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First Phase-3 Vaccine Trial Begins In U.S.; Google Employees To Work From Home Until 2021; Trump Defends Deploying Federal Forces To U.S. Cities. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired July 28, 2020 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead, the U.S. president pressures some state leaders to open up as we start to see an increase in COVID deaths across the country.
Vaccine trials begin in the U.S. and thousands of volunteer step up to get their shots. We will hear from one of them.
And the late congressman John Lewis lying in state in the U.S. Capitol, the first Black lawmaker to do so. His colleagues say goodbye to a man who spent his life trying to unite a nation.
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CHURCH: Good to have you with us.
For months, experts have been saying the only way out of the coronavirus pandemic is a reliable vaccine. Now a vaccine could and we stress, could, be closer to reality. Two of the most promising vaccine candidates are beginning their final phase of testing in the United States.
It's a massive undertaking involving tens of thousands of volunteers at dozens of locations. The result could come in just a few months but it will be a while before vaccines are widely available.
In the meantime, America's top infectious disease specialist warns that things will start to get worse before they get better.
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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Unless we get our arms around this and get it suppressed, we will have further suffering and further death and that is the reason why, as I've often said, many, many times, there are things that we can do right now in the absence of a vaccine that can turn us around. The fundamental things of avoiding crowds, physical separation,
universal wearing of masks, closing the bars, hand hygiene, those things matter and they can make a difference.
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CHURCH: And there are signs the pandemic may be plateauing in the United States but for many states it is still a dire situation. CNN's Athena Jones has the latest.
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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.
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."
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JONES: 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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CHURCH: U.S. president Donald Trump's national security adviser has tested positive for COVID-19. Robert O'Brien is the highest ranking member of the Trump administration, known to have tested positive.
It is unclear when he last met with the president. Their last public appearance together was more than two weeks ago on a trip to Miami. The White House says O'Brien is experiencing mild symptoms and is self isolating while working from a secure location off-site.
Even as the coronavirus reaches Mr. Trump's inner circle, the president says governors need to look at reopening states. Take a listen.
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TRUMP: I really do believe a lot of the governors should be opening up states that they're not opening. And we will see what happens with them.
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CHURCH: But some of Mr. Trump's own officials say the U.S. is not up to speed on testing and the turnaround times are too long. Mr. Trump insisted Monday, everything is taken care of.
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TRUMP: The United States has conducted over 52 million tests. That's more than all of Europe put together times two. Nobody is even close. Through our relentless efforts, we've completely rebuilt our
stockpile, which the previous administration depleted and did not refill.
Anything they need, we send them immediately. We are totally full. We have everything we need. We get it to the states immediately.
We deal with the governors, the relationship with the governors has been very good.
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CHURCH: And Dr. Murtaza Akhter is an emergency medical physician in Phoenix, Arizona. He joins us now to discuss his perspective on the growing number of COVID-19 cases.
Thank you, Doctor, for all that you do and for talking with us.
DR. MURTAZA AKHTER, VALLEYWISE HEALTH MEDICAL CENTER: Thank you for having me, Rosemary.
CHURCH: We know case numbers and hospitalizations in your state are searching and putting and credible strain on hospitals.
So what are you dealing with and what are your biggest challenges and concerns right now?
AKHTER: The biggest challenge right now is how long it takes to get a bed in a hospital. We're gotten very used to getting the patient volumes that were getting in the emergency department. And the ones we can you know sort of stabilize and make better and sent home, great.
But the ones who need to be admitted, these are sickest ones, wait for a long, long time in the emergency department for bed. I'm clocking in the course of days. I've gone into shift, admitted a patient, gone home and come back the next day and the patient is still there.
That's very atypical for an emergency department. And as you can imagine that really delays care for the rest of the patients. There is more than COVID happening. So if somebody comes in with say a heart attack, his or her care is very delayed because that patient is waiting in the emergency department for so long.
