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Labor Day Weekend Could Be Super Spreader; Report: Trump Called Killed U.S. Soldiers "Suckers" and "Losers"; Search Suspended for Missing Livestock Cargo Ship, Survivors; Model Suggests Masks, Distancing Save Lives; California Acts to Protect 4 Million Renters; Search Resumes for Beirut Survivors; SpaceX Starship Makes Successful Test Hop; China Begins Reopening Movie Theaters. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired September 05, 2020 - 04:00 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): On edge: as the U.S. heads into a holiday weekend, there are fears it could trigger another surge in coronavirus cases.
Showing promise: initial results are in from a Russian vaccine.
And dramatic rescues at sea after a cargo ship goes missing in a typhoon. But dozens of sailors are missing.
Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to you, our viewers, here in the United States. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. is beginning a holiday weekend that could impact public health for weeks to come. Labor Day is traditionally summer's last hurrah, a time to be outdoors and around people. But health experts worry it could mean a surge of new coronavirus cases, which is exactly what happened after previous holiday weekends.
But the president is boasting about the country's progress against the disease and getting a skeptical response from the nation's top infectious disease expert.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: By the way, we're rounding the corner. We're rounding the corner on the virus.
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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: You know, I'm not sure what he means. There are certain states that have actually -- doing well in the sense of that the case numbers are coming down.
Our concern right now, is that there are a number of states, particularly, for example, the Dakotas, Montana, Michigan, Minnesota and others, who are starting to have an uptick.
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BRUNHUBER: The numbers tell a different story than the president as well. The country has now confirmed more than 6.2 million cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. That's almost one-quarter of the world's infections. New cases are surging in other countries, too. You can see in red, including France and Japan.
The Labor Day holiday is traditionally celebrated communally. People barbecue or go to the beach or camping and spend time with family and friends. But as Tom Foreman reports, the coronavirus doesn't take a holiday.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brace yourself for more superspreader events. That's the warning from health officials who fear, with millions traveling over the Labor Day holiday, the pandemic could spike, just as we enter fall, when the flu and other illnesses may come into play.
JENNIFER NUZZO, JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR HEALTH SECURITY: We use Labor Day as a way to take the day off. Unfortunately, the virus doesn't.
FAUCI: We don't want to go into that with another surge that we have to turn around again. So it really is an important weekend.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Infections shot up in some places after Memorial Day and the 4th of July, too, despite warnings against big social gatherings. Like that motorcycle rally in South Dakota, that produced dozens of cases. Private parties in many places and numerous family events, like the wedding reception, that left a New Jersey woman and three of her children dead.
For all of that, President Trump mocks Joe Biden for wearing a mask.
TRUMP: Did you ever see a man that likes a mask as much as him?
FOREMAN (voice-over): Still, health experts say, imagine an outdoor barbecue. The medical journal "BMJ" created this chart, showing, if you attend an event like that, for a short time with a mask, your risk could be relatively low, depending on whether people are silent, talking or shouting and singing.
Stay longer and it gets worse. Take off the mask for a while, worse still. And without a mask for a long time, the risk explodes, especially if the party moves indoors.
So images like these are raising alarm bells, hundreds of students at Iowa State seemingly ignoring safety precautions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you guys concerned about coronavirus at all or no?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, not really.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, not really.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I personally think it's a hoax.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I don't think it's a hoax. But I think that -- I think that if I were to get it, I would survive.
FOREMAN (voice-over): That's the attitude driving yet another warning this holiday, from health experts watching college students on campuses everywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Putting them on airplanes and sending them home to their parents doesn't make sense.
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FOREMAN: If people listen, the reward could be huge. A new projection from the University of Washington says, with universal masking, the U.S. could see 300,000 deaths by the end of the year. But if restrictions are eased too soon, that number could be doubled by the New Year's holiday -- Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: Many European countries are suffering a second wave of coronavirus cases. France set a new daily record Friday, with almost 9,000 new cases. This brings the total number there to 310,000.
But despite the high increase, the country's national health agency says the number of people hospitalized from the virus remains stable.
To the south, in Spain, more than 10,000 new cases on Friday, half of them diagnosed in the past 24 hours. Spain also reports almost 200 new deaths. It's the highest daily number since late May.
