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Tracking Tropical Storm Elsa; New Videos Of U.S. Capitol Riot; Movie Stars Return To Cannes Red Carpet; Bolsonaro Facing Probe over Corruption Allegations; Didi Shares Plunge after Ban from China's App Store; Study Shows Workers Happier, Productivity Same or Higher. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired July 07, 2021 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:28]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Paula Newton. Coming up, Tropical Storm Elsa is barreling towards Florida's West Coast. What this could mean for rescue efforts at the Surfside condo collapse.

Plus, new footage of the U.S. Capitol riot six months after the violent attack.

And the Cannes Film Festival is back. Stars hit the red carpet in the French Riviera for one of the world's most prestigious competitions.

At this hour, millions of people in Florida and along the coastal South East are bracing for impact as Tropical Storm Elsa closes right now in on Florida's Gulf Coast. And also, briefly strengthened to a hurricane late Tuesday, but has since lost a little bit of his punch. Still 33 counties are under a state of emergency at this hour. The storm is expected to make landfall late Wednesday morning.

Before that though, Elsa battered the Florida Keys with wind and heavy rain. This was the scene in Key West on Tuesday as the storm skirted west of the lower keys. For more on what we can expect from the storm. We want to bring in our Tyler Mauldin. Yes, it's been keeping you guys on your toes, I know. And in terms of where we're at with not just the location, but wind speed at this point in time.

TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. So the wind speed has actually dropped a 70-mile per hour storm, Paula. But, you know, there's not a big difference between 75 miles per hour and 70 miles per hour. At the moment, this system is a couple 100 miles to the northwest of Surfside. It's about 60 miles due west of Tampa. It has gusts as high as about 80, 85 miles per hour on this entire area from about Naples all the way up to Cedar Key and Orlando to Disney World.

You're in a tornado watch till 8:00 this morning because as this system does push up to the north, Elsa continues to swing these outer bands in and each little band rotates and has the potential of potentially creating a quick little spin up tornado and National Weather Service would have to issue a tornado warning. So, that's why we have a tornado watch here. And we continue to see the rain push over the same areas over and over and over again.

And over the last two days we've seen some areas pick up about six inches of rainfall. Of course this could easily lead to some flooding. And Elsa is also as it pushes right up the coast of Tampa Bay. The timing right now is coinciding pretty much with high tide and that is helping to exacerbate the storm surge threat in this area. And the storm surge could get up to five feet in the Tampa Bay area.

From here it pushes up to the north. It goes over North Florida and then goes over Coastal Georgia. Then eventually it goes on into the Mid-Atlantic and up the New England and on into the hurricane graveyard up here in the North Atlantic. So you can see that it's not just the state of Florida that will be dealing with this, it's really the entire eastern seaboard. As it pushes to the north it will continue to throw all that rainfall up the peninsula Florida so another soggy day for many.

And then showers and thunderstorms pushing up across the coastal Carolinas, an island to the Mid-Atlantic. Here Paula, we'll have to watch for storm surge as well as heavy rain of flooding as Elsa impacts them.

NEWTON: Yes, as you say it's going to be with the United States for some time to come. Tyler, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Now, like we were just saying Tropical Storm Elsa is threatening the crews that are working at the Champlain Towers Condo collapse in Surfside. They've been battling that wind and rain as they continue searching the rubble. On Tuesday, we learned eight more bodies had been recovered, bringing the official death toll to 36.

More than 100 people are still unaccounted for and we're getting a closer look now at what's left behind and the enormous scale of this disaster. CNN's Leyla Santiago reports.

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LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The search and rescue effort growing more urgent as Tropical Storm Elsa looms closer to Florida, the outer bands of wind and rain already being felt in Surfside.

MAYOR DANIELLA LEVINE CAVA (D), MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FL: Despite the rain and the other adverse conditions, we have recovered four additional victims. The number of confirmed deaths is now 36.

SANTIAGO: Teams still working as long as wind gusts remain under 45 miles per hour.

[02:05:08]

CAVA: They were forced to pause for a little bit, about two hours earlier this afternoon because of the lightning, which is mandatory to not work during lightning. And also some gusts of wind that did go above 30 miles an hour with the tropical storm.

