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U.S. Still Grappling with COVID-19 Spikes Months into Crisis; Hong Kong Authorities Crack Down on Coronavirus Restrictions; Final Phase Vaccine Trials Begin in U.S.; Trump Claims Internal Polling Shows Him Ahead; Trump Asked about Russian Bounties on U.S. Troops; Spanish P.M.: U.K. Decision to Reinstate Quarantine 'Misfit'; Kenya Clamps Down after Spike in Confirmed Cases; White House National Security Adviser Tests Positive for COVID-19; Republicans Unveil Controversial Stimulus Bill; American Consulate in Western China is Shut Down; Working to Clean up Bali's Waterways; Rep. John Lewis Lies in State in Capitol. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired July 28, 2020 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, wanted: 60,000 volunteers for phase 3 vaccine trials, the results will determine humanity's future.
It just keeps coming back. Many countries in Asia which had the pandemic under control now seeing record numbers of confirmed cases.
And for Joe Biden, running is not Donald Trump, paying off with big leads in the polls in key swing states.
Hello, everyone, I'm John Vause, a lot to get to over the next 2 hours here on CNN NEWSROOM.
We'll begin with 2 of the most promising experimental vaccines for the coronavirus, beginning the final stage of testing.
Phase 3 is meant to answer the biggest question of all, does it actually work and protect us from COVID-19?
Moderna and Pfizer announcing they are ready for mass human trials, each calling for 30,000 volunteers and if successful the vaccine could be widely available by year's end. It comes as the World Health Organization says this pandemic is the most severe crisis it has ever faced.
Right now, millions of Americans are facing their own more immediate crisis with the possibility of losing enhanced unemployment benefits.
Senate Republicans have revealed their coronavirus relief plan, which includes cutting the extra weekly payment of $600 to $200. The extra money they say was a disincentive to finding a job. House Democrats passed their own financial relief bill two months ago, which leaves the benefits unchanged.
The coronavirus spread to 16 million people around the world in just six months, the United States alone now accounts for more than 4 million. With infections rising in more than 30 states, it's becoming harder for the experts to predict when the outbreak will peak. For the very latest across the U.S., here's CNN's Athena Jones.
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ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even as the country reported the lowest number of new cases nationwide in nearly three weeks on Sunday --
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, DIVISION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: We're still chasing the virus. The virus is out there still spreading largely uncontained over most of this country. We don't have a national plan.
JONES: Total hospitalizations remain at peak levels and 29 states are reporting more deaths last week than the previous week. The country averaging more than 900 deaths a day for the past seven days, the highest such numbers since the beginning of June.
SCHAFFNER: You can see many people in many parts of the country going about their daily lives unmasked, no longer concerned about six-foot distancing, relaxing into their old, normal behaviors.
JONES: With Florida surpassing New York, now second only to California in the number of COVID cases, hospitals are strained.
DR. ANDREW PASTEWSKI, ICU MEDICAL DIRECTOR, JACKSON SOUTH MEDICAL CENTER: So, we just got a bunch of nurses from the government which is very helpful. The bed situation is dicey.
JONES: The state seeing a 34 percent jump in COVID infections among children in the last eight days and the rate of positive COVID tests statewide remains high at 19 percent.
The positivity rate also ticking up in California as hospitalizations rise, 37 of the state's 58 counties with significant infection rates remain on a watch list. Meanwhile in Texas, the weather adding to the challenge as Hurricane Hanna bored down on the coast over the weekend.
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): It is sweeping through an area that is the most challenged area in the state for COVID-19.
JONES: Medical staff in hard hit Southern counties forced to battle a surge in cases in the midst of a storm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the storm was coming in at 1:30 in the morning I was placing a tube in someone's chest when water started coming in through the retrofitted negative pressure rooms.
JONES: This as some companies begin to brace for a pandemic that could drag well into next year. Google extending its work from home policy until at least July, 2021, a move that could prompt other businesses to follow suit.
And just days after an abbreviated baseball season began, two games set for tonight now canceled, including the Miami Marlins' home opener against the Baltimore Orioles. After several Marlins players and staff tested positive for COVID-19 while playing in Philadelphia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll be honest with you. I'm scared. I really am. My level of concern went from about an 8 to a 12.
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JONES: The teachers' union, which is already suing Ron DeSantis and others to stop the reopening of schools, is calling the recent surge in COVID-19 cases among children "alarming."
The union's vice president calling on the governor and other state and local officials to begin reporting on how many students and staff are testing positive for the virus, arguing parents have a right to know -- Athena Jones, CNN, New York.
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VAUSE: Brazil's president seems to have recovered after having COVID- 19. Over the weekend Jair Bolsonaro was seen riding a motorcycle and also was seen without a face mask.
Officially Monday back on the job, the same day Brazil reported 23,000 new infections, Bolsonaro focused on unemployment, promising great new jobs while blaming others for the problem.
As one of the worst affected countries second only to the U.S., Brazil is an ideal place to test a potential vaccine. At least 2 trials are underway, a third expected to begin soon. As CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports, thousands have volunteered, including medical staff on the front lines.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: There is an extra bit of bravery here you can't see. Deniecy (ph) is a dentist doing for five months of coronavirus in Sao Paolo, the not too pretty job of cleaning infected mounts like everyone here, living away from her family, death around her daily.