In Brazil, the health ministry reported more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases on Friday and more than 900 deaths. And that raises the death toll to well over 125,000.
But in a sign of hope, Johns Hopkins University says the death rate may be easing. Brazil has the second highest of infections and deaths behind only the United States.
A Russian vaccine candidate is showing promising results after its first two phases of testing. As Matthew Chance reports, while that's encouraging, health experts want to see it undergo even more testing.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Russia, the battle against COVID-19, it seems, is being fought with real soldiers. This is the country's defense minister getting a vaccine.
Then on state TV, Moscow's mayor tells the Russian president he's just been vaccinated, too.
"Did temperature rise a concern," President Putin asks.
"None," says the mayor, "just a slight headache and a little fatigue."
The intended message: Russia's vaccine, called Sputnik V, is safe. Even top officials trust although the Kremlin won't confirm to CNN if Putin himself has taken the plunge. But there is now some reason for Russia's confidence.
First, data from phase 1 and 2 clinical trials published in "The Lancet" medical journal suggests the Russian vaccine produced no serious adverse side effects. It seems to be safe, in other words.
And it generated an antibody response, according to "The Lancet," in all the test participants, admittedly only 76 people. But Russian scientists say that's more than enough to prove their vaccine works and works well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The high level of cell immunity suggests there are great prospects for developing memory cells. This tells us that it will not just create high protective at the moment of immunization but also that this protective impact will last for a very long time.
CHANCE (voice-over): Russia has been one of the world's worst affected countries in the COVID-19 pandemic, recording more than a million cases nationwide. It also has a track record of creating vaccines, famously against polio in the 1950s; more recently in 2016 to battle the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa.
But there's been a cautious reception to Russia's COVID-19 vaccine: lack of published data until now and approval for use before human trials were complete raised concerns about its safety and effectiveness.
Even now with phase 1 and 2 trials published, "The Lancet" warns the studies are too small and that larger phase 3 trials are needed to know how useful the vaccine will really be.
RICHARD HORTON, "THE LANCET": what we can see is that this new Russian vaccine, the results are encouraging but it would be premature, highly premature to think this is the basis for a successful vaccine for public use.
CHANCE (voice-over): That's not what the Russians want to hear. They named their vaccine Sputnik V after the Soviet-era satellite, which shocked the world by orbiting Earth, a global first and a symbol of Russian scientific prowess. The vaccine, it seems, is not quite there yet -- Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: U.S. president Donald Trump is slamming an article in "The Atlantic" magazine as a hoax. It alleges he privately disparaged America's war dead as "losers and suckers." Here's how the president responded Friday.
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TRUMP: It's just a continuation of the witch hunt so that it can hopefully affect the election.
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TRUMP: These people have gone after me more than any president in the United States in history.
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BRUNHUBER: It also claims the president questioned why anyone would serve in the U.S. military. All that provoked this response from Joe Biden, who hopes to take Mr. Trump's job after the election.
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JOE BIDEN (D-DE), FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Duty, honor, country: these are values that drive our service members. President Trump has demonstrated he has no sense of service, no loyalty to any cause other than himself.
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BRUNHUBER: Now the journalist who wrote the story says he has multiple sources and is standing by his reporting. And President Trump does have a history of insulting some U.S. veterans and their families. Also his explanations about the events described in the article don't mesh with the facts. For that, here's Boris Sanchez.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a fake story and it's a disgrace that they're allowed to do it.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Today, President Trump continuing his strong and vehement denials of an "Atlantic" magazine article claiming Trump privately called fallen U.S. service members, quote, "losers and suckers."
TRUMP: To me they're heroes. It's even hard to believe how they could do it. And I say that, the level of bravery. And to me, they are absolute heroes.
SANCHEZ: Those comments following an unusual late night statement to reporters after returning from a rally in Pennsylvania.
TRUMP: It's a total lie. It's fake news. It's a disgrace.
SANCHEZ: Reporting in "The Atlantic" cites four sources who say President Trump canceled a visit to honor American war dead at a cemetery in Paris because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, telling senior staff members, quote, "Why should I go to that cemetery? It's filled with losers."
On that same trip, the article claims Trump referred to the 1,800 Marines killed in a major World War I battle as "suckers" for losing their lives. The White House claimed at the time that plans to visit the Aisne-Marne American cemetery were scrapped because of bad weather.