SANTIAGO: Rescue teams now have 100 percent access to the building rubble and a third of the site where they couldn't safely explore prior to Sunday's demolition, expediting the discovery of victims, but no sign of life just yet.

CHIEF ALAN COMINSKY, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY FIRE: Unfortunately, we're not seeing anything positive that continues in that sense. You know, the key things we're looking for all throughout in regards to void space, livable spaces, you know, we're not coming across that. So we're actively searching as aggressive as we can.

SANTIAGO: While the search and rescue effort is still the main focus in Surfside, numerous investigations are happening simultaneously and new federal partners are arriving in the community to assist in the investigation.

CAVA: The whole world wants to know what happened here and especially those who are the victims, the survivors, the family members of those who are in the pile. And I'm very confident that especially the federal investigative team will get to the bottom of this and that we'll learn what happened, what could have been prevented, and how to make sure it never happens again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: We've certainly watched this from afar being so close, you can see the twisted metal, the concrete that make up a very tall pile. To put it in perspective, the ocean is on the other side. And you can't even see it from where we are standing right in front. But of course it is what is underneath this pile that is tearing apart this community. For families, it is knowing that loved ones are somewhere, could be somewhere underneath.

And for the survivors, it's knowing that some of their most cherished belongings will never be seen again. Leyla, Santiago, CNN, Surfside Florida.

NEWTON: There's troubling new data on the spread of the Delta COVID variant right across the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says the highly contagious variant makes up more than half of all new coronavirus cases. Now this comes as infections are on the rise in 11 states now, that also shows COVID cases are about three times higher in states with below average vaccination rates. Not a surprise, right? President Joe Biden is now sounding the alarm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Virtually every COVID-19 hospitalization and death in the United States has been among the unvaccinated. So if you're vaccinated, you're protected. But if you're unvaccinated, you're not. And you're putting yourself more importantly, maybe from your perspective, your family and your friends at risk. So please get vaccinated now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Joining me now from San Francisco is Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider. She is an internal medicine physician at California Pacific Medical Center. And it good to see you again. We are still talking about this pandemic, of course. And now, both in the world but also in the United States they're talking about a two-track pandemic, right? Why is that at this point in time, so significant, especially in the United States where we have those stats that really shows the difference between the have vaccine states and the have not vaccine states?

DR. SHOSHANA UNGERLEIDER, INTERNAL MEDICINE PHYSICIAN CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER: Well, Paula, we still have so much more work to do in beating this virus here in the U.S., this Delta variant which we know is much more infectious and may cause more severe illnesses. Now, the dominant variants in this country, the speed by which this variant to cold here is truly remarkable.

And I think in areas with lower vaccine coverage, we may likely see large spikes in new cases and the weeks and months ahead. Now, because our vaccines are effective against variants, including Delta, and enough people are now vaccinated. A national search is really unlikely, but there will be regional ones and the partially vaccinated, and the unvaccinated who you're speaking about are really at very high risk right now.

So we need to do everything we can to encourage people to take the vaccine, the supply is no longer an issue. We just need people to actually take the shots.

NEWTON: So the White House seems to be having what they're calling more of a granular push, right? And some of that involves getting those vaccines to primary care physicians. But do you believe that vaccine mandates would also help?

UNGERLEIDER: Well, you know, right now, the Biden administration is really doubling down on efforts to get more shots into arms without doing any mandates just yet, as you said they're focusing on increasing vaccine access in doctor's offices which is a good idea, and workplaces as we know people are returning to work.

[02:10:05]

UNGERLEIDER: They're ramping up efforts to get more young people, aged 12 to 18 vaccinated before they go back to school in the fall. And I think for people who are hesitant to take a vaccine due to the lack of full FDA approval, you know, we actually hope that the FDA will move quickly on this one for the mRNA vaccines. And this will encourage more people to go forward with their shots in lieu of a vaccine mandate.

