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Trump to Conduct Another Super Spreader Event; Hurricane Delta Batters Gulf Coast; Terrorism Charges Filed against 13 in Michigan Governor Kidnap Plot; POTUS' Health Status a Top Secret; Coronavirus Surges in France; Young Generations Face COVID-19 Devastation; NFL Reschedules Games for Second Week. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired October 10, 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 ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello, I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is CNN NEWSROOM, we're live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to you, our viewers here in the United States, Canada and around the world.

While the Trump White House is already a proven hotbed of the coronavirus and staffers there fear a large event planned in the coming hours could only make it worse. A source tells CNN that 2,000 people have been invited to see and hear President Trump on Saturday, in his first public appearance since returning Monday, from the hospital.

The president says he's been retested but says he doesn't know the results, he told conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh he was very sick but now feels great.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I was in not great shape and we have a medicine that healed me, that fixed me. I feel better now than I did two weeks ago. It's crazy. And I recovered immediately. Almost immediately. I might not have recovered at all from COVID.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: President Trump says he doesn't know where he caught the virus. But admits it might have been at a Rose Garden event two weeks ago. Numerous people, including the president and the first lady, tested positive for COVID in the days that followed, of course and the country's top infectious disease expert says the facts, while they're clear to him.

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We had a super spreader event in the White House and it was in a situation where people were crowded together and were not wearing masks. So the data speak for themselves. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: With the U.S. election now looming and President Trump trailing, in national polls, he appears eager to get back on the road for more campaign rallies beginning Monday in Florida.

But Thursday's second presidential debate has been canceled after the Trump campaign rejected doing it remotely. The debate commission changed to a virtual form after the president tested positive for COVID.

We're keeping a close eye on Hurricane Delta, now battering the Louisiana Gulf Coast with flash floods and widespread power outages and we'll have more on the storm in a moment.

But first, one question, the White House refuses to answer is whether the president still has an active case of COVID-19. We'll get the latest from CNN's Kaitlan Collins at the White House.

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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Although it has only been a week since the president was hospitalized at Walter Reed, he is moving full steam ahead and planning an event at the White House for 2,000 people, who have been invited on Saturday and a campaign rally in Orlando, Florida, for the following Monday.

That was actually an event the president was supposed to hold until he tested positive for coronavirus in recent days and, of course, had to cancel.

But the big question is whether or not the president has since tested negative. It's one the White House is refusing to answer although they said they would let us know when the president does test negative again.

And we do know he was tested on Friday because he admitted as much during an interview with a FOX News medical analyst, where he said he had been tested and not gotten his results back, even though it had been hours after that and the White House still had not disclosed what the results of that test were.

They also did not send out any kind of updates from the president's doctor, even though they had done that on a daily basis, since he returned from Walter Reed. And before that, they were briefing reporters in person and stopped those briefings.

No updates beyond from the president and his aides about his current condition, even though they were moving ahead for plans for the president to hold rallies, hold events with thousands of people potentially on the South Lawn on Saturday.

Of course, the president is going to be addressing reporters from a balcony. Far up where he won't be interacting with guests according to the White House. But you have to remember, that Supreme Court event, the president

wasn't walking around the Rose Garden but still multiple people who were at that event, even some of them wearing masks, have now, of course, tested positive for coronavirus, including the former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who still remains hospitalized a week later, after he was first admitted to the hospital, which they said at the time was as a precaution.

And, of course, now, it is raising questions of the far-reaching repercussions of the event -- Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right. Let's get some international perspective, from Leslie Vinjamuri in London, she's the head of the U.S. and Americas Programme at Chatham House.

Thanks so much for joining us here today. We saw over there, how having COVID changed Boris Johnson's outlook and behavior when it comes to COVID. Not so with President Trump. For those hoping the president might have a hospital bed conversion about COVID, they've been sorely disappointed.

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BRUNHUBER: As we just heard, he's going to gather people for events, when we don't really know if he's even healthy. It seems perplexing, he went on FOX, did a made for TV medical exam, by one of their medical experts, all of this more reality TV.