A line Trump repeated last night.
TRUMP: I called home, I spoke to my wife, I said, I hate this. I came here to go to that ceremony.
SANCHEZ: Though Trump couldn't have called home to Melania. The first lady was traveling with Trump in France.
"The Atlantic" also reporting that during a Memorial Day visit to Arlington National Cemetery in 2017, Trump joined John Kelly at the gravesite of the former chief of staff's son, Robert Kelly, who died serving in Afghanistan.
Sources say Trump turned to Kelly and asked, "I don't get it. What was in it for them?"
John Kelly declined to comment on the story.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ): It is an honor to serve the American people.
SANCHEZ: And following the death of Arizona Senator John McCain, the article also claims Trump reportedly became angry that flags were lowered to half staff at the White House and told aides, "We're not going to support that loser's funeral."
Trump today denying it on twitter writing, quote, "I never called John a loser."
But while campaigning for president in 2015, he did.
TRUMP: He lost. So I never liked him as much after that because I don't like losers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a war hero.
TRUMP: He is a war hero -- he is a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, OK?
SANCHEZ: Amid the president's rebuke, the journalist behind this story is defending his reporting.
JEFFREY GOLDBERG, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "THE ATLANTIC": I stand by my reporting. I have multiple sources telling me this is what happened and so, I stand by it.
SANCHEZ: And Trump's Democratic opponent Joe Biden, whose late son, Beau, served in the military, saying --
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: If what is written in "The Atlantic" is true, it's disgusting.
Who the heck does he think he is?
SANCHEZ: John Kelly not commenting on this story. And James Mattis, the president's former Secretary of Defense, also not commenting on the allegations in this story. While one former Trump administration official is.
John Bolton, the former national security adviser, who was on this trip to France and wrote about it in his recently released tell-all book, he has told "The New York Times" he did not directly hear President Trump make these disparaging remarks about service members. But he did acknowledge it is possible the president said them when he was not around -- Boris Sanchez, CNN, the White House.
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BRUNHUBER: Among those coming to the president's defense is his wife. First lady Melania Trump, in a rare public defense of her husband, she is denouncing "The Atlantic" story as untrue.
She wrote on Twitter, "This is not journalism, it is activism and a disservice to the American people."
Coming up, dramatic and dangerous rescues in stormy seas after a massive cargo ship goes missing. We'll hear from one of the few sailors who have been rescued so far.
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BRUNHUBER: And another powerful storm is bearing down on the same area. A super typhoon will hit Japan. We'll check in with our meteorologist.
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BRUNHUBER: The Japanese Coast Guard suspended its search for dozens of missing sailors because of dangerous waves and strong winds from an approaching storm. The sailors were on a cargo ship that got caught in a typhoon on Wednesday.
It was carrying thousands of cows from New Zealand to China. Only three of the 43 sailors on board have been found. CNN's Will Ripley is following developments from Hong Kong.
Will, a potentially tragic story developing there.
What's the latest? WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This has to be so discouraging for the families of the 40 sailors, mainly from the Philippines, who remain missing.
When you see the photos of the ship, it is massive. It's a cargo container ship converted to carry nearly 6,000 cows in the open air. So the wind blows through to give the cows ventilation. But they were exposed to winds of more than 200 kilometers an hour on Wednesday.
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RIPLEY: And massive waves that potentially caused this ship to vanish.
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RIPLEY (voice-over): A dramatic rescue off the coast of Japan. This Japanese Coast Guard vessel, desperately tries to reach a man in the water, battling rough seas, getting closer and closer, as the man bobs up and down like a cork.
Finally, they're able to get him on board. They bring him onto a Coast Guard ship, warmed him with a blanket and give him water.
He's a 45-year-old chief officer of the Gulf Livestock 1, a cargo ship that went missing after a distress call early Wednesday near Southern Japan. The ship was carrying 43 crew members and almost 6,000 cows, some seen dead, floating in the sea.
The ship left Napier, New Zealand, on August 14th, headed for China, a journey that was supposed to take 17 days. At the time of its disappearance, it was being pounded by a powerful storm, Typhoon Maysak, the same strength as a category 4 hurricane, with winds more than 200 kilometers or 125 miles an hour.