And Paula, we can't forget that most of the world still doesn't have access to vaccines. I feel the need to mention that to beat this virus we have to work together globally. This is not just a humanitarian act, the more this virus spreads, the more likely it is for a very dangerous variant to emerge, one that could evade our current vaccines. And that really impacts all of us. So, it's best interest, right? To help other countries get access.

NEWTON: Yes. The WHO spoke about that again today. And obviously, they want to see this go much more quickly. And one of the reasons is, of course, the variants. We're talking about the Delta variant now. We had that new data out of Israel. And it was a bit alarming, quite frankly, to everyone, including me, when you see that the vaccines perhaps are not as effective. But when we take a look -- a closer look at the data, what do you see?

UNGERLEIDER: Well, you know, it turns out that the current vaccines, the ones that are available here in the United States, the Pfizer, and Moderna, mRNA vaccines, as well as the Johnson and Johnson vaccines. We know that they are protective against serious illness, hospitalization and death from the Delta variant. The breakthrough cases for the people who were fully vaccinated and still tested positive for the Delta variant. They weren't tending to get as ill from the -- from that particular variant.

So, that really shows us just how much -- just how important it is, right? Right now for as many people as possible to get their vaccines in order to, you know, avoid illness and suffering.

NEWTON: Yes. It's amazing that even with all that data out there that there is that vaccine hesitancy. Doctor, thanks so much. Really appreciate your update on this.

UNGERLEIDER: Thank you.

NEWTON: Now, as we were saying, the head of the World Health Organization warns a coronavirus pandemic remains in "a very dangerous phase" even as some progress is made. Here's a look at how cases are trending compared to the previous week now. The WHO Director General says the equitable distribution of vaccines and supplies is the only way out of the global crisis. You laid out how the pandemic is now affecting countries differently.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEDROS ADHANOM, DIRECTOR GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: As you know, we face a two track pandemic. The countries that are now opening up their societies are those that have largely controlled the supply of life saving personal protective equipment, the tests, oxygen and especially vaccines. Meanwhile, countries without access to sufficient supplies are facing waves of hospitalizations and death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: South Korea meantime is entering its fourth wave of coronavirus infections. The health ministry says the capital Seoul reported its highest ever single day increase of new cases on Tuesday. Officials say the country is in a dire situation as the virus is spreading at a "very fast rate." The country's leaders are urging immediate action to find out what that could be. We join Paula Hancocks who is our South Korea correspondent. She joins us now from Wales. And Paula, I know you've been following this so closely for nearly a year and a half now. And the point here is that they are experiencing a new wave. Do they understand where those outbreaks are occurring and why? Because we know in past months, they've been really good at tracking this.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Yes. What we're hearing from health officials, Paula is that the main bulk of these new numbers are in the people who are in their 20s and in their 30s. Now we're not seeing the level of hospitalizations and the number of deaths rise in tandem with these significant rises in new cases. So that shows that that obviously the elder generation over 60s have for the large part being vaccinated.

But at this point under 50s are still not eligible to be vaccinated in South Korea. So there's a real rush to try and vaccinate as many people as possible. Health officials say they're well aware that the Delta variant is to blame in part -- in in great part in fact, and has a significant presence now in South Korea itself. Seoul, the capital is where the bulk of these cases are being found at this point. 81 percent of the numbers in fact are in the greater Seoul area.

And we heard from the mayor of Seoul saying that there will be additional measures put in place. He said that there have been extra temporary testing centers being set up.

[02:15:03]

HANCOCKS: The Health Minister himself is urging people to -- in their 20s and 30s to get tested even if they don't have symptoms to try and, and slow down this, this surge. Now just a couple of weeks ago, Paula, we were talking in South Korea about potentially lifting some of the social distancing restrictions. At this point, you still can't have gatherings of more than four people, for example, but now we are talking about potentially increasing the level of social distancing restrictions, which just shows how quickly things can change.

We've had daily figures hovering between 400 and 800 for weeks now, but this going well over a thousand has really made people sit up and take notice. And officials are saying if you don't need to go out, don't go out. Don't have unnecessary gatherings, don't have unnecessary trips, and asking the population to really pull back and try and keep this in check. It's a country that has not gone for the hard and fast lockdowns as many other countries have done.

