Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Dr. Birx: U.S. in 'New Phase' with More Widespread Cases; Analyzing Importance of T Cells in Virus Treatments; Tropical Storm Isaias Off Coast of Florida; Victoria, Australia, Enacts Strict New Lockdown Measures; NASA Astronauts Splash Down in SpaceX Capsule; Brazil Reporting More Than 94,000 Coronavirus Deaths; Renters Fear Eviction as Unemployment Bonus Ends; India Surpasses 1.8 Million COVID Infections; Trump Places Failed Pentagon Nominee in Another Post; Kurds Displaced & Helpless Since U.S. Forces Abandoned Them. Aired 12- 1a ET

Aired August 03, 2020 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: A top U.S. health official says the coronavirus pandemic is more widespread now than it was earlier this year. Hitting rural areas, just as hard as the big cities.

[00:01:45]

With Florida already battered by the virus, now it's feeling the effects of a powerful storm forecasters warned could reach hurricane strength.

And empty streets in Melbourne, Victoria, as millions of Australians are on a strict lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Hello everyone. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes, and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

Ominous warnings from a top member of the White House coronavirus task force, telling CNN the U.S. has reached a new phase of the pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DEBORAH BIRX, CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE COORDINATOR: I want to be very clear. What we're seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread. It's into the rural as equal as urban areas, and to everybody who lives in a rural area, you are not immune or protected from this virus. And that's why we keep saying why no matter where you live in America, you need to wear a mask and socially distance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: While the number of infections in 27 states has plateaued, the overall figures are still very high. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts another 19,000 deaths in just the next three weeks.

COVID-19 has killed around 1,000 Americans every day for almost a week now. Florida and California are both in red there on the map. The most dangerous hotspots. They're seeing a sharp, and steady rise in new infections.

And we could see another surge in Florida in the coming day. Testing sites closed due to Tropical Storm Isaias are slated to reopen.

President Trump, who has long downplayed the severity of the pandemic, of course, spent another day playing another round of maskless golf. This masks his -- makes his 284th visit to one of his golf clubs since taking office. He played golf two days in a row. The president has chosen much rosier terms to describe the state of this pandemic and his top experts.

Jeremy Diamond shows us the mixed messaging.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, in recent days, we have watched as President Trump has continued to downplay the severity of the coronavirus. Falsely claiming, time and again, that the rise in cases that we are seeing in the U.S. is due to an increase in testing.

And the president also continuing to hawk hydroxychloroquine, that drug that has been proved in multiple studies to be an ineffective treatment for coronavirus.

But the message that we are hearing from the public health experts within this very same administration is very, very different. Including the message that we heard on Sunday from Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus task force coordinator. She made clear that this epidemic in the United States, currently, is extremely widespread, making clear that it's happening not just in the urban areas where we saw the early days of this pandemic, but also in rural communities. She gave a message, specifically to those rural communities, encouraging them to practice those mitigation efforts.

Listen to her warning about the seriousness of the situation in the United States.

[00:05:03]

BIRX: We are in a new phase. And that's why I really wanted to make it clear to the American people. It's why we started putting out governor reports directly to the health officials, and the governors, in every single state. Because we could see that each thing had to be tailored.

This epidemic, right now, is different, and it's wide -- it's more widespread, and it's both rural and urban.

DIAMOND: Now, Dr. Birx did say that she is seeing something that is, quote, "a bit reassuring." And that is the notion that it appears that cases in the west and the south may be beginning to plateau, or even decline, saying that it seems that those mitigation efforts that have been put in place in some of those states are working.

But she is also making clear that the states that are beginning to see even slight increases in their test positivity rate, for example, need to immediately begin to slow down their reopening plans and implement those mitigation efforts.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Joining me now is Dr. Amesh Adalja. He's a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins University Center for Health and Security.

Doctor, thanks for your time. First of all, we talk a lot about antibodies, but there was a study published in the journal "Nature" that found, among a sample of healthy adults in Germany who had not been exposed to the coronavirus, 35 percent had these T-cells in their blood that were reactive to the virus.

For the layman, what do you make of that? What does it mean? Could those T-cells play a role in treatments, and what is a T-cell?

