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Trump Stokes Division at Mount Rushmore; COVID-19 Reaches Trump's Inner Circle; Florida Leads Nation in Average Number of Daily New Cases; Aurora, Colorado, Police Officers Fired over Mocking Elijah McClain's Death; Not All Americans Celebrate Independence Day; Pubs Reopen across England; Texas Governor Orders Statewide Mask Requirement in Public; South Africa Health Workers Battle TB alongside COVID-19; Hollywood's Dilemma over New Film Releases. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired July 04, 2020 - 03:00 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): President Trump appealing to his base, at the base of Mt. Rushmore, fighting a battle over heritage and all but ignoring the pandemic sickening so many people here.
Inner circle coronavirus concern: Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend and a top fundraiser for the reelection campaign tests positive.
Plus, the dimming of lights in Hollywood, how the pandemic could mean an end to the summer blockbuster.
Hello and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton.
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NEWTON: So the raging coronavirus pandemic in the United States did not dissuade president Donald Trump from holding exactly the kind of crowded event the health experts have been warning against.
As Americans all across the country are being urged to wear masks and avoid crowds, this July 4th holiday, well, take a look at what you see there. Thousands of people sat shoulder to shoulder for hours to hear the president speak at Mt. Rushmore.
Face coverings, as you can see for yourself, were scarce.
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NEWTON (voice-over): And while fireworks are a staple of this American holiday, medical experts say such gatherings are a recipe for disaster. As COVID-19 spikes to alarming new levels, right across the country.
Even as Mr. Trump took the stage, the U.S. was marking the third straight day of more than 50,000 new infections. Yet the president had nothing to say about the pandemic, other than a quick "thank you" to front line medical workers. Instead, he focused on protecting statues and monuments, such as Mt. Rushmore.
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TRUMP: This monument will never be desecrated. These heroes will never be defaced. Their legacy will never, ever be destroyed. Their achievements will never be forgotten. And Mt. Rushmore will stand forever as an eternal tribute to our forefathers and to our freedom.
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NEWTON: CNN's Joe Johns has more details from Mt. Rushmore.
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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 the very beginning of the speech and he never came back to it.
But one of the themes he chose to hit hardest in this 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.
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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 the Earth.
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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.
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NEWTON: And news just breaking in the last few hours. The coronavirus has breached the president's inner circle and gotten very close to the Trump family. Kimberly Guilfoyle has tested positive for coronavirus. She is a top campaign official for the Trump campaign and Donald Trump
Jr.'s girlfriend. She tested positive in South Dakota, just prior to the president's event. The Trump campaign says she is asymptomatic and now isolated and doing well.
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NEWTON: CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more.
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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 is, also, the president's son, Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend.
A source familiar with the campaign confirming that Kimberly Guilfoyle tested positive before she was slated to attend President Trump's event at Mt. Rushmore on Friday night.
The source is 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 the 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 event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, just under two weeks ago -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Washington.
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NEWTON: Now a reminder. The campaign says Donald Trump Jr. has, so far, tested negative. But he is, also, 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.
OK, "flirting with disaster." That's how a George W. Bush era White House medical advisor describes president Donald Trump's rallies.
As Trump supporters crowded in the seating arena at Mt. Rushmore Friday, the former medical advisor and another doctor discussed the dangers of mass gatherings during a pandemic. They agreed that the rally at Mt. Rushmore with no social distancing and very few masks put people at risk.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For sure, just statistically, COVID will attend this event tonight. It's a stealth virus. It will be there. There will be some spread. And those people will take it home to others and accelerate the spread further. This is a most unwise thing to do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the rock behind him, on the mountain behind him is Thomas Jefferson. And Jefferson said, "We act, not for ourselves but for all humankind."
What we are seeing here, from the president of the United States, is a selfish act, an act of self-promotion, which puts the health of his staff members and the people who support him at risk.
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NEWTON: Florida is now averaging more new coronavirus cases per day than any other state in the United States. But that's not stopping crowds from flocking to some beaches as the 4th of July weekend gets underway.
Meantime, the U.S. reported an additional 50,000 new infections for a third day in a row. And cases are rising in 36 states, leaving health officials pleading with the public to take precautions. CNN's Jason Carroll has a look at how states are trying to cope with this crisis.
