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Second Day Of 1,000 COVID-19 Deaths in the U.S.; US Closes Chinese Consulate In Houston; Race For The Red Planet: China Launches Tianwen-1; U.S. In Massive Vaccine Buy From Big Pharma. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired July 23, 2020 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from studio seven at CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta.
Ahead this hour. The new somber "just the facts Donald Trump" lasted a day. Once again, the president struggles with the pandemic truth.
Waiting for the diplomatic shoe to drop. How will China react after the White House ordered a consulate in Texas to close.
Plus China's second mission to Mars. This one, though, could ignite a new space race.
The U.S. has reached a nearly two billion dollar deal with pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, to produce and deliver 100 million doses of its experimental coronavirus vaccine.
The Department of Health & Human Services says the vaccine would first need to be approved but, if all goes to plan, the government could buy an extra half billion doses.
Since the outbreak began, the U.S. has confirmed nearly four million cases of COVID-19, almost a quarter of the worldwide total.
California, the latest epicenter in the U.S. reporting more than 12,000 new infections on Wednesday, another daily record.
As the outbreak continues to spread at an alarming rate, officials are taking more steps to try and contain the outbreak.
So far, at least 41 states have issued some type of face mask requirements Others are leaving the decision to local officials.
For the second straight day, the daily death toll in the U.S. passes 1,000.
CNN's Nick Watt shows us how some states are now dealing with this crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Around 20 percent of tests across Florida are coming back positive. A sign the virus is out of control in the sunshine state. Seven weeks after the governor announced bars were back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FLA): People go, enjoy, have a drink, it's fine. We want to kind of not have huge crowds piling in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: In Texas, the Navy now sending medical personnel to the hard- hit Rio Grande Valley. Doctors report a tsunami of patients.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. IVAN MELENDEZ, HIDALGO COUNTY, TEXAS HEALTH AUTHORITY: I went to put someone on life support, to intubate something who was my sixth grade school teacher.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: Nationally, the number of COVID patients in the hospital is inching ever closer to that that grim April peak.
The national COVID dollar death toll just topped 1,000 for the first time in two weeks.
But there is some optimism. Take those vaccine trials.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We have well over 100,000 people that have already signed up as volunteers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: The U.S. Government just preordered 100 million doses of Pfizer's potential vaccine. It might be ready for regulatory review as early as October. It might be available by the end of the year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BURKHARDT, HEAD OF DRUG SAFETY RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT, PFIZER: We are optimistic, we are hopeful. Things can go wrong that can slow a project.
So those are optimistic dates.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: Meanwhile, this is California's current normal. You can get a haircut, but only outside.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I lost a lot of customers. They're scared to come out, for one. Two, (inaudible), the loss of jobs. (END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: This state now leads the nation with the most confirmed cases. Over 400,000. Just surpassed New York.
But look how each state got there. New York, a brutal early spike; California a steady climb.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MIZUHO MORRISON, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: We saw a slow tidal wave coming, right? And in emergency medicine we actually call this time to prepare the "golden hour."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: That time, and the lessons and the lessons learned from New York helped a lot.
Similar case counts but California's death toll, less than a quarter of New York's.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORRISON: We're hoping this is the peak but, of course, we're all dreading the upcoming flu season.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: In some other hot spots, Florida, Arizona, average new case counts are right now plateauing. High, but flattening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: We are certainly not at the end of the game. I'm not even sure we're halfway through.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: And here in California, an all-time record, 12,807 new cases in a 24-hour period.
Now here in Los Angeles, they've been threatening us with a return to a full stay-at-home order for quite some time now.
They have just said that it will not happen this week anyway. Because, for now, there is still capacity in the hospitals.
Nick Watt. CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, at his rebooted daily briefings, President Trump once again pushed for schools to reopen as soon as possible. Even though it's still unclear just how contagious children could be.
Evidence suggests a big difference in age groups.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would like to see the schools open. Open 100 percent and we'll do it safely, we'll do it carefully.
But when you look at the statistics I just read having to do with children and safety, they're very impressive. They have very strong immune systems.
[01:05:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you would understand the children who go to school then go back to home, they're with -- some live with their grandparents --
TRUMP: Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- there's a real risk. Would you understand if some schools --
TRUMP: Well, they do say that they don't transmit very easily. And a lot of people are saying they don't transmit.
And we're looking at that, we're studying, John, very hard that particular subject. That they don't bring it home with them.
Now, they don't catch it easily, they don't bring it home easily. And if they do catch it, they get better fast. We're looking at that fact.
That is a factor, and we're looking at that very strongly. We'll be reporting about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think we really got an explanation yesterday on why the health experts are no longer joining you at these briefings. Can you explain why?
TRUMP: Because they're briefing me, I'm meeting them. I just spoke to Dr. Fauci, Dr. Birx is right outside.
