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California Hospital Beds Fill To Capacity; Trump Delivers Divisiveness On Independence Day; Florida Hotspots Celebrate At The Beach; Australia Calling For A Pause In Easing Coronavirus Restrictions; England's Pubs Reopen; Iraq Struggles With COVID-19; Trump Voters Waver After Lack Of Leadership; Botswana Investigating Unexplained Deaths Of Elephants. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired July 05, 2020 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Donald Trump watched 4th of July fireworks in Washington, D.C., Protesters he suggested are like Nazis, brought down a Christopher Columbus statue in Baltimore, Maryland. The latest from a divided America.
Also, the global coronavirus fight. Doctors in Australia want the government to slow down its reopening. I will speak with an official about a particularly concerning spikes.
We're live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Welcome to our viewers in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Natalie Allen and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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ALLEN: Celebrating the 4th of July during a pandemic was a challenge in many parts of the United States.
The president and first lady hosted a traditional celebration without much social distancing. But in his few remarks about COVID-19, the president again downplayed its impact on the country.
Instead, his fury has been directed at scenes like this. Several hundred people cheering here as a statue of Christopher Columbus in Baltimore was pulled down and tossed into the harbor.
The 4th of July is a time to celebrate how Americans came together to gain independence. But that is not the tone President Trump is using to mark the holiday. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more about it from the White House.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, on 4th of July, most American presidents typically aim for unifying remarks. But President Trump this evening, for the second night in a row, focusing his Independence Day remarks on exploiting cultural divisions among Americans, particularly at this time of deep division in America, with two crises, both the coronavirus pandemic and these protests over a national reckoning on racism in America.
President Trump delivering these divisive remarks, in which he even compared his current political fight against leftists in America, radical leftists, as he called them, to the fight against Nazis in World War II.
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TRUMP: American heroes defeated the Nazis, dethroned the fascists, toppled the communists, saved American values, upheld American principles and chased down the terrorists to the very ends of the Earth. We are now in the process of defeating the radical left.
The Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters and people who, in many instances, have absolutely no clue what they are doing.
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DIAMOND: Now President Trump on Saturday also said we will not allow anyone to divide our citizens by race or background. Those remarks, fairly remarkable, coming from this president, one that started his campaign by decrying Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists.
A president who called for a total ban on Muslims entering the United States. A president who said that a judge who was of Hispanic origin could not be impartial in a case involving him.
This president claiming on Saturday that he will not allow others to exploit people by racial divisions.
Now President Trump sought to recast himself as a protector of American history and heritage. That was a theme of his remarks on Friday at Mt. Rushmore and on Saturday at the White House.
But the president, for the last week, hasn't focused on protecting statues of founding fathers, as he has claimed in this speech. Instead, he's focused on protecting Confederate namesakes and monuments. That's been the heart of the president's focus over the last week.
Yet now, he is trying to recast that battle. But certainly, these remarks from the president, on a 4th of July where America is facing these crises, divisive and certainly not unifying for this country -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.
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ALLEN: The coronavirus has scarcely been mentioned in President Trump's recent speeches, although he falsely claimed that 99 percent of all cases are, quote, "totally harmless."
There is no medical evidence to support that. But as far as Mr. Trump is concerned, the pandemic is under control.
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TRUMP: We've made a lot of progress. Our strategy is manufacturing along well. It goes out in one area and rears back its ugly face in another area. But we've learned a lot. We've learned how to put out the flame.
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ALLEN: Even if the president doesn't acknowledge it, the coronavirus is still a major threat from coast to coast. At least 36 states are reporting a rising number of cases. Florida, Arizona and Texas all posted record numbers of new infections this week as did California.
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ALLEN: Take a look at this chart. Hospital beds in the state are filling up to capacity. The spike in cases prompted officials to curtail July 4th celebrations. CNN's Paul Vercammen is in Huntington Beach with a look at how the virus changed one big holiday tradition.
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PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Part of the strategy to stop the spread of coronavirus: shut down beaches in southern California. This is Huntington Beach. Normally on a 4th of July weekend, people would be laying down their towels and they would be right next to each other, enjoying a day at the beach and later on a huge fireworks display.
The fireworks, canceled. They have a big 4th of July parade here, canceled. They had a smaller sort of community parade where they weaved through and by people's homes.