The chief officer told authorities the ship's engine failed. The vessel was hit by a wave and capsized.
On Friday, 30-year-old a Filipino crew member was also found clutching onto a ripped life raft 2 kilometers from Potocari (ph) Island. Rescuers discovered a third man floating unconscious. He was later pronounced dead.
The wife of the ship's chief engineer pleaded for officials to continue searching for the rest of the missing crew.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I would like to call on the Philippine government to give us legitimate information and strengthen their cooperation with the ongoing search and rescue operations.
RIPLEY (voice-over): New Zealand has since announces it is temporarily suspending exports of live cattle as it investigates what happened during the ship's journey. The export of livestock has been controversial. Animal rights group have long called for the practice to be banned.
(END VIDEOTAPE) RIPLEY: It is a huge industry in this part of the world. You know, that ship was headed to China to satiate China's appetite for beef. But these ships are traveling through the East China Sea. During typhoon season and some of these storms are so massive. Imagine -- you looked at the pictures of that ship.
If these winds and these waves were enough to incapacitate the ship and leave a handful of survivors that have been found so far, nobody knows where the ship and the remaining 6,000 cows are. That's something they have to take a very hard look at.
You not only have those people, you also have all of the animals in those really terrifying weather conditions.
BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. Thanks so much. Will Ripley in Hong Kong. Appreciate it.
The heavy seas and strong winds that forced rescuers to stop their search, are coming from another dangerous storm that's heading for Japan and Korea. The typhoon will be the third major storm to hit the region in less than two weeks. The typhoon is weakening a little bit. But it is packing destructive winds and a huge amount of rain.
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BRUNHUBER: It's Labor Day weekend in North America, normally a time to hit the beach, fire up the barbecue. Ahead, why experts fear this time the holiday could fan the flames of COVID outbreaks.
Plus, million of American renters face eviction during the pandemic. But at the last moment, they're getting a reprieve. We'll talk about a lawmaker who acted fast to help them. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to you, our viewers in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
The U.S. heads into Labor Day weekend amid a raging coronavirus pandemic. There's lots of discussion among U.S. officials about whether a possible vaccine will be available. Alexandra Field has all that, plus the latest death toll projection from an influential group.
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ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A stunning 410,000 total American deaths by New Year's, the latest projection from a group whose predictions so far have been accurate, if not more conservative than actual figures.
And the new model shows many more deaths if we abandon safety protocols and far fewer if everyone wears a mask.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are public health intervention. We know they work.
FIELD: With the election nearing, sources tell CNN the environment is like a pressure cooker inside the FDA, the agency that would ultimately approve a vaccine.
TRUMP: As we announced a historic, groundbreaking...
FIELD: Since last spring. President Trump has pressed officials to speed up the timeline for developing a vaccine or a therapeutic drug to treat coronavirus, according to sources inside the administration, who tells CNN the efforts are intensifying.
"I would immediately resign if there's undue interference in this process," says Moncef Slaoui, the scientific head of Operation Warp Speed, the effort to bring a vaccine to the American public, in a published interview with the academic journal "Science."
He goes on to say, "There has been absolutely no interference."
Questions of interference were raised after recent CDC guidance instructed states to prepare to possibly distribute millions of doses of vaccine as early as late October, a timeline some top public health officials have called highly unlikely.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In terms of realistic timelines, we're really not expecting to see widespread vaccination until the middle of next year.
FIELD: A Russian vaccine is showing promising limited results, according to the renowned "The Lancet" medical journal, but it has not gone through large-scale human trials, while three U.S. vaccine developers are now in the third and final phase of trial.
With the Labor Day weekend upon us, a reality check. The U.S. continues to average roughly 40,000 new COVID-19 cases a day and saw more than 1,000 deaths on each of the last three days.
In the Northeast, a single wedding in May last month now linked to at least 144 cases and two deaths. And hot spots are lighting up across the Midwest, where some of the surges sparked on college campuses.
GOV. MIKE PARSON (R-MO): And our colleges and our universities have plans in place and are taking all steps necessary to keep their students and communities as safe as possible.
FIELD: Amid all that pressure to fast-track a vaccine, we're hearing that one pharmaceutical company may slow down the process. Mo Moderna is trying to recruit more diverse populations, even if it means to slow down enrollment in the trials -- in New York, Alexandra Field, CNN.