And they're giving me all of -- everything they know as of this point in time. And I'm giving the information to you. And I think it's probably a very concise way of doing it. It seems to be working out very well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: To fact check the president's remarks on children catching the virus.
They are less likely to develop severe symptoms but not all recover quickly.
A recent study in South Korea found children between 10 and 19 years old may transmit the virus just as easily as adults.
Latin America and the Caribbean has passed four million confirmed cases, Brazil recording its highest daily increase on Wednesday.
This is the highest since the outbreak began.
We get details now from Shasta Darlington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brazil registered a record number of new cases on Wednesday. More than 67,000 new infections in 24 hours. Bringing the total to over 2.2 million.
Brazil also reported 1,284 additional deaths as the death toll topped 82,000.
The interim health minister expressed his solidarity with families who have lost relatives and said the government is working to provide emergency equipment and care where it's needed.
While the rate of infection appears to have plateaued in urban centers like Sao Paulo, the virus continues to spread in smaller cities and towns in Brazil's south and inland, overwhelming health systems.
In the meantime, Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, tested positive a third time for COVID-19 on Wednesday. Just over two weeks after his initial test came back positive.
Bolsonaro has been working in semi-isolation from the presidential residence since July 7th when he first announced the infection.
On Wednesday evening, he donned a mask and greeted supporters during a flag-lowering ceremony as he has done several times in recent days.
Shasta Darlington. CNN, Sao Paulo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The Australian state of Victoria marked its third highest daily increase of new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday.
Patients failing to self-isolate are being blamed.
CNN's Anna Coren joins me now live for more on this.
So this is now, what -- there's a six-week lockdown which is underway. And despite that, these numbers continue to rise.
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. They're very alarming. They are two weeks into this six-week lockdown.
But as the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, said a few hours ago, if the numbers continue to rise then this lockdown is going to pass that six-week mark for certain.
The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, reiterated those claims. Saying that unless Victoria, Melbourne specifically, can flatten this curve, Melburnians, five million of them, will remain in lockdown.
You mention those numbers; 403 new cases were recorded today. That is down slightly from the record yesterday of 484.
But these numbers have just been rising over the last few weeks. And health authorities really scrambling to try to get these cases under control.
They said, John, that 69 of the cases today are connected to known outbreaks, the rest of them they are investigating. And this is the issue.
There's obviously those clusters in Melbourne, but then there are all those cases where they don't know the origins of. And that's where the contact tracing comes in.
Obviously, there is widespread testing underway at the moment. But this is extremely alarming.
We're also hearing of more cases spiking up in New South Wales as well.
But you mention the reason for the rise. Well, the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, said it is because people are not self-isolating. And he gave some data.
He said that 9 out of 10 people who tested positive later on, that when they get the symptoms between the symptoms and getting testing, they're not self-isolating.
[01:10:00]
And then for those people who are then being tested and then waiting for the results, more than half are not self-isolating.
So is it a matter of Victorians just not taking this seriously, Australians not taking this seriously?
Mask wearing is now mandatory in Melbourne.
It was suggested should people in New South Wales traveling on public transport, particularly in Sydney, should they be wearing masks? Well, the health minister there, the state health minister said no, it's not required.
So Australia has been very, very reluctant to wear masks. It's obviously not part of the culture there.
But as we're seeing all over the world, the scientific proof shows that wearing a mask certainly reduces the risk of transmission.
So this is something, John, that they are definitely struggling with. VAUSE: Yes. Anna, thank you. It certainly is a turnaround from the early days when it appeared that Australia was one of the few countries which had all this outbreak under control.
That now appears, obviously, not to be the case.
Anna, thank you. Anna Coren live for us in Hong Kong.
Well, Bill Gates will join Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Anderson Cooper for a CNN Global Town Hall "Coronavirus Facts and Fears," 8:00 p.m. Thursday in New York, 8:00 a.m. Friday in Hong Kong. You'll see it only here, on CNN.
Well, still to come.
The U.S. abruptly ordering China to shut down its consulate in Texas accusing Beijing of years of illegal spying.
More on the rising tensions and what will come from China. That's next.
Plus the U.S. and China have their own mission to Mars. Why that is adding to this ongoing rivalry and tension between these two nations.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: China is vowing to retaliate for the unprecedented escalation after the Trump Administration ordered the shutdown of its consulate in Houston, Texas, and cease all operations.
The U.S. State Department says a growing number of disputes between both countries led to the move.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE BIEGUN, U.S. DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE: We find the China-U.S. relationship today weighed down by a growing number of disputes.
Including: Commercial espionage and intellectual property theft from American companies. Unequal treatment of our diplomats, businesses, NGOs, and journalists by Chinese authorities. An abuse of the United States academic freedom and welcoming posture towards international students to steal sensitive technology and research from our universities in order to advance the PRC's military capabilities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Live now to Hong Kong. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout.
