Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
French Study: Baby Infected with Coronavirus in Womb; High- Profile Twitter Accounts Hacked in Cryptocurrency Scam; U.S. Slaps Visa Restriction on Employees of Huawei and other Chinese Tech Companies; China Summons U.S. Ambassador Over Hong Kong Autonomy Act; Police Reveal New Body Cam Footage of George Floyd Arrest; Black Protester's Statue Replaces Slave Trader's; U.S. Retailers Adapt to the New Mask Economy. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired July 16, 2020 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome Back.
The coronavirus is spreading so quickly and scrambling to find beds. Johns Hopkins University has reported nearly 3 1/2 million cases in the U.S., a staggering number of them just since the July 4th holiday. Texas recorded nearly 11,000 new cases on Wednesday. A local hotel in the border town of Laredo will be turned into a COVID hospital as medical facilities reached capacity.
There is also growing concern about the impact of the virus on pregnant women. Researchers in France say a woman passed the coronavirus on to her unborn child. CNN's Cyril Vanier has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dr. Daniele DeLuca specializes in critical care for newborns at this hospital outside Paris. At the height of the pandemic in France, late March, dozens of pregnant mothers presenting severe coronavirus symptoms are admitted here. In a research paper recently published in the medical journal "Nature," the doctor says it's now confirmed that one of the mothers transmitted the virus to her unborn child.
DR. DANIELE DELUCA, HEAD OF NEONATAL CLINICAL CARE, HOPITAL ANTOINE- BECLERE: This is the reality. The view virus can pass through the placenta to the baby. In the beginning we're told, well this is never going to happen, this is not true. That's the reality and that's the bad news.
VANIER: The doctor said the virus was present in the mother's blood, which was rare, and was then transmitted through the placenta and when the baby boy was delivered, he tested positive for the virus.
(on camera): There were already strong suspicions of what is called neonatal transmission, but Dr. DeLuca says his study confirms it. The hospital carried out half a dozen test on the baby boy, swabs, blood tests, tests of the placenta, the cord, the embryonic fluid, all within an hour of the birth. All confirming that the baby was indeed infected before he even came into this world.
(voice-over): Within 24 hours the newborn presented severe neurological complications, cerebral inflammation and irregular muscle movements.
DELUCA: I cannot deny that. In the beginning we were very worried, these are our set of symptoms, so we were worried. And then as I told you, they improved pretty steadily. We're very happy.
VANIER: The virus left no lasting damage and the baby was discharged from the hospital less than three weeks later.
DELUCA: When it happens, wow, as you see the baby, it's most likely going to recover pretty soon alone.
VANIER: According to the doctor, there is now growing evidence that newborns are resistant to COVID-19 and the best news of all, he says, neonatal transmission of the virus remains extremely rare.
Cyril Vanier, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Twitter is blaming the takeover of multiple high-profile accounts on Wednesday on what it calls a coordinated social engineering attack. Accounts belonging to Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Barack Obama and others were involved in the hack involving a cryptocurrency scan.
And CNN's John Defterios joins me live from Abu Dhabi. Good to see you, John. So was this a highly targeted attack that provides incredible access to these high-profile accounts?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: I think that's a fair assessment, Rosemary. They were certainly executed by those who are not minor league players or hackers, let's put it this way. And it did catch again Twitter off guard here or flat footed. The company has suggested that they targeted key employees of Twitter who have access to internal tools. Basically the security measures and able to penetrate verified accounts, high-profile ones.
Let's take a look at those names again.
[04:35:00]
And there's another common theme that emerges here not just the B, as in Barack Obama or Joe Biden or Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, for example. But very progressive players that kind of raises the question why didn't it go to the other side of the political spectrum at the same time. It was done to hack $100,000 of crypto coins and they were successful in doing so. Two intelligence sources have told our Bureau in Washington D.C. that it could have been a nation state that executed this or one acting on behalf of a nation state.
Those who have followed the developed cryptocurrencies, very interesting, these are those who are against any sort of regulations. It's almost a message, Rosemary, if you will, to central banks that we're here, that we can penetrate. And it also raises the question again for Jack Dorsey, the Chief Executive Officer of Twitter, and the company, they've had different breaches in the past. And the only thing you could do is put out a tweet and say, we feel terrible about what happened. But what's next for Twitter to prevent this from happening in the future is a question many are asking right now. Back to you.
CHURCH: Yes, very unnerving. John Defterios bringing us up to date on that situation, appreciate it.
Well, the Trump administration is making another move against Beijing. America's top diplomat, Mike Pompeo, announced visa restrictions on employees of some Chinese tech companies including Huawei. He said the companies provide material support to regime's that violate human rights. It's unclear how many employees would be affected. Earlier the chief security officer for Huawei USA told our Richard Quest, he wants the U.S. and China to fix the tensions behind the crackdown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDY PURDY, CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER, HUAWEI USA: I certainly don't think there should be any escalation. I don't think there should be any retaliation by the China government. I think escalation in these situations is a huge mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Meanwhile the Chinese Foreign Ministry is not happy about a new U.S. law that would punish China for its actions in Hong Kong. Beijing summoned the U.S. ambassador. And our Kristie Lu Stout is following this from Hong Kong. She joins us now live. Good to see you, Kristie. So what all do we know about that meeting? And how is all this impacting China-U.S. tensions
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh my goodness, relations are at another new low, Rosemary. This after U.S. President Donald Trump signed that executive order ending Hong Kong special trade status and also signed into law the Hong Kong Autonomy Act which stopped sanctions on companies and individuals deemed to be eroding Hong Kong's autonomy. China's ministry of foreign affairs has summoned the U.S. ambassador to discuss the matter. The Hong Kong government here earlier issued a statement saying that they firmly oppose these measures.
