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U.S. President Holds Celebration Despite Coronavirus Surge; Mexico Now Reporting More COVID-19 Cases Than Italy; Hollywood's COVID-19 Dilemma. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired July 04, 2020 - 01:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN NEWSROOM: Hi, welcome to all those joining from all around the world. You're watching CNN Newsroom, I'm Robyn Curnow

So, ahead this hour --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Our deepest thanks to our wonderful veterans, law enforcement, first responders and doctors, nurses and scientists working tirelessly to kill the virus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: U.S. President Trump headlining a holiday event in South Dakota where there's with no social distancing and masks are optional. And it also comes as coronavirus surges across the U.S.

Plus, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., top fundraiser for the Trump campaign, has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Also, how the pandemic could mean an end to summer big screen blockbuster.

Great to have you along, thanks for joining me.

So, the U.S. president, Donald Trump, celebrated Independence Day in the shadow of iconic Mt. Rushmore. But the coronavirus pandemic is casting a far greater shadow over the holiday and the nation. The U.S. has seen more than 50,000 new cases for the third consecutive day and health officials have repeatedly warned that people should avoid crowds and wear masks in public. But the Mt. Rushmore event went ahead regardless without social distancing and with masks optional.

Mr. Trump used some of his 40 minutes on the stage to rail against what he called a far left cultural revolution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It is time to plant our flag and to protect the greatest of this nation for citizens of every race and every city and every part of this glorious land. For the sake of our honor, for the sake of our children, for the sake of our union, we must protect and preserve our history, our heritage and our great heroes.

Here tonight before the eyes of our forefathers, Americans declare again as we did 244 years ago that we will not be tyrannized, we will not be demeaned and we will not be intimidated by bad, evil people. It will not happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Well, Mr. Trump mentioned the pandemic only once during his speech, thanking people who are working to fight it.

Joe Jones has more details from Mt. Rushmore. Joe?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: This visit by the president to South Dakota featured a fireworks display, the first fireworks display over historic Mt. Rushmore in 11 years. It also featured music as well as military flyovers and a speech by the president himself.

Now, you might have expected the president to talk extensively about coronavirus, which is ravaging the United States right now. He only mentioned it once at very beginning of the speech and never came back to it. But one of the themes he chose to hit hardest in his speech was what the president sees as attacks on historic statues all over the country by people who see them as symbols of oppression.

The president said he's not going to let the statues be destroyed. He even said he wants to create some type of garden of heroes with statues in the United States. But he's not going to let Americans destroy the statues that now exist. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Those who seek to erase our heritage want Americans to forget our pride and our great dignity so that we can no longer understand ourselves or America's destiny.

They would tear down the beliefs, culture and identity that have made America the most vibrant and tolerant society in the history of earth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: The president will be back in Washington, D.C., on Saturday for yet another celebration of the July 4th holiday, though it will be scaled down compared to the celebration he had there this time last year.

Traveling with the president in Keystone, South Dakota, I'm Joe Johns, CNN.

CURNOW: And just a short time ago, learned that the virus has breached the president's inner circle, one very close to the Trump family.

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Kimberly Guilfoyle has tested positive for the coronavirus. She's a top campaign official and Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend.

Now, the Trump campaign says she is asymptomatic and is now isolated and doing well.

Jeremy Diamond has all the details. Jeremy?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Top Trump campaign official Kimberly Guilfoyle has tested positive for coronavirus. Kimberly Guilfoyle is the National Chair of Trump Victory Finance Committee 2020 and she's also the president's son, Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend. A source familiar with the matter in the campaign for us confirming to CNN on Friday night that Kimberly Guilfoyle was tested positive before she was slated to attend President Trump's event at Mt. Rushmore on Friday night.

The sources saying that Kimberly Guilfoyle was not with the president, had not been with the president in recent days, and that Donald Trump Jr. has so far tested negative for coronavirus.

The news was first reported by The New York Times but it's just latest individual in proximity to the president, including additional staff who have also tested positive, campaign staff who have tested positive in recent weeks.