So I guess what we're now waiting for is the other shoe to drop, if you like. What will China do?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.
VAUSE: Which consulate will close? STOUT: Yes. That's what we're waiting right now at this moment of
extreme diplomatic tension between the U.S. and China. And China has vowed to retaliate.
And right now, we're also monotiling developments at the Chinese consulate in San Francisco.
[01:15:00]
U.S. prosecutors, they are seeking a Chinese scientist who they accuse of visa fraud.
They say that she lied about her links to the Chinese military and is currently hiding out in the consulate in San Francisco.
We are also continuing to monitor the fallout on the back of the ordered closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston.
On Wednesday, Beijing condemned the move. It vowed to retaliate -- we've been monitoring Chinese state media which has been pointing to the possibility of a closure, a forced closure, of one of America's consulates in China.
Take a listen to what the MOFA spokesperson said yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WANG WENBIN, SPOKESPERSON, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY (through translator): The U.S. side is deliberately sabotaging China-U.S. relations, which is unreasonable.
China strongly condemns the decision and urges the U.S. side to immediately recall the wrong decision.
Otherwise, China will take legitimate and necessary countermeasures.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: The U.S. State Department said it ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston in order to protect American intellectual property and to protect the private information of American citizens.
This also follows after the unsealing of that indictment that accused two Chinese hackers of a sweeping cyber espionage and crime campaign -- U.S. prosecutors say they did this with the support of Beijing -- aimed at COVID-19 research.
It's not clear right now whether these episodes are all linked.
But tension is ratcheting up. And we are waiting to see what is China's next move. Exactly how they're going to strike back. John.
VAUSE: With the question, will they close the consulate, which one will it be?
How serious does Beijing plan to escalate this crisis between these two countries?
Kristie Lu, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout there in Hong Kong. Appreciate it.
Richard McGregor is a senior fellow at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, former Beijing and Washington bureau chief for "The Financial Times." And he is with us this hour from Sydney.
Richard, good to see you.
I guess now it's over to Beijing. And how China retaliates could determine how this plays out -- at least in the short term, Reuters reporting the U.S. consulate in Wuhan could be closed.
We should note there are five U.S. consulates spread across Mainland China.
So explain how maybe ordering Shanghai to close would send a totally different message to ordering Wuhan to shut down?
RICHARD MCGREGOR, SENIOR FELLOW, LOWY INSTITUTE: Well, I think for starters, from memory, the Wuhan consulate is on the 47th floor of an office building so it's probably going to be hard to find a courtyard there to burn documents. If that's what happens.
By and large, China has been pretty proportionate or even less than proportionate in its responses to various actions by the U.S. And I think this'll be another test as to whether they really want to do something like Shanghai which is obviously the biggest consulate, U.S. consulate, in China -- or choose a smaller one.
Houston was maybe not the biggest -- that's San Francisco -- but it was a very symbolic base because that was the first consulate when relations were opened.
So it'll be interesting to see what China does, at least publicly -- there may be a lot of other stuff behind the scenes that we're not seeing.
VAUSE: Also, with Wuhan, I did not know that it was on the 47th floor. But we also -- it's been much evacuated anyway because of the pandemic there. So closing that, I guess, would be pretty easy.
State media in China is reporting the closure of the consulate in Houston just part of election year politics in the U.S.
From the "China Daily":
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
"The move shows that lagging behind his presidential election opponent in the polls ... the U.S. leader is going all out in his attempts to portray China as an agent of evil."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
And our favorite, the "Global Times":
(END VIDEO CLIP)
"The November presidential election is driving Washington mad."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
That may all well be true but it doesn't mean the allegations of spying and intimidation by Chinese diplomats are not true as well.
MCGREGOR: Well, look, politics is always with us, particularly in an election year. And the closing of this consulate does have a bit of a sort of Trumpian razzmatazz about it.
But I think it would be wrong to situate declining or spiraling out of control U.S. and China relations is just related to the election.
As we all know, it's part of a much bigger trend.
I don't know where the Democrats approve of this particular action but, in general, they want to get tougher on China in some areas that Mr. Trump generally hasn't taken on.
He's mainly been focused on trade, they could be much more focused on national security issues.
So yes, it's about the election but it's not only about the election. And I think that would be wrong to say that.
VAUSE: We have these court documents which show that the FBI believes this biology researcher, ties to the Chinese military, allegedly lied on her visa application, is now taking refuge at the Chinese consulate in San Francisco.
She's been there for more than a month now, according to these documents.
Earlier this week, two Chinese nationals were charged trying to steal research about a coronavirus vaccine.
