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U.S. Coronavirus Cases Top 5.3 Million, over 168K Deaths; Travelers from France Must Quarantine on Arrival in U.K.; Dozens of Belarus Riot Police Drop Shields, Embrace Protesters; Critics Question Trump's Influence on USPS; Trump Orders TikTok Parent Company to Divest U.S. Interest. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired August 15, 2020 - 03:00   ET

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

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST (voice-over): With coronavirus cases continuing to spike, why experts say the worst could still be ahead.

Plus, as new cases of the virus begin to level off in the U.K., some backlash against its newest quarantine measures.

And cost cutting measures lead to a dire warning from the U.S. Postal Service: your mail-in vote for the presidential election might not make it in time. Why President Trump says more money isn't on the way.

Live from Studio 7 at CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kim Brunhuber and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

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BRUNHUBER: There are now more than 5.3 million known coronavirus infections in the U.S. and more than 168,000 deaths. And the U.S. Centers for Disease Control says, the way things are going, we could see more than 20,000 more deaths in the next three weeks.

The nation's top infectious disease doctor, Anthony Fauci, says any attempt to reach herd immunity would lead to massive new death tolls. And he is describing how it feels to see people ignore lifesaving advice.

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: My blood evaporates when I see people inside, in a bar or in a crowded area.

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BRUNHUBER: And we are seeing the danger here in Georgia, which just reported more than 3,300 new cases. Schools in several districts are open and there is still no statewide mask mandate.

Scientists all around the world are racing to make inroads on a vaccine. Athena Jones tells us about one effort.

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ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, new potentially promising developments in the search for a coronavirus vaccine. Results published in the journal of the American Medical Association indicating early trials of a Chinese vaccine show it is safe and induces an immune response. But more study is needed to determine whether it actually protects people from the virus.

This as updated guidance from the CDC suggests people who recover from coronavirus may be protected for up to three months. The agency saying people who have tested positive for COVID-19 do not need to quarantine or get tested again for up to three months, as long as they do not develop symptoms again.

Meanwhile...

DR. TOM INGLESBY, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR HEALTH SECURITY, JOHN HOPKINS: We're still in a really bad place with this pandemic.

JONES (voice-over): The CDC is now forecasting America could see another 22,000 COVID-19 deaths in just the next three weeks. The agency says nearly 189,000 people will have died from coronavirus by September 5th. A startling prediction made all the more concerning since deaths have already surpassed the roughly 165,000 the CDC predicted by Saturday.

INGLESBY: This virus hasn't changed. It's the same as it was before and it's doing very substantial damage to the country.

JONES (voice-over): While new infections are steady or falling in 44 states, over the last week, the United States has added more than 365,000 cases. That's enough people to fill up Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz stadium more than five times.

California becoming the first state to report 600,000 COVID-19 cases and 35 states seeing higher COVID test positivity rates this week than last.

The seven-day average of COVID deaths nationwide has passed 1,000 a day for 18 days in a row. Nevada setting a single-day record for deaths Thursday.

Georgia, where deaths are also on the rise, is leading the nation in new cases per 100,000 people, averaged over the past seven days.

The "Atlanta Journal-Constitution" obtained the White House Coronavirus Task Force's recommendations for the state, which argued on August 9th there is widespread expanding community viral spread. And the state's current policies are not enough.

The report calling for a mask mandate and other measures, advice Governor Brian Kemp so far hasn't followed.

In a statement to CNN, the governor's office said he continues to rely on data and the advice of the state's health commissioner and that this fight is about protecting the lives and livelihoods of all Georgians.

DR. ASHISH JHA, DIRECTOR, HARVARD GLOBAL HEALTH INSTITUTE: There's a misunderstanding that somehow there's a tradeoff between lives and livelihoods. There isn't. Places that do well on protecting public health can get their economy going much faster and much better.

JONES (voice-over): Athena Jones, CNN, New York.

