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U.S. COVID-19 Cases Surpass 5 Million with No Sign of Slowing Down; Trump's Executive Actions on COVID-19 Relief Come with Strings Attached; NYT: White House Asked about Adding Trump to Mt. Rushmore; MLB Postpones St. Louis Cardinals Series Against Pittsburgh Pirates after Players Test Positive for COVID-19; Masks not Required at SD Biker Rally Expected to Draw 250K. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired August 09, 2020 - 21:00   ET

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

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[21:00:20]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Welcome and thank you so much for joining us. I'm Boris Sanchez in Washington.

Over 5 million cases of the coronavirus have now been reported across the country and the rate of the spread is stunning. It took 99 days for the United States to surpass the first million cases and look at this. Now each successive million after that has happened much quicker. We went from 3 million to 4 million in 15 days. From 4 million to 5 million in 17 days.

And yesterday alone, 1,037 Americans lost their lives for the virus. That's the fifth straight single day that over a thousand American lives have been lost. In fact, since July 21st, there have only been four days where the daily death toll has not surpassed 1,000. Despite what you may have heard from the president and others, this virus is by no means under control.

We begin in Georgia. Earlier tonight I spoke with Hannah Waters. She's a sophomore at a Georgia high school whose photo of students packing the hallways went viral last week. And it also led to her getting suspended before officials reversed course and unsuspended her.

Today, we learned her school is closing its doors temporarily and switching to virtual learning for Monday and Tuesday after nine students and staffers tested positive for COVID-19. I talked to Hannah about that and the fallout from her viral photo. Here's a part of our conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNAH WATTERS, POSTED VIRAL PHOTO OF CROWDED SCHOOL HALLWAY: We could have just delayed opening like many other schools and many other counties because most of them I have heard from friends that are opening on September 8th or around that time. So, we could have delayed schools so that it could find more safety measures to follow and the school, they could have found more plans for all the students and staff members. But they kind of sent us into school and used us as guinea pigs to see what would happen later on.

SANCHEZ: Guinea pigs. I heard you mentioned that along with your friends and some teachers are getting tested for COVID-19. Have any of your friends expressed concerns or fears about going back to school right now?

WATTERS: We're all pretty concerned about going back. And I know a lot of my teachers are too because we all want to go to in-person. I have no intention of shutting the county down, the state down because I know a lot of people don't learn well online. I don't learn well online. And I want to be able to go to in-person school. I want to have some type of normality this year for my semester, but we can't if we're not safe.

SANCHEZ: Now, the administrators have said that your picture is not fully in context. They are saying that students are actually transitioning classes, a process that takes five to 10 minutes. So, the chances of exposure actually aren't that high. But do you buy that?

WATTERS: Exposure is like very high in the hallways because we're all smooshed together. And yes, it's only five minutes to get to class, but there is barely any people wearing masks and we're all smooshed together. There are people trying to talk to their friends. And we're all coming from different classrooms so it's - the transmission rate is very high in that hallway.

SANCHEZ: Yes. What set this whole thing off is that you took this photo and posted to social media. Pretty normal thing for a kid your age to do. You got suspended. The school lifting your suspension. Remind me, what reasons exactly did they give you?

WATTERS: They didn't give us any reason why they have lifted the suspension. They mostly just apologized. And said that they did delete it but they gave no reasoning behind why they lifted it.

SANCHEZ: Are you concerned at all that now that you've posted this you're on national news that maybe teachers and other students might look at you as a troublemaker or somebody who is out to start a ruckus?

WATTERS: I feel like a lot of teachers have my back because they know how dangerous it is going to school. But I know that a lot of the kids I go to school with have already gotten back (INAUDIBLE). I've gotten threats and things like that.

But I know that I'm doing the right thing and it's not going to stop me from continuing doing it. But it is concerning, especially since it's a lot of the people I go to school with. People I have known for years now that are threatening me now.

SANCHEZ: If you don't mind, tell me about these threats. What are people saying? WATTERS: There's a group chat that a lot of people -- that the senior class in North Paulding has. And I think almost all the seniors are in it.

[21:05:00]

And a lot of them have been screenshotting things and sending them to either my family or some of my friends and they send it to us. And some of the things are like we're going to jump every girl named Hannah in the 10th grade or Hannah is going to have a rough day at school on Monday or someone even said I know where this girl lives because he lives in my neighborhood. So just not -- they are not entirely like something to worry about, but we do try to take them seriously.