Kimberly Guilfoyle has played a prominent role in the president's campaign and she was spotted at the president's campaign events in Tulsa, Oklahoma, just two weeks ago.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Washington.

CURNOW: And, again, the campaign says Donald Trump Jr. has tested negative so far but he is self-isolating and canceling all of his upcoming public events as a precaution. A source says he and Guilfoyle have been with a lot of campaign donors in recent days.

Now, as we mentioned before, the U.S. has reported more than 50,000 new cases for third straight day. Another country is closing in on 2.8 million cases and nearly 130,000 deaths. And as we're learning more about infections in President Trump's inner circle, one group of people is especially at risk, Secret Service agents. Eight agents caught the virus while preparing for Vice President Mike Pence's trip to Phoenix, Arizona.

But the 4th July weekend isn't going to make things any better. So, Jason Carroll tells us what states are doing to prepare. Jason?

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JASON CARROLL, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Fireworks shows, parades and beach barbecues canceled from coast-to-coast over concerns the holiday weekend could fuel a surge in new coronavirus cases. Florida now leads the nation in the average number of new reported COVID-19 cases per day. The state announced 9,488 new cases Friday. DR. NICHOLAS NAMIAS, JACKSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, MIAMI: The numbers are going up in the hospital. The ICU beds are filling up and it's requiring a lot of work and a lot of effort to move patients around to make a spot for the new patients, whether they're COVID or not COVID.

CARROLL: The state's youngest victim, an 11-year-old boy from Miami- Dade County who died from COVID-19 complications. Tonight, a 10:00 P.M. curfew goes into effect countywide to discourage holiday-goers from heading out.

MAYOR DAN GELBER (D-MIAMI BEACH, FL): There's nothing more American than making a sacrifice by staying home to keep a family member safe, a neighbor safe or a stranger safe.

CARROLL: By early Friday, crowds had already started gathering in Florida's gulf coast on this beach in Clearwater.

Health officials are seeing record hospitalizations in California, where singing and chanting in that state is now banned in houses of worship. The concerns that the virus will be transmitted through infected exhaled droplets.

While in Texas, masks mandated in more than 2/3 of the counties in the state. The governor who critics say was slow to make the move now says --

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): If people gather on 4th of July the same way they did in Memorial Day, it is going to lead to a massive increase in the number of people testing positive, the number of people who will be hospitalized and it could lead once again to an increase in the number of people who lose their lives.

CARROLL: Despite having once downplayed the importance of wearing a mask, the surgeon general says it is imperative.

DR. JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: If you want college football in the fall, young people, please wear a face covering. If you want prom next year, please wear a face covering. It can prevent asymptomatic spread and help us overcome this virus.

CARROLL: Health officials did see a spike of coronavirus cases following the Memorial Day weekend. They hope that people have learned their lessons. Since then, there have been a number of closures and a number of restrictions. But, ultimately, health officials say what it's going to come down to is people taking the advice of health officials, practicing social distancing and, of course, wearing a face covering.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

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CURNOW: So, in the last hour, I spoke to Anne Rimoin, a professor of epidemiology at UCLA. And I asked her about the president's rally in South Dakota, where you saw him flouting his own government's medical advice and only mentioning the virus once. [01:10:05]

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ANNE RIMOIN, PROFESSOR DEPARTMENT OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, UCLA: The photos of what we saw tonight are clearly just a complete disregard for public health.

The most patriotic thing that anybody can do is to wear a mask. And I would have loved to have seen masks being worn at that event tonight and for the president to be standing in front of people wearing a mask. I mean, really and truly, this is a very irresponsible event.

CURNOW: I think there were 7,000, 8,000 people there as we know. As you can see from these images, I know you saw them earlier, but we're playing them now as we're speaking to you, people are sitting next to each other, they are not wearing masks, the coronavirus was barely mentioned.

What is the risk to those people? I mean, do you feel that they have put their lives in danger as they've come to listen to the president today?