DR. AMESH ADALJA, SENIOR SCHOLAR, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR HEALTH AND SECURITY: You have to remember, the immune system is a very complex part of our bodies. And although there's a lot of focus on antibodies, because they're easy to measure, and they're easy to explain. There's a whole other arm of the immune system called cell- mediated immunity. And they're easy to explain.

There's a whole other arm of the immune system called cell-medicated immunity, and that involves T cells, and B cells. And what we're talking about here are certain cells that go around and kind of coordinate the immune response. They also have the ability to control virus-infected cells. It's a really, really crucial part of your immune system. It's actually the part that goes wrong when HIV takes over.

So we know that T cell immunity is very important for infectious diseases. It's just something that's harder to measure. What we're seeing --

HOLMES: Carry on. Sorry.

ADALJA: What we're seeing is that individuals have tea solemnity, even if they've not been exposed to this virus, and what that means is that there are other coronaviruses out there. Remember that about 25 percent of our common colds are caused by coronavirus. And there is some cross reaction that may have some effect that we're seeing in these individuals who have these special T cells.

HOLMES: It's fascinating stuff and hopefully encouraging. I wanted to ask you, too. The Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security said in a report this past week that, unlike many countries in the world, the United States is not currently on course to get control of this epidemic. It is time to reset.

I'm curious if you agree with that and what a reset might look like?

ADALJA: Well, I do think that the United States continues to make the same mistake, over, and over again. And we have been unable to achieve the success that countries like Taiwan achieved. And we are now at a new normal where we're having 1,000 deaths per day and hospitals concerned about their capacity on a day-to-day basis.

I do think we really need to activate and understand what is driving the spread and put into place the simple measures of testing, tracing, and isolating that will stop the transmission of this virus or get it to a level that's at least manageable by our hospitals.

And I think that we have all the tools at hand. It's just about the political will to execute them. We even have epidemiological data that tells us which types of activities: indoors versus outdoors, what types of gathering: bars versus other types of activities. We have all of that. So we can do precision-guided public health in order to -- to really dampen this outbreak. But only if there's political will, and only if the general population is willing to do it.

HOLMES: There still isn't a national strategy, officially, which is pretty extraordinary. I mean, even as the curve flattens in hotspots, and we've seen that recently, maybe not drop in a meaningful way, because it's at a high level to begin with.

But we're starting to see growth in the Midwest, as well, rural areas. The northern hemisphere flu season is a month away. How do you see the next few weeks unfolding?

ADALJA: I think we're going to continue to still see cases continuing to flare in many places in the country. This is going to be a heterogeneous outbreak. We're going to have different kind of roving hotspots, depending upon what's going on. And then some modicum of control achieved, like we've seen in Arizona with cases coming down and hospitalizations coming down.

When we get into flu season, I think it's going to be challenging, because flu is going to be competing for the same resources as this -- this coronavirus. And it's going to be hard to tell them apart. And we need to get testing in a better place. We're not going to be able to tell who has influenza, and who has coronavirus.

They have two different very cheap -- very different treatment pathways. That being said, we're looking at the southern hemisphere, and flu season doesn't seem to be a big problem there, because many of the social distancing measures for coronavirus are going to work for influenza, as well. However, we're obviously not doing that so well, so we may have the worst of both worlds.

[00:10:13]

HOLMES: Yes, exactly. Arizona had -- had those huge spikes, a lot of deaths. But you know, social media is showing some packed restaurants and bars, lax distancing and mask wearing. I mean, I guess the question is, briefly, how dangerous is the situation where people are just tired of public health guidance, the restrictions on their lives? Complacency sets in?

ADALJA: I do think that is a major danger. And it's not something that is unexpected. We know that the longer that we have to do this, the harder it is going to be for people to comply, especially when this virus takes a different path, with different people. Some people have very, very mild symptoms, don't require hospitalizations, and that makes them feel as if they're not -- it's not necessary for them to -- to really try to try and minimize their risk of exposure.

And I think this is also the result of the fact that we've done it wrong for so long. January, February, March. All those months were squandered, and people are really fed up, because there's been federal government and state government failure after failure. And -- and I think that many people just have thrown up their arms and said, you know, we're going to try and live with this as best as we can, because we can't turn to the government for help on this. They failed in their core function in being able to test, track, and isolate, so now people are kind of fending for themselves.