And then you also have that very strongly worded statement from the liaison office, that's China's top office here in Hong Kong. Accusing the United States of, quote, gangster logic and bullying. And then you also have this -- we're going to play a sound bite for you. It's from Hua Chunying, she is the spokesperson from China's ministry of foreign affairs. Quite a push back from her. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUA CHUNYING, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN (through translator): The United States should think carefully about its policies. Speaking about sanctions, China is not afraid. If the United States wants to stir up trouble, then let the storm rage with a greater force.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: The storm is, indeed, raging. China and the United States are locking horns over a host of issues, not just Hong Kong, but also human rights abuses in relation to Xinjiang, over the South China Sea, over the World Health Organization, the pandemic investigation, the W.H.O.'s relationship with China over Taiwan, the trade war, the tech war. And there doesn't seem to be a diplomatic off ramp here. When the U.S. President was asked by reporters earlier this week whether he had spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping, he said no and he didn't have any plan to -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: It is a real concern. Kristie Lu Stout joining us live from Hong Kong. Many thanks.
Well George Floyd's final words were, I can't breathe. Ahead, newly released video from the murder case that sparked protests across the globe.
[04:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: We are learning more about the moments that led up to George Floyd's death as police show CNN new body camera footage. Now this comes as Floyd's family has filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Minneapolis and the officers involved in the case. Floyd's death sparked protests around the world against police brutality. CNN's Omar Jimenez reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New body camera video, shown to CNN but not shared with the general public, is providing critical new context into the moments leading up to George Floyd's death.
The call for officers began over a fake bill being used at a store in Minneapolis. Less than 40 seconds after finishing a conversation with the store employee, the officers are at the door of this car Floyd was in. Officer Thomas Lane with his gun drawn, yelling to put your F- ing hands up, following an initial knock on the window with the flashlight.
BENJAMIN CRUMP, FLOYD FAMILY ATTORNEY: This is a crisis in black America, a public health crisis.
JIMENEZ: After repeated asks to get out of the car, Floyd is seen on Lane's body camera, sobbing with his head on the steering wheel at one point, saying he's sorry, according to video reviewed by CNN.
Please don't shoot me, Mr. Officer. Please don't shoot me, man. Please, can you not shoot me, man? Lane: Step out and face away. I'm not shooting. Step out and face away.
It's at that point, Floyd is forcefully pulled from the car as both Officer Lane and Officer J. Alexander Kueng struggled to handcuff him.
Shortly after, a big struggle to get Floyd into the squad car parked across the street, as Floyd says he's claustrophobic and refuses to get in.
At this point, according to video viewed by CNN, Floyd is being pushed into the police vehicle from one side by Kueng and pulled in from the other by Lane.
I can't breathe, I can't breathe, Floyd says, all the while, flailing in cuffs as both officers are on top of him.
Get him on the ground, Lane says.
Let go of me, man. I can't breathe, I can't breathe.
At one point, Floyd just letting out a desperate scream for at least three seconds straight, according to video reviewed by CNN.
About 30 seconds later, the other officers, Tou Thao and Derek Chauvin, are in sight of Lane's body camera, and everybody falls to the infamously familiar position seen in this cell phone video, with Chauvin's knee on Floyd's neck.
An already restrained Floyd calls out for his mom.
GEORGE FLOYD, KILLED BY POLICE: Mama!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get up!
JIMENEZ: As Chauvin appears to increase pressure on Floyd's neck, curling down from his initial upright position, according to body camera video viewed by CNN.
About four minutes later, still cuffed, and under the knee of Chauvin, Floyd says, "Please, please, please," each please seemingly weaker than the one before, according to video reviewed.
[04:45:00]
Lane says, should we roll him on his side?
Chauvin: No, he's staying put where we got him.
Those are the last words listed in the transcript, but audio heard by CNN shows that seconds later, Floyd says --
FLOYD: Please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) You're stopping his breathing right there, bro. FLOYD: I can't breathe!
JIMENEZ: Those would be his final words.
Omar Jimenez, CNN, Minneapolis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: A Black Lives Matter sculpture that was secretly installed in Bristol has been moved to a museum. That is according to the city's officials. The statue of a black protestor had replaced the toppled statue of the slave trader. The city's mayor says the people of Bristol must decide what will be put in place at the original statue.