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JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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 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 (voice-over): The state's youngest victim, an 11-year-old boy from Miami-Dade County, who died from COVID-19 complications. Tonight, a 10:00 pm curfew goes into effect County-wide to discourage holiday goers from heading out.
MAYOR DAN GELBER (D-FL), MIAMI BEACH: 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 (voice-over): By early Friday, crowds had already started gathering on Florida's Gulf Coast on this beach in Clearwater.
Health officials seeing record hospitalizations in California, where singing and chanting in that state is now banned at houses of worship. The concerns that the virus will be transmitted through infected exhale droplets.
While in Texas, masks are mandated in more than two-thirds 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 on 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.
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CARROLL (voice-over): Despite having once downplayed the importance of wearing a mask, the country's 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 in coronavirus cases following Memorial Day weekend. They hope people have learned their lessons. Since then, there have been a number of closures, 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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NEWTON: And Dr. Joseph Varon is the chief of staff at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas. And he joins me now.
And a big thank you to you. I know you have been working, day and night, for months. And so, we thank you for giving a glimpse into what's happening in your hospital.
And -- and I have to tell you. I've heard you, for the last couple days, warn people that the worst is still, yet, to come in your hospital when you see these cases spiking right across the country. But obviously, specifically, in Texas.
Do you believe it's time for another widespread lockdown?
Or are you comfortable with what's going on right now, more mask wearing, you know, the closures of some restaurants, some bars, what do you think?
DR. JOSEPH VARON, UNITED MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER, HOUSTON, TEXAS: You see, the primary problem we have is that it seems that we don't have true public awareness. If you were just to go ahead and close down, we're going to have a lot of protesters saying, oh, you cannot close. You know, it's our rights. All that kind of stuff.
And to be honest, I think it's a little too late. I have said before, we should have locked down months ago. And a serious lockdown. I mean, one of those lockdowns where you have the military out there. And you would not have been able to go out. If we would have done that, we wouldn't be where we are today. At this
point in time, the cow is out of the barn. I've said that over and over again. Right now, the only thing that can make a difference is to wear your mask, wash your hands, keep your social distance. And if you don't have to be out, stay home.
NEWTON: What fear do you have that people aren't listening to you?
Like, what specifically what do you fear, there, in Texas?
And I know the situation is quite grave in Houston right now.
You know, do you even have a sense of why and how you are getting so many people coming in, now, testing positive of all age groups?
VARON: Well, you know, I mean, yes, we think we've had a sense. You know, immediately, after Mother's Day, we had a big spike. Then, after Memorial Day, we have another spike. Then, we have a lot of different mass gatherings and we have another spike.
My primary concern, today, is that people are going to go out. They're going to start having a lot of fun because it's 4th of July. And, in two weeks' time, I am going to see a huge spike. And that's what I don't want to see because, right now, my hospital is almost full.
I mean, I'm having to scramble for beds so that I can have places to help those patients that come in.
NEWTON: And, in terms of what's going on in your hospital right now, I mean, take me inside your hospital and what you're doing to try and cope and importantly, too, what you've learned about how to treat this virus.
VARON: Well, I mean, we've done a lot of things. One thing that we have learned, as to how to treat the virus, is that we know that coronavirus kills you by two mechanisms. First, a lot of inflammation. And, second, a lot of clotting.
So we have a protocol that we call the math-plus (ph) protocol where we use a lot of cortisone. We use a couple of vitamins, vitamin C and thiamine and we also use the blood thinner, heparin.
With that, we are able to get our patients to go home. We have a 96 percent success rate for those patients. But in order for that to work, you need to come early to the hospital. And the problem is a lot of people wait in their homes forever before they come to the hospital.
And by the time they come, they are so sick that they end up in respirators and things like that.
NEWTON: Yes. It must be incredibly difficult for you to deal with, especially when you have these people arrive in your hospital and, as you've said, they've already come too late.
I have to ask you and I know it's difficult to have the public health element of this and the politics collide. But you know, you heard us there. President Trump only mentioned the pandemic once in his speech.
Do you believe that harms you, in your hospital, right at this moment, meaning, if you don't have a leader, you know, who's actually admitting that this is a huge problem and instead, saying, nope, everything's under control, do you think that this hurts you and hurts your cause and what you are trying to do every hour in that hospital?
VARON: Well, I mean, the primary issue that we have in the U.S. is that we are hearing conflicting reports.