CHURCH: Right. I mean, that is a real concern because there are COVID-19 patients also waiting to get a bed or are you talking about non-COVID- 19 patients?
AKHTER: Yes, it's both of them actually. So the COVID patients are challenging because you have to be able to place them in a COVID unit. And if you have a result back enough quickly enough to know if the patient has COVID, it's doable.
But one of the things -- one of the issues with is that we are running out of the rapid tests. And so when you do a test, if your result takes many hours or even days to come back in a hospital setting, you don't know where to put the patient.
So the patient you think might have COVID is just sitting in the emergency department or an intermediate floor waiting to get placed so he doesn't get placed next to someone who doesn't have COVID.
And then for the non-COVID patients who are coming in gallbladder infection or heart disease, they're waiting for extended periods of time too because we have only so many non-COVID beds left. So it's really affecting everybody.
CHURCH: Yes, that is a real concern because of the ramifications, of course, of COVID-19 spreading through the hospital. So how are you and the other doctors and nurses coping with all of this, with the level of hospitalizations?
AKHTER: It's funny you should ask that because I was actually feeling kind of rough today. I got really nervous.
Am I picking up something or am I just fatigued?
Then I contacted my chairman and he said let's hope it's fatigue because there are a lot of staff who feel that way. You know, we go in every day and do our best to do our jobs and we know we're in a high- risk environment.
But it's what we signed up for. What's particularly frustrating and demoralizing, is after everything you do you go home and on your way home you see people who are clearly flouting guidelines.
Just a couple of days ago I was filling up gas and I thought I was in weird apocalypse land because there were hundreds of people milling about. I guess there was a car show. Nobody was wearing masks. They were all hanging out with each other.
And I asked, what's happening?
Are you guys not listening to everything going on around you?
And I think my colleagues feel the same way. Where a lot of us, you know, are working really hard and long hours and then to see other people treating it as if it's nothing.
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AKHTER: It's very frustrating.
CHURCH: Yes, I totally understand your anger. I think a lot of us are feeling that. And President Trump is calling on states to reopen, even as cases surge across the country. Medical experts say we need to do the exact opposite and consider shutting down to stop the spread.
Others suggest wearing masks and avoiding crowds could be enough to turn this around.
What do you think needs to be done to stop the deaths and the surge in cases? AKHTER: Yes, as far as I know, President Trump never went to medical school or public health schools. So I would hope he would listen to the experts before making recommendations, especially when they're in direct opposition to what they've been saying.
There are some places that can open up reasonably. There are some places in the country that have few cases and are able to distance. But in places that are hotspots, which is the states he's targeting, ironically, places like Texas, Florida, Arizona where this high of a case load, I think opening up is a really bad idea.
Recall, Rosemary, that in April we were doing really well when we had stay-at-home orders. So well that we're wondering where all the patients went. And that people took that as a sign that they can now do whatever they want. And we got hit hard and became the worst state in the country.
Our positivity rates, the percentage of our test that are positive, are still the highest in the country. And so, for people to think, hey, listen we can open up. We've been through the worst of it. Even if you've been through the worst of it, if you open back up, bad things happen.
We know that from our state. We know that from other states in our country. We know what from other countries. And so, we really need to be vigilant about this. We need to distance as much as possible. We need to wear masks when we're around people.
It's crazy that we are still not doing it. And we need to perform great hand hygiene. Even when a vaccine comes and I hope someday it will, I think these metrics, hand hygiene, distancing and masks, will be critical, because a vaccine isn't going to be 100 percent effective.
CHURCH: Doctor, we cannot belabor that message enough. People need to wear their masks. Thank you so much for talking with us. We do appreciate it.
AKHTER: Thank you for having me, Rosemary. Stay safe.
CHURCH: You, too.
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CHURCH: Brazil's president has officially returned to work after recovering from COVID-19. On Monday, he greeted supporters outside the presidential palace and took off his mask so he could take pictures with them.