How does this help him actually pick up ground against Joe Biden?

LESLIE VINJAMURI, CHATHAM HOUSE: Well, I think the first thing to say is that it is deeply concerning, at a time when we all know the number is more than 210,000 Americans died.

But we're just three and a bit weeks out from the election, so I think the level of uncertainty, of concern, of chaos, that this has led to amongst the electorate, can't be understated.

We know that Donald Trump's base, he has a hard core who have stuck with him but I think for so many Americans, they're very worried. We're seeing this in the polls. And I think older Americans, in particular, are concerned, deeply concerned about the signal that this sends, not only about the election of course.

The number one thing in so many people's minds right now is November 3rd. People are already voting. But it's also so much to do with what signal it sends to all Americans about the seriousness of the pandemic that we're currently in.

And the signal is that it's not a clear message of wearing masks, keeping distance. And I think there's just so much concern about whether the president is recovered yet, as he's interacting again with Americans. BRUNHUBER: You mentioned the older voters. I don't like to focus on

polls but the trends there are interesting. When a series of several recent polls show that the president, as you said, seems to be losing support among older voters, you mentioned one reason.

But do you know exactly why that is and how that might affect the vote overall?

We're seeing one of those polls just there on the screen now.

VINJAMURI: I mean I think what we've been seeing for a little while is a concern amongst older voters about whether the president is reflecting the values and the certainty, the stability, that they value.

And when you add the fact that they're in a very naturally high risk category for the pandemic, this is obviously a grave concern for anybody over 55 that increases, when you look at over 65.

And to see a president who really hasn't taken this seriously, who's denied the pandemic, marginalized scientists and experts, public health experts, even the CDC at times, these are values that are held dearly by older Americans.

And so it's not surprising a president who won the over 55 vote, by 13 percent, in 2016, is now really trailing and that's likely to hurt him. Of course, what we know from all of these polls is that it's not about people's preferences.

It's about whether those people exercise that preference, by voting. And that is the thing that we can't be certain of, how does it actually matter and when we begin counting those votes that are already being cast.

BRUNHUBER: Now one way to make up that ground might be to go on national TV, with millions of people watching, in a debate. But the president said he wouldn't participate in that virtual debate. It's been canceled.

Didn't he miss an opportunity there?

If you were advising the Trump campaign, would you insist he do it given the state of the race?

VINJAMURI: I think this is a president who knows that his strongest response comes when he's in those rallies. The people that turn up are supportive of him. He doesn't necessarily bring on new voters. But he certainly increases the enthusiasm. He ensures that people will get out and vote for him.

And the debates did not go well for the president. They were poorly received by the majority of Americans. And I think that he knows that, if he faces another debate, questions of his tax concern, of his handling of the coronavirus, of the decision to hold what's become known as a super spreader event at the White House in recognition of Amy Coney Barrett, all of these things would come front and center in the next debate.

And so I'm not surprised, I don't think any of us are surprised that he decided not to go forward with that.

BRUNHUBER: We'll have to leave it there. Thank you very much for joining us, Leslie Vinjamuri at Chatham House, in London, we appreciate it.

Nearly 0.5 million homes and businesses are without power, along the U.S. Gulf Coast, after Delta roared ashore Friday evening. It made landfall near Creole, Louisiana, as a category 2 hurricane but it is now a tropical storm.

This video you're seeing here was shot in Lake Charles, north of Creole, as the storm arrived, packing 100 mile-an-hour winds.

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BRUNHUBER: The area is now dealing with life-threatening flash flooding.

And just listen to this.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Imagine being out in that. That's the sound of those winds howling through Sweet Lake, Louisiana, only about 20 miles from the spot where the storm made landfall.

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BRUNHUBER: And of course, Lake Charles, Louisiana, well, it hasn't recovered from Hurricane Laura, which struck back in August. Our Martin Savidge is there and here's his report on Delta's impact so far and the challenges the city now faces.