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VARON: We are hearing conflicting opinions. Even -- whether it's from a politician, whether it's from the Centers for Disease Control, whether it's from an institutional organization like the World Health Organization, I mean, they are giving different information.
Your viewers, they are confused. They don't know who to believe. It is time that we do better as Americans, that we all come together and have some consensus agreement as to what to do.
To date, that consensus agreement is, keep your social distance, wear your mask, don't go to mass gatherings. That would be my recommendation as a physician.
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NEWTON: And that was Dr. Joseph Varon, chief of staff at United Medical Memorial Center in Houston, Texas, speaking to me just a little while ago.
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NEWTON: Now three Aurora, Colorado, police officers were fired, Friday, over a photo mocking last year's death of Elijah McClain, an unarmed, black man. As you can see, one of the photos shows officers smiling and re-creating a chokehold.
McClain lost consciousness and later died after police put him in a chokehold and paramedics injected him with a sedative. Several investigations are looking into what happened. The interim police chief did not mince words about what she thought of the photos.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: While the allegations of this internal affairs case are not criminal, it is a crime against humanity and decency to even think about doing such a thing is beyond -- is beyond comprehension and it's reprehensible.
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NEWTON (voice-over): You can hear them there. Thousands of protesters marched on the precinct Friday night. Police in riot gear stood near the building, as demonstrators chanted, "Why are you in riot gear?"
And Elijah McClain's family made a strong statement about the photos. They said, quote, "APD's conduct is no different than that of white supremacists at the height of the Jim Crow South, who snapped smiling pictures of themselves at the scenes of brutal, lethal lynchings of black men, keeping the images of torture as souvenirs or even turning them into postcards to send to friends."
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NEWTON: In 1852, African American author and abolitionist Frederick Douglass gave a famous speech, called "What to the Slave is the 4th of July?"
He explored the tension between the oppression of slavery and U.S. ideals of freedom.
Today, that tension lives on in so many different forms as we just saw there in our previous story. And for some, it still casts a shadow over Independence Day. Here's Leyla Santiago.
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LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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 are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
But the 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.
SANTIAGO (on camera): What does Independence Day 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 (voice-over): 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 them.
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 for 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. You know, 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 Confederacy at campaign rallies...
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TRUMP: The unhinged leftwing mob is trying to 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: -- and even on Twitter. And he's refusing to sign anything changing the names 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 wrested away from Native Americans for the national park -- Leyla Santiago, CNN, Washington, D.C.
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NEWTON: Coming up. England is ready to start reopening in just a few hours, including its famed pubs. But the British prime minister is cautioning people that the pandemic is far from over.
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NEWTON: So we're going to call this a royal perk. Prince William got early access to a pub ahead of their opening across England.
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NEWTON: He enjoyed a pint of cider to mark the occasion. Pubs and restaurants are reopening doors for the first time since the coronavirus forced them to close in March. The British prime minister has this message for those looking to take part.
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BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: Enjoy summer safely. I mean just -- 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.
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NEWTON: Now meanwhile, England is relaxing travel restrictions for 59 countries and 14 British overseas territories. Travelers from those places will no longer have to quarantine upon arrival. But restrictions on travel from the U.S. remain in place. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins me, now, from London.
And, you know, it was quite an interesting comment on British culture for Prince William to show up at that pub. It's so important, really, that people are able to go to their local again. But this is going to be a tough mountain to climb, right, for Britain in general, just to get their economy back on track.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: That's absolutely right. And people are over the moon, absolutely, over the moon that this very institution of British culture, the pub, the place you get to go with your friends to escape your cramped apartment, to go to your local and grab a pint. People are really eager to be able to enjoy that.
But the government is, of course, learning, as you heard there from prime minister Boris Johnson, that the rules need to be followed. One of the rules is there's still the social distancing. There's been reduced from two meters to one meter. Keep washing your hands.
And at every restaurant and pub, you are going to be required to give contact details for track and trace purposes. So it's not going to be the same as it was before.
But this is an important move. The hospitality industry is one of the largest employers in the U.K., some 3 million jobs there. So very eager to get back to work. But there's, still, the question.
Can the country, can these businesses, run at a reduced capacity and still make profit?
And then, on top of that, can the country change its culture?
Pubs, like the one behind me, here, usually, during the summertime, are absolutely packed. Customers are spilling out into the street. People are shoulder to shoulder. So the U.K. is going to have to relearn the art of going out -- Paula.
