Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Debate Over Reopening Schools Rages Alongside COVID-19; Average of 1,000 Americans Dying Daily from Virus; Florida Teachers Prepare to Head Back to the Classroom; FDA Won't Cut Corners to Approve a COVID- 19 Vaccine; Shooting Near White House Disrupts Press Briefing; Powerful Storm System Rips Through U.S. Midwest; Lebanon's Government Resigns in Wake of Blast and Protests. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired August 11, 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]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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, there are now more than 20 million cases of the coronavirus in the world. A quarter of those in the United States, and yet the U.S. President is urging the country to go back to normal.
Also ahead, President Trump is forced to temporarily leave a White House briefing after a shooting nearby. The details on what happened.
And a hurricane-like storm sweeps through the U.S. Midwest, leaving more than a million without power.
Good to have you with us. Well we have reached another significant and somber milestone in the battle against the coronavirus. The number of confirmed cases worldwide has now surpassed 20 million. And even though the U.S. has 4 percent of the world's population, it has one quarter of the world's cases at just over 5 million.
While Americans struggle to deal with this pandemic, the Trump administration insists additional unemployment insurance will be ready to go out in most states within the next two weeks. But how this will work is just a little murky. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says he hasn't spoken with Democrats since talks on coronavirus relief broke down last week, but he's ready if they call.
And we're now learning the Trump administration is weighing restrictions on the U.S./Mexico border, citing virus concerns. A source tells CNN the administration is considering ways to restrict entry that could include American citizens and legal permanent residents. CNN reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and CDC officials for more information, and they declined to comment.
Well, this virus mayhem is presenting huge challenges for schools and parents. A new report shows a sharp spike in the number of children with COVID-19 in the U.S. In the past four weeks, there's been a 90 percent increase that is according to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association. CNN has been tracking the reopening plans for the country's 101 largest school districts. So far, more than half are only offering online instruction. Others have come up with hybrid plans, and a few are undecided. Kyung Lah shows us the debate of a reopening that's raging right alongside the virus.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Florida teachers protest back-to-school in person, at least 12 counties in the Sunshine State returned to the classroom this week, nine of them with positivity rates higher than the CDC's recommended mark for reopening.
Next door, in Georgia, the governor today applauded its first week back to school in many counties.
GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): This week went real well, other than a couple virtual photos.
LAH: That's despite hundreds of public-school students and faculty quarantined, testing positive after returning for in-person classes. That includes this high school northwest of Atlanta in this viral image, now temporarily moved to online learning after nine reported cases.
MICHELLE SALAS, PARENT, NORTH PAULDING HIGH SCHOOL: It's like a really bad experiment, you know. We're trying to find some kind of fluency. But they're using my kids and the kids that my kids grew up with as bate.
Lah: The number paint a stark picture for the back to school season. The American Academy of Pediatric says nearly 100,000 children tested positive for COVID in the last two weeks of July. A 40 percent increase in child cases. COVID continues to rise in these eight states in red. The death toll flat.
[04:05:00]
The U.S. averaging 1,000 dying every day. In Illinois cases are up sharply. Chicago's mayor closed a lakefront beach after seeing this packed area.
In Texas, where the state's positivity rate remains above 20 percent, some churches are now worshipping outdoors. And then there was the Sturgis, South Dakota, motorcycle rally, which brought about 250,000 people to this small town. On fears of contracting COVID and taking it home?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hell, no, we're going to get it sooner or later. (BLEEP) the mask.
LAH: The reality of the virus is sinking into college football. The first major conference postponed its season, the Mid-American. JON STEINBRECHER, COMMISSIONER, MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE: It was not a
decision that was made lightly. It was not a decision that was made quickly, and it was a decision that was made based on the advice of our medical experts.
LAH: As the top leagues meet over the future of the fall season, the President urged college football resume.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He is very much would like to see college football safely resume their sport.
LAH (on camera): This push by the President to get football started in the fall is part of the administration's overall effort to get students back in the classroom. Primary, secondary, and even college age. Students back into the physical classroom despite all the questions about the safety of those decisions.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Joining me now is Annette Fernandez, a teacher in Daytona, Florida, preparing to go back to in-person teaching at her elementary school. Thank you so much for talking with us.
ANNETTE FERNANDEZ, TEACHER, TURIE T. SMALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Thank you for having me.