The idea, again, is to have all these counties in lockstep with each other and not having the beaches open. Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange Counties shut down their beaches. San Diego did not. But as a police spokeswoman said here in Huntington Beach, important that four of those five did shut down.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not the only one that's open, we're not the only one that's closed. So the message is there. We're closing down. Let's do it for just a few days, let's try and flatten this curve again and make sure we can stay safe.
VERCAMMEN: So good vibrations up and down the California coast.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Big time. Let's keep it chill.
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VERCAMMEN: So almost an eerie sight, as this beach is shut down and some people in Southern California getting creative. I came upon a group of three sunbathers in Manhattan Beach. And what they did was, they laid their towels down on a cement walkway. They said they just needed to get in their rays.
California, at times, is a source for unique innovation -- reporting from Huntington Beach, I'm Paul Vercammen. Back to you.
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ALLEN: Thank you, Paul. That certainly was innovation.
Florida is one of the biggest U.S. hot spots now, reporting yet another record number of new cases on Saturday and surpassing the worst day for new cases in New York. But that's not stopping some people from celebrating the holiday as they always do. They're hitting the beach, which is open in one area. Here's Boris Sanchez in Clearwater.
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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yet another record-setting day for the state of Florida. More than 11,000 new coronavirus cases reported here in the last 24 hours. That means that, in the first three days of July, the state has seen over 30,000 new COVID cases.
To give you some perspective, the state of Florida saw about 100,000 new cases in the month of June alone. Local leaders, the state's governor, Ron DeSantis, leaving it up to local officials to determine what restrictions they wanted to put in place.
But here on the western part of the state, just outside of Tampa at Clearwater Beach, folks were coming all day to enjoy the waves, to play sports, to enjoy the sand and surf as well.
There are signs out that are warning people to try to stay socially distant, six feet apart from people who do not share the same household. They are also asking groups to not congregate. Groups of 10 or more are not allowed here.
Though, throughout the day, we did see groups of much larger than 10 people enjoying the beach.
Actually spoke to one woman named Kathy (ph), who told me that she moved from Alabama to Florida in the middle of the pandemic. She says that she's concerned about the risk of coronavirus but that she wanted to enjoy the holiday weekend on the beach. Here's more of what she shared with us.
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KATHY (PH), NEW FLORIDA RESIDENT: I just think that we all should wear masks and protect ourselves as best as we can, you know and keep, you know, keep the social distancing going on and, you know, that's it.
If we're going to get it, we're going to get it. I'm happy to be here. I really am. I know that the numbers are going up and I hope it drops but it doesn't seem like it is, so why stop enjoying life?
(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: Of course, the big question is, what these numbers will do two weeks from now. Remember, that, after the Memorial Day weekend, when we saw so many large crowds ignoring social distancing guidelines, soon after that, we saw a surge in coronavirus cases nationwide.
Two weeks is that incubation period for the coronavirus, so all eyes will be on the numbers, about 14 days from now -- Boris Sanchez, CNN, Clearwater Beach, Florida.
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ALLEN: What may be surprising for many is that while the coronavirus is spiking in the U.S., the fatality rate right now is steady. Of course, that could change. Health officials say there are a number of reasons why the death rate may fluctuate.
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DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Younger people tend to die less, our median age in the hospital has dropped from about 62 to about 48. So younger people are less likely to die.
The other thing is we also have gotten better at treating the disease, not much better but somewhat better. And finally deaths lag about two weeks beyond the increase in testing. So in some states like Florida, you see an increase in deaths as well as increase in cases.
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ALLEN: We're going to turn now to a situation developing in Australia. The Australian Medical Association is calling for a pause in easing coronavirus restrictions. That is because of a spike in new cases in Melbourne.
There were nearly 200 new cases reported in Victoria State over the past two days. And officials had put thousands of public housing residents on what they're calling a hard lockdown.
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DANIEL ANDREWS, PREMIER OF VICTORIA: This is not about punishment, this is about protection. We cannot have a cohort of people, many of whom, not all but many of whom, are in poor health to start with.
We cannot have this virus spread. We have to do everything we can to contain the virus and that's why staying in your unit, staying in your flat, is absolutely essential.
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ALLEN: Let's talk more about it. Joining me now from Melbourne to talk about it is Dr. Tony Bartone, president of the Australian Medical Association.
Doctor, we appreciate you coming on.
