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Trump Falsely Claims Children Are "Almost Immune" to Coronavirus; Homeless Americans Among Most Vulnerable in Pandemic; At Least 100 Dead, Hundreds Still Missing After Beirut Explosion; Major University Cancels Football in 2020. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired August 05, 2020 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

MAYOR MICHELLE DE LA ISLA (D-TOPEKA, KANSAS): We finished a meeting with the teachers and we were meeting with the superintendents right before this call, and we were talking about what are the proper PPE equipment that teachers and schools are going to be using, the modus that they're going to be using. A lot of our schools are choosing to do a hybrid approach. There's going to be individuals that are going to have the option to do online learning completely. There's going to be individuals that are going to have the option to come to school a few days in the week so that there is not the capacity of having a full classroom.

So we're going to have a hybrid type mix. And this is in collaboration with all of the school districts that are in Shawnee County.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Let me ask you this question as a parent, so put your parent hat on for a moment, if you would, Mayor. You've got two teenage girls, and I know -- and you're a single parent, and I know they really want to be in school. And my four-year-old really wants to be in school. And then there's the issue of being a working parent like you are.

Goldman Sachs came out with research yesterday that showed with the data that parents who cannot work from home and if schools don't open, are the groups at the most risk of losing their jobs entirely. And we know that's going to disproportionately affect working mothers. How does that factor into your equation here?

DE LA ISLA: It absolutely breaks my heart. It just you know -- and then when you compound that with the fact that many families don't have access to broadband, it really doubles down on the importance of us figuring out a way to provide support to families. There's a lot of kiddos that right now in my community, they hand you a chromebook rather than a book. And they go home but they don't have access to broadband.

So now, you have parents that are not only having to stay at home and lose revenue that is crucial to pay for their bills, to pay for their livelihood, but then they also are not able to make sure that their child is able to access the internet, a, to do their education, but b, for the parents to be able to do some sort of remote work if that's available to them.

HARLOW: I just wonder if there's something innovative here when we're looking at so many unemployed Americans and government stimulus, hopefully, there's another deal coming, you know, something like a voucher program where you could put some of those people back to work in child care, right, for parents who are working, for kids who can't go back to school. It just -- you know, it's something I don't think is getting talked about enough and we have to be creative with solutions here.

I want to talk about black-owned businesses because you have over 10 percent of your population in Topeka is African-American, and the New York Federal Reserve bank came out yesterday and their numbers show that 41 percent of black-owned businesses across the country shut down between February and April. That is twice the number of white-owned businesses. Are you seeing that in Topeka?

DE LA ISLA: You know, we have -- I could think of two very well-known, one of them is Alonzo Harrison, he's got a construction company. We have a facilities cleaning company. And then we have G's Custard and cheesecakes and more which is a great black-owned business here in our community. They have seen reductions but we haven't had significant closures.

And what we're seeing a lot of struggle with is in the smaller businesses like the restaurants are struggling significantly in our community. We're having more face-to-face issues with the smaller businesses. Those are the ones that are really being impacted in our community.

HARLOW: And if we could just end on the issue of homelessness because for people who don't know your personal journey, it's been pretty remarkable. There was a time in your life before becoming mayor that you were homeless, and you still refer to homeless people as your people. We know they are among the most vulnerable population right now during COVID. Is enough being done to help them or is this population largely being ignored in this crisis?

DE LA ISLA: Well, at least in our community, we are very fortunate that we have a phenomenal rescue mission Barry Fieger (ph) and Terry Hunt (ph) and our team, Marion Cray (ph) will all work together to work with our population very holistically and making sure that we're able to take care of our families. We have been able to expand the capacity in the rescue mission so that they are able to continue providing not only the support that they need right now but also provide medical support, mental health support to our families.

So at least in Topeka and in Shawnee County, we are doing a great job. And my hat tips off always to the rescue mission here in our community. But I think that as we take a look at the national situation, there is such an overwhelming demand for hospital space, there is such an overwhelming demand for so many resources that I do think that more has to be done nationally for its population.

HARLOW: Well, Mayor Michelle De La Isla, thank you for your time this morning. Good luck and congratulations on last night. DE LA ISLA: Thank you.

HARLOW: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:39:30]

HARLOW: One of the most as we were just talking about vulnerable communities during this pandemic is homeless, especially in major cities like New York and in San Francisco.

SCIUTTO: And now with millions of Americans facing evictions struggling to make ends meet, there are fears that more people may end up on the streets. CNN Correspondent Alexandra Fields, she's been following some of their experiences. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELDS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This might be the worst time to be homeless in America.