HOLMES: Yes. It's a pretty sad world if 1,000 people a day is somehow acceptable.

Dr. Amesh Adalja, thank you so much. We really appreciate your expertise.

ADALJA: Thank you for having me.

HOLMES: Hurricane watches are being issued for parts of the Carolinas as Tropical Storm Isaias is projected to make landfall there in the coming days. Alerts have been issued, all up and down the Eastern Seaboard in advance of the storms move northward. And it is adding even more misery to coronavirus-stricken Florida, bringing heavy rain, wind, and rough tides, as well, to the state's Atlantic coast.

But meteorologists by the time the storm makes landfall, it could restrengthen and become a hurricane again.

Let's check in with somebody who knows more about this than most. Pedram Javaheri. Good to see you. Fill us in on what's happening.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Just a few miles per hour shy of being designated back into a hurricane, a Category 1, and at this point, Michael, you know, of course, that is just negligible. The impacts, regardless, they're much the same here when it comes to this storm.

And it sits about 50 miles, or 80 kilometers, east of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at this hour, uncomfortably close to the space coast there of Florida.

And we know the tropical-storm-force winds extend over 100 miles from the center, so that means the coast is dealing with a tropical-storm- force winds that are, say, 40, 50, even 60 miles per hour.

But there's a lot of wind shear ahead of the storm system, meaning the winds above it are shredding it apart. But you'll notice, as it is forecast to move forward there towards the north, naturally, the coast of the state of Georgia onto portions of the state of South Carolina. Give it a bit of breathing room, and then we think by this time tomorrow, this storm system is on approach towards Charleston, South Carolina. It could make landfall in the overnight hours of Monday into Tuesday in and around areas around Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

And then, beyond that, follow it; it goes towards a very densely- populated region, as again, we believe it will do some steam by that point by mid to late week in the portions of the northeastern United States.

But here is the perspective as far as the steering currents of this particular storm system. Because it is battling a couple of them. We've got the jet stream here, pushing the storm farther towards the east, while a massive area of high pressure towards the east pushing it little back towards the west.

So we look at this because we know the storm surge threat is going to be significant. Keep in mind, Monday is a full moon, so meaning the lunar high tide, the astronomical high tide going to be at its highest for the month, in areas where the storm system is going to be approaching. That is for areas around Edisto Beach, up towards Charleston, on around St. Myrtle Beach, as well. Expect high tide across some of these areas to be into the evening hours.

So you notice there, Daytona beach, on the Jacksonville, generally around 8 p.m. or so. Work your way towards Charleston around 9 p.m., six and a quarter foot at high tide there, and then you factor in another 2 to 4 feet on top of this when it comes to the storm surge. Certainly going to lead to some inundation across the historic area there of downtown Charleston, well known for flooding concerns, any time you have tropical systems move ashore.

And there we go. We think, again, landfall sometime into the early morning hours of Tuesday morning there on the border of the state of South and North Carolina.

A lot of rainfall as this storm system approaches. In fact, the reddest areas of this particular storm we felt across the Carolinas and into parts of the northeast. And notice, when we're talking to 50 to over 70 mile-per-hour wind gusts there, Michael.

Power outage is going to be a concern, especially around some of these areas where you get so much rainfall, of course, the soil becomes fully saturated, and the trees easily give way. And we know with COVID currently in place, power outages could last longer than you typically would expect them when it comes to a landfall and tropical storms. We'll watch this carefully.

HOLMES: Yes. A lot of moving parts. Pedram Javaheri, thanks so much.

[00:15:01]

And on the other side of the U.S., where the pandemic is also raging, they are dealing with a wildfire. More than 7,000 people have been driven from their homes in southern California due to this huge blaze. The U.S. Forest Service says the fire has scorched more than 20,000 acres, or 8,000 hectares, and it is not yet contained. No injuries reported, fortunately. At least one home, and two other buildings, though, destroyed by the fire.

California has the nation's highest number of COVID-19 cases, and evacuation centers are requiring masks and social distancing.