But she is a first, the first Brazilian to be given a trial vaccine from Oxford University, carrying the hopes of pretty much all of us that this frontrunner vaccine works.
Being a volunteer is an act of love, she says. Donating a little bit of yourself.
All the staff here has been offered if they want to take part in the Oxford vaccine trial, putting them on another frontline, the world's urgent hunt for immunity from this disease. Deniecy was subject one and her boss, Flavia, was roughly subject 1,000. In their hearts, a memory of a fellow doctor.
FLAVIA MACHADO, UNIFESP, PROFESSOR OF INTERNAL CARE MEDICINE: He was my friend for 23 years. He works -- he worked here for 23 years. WALSH: I'm so sorry.
MACHADO: Yes, it was -- it was quite bad.
WALSH (voice-over): Their eyes betray exhaustion. Yet, here, they still give what they have left.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The vaccine trial needs more people like us, at high risk of contamination. Being away from the people you love is very difficult.
WALSH (voice-over): Across Sao Paulo, there's a race between powers rating in one of the worst hit cities on earth over who can prove first that their vaccine works.
China last week sent its Sinovac vaccine for trial here among the cities frontline workers, but it's rolled out was met by an angry fringe, reeling of what they call, quote, "the Chinese virus," and so also railing at the China vaccine.
WALSH: Are there concerns amongst your staff here for the safety of people who participate in this because of that right wing rhetoric?
ESPER KALLAS, HEAD OF SINOVAC VACCINE TRIAL IN BRAZIL: That's the number one concern. Some people may react oddly in these days to a volunteer who participated in a vaccine that was conceptualize in a Chinese company.
WALSH (voice-over): Dr. Stefanie Teixeira Porto is the only Chinese trial subject to go public yet. And this is the easy bit of her painful pandemic.
STEFANIE TEIXEIRA PORTO, DOCTOR AND VACCINE TRIAL VOLUNTEER: Even this past month, I was really, really anxious and I would cry a lot.
WALSH (voice-over): While she's not had any threat since she had the job here, she said she's been warned about the trial to be careful.
PORTO: They told me to not expose it too much and to try not to tell everybody how this is going to be.
WALSH: Isn't that strange?
PORTO: Yes, it's very strange. All of it. I don't understand why they hate China.
WALSH: As if this wasn't enough, the Americans are coming. Pharma giant Pfizer looking to test its vaccine, which the U.S. has paid $1.9 billion for in Brazil's megacity hot spot, too, all hoping to be first or finding Brazil wants access to their vaccine in return and all feeling the hate and anguish of the months ahead -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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VAUSE: When it comes to the coronavirus, there is one inescapable fact, no matter how decisively or effectively governments are to control the pandemic, all it takes is for one person to not wear a mask or socially distance or refuse to quarantine for the outbreak to come surging back.
That's happening across Asia. Live to Hong Kong, Kristie Lu Stout has the latest.
Hong Kong is experiencing this first-hand; they had the virus under control, now it's coming back with a vengeance and they're back with these incredibly strict measures, and it's not just Hong Kong.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: Not just Hong Kong. We're also keeping an eye on Mainland China.
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STOUT: China is now going through a fresh spike in COVID-19 infections, with an ongoing flareup in the western region of Xinjiang. Earlier, China's national health commission provided new data on the outbreak, saying that the nation is reporting its highest number of locally transmitted cases since March 6th.
That's 4 months ago. Let's bring up the data for you. According to China's national health commission, China reported 68 new cases, including 64 locally transmitted cases. Of the 64 domestic cases, 57 were reported in Xinjiang, six in Liaoning, one in Beijing.
It is not just China, we are seeing flare-ups in India, Vietnam and Australia and here in Hong Kong.
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STOUT: Take-away in Hong Kong: it's not just about grabbing a quick meal to go anymore. As of Wednesday, it's a city mandate. The new order is part of a government plan to try to stamp out a third wave of coronavirus in the city.
Indoor dining will no longer be allowed. The restaurants can stay open for carry-out. Some workers worry that they won't make enough money to get through this latest round of restrictions.
"It has affected us quite a bit," one woman says, "because our take- away sales are not that great and now, by banning all dining, it's very hard for us to survive."
Authorities also issued tougher requirements for masks, which will now be mandatory even when outdoors, with a fine of $645 for anyone who doesn't comply. But the coronavirus isn't just surging in Hong Kong.
In Mainland China, local transmissions are the highest they've been in almost five months. Singapore surpassed 50,000 cases. Vietnam, which has reported only a handful of cases since April, is evacuating 80,000 people from Da Nang after an outbreak in the popular resort town. The prime minister is urging citizens to social distance again.
"We need to remain calm," he says, "and take the matter seriously to find an effective way to stop the virus from spreading."
But many countries are struggling to do just that, especially in densely populated areas like India, where, in just one day, nearly 50,000 new infections were reported.