RIMOIN: Well, absolutely. Here is the thing. We know that asymptomatic infection is responsible for a large part of the spread of coronavirus. And whether or not somebody is asymptomatic, where they never show symptoms, or whether they're pre-symptomatic, so this is just before they show symptoms, it doesn't really matter. The fact of the matter is as people don't know they're infected, they're around other people and then they spread the virus.

And that is why wearing a mask is so critical. We know that masks have a dramatic impact on reducing spread of the virus. And if everybody was wearing a mask, doing their part, we would all be benefitting from this.

You know, the president would love to see the economy open up, we would all love to see the economy opening up. The way that we see the economy opening up here is if we can decrease the spread of the virus and wearing a mask is the way we're going to be able to do that right now in the absence of vaccines and therapeutics.

CURNOW: We also know that the president's inner circle has again been touched by the virus. His son's girlfriend has tested positive. Apparently, she's unsymptomatic. We're hearing from the campaign and from the White House that she hasn't been that close to the president, but still very much an indication of, frankly, no one is immune here.

RIMOIN: Absolutely. Nobody is immune to this virus. The virus doesn't care what political party you belong to, what your sociodemographics are, it doesn't care where in the United States you're from or anywhere in the world, everyone is susceptible. And when they're susceptible to this virus and they come together, there's opportunity for the virus to spread.

It's pretty simple. We are very far from all being immune to this virus. And so when we have larger groups of people coming together, we create opportunities for the virus to spread.

CURNOW: Give me some sense of just from your expertise as a professor of epidemiology, you've studied how viruses go from animals into humans. We understand that there's been a slight mutation from some reports in this virus that this makes it perhaps more contagious. What do you know about that?

RIMOIN: Well, this is some preliminary data that's suggesting that it may be more contagious. It may have mutated to become more contagious. But right now, that is preliminary data. There's still a lot of research being done. And the fact of the matter is is viruses mutate all the time, so it wouldn't be earth-shattering news. It wouldn't be totally surprising to see that the virus has mutated and changed characteristics in one way or the other.

But the fact of the matter is, is that it doesn't really impact what we're doing in terms of public health. What we need to be focusing on at this particular moment is how we reduce the spread of this virus and whether or not the virus has mutated somewhat to become more contagious is really, in many ways, beside the fact.

What we need to think about right now is we have cases spiking throughout the United States. I mean, Texas is in crisis. California is not doing well. Florida, the numbers are through the roof. So what we all need to be focusing on is what can we do to reduce spread of the virus.

And I know I keep repeating myself here but it really is the truth. All we can do right now is to do our best at social distancing, wearing masks, hand hygiene, all these blunt public health measures. I mean, that is it. That is what we've got in our arsenal right now.

CURNOW: But folks are going to say to you it's Independence Weekend, this is a tradition, I need to get out, I need to see family, things they can take certain precautions. What is the one thing you'd say to people who say they do need to get out, they want to go and see their family? What can you advise them?

RIMOIN: I completely understand this issue. I completely understand that everybody is tired of staying at home. You know, things that you can do are to make sure whatever you do is outside, you wear a mask, you stay socially distanced from people.

[01:15:04]

And, for example -- I use this example all the time. I -- really, for my birthday, I really wanted to spend time with my mom. So what I did was I made sure to quarantine for two weeks before I saw her to make sure that I wasn't going to spread the virus to her.

Now, I had the luxury of being able to do that. Not everybody does. But that just gives you an example of -- you need to be making choices. Everything has a cost. So you need to be really thinking about what is my risk, have I done something where I might have been exposed to other people, and do I want to potentially expose others.

CURNOW: Okay. Thank you very much for joining us, Anne Rimoin. I appreciate it.

RIMOIN: It's my pleasure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: So the debate over American monuments looms large, as large as Mt. Rushmore on this Independence Day. We've seen statues targeted during protests and that has, in turn, being targeted by the U.S. president, Donald Trump.

Here is what he's been saying about it on Friday night.

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TRUMP: Angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our founders, deface our most sacred memorials and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities. Many of these people have no idea why they are doing this but some know exactly what they are doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Well, Leyla Santiago has more on what the Independence Day holiday is supposed to celebrate and why many Americans just feel left out.

