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Rising Cases a Concern as Schools Reopen; Schools in Metro Atlanta Area Reporting COVID-19 Cases; British Prime Minister: Morally Indefensible to Keep Schools Closed; Fauci: Widespread Vaccine Availability Not Likely Until 2021; Protesters Clash with Police for a Second Day in Beirut; One Family's Hope for Their Missing Relative in Beirut; Lebanese Demand Justice in Wake of Devastating Blast; Mass Protests in Belarus Following Disputed Election Results. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired August 10, 2020 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM and I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead.

The difficult choice facing parents and educators alike. How do you safely go back to school while the coronavirus pandemic rages on? We will look at how it's being handled in parts of the U.S. and around the world.

This as President Trump's executive action on coronavirus relief that he signed without Congressional approval creates confusion. More details on that ahead.

And anger swells in the streets of Beirut. Where days after that massive blast families agonize waiting for news of missing loved ones.

Thanks for being with us.

Well, the U.S. has reached an alarming milestone in the coronavirus pandemic. Over 5 million cases have now been reported across the country and the rate of the spread is stunning. It took 99 days for the United States to reach the first million cases. Jumping from 4 million cases to 5 million took just 17 days. To put the number in perspective, the U.S. has more COVID-19 cases than Ireland has people. And, sadly, the death rate is still climbing as well. That's according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 1,000 deaths have been recorded each day over the past five days.

Well, the rise in cases is a big concern both in the United States and globally as more schools get ready to reopen. In the U.S. nearly 100,000 children tested positive for COVID-19 in the last two weeks of July according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

And the World Health Organization says the pandemic is moving into younger populations. It reports the proportion of reported cases globally in very young children and babies has increased seven-fold since February while the share of cases among teens and young adults has gone up six-fold. All of this data has educators and parents wrestling with the dilemma of whether to bring children back into the classroom.

Here in the U.S., a school Georgia is now moving from classroom instruction to virtual lessons for today and tomorrow after reporting nine cases of COVID-19. CNN's Natasha Chen has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The superintendent's letter announcing that students should stay home Monday and Tuesday, come just about a day after the principal of North Paulding High School told families that at least six students, and three staff members had tested positive for COVID-19.

Now, the district had already planned that the first week of school was going to involve three days in-class, two days at home, virtual learning. Now, they're extending that virtual learning at home for Monday and Tuesday, as the district disinfects the campus and consults with the local health department on how to proceed in the coming days.

The superintendent told families that they would receive notification by Tuesday on what happens after that. Here is Hannah Watters, a student who got into some amount of trouble when she posted a photo of a crowded hallway last week that circulated the internet, showing students close together, many of them not wearing masks.

HANNAH WATTERS, STUDENT, NORTH PAULDING HIGH SCHOOL: The fact we already have nine cases, just at the end of that week is very concerning. Because even then, we don't know how many people those nine people came in contact with, and how many people aren't taking tests yet. So they don't know and then they come back, possibly this week, too. So this is just going to spread like wildfire in that school.

CHEN: North Paulding High School was not the only one reporting positive COVID cases in the Metro Atlanta area. In Cherokee County, 260 students and staff are quarantined after some people tested positive in the first week of school.

In Gwinnett County where teachers were doing prep work inside the buildings, 260 employees in that district are either quarantining or have tested positive for COVID-19 as well.

Natasha Chen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says it is morally indefensible to keep schools closed across the U.K. The government have pledged about $1.3 billion to help get classrooms up and running. And Nic Robertson joins me now live from London. Nic, we have already other parts of the world open schools only to close them shortly after that because of increased infections. So how can the U.K. be sure they won't follow the same pattern? [04:05:00]

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, what government officials are saying is that they've looked at new international studies which they say are not completed. But the evidence that they have so far, they say shows that pupil pupil-to- pupil infection is relatively low, that pupil-to-teacher infection is rare. That at primary school level -- the sort of below 11-year age group -- the pupil-to-pupil infection is very low compared to a sort of overall population. And that a junior, senior schools, a sort of 12 years and over, the infection rate there between pupils will be perhaps about as comparable particularly when they get to the older age group within the school, comparable with adults.