CHURCH: Now your story broke my heart you. Set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for a portable sink because your students don't have access to running water in your portable classroom. How is this even possible in the richest nation in the world?
FERNANDEZ: Yes, it is possible. We have 12 portables right now, and the portables don't have access to water and sinks for hand washing. I think that the portables were temporary classrooms from, you know, maybe years ago, and we're just still working from them.
And so I came up with this idea because it will literally take away so much of our instructional time just to stand and make sure that everybody walks over to a bathroom that is not close to our room just to wash our hands. And so I thought it would be safer for our children to have a sink in the classroom where they can wash their hands.
CHURCH: You are a true hero for doing this. I mean, so many American teachers --
FERNANDEZ: Thank you.
CHURCH: -- do dip into their own pockets to provide supplies. And this is going far and beyond. So you will return to school for in-person teaching at the end of August.
FERNANDEZ: Correct.
CHURCH: What are your biggest concerns about that right now? FERNANDEZ: My biggest concern, number one, is myself becoming sick and
bringing it home to my family. But I'm also truly concerned about my students. I don't think that we've thought it through. If my students get sick, I don't think that I can -- I can live with myself. I don't think that, you know, if one of my kids got sick and something devastating happened, how could I come back to the classroom after this? And so, my biggest goal is to do whatever it is I can to keep them safe.
CHURCH: Yes, incredible. And a lot of our viewers watching this from overseas would be shocked to hear this playing out in so many schools across America. Nearly 97 percent of the students at your school live in poverty.
FERNANDEZ: Correct.
CHURCH: About 75 percent are black. 7.42 percent are Hispanic. Why do you think these students have been forgotten in the middle of a pandemic, particularly given studies show that these children are more vulnerable to this virus than white kids?
FERNANDEZ: I think one of the biggest issues is we don't have people from our community that are representing us when these decisions are made. And so we lack the representation for these communities.
CHURCH: And thankfully, you exceeded your goal to buy a portable sink for your own classroom. Now your aim is to buy sinks for the other portable classrooms --
FERNANDEZ: Yes.
CHURCH: -- at your school. How likely is it that you'll raise those funds, and what will be the ramifications if you don't?
FERNANDEZ: I am not sure. This is the first time I've ever done a GoFundMe, and so I'm super new to it. But I've raised enough to buy two. So I have another teacher in line, and I'm ready to order for her.
[04:10:00]
But if I can raise more, then I'll provide more.
CHURCH: Well done. And I did want to ask you because you have to go back to school. That's a requirement there in Florida, but you wouldn't have virtual learning as an alternative anyway, because presumably, these student wouldn't have access to the Wi-Fi and the devices required to do that.
FERNANDEZ: That is correct. Currently I believe our district does not have the technology to provide for all students. This is correct.
CHURCH: Annette Fernandez, thank you so much for talking with us.
FERNANDEZ: Thank you.
CHURCH: And for doing what you've done. You're an incredible teacher.
FERNANDEZ: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
CHURCH: And while the world desperately waits for a COVID-19 vaccine, the head of the Food and Drug Administration says the U.S. will not cut corners to approve a drug. Dr. Stephen Hahn also insists that safety will not be compromised. He made those public remarks on Monday. Some health experts have questioned whether the FDA might rush a vaccine to the marketplace before it's ready. The President of the American Medical Association is also speaking out on this issue. Dr. Susan Bailey was on CNN earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SUSAN BAILEY, PRESIDENT OF AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: It takes time to recruit people to enter these studies. And with the vaccines, after they get the first dose, they have to get another booster several weeks later. And then you have to see if they catch COVID-19 in their communities. And that just takes time to do. And if you don't have adequate data comparing the placebo group with the group that got vaccine, you're not going to be able to tell whether the vaccine works or not. It's just that simple. And these things take time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: A CNN poll conducted back in May found that one-third of Americans would not try to get vaccinated, even if a drug was widely available and low cost.
Well, we have new details on an officer-involved shooting outside the White House Monday. We're told a 51-year-old man approached Secret Service claiming he had a weapon. He then ran toward an officer, who shot the suspect. Law enforcement sources tell CNN the man turned out to be unarmed, but the incident was alarming enough the security to whisk President Trump away from his daily coronavirus briefing. And CNN's Boris Sanchez has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly an unplanned, if not unprecedented interruption during the President's press briefing today with reporters. He was speaking about the coronavirus pandemic when a Secret Service agent stopped him mid-sentence and said, sir, we have to leave the room. The president saying OK and following that Secret Service agent out of the press briefing room. The White House was put on lockdown for approximately 10 minutes.