Record numbers in Australia, too, which recently had its deadliest day of the pandemic. The premier in the state of Victoria, which is under a second lockdown, says people are simply not following the rules.
DANIEL ANDREWS, PREMIER OF VICTORIA: It's a matter of fact. We have too many people who have symptoms and are going to work. And what that means, even with mask wearing, even with hand hygiene, even with distancing, that is an unacceptable risk in terms of transmitting this virus.
STOUT: A virus still thriving across Asia and is especially tenacious when people let their guard down.
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STOUT: Now officials in China are certainly not letting their guard down. In Dalian, officials have ordered a citywide testing for the coronavirus, affecting some 6 million residents there and in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, for a week now, officials have said they are, quote, "in wartime mode" as they undergo widespread testing, contact tracing and targeted lockdowns -- John.
STOUT: Have they managed to work out the origins of the outbreak this break?
STOUT: The origin in Dalian appears to be a seafood processing center. On July 22nd, a worker tested positive. He has since infected a couple dozen individuals. His fellow employees, also close contacts, have been ordered quarantined for 2 weeks. This is not the first time that a flare-up has been linked to a wholesale food market.
You remember the flare-up in June in Beijing; officials in Dalian not taking any chances, ordering COVID tests for 6 million people.
In Urumqi, very different story, as you can imagine, very difficult to get information out of Xinjiang. The flare up there is a result of a gathering and also we learned from local officials and scouring local media there, those individuals infected had not traveled for the year. But that is all we know at the moment -- John.
VAUSE: Kristie, thank you, with the very latest from Asia, where the numbers are starting to surge.
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VAUSE: Joining us now from the lockdown, Australian city of Melbourne. Here's Catherine Bennett, chair of epidemiology at Deakin University.
Professor Bennett, thank you for being with us.
CATHERINE BENNETT, CHAIR OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, DEAKIN UNIVERSITY: A pleasure.
VAUSE: I want to start with the big picture here, globally. From Asia to Europe, many countries which were seen at least initially successfully dealing with coronavirus, once again they're seeing a surge in confirmed cases.
Are we looking at the start of a second worldwide wave?
BENNETT: It's certainly looking that way. The first wave we were looking at introduce virus and seeing it taking off quickly. But we are now seeing very substantial waves in a number of countries.
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BENNETT: Particularly the ones that have started to relax restrictions.
And that's the concern when community transmission can take off that quickly.
VAUSE: Yes. With that in mind, here's the sub headline from the "Taipei Times" on Monday reporting on the outbreak in Hong Kong.
Authorities in the territory said that --
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--"residents have become too lax about wearing masks and social distancing, while cases rise."
And earlier this month, "The New York Times" had this incredible detail about the situation in Australia.
They report:
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"As it has elsewhere in the world, the coronavirus found a hole in Australia's system.
It spread in part because of the sharing of a cigarette lighter among security guards working at a hotel where returning international travelers are being quarantined."
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What seems really incredibly astonishing about the virus is that even when a government takes quick and decisive actions, they bring this pandemic under control, it literally takes just one person to slip up and it starts surgery all over again.
BENNETT: Yes, that's right. And that's the challenge with this virus.
We've also had reports that America, for example, New York probably had the virus land a few times before it really took off and established that first wave outbreak.
In Australia, we suppressed the virus and probably eliminated local transmission.
But that episode just shows with our quarantine hotel breach that we ended up -- it's probably seeing cases right across Southeast Australia at the moment leap back to one or a few international travelers.
So that's the challenge.
One virus infecting one person who goes back to the community and is well connected or in a job that's well connected. And you can see this just take off so quickly, it's astonishing.
VAUSE: But there are calls in the U.S. for a do-over, all those stay- at-home orders. Only this time do it right, or get it right.
I'd like you to listen to what Dr. Anthony Fauci had to say about this. Here he is.
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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: You don't necessarily have to go all the way back to a complete shutdown, but you certainly have to call a pause and maybe even a backing up a bit.
What my advice would be, time out and maybe go back to a prior checkpoint. And from that point try to proceed in a very measured, prudent way according to the guidelines.
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VAUSE: Would you say that Dr. Fauci is sort of taking the approach of what is realistic and doable as opposed to what is ideal?
BENNETT: Yes. It has to -- ideal doesn't work if it's just not feasible.
And it's pretty much what we've done here. We've gone back to a prior stage of restriction, but that's not complete shutdown.
It worked for us before. And we've already seen, even though we're only a few weeks in, that we have suppressed this current outbreak.
So we're still seeing 300, 400 cases a day but it would've taken off, it would have been thousands by now. If it had stayed unchecked as it was at the start with even modest restrictions in place.
So you don't have to shut everything down again, but you need to take it back to a point where you bring the outbreak under control and then learn where your transmission weak points are.
And that's what you need to focus on longer term, to try and keep this manageable.
VAUSE: Yes. Well, lockdowns, masks, social distancing, hopefully will not be needed once there is an effective vaccine.
I'd like you to listen to the U.S. vice president on that.
Here he is.