But Boris Johnson has made this an absolute priority, socially indefensible, economically unsustainable and morally indefensible. He is setting this above everything else. But I think it's the economically unstable that really gives us a clue there. The Prime Minister knows that to get the economy back up and running, he has to get children back in the classroom so that parents can go back to work.

So this is a very big push on the Prime Minister in this coming hour. We will be visiting a school we believe in the east of London to push this message further forward. Children are due to be back in classrooms at schools like this and across the rest of England within a few weeks' time.

In Scotland they begin to go back today. In Northern Ireland they begin to go back in a week or so's time. But there's push back. There are those in the education system, unions and also the Commissioner for children in the U.K. has said that there needs to be regular testing of pupils and teachers in schools. There is concern that the numbers that are being seen internationally will once again perhaps prove that the analysis of the politicians in the U.K. doesn't stand up to close scrutiny.

But it's a priority for the Prime Minister and he's is willing to sacrifice other of this sort of easing lockdown items on the agenda. Such as the fact that pubs and restaurants are open to keep the schools open. This is what he has indicated and we've heard that from the chief medical officer of England as well.

CHURCH: Yes, kids there in the U.K., here in the U.S., right across the globe. Part of an experiment as we're learning as we go along. Nic Robertson joining us live from there. Appreciate it.

Well, many concerns and questions surrounding this virus could be better addressed when we get an effective vaccine. President Trump has suggested we could have one by election day. And I ask Michael Kinch from Washington University in St. Louis whether that timeline is realistic. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL KINCH, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR DRUG DISCOVERY, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS: It's probably not terribly realistic. I mean, we can all be hopeful that there will be a home run as far as the results that come out of the ongoing studies, but I think we all need to prepare ourselves that it's probably likely to be a bit of a longer haul.

CHURCH: How long do you think?

KINCH: If I had to take a guess I would say, even with all the stops being pulled, probably the first half of next year you would get an approval. And then the question comes down really to logistics. As to how long it will be until we can manufacture and distribute enough of this vaccine to be able to make a meaningful impact on the current viral infections.

CHURCH: Right. OK, so very few of us want to hear that of course. And with polls showing only about 50 percent of Americans are willing to take the vaccine once it is available, there is a risk that we won't be able to eliminate this virus. So how do you convince everyone to take it once a safe and effective vaccine has been approved? And how best do you explain the speed that which this is moving?

KINCH: Well, I think those two questions are interrelated. One of the concerns is, if it's perceived by the public that we're moving too quickly, then the uptake, the likelihood that someone is willing to be injected with a vaccine is going to go down. What we need to reassure the public is that this will be a safe and effective vaccine. And that's where I think again, realistically we need to consider that it's going to take a bit longer. An October surprise might have political benefits but probably not public health benefits.

CHURCH: Right. And so, basically what you're telling us that we're going to have to learn to live with this virus and we know that the school in the state of Georgia just closed due to infections. I mean, most of us could actually see that coming, some apparently not. We saw photos from that school showing very few students wearing masks. They're all crammed together.

What do you think it will take to flatten that curve and why isn't that happening six months into this?

KINCH: Well, I think that we know what it takes to flatten the curve because frankly Europe and much of the world has done this already.

[04:10:00]

We are lagging, I fear here in the United States in part because the preventative measures, for example, face masks have been largely politicized. And that's incredibly unfortunate because this is a medical and a scientific point, not a political one. And fundamentally, if you distance yourself from others and you wear a face mask, that is the best way to stop the spread of this virus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And that was Michael Kinch from Washington University in St. Louis. Well, it has been almost a week since Beirut's massive explosion and

families are still waiting for loved ones to be found. We will go to our reporter in Beirut for the details. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: There's anger on the streets of Lebanon's capitol in the aftermath of Tuesday's explosion in Beirut. Demonstrators were out for second day clashing with police is they demanded that the entire government step down. A number of people remain missing and families are desperately hoping for answers. Beirut's governor said many of the bodies that have not been unidentified from the explosion could be foreign workers.