The President we later learned was taken to the Oval Office. He told reporters that he asks if he could return to the press briefing room to finish his coronavirus pandemic briefing, he was told that as soon as the scene was clear, he could.
Now the President eventually returning and confirming that the White House was put on lockdown. He was taken out of the room because there was a shooting just outside the White House grounds. Now the Secret Service confirming that one of their law enforcement agents opened fired on a person, that person transported to a hospital. The President revealing that he didn't have very many details on the person's condition or even the basis for the altercation. He said it may not have had anything to do with me.
And the President was asked by reporters if he was rattled by the incident. He asked quote, do I look rattled. He eventually pivoted to the purpose of that briefing, talking about the American economy, his Democratic rival Joe Biden, and then getting into his attacks on mail- in voting and Democrats in general. Now the President summarizing, what again was a seemingly unprecedented by telling reporters simply things happen.
Boris Sanchez, CNN at the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Lebanon's people are outraged the government has resigned, but that may not mean the end of protests on the streets of Beirut. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: A storm system known as Derecho rolled through the U.S. Midwest with punishing winds as powerful as a category 2 hurricane. CNN meteorologist Tyler Mauldin joins us from Atlanta to explain what this storm system is all about and what impact it had.
TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: So Rosemary, this event in particular produced wind speeds up to 106 miles per hour. So that would actually make it a high-end category 2, almost a category 3. Unbelievable stuff. In total, we saw 478 severe wind reports today. And overall with this derecho as it moved to the south and east, we saw 427 reports in total -- excuse me, 427 wind reports in total.
As you can see here, the damage with this system, unbelievable stuff. It's exactly what you would see with a major hurricane with 2x4s going right through the siding of houses and on into rooms. So dangerous stuff. It's easy to think about a derecho as just a strong thunderstorm packing strong winds.
But it's much more than that. These derecho's but they're long lived systems. They typically last more than four, five, six hours. They need to have a swath of damage more than 250 miles and they also need sustained winds of greater than 58 miles per hour. Oftentimes they do see gusts, they produce gusts in excess of 90 miles an hour and they're common in North America, Europe and also South Asia.
We typically here in the U.S., we see at least one derecho event per year. We see the most derechos or the area that gets impacted by most derechos is right there in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, going into Little Rock, Arkansas.
[04:20:02] Now what's left of the derecho event that we were dealing with on Monday, it's now petering out and it's going right over Nashville, Tennessee, at this very second. You can see just light shower activity at the moment, some thunderstorms mixed in there, too. But it has really lost its punch. As we go into Tuesday afternoon, we're going to see scattered showers and thunderstorms up the entire East Coast as we have hot, humid conditions. But we're not looking at another derecho event -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: I'm glad it's petering out. Tyler Mauldin, thanks for bringing us up to date on the situation. Appreciate it.
Well, Lebanon's government stepped down on Monday less than a week after that massive explosion in Beirut led to days of violent protests. The Prime Minister announced his resignation along with his government during a national address. He called the blast that killed more than 160 people and wounded 6000 others, a disaster beyond measure. And he blamed endemic corruption going back years for the improperly stored chemicals that officials believe triggered that explosion.
Protests escalated over the weekend and into Monday. Demonstrators occupied several government buildings and clashed with security forces. So let's turn to CNN's Sam Kiley. He joins us now live from Beirut. So Sam, what is the latest from there? And what does Lebanon's future look like right now?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, from the perspective of the protesters who are going to be gathering here where I'm standing just a few hundred yards from the center of the -- the epicenter of that blast, you can see the damage it did to the silos there, Rosemary. It's hard to believe it acted as a wall protecting more of Beirut that could have been damaged. Which is pretty spectacular as it is. As you say, 160 dead as a result of this gigantic explosion.
People are continuing to demonstrate. Because as far as they're concerned, nothing has changed with the resignation of the government that took itself four months to be formed because the system that led to the government is what they say needs reform. And that interestingly is something you're hearing both from activists and from members of long-standing political dynasties here as my report shows.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KILEY (voice-over): If you're in the Lebanese opposition, this is democracy in action.