And this is just part of what some state department officials say has been a marked uptick in the scale and the scope of spying by China in the past two years.
So what's driving that? And is this what the dawn of a Cold War looks like?
MCGREGOR: Well, it's fascinating about the researcher inside hiding inside the -- or being harbored inside the San Francisco consulate.
[01:20:00]
Of course, after 1989 and the military crackdown on protesters in Beijing and other Chinese cities, a Chinese astrophysicist, Fang Lizhi, was in the U.S. embassy. And it look a long time, many, many months, to negotiate to get him out of there. So the fact that the FBI wants somebody inside that consulate, that, by itself, means this has a long time to run.
The uptick of spying, I don't know actually. I think there's perhaps a response of China to the kind of pressure that the U.S. has been putting on it, is to increase cyberattacks and the like.
There was a pause on this for a little while, at least on commercial material, negotiated between Mr. Obama and Xi Jinping, I think in 2013 or '14. But that's long gone now, and this is a favorite tactic of China's.
And perhaps that explains it. If, in fact, there has been an uptick.
VAUSE: Richard, thank you. Richard McGregor for us in Sydney.
Appreciate --
MCGREGOR: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: Thank you.
Less than an hour ago, China launched what it hopes will be its first successful mission to Mars.
If it all goes to plan, the probe will reach the Red Planet by February next year.
And in just a few days, the U.S. will launch its own mission to Mars.
CNN's Ivan Watson standing by in Hong Kong with more details on this.
Ivan, we will get to the technicalities of the mission in a moment. But China's been silent about when this launch was scheduled to happen, they weren't saying a word.
It was only because of a mandatory notification to aviation of the window of this launch that we had any idea of when it was likely to take place. Why so quiet?
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they have a past history of not broadcasting their space launches live the way NASA does, for example, or some other countries' space agencies.
So we found out about the launch of the Tianwen-1, the "Quest for Heavenly Truth" Mars probe, basically from amateur live feeds of people on Hainan Island which is a tourist destination where the rocket was launched from a little bit more than 48 minutes ago.
I'm not going to get into the psychology of why perhaps the Chinese government isn't more transparent or kind of broadcasts this live.
Suffice to say, it does appear that this rocket did launch.
It is supposed to be a big step forward for China's space exploration program, an attempt at sending a combination orbiter, lander and rover that is supposed to reach Mars in some seven months time. John.
VAUSE: And what we're looking at here with what they're flying. It's actually three vehicles are heading there; it's a rocket, it's a rover and it's a lander. All being sent at once.
Which seems to be an attempt to at least jump-start the program, get it up almost close to the level where the Americans are when it comes to sending stuff to Mars.
WATSON: Yes. It's leapfrogging a couple of steps that NASA has had in its own Mars exploration program.
Where initially NASA sent probes that orbited around the planet, that didn't try to land on it, which is much more complicated, logistically, to try to pull off.
So here, China's trying to skip all those steps. And they have this combination which has an orbiter which will remain in orbit for a Martian year, which is longer than the earth year. And then it will send down a lander that will then disgorge this rover that will operate on the ground.
The rover will weigh more than 200 kilograms. It has six wheels, four solar panels and carries six scientific instruments. And its job will be to investigate the soil, the geological structure, the environment, atmosphere and water on Mars.
And China did try to send a previous probe to Mars, nearly a decade ago, in combination with a Russian mission. But the Russian spacecraft failed and the probe and the Russian rocket went back to earth. They fell out of orbit.
Meanwhile, NASA has had a number of space Mars missions. And it is expected to send its own rover, the Perseverance rover, expected to launch on July 30th.
And today's Chinese launch comes just days after the United Arab Emirates launched their own probe towards Mars from a launch point in Japan.
Now the coincidence of all these launches being scheduled at the same time is because this is the time when earth and Mars are close to each other in orbit.
As it is, it'll be a seven-month trip for all of these missions to reach the Red Planet.
[01:25:00]
And if they all do successfully, there's going to be a lot of activity there from these different, sometimes rival, space programs. John.
VAUSE: Very busy up there right now, I guess. And will get busier when the Americans hit too.
Ivan, thank you. Ivan Watson, live. With all the details there from Hong Kong.
Still to come here. A big "No, thank you," from city mayors across the U.S. after President Trump announces a surge of federal agents is heading their way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.
The U.S. government has reached an agreement to pay Pfizer nearly two billion dollars for large-scale production and delivery of a coronavirus vaccine.
The agreement provides for delivery of 100 million doses in the United States and an option to acquire another 500 million.
Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, spoke with reporters outside the presidential palace on Wednesday after testing positive for the virus a third time.
The country reported nearly 68,000 new cases in one day. Highest daily increase since the outbreak began.
Beijing is strongly condemning the Trump Administration's move to close China's consulate in Texas. The U.S. state department says a growing number of disputes between both countries led to the closure.