Melbourne, Australia, is now under some of the most severe lockdown measures to date after a state of disaster was declared in the state of Victoria.

The latest restrictions include a new overnight curfew and the end of pretty much all recreational activity. This comes after Victoria reported almost 700 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday.

Here to discuss further is Professor Sharon Lewin, who is director of the Dougherty Institute in Melbourne, Australia.

Good to have you on and your expertise. This full lockdown, how concerned are you and authorities there?

SHARON LEWIN, DIRECTOR, DOUGHERTY INSTITUTE: A pleasure to be with you.

Well, there's a lot of concern in Victoria, particularly Melbourne, as we've seen numbers of cases increase progressively over about the last five weeks. There's been some interventions, and the numbers of new cases have slowed, but they haven't yet reduced. And that's what's causing some alarm here.

HOLMES: When you look at the restrictions in place there and you think about New Zealand went to Stage Four restrictions when there were 90 cases a day. And it did take them a month to bring the virus under control, although they did, obviously.

How long do you expect this to last, where these restrictions make a difference?

LEWIN: Well, I think once you bring in a restriction, you are limiting transmissions. You should see that the numbers start to fall within a week, or 7 to 10 days. They, of course, won't fall to zero, but what we really want to see is a progressive decline of numbers of new infections. And then they will be in place now, we are estimating, for about six weeks.

HOLMES: What was the cause of the uptick? Australia worked hard on, you know, things like contact tracing, but if I understand it correctly, a lot of these cases can't be traced back to a source, right? Those sort of mystery cases. What happened?

LEWIN: Well, first of all, just to be really clear, these numbers have -- these increases in new cases are really only have happening in one part of Australia. So this is not running out all across Australia. This is just in one particular state, Victoria. And predominantly the city, the capital city of Melbourne. And in our first wave of coronavirus cases, which we experienced in

late March, similar to the rest of the world. Most of those infections were from travelers that returned to Australia, and we had very little community transmission and very aggressive testing and tracing, really going right back to February and March.

This time, we were throughout May and June, we were quarantining all visitors to Australia. They were all in hotels paid for by government for at least two weeks.

And what happened in Melbourne were some breaches in quarantine, transmission from people in quarantine to the security guards, actually, in those hotels, and then spreading amongst communities leading to very stable security guards. This also started happening early June. And progressive incremental strategies were implemented,

First of all, restricting number of people in your house; in looking down 10 suburbs of Melbourne; and mandating mask wearing. And what we've seen with each of these interventions is that the numbers of new infections are still increasing.

We've also had outbreaks in some industries like abattoirs, which are quite common around the world. We're seeing also outbreaks in housing projects. So we're seeing different communities being affected, which are a lot more challenging now. Community transmission, equally high density living.

So the problem is bigger.

HOLMES: I guess, you know, it's interesting. I was doing some comparison today on deaths in Victoria versus a U.S. state like Florida, which is a real hot zone. I mean, Florida is 3 and a half times the population of Victoria but 20 to 25 times the daily deaths.

I mean, in Florida, the schools are going to reopen. The distancing and mask wearing is patchy, to say the least. To that point, what difference can public cooperation and government action make in a situation such as this?

LEWIN: Look, the goals of what we're trying to do in Australia right now are very different to what I'm seeing happening in the U.S. I mean, the goal here is certainly flattening the curve and reducing deaths, and we've had just over 100 deaths in Victoria, which is still alarming.

But we really want to get cases right down so that we're in step with the rest of Australia, which is currently experiencing less than 20 cases a day in other parts of Australia, and several states having absolutely no new infections. So the goal here is to really squash these right down to levels, so that we're consistent with the rest of the country.

HOLMES: It's -- it's a country that did well with coronavirus, and looking at the action being taken in Victoria, rather than a lot of U.S. states, well, they could learn something, I guess.

Professor Sharon Lewin, good to see you. Appreciate it. Thanks so much for that.

LEWIN: Pleasure. Thanks very much.

HOLMES: Brazil's coronavirus death toll has been rising steadily. So why are some Brazilians still shrugging off the risk? We'll have a report from Rio de Janeiro coming up.