They've really tried to rely on the sensibilities of the people themselves. But they say that if they need to, they'll put more restrictions in place.

NEWTON: Well, especially in the face of variants that are so much more contagious. Paula Hancocks for us. Thank you so much. Appreciate the update there.

Now close to 58,000 fans turned out see Italy beat Spain in a penalty shootout to advance to the Euro 2020 finals. They will face the winner of England versus Denmark scheduled to start about 13 hours from now but, you know, which English fans are actually counting. Spain led most of Tuesday's match but missed two penalty kicks. Yes, they did. Heartbreaker there. Fans in their home went wild over the victory.

Italy is unbeaten in its past 33 matches. If they win the tournament it will be their first European Championship since 1968.

Now the U.S. says that withdrawal from Afghanistan is more than 90 percent complete. Now the Afghan government must pick up the pieces of what's left behind hold back the Taliban. We'll have the latest.

Plus, exactly a half year since the January 6th insurrection. We have a newly released videos of the riot. What they show and why more U.S. Capitol Police officers are leaving the force.

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[02:21:22]

NEWTON: In Afghanistan, the central government is scrambling to halt Taliban advances in the north as the U.S. nears a complete withdrawal. Now looters have tried to make a profit on what the U.S. left behind picking through scraps at Bagram Air Base. The source U.S. forces also left a prison with thousands of detainees including al Qaeda figures and Taliban. Nearly half of the country is under Taliban control now shown there in black and that's according to the Long War Journal.

CNN hasn't independently confirmed those details. And all this comes as the U.S. says it's almost done with a "orderly and responsible withdrawal." CNN's Anna Coren reports.

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As the security situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate, U.S. Central Command has announced that more than 90 percent of the U.S. withdrawal is now complete. It comes days after U.S. and NATO forces flew out of Bagram Air Base once the nerve center of U.S. operations and America's 20- year war. Since President Biden announced the withdrawal back in April, the equivalent of approximately 984 C-17 loads of equipment has been flown back to the United States.

Six-hundred and fifty U.S. Marines will remain in Afghanistan to protect the U.S. Embassy. While other U.S. troops will secure the International Airport until a permanent arrangement is rich with Turkish forces. But while this may signal the end of America's war, for Afghanistan, it is just another chapter. And emboldened Taliban is launching wide-scale offensives across the country, particularly in the north where tens of thousands of people have been displaced as they flee the fighting.

Peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban are at a virtual standstill, and the threat of civil war is looming. For the Afghans, we speak to they say there is no end in sight to the violence and have little confidence there will ever be peace in this country.

Anna Coren, CNN, Kabul.

NEWTON: So earlier I spoke with CNN Military Analyst General Mark Hertling about that U.S. withdrawal. He says the U.S. hasn't said the Afghan government up to fail by leaving but the country just has so many issues that haven't been fixed for a number of reasons. Listen to part of our conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENERAL MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It's a combination of U.S. strategy changing the different administration's that have put different views on it. The changing mission set for the military. The changes in terms of the number of force structures that were aligned, both from the United States and from our NATO allies. The requirement to do different types of missions and the changing of those missions and the inherent corruption and dynamics involved in the Afghan government.

I mean, this will make for a phenomenal after action review from the strategic tactical and operational standpoint. And I think we have a whole lot to learn about what we wanted to do when we went into Afghanistan, what we did and how it changed over the years.

NEWTON: But there's still really is a strategic imperative here to really think about here and now. And now the U.S. military has been defending as you know, many strategic arenas since World War II. Why not Afghanistan, especially when we see the rise of ISIS in Iraq. You know, military commanders, like you have been telling people like me for decades that it is those ungoverned spaces where terror groups and insurgencies rise.

HERTLING: And that's true, and you can count on more than two hands the number of ungoverned spaces all over the world.

