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President Trump Believes Coronavirus Will Just Disappear; 1.4 Million New Unemployment Claims Expected in U.S.; No Age Exemption for China's New Security Law in Hong Kong; President Putin Assured Power until 2036; Source: Trump Often Didn't Read Intel on Russia; Palestinians Rally against West Bank Annexation; Italian Police Seize ISIS-Made Amphetamines; At Least 23 States Pause Or Rollback Reopening Plans; Dozens Of Companies Boycott Advertising On Facebook; June Jobs Report To Show Three Million Jobs Added. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired July 02, 2020 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Paula Newton.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM: coronavirus nightmare. The U.S. once again reporting its worst single day spike.
Plus, is Hong Kong changed forever?
How global leaders are reacting to China's sweeping new security law.
And 102 years old and still fighting. Meet the woman who beat the 1918 flu, cancer and, yes, now the coronavirus.
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NEWTON: It may be hard to believe, one day after the nation's leading voice in the coronavirus predicted the U.S. would hit 100,000 cases a day, we are now halfway there. Johns Hopkins University reports a new single day record in this country of more than 50,000 new infections on Wednesday. It's the fifth record in the last eight days.
Then there's the startling number from the World Health Organization; 60 percent of infections around the globe have come in the past month. U.S. president Donald Trump claims his administration did it all right on the virus, once again, repeating this magical prediction.
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TRUMP: I think we are going to be very good with the coronavirus. I think that at some point that's going to sort of just disappear, I hope.
(END VIDEO CLIP) NEWTON: Of course, the virus is nowhere near disappearing. In fact, it's only getting worse, with new infections trending upward in 37 U.S. states. We get more now from CNN's Nick Watt.
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NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every state beach parking lot in Southern California and the Bay Area will now be closed for the Fourth of July weekend.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): A weekend that has raised a lot of concern.
WATT: Bars, dine-in restaurants and movie theaters will also now close again in 19 Californian counties for at least three weeks.
Today, a daily death toll in this state like we haven't seen since April.
NEWSOM: Do not take your guard down. Please do not believe those that somehow want to manipulate the reality.
WATT: And record numbers now hospitalized in Arizona.
MAYOR JOHN GILES (R-AZ), MESA: I'm not sure what more we can do, with -- short of a total shutdown.
WATT: Record high hospitalizations also in Texas and long lines to be tested.
MAYOR STEVE ADLER (D-TX) AUSTIN: While we opened in phases, we went from one phase to the next phase to the next phase too quickly, so we weren't able to see the data.
WATT: He is echoing Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the most respected voices on this virus, but no longer respected by all.
LT. GOV. DAN PATRICK (R-TX): He doesn't know what he's talking about. We haven't skipped over anything. The only thing I'm skipping over is listening to him.
WATT: Thirty-seven states are seeing their case counts climb, at least 22 of them now pausing or rolling back reopening.
New York City was due to open indoor dining Monday. Not anymore. And a warning from the governor for the complacent and the scofflaws.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): We're back to the mountain. That is what is going to happen. And that is an inarguable fact.
WATT: And a new warning from the federal official in charge of testing. Those under 35 are driving outbreaks right now and testing alone will not be enough to stop them.
ADM. BRETT GIROIR, U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Testing is critical, but we cannot test our way out of the current outbreaks. We must be disciplined about our own personal behavior, especially around the July 4 holiday and especially among the young adults.
WATT: A vaccine would, of course, be the game-changer. Some promising data from Pfizer today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we have an effective vaccine that is proven on January 1, this thing does not end January 2. It's going to be another six months, nine months, could be a year before we get it distributed in enough shoulders to make a meaningful difference.
WATT: Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
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NEWTON: Joining me now from San Francisco, Dr. Larry Brilliant, an epidemiologist and CNN medical analyst.
I've got to say, sometimes when we hear the raw data, 50,000 new cases, what does that even mean?
And I feel like it fails to really put this crisis in perspective. So help us.
What does a record setting day like this mean in this country?
DR. LARRY BRILLIANT, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Hello, Paula. Well, it's a very sad day and it means that there are more record setting days coming and it's a record that no one would want to have. But it's not just 50,000 cases.
Today, we reached 980 or 990 deaths, nearly 1,000 deaths.
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BRILLIANT: What I think it means is that some of the states opened early before Memorial Day, just as the president was saying then he thought that the disease would disappear magically. They opened too early and then we had Memorial Day.
We had perhaps 100 million people go out and with the exuberance of and the license to go out, many were infected. And now a month later, you are seeing the effect of that premature exuberance.
You are seeing the 50,000 cases a day and nearly 1,000 deaths. I'm afraid that Dr. Fauci is right, as he said we are on our way to 100,000 cases a day. It's hard to understand how we might not get there.
NEWTON: Yes, it's called exponential growth and it's dire really for all Americans.
Can Americans turn this around without drastic shutdowns?
