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Trump Holds First Rally since COVID-19 Diagnosis; J&J Pauses Vaccine Trial; New Research: U.S. Schools Not Major Source of Spread; France Adds More Cities to Maximum Alert Category; Millions to Be Tested after China's New Outbreak; South Korea Eases Some Social Distancing Measures; Big Tech Grows, Other Sectors Struggle. Aired 2-3 a ET
Aired October 13, 2020 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Ahead this hour:
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I went through it. Now they say I'm immune. I can feel -- I feel so powerful. I'll walk into that audience. I'll walk in there. I'll kiss everyone in that audience.
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CHURCH: A maskless Trump back on the campaign trail on a 3-week sprint to save his presidency, all despite a surge in cases and warnings from one of America's top doctors.
Plus China is seeing a cluster of new COVID-19 cases. Now part of the country is preparing for mass testing. We are live from the region.
Later, it's a big day for Amazon and what markets are saying ahead of Prime Day.
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CHURCH: The U.S. presidential election is now just 3 weeks away. Donald Trump, who is behind in the polls, is making a return to the campaign trail just 11 days after testing positive for COVID-19.
In the coming hours, he will hit the battleground state of Pennsylvania. On Monday, he reached out to supporters in Florida with this message.
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TRUMP: We are hitting record stock market numbers. Record stocks. Record job numbers. Don't blow it. Don't blow it.
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CHURCH: The White House doctor says President Trump tested negative for COVID-19 on consecutive days but did not reveal which days those were. At his rally, the president talked about feeling great and made the unproven claim that he is now immune to a packed and largely maskless crowd.
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TRUMP: One thing with me, I went through it. Now they say I am immune. I feel so powerful. I'll walk into that audience. I will walk in there and I'll kiss everyone in that audience. I will kiss the guys and the beautiful women. I will give you a big fat kiss.
When you are the president you cannot lock yourself in a basement and say I will not bother with the world. You've got to get out. It's risky. It's risky but you got to get out. It does give you a good feeling when you can beat something.
And now they say you are immune. I don't know for how long. Some people say for life, some people say for four months.
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CHURCH: The leading U.S. expert on infectious disease says political rallies in the time of COVID are a very bad idea.
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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We know that that is asking for trouble when you do that. We have seen that when you have situations of congregant settings, where there are a lot of people without masks. The data speak for themselves. It happens.
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CHURCH: CNN's Gary Tuchman spoke with some Trump supporters before the rally. They seem to be on the same page as the U.S. president.
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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You saw what happened at the White House recently where so many people that were outside at the event got coronavirus, including the president.
That doesn't concern you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
TUCHMAN: Why not?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm healthy. I have no underlying health issues. That seems to be the people that are most prone to getting the disease.
(CROSSTALK)
TUCHMAN: The president was healthy too, that. And he had to take a helicopter to the hospital. Right, he had good medical care, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, well, and -
TUCHMAN: Do you have care that good?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, but I have -- I take care of myself.
TUCHMAN: Why not just put on a mask?
What is the difference?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A mask can actually do more harm than good to individuals.
TUCHMAN: It can do more harm?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It can, because people can faint because there's too much carbon dioxide going back into their system.
TUCHMAN: You think people are fainting all over the country from masks and dropping dead?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, just enough. Enough people are getting ill because they're wearing a mask. So, yes.
TUCHMAN: Where'd that come from?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Common sense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've also seen the numbers drop every single day.
TUCHMAN: The numbers are going up now though.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here?
TUCHMAN: And Mr. Trump says it's disappearing, but it's not. That's not the truth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'm debating on what the truth is for that because of what I can see. It's -- all the numbers that I've read have been down and I'm seeing that the flu is taking more people.
TUCHMAN: So, that's what you believe?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
TUCHMAN: Let me ask you this. If President Trump at the rally said everyone put on their masks --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would put it on.
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CHURCH: Joining me now is Reid Wilson, he is a national correspondent for "The Hill." Thank you so much for being with us.