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BRUNHUBER: Millions of Americans who have lost their jobs during the pandemic are now facing the possibility they'll lose their homes as well. With special federal unemployment benefits now gone, many can't pay the rent and they're facing eviction. But the CDC may have a temporary solution. CNN's Brian Todd explains.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kianah Ashley put it best, this summer, after she had lost work. She and her young son faced eviction from their rental home in Queens, New York, due to the pandemic.
KIANAH ASHLEY, TENANT IN JEOPARDY OF EVICTION: That's something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy because not knowing where you're going to rest your head at for the next day, that's not good.
TODD (voice-over): Tonight, advocacy groups say some 30 million to 40 million Americans like Kianah Ashley who are at risk of eviction could be getting desperately needed help. The CDC has just issued an extraordinary order for a federal health agency, ordering temporary halt to evictions until the end of this year.
DIANE YENTEL, NATIONAL LOW INCOME HOUSING COALITION: The very least the federal government should do is ensure we're not going to lose our homes in the middle of it and the action by the CDC could do just that and provide immediate relief for tens of millions of anxious and hurting families.
TODD: Marguerite Camacho is living on that edge. The single mother of two lost her job as a massage therapist in California's Bay Area and lost a second job with a tech company to the pandemic. Her extra unemployment payments from the federal government stimulus expired at the end of July. State unemployment money, a one-time charity payment and a part-time job aren't giving her a lot of confidence that she can stay in her home.
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MARGUERITE CAMACHO, UNEMPLOYED MASSAGE THERAPIST: It's very worrisome. Every night, you lay in bed and you're thinking, I have children to feed, I'm home schooling, I have to provide shelter, food, how am I going to do that?
TODD: In order to get the new CDC protection, renters have to meet four conditions. Single renters have to prove they have yearly income of $99,000 or less. For couples, it's $198,000. You have to prove you've made efforts to get government assistance for rent.
You have to declare that the coronavirus pandemic is the reason you can't pay rent and you have to declare that you'd become homeless if you are evicted. But there is another side to the eviction crisis, the struggle among landlords to collect rent and avoid foreclosure on their rental properties.
Paul Salehi who owns rental properties in Osceola County, Florida, says he doesn't know how much longer he can give renters a break.
PAUL SALEHI, PROPERTY OWNER: Obviously, I don't want to tell anyone they have to get out immediately this and that, but I won't be able to pay the mortgage for them forever.
TODD: That's why housing advocates say the CDC's new eviction protection is only a half measure, because it doesn't relieve them of owing back rent.
YENTEL: At that point, they create a financial cliff for renters to fall off of when back rent is due and they're no more able to pay it then than they were now or they weren't at the beginning of the pandemic.
TODD: Giving renters money to fend off eviction requires an act of Congress. The House has passed about $100 billion to assist renters but, so far, it hasn't gotten through the Senate -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: Some 4 million renters were facing eviction in California, which has the most COVID cases in the nation and some of the priciest rents. But relief is on the way.
Under a new California law, passed just this week, tenants who pay at least 25 percent of their rent from September through January will be protected from eviction. They don't have to immediately repay back rent they owe from March to August.
To qualify, renters have to declare each month of the pandemic has caused them financial stress. The law also protects rental property owners. As long as landlords meet certain conditions, mortgage companies can't foreclose on their properties if their tenants can't pay rent.
David Chiu is an California assembly member representing San Francisco. He joins me now.
Thank you for being with us. Homelessness is already a huge problem in California. The pandemic making things so much worse. You must hear the most heartbreaking stories from constituents.
DAVID CHIU, CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY MEMBER, SAN FRANCISCO: We really do. Before this pandemic, California and the rest of the country was in the midst of the most intense housing crisis in recent modern history. Clearly, with the pandemic and recession, it's been much more intensified.
BRUNHUBER: Now the new eviction moratorium bill, you were the key figure behind that.
It's a compromised bill. Many housing activists and tenant groups say it doesn't go far enough.
Do you agree? CHIU: It is a compromise. It's fair to say that both sides of the discussion weren't happy. I certainly wish there were stronger tenant protections. But the alternative of not doing anything is far worse. We're trying to avoid a catastrophic, massive wave of evictions that was looming this week if this bill had not passed.