And Salma Abdelaziz joins me now live from Bristol. Good to see you, Salma. So while the statue has now been taken to a museum, what's the backstory to all of this? How likely is it that the people of Bristol will decide to put it back?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, Bristol is waking up to yet another surprise today, but this one is of disappointment. We've been spending a few hours here and we've seen so many people pass by. Some who had seen the statue yesterday and were disappointed to see it go. Others who had come to visit it for the first time and of course, left away heartbroken. Now the artist had anticipated that this would potentially happen, maybe not as quickly as it did.
But this was not given permission by the authorities. This was installed overnight in this guerrilla style act of defiance. Putting the statue up of a Black Lives Matter protester who had been here shortly after the statue that was here of Edward Colston, a slave trader, had been pulled down by protesters, dragged through these streets and thrown into the harbor.
So you can only imagine the level of excitement and shock and joy when people found yesterday that there was -- that that was replaced with a statue of a strong black defiant woman. Take a listen to what one group of young women who have come up to see it told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The group chat was buzzing. It was -- it was popping off left, right and center. So there was a lot of excitement.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, a black woman, to be replaced with a black women.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tall, black woman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Black woman. That is -- I mean, that's something that we're going to tell our grandkids about this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ: That was a group of about 12 women. They all dressed in black. They brought a photographer. It was a photo shoot. And that's what it felt like here yesterday. It was an absolute event. So now the city has to deal with what happens after. And as you said, the city's mayor has said they will democratically decide what will be up on this column here and maybe if we're lucky they might vote that statue back in -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: Yes, they might just do that. It sounds like they will. Salma Abdelaziz will keep an eye on that. Appreciate it.
Well back in the United States, it didn't take long for a symbol of America's racist past to be flying high over the latest NASCAR race. Last month the Stock Car Association banned the Confederate flag. But the stars and bars were seen fluttering over Wednesday's race at the Bristol motor speedway. To most Americans, the flag is a reminder of slavery and blatant racism. President Trump has said he believes the flag represents freedom of speech. Attending the race the Tennessee governor, he tweeted he would be wearing a mask. The event, which drew at least 20,000 fans, marked the largest crowd for any competition since mid-March.
Well still to come, how facemasks may be making the transition from controversial political statements to flashy fashion must have. Back with that in just a moment.
[04:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Well, facemasks have been viewed by some in the U.S. as a political statement but retailers are adapting to the growing need for them anyway. And fashion brands aren't the only ones seizing the opportunity as CNN's Clare Sebastian explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It took just a few days for Meghan Navoy to pivot her small textiles business to making face masks.
MEGHAN NAVOY, FOUNDER, ROSEMARINE TEXTILES: I at first was just giving them all away for free in a bin on my front porch. Then there was a huge surge in demand, and I listed them on my Etsy shop. I have had my shop for two years. I've never had anything that have this sort of demand.
SEBASTIAN: Etsy says more than 12 million masks were sold in April alone. Meghan Navoy had to pause sales of all her products for a month just to clear her backlog of mask orders.
Three months on, the masks are still in her top three bestsellers, and she's hired an extra person to help her.
NAVOY: I think people had no masks at all in the beginning, and now I think most people have at least one to wear. And it's now it's more people looking for a cute mask that sort of goes with their style.
SEBASTIAN: And that shift has brought much larger businesses into the face mask market, from luxury brands like Marc Jacobs, these $100 masks currently all sold out. To Gap, which sold over 3 million masks in May across its different brands.
(on camera): We're seeing some companies showcasing their signature designs like these bandana print mask from Levi's. The company says these have been the most viewed item on their website for the past six weeks.
And it's not just the world of fashion. This is from Dunkin' Donuts. Clearly, masks also present a marketing opportunity.
MARK COHEN, DIRECTOR OF RETAIL STUDIES, COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL: I think it's becoming a ubiquitous staple. And there's no good reason why us retailers wouldn't provide it, either as a customer service feature or as a branding opportunity, or as a fashion accessory. This is an opportunity to create a brand-new genre of accessories.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): In early April, Vistaprint, the company best known for business cards and custom signage, realized their customers' needs have changed.
[04:55:00]
RICKY ENGELBERG, CMO, VISTAPRINT: For us to get into face masks was a pretty -- pretty easy decision. We work to serve small businesses every single day, and one of the biggest things we saw was going to happen was small businesses had to be able to reopen safely.
SEBASTIAN: Vistaprint says it can now produce a couple of hundred thousand a month, with the ability to scale.
ENGELBERG: It will be a category that is as urgent as it is right now a year from now? Probably not. Will it be something that's way more a part of our everyday lives going forward than it is -- than it was six months ago? Definitely.
SEBASTIAN: A simple safety product during a global pandemic now giving the business of accessories a whole new face.
Clare Sebastian, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: It's a smart choice smart choice. Wear a mask.
So if you are feeling so stressed out you want to scream, Iceland can help you out. Its tourism board has a website where you can record your screens and listen to others as well. Here's the app for it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can hear it happen, actually save it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ah, yes! (SCREAM).
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: And here's the best part. Iceland will broadcast your screams with speakers set up in remote parts of the country. It's a novel idea, isn't it?
Thanks for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. Be sure to connect with me anytime on Twitter @RosemaryCNN. And "EARLY START" is up next. You're watching CNN, have a great day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