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MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE USA: First and foremost, we are moving at a historic pace to develop a vaccine. And the phase three clinical trials that begin today at 89 sites
across the country with Moderna are just one of the phase three clinical trials that begin in the days ahead.
But the American people can be confident. There'll be no shortcuts, there'll be no cutting corners on safety in the development of this vaccine.
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VAUSE: The issue of safety is huge. Because recent polls in the U.S. indicate almost half the country won't take the vaccine out of safety concerns.
There are antivaxers all around the world from Australia to Europe, wherever you want to go.
What happens if a significant portion of the global population refuse to take the vaccine?
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BENNETT: Well, that will pose a challenge. We don't expect any of the vaccines to necessarily be 100 percent effective. That's just how it is, not everyone will respond to producing an immune response.
And at the moment, some of them it could be around 60 percent. That's all we need to maintain suppression of the virus in the community.
But if you only have a proportion of the population having the vaccine and they won't necessarily be 100 percent immunized then it starts to become a problem.
We'll still end up with these outbreaks potentially happening, particularly in age care and other facilities, where we have people at high risk, if there's still too much virus circulating in the community.
So we really do have to work with people to help them understand that safety isn't being compromised, the virus does still take advantage of people in the community who are not immunized.
And hopefully, try and lift that compliance with the vaccine rolling out when we get to a vaccine.
VAUSE: Good luck convincing those people who refuse to wear a mask.
BENNETT: Yes.
VAUSE: But we will see.
Professor Bennett, thank you so much. It was good to speak with you, we appreciate it. Stay warm.
BENNETT: Thank you.
VAUSE: Cheers.
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VAUSE: It's 98 days until the U.S. presidential election, that's 98 days for Donald Trump to turn around a campaign, which according to the most recent polls, looks doomed.
Also ahead for British tourists, a summer trip to Spain now comes with a sting tail (ph), welcome home. Welcome to quarantine.
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VAUSE: Take your calendar less than 100 days now until the U.S. presidential election and the polls are showing that Donald Trump is behind but he's insisting he has his own poll numbers which show him ahead in those swing states.
But the public polls have him trailing. Presumptive nominee Joe Biden. A new NBC Marist poll in the battleground state of North Carolina has Biden up 7 points. The president's handling of the pandemic is costing him support in that state with more trusting Biden when it comes to the coronavirus.
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VAUSE: For more now , we are joined by Democratic strategist Christopher Hahn, host of "The Aggressive Progressive" podcast and former aide to Senator Chuck Schumer.
Also Republican strategist Pete Seat, who worked in communications during the W. Bush administration.
OK. So, Pete, first to you. For weeks now, poll after poll we've been looking at the president's numbers heading south on pretty much everything, maybe apart from the economy, the Real Clear Politics average of polls for the top six swing states has Biden up over 6 points as of Monday.
Donald Trump says, wait a minute, that's not the case. Here he is.
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TRUMP: We have polls that show me leading in almost every swing state and substantially in other states by even more than a 1 in 16. When you look at Florida as an example, you have thousands of boat (sic) out on -- bout boats (sic) out on the ocean, out on the intercoastal.
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VAUSE: So Pete, to you, essentially these poll numbers are linked to the pandemic and the president's inability or unwillingness to deal with a huge public health crisis and he seems to be in this feedback loop of positive news and spin that makes him feel good instead of reality.
PETE SEAT, BOSE PUBLIC AFFAIRS GROUP: at this point, in the 1988 election, we had a president Michael Dukakis. And at this point in the 2016 election, we had a president Hillary Clinton.
So while it seems like we only have a 99-day sprint ahead of us, we still have a marathon, two virtual conventions and hopefully three debates, a vice presidential pick yet to come.
But what the president is doing here is what I am fearful of and that is bringing complacency to his base. I hear from Republicans in my home state in Indiana and around the country they don't believe the polls after what happened in 2016. They think that Trump's supporters are being silent and not getting out there. There's a lot more enthusiasm on Donald Trump's base as opposed to Joe Biden's base, whatever that base may be.
But there could be a sense of complacency that some October surprise is going to be in Donald Trump's favor somehow tip the scales in his direction. If they believe that and don't fight for this, they could end up on the wrong side.
VAUSE: Christopher, we have a situation with the Biden campaign keeping it safe, running on the platform that he is not Donald Trump.
Will that be enough to get the Bernie Sanders supporters to head to the polls?
We heard this quote from "The Atlantic," co-chair of the Sanders capitalizing describing the choice like this, "It's like saying to someone you have a bowl of shit in front of you and all you've got to do is eat half of it instead of the whole thing.
"It's still shit."
Could these high poll numbers lead to complacency, not to say that there is the danger of a campaign-killing Biden gaffe?
CHRISTOPHER HAHN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Look, there's only 2 ways to run, unopposed or scared. If I'm the Biden campaign, I'm running scared. Even though he is up 7-9 points depending on the poll. As for the Bernie supporters, they'd eat a whole bowl of shit if it gets rid of Donald Trump.
It's time for this guy to go. He failed on the economy, on the COVID- 19 response, on foreign relations. The man is not fit to be president of the United States, he lies about everything. He can't even tell the truth about whether or not he was asked to throw out the first pitch at a ball game.