Well, Chicago, Albuquerque, maybe other cities, they're all on the president's list of cities about to be visited by hundreds of federal agents whether they want them or not.
Trump says he just wants to help fight crime and violence.
Some critics, though, say this is a ploy to bolster his law and order campaign promise to paint Democrats as weak on crime.
By coincidence, many of the cities they're heading to are led by Democrats.
Those federal agents have already spent time in Portland, Oregon. Officials say they actually led to a rise in violent clashes and the number of protestors on the streets rising from hundreds to thousands.
CNN's Kaitlan Collins has more now on the president's decision to expand "Operation Legend."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, at the White House on Wednesday, the president announced this expansion to send hundreds of federal agents into several cities to fight what they say is an increase in crime like shootings in those areas.
But also comes as the president has taken on this dark tone about what's happening in local cities with a rise in homicides and shootings. An increasingly defiant tone as he has blamed local officials for that spree in crime.
And at this announcement where the president talked about sending hundreds of agents into the city of Chicago, that's building off an announcement he already made to also do it into places like Kansas City, other cities.
[01:29:49]
You saw the Attorney General Bill Barr also address the audience where he blamed some of this rise in crime on these recent moves to quote, "defund the police" as you've seen from some of the more progressive movements on the left in the wake of George Floyd's, something that the Attorney General said was a quote, " extreme reaction" to George Floyd's death raising several eyebrows for that remark.
Though we should note the Attorney General did not provide any evidence that he can directly link those calls to defund the police to a rise in homicides in places like Chicago where violence has been happening since the 1960s.
Now the President has repeatedly put this off on Democratic-led cities saying it is the elected officials there. He specifically feuded with the mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot. But I asked the President at the briefing on Wednesday why it was now local officials to blame when in 2016 when he was on the campaign trail at one rally in Indiana the President blamed President Barack Obama saying that he was the reason and that he had not done enough to go into those cities to do more to change it.
That's another thing that he cited at the briefing as he evaded the question and didn't really do enough to answer it or explain why it was the federal government's fault then but now that he's in office it's not.
Kaitlan Collins, CNN -- the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: City mayors are growing increasingly concerned about the deployment of federal agents. Chicago's mayor warns they will not be welcome there without coordination and cooperation.
But as CNN's Omar Jimenez reports, certain federal resources may be needed in cities which are seeing a rise in crime.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This surge of federal agents in cities across the United States comes as the city of Chicago is set to see one of its deadliest years in decades over the course of 2020.
Now for starters, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot does not expect what she described as a Portland style deployment of unmarked vehicles and/or officers. What she does expect is an influx of federal resources that will fold into existing federal partnership they already have in place, which is in line with what Attorney General Bill Barr has said, that these resources are meant to augment the agents that are already in place working to suppress violence. Violence that has been especially deadly this year in Chicago.
Shootings have been up more than 40 percent compared to this time last year with murder up more than 50 percent compared to this time last year. And Attorney General Barr points to a demonization of police in the wake of George Floyd's death as being one of the primary reasons for that. But the reality is a little more nuanced.
Specifically Chicago Police Department superintendent, David Browne, points to a cycle of violence spurred on by gang activity here in the city of Chicago. That is happening within an umbrella of the coronavirus pandemic that is disrupting what the mayor has described as an ecosystem of public safety - that's jails, courts, community groups, first responders including police.
So for the federal agents to have any sort of real impact on how things have been trending here the mayor says that's going to come from true partnership and not, in her words, dictatorship.
Omar Jimenez, CNN -- Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Earlier I spoke with Juliette Kayyem, former U.S. assistant Secretary of Homeland Security. Listen to what she says about the message being sent by deploying, rather, even more federal agents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: This is an instance in which there is no need and there is no request. So then you're asking why is President Trump doing it? And it's solely to create a mythology of sort of unruly urban cities -- African American, Hispanic, you know, the racial issues to try to get support as he has actually specifically said in the suburbs.
So perhaps basically (INAUDIBLE) we have to really treat this less as a how do I explain this operationally, and more the political explanation which is all that this is.
VAUSE: Yes. I want you to listen to how the administration is trying to explain the legal justifications for at least their actions in Portland. Here we go.
KEN CUCCINELLI, U.S. ACTING DEPUTY HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We're acting first of all, at the President's insistence --
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: I believe that.
CUCCINELLI: -- to protect this area of the community. Let me finish. But it's only within the boundaries of our federal jurisdiction. That doesn't cover all of Portland.
CUOMO: But he's not talking about buildings.
CUCCINELLI: It covers these areas --
CUOMO: He's not talking about buildings. He is saying I don't like what is happening in those cities that are run by Democrats.
(CROSSTALK)
CUCCINELLI: That's true.