REID WILSON, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, "THE HILL": Thanks for having me.
[02:05:00]
CHURCH: So about three weeks away from the election and just about 10 days or so after testing positive for COVID-19, President Trump was out on the campaign trail holding a rally in Sanford, Florida with more rallies planned in three other states. It's a message of course of business as usual, trying to put this virus behind him. Is that going to work given 60 percent of voters disapproved of the way he's handling this pandemic?
WILSON: Well, I don't think that the virus is ever going to be out of voters' minds. It has been front and center in absolutely everything that we've done for the last nine months as a community, as a nation. And it's not simply going to go away because a president wants to will it away. As a matter of fact, infections are rising once again.
Hospitalizations are rising in many states around the country. And we are heading into a fall and winter that can be really abysmal. We're going to be stuck back inside again. And those are exactly the conditions under which this virus spreads.
So, it's going to be troubling. And President Trump is taking a clear risk every time he hosts one of these forums, one of these big rallies. That one of the rallies themselves might become a super spreader event which would be a disastrous outcome for his campaign just as it was when his introduction of a new Supreme Court nominee became a super spreader event a few weeks ago.
CHURCH: Right. And new polls on Monday from the New York Times and Sienna College for likely voters in Michigan show Biden support at 48 percent, Trump at 40 percent. And then in Wisconsin, Biden is at 51 percent to Trump's 41 percent. What are those numbers tell you?
WILSON: Well, there are two things that should be troubling for President Trump in those two numbers and in a lot of the surveys that we've seen recently.
First of all, he is trailing in some of those blue wall states that he won back in 2016. Michigan and Wisconsin were critical pillars to his taking the White House why it's such a large margin as he did.
The other thing that trouble -- that should be troubling to the president's campaign is that those numbers that you read off for him are so low. It's not as if he's neck and neck with Joe Biden in the high 40's. It's that only 40, or 41 percent of people in these critical swing states say they're going to back him. We're only three weeks out from election day, voters have tuned in, millions of voters have already cast their ballots. You know, if those numbers, if his numbers aren't 45, 46, 47, he's got zero shot at winning these swing states. He needs to improve dramatically. And the clock is ticking and running out very fast.
CHURCH: So, as you point out, all reputable polls show the president trailing his Democratic rival Joe Biden nationally and in some battleground states. But Democrats still fear a repeat of 2016 because of course it's the Electoral College that decides the winner.
Do you see any path to victory for Donald Trump? Because he thinks the polls look very good for him.
WILSON: Yes and it's funny that you mention the Democrats. They have this collective feeling of what Biden's own pollster called PTSD about the polls being so wrong from 2016. I'd argue that the polls weren't that far off.
The big difference here between 2016 and today is that Hillary Clinton was leading Donald Trump. But she was in the mid-40s and he was in the low 40s. Today, Joe Biden is at or above 50 percent in a lot of these key swing states.
Trump does have a path. There are millions, tens of millions of votes still to be counted. And there are a lot of people who support the president to the very end. There's nobody in America who doesn't need a wealth or hate Donald Trump. There's not a lot of people in the middle there.
But the fact is his coalition is shrinking by the day, it seems. And Joe Biden is doing substantially better than Hillary Clinton did among some key demographic groups, among women, among suburbanites, among moderates, especially among college educated white people that she struggled to win over. Joe Biden is winning.
So that tells me that President Trump's path is difficult geographically and it's difficult demographically too.
CHURCH: And so, overall, how big a role has President Trump's handling of the pandemic played into Biden's lead over him in the polls? Because of course he has been struggling to make law and order the big issue. But apparently, voters doesn't care about that as much.
WILSON: Well it's funny you mention that. As we look at the surveys, on questions of law and order, more Americans actually trust Joe Biden to handle law and order issues than they do President Trump. Now, Biden's advantage on law and order issues is narrower than his advantage on coronavirus handling which is substantially larger than President Trump's margins.