[04:15:03]

And a number of people are still missing and hope is fading for relatives waiting for word on their loved ones. Arwa Damon has one family's story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michelle hasn't slept in three days. Neither has her sister-in-law with whom she shares the same name and a love for Joe, husband and brother. Michelle struggles to form words and sentences in Arabic, never mind in English. Joe is an electrician at the port. And this is the last video she got from him on Tuesday night. Minutes later the entire building he was filming would explode. Jennifer, Joe and Michelle's oldest child was in Beirut.

MICHELE ANDOUN, JOE'S SISTER: So, she heard the explosion and then she started --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Crying --

ANDOUN: Crying and shouting. This is my dad's (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) It was live on TV. She said, this is where my day works!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, she knew that's where her dad worked?

ANDOUN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) She said, oh poor daddy. Oh, poor mommy. Oh, poor Joe.

DAMON (voice-over): The entire family was frantic, calling Joe nonstop.

ANDOUN: At midnight, Joe opened his phone for 21 seconds before they heard voices, deep voices, that's what he said and then nothing.

DAMON: Another call also seemed to have gone through on Wednesday for 43 seconds, but there was silence on the other end. He must be alive, they thought. They had to get to him. Joe is strong, clever. He would have figured out a way to save himself. They combed through videos shot by others from other angles looking for any clues to give teams locations to search.

(on camera): You think that's Joe?

ANDOUN: Yes, this is.

DAMON: You think one of those people is Joe?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of course.

ANDOUN: Yes, we are sure. Then he was ready to come here.

DAMON (voice-over): It's the building right in front of the grain silo. A building that is now buried. But they still had hope. There's an operations room deep underground. They heard there are bunkers. Three bodies were pulled out, but no Joe. Maybe he's deeper in, deeper under somehow still alive.

ANDOUN: Yes, and we have to keep searching.

DAMON: Michele was born in the U.S. The children also have American passports. Joe was just about to get his visa. All that now seems like a different reality.

ANDOUN: He loved life. And every day, he wanted to go to America because it's better for his -- for Jennifer and Joy, for their future, but not for him.

DAMON: The women are trying to shield the children from their grief.

JOY: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) My shoes smelled bad so they washed me.

DAMON: Jennifer doesn't know daddy is missing. Joy is thankfully too young to fully understand. Maybe they will never have to tell the girls their daddy is dead.

That night, the fourth after the explosion, crews were searching around the clock, searching the area where the family believed Joe would be found. Clinging to the hope that he would still somehow be alive. At 4:00 a.m., they sent us a heart broken message. Joe's body had been found.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: So tragic. And we want to go to Beirut now where CNN's senior national correspondent Arwa Damon joins us now. Arwa, just so heartbreaking for all of these families missing loved ones. And now course, angry protestors out on the streets of Beirut demanding some answers and rightly so. What is the latest on that?

DAMON: Well there were another series of protests that took place last night with angry demonstrators once again trying to break into Parliament, though it must be said not as intense as they were the night before. And it did seem that up to a certain point the Lebanese security forces did allow them to just vent their anger before clearing them from all of these areas. But that's not really subduing the mood here. People are not backing

down on those demands. Because, Rosemary, I mean, look, over the decades with everything that Lebanon is going through -- has gone through from, you know, the civil war to targeted assassinations, you know, that shook Beirut to running gun battles in the streets. The Lebanese have perfected, you know, this art of soldiering on and getting through it all.

They can't do that anymore. This is different. This has shaken the city, the country, its people like nothing before and they're no longer willing to kind of put on that tough face of we're Lebanese, we can get through anything no matter what is thrown our way.

[04:20:06]

No, I mean, that time was passed even before this blast took place. And so those demands for real and fundamental change, bearing in mind that it's not just going to happen overnight, they're not going to go away this time.

CHURCH: Arwa Damon, many thanks. Bringing us the latest there from Beirut. Appreciate it.

And my next guest says the blast in Beirut was not an accident, it was a crime. Joining me now is Dr. Jad Chaaban, an associate professor of economics at the American University of Beirut. Thank you, sir, for talking with us. So you say this was a crime, not an accident, not negligence in your view. What exactly do you mean by that?