[05:25:04]

HERTLING: And actually, the changes in dynamics between the kinds of terrorists we've had to deal with. Whether it was initially al Qaeda or later ISIS or Boko Haram. I mean, you can name that group and say what kind of challenges are they -- are they causing in these uncovered spaces? But what we've seen in Afghanistan after 20 years, is a lack of development and growth in terms of countering what is causing the unique and complex insurgency terrorism mission in that -- in that space.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: And our thanks there to General Mark Hertling for his insights. Now the U.S. Justice Department releases more videos of the capital riot. Why six months later, police and others say not enough is being done to address the security failure -- failures that the insurrection exposed.

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NEWTON: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Paula Newton and this is CNN NEWSROOM. Six months now since the January 6th insurrection in Washington and the FBI has released dramatic new videos from the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Now, they include footage from the body cameras of officers who risked their lives trying to keep insurrectionists at bay. CNN's Brian Todd has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Exactly six months since that horrific day.

(on camera): Riot police just kind of came to the foot of the steps and moved more rioters off the steps.

[02:30:00]

[02:30:00]

TODD (voice over): The Justice Department releasing more new video from January 6th, this time showing the moment that D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone's badge and radio were stolen from him, moments when Fanone is being severely beaten. The video shows a rioter's left hand grabbing the badge and then the right hand grabbing his radio by the antenna.

Other new video just released shows rioters harassing guards, chasing them down the hallway, threatening the guards before the rioters breaking into a Senate chamber. This comes as more than a dozen current and former U.S. capital police officers, security officials, lawmakers, and aides tell CNN that six months after the insurrection, not nearly has been enough has been done to address the security exposed by the capital attack. Sources tell CNN the U.S. Capitol Police Department still needs a cultural and operational overhaul, and morale is really low. Since January 6th, the Capitol Hill police have lost an average of three officers a week, quote, we are losing guys left and right, one officer told CNN.

CHALES RAMSEY, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Part of the morale issue is the fact that they didn't feel like they were prepared. And so what leadership is going to have to do is really communicate with the rank and file and reassure that, you know, there are changes being put in place. But people need to see the changes. They need to feel the changes.

TODD: Meanwhile, threats against lawmakers have gone up this year, and over the past few weeks, the FBI and department of homeland security have warned of potential violence this summer tied to false conspiracy theories that former President Trump will return to office in August.

RAMSEY: Some of those folks are dangerous. And so you can't take it lightly. That's part of what the Capitol Police has to be able to do and not just be able to shore up the building.

TODD: The heavy security fencing around the Capitol has been gradually scaled back. Outer fencing was removed by the end of March. And there are reports the current fencing will be taken down in the coming days. In the investigation, justice official say more than 535 people have now been arrested in connection with breaching the Capitol, assault, and other charges. Significant conspiracy cases are being built against members of far right extremist groups, including the Oath Keepers.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: The Oath Keepers are people the Justice Department says work together to arrange for guns to be planted around Washington, D.C., primarily at hotels in a hotel in Virginia across the river, and that they move together, members of this group got together to come to the Capitol on January 6th.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): But there are still hundreds of rioters who have not yet been identified by law enforcement. And the dragnet for them is still in full force. And the suspect who planted two pipe bombs near the Capitol the night before the riot still has not been apprehended. Law enforcement experts telling us they are concerned, that person might try to strike again.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN NEWSROOM: The governor of New York has declared a state of emergency over the state's gun violence. Now, Andrew Cuomo says he will sign legislation that allows for civil lawsuits against gun manufacturers, distributors and dealers for how they market and sell firearms. He says the new law will do what Washington refused to do, hold gun manufacturers accountable.

More than 50 people were shot in New York State over the July 4th holiday weekend. Governor Cuomo says when you break down these numbers, there are more people dying of gun violence and crime than of COVID.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): We went from one epidemic to another epidemic. We went from COVID to the epidemic of gun violence, and the fear and the death that goes along with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Brazil's president faces major political challenges as the COVID crisis, the vaccine scandal, and protests on the streets grow. We will have the latest, coming up.

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[02:35:00]

NEWTON: The COVID-19 delta variant has been detected in Brazil's most populous cities, Sao Paulo, but officials say there have been no signs yet of community spread. And the news comes as opposition lawmakers want Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro impeached over yet another COVID scandal.