Is it enough for people to wear masks, to social distance, to stay home except for the essentials? Can that work? Or do you fear that it's too late for that?
BRILLIANT: I think it's going to take everything. It's going to take three major classes of activity.
First, yes, I think we are going to have to shut down those places that create a person to person transmission opportunity -- the bars, the hairdressers, the restaurants where you pull your mask down and you're having a delightful glass of wine with someone.
Those places must be closed down because they are the source of major transmission. But it's not enough. Every other place, we have to wear masks, we have to social distance, wash your hands as often as we can.
Even that's not enough. We have to go back to basic epidemiology, find every case, do contact tracing, do testing, find those who are contacts who might have the disease, treat them. Those who might be incubating the disease, quarantine them.
If we do that, we could quarantine about 1 percent or 2 percent of the population, leave the rest of the population free except for those highly dangerous activities. We have to do all in and we have to do it epidemiologically, not on the basis of a hope or a wish or a dream.
NEWTON: There has certainly not been the deference to science that you need. Even those who know the data and the science in terms of the prescription you are giving them, there hasn't been a good track record in the last few weeks, even about the contact tracing.
Do you think places like the CDC can still mobilize or mobilize within the states to try and get done exactly what you've indicated, to track every case?
BRILLIANT: CDC has some of the finest epidemiologists, virologists and scientists in the world. It's not a question of mobilizing CDC. It's a question of letting them loose. They're like a bunch of -- there are great race horses wanting to get out there but they are being suppressed.
And they are being suppressed because the data that they have and the information that they have and the truth that they have is inconvenient. We need to have CDC back again. We need to have WHO fully funded.
America needs to be part of the global effort, which has been so successful in parts of Europe. We need to be humble and learn from what happened in South Korea and New Zealand, Taiwan. There are so many places that we can learn from if we would be humble and we understand we have got a big problem.
NEWTON: I still hear a lot of optimism in your voice, which is good.
What are you going to look for in the coming days?
BRILLIANT: I'm going to be looking to see what happens on the 4th of July. I'm afraid -- I've been optimistic so far -- I'm afraid I could be pessimistic if the 4th of July turns out to be pretty putting kerosene on the fire that's already raging.
We are hearing many good-sounding warnings from even the Southern states, warning people, this 4th of July can't be like ordinary 4ths of July. Let's see what happens. Right now, if the 4th of July is like Memorial Day and we have 100 million people out, engaging in contact, that spreads the virus, by the time we get to the third of the American summer holidays, Labor Day, I'm afraid Dr. Fauci's estimates would be correct.
NEWTON: And it might be trite but true. Patriotic thing to do on July 4th, maybe just to stay home. Dr. Larry Brilliant for us in San Francisco, thank you so much.
BRILLIANT: Thank you, Paula. Thank you for having me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Multiple countries are condemning China for imposing a national security law in Hong Kong. Beijing says the move will strengthen the one country, two systems policy with the city. But the U.S. and the U.K. say the move will have the opposite effect.
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MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States is deeply concerned about the law's sweeping provisions and the safety of everyone living in the territory, including Americans.
Article 38 of the new law also purports to apply to offenses committed outside of Hong Kong by nonresidents of Hong Kong. This likely includes Americans.
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POMPEO: This is outrageous and an affront to all nations.
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BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: It violates Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and is in direct conflict with Hong Kong basic law.
The law also threatens the freedoms and rights protected by the joint declaration. We made clear, Mr. Speaker, that if China continued down this path, we would reintroduce a new route for those with British national overseas status to enter the U.K.
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NEWTON: China has responded to the remarks you just heard there from British prime minister, saying the U.K. has no jurisdiction over Hong Kong and defended the passage of the security legislation.
Now on Wednesday, Hong Kong police clashed with protesters who were marching against the law. About 370 people were arrested, at least 10 were suspected of violating the new law.
The legislation has broadened Beijing's power to investigate and punish alleged crimes in Hong Kong, including secession, subversion and what China considers terrorism. CNN's Ivan Watson explains how the move could affect the city's civil freedoms.
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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: July 1st, 2020, may be the day Hong Kong's autonomous bubble finally burst. A controversial new law dramatically expanding the Chinese central government's powers in Hong Kong was imposed under cover of darkness.
As riot police began fanning out across the city center, a national security law written behind closed doors in Beijing was only made public at 11:00 pm Tuesday, the moment that the law went into force. The timing hardly a coincidence. Because hours later, officials began celebrating the 23rd anniversary of the handover from British to Chinese rule.
According to international treaties, Hong Kong was supposed to enjoy relative autonomy from Communist-ruled China until the year 2047. But the new law threatens critics of the Chinese government with possible life imprisonment.
At a press conference Wednesday, Hong Kong's top officials argued that the law would be good for the city's long-term stability.
WATSON: You have repeatedly said that it will be a tiny minority of people who could be prosecuted and targeted by this law.