And also, after two months, NASA's mission on board a SpaceX craft is back on earth. We'll tell you how it made history and how it could change the face of space flight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:25:08]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Splash down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As you can see on your screen, we have official splash down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: This is the scene on Sunday as SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft safely splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico. It was something to see.

Two NASA astronauts emerged from the craft, proving the first ever manned commercial flight to the International Space Station is a success.

SpaceX planning more such missions in what is being hailed as a new era in space flight.

Now, after the landing, SpaceX Elon Musk said, while he isn't religious, he was praying for a safe return. CNN's Rachel Crane takes us through the final moments before the capsule landed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, making history with Crew Dragon's successful splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Pensacola, after a two-month stay at the International Space Station and a 19-hour journey home.

Recovery boats were waiting nearby to attend to the astronauts in the spacecraft. After the capsule parachuted into the ocean, at around 15 miles an hour. A far cry from the 17,500 miles per hour it was traveling at, just before reentering earth's atmosphere.

The astronauts then making their way to Johnson Space Center, where they were reunited with their families and underwent some medical assessments.

The successful return means SpaceX made history, becoming the first private company to put NASA astronauts into orbit and safely bring them home, and finally returning U.S. human spaceflight to American soil after the retirement of the shuttle program nine long years ago.

Now, this technically was a test mission, intended to certify SpaceX Crew Dragon for future operations, which could start flying as soon as two months for now.

This is all part of a multi-billion-dollar contract SpaceX has with NASA to regularly run such missions, ushering in a new era of space flight. More private companies are trusted with faring to lower orbit, and NASA is just the customer.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Our thanks to Rachel Crane. T

Now, the unemployment bonus has ended for millions of Americans, and U.S. lawmakers can't agree on what to do next. We'll have details on the negotiations coming up.

Also, after the break, we will update you on the condition of a Bollywood legend who's been in the hospital with coronavirus, along with his son. We will tell you how their recovery is growing, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes.

More than 200,000 coronavirus deaths have now been confirmed in Latin America and the Caribbean. Brazil accounts for almost half that total. It's outbreak by far the worst in the region, but even with the death toll mounting, some Brazilians are refusing to take things seriously, as Nick Paton Walsh reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ninety-four thousand dead now here in Brazil. A starting lee high number for a country which, on the surface, at times it appears day today, to be trying to act as though disease hasn't really taken a grip of its population.

And we've seen over the weekend in the 24-hour period ending Sunday, the number of dead contributed to by just over 500. And 25,800 new cases. Startingly high numbers, but for Brazil, possibly because of reporting lag over the weekend, not as high as we've been seeing in the 50,000 or so cases that have been reported daily in some days over the past couple of weeks.

And the disease continues to tear its way through the high levels of government. A sick cabinet minister, the comptroller general, reporting himself positive late last week. That comes after the first lady, Michelle Bolsonaro, said that she, in fact, had tested positive, and after her husband, President Jair Bolsonaro, the man whose behavior is so much the focus of Brazil's at times contrary response to this disease after he recovered from a two-week infection from the disease.

He was seen in the south of the country, meeting supporters in the town of Baja (ph), waiving hydroxychloroquine, again, a medicine which has proven ineffective instead he after steady, in fact may even be harmful for people with coronavirus.

He received two on Sunday, leaving the presidential residence in Brasilia, the capital, on a motorbike, at times not wearing a mask.

It's, as I say, at times surreal to see, particularly here in Rio de Janeiro, how daily life tries to carry on unimpacted by this virus and how the government many times appears to behave as though it isn't the most grave problem they face.

In fact, President Bolsonaro was critical over the weekend about how local officials had been providing unemployment support to those affected by the lockdown. Startlingly high numbers every day. And still, Brazil's government still doing its best to downplay the disease.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: U.S. lawmakers and White House officials will be meeting again in the coming hours to try to reach an agreement on another stimulus plan. A key sticking point is the extension of the $600 weekly unemployment benefit that expired last week. Republicans view it as a disincentive for some Americans to go back to work. They want to cut it to $200 a week.

They also want states to move towards benefits based on a percentage of worker wages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): The fact is, they put on the for the end of this week in the Senate, $200. So when you say, Well, you end up doing a 600 -- they have no support for that in their party. We are unified in our support for the $600. They are in disarray.