Earlier, he told supporters he would fix the country's unemployment, a problem he says others created. Brazil has reported more than 23,000 new cases of COVID-19 and has more infections than any other country outside the United States.
In Bolivia, confirmed cases of COVID-19 have now topped 70,000. The country reported another 1,700 on Monday. At least 15 government officials have announced they tested positive for the virus, including the interim president, who has now recovered. Stefano Pozzebon reports from neighboring Colombia.
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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bolivia is one of the most affected countries in South America from coronavirus. On Monday, the Bolivian health ministry said that the country topped the 70,000 mark of registered cases. There are currently more than 2,600 deaths registered for coronavirus in Bolivia.
And most crucially 15 government officials have been -- have contracted the virus. One of them, the Bolivian interim president, Jeanine Anez, who on Monday said that she had completely recovered and was sent back home from hospital. Now firmly back at work 100 percent.
Jeanine Anez's eyes will probably be on the economy with Bolivia, one of the poorest -- historically one of the poorest countries in South America.
And with economists saying that the region will suffer the most from the economic crisis triggered by coronavirus, many leaders around South America essentially asking themselves, how can we recover from this catastrophic disease? -- for CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.
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CHURCH: China, where the coronavirus is believed to have started, said it had a handle on infections early in the crisis. But not anymore. Beijing is reporting its highest number of cases transmitted locally since March. Now Hong Kong is cracking down. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins us now live.
What is driving this new spike in cases across China?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: It depends on the province you're looking at. I want to bring you up to date on this overall phenomenon, because, as you reported, China is seeing this flare-up in COVID-19 cases.
There is this ongoing flareup in the western region, the province of Xinjiang. Today we heard from the national health commission in China where they presented the latest data, including the highest number of domestic cases in over four months, since March the 6th.
Let's bring up the data for. You according to China's national health commission, it says China has reported 68 new cases, including 64 locally transmitted cases.
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STOUT: Of the 64 locally transmitted cases, 57 were reported in Xinjiang, six in Liaoning, one in Beijing. Total confirmed cases, 83,959.
How is China responding?
It's doing what it has been doing for the last almost 6 months. It is mass testing, contact tracing, targeted lockdowns. If we zero in on the city of Dalian, in the northeast of the country, we have city officials there who have announced a citywide massive testing blitz.
Keep in mind Dalian is a city with a population of 6 million. So they are planning to test 6 million residents as they seek to identify confirmed cases of the coronavirus as well as asymptomatic carriers.
Meanwhile, Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, the government there last week has declared a wartime mode. We know residents living in residential compounds, they've been living under lockdown, they cannot leave their compound.
Bus services, subway services have been suspended for a week. Mass testing is underway. The spike in cases is worrying not just for China but for the world. As you know, in the last few months, China has been stamping out these incidences of coronavirus so ferociously and so aggressively.
And yet with the spike in new cases, it underscores the sheer difficulty of controlling COVID-19 as we await a vaccine -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: Kristie Lu Stout bringing you the latest from Hong Kong. Many thanks.
Vietnam has reportedly suspended all domestic flights to and from a popular tourist destination following a surge in COVID infections. The resort city of Da Nang has confirmed several locally transmitted cases over the past 3 days after the country had gone 3 months without a single local infection.
Officials say they will evacuate about 80,000 people from the area as they are trying to contain the outbreak.
The government of Australia's Victoria state says it has no confidence that elderly residents and care homes can be protected from COVID-19. So hundreds of them are being transferred to hospitals.
Victoria's premier says the sickest people must get treated quickly. Victoria announced nearly 400 new infections on Tuesday. That is down from Sunday's record of more than 500.
Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, 98 days until the U.S. presidential election, 98 days for Donald Trump to turn around a campaign, which right now looks doomed.
Plus, North Korea's leader claims his country will no longer need to fight any wars, thanks to its nuclear weapons program. His message to rival nations when we come back.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.
Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has been found guilty of all seven charges against him in the 1MDB scandal. He faces decades of prison time and fines for abuse of power and criminal breach of trust.
