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European Markets Open Higher After Sharp Falls in Asia, U.S.; COVID-19 Hits California's Latino Population Hard; Beirut Rescue Operations Resume as Signs of Life Detected; Sweden's Controversial Coronavirus Model. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired September 04, 2020 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Of asphyxia in the setting of a physical restraint. The medical examiner's office also cites quote, excited delirium and acute intoxication from the drug PCP as the cause of death.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: We'll be right back.
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BRUNHUBER: Investor sentiment appears to be turning with European markets gaining in early trading. That's after heavy falls in Asia following a dismal day Thursday on Wall Street. We'll get a check on the health of the U.S. economy when the latest job numbers come out in a few hours. Emerging markets editor, John Defterios, is following the ups and downs from Abu Dhabi. He joins us now. So, a streak of record- setting days over with an exclamation point. What's behind the sudden fall?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes, I like the way you put that, Kim. Because it started to feel like they started a correction or maybe even a bear market, at least in the tech sector. So, heavy selling on Thursday and calmer times on Friday, at least at this juncture. It's too early to call that here.
U.S. futures are recovering after the lows that we saw in Asia overnight and even into the European trading morning. Taking a look here, we have the Dow futures above the line by nearly a 1/2 percent and the S&P 500 up about 1/4 percent. The Nasdaq remains vulnerable. But the futures index was down 1-1/3 percent. We're trading down now about half a percent.
But what a change from the near 5 percent collapse on Thursday, particularly for tech stocks there. We have 9 on the board here with a COVID-19 pandemic darlings, if you will, which is a group up 75 percent this year.
[04:35:00]
That's very high, Kim. But they lost 3-1/2 to nearly 10 percent. Apple lost $150 billion of its valuation. So, this is really tech focused on the selloff. Worried about the valuations which are almost equal to what we saw in 1999 before the bubble burst in 2000 on the Nasdaq. And also concerns about a slowdown because of the burst of activity in May and June, July, August and now the fourth quarter could see quite a rapid turn of fortune.
We're going to get an update of the jobs, as you talk about, in four hours' time. There's a big number here, 1.6 million expected to be at it. That's a consensus on Wall Street. Down from July, but again, we've lost just over 10 million jobs since February and many are wondering, how do you add from here with the stimulus of some $3 trillion. That's the biggest concern.
Unemployment rate though, Kim, which is the positive, could come below 10 percent for the first time since February but 10 percent in America is extremely high. Back to you.
BRUNHUBER: Absolutely, all right, we'll be watching for those numbers. Thank you so much. John Defterios in Abu Dhabi. Appreciate it.
Well, now back to the pandemic in the U.S. California has the most cases in the country and Latinos there account for a disproportionate number of infections and deaths. CNN's Stephanie Elam takes a look at why.
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JENNY RUELAS, CORONAVIRUS SURVIVOR: I get tired. I have to take breaks.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Each step for Jenny Ruelas is a challenge.
RUELAS: I have to walk around with an oxygen can.
ELAM: She says her father's 38-year-old girlfriend, Karenna Boniva (ph), contracted COVID-19 in early May. Then Jenny's father, Humberto Ruelas, got sick. And then Jenny did too. They all live together with the couple's five other children. Within four days, Jenny says she had headaches, chills, a fever, and lost her appetite.
RUELAS: I kept feeling chest pain.
ELAM: Jenny was admitted to the hospital first.
RUELAS: They have iced it right now because they can't control my fever.
ELAM: Within days, Humberto and Boniva were admitted together, Jenny's dad in the room right next to her.
RUELAS: They're not giving my dad longer than 24 hours. I lost him. I was so mad. I hit the wall. And I was like, dad, don't do this to me. ELAM: Within minutes, he was gone.
RUELAS: Even though he had passed already, in his facial expressions, you can see the pain. He was in a lot of pain. And that's the face I'll never forget.
ELAM: Eight hours later, Boniva also died.
RUELAS: I can't wait to go home. I want to go home.
ELAM: In California, Jenny's story is not an anomaly. Through August, the data shows that Latinos make up 60 percent of coronavirus cases and close to 50 percent of deaths, despite representing more than a third of the state's population.
(on camera): Why is the Latino population in California getting hit so hard by the coronavirus?