I want to ask you, what is particularly alarming about this outbreak in these housing units?
DR. TONY BARTONE, PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Good morning, Natalie. Thank you for the opportunity to talk to you this morning.
ALLEN: Of course.
BARTONE: This -- these outbreaks are of significant concern because after a significant attack on the virus, in its first wave, between the months of late February, right through to June, we had effectively managed to withstand the first wave of COVID-19.
We had some 103 cases of reported fatalities, unfortunately, and just under 8,000 cases of infections reported. Now wind on to the last week or two, in Victoria we have seen a significant spike after a number cases, we're now seeing the spikes that we're seeing.
And in particular, in the facility where -- in this housing -- block of houses -- 3,000 residents of the seven of the nine facilities. That is a large group of lower socioeconomic residents in very close proximity, with lots of complex and chronic illnesses as part of their makeup.
And that puts them very susceptible to becoming infected with COVID- 19. Having been identified that there are some -- a number of people testing positive in those units, which have common entry points and elevators to the floors in terms of taking them up to those.
And that's why the premier and the authorities have put in a hard lockdown measure on those units.
ALLEN: One can understand, because this is important that it be contained because there could be risks if this isn't controlled, that it could spread beyond this city, to some areas of Australia.
BARTONE: Well, as a nation, we've had a really good community driven response to the measures that have seen us achieve the results we have. We're at the stage where, a month ago, we started relaxing a number of the restrictions. We had -- various states have had harder border lockdown measures and achieved even faster results and have started the relaxation at a faster rate than the rest of the country.
But clearly what you're seeing in Melbourne, Victoria, at the moment, is an example of when this suppression strategy that we're utilizing in terms of our response to COVID-19, the suppression strategy means that we have to learn to cohabitate and live with the virus as part of the problem in the community until we get a vaccine.
We can't stay locked down forever. We need to get back to some form of economic and social activity. So we need to co-exist, respect the virus and understand that we have to live in a different COVID-19 world, where we have to do the social distancing, where we have the importance on cough etiquette and washing hands, staying away from work or school with any symptoms.
And, of course, we're testing enormous amount of the population; something like about 2.7 million Australians have had a COVID-19 test. That's almost one in 10 Australians and that's really underpinning our ability to search out and seek any new cases, cases and isolate them and contact trace, which is the premise of the founding principles of suppression strategy at the moment. Until we get a virus (sic), that's the new world we have to live in.
ALLEN: Right. And we're seeing similar situations here, in the United States.
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ALLEN: We're seeing spikes in so many states. And the underlying problem is people not heeding the advice of health officials. So what we're seeing in Melbourne kind of represents a stark reality, like we're seeing here, to how quickly things can change with this pandemic.
BARTONE: And that is true. Now obviously, we're -- unfortunately, the scale and the magnitude of the numbers, in your country, especially as you celebrate your July 4th holiday weekend, is a really sobering reminder of, indeed, the power and the -- and the -- and the enormous force that this virus can wreak havoc through the community.
We've seen a situation where we've got on top of it. We don't want to see it really grab a hold again. We've had the second highest number of cases reported in the state since the outbreak first started to take records.
And of course, we're really concerned and we're very worried. And really, the message we are trying to say to all the Australian community is one the rest of the public health authorities around the world are saying.
And, that is, the importance of those measures, those guidelines, in dealing, in respecting the -- the virus. And -- and minimizing the possibility of spread. It's not -- it's not a survival of the fittest. It's a survival of those that actually heed the message and put into place what they need to do.
ALLEN: Well, we'll be following this development there in Melbourne and we hope it goes well. Dr. Tony Bartone, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate your insights.
BARTONE: Thank you very much.
ALLEN: Sure.
Up next, here. England's much-loved pubs have officially reopened and it's pretty much like any pre-pandemic Saturday in SoHo in New York -- excuse me -- there, in London. Little room and lots of people. We're live in London next. Plus, a battered healthcare system, overwhelmed hospitals and a spike
in new cases. We will tell you how the coronavirus is ravaging Iraq.
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ALLEN: Londoners took advantage of the pubs open for the first time since March, apparently with no respect for social distancing guidelines. This was the theme in the SoHo district Saturday. You can see the street packed with people standing close together, with no face coverings. CNN's Anna Stewart joins me, live, from London.