He was also convicted of money laundering after millions of dollars ended up in his personal bank account. He says he will appeal the convictions. The 1MDB scheme saw billions of dollars of taxpayer money funneled and embezzled out of Malaysia.
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CHURCH: With less than 100 days until the election, the U.S. president insists his own polling shows him ahead in swing states. But most public polls show Donald Trump trailing or tying with presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
A new NBC Marist poll in the battleground state of North Carolina has Biden up with 51 percent to Trump's 44 percent. The president's handling of the pandemic is costing him support with more people trusting Biden when it comes to the coronavirus.
So here to talk more about this is Larry Sabato. He is the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Good to have you with us.
LARRY SABATO, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you so much.
CHURCH: So, Larry, 98 days to election day and state and national polls show Donald Trump trailing his Democratic rival Joe Biden. But we have learned not to trust polls given what happened back in 2016.
So how much comfort should the Democrats take from these numbers and where do you see all of this going?
SABATO: Over confidence can kill. So actually Democrats are better off not focusing on the polls. And the polling actually is more accurate this season than it was four years ago because they made changes in the methodology of the polls. But we need to remember always, it's just about late July. It doesn't tell you anything about early November. That's another reason to discount it in your mind.
CHURCH: And of course, Larry, Florida is a key state for the President and it's currently battling surging coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. What would you expect the outcome to be there as well as in other critical states like Michigan, Pennsylvania?
SABATO: Michigan and Pennsylvania are clearly leaning to Biden and they're leaning in a way that makes me suspect that in the end it probably will carry. Florida is another problem for the Democrats despite what the current polls show. Democrats have done very poorly have really blown several recent elections that they should have won. So, you know, on the whole I think the Florida polls are misleading, but I do think the ones in Michigan and Pennsylvania are closer to the mark.
CHURCH: Right and how possible do you think it is that the President could announce an October surprise in the form of a COVID-19 vaccine? And if that happens, could that turn his luck around, do you think?
SABATO: I think the chances are excellent, nearing 100 percent that he's going to announce a COVID vaccine very close to election day. A week away or ten days away, I don't know. It will help him in part because the psychology of the vaccine will also boost the economy. So, whether people will sense it enough before election day is really the question at hand there.
But, all in all, given his persuasiveness with his base and with Republicans generally and we're talking about 45, 46 percent of the population, given Trump's salesmanship, my guess is within a week most of them will think that Trump personally invented the vaccine. That will help Trump.
Democrats are ready for that. They've worked out scenarios to combat it. One thing, people are cynical about explanations that are a little too simplistic, especially coming from Trump.
CHURCH: And Larry, what is truly mystifying is that Donald Trump could turn his fortunes around right now if he took this COVID-19 pandemic seriously by mandating masks and increasing the speed and extent testing.
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CHURCH: Why can't he meet this moment, particularly when science proves that masks can reduce infection and help open up this economy? It seems simple.
SABATO: It really is true that good policy is good politics. And the problem for Trump is almost from the beginning his policies have been bad, the ones that he's chosen by ignoring science and ignoring scientists. And therefore, the politics is also bad.
If he had done the right thing from the beginning, he might be soaring because he would have been seen to combat a major national and international crisis. But he's done the opposite.
So the question I have is even if tomorrow he announced that he wanted everybody to wear a mask 24 hours a day and socially distance, would that make up for the fact that he led so poorly for so long and inevitably led to additional deaths, probably tens of thousands of them.
CHURCH: We'll be watching to see what happens. Larry Sabato, many thanks for chatting with us. Appreciate it.
SABATO: Thank you, Rosemary.
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CHURCH: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un claims there will be no more war, thanks to Pyongyang's nuclear weapons. At an event marking the Korean War cease-fire, he said his country has a reliable nuclear deterrent that can guarantee its safety.
He also warned other countries that they would pay the price if they underestimate Pyongyang's power. His remarks come as nuclear talks with the U.S. have stalled.
