.
Now, the President did delete that tweet after it was online for more than three hours. And the White House says that the President simply did not hear that message before he posted that tweet.
The White House's deputy press secretary Judd Deere saying in a statement, "President Trump is a big fan of The Villages. He did not hear the one statement made on the video, what he did see was tremendous enthusiasm from his many supporters." Now this, of course, is not an isolated incident. It is the latest in a string of examples where we've seen President Trump amplifying hateful or racist messages. We saw the President, of course, after that white supremacist rally in Charlottesville say that there were many fine people among those at that rally.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Very fine people, on both sides.
[01:34:53]
DIAMOND: We've also seen the President retweet anti-Muslim videos and many other examples exist as well. And particularly, this is striking because President Trump has really struggled to address issues of systemic racism and racism broadly in America amid these protests since the death of George Floyd.
He has not, in a comprehensive manner, addressed that. Instead, what we have seen is him fanning the flames. And this was really just the latest example.
Now while the President did delete that tweet ultimately after more than three hours, what he didn't do was apologize for posting it in the first place. Nor did he condemn the Trump supporter who said white power.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN -- the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: The only black senator in the Republican conference is among those denouncing that tweet before it was deleted. Tim Scott's told CNN it was offensive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR TIM SCOTT (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I think it's indefensible. We should take it down. That's what I think.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The likely Democratic presidential nominee also comparing the tweet to when President Trump said that there were fine people at that white supremacist rally in Charlottesville Virginia.
Joe Biden tweeting, quote, "We are in a battle for the soul of the nation and the President has picked a side. But make no mistake, it is a battle we will win."
The last U.S. state flag featuring the confederate battle emblem may soon get a makeover. Mississippi's House of Representatives and Senate both passing a bill on Sunday that would get rid of the controversial emblem. And the governor has said he will sign that bill.
The legislation would establish a commission to develop a new design, without the emblem, which you can see in the corner there of the 126- year-old flag. Mississippi voters would then vote on the new design in November.
We're going to take a quick break. When we come back here on CNN NEWSROOM, Iran's president issues an order after a spike in coronavirus cases. What he says the public has to do to fight the pandemic.
Also a generation shaped by protests maybe forced into retreat as a controversial law looms over Hong Kong. A report from that city, coming up.
[01:37:08]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: More now on the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
As of Sunday, the virus has killed more than half a million people worldwide with 10 million infected according to Johns Hopkins. Latin America, one of the latest hotspots. The Pan American Health Organization says the cases there have tripled in the past month. Brazil second in total cases, after the U.S. and now Peru is 6th. It has reported nearly 280,000 cases, more than either Spain or Italy.
And Iran's president says face masks will soon be mandatory for areas most at risk of coronavirus as the country fights a wave of new cases.
Sam Kiley covering this for us from Abu Dhabi. Why is this being planned and what is behind the uptick?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michael -- you will remember that at the beginning of the pandemic Iran was, outside of China, one of the hardest hit countries and therefore the curve, if you like, the infection curve came earlier.
And now Iran is seeing that second curve, the second wave of infections also coming earlier than many other nations with the daily death toll now at about 140, certainly consistently now over 100. It was well below that figure for two months. And as a consequence of that, efforts to unlock the economy being reduced now with a presidential announcement that people have to now start wearing face masks in hotspots.
This is what the Iranian president said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASSAN ROUHANI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): People must observe health protocols to fight coronavirus. And we have no second choice. No cure, no vaccine for coronavirus has been found yet. So we must observe the health protocols.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILEY: Now Michael -- the president also said that this had been the worst year for Iran in many, many years because of the double effects of not only the corona pandemic but U.S.-imposed sanctions.
You will recall back in 2018, the United States unilaterally withdrew from that nuclear deal that had been so carefully negotiated which was supposed to reward Iran for dialing down on its nuclear programs with erasing of sanctions and economic prosperity.
The United States has gone in exactly the opposite direction, and in the opposite direction for many of its allies. But as a consequence of this, the Iranian president said that the economy is now being crippled. In the past he's accused the United States of humanitarian terrorism or health terrorism.