STEVEN MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: Mark Meadows and I will be back there every day until we reach an agreement. We understand there is a need to compromise, but on the other hand, there is also a big need to get kids into school, get people back to jobs and keep the economy open and keep people safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Also at issue is the Democrats' push for additional funding for state and local governments.

Now, for many Americans, that $600 weekly bonus benefit helped literally to pay the rent, and with some eviction moratoriums ending, they worry they could end up out on the street. We're talking tens of millions of people. Paul Vercammen met one family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tension on the streets of Los Angeles this weekend. Economic worry. People are wondering how they are going to make ends meet.

The $600 supplemental paycheck from the federal government gone, and looming on the horizon, how to pay rent or make up a rent that has not been paid. There is a moratorium on evictions in the city of Los Angeles, but in the state, some other eviction moratoriums may

been paid. There is a moratorium on evictions in the city of Los Angeles, but in the state, some other eviction moratoriums may go away soon. We talked to this family. They have not been able to pay rent in 3 months, and they are greatly concerned about what is going to happen down the road when someone comes to collect that rent check.

MARCOS ALVAREZ, LOS ANGELES RESIDENT: We need real help, like, to cancel the rent, because it's --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING SPANISH)

ALVAREZ: Because we live with the pressure that we can't pay the rent, and as soon as this is over, I know they want us to, like, repay the months that we didn't pay, and how are we supposed to do that when we could barely make for the month we're living in?

VERCAMMEN: But also at play here, landlords, many of them in southern California relying on rental income to make their living. And one community activist said this is all such a double-edged sword.

CARLOS MARROQUIN, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST: What we need to do is we need to not only explore, but we need to act boldly to be able to put in programs in place that will not only protect the renters but also the landlords. We understand that.

Most of the renters that I speak with, if not all of them, you know, they want to pay their rents, but if that's not happening, you know, again, the landlords will also suffer, especially the mom and pops landlords. And that worries me a lot.

VERCAMMEN: And there are a number of bills working their way through the legislature that could give relief to both landlords as well as renters. Stay tuned on that.

California reckoning with both the COVID-19 pandemic and its very serious consequences on health, as well as all of these economic woes.

Reporting from Los Angeles, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: The Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte says he is reimposing coronavirus restrictions in some areas starting on Tuesday. The country now has more than 100,000 confirmed cases.

The new restrictions will cover the capital city, Manila, as well as some nearby provinces. Anyone under 21, 60 and over, or those with health risks have to stay home. The only exceptions are for buying essentials and for going to work.

More than 2000 people in the Philippines have died from the virus.

Now in hard-hit India, two high-ranking officials testing positive for coronavirus, both in the hospital, and the legendary Bollywood star out of the hospital after recovering from the virus.

Vedika Sud joins me now from New Delhi to talk about this. Yes, hearing of these prominent politicians testing positive. Tell us about that and the latest on the spread.

VEDIKA SUD, CNN PRODUCER: In a moment from now, but first, Michael, unfortunately the numbers have gone up. They've just been issued. India has surpassed the 1.8 million mark. There have been over 38,000 deaths.

Now, this has been the deadliest week for India with over 300,000 cases being registered in only a week and over 5,300 deaths, as well.

Very quickly, an update on the home minister of India. Remember, he's the second most powerful minister in the government after the prime minister Narendra Modi. He has been hospitalized. He tweeted yesterday to state that he has been confirmed with COVID-19 positive tests, after which he has been hospitalized.

Also, the Karnataka chief minister, B.S. Yediyurappa, tweeted yesterday to confirm the same. He's been hospitalized, as well.

What Amit Shah has also said through his tweet is that he has been interacting with people over the last few days. He's been extremely active despite COVID-19 numbers in Delhi. He's been speaking to doctors, going, moving out of his office, as well. Because of which, he's asked everyone who's come in contact with him over the last few days to first quarantine themselves and get themselves tested, as well.

Unfortunately, there's been a death reported in India's biggest state, the state of Uttar Pradesh, where a state minister succumbed to COVID- 19, as well, Michael.