A coronavirus vaccine trial enters the final phase. CNN was there when the first volunteer was dosed. Hear what she has to say about that experience. That is just ahead.
Plus, a trillion dollar U.S. stimulus package is now on the table but time is running out for millions of Americans out of work during this pandemic. We will look at some of the major sticking points. That's still to come.
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CHURCH: A vaccine remains humanity's best hope for beating the coronavirus and there has been good news on that front. About 30,000 people are expected to take part in phase 3, the final one of a clinical trial for a coronavirus vaccine, which began Monday.
The vaccine was developed by U.S. biotech giant Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, headed by Dr. Anthony Fauci. The World Health Organization says the Moderna vaccine is one of 25 in clinical trials around the world. Elizabeth Cohen accomplished the first volunteer to get injected in the Moderna trial.
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DAWN BAKER, VACCINE TRIAL PARTICIPANT: And I'm Dawn Baker we have that breaking news we're falling out of Hinesville tonight.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Dawn Baker usually delivers the news. But Monday morning, this television anchor in Savannah, Georgia made news, made history as the first person in the United States to participate in a phase three clinical trial for a vaccine against COVID-19.
Big day.
BAKER: It certainly. Is it's really exciting to me that I could be a part of saving lives eventually, instead of just being scared and praying. COHEN: After Dawn's injection, study leader Dr. Paul Bradley called Moderna, the company that makes the vaccine.
PAUL BRADLEY, VACCINE STUDY LEADER: I have an amazing news. We dose the first patient.
COHEN: The National Institutes of Health is collaborating on the trial. Dr. Anthony Fauci marked the day on a call with the media.
ANTHONY FAUCHI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I can tell you absolutely the first one was at 6:45 morning in Savannah, Georgia.
Indeed we are participating today in the launching of a truly historic event in the history of vaccinology.
COHEN: There are nearly 90 study sites across the country for this vaccine, and phase three trials are underway for four other vaccines, three of those in China and one in the United Kingdom. Scientists hope the results of Moderna's trial will be clear in a few months and the vaccine on the market by the end of this year or the beginning of next. But that's if the vaccine is proven safe and effective, which is not a given.
Let me explain how the maternal vaccine trial works. This is the vaccine, and about 15,000 people nationwide will get injected with this during the clinical trial. Now, this looks similar to the vaccine, but actually it's a placebo. It doesn't do anything. It's just saline. And another 15,000 people will be injected with this. And then afterwards doctors will compare who gets sick with COVID-19 and who doesn't.
Doctors are recruiting study subjects who live in communities where they're most likely to get COVID so they can see if the vaccine truly works.
BRADLEY: We want people who are going to be exposed out there in the community, living their lives, whether they're say a healthcare worker, where unfortunately we get exposed frequently. Maybe they work in a grocery store. But we want people that are unfortunately at risk.
COHEN: That's why doctors are recruiting heavily among the African American and Latino communities where COVID rates are especially high. But it's a challenge because historically those communities have been abused in medical research.
BAKER: Very suspicious, so maybe, you know, since I was at least bold enough to come forward right now, that might change that.
COHEN: Coming forward to play a part in ending a pandemic that has brought the world to its knees.
You are the first person in the United States to get a shot in a phase three COVID trial. What does that feel like?
BAKER: It is very exciting. I'm very anxious about it. I just hope that they're really, really good results. I know a lot of people are doing a lot of different vaccine trials and things are going on, but I feel -- one, I feel so proud.
COHEN: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Savannah, Georgia.
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CHURCH: And Dr. Fauci has hailed the speed of this vaccine development. Here's what he told CNN on Monday.
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FAUCI: This is truly record time. The virus was first put on a public database, the sequence early on in January. We did a phase one trial very soon thereafter. And this is phase three right now, which will take several months to determine if in fact, it does work. So to go from not even knowing what the virus was in early January, to a phase three trial is really record time.