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BRUNHUBER: So earlier I spoke with Dr. Carlos del Rio, the executive associate dean of Emory University School of Medicine. He is also a member of the NCAA Coronavirus Committee. I asked him what advice he gave committee members and schools about returning to the field and classrooms.

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DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EMORY UNIVERSITY: My advice is that there's too much virus in general in our communities right now. The U.S. has not done a good job controlling the virus.

And because of the situation we are in right now, I think we need to focus on controlling this virus. We have to focus on prevention. And we have to postpone having sports.

And where there's a lot of people, there's going to be a lot of contact. And there's going to be unnecessary transmission. If we can bring the infection rate below 10 cases per hundred thousand, ideally below five cases per 100,000.

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DEL RIO: And we will be in the green zone, according to the White House Coronavirus Task Force, we can have sports. We can have schools open and we can have all those things. But let's start first by controlling the virus.

BRUNHUBER: You've compared that situation to the Titanic.

Does it disturb you that so many schools are going ahead with their programs?

DEL RIO: It disturbs me and concerns me and, I mean, I hope that we don't have more infections and more tragedies, quite frankly. If I was sending my kids to school -- and I don't have school aged children anymore -- but if I did, I would make sure that they either are not sent into school or I would send them to school with masks.

And I would teach them how to wear masks and I would work with school districts and with schools to make sure there's a mask mandate.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: European countries are trying to stop new coronavirus outbreaks by enforcing quarantine restrictions. Germany is one of the latest to do that. It has just put mainland Spain and the group of islands that includes Mallorca on its quarantine list.

So that means anyone who spent time there in the last 14 days and enters Germany has to take a test and quarantine.

Meanwhile, Spain is reporting nearly 3,000 new coronavirus cases in the past day. Its largest daily increase since April. Spanish officials are closing clubs, bars and live concerts and asking people to avoid gathering in groups of more than 10.

Well, travelers from France now face a 14-day quarantine when they arrive in the U.K. The mandatory rule took effect just a few hours ago and the short notice left thousands of travelers facing premium prices as they scramble to find a way back into Britain at the last minute. Let's bring in CNN's Scott McLean. He joins us now from London.

Scott, it seems like there has been quite a stampede to get home in time.

What's behind this latest move?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So Kim, the British prime minister Boris Johnson warned earlier this week that the government would have to be absolutely worthless, he said, in its determination as to which countries would have to quarantine when they arrive in the U.K.

And he made good on that warning on Thursday, late Thursday, when the government announced that six countries will be put on this list of people traveling from there, who would have to quarantine for two weeks. The biggest of those countries, France and Holland.

As you mentioned, that set of a mad scramble for people trying to get back before the 4:00 am cut off this morning. That was about four hours ago. Now the first train arrives here at St. Pancras International from Paris in about an 1.5 hours from now and so everybody on that train will have to quarantine for two weeks.

The government estimates that, at the time the announcement was made, there was about 150,000 Brits in France. It's a pretty popular place to go on holiday. And many people thought that they were free and clear to go to much of Europe this summer, considering that the government had deemed it safe.

But that is no longer the case. It was a similar scenario when the government removed Spain from its list of safe countries. And so the messaging now is if you're going on vacation even to a country that we've deemed safe that you don't have to quarantine from, be prepared to quarantine anyway because rules could change at a moment's notice.

This is a big deal for the airline industry. One industry group called it another devastating blow to an industry that is already seeing historic losses. It wants to see testing on arrival rather than the sort of blanket quarantine policy that we have right now. But as you pointed out, Kim, the U.K. is trying to stay ahead of this

curve that we are seeing in Europe, where cases are on the rise. They are rising in France to levels they haven't seen since the end of the lockdown.

And in Spain as well, where they are seeing big numbers that have not been seen in a very long time. In fact they just recently opened a field hospital in one city there.

So here in the U.K., on the one hand, they are cracking down and increasing the fines and penalties for people who aren't wearing masks in public spaces, like they are supposed to be.