Growth in the economy there is minus 9.5 percent, 35 percent or more inflation. So the economy is crippled but this is not, it would appear, affecting Iran's, what Americans would call, destabilization activities around the Middle East.
Houthi rebels that are backed by Iran in Yemen are continuing to fire missiles into Saudi Arabia. Hezbollah in the Lebanon is trying to ban the U.S. ambassador there from trying to appear on even on the television -- Michael.
HOLMES: Yes. Yes, yes. They still have their influence.
Sam Kiley in Abu Dhabi -- good to see you. Appreciate it.
Chinese lawmakers are expected to approve Hong Kong's national security law within days and democracy activists fear it will curb free speech in the territory. Some of the anti government demonstrators who protested against the measure now fear they could be in danger.
Kristie Lu Stout brings us their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hong Kong-born Richard wears a mask to protect him from the coronavirus and to conceal his identity. The 22-year-old is afraid of what could come next after taking part in last year's protests.
RICHARD, HONG KONG PROTESTERS: It's very dangerous for us like the youngsters to expose ourselves. Even when we are speaking in restaurants, someone could overhear you and just report it to the police.
STOUT: For young people like Richard, the identity of their generation was forged in the Hong Kong protests. What began as peaceful mass marches against an extradition bill turned into an angry crusades against the government over China's tightening grip on the city.
Since the handover, people in Hong Kong have used the metaphor of a boiling frog to describe a gradual erosion of rights and freedoms. The thinking is throw a frog in the broiling water, it jumps out. But if you slowly bring it to a boil, the frog is cooked. And for many people here, the temperature of the water is certainly getting hotter. [01:45:03]
STOUT: And now, a new national security law has dramatically turned up the temperature.
RICHARD: (INAUDIBLE) you know, it straight-up put us in the oven and just cooked us.
STOUT: The law will curb secession, subversion of state power, terrorism including with foreign forces. Beijing and the Hong Kong government argue the law is necessary to fill a security loophole. But HongKongers have mixed feelings toward the legislation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will have less and less freedom. Plus the law of security doesn't mean that we're really secure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's actually (INAUDIBLE) affect our freedom, so I think it's like personally I think it's quite negative.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This law can keep Hong Kong safe. That's what I think.
STOUT: The Hong Kong government says ordinary Hongkongers need not fear the new law. In May, the city's second highest ranking official told CNN it will bring stability.
MATTHEW CHEUNG, HONG KONG CHIEF SECRETARY: 99.99 percent% of the Hong Kong population will not be affected. They go about their lives; they continue their investment in Hong Kong.
STOUT: Some business leaders have pledged support for the new legislation. And Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says opponents of the law are the enemy of the people.
But critics say it undermines Hong Kong's autonomy. The law would allow Hong Kong's chief executive to hand pick which judges hear national security cases. It would also allow Beijing to override Hong Kong's independent legal system.
There has already been international pushback. The Trump administration has moved to end the special trade status of Hong Kong. The British government says it will offer a citizenship pass for almost three million Hong Kong residents. It's a path, many Hongkongers may choose to take.
With Hong Kong police taking a zero tolerance approach to protest and those involved facing far more serious charges, after the law, the cost of rebellion maybe too high.
RICHARD: If the situation goes really bad then I'll leave.
STOUT: Where will you go?
RICHARD: I will probably head to Europe, I guess, where you know -- anywhere with freedom. I don't feel free in Hong Kong.
STOUT: As a generation shaped by protest is forced into retreat.
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN -- Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Major companies are putting pressure on Facebook to change. Ahead the expanding advertising boycott of the platform over how it handles hate speech.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back.
[01:47:28]
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HOLMES: Welcome back.
The list of companies boycotting advertising on Facebook is getting pretty long these days. The makers of Jim Beam and Maker's Mark is just the latest. Many of the companies joining the "stop hate for profit" campaign and putting a pause on their ads on the site for the month of July.
They've criticized Facebook's handling of hate speech and misinformation.