CUOMO: An ominous --
CUCCINELLI: We are staying within the boundaries of that federal legal authority.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Ok. That doubtful but you know, as a former assistant secretary of Homeland Security yourself, you know, was the agency established in the wake of 9/11 terrorist attack to protect this country against that horrors of graffiti.
KAYYEM: Right. There's a war on graffiti. No.
[01:34:57]
KAYYEM: Look, there are things that are dangerous, that might even be a crime that do not rise to a federal level. In fact, most crimes do not. Not all of our crimes are federal crimes.
The 10th amendment of the U.S. constitution allows or requires that public safety and public health reside with local and state governments. The federal government is welcome to support when asked.
And so you saw -- you saw DHS try to parse or try to pretend that Trump was not saying what he was saying. Trump is saying he is unleashing troops or paramilitary enforcement agents into these cities in camouflage, often armed and often unidentified.
And, you know, the department is trying to say, no, no, no -- we are just doing it for federal interest to protect federal courts or to protect statues of confederate soldiers. That is a bogus argument and the department actually knows it.
I mean there's internal documents that have been released that show that internally, the department knows that their people that were getting deployed are not trained nor authorized for most of these activities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, in a world with no coronavirus, the Summer Olympics will be underway this week in Tokyo. They're now scheduled to start a year from Friday. This comes as Japan breaks its own record for the number of COVID-19 cases reported in a single day.
Journalist Kaori Enjoji live from Tokyo with more on this. and you know, this has to be one of the biggest let downs ever that, you know, the city has seen in recent memory. Gearing up for the Tokyo Olympics and then having it taken away and delayed a year.
KAORI ENJOJI, JOURNALIST: You know, John, I think the mood has changed dramatically over the last three several months. I mean first when it was postponed back in March because of COVID-19, there was a real sense of disappointment that maybe this could go ahead.
But three months later, here we are, one year to go ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. And the mood is whether or not we should actually do go ahead with the Tokyo Olympics. And this is shown in poll after poll.
And the reason for that is many fold. One of course, people are worried about the coronavirus. Japan has done a pretty good job in containing the virus but still 800 cases yesterday was a record high. And it's happening in many cities, not just Tokyo.
And I think people are asking themselves will the athletes from countries where the virus is still raging really be able to get in when Japan has locked out hundreds of countries and closed its borders.
And I think another important fact is we are right now at the beginning of a four-day weekend. I mean look at this crowd. They've been told by the governor last night, that look, this is a long weekend but please stay home. But clearly a lot of people are not listening as they were during the emergency.
And I think there is a feeling here that look, we managed to control this virus without the draconian lockdowns. And what are we going to sacrifice if we let our guard down and let in thousands and thousands of people into the Olympics?
So I think really at the core of the issue is that uncertainty and is that fear. So normally on a day like today, you would have a countdown event but the national museum that has been -- you know, billions of dollars have been spent to build that, there will be no public event, later on tonight (ph), just a small 15 minute video shown to the media as well.
So John, clearly a very change of sentiment among the public here as we countdown to the Olympics maybe in a year's time.
VAUSE: Maybe -- that is the key question there. Maybe they get some of the sparkle back.
Kaori, thank you. Kaori Enjoji live for us in Tokyo.
Koji Murofushi is the sports director for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He joins us this hour from Tokyo. Director Murofushi, thank you for your time.
KOJI MUROFUSHI, SPORTS DIRECTOR, TOKYO 2020 OLYMPICS: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: Assuming the summer games actually do go ahead, obviously everyone is hoping that happens, here's a part of a report from USA Today. "Experts said the notion of holding the Olympics as normal, with packed stadiums and typical grandeur is unfathomable, given the trajectory of the pandemic and scientists' growing understanding of the COVID-19. A vaccine, even if discovered in the coming months, would likely not be widely available by next summer.
So I guess this raises the question, what will the Olympic games look like? Will there be fans in the stadium? The head of the IOC says maybe not. We'll we see an opening and closing ceremony? How many sporting events will be cancelled? What is being talked about over there in Tokyo?
MUROFUSHI: Sure. It's still a year to go and we cannot -- you know, foresee a year to go. But we are now preparing what kind of measures we can take together with Tokyo Metropolitan government and national government, you know, athletes and spectators coming into Japan and going out. How the tests going.
[01:39:57]
MUROFUSHI: We are -- we are now preparing for that. And I think these answers coming around the fall how we're going to conduct more precisely.
VAUSE: It's always very difficult to know exactly how these things will play out. And of course, no one ever expected, you know, the COVID-19 or, you know, the coronavirus to hit with such force.
But there was an opinion poll earlier this week in the Kyodo News that found support among Japanese for the games just over 20 percent. Most either want a postponement or some kind of cancellation. It just seems that there's a significant lack of excitement on the end there with the people of Tokyo and the people of the Japan even this far out.