And I might add, it was not done compromising safety nor was it uncompromising scientific integrity. It's just the technologies we have now and the ability to move very quickly have brought us to where we are right now doing a phase three trial.
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CHURCH: And this 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 close to home for President Trump. Kaitlan Collins has the details.
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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: COVID-19 breaching President Trump's inner circle after his National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien tested positive for Coronavirus.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So I haven't seen him lately. I heard he tested -- yes, I have not seen him. I'm calling him later.
COLLINS: Trump didn't say when he last met with his National Security Adviser whose office is in the West wings. 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 less at the White House on Thursday when a source familiar said he got a call and abruptly left campus. O'Brien 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. The president in North Carolina to tour a facility helping
manufacturer 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.
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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 "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 on 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 (D-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, CHIEF OF STAFF, WHITE HOUSE: Perhaps we put that forward, get that passed as we can negotiate on the rest of the bill in the weeks to come.
COLLINS: 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 -- this is so frustrating because so many people are suffering -- seen a party in such total disarray in the midst of a huge, huge crisis.
COLLINS: 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 had not spoken since Friday, and now they're 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.
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CHURCH: Well, U.S. Senate Republicans revealed their proposal for a $1 trillion stimulus package Monday.
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SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): I think this is a starting place. We can't pass a bill in the Senate without Democrats, nor obviously can it pass the House.
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CHURCH: The plan calls for a $400 cut to the weekly unemployment boost that expires this week. And states are now being asked to pay jobless benefits equal to about 70 percent of workers' wages. The proposal provides for another direct $1,200 payment to many Americans, also included nearly $2 billion for the design and construction of a new FBI headquarters in Washington. The Trump administration pushed for that and it's expected to meet with bipartisan opposition.
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SCHUMER: Senate Republicans have presented us with a half-hearted, half-baked legislative proposal. In short, the Republican plan is too little too late.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): They just waited what, ten weeks, two and a half -- almost two and a half months. They put it on pause is that hunger could be paused and the rent could be paused, and needing money in their pockets so that people could make ends meet would be paused, but it wasn't.
Now they come back piecemeal, then the PPEs, pause, and piecemeal. The piecemeal just isn't where this has to be.
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CHURCH: And one company's decision to keep employees working from home until next year suggests a belief the pandemic won't ease anytime soon. While working from home has clear health benefits, there are some downsides of course. Brian Todd reports on how companies are trying to strike the right balance.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A bold announcement from Google sends rumblings through workplaces across America. The tech giant's CEO, in a memo obtained by CNN, telling employees Google will let employees work from home at least until July of next year.
LARRY BRILLIANT, EPIDEMIOLOGIST: I think another indication that they believe that we're in for the long haul on this pandemic. And I certainly as an epidemic just agree.
[02:40:02]
TODD: Google had previously said most employees would be working remotely through the end of this year, with some employees being allowed back into the office sooner. The tech industry has gotten ahead of other sectors regarding work at home policies. Twitter and Facebook will let some employees work from home indefinitely. With new Coronavirus cases rising in at least 22 states, health experts say these decisions have obvious health benefits.
SHARI ROSENBAUM, INTERNIST: This is one of the most contagious viruses we know. It spreads from droplets from face to face contact in the air. So to be able to prevent infecting our co-workers infecting our loved ones, working from home can protect us.
TODD: But experts say tech companies are uniquely suited to having a lot of people work from home. Other companies simply aren't. And many businesses tonight are having to navigate new pandemic adjusted environments. At CNN, with the exception of a few hundred employees who are needed to put programming on in the air, the vast majority of employees have been working from home since March, and will continue to work from home for the remainder of this year.
Experts say there's another danger which major corporations thinking about reopening their offices for in-person work have to take into account.
BRILLIANT: If you have a workforce that is global and that people are on airplanes traveling all over the world, you will be constantly importing into your office the highest viral load from any of the places that people are going to.