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LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fireworks, parades, ceremonies, the celebration of U.S. independence, once declared by founding fathers that wrote, all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

But very rights being celebrated on Independence Day are the same rights that millions of Americans say they and their ancestors have not been allowed to enjoy.

What does independence mean to you?

JESSE HOLLAND, AUTHOR, THE INVISIBLES: I will always be a proud American, but that doesn't mean I don't realize the faults and the flaws that this country has.

SANTIAGO: For historian and Author Jesse Holland, that includes the injustice that has led to unrest across the country, the inequalities in communities of color highlighted by a pandemic.

HOLLAND: I think it's fair to sometimes question whether America loves African-Americans as much as we love it.

OPAL LEE, ACTIVIST: We can solve these problems if we just do it together.

SANTIAGO: For 93-year-old Opal Lee, independence must commemorate the freedom of all, including Juneteenth, the day enslaved people in Texas learned that all those enslaved in confederate states had been freed. LEE: And I'm advocating that we have Juneteenth from the 19th to the 4th of July. Slaves weren't free on the 4th of July.

SANTIAGO: As Americans face a reckoning over racism, past and present, there's no message of healing from the White House. Instead President Trump is calling a Black Lives Matter street mural a symbol of hate after New York City announced it would be painted in front of Trump Tower. He's also demanding protection for symbols of the confederacy at campaign rallies --

TRUMP: The unhinged left-wing mob is trying to trying vandalize our history, desecrate our monuments, our beautiful monuments.

SANTIAGO: -- during diplomatic visits.

TRUMP: Not going to happen, not as long as I'm here.

SANTIAGO: -- even on Twitter, and he's refusing to sign anything changing the name of military bases named after confederate leaders.

HOLLAND: I am hopeful that we will, as a country, decide that the confederacy is something to be studied, not something to be glorified, and we're able to actually celebrate who we are when we celebrate Independence Day.

SANTIAGO: And President Trump kicked off the Independence Day weekend standing at Mt. Rushmore, in front of a monument of two slave owners and on land that was wrestled away from Native Americans for the National Park.

Leyla Santiago, CNN, Washington, D.C.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Well, Mexico is set to confirm more COVID-19 deaths than France, which now ranks fifth worldwide. We'll see what steps Mexico is taking as much of Latin America, and our struggles to contain the virus as well. That's next.

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CURNOW: So, Mexico is now reporting more COVID-19 cases than Italy, one of the hardest hit countries early on. Health officials say it could be weeks until cases start to peak in Mexico. But that's not what's stopping many businesses in the capital from reopening.

Here is Matt Rivers with more on that. Matt?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, for months people here in Mexico watched as this pandemic tore through countries throughout Europe. And now, it appears that those roles have been reversed.

Now, we see countries in Europe now on the mend while the outbreak here in Mexico just seemingly gets worse by the day. And the numbers do appear to bear that out. I mean, considering just over the last few days, we saw Mexico's death toll surpass that of Spain. And in the next day or two, we expect the death toll here in Mexico to be greater than what we have seen in France.

Now, when it comes to confirmed cases, the new numbers reported by Mexican health officials on Friday now put the total case number here in Mexico higher than the total case number in Italy. It just goes to show you that when the WHO says that Latin America is the new epicenter of this pandemic, there is reason that they are saying that.

Meanwhile in the Northwestern Mexican State of Sonora, which sits on the border with the U.S. State of Arizona, health officials there just for this weekend are putting in more border checkpoints. They are concerned, they say, that people coming south from the U.S. could be bringing the virus with them because of the exponential rise in cases that we have seen in Arizona recently.

Now, remember, the U.S. and Mexico jointly agreed to close their common border, the land border there, back in March to all non- essential travel.

[01:25:06]

But health officials have said that over the last several weeks, they have seen increasing violations of that order. That is why health officials are saying they're putting in place those additional checkpoints.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.