The President of the Tokyo organizing committee sort of reflected on that. I would like you to listen to this. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOSHIRO MON, PRESIDENT, TOKYO OLYMPIC ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: One year to go is coming very close at hand. However, I don't think that people will have a sense of anticipation in a strong way or in a celebratory atmosphere waiting for the one year to go event.
So we are not of the opinion of having a very extravagant celebration or joyous occasion. I think we should refrain from this type of program. That was the idea since the postponement was decided.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Obviously, I said -- as I said before, people want these games to happen. How do you bring the excitement back into the Olympic Games during this very difficult period?
MUROFUSHI: So, I know there are many surveys going, and then I acknowledge about that. And if you open up carefully, one-third of population was saying about the possibility of a cancellation. But the other one-third says that support for the Olympic Games next year. And another one-third will say might be possible to re-postpone.
So if you consider about support having Olympic games, itself, I think that will be a ratio of 60 percent to 70 percent which means there's more support people for the Olympic games. That's my understanding.
But you know, we are preparing. Just a few days ago we announced the competition schedule itself which is (INAUDIBLE) from exactly a year. And then so, you know, I'd like to say that athletes already have goals for next year. And then hopefully they'll prepare very well for next year.
And then of course, we do our best to make a counter (ph) measure for that.
VAUSE: Director Murofushi, thank you so much for your time. We wish you well. We wish you all the very, very best. And let's hope these Olympic Games take place a year later. Better late than never.
MUROFUSHI: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: In the U.S. the National Football League will make its long- awaited return in just a few weeks. The league says every fan who attends the game must wear a face covering as part of an effort to contain the coronavirus.
Some teams are still trying to decide if they'll even allow fans into the stadiums. Some organizations are offering limited seating. Others are leaning towards a total ban.
The season begins September 10th.
Ahead, the all-female sailing voyage studying the impact of plastic pollution in our oceans.
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VAUSE: "Call to Earth" is a call to action for the environment to share solutions to critical issues like global warming, deforestation and plastic waste.
This week's report, we catch up with an all-female scientific research mission sailing around the world studying plastic pollution.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EMILY PENN, CO-FOUNDER, EXXPEDITION: Days feel longer at sea. You just have this opportunity to really connect with nature, to constantly shift your sails to the changes in the environment around you. To then find that we are impacting our planet in a way that we now know is really heartbreaking.
I'm Emily Penn, co-founder of Exxpedition, a series of all-women sailing voyages. We are currently sailing around the world looking at plastic and toxic pollution.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Around eight million tons of plastic waste enter the oceans every year. A common misconception is that it floats on the surface in plastic islands. But in fact, plastics break down into smaller pieces called microplastics. And a vast majority is invisible to the naked eye.
Emily has been working for years to highlight the abundance of plastics in the oceans. And the expeditions she leads travel to waters around the world to study how plastic is distributed and how it accumulates.
PENN: This very important bit of equipment right here is our manpatrol (ph). This is the equipment that we actually over the side of the boat using this (INAUDIBLE) pole to deploy it to collect our scientific samples.
The reality is the plastic breaks down quite quickly from the UV rays from the sun, the wind and the waves break it up into these tiny fragments, microplastics. They are smaller than your little fingernail, and we now know that there's over five trillion of them floating on the surface of our ocean and probably many times that that have sunk to the depths.
There's already a lot in that layer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at that. What a lot of plastic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At least some level of plastic can be found in every ocean on the planet, but it accumulates in the ocean's gyres, systems of circulating currents.
Dangerous manmade chemicals can also accumulate there. And these persistent organic pollutants binds the plastic in the water. They enter the food chain to be mistaken for food by marine life, rising up until both the chemicals and the plastics reach their peak, the human body.
PENN: We chose 35 of these toxic chemicals that are banned. We found 29 of them in my body. They mimic our hormones and stop important chemical messages moving around our bodies.
Actually being a woman having those chemicals inside my body during pregnancy would be really bad news. And so I thought, wow, this issue is actually quite a female-centered issue. So why not tackle it with an amazing team of women?
And so Exxpedition was born.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exxpedition's most recent voyage is nearly halfway through circumnavigating the earth, exploring plastics and toxin levels in the ocean. By its end, it would have traveled to four of the oceans largest gyres.
PENN: So much of our own impact on this plastics issue and the ocean really starts with our daily choices. Particularly our single use plastic consumption. We are finding bottle tops. We're finding plastic bags. We're finding all those things that have been used once and then thrown away.
If we can do without it, then let's not use it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: We'll will continue showcasing inspirational stories as part of the initiative at CNN. Let us know what you are doing to answer the call with the #CallToEarth.
We will be right back.