HOLMES: And before we let you go, news on the Bollywood star who tested positive.

SUD: Yes, he was admitted on the 11th of July. Fans are elated because he's finally out. We're talking about Amitabh Bachchan. He tweeted yesterday himself, since the family is very, very keen on keeping these matters private, it's only the father and son who have been tweeting to give us information about their health.

So Amitabh Bachchan is now back home, and he is in self quarantine there, as well. He's decided to isolate himself from the rest of the family. Also his son, Abhishek Bachchan, an established actor in Bollywood, remains in hospital. According to Abhishek Bachchan, there are a few co-morbidities because of which, he's still going to be in hospital for the next few days.

But that's good news coming out, because there were a lot of fans all around India, given the status and the kind of love people have for Amitabh Bachchan, one of the biggest Bollywood stars here in India.

HOLMES: Hugely popular figure. Vedika Sud, appreciate it. Good to see you. Thanks for that.

[00:40:07]

Well, Microsoft says it is still discussing a possible purchase of TikTok. That follows President Trump's threat on Friday to ban the popular video app from operating in the U.S.

TikTok is owned by the Chinese start-up, ByteDance. And the Trump administration says it is concerned the app could pose a national security risk, or a risk to user data, at least.

Microsoft suggests that TikTok could avoid that ban if a deal goes through. The company would own and operate TikTok services in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

In a statement, ByteDance said, quote, "ByteDance has always been committed to becoming a global company. In this process, we're faced with all kinds of complex and unimaginable difficulties, including a tense international political environment. We still adhere to the vision of globalization and continue to increase investment in markets around the world, including China, to create value for users around the world."

President Trump puts a failed Defense Department pick in a new role. When we come back, we'll find out what Democrats in Congress have to say about that.

Also, nine months after President Trump abandoned Kurdish allies of the U.S. on Turkish-Syrian border, tens of thousands of innocent civilians have been left helpless and displaced. We'll update you on the situation there after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: The Trump administration placing a controversial Pentagon pick into another role, but a very similar one, after his nomination failed. The retired general, Anthony Tata, was President Trump's choice for a top defense post, but his nomination hearing on Thursday was canceled amid bipartisan opposition. Ryan Browne updates us on what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[00:45:06]

RYAN BROWNE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Retired Brigadier General Anthony Tata has been put into a senior policy post at the Pentagon, despite his nomination for another post collapsing last week under Senate scrutiny.

Now, Tata had made controversial comments, unearthed by CNN's KFILE team, on a wide range of issues, accusing a former CIA director of plotting to kill President Trump; calling President Obama a terrorist leader; and making comments that many viewed as Islamophobic.

Now, Tata has been working as a senior adviser at the Pentagon since April. The details of that role have not been revealed. The Pentagon has declined to offer any details about what he's actually been doing.

But he will now be placed into a position that is normally Senate- confirmed. Now, he is on a temporary, technically acting basis, but the move has been slammed by Democrats on Capitol Hill, with the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Service Committee saying the efforts the skirt their confirmation process were destabilizing and an insult to U.S. troops and the American people.

Ryan Browne, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: It has been about nine months since President Trump abruptly abandoned Kurdish allies of the U.S. on the Turkish-Syrian border. Now, without that U.S. support, the Kurds are largely left to fend for themselves against Turkish forces.

CNN's Arwa Damon has an update on the situation there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Do you see that smoke? That's from our fields," Amit Misan (ph) says, resigned and sorrowful. It's hardly the first time that Turkey has launched strikes in the Kurdish semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq, targeting the Kurdish separatist group, the PKK's strongholds in the harsh mountain terrain.

Amit (ph) lived in a small village nearby, fleeing with his family in the middle of the night. His elderly mother shows us how she used to shake with fear.

For decades, the Turkish state has been at war with the PKK, designated a terrorist organization, not just by Turkey, but also the E.U. and the United States. This is the largest air and ground offensive since the 1990s.

Turkey says it's just trying to protect its borders and stop the Kurdish PKK fighters from moving into Syria.

In October of last year, Turkey invaded neighboring northern Syria, going after a related Kurdish group called the YPG, a sister organization to the PKK.