SANCHEZ: But it's still, I mean that's saying you know where somebody lives in that manner, there's an insinuation there. Why do you think that is? I mean when I was in high school, if somebody did something that gave you days off from school, usually they were congratulated. But these kids are angry at you.

WATTERS: I feel like a lot of it comes from the seniors, which is understandable because last year our seniors last semester a lot of their senior year was taken away from them.

SANCHEZ: I see.

WATTERS: But it's happening again this year. So hopefully it doesn't. I don't want it to. I have never wanted it to. But they think it is. And they are trying to blame it on me. Which I don't make the final decision. The county is. I'm just trying to keep everyone safe.

SANCHEZ: Yes. And what's your message to those students?

WATTERS: I just hope that sooner or later, everyone can understand that I'm not trying to shut it down. And when did quote/unquote "exposed" Paulding County, it wasn't to cancel the senior year. It's not to go after anyone. It was just to keep us all safe because you wouldn't have your senior year because sooner or later the school was going to shut down. And if we shut down or just go online for a week earlier, we can contain it quicker and we can use the rest of your senior year, the rest of the school year normally.

SANCHEZ: Yes. There's also a toll that comes with coronavirus. The cost of life. And I think that far outweighs the cost of losing prom. Nevertheless, Hannah, you mentioned that a lot of teachers have your back. What are they saying to you?

WATTERS: A lot of them haven't really said anything directly to me. But we have heard people like saying that they have my back. Or they have messaged or posted some things like this is the right thing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Hannah Watters sharing her story with us earlier this evening.

I want to dig in further. We have Dr. Celine Gounder. She's a CNN medical analyst and a former New York City assistant commissioner of health. Doctor Gounder, thank you so much for the time this Sunday evening. I want to get your reaction to the school going virtual for two days to sanitize the entire thing. Is that enough in your medical opinion?

DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Gosh. You know two days that's barely enough time to screen the students and the staff that are there. You know I think big picture there's been a woeful lack of planning really to reopen schools. I have been saying since early March pandemics are about policies, protocols, procedures and practice. And we have not really done that work of developing those policies and protocols and figuring out the practice.

What are you going to do if a student arrives at school with symptoms? We know some parents who have no other childcare plans will bring students who have a cough or the sniffles to school regardless of you know whether they might be infectious or not. What are you going to do if kids or staff don't want to wear masks? So, we haven't really had a plan for any of that.

SANCHEZ: How do you think other school leaders around the country are reading this development? If you were advising them, what would you suggest?

GOUNDER: Well, I think number one, the idea of reopening schools when you have widespread community transmission should be a non-starter - non-starter. You know if you really want to reopen schools, you needed to do the work of suppressing transmission in the community. And we have had months to do that. And stuck our heads in the sand and didn't do the work that was necessary.

We prioritized things like opening bars instead of planning to reopen schools. And now that we find ourselves in that situation, it's sort of like you know getting maybe a new crack at it is the more optimistic way to look at it.

Look, you know if we can do what needs to be done in the next six or eight weeks, you could still probably have a delayed school reopening in person but you really need to do the work of suppressing transmission in your community first.

SANCHEZ: Yes. And with that work, look, the United States hitting that grim milestone of 5 million confirmed cases. The country, it does not have the virus under control. So, in a sense, to try to limit that exposure to limit the spread. Do you think it's time for another shutdown whether nationally or perhaps in certain pockets around the country?

[21:10:05]

GOUNDER: I do think in certain areas you probably really do need to look at doing that. The fact is and most of the country that was not done it was done very halfheartedly. It was done late. And then the place as it was done aggressively like New York City, where I'm sitting right now, it worked. And we are now in a position to reopen schools.

Now we're going to still have to assess every step of the way and be ready to roll it back if it doesn't work, but at the same time, we're in a much better position to do that. And so, you know I would just hope that look, you know, we're still in early August. There's still time. Take advantage of the time. Invest the time wisely and maybe you'll still be able to salvage most of the fall term.

SANCHEZ: Now over the last five days, we have seen more than a thousand deaths per day. There are the numbers right there. Going back to July 21st, there have only been four days where we haven't had a thousand deaths per day. I was speaking to a doctor earlier who said that it emotionally affects him that the United States is normalizing. The fact that a thousand Americans are dying a day. Is there's some sense in your mind that people just aren't struck by that the way they should be?