Shasta Darlington has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Once riding high amid the course of cheering supporters, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's wave of popularity now crashing hard into the rising tide of discontent, as cries for his impeachment seem to grow louder by the day, fueled in large part by his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and ignited by allegations of governmental corruptions in vaccine acquisition.

The opponent say, delayed the delivery of high efficacy vaccines, like Pfizer-BioNTech that could have save more lives, in favor of a contract for Biotech's Covaxin, a less proven vaccine at a much higher cost, a contract of many of those took to the streets in protest this weekend say may have led not only to delays in vaccines, but also unethical financial gain for pro-Bolsonaro lawmakers.

KIM KATAGUIRI, MBL PARTY LAWMAKER: It is a question of principles, it is a question of value, it is a question of morals, it is a question of repudiating and rejecting the criminal negligence that has lead over 500,000 deaths.

DARLINGTON: Bolsonaro is speaking to reporters after a whistleblower testified congressional investigators that he had warned the president about the alleged contract and proprieties, displaying the dismissive defiance he has become famous for.

JAIR BOLSONARO, BRAZIL PRESIDENT: As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing wrong with the contract. Not a penny was spent on Covaxin. You people who want to judge me for corruption, you are going to get it wrong. I'm incorruptible.

DARLINGTON: That Covaxin contract is now suspended. And for its part, Bharat Biotech releasing a statement denying any wrongdoing, saying, as of June 29th, Bharat Biotech has not received any advanced payment nor supplied to emulate Brazil. Bharat Biotech has followed a similar approach toward contracts, regulatory approvals and supplies in several countries worldwide where Covaxin is being supplied successfully.

Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers seizing on Bolsonaro's cratering popularity amid allegations of graft by combining some of the more 100 already insisting impeachment requests against the president into a so-called super request for his ouster. And the Brazilian Supreme Court green-lighting a criminal inquiry last week into Bolsonaro for his handling of the matter, leading to a palpable sense of anger amongst protesters and opposition lawmakers.

[02:40:06]

GABRIEL LUNA, PROTESTER: That's a dollar that Bolsonaro and the Ministry of Health wanted to earn on each vaccine they bought on life of every Brazilian. We are more than 500,000 COVID-19 deaths in our country and it is the result of genocidal policy, which trivialized the strength of coronavirus in our country.

DARLINGTON: With the protests against Bolsonaro likely to getting steam as the investigation runs its course, the death toll from COVID- 19 still rising, albeit more slowly than before with more people joining the ranks of the grieving as the pandemic rages silently on.

Shasta Darlington, CNN, Sao Paulo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Police in Nicaragua detained a sixth presidential candidate along with student leaders and activists on Monday in what a right group calls a night of terror. The government of President Daniel Ortega has detained dozens of his opponent since last late May. Opposition leaders, student activists and business people have been targeted human rights say, the Ortega government is working to eliminate dissent ahead of November elections.

And I want to thank you for joining us here in CNN Newsroom. If you are an international viewer, World Sport is next. If you are watching here in the United States, I will be right back with more news.

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[02:45:00]

NEWTON: China's crackdown on tech company's prompted a sell-off of the ride-hailing company Didi just days after the debut on the U.S. stock market. Shares fell as much as 25 percent at one point in the U.S. trading session Tuesday.

Now, China announced it will also step up supervision of Chinese firms listed offshore. David Culver has details from Shanghai.

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Didi facing mounting pressure from Chinese regulators and a nationalistic pushback on Chinese social media, the massive ride hailing company went public on the U.S. stock exchange last week, and it was followed by a swift rebuke from Beijing. China's cyber space administration citing national data security concerns and suspended Didi from adding new users for its app. It also banned app stores from offering Didi for download.

Didi is likened to the Uber of China and it boasts some 377 million users here on Mainland China alone. The Chinese Regulatory Agency said that Didi, quote, severely violate laws by illegally collecting and using personal information.

Didi says it's going to comply and rectify and improve risk avoidance. There are some reports though suggesting they may have been warned by regulators ahead of the IPO, but that they might have gone ahead with it because of the mounting pressure from investors.