What makes this situation so thorny is that the Kurdish force Turkey attacked in Syria makes up the bulk of the fighting forces partnering with the U.S. in the battles against ISIS.

The Americans abandoned their Kurdish allies, withdrawing from key positions. The Turks swept in. Tens of thousands of civilians fled.

Today, Turkey still occupies the border region, carrying out joint patrols with the Russians and the Americans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the presence of different forces comes the complication of the need to deal with each one of them separately, which each of them also has his own interests, its own goals.

DAMON: When it comes to the U.S., it's all about ISIS. They frequently tout their partnership fighting ISIS with the Kurdish YPG as part of the Syrian Democratic Forces.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I want to describe how we are partnering with the SDF, the current threat from ISIS, and let you know of some other areas, some other topics where we are collaborating to help the people of this region

DAMON: And yet, when the Kurds need big brother America or, for that matter, anyone to step in and help them, all remain on the sidelines.

In northern Iraq, Amit's (ph) beloved farmlands are charred, destroyed. His children miss running around outside in the cool breeze.

"Blame is shared," he says. "Our government can't do anything in the face of Turkey or the PKK. Countries need to get involved. It can't go on like this."

But it will, as it always has. The Kurds have a proverb that arose from their history of betrayal and abandonment. "No friend but the mountains," they say.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: A Major League Baseball player decides to skip the rest of the season, which was apparently a surprise to his team. We'll have the details on all the confusion when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Major League Baseball player Yoenis Cespedes is opting out of the 2020 season over COVID-related concerns. Now, he made that decision on Sunday, but he did so without telling his team in advance.

In fact, he skipped Sunday's game against Atlanta and went missing for part of the day. His team, the New York Mets, even sent security to his hotel room to look for him. Eventually, they found out about his decision and called it a surprising move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BRODIE VAN WAGENEN, NEW YORK METS GENERAL MANAGER: I think it's disappointing for, you know -- for the fans, from my vantage point prior to coming to this job and then since, Yo is a great player. I think everyone enjoyed watching him play when he was at his best.

There was optimism for his return. I know how hard he worked in his -- in his rehab to get back to this point. And I know this is -- this is a disappointing -- disappointing end to at least his -- his four-year agreement with -- with the Mets, but it -- I know it wasn't for a lack of work ethic on his part, to try to get back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The general manager said Cespedes is safe and healthy and says the team would respect his decision.

Now, the British Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton won a record seventh British Grand Prix on Sunday. But this one came in a pretty wild dramatic finish. Don Riddell with the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[00:55:04]

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORT (voice-over): The race began in familiar circumstances. The six-time driver's champion, Lewis Hamilton, leading a tribute to highlight and, hopefully, end racism. But the ending to the British Grand Prix was spectacular. And Hamilton was in the midst of that, too.

The 35-year-old led the race from start to finish and seemed to be coasting towards another victory before the front left tire of his Mercedes failed on the very last lap.

He was left with no choice but to limp home on three wheels. Remarkably, his closest challenger, Max Verstappen, had already settled for second place, making the decision to pit for new tires in the hope of setting the fastest lap, and claiming a bonus point. Otherwise, the dutchman would have won.

LEWIS HAMILTON, BRITISH GRAND PRIX WINNER: I could hear the gap coming down from 19 to 10. And so I remember just getting on -- you know, giving it full gas. I got to the corner. And I heard him going, 9, 8, 7. And I was like, just get back on the car, trying to get the thing to turn. So oh my God, I've definitely never experienced anything like that on the last lap. And my heart definitely probably nearly stopped. I think that's probably how cool that was, because my heart nearly stopped.

RIDDELL: The third consecutive race win and on three wheels, no less, means that Hamilton has now led a race from start to finish 20 times. That's once more than his idol, Ayrton Senna.

He's also only four victories behind the record of 91 checkered flags held by Michael Schumacher. Next week, they'll race again at Silverstone in the 70th Anniversary

Grand Prix, but it will take something truly incredible to be anything like as exciting as this.

Don Riddell, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: What a race. Thanks for watching, everyone. For our viewers here in the United States, "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA" with W. Kamau Bell is up next.

For our international viewers, I'll be right back with another hour of CNN NEWSROOM after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END