GOUNDER: I think you know I'm in the business as an infectious disease specialist, as an internist, as an epidemiologist. I'm in the business of saving lives. And the idea that we have become so callous that we view lives as disposable, that it's just how you know it's just the cost of doing business, in a sense. And that we're also applying that to our own school children.

You know a big part of the problem with school reopening is the fact that our schools, the infrastructure is literally crumbling. You know the heating and cooling systems are really defective and bad need of repair. In New York City, for example, over half of school buildings have HVAC systems that need repair. So, you know, what does that say about how we value not just life in general, but kids.

SANCHEZ: Great point. We have to leave it there. Dr. Celine Gounder, thank you again for your perspective.

President Trump is back in Washington after signing several executive actions over the weekend. And he's opening the door to some changes in his relief plan. We'll explain some of the president's comments this evening, just ahead.

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[21:16:37]

SANCHEZ: President Trump spoke to reporters in just the last hour. He defended the series of executive actions he signed over the weekend. He drew particular scrutiny or rather he focused specifically on his call for unemployed Americans to get an added $400 a week as long as their home state pays 25 percent of that cost.

The president, though, making a surprising statement. Changing his tone. Suggesting that the federal government maybes able to fit the entire bill. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have a system where we can do 100 percent or we can do 75 percent, they take 25, and it will depend on the state. And they will make an application. We'll look at it and we'll make a decision.

So, it maybe they'll pay nothing in some instances. It may be that a little bit like the National Guard. You know the National Guard as you know, sometimes will pay all of it depending on the tragedy or whatever it may be the disaster. And sometimes the state will pay 40 percent, 25 percent, 10 percent or nothing. Depending on how it works out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss. Austan Goolsbee is with us. He's a former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers during the Obama administration. And also with us, Doug Heye, a Republican strategist and CNN political commentator. Thank you both for joining us tonight.

Doug, I'll kick it off with you. Help us understand what the president is saying here. And beyond that, there are a lot of states that are nearly broke right now. So why is he putting the states on a hook for a quarter of these unemployment payments when he just suggested the federal government could potentially pay 100 percent of them.

DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I think so often with this president, the devil is in the details. And when he says it depends on the state, you probably really depend on the state and where they voted last time and potentially where they will go this time as to whether or not something would be fully funded or they'll be left out to dry.

You know Boris, I'm old enough to remember when Republicans were against mandates and would speak out against executive orders. And in part, that's because lot of those statements at the Republican National Committee in House leadership, but ultimately, this is a Hail Mary to the president is throwing.

He sees the same polling that everybody else does. He knows that or at least the campaign and the White House know that he's massively unpopular as far as the handling of COVID. And so, he has to do whatever he can to be seen as taking some kind of action while Congress is at a stalemate. With no college football potentially this season, these may be the only Hail Mary's that we get to see unfortunately.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Austan, what about you? Based on what you can decode from these executive actions, are they sufficient in helping struggling Americans and stabilizing the economy?

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, ECONOMICS PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO BUSINESS SCHOOL: No, no, definitely not. The president announced this yesterday. And I spent today racking my brain and going through this trying to figure out what it was.

Now I think I have figured out how we got to the spot we are. And it centers on exactly what we're just talking about. This wasn't planned. This wasn't thought through, OK? The president does not really have the authority to change unemployment insurance or to wave the payroll tax unilaterally without congressional approval. And he knows that.

[21:20:00]

So, what they did is they signed an executive order in which they quite literally steal the money out of FEMA's hurricane budget and called this a natural disaster. And that's the money they are going to try to use to extend this much more modest unemployment insurance. But the problem with that is it requires a co-pay from the states. And the states as you said don't have any money. So now the president is coming back to scramble and say, oh, maybe we'll find a way to pay 100 percent.

This isn't though through. It's exactly the kind of overreach that in any other administration would get you in big trouble. And I think unfortunately, it is going to get this administration in big trouble. They better sort out the details as quickly as they possibly can.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Doug, the president promised to make that payroll tax cut permanent. It's really a deferment. And he said that if he's reelected, then he will pass some things so that the people who elected to take those deferments won't have to pay them back.

This morning, his top economic adviser contradicted that pledge on CNN. He also said that the action extends moratorium on evictions. It doesn't. It essentially asks the federal government to determine whether putting a moratorium on evictions would be helpful.