Are you anticipating dozens of people being prosecuted?
Hundreds, thousands?
CARRIE LAM, HONG KONG CHIEF EXECUTIVE: I would rather not to be able -- not to arrest or prosecute anybody if everybody abides by the law. The purpose of this piece of legislation is not just to punish but also to deter, to deter people from committing such serious offenses as cessation (sic), subverting the state power, terrorist activities.
For years, Hong Kong offered a split screen commemoration of the July 1st handover anniversary. Government displays of patriotism, while not far away of a pro democracy March often critical of Beijing.
But after a million man march last year, some protesters broke into the city's Legislative Council building, trashing it. The city then descended into months of increasingly violent confrontations. This year, police banned the annual protest march before it even began and immediately started arresting demonstrators for violating the national security law.
This new national security law arguably formalizes changes that have already been taking place in Hong Kong over the last year. I mean, look at the fortifications around the government's headquarters, the riot police presence, the wire mesh defending the pedestrian overpasses.
All of these are new measures responding to a portion of the population that's deeply unhappy with its own government.
The Chinese government power play has had an immediate chilling effect, with some opposition activists disbanding their political party offices this week.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably in the future we may never see a million people on the street again. Not because we satisfied the government. But just because we are now living in fear.
WATSON: Beijing's message is unmistakable. Hong Kong's cultural protests will no longer be tolerated -- Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: And for more on this now, we are joined by CNN's Will Ripley in Hong Kong.
Will, you really, you know, saw all this unfold in real time moments after the law came into force.
What kind of an effect does this have in Hong Kong right now?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we saw yesterday that the number of people who were willing to risk prosecution under the national security law is dramatically lower than what we saw on July 1st of last year, when it was standing room only in Causeway Bay.
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RIPLEY: That did not stop Hong Kong police from sweeping across the city and quelling any dissent with brute force before it could even begin. That's why we have seen so many arrests. You are talking about 370 arrests, including a 15 year old girl, who now faces potentially prison time for waving a banner, a Hong Kong independence banner.
I had an opportunity a short time ago to sit down with the only Hong Kong delegate of the National People's Congress standing committee. Out of 170 people, he was the only one in the room when they voted unanimously to approve this bill. I wanted to start by asking him about how he thinks everything went on the first day that the law was in effect.
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TAM YIU-CHUNG, STANDING COMMITTEE MEMBER, NATIONAL PEOPLE'S CONGRESS (through translator): It might be because some people intentionally challenge the law, also, it might be because they did not understand the content of the law.
RIPLEY: How is a 15-year-old girl in possession of a Hong Kong independence banner or anyone for that matter, a threat to the national security of China, simply for possessing such a banner? TAM (through translator): We feel very sad that some youths and teenagers have violated the law. We really don't want to see such cases, but unfortunately, in the last year, many teenagers and youth violated the law.
RIPLEY: But this law is quite vague in terms of the definition of these crimes, and again we can look at the first round of arrests. These are people who are in possession of signs and banners. Those kinds of things would be allowed in the U.S. under freedom of speech.
TAM (through translator): Actually, the police would not make charges for just based on a single speech. It must be based on many other factors, such as the displayed banners or specific speeches made. These are only primary evidence, and police will need to continue to investigate for evidence to assess if there might be certain organizations any planning, or any other actions.
RIPLEY: But somebody transiting through Hong Kong at the international airport can theoretically be arrested under this law?
TAM (through translator): I cannot foresee that such a situation may arise, rather, we can see a case where a Chinese national was detained when they transmitted through Canada. Right now, I cannot see that in Hong Kong unless someone intentionally violates the law.
RIPLEY: Hong Kong lawmakers have been told that this law is not retroactive. Does that mean that whatever people posted before July 1st 2020 would not be used as evidence against them?
TAM (through translator): There is no retrospective period stipulated in the law. I just want to say, after the law comes into effect, if you continue to violate it, of course you will be prosecuted, but all the actions that you previously did might also be used as evidence.
RIPLEY: I would like you to respond to this quote from the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Beijing's paranoia and fear of its own people's aspirations have led it to eviscerate the very foundation of the territory success, turning one country to systems into one country, one system.
TAM (through translator): If China really wants to impose one country, one system, it doesn't have to do so much work. The reason why we have a law to protect national safety now is because we want to continue one country, two systems. If the safety of one country is under threat, without one country, how can there can be two systems?
It is easy to impose one country, one system but China staunchly guarantees one country, two systems.
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RIPLEY: I asked him about the fact that, just because you impose a law, it doesn't erase the anger out there on the streets. And one thing that he didn't acknowledge really is a failure from the Chinese perspective to educate young people in Hong Kong about the system in China. He thinks a lot of these protests have been fueled -- well, they
believe it was a foreign plot in part, which is why they've instituted a national security law and the United States and Taiwan and others are kind of influencing these young people.