But the fact is, I mean, it's as if the president has picked two losing issues. Everybody is focusing everything through the lens of the coronavirus pandemic, whether it's the discussion of healthcare, discussion of the economy, even discussion of law and order.
You know, a lot of these protests that are happening, people are talking about it in the context of the potential to spread the virus.
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WILSON: Fortunately, we haven't seen virus -- the virus spreading through a lot of these protests.
But the fact is, I mean, this election is going to be a referendum on President Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Unless there's some miracle in the next three weeks which spoiler alert, there won't be, then his handling of it is going to determine the outcome of this election. And that clearly does not work in his favor.
CHURCH: Reid Wilson, great to talk with you. Thanks so much.
WILSON: Thank you, Rosemary.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: About 8 million Americans have already cast their ballots and the state of Georgia set a new record during its first day of in- person voting on Monday. Look at this. Long lines stretched on for hours in some locations.
Recent polls show the reliably Republican state is a statistical toss- up between President Trump and Joe Biden.
Voting at State Farm Arena, home to the Atlanta Hawks basketball team, was delayed for about an hour after a technical problem.
In California, election officials are warning Republicans to stop using unofficial drop boxes to collect ballots. Voters reported the unauthorized boxes in at least three counties, one at a church.
Some Republican Party leaders say they're not doing anything wrong, just providing a place for people to drop off their ballots with someone they know and trust. But California law does not allow unauthorized vote by mail drop boxes.
You can expect fireworks on Capitol Hill as senators will begin questioning Donald Trump's pick for the U.S. Supreme Court in the day ahead. Conservative favorite Amy Coney Barrett outlined her judicial philosophy on Monday. CNN's Phil Mattingly reports.
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SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Let's remember, the world is watching.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A potential generational shift for the highest court in the land, playing out amid a once in a century pandemic and a presidential election.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This hearing should have been postponed. The decision to hold this hearing now is reckless and places facilities workers, janitorial staff and congressional aides and Capitol police at risk.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court, spending most of the day watching.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Judge Barrett brings impeccable credentials, judicial temperament and a faithfulist (ph) to the law.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Waiting.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-CA): Health care coverage, for millions of Americans is at stake with this nomination.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Making her own case for her confirmation.
AMY CONEY BARRETT, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE CANDIDATE: The policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches, elected by and accountable to the people. The public should not expect courts to do so and courts should not try.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): As senators laid out the battle lines for her nomination in the days ahead all while they grappled with a health crisis in their own chamber, likely caused by Barrett's nomination event.
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT): We should not be holding this hearings when it's plainly unsafe to do so. Two members of this committee are just now emerging from quarantine after testing positive.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Two GOP senators at the Rose Garden event tested positive for COVID-19. Senator Mike Lee, back on the dais less than 2 weeks later.
SEN. MIKE LEE (R-UT): Even in those circumstances --
MATTINGLY (voice-over): For much of the time without a mask. Lee posted a letter from the Capitol's attending physician saying he, quote, met the criteria to end COVID-19 isolation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was an inspirational model and role model.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Senator Thom Tillis, who also tested positive, started the hearing remotely with plans to return in person later in the week.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't demand that all your colleagues be tested before you go to work if there is no reason.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Senator Lindsey Graham rejecting Democratic calls for each committee member to test negative before the hearings got underway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we are running this hearing safely. It has been set up with CDC compliance. We will move forward.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Even as for some, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who has been by President Trump's side throughout his battle with COVID-19, staying masked is a bridge too far.
MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Let me do this. Let me pull this away.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, pull away.
MEADOWS: And then that way I can take this. Off
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
MEADOWS: Well, I'm more than 10 feet away. Well, I'm not going to talk through a mask.
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MATTINGLY (voice-over): Phil Mattingly, CNN, Capitol Hill.
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CHURCH: The race for a COVID-19 vaccine has hit another roadblock in the United States.