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MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hurricane Delta came ashore east of the city of Lake Charles, Louisiana, good news for the city, because it meant that the city itself was spared the worst of the storm.

Still, this is a city that really couldn't face any kind of storm. It was so badly damaged, six weeks ago, by Hurricane Laura. And in fact, the mayor here says that he believes 95 percent of the buildings and homes in this community have been damaged in some way by Laura.

So they were in a much weaker position to try to face Hurricane Delta. We do know, according to the mayor, that there were 9-1-1 calls that came in at the height of the storm.

The problem is emergency crews couldn't go out and respond because it simply would have been too dangerous. So we'll have to wait until the winds subside, where they will again go through search and rescue operations, something they're now sadly practiced at. And the real concern here on top of flooding has been the issue of

debris; so much debris was caused as a result of Hurricane Laura and there was so little time in between storms they couldn't clear it all up.

Much of that material becomes very dangerous; in fact, it becomes missiles in the storm that could harm people and do more damage to homes. Sadly, they had just got the power back and, in many cases, people had just come back to their homes. And now they have to start all over again on both fronts -- Martin Savidge, CNN, Lake Charles, Louisiana.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, new details emerge about the alleged plot to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Trump administration's virtual silence on the arrests.

And a little later, a second wave of COVID-19 is taking hold across Western Europe. We'll go to Paris to find out how those countries are reacting. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): That was the scene in Wisconsin Friday night as police fired tear gas at a crowd of protesters. The demonstrators took to the streets for a third straight night after authorities decided not to charge the police officer in the fatal shooting of 17- year-old Alvin Cole. A curfew was in effect from 7 pm to 6 am in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.

But police say soon after the curfew began, officers were struck by bottles and fired the tear gas.

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BRUNHUBER: In the U.S., six men appeared in a Michigan court Friday on terrorism and other felony charges. They're among 13 suspects accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and take over the governments of several other states. She says they're all domestic terrorists.

CNN's Sara Sidner has new details about the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BRIANT TITUS, STORE OWNER: I hate to say I love the kid. But I'm mad right now. I'm just shocked, man. You help somebody out and then they pull that stuff.

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Briant Titus says one of the suspects in the alleged domestic terrorist plot was his employee.

SIDNER: The owner of this vacuum shop says Adam Fox lived here for the last couple of weeks. He says he lived behind this door and down into the basement.

SIDNER (voice-over): Down here with him, his dogs, one with an emotional support collar and a "Don't Tread on Me" tag attached to it.

TITUS: He was in a militia and he got kicked out. So he started his own.

SIDNER (voice-over): One of many things the two discussed, Titus says, he only became concerned when he noticed packages arriving for Fox.

SIDNER: What was he getting from Amazon?

[04:20:00]

TITUS: Like MREs, food, stuff like that.

SIDNER: So survival stuff -- ?

(CROSSTALK)

TITUS: Yes. He was buying more like attachments for like an AR-15. And he was buying like food. And I'm not stupid. I was in the Marine Corps. So then I told him he had to go.

SIDNER (voice-over): But before he left, Fox and 12 others were arrested in FBI raids. We found several suspects ranting against the government online, one suspect calling President Trump an enemy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump is not your friend, dude.

SIDNER (voice-over): While another had praise for the president, tweeting, "Keep up the good work, chief, we, the people, love your work."

The FBI says the alleged plot centered around a plan to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, whose coronavirus restrictions have been railed against by armed groups at the Capitol.

According to the complaint, they did surveillance on her vacation home. Two of the suspects discussed detonating explosive devices to divert police from the area. One suspect said in an encrypted chat, "The fear will be manifested through bullets."

Fox allegedly responds, "Copy that, boys, loud and clear." GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): These are the types of things you hear from groups like ISIS. This is not a militia, it is a domestic terror organization.

DANA NESSEL, MICHIGAN AG: What we're seeing here in Michigan, right now, it is not just a Michigan problem, it's an American problem. And I think there's going to be more incidences to come.