But he says they are easily influenced because they're not getting the proper education. So I pushed him on whether proper education from the Chinese perspective means that now the mainland will also start to monitor and, you know, regulate what is being taught to students in Hong Kong, whether it be universities or schools and whether professors who teach things that go against the mainland ideology could also face charges.
He didn't say yes but he also didn't say no. Again, these are the early stages. We are going to have to watch very closely to see exactly how far this goes in terms of enforcement here in Hong Kong.
NEWTON: And Will, such an insightful interview. He basically was saying, you need to self censor yourself or you could end up in prison. He didn't back away from saying that might happen, even to a 15 year old girl. Will Ripley, as always, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Now Russia is releasing preliminary results from its controversial vote and they are far from shocking. What it means for Vladimir Putin and why his U.S. counterpart could be boosting his popularity.
More than $1 billion in illicit drugs made and shipped by ISIS. We will show you the big intercept Italian police have just made and why they say the timing of it may have a lot to do with coronavirus.
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NEWTON: A controversial vote with an unsurprising outcome; preliminary results show Russians back changes to the constitution that could keep Vladimir Putin in power for at least another 16 years.
Russia's central elections commission says, with half the ballots counted, almost three- quarters of voters have now approved those amendments. Protesters are calling the vote rigged and illegitimate. A monitoring group says dozens were detained and opposition leader Alexei Navalny had this to say.
"There is also just announced our fake and huge lie. This has nothing to do with the opinion of Russian citizens. Putin lost this vote before it began. After all, he refused to hold a real referendum in accordance with all the rules and the observers present. Nonetheless, the takeaway from this vote is clear: President Putin isn't going anywhere. And in a weird way, President Trump may at least partly be responsible. Matthew Chance has more. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: With Putin tightening his grip on the Kremlin, he could point to the U.S. president as one reason for his enduring upheaval.
"I would elect him for another 10 years," says Antonina (ph), who is voting for constitutional changes that could keep Putin in power until 2023.
When Trump won in 2016, they celebrated in Russia. Finally, the U.S. leader critical of NATO in the E.U., where they believed saw the world their way. Putin's way.
Still, a few expected him to back the Russian president over his own intelligence agencies on allegations of U.S. election meddling, even Putin looked uncomfortable with the 2018 Helsinki summit, intervening to insist President Trump had disagreed with them on something.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): President Trump's stance on Crimea is well known and he sticks to it. We have a different point of view.
CHANCE: But apparent bows to Kremlin interest didn't end. In 2019, President Trump announced a sudden pull out of U.S. forces from Syria, abandoning Kurdish allies, allowing Russian forces to take over deserted U.S. bases, filling the vacuum and a long-standing Kremlin goal.
U.S. officials later clarified some forces would stay to secure the oil. But in other conflicts like Ukraine, Trump also played well to the Russian audience. Threats to suspend vital military aid, fueled bitter impeachment hearings in Washington, it was music to the Kremlin's ears as their forces-backed rebels in the countries.
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Now, as Russians look set to endorse Putin for potentially another 16 years, Trump's apparent soft spot for the Kremlin's strongman amid allegations of Russian bounties to kill U.S. troops is being tested again -- Matthew Chance, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: The White House has focused on explaining why they say President Trump was not briefed on intelligence about Russia offering bounties to the Taliban to kill U.S. and coalition troops.
Now we are getting more detail on the substance of the intelligence. "The New York Times" reports an Afghan drug smuggler now believed to be in Russia, his name is a key middleman between the Russian spy agency, the GRU, and Taliban militants.
Raids in one of his homes turned up about $0.5 million in cash. Afghan officials told "The Times" as much as $100,000 was offered for each U.S. or coalition service member killed. In just a few hours now, on Capitol Hill, the so-called Gang of Eight
lawmakers from the House and Senate Intelligence Committees are set to be briefed on the matter.
To Israel now, where a plan to annex parts of the West Bank may be on pause for the moment. But that didn't stop thousands of people from protesting Wednesday in Gaza. Many waved Palestinian flags and signs, condemning the U.S. president.
Donald Trump's administration has been working with the Israeli government on the annexation plan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls it "extending Israeli sovereignty to Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley."
Italy's financial police say they have seized a 14-ton shipment of ISIS-made amphetamines. The 84 million Syrian-made pills have a street value of more than $1.1 billion. As Sam Kiley reports from Abu Dhabi, the timing may have a lot to do with coronavirus.
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SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amphetamine pills, millions of them, and worth, Italian police say, just over $1 billion , seized in Salerno. Fourteen tons of Captagon, a notorious drug that's been blamed for fueling violence in Middle Eastern wars and funding terrorism.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The amount of money that this kind of delivery could produce in European market is over $1 billion. So it's very important for the terrorist organization to get this money to finance terrorist attacks.
KILEY (voice-over): The so-called Islamic State once earned millions every day from taxing people under its control. Now largely defeated in a multinational campaign, it may be turning elsewhere for maximum profit.