MARTY HAMES, COMMUNITY LIAISON, CIRCLE THE CITY: Street medicine has become a very big part of what we do.

[10:40:02]

FIELDS (voice-over): And we probably haven't seen the worst of it yet. From New York with more than 92,000 homeless people to California with more than 151,000 homeless people. States and cities nationwide are scrambling to make shelter safer and cleaner, and they're sending medical teams into the streets.

SCOTT GILMORE, DIRECTOR, DENVER PARKS AND RECREATION: We just need to do everything we can to make sure that the virus is not spreading and protecting this really vulnerable population.

FIELDS (voice-over): In Denver, Colorado, there are COVID-19 test sites for homeless people who are less likely to be able to quarantine, isolate or access quality health care. In Phoenix, Arizona, they are fighting to solve those problems.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

HAMES: If you can imagine someone that's living on the street and life is already rough, it's Phoenix, Arizona. It's 110 degrees, and then suddenly they receive a diagnosis of positive for COVID. You know, what do they do next? Phoenix is unique in that we have a place where they can go.

FIELDS (voice-over): This is a hotel now run by an organization Circle the City. It's for homeless people with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 and nowhere else to go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Heart rate is 64 and your (INAUDIBLE) is 98. Perfect. FIELDS (voice-over): Ronald Wayne Patrick is here to isolate and recover.

RONALD WAYNE PATRICK, HOMELESS WITH COVID-19: I was totally devastated, overwhelmed. I just -- I thought it was the end of my life.

FIELDS (voice-over): He's been homeless for 30 days. Nationwide, there were more than half a million homeless people in 2019. There are dire predictions that the economic crisis, job loss could make hundreds of thousands more people homeless in 2020.

DEBORAH METTS, ORGANIZED RENT STRIKE: We've even been training in eviction blockades. They're not going to come for any of our neighbors. I can tell you that right now.

FIELDS (voice-over): There's a rent strike at a building in Harlem where some tenants have banded together to learn their legal rights before moratoriums on evictions during COVID-19 expire, before more people are forced out of their homes.

SHONDREA THORNTON, ORGANIZED RENT STRIKE: Where are people supposed to go in the city? These are not even cheap apartments. These are very expensive apartments. But if you can't afford this, where are you supposed to go?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The shelter system was at capacity basically prior to COVID. Now we're going to have a new wave that's going to take a crisis to a catastrophe.

FIELDS (voice-over): The organization Women in Need provides shelter for 4,700 people a night, 2,700 are children.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The biggest challenge has been so many of our moms losing their jobs.

FIELDS (voice-over): Around 30 million kids from low income or homeless families depend on schools for free or lower cost meals. Through COVID, some of the biggest cities kept providing free food after schools closed.

Los Angeles which will have virtual school this fall spent a hundred million dollars on high speed internet and computers for students in need. New York City sent an iPad with data to Soledad Cruz's (ph) daughter, but the shelter they've lived in for three years doesn't have WiFi.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So it makes it kind of difficult for my daughter to do things some of her assignments because a lot of them have to be on the internet, and she won't have access to them.

FIELDS (voice-over): All across the country, the homeless are weathering hard times in the hardest of times.

(END VIDEOTAPE) And Poppy and Jim, the reality here is that this all could get so much worse and quickly you've got families all over the country saying they won't be able to make ends meet without that $600 unemployment benefit. On top of that, at the end of July, we saw the broadest federal moratorium on evictions be allowed to expire. We'll start to see the effects of that toward the end of this month.

Poppy, Jim?

HARLOW: I'm so glad you did that piece, Alex to highlight that the dire straits that community is in. Thank you very much for the reporting.

We're going to go Beirut because hundreds are still missing there. What caused this explosion? It was so powerful it damaged buildings six miles away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:48:21]

SCIUTTO: An enormous rescue mission is underway in Beirut, Lebanon this morning after reports that hundreds of people remain missing following that just massive explosion yesterday. This is a new drone video that shows just the widespread devastating destruction. At least a hundred people killed so far. Officials feel sadly, that number will rise dramatically. Another 4,000 people, 4,000 people were injured.

HARLOW: Big question now, what exactly caused the blast? We have team coverage from Beirut and the Pentagon.

Ben Wedeman, let me begin with you. Ben, this is your home. You've lived there for a year. What was it like when it happened? And also just tell us where you are inside right now.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, when it happened, it was obviously just a shock beyond the description. I thought it was an earthquake then saw the explosion and the smoke rising from the port and I knew something absolutely out of the ordinary that happened.