DR. GIL CHAVEZ, CO-CHAIRMAN, CALIFORNIA COVID-19 TESTING TASK FORCE: Latinos make really a very significant portion of what we would call essential work force. And we have very high rates of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, obesity, smoking.
There is some social disparities in terms of just financial opportunities, health care access and utilization.
ELAM (voice-over): But it's the agriculturally rich Central Valley of California where the positivity rate is staggering. In those eight counties, the rate is about double that of the state, as many of the farming jobs come with increased risk of exposure to the virus.
CHAVEZ: So, even within our very high risk, there's even higher risk there.
ELAM: The California Farmworker Foundation is now offering free testing at work sites. Additionally, Governor Gavin Newsom deployed three support teams to the region to boost testing and contact tracing efforts, with social services support.
REP. RAUL RUIZ (D-CA): I know that sometimes you have three generations of families living in a two-bedroom trailer, and so they don't have the luxury of self-isolating. It's about the contact tracing and providing the resources for them to take time off of work.
ELAM: As for Jenny, while she no longer has positive for the virus, she definitely hasn't recovered. The 31-year-old had a stroke.
(on camera): For the people who think this can't devastate a family, what do you say to them?
RUELAS: When you go through what my dad went through, trust me, nobody's going to tell you what to do, because you're not going to be here anymore.
Stephanie Elam, CNN Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: An Oregon man who died in an encounter with police Thursday night, appeared to admit in a TV interview that he fatally shot a right-winged protestor in Portland last weekend. In an interview with Vice News, Michael Reinoehl, said he acted in self-defense as he and a friend were about to be stabbed.
[04:40:00]
Authorities moved in on him late Thursday. They say initial reports indicated the suspect produced a firearm, threatened law enforcement officers. Task force members responded, and the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. The U.S. Marshall Service confirmed he was being sought on a murder charge.
Well, could there really be a survivor 30 days after the Beirut blast? That's what the rescuers are hoping for after they've detected apparent signs of life. We'll have the latest on the search next. Stay with us.
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CHURCH: You're looking at live pictures now from Beirut as rescuers dig through rubble with renewed hopes of finding a survivor. Signs of life were detected in the debris on Thursday, a month after an explosion devastated much of the city. Rescuers tell CNN they're now detecting eight breaths per minute, compared to 18 on Thursday. Possibly coming from someone under the debris. And again, you're seeing the pictures there as they're standing around where they suspect the people are.
We're going to turn to CNN's Sam Kiley who's tracking developments from Abu Dhabi and he joins me now. Sam, I understand they're very close now to the position where they've detected the victims. What's the latest?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to the Beirut civil defense administration speaking to CNN on the ground there, he says that they're less half a meter, that's 18 inches from what they suspect is some kind of source of heat and detectible breathing from a living creature.
Now this is all hope, of course, of this being a survivor of this gigantic blast that ripped across Beirut 30 days ago, Kim.
[04:45:00]
It would be a staggering story of survival if somebody were to emerge from this rubbage -- rubble and wreckage intact or even alive after 30 days. But nonetheless, this is a glimmer of hope that was brought literally as a consequence of a whiff picked up by a passing rescue dog that had only come into the country on Sunday with a Chilean NGO. Who are now on the ground working since yesterday afternoon when the dog named Flash first picked up the signs of life buried in that rubble in Mar Mikhael. Which has had people walk past it constantly. It was an area very badly hit by the explosion. Very, very popular
street in Beirut. A lot of lovely houses, older houses in particularly, restaurants and bars. Very close to other NGOs working there to help with people's recovery from this. Nobody imagined that there would be still a survivor buried in the rubble.
But nonetheless, they are getting much, much closer and they continue to pick up signs of life, both from the dog which is back on the scene, but also more sophisticated thermal imaging and other detection equipment -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, we can see just now the live pictures as they're digging. They have to go very slowly obviously to make sure the rubble doesn't collapse further. You know, I've covered earthquakes before where they've been digging for victims and sadly you know, faint hope often turns to false hope. But in this case, if they're still getting signs of life, we'll pray that we get good news soon. Thank you so much. Senior international correspondent, Sam Kiley, appreciated.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, U.S. conservatives cite the Swedish model for handling the coronavirus but is its controversial approach worth the human cost? We go live to Stockholm to find out. Stay with us.