SIDNER (voice-over): A problem forewarned by Frank Meeink, a former neo-Nazi himself, convicted in the '90s for a politically motivated kidnapping. I spoke to him days before the alleged Michigan plot was known to the public.

SIDNER: What's the scenario in this election that would create what you're calling the potential of a race war?

FRANK MEEINK, FORMER NEO-NAZI: I'm telling you, this is going to happen. States like Michigan, states like Wisconsin, the Northern state that have some wilderness area, there have been militias from other states training up there.

They are waiting and hoping that something does go wrong because they want to hold up (sic) in them hills and they want to say we don't want the federal government up here no more.

SIDNER (voice-over): He says President Donald Trump's rhetoric has emboldened extremists. Whitmer agrees.

WHITMER: Of course, we know every time that this White House identifies media or takes a shot at me, we see an increase in rhetoric online, violent rhetoric. And so there's always the connection. And certainly, it's something that we've been watching. But this took it to a whole new level.

SIDNER: In a flu (ph) of tweets, President Trump said he does not tolerate any kind of extreme violence. He then went after Governor Whitmer, saying that she did a terrible job in dealing with the coronavirus crisis in her state.

But the governor did what many governors have done to try to slow the spread of this deadly virus -- Sara Sidner, CNN, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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BRUNHUBER: I want to bring in an expert to talk about this. We have Augusta Dell'Omo, a history and policy fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, who hosts a podcast on right wing extremism called Right Rising.

Thank you very much for being here. We've been having discussions here in the NEWSROOM about what to call this, you know, these type of groups. You heard governor Whitmer say this is not a militia, this is a domestic terror organization.

What would you call them and do names matter? What's the difference between these types of groups and a group like the Proud Boys, for example?

AUGUSTA DELL'OMO, HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL: Well, that's a great question. And I think that we're finally starting to have the right conversation, which is, these groups do represent a threat to the United States. And they are a domestic terror threat.

But on the other side, it is important to call them militias. By calling them militias, it offers us a way to understand what these groups want.

So militias are invested in overthrowing the government. They have an ideology that views themselves as protecting individual rights and that leaves them to engage in extreme actions, like the plot against Governor Whitmer.

But on the other side, militias also include activity that is demonstrations and protesting that wouldn't be classified as domestic terror. So these aren't mutually exclusive terms. Militias can commit acts of terror. And that's what we saw with Governor Whitmer.

It's also important, as you mentioned, to distinguish the militia plots that we've seen over the past few days and the activities of the Proud Boys, which are more of what we would call a street gang, that's invested in inciting violence against protesters and brawling in the streets and you know, corrupting peaceful protests.

So that distinction is important.

BRUNHUBER: Interesting. So, you know, the president's tacit and, sometimes, I guess, explicit support for these types of groups, you know, tweeting things like "Liberate Michigan," for instance, being so quick to condemn groups on the Left but being reticent to say anything in the wake of this incident.

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BRUNHUBER: How much support are these groups getting from the president and the administration and what effect is this having?

DELL'OMO: Well, it's really viewed as a validation for them. And in the case of the militia movements, there is a contradiction. They see themselves as anti-government inherently. They see themselves as overthrowing the establishment.

But Trump represents, for some of them, an outside figure that's fighting the good fight within the White House. He acts as a white male heroic figure to them. And his emboldening of them and the refusal to condemn them is really seen, especially on these online platforms, as a call to action.

And it extends beyond Trump himself to his campaign, to the actions of his son, Donald Trump Jr., asking for volunteers to join Trump's army. All of this, is seen as a mobilization and validation. And critically, it undercuts efforts by the Department of Homeland

Security and the FBI to reel in (ph), track and ultimately put a stop to these organizations.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, and you know, it's not just the president and the administration supporting these groups. I want to play a clip from the Barry County sheriff in Michigan, who had appeared at a rally with these suspects. He was asked about the accusation against them. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF DAR LEAF, BARRY COUNTY, MICHIGAN: Are they trying to kidnap?

Because a lot of people are angry with the governor. They want her arrested.