Now on Friday, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced new policies to ban hateful ads and label controversial posts from politicians. That's a move Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey started nearly a month ago for President Trump's false tweets on voter fraud.
But Zuckerberg's promises did not satisfy the critics and there were many. Many of the companies announcing that they'll boycott after that announcement.
Facebook executive Nick Clegg pushed back on the boycott. He did not address what it would mean for the company's revenues but he told CNN's Brian Stelter, the site does not tolerate hate speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK CLEGG, FACEBOOK: We don't benefit from hate speech. Of course not. We benefit from positive human connection. Not hate. And that is why the company has been wrapping up its efforts hugely over recent months and years to deal with hate speech. We remove about three million items of hate speech content for months around the world. 90 percent of that, by the way. We get to that before anyone reports it to us.
And thankfully, people -- independent folk have certified that we are well ahead of any other social media company. The European Union for instance last week issued a report comparing our performance to YouTube, Twitter and so on and they confirmed that in over 95 percent of cases, hate speech that is reported to us we deal with that within 24 hours, which is one ahead of our peers. But we understand, of course, we need to do more. We understand people quite rightly want to put pressure on Facebook to do more. That is why we made those initial announcements on Friday. That's when we'll continue to redouble our efforts because, you know, we have a zero tolerance approach to hate speech. Unfortunately, zero tolerance does not mean zero occurrence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: CNN's John Defterios is in Abu Dhabi with more on this.
I mean yes. I mean not enough according to a lot of people. What's often overlooked is, you know, the speed at which this advertising boycott is moving. It has gone pretty mainstream.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: I would say so -- Michael. Talk about a snowball effect. We often overlook the fact that this is a campaign that started just a week ago. And it has reached the mainstream.
Let's talk about some of those names again. We could bring up the list. Starbucks, for example. Unilever, which has all those consumer products in your households all around the world. Hershey's, Honda, Coca-Cola.
And I think Facebook is learning the hard way -- Michael and I think this is the real lesson here. Even though we've heard the words from Nick Clegg. You cannot tiptoe around sensitive issues.
If you go back just a month you had a phone call with Donald Trump on May 29. He did not release a transcript of the private conversation, but on June second in a staff town hall taking place near San Francisco, he had a virtual walkout by many employees who say you're not being aggressive enough.
And we've noted here in the past that Jack Dorsey of Twitter and the company overall has taken a much more defined line against President Trump and the hate that we see online.
And also, we are learning from these mainstream advertisers -- Michael. Take Starbucks for example -- spent $95 million on Facebook last year. They think this is a permanent change, a ma marking of history with Black Lives Matter.
[01:54:58]
DEFTERIOS: So something that started with Outdoor Apparel group and then Ben and Jerry's has quickly shifted over a week's period of time. And something that Facebook has to wake up to.
HOLMES: Yes. I mean, yes it is. It is a big problem on Facebook. There is a lot of hate stuff that appears there. It is a $70 billion company in terms of revenue, but how reliant is it on advertising? How much could this hurt?
DEFTERIOS: Yes, it's a good question because it is a behemoth, if you will, right, $70 billion. Explosive growth -- Michael. You go back 10 years, the company had $2 billion of revenue. So it's been building this huge community, acquiring better than AD companies and some say almost too big that it cannot be regulated.
But extraordinary numbers out there, and why advertisers have always liked it. 2.6 billion active monthly users. Two-thirds of them are adults. It works for the advertisers that are out there. But because more than 90 percent of their bottom line is supported by advertising, anything that eats away at that foundation is dangerous to them because they are over reliant on that system.
And finally, this is something that most people don't understand. 94 percent of global advertisers use Facebook so they have to wake up to this and the challenge extremely quickly.
HOLMES: Did not know that. You are always telling me things I don't know -- John Defterios. I appreciate it. Good to see you. We'll check in with you next hour.
And thank you for watching. I will have another hour CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment.
We leave you now with the sound of Yo-Yo Ma, playing a piece called "The legend of 1900" which he dedicated to Italy as it recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
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