Didi is not the only tech company facing scrutiny from Beijing. A truck-hailing company and online recruitment app likewise halted from adding new users. They all have something in common, they all recently went public in the U.S. stock market and they carry a lot of user data and personal information.

So it raises questions if geopolitics might be at play here. While not specifically naming any company, state media reporting on Tuesday that China will increase regulation of its overseas listed companies and improve regulations of cross border data flows and security and crack down on illegal activity in the securities market.

Several tech companies in the past few months have faced investigations that, in turn, have led to record fines and massive overhauls.

David Culver, CNN, Shanghai.

NEWTON: So the glitz, the glamour and the stars have all returned to the French Riviera. The Cannes Film Festival is back one year after the pandemic forced it to shut down.

Now, Cyril Vanier reports, COVID is still casting a big shadow making this year festival unlike any other.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR AND INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After a year of washout, organizers at the Cannes Film Festival are rolling out the red carpet once again ahead of its 74th edition. Canceled last year and usually held in May, this year, the festival will run from July 6 to 17.

And it is back with a stacked lineup. 24 films from 16 countries will be competing for the grand prize. Those in the running include Annett starring Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver, actor and director Sean Penn's Flag Day, and Wes Anderson's the French Dispatch, starring Timothee Chalamet. Malcolm X, director Spike Lee will be heading the diverse jury from seven countries.

SCOTT ROXBOROUGH, EUROIPE BUREAU CHIEF, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: The whole film industry has been so hard by COVID and by the cinema lockdowns that came with safety measures, that everyone is really hoping that this Cannes will be sort of a kicking off point, a sort of a reopening, a sort of reentry back into the world for the whole film industry.

VANIER: The festival organizer had made it clear that this year's edition would be unlike any other. Strict, safety and health measures will be in place. That means stars won't be exchanging kisses and hugs on the red carpet steps.

Although France lifted its coronavirus curfew and mask ordinances in June, festival attendees will have to wear masks indoors. Testing centers have sprung up next to the festival venue. Guests will spit saliva into tubes and those who can't provide negative COVID test results will be turned away.

The usual glamorous parties will also be scaled down, all in an effort to keep moviegoers and festival attendees safe.

DAVID LISNARD, CANNES, FRANCE MAYOR: Well, there is no situation with zero risk but, objectively speaking, it safer to go see a film at the festival than to go shopping in a super market. VANIER: Many businesses, such as the restaurant and hotels, are relying on the festival to help recoup their losses from the COVID lockdown.

MELANIE DE PREST, OWNER, L'EPICURIEN RESTAURANT: We missed it in terms of finances too. We won't lie.

[02:50:00]

We are thrilled. We remained positive since the beginning of the crisis. So we are delighted to see tourists again.

VANIER: With some international travel restrictions still in place, the number of high spending tourists will be lower than usual but still a welcome site.

Cyril Vanier, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now, as Cyril just mentioned there, Director Spike Lee is serving as jury president at this year's festival. And that he's the first black person to ever hold that role. On Tuesday, he spoke out about race relations in America and he referenced Radio Raheem, the character who was killed by police in his film, Do the Right Thing, which premiered at Cannes three decades ago.

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SPIKE LEE, DIRECTOR/CANNES JURY PRESIDENT: When you see brother Eric Garner, you see King George Floyd murdered, lynched, I think of Radio Raheem. And you would think and hope that there 30 some (BLEEP) years later, that black people stop being hunted down like animals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: So Lee's film, Black Klansman, which also dealt with race, earned one of the festival's top awards in 2018.

We are following new developments in Britney Spears' legal battle to obtain control of her finances. Now, the pop star's court appointed attorney has submitted a petition to resign. He's represented Spears throughout her 13-year conservatorship. His resignation comes nearly two weeks after the singer's explosive testimony where she called the conservatorship arrangement abusive.

Spears' longtime mentor also resigned Tuesday, saying the singer intends to retire. The next court hearing in the case is scheduled for next week.

So, a study in Iceland found that a four-day workweek, that's right, just four days didn't hurt employees' productivity. Researchers tracked 2,500 workers for four years, not a little bit of time, who had reduced their workweek to 35 or 36 hours.