This has been a long wait for many people. And that scene, right there, is certainly not what, probably, health officials were wanting to see.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is, certainly, what people were concerned about. For the most part, in England yesterday, as it was eased out of its hibernation, people did behave responsibly, getting their first haircut, sitting in restaurants, getting a pint inside a pub for the first time in over three months.
As you can see there, though, there were instances of overcrowding in some places in Central London last night. No social distancing appearing to be taken heed of there. And also, some instance outside of London as well.
A tweet from a police man in Hampshire, he said what was crystal clear is that drunk people can't/won't socially distance. It was a busy night but the shift managed to cope. I know other areas have had issues with officers being assaulted. Now I am heading home. To those still on shift, please, stay safe.
This was the big concern in the U.K. It still is and it's a concern across the world.
How do you balance the needs of helping economies getting going, digging them out of deep slumps but also, keeping a lid on the spread of the virus, which is still a very real risk across the world?
And I think the government has warned plenty of times. They have said if there are outbreaks of the virus, we will reimpose lockdown restrictions. We can do it locally, nationally, if a second wave feels imminent. Fortunately, those instances were few and far between. And people will be hoping that was a one off, over-exuberance, on day one perhaps of the lifting of the lockdown.
ALLEN: We hope so. Anna Stewart for us. Thanks so much, Anna.
Iraq's healthcare system is battling with a huge spike in cases and deaths. Saturday, officials reported more than 2,000 new cases, bringing the total to more than 58,000. And they say the death toll rose by more than 100, to stand at around 2,300.
The pandemic is sweeping the whole country but it is hitting the capital of Baghdad especially hard. As senior international correspondent Arwa Damon reports, hospitals are overwhelmed and people are terrified.
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ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They wait to verify the names of the dead. Their sorrow is silent, much like the enemy that claimed those they love.
Yousef al-Hajami (ph) lost his parents and his sister to COVID-19, one after the other. They underestimated the virus. They did not understand how to protect themselves from the spread.
"We are terrified now. We are 100 percent convinced," he says.
The burials happen at night in Iraq's largest cemetery, when the country's brutal summer heat dips. Final prayers are carried out by strangers. Teams from the country's paramilitary force, the Hashd, initially formed to fight ISIS.
"We are getting around 70 to 80 bodies a day," (INAUDIBLE) Ibrahimi (ph) says.
And it is expected to get much worse across this country, whose medical infrastructure was already decimated by decades of sanctions, war and corruption.
Medical workers report a prevalence of the virus among hospital staff due to a lack of proper measures and PPE.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was with my family when the head manager of the hospital contacted me to inform me that the result of PCR is positive for COVID-19.
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DAMON (voice-over): Dr. al-Etapani (ph) filmed the moment he told his children he was sick, promising them that he would be back, not knowing if it would be a promise he would keep.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For any person, it's a painful moment that you say goodbye to your children and your family and you do not know whether you will return back or not.
DAMON (voice-over): Luckily, he did and is now recovering.
"We were so worried about Mommy and Daddy because of corona," one of his daughters says upon his return. But the others chime in.
But al-Etapani (ph) fears for the worst for his country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With coronavirus cases now jumped due to government default in providing protection measures, the people and opening the markets and malls.
DAMON (voice-over): This video shows people scuffling over oxygen tanks outside a hospital in the south of the country, trying to secure a supply for their sick loved ones.
In the same city, health workers beg their ministry for help. Iraqis know loss on a mass scale all too well. The bitter pain of consecutive wars that bled into each other.
A member of Iraq's security forces apologizes for his inability to keep his emotions in check. It's his mother who died -- Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: As the U.S. president compares violent, far-left protesters to Nazis, an angry crowd tears down a Christopher Columbus statue. What radically different July 4th events say about America, here, in 2020.
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ALLEN: Welcome back to our viewers, here, in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Natalie Allen. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta.
Independence Day in the U.S. means different things to different Americans. These two images prove it.
On the left of your screen, Donald Trump watched fireworks in Washington after doubling down on comparing far-left agitators to Nazis.
On the right, the very protesters the president called out, tearing down a statue of Christopher Columbus in Maryland because they say he represents a racist history that should not be venerated.
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ALLEN: With me now to discuss the president's stance over the holiday is Leslie Vinjamuri, the head of the U.S. and Americas program at Chatham House, a think tank based in London.
Good morning, Leslie. Thanks for coming on.