DR. JAD CHAABAN, LEBANESE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ANALYST: Hello, thanks for hosting me. I think this was a crime and many people think this way because it's the results of decades of corruption that exploded in our face in Beirut. You know, when you have so much explosives amassed in one place, this is not a matter about an employee in the port or anybody above them that knows about it, this goes as a matter of security. And security in the country is handled by the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, many of the MPs and the head of Parliament.

They also knew about that because of their allegiances and everybody is appointed here politically in every single post from the port director to everywhere else. So there is a political responsibility of all members of this ruling class to take ethical and moral and criminal responsibility of what happening and at least resign from where they are right now.

CHURCH: Right, so how do you prove this was a crime and not negligence on the part of those in power who chose not to act when they were told on numerous occasions that 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate were stored at that port and posed a catastrophic danger and how should they pay?

CHAABAN: You know, this is the biggest explosion in Lebanon's history. This is the second biggest nitrate explosion in the world on record. This was 1/10 of a nuclear bomb that exploded in Beirut. This is not a joke. This is not an earthquake. Somebody knew about this shipment coming into the port. Somebody agreed that it stayed there. Somebody sent the firefighters, the martyrs who died at the first explosion noting that there's nitrates and the second explosion there.

Somebody covered up for this. There is probably some negligence but the biggest problem is they knew about it and nobody acted. There are reports that the President of the Republic received a letter from one of the security agencies handling the port that there were nitrates there that needs to be removed. He knew about it. The Prime Minister knew about it. Saad Hariri, the previous Prime Minister also knew about it. Everyone knew about it.

The same as they know about massive smuggling, money laundering and corruption and fading infrastructure. They are responsible for every sort of corruption in this country and the last one just blew in our face.

CHURCH: So who in your opinion needs to pay for this crime? And will the people of Lebanon ever see justice served? Presumably, you're talking about the Prime Minister and the President and others.

CHAABAN: Well you know, it's the whole political class. You know, when you have a train accident somewhere in a Western country the Minister of Transport immediately resigns even if he is not handling the train himself. It's a matter of ethical and moral responsibility. And here at least out of moral responsibility, those who knew about this should resign. And we are calling for an end to this regime, this corrupt political class that has killed us for decades, either indirectly through the cast of revolution or now directly through this explosion.

So what is required right now? Resignation of the government. This government has to go. Formation of an independent government that oversees early elections which will end up with the president being changed and the head of Parliament being changed and the renewal of this political class who is independence with people who are really serving this country.

CHURCH: Right, and of course, protestors out in the street in Beirut calling for the same as you for this entire government to step down. Jad Chaaban, thank you so much for talking with us. Appreciate it.

CHAABAN: Thank you for hosting.

CHURCH: Well, mass protests erupted across Belarus late Sunday after disputed early results showed a landslide reelection for long time President Alexander Lukashenko. In Minsk, riot police used tear gas and stun grenades in a crackdown on protesters. The internet has been largely restricted in the former Soviet country.

[04:25:00]

The central election commission says 6th term incumbent, President Alexander Lukashenko, the man on the left, has one by a landslide. His main opposition was seen here on the right, disputes the results. Most independent observers were barred from monitoring this election.

And still to come here on CNN, a look at the U.S. President's newly signed COVID relief measures. He wants a victory lap but others say the measures are unconstitutional and just won't work. We'll take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: On Sunday U.S. President Donald Trump celebrated the financial relief measures he signed the day before. The executive actions addressed unemployment benefits, payroll taxes, student loans and evictions. But there are questions about how they will work and whether they really will help Americans in need? Jeremy Diamond has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the President has been facing criticism since he signed those executive actions on Saturday to bypass those stalled negotiations with Congress over coronavirus relief. The Republican Senator Ben Sasse calling this unconstitutional slop. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slamming this as absurdly unconstitutional. But the President for his part on Sunday as he was returning from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, he was taking quite a victory.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it actually works better if we do it the way we're doing it. We've gotten much of what we wanted without having to give up anything and that's very good. You can't beat that. You can't beat the deal we made. We've gotten much of what we wanted. They didn't get what they wanted.

DIAMOND: The President on Sunday also answering questions about those enhanced unemployment benefits that he signed in an executive.

END