Will any of this come back to bite him when the checks don't come in or folks find themselves on the street?

HEYE: I think we won't really know until Election Day.

GOOLSBEE: I think definitely.

HEYE: We have seen this so many times with President Trump. He makes a grand pronouncement or really big announcement of an executive order. And when you read it, it turns out there's really not much to it. It gets its headline and ultimately distracts us from what the issue of the day is. He says, these are not what you are looking for. And then he can you know trying to figure out tomorrow, this is a one day at a time problem for the president. Just as if it's been a one day at a time presidency.

SANCHEZ: And Austin, you wanted to weigh in on that?

GOOLSBEE: Yes. I was just going to say, I think it's going to hurt him because up to now, when he's done these grand pronouncement and then when you peel back the onion there's nothing there, they haven't been on these third rail issues. The thing with the payroll tax where we're actually going to have a deferment so you're still going to owe the money and then he's promising that if he wins, he will abolish the payroll tax. That's the backbone financing for the Social Security System. I don't think that they thought through what a third rail this is. That every retired person in America is going to look and say, whoa, wait a second. The main way that we fund Social Security you're going to wave that if you're elected president. Then what is going to pay for Social Security.

I just think it's almost unbelievable that they haven't thought through not even the details. This is the top line 40,000-foot level of detail that they haven't thought through. So, I think there's a great danger to the president that he's going to look like he's desperate and way out of touch on these.

SANCHEZ: Despite the point you just raised, there are funding for Social Security. The president is saying that he intends to protect social security as Doug Heye just said. The devil is in the details. Austan Goolsbee, Doug Heye, gentlemen, thank you so much.

HEYE: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Ahead, a monumental request from the White House. President Trump's team reportedly reaching out to South Dakota's governor to find out the process of adding his face to Mount Rushmore. Details, ahead.

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[21:28:00]

SANCHEZ: There's new reporting that President Trump has expressed interest in wanting to be added to Mount Rushmore. And it apparently was not a joke. At least not the White House staffers or the governor of South Dakota where Mount Rushmore is located.

According to "The New York Times," the White House called South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem's office last year to ask about the process of adding presidents to the monument. Then this year when President Trump held a 4th of July celebration at Mount Rushmore, "The Times" says that Governor Noem greeted him with a 4-foot replica of Mount Rushmore with his likeness added.

I want to discuss this and more with presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. She's the author of "The Bully Pulpit."

Doris, it seems as though President Trump isn't just thinking about how history is going to remember him, but he may actually be going as far as to try and help write his legacy in real time.

DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well you know a president may have powers, but not the power to be the judge and jury of how history will regard him. Every president cares about their legacy, but most of them know that it will depend on their accomplishments and failures. And that that will be done by the people who live years later ask by historians over the time.

You can't make something up by saying I would like to be on Mount Rushmore or I have done more for civil rights than anyone except Lincoln including LBJ or I have done equal amount as conservationists as Teddy Roosevelt. So, I think you don't have that capacity to make yourself spin into history.

And what will matter is time will go by. I mean, LBJ, I was with him at the end of his life. And he cared so much about what his legacy would be and he knew that the Vietnam War had cut it in two. But he dreamed that someday he would be remembered for civil rights.

And 50 years later, finally, historians look back at that bipartisan domestic leadership he had at Medicare - Medicaid, civil rights, voting rights, and alliance with civil rights movement. And the immigration reform and he's come up in their estimation. But that's because of what he did and what his failures were. Not because of what he said he was doing.

[21:30:06]

SANCHEZ: Yes. An ambitious attempt to build the great society, right? "The Times" also reports that Vice President Pence met with Governor Noem recently because he was worried that she was gunning for his job. We should note that a Trump campaign adviser told CNN that Pence will absolutely undoubtly be on the ticket. But what is the precedent for replacing a vice president in an election year?

GOODWIN: Well, it certainly can happen. I mean 1864 the convention and Lincoln replaced the Republican from Maine. I love the name Hannibal Hamlin with Andrew Johnson because he was a Democrat from the south from Tennessee, from the middle area and he was a unionist. Well it turned out obviously when Lincoln was assassinated to be a very consequential and very troublesome decision. And at the same time in 1932, Roosevelt had Jack Farley as his nominee and his vice president. Deals were made at the convention to get him nominated. He was a very conservative guy against most. So finally, Roosevelt dropped him in 1940.