CURNOW: And health inspectors in Rio are slapping fines on dozens of businesses for violating coronavirus measures there. Half of those fined are restaurants and bars. As you can see the sight of patrons crowded together without masks has provoked a widespread outcry.

Bars and restaurants were allowed to operate at 50 percent capacity since they reopened on Thursday. Tables must be at least two meters apart.

Brazil has reported more than 1.5 million cases nationwide.

So, England's pubs and restaurants are reopening this Saturday, but that doesn't mean everything is going to be back to normal. The British prime minister is urging everyone to be responsible. He's also warning all those who might defy restrictions that they're letting others down.

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BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: My view, my urgings to everybody can be summed up in the phrase, enjoy summer safely. I mean, I do want people to feel that it's safe to go and enjoy themselves, to enjoy hospitality, but it's got to be done in a responsible way.

You know, the heads of parties got to give their name, contact details to everybody behind the bar -- behind the -- in the restaurant or wherever, got to be done, got to observe social distancing, wash hands and this will be a success. If not, as Chris says, the risks are there and they're obvious.

And I'm afraid that the risks are absolutely manifesting other countries that we know and love well, where there are difficulties.

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CURNOW: But Boris Johnson also says he won't hesitate to reapply restrictions if infections get out of control.

Now, concerning travel to England, the British government has a new list. It includes 59 countries and 14 British overseas territories. Travelers from those places will no longer have to quarantine on arrival. The U.S. is actually not on that list.

More still to come, Independence Day during a pandemic, but you'd hardly know there was health crisis at all based on the president's holiday message to the nation.

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CURNOW: Welcome back to all of viewers around the world, I'm Robyn Curnow. You're watching CNN here from Atlanta.

So, U.S. President Donald Trump has wrapped up another large event, this time at Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. As coronavirus cases in the nation surge, Mr. Trump's own public health officials have urged people to maintain social distancing and wear masks. At Mt. Rushmore, masks were optional and there was no social distancing.

The campaign also confirmed that top official Kimberly Guilfoyle tested positive for the virus before the event. She is Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend. The campaign says the president's son has tested negative.

Meantime, in a speech, the president railed against the removal of monuments, what he called the left-wing cultural revolution. He mentioned the virus just once.

CNN Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein joins me now from Los Angeles with more on all of this.

Ron, great to speak to you. The symbolism of politics is all about symbolism a lot of the time, the symbolism for Mr. Trump standing in front of Mt. Rushmore, powerful in itself. What did you make of the speech?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It was an extraordinary moment. I mean, July 4th is the holiday that most connotes national unity and shared national heritage. It's a moment when presidents --if presidents speak, they speak about what binds Americans together.

And Donald Trump used this occasion to make one of his most kind of unadulterated kind of calls to arms for red America against blue America. It was an extraordinary speech. It was a vision of divisions, so profound that you do wonder if even the Republicans who need to win voters beyond the Trump base are willing to go down as dark a road as the president laid out tonight.

CURNOW: Yes. I mean this wasn't just a subtle dog whistle in many ways. This was -- it seemed like a treatise, and it certainly, as you said, was a call to arms. How dangerous was it? And more importantly, I suppose, who was listening? Who was this aimed at?

BROWNSTEIN: All right. I mean, there is -- look, as we've talked about before, I believe the core of the Trump coalition are the voters in the parts of America that are most uneasy about the way the country is changing, demographically above all, culturally, but also -- and also economically. And for that audience, this is exactly what they want to hear.

His problem is that audience is somewhere right around 40 percent or maybe a little less of the electorate. And he was elected in large part in 2016 because there was another piece of his coalition, kind of the penumbra of his coalition of voters who were not as motivated by cultural grievance racial grievance as he put out, but were willing to give a chance on a business guy who they thought could be shake up the system and be an effective president.

And if you look at the polling very consistently now, he has lost that piece of his electorate. I mean, there have been several polls out in last two weeks with him trailing among college-educated white voters by 30 points. We have never, ever seen anything remotely like that for a Republican president.