So are they trying to arrest?

Or was it a kidnap attempt?

Because you can still, in Michigan, if it's a felony, you can make a felony arrest. I think it's MCL 764.4, something like that, .5, somewhere around there.

And it doesn't say if you're in elected office that you're exempt from that arrest. So I have to look at it from that angle. And I'm hoping that's more what it is. In fact, these guys are innocent till proven guilty so I'm not even sure if they had any part in it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: So I mean that just, you know, blows me away that he's maybe trying to justify it as a citizen's arrest.

Does that type of reaction indicate perhaps a shocking level of support for these causes, in the community, in the very local power structures?

DELL'OMO: Well, I think that clip -- and it really hits me on the head with one of the biggest problems with tracking militia organizations -- is there is a not insignificant amount of support for these groups, particularly in sometimes local law enforcement.

There's been a lot of reports recently from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI over concerns about infiltration, linkages between local law enforcement, like the sheriff and militias, and that they don't see these groups seriously.

They don't see them as a threat and, in many cases, view militias as being able to do the kinds of citizen's arrests or things that they're not able to actually do.

That's a particularly disturbing trend, when thinking about what would it actually take to foil one of these terror plots. If you don't have local law enforcement taking it seriously, that

represents a real concern for the ultimate end of these organizations and what it would take the next time that something like this plot against Governor Whitmer happens.

BRUNHUBER: And even more disturbing as we head into these elections and who knows what will happen. Listen, we'll have to keep it there. But thank you very much for speaking to us, about this, Augusta Dell'omo, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, appreciate it.

DELL'OMO: Thank you for having me.

BRUNHUBER: Coming up, the World Health Organization is reporting a record number of daily global COVID-19 cases. We'll show you why Western European countries are particularly worried.

And we'll speak with a prominent British doctor about a new report that details how the U.S. and other countries have failed to meet the COVID trial, stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

A couple of thousand people have been invited to see and hear President Trump at the White House on Saturday, despite a recent COVID outbreak there that infected the president and about a dozen others. It will be the president's first public appearance since returning from the hospital on Monday. Here's what he told FOX News on Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I have been retested and I haven't each found out numbers or anything yet but I've been retested and I know I'm either at the bottom of the scale or free.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now while speaking to Fox, the president revealed a few new details about his time in the hospital. Dr. Sanjay Gupta was listening carefully for clues about the president's health.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The president did say that he had congestion in his lungs. Mark Segal (ph) asked the president, did he have scans?

And he said all kinds of scans but he didn't say what they were but then said that they seemed to show some congestion in his lungs, which is actually the first time we had heard that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: So with the election just over three weeks away and down in many polls, President Trump wants to kickstart his campaign with a rally on Monday in Florida. But one medical expert, speaking to CNN's Jake Tapper, says large crowds such as that inevitably spread the disease further.

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MIKE OSTERHOLM, CENTER FOR DISEASE RESEARCH AND POLICY INSTITUTE: Well, Florida is ripe for another large outbreak. What they've done is opened up everything as if nothing had ever happened there.

And you and I could be talking probably in eight to 10 weeks and I will likely bet that Florida will be a house on fire.

You know, this is what is so sad about this. We know these things are going to happen. It's not like you can escape this virus. You know, I find it, just illogical that people think, just because they get done with the virus, the virus is done with them. It's not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: For more on, this let's bring in Dr. Sonia Adesara, a physician with the U.K.'s National Health Service, who joins us from London.

Thank you very much for being here. The idea of thousands gathering together, to hear the president speak and then later to hold a rally, essentially, another super spreader event, it seems, it seems baffling.

What message does this behavior send?

DR. SONIA ADESARA, U.K. NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: I think it is extremely reckless and I think it is extremely selfish. It's sending the wrong message. This is a potentially deadly virus (INAUDIBLE) we're seeing huge death rates in the U.K. and the U.S.

And the (INAUDIBLE) of the message that it sends, that virus that (INAUDIBLE) take the virus seriously, that we shouldn't be following public health messaging is really, really concerning and could lead to more (INAUDIBLE) deaths.