He makes Wallace from the Midwest his vice president and then he drops him in 1944 consequentially it becomes Harry Truman, luckily for the country. So, of course, it can be done. But it will be a complicated thing right now I think for him to do it because it would look like an act of desperation. Had he done it earlier and had a woman on the ticket as they were talking about Nikki Haley, maybe that would have been a smart move. But it seems to me it's Pence - Mr. Pence right now.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Quite a history lesson there. Joe Biden also speaking of vice-presidential nominees, he has eight days to choose his running mate if he wants to announce before the convention. David Axelrod who helped President Obama pick Joe Biden as his running mate said that one of the biggest reasons was because Biden could win voters in battleground states. At the end of the day, is that ability to help a candidate win the most important quality?

GOODWIN: You know I think what happens and I think Axelrod is being a realist than being right is that a president candidate may say what matters is the best man for the presidency or the one who will be my best partner. But unless the presidential candidate wins, none of that matters. So, I think the fact he's already chosen a woman and said he would, that's a look at the fact that women could be a very consequential voting - if he chooses a woman of color then that may be a decision that that matters.

But the interesting thing is that in this time with this crisis and with the fact that Biden is older and he may be seen as a transitional president, then it may matter to people whether this person has the qualities to be a president. Whether the president has the experience, whether the person who'd step into presidency. So, in a funny way, those things that are usually just rationalities because they are really choosing who could win probably will make a difference.

SANCHEZ: All right. Doris Kearns Goodwin, a presidential historian and the author of "The Bully Pulpit." Thank you for spending a part of your Sunday with us. Thanks so much.

GOODWIN: Glad to be with you, Boris. Thank you very much.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate it.

GOODWIN: A potential super spreader in South Dakota. 250,000 people gathered for this 80th annual motorcycle rally. We'll take you live to Sturgis, next.

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[21:37:27]

SANCHEZ: Proms, graduations, weddings, many of these traditions have been cancelled, postponed or radically altered in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. But a quarter million bikers were determined not to give up on their biggest annual party. So the 80th Sturgis motorcycle rally is underway right now in South Dakota. Attendance rates may actually be way down this year, but 250,000 bikers still a lot of folks to show up in a town that's home to only about 7,000 residents. For some it's not just about tradition. It's an act of political defiance. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What were you thinking when you're coming from Florida?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm doing it no matter what's going on. I'm going. I don't care if it's closed down. I'm going. They can all kiss my (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I'm going.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have they talked about social distancing or masks --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's crap. That's crap. We don't agree with it. We think it's political.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: We also heard from the city manager. I should cut to this. We have breaking news in the CNN right now. Major League Baseball just announced it is postponing the St. Louis Cardinals three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. This, after eight Cardinals players and six staffers tested positive for coronavirus. The league said it would conduct more testing while players and staff were quarantined ahead of any return to play. The Pittsburgh/St. Louis series was due to start tomorrow.

Stay with us. We'll be right back.

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[21:43:20]

SANCHEZ: I want to get right back to that story out of South Dakota where a quarter million bikers were determined not to give up their biggest annual party. CNN's Ryan Young is there.

Ryan, an outlaw persona part of biker culture. That defiance definitely showing itself there. You have been reporting all weekend about the lack of social distancing, lack of masks, what you seeing tonight?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know what? It's just a mass of people at this point. Look, it's so hard to hear you. You don't even know that you're on sometimes but look behind me. You can see the string of motorcycles that have lined up to be here. You are talking about a city of 7,000 people that's going to swell by just a number of bicycle riders who have come here.

This is an economic punch for this area. We have been hearing all weekend long people have been looking forward to this all year long. They were so glad that it wasn't cancelled as they rev up their motorcycles go by.

Look, this is also one of the things where they've been saying that they have seen a little bit of a downtick in the number of people that have been showing up and walking along the street. But when you look back at the bars abd you see the streets, you could see just how packed they are. Not a lot of social distancing, not a lot of masks.

Listen to what some of the people told us a little earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm trying to keep everybody safe. But at the same time, you know we're here to do what we're here to do. And the world is going to go on no matter what you know. And it seems like everyone else has the same opinion. I just hope that it doesn't end up causing you know mass breakout.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't worry about it at all. We're from California. So, you got to wear masks everywhere you go. So, this is kind of refreshing coming out and not have to worry about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel comfortable not wearing it. So, it's good. (END VIDEO CLIP)

[21:45:00]

YOUNG: Boris, take a look from above and see our other shot where you can see the number of motorcycles going down the way here. One of the things you have to talk about is the count in terms of the number of coronavirus cases in the state. It was less than 10,000 about two days ago. They did have more than 120 people test positive just today. So, if you look at the numbers, but will this become a super spreader event. That's part of the conversation here.