This man is not fit to be president of the United States and whether or not there's enthusiasm on the Biden side or not, there's lots of enthusiasm in this country to get rid of Donald Trump. In fact, the average of polls say that 50 percent of Americans will not vote for Donald Trump, no matter what.
VAUSE: There's this very straightforward question that the president was given with Russia paying the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
Did the president raise the issue when he spoke with Putin by phone last week?
Here he is.
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TRUMP: We don't talk about what all we discuss but we have plenty of discussion and I think it was very productive.
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VAUSE: If there is one responsibility that comes with the Oval Office, it's keeping Americans safe, so add onto this 140,000 dead Americans from the coronavirus, hard to see how, Pete, the president has actually succeeded in all of this, right?
HAHN: The president has not succeeded in this. The president has failed. He spent more time on the phone over the last couple of weeks with Vladimir Putin than he has with Dr. Fauci and 150,000 Americans are dead for it.
The American soldiers should be very weary of this president, how he uses them, how he will not protect them, how he will not stand up for them. Any president who spoke strongly to a foreign adversary, who had threatened American troops in the field, would have went (sic) to the podium and said it.
This guy hasn't, he's a failure and he's not protecting our soldiers. He's not protecting Americans and the Americans will sent him packing in November unless there's some miracle that he turns this around, which I don't see him doing.
VAUSE: Pete.
SEAT: The president of the United States, when engaging in diplomacy, is under no obligation to share what takes place in private conversations. You know what Barack Obama did as president and reengaging with Cuba was heralded as his great breakthrough.
But when Donald Trump talks to Kim Jong-un, the North Korean dictator, he is a bad guy for doing it. It's the same when it comes to Vladimir Putin. We have no idea what took place in that conversation.
So I think it is laughable to ascertain what took place unless we hear from the president what happened. Diplomacy is working. It's happening right before our eyes and we have to let that process play out.
You can keep saying the American people want Donald Trump to lose reelection. But let's remember that Barack Obama won reelection, George W. Bush won reelection, Bill Clinton won reelection.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes.
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SEAT: There is a pattern here and also a pattern of these polls being wrong in the past. You know, Donald Trump wasn't going to win in 2016, but guess what? He did. Donald Trump wasn't going to win the midterms in 2018, but guess what? He did.
VAUSE: The midterms is another issue.
SEAT: He won it.
VAUSE: Very quickly, the body of congressman is John Lewis, the civil rights icon, is lying in state at the Capitol right now. Joe Biden, Mrs. Biden paid their respects on Monday. As for the president and his plans, well, listen to him right now on Monday.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you see Mr. Lewis tomorrow at the Capitol?
TRUMP: No, I won't be going. No.
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VAUSE: And Pete, that's it. Donald Trump and John Lewis, they did not like each other. Was this a missed opportunity for a president who is not particularly liked by African-American voters?
SEAL: He should have gone. He should go and pay his respects. If there is a reason, whether it's because of the pandemic or security concern related to that, he should articulate it. But I think he should have gone. Joe Biden went. Others are going. The president should have gone, as well.
VAUSE: Chris, five seconds.
CHRISTOPHER HAHN, ATTORNEY AND LIBERAL ACTIVIST: Yes, this guy can't even swing at a fat pitch. This is -- it would've been an easy thing for him to do, to go there and pay his respects, just like it would've been easy to rename military bases named after Confederates. People would have --
VAUSE: We're not going down that road.
(CROSSTALK)
HAHN: -- couldn't do it.
VAUSE: OK, thank you both. Christopher and Pete, thank you so much for being with us.
HAHN: Thank you.
VAUSE: Ninety-eight days to go.
Unjust and un-wrong (ph). The Spanish prime minister calls for the U.K. to reverse a quarantine order for travelers arriving from Spain. Details in a moment.
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.
The World Health Organization says COVID-19 is the most severe global health emergency it has ever faced. The head of the WHO says the pandemic has changed our world and shown what we're capable of, both good and bad.
America's leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, warns a vaccine will end the pandemic in the U.S. only if a majority of people are willing to be immunized. And right now, two of the most promising experimental vaccines are into the final stages of testing in the U.S.
U.S. Senate Republicans unveiled their $1 trillion stimulus plan on Monday. It comes as a $600 weekly unemployment boost expires this week. The new plan cuts that by $400, as states transition to a system of benefits determined at 70 percent of workers' wages.
To Germany now, where they're introducing new measures to try and bring the coronavirus back under control. The health minister says starting next week, masks -- or mandatory tests, rather, will be required for travelers returning from high-risk areas. Those tests will be free.
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Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff says Germany must keep those daily cases well under 500 to control the outbreak by October. He says the recent 800 cases a day are a cause for concern.
The Spanish prime minister has -- has criticized Britain's decision to reinstate a 14-day quarantine on arrivals from Spain, calling it "misfit."
Atika Shubert spoke with travelers who are expectedly (ph) about to hit quarantine for 14 long days.
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ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Checking into the British Airways flight from Valencia to London and straight into a 14- day quarantine on arrival, some passengers are angry.