[04:35:00]

BRUNHUBER: Yes, I mean that's exactly what a new report from the Council on Foreign Relations said. It examined all of this and it said, while the pandemic threats are inevitable, the failures that contributed to the spread of coronavirus weren't.

It said that the U.S. response was deeply flawed and too slow and it singled out leaders, including the president, for failing to communicate clearly or defend public health leaders. From your viewpoint, what have been the biggest failures to date?

ADESARA: Yes, so I think, you know, we've seen (INAUDIBLE) with the same bias (ph) and yet we know that some countries have acted decisively and competently. And we look at the countries in particularly East Asia and there were target rates very low (ph) and (INAUDIBLE) their economy.

Other countries like the U.S., like the U.K. and where we have not done so well, we have seen high death rates and our economy taking a hit as well.

And I think of all key things that we know from other countries that did well, ,that need to be done, which we are (INAUDIBLE).

Number one, we need governments that are competent, that understand science. We need clear public health messaging about what needs to be done to keep ourselves safe. And we need the public to follow these guidelines. And for them to do, we need to trust what they're being told (INAUDIBLE) the rationale behind it.

And thirdly, we need to have a really robust, comprehensive testing capacity so we can pick up new cases very quickly and we can inform (INAUDIBLE) really quickly as well.

And then ultimately, I think (INAUDIBLE) from the U.S. and the U.K., it is about when people have the virus, we need to be able to -- we need to be able to open it in the context from the -- on the virus, we need to be able to isolate and so we don't spread the virus (INAUDIBLE).

We know in the U.K., people who have been in contact with the virus really make up about 10 percent of them are actually isolating for 14 days. And for many of them, it is because they need to continue working. They don't have the financial support to stay at home to (INAUDIBLE) themselves.

So we do need to see more financial support as well to allow people to stay at home and protect themselves and not put others at risk.

BRUNHUBER: If we want to look sort of on a -- let's say a wider lens, looking towards the future, what can be done to improve the system?

So that, sort of regardless, you know, who is in power, the response to the next pandemic can be more robust.

ADESARA: Yes, so I think --

(LAUGHTER)

ADESARA: -- (INAUDIBLE). I think, you know, first of all, I think, the governments that acted quickly, took this seriously, followed World Health Organization advice did well. So that's the first start (ph). We need to and be building up our institutions and we need governments to understand the importance of following global public health advice. But number two, building up that public health testing capacity, so

building up testing capacity, also ensuring, you know, building up our health facilities. So in the U.K., we were most concerned in March, April and now we are beginning to get concerned again as we are seeing the virus that's increased, that we just don't have the capacity in our hospitals, to not be overwhelmed when we see rates of the virus increase.

And there is also the real risk here and we've seen this in the past few months that other health problems, cancer (ph) services, our mental health services, our surgical services have all had to take a back seat, because we've had to increase capacity for the coronavirus.

So yes, if you -- we need to build up our health system, so they have the spare capacity, when we have pandemics like this. And so our hospitals don't become overwhelmed and we're not in a situation like we were in March and April, where, you know, (INAUDIBLE) hospitals because there wasn't capacity.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, good point.

If you don't mind, can you stick around?

I want to bring in Melissa Bell in Paris, who has more on the cases in Europe.

Melissa, you know, let's start where you are, in France, setting a daily record for cases.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Friday was the worst we've seen so far. More than 20,000 new COVID cases announced. For the preceding 24-hour period.

And it comes as four French cities enter the maximum alert zone where fresh restrictions come into play. As was just being said, it is all about protecting the ICUs.

One of those cities that comes into the maximum alert today, in the north of France, Lille, is already warning that many of the other emergency procedures that its hospitals have been taking care of will have to be put aside in order to deal with what they expect to be a flood of COVID-19 patients because they have a particularly high rate of incidents among the elderly.

And that often has complications and fairly quickly in arrivals in ICUs.