Now, just to give you an idea where I am. We're in a flat overlooking the port where the blast took place. This flat was inhabited by a couple in their 60s. When the blast happened, the walls just collapsed. The elderly woman in her 70s was in bed, she's severely wounded. The bed is still stained with her blood, she's currently in hospital.

Now I'll just step out of the way so Tarik (ph), our cameraman, can show you. Now you see in the distance, in the middle distance, you'll see that's the grain silo which was right next to the warehouse that exploded about seven minutes past 6 p.m. yesterday.

[10:50:05]

Now there you see that water jetting in, that yesterday was where the warehouse was, that was dry ground. But with 2,750 tons of extremely explosive chemical compounds, it has become a crater into which the water has flowed. I can see from here, there are still ambulances there, smoke is rising from the area. The Lebanese Government has conceded that this ammonium nitrate had been seized from a ship that was here I believe in 2013. And this highly dangerous chemical compound was left for six years unattended and obviously not very well secured. And initially, of course, the official national news agency claimed that it was an explosion caused by fire in a warehouse.

Well, speaking to anybody in this area which is absolutely devastated, those who still have a sense of humor just laugh at it, they say it's absurd some of the claims that were being made by officials in the early hours. And, of course, the government here has committed to conducting a transparent investigation into what happened but that doesn't - it's a scant consolation to the families of the more than 100 people killed, the more than 4,000 people wounded. And according to the mayor of Beirut, the more than 300,000 people who have been made homeless by this blast.

Poppy, Jim?

SCIUTTO: It's so sad.

HARLOW: Ben, it is so tragic and so many answers needed. Thank you very much for being there. We're really glad you and your entire team are OK.

Well, a major university becomes the first school at that level to cancel its football season because of COVID-19. More on that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:56:51]

SCIUTTO: The University of Connecticut is the first team at college football's highest level to cancel its season due to the coronavirus outbreak.

HARLOW: Andy Scholes joins us with more. What's behind the decision, Andy?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, they say it's COVID- related, guys, you know, and they're the first big team as you said to make this kind of decision. But UConn was going to be playing as an independent team this year anyways after leaving the American Conference. And with big time conferences like the Big Ten and SEC deciding to play only conference games, UConn had already seen many of its games already canceled this season.

Their athletic director David Benedict, putting out a statement this morning, I'll read it to you. He said, "After receiving guidance from state and public health officials and consulting with football student athletes, we've decided that we will not compete on the gridiron this season. The safety challenges created by COVID-19 place our football student athletes at an unacceptable level of risk." Now the Big Ten Conference must see things differently. They released their new all conference game schedule and safety protocols for the upcoming season this morning. Players are going to be tested twice a week, games are going to start the week of September 5th. Each team has two open weeks and the schedule has four built in if games need to be rescheduled. Michigan-Ohio State, it's set to play October 24th.

All right, in the NFL meanwhile, Lions Quarterback Matthew Stafford has been taken off the NFL's reserve COVID list after what turned out to be a false positive test. And Stafford's wife Kelly said the whole ordeal it's been a nightmare. In a lengthy Instagram post she said, even after they knew it was a false positive, their kids' school wouldn't let them back. She was told she was endangering others in a grocery store and her kids were harassed and kicked off of a playground. Now Stafford's wife says she blames the NFL and the testing lab and says that they should be absolutely sure before telling the world someone has COVID.

The NFL says the new reserve COVID list it does not necessarily mean a player has tested positive for the virus, but they may have come into contact with someone who has. NFL players have until tomorrow afternoon to opt out of the upcoming season.

All right, the Indy 500 is going to be held without fans for the first time in it's 109 year history. Track officials had hoped to have 50 percent of fans in the stands in late June but positive cases in Marion County had tripled since then. It was originally scheduled for May 24th but the race now going to run August 23rd.

And finally, Rafael Nadal not going to be defending his U.S. Open title at Flushing Meadows this year. In a tweet, he said COVID-19 pandemic, it's very complicated worldwide and it looks like we still don't have it under control. Roger Federer also out this year due to injury.

So, you know, Poppy and Jim, it's definitely not going to be the same there at Flushing Meadows this year. Not going to have those rowdy night crowds, and then some of the top players in the world not participating at all.

SCIUTTO: Andy, it's a shame. A lot of costs to this across sports world. Thanks very much.

HARLOW: And thanks to all of you for being with us today. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning. I'm Poppy Harlow.

SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto. Newsroom with Kate Bolduan starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm Kate Bolduan. Thanks for joining us for the next hour.

[11:00:00]