Italian police say they believe the terror group that's also known as ISIL or daish is trying to exploit a drug shortage in Europe caused by three months of lockdown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is actually a huge amount of drugs, seized like never before, for us and maybe for anybody else. And we do believe that we can call it the drug of the ISIL and daish.
KILEY: Captagon has been found in ISIS hideouts and is known to have been widely used by fighters across the Middle East. Other recent seizures of the drug have traced its origins to Lebanon and to Syrian government controlled held territory, the no go areas for ISIS
But the drug trade knows no borders. It ignores frontlines when there are millions to be made. And Italy's police now believe that ISIS wants to bleed European drug users of money to fund its principal export: terror -- Sam Kiley, CNN, Abu Dhabi. (END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: With coronavirus surging in the United States ahead of the July 4th holiday, California is again being forced to order temporary business closures. Look at what went wrong there, next.
Plus --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Had I come out of my vehicle and been approached by the police officer and I was white, I probably would not have been treated that way.
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NEWTON: And a survey says ethnic minorities were disproportionately fined during Britain's coronavirus lockdown. We'll take a look at one case.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: More than 50,000 Americans were diagnosed with COVID-19 on Wednesday alone, the highest one-day total by far. And U.S. health experts fear the upcoming July 4th holiday will be a "perfect storm for fanning the pandemic."
Arizona, California, Texas, Tennessee, and North Carolina, all reported record new cases in the last 24 hours. One infectious disease specialist described the surging numbers as apocalyptic. Nearly two dozen states have been forced to pause or rollback reopening plans.
But there's no sense of the crisis at the Trump White House. The President plans to attend a holiday event on Friday at Mount Rushmore without the benefit of social distancing. And Mr. Trump says he still thinks the virus will "sort of just disappear."
While many U.S. states have paused their reopening plans, California is moving to shut down again. The mayor of Los Angeles is telling his city to assume everyone is infectious. CNN's Kyung Lah has the latest.
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KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: To understand why California is losing the battle against COVID-19, meet Manhattan Beach. At restaurants, partitions are up, tables sit empty for social distancing. You talk to the residents.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, I don't want to swear too loudly but I want to go to the beach. It sucks. I mean, this is not the same situation we're dealing with where people from all over the world partying on a beach in Miami.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't agree with being told that we can't do anything, especially on a holiday that this country is supposed to be celebrating independence. LAH: Call it COVID exhaustion, and it's showing up in the numbers.
After early signs of success controlling the outbreak, California is now bending the wrong way with little sign of slowing.
JEFF BYRON, MANAGER, THE KETTLE RESTAURANT: I suspect that the plenty of people walking around, not socially distancing themselves, not wearing their masks. We see it quite a bit.
LAH: Los Angeles County alone has more than 100,000 COVID-19 cases. That's higher than all of these states in the U.S., with the exception of the top seven. Governor Gavin Newsom ordered indoor restaurants, movie theaters, and museums closed in 19 counties and warned all residents to not gather in large groups on the Fourth of July.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): You have 40 million people in the state of California and a 40 million people turn their back on these guidelines and common sense. That is not something we can enforce.
ROBERT WACHTER, UCSF CHAIR, DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE: I'm pretty gloomy and a little bit angry and sad.
LAH: Despite how Dr. Robert Wachter feels watching California slide backwards, he does credit governor Newsome for shutting the state down early. Most of the governors and state seeing a resurgence of COVID cases are Republicans. California is an exception and that the public health lesson here says Wachter.
WACHTER: I think the problem here is less about governance and more about human nature. And if enough of them say, all right, the rules are beginning to loosen up and I am just going to get together with friends and I'm going to stay a couple of feet apart, then it really doesn't matter what the rules are. The virus says I see an opportunity and I'm going to pass.
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LAH: Another big test this weekend, as the Fourth of July looms in the Golden State. Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Some of the country's hit hardest by the Coronavirus in Latin America are seeing their death toll soar even further now. In Brazil, the virus has now killed more than 60,000 people, and Mexico now has the sixth-highest number of deaths in the world just over 28,000. Yet, some countries including Mexico, are moving forward with easing their restrictions. CNN Matt Rivers has more from Mexico City.
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MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, two new milestones for the countries in Latin America that have reported the most deaths as a result of this outbreak so far. Let's start in Brazil where cases continued to rise in an alarming rate. And it was Wednesday that health officials there reported more than 1,000 newly confirmed deaths as a result of this virus. That means the overall death toll in Brazil is now more than 60,000 for the first time.
Meanwhile, yet another governor in Brazil has contracted this virus. That means that eight of the 27 governors throughout Brazil have now contracted this Coronavirus. Meanwhile, here in Mexico and more specifically here in Mexico City, we watched on Wednesday at certain businesses like restaurants, like hotels were allowed to reopen with limited capacity for the first time in months.