(on camera): What was your reaction when you first heard?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Totally stupid.
SHUBERT: Yes?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
SHUBERT: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because they think it's kind (ph) to the people who know about it.
SHUBERT (voice-over): A parents-only weekend getaway has turned into a two-week family separation for Phil Bicnew (ph). He left the kids with the grandparents.
PHIL BICNEW (PH), TRAVELING: So we'll end up probably splitting the family up for 14 nights, and we don't live too far apart. But it's still a strange scenario that we've never faced before.
SHUBERT: And a trip to see parents in Spain now means missing out on crucial work in the U.K. for Miriam (ph) Cortez.
MIRIAM (PH) CORTEZ, TRAVELER: I asked my job, and they are not going to test us, so I will have to be at home for two weeks. And I work in a hospital. So even being a doctor, we are not tested to be able to go back to work.
SHUBERT (on camera): So a lot of frustration and some resignation from passengers here. Quite a few telling me they actually felt safer with the tougher measures here in Spain than in the U.K. The Spanish government, meanwhile, says the country is still safe for visitors.
There are more than 200 outbreaks at the moment in Spain, including one in the city of Barcelona, home to several million people and a major tourist destination.
Despite pleas by the local government to stay at home to curb the spread of the virus, Barcelona's beaches were still busy this weekend. Spain's foreign minister said on Sunday that only certain regions were affected, similar to the rise in infections seen in other E.U. countries.
ARANCHA GONZALEZ LAYA, SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER: Spain is a safe country for tourists and for Spaniards, like in any other European country, we are seeing outbreaks. The outbreaks in Spain are perfectly controlled. SHUBERT: Nonetheless, the U.K. is not the only one to take
precautions. Norway has also ordered a quarantine on travelers returning from Spain, and France has warned its citizens not to cross the border into Spain for travel to any high-risk areas.
Atika Shubert, CNN, Valencia, Spain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has admitted to struggling with his weight. He says he's too fat. That could have been a problem when Johnson was in intensive care with coronavirus earlier this year. Studies have shown that being overweight can significantly increase the risk of having a severe case of COVID-19.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: I've always wanted to lose weight for ages and ages, and I, like I think many people, I struggle with my weight. I go up and down.
But since I recovered from coronavirus, I've been steadily building up my fitness.
I don't want to make any -- any excessive claims, because I really, really just started concentrating on it, but I've got -- I'm at least a stone down. I'm more than a stone down. But when I went into ICU, when I was really -- I was -- I was very -- I was way overweight for -- I'm only about 5 foot 10, you know, at the outside. And, you know, I was too fat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Just to translate, a stone is about 12 pounds.
All this comes as the U.K. is about to unveil a $2.6 billion plan to deal with the country's obesity problem. According to government figures, 63 percent of adults are above what would be considered a healthy weight.
The campaign will encourage people to cycle and walk. It appears Boris Johnson now starts the day with a run with the dog, and he does look a bit trimmer.
Now to the Middle East and North Africa, where some countries are reimposing virus restrictions as the upcoming Eid holiday draws near. Iraq is ordering a 10-day curfew. That starts Thursday. Oman is under a nationwide lockdown until August 8 after a rise in cases. Morocco banning travel and from several major cities like Casablanca and Marrakesh.
Meanwhile, Lebanon has decided to reimpose some measures. Bars, beaches, convention centers, many other gathering spots will be closed from Tuesday through August 10. People 65 and older are being advised or told to stay at home.
Eid starts on Thursday.
Kenya is also tightening restrictions after recording its highest single-day spike in new infections on Sunday. Nearly 18,000 confirmed cases and 285 fatalities there. The country's president is warning the relatively low death rate has led to a false comfort. So the nationwide curfew is being extended.
CNN's David McKenzie explains what other changes are on the way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The WHO had warned that South Africa's surging pandemic --
(voice-over): -- with more than 400,000 cases now confirmed, COVID-19 could be a marker for countries in the rest of Africa.
Now, an important country to watch in that is Kenya. And on Monday, President Uhuru Kenyatta addressed the nation and announced a raft of stricter measures to try and contain the spread. He said, over the last three weeks, they've seen a surging pandemic, particularly in the capital of Nairobi.
He said that they will extend their curfew for 30 days at least and also ban the sale of alcohol in restaurants. He made pointed remarks, as well, saying that Kenyans of all social statuses, as he put it, should not be above the law and should adhere to the regulations.
Now, Kenyatta said they will reassess this as they go along. However, he said at this point the only question mark is whether they emerge with a low death rate, like they're seeing now, or whether they are going to, quote, "suffer a catastrophe" in Kenya.
(on camera): David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: When we come back, COVID-19 breaching Trump's inner circle. At the same time, Republicans unveiling a virus relief plan, a third of what the Democrats have put forward. Will this get enough support? Details in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says his country's nuclear weapons are a guarantee that there will not be another war. He was speaking at an event marking the Korean War ceasefire. He said a reliable nuclear deterrent will guarantee the country's security.
He also warned other countries they would pay a price if they underestimate Pyongyang's power.