Of course, we won't know that for several days. And people sort of spread out from here. We have been talking to people who travel from a far place, Florida, to get here. They say they plan to go to the west coast before returning home. So, if you do have some sort of outbreak, it will probably spread out because people will be traveling. Other folks say they don't believe in the pandemic.

And they actually think we, the media, have been overhyping this. And they said they were planning to take the chances. That's why they're not wearing masks. I can tell you this is pretty loud. All of the cars. You see people coming out like this. It's been an experience watching it all go down. Boris?

SANCHEZ: I can't imagine being there in person. Ryan Young, thank you so much. Spectacular reporting as always.

Even before the pandemic and the economic crash that it caused, more and more people returning to second jobs, extra gigs and side hustles to make ends meet. This week, in an all-new episode of "United Shades of America," W. Kamau Bell takes us to Austin, Texas to meet people who have taken on two, three gigs, even more and he finds out that it's not always enough to pay the bills. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA: I don't really feel like there's a lot of people doing the gigs just for extra money. It is usually some type of essential situation.

W. KAMAU BELL, CNN HOST, "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA": I got you.

VANESSA: So, I just picked up a third job or a fourth job.

BELL: You're hustling.

VANESSA: And I think I'm close enough if I just work enough, we can get here and we can play house and we can live in suburbia and everything will be fine. But secretively, we don't have benefits. We don't have health insurance. I don't have an IRA. I don't have 401k. I don't have any of that. I play along with living in this neighborhood, but we aren't at the same level as these people. You know what I mean? And I say these people, we love our neighbors.

BELL: Yes, yes. VANESSA: But it's just different.

BELL: Yes.

VANESSA: It just is. Yes. It's just not the same.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Joining us now, the host of "United Shades of America," W. Kamau Bell. Thanks so much for joining us tonight, Kamau. When you shot this episode, obviously, before the coronavirus pandemic struck, how many people were actually working in the gig economy? What kind of jobs were they doing?

BELL: I mean you know, if you say in like Austin, it seemed like everybody we talked to had either done it or is currently doing it. You know it's a city where even if you have a good -- quote/unquote "good job," that job may not pay you enough to live in Austin. And Austin is one of the most expensive cities in this country but it's just the way - it's just wages have gone down. So, it seems like in Austin, everybody is engaged in.

BORIS: Yes. And we just saw that clip. That woman explaining that it's not just low and uncertain wages that make the gig economy challenging. They also lack the benefits, the protections, right, that a full-time salary job provides. What kind of impact does that have on their lives?

BELL: I mean think about it. If you're a rideshare driver, people are getting in and out of your car. They are bringing down the value of your car as you pick them up and drop them off places. And if they get sick in your car, that's on you to clean up. That's not something that generally covered by the rideshare place or it's covered in a way that doesn't do everything you wanted to do. So, I think it's -- we're talking about like it's really on you. And we also talk about in the episode how sexual assaults happen in both directions. Drivers to passengers and passengers to drivers in those rideshare places.

SANCHEZ: I'm curious. Have you followed up with any of the people that you met during the filming of the episode? Do you know how they are doing now given these even harsher economic times?

BELL: Yes. We actually talked to Vanessa, who was in the clip you showed. And it's on CNN.com. She's in a sort of a worse position because now more people are trying to do this sort of other work because they are out of work completely. And so now, there's more competition for those jobs. And again, competition for jobs aren't paying well and in the middle of pandemic. She had trouble getting her -- the app to give her PPE. So it's like even right now as we call them essential workers, they aren't being treated as such.

SANCHEZ: I'm curious about multilevel marketing gigs. They are another big part of the gig economy. They're popular among women. They target moms. Can you explain what they are and how they work and if they are reliable? BELL: Well, you know, as we have (INAUDIBLE) from the podcast describe them as a triangular shape business model because you don't want to say the wrong word because they have lots of lawyers over there at the -

(LAUGHTER)

So, it is a model where for the most part, a lot of people on my Instagram say this is not always true, that you have to pay to become a part of the company and you need to buy the products that you're selling to other people, which means a lot of people who don't have the money, you're giving the shot for extra money, end up with garages and closets filled with merchandise that they can't use and they're usually selling it to people and their friends and family who have already been sold then trying to be sold by somebody else in the community.