And I think if you look at the messaging tonight, that's not who he's talking to. He is talking to his 40 percent. I think there were very few people in the Biden campaign who heard this tonight and said, yes, he has figured out how to pick the lock and how to win back the voters who have drifted away.

But particularly, as you noted, we're at 50,000 cases a day, and, once again, the president has sent the symbolism, no social distancing, no mask-wearing, essentially, this is not happening.

CURNOW: And he only mentioned coronavirus once, and that was right at top where he thanked first responders, but certainly no sense that this was a global pandemic that America is losing in terms of numbers, in terms of infections, and, clearly, also sending a message that coronavirus be damned, politics perhaps is more important.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, a Republican consultant (ph) said to me last week, you can't simply ignore what is on the mind of the country and not expect to suffer. I mean, the president doesn't want to talk about the resurgence of the -- not even up to a second wave.

[01:35:06]

We're still in the first wave. He wants to act as though it is not happening and focus on the economy and focus on the culture war, which he thinks are better issues for him. But there is a price to that.

And if you look particularly at the way this is now literally burning through the Sun Belt, in Florida, Georgia, Texas and Arizona, who have four Republican governors who followed his cues, opened early, opened widely, expressly prohibited local Democratic officials from contravening their openings in any way, and all four of those are now literally burning with the virus.

And, again, if you think of the voters who have moved away, white- collar voters in suburban areas above all, but also seniors now largely because of the coronavirus, I don't see how repeatedly downplaying it, ignoring it and sending signal that I'm not taking it seriously helps him with the problems that are most severe for him at this point.

CURNOW: I know we've spoken about suburban women, college-educated women and who he is losing at the moment. And you're suggesting that the combination of the coronavirus and also the deep sense of hate that we've seen coming out across the country, he seems to sort of triple down on that today.

BROWNSTEIN: He did.

CURNOW: And many people seem to have been found it so distasteful that the reality of this has just been so uncomfortable, that even if they voted for him first time around, has found this particularly uncomfortable. Why has he doubled down on it?

BROWNSTEIN: Because, as I said to you before, when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. And president's vision of how he wins is by stoking cultural and racial grievance among his core audience and increasing turnout among those voters.

I mean, there are lots of blue collar and non-urban and Evangelical whites who didn't vote in 2016. And he is hoping to increase turnout among them. The problem, of course, is that everybody else hears these same messages.

And what is happening is that he is not only driving his numbers down among younger voters, who are now extending not only 18 to 29 but all the way up to 45, the oldest millennials and the youngest Generation X. He's not only facing a big backlash among non-white voters but, again, these white collar suburban voters, not only the women who moved significantly in 2018, the men did not move nearly as much. And right now, he is facing a significant revolt among or recoil at least among the men.

One last quick point in this, I mean, the president's speech tonight was kind of like as if he was running for presidency of America in 1968 when kind of draft cards are being burned and there's civil unrest in the streets. At that point, it was plausible for Richard Nixon to say to suburban white voters, I will restore law and order, I will make you safer. What's different now, the key difference now is many of those same suburban white voters believe that Trump's actions and deliverance is making them less safe, not more safe. There was one poll by 2-1 recently for the last couple of weeks, college-educated whites said they feel less safe rather than more safe because he's president. And that, in a single poll result, encapsulates the difference between now and the 1968 that he's so clearly longing for in his speech like tonight.

CURNOW: That's fascinating. And also just goes with the news that's broken in the last hour or so, that president's son's girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, has tested positive for coronavirus. They've said she wasn't near him, that Donald Junior tested negative. But, again, this is an indication of the inner circle being touched by this despite the messaging.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, again, he is looking at the situation where 60 percent of Americans, poll after poll of different media organizations, say he -- they say he has failed in his response to the coronavirus. And I think the idea that you can kind of say, well ,we're just moving on, it's not even one line tonight, not even mentioning it. But when you do mention it, it's kung flu, kind of, again, appealing to like openly racist sentiments. You can't ignore something in which 50,000 cases are happening a day, in which the hospital systems in major American counties, like Harris County, which is in Houston, and Miami-Dade in Florida and Maricopa in Arizona are being overwhelmed.