His remarks come as nuclear talks with the U.S. have stalled.
The pandemic forced millions of Americans out of work. Now, as their emergency jobless benefits are about to run out, Republicans are presenting a controversial new relief package. This as the virus hits very close to home for President Trump.
CNN's Kaitlan Collins has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAITLAN COLLINS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): COVID-19 breaching President Trump's inner circle after his national security adviser, Robert O'Brien, tested positive for coronavirus.
TRUMP: I haven't seen him lately. I heard he tested, yes. I have not seen. I'm calling him later.
COLLINS: Trump didn't see when he last met with his national security adviser, whose office is in the West Wing. O'Brien is the highest ranking official to contract the virus, and in a statement with no name on it, the White House confirmed that he's self-isolating and working off-site.
Shockingly, O'Brien's own staff was never formally told about his diagnosis, and several found out that their boss had tested positive from the press.
O'Brien was last at the White House on Thursday, when a source familiar said he got a call and abruptly left campus.
O'Brian recently returned from a trip to Paris, where he met with his counterparts from the U.K., France, Germany and Italy. He was photographed on multiple occasions not wearing a mask or social distancing.
[00:45:08]
The president in North Carolina to tour a facility helping manufacture key elements of a possible vaccine candidate. It's part of a larger effort to course correct after several polls showed voters rejected Trump's handling of the coronavirus.
TRUMP: I really do believe a lot of the governors should be opening up states that they're not opening.
COLLINS: Trump recently went two weeks without a single COVID-19 event on his public schedule. But after a round of golf with NFL star Brett Favre this weekend, he announced he won't throw out the first pitch at the Yankees game because of his, quote, "strong focus on the China virus."
On Capitol Hill today, Republicans unveiled their $1 trillion coronavirus relief proposal after a tense weekend of negotiations with the White House. The GOP wants to cut enhanced unemployment benefits from $600 to $200, allocate billions for testing and top federal health agencies, and put $105 billion toward reopening schools. But there's no sense that all Republicans will support it.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Half the Republicans are going to vote no to any phase four package. That's just a fact. COLLINS: Benefits from the last bill are set to expire in a matter of
days, and the White House has even suggested passing a smaller bill that would temporarily extend jobless benefits.
MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Perhaps, we can get that passed as we can negotiate on the rest of the bill in the weeks to come.
COLLINS: But Democrats are adamantly opposed to that idea, and have put forward a bill of their own, three times the size of Republicans'.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): I have never, never -- and this is so frustrating for so many people who are suffering -- seen a party in such total disarray in the midst of a huge, huge crisis.
COLLINS (on camera): Now, just hours after Republicans unveiled their version of the bill that they'd like to see, you saw the chief of staff and the treasury secretary up on Capitol Hill, meeting with Democrats. And of course, this is expected to be the first of many meetings.
They have not spoken since Friday, and now they are going to try to hammer out those negotiations so they can get a bill passed. And the ultimate question really is how long it's going to take, given how far apart we know these two sides are.
Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now to a skirmish on the volatile Israeli-Lebanon border. Israeli forces exchanged fires with Hezbollah; claim to have stopped a larger attack in the disputed region.
And according to Israel, several Hezbollah militants crossed the demarcation line or blue line between the two countries. But Hezbollah denies ordering an attack and says Israeli airstrikes targeted civilian homes.
This is the first gunfire on the border in almost a year.
China is defending its decision to force an American consulate to shut down. Beijing says it was necessary response to a similar move by the U.S. when it ordered a Chinese consulate to cease all operations last week.
CNN's David Culver reports on the fallout from this latest dispute.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After some 35 years, the U.S. flag lowered for the last time Monday at the now-shuttered U.S. consulate in Chengdu, China. Only state-controlled media allowed to capture these images of Chinese officials taking control the property.
The U.S. mission in China tweeting this farewell video, adding, "We will miss you forever."
Over the weekend, the U.S. insignia taken down, moving trucks seen entering the compound, a bus pulling out. On board? U.S. diplomatic staff.
U.S. Foreign Service officers were flown in from other consulates in China to help with the rushed move out. They are now headed to Beijing to the U.S. embassy.
Firecrackers ignited outside the consulate on Friday when China announced its closure, a celebration of sorts for some locals in Chengdu who since have packed in to get a shot of history.
(on camera): This is the portion where the crowd really builds. You can see a lot of uniformed police officers, but you also see some plainclothes police officers making their way through the crowd, too.
And it gets to be a rather, well, popular tourist site. But you notice a lot of people staring at us because obviously, we're foreigners. And they're taking pictures of us, because we, too, are part of this tourist traction, you know?
(voice-over): In shutting it down, China's foreign ministry claimed U.S. personnel were engaging in activities that were harmful to China's national security interests, a near identical claim to what the U.S. alleged of the Chinese consulate in Houston, U.S. officials saying it was involved in an illegal spying effort, a claim China denied.
The closing of the Chengdu U.S. consulate has a major impact for many Chinese students looking to start or continue their studies in the U.S. They come here to apply for visas.
Graduate student Burson Yang among them. He supports China's decision to retaliate, but wishes it had not come to this.