Other businesses throughout this week, places like hair salons and markets here in Mexico City will also be allowed to reopen in the coming days. This as Mexico reported nearly 750 additional deaths on Wednesday evening. That pushes the overall death toll here to more than 28,500 for the first time and that means that Mexico's death toll is now higher than Spain's. Matt Rivers CNN, Mexico City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: To Britain now. And startling survey shows that if you are Black, Asian or any kind of ethnic minority, you were 54 percent more likely to be fined under lockdown rules than if you were white. That's according to the civil rights group Liberty. CNN's Nada Bashir shows us one of those cases.
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NADA BASHIR, CNN PRODUCER: Arrested for doing his job. Youth worker Kusai Rahal was handcuffed after coming to the aid of a distressed black teenager stopped by police. His crime, officer say Kusai breached lockdown regulations. He believes racial profiling is to blame.
KUSAI RAHAL, HEAD OF COMMUNITY SUPPORT, 4FRONT PROJECT: How do I come out of my vehicle and I've been approached by the police officers and I was white, I probably would not have been treated in that way.
BASHIR: Based at one of the capital's largest social housing estates, Kusai works to support underprivileged teens. The vast majority he tells me come from black and ethnic minority communities. Despite identifying himself as a key worker, which would have allowed him to be out during the lockdown, officers issued him with a penalty.
With police now refusing to revoke the fine, Kusai plans to take legal action.
RAHAL: We need to show there is a way for us to try and fight these cases. And even if we might not be able to seek for justice, it also serves as a point for our members to feel empowered to fight for their rights and fight for justice.
BASHIR: Focus say challenging the police is a matter of principle. The incident occurred on the same day that the Prime Minister's senior adviser Dominic Cummings took a controversial trip with his quarantining family to Barnard Castle, more than 200 miles away from his London home. No regrets on his part and unlike Kusai, no penalty.
This case coincides with a growing anti-racism campaign here in the U.K. The Black Lives Matter movement forcing authorities to confront allegations of systemic racism. A recent study by civil rights group Liberty has found that people of color were 54 percent more likely to be fined and the government locked down regulations. For some experts, this doesn't come as a surprise.
BEN BOWLING, PROFESSOR OF CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE, KING'S COLLEGE LONDON: On top of a terrible global pandemic, we're seeing disproportionate and discriminatory policing, affecting communities of color in Britain. And that, in my opinion, is not just a tragedy, it's a public scandal.
BASHIR: Many campaigners have accused the British police of being institutionally racist.
BOWLING: There are practices, everyday practices that have a disproportionate impact on Black and Asian communities, which amounts to institutional racism.
BASHIR: And there's mounting pressure on the British police to address this issue, giving evidence to Parliament's policing and race inquiry. The chair of the National Police Chief council conceded that more work needs to be done.
MARTIN HEWIT, CHAIR, NATIONAL POLICE CHIEFS' COUNCIL: And we have improved in many ways. But are we where we need to be now? No.
BASHIR: With further anti-racism protests set to take place in the coming weeks, the call for greater police accountability is only getting louder. Nada Bashir, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:40:08]
NEWTON: The pace of recovery for the travel industry is still far from certain. However, some countries are beginning to welcome back tourists and inject some much-needed cash into their economies. Now, dozens of flights arrived in Greece Wednesday with vacationers flocking to the country's popular Island resorts. Now, Wednesday also marked the reopening of Spain and Portugal's joint border after a three-month closure.
Egypt also welcome back tourists on Wednesday. For the first time since March, the country its reopened its major tourism attractions including of course, the famed pyramids. And finally, the United Arab Emirates is planning to allow tourists back in Dubai from next week onwards.
All of that one encouraging sign for the economies there, one more though for the U.S. economy. The jobs report comes with some perspective on unemployment. We'll have the preview on those numbers up ahead.
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NEWTON: The White House Press Secretary is defending President Trump after he called Black Lives Matter a symbol of hate. She claims he was referring to the organization, not the cause. And here's what the President tweeted.
"New York City is cutting the police budget by $1 billion, and yet the mayor is going to paint a big expensive yellow Black Lives Matter sign on Fifth Avenue denigrating this luxury Avenue. Maybe our great police who have been neutralized and scorn by a mayor who hates and disrespects them won't let this symbol of hate be affixed to New York's greatest street."
The mayor of New York meantime has a plan to paint the words Black Lives Matter outside of Trump Tower will start in the coming days.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has agreed to meet the organizers of an expanding advertiser boycott next week. Reuters reports other Facebook executives held last-minute meetings with advertisers but failed to stop the boycott which began Wednesday. Dozens of companies have pulled their ads for this month criticizing the platform for not blocking hate speech and misinformation. Abby Phillips has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABBY PHILLIPS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The world's largest social media company now under unprecedented pressure from its advertisers to do more to stop hate speech online. Dozens of companies pausing advertising on Facebook in protest. The debate touching the highest office in the land with Facebook coming under fire for leading up these recent posts where President Trump appeared to threaten looters with shooting and spread false claims and misinformation about mail-in voting.