[21:50:00]

SANCHEZ: Yes. And ultimately, the money winds up at the top of that triangle that you're talking about. Another part of the gig economy is domestic work. Those jobs traditionally fall to women of color, undocumented immigrants. I imagine that the conditions for those workers are likely not great.

BELL: Yes. It was important for us in this episode to really expand what the gig economy is and it really call America out for like it's always been a gig economy. From slavery to the Chinese and immigrants building the railroads through having undocumented people pick our fruit and our vegetables.

There's always been an economy of at the bottom the jobs are the worst, they will get paid the best or don't get paid at all. It had little to no benefits. And so, domestic workers are still part of that hidden economy that a lot of us don't think about. So, I think it was important for us in this episode to talk as domestic as you need us and hear by how they are still fighting for their like minimum wage in domestic work.

SANCHEZ: Yes. It's crazy to think that now with the coronavirus pandemic we rely on so many of these gig workers. I'm thinking about food delivery services. You know Uber eats is now making more money than the original Uber riding service. Just that extension of that business. So, it's an extremely important topic.

W. Kamau Bell, we appreciate you joining us. We look forward to watching this. An all-new episode of "United Shades of America," next, right here on CNN.

We are following some breaking news out of Georgia tonight. The school where this viral photo was taken last week now online only from Monday and Tuesday after several people tested positive for coronavirus. An update on that, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:56:15]

SANCHEZ: An update now on the breaking news out of Georgia. You might remember this viral photo showing students packed into a hallway at North Paulding High School with very few masks visible. Tonight, we learned that the school is actually shutting down for the next two days to disinfect after nine people tested positive for COVID-19.

And just in to CNN. A middle school student in that same district testing positive for coronavirus. Natasha Chen has more.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We just got a copy of this letter from the superintendent of Paulding County public schools who says that they are going to have to have kids at home Monday and Tuesday doing virtual learning to disinfect the school, to give the district time to consult with the Public Health Department on how they are going to proceed after this.

This letter comes one day after the principal told families of that high school that at least six students and three staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. And this letter tonight from the superintendent acknowledges that there could be more people who are still awaiting test results. And so, when you think about at least nine people knowing they are positive with maybe more people waiting to see if they are, this was the move that they thought would be safest.

Now they are also saying that by Tuesday evening, they should be able to tell families how they are going to continue classes in the days after that. Whether the virtual learning continues or if they go back to the school building. Now keep in mind, the school district had already determined that for the first week of class, they were going to have students in the building for three days and at home virtual learning for two days. Now that of course has been extended an additional two days into Monday and Tuesday.

SANCHEZ: Thank you, Natasha Chen for that. It's not just the United States dealing with this issue. Around the world, parents and government leaders are weighing options when it comes to sending children back to school. The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is urging that children return to the classroom. He says, quote, "economically unable and morally indefensible."

Here's how other countries are looking to reopen their schools.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Fred Pleitgen in Berlin as Germany continues to reopen schools and bring children back into classrooms. Now, all German states have opted for in-classroom learning, but of course all of this is happening under special pandemic measures. Most German states are making masks mandatory for both students and staff when they enter school buildings. And all of this is happening as Germany is dealing with a new spike in coronavirus infections. The country recording more than a thousand new infections on two subsequent days this past week. DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm David McKenzie in Johannesburg. Here in South Africa, they have closed schools for at least a month to try and curb COVID transmission. In Kenya, they took an even more drastic step. They've shut down the entire school year of 2020. They said this was to stop COVID-19, but also because they saw during the lockdown that online learning was impossible for many of the poorest students. Despite charities and teachers doing what they could, it was just not fair. So, they took that drastic step. All of the students, millions of them, the entire school year is over. They will have to do it all again next year.

ELLIOT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: I'm Elliot Gotkine in Jerusalem, outside one of the country's most famous schools. Back in May when the education system was reopened here, Israel had managed to push the number of daily COVID cases down to single digits. Schools were reopened across the country and then began Israel's second wave. In fact, when on a per million population basis the country now has one of the worst outbreaks in the world. Disease experts say that the reopening of the school system was largely to blame.

(END VIDEOTAPE)