On the other hand, they are also opening places like bowling alleys and casinos and theaters indoors as well, though most London theaters say that they won't be able to open, given the social distancing requirements that they will have to do.

BRUNHUBER: But those requirements and the measures seem to be working, right?

I mean, as you said, Europe seeing large increases generally, but the U.K. seems to be an exception.

MCLEAN: For now; the U.K. has seen a slight uptick compared to where they were a couple of weeks ago. But the Office for National Statistics, which tracks these things, says that things have leveled off. They estimate that almost 30,000 people in the U.K. currently have the coronavirus.

They also say that about one in 10 people in the city of London, likely, has the antibodies for the coronavirus. And so the U.K. may be in a good position. A lot of the new cases that we are seeing here and, really elsewhere in Europe as well, are due to younger people. That has taken the strain of the hospital system.

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MCLEAN: But European health experts are warning that, look, if you take the pressure off, this virus will come back with a vengeance and then we will start to see some of the deaths eventually follow -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: That rise in young people, we are seeing that here as well in the U.S. Thanks, Scott McLean in London, appreciate it.

New Zealand is fighting a new small outbreak; seven new locally transmitted cases. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has extended the lockdown in Auckland for another 12 days. New Zealand had gone 102 days without a new community transmitted infection until just recently. Now health officials are testing to figure out how the virus got back into the country.

Venezuela's government is facing the grim reality of COVID-19. For the first time, a top politician has died from the virus as the country is seeing a sharp rise in both cases and deaths. Stefano Pozzebon picks up the story. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Venezuela this weekend is mourning the death of Dario Rivas, a veteran of Venezuelan politics and the first frontline politician to die of COVID-19 in the South American nation.

Vivas was a member of the party coalition of the late president Hugo Chavez and his successor and current president Nicolas Maduro and was last a chief of the capital district of Caracas.

There are six other government officials in Venezuela who have contracted COVID-19 in the last few weeks. The last one, Vice President Jorge Rodriguez. His situation is currently unknown. We know he is in quarantine, isolating, waiting to recover.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 has not given any relief to the South American nation. Again, on Friday, more than 1,000 new cases and the death toll that is climbing up very, very fast -- For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.

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BRUNHUBER: Turning further north, the United States and Mexico extended border restrictions for another month as both countries struggle to contain the virus. But as CNN's Matt Rivers reports, plenty of travelers are finding their way through loopholes.

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MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here at the border between the U.S. and Mexico, it is still officially closed to nonessential travelers. The U.S. and Mexico agreed to put in those restrictions back in late March.

There are some exceptions, though, for example, for things like commerce, if you are health care worker or if you are a returning citizen, you can still cross. But technically for everyone else, it remains shut.

Now remember that this is usually in an area where people routinely go back and forth from country to country for various reasons, including visiting family or shopping. The border closure was supposed to stop all that.

But consider, when we went into Mexico by car, we simply just drove in. No one spoke to us, no checks, no questions about what we were doing. And when we went again later by foot, we simply just walked in, still no questions.

Here in Tijuana, we spoke to multiple people over the last week, Americans, who admitted they were here for nonessential reasons. At the border, you can see that there are still a ton of people lined up, waiting to get into the U.S.

And when you head back to the U.S., you do face more questions from immigration officers.

But you can imagine enforcing these essential travel rules are difficult because they are just relying on people to tell the truth. And that's a big deal because we know the more people move around, the greater the chance for the virus to spread.

We know that car traffic at the border is down about 50 percent compared to this time last year but still the latest data shows that in May alone, more than 1.3 million people crossed this border.

Now that's not to say that Mexico is responsible for spreading this virus. This is more just a reflection of what happens when people travel. It's worth noting that our temperatures only got checked when we came into Mexico. There were no sanitary measures when we went into the United States.

The Trump administration has said it is trying to prevent the virus' spread by closing the borders. But at least at this border, from what we have seen, there are a lot of loopholes that people are still clearly taking advantage of -- Matt Rivers, CNN, on the U.S.-Mexico border.