Let me just stop on Arizona for one second. Maricopa County in Arizona, the center around Phoenix, was the largest county in America that Trump won. And he has very little chance, I think, of being president again if he doesn't win it again in 2020. And yet, they are heading towards 50,000 cases in that one county probably by sometime this week.

The hospital system is kind of straining at the gills and he is ignoring, downplaying the problem. It kind of boggles the mind. And just forget the morality and the leadership issues, just as pure political strategy, he is basically telling places that are burning with coronavirus that he is not interested in their problem at this point.

[01:40:02]

And I don't see how that helps him recover the voters that have moved away from him not only since 2016 but even since 2018.

CURNOW: Okay. Always good to get your perspective, Ron Brownstein there in L.A. Thanks, Ron.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

CURNOW: So, still to come, many young adults have just left the nest but coronavirus is sending them right back home, and that has implications for the battered U.S. economy. We'll explain that in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CURNOW: So, millions of young Americans will be spending the 4th of July holiday at home with their parents thanks to COVID-19. Free meals, free rent, may be great for now, but this new cultural trend could have long-term effects for the U.S. economy as Claire Sebastian now reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When Daniel Tetley left L.A. in mid-March to celebrate 25th birthday in New York, he had no idea he wouldn't be going back.

DANIEL TETLEY, FORMER RESTAURANT SERVER: The moment that I landed, my phone blew up, I had like a thousand texts. My restaurant had shut down, New York City had shut down, my parents came to pick me up, and we came back to Connecticut and I never went back.

SEBASTIAN: He was furloughed from the restaurant he worked at and his lease was monthly, so he simply gave notice and friend shipped his belongings.

TETLEY: My two other siblings, all three of us are home again. And I don't think anyone ever thought that we would ever be in this situation again in our childhood home.

SEBASTIAN: The least of all, his mom, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN TETLEY, THREE ADULT KIDS LIVING AT HOME: Now, there's meals overnight for mom to cook. The laundry is always filled with somebody else using washer. The dishwasher runs night and day. The food bills are crazy.

SEBASTIAN: Daniel and his siblings are among 2.7 million Americans, mostly aged 25 and under, moved in with parents or grandparents in March and April this year, taking the total to a record 32 million, according to real estate website, Zillow.

[01:45:04]

SKYLAR OLSEN, SENIOR PRINCIPAL ECONOMIST, ZILLOW: When you think about the size of the people that are moving back home, you're talking around $726 million at risk that traditionally flows into that rental market.

Now, rent non-payment or people doubling up like this, moving back home, is causing the pressure to come off of rent room.

SEBASTIAN: Young people have been some of the hardest hit by job losses during the pandemic. Now, if unemployment picture (ph) continues to improve, we may see of them starting to come back into the rental market.

But it's not just those who lost jobs who decided to head back home to mom and dad.

TARIKA GADH, MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT: The rumor started spreading in New York that subways are going to close down, the city is going to shut down and offices are shutting down. So at that point, I booked a flight home.

SEBASTIAN: 24-year-old Tarika Gadh works as a management consultant in New York, a job she can do from parents' house in L.A.

GADH: I live alone in New York in a one-bedroom apartment. Just knowing that if I had to be quarantined alone, I know it wouldn't be easy.

SEBASTIAN: And New York lease was up in May, and she didn't extend. Her plan now is to stay with her parents until her office reopens.

GADH: I definitely fear in a way that it is stunting my growth as a recent college graduate. I think even my mom is worried about me. She keeps telling people that this is wasted year for me.

SEBASTIAN: And experts say, the longer young people stay at home, the deeper impact on real estate.

OLSEN: It is an incredible advantage to avoid rent, especially when rent is taking up larger and larger share of income and student loan debt is at record highs.

Now, if they stay in their Gen-X parents' homes, then that could have repercussions not just for the rental market but for the for sale market as well in the future.