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CHURCH: Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson says it's pausing an advanced clinical trial after an unexplained illness in one of its volunteers. This is the second phase 3 coronavirus vaccine trial to be paused in the U.S.
AstraZeneca paused last month because of neurological issue in one of its volunteers. The trial resumed in Britain and other countries but remains paused here in the United States.
Top expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says the U.S. is on a trajectory of getting worse and "we've got to turn this around," his words, there; 31 states have recorded more new cases last week than the week before. According to Johns Hopkins University and 9 of those states reported record higher hospitalizations over the weekend.
Dr. Fauci says he hopes these figures jolt the American public into reality. Brian Todd has that report.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new warning from America's top voice on the coronavirus pandemic as new cases nationally are up 40 percent from a month ago.
FAUCI: We should be doubling down in implementing the public health measures that we have been talking about for so long, which are keeping a distance, no crowds, wearing masks, washing hands, doing things outside, as opposed to inside, in order to get those numbers down.
We're entering into the cool months of the fall and ultimately the cold months of the winter. And that's just a recipe of a real problem.
TODD: There are new worries that Florida could return to previous crisis levels. Some top experts say Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wasn't tough enough regarding distancing and mask-wearing rules and opened too many places back up too soon.
DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH: Florida is ripe for another large outbreak.
What they have 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.
TODD: Florida now joins more than 30 American states with new coronavirus cases trending upward. Many hot spots in the Upper Midwest and Plains states, rural areas where hospitals are overwhelmed.
One public health director in North Dakota told CNN today they had less than 20 hospital beds available in the entire state.
RENAE MOCH, DIRECTOR, BISMARCK-BURLEIGH PUBLIC HEALTH: We have some hospitals in very rural areas that are having difficulty meeting the demand and having to send patients to different areas across the state of North Dakota and even had to send out of state at some point to Sioux Falls and also Billings, Montana.
TODD: In New York, positivity rates in hot spot neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Queens and suburban counties outside New York City continue to be way above the rest of the state.
And officials say law enforcement will step up measures to enforce shutdown and distancing rules in those communities. Not all of the news is bad. A Brown University survey of more than 200,000 students in 47 states shows that, at least early in the school year, schools do not appear to be the super-spreaders they were feared to be, with infection rates among students and staff often lower than they were in their broader communities.
EMILY OSTER, ECONOMICS PROFESSOR, BROWN UNIVERSITY: A lot of the schools in our data are doing masking. Some of them are doing distancing. Some of them are doing smaller pods.
TODD: But growing concerns over mental health impacts. A new article published today in "The Journal of the American Medical Association" warns, quote, "A second wave of devastation is imminent," a mental health crisis, with increased deaths from suicide and drug overdoses.
DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: This is not just about isolation. This is about people losing their jobs, feeling socially and economically insecure. And that is what is driving many of these mental health issues and substance use issues.
TODD: All of which is taxing America's resources and finances. According to an article just published in the "Journal of the American Medical Association," the estimated cost of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States is more than $16 trillion.
The authors of the report called this the greatest threat to the U.S. economy since the Great Depression -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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CHURCH: As we just mentioned, a new Brown University study shows that U.S. schools are not the major spreaders of COVID-19 that experts feared. Data gathered for more than 200,000 students across 47 states found only a minuscule infection rate during the last two weeks of September.
I spoke earlier to CNN medical analyst, Dr. Leana Wen, who sent a note of caution about the new findings.
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DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I think there needs to be a lot more research done to look at correlating for example, community spread with what is happening in the schools.
And until then, I completely agree that we should prioritize schools for in-person learning and try to do everything we can to reduce community spread.
[02:20:00]
WEN: So that we allow schools to come back for in-person learning but we really need to also safeguard the health of not only the students but the faculty staff and their families too.
CHURCH: Right. Yes. All parents, we want our kids back in school but it has to be done safely, right? And Doctor, the U.S. is averaging about 50,000 new COVID cases a day. And all we really need to do is wear masks. But that message is failing to get through to the American public.