Now, researchers found the workers, while being increased dramatically, but here is a thing, productivity remained the same or even improved. 86 percent of Iceland's working population is now either on shorter working hours or now have the right to be there in the future.

Natalie Nagele joins me now. She's the Co-founder and CEO of Wildbit, a company that has operated on a four-day workweek since 2017. My first words to you are, congratulations.

NATALIE NAGELE, CO-FOUNDER & CEO, WILDBIT: Thank you.

NEWTON: And beyond that, I'm going to start with a question you would normally end the interview with. I'm going to make it my first question. If a four-day workweek is so good for business and it's good for the employees, why the heck are people still working five days a week?

NAGELE: That's the best question, right? I think we're just -- we're just -- we're not asking ourselves enough questions around why are we working the way we work, and can we challenge that? I think there're a lot of issues still around how we measure the productivity and evaluate our knowledge workers, and we're kind of stuck in thinking more industrial revolution. Like we're trying to evaluate folks by the number of widgets we put on a conveyor belt, but you can't do that with knowledge work.

And so, we say, okay, we're going to measure you by the hours your butt is in your seat, because we can do that. We can count that. And it's much harder to count output. And so for us, the realization that it doesn't matter how many hours you work, it matters how productive the time is, how effective, what you're working on the right things. That's hard. But we don't train managers to do that well. And so it just becomes much easier to say, okay, show up for 40 hours. That's what I pay you to do, and that's how I know you're doing a good job.

NEWTON: Yes, and no matter how productive you may or may not be.

NAGELE: Exactly.

NEWTON: Let's do a deep dive here though. Your employees do 32 hours a week though. This is not about trying to squeeze more hours into four days. And what have you found? Are people just as productive?

NAGELE: Yes. When we launched it, we launched it as an experiment because we had been reading a book, Deep Work, by Cal Newport, where he talks a lot about the brain's capacity for deep, meaningful work. That's the work we're hired to do, not checking email or Facebook, or whatever that you're doing in front of your computer. And the brain -- the science shows that the brain maxes out at four hours a day. So when we looked at it, we said, well, what are we doing for eight hours a day, five days a week for 40 hours? Like we must be doing something wrong, there must be a better way.

So our team is not only as productive. I would argue some of the quality of our work has improved too because we're getting these three -- four eight-hour days and then three consecutive days off where the brain can rest and recover, solve challenging problems in the background while you're doing other things and really come back to work refreshed and ready to go.

[02:55:00]

NEWTON: We don't have a lot of time left, but what surprised you the most about the benefits to not just to your company but your employees?

NAGELE: I think what we found that's been most impressive is how much that fifth day has contributed to not just like happiness internally but our ability to contribute externally outside of ourselves. So, some folks spend that time with their family or building a deck outside. But a lot of folks on my team spend it contributing to their communities, whether it's at their church or nonprofits or mentoring other folks who are early in their career.

And that's been really, not only rewarding, but it allows us all to grow and really try to understand the purpose of work and can we make that more about being people first than just feeding this beast that is the business constantly. It's been very rewarding and we're really excited to be able to do it.

NEWTON: Well, so much to think about there. You've given us all a lot to mull over as we continue with our 40-plus hour workweeks, many hours in a week.

NAGELE: I know.

NEWTON: Natalie Nagele, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

NAGELE: Thanks for having me. Thank you.

NEWTON: Now, the Olympic journey to Tokyo has come to an end for Sha'Carri Richardson. USA track and field revealed their Olympic roster Tuesday and the sprinter's name wasn't on it. She had hoped to compete in the 4x100 meter relay because the one-month suspension she recently received for that positive THC test, it would have ended before that event in Tokyo. But the U.S. team says all athletes must adhere to the current world anti-doping code even though they argued the rules regarding THC should be re-evaluated.

Now, Richardson had previously secured her trip to Tokyo for her signature 100-meter dash event but was disqualified because of that suspension.

All right, that does it for me here at CNN Newsroom. I'm Paula Newton. Rosemary Church picks things up for us right after the break. Thanks for watching.

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