[04:40:00]

BELL: It is once again a delicate balance to ensure that the health care system works. I think what is slightly different in several European countries with the first wave we saw that these are by and large countries that dealt with the first wave very well. Lockdowns were agreed fairly quickly. The messaging from governments was very clear. The advice of scientists was at the center of their efforts. And it was very easy therefore to close those countries down. Now we're seeing a lot more pushback in a lot of these countries

because the decisions are being made in a way that is more incremental, because, little by little, some cities, for instance, Madrid, now on lockdown, as they reach that breaking point for the health care system, are taking these drastic measures but with less clarity and less forcefulness and less unity than what we've seen in the first wave.

So it is a much more difficult decision to make. For instance, here in Paris, we have been in the maximum alert category for a week. Bars and cafes have closed but after the pushback from restaurateurs, restaurants have remained open and there are questions among health professionals about whether the current restrictions are going to be enough.

So severely tested are ICUs in places like Paris already.

BRUNHUBER: All right, Melissa Bell in Paris, thank you very much for that.

Let's go back now to Dr. Sonia Adesara in London.

Doctor, can you help us understand where this is going?

I mean we keep hearing about record cases and so on.

And are we heading back to where we were in the worst of the pandemic, with hospitals, as we were just hearing there, out of beds and so on?

Or is this just the way things will be for the next, you know, who knows how many months, cycles of more cases, more restrictions then getting the numbers back down and then loosening restrictions and cases shooting back up again?

ADESARA: So beyond the situation in the U.K., where we are seeing a (INAUDIBLE) increase. We're seeing more people coming into hospital with the virus and (INAUDIBLE) as well. And I think unless -- I think it's important to realize, when we look at other countries, that if you don't get control of the virus and then get (INAUDIBLE) with the virus, then the virus will continue to spread and (INAUDIBLE) spreads from people to people transmission.

So if we have movements we are, taking public transport and going out to work, going to shops, mixing with (INAUDIBLE) this virus. We do not have a cure or a vaccine for this virus yet.

So there are some countries that managed to suppress the virus and then with really aggressive testing, finding every new case, isolating them and all their contacts they've managed to keep the virus under control.

And the problem is, you know, in the U.K., in the U.S., we've just not done that and the virus has been allowed to spread, it's spreading exponentially and then we have -- because we don't have that, we're not getting a grip on the testing capacity and the contact tracing. We are in a situation where we're constantly having to go into

lockdown, out of lockdown, into lockdown. And to be honest, it doesn't seem like, hey, well, (INAUDIBLE) make it, it leads to people getting the virus and dying from the virus. It's also really hurting our economy. We're having businesses closed.

Friends of mine have lost their jobs over the past few months. So this strategy of just putting in restrictions whenever the virus goes up and in and out and lockdown doesn't seem to me like a long-term strategist. What we need to do is suppress the virus down and get control of the virus (INAUDIBLE) Asian countries and then have a really robust testing system so we can pick up all new cases and isolate them, isolate, contacts and also the public having really clear understanding of public health measures that they need to do to keep themselves safe.

Wearing a mask wherever you go out and trying to keep your distance, avoiding super spreader events and, you know, trying to keep this distance from people, avoiding unnecessary contacts, work at home when you can and ensure because well, it's really important that all health workers and staff and key workers being tested (INAUDIBLE) don't pass the virus to others.

BRUNHUBER: Sounds so sensible when you say, it but so far, it's eluded us, at least here in the U.S. and where you are as well. Thank you so much, Dr. Sonia Adesara in London. We appreciate it.

After the break --

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't have a choice. Like I work if I get sick or I end up on the street.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): The devastating economic impact the coronavirus pandemic is having on Generation Z and Millennials. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: As we know, the COVID pandemic has hit the U.S. economy hard, with millions applying for first time unemployment benefits. And Generation Z and Millennials have been hit the hardest. CNN's Kyung Lah shares their stories.

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KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Hannah and Joseph Kim knew growing up would be tough. But the siblings never imagined it would be like this.