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BRUNHUBER: Very interesting to see that firsthand reporting there.

Well, sweeping changes coming up within the U.S. Postal Service. And it could mean big problems with mail-in voting. The warnings about trouble ahead when we come back.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): You can see there. Cheers went up in the capital of Belarus Friday and dozens of riot police dropped their shields to embrace demonstrators. They took to the streets for a sixth consecutive day.

Protesters believe last Sunday's presidential election was rigged to keep strongman Alexander Lukashenko in power. Opposition leaders are calling for peaceful rallies over the weekend and a vote recount.

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SVETLANA TIKHANOVSKAYA, BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN (through translator): The situation is critical. I look with pain at what is happening in our country in recent days. For me, and I'm sure for each of us, the supporters of change, human life is the most valuable thing. We need to stop violence on the streets of Belarusian cities. I urge the authorities to stop this and start a dialogue.

I ask all the mayors of the cities on August 15 and 16 to act as organizers of peaceful mass meetings in each city.

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BRUNHUBER: The European Union is taking steps to impose new sanctions over violence linked to the election. Thousands of protesters have been detained and some say they were tortured.

Well, here in the United States, fears that turmoil within the Postal Service could threaten the November election. The Postal Service will stop removing letter collection boxes in some states following backlash about the potential impact on mail-in voting.

But critics say President Trump may be influencing sweeping changes in the organization and already the service is warning it may not be able to deliver mail-in ballots in time to be counted. CNN's Abby Phillip has more.

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ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After months of railing against mail-in ballots that he claims without evidence will hurt Republicans.

TRUMP: Mail-in voting, it's going to be the greatest fraud in the history of elections.

PHILLIP (voice-over): President Trump now admitting, this week, that he wants to hold up funding for the U.S. Postal Service to gain a political advantage in November.

TRUMP: They want $25 billion, billion, for the Post Office. But if they don't get those two items that means you can't have universal mail-in voting because they're not equipped to have it.

PHILLIP (voice-over): In May, Trump installed a top Republican donor, Louis DeJoy, as Postmaster General. And, in the last two weeks, an avalanche of developments, have raised new questions about Trump's influence over the agency and the risk that mail delays could have an effect on the election.

Earlier this month, Trump met with DeJoy in the Oval Office for a meeting that the White House said was about congratulating him on his appointment in May.

Two days later, DeJoy met with House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader, Chuck Schumer, in a contentious meeting, where Democrats demanded an end to the cutbacks.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: We are not going to stop fighting until state election systems and the Post Office, which is part of getting the mail there, on time, get the resources that they need.

PHILLIP (voice-over): Just days after that, DeJoy announced a major restructuring of top USPS jobs that some Democrats called a Friday Night Massacre.

Trump later lying about speaking with DeJoy, despite meeting with him.

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TRUMP: Well, I didn't speak to the postmaster general of the post office. I know this, He's a very good businessman.

PHILLIP (voice-over): Over at USPS, the warnings of trouble ahead are piling up.

KEITH COMBS, AMERICAN POSTAL WORKERS UNION LOCAL PRESIDENT, DETROIT DISTRICT: When you start making cuts, you're delaying the process. You're not speeding up the process. I'm a 31-year postal employee. I've never seen these types of cuts being put in place in order to make the service better.

PHILLIP (voice-over): The Postal Service's top lawyer sending nearly all states, including battleground states like Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Minnesota warnings that ballots may not be delivered in time to meet election deadlines, sending election officials scrambling to determine if and how they can change their deadlines.

And CNN is now learning that USPS is removing hundreds of mail-sorting machines across the country, responsible for processing millions of pieces of mail ahead of an election that could see historic mail-in voter turnout, all this prompting a rebuke from Democrats and Republicans alike.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): But now is not the time to be cutting back services. I do disagree with the President very strongly on that issue. But Postal Service is absolutely essential.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What we've never seen before is a President say, "I'm going to try to actively kneecap the Postal Service to encourage voting. And I will be explicit about the reason I'm doing it."