SEBASTIAN: Weeks have already turned to months for millions Americans living in these new arrangements. The question now is whether months turn to years.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Air France plans to cut more than 7,500 jobs over the next few years over the coronavirus after coronavirus brought air travel to a halt. Employees gathered in protest after the announcements. Positions are expected to be cut from both Air France and its sister airline, HOP!.

At height of the pandemic, the company was losing nearly $17 million a day. The airline doesn't expect demand to fully recover until 2024.

So, next in Newsroom, it's normally time for summer blockbusters to hit the theaters but nothing is normal these days. So, the film industry is at a crossroads. Stay with us for that.

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CURNOW: Well, you can't see it on Broadway right now. In fact, you can't see anything on Broadway. But the smash-hit musical, Hamilton, is now available to stream. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't forget from what you came and the world is going to know your name, what's your name, Alexander Hamilton. My name is Alexander Hamilton.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: So, the film version of Hamilton is now available on Disney Plus, as a growing number of new movies are being released via video, on demand, or streaming.

Richard Quest has all the details on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The day so far?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today, tomorrow, it's all the same.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You, what is going on?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: It was back in January when Palm Springs, Andy Sandberg's new romantic comedy, was on track to make a big splash. It had sold at Sundance for a record price, reportedly more than $170 million. The buyers, Hulu, and the distributor, Neon, had agreed for a dual release. It would go to the theaters first and then online.

Then came COVID. Now, the movie theaters are shut across the United States and in the rest of the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's one of those infinite time situations you might have heard about.

QUEST: The producer said goodbye to the idea of a splashy, theatrical release. And, instead, Palm Springs will premiere on Hulu on July the 10th. And there will be a few drive-in theaters, as well.

DYLAN SELLERS, PRODUCER, FINANCER, PALM SPRINGS: It was something that, you know, Andy and I and the director and everybody, you know, were looking forward to. So we're definitely bummed out a little bit but that's the world we're in right now.

QUEST: To release or not to release? That is the question that faces all of Hollywood now.

The studios have delayed big-budget films, like Christopher Nolan's Tenet and Disney's Mulan, waiting, hoping that movie theaters may reopen, studios cannot wait forever. Some are choosing, instead, to rent or sell the movie direct to viewers, known as PVOD, or premium video on demand.

JEFF BOCK, SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST, EXHIBITOR RELATIONS: If theaters do not open in July, or even if they do and then they close down or if attendance just isn't there, I guarantee that one of these big blockbuster films is going to take a chance and go PVOD. And we're going to know, we're going to have the answer to how much a film can gross on this streaming format. Can it make a billion dollars?

QUEST: ore niche films like kids' movies, indie comedies and horror are already releasing on streaming service or on demand. And what's more, they're finding captive, profitable audiences.

Trolls World Tour actually brought in more money for Universal through on demand than the first Trolls movie did in the theaters. As for Palm Springs, the producer, Dylan Sellers, says, putting the film on indefinite hold wasn't really an option because they're a small studio and need to recoup the costs.

[01:55:11]

Even without theatrical release, he says, they'll turn a profit.

SELLERS: I think if you talk to the folks at Hulu, they'll tell you that this has been an incredible attraction for their viewers. It is surpassing all their expectations in terms of, you know, audience subscriber interest.

QUEST: The clear losers in all of this are the movie theaters. The movie chain, AMC, is now warning it has serious doubts it can even stay in business. Viewers were already shifting online. The pandemic has sped up this transition.

BOCK: The battle is being won by streaming right now. And for the foreseeable future, that's going to continue.

QUEST: Blockbusters, to be sure, will probably always be shown in the movie theaters first, at least for now.

Richard Quest, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: So you thought coronavirus was scary enough? Well, not for some people in Japan. I want you to take a look at this. It's a drive- in horror show in Tokyo.

So how does it work? Members of the audience drive into a garage, one car at a time. Then, actors, dressed as zombies, attack the car, banging on the hood and spraying fake blood for about 15 minutes. This is horrifying. To get yourself scared out of your skin like this will cost you just $84, or, of course, you can just live in 2020 for free.

Thanks for watching CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow. And the news continues with my colleague, Paula Newton, after the break.

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