BRUNHUBER: How do you think the bill will help?
CHIU: In recent months, as is the case all over the country, there are millions of folks that can't pay rent. We told everyone to shelter in place. During that process, so many lost their jobs, depleted their savings, gone into debt. And many states have had temporary eviction bans.
But they've all been lifted, including the temporary one put in place by California. It meant that without any change in the law, we had millions that would owe all past due rent or face an eviction. And we needed to do everything we could to prevent a wave of mass evictions.
It would be catastrophic for homelessness and COVID-19 spread. It would turn this recession into a great depression.
BRUNHUBER: The federal programs have ended. Still no deal on coronavirus relief.
What do you make of the impasse at the national level that's prevented more relief for those hardest hit?
Should your representative in Congress, Nancy Pelosi, be doing more to compromise and get a deal done here?
CHIU: Well, Speaker Pelosi is doing everything she can to get more financial assistance for struggling Americans, particularly to struggling tenants and landlords. Unfortunately, President Trump and the Trump administration and his Republican allies have not agreed to the financial assistance.
States, we can't solve this on our own. We're struggling with our own budgets. And unlike the federal government, we can't print money.
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CHIU: We need the federal government to step in with assistance and relief. But in the meantime, in California, we worked on our own solution to make sure that we are not going to see a massive wave of evictions. But in the coming months, we're going to need help from the federal government.
BRUNHUBER: Then we heard vice president Mike Pence, say we're not going to allow Democrats in Congress to use a coronavirus relief bill to bail out poorly run Democratic states.
How would you respond to the vice president?
CHIU: This is not about Republicans or Democrats. We have tenants in every state in this country who are truly struggling, for a reason not within their control, folks who lost their jobs because we told them to stay at home during this time period.
In California, we addressed this by saying, if you had an economic hardship due to COVID, you shouldn't be immediately evicted. But this is not going to be the case in every state of this country. We need the federal government to just step up. This is not a partisan issue.
BRUNHUBER: All right. We appreciate you coming on to talk about this, assembly member David Chiu. Thank you for your time.
CHIU: Of course. Thanks for having me, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Images coming to us from Portland, Oregon. You can see here, about an hour and a half ago, police declared an unlawful assembly and asked protesters to leave the area.
The Portland police confirmed they were trying to arrest Michael Reinoehl on second degree murder charges Thursday night when he was killed in a confrontation with U.S. Marshals.
They say Reinoehl is wanted in the shooting death of Aaron Jay Danielson, during a protest in Portland last week. The U.S. attorney general called Reinoehl a violent agitator and said the streets were safer without him.
These pictures are from surveillance video shortly before the shooting. You can see Danielson and another man walk on the sidewalk and Reinoehl seems to conceal himself around the side of a building as they pass. The two men were on opposite sides of the political divide and the protests.
The people of Lebanon are hoping for a miracle. Rescuers are scouring debris for possible survivors after a fleeting sign of life in the rubble of Beirut's deadly blast. We'll go there live for the latest. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: You're looking at live pictures behind that truck. A desperate rescue effort underway right now in the devastated city of Beirut, Lebanon. Almost 200 people were killed when an explosion at a warehouse tore through the city's port on August 4th.
During the past few hours, sensors have again picked up possible signs of breathing under a stairwell next to a collapsed building, a full month after the blast. CNN's Tamara Qiblawi is in Beirut monitoring the search.
It seems the hope many had yesterday had faded somewhat. But now, resurrected. There's still hope. Tell us the latest. TAMARA QIBLAWI, CNN SENIOR DIGITAL MIDDLE EAST PRODUCER: That's right,
Kim. One rescue worker spoke to us today and said there's more hope today than yesterday. Yesterday, the signs of life that sparked this search and rescue for possibly the last survivor of the blast that ripped through the city, there were no signs of life yesterday.
Today or rather, last night, the rescue team detected again signs of life, which has renewed a hope for the search and rescue operation. This is a glimmer of hope that is really important to the Lebanese population. It's been a month of devastation, of hopelessness, of lack of closure.
The investigation hasn't shown much in the way of establishing responsibility for the blast. This search and rescue that started three days ago has renewed a hope of a kind of closure of a survivor, of some positive news after a very difficult month.