We see it at these rallies where the president and it's failing to get through despite the fact that thousands of lives could be saved if everyone wore masks. How do you get that message across and why is it not being received loud and clear?
WEN: It does take a significant cultural change but we can do this. And part of what has been hampering our response all along is this mixed message. Instead of standing behind our scientists, we had our political elected officials frankly push scientists and science under the bus. We need everybody to be on the same page with this message and I think for all of us as individuals, we can do our part.
We could wear masks ourselves and be a role model for those around us. Also in public health, we talk about the trusted messenger. Well, you are trusted messenger to someone. It could be somebody in your family, somebody in your social circles whom may not believe in masks but you can help to convince them that this is the right thing to do for our country.
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CHURCH: That was CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen.
European governments are cracking down against a second wave of the coronavirus. We will get a live report on the latest restrictions in England and France. What it could mean for their already struggling economy. We will be back with that in just a moment.
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CHURCH: With many European countries staring down a second wave of the pandemic, officials are walking a fine line, trying to fight the virus while still protecting their economies.
But this is the reality, according to Johns Hopkins University. Cases in Europe are soaring. Here is a look at new cases in the past week versus the previous week. All that red you see is where cases are up at least 50 percent.
British prime minister Boris Johnson is clamping down on parts of England and some local leaders and business owners are pushing back. Mr. Johnson announced new restrictions on some bars, restaurants and other businesses in areas where infection rates are very high.
And in France, officials are adding more cities to the country's maximum alert level. That means closures are likely coming. Joining me now from Paris with more about this is CNN's Melissa Bell.
Good to see you, Melissa.
What is the main factor behind the surge in cases across France?
[02:25:00]
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has been a surge over the course -- we've seen several records set in terms of cases. Still, what we are seeing in terms of numbers, the young are driving the second wave. When you look at the incidence rate amongst younger people, they are double from the general population.
What we are seeing now as a result of those record rises in the number of new cases of the number of people in ICUs growing as well. More than 1,500 in ICUs nationally. Without particular concern without how some of the hardest areas are going to be able to cope.
Here is what the head of the French Parisian regional authorities had to say about the situation here.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We have the measures. We are trying to get them fully in place. That is why I'm calling that a race against time, because I think there is still an effort that could be made by citizens.
We are preparing for all hypotheses, all of them. Since the beginning, we have put everything on the table. This crisis has taught us all to know our place. I'm not a minister, I'm not a prime minister. But I am saying that we have to be prepared for every scenario.
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BELL: This morning, those ministers will be meeting in a special emergency meeting to decide what more measures need to be taken to protect places like the greater Paris region that are under such stress in terms of their ICUs, their hospitals.
And the president will speak on Wednesday. We expect him to stay shy of announcing the second lockdown, maybe looking at things like curfews. A lot of speculation in the French about what he might have to announce that could help.
CHURCH: Melissa, new restrictions have been put in place in England and response to increased cases there.
What is the latest on that?
BELL: That's right. For the time being, the system that has been put in place in England looks very much like the system we have here already, with a very high alert category, seeing things like pubs closing, leaving restaurants open but pubs closed. Very much like we have in the Paris region.
The only area in England that is in a very high category is Merseyside and in the U.K. a lot of pushback from businesses, you can imagine. They're worried about what those restrictions could mean for the economy, for their businesses in particular. Here's what the British prime minister had to say about the new measures yesterday.
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BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: We are entering a new and crucial phase in the fight against coronavirus, because the number of cases have gone up 4 times in 4 weeks. It is once again spreading among the elderly and vulnerable.
There are already more COVID patients in U.K. hospitals today than there were on the 23rd of March, when the whole country went into lockdown. Deaths, alas, are also rising once again. These figures flashing at us like dashboard warnings in a passenger jet and we must act now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BELL: Again, a similar story in England as what we've seen in France. The young, who have been pushing those numbers up, now infecting the elderly with all of the consequences that it has on hospitals.