NEWTON: And it certainly is an art. It may be tough but I have great confidence they will learn to enjoy themselves and still follow the rules. Salma, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Now as the U.S. gears up to celebrate inside celebrate its Independence Day, President Trump delivers a divisive speech taking aim at those protesting racial injustice across the nation.
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NEWTON: And welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Paula Newton and you are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Against the advice of just about every public health official, U.S. president Donald Trump on Friday evening addressed a large holiday crowd at Mt. Rushmore. There was no social distancing. And face masks were rare even as new cases have spiked in the U.S., to more than 50,000 a day, for three days a in row.
Now a member of Mr. Trump's own inner circle is among those new cases. Trump campaign official Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend, tested positive after arriving in South Dakota and is now self-isolating.
The president barely mentioned the pandemic in his speech. Instead, he tore into an issue he views as a bigger threat to the country.
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TRUMP: Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, to defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children. 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're doing this, but some know exactly what they are doing. They think the American people are weak and soft and submissive but now the American people are strong and proud and they will not allow our country and all of its values, history and culture to be taken from them.
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NEWTON: Political analyst Michael Genovese is author of "How Trump Governs," he is also president of the Global Policy Institute.
So good to see you, Michael. And I hope you have been well. I don't have to remind you, do I, we are exactly four months away from an election. The U.S., meantime, continues to break those records, by the hour, really, Michael, for new positive cases. And Donald Trump mentions the pandemic exactly once.
MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. Yes. And -- and the speech, itself, was focused on, basically, a reliving of 1968, about law and order and crime in the streets. The problem is, it's not 1968. In '68, there were real problems of crime in the streets. There were real problems with the protest movements getting violent. Law and order was an issue.
He's trying to create the issue. Most of the protests that took place over Black Lives Matter were quite peaceful. Given the -- the enormity of those -- those -- those protests, it's really impressive. But the speech, itself, was dark and it was disturbing and quite
incendiary. This is a 4th of July speech. And rhetoric -- rhetoricians say it's an apodictic speech, which means it's a ceremonial speech. You use certain ceremonial things.
You bring the nation together. You talk about national unity.
He was tearing the nation apart in this presentation. And it was almost like his carnage speech from the inauguration revisited. He's going to play the same cards in this election but the context is going to be very, very different.
NEWTON: And let's get to who the audience is at this point in time -- and I mean writ large, in the United States. But to that speech, you know, he used the term new far left fascism and clearly pointed to that issue of cancel culture, which he talks a lot about.
I mean, we've learned, right, Michael, never to count out Donald Trump in these elections.
Do you think he still believes that igniting, fanning the flames, of that culture war is his only winning strategy four months from now?
GENOVESE: Well, he's facing a series of problems: the pandemic, the economy, the whole issue of, is Russia paying people to kill America -- Taliban to kill Americans?
So it's a lot of bad news and so he is trying to grapple and find something to grab onto.
The problem is that he sounds like he is running for sheriff and not for president. Plus, trying to make Joe Biden into this radical left who wants to tear down America, it's not going to sell. People know Joe Biden. They may not like him. They may like him.
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GENOVESE: But they know he's not some radical leftist, extremist.
NEWTON: And let's get to that about who his audience is. We look at these cases in the United States rising of coronavirus. Think about it. You've got Arizona and Florida, two very important states, that are really dealing with record-setting coronavirus spikes.
Incredible, right, in the fact that he, still, doesn't seem to be wanting to reach them.
Do you think he will have a reckoning with those crucial voters in four months, if he doesn't get on board and start talking about what -- what is clearly affecting them in their states?
GENOVESE: Well, you know, there's no federal policy on the pandemic. He's left it up to 50 different states, doing 50 different things. And so, if it appears to be chaotic, it is chaotic. The president has chosen to sort of bury his head in the sand and play the ostrich. And we know how, when you bury your head in the sand, an important
part of your anatomy is left wide open. And that, I think, is what the Democrats are going to be going after, a president who has not faced up to the reality of a pandemic, has not provided leadership, has been basically missing in action.
So he really has to come back and recapture some of those voters who are concerned, 65 percent or so, that things are getting worse, the pandemic's getting worse and that something needs to be done. He cannot continue to bury his head in the sand.
NEWTON: Michael, so good to see you with us live there in Los Angeles. Thanks so much.