BURSON YANG, GRADUATE STUDENT: Emotionally, that's not what I want to see. I want these two great nations to grow (ph) relationships.
[00:50:04]
CULVER: Months of rising tensions have now pinned the world's two largest economies against one other on a variety of fronts, leading some to label it a new Cold War.
LONG XINGCHUN, CHENGDU INSTITUTE OF WORLD AFFAIRS: Most U.S. people very nice. We have so many close friends from the U.S., so why are we -- we should go to war?
CULVER: Professor Long Xingchun runs the Chengdu Institute of World Affairs, an international relations think tank. He says he does not fault the U.S. for being tough on China.
LONG: What we worry about is irrational decisions, crazy -- sometimes crazy decision to -- to China. CULVER: He points, in particular, to the Trump administration and
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who says this is about protecting the free world from a totalitarian regime.
MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE; We must induce China to change in more creative and assertive ways, because Beijing's actions threaten our people and our prosperity.
CULVER: Channels of communication closing up and moving out as China and the U.S. drift further apart.
David Culver, CNN, Chengdu, China.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come, honoring a civil rights icon, Congressman John Lewis. The first black lawmaker to lie in state in the Capitol rotunda. A lifetime of good trouble is being remembered.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The Indonesian island of Bali attracted about 16 million visitors last year. But more people means more trash. Bali's waste system is struggling to keep up.
According to the Bali Partnership, last year about half of its waste was burned or dumped into waterways, where it then can make its way to the ocean.
But one young activist is raising awareness by focusing on the alleyways of trash: rivers and streams. Here's CNN's Cyril Vanier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From its black sand beaches to verdant rice fields, the natural beauty of Bali is vast but fragile. Last year, 33,000 tons of Bali's plastic waste leaked into its waterways, according to the Bali Partnership, as 25-year-old Gary Bencheghib has observed firsthand.
GARY BENCHEGHIB, FOUNDER, MAKE A CHANGE WORLD: Growing up here on the island of Bali, you know, we saw the urgent need and attention of drastic pollution. Here, it's something that you can no longer look away from. Most people here in Indonesia don't really realize that so much of the plastic that ends up on our very beaches actually come from the islands that we live on.
VANIER: When he was 14, Bencheghib founded the student-based cleanup organization, Make a Change with his sister Kelly and brother Sam. In 2017, to raise awareness of the pollution in Indonesia's waterways, the brothers kayaked down the Chitarum River in Java, the island neighboring Bali, in boats made of plastic bottles.
BENCHEGHIB: What we experienced on the river was completely different than what we ever expected. We brought our cameras to document, and overnight our videos went viral. VANIER: Even the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, responded,
pledging government support to clean the river.
While cleaning up trash tackles the surface of the problem, Indonesia is also working with the World Economic Forum to understand its source.
KRISTIN HUGHES, DIRECTOR, GLOBAL PLASTIC ACTION PARTNERSHIP, WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: Six months ago now, we were able to work with the World Bank and a research institute on the ground in Indonesia, really pulling together as much data as we could and assessing exactly where that plastic waste was coming from.
[00:55:03]
VANIER: Bencheghib's latest project, Sungai, or River Watch, also aims to collect data alongside plastic waste. He plans to install 100 trash barriers on Bali's waterways over the next year.
BENCHEGHIB: We've set up 10 trash barriers now, and we felt that, you know, there was a need for a monitoring platform out there to track in real time how our clean-ups are going.
VANIER: An interactive platform stores data on the trash they collect in order to hold brands accountable for the plastic they produce.
Bencheghib is making the technology open source. He hopes Sungai Watch can become a global effort to keep rivers clean.
BENCHEGHIB: Other groups will be able to connect with other groups to share knowledge on how to build and for people also to share their experience with us.
VANIER: Ten down, 19 to go.
Cyril Vanier, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VANIER: A few minutes now before the top of the hour, we have breaking news. Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has found guilty of seven charges related to the 1MDB scandal. He faces prison time and steep fines for abuse of power and criminal breach of trust.
Razak was also convicted of money laundering after millions of dollars ended up in his personal bank accounts.
The 1MDB scandal saw billions of dollars of taxpayer money funneled and embezzled out of Malaysia.
Well, after a life marked by making good trouble and extraordinary accomplishments, John Lewis earned honor in death. The U.S. congressman and civil rights icon is the first black lawmaker to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. A celebration of a life which changed the world in so many ways is taking place now over six days. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): I think what makes heroes and saints great is their humanity, and it was his humanity that really spoke.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to be a tough day today on Capitol Hill and throughout this country as we say goodbye to -- to John Lewis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He bridged generations. From his generation to mine and to future generations. And he taught us how to stay -- to stay focused and to persist.
REP. JOHN LEWIS (D-GA): Find a way to get in the way. You must find a way to get in trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble.
(MUSIC)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): John Lewis became a titan of the civil rights movement and then the conscience of the Congress.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People all over the world are mourning his loss, because John internalized nonviolence. We adopted non-violence. It was a tactic for us. But I don't know if all of us could absorb what he did.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause, and I will be back with more news right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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