(on camera): Thirty or 40 years down the street, it's barricaded there is now supported for the Lebanese parliament. The demonstrators are absolutely dead set, they've told me, on getting into more and more government buildings to try and demonstrate that the government itself is really a chimera, it is hopeless. It is a sort of joke.
(voice-over): As the cleanup continues after thousands of tons of fertilizer is believed to have blown up and destroyed parts of Beirut, activists are adamant that Lebanon's sectarian system, its dynastic politics, corruption, and negligence led to the blast.
SAMIRA EL AZAR, PROTESTER: We will go to the parliament, we will go to their houses, and we will go to each place to get them down. They will go to a place where they will not be able to go back to this place ever. They killed people. Is a big thing to us.
KILEY: Lebanon's parliament, which are 128 seats are shared among Christians, Sunnis, Druzes and Shia under electoral law following the Civil War 30 years ago, was dissolve Monday ahead of new elections. But Walid Jumblatt, the Druze leader who inherited his role from his father and has arguably benefited from the existing system, is pessimistic that even early elections would bring change.
WALID JUMBLATT, LEBANESE DRUZE LEADER: When I see the protesters, the revolutionary, when I saw them, and I see them yesterday and they want to change Lebanon. They want a new Lebanon, but the obstacle for change in Lebanon is, in this specific point, alliance of minorities and the electoral law. Because you cannot change Lebanon through, let's say, a military coup d'etat. It's impossible.
KILEY: Close to the epicenter of Tuesday's blast, the Kataeb Party's headquarters is in ruins. It's a largely Cristian Maronite Party. Its secretary general was killed in the explosion. His bloody handprint is still visible. The grandson of the party's founder and son of the former president, nephew of another president who was murdered, Samy Gemayel supports the street protests.
SAMY GEMAYEL, LEBANESE MP: We are all from families that were part of the old Lebanon. This is how the new -- the new generation didn't come from nowhere. And it's our duty to do our revolution, our own revolution, each one in his society and the place where he is.
[04:25:00]
KILEY: But in Martyrs' Square protesters now include former Lebanese commando leader, Colonel Georges Nader. He wants to see the old guard swept away entirely.
GEORGES NADER, FORMER LEBANESE COMMANDO LEADER (through translator): Change is coming. And I recommend they leave peacefully or we will go to their homes and do it by force.
KILEY: That night, it was the protests who were eventually swept away but not for long. They have plans to harness public anger over the Beirut blast to a more powerful revolutionary rage.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KILEY: Now that public anger we're expecting to see much more of today and in coming days. With more activists saying that they intend to take over government buildings to literally tried to drive the government out of power. We heard a warning there a possible violence in the future. That is something that everybody is trying to avoid. But ultimately, this is a system that is seen by many, many people here on the ground here in Lebanon as being fundamentally broken.
CHURCH: Sam Kiley joining us there live from Beirut. Many thanks.
Well, with the government stepping down and the economy plummeting, the people of Lebanon are demanding accountability and real change. And earlier I spoke with Randa Slim, the director of the Middle East Institute. She says the ruling elite are entrenched in Lebanon's political system. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDA SLIM, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: It's difficult to see how we are going to willingly give up power. I mean, they have so much interest and (INAUDIBLE) to this process and this process or in this system. And so, we have reached now a moment of stalemate. People that are united and demands for change in this establishment and the political establishment that is united in resisting people's demands for change.
CHURCH: And who do you blame for last week's explosion? And do you think that justice will be served?
SLIM: That's another demand by both by the people by the civil society is to establish an international fact-finding commission to lead a credible, transparent process of identifying how the shipment of ammonium nitrate made it to the country. Who imported the material? Why was it stored for more, you know, since 19 -- since 2014? Who had access to it during this time? And finally, what caused the explosion?
There is a Lebanese committee established by the military police and an investigation led by Lebanese judges. But many of the Lebanese mistrust the credibility of this committee and that's why they are demanding an international body to let -- to, you know, that is credible and whose results will be accepted. And maybe bring an end to the immunity -- the impunity that the Lebanese have been suffering from for such a long time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And coming up, as President Trump continues his campaign against mail-in voting, we take you inside one Colorado county where voting by mail is the norm. Back in a moment.
END