CHURCH: Melissa Bell, many thanks. Bringing us a live report from Paris.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, how China is trying to contain its first new coronavirus cases in nearly two months. One city hopes to test all 9 million people who live there.
And the mask mandate is now nationwide in South Korea. The penalties violators could face, that's next.
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CHURCH: China is in the process of testing an entire city of 9 million people. This after 12 new coronavirus cases were reported over the weekend. Authorities in the coastal city of Qingdao are taking swift action to find any other new cases. They have set up a citywide testing program and have screened more than 3 million people.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is in Hong Kong. She joins us now.
Good to see you, Kristie. A third of the 9 million residents have already been tested. So far, zero new cases have been found. That is a pretty impressive progress report.
How have they've been able to test on such a massive scale?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: Rosemary, they're able to do this because China has done this before. This is not the first time we have seen a rapid massive testing scale to take place in a city in China.
This time it's taking place in the northeastern coastal city of Qingdao, a city of 9 million people. It's known for its tourism, as well as its namesake beer, as you mention, over the weekend. Ten to 12 individuals were detected for testing positive as a result of 9 million people being tested for COVID-19 over a span of 5 days.
Early results are in. Government authorities this morning announced at 3 million people have tested positive. We've also added that may not detected additional positive cases.
This has happened before. We've seen it in Beijing and Xinxiang, in Wuhan and on the back of other small clusters there. This is a crucial part of China's pandemic strategy. These rapid mass testing programs taking place, no matter how small the outbreak is.
And it has proven to be very effective in lowering the rate of infection. In fact, on Monday, we heard from the health department in China that said only 13 new COVID-19 cases were reported, 7 of them imported, 6 of them domestic, where Qingdao is located. Back to you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Kristie Lu Stout, many thanks. Joining us live from Hong Kong. Appreciate it.
South Korea's mandating face masks in crowded areas. Starting in about a month, people who don't wear one will be fined about $90. Authorities say facilities that fail to take precautions could be closed. The mask mandate also applies to public transit. This move comes as
the country eases some social distancing measures. But bars and clubs will still limit the number of people allowed inside. South Korea reported about 100 new cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours. Let's turn to Paula Hancocks. She joins us live from Seoul.
Good to see you, Paula.
For the most part, weren't people across South Korea wearing masks anyway?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They were absolutely. The vast majority of people was wearing masks. The fact is, many cities including the capital of Seoul already had mandatory face mask rules in place for certain areas, where you simply cannot socially distance.
So what this is today is the government is trying to make this nationwide. As you say, it's public transport rallies, gatherings and things like that. And wanted to make sure that everybody is wearing a mask.
This is really the first step, because after this there's going to be a 30 day grace period and from November 13th, you will be fined if you are not wearing a mask.
In fact, if you're not wearing it correctly, health officials pointing out you should not be wearing it under your nose or under your chin as some people have done. Making sure that the mandatory mask rules are across the board and across the country at the same time as lowering the social distancing rules.
What this level one now means for social distancing.
[02:35:00]
HANCOCKS: It's the lowest level for South Korea, is that there is now not a restriction on the amount of people that can gather indoors or outdoors. There were other things for example.
Churches now can have some in-person services but that counts as a 30 percent capacity. The same for sporting events. It can be 30 percent of the stands being filled. Certainly, the social distancing rules are being relaxed, showing that the government does feel that they are getting a good handle on recent clusters.
Again, there were many caveats to these rules that they're giving, saying if there are certain hotspot areas, then the local government officials should be able to make the rules and make sure that the sensible rules are in place.
As you said, Rosemary, it is true; most people, the vast majority of people in South Korea, do wear masks and, frankly, have done since February-March.
CHURCH: Has been absolutely extraordinary comparing how different nations respond to this, certainly South Korea compared to what we are seeing here in the United States. Paula Hancocks, many thanks to you for that live report.