TODD: But the work from home wave during the pandemic has taken its own toll. According to The Wall Street Journal, an online conferencing event firm called OpenExchange sensing its employees needed some face to face interactions is renting a house in the English countryside so members of its European team can live and work together while distancing.
A Holiday Inn Express in North Syracuse, New York has been renting out rooms for people to work in a day at a time just so they can get away from home.
CONRAD STRUZIK, GENERAL MANAGER, HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS: We're here to take care of you to make your life easier to find what works for you, even if it's a getaway because you are stuck at home.
TODD: Experts say there's growing evidence of isolation and other emotional setbacks people are facing from working at home during the pandemic.
ROSENBAUM: When I have a video call with my patients or a telemedicine visit, one of the things we talk about is anxiety and depression. People aren't able to perform their best right now.
TODD: One epidemiologist, Dr. Larry Brilliant, also told us he is worried about millions of people who have to work from home who may not necessarily have the personal space at home to work from their own study or bedroom. Overcrowding in homes, he says, is a big potential danger. A major factor in spreading the virus right now is transmission within families, many of them having multiple generations living together. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CHURCH: Spain's Prime Minister insists his country is safe for tourists and its COVID-19 outbreaks are under control. Pedro Sanchez says he's speaking with British officials to reverse their decision requiring travelers to self-isolate for two weeks following a trip to Spain. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PEDRO SANCHEZ, PRIME MINISTER, SPAIN (through translator): Before we reproach each other, let's try and find a balance where above all the British authorities base their decision on the cumulative incidents. That is to say on the evolution of the epidemic in these territories, which are tourist destinations, which I insist are safe for British tourists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The British government reimpose the travel rule over the weekend due to a rise in New COVID-19 cases in Spain. Well, Kenya is also tightening restrictions after recording its highest single day spike in new infections on Sunday. Kenya has nearly 18,000 confirmed cases and 285 fatalities.
The country's president warns the relatively low death rate has led to a false comfort. So the nationwide curfew is being extended. David McKenzie explains what else is changing.
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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The WHO had warned that South Africa's surging pandemic with more than 400,000 cases now of 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 the surging pandemic, particularly in the capital, Nairobi. He said that they will extend the curfew for 30 days at least, and also banned the sale of alcohol in restaurants.
He made pointed remarks as well saying that Kenyans of all social status 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 "suffer a catastrophe in Kenya." David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg.
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[02:45:10]
CHURCH: Well, the mayor of Portland in Oregon has had enough of the conflicts between protesters and federal forces in his city. He's demanding a ceasefire. That's ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: In Portland, Oregon, the mayor is demanding immediate talks with the Department of Homeland Security. Ted Wheeler says he wants to discuss a ceasefire and the removal of federal forces. Well, for days, the city has seen largely peaceful protesters facing off with federal agents. Some protesters have been violent though. Federal officers and making arrests and using tear gas. The mayor says his demands are clear. He wants federal forces to leave.
The U.S. Justice Department says 22 people have been arrested for their roles in this weekend's Portland protests. At least some face federal charges of criminal conduct and threatening federal officers. CNN's Lucy Kafanov looks at how the presence of federal forces is increasing tensions around the U.S.
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LUCY KAFANOV, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anger, outrage, and frustration across the country as some cities see clashes, violence, and destruction. In Portland, Oregon this weekend, Demonstrators ripped down the fence surrounding a federal courthouse.
That city the focus of a controversial decision earlier this month by the Department of Homeland Security to send in federal officers to arrest and detain protesters, a decision President Trump has repeatedly defended as necessary to restore law and order, tweeting, "Their leadership has for months lost control of the anarchists. We must protect federal property and our people."
President Trump has been pushing the law and order messaging for weeks as his poll numbers have slipped.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Americans want law and order. They demand law and order.
KAFANOV: This morning he defended the deployment of federal agents tweeting federal forces are little involved in Seattle other than we have a large standby team in case of emergency. Seattle police say they arrested 47 people Saturday during what they called a riot that left 59 officers injured. A peaceful march turned violent with barricades outside of police headquarters being knocked over in Oakland, California.