[04:50:00]
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BRUNHUBER: Breaking news coming into CNN in a bleak outlook for the coronavirus in the U.S. A new model often cited by top health officials surged its projections moments ago. It predicts over 410,000 U.S. deaths by January 1st. The model was done by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. It points to declining mask use in some regions from a peak in usage in early August.
While the Trump administration as well as many American conservatives frequently cite Sweden as a model for fighting the coronavirus. The country never went on lockdown and after a surge last spring now has one of the lowest death tolls in Europe. But as CNN's Max Foster explains, behind the reality of Swedish numbers, it's far more complicated, right?
MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. I mean, so much fascination in the Swedish case because they managed to get those virus numbers down quite rapidly, and that was without a lockdown and without most people wearing masks. But as you say, Kim, it's complicated
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FOSTER (voice-over): This ICU unit in central Stockholm lies virtually empty, with just one coronavirus patient receiving care.
This was the scene in April at the height of the Swedish pandemic, with a unit inundated. Outside, bars, shops and schools remained open throughout. No lockdown, but people were given official guidance on how to sanitize and when to socially distance, and they largely abided by those rules.
Masks were never mandated here, with a senior government source telling CNN that they're regarded here as largely superficial.
After an initial surge in the death rate, well above the Scandinavian average, Sweden now has one of the lowest death rates in Europe.
(on camera): Most of the casualties were elderly. Nine out of 10 were over 70 years old. And 45 percent of all deaths were in care homes. That's raised the question about the rest of society, the younger, the healthier. Did they develop some sort of resistance to the virus as they interacted?
PROF. HANS GUSTAF LJUNGGREN, CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS MEDICINE, KAROLINSKA INSTITUTE: It's possible that we are -- or we have been building up some immunity that contributes to the present state.
FOSTER (voice-over): But when people in Stockholm were tested for immunity, only 7 percent had enough antibodies to fight the disease. But they weren't tested for T-cells, which also provide resistance.
LJUNGGREN: So that means that immunity in Sweden and immunity globally is probably larger than we had previously appreciated. At least that is our current thought.
FOSTER: And that's the narrative that some American conservatives are grasping onto. Why bother with lockdowns and masks when you can allow people to go about their normal lives, catch the virus, and build immunity, whilst only shielding the elderly and vulnerable?
The Swedish government urges caution, pointing to how their safety guidelines were followed by most Swedes. But also, a universal healthcare and welfare system that provides a safety net for anyone falling ill or out of work may. Lena Hallengren oversaw the government response from the beginning as health minister.
LENA HALLENGREN, SWEDEN HEALTH MINISTER: We didn't have a full or a forced lockdown, but we had many changes. A large number of changes in Swedish society. I mean, during the spring, we had distant studies for -- online studies all of secondary, for the universities and the adult schools.
We also had, I think, 30, 40 percent of people working from home. We had lots of people staying home on sick leave because they have the slightest symptoms. You could go on the streets in the capital. You didn't meet almost anyone. We had lots of businesses with a very difficult situation because they didn't have any -- any guests or customers.
So, lots of things changed. We didn't have any cultural events, sports events. So, things were changed but not in a forced way. I think that was the difference.
FOSTER: The Swedish economy shrank by 8 percent in the second corner of 2020, the largest fall since records began. But what of the bigger price? [04:55:00]
The many elderly who died, some argue were sacrificed, in the early days of the pandemic.
HALLENGREN: If you get the virus into those elder care homes, many of the persons living there are having very severe symptoms, and they also die. So that's why we have this -- by law, there are people forbidden to visit the elder care homes. But that was not successful in all the way. But we also learned a lot of that.
FOSTER: All care home workers have since been retrained in hygiene protocols.
The government here says it's too early to know what they did right, what they did wrong, or whether herd immunity for coronavirus is even a thing.
In the meantime, they're preparing for a possible second wave this fall. It wouldn't be the first country to see a surge in the virus after apparently stamping it out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: When you speak to ordinary Swedes, Kim, it's interesting. They are quite the news about all the attention being given to the Swedish model. And they actually point to how actual social distancing is pretty much built into the culture here. You know, sparsely populated regions compared to the U.S., for example. But also, not a very touchy, feely culture. Could be as simple as that. We don't know yet.
BRUNHUBER: Very interesting reporting. Thank you so much. CNN's Max Foster from Stockholm. Appreciate it.
And we appreciate you watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. "EARLY START" is up next. Stay with us.
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