LESLIE VINJAMURI, HEAD OF U.S. AND AMERICAS PROGRAM, CHATHAM HOUSE: Good morning, Natalie.
Well, first up here, the president has used dark and divisive language over this holiday addressing the country. He framed the hundreds of thousands of protesters demonstrating over race issues as, quote, "nefarious left wing mob" that intends to end America.
What do you make of his words and his message that we've heard in the past two days?
VINJAMURI: So I think we're seeing a president, who is grasping for straws, who is desperate to hold on, who sees a country he is leading respond to a pandemic, a health crisis and economic crisis on a scale that we haven't seen in decades, respond very poorly because of his leadership.
And it's showing up in the polls. So President Trump is doubling down on his racist narrative. He is looking to probably a hard core of his base to mobilize them, to energize them.
But Natalie, it's not working. If you look at the data that's coming out on, for example, the number of Americans who engaged in the protests surrounding the Black Lives Movement after the brutal killing of George Floyd, people are estimating between 15 and 26 million Americans have participated in these protests.
They've been peaceful. The call out from Americans is very clear, for unity, for equality and for reform. So the president is pushing back. And he is targeting a very, very narrow segment of the population.
Unfortunately, it's tremendously divisive. And if you sit where I sit in London, in Europe, looking back at America, it's just devastating. It's devastating and, quite frankly, it's shocking to watch.
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ALLEN: And on that, the "shocking to watch" part, I do want to elaborate a bit, because a former U.S. ambassador to Russia called the president's Mt. Rushmore speech as the most U.N.-American speech ever given by a U.S. president on the 4th of July. The words he is using have raised concern.
I want you to listen now how a noted presidential historian said earlier on CNN about what he is hearing from President Trump this weekend. Here he is.
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DOUG BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Donald Trump is showing us how Joe McCarthy would have acted if he had become president. McCarthy was obviously just a senator from Wisconsin but who raised havoc with his anti-Communist crusade.
And here you have a President of the United States on July 4th, in the middle of a ceremony on the National Mall, TV cameras around the world, using the opportunity to divide our nation, to call his opponents "radicals" and "good for nothing anarchists" and the like.
This is appalling.
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ALLEN: And as you said, Leslie, it's shocking as well.
Is there any surprise, though, that this president is taking this approach?
Or is this his same playbook that appeals to his base?
VINJAMURI: It's the same playbook, Natalie. You know, the words that we just heard are exactly right. It's the same playbook but he is taking it really in a darker and more dangerous way.
If you go back to the beginning of his presidency, he was speaking out against immigrants, against foreigners. It was very divisive, very problematic. But now he is turning that inwards. And he is dividing Americans against each other by attacking a certain segment of the American population, which, frankly, doesn't exist in the way that he portrays it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Professor Vinjamuri there went on to tell me that the president could be a champion of unity at this challenging time but that Donald Trump is unlikely to change that playbook she talked about.
Well, Florida has become one of the coronavirus epicenters in the United States, reporting yet another record of new cases on Saturday.
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ALLEN: And the president's response to the pandemic could sway a critical demographic in that critical state come November. CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more on that from St. Petersburg.
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JOHN DUDLEY, FORMER TRUMP SUPPORTER: Based on my friends, he doesn't have a chance. He's -- he blew it.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Dudley is talking about President Trump, who he supported four years ago, but won't again.
DUDLEY: He had everything. We were so excited in the beginning, a businessman to run our country like a business. And it hasn't happened. All he succeeded in doing was, he juiced up the stock market. And now that's gone to pot because of the coronavirus.
ZELENY: Dudley is a retired banker and the face of a new Trump campaign worry, losing the senior vote, amid summertime signs of anxiety from the beach to testing sites for soaring COVID cases.
Here in Florida, people 65 and older made up 21 percent of the vote in 2016. Trump won that group by 17 points. Polls now show Joe Biden with an edge among seniors in key battleground states and nationally.
For Trump, there is virtually no path to winning without Florida, which make places like the On Top of the World retirement community critical terrain.
PAULA SCHELLING, FORMER REPUBLICAN: I had to change parties. I could not do this anymore.
ZELENY: Paula Schelling abandoned the Republican Party. Marsha Lundh still considers herself a Republican, but not a Trump one.