Not every sector of the economy suffering through the pandemic. Big events for Amazon and Apple in the coming hours will push profits even higher. We will take a look.
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CHURCH: Though many businesses are struggling to survive during this pandemic, Big Tech is doing just fine as more people work from home and shop online.
Amazon is getting a jump on the holiday shopping season with its Prime Day. And there is a lot of anticipation for Apple's event in the coming hours, where a new iPhone is expected to be announced. John Defterios has more on all of this. He joins us now live from Abu Dhabi.
Always good to see you, John.
If there is one single positive business trend out of COVID-19, it must be a profound shift to technology on a daily basis, right?
Two standouts. Amazon and Apple. They have big events today.
What are we expecting?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Sometimes you wonder whether the events will live up to all the hype. And I think in this COVID-19 cycle and the link to technology, the answer would probably be yes.
We have two CEOs that are ubiquitous with their brands, Jeff Bezos and Tim Cook of Amazon and Apple. Look at that stock performance since the start of the pandemic in particular in March. There is a V-shaped down up in a big way. Apple 68 percent year today, with Amazon up 90 percent.
If you believe the numbers, that is not the top. Let's take a look at what I'm talking about here.
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DEFTERIOS: The Prime Day itself, which would last over 24 hours, expected to hit $11 billion of additional sales, up 40 percent over Prime Day 2019.
Caveats here, delayed from July to October because of the pandemic, this has been marked as the start of the holiday shopping season.
How do you like that?
This will help Amazon in the fourth quarter. Most that follow the company suggest to the tune of about 18 percent in the fourth quarter alone. That is how much demand has pent up, particularly among Prime users.
Interesting that small businesses being squeezed by the pandemic are looking to save money. They see the convenience and cost savings from Amazon there.
But people are not traveling. If you have money in your pocket, this is one of those spend it in the fourth quarter as a result of being locked down in the second wave.
CHURCH: Good point. There is always a lot of hype around an Apple event, of course. This one seems to be all about speed, high speed.
Is it slated to be a big sales push?
DEFTERIOS: It depends how you look at it, Rosemary. It is called High Speed. This is the 5G technology turning it into much faster handsets. The challenge in the United States and other markets around the world is that 5G has not been spread out into the networks yet.
So this is an early play, even though Apple is not early to the game. What they are banking on is 350 million to 950 million of their Apple users on handsets are ready to recycle. They are calling it the super cycle for Apple right now.
But they're not ahead of the curve, as I'm suggesting. You have Motorola, Google, Samsung, Huawei, all with 5G networks, particularly in Shanghai or Seoul, who have already built out these networks.
It's not the case in the United States. U.S. subscribers, only 1 percent are holding 5G handsets and can tap into those networks. That is expected to surge to 74-75 percent by 2025.
What Apple is counting on now is a bigger screen for models perhaps and the loyalty to design, even though they are late to the market with 5G. It is not behind the technology in the United States. And that is the key market now, of course.
CHURCH: John Defterios, always keeping us up to date on these things, joining us live from Abu Dhabi. Many thanks.
Here in the U.S., the second quarter was the worst financial hit in the history of the airline industry. Third quarter results won't be much better due to a drop in demand for air travel, thanks to the pandemic of course.
U.S. airlines reported combined losses of $12 billion in the second quarter and analysts are forecasting that losses will come to about $10 billion in the just completed third quarter.
Delta Airlines will be among the first U.S. carriers to announce earnings in the coming hours.
Cruise lines have also taken a hit during the pandemic. Now Carnival has just announced it's canceling the remaining cruises for its six ships operating from Port Miami and Port Canaveral for November. It points to the CDC's extension of a no sale order through October 31st.
Already, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean have announced they were canceling November sailing.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. "WORLD SPORT" is next. I will be back with another hour of NEWSROOM at the top of the hour. Please stay with us.
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