PHILLIP (voice-over): The Postmaster General writing to postal workers, Thursday, that the restructuring resulted in unintended consequences, in other words, delayed mail all over the country.

And with all this happening, more states are turning primarily to mail-in voting for the general election, the latest, New Jersey.

And in Pennsylvania, state officials say they are willing to accept ballots that have been postmarked by Election Day, a change in their position prompted by concerns over mail delivery delays.

PHILLIP: And President Trump now appears to be walking back his opposition to funding the Postal Service, telling reporters in a briefing at the White House that he would be willing to fund USPS to the tune of $25 billion if Democrats accede to his demands for other forms of funding in the coronavirus stimulus bill that is under negotiation on Capitol Hill -- Abby Phillip, CNN, Washington.

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BRUNHUBER: A real-life drama for the online streaming provider known as China's Netflix. Find out why U.S. regulators are watching it so closely. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: The maker of the hugely popular video game Fortnite is suing Apple and Google after they removed the game from app stores. The makers of Fortnite also responded to Apple by making this parody of Ridley Scott's classic 1984 Macintosh commercial, casting Apple as the villain this time.

Cheeky.

At issue is the fee the tech giants collect for app store purchases and the policy of not allowing in-game payments directly to the game maker.

President Trump has issued another executive order involving TikTok. The new order says its Chinese owned parent company, Byte Dance, must divest its interests in U.S. operations within 90 days and destroy all data from U.S. users.

Trump claims there is credible evidence that TikTok data could endanger national security, but experts have said the risk is largely theoretical.

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BRUNHUBER: Trump issued an executive order that would ban the app from the U.S. in 45 days, unless it's sold.

U.S. regulators are probing allegations of alleged fraud at the online streaming provider, often referred to as the Netflix of China. Shares of the Nasdaq listed company fell more than 11 percent in pre-market trading on Friday on the news. CNN's Selena Wang has more on the backstory and the investigation.

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SELENA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Investors are getting nervous about iQiyi after the Chinese streaming giant said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into its practices.

This is prompted by an April report, written by Wolf Pack Research, a short seller activist firm, that claims that the company has been committing fraud. It is owned by a Chinese search giant, Baidu, and is a household name in China. It is often referred to as the Netflix of China. It is well-known for its popular movies, TV shows and dramas.

Wolf Pack Research claims that iQiyi has been vastly inflating its financial metrics, that it has been boosting revenue by as much as 44 percent and boosting user numbers by as much as 60 percent.

This report also claiming that iQiyi has been inflating its expenses in order to burn through fake cash to cover up this fraud to investors and auditors.

At the time the report was released, iQiyi pushed back on allegations, claiming that the report contained, quote, "numerous errors and unsubstantiated statements and misleading conclusions."

The company is saying it is cooperating with U.S. regulators and the chief financial officer said on a recent call with investors that iQiyi did start an internal probe into Wolf Pack's allegations shortly after the report was published.

This SEC investigation into iQiyi follows accounting scandal revelations at Luckin Coffee, a Chinese start-up, that admitted to fabricating some of its sales. It was ultimately delisted from the Nasdaq. Its CEO and chairman were also fired.

According to consulting firm Mackenzie (ph), back in 2011 and 2012, more than 100 Chinese companies were delisted or suspended from trading on the New York Stock Exchange as a result of fraud and accounting scandals.

Amid these broader U.S. and China tensions, these allegations further calls from lawmakers, in Washington D.C., to decouple financial foots (ph) between these two countries.

In May, the Senate unanimously approved a bill that would bar Chinese companies from listing in the U.S. if they do not open up their books. The Nasdaq has also proposed legislation that would make it more difficult for Chinese companies to list -- Selena Wang, CNN, Hong Kong.

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BRUNHUBER: Appreciate you spending your time with us on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. "AFRICAN VOICES CHANGEMAKERS" is next. Stay with us.