MARSHA LUNDH, REPUBLICAN VOTER: I hoped that I was wrong in not voting for him and that he would turn out to be a great president. But it didn't happen.
ZELENY: Even loyal Trump supporter Robert Blethen wishes the president would do one thing.
ROBERT BLETHEN, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Our president should wear a mask, because we're doing it. We're -- you know, it's a -- we're supporting him.
ZELENY: On Florida's Gulf Coast, Trump won Pinellas County by 1 percentage point, the same margin he carried the state. Since then, Democrats have seen a new surge in voter registration.
JOYCE MONAHAN, BIDEN SUPPORTER: There are more Democrats now than there used to be in years past.
ZELENY (on camera): Do any people who voted for Trump last time who are not going to this time?
DAVE CORDES, BIDEN SUPPORTER: Actually, I know several, including my son and grandson.
ZELENY (voice-over): The airwaves are already noisy, including this Trump ad questioning Biden's fitness for office.
MONAHAN: Trump is not that much younger. But in the case of Joe Biden, I think his inherit wisdom and his desire to surround himself with the best people. It's the wrong place to talk about age.
ZELENY: Sheila Griffin, secretary of the county GOP, believes the president's record and resilience will lead to his reelection.
SHEILA GRIFFIN, PINELLAS COUNTY GOP SECRETARY: If you're talking to the base, his standing is as strong as ever and it has not been changed.
ZELENY: But as Biden supporters gear up for November, Trump is also a motivating force for them.
JIM DONELON, ST. PETERSBURG DEMOCRATIC CLUB PRESIDENT: Trump is our biggest ally, just an enormous amount of energy that I have seen and never seen before.
ZELENY: Democrats do now have a registration advantage here in the county. Some 10,000 more registered than Republicans. In 2016, Democrats and Republicans were essentially tied. So that is one of the many dynamics here that is going to be playing
out over the next four months. Seniors, so critical, of course, to the president winning Florida again -- Jeff Zeleny, CNN, St. Petersburg, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Next, a sad and worrying mystery, why are hundreds of elephants dying?
It is probably not poachers. And one conservationist thinks human health might be at risk.
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ALLEN: Hundreds of elephants have died in Botswana and no one knows why. So far, there is no evidence poachers are to blame. Now conservationists are raising the alarm, saying the cause must be discovered soon or the results could be catastrophic. David McKenzie has our report. And a warning, this story contains distressing images.
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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the air, the investigations revealed carcass after decaying carcass, dead elephants scattered across Botswana's Okavango Delta.
NIALL MCCANN, NATIONAL PARK RESCUE: To me, it's absolutely unprecedented. You would expect to have a significant die-off of animals throughout the dry season or in times of drought.
But at the moment, (INAUDIBLE) floods. No other animals are dying.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Niall McCann says the issue was first identified in early May. Since then, more and more have been found. It's now believed more than 360 elephants have died. But no one, yet, knows why.
MCCANN: This isn't just a conservation crisis. There's the potential for this to spill over into people. And at the time of COVID-19, when zoonotic disease, the transfer of pathogens from animals to people, is on everybody's minds, I think it's absolutely behooved amongst -- upon the government to go and make sure those samples are taken so we know what it is.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): The government of Botswana says investigations regarding the unexplained deaths of elephants are still ongoing, adding that the initial work has revealed no evidence of poaching so far. Botswana is home to about one-third of Africa's elephant population, a
population that is constantly under threat from poaching, habitat loss and now this.
MCCANN: At the moment it's solely confined to Botswana but those elephants live in the Okavango. they do travel a very long way. They (INAUDIBLE) frequently. They frequently go into Zambia and into Angola. So there is a minimum of four countries that are going to potentially be affected by this.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): At this stage, conservationists aren't ruling anything out -- David McKenzie, CNN, South Africa.
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ALLEN: What a distressing, distressing story there. We'll continue to follow any updates on what's going on.
Next here on CNN NEWSROOM.
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NATHAN BOWEN (PH), ARTIST: I want people to look at my art and go home and feel like, yo, that artwork made my day. That made my travels in the street.
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ALLEN: Something to make doctors and nurses smile through the pandemic on a special day for the U.K.'s National Health Service. We'll have that next.
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ALLEN: The United Kingdom is paying tribute to the National Health Service on its 72nd anniversary. The prime minister's residence was illuminated along with other landmarks to honor healthcare workers, especially those fighting the spread of the coronavirus. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz shows us the tributes in London.