The people in Lebanon are glued to their TV screens. They are cheering on the Chilean team. The dog that sparked this rescue effort, people joke that he should be president or the prime minister even. So it's been a very charged emotionally three days and rife with symbolism. And the renewed sense of hope is very, very important to the people of Lebanon. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: We're looking at live pictures there. When you see closer pictures, sometimes you see -- you might expect people to be frantically digging away. But often the process seems very slow and deliberate.
Tell us about the obstacles they are encountering and why they have to move so carefully, even though they might be extremely close.
QIBLAWI: They might be close, that's true. However, this is the most destroyed building on the street, a street that is largely devastated. There's piles of rubble, piles of limestone. It's a delicate task they are working on because of a possible survivor.
They are worried that if these signs of life point to someone alive under the rubble, this person may die in a clumsy or in a rushed evacuation process and a rushed rescue process, which is why they are practicing utmost delicacy.
This Chilean team is highly experienced and the Lebanese authorities are following their lead on this.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. I covered the moles, as they're known in English, in other circumstances, an amazing team there. Prayers across the nation there and people are watching across the world, hoping for a miracle. Tamara Qiblawi in Beirut, thank you very much. Appreciate it.
It is showtime again at movie theaters in China. But thanks to the COVID pandemic, the big screen experience won't have big crowds. You can forget about popcorn and soft drinks. That's ahead on CNN. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Well, that is a new prototype from SpaceX which is taking an impressive first hop. Starship rose 500 feet, about 150 meters, during this test flight in Texas last month.
The fully reusable spacecraft will be the most powerful launch vehicle ever developed. Starship is supposed to take up to 100 tons of cargo and crew into orbit. Then, the moon, Mars and beyond. If the prototype looks boxy, that's because it's missing its nose cone and fins. They'll be added for future tests at higher altitudes.
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BRUNHUBER: In another sign of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, some theaters in China are reopening. And the big box office attraction is a film that Hollywood hoped would be a blockbuster before COVID struck. David Culver has details from Beijing.
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DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tickets in hand, moviegoers in Beijing prepare for their brief departure from reality.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I really miss it. Before the pandemic, almost every time there was a good movie, I would go to the theater to watch it.
CULVER (voice-over): She's among the fans here to see Christopher Nolan's anticipated sci-fi thriller, produced by Warner Brothers, which, like CNN, is owned by WarnerMedia.
This is the first major Hollywood theater release in China since COVID-19 outbreak that is expected to attract large audiences.
CULVER: China is allowing theaters, like this one here in Beijing, to reopen at 50 percent capacity. They also have several seats, as you can see, blocked off, allowing for some social distancing.
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CULVER: Once you are here for an actual film, you have to wear masks the whole time. If you say can I at least take it off for some popcorn, it's not an option. Concessions are not being sold.
CULVER (voice-over): "I think it is OK, it's worth it," he says.
China shuttered theaters country wide in late January as the virus spread, only to begin to reopen them with limited capacity and many film reruns in July. CULVER: So we're talking about roughly six months of closure.
How devastating is that for the industry here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: it is definitely very devastating. That means lower investment for future projects, so, that's a pretty worrying trend, not just for this year.
CULVER (voice-over): It comes off what was a $9.2 billion year for China's box office in 2019, up more than 5 percent from the year before that, still less than North America's $11.4 billion according to the Motion Picture Association, but of rapidly narrowing the gap.
Experts expected China to overtake the U.S. and Canada box office sales by this year. That was before the outbreak, of course. Now with the vast majority of theaters back open and customers feeling more comfortable to venture out, China could become the most profitable.
Though there have been controversial cuts from Western films here in the past, including censoring LGBTQ from the Oscar-winning movie, "Bohemian Rhapsody," a Chinese film producer does not believe U.S. filmmakers will self censure only to reach Chinese moviegoers. She thinks producers and studios aim to appeal to a global audience.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they understand what can or cannot be shown in Chinese theaters.
CUMANI (voice-over): "Tenet" made the cut. So, too, Disney's live action adaptation of "Mulan," releasing in Chinese theaters on September 11th. Moviegoers adjusting to this very differently movie watching experience, post outbreak. Perhaps making the escape into another plot all the more alluring -- David Culver, CNN, Beijing.
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BRUNHUBER: That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more news. Stay with us.