[02:45:08]
RASHAD ROBINSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COLOR OF CHANGE: As we watched Donald Trump, I think, become more and more volatile with his posts, the fact that these companies have sat on their hands and allowed it means that they are complicit.
PHILLIPS: Rashad Robinson of Color of Changed, one of the civil rights groups that have organized the Stop Hate for Profit boycott says, for businesses, the choice is simple.
ROBINSON: Do you want your ads showing up next to white nationalist organizations? Do you feel comfortable having your ads next to theirs while you're also putting on those same platforms' messages about Black Lives Matter?
PHILLIPS: Civil rights advocates are pushing Facebook to do more including removing content and groups that promote hate and disinformation, allowing outside audits of its content and advertising policy and giving advertisers refunds if their ads run alongside content that was removed because it violated the company's policies.
With more than 98 percent of all of Facebook's revenue coming from advertising, the pressure on Facebook's bottom line is only growing. NICK CLEGG, V.P. GLOBAL AFFAIRS AND COMMUNICATIONS, FACEBOOK:
Facebook, we have absolutely no incentive to tolerate hate speech. We don't like it. Our users don't like it. Advertisers understandably don't like it.
PHILLIPS: Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg who's been criticized for appearing to be too close to President Trump and his campaign saying publicly that the company will put in place new policies to flag, label, and even remove content that violates its rules, including from the President.
MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, FACEBOOK: If we determine the content may lead to violence or deprive people of their right to vote, we're going to take that content down no matter who says it. And similarly, there are no exceptions for politicians.
PHILLIPS: Activists say Facebook is acting out of fear, worried that President Trump will attempt to regulate social media companies he claims are targeting conservatives online.
ROBERTSON: At every turn, Mark Zuckerberg is worried about what Donald Trump will think.
PHILLIPS: Abby Phillips, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now, somewhat of a bright spot for the U.S. economy during this pandemic. The government will release its jobs report for June in just a few hours. Now, experts are predicting that three million jobs were added. Now, that would be a new record pushing unemployment down to a still very high 12.3 percent.
We want to bring in CNN's John Defterios in Abu Dhabi here for a little bit of perspective. Yes, a record, no doubt, and yet it wouldn't seem that this virus is done with the economy so long as it continues to really inspire those record-breaking virus numbers.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, you know, I think, Paula, we're in this in between period that stubbornly high unemployment but May and June are kind of framed as a reset for the economy. The real question, I think, and the challenges is how long it lasts. As you noted here, if we add three million jobs over the month of June, it brings us to above 12 percent.
12 percent is well above the normal average, usually four times. In fact, we have to remember where we came from. In February, we were at a 50-year low at 3.5 percent, and something that Donald Trump was touting as phenomenal and we continue to last, and then we got hit with this pandemic, so this is the real challenge.
Also, there's a real chance that this could remain in the double digits throughout the second half of the year, after having 50,000 cases, which is a record in the United States on the pandemic. And now this number, total number of better than 2.68 million is alarming and it will filter back into the economy. So, I say may in June, period of rebuilding, can it last? That's a
huge question mark. And I think that's going to be the real challenge. Even Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve said there's another category altogether because of the situation in the service sector. Minorities are being particularly hard hit, Black Americans, Latinos as well, because of the flexible labor laws, they get laid off in a hurry, and they have no safety net underneath them. And that's why it's particularly tough at this particular time.
NEWTON: Yes. All eyes on Congress to see if they'll do something about that. Now, at the same time, we have weekly jobless claims coming out. They are dropping every week. But do they remain historically high?
DEFTERIOS: Yes. And we can look at the expectations here, Paula. But first and foremost, why do we pay attention to this because it's the most current snapshot we have of the economy, and that's why every Thursday, there's Particular attention on this particular number.
So we're looking at an expectation of 1.4 million. Again, that is down. But historically, you see moves in the jobless claims between two to 300,000 a week, not 1.4. We peaked at 6.9 at the end of March and reported in April, and it's been a staircase lowered so that is the good news here.
But if you look at the total claims of better than 47 million, we're probably going to cross over into 50 million next month. That's kind of the reality and probably you and I probably will not see in our generation ever again. You talked about Congress working on a package. We should see something by the end of July and more focused on the jobs market and those that are unemployed.
[02:50:19]
NEWTON: Yes. So stark just seeing the numbers there on the screen like that, John. I mean, gosh, it's changed so much in the economy.
DEFTERIOS: I know.