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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: All over the country, graffiti art like this honoring the country's public health care system, known as the NHS, has popped up.
It's one of the most beloved institutions in the U.K., made up of the doctors and nurses and front line health care workers who have been battling this pandemic for the last three months. But it's not just graffiti art like this. There's been billboards and
posters and even little crayon drawings that's been in the windows of homes, saying, "We love the NHS."
On its 72nd anniversary of this organization, the country wants to commemorate the sacrifices they have made. Key buildings will be lit up in blue. There's also a clap scheduled so that everybody can applaud and commemorate those health care workers.
I spoke to the artist who actually painted this drawing, Nathan Bowen (ph). And he told me he wanted health care workers to have something nice to look at as they made their way to the clinics and hospitals and care homes across this country.
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BOWEN (PH): When people pass my art, it makes them smile. I want to inspire people. I want people to look at my art and go home and feel like, yo, that artwork made my day. That made my travels in the street.
My artwork is for people that, when they're on their way to work, why should people look at, like, dull, boring buildings (ph) when they can look at artwork?
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ABDELAZIZ: I want to show you yet another piece of street art dedicated to the NHS. This one says, "Stay strong," right there on the board. But there's another message here.
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ABDELAZIZ: Take a closer look. Each and every one of these faces is either brown or black, people of color.
I spoke to the artist who drew this mural and he told me it was important to acknowledge the significant role that minorities have played during this pandemic. A big portion of the health care worker population, especially here in London, are people of color.
And we do know that those of color were disproportionally impacted by coronavirus, according to the government's own data. Minorities were more likely to be exposed to the virus and more likely to become seriously ill from it.
And the artist wanted everyone to remember and acknowledge that, as they walked past this work of art.
Now dozens of health care workers have lost their lives during this pandemic. We don't yet know the final death toll. But this anniversary comes at a particularly difficult and point in time in the NHS' history. And perhaps now more than ever, this country needs its health care workers -- Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ALLEN: Amid all the tragedy this pandemic is bringing, there are, of course, uplifting stories and we have got one for you. This one's from New Hampshire, where a 102-year-old woman, surely, can be called a survivor.
She beat the 1918 influenza. She beat cancer. And now, she beat the coronavirus. As she tells our Gary Tuchman, she's always feeling lucky.
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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We headed to New Hampshire to meet this remarkable woman who just recovered from the coronavirus.
Do you feel lucky today?
GERRI SCHAPPALS, 102 YEAR-OLD SURVIVOR: I always feel lucky. I never had any real problems in my life. Everything just 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 is her daughter. When her mother was a baby, a little over 101 years ago --
JULIA SCHAPPALS, DAUGHTER OF GERRI SCHAPPALS: She had this, what we called the Spanish flu which was a huge pandemic during the First World War.
TUCHMAN: That's, right Gerry Schappals' family said 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 are both going to die, prepare yourself. But that's my medical opinion.
TUCHMAN: But daughter and mother survived. Gerri went to college, got a bachelors and masters. 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 great grandchildren. 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 are modest, but you had coronavirus and 101 years ago, you had Spanish flu. And you survived it twice. You are an amazing woman.
G. SCHAPPALS: I am.
TUCHMAN: Gerri as a resident of the senior living community in Nashua for seven years now. On this day, her daughter came to pay a visit. Social distancing and masks still required.
J. SCHAPPALS: So, how are you doing?
G. SCHAPPALS: You have to keep the mask on.
J. SCHAPPALS: Yes, we have to keep the mask on.
Do you recognize the top?
You should, I stole it from you. Don't think of getting it back.
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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 --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She had an incredible attitude. And she, you know, took every day and said, I guess I'm sick. They told me I am 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.
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ALLEN: What an amazing woman. Attitude is everything.
Social justice protests have put a renewed focus on some sport team names. Now Ron Rivera, head coach of the Washington Redskins, says a new name may be on the horizon.
Rivera says he is working on a replacement with the team's owner. Many Native Americans consider the name to be a slur.
The return of sport got an earlier start outside the United States. And now, athletes in Europe are taking a public stand on the issues of the day, as competition gets underway. Here's CNN's Patrick Snell, with that.
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ALLEN: Thank you for watching. I'll see you next time. "NEW DAY" is just ahead.