GENOVESE: Thank you, Paula.
NEWTON: Now coronavirus is tearing through much of the United States on this 4th of July weekend. Two of the biggest hotspots, Florida and Texas. Florida now has more than 178,000 cases and more than 3,600 deaths. It posted record numbers again Friday, nearly 9,500 new cases.
And Texas now has more than 185,000 cases, overwhelming hospitals in the region. CNN's Randi Kaye and CNN's Lucy Kafanov are in those states and they have an update.
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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The concern this holiday weekend is more spike and more spread. Already, more than 9,400 new cases in the last 24 hours, here, in the state of Florida. Florida is now averaging more COVID cases, per day, than any other state in the country.
And most of the cases are young people. In fact, the median age for cases, here, in the state of Florida, is now 37. It was 65; 25- to 34- year-olds now make up 20 percent of the cases, here, in the state of Florida. About 7,000 minors, statewide, have now tested positive for coronavirus.
But the governor is, still, not putting out a statewide mandate to close the beaches nor is he saying that everyone in the state has to wear a mask. Here, in Palm Beach County, you can tell that the beaches here, behind me, they are quiet today. They will be closed through the weekend.
So will the beaches in Miami-Dade County south of here as well as Broward County south of here.
And we're also learning more about an 11-year-old boy who passed away from COVID here in the state of Florida, the youngest person yet. We know that he was severely compromised but it's still unclear how he got that.
"The Tampa Bay Times" reporting that he was in dialysis several times a week but had not traveled. So once again, unclear how the little boy did get the virus -- I'm Randi Kaye on Singer Island in Florida. Back to you. (END VIDEOTAPE)
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LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Texans are being encouraged to take all possible precautions this 4th of July weekend as the state continues to battle with a surge in coronavirus cases. Friday saw 7,555 new cases, bringing the total now to more than 183,000.
Those numbers are quite high. Hospitals feeling the pinch. More than 7,600 coronavirus cases -- pardon me, patients -- at hospitals. That's something that the medical facilities are dealing with.
And, here, in Houston, where the positivity rate is hovering around 25 percent, it's really putting a strain on some facilities. Some hospitals, in fact, so overwhelmed that they had to start transferring patients out to other facilities.
Now on Friday, the governor's mask mandate went into effect. What it means is that, if you are a Texan, if you live in a county that has 20 or more cases, you have to wear a mask in public. This applies to roughly 95 percent of all Texans. That's one of the precautions they are trying to put in place to reduce the rates.
And of course, doctors here, they're still concerned that, despite this mask mandate, people might still gather, might still expose themselves. What doctors, for example, at this facility tell us, every time there's been a holiday weekend, whether it's Mother's Day or Memorial Day, they often see a spike in cases.
So they are sending the important message out, try to stay home. Try to socially distance. Definitely, wear your mask.
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KAFANOV: And remember that this virus is very much out there. It's a different kind of 4th of July this time around -- Lucy Kafanov, CNN, Houston, Texas.
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NEWTON: Health workers in South Africa are battling two potentially deadly infections. How the focus on the coronavirus could be helping fuel the spread of tuberculosis. That's ahead.
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NEWTON: The coronavirus is wreaking a particular kind of havoc in South Africa. When a person there feels sick with the flu-like symptoms related to COVID-19, you know, they can't assume that they know what it is. That's because South Africans, also, are dealing with another potentially deadly respiratory infection, tuberculosis. It's an illness that spreads the same way as the coronavirus. Joining
me live from Cape Town, South Africa, is David McKenzie.
And I really appreciate you being with us live because for those of us who think we might have it bad, I mean, really, they have a lot to cope with on the ground there.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. And Paula, South Africa just saw its highest increase of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours but there is another health crisis in this country. It's an ongoing crisis.
And many public health officials I speak to, they are worried about COVID, like everyone else about the globe. But it's other diseases, like tuberculosis, that they fear could see a dramatic resurgence.
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MCKENZIE: Wow. So this was what you were coughing up.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): It didn't take long for Mndele Manchancha (ph) to realize just how serious his cough had become.
MCKENZIE: Were you nervous about going to get treatment because of COVID?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I was very nervous. (INAUDIBLE) and at the time I was vomiting the blood. It was terrible really.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): The doctor told him it wasn't COVID-19.