HANNAH KIM, COVID-19 VICTIMS' FAMILY MEMBER: Towards the end of April, they consecutively went to the hospital. And it was my grandmother first and then my dad, the next day and then the next day was my mom.

LAH (voice-over): COVID-19 took them one by one, over just a few months, leaving the 22-year old and 17-year-old Joseph alone.

KIM: My parents are gone. And for the last two months, we didn't even have the capacity to think about our futures. You know, we're just scrambling to save our parents.

LAH (voice-over): She has no time to grieve, no time to show her loss. Hannah is in college now, Joseph in high school, with no extended family nearby or a clear path for how to make a living.

KIM: This is a memorial that we made for our parents so we could just remember them. And you know, look in every day.

LAH (voice-over): They're part of the hardest-hit age group in the COVID economy, young people. Generation Z and Millennials have America's highest rates of unemployment. About half say they or someone else in their household have either lost a job or had a pay cut since the pandemic began.

JOSUE MARTINEZ, COVID-19 SURVIVOR: We don't have the choice, like I work and I get sick or I end up on the street.

LAH (voice-over): 29-year-old Josue Martinez (ph) is the sole breadwinner in his household, paying the rent for this small converted garage he shares with his mother and girlfriend.

He kept working at his job at CVS during the worst of the virus in California. Martinez says employees were notified that a COVID positive patient had visited the store in March.

MARTINEZ: That's when I started getting all of the symptoms. That's when I started getting the fever, the cough and, at the end, I couldn't breathe at all.

LAH (voice-over): This is what happened to Martinez. For 45 days, he was in a medically induced coma, nearly losing his life in intensive care.

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LAH (voice-over): Weeks later, he survived. But he's dependent on a walker before the age of 30.

LAH: Do you think that this will impact your ability to make money or to work in the future?

MARTINEZ: Yes, I do. So any activity, I would have been, I was doing normally. Like now, I'm like limited, like I can't do.

LAH (voice-over): Young Americans, with no choice but to deal with the hand they've been dealt.

KIM: I'm still alive and my brother is still alive and we're healthy. And so, you know, I think that's -- just pockets of joy is what I'm looking for. And that's what keeps me going.

LAH (voice-over): Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

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BRUNHUBER: We just want to give you this programming note. Join Anderson Cooper, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and five former CDC directors for a CNN global town hall "Coronavirus Facts and Fears." That's Saturday at 9:00 pm Eastern. And Sunday at 9:00 in the morning. In Hong Kong, right here, on CNN.

Coming up, American pro football is coming up with new ways to handle the coronavirus. Now a new rule could cost teams on the field. Details next. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: In American pro football, it is now a new rule for coaches talking to game officials in the COVID era. In a memo obtained by CNN, the National Football League says teams will be penalized 15 yards if the coaches speak to game officials without wearing a mask.

The penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct comes after several coaches removed their masks when arguing with officials.

And the New York Jets now have a clean bill of health, after sending all personnel home on Friday, when one player tested positive for COVID-19. It turns out that was a false positive. After a retest, everyone tested negative. And their game against the Arizona Cardinals will go ahead as scheduled on Sunday, which they will probably lose.

All this uncertainty shows how sports leagues have walked the delicate line during the coronavirus pandemic. Carolyn Manno has more on what the NFL is planning to do.

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CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Carolyn Manno in New York. For the second straight week, the Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots have had to push their games back because of coronavirus.

The Patriots were originally scheduled to play the Denver Broncos on Sunday afternoon. But that game has been moved to Monday night at 5:00 pm Eastern. Meantime, Sunday's Titans-Bills game to be played on Tuesday. And

Buffalo scheduled to play the Chiefs, two days later. And if that game comes to fruition, the other game will be pushed back.

As the league's scheduling shuffle continues, the NFL tells CNN as of Thursday's round of testing, the Patriots, Chiefs and Titans are reporting no new cases, an encouraging sign as they try to move forward in their schedule.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, that wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I will be back in just a moment. Stay with us.