NEWTON: John Defterios for us in Abu Dhabi, thanks so much. Now, the government of Botswana is trying to figure out why more than 360 elephants have died in just the past three months. Experts are testing samples collected from the animals, hoping to pinpoint the mysterious ailment. Many of the bodies were found clustered around natural water holes, and conservationists say elephants who were living have been seen in those areas. Even those animals appeared physically weak.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. 102-year-old New Hampshire woman who beat Coronavirus, you got to see this. Wait till you hear the odds they gave her of surviving the flu in 1918.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: In the U.S., officials have been warning that more young people are testing positive for COVID-19 especially across the south. But instead of just talking numbers, we really wanted to put a human face on this. Earlier, I spoke with 23-year-old Peyton Chesser from Texas who has just recovered from the virus? Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PEYTON CHESSER, DIAGNOSED WITH COVID-19: It was very stressful to think that I have done something wrong and that the moral stigma that's attached to getting a Coronavirus diagnosis is very strong and it's very apparent. And being transparent with my own experience as far as when I got diagnosed and ever since my recovery and just tracking everything and being a resource to other people of my age.
A lot of people have reached out and told me that they have also tested positive but that they feel like they can't be as transparent because of the stigma that's kind of attached to getting a positive test. It's kind of like the general motive that if you get it, you have done something wrong. Or if you get it because you went to one non-essential business, then you just deserve it. And it's very aggressive to say that you've been diagnosed with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Now, Chesser thinks she may have caught the virus while visiting the grocery store or her gym after it reopened. She also says that restrictions were lifted far too early and there was a lot of mixed messaging.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHESSER: I definitely feel frustrated that we're hearing such different information from state, even more local, federal. We're hearing different things. We're constantly being told this is OK to do. A couple days later, we're being told it's not OK to do and you are a bad person for doing it. And so, it is really frustrating. It's hard to know what is appropriate and what's the right thing to do when you hear all sorts of conflicting information from people, you're supposed to be able to rely on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: We are so happy she is fully recovered. Now, I want to introduce you to a 102, 102-year-old New Hampshire woman who surely can take the title of survivor. She beat the 1918 influenza pandemic, she had it, cancer, and yes, she's now beaten the Coronavirus. She tells our Gary Tuchman she always feels lucky.
[02:55:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We headed to New Hampshire to meet this remarkable woman who just recovered from the Coronavirus. Do you feel lucky today?
GERRI SCHAPPALS, COVID-19 SURVIVOR: I always feel lucky. I never had any real problem with my life. Everything seemed to fall into place.
TUCHMAN: An incredible attitude considering all that has happened in the life of 102-year-old Gerri Schappals. Julia Schappals was her daughter. When her mother was a baby, a little over 101 years ago --
JULIA SCHAPPALS, DAUGHTER OF GERRI SCHAPPALS: She had the what we call the Spanish flu, which was a huge pandemic during the First World War.
TUCHMAN: That's right. Gerri Schappals' family says she survived the influenza pandemic in the early 20th century, and the Coronavirus in the early 21st century. Back in 1918, little Gerri and her mother were both seriously ill.
J. SCHAPPALS: And the doctor told her father, they're both going to die. Prepare yourself. But that's my medical opinion.
TUCHMAN: But daughter and mother survived. Gerri went to college, got a bachelor's and master's, became a teacher, and got married right after World War II. Her husband died almost four decades ago. But they had two children, and there are now three grandchildren, and six greatgrandchildren. After Gerri retired, she had breast cancer and colon cancer, and she beat both.
Can I call you Gerri?
G. SCHAPPALS: Delighted.
TUCHMAN: It's delightful to meet you.
G. SCHAPPALS: Thank you.
TUCHMAN: How are you feeling?
G. SCHAPPALS: Wonderful.
TUCHMAN: You're an amazing woman.
G. SCHAPPALS: Why?
TUCHMAN: I'm going to tell you why. You're modest, but you had Coronavirus, and 101 years ago, you had Spanish flu. And you survived it twice. You're an amazing woman.
G. SCHAPPALS: I am.
TUCHMAN: Gerri is a resident of the senior living community in Nashua for several years now.
J. SCHAPPALS: Hey, mom.
TUCHMAN: On this day, her daughter came to pay a visit. Social distancing and a masks still required.
J. SCHAPPALS: How are you doing?
G. SCHAPPALS: Do you have to keep the mask on?
J. SCHAPPALS: Yes, we have to keep the mask on. Yes. Do you recognize the top? You should. I stole it from you. Don't think you're getting it back. TUCHMAN: The employees of her senior community were upset and saddened when Gerri tested positive for the Coronavirus. But when they told her the diagnosis --
LISA VALCOURT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HUNTINGTON AT NASHUA: She had an incredible attitude. And she, you know, took every day and said, I guess I'm sick. They're told me I'm sick, but I'm not sick.
TUCHMAN: But like the Spanish flu and the two bouts of cancer, 102- year-old Gerri Schappals managed to fend off the Coronavirus as well.
Thank you for letting us meet you. Thank you.
G. SCHAPPALS: My pleasure.
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN Nashua, New Hampshire.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Well, how redeeming was that? We all feel so good now. Thanks for watching. I'm Paula Newton. The news continues after a short break.
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