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MCKENZIE: What he had was tuberculosis, a disease that kills upwards of 66,000 South Africans per year. Now just weeks into his treatment, he's responding well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a lot of kids, also, in the -- these houses that they are staying in.
MCKENZIE: So that's a danger for infection.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very dangerous.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): But healthcare workers like Spindele Mobo (ph) worry that, for every success like Mndele (ph), they are now missing many, many more.
MCKENZIE: So there hasn't been screening here since lockdown.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People have been scared of COVID, themselves, did not want us to come in their houses. And I really think that they believe that we have COVID ourselves.
DR. LINDA-GAIL BEKKER, SOUTH AFRICA: We're already seeing quite an impact on the ground.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Dr. Linda-Gail Bekker worked through the worst of South Africa's co-epidemic of HIV and TB. She fears that the decades of hard-fought gains could be lost because of a focus on COVID-19.
BEKKER: So I think it was right that people had to galvanize. But I do think, you know, this cannot be at the expense of other diseases where we know we have, every day, significant morbidity and mortality. And so, it is about sort of walking and chewing at the same time.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Nationwide, the government lab says TB testing is down 50 percent; diagnosis, down 33 percent.
BEKKER: That is ongoing infection in community, which is the very thing we're trying to curtail.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Even as lockdown eases, people continue to stay away from HIV/TB mobile screening sites across Cape Town. Pre-COVID, they averaged 30 tests per day here. Now they tell me they are lucky to see just a handful of people.
And South Africa's well-intended focus against a new virus may just, again, give rise to one of the world's oldest diseases.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE: Now testing and treatment isn't just down, here, in South Africa. It's substantially down in South Africa, India, China, other countries where TB is a serious issue.
And it can explode out beyond that, Paula. It's not just tuberculosis that public health officials are worried about; measles, malaria, HIV especially, these diseases, they say, could see a resurgence because so much of the world's focus is on COVID-19.
And in the case of tuberculosis, which is, you know, endemic in South Africa, in communities -- like communities behind me, you know, if people go off their treatment and then come back on it, it can give rise to drug-resistant tuberculosis, which just means it's even more difficult to treat these problems.
They see COVID having a finite number of deaths in this country, they are telling me. If they don't keep their eye on these other diseases, they could see them explode and deal with a whole other set of health issues because they're not, you know, chewing gum and walking at the same time, as Linda-Gail Bekker said -- Paula.
NEWTON: Yes. You really put it in stark focus there, you know, COVID- 19, how far it could set back public health, in places like South Africa. I'm still hung up on the fact that 66,000 coronavirus -- pardon me, tuberculosis deaths in South Africa every year, staggering. David, again, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.
Now after a short break, summer is here. And normally, that would mean those blockbuster Hollywood movies. But the pandemic has all but shut down film production. What it means for Hollywood's future.
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NEWTON: We all know it. Summer is the season for big Hollywood blockbusters. But the coronavirus is shutting down theaters and is pushing back release dates and that means Hollywood is facing a dilemma, wait or go ahead and sell movies online. Richard Quest looks at how the pandemic could change the film industry.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good day so far?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today, tomorrow, it's all the same.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You, what is going on?
RICHARD QUEST, CNNMONEY EDITOR AT LARGE: It was back in January when "Palm Springs," Andy Samberg's new romantic comedy, was on track to make a big splash. It had sold at Sundance for a record price, reportedly more than $17 million.
The buyers, Hulu, and the distributor, NEON, had agreed for a jewel release. It would go to the theaters first and then online.
Then came COVID. Now the movie theaters are shot across the United States and in the rest of the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's one of those infinite time loop 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'll be a few drive-in theaters as well.
DYLAN SELLERS, PRODUCER AND FINANCIER, "PALM SPRINGS": It was something that, you know Andy and I and the director and everybody, you know, we're 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 so 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 is just air, I guarantee that one of these big blockbuster films is going to take a chance go PVOD and we're going to know we're going to have the answer to how much film can -- how much a film can gross on this streaming format?
Can it make a billion dollars?
QUEST: More on these 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are other kinds of trolls.
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QUEST: "Trolls World Tour" actually brought in more money for universal through on demand and 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 they need to recoup the costs. 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.
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NEWTON: And that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I am Paula Newton. I leave you in the capable hands of Natalie Allen, who will be right here, after a short break. You are watching CNN.