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VAUSE: Well, for the past few months, millions of unemployed Americans have been receiving an extra $600 to help them through the pandemic as well as stimulate the economy. But that extra payment is set to expire at the end of this month and Democrats want to extend it, the White House wants to end it. And how this plays out could actually impact the global economy.
CNN's Eleni Giokos is here to explain why. So we're looking at essentially, you know, what is keeping this U.S. economy ticking over right now, you know, this an extra $600 a month, it may not seem like a lot of money but there are millions of unemployed who are getting it. And we are also having at least some indication now of what the stimulus for the U.S. will look like with this agreement between the Senate Republicans and the White House.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, I mean this just so (INAUDIBLE) -- never before have we seen a stimulus plan that is fed (ph) directly into the hands of consumers. And that's really been the driving force of keeping the economy on track in the way that it is, even though it's absolutely displaced (ph).
You've 25 million Americans at this point receiving their enhanced unemployment benefits of $600 a week. The White House is saying, look, let's get that number down to $200 a week and we know it's a big point of contention. We know that the Democrats want to keep it as is and they don't have a lot of time to make this decision.
Some are saying that we are headed towards an income (INAUDIBLE) from tens of millions of Americans right now, and of course, when you look at the unemployment rate which are still very close to record highs, it's such an important time to send the right message to Wall Street because corporate America is really going to be relying on the lifeblood of what makes the U.S. economy and that is the consumer.
And of course, the message that's going to be sent during the time of negotiation for the stimulus package is going to be a pivotal one. Democrats want $3 trillion in terms of bailouts and stimulus packages. And we are talking about the Republican saying, look, it's going to be around $1 trillion. It's also a reelection year, it's very highly polarized, it's a big discussion, and it's going to have an impact on corporate America just as much as it's going to have on the consumer.
VAUSE: Ok. We ask you this every week, either you or John Defterios, whoever is up for us at the time, but what are we looking at when it comes to the jobless numbers in U.S.? This is the bellwether of where things stand?
GIOKOS: Absolutely, I mean we've got those weekly initial claims coming through today. And it's been above one million for the past 17 weeks. Yes, it has been coming down, but definitely not fast enough.
And it's going to be important number to look at. It's a harbinger of things to come in terms of what the overall unemployment rate is going to be.
With corporate earnings right now, we're hearing company say look, look thousands of jobs are still at risk and it's the shape of the U.S. recovery that's going to have an impact on unemployment as well.
This number today is going to be important. It's going to be market moving. And it's definitely going to have an impact down the line.
VAUSE: Hey, Eleni, thank you so much for being with us. Eleni Giokos there with a good preview of what we can expect. Thank you.
Now to northwest England where Liverpool had made football history. The Reds lifted up the cup-like trophy for the first time in 30 years, a long and winding road to reach the big moment. Celebrations though were rather stifled, yes, because of the pandemic.
But Patrick Snell, here he is, picking up the story.
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PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: There were pleas for fans not to show up and repeat the supporter-gathering scene after the title was secured last month, yet some where in attendance to greet Premier League champions Liverpool arriving at Anfield to have a kick off against Chelsea.
[01:54:55]
SNELL: The legend, the club's first top flight triumph in three decades. Inside the stadium meantime, a guard of honor for the team that swept over for them and the game itself seeing a vintage performance from the now 19-time champions of England.
A stunning Naby Keita strike set them on their way, Trent Alexander- Arnold making it two-nil in spectacular fashion. Yet, Chelsea simply didn't roll over. A well taken Christian Pulisic goal giving them hope and at this point they trail 4-3.
With the host putting the game to bed, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's wonderful finish as Liverpool sealed a thrilling 5-3 victory.
No fans inside the stadium, but at the full time the whistle at further gathering outside amid flags, flares and fireworks despite requests to watch the trophy presentation on television due to the risk of the coronavirus. Local police issuing a dispersal order to try and clear fans away from the area.
And then came the moment that ended 30 years of frustration for Liverpool fans worldwide. Club legend Kenny Dalglish, the last player (ph) manager to win the title back in 1990, on hand as Captain Jordan Henderson lifted the coveted trophy.
A lavish high-tech presentation as more fireworks soared above the iconic Anfield Arena. The fans of this famous old club now managed by Jurgen Klopp, no better place to see the trophy lifted than on the famous cup (ph). And of course, the Liverpool football club, no celebration would be complete without a stirring rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone".
These really are amazing times for Liverpool, champions of England, Europe and the world as well, and the Reds will bring down the curtain on a season to savor on Sunday, when they travel to play Newcastle in their final Premier League fixture.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Patrick, thank you.
And thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm John Vause. Wear a mask.
Stay with us. The news continues on CNN with Robyn Curnow after this.
Wear a mask. See you tomorrow.
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