The mayor of Oakland warning the community they may be playing into the President's hands saying "Vandalizing our downtown gives Donald Trump the image he wants and the justification he seeks to send federal troops into American cities."
Many demonstrators believe the presence of those agents in their cities are like an occupying force. The protests and violence not limited to the west coast. In Austin, Texas, a man shot and killed during a Black Lives Matter protests Saturday identified as 28-year- old Garrett Foster.
In Aurora, Colorado, a terrifying scene when someone drove a Jeep into a crowd of protesters. Fortunately, no one was injured. The violence only seeming to fuel President Trump's verbal attacks on the protesters, even calling them terrorists last month.
On Sunday, he tweeted, "The protesters are actually anarchists who hate our country. The line of innocent mothers we're a scam." Those mothers, the so-called Wall of Moms are real. And they along with military vets in Portland formed barriers around the protesters to shield them from authorities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Having the wall of moms step up with a way to refocus attention. But the most important thing is that we are only lending our bodies to the important work that the black community has been doing.
KAFANOV: The presence and actions of federal paramilitary troops in Portland against the wishes of city and state leaders has very much inflame tensions. It has brought out a small group of riders. But keep in mind, there are hundreds if not thousands of ordinary citizens who come here day after day to demand racial justice, their message Black Lives Matter. Lucy Kafanov, CNN, Portland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And in an interview with CNN, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said the presence of DHS forces in Portland is not consistent with the department's mission. He compared their deployment meant to pouring gasoline on a fire and call for the White House to work with state and local governments to listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM RIDGE, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY, UNITED STATE: It's about time, and I say this is not a secretary of Homeland Security, but as a governor, that the federal government and the state government and the local governments work together to defuse the situation. It's too high. It's going too high. And they better do something quickly.
And I think -- and I would just say this recommendation, and I'm sure the President's going to call for mine, you got governors next to you, loyal vice president, he understands the importance of integrating the federal the state and local teams to help to defuse the situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: John Lewis spent his life making good trouble. Now, the U.S. Congressman is receiving one more singular honor as fellow lawmakers pay tribute.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): John Lewis became a Titan of the civil rights movement and then the conscience of the Congress.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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CHURCH: Eleven Major League Baseball players and two coaches on the Miami Marlins have tested positive for COVID-19. That is according to ESPN. The Marlins aren't the first team to have players test positive, but they are the first organization to have an outbreak of this size. Major League Baseball has postponed at least three games. The manager of the Washington National says he's worried about the fate of the Marlins and the rest of the league.
[02:55:06]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE MARTINEZ, MANAGER, WASHINGTON NATIONALS: My level of concern went from about eight to 12. I mean this thing really can, you know, hits home now that you've seen, you know, half a team get infected and go from one city to another. So yes, I got friends on the -- on that Miami team, and it really stinks. And I'm not going to lie, I'm not going to sugarcoat it, you see those guys go down like that, you know, it's not good for them, it's not good for anybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And the National Football League has decided to cancel all 2020 preseason games due to the pandemic. Commissioner Roger Goodell made the formal announcement on Monday. The season will officially start in September. Players and coaches will be regularly tested for the virus and must follow rigorous health and safety protocols.
Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be right back with another hour of CNN NEWSROOM. But first, after a life marked by extraordinary accomplishments, John Lewis has earned another 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 his life is taking place over six days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): I think what makes heroes and saints great is their humanity. And it was this 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 John Lewis. He bridge generation from his generation to mine and to future generations and he taught us how to just stay -- to stay focused and to persist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready step. Ready step.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Find a way to get in the way. You must find a way to get in trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble.
PELOSI: 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 lost because John internalized non-violence. We adopted non-violence. It was a tactic for us. But I don't know if all of us saw what he did.
[03:00:00]
